E£ r: ,< J - - >c ",*> '} jf^fc * A^C. 3t ' ~ ■'.i'' J ¥ -: ^ *t: a** ■ ' J* * ->** 5f "**»; JtjJ ^^ k * *&£ w&hf KtZ&p- 't-iL i ■■/.- - H*~K IP** £*¥*?# iM*> t^ (QorneU fltitaerait|j ffitbtarg Stljata, Kern loth BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 *l I Cornell University Library E285 .N54 3 1924 032 745 592 olin /m Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032745592 T" '783 " 1883 1783-1883. NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL THE PEACE CELEBRATION OF OCTOBER 18, 1883, NEWBUEGH DAILY JOUBNAL'S ACCOUNT OF THE OBSEEVANCES. Printed and published by RITCHIE & HULL, Proprietors of the Journal Printing House and Book-Bindery, Nos. 44 and 43 Second Street, Newburgh, N. T. 1883. PREFACE. The following account "of the Newburgh Centennial celebration of October 18, 1883, appeared originally in the issues of the NEWBURGH DAILY JOURNAL for the 18th and 19th of that month. Much of it was of necessity hastily prepared, but the publishers have deemed it best to reprint the narrative without revision. CONTENTS. PAGE Editorial Eeferences to the Celebration, 9 Eye op the Celebration, 11 Sunrise Greeted, - 12 Scenes- on the Eiver, - ... 13 At the Union Depot, - 14 Elegant Decorations, ... 15 A Splendid Pageant, ... . - - 16 At Washington's Headquarters, - 21 The Fireworks, - 31 Miscellany, - 33 Some op our Visitors, ' - 35 Letters of Eegret, - 36 Preparing for the Centennial, - 36 Washington's Headquarters, - 40 History of the Centennial Movement, 46 Central Figures op the Day, , 50 Preliminary Demonstrations, - 53 History of Newburgh, 54 Newburgh in 1883, . . . : 55 An Official Eegister of Newburgh, .._... 59 Statistical Information, - - - - - - - - -66 Comments on the Celebration, - - - - -*- - - 71 WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS. BY MART E. MOM ELL. Sung at the Dedication of the Old Building, July 4, 1820. Free men, pause! this ground is holy; Noble spirits suffered here; Tardy justice, marching slowly, Tried their faith from year to year — Yet their patience Conquered every doubt and fear. Sacred is this mansion hoary; 'Neath its roof-tree years ago, Dwelt the father of our glory, He whose name appalled the foe. Greater honor Home nor hearth can never know. Unto him and them are owing Peace as stable as our hills; Plenty, like yon river flowing To the sea from thousand rills; Love of country, Love that every bosom thrills. Brothers! to your care is given, Safe to keep this hallowed spot; Though our warriors rest in heaven. And these places know them not, See ye to it That their deeds be ne'er forgot. With a prayer your faith expressing, Raise your country's flag on high; Here, where rests a nation's blessing, Stars and stripes shall float for aye! Mutely telling Stirring tales of days gone by. 1783-18 83. NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. EDITOEIAL EEFEEENCES TO THE CELEBEATION. Welcome. From the Newburgli Journal, Thursday, October 18th. To-day we bid a hearty welcome to the thousands of our fellow citizens who have gathered here from all parts of the country to help us celebrate the last of the series of Revolutionary Centennials. They are welcome to this soil trod by Washington and his brave Continentals, close by these mountains and this matchless river on which the eyes of the Father of his Country so often rested. They are welcome here where the wise and good man exerted all the strength of his great nature to still the voice of mutiny that threatened the life of the young Republic, and where with righteous indignation he spurned the offer of a crown. They are welcome here where once assembled in consultation with their chief, men only less renowned than he— Lafayette and Greene and Knox and "Wayne and the other brave leaders of the Revolu- tionary forces. We welcome our guests to this region, fraught with Revolutionary memories, to the banks of this noble river, possession of which was the key to mili- tary supremacy a century ago, to the old Headquarters, the shrine where are stirred the emotions of every lover of his country. We welcome them to the intellectual feast which has been provided for them and us, to the enjoyment of inspiring verse and the harmonious strains of many voices, to the magnificent* array of our citizen soldiery, our naval defenders and our civic organizations, to a contemplation of the universal display of the stars and stripes — in a word to our Peace Centennial ! May they and we profit by the lessons eloquently taught by this day's observances. Events Commemorated. From the Neiuburgk Daily Journal, October iSth. Our citizens and those who join with them in this day's observance thereby commemorate the closing events of the War of the Revolution, the proclamation of peace, the disbandment of the American army, the achievement of our nationality. There is also held in grateful remem- brance in this day's ceremonies Washington's bloodless victory, won here over the incipient mutiny among his troops, resulting from neglect and what they regarded as the base ingratitude of the representatives of those for whom these heroes of a long war had periled life and suf- fered hardship. We and those who celebrate this day with us also remember that here it was that Washington spurned the offered crown, not sparing, in the severity of the language with which he repelled the offer, one of his dearest friends, selected on account of his intimacy with the patriot chieftain for the purpose of persuading Wash- ington to put an end to the evils of weak popular rule by founding a monarchy which should resemble the so-called strong governments of Europe. We recall with gratitude the heroic deeds of the found- ers of the Republic — not alone the leaders whose names are immortal, but the host whose names have not been handed down* who held not their lives dear if by laying them upon the altar of sacrifice they might win for their country her liberty and independence. We recall with admiration the times that tried men's souls; the patience that sustained these men of the Revolution through long years of wearisome, wasting warfare; the hope which did not utterly desert their camps, even in the darkest hour of the conflict; the support of a kindly Providence, acknowledged by Washington and besought by him in the day of gloom. Dwelling in the midst of the scenes of some of the most interesting and important events of the eight years' contest, we trust that we have inherited the patriotic spirit which actuated these patriots, and that it is not a vain ceremonial in which we this day engage and to which we have invited the thousands of our fellow citizens who have come from other parts of the land, whom we to-day welcome to our city. They with us enjoy the blessings bought for our common country by the blood and toil of the men whose virtues and patriot- ism we commemorate. We all reverence the virtues of the fathers, and we all to-day " show forth this reverence by material and striking testimonials." It is fitting that late in our century we should suspend attention to the rush of current events long enough to give a thought to those who late in the preceding century not only repelled the invader but conquered themselves and endured bitter and prolonged distress in order that they might establish the best government that the earth has known. The central figure in the brilliant company of Revolu- tionary heroes was Washington. History loves to tell not only how he gained battles and excelled in strategy, but also how he kept his own irritated troops in check, and was prompt to resent the imputation concealed in the lure of the crown that there was anything in his na- ture which preferred his own aggrandizement to the cause of his country. The nation prizes and will ever prize the utterances of Washington at these critical times. "With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment," he said in reply to Nicola's proposition, ' ' I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my per- usal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations, than your in- formation of there being such ideas existing in the army, as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence, 10 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. and reprehend with severity. I am much at a loss to con- ceive what part of my conduct could have giveu encour- agement to an address, which to me seems big with the greatest mischief that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate as from yourself or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature." This crushing reply put an end to the scheme of a mili- tary faction, disposed to make the army the basis of an energetic government, and to place Washington at its head. Not less effective was his treatment of the rising muti- ny which grew out of the neglect of Congress to meet the just claims of the army. The bitter feeling prevalent found expression in the famous "Armstrong letters." His " bold and eloquent, but dangerous appeal," says Irving, " founded as it was upon the wrongs and sufferings of a gallant army and the shameful want of sympathy in tardy legislators, called for the full exercise of Washing- ton's characteristic firmness, caution, and discrimina- tion." His conduct on this occasion justifies the warm eulogy of Major Shaw, one of the officers present at the Temple meeting. Says Shaw: " I rejoice in the oppor- tunities I have had of seeing this great man in a variety of situations; calm and intrepid when the battle raged; patient and persevering under the pressure of misfortune, moderate and possessing himself in the full career of vic- tory. Great as these qualifications deservedly render him, he never appeared to me more truly so than at the assembly we have been speaking of. On other occasions he has been supported by the exertions of an army and the countenance of his friends; but on this he stood single and alone. There was no saying where the passions of an army which were not a little inflamed might lead, but it was generally allowed that further forbearance was dangerous, and moderation had ceased to be a virtue. Under these circumstances he appeared, not at the head of his troops, but, as it were, in opposition to them. He spoke— every doubt was dispelled, and the tide of patri- otism rolled again in its wonted course. Illustrious man! What he says of the army may with equal justice be ap- plied to his own character: ' Had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining.' " The Oration. F'rom the Newburgh Daily Journal, October lBth. The readers of the Journal who to-day take up for perusal the complete report of Mr. Evarts' oration will agree with us that the Centennial Committee made no mistake when they solicited his acceptance of their invi- tation to become the orator for a national celebration of the closing events of that great rebellion which not only "wrested the fairest gem from Britain's crown," but at the same time accomplished a far more brilliant and mem- orable achievement in the absolute creation, within the meagre limits of a century — as time is reckoned in the growth of nations — of a national power which, in territo- rial extent and influence upon the -avorld, stands in the very first rank, and is nowhere obliged to approach any sovereign with a " By your leave, sire." Mr. Evarts came to his work with a true appreciation of the great events to which he had been chosen the nar- rator, and he clothes in admirably chosen words that ap- preciation. And this he has done under circumstances which in one sense made it no easy task. He had to fol- low the eloquent orators who have for so many years spoken at length and well in commemorative services which have been held in other places, and which have very appropriately marked the centennial periods of the Revolution. To most speakers it would have been a dif- ficult task to follow these predecessors in a line which of necessity was narrow and similar ; but our Centennial or- ator has followed them, and followed in such a manner as to lead all who heard or may read him, in comparison with others, to say that his treatment of the patriotic theme has been fresh, interesting, and in the highest de- gree appropriate. Mr. Evarts believes, as every patriotic heart should feel, in the joy and pride of looking back upon the achievements of our revolutionary fathers ; and he believes that this joy and pride ought never to die out in American hearts. This is the inspiration of the numer- ous national Centennial commemorations that have been going on about us for nearly a decade of years. It is the inspiration of the orator of the day. It is the inspiration of all that wealth of decorative emblems which covers the city as with a rich robe of rejoicing. Mr. Evarts well says that as the Centennial of 1876 was the central figure of* these celebrations, so the Newburgh Centennial cele- brations is the fitting completion of a pious duty. The oration is one that will command attention, alike from the occasion, from the orator, and from the manner in which the theme has been treated. Senator Bayard's Address. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October i&th. In a graceful address Senator Bayard presented some considerations pertinent to the observances of the day, and proper as an introduction to the oration of ex-Secre" tary Evarts. One of the striking features of the Senator's address was the contrast which he drew between the spirit which actuated England in her war for dominion in this country a century ago, and that which animated the colonists in their struggle for liberty; between the corruption rife in the public life in the mother country, and the simplicity and comparative purity which charac- terized the public service here. The events commemo- rated to-day were effectively treated by the speaker. The Poem. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October iSth. Than Wallace Bruce there could be no more significant conjunction of names for the poet of a patriotic occasion. Mr. Bruce is at home on themes such as had been given to him as an important part of our Centennial celebra- tion, and well has he.acquitted himself. Under his pen the reader sees the movement of "a cycle grand," and the leading characters thereof, chief among which, and always steadily in front, moves Washington. From '76 to '83 is a good long stretch of time for any " drama, "but it is well covered by Mr. Bruce's poem. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October iSth. It will not dim the glory inseparable from the names of Washington and his brave Continentals to remember that marching in our streets to-day are many men who, emu- lating the heroism of the fathers of the Republic, put their own lives in jeopardy in the effort to preserve the Union established by the men of the Revolution. That the les- sons of patriotism furniihed by the lives and deeds of the fathers have not been unheeded by their descendants was clearly shown when the need came for defenders of the Union, when a wicked attempt was made to break up the Government established by Washington and his followers. There was in the later, no less than in the earlier case, a noble display of heroic devotion, as there always will be when the integrity or the liberties of the country are in danger. NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 11 Yesterday. From the Ne-wburgh Daily Journal, October igth. That Thursday's celebration was as nearly perfect in all its details as foresight, energy, executive ability and faithful work could make it, and that it exceeded every- body's expectations, will be generally conceded. There have been greater demonstrations in larger cities, but it is safe to say it has never been equaled in Newburgh, in point of numbers present, the size and character of the procession, the splendor of the decorations, the iinpres- siveness of the ceremonies at Washington's Headquar- ters, or the beauty of the display on the river last even- ing. The planning of the affair was a matter of many months of patient attention to details, of the careful weighing of every suggestion, of thorough study of the situation. Now when it is all over every one recognizes that the success achieved was not of the hap-hazard kind. The Committee of Five determined that it should not be another Yorktown or Stony Point affair. It was the suc- cess they decreed it should be. They wisely planned. The execution was worthy of the plan. Well chosen as- sistants carried out the designs of the committee so faith- fully that there was scarcely a jar of the machinery. In regard to our fellow citizens from abroad who con- tributed so much to the success of the celebration it is to be said that too much praise cannot be awarded them. The distinguished gentlemen who lent their presence and best efforts in oratory and verse on the Headquarters grounds, the honored Governors of States, the repre- sentatives of the United States Navy, the detachment from the regular army, the host of citizen soldiery, the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, the mu- sicians who contributed of their vocal or instrumental skill, the multitude of firemen, and the various other organiza- tions all deserve credit for the patriotic impulse which caused them to gather here to do honor to the memory of Washington and the heroes of the Revolution. Their coming was not in vain ; our citizens will not soon forget then - tine appearance and manly bearing, and as for these our guests, we are confident the welcome which they received was such as to convince them that there was no lack of appreciation of either their patriotism or their desire to gratify and please the thousands gathered here. The day and its celebration is past, but its memories will long remain. It has shown, in a way to convince even the cynical, that the deeds and sacrifices of the Fathers of the Republic are not forgotten or lightly esteemed; that virtue does exist where the virtues of dead heroes are thus faithfully cherished and fittingly com- memorated; that even were other evidence wanting the events of yesterday establish the fact that patriotism is not a dying emotion in the hearts of this people. EVE OF THE CELEBRATION. NIGHT SCENES IN THE CITY AND ON THE EIVEE. THE STREETS CROWDED — ELECTRIC LIGHTS SHOWING THE VESSELS IN THE BAT — ARRIVAL OP A COMPANY OF FIREMEN — PARADE AND FIREWORKS TRAINS COMING IN CROWDED WITH PASSENGERS ARRIVAL OF DISTINGUISHED MEN — WASHINGTON'S GREAT-GRAND-NIECE WITH US — THE PUTNAM PHALANX. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October 18th. Crowds of people poured through the streets last night, loitered at the street corners and blockaded the side- walks. The full moon shone out brilliantly, sending a wide stream of soft light across the water and flooded the city with light. The river view was magnificent from the West Shore depot with its electric lights for a back- ground. The huge black hulls of the men-of-war could be just discerned in the darkness, and near by was a fleet of small yachts, which occasionally vented their enthu- siasm in a display of fireworks. The electric lights on the docks shone out beautifully, The view of the city from the river was exceedingly fine. Lights shone from every house, but they seemed pale in the flood of moonlight. Through the streets the crowd rushed and pushed, cheered at the fire companies, applauded the fireworks and had a good time generally. A FIRE COMPANY WELCOMED. Great crowds of people gathered down town last night to wait for the coming of the train bringing Alert Hose Company of Binghamton. The train was due on the Erie at 7.30 o'clock, but it was 9.10 before it arrived. It consisted of a large number of cars, all heavily laden with passengers. The Binghamton party occupied three coaches, and were switched at Greycourt without changing cars. Columbian Hose Company was in wait- ing at the depot with the hose carriage of the visiting company, which had been sent ahead yesterday. It is a handsome one — much heavier than the Newburgh car- riages, and drawn by a horse. The two companies im- mediately formed in fine and marched up Front Street to Fourth, to Water, to Coldeu, to Broadway, to Liberty, to First, to Lander, to South, to Grand, to Broad, to Mont- gomery, to Water, to Third, to Smith, to Second, to the house of Columbian Hose Company, where a bountiful supper was spread. The houses along the line of march were beautifully decorated and illuminated. When the meal had been finished a magnificent display of fireworks was set off, which is highly spoken of. A vast throng filled the streets in front of the engine house and heartily ap- plauded. SCENES AT THE UNION DHPOT. The electric lights in the vicinity of the union depot were lit last evening at 5.45 o'clock for the first. The effect presented was grand in the extreme. There are fifteen lights in all. Among the number there are three at the Hart's dock, two below the depot on the east side of South Water Street, two opposite the union depot, and one on the north end of the depot, the remainder being placed at intervals between the depot and the long dock. The attendance of people at the depot was very large during the early part of the evening, and as each train arrived, leaving its quota of visitors, demonstrations of pleasure were made by the large concourse of people. NEWBUfiGH CENTENNIAL, THE INCOMING- TRAINS. The train from the north on the West Shore Railroad was thirty minutes late, arriving at 6 o'clock. Seven coaches well rilled with passengers were cleared of their burden of human freight, about 350 people being added to the number of Centennial visitors. The 7 o'clock train from New York on the West Shore was composed of nine coaches, and left about four hundred people. DISTINGUISHED ARRIVALS. Senator Bayard, of Delaware, of the Congressional Committee on the Centennial, arrived on the above train. He is the guest of Mayor Ward. Ex-Secretary Wilham M. Evarts, orator of the day, Senator Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, Senator Warner Miller, of New York, and the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, of New York, arrived on the 5.30 p. m. train on the Hudson River Railroad from New York. Secretary Evarts and Mr. Depew are the guests of Mr. Wiekes, of Balmville. Senator Miller is domiciled with Darwin W. Esmond, Esq. Senator Hawley is the guest of Howard Thornton, Esq. AN HONORED GUEST. Mrs. Washington, of Virginia, great-grand-niece of the immortal Washington, has arrived in the city, and is the honored guest of Henry Dudley, Esq., at Balmville. Mayor Bulkley, of Hartford, Conn., arrived with the Putnam Phalanx yesterday afternoon, and is at the United States Hotel. Governor Cleveland and staff arrived this morning, also Senator Lansing, of Albany. The Governor returns to Albany this evening. COMING OP THE PHALANX. The Putnam Phalanx, of Hartford, Conn., the special guests and old friends of Captain Dickey's 10th Separate Company, reached town at about 4.30 yesterday. The "Puts" were 125 strong, all told, including Their scarlet- coated fife and drum corps of fourteen. They left Hart- ford on a special train at 9.50 yesterday, coming by way of the Connecticut Western and Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroads, reaching Dutchess Junction at 4.10. At Dutchess Junction the Phalanx were met by a large representation of the 10th Company, who had in waiting the steamer River BeUe, on which they brought the Hartford organization to this city. A landing was made at the long dock and the Phalanx were escorted by way of Front, Fifth and Water Streets, to the Assembly Rooms, the 10th Company's centennial headquarters, where the visitors were permitted to leave their arms while they domiciled themselves at their quarters in the United States Hotel. After supper last night the Phalanx were again taken to the Assembly Rooms, where the 10th Company are keeping open house during the celebration. There was a large orchestra present. The rooms were handsomely decorated. A most inviting lunch was accessible at will, including "Hartford lemonade," plenty of cigars, etc., and mingling with the 10th Company the Phalanx seemed to greatly enjoy the evening. Considerable speechmaking was done by both sides at one time during the evening, several of the efforts of the orators being very felicitous. Among those accompanying the Phalanx were Mr. Bulkley, the Mayor of Hartford, and four or five well known newspaper men. NEW YORK POLICEMEN. A squad of twenty policemen arrived here by the barge last night from New York. They were accompanied by Inspector Thome and Captain Williams. A large force of patrolmen arrived later in the day. SUNRISE GREETED. CANNON FIRING AND CHURCH-BELL RINGING. WAKING THE ECHOES AS THE SUN THEOWS HIS FIRST BEAMS OVER THE FISHKILL MOUNTAINS HOW A CHARMING OCTOBER DAY WAS USHERED IN A FOG DISAPPEARS WITH THE FIRING OF A SALUTE MORNING SCENES IN THE STREETS AND ON THE RIVER. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October 18th. Newburgh has felt all through the preparations for the celebration of to-day, that but one thing was needed in addition to what its enterprise and foresight could sup- ply, to render it the success it should be— and that was fine weather. The latest emanations from "Old Proba- bilities " in the very latest news of last night were largely scanned, and tu the joy of the people, he promised them "warm weather, followed by rain." The next problem to be solved was to ascertain if the rain was following at such respectful distance as would prevent it from reach- ing this place to-day. Early this morning patriotic eyes were peering through the window blinds toward the mountains which stood between them and the first glow- ing rays of the autumnal sun, while others intent on solving the problem of (lie weather, mounted the house- tops to widen the scope of their vision. There was little to be seen to encourage and nothing to discourage. A heavy fog rose from the river and enveloped the hills in its deep embrace. While the anxious lookers were still peering into the mist, a flash was seen on the bosom of the bay and next the roar of the sunrise gun came echo- ing up the hill sides. In a few minutes, and before the national salute was ended, the fog began to rise With its ascent went up the spirits of our patriotic people On and upward climbed the log, and soon after the last gun had ceased its echoes and the hills had ended their morn- m - g ^ r -^V ls ' the S lad sunshine was seen peering over the Fishkill Mountains, transforming the North and South Beacons into daylight torches. Everybody was happy- good humor and gleeful spirits seemed infectious-all be- ga *? tJt ^ ay , m the ha PPiest mood. The church bells added their clangor to the voices of congratulation heard everywhere. THE THRONG POURING IN. Out-of-town military and other organizations continued Whw V v? ^ a11 k ours during the night, and day had hardly broken this morning before the people began to pour into the city from every direction. Every road NEWBUBGH CENTENNIAL. 13 leading to town was filled with moving wagons by six .o'clock a. m., and for hours the procession of heavily- loaded vehicles was continuous. The railroads and ferries were equally thronged early in the forenoon. Cars could not contain the people that came by the trains. The two boats that were running constantly on the Fishkill ferry were borne far down in the water by the mass of people that crowded them from one end to the other. Many places in the immediate vicinity had given up all business for the day, and it seemed as though the entire population of a large section was pouring into the city. THE STREETS ALIVE. By nine a. m. the scene about town began to grow still more animated. The crowds of people began to be flecked here and there with various uniforms. Marshals and aids commenced to gallop about. The Grand Mar- shal was at his headquarters. People already began to seize on places for viewing the procession. Hucksters were howling out a variety of wares, centennial medals, cologne, photographs, penknives, pop-corn, papers of alleged antiquity, whips, canes, toy balloons, jumping jacks, peanuts, etc. Moving bands now gave new in- terest to affairs, denoting that preparations for the parade had actively commenced. SCENES ON THE RIVER. A SCENE THAT WOULD HAVE ASTONISHED HENEY HUDSON. UNCLE SAM S GUNS GIVING THE CITY A SHAKING UP CROWDS COMING HITHER BY THE FERRYBOATS — STEAM- BOATS COMING FROM DISTANT PLACES SECRETARY OF THE NAVY SALUTED BEWILDERING SCENES AT THE RIVER FRONT TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE ON THE POWELL. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October 18th. When the sun broke over the Fishkill mountains this morning it looked upon an enlivening scene. The fleet had just shaken the city to its foundations with the reports of its tremendous guns. The windows rattled and the houses shook. It is safe to say that Newburgh never received such a shaking before. The ferryboats commenced running at 4.30 a. m. and were crowded on every trip. The number of people that were transported by these boats can scarcely be estimated. Pilot Ford, of the Midland, thinks that up to 2 o'clock his boat trans- ported about fifteen thousand people, and Pilot Louns- bury, with the City of Newburgh, about the same num- ber. The boats were handled very skillfully. The whole of Dutchess County was drained of its population, which hurried by the shortest and quickest routes to Fishkill Landing. On some trips the ferryboats brought over nearly a thousand at a time. The steamboats commenced to arrive at about mid- night ; the Thomas P. Way reached here at about that time from Elizabethport and Jersey City with the Third New Jersey Regiment and the G-overnor of New Jersey. Captain Williams of the New York Police force, with sixty men, arrived also on the barge last night. Thirty or more mounted police from New York came here this morning via Hudson River Railroad, and with the many other policeman here to-day, have kept excellent order. The Walter Brett from Hudson arrived early in the morning with the 23d Separate Company. The steamer Hercules, with the barge bearing the fire- works for the display this evening, came up the river at eight o'clock and anchored just above the Hart's dock. The unearthly sounding whistle attached to that boat was frequently blown as a salute, and was answered by other steam vessels in the bay. Terror and consterna- tion appeared to seize a great many people as they heard for the first time the whistle mentioned, and it lasted un- til the cause of the '"music" became apparent to them. The Tallapoosa, with the Secretary of the Navy, arriv- ed at 8 o'clock, and was welcomed w T ith a salute of guns from the fleet. Crowds of people gathered at the dock and at windows overlooking the river to watch the ar- rival of steamboats, At 8.30 a salute of thirteen guns was fired from the Tennessee, and as the echoes from the large guns were wafted shoreward, people in immense numbers flocked to the best places for watching the seen e. The Hudson Taylor arrived from Poughkeepsie at nine o'clock with the Poughkeepsie Commandery. The Pleasant Valley arrived at 9.15 loaded down to the water's edge, having on board the Yonkers companies. The P. D. Lefever and a barge, both loaded with peo- ple, arrived at the same time from up the river. The scenes at the ferry docks were simply bewildering. The vast crowds of people that congregated at the Fish- kill ferry docks awaiting transportation did not seem to lessen, despite the immense loads of people carried at every trip. They rushed pell-mell on the boats. Cap- tains Jansen and Hornbeck and Mr. Balfe and others were kept busy making change. The ISew York and New England, the Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut and the Hudson River roads poured in the crowds. It seemed as if the people would never cease coming. At 9.30 o'clock there were 5,000 peo- ple packed in a dense mass in front of the ferry dock at Fishkill Landing, while long black columns of people could be seen extending far np the road and moving to- ward the river. Long lines of carriages were in waiting, and most of them waited over many trips before they could get aboard. It was a poor day for carriages. But why attempt to describe it V It was a foaming, crowding, angry mass of people. A dozen boats would not have brought them over. Hundreds of people gave up the struggle in disgust and got out of the crowd and waited patiently until there should be some show for them. This state of affairs continued during the whole of the morning. On the Newburgh side there was not the same confu- sion, but at times it was a serious problem how to get the people out of the way of each other. The services of the New York police were invaluable. They made lanes through the crowds on Ferry Street on the arrival of each boat, and when the ferry gates were raised the pas- sengers poured through like a frightened drove of sheep. The New York " cops " handled the crowd like men ac- customed to the business. There was a large force of detectives on hand in citizens' clothing. 14 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. One scene was remarked by only a few. A big, hand- some stranger who was standing at the gates, as if wait- ing for a friend, was seen to dart into the crowd and whisper to a finely dressed gentlemen coming off the boat. The finely dressed gentleman turned pale. Said the tall stranger : " It's going to be unhealthy here to- day, Jim ; I would not stay if I were you." " All right, Mr. H.," said the other, and he turned and went back on the boat. The tall man was a detective and the other a pickpocket who was warned to stay away. LANDING FROM THE FLEET. At ten o'clock the officers and marines of the fleet of Government vessels now anchored opposite the city, dis- embarked, and landing at the Washington Street dock, preceded by their band marched to their place in the pro- cession. Many other companies of firemen, grand army posts, and knights templar commanderies, arrived by rail on this side of the river during the forenoon. The scene presented by them in their gayly colored uniforms was very fine, and was greatly admired by the immense number of people who greeted them. MORE STEAMBOATS ARRIVE. The Mary Powell arrived from Kingston at 10.30, hav- ing on board about 2,000 people, including the Kingston fire and military companies. A large number of steam and sailing yachts kept coming all the morning. The steamboats Sam Sloan, Patrol, Columbia, Belle Horton and Grand Republic arrived about the same time, 10.30, but they were detained a long while in getting a place to land. But, as each organization was met by an aid, there was no confusion. The Thirteenth and Twenty-Third Regiments came on the Columbia and Grand Republic, but it seemed as if they would never get an opportunity to land. The Seventh Regiment came by train on the New York Central. As there were thous- ands of people waiting at the depot slip, the Seventh was marched around to the old slip and the City of Newburgh took them aboard there. Meanwhile the crowds at the Fishkill ferry landing continued to increase, and it appeared as if they would never all get over the river. The railroads on the east side continued to roll in the trains, and soon the depot yards were filled with empty cars. On Spy Hill and other hills crowds congregated to watch the spectacle. Hun- dreds of people came across the river in small boats, pay- ing fabulous prices for the privilege. AN ENLIVENING SCENE. The scene on the river at 11 o'clock was very enliven- ing. The dock soon got filled up with steamboats, and at last they had to wait their turn to land at the Long Dock. One after the other the Powell and Columbia got out of the way and the Grand Republic came to the dock at about 11.30 o'clock. One of the Iron Steamboat Com- pany's steamers arrived at this time and landed at the Long Dock, after the Grand Republic. At this time there were about twenty-five steamboats in the river, ex- clucive of steam yachts, sailing yachts, etc. At noon the river quieted down as it were. The boats had nearly all arrived and were lying at their berths at the docks. The Powell was at "the cotton factory, the Walter Brett, Thomas P. Way, Columbia and Belle Hor- ton were at the foot of South Street, the River Belle and Emeline at Mailler's dock, half a dozen small steamers were at Ramsdell's dock, the Lefevre and a barge were at the foot of Washington Street, and others were sand- wiched in between, making a continuous line of boats the whole length of the city front. The Albany arrived at 12.25. It was a long time before she had an opportunity to land. The William T. Hart commenced to carry pas- sengers across the river at noon time. CONFUSION AT FISHKILL. The scene on the Pishkill side of the river at noon was even mors confused than in the early morning. There were about six thousand people congregated on and around the dock. In the crowd were several military companies, who at last gave up all hope of getting across the river, and stacked arms to await developments. NOON TRAINS. The noon trains on the Hudson River road continued to pour in the train-loads. Trains of twelve and fourteen cars were frequent. The people climbed up on the ferry- rack and poured into the boat without paying, but no one had the heart to stop them. The unsuccessful part of the crowd became angry and wanted to break things. As Pilot Ford said : " It beggars description." AT THE UNION DEPOT. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IMPBESSED WITH THE BEAUTY OP THE SCENE. KAILWAY COACHES OVERFLOWING WITH EAGER SIGHT SEERS — ERIE AND WEST SHORE BRING TWENTY THOU- SAND PEOPLE INTO THE CITY. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October 18th. The view of the river and bay from the Union Depot this morning was very fine. The naval vessels, yachts, steamers and other boats appeared grandly decked with flags, streamers, etc The sun shining brightly cast a splendor over the entire scene ; and the thousands of people gathered in the vicinity of the depot to witness the arrival of trains, commented in extravagant terms upon the beauty of the scene presented. Trains on the West Shore and Erie Railroads arrived at frequent intervals during the forenoon, each train hav- ing from nine to twenty coaches filled to overflowing with passengers bound toward the scene of the Centennial cel- ebration. The broad staircase at the Union Depot, lead- ing to South Water Street, was crowded with people up- on the arrival of each West Shore train, It is estimated that about twenty thousand people arrived in the city during the forenoon by these two routes of travel. The locomotives attached to nearly every train were trimmed tastefully with flags and streamers. About 25 members of the Washington Continental Guards, of New York, Captain L. N. Gerring in command, with their drum corps, arrived on the barge at 12 o'clock last night, and are at the United States Hotel. More members of the company would have come except for the necessity of remaining in the city in order to receive leave of absence to parade on Evacuation Day, Novem- ber 25, there. The Tottenville Brass Band escorted members of Ellis NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 15 Post No. 52 of this city to the Erie Depot at 9 o'clock and had a tedious time waiting for the train bearing Carroll Post No. 279, G, A. R., of Port Jervis. At 10.30 o'clock Carroll Post, Dr. Sol. Van Etten. Commander, and with 75 men, arrived, accompanied by the Emmet Cornet Band of 18 pieces. Line was formed by the two Posts and the bands, and a march to Lander Street, right resting on Broadway, was begun. The members of Lawson Hose Co. No. 5, of this city, met Delaware Hose Company, No. 2, of Port Jervis, at a later train, and accompanied them to the place assigned them in the procession. The Erie Cornet band came with this company of visitors. Rankin Post No. 10, G. A. R., of Brooklyn, with 150 men, came in a special train on the West Shore, with about 200 invited guests, at 10 o'clock. Commander John H. Walker, better known among his comrades as "Fighting Jack Walker," ap- peared at the head of this Post. They had with them the celebrated 14th Regiment Band of forty pieces.' The O. H. Booth Hose Co. No. 2, of Poughkeepsie, headed by the Rhinebeck Band, came down by the West Shore route, arriving at 10.30 o'clock. Their carriage, a beautiful one, came about the same time. Many invited guests accompanied them. ARRIVAL OF THE GOVERNOR. Governor Cleveland and Staff of eighteen officers reached the city on a, West Shore train at 10.30 o'clock, and were at once taken in charge by members of the Centennial Committee of Five. They were given seats in carriages, as the honored guests of the city, and rapidly driven up town. ELEGANT DECORATIONS. A MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY OP NATIONAL EMBLEMS. NEWBURGH NEVER BEFORE SO BEAUTIFULLY ADORNED — FLAGS EVERYWHERE DESCRIPTION OF THE MORE NOTICEABLE DISPLAYS SPLENDOR OF LANDER AND WATER STREETS. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October 18th. Never before was Newburgh so beautifully decorated as it is to-day. There is scarcely a house that has not flung to the breeze a flag or a banner of some kind, while some of the buildings and private residences are decorated elegantly. Flags float from every pole. Every passer by on railroad and river can see that this is a gala day in the city on the hill. If, instead of passing by, the gazer joins the vast throngs that are pouring into the city, a brilliant spectacle bursts on his view as he sets foot on Newburgh soil. Water Street of course takes the lead for nearly con- tinuous decoration. Several companies have performed the principal part of the work of decorating. Of all the buildings in the city the Savings Bank has been draped most lavishly. As is the case in all other in- stances the work has been very tastefully done. There are banners representing the colonial flags of America ; a representation of the Albert Memorial, oil paintings, United States banners and shields, and flags of other nations hanging from the windows. Mayor Ward's house is decorated with flags of all na- tions, American shields, and a large coat of arms of the State of New York, and will be illuminated at night with calcium lights, Japanese lanterns, etc. The National Bank of Newburgh is decorated with flags, shields and the coat of arms of the United States. The Quassaick Bank is draped with American stream- ers, flags, shields and butterflies. The Highland Bank is decorated with streamers, national colors, fans, American flags and the United States coat of arms A. A. McLean's store is ornamented with American, colonial and foreign flags, besides shields, and will be Uluniinated to-night with Japanese lanterns. The reviewing stand is decorated with the United States coat of arms, streamers, fans, American flags, curtains and national colors. Ringgold Hose Company's house is draped with the national colors, United States banners, strings of colors, etc. Mr. J. S. S. McCroskery's residence presents a beauti- ful display of shields, banners, flags, etc., besides the motto, " No King but God." Mr. J. H. Young's residence is similarly decorated. Mr. M. H. Hirschberg's house shows a profusion of banners, flags, shields, fans, colors, etc. Mr. B. B. Odell's residence is trimmed with banners, flags, etc. The dwellings of Colonel Weygant, Mr. J. C. Adams, Mr. J. A. Mason and Mr. John Gait, the Register office, and the Journal office, are all elegantly draped. The interior of the Centennial Committee's rooms are hand- somely decorated with American flags, streamers, colonial flags, shields, etc. The Water Commissioners' office shows large American flags, strings of flags, banners and streamers. The Orange Lake Club rooms are decorated beauti- fully, inside and out. The interior halls are fairly covered with elegant decorations. The Townsend Building is draped with festoons, na- tional colors, streamers, sunbursts, fans, etc. Rev. Father Mooney's residence exhibits the Papal coat of arms and the Papal, Irish, American and other national flags. St. Patrick's Church is also decorated with Papal, American and other flags. The streets through which the procession will pass are all elegantly decorated. Lander Street from South to Farrington has hundreds of flags stretched across the street, while every house is ornamented more or less. The residences of S. E. Dim- mick, C. F. Burnett, G. B. Taylor, P. B. Taylor, Captain Lockwood, Charles Estabrook, W. H. Hilton, City Clerk Coutant, Isaac Matthews, and a score of others have been handsomely trimmed. Chapman Hose Company's house was trimmed with long strings of flags and large flags and lanterns. Liberty Street never looked better. Between Cather- ine and South there are a, great many large flags dis- played and the residences of Colonel Dickey, Mr. Mills, W. C. Chambers, Rev. J. Macnaughtan, J. L. Sloat, Mr. Covert, Mr. Hasbrouck, J. P. Andrews, William Hilton, 16 NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. W. H. Kelly, W. H. Lyon, Mrs. George Clark, John Hil- ton and others, besides those already mentioned, are dec- orated. In Grand Street the Library Building, the Court House, John Schoonmaker's, Mr'. Hector Craig's, Miss A. U. Smith's, Dr. Culbert's, Dr. Shelton's, T. P. Townsend's, Joseph Chadwick's, Isaac Powell's, Rev. F. B. Savage's, and Thomas Coldwell's residences are all handsomely dec- orated. The residence of Judge Fullerton is festooned with red, white and blue, long streamers merely, but beautiful in its simplicity and noticeable for the extent of the decora- tion. The gateway is arched with evergreens. The residence of Howard Thornton, Esq., just opposite, is ornamented with shields, coat of arms, fans, festoons of national colors, paintings, etc. But the street of all streets is Water Street. To say that it is beautiful is putting it in a mild way. It is one vast^array of flags, bunting and national colors, arranged and classified in every imaginable design. There is scarcely a storekeeper from Broadway to South Street that has not flung out a flag, and, in most cases, the decorations are exceedingly beautiful. To give a list of them would be but to name every merchant doing busi- ness in the street. They have done honor to the city in expressing themselves so heartily in accord with the occasion. It is- a grand welcome to the visiting organiza- tions and the memory of the beautiful spectacle will live long in the minds of those who have gazed upon it. The West Shore Railroad depot and that of the Erie Railroad are beautifully draped with flags, streamers, festoons of national colors, shields, fans, etc. It is an appropriate welcome to the visitors coining by these roads. The long line of electric lights makes a beautiful illumination at night, the like of which has never been seen in this city. The Grand Stand at the Headquarters is a masterpiece of decorative work. From it float the flags of all nations and of every State and Territory in the Union ; besides a painting representing a "Banner in the Sky," together with shields, fans, sun-bursts, streamers, festoons of colors arranged magnificently. A SPLENDID PAGEANT. TEN THOUSAND MEN IN THE GRAND PROCESSION. ALL THE OBGANIZATIONS EXPECTED AKEIVE — MILITARY AND CIVIC BODTES FORTY BANDS IN THE LINE THREE MILES OF MEN NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS OF THE GREAT DISPLAY. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October ISth. The grand procession was a splendid pageant, all that its most ardent well-wishers could have hoped it would be. The expected organizations all arrived, and some that were not on the lists, so that there were about ten thousand men in line ; and a procession of equal size that contained better material was never seen. Military bodies of the highest standing were supplemented by as fine fire companies as ever dragged on a rope. There were fully forty bands, including several of the most famous in the country, besides from sixteen to twenty drum corps organizations, one of which numbered thirty-five. The procession approached three miles in length and it took about an hour and a half for it to pass any point. The procession was a little late in start- ing, but it was actually under way before any one would have reasonably supposed it would be, the head of the column moving some minutes before twelve o'clock. THE FORMATION. At 10 a. m., the hour set for the procession to begin to form, that part of Broadway and the streets abutting on it where the procession wag to rendezvous was thronged by large crowds, who filled all positions of vantage and made the vicinity teem with moving beings, all anxious to see the great spectacle. No effort was then made to interfere with the movements of the people, and they filled the roadways of the streets as well as the sidewalks. The first organization to report and take its assigned place in preparation for the parade was Courtland Hook and Ladder Company of I'eekskill, which inarched to their position at 10.20. Ellis Post, G A. R, of this city, accompanied by a squad of the old Newburgh Conti- nentals, came right after, as did also Vosburgh Post, G A. R., of Peekskill. Then came the United States regu- lar troops from Governor's Island, Poughkeepsie's 15th. Separate Company, the 23d Separate Company of Hud- son, and several other organizations. The Grand Marshal and his staff arrived on the scene at 10.50, when Brewster Hook and Ladder Company set out for their place, and Alert Hose of Binghamton; Columbian Hose, of this city; Citizens' Hose of Catskill, a fine looking company; Law- son Hose of Newburgh, and Delaware Hose, of Port Jervis, approached. Then came General Fitzgerald and staff. When 11 o'clock had arrived there was not yet the slightest indication of a start, though the guns arranged for as a signal were fired from the warship Tennessee. Many of the most important parts of the procession had not yet arrived, though a good number were now on the scene. Broadway then presented a great spectacle. The street was black with people from Colden Street to John- ston Street, and windows were filled and roofs bore en >wds. Even the safe branches of the few trees were perches for eager sight-seers. At 11.25 about sixty New York policemen, commanded by Superintendent Walling, Inspector Thorne and the celebrated Captain Williams, came marching up in company front and reported to the Grand Marshal, and organizations were then heard com- ing in every direction. At 11.30 the 7th Regiment arrived and took their place and the different divisions began to approach completion. At about 11.50 the Grand Marshal's bugler sounded the attention. Two minutes later he gave the order to for- ward, and the procession started. Bands struck up in every direction, the heads of the different divisions mov- ing out of the street upon Broadway simultaneously. The New York police, the Grand Marshal and staff, and General Fitzgerald and staff, followed by the 7th Regi- ment, turned down Broadway and started over the an- nounced line of march. The head of the Second Division moved down from Liberty Street till it reached the west side of Grand, where it halted till the First Division had passed, when it took its place in line. The divisions from other streets did the same, each standing ready to NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 17 lake its position as soon as the preceding division had all wheeled into place. The moving of the procession from the starting point was made difficult by the presence of so many people. The number congregated in the vicinity must have been ten thousand. The New York police were able to clear about one-half of the broad roadway for the head of the linte, but, that by, the crowd closed in again. They pressed in so at times that they actually broke up com- panies of militarj\ Again and again parading bodies would 'have to take the work of clearing away into their own hands. One company charged bayonets at one time, in order to break through. At the Colden Street corner of Broadway there was an especially great mass of people. The head of the line was delayed some time before it could get through. Some organizations were very late getting in their places in line. The Newburgh Knights Templar were much behind time before they reported, and a good deal of the procession was under way before their band ar- rived. It came, however, before order to forward reached the Knights. Ringgold Hose's band was also late, but it reached town in time for the company to fall into line as the procession passed their house. Another close con- nection was that of Mr. Beecher's 13th Regiment. They were able to report at the corner of Broadway and Grand Street just in time to take their place at the head of the Third Division, which had begun to move, and which was halted to let them step in. Some Odd Fellows only got in line when the column reached Second Street in going through Water. The last of the procession had not passed Grand Street going down Broadway till 1.05 p. m. At that time Law- son Hose went by. The head of the column, then pass- ing south in Grand Street, was out on Broadway again two minutes after. The corner had been cleared just in time. In other words, the moving column extended from the corner down Broadway, northeast to Colden and Water Streets and back southward in Grand Street to Broadway again — this in the early portion of the parade, ^aen the procession was moving closely together. ORDER OF PROCESSION. Company of New York City Police. Grand Marshal, Charles H. Weygant. H. P. Ramsdell, Chief of Staff. Aids: Thos. W. Bradley, J. Owen Moore, Charles E. Snyder, J. D. Mabie, N. H. Schram, James Heard, Clark B. Gallatian, Dr. John Deyo, William H. Kelly, John A. McDonnell, Frederick Decker, Charles Mapes, James W. Benedict, Seneca W. Merritt. Buglers, Color Bearers and Orderlies. FIRST DIVISION. Marshal, Brigadier-General Louis Fitzgerald. Staff, Bugler and Orderlies. Seventh Regiment, N. GK S. N. Y., of New York City. 700 men. Cappa's Seventh Regiment Band, 55 pieces. Drum and Bugle Corps, 30 pieces. Col. Emmoni Clark and Staff. Lieut. -Col. George Moore Smith. Major Richard Allison. Company C — Captain Don Alonzo Pollard. Company B — Captain Henry S. Steel. Company G — Captain James C. Abrams. Company A — Captain Augustus W. Conner. Company I — Captain William C. Casey. Company E — Captain George B. Rhodes. Company H — Captain James L. Price. Company K — Captain Francis W. Bacon. Company F— Captain Daniel Appleton. Company D — Captain W, H. Kipp. Uniformed Seventh Regiment Veteran Battalion, 350 men 8th Regiment Band, 40 pieces. Colonel Locke W. Winchester. Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Bostwick, Major John H. Kemp. Company A — Captain Henry I. Hayden. Company B — Captain John C. Griffing. Company C — Captain John W. Murray! Company D — Captain William H. Riblet. Company E — Captain Wm. A. Speaitjht. Company F — Captain Edward (). Bird. Company G — Captain Lyman Tiffany. Company H — Captain Henry C. Shumway. Company I — Captain Edward G. Arthur. Company K — Captain James Ray. Officers of day and distinguished guests in 50 carriages. Peter Ward, Mayor of Newburgh, Chairman of the committee in charge. Hon. Joel T. Headley, President Washington's Headquarters Commission. Hon, Thomas F. Bayard, Presiding Officer. Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, Orator. Mr. Wallace Bruce, Poet. Rev. S. Irenseus Prime, D. D., Chaplain. Hon. William E. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy. Hon. Grover Cleveland, Governor of New York, and Staff. Hon. Augustus O. Bourn, Governor of Rhode Island, and Staff. Major General Carr and Staff. Major General Shaler and Staff. Members Joint Congressional Committee, viz.: Hon. Lewi's Beach, Hon. Warner Miller, Hon. J. H. Ketcham, Hon. Joseph R. Hawley, Hon. A. G. Curtin, Hon. Amos Townsend. Brevet Major General W. D. Whipple, A. A. G. Major Asa B. Gardner, Judge Advocate, and Capt. G. S. L, Ward, Aide-de-Camp, of General Hancock's Staff. Common Councd of City of Newburgh. Delegates Society Cincinnati and 100 distinguished guests. SECOND DIVISION. Marshal, William D. Dickey. Howard Thornton, Chief of Staff. Aids: B. B. Moore, J. S. Wiseman, Augustus Senior, E. A. Brown, Albert N. Chambers, KeUey Fu I lager, G. Gartzman, M. D., James Ogden, G. Fred Wiltsie, John A. Staples. Battalion of 5th U. S. Artillery, dismounted. Governor's Island Band. Brevet Brigadier-General R. H. Jackson, Commanding. Company A — Captain and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel B. Beck. Company B — Captain N. E. Van Reed. Company I — Captain G. W. Crabb. Company M — Captain G. V. Wier. Naval Brigade, from North Atlantic Squadron. 800 men. Marine Band, 20 pieces. Pioneer Corps. Commander A. V. Reed, U. S. N., Commanding. Lieutenant C. E. Callahan, U. S. ?»'., Adjutant-General. Marine Battalion — Captain W. S. Muse, U. S. M., Commanding. Infantry Battalion (Sailors) — Lieut. R. P. Rodgers, U. S. N., Commanding. Artillery Battalion— Lieut. G. W. Tyler, U. S. N., Commanding. Rear-Admiral G. H. Cooper, Staff and Officers of Fleet, in carriages. Tenth Separate Company, of Newburgh. Tenth Regiment Band, of Albany, 24 pieces. Captain J. M. Dickey and 40 men. Putnam Phalanx Battalion, of Hartford. T25 men. Battalion Drum Corps, 14 pieces. Alvin Squires, Major Commanding, and Staff. First Company — Captain C. A. Case. Second Company — Captain Joseph Warner. Honorary Corps — Captain J. W. Welch. Nineteenth Separate Company, N. G. S. N. Y., Po'keepsie. Drum Corps. Captain Haubennestel, 60 men. Twenty-third Regiment, N. G. S. N. T., of Brooklyn. 550 men. Twenty-third Regiment Band, 50 pieces. Fife and Bugle Corps, 20 pieces. Colonel Rodney C. Ward and Staff. Lieutenant Colonel J. B. Frothingham. Major C. L. Fincke. Company G — Captain Alfred H. Williams. Company E — Captain Arthur Guthrie. Company H — Captain Alexis C. Smith. Company K — Captain Charles E. Waters. Company F — Captain George H. Pettit. Company B — First Lieutenant Willard L. Candee. Company C — Captain Ezra De Forest. Company A — Captain Arthur B. Hart. Company D — Captain Darius Ferry. 18 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. Third Regiment, N. G., S. N. J. (Garfield Legion), of Elizabeth, N. J. 400 men. Third Regiment Band, 25 pieces. Colonel E. H. Ropes and Staff. Lieutenant-Colonel M. N. Oviatt. Major A B. Lee. Company A — Captain G. C. Armerod. Company B — Captain J. V. Allstroon. Company D — Captain John D. Stroud. Company C — Captain \V . H. DeHart. Company G — Captain O. S. Stanhope. Company E, Seventh N.J. — Captain A. J. Buck, 70 men. Temporarily at- tached to Third N. J. Cadet Battalion of the Peekskill Military Academy, Peekskill, N. Y. Drum Corps. Colonel Wright commanding; 125 strong. THIRD DIVISION. Marshal, Edward D. Hayt. C. L. Waring, Chief of Staff. Aids: Wm, T. Peters, Edward Whelan, John Smith, W. H. Van Sciver, Edward Stocker, F. H. Mason, M. V. Waring, C. F. Wells. Thirteenth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., of Brooklyn. 600 Men and 80 Musicians. Dodworth's Thirteenth Regiment Band, 50 pieces. Drum and Bugle Corps, 30 pieces. Colonel David E. Austin and Staff. Lieutenant Col. Theodore B. Gates. Major W. B. Tyson. Regimental Veteran Corps, Colonel Willoughby Powell. Company G — Captain William L. Watson. Company H — Captain C. P. Kretchmar. Company E — Captain Edward Fackner. Company I — Captain James S. Manderville. Company K — Captain George B. Squires. Company F — Captain Wm. H. Courtney. Company C — Captain F. B. S. Morgan. Company A — Captain Wm. L. Collins. Company D— First Lieut. D. M. D. Company B — Captain Ed. M. Smith. 13th Regiment Battery, Captain G. W. Cochran. Fifth Separate Company, of Newburgh. Moscow's Newburgh City Band, 16 pieces. Fife and Drum Corps, 12 pieces. Captain J. T. Chase and 60 men. Company H, Seventy-first Regiment, N. G M S. N. Y., of New York City. Band. Captain F. H. Jordan, 60 men. Fifteenth Separate Company, of Poughkeepsie. Drum Corps. Captain Berthold Meyers, 40 men. Eleventh Separate Company, of Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Band, 15 pieces. Captain J. M. Jarvis, 40 men. Fourth Separate Company, of Yonkers. Captain Isaiah Frazier, 40 men. Twenty-third Separate Company, of Hudson. Drum Corps, 18 men. Captain E. R. Elting, 60 men. G. A. R. BRIGADE. Assistant Marshal, W. H. Mickle. Staff— D. L. Kidd, George Barber, W. T. Talmadge, Egbert Lewis. Ellis Post, No. 52, of Newburgh. Tottenville Band, 19 pieces. Comd. W. H. Mills, 80 men. Uniformed Delegates, 120 men. Rankin Post, No. 10, of Brooklyn. 14th Regiment Band, 20 pieces. Comd. J. H. Walker, 150 men. Delegates from other Posts, 100 men. Harry Lee Post, No. 21, of Brooklyn. Drum Corps, 35 pieces. Comd. J. R. McNaughton, 60 men. Delegates from other Posts, 40 men. Howland Post, No. 48, of Fishkill. Comd. Stephen Price, 24 men. Carroll Post, No. 279, of Port Jervis. Emmett's Band, 18 pieces. Commander Sol Van Etten, 75 men. Pratt Post, No. 127, of Kingston. Post Drum Corps. Commander R. W. Anderson, 150 men. George G. Meade Post, No. — , of Brooklyn, N. Y. Commander , 100 men. Abram Vosburgh Post, No. 95, of Peekskill. Band. Commander W. A. Sipperly, 75 men. Waldron Post, No. 82, of Nyack. Band. Commander Louis L. Robbins, 60 men, accompanied by Commander W. H. Myers and 20 men from Silliman Post, No. 172. John Hancock Post, No. 253, of Nyack. Band. Commander George F. Morse, 40 men. J. H. Ketcham Post, No. 88, of "Wappingers Falls. Band. Commander James Fenton, 40 men. 1st Company, Washington Continental Guards, N. Y. City Drum Corps, 12 pieces. 24 men. Independent Veteran Volunteers, of Poughkeepsie. Captain W. Platto ; 20 men. Veterans of the 124th N. Y. S. Volunteers. FOURTH DIVISION. Marshal, John R. Post. Chief of Staff, E. R . Hasbrouck. Aids : G. W. Townsend. Ward Belknap. West Point Band, 30 pieces. KNIGHTS TEMPLAR BATTALION. Hudson River Commandery, No. 35, K. T., of Newburgh. Commander, Eminent Sir Knight J. Searle ; 100 men. Poughkeepsie Commandery, No. 43, K. T., of Poughkeepsie. Commander, Eminent Sir Knight A. F. Lindley ; 50 men. KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS BATTALION. Albany Uniformed Division, No. 2, of Albany. Commander, Sir Knight M. J. Severence, 60 men. Iona Uniformed Division, of Haverstraw. Commander, Sir Knight Alonzo Bedell. 51 men. ODD FELLOWS BATTALION. Brooklyn Uniformed Degree, Camp No. 2, of Brooklyn. Commander Sidney S. Rowland ; 65 men. Washington Uniformed Degree, No. 10, of New York City, Commander Lewis Nolte ; 40 men. Highland Falls Lodge, No. 429, of Highland Falls. John F. Tucker, N. G., 40 men. Cornwall Lodge, No. 340, of Cornwall. Henry Reveley, N. G., 25 men. MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES. German Mannerchor of Newburgh. Theo. Ramstedt, President; 40 mA, Juvenile Temperance Association of Newburgh George W. Bradley, President. FIFTH DIVISION. 80 strong. Marshal, Chief Engineer Nicholas Powell. Staff: Assistant Engineers of Newburgh Fire Department. VISITING COMPANIES. Sixth Battery Band, of Binghamton. Alert Hose Company No. 2, of Binghamton. J. W. Butler, Foreman; somen.' Erie Cornet Band, of Port Jervis. Delaware Hose Company, No. 2, of Port Jervis. E. B. Wilkinson, Foreman J 40 men, Y. M. C. A. Band, of Yonkers. Lady Washington Hose Company, No. 2, of Yonkers. James McVicar, Foreman ; 75 men. Yonkers Brass Band, 15 pieces. Hudson Hose Company, No. 4, of Yonkers. Benjamin Cline, Foreman; 40 men. NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 19 Peekskill Cornet Band. Courtland Hook and Ladder Company, No. i, of Peekskill, Charles R. Swain, Foreman; 45 men. North Tarrytown Fire Patrol, of North Tarrytown. Tarrytown Cornet Band, 17 pieces. Pocantico Hook and Ladder Company, No. — , of Tarrytowm, John P. Kelly, Foreman ; 40 men. Rhinebeck Brass Band, 14 pieces. O. H. Booth Hose Company, No. 2, of Poughkeepsie, E. O. Caldwell, Foreman; 60 men. Hurley Brass Band, of Kingston. Kingston Hose Company, No. 2, of Kingston, H. A. Burgan, Foreman. Goeller's Band, 14 pieces. Weber Hose Company, No. 3, of Rondout, R. P. Carter, Foreman; 27 men. Band. Protection Hose Company, No. 1, of Catskill, Spencer C. Phillips, Foreman ; 30 men. Washington Hose Company, No. 3, of Newburgh, Henry Scott, Foreman. NEWBURGH FIRE DEPARTMENT. Montgomery Band, of Montgomery, N. Y. Brewster Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, of Newburgh, William W. Boyd, Foreman. 71st Regiment Band, of New York. Ringgold Hose Company No. 1, of Newburgh, John Ernest, Jr., Foreman. 21st Regiment Band, of Poughkeepsie. C. M. Leonard Steamer Company, No. 2, of Newburgh, C. S. McKissock, Foreman. Piano's Band, of Fishkill. Columbian Hose Company, No. 2, of Newburgh, J. H. R. Strachan, Foreman. Millerton Band, of Millerton. Highland Steamer Company, No, 3, of Newburgh, H. C. Mellor, Foreman. Eastman's College Band, of Poughkeepsie. Chapman Hose Company, No. 4, of Newburgh, Thomas H. Burke, Foreman. Collins' Band, of Newburgh. Washington Steamer Company, No. 4, of Newburgh, Alex. J. Blitt, Foreman. Cline's Albany City Band, of Albany. Lawson Hose Company, No. 5, of Newburgh, D. C. Cameron Foreman. PASSAGE THROUGH WATER STREET. During the forenoon thousands of people congregated on Water Street, eager to see the grand pageant in the form of a parade. The sidewalks were crowded, and it was almost impossible for pedestrians to crowd their way through the good-natured mass of people. House-tops, wnidows and balconies were all taken up with the forms of eager people, awaiting the moving of the procession. Owing to the late arrival of many of the visiting reg- iments and other organizations taking part in the grand demonstration, it was impossible to take up the hne of march until nearly 12 o'clock. After patiently waiting the required length of time the thousands who lined either side of the street were re- warded by seeing the right of the column march into "Water Street from Colden, and move slowly through the former street. The companies occupied the places as- signed to them, and at frequent intervals the "crack" companies in the procession received a perfect ovation of applause. The distinguished guests of the city, both civil and military, were greeted with hearty cheers from myriads of throats as the carriages in which they rode passed through the street. The fine marching of the 7th, 13th, 23rd and other Regiments brought out a perfect furore of cheering and applause. The eager throng of people wavered upon the sidewalk, in many cases push- ing each other out in the street to the great risk of life and limb. The music of the various bands was grand, and their spirited playing of the patriotic airs of our country elicited cheers from the bystanders. The marines from the U. S. naval fleet, headed by the Marine Band and the Pioneer Corps, came in for a full share of credit. Looking up Water Street, as far as the eye could reach, a scene was presented such as our city never seen before. The fine uniforms of the soldiers furnished a rare and beautiful sight. Their bayonets glistening in the sunlight helped to make them look every inch the well equipped soldiers they were. The waving columns as they passed up the slight elevation north of Third Street formed an attractive sight. Occasionally a halt would be necessary to allow the companies on the side streets, which had arrived very late, to obtain a place in the line. The military companies marched in platoon and other organizations in broad columns, yet it took nearly two hours for the procession to pass a given point. The grandly decorated buildings appeared to attract forcibly the attention of participants in the parade, and many were the exclamations of pleasure made by some of them. Thousands of ladies occupied the best places obtainable along the hne of march, and they greeted the city's visit- ors with a constant waving of handkerchiefs and their sweetest smiles. The scene presented was such as has never before been witnessed in this part of the country, and it will undoubtedly be impressed upon the minds of all who were privileged to witness it so forcibly that the parade on the occasion of the Newburgh Centennial will stand as the most impressive and grand sight they have ever seen. The companies of firemen, both from abroad and in this city, appeared to good advantage, and formed an attractive feature of the parade. The number of bands was large, and they appeared to vie with with each other in the effort to render their playing acceptable to the vast number of listeners. As the rear end of the proces- sion passed by, the people who had gathered at the vari- ous points started almost en masse up town, doubtless with the object of obtaining, if possible, another view of the procession. It is difficult to estimate the number of people who were present on Water Street at the passage of the parade, but the number reached many thousands. REVIEWING THE PROCESSION. When the procession passed South Street coming down Grand, the carriages containing the distinguished guests were driven rapidly ahead. When they reached Third Street they drove around the Court House, stopping at the south entrance, where all alighted from the carriages and proceeded to the reviewing stand. The streets at this point were densely crowded, but the crowd was good-natured in the extreme, and no jostling or unpleas- ant features occurred. The grand stand on the Reformed Church grounds was packed from top to bottom. When the reviewing officials marched upon the stand, led by Governor Cleveland, they were greeted with a round of applause from the multitude, repeated as other well known faces appeared. The military division occupied about forty minutes in passing the stand and the re- mainder extended the time to a little more than an hour. The Seventh Regiment elicited round after round of applause as their platoons went by, with perfect align- ment. The Veteran Corps of the Seventh was almost as prominent a feature as the regiment itself, and the mag- nificent band which led them captured the multitude at once. The Tenth Separate Company, Captain Dickey, of this city, made a splendid appearance, and their band was the only one in the procession that played " Hail to the Chief " in passing. It was fortunate that it was so, as the music would have grown monotonous to the reviewing officers. Our old friends of the Putnam Phalanx were the recip- ients of quite an ovation as they passed. Their quaint uniform, their showy plumes and their well-known faces (to Newburghers at least) won them continuous plaudits as they passed down the line. The Sons of Veterans made quite an impression upon the reviewing officers as they saluted and passed by in 20 NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. their neat zouave uniform. One of them was so enthu- siastic and bound not to be left that he marched by on crutches. The next notable feature was the Third New Jersey Regiment. These men from a sister State received a storm of applause as they passed the reviewing stand. Their alignment was perfect. It was a wonder that they were able to march so well when so many bands, each one with its different time, were playing within earshot. When the various posts of the Grand Army of the Re- public went by their torn and tattered flags caught every eye, and the significance of the display touched every heart. In the ranks of Post Carroll was seen a little low wagon containing an aged veteran who was unable to walk, and his comrades were drawing his vehicle along with ropes. He was greeted with resounding cheers. THE EXCRUCIATING DRUM-MAJORS. This was the time for the greatest effort of the life of the average drum-major, and he was not too slow or dignified to improve the same. The contortions into which some of these men knotted themselves were a sight to behold, and the spectators will not forget the exhibi- tion until the next Centennial, at least. The antics of some of these acrobatic gentlemen kept the reviewing stand in a roar. Potent, grave and reverend dignitaries laughed until their sides ached. One of the drum-majors, who headed a corps of little boys, seemed large enough to weigh more than the lot of them. The contrast between him and them in respect to size was amusing. Near the end of the Fourth Division was the Newburgh Juvenile Temple, No. 132, of about 75 boys and girls, in three four-horse platform trucks finely decorated with their banner and flags and mottoes. Their first wagon contained 38 girls representing the 38 States of the Union, who were dressed in white with tri-colored sashes and caps. The next wagon contained a " Goddess of Liberty" and three children, representing their motto, "Truth, Love and Purity. " Then f olio wed the boys in their white regalia. The reviewing stand was packed full. The Governors of States occupied positions at the front of the structure. The following constituted the staff of Governor Bourn, of Rhode Island: Adjutant General, Brigadier General B. Dyer, jr. ; Quartermaster General, Brigadier General C. R. Denim; Surgeon General, Brigadier General John C. Budlong; Judge Advocate General, Brigadier General George C. Grower; Assistant Adjutant General, Lieuten- ant Colonel S. AV. Nickerson; Aids, Colonels Willis S. Stiner, A. II. Walson, Fred. W. Jenck, A. C. Landers, George H. Utter. THE END OF THE PARADE. When the head of the procession turned into Lander Street at the corner of South, it must have been with feelings of great thankfulness and satisfaction that Grand Marshal Weygant, the division commanders, the Centen- nial Committee, the officers of the visiting organizations and every man that participated in or that had anything to do with the parade, contemplated the end. Nothing had occurred to mar the beauty of the procession. The gallant Seventh at the right of the line continued their brisk step all through the march, and, at the closing, when the procession marched through the last street, the alignment was almost perfect, and the distances were well-maintained. There was scarcely a sound heard in the street as the troops went inarching by, with solid company fronts extending from curb to curb, but an occasional burst of applause that could not be sup- pressed. The parade appeared to splendid advantage as it marched through this street. The people were largely upon the steps of their houses and there was not the dense crowd that somewhat detracted from the grandeur of the sight in other streets. Not once did a company come to a halt in this street, so well had the distances been preserved. Down the shaded street, underneath the rows of flags and flanked on every hand marched the finest parade of mixed organizations that ever took place in this country. Not a company but what was a crack one among its fellows was there. The streets resounded with the music of the bands — and forty bands never made sweeter^ than they. The citizens were fairly carried away by it. When such bands as the Seventh Regiment Band, the'Thirteenth Regiment Band, the 10th Regiment Band, the West Point Band and the Marine Band get together in one parade it is enough to make any lover of music enthusiastic. The fine marching of the Seventh, Twenty-Third and Thirteenth Regiments was particularly noticeable in this street. We are proud of the 10th Separate. It was beyond all question the best uniformed company in the parade, and its drill was inferior to no other. Its marching at company front could not be improved upon. The famous band leading it wore similar uniforms. To say that they were heartily applauded is putting it mild. Captain Chase's company also looked and marched well. The companies of the 71st Regiment and the Putnam Phalanx especially were one of the great attractions of the parade. What a fine body of men those sailors were! great, stout, brawny fellows, with bravery and duty written in their faces. Their marching was perfect and Their conduct a model for others. The division of the Grand Army of the Republic was a most excellent one. They were a fine body of men, and they showed by their fine discipline tha,t they had not for- gotten, their war training. THE FIRE LADDIES. The firemen's division was, next to the military, , the finest division in the parade. A handsomer collection of hose carriages, steamers and trucks was never gathered in a parade. Some of the companies had nearly seventy- five men on the rope and none of the Newburgh com- panies had less than forty. The Rondout company was the smallest in the division. Our citizens were more impressed than ever with the excellence of our local fire department. Their conduct was perfect and they marched away like soldiers. Ringgold and Lawson had the finest carriages in the procession ; Chapman's and Columbian's came next. The steamers shone like mir- rors and Brewster's truck was a thing of beauty. The Tarrytown Hook and Ladder Company had a handsome truck and so did the Cortland Company, of Peekskill. Lawson Hose had the extreme left of the line, except the empty carriages of the invited guests, which followed the procession after their occupants vacated them at the reviewing stand. On the top of Pocantico Hook and Ladder Company's truck sat a little fellow dressed in Continental costume, and looking like a minature edition of Geo. Washington. As company after company passed down the street it was seen that there would be no halting or blockade. On they marched till the last man of the ten thousand had set foot in Broadway and the procession was really ended. A beautiful feature of the parade was at the close, when it countermarched on Broadway. The crowds mainly kept back on the sidewalks and the parade marched far up this magnificent avenue, going up on the north side and returning on the south side. The music of scores of bands made almost a confusion of melody. At company front the regiments marched and had plenty of room to spare on that broad street. The enthusiasm of the crowd was unbounded. Up the street and down the street marched the great parade, while the last divi- sions continued to come out of Lander Street into Broad- way. When the Seventh returned and reached the Arm- ory again, it quickly went inside, ate all it wanted and came out again, and still the remainder of the parade was coming through Lander Street. Then following the example of the Seventh the other regiments left the parade, dashing down the avenue or into side streets. The marines marched down Washing- ton Street to the river and went back to their ships, the Thirteenth marched to the foot of Broadway and had their dinner. The Twenty-third trotted down street and had had its dinner on the Columbia. The Knights Tem- plar were conducted into one side street, the Grand Army of the Republic into another, and other organizations into NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 21 others. The end of the parade was handled as ably as the formation. It was a fitting finale. After going into the side streets the companies could go where they pleased provided they kept out of the way of the remainder of the parade, so that at one time organizations were were marching through a score of streets at the same time. After a time the majority of the visiting organizations found their way down town to their boats. THE PARADE COMPLIMENTED. The great parade is over. Newburgh never]] saw 1 .] its equal and may never again. For its success a very large share of credit is due to the indefatigable efforts of the Grand Marshal, Col. Charles H. Weygant, who labored earnestly for a long time previous to the celebration in preparing the details of arrangement, without which the parade would not have been as successful as it was. It would be impossible to mention all the complimentary things that the writer has heard remarked about the pro- cession. Said a distinguished officer of the 7th Regiment Veteran Corps, '"It was a remarkably fine parade, and for one containing mixed organizations, the finest I ever witnessed It was a big thing for Newburgh and the city should be proud of it." Said another officer, "Newburgh can hold up its head from this on among all the cities of the land. It is a little town, but it can trot out a big pa- rade." "You don't know my name and therefore you cannot give me away," said another; "but I think my opinion is worth something, and just say that one ex- presses his opinion of all the military men who witnessed it, that the arrangement and the handling of the parade has never been excelled in New York City, and for a pa- rade of its kind is the finest I ever witnessed, and I have seen an awful lot of them." Not only was the procession complete in all the adver- tised organizations, but it went over the full line of march, and also countermarched at the close on Broad- way, so that the parading bodies saw each other. The head of the line finished the march at about two p. m. , and the last were through with the parade a little after three o'clock, when the visiting organizations were es- corted to different places for lunch. Afterwards some of them went to the Headquarters, and such as could view- ed the last of the parade, and others strolled through the city. AT WASHINGTON S HEADQUARTERS. INTEEESTLNG EXEECISES HELD THEEE THUESDAY AETEENOON. VIEW FROM THE GKAND STAND A SOLID SEA OF HEADS OBATOEY, POETRY, MUSIC FINE PEEFOEMANCE OF THE BAND AND THE CHOEUS. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October l%th. The scene at the grand stand at Washington's Head- When all the guests had been seated, and exactly at 3 quarters on Thursday afternoon, literally beggared o'clock the exercises were commenced as per the pro- j -j.. tti ij- ittj 4. gram by Cappa's band, which played the overture to description. Every avenue leading to Headquarters was Willian / T ell Critical mention of the band is not called thronged by an eager, expectant crowd, all surging for— its performance seemed simply perfect, toward that spot. In front of the stand extending to the prayer by the rev. dr. prime. north side of the grounds was a solid sea of heads and the The assemblage was then called to order by his Honor, throng reached up to the Headquarters building and ex- Mayor Ward, who introduced the Rev. S. Irenaeus Prime, tended far down toward the eastern front. The stand D. £»., who offered the following prayer : was ainply large enough for all those holding tickets, Almighty God, the Maker of heaven and earth, in which included all the distinguished personages who whose hand are the destinies of nations; the God of were invited, Cappa's famous band, and the orators, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our fathers' God and ours: reader and clergy. To the west of the roofed portion of Thee we adore. Thou didst lead Joseph like a flock ; and the stand, the platform was extended far and wide thou didst go before our fathers, a pillar of cloud by day enough to seat the grand chorus who were to participate and of fire by night. For thy care of them in the war in the ceremonies of the day. The signal for the be- for our Independence we bless and praise thee to-day. ginning of the exercises was given in a broadside from On thine omnipotent arm our Washington leaned, by the fleet that made the windows rattle again. Thee our armies were upheld ; Thy right hand gave us victory and wrought our salvation. order oe exercises. j? or this day that commemorates the close of that long i. introductory Overture— " William Tell "..Cappa's 7th Regiment Band struggle and the establishment of peace, we thank Thee, 2. Assemblage called to order by Hun. Peter Ward, Mayor. and for the countless blessings that have ensued ; for our 3. Prayer Rev. s. irenasus Prime, D. D. existence as a nation ; f or civil and religious liberty ; for 4. Te Deum, " We Praise Thee, God," by Dudley Buck. Grand law and order and the prosperity of the country in which Chorus of 500 Voices and Band. it is our privilege to dwell. Above all, we thank Thee for 5. Introduction of United States Senator Thomas F. Bayard, President of thy Son JeSUS Christ by whom We have the f OrgiveneSS - the afternoon. . „ . °f sul ana tk e hope of eternal life. And we invoke thy 6. " Hail Columbia " Chorus and Band benediction on our beloved country, the general govern- 7 . Reading of a Poem (original) "The Long Drama from '76 to '83." men t a nd the several States and Territories, upon the ... f „ ce mce ' _ ._ . , ,, , , . , n , f „ . President of the United States and all associated with 8. (a) 7th Regiment Grand Round, by Markstein. 1st, Guard fall in. ......... ,. -, ,, , , .. - ... 2d, Attention. 3 d, Marching to inspect posts. 4 th, Halt ! 5th, him in his administration and on all who are clothed with Countersign. 6th, Marching back. 7 th, Dismissal. 8th, Rejoicing, authority in the land, that they may guide and govern in (i) Chorus, "No King but God" H. R. Shelley thy fear and for the good of the people. Inspire all hearts 9. Oration Hon. William M. Evarts with patriotism, obedience to law, and zeal for the honor 10. Benediction Rev. Dr. John Forsyth, of Newburgh of the Nation. May the people be preserved in purity j 1. March Cappa'sBand and all honesty and in the self-sacrificing spirit of our 22 NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL fathers. Put an end, we pray Thee, to corruption, to self- seeking and to Godless ambition and so may we be a hap- py people whose G-od is the Lord. Save us from internal dissension and from foreign war. May the peace of the nation be perpetual, while our country advances in every good work to the glory of thy great name. Send us rain and sunshine and fruitful seasons in their turn, that the people may know Thee the Giver of every good gift and may rejoice in the manifestation of thy continued love. Deliver us from those sins which pro- voke thy displeasure, and cause thy face to shine upon us that we may be saved. Bless the country and people from whom by the war of Independence we were separated; one with them in lan- guage, liberty, law, and faith in Thee. May we and they continue in peace and good will to promote each other's welfare and that of the human family. And from our land may there go out into all lands the light of civil liberty and the light of the blessed gospel until the whole world rejoices in the freedom which we enjoy, and the King of Kings rules in the hearts of men from the rising to the setting sun. Hear us in heaven thy dwelling place, God, our Father, and to thy name will we give the praise, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world with- out end. Amen. The chorus accompanied by Cappa's Band then sang Dudley Buck's Te Deum. A more appropriate selection than a Te Deum could not have been made. If ever a nation has had cause to sing Te Deum Laudamus, it is this nation, and no more fitting time could have been chosen than this, the one hundredth anniversary of the events celebrated in this Centennial. Neither could more fitting words have been chosen in which to voice the praise and gratitude of a nation, which under Divine Providence to-day enjoys the blessings won and given to it by Washington and his army. Singing in the open air is always a difficult performance, but despite all the ob- stacles which were present, the chorus sang well — slight inaccuracies of time only marring the performance to a limited extent. ADDRESS BY SENATOR THOMAS F. BAYARD, OF DEL A WARE. Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, United States Senator from Delaware, was next introduced as the President of the afternoon. He was received by cheers and delivered the following address, which was received with frequent out- bursts of applause. Mil fellow countrymen : I feel sensibly the honor of having been selected by the citizens of Newburgh to pre- side over the interesting ceremonies of to-day. As a native of one of the thirteen States which origin- ally formed the Union, I accept the honor of your selec- tion in the name of Delaware, whose citizens treasure the memory of the part their ancestors bore in our united struggle for national independence and cherish the honest fame of their forefathers, whose fidelity and courage were well attested on the long line of battle fields which stretches from Long Island to the Savannah River. To-day we have here assembled from our homes in States far distant from each other, all drawn together by a common impulse of the brotherhood of American citi- zenship ; not as citizens of New York, nor of New Jersey, nor of Massachusetts, nor of Virginia, nor of Delaware ; not as citizens of any State, but as citizens of the United States, to commemmorate with joyful gratitude the sac- rifices, the toils, sufferings and virtues of the band of patriots whose united valor accomplished what their separate efforts could never possibly have achieved, and which have made us to-day the happy inheritors and possessors of liberty and independence under Re- publican forms of government. A full century has passed and now that we find our- selves in the midst of a bountiful harvest of prosperity, possessing all the elements of wealth and power, let us gratefully cast our eyes in retrospect of the condition of things on this very spot, whereon we stand to-day — one hundred years ago. That was the seed time of American liberty and inde- pendence ; this is the harvest home, and it is meet and just that we who to-day reap in joy and safety should remember those who sowed in toil and danger. This meeting was fitly opened by the voice of rever- ential praise and prayer to the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, in the hollow of whose hand rests the fate of men and nations, and whose providential care is so plainly discernible in the control of the marvellous struggle which our forefathers, a scanty band, conducted to a successful termination under conditions that often- times seemed to forbid even hope, and amid difficulties and adversities almost impossible now to conceive. Who can read the history of the eight eventful years of war from 1775 to 1783, even at this lapse of time, with- out breathless interest and agitation, mingled with won- der at the result. He who can rise from its perusal with- out a realizing sense, an absolute conviction of the pres- ence of the hand of an overruling Providence in human affairs, must indeed be strangely and abnormally consti- tuted, and he who fails to comprehend the true value of the virtues which marked the characters of the men of that period, who were the instruments of Providence in bringing forth strength out of weakness and victory out of defeat, can know but little of the true origin of our present happy condition or of the methods by which it was attained, and the conditions under which alone we can hope to preserve it. With minds and hearts freed from the asperities, jeal- ousies and misunderstandings which may have been en- gendered by the political differences and personal ambi- tions of our time, let us, forsaking all such things return to the day whose hundredth anniversary we celebrate. It was the day on which the Continental Congress issued its proclamation announcing the end of " a con- test involving the essential rights of human nature," and invoked Divine aid "to give wisdom and unanimity to our public councils, to cement all our citizens in the bonds of affection, and inspire them all with an earnest regard for the national honor and interest." The Congress was then in session at Princeton, in New Jersey, whither it had withdrawn from Philadelphia by reason of the turbulence of a discontented and mutinous portion of the army, and Washington, having suppressed the disorder, had at the request of Congress left the head- quarters of the army at Newburgh, and taken up quar- ters at Rocky Hill, a few miles distant from Princeton. There is a happy coincidence in the day of this procla- mation, for it is also the anniversary of the victory at Yorktown, October 18th, 1781, followed by the capitula- tion, on the 19th, of the British army under Lca-d Corn- wallis and the virtual end of the war ; for no battle of importance was fought after that date. When the news of the preliminary treaty of peace, which had been signed at Paris, January 20th, 1783, was conveyed to this country by an armed French vessel, well named "The Triumph," Congress issued a proclama- tion of the event, under date of April 17th, 1783, and Washington promulgated from these headquarters his memorable order for the cessation of hostilities, and recalled the fact that its date, April 18th, was the anni- versary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, where the first blood had been shed in the struggle for American Independence eight years before, and which was now crowned with complete success. On October 18th, 1783, General Henry Knox, the brave bookseller of Boston, whose robust frame of mind and body made him so distinguished and impressive a iigure m the great struggle, and whose patriotic virtues and abilities brought him so close in peace and in war to the heart and confidence of his great leader— was here in command, and by him was the action of Congress made known to the army ; congratulations were tendered upon the prospect of a permanent and honorable peace, and thanks awarded to the army for long, eminent and faith- ful services. Its final disbandment was announced in these words : NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 23 tl It is our will and pleasure that such part of the Federal army as stands engaged to serve during the war, and as by our acts of May 26th, June nth, August gth and September" 26th last, were furloughed shall from and after November 3d next be absolutely discharged by virtue of this proclamation from said service. And well was it that under the wise recommendation of Washington, there recited, orders for furloughs had been liberally granted and that officers and privates had been freely allowed ever since early spring to go back to their homes until but comparatively a small body re- mained here in arms. For upon these brave men had fallen the chief stress and burden of the struggle, its sufferings and exposures. The perils of war had been dreadfully aggravated by want of proper supplies, and still more by a delusive sys- tem of paper money. The miseries brought by the fiction of an irredeemable paper currency were equal to all their other woes combined. Their starving families, their honorable debts, their daily needs, were all subjected to a curse of the depreciated and vitiated currency. " What man is there of you, when if his son asks bread will he give him a stone ; or if he asks a fish will give him a serpent ? " Yet this was done by the Congress to the brave men, who had so fought and bled to establish their country's liberties and claimed no more than their stipulated pay, which they never received, and, despite reiterated promises and " fine words," promises which were never kept, and words which were mere breath, "mouth honor," the army was disbanded and melted away; not without angry remonstrances, not without serious threat- enings, not indeed without proposed treasonable organ- izations; which last, Washington withered with his fiery indignation and ground to powder under his feet. Never was the weight of his personal character with the armies he led to victory more strikingly manifested, nor its value to the country proven more importantly, than in this dangerous crisis — when the crown of unchas- tened power and military ambition, was held out to his grasp — only to be dashed to the earth by a love of country, which never for a moment was obscured by personal interest or ambition. If art is ever to preserve in marble or on canvass a true likeness in soul and body of this great man, the occasion of his thus putting under his feet the solicitations of un- lawful power and ambition will surely be selected. Yet Washington never ceased, so long as he survived, to urge the just claims of his suffering companions in arms for justice, upon their country ; and his name at least is without reproach for the sins of omission in this regard, which have never been repaired, and which, I fear, now have become irremediable. Standing here in the sunshine of this October day, with all the glories of earth and sky enveloping a landscape singular in its beauty, how powerfully do the local fea- tures appeal to us ! This ancient mansion built by a Huguenot emigrant one hundred and thirty-three years ago, who sought and found in this land religious as well as civil liberty, was occupied for the year next preceding the disbandment of the army as the headquarters of the Commander-in- Chief. And, fortunately, the arm of public protection and preservation has been thrown around it by the State of New York, by whom it was purchased, and since 1850 it has been in the hands of trustees to be preserved as nearly as possible in the condition in which Washington left it, a hundred years ago. Faithfully and well tMs trust has been administered, and the homely and simple features of the dwelling inside and out have been carefully maintained ; relics of the war have been here collected, and, in pious pilgrimage, the generations of this and future days can repair hither to note with reverential interest the simple habits of the founders of the great Republic. The mansion is in itself an impressive orator, and its consecration and conserva- tion as the casket of patriotic memories is a duty which will faithfully be fulfilled. Standing upon this commanding hight what a wealth of historic scenery is spread before us. The noble river flows in all the serenity of its beauty and calm strength, just as it did nearly three centuries ago, when the hardy and adventurous Dutch navigator, whose name it bears, first cast anchor in the bay that lies below us. A little later and the flag of Holland yielded place to that of Great Britain. Another century passed and the flag of the American Union of States was raised, and has now for more than one hundred years floated in placid secu- rity above these waters; the symbol of the controlling and unquestioned authority of a government truly de- riving "its power from the consent of the governed." Yet, as we cast our eyes down this beautiful channel of the Hudson until they rest upon West Point, memories arise of mingled shame and honor. Then as now human- ity exhibited its weakness as well as its strength; its sel- fishness as well as its self-sacrifice; its baseness as well as its nobility. The same place that reminds us of George Washington, recalls Benedict Arnold. The dangers to the cause of American liberty at that early day were from within as well as from without; there were traitors and peculators and faint and false- hearted time servers ; and great was the embarrassment and sore the distress they caused and the injuries they inflicted upon the struggling patriots. It is to be hoped that one result of this and other com- memorations of the historic events of the Revolutionary period may induce among our countrymen a more care- ful revision and study of those times and a realization of the difficulties and dangers which our forefathers sur- mounted in their toilsome journeys to independence and national existence. In the words of Key's imm ortal song let us be " Ever mindful what it cost." If we look for the causes of the success of the arms of the United Colonies of " the embattled farmers " who withstood the mighty armaments of Great Britain, we discern not alone valor and determination born of a holy and unconquerable resolve to die as freemen rather than live as slaves, but also the rigid enforcement of the sim- ple and practical virtues, essential to a people so weak in wealth and resources. The men who led that struggle were personally rigidly honest and honorable, and with close and painful economy they underwent the severest privations which were essential to save and to spare the slender treasury of their country. Had these unshowy and simple virtues been replaced by a careless and lavish prodigality ; had an easy pleasure-loving, self-indulgence and luxury been substituted for stern self-denial and fru- gality, how soon would their scanty resources have been exhausted, and the horror and sufferings of poverty and starvation brought to a fatal close ! How can the influence of the example set by Washing- ton and his associates be overrated in giving a tone of unselfish devotion and clean-handed integrity in public service ? Do you remember his words to Congress in his first address as President of the United States ? " When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated. my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary com- pensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed, and, being still under the impression which produced it, I must decline, as inapplicable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments whicn may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates of the station in which I am placed may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require." How high and clearly cut against the sky of history rises the column of the personal character of these patriot sires, crowned with strict honesty and clean-handed integrity, not one of whom ever grew rich in office or attempted to fatten at the public cost, but many of whom became poor by devoting themselves to the advancement of their country. Such are the personal qualities that make a nation, and, as the success in obtaining American Independence 24 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. was chiefly due to them, so the cause of their adversaries was proportionately weakened by the prevalence of opposite vices, which demoralized the forces sent for our destruction. Much light has been lately thrown upon the inner history of the administration of the British government during: the reign of George III, whilst the war against the colonies was being waged so unrelent- ingly, and the picture drawn by Trevyllian of the "spoils system" of that day accounts for niuch of the disaster and disappointment that awaited the attempts to subdue the colonies, and added such fearful sums to the British debt. According to this writer the official circles of the Kingdom were honey-combed with corruption ; offices of honor and importance were held but as merchandise. The spirit of public plunder reigned supreme. " Members of Parliament bought their seats and then sold themselves. The king himself selected, as his special department, the manipulation of the House of Commons ; he furnished the meatis and minutely audited the expen- ditures of corruption. Every reformer of abuses who had got hold of a tbread of jobbery which was strangling the commonwealth was discouraged from fol- lowing up the clew by the certainty that it would lead him sooner or later to the door of the royal closet." Thus venality and servility became ingrained in every branch of the public service, and disinterested patriotism was relegated into obscurity. The names of command- ing officers on sea and on shore, in the campaigns against America, have been associated with transactions whifh prove that their abilities were directed against the public exchequer rather than against the forces of the enemy. Says Trevyllian : " The king knew the secret history of all the hucksters of politics, the amount at which they appraised themselves, the form in which they got their price, and the extent to which they were earning their pay by close attendance and blind subservience. * * * He was at home in the darkest corners of the political workshop, and up to the elbows in those processes which a high- minded statesman sternly forbids, and which even a statesman who is not high- minded leaves to be conducted by others." Contrast this revolting picture with the conduct and career of the men who led the American colonists through the long and arduous struggle for their liberties. It was a war on the one side for dominion, regardless of justice, by a rich and powerful empire, whose forces were wielded under an administration weakened by cor- ruption, immorality and profligate expenditure ; in which patriotic objects were but little regarded and the gratifi- cation of passion stood in lieu of a conscientious pursuit of public welfare. On the other side, with forces numeri- cally feeble and almost wholly unsupplied with the sinews of war, a scanty band of agricultural colonists, animated by a pure and lofty love of liberty, standing in defence of their birthrights, of home and fireside, sus- tained by a religious faith in the justice of their cause, and aided by the practice of honesty and frugality in the administration of their resources, emerged from the unequal contest victorious and unstained. Look to-day at the carefully kept accounts of Wash- ington's personal expenditures as commander-in-chief of the forces, filed by him at the close of the war in the De- partment of State ; marvels of honest precision and models in character ! Scan closely the personal char- acters of the councillors he seler-ted for his cabinet. The first, General Henry Knox, Secretary of War ; next, Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury ; then, Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General ; and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. For the Supreme Court he selected John Jay, as the Chief Justice, and Rutledge, Wilson, Cushing, Blair and Iredell as Associate Justices ; every name is lustrous with virtue and talents ; upon the character of none rests the slightest cloud. Each of these upright and patriotic men accepted the creed of Burke : "The principles of true polities are those of morality en- larged ; " — and public confidence naturally followed, rati- fying and approving his choice of councillors. Such men are the proper depositories of public power at all times and under any form of government ; and well is it for a people when such men occupy their highest stations. By such nominations Washington was putting in prac- tice the precepts he had given to the Governors of all the States in a circular letter, on June 8th, 1783, from these headquarters : " This is the moment (said he) to give such a tone to our Federal Govern- ment as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution ; or this may be the ill-fated moment for relaxing the power of the Union and annihilating the cement of the confederation." And then he continues in such words of patriotic coun- sel that you must permit me to recall them and ask you to engrave them on your memories: " Four things are essential to the well-being and existence of the United States as an Independent power : " First. The indissoluble Union of the States under one federal head. " Second. A sacred regard to public justice. 11 Third. The adoption of a proper peace establishment. " Fourth. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among the people of the United States which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and politics, to make those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity, and, in some instances, to sacrifice their admitted advantages for the interest of the community. " These are pillars on which that glorious fabric of our independence and national character must be supported. Liberty is the basis, and whoever would dare to sap the foundation or overthrow the structure, under whatever specious pretext he may attempt it, will merit the bitterest execration and severest punishment which can be inflicted by his injured country." Even then, standing on the threshold of a great future, his patriotic eye discerned the essentials upon which his country must rely for its safety and progress. His coun- sels, wise and true then, are equally so and as valuable to-dav ; and it is well for us, in considering the safety and well being of the vast superstructure of population, wealth, and varied human interests which has been built upon the foundations laid by Washington and his associ- ates, a century ago, to remember from what materials its strength was derived and to what principles it owes its permanence and must depend for its future safety. In stating the reasons and objects of this impressive convocation, I have detained you longer perhaps than I had a right, but the earnestness of my feelings as an American citizen ; my sincere desire to "keep alive the glorious traditions of the early heroism of our history, must plead mv excuse. On behalf of the committee charged with conducting these exercises I bid you all welcome in the name of our common American citizenship, and congratulate you that we are now to have the privilege of listening to an address appropriate to the occasion by a distinguished citizen of the State of New York, who has held high places in the public service with honor to himself and benefit to the country. POEM BY WALLACE BRUCE, OF PO'KEEPSIE. Following Mr. Bavard's opening address was "The Long Drama from '76 to '83," by Wallace Bruce. Mr. Bruce is a reader as well as a poet, and his impassioned lines were magnificently delivered — exciting the greatest possible enthusiasm. With banners bright, with roll of drums, With pride and pomp and civic state, A nation, born of courage, comes The closing act to celebrate. We've traced the drama page by page. From Lexington to Yorktown field ; The curtain drops upon the stage, The century's book to-day is sealed. A cycle grand. — with wonders fraught That triumph over time and space, — In woven steel its dreams are wrought, The nations whisper face to face. But in the proud and onward march We halt an hour for dress parade, Remembering that fair freedom's arch Springs from the base our fathers laid. NEWBTJEGH CENTENNIAL. 25 With cheeks aglow with patriot fire They pass in long review again, We grasp the hand of noble sire Who made tivo words of " Noblemen." In silence now now the tattered band, — Heroes in homespun worn and gray, — Around the old Headquarters stand As in that dark uncertain day. That low-roofed dwelling shelters still The phantom tenants of the past ; Each garret beam, each oaken sill Treasures and holds their memories fast. Ay, humble walls ! the manger-birth To emphasize this truth was given : The noblest deeds are nearest earth, The lowliest roofs are nearest Heaven. We hear the anthem once again, — " No king but God ! " — to guide our way, Like that of old — " Good will to men " — Unto the shrine where freedom lay. One window looking toward the east, Seven'doors wide-open every side ; That room revered proclaims at lea»t An invitation free and wide. Wayne, Putnam, Knox and Heath are there, Steuben, proud Prussia's honored son, Brave La Fayette from France the fair, And, chief of all, our Washington. Serene and calm in peril's -hour, An honest man without pretense, He stands supreme to teach the power And brilliancy of common sense. Alike disdaining fraud and art, He blended love with stern command ; He bore his country in his heart, He held his army by the hand. Hush I carping critic, read aright The record of his fair renown; — A leader by diviner right Than he who wore the British crown. With silver locks and eyes grow dim, As victory's sun proclaimed the morn, He pushed aside the diadem With stern rebuke and patriot scorn. He quells the half-paid mutineers, And binds them closer to the cause ; His presence turns their wrath to tears, Their muttered threats to loud applause. The great Republic had its birth That hour beneath the army's wing, Whose leader taught by native worth The man is grander than the king. The stars on that bright azure field, Which proudly wave o'er land and sea, Were fitly taken from his shield To be our common heraldry. We need no trappings worn and old, No courtly lineage to invoke, No tinseled plate, but solid gold, No thin veneer, but heart of oak. No aping after foreign ways Becomes a son of noble sire ; Columbia wins the sweetest praise When clad in simple, plain attire. In science, poesy and art, We ask the best the world can give ; We feel the throb of Britain's heart, And will while Burns and Shakespeare live. But oh ! the nation Is too great To borrow emptiness and pride ; The queenly Hudson wears in state Her robes with native pigments dyed. October lifts with colors bright Its mountain canvas to the sky; The crimson trees, aglow with light. Unto our banners wave reply. Like Horeb's bush the leaves repeat. From lips of flame with glory crowned : " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, The place they trod is holy ground." O fairest stream beneath the sun ! Thy Highland portal was the key. Which force and treason well-nigh won, Like that of famed ThermypolEe. That Ridge along our eastern coast, From Carolina to the Sound, Opposed its front to England's host. And heroes at each pass were found. A vast primeval palisade. With bastions bold and wooded crest, A bulwark strong, by nature made To guard the valley of the west. Along its heights the beacons gleamed, It formed the nation's battle-line, Firm as the rocks and cliffs where dreamed The soldier seers of Palestine. These hills shall keep their memory sure, The blocks we rear shall fall away, The mountain fastnesses endure, And speak their glorious deeds for aye. Aad oh ! while morning's golden urn Pours amber light o'er purple brim, And rosy peaks like rubies burn Around the emerald valley's rim ; So long preserve our hearthstone warm ! Our reverence, O God, increase ! And let the glad centennials form One long Millennial of Peace. The next was the singing of " Hail Columbia" by the chorus, accompanied by Gappa's Band, beginning with an original and striking introduction composed by Cappa expressly for this occasion. The singing and accompani- ment were faultlessly done. At the conclusion of this, the orator of the day, Hon. William M. Evarts, was introduced. He was received with a perfect hurricane of applause, the entire audience joining and fairly making the welkin ring. ORATION BY THE HON. WILLIAM M. EVARTS, What measure or limit can there be or should there be to the joy and pride with which a great, fortunate, pros- perous and powerful people looks back upon the men, the action and the events which have determined their destiny and made sure their happiness ! In every form and with every degree of interest and zeal such a people does insist, and should insist that these glories of their inheritance shall never fade from the eyes of themselves or their posterity. They will mark the scenes where momentous transactions have had their birth with dura- ble monuments ; they will search out and commemorate every noble purpose and every virtuous act which have made up the collective force and secured the general triumph ; they will emblazon with their admiration and their gratitude the names and deeds of the illustrious actors in these great affairs ; and, finally, they will swell the impulse and volume of the impressions of the heroic past which they preserve and transmit to their descend- ants, with their own homage and applause. These natural and necessary sentiments and habits of a generous and grateful people are constant and should be perpetual. Their disuse^orjdecaygwill not dim the 26 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. lustre of the historic period, but simply mark, alas ! the degeneracy of the later times, and forebode the failure, or at least the eclipse of the splendid fortunes which have proved too weighty for the shrunken virtues of unworthy heirs. But though the fires of a people's gratitude and vene- ration for the founders and preservers of a nation should never be suffered to go out upon the altar, their needs must occur epochs for the excitement and display of these feelings, which will brighten their flame and fill the whole air with their warmth and light. Such an enliven- ment of popular enthusiasm, over the principal events and famous characters of our civil and military history, was a conspicuous attendent of our great civil war. It animated the whole public mind with love of the great country, and devotion to the benificent institutions, which our fathers' wisdom and courage had prepared as a habi- tation of liberty and justice for their descendants forever. It inspirited the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the men and the women, the scholar and the ploughman, the soldier and the statesman, to vie with the toils and hardships in which the foundations of the great structure were laid by heroic ancestors, and, by equal labors and sacrifices, to preserve, defend and per- petuate, for our remotest posterity, an unmutilated terri- tory and an uncorrupted CSnstitution. The examples, the' precepts of the fathers were the model and the guide of their children. They agitated the whole mass of patriotism and power which a free, a brave, an intelli- gent, a strenuous people placed at the service of a Gov- ernment they adored against a rebellion they abhorred. Let later generations, in the assured enjoyment of the great heritage, debate how the sum of their admiration or gratitude shall be distributed between the founders and the preservers of their constituted liberties. For ourselves we are content to say and to feel that "the glory of the children is their fathers," and to lay the mighty heroism of our own day as a gift upon the altar of our country, to enrich the name and the fame of the founders of the Republic. But a renewal of a people's reverence and affection for the founders of their Nation may justly be connected with the mere revolution of time, and the recurrence of dates marking the lapse of an important period in the measure of human affairs. Such a period, in the common judgment of mankind, is noted by the expiration of a hundred years. So durable an impression upon the course of things itself gives significance to an event, and when the event is one in its essential character of moment and the highest dignity, its centennial inevitably revives its memory and awakens public attention. THE BEGINNING AND END OP THE WAR The first outbreak of armed resistance to British au thority in the colonies occurred on the 19th of April, 1775, at Concord, Massachusetts, where was fired "the shot heard round the world." On the 19th of April, 1783, near the spot where we now stand, was read to the arm- ies of the United States, by the order of General Wash- ington, their Commander-in-Chief, a proclamation of Congress directing a oessatitm of hostilities between Great Britain and the United States. Within this space of precisely eight years, then, are comprehended all the military transactions of the Revolutionary War. The corresponding Centennial period has witnessed the cele- bration of the principal incidents of the glorious and suc- cessful conduct of our arms, and their final triumph. These celebrations have followed the course of military operations over the whole theatre of war. Sometimes they have engaged the attention of local pride and inter- est only, and in other instances they have enlisted the general attention of the people and the active participa- tion of the Government. In all, one spirit and one pur- pose have shaped the popular demonstrations and in- spired the commemorative addresses. This spirit and this purpose have been, not of rivalry or discord, but of unison and unbroken sympathy and enthusiasm in the grand effort and the grand result which made us a free, independent and united people — which established a gov- ernment adequate for the maintenance of our constituted liberties against domestic danger and foreign menace— and which are justified to the general judgment of man- kind, as the greatest transaction of recorded history and the most beneficent fabric of human institution which the world has witnessed. . . Accordingly the battles of the war, beginning with Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill, embracing Bennington and Saratoga, and ending with the siege and surrender of Torktown, have in turn been made the oc- casion of spirited and impressive celebrations. The valor of the soldiers, their unflinching endurance of hunger and cold, and every form and degree of suffering and hardship ; their progress in discipline till they could face and overcome the regular troops of the great military power with which we were engaged ; the bravery, the skill, the genius of their commanders ; the patience and persistence of their campaigns and their strategy ; then- fortunes and their victories— these all were recalled by the chosen orators, these all received the plaudits of the gathered crowds, all touched their hearts, moved now to the tenderness of tears, and again inflamed and aroused as at the sound of a trumpet. In the midst of these festive pomps and proud gratula- tions of our people at the triumphant issue of our arms in the War of the Revolution, the sobriety of their judg- ment and their instinctive subordination of military glorv to civic greatness were exhibited in the pre-emi- nence given to the commemoration of the great central deliberative transaction, in the service of which all the heroism and successes of the war had their motive and their end. I mean, to be sure, the Declaration of Inde- pendence, a civic transaction of which history has no parallel, and which must stand ever to the admiring esteem of statesmen and philosophers, as it does in the unquestioning faith of our whole people, as the consum- mate work of the most profound wisdom and the most intrepid courage which a political assembly has ever exhibited. Fit, indeed, was it, that upon the centennial of that transaction, the nation to which it gave birth should invite the other nations of the world to a generous comparison of the arts, the power, the victories of Peace. The concourse of our own population, the attendance of foreign visitors from all quarters of the globe, witnessed and formed part of the grand demonstration of the greatness of the new nation, which has thus been born in a day, and of the benign influences upon which it relied, to make good its claims upon the attention and respect of the world. DELAY IN SETTLING THE TERMS OE PEACE. This continuous and manifold presentation to the hom- age and applause of our countrymen, of the course of that marvellous succession of events of which the centen- nial dates had recurred, had left unmarked one stage and act of the great drama, that stage and act which this vast assemblage has collected to celebrate to-day. In the interval between the surrender of the British army to the combined forces of the United States and of France at Yorktown, and the definitive treaty of peace by which the results of the war as establishing our independence, were recognized by Great Britain, our armies were encamped upon these neighboring fields. Upon this very spot Washington had his headquarters. The other great generals of the patriotic army were disposed all about this, the central position. The disaster to the British arms in Virginia was regarded as the last battle of the war. This victory in the field was counted by us as the complete and final triumph of our cause. France, our generous ally in the darkest days of our conflict, shared in the opinion that the military operations of the war were closed at Yorktown. The suddenness and the com- pleteness of the discomfiture of the British arms made the approaches to the settlement of the terms of peace the more uncertain and the more tedious. The British Prime Minister, Lord North, we are told by the messenger who conveyed to him the intelligence of the surrender of Cornwallis, received the news "like a bullet in his heart." The pacification of Europe, through the firmness of the friendship of France, waited upon the completion of our independence, in its treaty recognition by the mother NEWBUEGB. CENTENNIAL. 27 country. But bo grave a transaction, besides being repugnant to the pride of England and intolerable to the temper of her King, involved the questions of boundaries to the new sovereignty, of extra-territorial privileges, of participation in common rights which were incapable of partition. Meanwhile, the American armies must await, inactive, the slow results of these complex negotiations. They must be held in readiness for the renewal of hostil- ities, if the expectations of peace and independence should be disappointed. The exigencies of the public service must control, and for an indefinite period, the conduct of an army which had no reason for its existence but the country's need of its service in a defensive war, and must maintain the hold for that army's support upon the voluntary aids of the States, when both army and people believed the war was over and its ends secured. This ordeal of the virtue of these citizen soldiers, of the steadfastness and authority of these Republican officers, this trial anew of the great qualities of Washington, this test of the unbalanced scheme of the Revolutionary Government, were all passed through in the e xperience of the eighteen months that the army was disposed in its cantonments on these surrounding fields, and the Com- mander-in-chief occupied these headquarters at New- burgh. The occurrences which would mark this peculiar situa- tion, of war without hostilities, of peace without security, would necessarily be interesting, they proved to be mo- mentous. In moral and political sequence, as well as in time, they closed the heroic period of our history. Their celebration, here and to-day, completes the pious duty with which this era of power and prosperity gratefully commemorates the days to which it traces their growth. THE TRANSITION FROM WAR TO PEACE. The intrinsic interest of the occurrences which followed one another during the transition of the people and of the army from war to peace has attracted great attention to this chapter of our Revolutionary history. It is no wonder, then, that the populous communities that have grown up and around and upon the scenes of these transactions, that have been brought up upon the traditions, the associations, the inspirations of the place, should have felt a sensible interest in their commemoration and illustratration by suitable monu- ments and appropriate ceremonies. The Government of the State has created a permanent protective trust to preserve from change, injury or decay, the edifice made sacred by its occupation for so long a period by Washington as a home for himself and his wife, and as the hospitable resort of the distin- guished Generals that were grouped about him. An equal zeal has provided for the restoration of the famous building known as the "Temple" — within whose walls were so often collected, for religious worship and for public deliberations, the soldiers and the officers of the patriot army during this, their last encampment. So great and general, so serious and momentous interests, however, clustered about these scenes, that neither to local attachment nor to State pride exclusively could the duties and the ceremonies of this celebration be properly committed. The Congress of the United States resolved that a joint select committee of the two houses should be appointed whose duty it should be "to make independently, of itself, or in connection with the trustees of Washington's Headquarters and the Citizens' Com- mittee, all necessary arrangements for a befitting cele- bration of the centennial ceremonies commemorative of Washington's refusal to accept the crown, the proclama- tion of peace, the disbandment of the army, and other notable Revolutionary events, to be held at Washing- ton's Headquarters in the City of Newburgh and State of New York." Under, then, these united auspices of the city, the State and the Nation, this public celebration is held, and by the invitation of the committee of the two houses of Congress I enjoy the privilege of taking part in it. The commemoration was further and justly recog- nized by Congress as the National concern, by a judicious appropriation from the Treasury for the erection of a suitable monument upon these grounds, with such in scriptions and emblems as may properly commemorate the historical events which here took place. This action of Congress, taken with great unanmity, shows the public judgment of the importance of these last acts in the revolutionary period, in themselves, and in their in- fluence upon the complete and fortunate determination of our political institutions and our National life. That this estimate is but a just measure of these occurrences will appear from even a summary examination of their nature, and of ,the public situation which gave rise to them. Our affairs had reached that stage when the minds of all men occupying conspicuous and responsible positions, either in civil or military employment, were engaged in solicitous consideration of the great problem of the immediate future of the people and the Government. The motives, the objects, the sentiments and the passions that had formed the substantial and adequate basis for unity of action by the different colonies, that had knit together the friendships and fellowships of their public men, had secured co-operation in matters of civil prudence and of military combination, were about to come to end. Nay, more, they were to be replaced, it was feared, by tendencies and influences in which diversities of interests, personal jealousies and competitions, discordant opinions and active animosities would, on the ordinary calculations of human character and conduct, have the upper hand. Every reflecting mind was more and more distressed with the conviction that the common oppressions, the common resentments, the common deliberations and the combined action which had kept alive the prodigious energies of the heroic struggle of a feeble people against a common and powerful enemy, would lose their cohesion and then momentum in their complete attainment of the common end, would all be swallowed up in the final victory. Whether or not new experiences, new dangers and new necessities would teach new lessons of wisdom and supply a working force to mould and weld into unity and strength the scattered forces of these separate com- munities when liberated from the inexorable pressure which had held them together, was a speculation which filled with anxiety the public mind. But the hope, the forecast, the faith that would solve all these doubts in the ultimate outcome did not meet the instant urgency of the question of the immediate means and agencies to be employed to avoid an evil catastrophe and smooth the progress to the establishment of a competent and united government. THE GLOOMY OUTLOOK FOR THE VETERANS. If these anxious speculations, if these distressing un- certainties occupied the thoughts of men in civil author- ity and formed the staple of popular discussion, we may easily understand how, in this long period of military inaction, they pressed with special anxieties upon the minds of the officers and the men of the Revolutionary Army. For the statesmen and magistrates, for the lead- ers of public opinion as well as for the mass of the people, all over the country, the assured triumph of our arms and the establishment of our independence carried with them emotions of supreme personal satisfaction, and offered prospects of new honors and larger spheres of activity for civil ambition, and new avenues of wealth and prosperity for energy and industry. If to the more circumspect and the more far-seeing the mists of doubt obscured these prospects, and vicissitudes, mischances, blunders and dis- asters were counted among the probable experiences which might attend the progress of the colonies in their new political relations to each other, to a full develop- ment of unity and strength, these solicitudes were public and general, not personal or particular. Everybody was willing to accept his share of the common fortunes, and bear his part in the common dangers or disappointments which might prove inseparable from citizenship in the new Republic. The glory of success, the pride of inde- pendence, the joy of new-born greatness colored every- thing for the great body of the people with bright antici- pations for the future. To the officers and men of the army as they lay in these encampments, and to their comrades on other fields or 28 NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. scattered on leave and furlough, the near future presented itself in quite a different aspect, and their own share in it gave rise to sharp anxieties and harassing perplexities. Seven long years of military service, of enforced disuse of the peaceful occupations of life, even if age and wounds and hardships had not seriously reduced health of body, or vigor of mind, or buoyancy of spirits and of hope, had broken the whole tenor of their lives, and disabled them from competition, on equal terms, for the moderate suc- cesses of the narrow industries of a poor and frugal peo- ple. The rank and file would find the places which they would have occupied, had they not obeyed the call of their country to arms, filled by others; the officers must expect that the liberal professions, the public employ- ments, the gainful pursuits of trade would be closed against them, for the indispensable period and stage of preparation and apprenticeship had been lost to them forever, while they were learning and practising the art of war, which victory was to make useless to them for all their lives. The living sense of obligation to these offi- cers and men, for placing their lives and fortunes at the service and staking them upon the issues of the war, which had been none too hearty or profuse while their services were needed and their courage and consistency were under immediate and admiring observation, they must conclude would not long persist, after their services were ended, and their courage and constancy had borne all their fruits. If the aspect of the future was thus disconsolate to these veterans when they looked at the general mass of the people, in which they were soon to be swallowed up, it gained only a deeper color of sadness when they turned their eyes to the Revolutionary Government, in whose service so much of their lives had been exhausted and their unmeasured triumph had been achieved. Even in the urgencies of the war, at the most critical periods, when adequate supplies of men and money meant assur- ance of success, and their denial certain disaster, the lax- ity of the ties by which the State Governments were held together under the central authority had been plainly evident. Already the natural and necessary tendency of the final military successes, and the dawn of conclusive and permanent peace, showed itself in progressive inat- tention of the Congress to the rights and the wants of the army, and of the States to the requisitions and authority of the Congress. It looked, indeed, to the soldiers as they lay in their tents, to the officers as they compared opin- ions in their messes or gathered about headquarters for news and for encouragement, as if the Revolutionary Government would decay, or even dissolve, before their eye, and the States would neglect, or even repudiate, the obligations to the army which they were so slow to perform to the authentic Government which they had authorized to raise and support that army, to conduct the war, and, on its successful issue, to conclude the peace. THE MOVEMENT TO RAISE UP A PATRIOTIC KING. Nor were these forebodings for the future, these dis- trusts of the present, vague or speculative. The army, with a patience and good temper which can escape ad- miration only when they escape observation, had waited upon Congress, through correspondence and by commit- tees, with calm, convincing, earnest and pointed exposi- tions of their sufferings and their solicitudes. These communications had included a just insistence upon their rights, a self-respecting assertion of their merits, an explicit statement of their expectations, and a vivid por- trayal of their difficulties, their doubts and their fears. With the utmost candor and good faith the soldiers and officers of the army had impressed upon the collective Congress, upon the Governors of the States, upon the great statesmen and patriots in civil life throughout the country, as individuals, that the situation would no lon- ger bear delay, that the temper of the sufferers could no longer brook neglect. As, nevertheless, no efficient public action followed, no genuine or responsible assur- ance of future action was held out, still more persistent pressure, still more vehement remonstrances, ensued. These should have made evident to the Congress and the States, as they evinced on the part of the army, a spread- ing conviotion that the time for argument, for delibera- tion, for forbearance, was passing away, and that imme- diate action, for the army's necessities, or by the army for its own protection, must end the weary delay. As the months wore away, and the situation to the ap- prehension of these sober-minded and patriotic officers and men showed no amelioration, discouragement gave place to despair. The great Commander-in-Chief had given to their views and demands his full approval. He had approved the statements and enforced the arguments, the entreaties, the remonstrances, with which they had urged them upon the Congress and the country. He sym- pathized, to the bottom of his heart, in the worthiness of their claims upon the justice and the gratitude of the Gov- ernment and the people alike, and in the indignation which filled their breasts at the slackness and indiffer- ence with which they were treated. This earnest and faithful, this affectionate and intrepid support of then- rights and their resentments by the great commander could not increase their love or deepen their reverence for him, for these were already immeasurable. But when his great authority failed to gain that effectual attention which the urgency of their affairs demanded, they felt that the faults in the frame and scheme of Government — to which alone, and not at all to the personal indiffer- ence or incompetency of its members they attributed this failure of justice and duty to the army — were neither casual, nor partial, nor temporary. Upon this aspect and estimate they brooded and cast about for some recourse that should meet the necessities of the army, the interests of the people, both instant and permanent, and all the exigencies of good government for the nascent Nation. For this juncture of the general need, for this failure of existing forces, for this crumbling of confidence, for this confusion of the old and the new, for this dark and clouded transition from the forsaken past to the undis- covered and unformed future, there seemed but one real, one known, one adequate basis upon which faith, justice and safety for all, for army, Government and people, could be built up. This basis was the name, the fame, the power, the character of Washington. These were the one possession of the new Nation about which all minds, all hearts, could gather and add to his incompar- able majesty of virtue, of dignity, of personal faculty, of universal service, and of unbroken fortune, that homage and applause of all his countrymen, which should sober all doubts, dispel all fears, realize all hopes, satisfy all needs, put to flight all theories, all schemes, all discords, all experiments, all fancies, aU treasons, and on this new scene, the fullness of time being come, present the crown- ing glory, before the eyes of all men, of what till now had been but the vision of political enthusiasm, " A Patriot King at the head of an United People." This, I am quite sure, my countrymen, is the true ex- planation of the rash and sudden movement of the patri- otic army to raise up for a patriotic people a patriotic King. In the brief record of this transaction, in the char- acter of those engaged in it, in the circumstances sur- rounding them, in the motives and influences playing upon their minds, in the objects in view, and in the sup- posed value, in their eyes, of this last resort, I see no trace or suspicion of any vulgar, sordid or selfish prefer- ence of the trappings of royalty, or of the drippings of a court, or of grades, or ranks, or titles, or classes, among the people, over the simple and equal institutions which were the habit then, as they have since proved the glory and the strength, of the Nation. No motive but love of coun- try, no object less worthy than the safety of the people, suggested this bright vision of an ideal monarchy, in which everything was romantic in the sober light of our days, except the greatness and the goodness of washing- ton. WASHINGTON'S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT A CROWN. We must, however, understand that this step on the part of the army must have been long reflected on, widely considered, and have received a large if not a general concurrence of opinion before the officers could have deputed one of their number to impart this their design NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 23 to "Washington. No one could have conceived that any such design could be tolerated, entertained, much ;iess embraced, by their loved, their revered commander, under any less elevated aspect than thatj of [a ;jnere love of country, a mere compulsion of duty. " The depth, the sincerity, the purity of their own sentiments on this pro- found interest of the new Nation are guaranteed by the simple fact that they made bold to submit it to the hon- est-hearted, clear-headed defender and protector of lib- erty and independence. I will not debate, his countrymen have had no need to debate, what serious discredit or disaster, what immedi- ate or permanent disorder might have disturbed the noble progress of our people from war to peace, from the inarticulate frame of the imperfect government to the grand and solid structure of the Constitution and the Union, if the man to whom and for whom this project was proposed had been less wise, less good, less great than Washington. In this critical posture of public affairs, which he painfully felt, before this sudden evi- dence of the length and breath and depth to which these dangerous speculations had spread and penetrated in his beloved, his trusted, his faithful, his devoted army, the rapid intelligence and prompt decision of their hero, their commander, their chosen master and king, fright- ened with his awful frown and crushed with his fierce indignation the pernicious scheme, and confounded all its projectors and supporters. His words were few and simple, uttered without parade, and with a sense of shame that he should need to say in words what his whole life had expressed. " Be assured, sir, no occur- rence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army, as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity." " I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my con- duct could have given encouragement to an address, which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country." " Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for your- self or posterity, or respect for me, to banian these thoughts from your mind and never communicate as from yourself or any one else, a sentiment of the like nature." These modest headquarters are no Lupercal, nor was honest Colonel Nicola a second Antony ; the rugged re- publican army that lay here encamped were not the Ro- man legions or the Roman mob — and Washington was not Julius CaBsar. No wonder that the greatest orator of the first age af our Government, Wisher Ames, said, and Webster, the greatest orator of his day, repeated : " Washington changed mankind's ideas of political great- ness." No wonder that his countrymen to-day, led by the Congress of this great Republic, celebrate the trans- action and the scene where Washington refused to accept a crown. WASHINGTON'S ENERGETIC ACTION AGAIN NEEDED. But this event, notable and noted as it was, was soon followed by another of the gravest importance, upon this same scene and with the same actors. The same discon- tents and anxieties of the army which had sought their satisfaction in a new form and frame of government, when this design was baffled and suppressed by the au- thority of Washington, meditated an assertion of military power to coerce the slow and feeble justice of the existing Government into an active attention to the rights of the army, and a prompt succor of their sufferings and redress of their wrongs. This contemplated and prepared move- ment of the army gave to Washington the most serious concern, excited his most energetic action, and was over- thrown by him with consummate wisdom and courage. The soldiers and their officers were all without present pay, had long wearily awaited the settlement of ac- counts and of arrears, and were passing from suspese into despair as to any provision for these, as well as for their future maintenance, when they should no longer be necessary, and, perhaps, no longer be remembered. The resolution of Congress, passed in October, 1780, granting half-pay for life to the officers, was but the en- gagement of a Government without funds or credit for its performance. The alternatives of prospective pro- vision of a Continental fund, or of the several States undertaking to meet this burden of the half-pay, seemed equally hopeless, for neither a constitutional majority of the States in Congress nor the individual States favored the measure itself. The proposed commutation of the half-pay for life for a gross sum, which the army might be willing to accept, had oome to no head in the public councils or in the public mind. In December, 1782, the officers of the army here encamped had entrusted to a committee of their number a careful and impressive memorial for presentation to and prosecution before Congress. This memorial set forth in serious terms the grievances of which the army complained, and the deplorable straits to which they were reduced by the continual failure of the civil authorities to heed and relieve their distressed condition. This committee had been competent and faithful in the discharge of their trust, and in February, 1783, had com- municated the failure of any actual result, and the vagueness and the remoteness of any future satisfaction of their just hopes. But little reflection is needed to appreciate the gravity of this situation, and the resentments and resistance of the army against it soon broke out into the tone and attitude of the menace of armed remonstrance and mili- tary defiance. The Commander-in-Chief, in a letter to the the Governor of Virginia, thus speaks of the temper and danger which this state of things had developed: "Al- though a firm reliance on the integrity of Congress, and a belief that the public would finally do justice to all its servants, and give an indisputable security for the pay- ment of the half-pay of the officers had kept them, amid a variety of sufferings, tolerably quiet and contented for two or three years past ; yet the total want of pay, the little prospect of receiving any from the unpromising state of the public finances, and the absolute aversion of the States to establish any Continental funds for the pay- ment of the debt due the army, did, at the close of the last campaign, excite great discontent and threaten more serious and alarming consequences than is easy for me to describe or for you to conceive." We may be sure, then, that when these calm words of Washington estimate the difficulty and danger as incapable of exaggeration, the peril of the country was indeed alarming. The crisis had come for which neither the Congress, the States nor the people were prepared. It had come as a shock, because the processes, the influences, the natural sentiments leading to it had been silent, gradual and unnoticed. Yet the accumulated neglects, imbecili- ties and presumptions on the part of an imperfect Gov- ernment, the accumulating sufferings, grievances, indig- nities and resentments on the part of the army, the griefs for the past and the despairs of the future, had proved too much for the temper, the forbearance and the duty of these faithful, these veteran, these patriotic citi- zen soldiers. The Government whose call they had obeyed, whose service they had fulfilled through poverty and hunger and wounds, whose cause they had main- tained, whose honor, whose safety, whose triumph they had made secure, was unable or unwilling to keep the engagements it had made in the past, was careless or incompetent as to any provision for their future. The people which they expected to be grateful was studying to escape the obligation to be just. The chief share in the enjoyment of the advantages of a glorious and prosperous peace, which a generous consent should have assigned to those who had borne the chief brunt and burden of the war, was to be withheld from them, and humiliation and penury, embittered by pity and charity, were to be their inglorious fate. Against this their intelligence, their spirit, their pride, all that had made them the army of independence, the glory and defence of their country, rebelled. An elo- quent, a resolute expression of the thoughts and feelings that stirred in the breasts of all was circulated among the officers, and was accompanied by a summons to meet at once for the consideration of their wrongs, and the assertion of their power and their right to redress 30 NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. them. These appeals bore no name, nor did they need any personal authority to command or quicken senti- ments and purposes which were already formed and waited only to be combined, the deliberations thus invited were to conduct to a conclusive and peremptory determination to confront the Congress with the alterna- tive of promptly meeting the demands of the Army, or beholding them refuse to lay down their arms or surren- der their organization, in case of a declaration of peaoe, or decline the further defence of the country, in case hostilities should be renewed. "Tell them" — was the bold suggestion how the army should deal with Congress in this dreadful issue between them — "tell them that, though you were the first, and would wish to be the last to encounter danger, though despair itself can never drive you into dishonor, it may drive you from the field ; that the wound, often irritated and never healed, may at length become incurable; and that the slightest mark of indignity from Congress now must operate like the grave, and part you forever ; that in any political event the Army has its alternative. If peace, that nothing shall separate you from your arms but death ; if war, that courting the auspices, and inviting the direction of your illustrious leader, you wiU retire to some unsettled coun- try, smile in your turn, 'and mock when their fear cometh.'" Again, my countrymen, what was there to breast this sudden flood of " mutiny and rage ? " "What to still this storm 1 What to stay this rising conflict between the civil and military arms of the Government ? What, indeed, but the name, the fame, the power, the character of Washington ? With instant decision he set aside the anonymous call for the meeting, convoked the assembly for a day appointed by himself, and prescribed its consti- tution, its duty and its method of proceedings. He attended and addressed it himself, mastered it by force of his reasons, the earnestness of his expostulations, the authority of his presence. The united voice of the assembled officers was but the echo of the wisdom, the patriotism, the all-enduring obedience of the great citi- zen, the overwhelming authority of the great commander. And thus the illustrious leader suppressed the military revolt against the supremacy of the civil Government as swiftly and as surely as he had overthrown the scheme to subvert its frame. NOBLE SERVICES AT THE CLOSE OP THE REVOLUTION. For the rest, these great events passed, these great dangers escaped, these admirable and prosperous inter- positions of the personal power of Washington saving the failing supremacy of the civil authorities and sub- duing the restless spirit of the Army, the course of things till the final disbandment of the troops, till these head- quarters and these cantonments were ah deserted, was marked by no further commotions. In this interval the Commander-in-Chief here penned his address to the Governors of the States, in which he spoke to them, and through them to the Legislatures and the people, in far- seeing, far-reaching counsels of wisdom and duty, "as one having authority." On this very day, one hundred years ago, Congress issued a proclamation disbanding all the armies, and Washington, from Princeton, under date of November 2, 1783, put forth his ' ' Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States." These two remarkable papers embraced within their counsels, their exhortations, their instructions, their warnings and their benediction, the citizens and soldiers- of the whole country. They were, at once, the evidence and the annunciation that the great work of Independ- ence was accomplished and the Nation was established. No formal proclamation, no authentic acts of government could carry the weight, could receive the attention, could pervade the public mind, could animate the hearts, could stimulate the conscience, could control the conduct of this people, passing from the wilderness into their prom- ised land, as did these personal words oi their great leader. He stood, he was to stand, upon the level of common citizenship with themselves. But it was a citi- zenship which had been built up, and was to endure, as a crown of glory to a whole people and an inheritance never to perish, till they had lost the virtues illustrated and. inculcated by Washington. The interest, the reverence, that we feel as we recall these great transactions, as we stand upon the spot where they were enacted, centre upon Washington. Great everywhere and at all times, the part played upon this field, in these closing months of the Revolution, was not less conspicuous nor complete in its greatness than any manifestation of his life. Had these events closed his public service, had he then forever retired from the great theatre of action and renown, had he never filled out our admiration and our gratitude by the eight years of private life and the eight years of the chief magistracy which followed the surrender of his military command — if his great presence in the framing of the Constitution and in the guidance of the Nation by high statesman- ship and pure administration, if all this had been want- ing to the full splendor of his fame, if he stood to his countrymen in their memory, as he stood upon this very spot one hundred years ago, his face would have shone to all this people as did the face of Moses to the children of Israel when he delivered the Tables of the Law. And now, after a hundred years of marvellous fortunes and crowded experiences, we confront the days and the works and the men of the first age of the Republic. Three wars have broken the peace here proclaimed. The war for neutrality to complete our independence, by establishing our right to be at peace, though other Powers sought to draw us into their wars. The war for boundary, which pushed our limits to the Pacific, and rounded our territory. The war of the Constitution, which established for this people that, for them and for- ever, "Liberty and Union are one and inseparable." These rolling years have shown growth, forever growth, and strength, increasing strength, and wealth and num- bers ever expanding, while intelligence, freedom, art, culture and religion have pervaded and ennobled all this material greatness. Wide, however, as is our land and vast our population to-day, these are not the limits to the name, the fame, the power of the life and character of Washington. If it could be imagined that this nation, rent by disastrous feuds, broken in its unity, should ever present the miserable spectacle of the undeliled garments of his fame parted among his countrymen, while for the seamless vesture of his virtue they cast lots — if this unutterable shame, if' this immeasurable crime should overtake this land and this people, be sure that no spot in the wide world is inhospitable to his glory, and no people in it but rejoices in the influence of his power and his virtue. If the great statesman and orator, Mr. Fox, could, in the British Parliament, exalt the character of Washing- ton as that "illustrious man, deriving honor less from the splendor of his situation than from the dignity of his mind; before whom all borrowed greatness sinks into insignificance, and all the potentates of Europe become little and contemptible;" if the famous eloquence of Erskine could speak of him "as the only human being for whom he felt an awful reverence ; " if the political philosophy of Brougham prescribed it as "the duty of the historian and sage of all nations to let no occasion pass of commemorating this illustrious man ; " if he asserted that ' ' until time shall be no more, will a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and virtue be derived from the veneration paid to the immor- tal name of Washington;" if our own great statesmen and orators join in this acclaim, Nil orturum alias, nil ortum, tale fatentes, let his countrymen with one voice accept and cherish this splendid possession and exalt and perpetuate it, now and forever. Owing to the delay in beginning the afternoon services, the hour was quite late when Mr. Evarts finished his oration. As he finished, a signaj from Headquarters was discharged, which was promptly answered by broadsides from the naval vessels in the bay, and this was in turn succeeded by the discharge of the day fireworks from one of the flats anchored in the bay. NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 31 The chorus then sang "No King but God," accom- panied by the band. The music of this magnificent piece was composed expressly for this occasion by Harry Rowe Shelley. It was most excellently rendered and filled the breasts of the listeners, as well as the singers, with patriotic ardor. Owing to the lateness of the hour, the singing of the "Hallelujah Chorus" was omitted, and the exercises were ended with the benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Dr. John Forsyth of Newburgh. The immense throng melted quietly away at the con- clusion of the exercises, but it is safe to say that each one left deeply imbued with the central idea of the Centennial services — profoundly impressed with a sense of the value of his birthright as an American citizen, and more thoroughly appreciative of the value of the heritage left by Washington and his brave compeers, who on that spot retired to private life after eight years of patriotic warfare. In this alone, the Centennial exercises have richly repaid the country for all the care and labor ex- pended. The lagging fires of patriotism have been renewed, and each American citizen who participated must have thought that America was truly " The land of the free and the home of the brave.'' THE FIREWORKS. A SPLENDID DISPLAY. THE MAIN EXHIBITION - ■WIND MAKES SOME OE THE PEOPOSED EFFECTS IMPOSSIBLE — BUT A GEAND SPEC- TACLE SUPPLIED — SUPPLEMENTAKY PTEOTECHNICS. From the Newburgh Daily Journal, October 19th. The fireworks display provided for as their closing one of the great events of Centennial Day, came off very suc- cessfully on the river last night, and was a magnificent spectacle, creditable both to the celebration and to the con- tractors who supplied it (the Unexcelled Fireworks Com- pany, of New York), and pleasing to the people. The reg- ular display began a little past seven o'clock and lasted about an hour and a quarter. A strong wind, which was blowing from the south, made it impossible to fire the pyro- technics simultaneously from the three floats and produce the intended arch effect. In fact the floats could not be kept in line at all, and great difficulty was experienced in deeping them anchored in any position. The Unexcelled Company therefore fired their goods from one float at a time, beginning with the leeward or most northward one, then going to the central one and last to the southward float. The great exhibition opened with a general illumination, followed by the discharge of rockets, each of which termin- ated in a mass of brilliant falling stars. Then came rockets which were set off singly in rapid succession, one chasing after the other up in the air; rockets which were set off in bouquets or bundles, the clusters ascending one after another in the same way; fountains and mines then threw up continuous eruptions of great beauty ; batteries with loud reports discharged shells which mounted high in the heavens and then burst and burst again, wilh splendid effects. The splendor of the display cannot be pictured in words. Masses of stars of brilliant colors fell gently through the air. Golden sheen gave a halo to a great area. Glowing drops came down in showers. Shells and rockets, which exploded far up toward the clouds, formed distinct willow trees of large size, the form and foliage being clearly out- lined in glistening fire. Blazing comets darted to and fro. Fiery serpents chased each other savagely. Lighted lan- terns floated away with the breeze. Hanging chains ap- peared in mid-heaven. These varied effects succeeded one another, or were pro- duced together, making a constantly changing scene, which was viewed by many, many thousands of people — from win- dows, housetops, docks, dozens of boats on the river, -hill- sides, and from the countiy for miles and miles about. The heavens were suffused with the glow. The water in the river reflected it back, and a bright moon was not discern- ible in the more brilliant light. At different times, when specially striking effects were produced, the masses of people on shore cheered, dock bells were rung and the steam whistles of the numerous boats on the river took part in the hearty applause. At 8 o'clock the United States men-of-war joined in the demonstration. The great ships were brilliantly decorated with colored lanterns and other lights and discharged sig- nal rockets, etc., for some time, adding very much to the main exhibition. When the regular display was concluded, the Unexcelled Company's steam propeller announced the fact by tooting "Home, Sweet Home." Then there was a long continued salute from all the boats on the river. Fireworks displays that were very creditable were made at Fishkill and New Windsor, numerous private contributions shot up from various portions of the city, several boats set off still other pyrotechnics, a sloop yacht fired a particularly extensive and handsome lot, and the Unexcelled Company threw in gratis from their tug a lot of their comical water fireworks, which floated on top of the water as they burned. NIGHT SCENES ABOUT THE UNION DEPOT. Immediately after the close of the exercises at Washing- ton's Headquarters on yesterday afternoon, thousands of •people hurried toward the Union Depot, wishing to take the first train possible for home. By six o'clock South Water Street in the vicinity of the depot was literally pack- ed with a throng of people, pushing, crowding and strug- gling to reach the stairways leading to the depot. Police- men guarded the broad stairway, and but few people, com- paratively, were allowed to descend at a time. Ropes were also stretched across the entrance, and altogether it was well guarded. Even at the narrow stairway in the old depot but very few people were allowed to go down at a time. The object was to keep the mass of people from crowding all the space between the tracks and thus hinder- ing the passage of trains. As it was trains moved very slowly when pulling up in front of the depot, and no one was injured. 32 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. At six o'clock the electric lights were lighted, and they served to cast a glow over the platform and tracks. At the Erie Depot the scene, so far as relates to the im- mense number of people, was much the same. Thousands of people elbowed their way through Front Street in the early hours of the evening, and each train leaving the depot was crowded. The visiting fire companies, 6. A. Posts, and Dands that came by that route left in the evening. It did not appear that the crowd on South Water Street decreased very rapidly, and at 7 o'clock, when the grand display of fireworks began, there were probably twenty thousand people in the immediate vicinity of the depots and on the east side of the street mentioned ; and a constant stream of people kept pouring in all the available places. House-tops, windows, and balconies also were well filled with those wishing to view the closing part of the grand celebration. Good nature appeared to prevail among the people, and soon all occupied places to their satisfaction. The river presented a magnificent sight. The vessels of the squadrons displayed lights of various colors, steamers passed down the river brilliantly lighted up, and heavilv freighted with tired but pleased excursionists. A large number of yachts and other sailing vessels lay at anchor, and their display of lights added to the beauty of the scene. Small boats dodged hither and yon, their passengers evi- dently intent on viewing the fireworks from points near by. As soon as the opening salute was fired from the fleet, the people became all attention and the various set pieces were displayed, — following each other in rapid succession, — the exclamations of pleasure and gratification were many. The rocket display, tourbillons, with cross fire rockets, shell batteries with serpent mines, grouped batteries and the grand flight of 1, 000 rockets, together with the many other fine pieces in the display, were viewed plainly from that part of the city, and considered to have been without a parallel in the history of fireworks hereabouts. Trains filled with passengers continued to leave the Union Depot bound north and south, until a late hour in the evening, and even then a great many people are said to have been unable to board the train they wished to, and were left in the the city during last night. As the people of Newburgh have so thoroughly provided for the wants of their visitors for the past few days, it is to be hoped that the unfortun- ates who were " left " were well taken care of, and that the slight inconvenience they were subjected to will not serve to detract from the pleasure of their visit to this city to attend the grand finale of the series of centennial celebra- tions. SCENES AT THE LONG DOCK AFTER DARK. Soon after dark the crowd began filling up the vacant spaces along the river front in order to procure eligible places for visiting the pyrotechnic display. The crowd in front of the United States Hotel, extending out on and all over the Long Dock was a motley one. Uniforms ef blue and gray twisted in and out of the throng — the various col- ored plumes of the chapeaus and the glittering helmets of the bands were conspicious- -elegantly dressed ladies and Others in plainer attire mingled with dudes and countrymen in jeans — street venders with their clamorous cries — all lighted up with the glare of the electric lights, combined to make a picture quite as interesting as any seen during the day. Ticket sellers for the various steamers, each one of which was the "first to leave," plied their business. The pavement was covered so thick with paper, the result of the free dristribution of advertising bills through the day, that it fairly cushioned the sidewalks and reduced the clatter to a minimum. Withal, the crowd was good natured — no one seemed disposed to quarrel — all were bent on pleasure. Every available space was filled. All down the water front, boats, freight cars, lumber piled and roofs bore their crowd of interested sightseers. When the final display of rockets had gone up and the end had come, one of the many steamboats in the bay began a prolonged whistle. In an instant every other one in the bay joined in the chorus and the effect produced was mar- velous. Contrary to what would be expected, the blending of them was not inharmonious and as they echoed from moun- tain to mountain, it seemed a fitting "good night" to the grandest day ever seen on the banks of the Hudson. If any of the gnomes who once played their fantastic tricks with poor Rip Van Winkle were sleeping in their mountain fastnesses, they must have been awakened by this Cyclopean serenade. ON THE RIVER. Many persons saw the fireworks from the boats on the river, looking from the decks of visiting steamers or other craft. This way ot seeing'the exhibition had much advan- tage. Boats that were on the east side of the floats had specially good opportunities. The moon was far in the east, and the heavens were much darker in the west, over the city, which gave a splendid background for the exhibi- tion. THE DANGER ELEMENT. While pleased thousands on other boats and on shore were feasting their vision on the beautiful display, there was one small party of gentlemen on a tugboat on the river who viewed things from a different standpoint. These gentlemen were the officers and principal managers of the Unexcelled Fireworks Company, and they watched the progress of the exhibition with deep solicitude, because of the danger to the men on the floats, who were from twenty to thirty in number. Large fireworks are always somewhat dangerous, and setting them off from floats on the water is specially so. The hazzard was increased last night by the strong wind, which was liable to carry the fire from one portion of the exhibition to another, and there were explosives on the floats which, in case of accident, would have blown the men to atoms. Consequently the officers of the company narrowly watched the proceedings step by step, ready to steam to the floats if assistance was needed, and anxiously conferring as the exhibition went on. When the display was over, their tug hastened to the side of the floats and one of the officers inquired if everybody was all right. When an affirmative response was received, he ejaculated, " Thank God; I am relieved," and, at his suggestion, those on the tug gave three cheers for the men on the floats. THE VIEW FROM SOUTH STREET. In some respects the view of the fireworks display from a point south of South Street surpassed many other points of observation. On mounting to a house-top one could take an unobstructed view of the river. The wind wa» blowing from the south and the rockets and bombs were carried northward, so that the people in that part of the city enjoyed the full effect. Before the fireworks com- menced the river presented a beautiful sight from this point. The moon had not rissn, and the lights on the boats shone very brightly. Some of them carried electric lights. The vessels and steamboats themselves could not be distin- guished, but lights shone out everywhere. The river was one mass of moving lights. There were nearly twice as many beats here in the evening as in the day time. Most of those which came in the morning still lay at the wharves, while those in the river had brought moonlight excursion parties. Doubtless every spare steamboat on the river was in Newburgh Bay last night. Such a magnificent river spectacle we never saw before. There were electric lights and gas lights and oil lights on the steamers in colors of red, green and white, while the vessels of the fleet were lit up with signal lights of all colors. The lights moved hither and thither and it was a wonder how the pilots managed to guide their boats safely. When the fireworks display began the enthusiasm increased. Every housetop was covered with people; and so was every dock and boat, all of whom cried NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 33 "Ah I" While the fireworks were in progress there were two concerts in full blast at the same time. One was com- posed principally of a chorus of "ahs!" by the people, and the other was the chorus of steamboat whistles, in which the Too-te-tootle too " and Too-te-tootle-too-oo-oo " of the notorious whistle of the tugboat Hercules was the con- ductor-in-chief. First it started by applauding a magnifi- cent volley of rockets with an unearthly blast, which fright- ened timid people. . We heard of one lady who fainted on a roof when she heard it. Shortly afterward there was another fine burst of fireworks, and again that groaning, shrieking, moaning whistle applauded and a great roar of laughter arose from the multitude. Then the hoarse bellow of the Mary Powell's whistle was heard and those of the Columbia, Grand Republic and a score of other joined in, till it seemed as if Bedlam had been let loose. But it was grand. The Seventh Regiment Band never made grander music. Every boat on the river, and they were legion, was blowing its whistle. The uproar continued for about five minutes, dying away at times but breaking out again, as if the men at the whistle cords were loath to let go. Once started, this whistle blowing was kept up to the end, every really fine flight of fireworks being the signal for a blast of the excruciating whistle of the Hercu- les, and then the other whistles tried to imitate it as much as possible, resulting in laughable failures. When the grand flight of a thousand rockets were set off at the end and a light was swung around on board the float to indicate " all over," the Hercules started off wilh " Home, Sweet Home," completely paralyzing the crowds with laughter, It sounded like a ten-year-old boy taking his first lesson on a musical instrument. It was an effort of a lifetime, and the other steamboats kept quiet till it got through. Then what a blast of whistles rent the air ! It was indescribable. So the Hercules played it again, ending up with — " Too-te-too-oo-to-too tee-ee." The fireworks were over. The steamboats gathered their crowds on board and started off home, and by midnight the bay was clear of steamboats. MISCELLANY BEIEF NOTES OF THE PEACE CELEBEATION OF 1883. WHAT THE BUSY PENCILS OF THE JOURNAL REPORTERS HAVE JOTTED FOR THE INFORMATION OF THE PEOPLE. — Hundreds of people ate their dinners on door steps. — Many people, who came to town late, did not see the parade at all. — The number of military in the procession was fully five thousand, perhaps more. — The police force had the help of a good many special officers, as well as the aid of New York " cops." — Mr. J. O. Miller, the "Orange County Farmer," says the day should have been forty-eight hours long. — George Thompson, of Pine Bush, fell from the Orange County Express, at Chester, cutting his head badly. — The 8.26 West Shore train was in four sections Thurs- day morning, had on two engines, and 1,500 passengers. — A prominent New Windsor gentleman paid $100 for the use of a parlor from which to view the procession to- day. — Robert Montgomery is among the steamboat squad of New York police. He is an old resident of the Fourth Ward, this city. — Mayor Ward gave a notable reception at his residence Wednesday night, in honor of Senator Bayard and other distinguished guests of his. — The Committee of Five maintained a handsome lunch in the Savings Bank building, for the entertainment of distinguished official guests. — Thursday was a perfect day. The most inveterate grumbler could find no fault with the weather. The wet weather prophets missed their guess. — Rev. E. P. Roe's centennial guests included George Alfred Townsend, ("Gath") of the Tribune. Also Mr. A. W. Drake, art editor of the Century magazine. — The 23d Separate Company (Cowles Guard) of Hudson, reached here at 3 o'clock Thursday morning, on the steam- boat Walter Brett. The Company were fifty strong. — The morning train on the Ontario and Western Rail- way left Middletown at 6.40, about ten minutes late, and arrived here at 8.30. They brought in nine cars, all packed full. — Boats brought large crowds to the city long after the parade had started, some of them loaded to the water's edge. There were arrivals of steamers as late as 2 o'clock p. m. — A man on Broadway was kicked by the horse of a Marshal's aid. He was unconscious for some time, but eventually revived, and did not seem to have suffered any permanent injury. — Michael Fredericks, of West Marlborough, while attempting to board a fast moving West Shore train at Milton, was thrown off. His 6kull was fractured, one hand severed, and he was fatally injured. — There are all sorts of estimates of the number of peo- ple in town Thursday, ranging from fifty thousand up to one hundred and fifty thousand. How would it do to split the difference and call it (including Newburgheis) One Hundred Thousand ? — The Third Regiment of New Jersey reached Newburgh at 5.30 Thursday morning, on the steamboat Thomas P. Way. The regiment were nearly five hundred strong and the boat being a small one, some of the men had to sleep outside on the decks. — General Fitzgerald and staff of thirty officers who rode over the Steuben route, made a big sensation at Fishkill, on their arrival there between four and five o'clock Wednes- day. The entire town turned out to see them, and there was much enthusiasm. — The distinguished official guests in carriages received much attention, especially Governor Cleveland. When his carriage turned into Broadway from Grand Street, p.- me man shouted, "Three cheers for the Governor." They were given with a will. 34 NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL — Thsre were more great men in town than you could shake a stick at. The number of "colonels" was simply immense, and as for Presidential aspirants — but we forbear. — The barge Susquehanna on Wednesday night brought the Wa-hington Continentals from New York, with a juvenile drum corps in Continental dress. It also brought a portion of the New York police. It is reported a number of thieves and pickpockets were among the passengers. — The line of march of the procession was over the fol- lowing route : Down Broadway to Colden Street, through Colden and Water Streets to the junction of Grand, south on Grand Street to Broadway, thence westward to Liberty, up Liberty Street to South Street, up South to Lander, down Lander Street to Broadway, where the parade counter- marched and was dismissed. —The proprietors of the Journal congratulate them- selves on having had throughout the very busy day the assistance of a corps of faithful and hard-working men — reporters, compositors, pressmen, clerks and others. We were with their co-operation enabled to fulfill our obliga- tions to the readers of the Journal, by furnishing them promptly with a complete account of the doings of the memorable celebration — It was very late when the train left with the remaining members of the Seventh Regiment and their band. In the meantime the band played several fine selections from a point above the depot, on the platform. Several members of the regiment were accompanied by lady friends, and they enjoyed for a brief space of time a dance on the platform, to the inspiring music furnished by the band. They at least appeared to enjoy the delay. — The firemen's division of the procession was as good as any fire parade that was ever seen. The companies here from out of town were fine looking fellows and seme had fine apparatus. Of course the Newburgh companies maintained the credit of the city fully. They and their machines can be safely matched against any other eight companies any- where. The firemen and thair bands, all told, were from thhteen to fourteen hundred strong. — The caterer for the Seventh Regiment and Veteran Brigade, Mr. L. P. Mazzetti, had his hands full of business Thursday. His task was to feed over one thousand men, which matter was attended to on the train as they were coming up, and the operation will be repeated on the return to night. Among those who partook of his faro wore Gen- eral Fitzgerald, Colonel Winchester, Colonel Clark, Mayor Edson, Governor Cleveland, and other noted men. — "Boots" Van Steenburgh, an eccentric character, who haila from Ulster County, was among the distinguished vis- itors. He was arrayed in a garb made up of the stripes and stars, and his summer hat, as yet unshot, was gay with streaming red, white, and blue ribbons. He was quiet for the first few hours after his arrival, but on reaching the vicinity of the reviewing stand on Grand Street, his patriot- ism bubbled over and he entertained the crowd with a patri- otic and poetic glorification of the star-spangled banner. — It seems now that the railways, as is sometimes the case, underestimated the necessities of Centennial Day in the matter of transportation. The Orange County Express left Middletown with seventeen loaded passenger cars and two engines, but it left about three hundred passengers at the stations who could not find room on the cars. Instead of running such heavy trains, which inevitably lose time, they ci uld have sent out one train after another at interva's of twenty minutes, with fewer cars and thus made their schedule time. — The demonstration Wednesday night was great. Thou- sands of strangers were already in town. The hotels were crammed full and were turning people away. Crowds of humanity thronged the streets till a late hour. Electric lights blazed at the West Shore Railroad depot and at the docks. Buildings, already beautified by other decorations, were now given fresh brilliancy with a variety of illumin- ations. Fireworks and explosives were frequently dis- charged. Everybody seemed to be filled to overflowing with the enthusiasm of the occasion, many people showing no disposition whatever to secure their wonted sleep. — One of the men who has " borne the burden and the heat of the day " and has done his utmost to make the celebra- tion a complete success is Colonel Charles H. Weygant. He has before had experience in handling bodies of men. but the extent of Thursday's operations has tested his capabili- ties in that line as they never were before. It is not neces- sary to say to those who witnessed the parade that they fully answered the demand made upon them. Much of the credit for the admirable order observed in the procession and the effective disposition of the men in line is due to Colonel Weygant's foresight and knowledge of this kind of business. He has done well, and Centennial-Day will be a red-letter day in his life. — The regiments from New York and Brooklyn were a great feature of the parade, as were also their magnificent bands. The 7th Regiment worthily headed the grand pageant and were often greeted with applause, while their veteran battalion made a splendid show. The 13th Brook- lyn were also very soldierly and made an elegant appear- ance, while the 23d Brooklyn, who seldom meet their rivals o:' the 7th in the same parade, seemed to be determined to do as well as that regiment and did so. Three duplicates for these regiments cannot be found. The 3d New Jersey Regiment also proved to be an exceptionally good body of men. They wore a uniform like that of the regular army, and bore knapsacks, with red blankets rolled on top. — A reporter of one of the New York ovening dailies was asked Thursday morning if he had succeeded in getting quarters the night previous. He said: "Oh, yes, I had quite comfortable quarters, in a chair in the reading-room of the United States Hotel. Soon after midnight, the hotel people wauted to close up. They invited the patrons of the arm chairs to vacate but they didn't vacate at all. They then opened the outside doors, but they couldn't freeze them out. Finally one gentleman said to the hotel clerk, ' see here, my friend, we are visitors here, we would like rooms and would be glad to pay for them, but you have none to let. It seems that Newburgh hospitality might be broad enough to allow us to sit here all night.' The clerk appreciated the remarks of the sti anger, consented to keep the hotel open, and we were fortunate enough to hold reser- ved seats, fastened to them and so put in a comfortable night. It wasn't very luxuiious, but I suppose it was the best we could do so I won't grumble." — One of the carriages in the procession bore the flag and boarding sword of the famous Paul Jones, of the Bon Homme Richard, and their present owner, Mr. Samuel Bayard Stafford, a gentleman over 70 years old, who lives in Bladensburg, Maryland. The flag is that which floated from the Bon Homme Richard in the early part of Jones's famous struggle of the 23d of September, 1779, with the Serapis. The present Mr. Stafford's father, Lieutenant James Bayard Stafford, then a young man, was an officer under Jones and had distinguished himself for gallant con- duct The flag was shot away by the British fire and fell into the sea, but Stafford plunged into the water and brought it back to the vessel, though a British officer cut his shoulder in two as he climbed up the ship's side with it. The flag was removed to the finally captured Serapis before the sinking of the Bon Homme Richard, and was afterward used by Jones on the Alliance, on which vessel it remained till the Alliance was sold in 1784. Subsequent to this event the flag and sword were presented to Lieutenant Stafford by the Marine Committee as a reward for his meritorious services. The Lieutenant lived till 1838, when he died at the age of 98 years, and the flag and sword passed to his wife, then to a daughter, and finally to the present owne*-, his only son. NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 35 —Parking out horses was not a profitable business on Thursday. —Mr. W. Duncan served on Centennial Day a total of 1,950 meals. — The West Shore Railway sent twenty-five trains from this city on Thursday night, sixteen south and nine north. — There were ten detectives on the Headquarters grand stand on Thursday for the protection of the guests. All of them were in disguise. — The number of words of special dispatches wired to newspapers throughout the country on Thursday by Manager Nisbet and his assistants was 16,000. — The jMewburgh policemen performed their duty well on Thursday, and did the bulk of the hard work. Some of the policemen were on duty for ten hours without rest or anything to eat. — The anchor chain of the war vessel Portsmouth broke on Wednesday, just after the arrival here, fractur- ing the leg of a sailor, and the vessel ran into the Vandalia, crushing her own jib-boom and doing other injury. The vessels interested were still here Friday, engaged in an effort to And the lost anchor. — The two handsome teams that composed the four-in- hand that was much admired by those who saw the pro- cession, and which drew the landau containing Governor Cleveland and three members of his staff, were Newburgh horses. The iron grays belong to Gibb & Terwilliger, and the blacks are owned by George Terwilliger, who handled the reins on the occasion. — The Revolutionary heroes are being pretty generously remembered these waning days of centennials. The latest to be publicly honored is Sergeant Jasper, who, in the hottest of the Charleston fight, jumped outside the para- pet of Fort Sullivan, and rescued and restored the colors. Georgia has already named a county for him, and Savannah a public square ; and that city, where he lost his life while gallantly repeating his Charleston experi- ment, is now giving him a $10,000 monument. — When prayer was being offered by the Rev. Dr. Prime during the ceremonies at Washington's Headquarters, a large number of gentlemen sprinkled through the seats of the grand stand arose and reverently uncovered. A policeman who was evidently better posted in the rules regulating political meetings than he was in the manner of holding religious services, passed rapidly around, and, tapping the standing gentlemen, ordered them to sit down. An audible smile was noticeable in the rear of the crowd at the well intended but rather undevout work of the official. — During the celebration Mr. E. C. Barnes' residence in Dubois street was robbed of $300 worth of jewelry, money and valuables. Mrs. A. E. Upright's residence, No. 41 Gidney avenue, was robbed of $15. Sylvester Lawson's house at No. 267 Powell avenue, was entered and robbed of $100 worth of jewelry and other valuables. The residence of C. S. Williams, No. 367 Liberty street, was entered and ransacked, but the thieves were frightened away by the ringing of a door-bell. The resi- dence of A. S. Oakley, at No. 348 Liberty street, was entered in the evening, and a watch and some jewelry were stolen. —During the late hours of Thursday evening the depart- ure of trains from the various depots was much delayed, owing to various causes. The train for points on the line of the Walkill Valley Railroad, in particular, was very late in starting, and it was after one o'clock Friday morning when it left. Just previous to that time it was quite a comical sight to look upon some of the people in the waiting rooms. The seats were all filled, and many were walking the floors. A large number of peach baskets had been found by some one, and they were turned bottom upward and utilized as seats by ladies. The country fellows were there in large numbers, and with his best girl's head upon his shoulder and his arm around her neck, the pair slumbered peacefully, and were utterly oblivious of the surroundings and careless as to when their train would start. Two ladies sat in the fireplace, leaning against each other. They appeared to be about ready to take a flight upward through the chimney. —On Thursday night, at about ten o'clock, while Mr. John McCann, of Walden, stood in front of the Union Depot talking to some ladies, he suddenly missed his watch. Turning around, he grabbed a man standing near, by the coat collar, and shook him vigorously, at the same time charging him with having taken his watch. The man protested his innocence, and just then a tall man stepped up and asked if a watch lying on the plat- form was Mr. McCann's. It proved to be his. There appeared to be no doubt that the watch was taken by the man, and that in handing it to the tall man — a con- federate — it was dropped on the platform. No policeman appeared in the immediate vicinity of the scene. Several bystanders urged Mr. McCann to have the suspected man arrested, but he pleaded so hard to be allowed to depart, and as mercy toward him was urged by the ladies in Mr. McCann's party, that gentleman, against his own will, relaxed his hold on the stranger, and he quickly dis- appeared in the crowd. — Despite the fact that a large number of pickpockets were arrested on Centennial Day as they arrived in town, enough were left to ravage the pockets of numerous unsuspecting persons from the rural districts. Friday morning when Mr. Samuel Johnson, engineer on the Erie, went off duty at six o'clock, in walking from the Erie Depot to Washington street along the West Shore wall, he found no less than six wallets, all empty of course. The pickpockets probably got in their work while the crowd were standing on the wall gazing at the fireworks, emptied the wallets quickly, and threw them down at the base of the wall. Five of the wallets were evidently the property of men ; one was a lady's. They were of the rural type, suggestive of old times, and per- haps hard times, as the owners might have had trouble in getting home after losing them. One of them bore inside the following name and address : "D. C. Jacobus, Bergen Co., N. J." We hope friend Jacobus got home all right. As Mr. Johnson was walking along he met another man, apparently a stranger, who had found nine more empty wallets in the same vicinity, evidences that the locality had been assiduously worked by the light- fingered gentiy. SOME OF O US VISITORS. PROMINENT PEOPLE WHO ACCEPTED INVITATIONS TO BE PRESENT. Among those who accepted invitations to the celebration and were present Thursday were the following: William E CameroD, Governor of Virginia. The Hon. O. B. Potter. Mayor Edson. Benson J. Lossing, the historian. Cyrus B. Martin. Jacob F. Miller. Commodore Upshur. Major George W. McLean, commanding the Old Guard of New York. P. A. P. Barnard, President of Columbia College. Ex Governor A. H. Littlefield, of Rhode Island. The Trustees of the Capture of Andre Monument Association, of Tarrytown, N. Y. Rear Admiral Cooper, U. S. N. Ham- ilton Fish. Hamilton Fish, Jr. The members of the New Haven Colonial Historical Society. General Horace Porter. Hon. Erastus Brooks. Gideon J. Tucker, N. Y. Hon. Francis Kernan. A. Van Santvoord. Judge Enoch L. Fancher. Hon George M. Beebe. Augustus O. Bourn, Governor of Rhode Island. The Mayor of Hartford, Conn. George Rich, Paymaster-General, S. N. Y. Colonel James M. Varnum, of New York. Cyrus W. Field. Horatio C. King, Judge-Advocate General of New York. Robert Stuyvesant. Judge Noah Davis. The members of the New 36 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. York State branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. D. B. Halstead, President of the National Exchange Bank, New York. Mrs. E. B. Washington, widow of the Colonel Washington who was held as a hostage by John Brown at the time the latter seized Harper's Ferry, and grand-niece of both General and Martha Washington. Hon. William Chandler, Secretary of the Navy. Congressman Prescott, of Oneida. Congressman Skinner, of Watertown. Con- gressman Robinson, of Brooklyn. LETTERS OF REGRET. DISTINGUISHED GKXTLEMEN WHO WERE INVITED BUT COULD NOT COME. Letters of reeret at inability to be present and take part in the Newburgh Pence Celebration have been received fram the gentlemen named below: President Arthur. Lucius Robinson, ex-Governor of New York. General Robert C. Schenck. W. A. Jones, Norwich, Conn. Lieutenant Gen- eral Sheridan. The Governor of Connecticut. Roscoe Conkling. The Governor of South Carolina. Attorney- General Stockton. Rear Admiral Le Roy, IT. S. N. United States Senator S. M. Cullom, of Illinois. The Gov- ernor of Nevada. Supreme Court Judge Charles Daniels, of Buffalo. United States Senator John A. Logan, of Illinois. Theodore Miller, Judge of the Court of Appeals. The Governor of Maine. The Governor of Kansas. Morrison R. Waite, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Charles Scribner. Commodore Temple. Secre- tary Teller, of the President's Cabinet. Judge Benedict. Edward E. Hale, of Vermont. The Governor of Missouri. The Governor of New Jersey. Governor Butler, of Massa- chusetts. Brigadier General Crook, U. S. A. Supreme Court Judge William Rumsey. The Rev. E. M. Van Deu- sen, of Grace Episcopal Church, Utica. Judge James C. Smith, of Catiandaigua. Schuyler Colfax. Major General Pope, U. S. A. The Governor of New Hampshire. The Mayor of Rochester. Commander Hull, U. 8. N. The Mayor of Baltimore. Hannibal Hamlin. The Governor of Virginia. Richard Grant White. The Governor of Oregon. Governor Pattison, of Pennsylvania. Judge Ingalls. Benjamin Harris Brewster, Attorney General of the United States. Stanley Matthews, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. General Sherman. Justice Gray, of the United States Supreme Court The Mayor of St. Louis. The Governor of Vermont. Hon. J. C. Bancroft Davis. Hon. R. C. Winthrop, Mass. General William W. Belknap. Rear Admiral Case, IT. S. N. Chief Justice Ruger, of the Court of Appeals. General Scofield, U. S. A. M. H. Mer- win, Ulica. George William Curtis. Judge Blatchford. Charles O'Conor. Rear Admiral Nicholson. The Mayor of Charleston, S. C. The Mayor of Brooklyn. Judge Vaun, of Syracuse. John Bigelow. G. W. Clinton, Vice Chancellor of the University of New York. PREPARING FOR THE CENTENNIAL. WHY THE CELEBKATION WAS HELD. STATEMENT OP EVENTS IT COMMEMORATES.* The events that the Newburgh Centennial celebration is designed to commemorate are four in number, as follows : 1. Washington's refusal of the crown, May 22d, 1782. 2. Washington's suppression of a threatened revolt in the army, March 15th, 1783, when it was proposed to seize upon the government of the embryo country. 3. The proclamation of the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, April 18th, 1783, which was joyfully cele- brated by the army April 17th, 1783. 4. The disbandment of the Continental army Novem- ber 3d, 1783. These events all took place while Washington and the Revolutionary army were at Newburgh and in its vicinity, and their grave importance cannot be questioned. The first two named are believed to have settled the fate of the government — to have determined its form. They were closely allied in some respects, both originating in the discontent that at that time existed in the army. The significance of the others is apparent, one of them being the first announcement of peace— the first intelli- gence that the war was ended — and the other the final assembling and the parting of the comrades of years. Some writers have contended that the long list of Amer- ican centennials could not be more appropriately con- *Mainly taken from the pamphlets and other writings by Hon. J. T. Headley. eluded than with a last celebration at Newburgh. And the opinion holds here. With this commemorative observance the centennials will end as they began. As the first one celebrated a peaceful event, the declaration of independence in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, so this last will celebrate a peaceful event, the proclamation of peace to the army and its final disbandmen*. As the first celebrated the birthday of liberty in Philadelphia, so the last will celebrate the birthday of the Republic in Newburgh. As out of gloom and uncertainty as to the future one was born, so out of the deepest darkness and almost despair the other sprang into being. The clangor of arms and the thunder of hostile guns heralded neither. As the first was peaceful, and yet more momentous than all the battles that followed, so the last was equally peaceful, and yet greater than all the victories that pre- ceded it. Both were moral victories, accompanied by none of the display which dazzles the senses and attracts the gaze of the crowd. To Newburgh and its vicinity Washington led his ragged army from the victorious field of Yorktown, and made it his home for more than a year and a half. Bur- goyne's army having been crushed at the north and that of Cornwallis at the south, there was left but one large army on our shores— that of Clinton shut up in New York. While Rochambeau stood watch and ward over the south, Washington guarded the north at Newburgh. His headquarters here took in the Hudson River for eight miles, to West Point, and the moment Clinton should break through the obstructions across the channel there, he would know it and his army be put in motion. NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 37 WASHINGTON'S REFUSAL OF THE CROWN. As time passed on at Newburgh, and it became pretty certain that the war was over, the attention of the army was naturally turned to the form of government to be adopted, and this question became the topic of general discussion, and assumed greater importance as Congress became more corrupt, and more and more indifferent to the rights and comfort of the army. It was asked on every side, would it do for the army to disband and leave the destiny of the country in the hands of such a Con- gress. The terrible state of feeling that existed in the army may be imagined from the following extract from a letter of Washington to the Secretary of War. He says : "Under the present circumstances, when I see such a number of men goaded by a thousand stings of reflection on the past, and of anticipation in the future, about to be turned on the world, soured by penury and by what they call the ingratitude of the public, involved in debts, without one farthing of money to carry them home, after spending the flower of their days, and many of them their patrimony, in establishing the freedom and independence of their country, and suffered everything that human nature is capable of enduring this side of death ; I repeat it, when I consider these irritating circumstances, without one thing to soothe their sufferings or dispel their gloomj prospects, I cannot avoid apprehending a train of evils will follow of a very serious, disturbing nature, and I wish not to heighten the shades of a picture so far as the reality would justify in doing it. I could give anecdotes of patriotism and distress which have scarcely ever been paralleled, never been surpassed in the history of man- kind ! But you may lely upon it the patience and long suffering of the army are almost exhausted." How fearfully perilous the state of things must have been to have forced such strong language from the calm and prudent Washington. He knew meetings were almost nightly held by officers high in rank respecting the form of government that should be adopted when peace was secured. At this day it may seem strange that such a question should come up, but it must be remembered that when the colonies took up arms it was at first for a redress of grievances alone. In a short time the struggle changed into one for independence — for a' government of our own, without any fixed idea as to what character that government should have when freedom was secured. It was time enough to think of that when we obtained our independence. That over- shadowed all other questions. There is no evidence that such a republic as ours was ever dreamed of at the out- set. As far as we can ascertain the general feeling of the statesmen at that time, the opinion was that a government based upon that of England, with some modifications, would be the the safest and best. Nor is this strange — it was the one they had been educated in and been taught to revere, and the blessings and privi- leges they had rebelled to secure. But, now, as peace seemed close at hand, it was necessary to meet this question fairly and settle it forever. Congress was not to be trusted. To that conclusion almost the entire army had come. What then was to be done? It was resolved, without preliminaries, to declare Washington dictator, with the design of ultimately making him king. A paper to this effect was carefully drawn up, and Colonel Mcola, a venerable officer, to whom Washington was warmly attached, was selected to present it. One morning Washington was sitting in the old New- burgh headquarters, surveying with an anxious eye the perils that now threatened the country, when Nicola rode up and requested an interview. He told Washington that he had been intrusted with an important paper by the officers of the army ; that it had been prepared with great deliberation, and its contents had received the most careful and serious consideration. The paper after speaking of the present condition of affairs and prospects of peace, and the necessity of the adoption of a strong government, took up several forms of government and discussed them, going over both the good and the bad points in each, and finally, in conclusion, declared that a republican government was the most unstable and inse- cure, and a constitutional one like that of England the most desirable and perfect of all, and offering to place him, as the one most fit, at the head, under the title of "Protector," or some other name. As the people might object to the name of King, it should not immediately be assumed. Ultimately it was to be adopted. The anx- iety and distress that deepened on Washington's face as he went over the topics one after another, gradually assumed a more serious aspect, but when he came to the offer to make him King, it blazed with a terrible light, and he exclaimed : " Sir, with a mixture of surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occur- rence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the m army as you have expressed, and I must view •with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. I am much at loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encour- agement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischief that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, for your- self or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind." How like a thunderbolt this proposition seems to fall upon him ! He cannot contain his surprise as he looks about him, in amazement at this new danger that has opened like an earthquake under his feet. Every line of this letter bears indication of a powerful internal struggle — a struggle to maintain that self-composure and moderation in language which had always distinguished him. Mastering himself with a strong effort, he replies with a severe dignity and stern condemnation that must have overwhelmed the astonished officers. His feelings of great surprise and astonishment give way to "abhor- rence." He then takes fire at the insult offered himself, the severe reflection it casts upon his honor, and the implied charge of ambitious views and possible treason to the people, and he " cannot conceive what part of his conduct could have given encouragement to such an address." The next moment his thoughts revert to his country, and "the greatest mischief that can befall my country " comes back like a mournful refrain. Surely no event in the history of our country deserves to be remembered and honored more than this. No battle he ever fought was more frought with the nation's destinies than this act. No transaction that occurred during that long seven years' struggle is more deserving of commemoration, not only for its grandeur, but as an example to be held up for all time before the youth of this country. But this was not all. Another and a sterner conflict and final victory was before him. He had crushed this first movement with a single blow, but he clearly saw that the feeling which had prompted it was not extinguished ; nay, his watchful eye saw that it was on the increase, and the next step would be taken without him, if possible over him; He saw an abyss, whose depths he could not fathom, opening at his feet. Never before in the hour of deepest discouragement, when retreating from a lost field, was he so agitated. He aroused himself, however, to avert the evil. MUTINY QUELLED. Washington's letters to Congress proving of no avail, and the muttering* of the army growing daily more ominous, he proposed that a committee of officers of high character should be appointed and sent to Congress, to see if some measure might not be adopted to remove the deep-seated dissatisfaction and disperse the rising storm. That committee went. It pleaded, it remonstrated, it endeavored to alarm that body, by pointing out the dangerous state of feeling in the army, which, if pushed to extremity, would take the matter into its own hands. But it was all to no purpose, and when the committee returned and reported the utter failure of their mission, the indignation increased tenfold, and Washington be- came still more alarmed. At length the long expected storm burst. One day an officer handed Washington a paper that had been circulated freely in the army. It was an appeal to it to take matters in its own hands, march on Congress, and obtain its demands at the point of the bayonet. In short, if they were not granted, usurp the government. It appointed a day for the 3S NEWBTTKGH CENTENNIAL. ofBcers to meet in the Temple, (as it was called, a large log building erected a couple of miles back of Washing- ton's Headquarters, for the use of the army during its long period of idleness), and there decide on the manner in which to proceed. Washington's face wore an anxious, troubled look as he read the paper, and he sat and pondered long and with a heavy heart over its contents. The terribly ex- asperating facts it contained were all true and could not be denied. The letter was not signed, but was evidently written by a master hand, and was perfectly adapted to secure the end aimed at, which was to arouse the passions of the officers and soldiers to a pitc" 1 that would prove too strong for even the powerful influence of Washington to check. It began with a recital of their wrongs, of the insults heaped on them by Congress, of its cold neglect, of their own forbearance and patience under them, their self-sacrifice and patriotism, and recited the measures they had taken in vain ta secure their rights, portrayed in vivid colors the contempt and scorn with which then- repeated and earnest petitions had been treated, and finally breaks out, " faith hath its limi ts as well as its temper, and there are points beyond which neither can be stretched without sinking into cowardice or plunging into credulity," and declared that another step in the patient course they had been pursuing would be ruin forever. "If this," he says, "be your treatment, while the swords you wear are necessary to the protection of your country, what have you to expect from peace, when your voice shall sink and your strength dissipate by division — when those very swords, the instruments and companions of your glory, shall be taken from your sides and no remaining mark of your military distinction left you but your infirmities and scars ? Can you consent to retire from the field and grow old in poverty, wretched- ness and contempt? Can you consent to wade through the vile mire of dependency and owe the remnant of that life to charity which has hitherto been spent in honor ? If you can, go, and carry with you the jest of torieg, the scorn of whigs, and what is worse, the pity of the world. Go, starve, and be forgotten." Growing bold in his in- dignation, he swoops down on Washington himself and exclaims, "Suspect the man who would advise to more moderation and longer forbearance. Let nothing but death separate you from your arms." These impassioned words fell on the already excited and indignant hearts of the army like fire on gunpowder. Washington gazed with the deepest alarm and gloom at the awful catastrophe that seemed about to overwhelm the country. These brave men, whom he had borne on his great heart for seven long years, were asked to throw him overboard at last. Must it be, then, that the bloody and stormy road they had traveled together so long was to end in this frightful gulf, in which home and country were to go down in one black ruin ? As he looked down into its gloomy depths, his heart sank, and he afterward said it was the darkest day of his life. Not when in the gloomy winter encampment of Valley Forge, with his half-naked, starving army dying around him, did the prospect look so dark as now. No lost battle-field ever bore so terrible an aspect. But what was to be done ? He could forbid the meeting, but that would only increase the excitement. The army was in no temper to submit to mere dictation. Besides, he must win back more than obedience — he must regain the confidence and love of the army, or all would be lost. With that remarkable sagacity and foresight that has made him the wonder of mankind, he simply, in an order, postponed the meeting till Satur- day, and selected the number and rank of the officers to compose It. He acted as though he sympathized with the army, and if there was to be a meeting to discuss measures for its welfare, it was eminently proper that he should attend it. This master stroke discomfited the leaders in their movement. They expected to control the meeting themselves. In the meantime Washington summoned to this old building those on whom he knew he could rely, and Putnam and Greene, and Knox and Wayne, and Steuben and others gathered here in grave and solemn council. The plan for Washington to attend the meeting was approved, and in the room in which he penned his im- mortal address to the army remains just as it was when he wrote it. So on the appointed day Washington mounted his horse, and, accompanied by his staff, rode over to the Temple. On the way his face wore an anxious, troubled look. He knew that the crisis of the Revolution had come, and his heart was torn by conflicting emotions. Would he be able to crush this perilous movement and allay the rising storm, or would he be overridden and trodden under foot by the excited passions of the army ? With these thoughts oppressing his heart, he approached the building. The crowd of caparisoned horses in the open space around it and held by orderlies or hitched to the trees, showed that the officers were already assem- bled. On a slope across a morass in front lay scattered the shanties of the soldiers. His eye rested for a moment on them, and he then dismounted, and, giving his horse to an orderly, entered the building. Every eye turned as that majestic form, with its firm and measured tread, moved toward the raised platform at the farther end of the room. Every footfall echoed clear and distinct on the uncarpeted floor as he slowly passed through the silent throng of officers. Ascending the platform, Wash- ington turned and gazed a moment on the excited upturned faces, and after saying a few words about the writer of this anonymous appeal, he took out the address he had prepared with so much care. But in the absorp- tion of his feelings in the decisive step he was about to take, he had forgotten to put on his spectacles. Taking them from his pocket, he said in a grave, subdued tone : "These eyes, my friends, have grown dim and these locks white in the service, yet I never doubted the justice of my country." They were simple words, but the sup- pressed emotion with which they were uttered, and the painful sadness of his face, smote every heart and sent a thrill of the deepest sympathy through the room, and many an eye grew moist and lip quivered. He began that immortal address by referring to the anonymous writer of the call for this meeting and of the perilous advice it contained, not to sheathe their swords till they obtained satisfaction from the government. Dwelling on the proposition to turn their arms on Con- gress itself, he burst forth: "My God! what can this writer have in view in recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the army ? Can he be a friend to the country? No ! he is plotting the ruin of both." He then spoke of the army, and his voice trembled with emotion as he dwelt on their sufferings, devotion and bravery, and of his deep affection for them. He told them how intimately his own fame was bound up in their glory, till eyes that had never blanched in the wildest storm of battle overflowed with tears. He closed the touching, noble address in the following language : " Let me conjure you in the name of the common country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity and the national character of America, to express the utmost horror and detestation of the man who wishes under any specious pretence to overturn the liberties of our country, who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and drench our rising Empire in blood. By thus determining and thus acting you will pursue the plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes — you will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies, who are compelled to resort from open force to secret artifice, and you will give one more distingmished proof of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior t" the most complicated sufferings, and you will by the dignity of your conduct afford occasion for posterity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind : Had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfections to which human virtue is capable of attaining." With a low bow Washington descended the platform and walked out of the building. The moment he dis- appeared through the entrance, Knox sprang to his feet and offered a resolution of thanks to and of confidence in Washington, which was seconded by Putnam, they at the same tune declaring that they returned his affection with all the strength of which the human heart is capable. The resolution was carried with a shout of acclamation. Not a voice was raised in remonstrance, NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 39 The meeting to take into consideration the momentous question should the army usurp the government had ended in a resolution of confidence in Washington. The crisis had passed, the danger was over, and Washington remained more strongly entrenched in the hearts of his soldiers than ever. It was no figure of speech when Washington said the success of the measure proposed by the anonymous appeal would ' ' drench the rising Empire in blood." Civil war would have inevitably followed, the colonies been rent asunder, England easily have re- covered her lost possessions, and American liberty gone down, at least for that century. But the above is not all that makes a celebration at Newburgh appropriate. TIDINGS OF PEACE. Congress proclaimed the cessation of hostilities, agreed upon between Great Britain and this government, early in April ; but Washington hesitated to make it known to the army, lest those soldiers who had enlisted for the war should consider the war ended and demand their re- lease. Hence if peace was not ratified, the nation would be without an army. But he found it was impossible to keep the fact from it, and so on the date named issued the following proclamation : " Headquarters, Newburgh, April 18, 1783. " The Commander-in-Chief orders the cessation of hostilities between the United States of America and the King of Great Britain to be publicly pro- claimed to-morrow at 12 o'clock, at the new building, and that the proclama- tion which will be communicated herewith will be read to-morrow evening at the head of every regiment and corps of the army. After which the chaplain will render thanks to Almighty God for all his mercies, particularly for his overruling the wrath of man to his own glory and causing the rage of war to cease amongst this nation." Although he says this does not mean necessarily the annunciation of peace, "yet it must afford the most rational and sincere satisfaction to every benevolent mind, as it puts a period to a long and doubtful contest, stops the effusion of blood, opens the prospect to a more splendid scene, and like another morning star promises the approach of a brighter day than hath hitherto illuminated the Western hemisphere. On such a happy day — a day which is the harbinger of peace, a day which completes the eighth year of the war, it would be ingrati- tude not to rejoice, it would be insensibility not to par- ticipate in the general felicity. The Commander-in-Chief, far from endeavoring to stifle feelings of joy in his own bosom, offers his own most cordial congratulations on the occasion to all the officers of every denomination, to all the troops of the United States in general, and in par- ticular to those gallant, persevering men who had resolved to defend the rights of their invaded country so long as the war should continue. For these are men who ought to be considered as the pride and boast of the American army, and who, crowned with well-earned laurels, may soon withdraw from the field of glory to the more tranquil walks of civil life. While the General recollects the almost infinite variety of scenes through which we have passed, with a mixture 01 pleasure and astonishment and gratitute ; while he contemplates the prospect before us with rapture, he cannot help wishing that all the brave men, of whatever condition they may be, who have shared in the toils and dangers of the glorious revolution of rescuing millions from the hand of oppression and of laying the foundation of a great empire, might be impressed with a proper idea of the dignified part they have been called to act, under the smiles of Providence, on the stage of human affairs ; for happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced hereafter who have contributed anything, who have performed the meanest office in creating this stupendous fabric of freedom and empire on the broad basis of independency, who have assisted in protecting the rights of human nature and establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions." He then speaks of the necessity of maintaining order and discipline until a treaty of peace is finally signed, and they close the drama with applause and retire from the military theatre with the same approbation of angels and men which has crowned all their virtuous actions. The next day, April 19, at the appointed hour, the ill- clad army stood in battle array, and the proclamation was read. Thundering huzzas greeted its close, and then the chaplain offered up an earnest prayer and gave thanksgiving to the God of battles for the glorious success that had crowned their efforts. At the close the band struck up a familiar tune, and there swelled out over the forest and rolled up to the iistening heavens the anthem styled ' ' Independence. " 11 The States, O Lord, with songs of praise, Shall in thy strength rejoice, And blest with Thy salvation raise To heaven their cheerful voice." And from ten thousand throats there rose strong and great against the sky : " And all the continent shall sing, Down with this earthly King ; No King but God." This first day was marked by religious services. Wash- ington then issued orders for a grand celebration and day of jubilee, directing the several corps of the canton- ment to square and deliver nearly a hundred large pieces of timber for a frame-work for an ill umination which was to be a part of the exercises. The next day the woods were alive with soldiers, and soon the crash of falling trees was heard on every side. Many were barefoot, many in rags, and many a brawny arm that swung the axe was bare to the shoulder ; yet the woods rang with laughter and shouts, and ever and anon there swelled on the ear : " Down with this earthly King, No King but God." Thousands were at work, till the forest was like a hive of bees ; some felling trees, others roughly squaring the timbers, and others bearing them to their "places of desti- nation. These were rapidly hoisted to their appropriate places, and soon the huge skeleton stood outlined against the sky. The great day at last came, and was ushered in by the roaring of cannon and fusilades of musketry, mingled with deafening shouts, and citizens and soldiers vied with each other in enthusiasm and extravagant demon- strations of joy. In accordance with Washington's orders, at noon the army was drawn up in line of battle and thirteen (the number of the States) cannon from Fort Putnam were fired, and as the heavy echoes came rolling up through the Highlands, thirteen cannon from the Newburgh head- quarters answered, and then a feu de joie rolled along the lines, followed by loud huzzas that rent the air. The whole day was given up to the wildest excitement, and when night came down it broke forth with renewed fervor. Piles of combustible material that had been collected on the tops of the Beacon and Storm King to herald the approach of the enemy and signal the inevita- ble conflict that should follow, were now kindled to signal the approach of peace, and blazed up like great altar fires to God, lighting up the dark bosom of the river below, while all along the shore cannon thundered and musketry blazed, and excited thousands shouted, till the river seemed to flow in fire and the old mountains shook on their bases. Said a spectator of this wonderful demonstration: "The mountain sides resounded and echoed like tremendous peals of thunder, and the flash- ing from thousands of fireanns in the darkness of the evening was like unto vivid flashes of lightning from the clouds." The Log Temple was ablaze with light, and its rude timbers covered with flags and filled with merry dancers, while the immense frame-work blazed up in the darkness, and stood and glowed like a fairy vision, shed- ding a strange glory on the surrounding forest and the rude huts of the encampment scattered among the trees. THE FINAL SCENE. In June, 1783, furloughs were granted and the army dwindled away. Still a portion was left to guard the 40 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. stores and remove them when peace should be estab- lished. Besides, there was a great many invalids ; many had no homes to go to ; many were in rags and not fit to be seen on the highways ; and others, who had no means of getting away, and could travel only as beggars, pre- ferred to remain behind and wait fortheir long-promised pay. But at length the treaty of peace was concluded, and the army must be disbanded. This was the last and most touching act in the whole drama. The joy of the cele- bration was now forgotten in the sadness of parting and the gloomy prospect before them. On the morning of the 3d of November the few remaining troops assembled for the last time and here " In their ragged regimentals Stood the old Continentals." to hear the farewell address of their great leader. Never more would they behold him in their midst, never again see him ride along the firm-set lines, the light of battle in his eye, and words of encouragement on his lips. Tears of common suffering and common danger had endeared him to them, and in the sorrow of that final parting the joys of peace were remembered no more. When the reading was finished, the band struck up the tune of " Roslyn Castle," which was always played when they bore a dead comrade to his grave, and as the mournful strains lingered on the air they broke ranks for the last time, and the last of the glorious Revolutionary army disappeared from sight forever, but yet to live in the memory and affection of the country they saved, and be again summoned in imagination from their graves in these centennial years to receive the plaudits of their descendants. The scene that followed was heart-rending. Many a gallant officer whose sword had flashed along the line in the smoke of battle, must now give it up, and penniless beg his way as a pauper to his long-abandoned and impoverished home. Says Dr. Thatcher, who was present : " Painful was the parting ; no description can be adequate to the tragic exhibition. Both officers and soldiers, long un- accustomed to the affairs of private life, were turned loose upon the world. Never can the day be forgotten when friends and companions for seven years in joy and sorrow were torn asunder without the hope of ever meet- ing again, and with the prospect of a miserable subsis- tence in the future. " Major North, another witness of the painful scene, says : " The inmates of the same tent for seven long years grasped each other's hands in silent agony ; to go they knew not whither ; all recollection of the art to thrive by civil service lost, or to the youthful never known ; their hard-earned military knowledge worse than useless, and to be cast out into the world by them long since for- gotten ; to go in silence and alone, and poor and help- less. It was too hard. Oh, on that sad day how many hearts were wrung ! I saw it all, nor will the scene be ever blotted from my view." The brave, kind-hearted Steuben looked on the scene with pitying eyes. Seeing Colonel Cochrane, a brave, gallant officer, standing apart and leaning on his sword, while his face expressed the deepest sadness, he ap- proached him and said, "Cheer up; better times are coming." ' ' For myself, " replied the officer, ' ' 1 can stand it ; but, " pointing to a mere i ovel near by, he added, ' ' my wife and daughters are in that wretched tavern. I have nowhere to carry them, nor even money to remove them." " Come, come," said the Baron ; " I will pay my respects to Mrs. Cochrane and your daughters ; " and leaving him standing alone, he strode away to the tavern, where he found the ladies sunk in despondency. The sight was too much for the brave old veteran, and emptying his purse on the table, he hastened away to escape their tears and their blessings. As the Baron went down to the wharf where the troops were embarking, he came upon a poor negro soldier, whose wounds were yet unhealed, bitterly lamenting that he had not the means to get back to New York. Touched with his sufferings, the Baron's hand instinct- ively sought his pocket, but, alas, the last cent was gone. Turning to an officer he borrowed a dollar and gave it to the poor fellow, and hurried him aboard a sloop. Reach- ing the deck, the poor negro turned, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, exclaimed, "God Almighty bless you, master Baron. Some of the troops left by water in sloops, and some on foot, and soon the last tent was struck, and the flag that had swung for more than a year and a half from the Newburgh Headquarters was taken down, the last morn- ing and evening gun had been fired, and silence and solitude fell on the place. WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS. THE GEEAT OBJECT OF NEWBUEGH'S EEVEEENT PEIDE. The house in this city in which "Washington had his headquarters in the last days of the Revolutionary War, the spot which witnesses some of the present Centennial ceremonies, and where and in the vicinity of which took place the events they commeminorate, is the great object on which Newburgh looks with reverent pride and which annually brings to the city many visitors. Washington's Newburgh Headquarters are in the southeastern part of the present city, in its First Ward, on land which was originally mcluded in Lot No. 2 of the German Patent. Washington was here from the Spring of 1782 till the 18th of August, 1783, on the morning of which day he took his departure from Newburgh, and it was here that he passed through the most trying period of the Revolution, and where occurred events of the greatest moment, which we have made the subject of a separate article. It was also at the old Headquarters building, prior to the Revolution, that the first town meeting for the Precinct of Newburgh was held, when Colonel Hasbrouck, its owner, was elected Supervisor. Public meetings continued to be held there for several years. During the early period of the Revolution, the Committee of Safety of the Precinct assembled there ; there military companies were organized, and there the regiment which Colonel Hasbrouck commanded assem- bled and marched hence to the defence of the Highland forts. The Headquarters house and adjacent grounds, pre- served as a public monument, are now the property of the State of New York, their direct care falling on a commission of well-known citizens of this vicinity who are appointed by the Governor and State Senate, and are provided with the necessary funds to maintain the Property by the State and the^City of Newbuigh jointly The Headquarters building is built of rough-hewn NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 41 stone, having a front of fifty-six feet and a depth of forty- nine. The steep roof is higher than the body of the house, the rafters of which are red cedar, that still, after the lapse of more than a hundred years since they were hewn from the forest, give forth the delicate perfume of the wood. The timbers that support the ceilings of the room are rough hewn, and heavier than most of the sills of modern houses, while in the old-fashioned fire-place a whole ox might be roasted, and half a dozen men can stand and look up to the blue sky through the tall, wide chimney-stack. The oldest part of the structure is supposed to have been erected by a Dutchman years before the Bevolution, but by whom and at just "what time is not positively known. The house was enlarged in 1750, and again in 1770, by Colonel Jonathan Hasbrouck, who owned it from 1747 to the time of his death in 1780. Hasbrouck was a man of unusual stature and a Colonel of the militia of the vicinity during part of the Revolution. The property was occupied by his wife and family when it was occupied by Washington. Newburgh, and two miles back from the river. Here on a gentle slope, with a morass in front, crossed by a single causeway built by Washington, the "ragged Continen- tals " lay in their improvised huts until the next year, 1783. Strategically the position of the American army is believed to have been perfection. One writer says that the troops laid on the slopes like a vast bent bow, with its General holding at Newburgh the tense string. Another, describing the head-quarters of the other officers, says Washington at his, was to the army like the pivot of the diverging rays of a fan. Generals Greene and Knox had their quarters about three miles to the south, in an old stone building very much resembling the one occupied by Washington. Steuben was at the Verplanck house, on the Fishkill side of the Hudson, while others were to the north and west of the encamp- ment of troops, and to most of the different quarters there were easy means of communication by good roads. Burgoyne's "army, captured at Saratoga, had never been replaced, so that the surrender of Cornwallis left The historic building stands on a high, green bluff, commanding a view of Newburgh Bay, the mountains, the gorge in the Highlands, and West Point in the dis- tance. From the east side you enter the main room of the building, known far and wide as the room with seven doors and one window, which was Washington's recep- tion room ; the south room, now filled with Revolu- tionary relics, was the family room. The parlor was in the north-west corner of the house, and Washington's bed-room in the north-east, the room between being occupied, it is said, by Hamilton, the chief of his staff, though Hamilton's presence here is now questioned by some historians. THE ARMY'S ARRIVAL AT NEWBURGH. Although he had made the building his headquarters once or twice before for a short time, Washington did not establish himself permanently at Newburgh till April, 1782. The left wing of the army, under Heath, remained near Peekskill till the next October, when, marching up to West Point, it encamped in the woods at night, and lay uncovered in the cold rain storm. The next day it climbed the steeps of Butter Hill, and marched to the main camping ground, three or four miles southwest of only the Central Army at New York, under Clinton, on our soil. It was on this account Washington concen- trated his forces near Newburgh, just above the High- lands. He knew the British commander had too few troops to allow him to operate in the field and at the same time hold New York, and so he stood among the Highlands like an eagle on the cliff, ready at the first movement of the enemy to pounce on the city. Thus a whole year of idleness on both sides wore away, while negotiations for a peace dragged their slow length along. The general impression was that there would be no more fighting, and both officers and men began to look into the future. WASHINGTON'S LIFE AT NEWBURGH. Washington brought his wife here, as did also General Knox. Mrs. Washington was fond of gardening, and with the opening of Spring had a little plot of ground, to the east of the house, spaded up, in which she planted flowers. The bricks which formed the border of the walks were visible till within a few years. Washington's Life Guards had their quarters a little to the west of the house. Here, as everywhere else, Washington was very method- 42 NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. ical in his habits. The breakfast, however, was an informal affair. After it was finished Washington's horse was brought up, and he rode away to the headquarters of some of his generals. Every one was free to eome to lunch or not. But the dinner was always very formal. The usual hour was five o'clock, and every one was expected to appear in full dress. Washington, if the guests were hot all present, allowed five minutes for the variation in time pieces; then the t dinner was served, no matter how few or how many might be absent. Grace was said by the chaplain, if he were present ; if not, Washington performed the service standing. Hamilton, when he was present, did the honors of the table. If he was absent, one of the aides-de-camp took his place. Ordinarily there were three courses : first, meat and vegetables ; then pastry ; and last, walnuts and apples, dessert of which Washington was especially fond. There was always an abundant supply of wine, which was uniformly drank with some toast or sentiment. The dinner lasted about two hours. The table was then side of the river in the old Verplanck house, was a fre- quent and always welcome guest at the dinner table of Washington. ANECDOTES OF WASHINGTON AND HIS OFFICERS. Many anecdotes of Washington and his officers are treasured among descendants of old families who resided at Newburgh at the time the great chieftain was here, and some of these have been gathered up by historians. Mr. Headlev has secured quite a collection. Among others he quotes an old ger,tleman not long dead, who recalled scenes he had witnessed as a child. He said it was cus- tomary for the boys whenever Washington rode by to throw up their hats, or their hands if they had no hats, and shout "Huzzah." "Washington was of command- ing form," this old man said, "and we looked on him with awe, and extended some of it to his his servant Will. Will was a handsome black, somewhat advanced in years, and always rode a short distance behind his master on a brown horse. The General rode a bay horse. Mrs. Wash- THK ROOM WITH SEVEN DOORS AND ONE WINDOW. cleared off and the leaves taken out to make it round. Mrs. Washington presided at this with old-fashioned formality, and from her own silver tea service, which she had brought with her, served tea and coffee. At nine o'clock the supper table was spread, and remained so till eleven. Three or four light dishes, with fruit and wal- nuts, conrposed the entertainment. When the cloth was removed, eaich in turn was called upon for a toast, which was drank by all, and ah hour of quiet conviviality was passed. The Marquis de Chastellux, a member of the French Academy, who came out as Major-General with Rocham- beau, published a volume of travels in 1787, in which he speaks in glowing terms of these entertainments. He was a guest of Washington in the old building at two different times, and seemed to enjoy these social meals very touch, which he says Were very free and agreeable. "General Washington toasting and conversing all the time. * * * The nuts are served half open, and the company are never done eating and picking them." Baron Steuben, whose 'headquarters were on the other ington was short and stout. I thought she was homely, and that she never could have been a handsome wo- man." It must be remembered that Washington was here with the officers over a year, when there was no active service in the field, and hence to pass time pleasantly, all the inhabitants of refinement, especially the ladies, were called upon to help enliven the otherwise dull routine of daily life. The more rollicking, roystering young officers used to find rough amusement at the famous "red tav- ern " on what was called the " square," about two miles from camp. The stories told of the wild doings at this place would have astonished the Puritans of that day. But the more cultivated families gave parties, and the ladies of the region for miles around were always invited to the evening entertainments, given for the most part by Washington and Lafayette and Knox and Greene. At the latter's place a little narrow window-pane bears to- day the names of three noted belles, scratched by them with their diamond rings at one of the balls given there. This social familiarity necessarily made the residents NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 43 acquainted with much of the inner domestic life of Wash- ington; hence the many incidents treasured up here. ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE WASHINGTON— SAVED BY A YOUNG- WOMAN. It was while at these headquarters at Newburgh that a bold attempt was made to capture Washington, of which an excellent account is given by Mr. Headley. Clinton was very anxious to get possession of Washington's per- son, and Washington received many letters warning him of his danger. But with all the plans that were laid, none seemed to be so easy of execution as the one that was foiled here by the patriotism of a young lady. At this time there was no road along the 'river to the south for some distance, for right in front of the headquarters the bank was a hundred feet high, and went sheer down to the water. This, with little variation, continued for a mile, or almost down to Lafayette's headquar- ters. Half way down the Quassaick creek bursts from a gorge into the Hudson. This chasm ran back into lected to effect Washington's capture. The plan proposed was to have a boat ready, and a party of Tories secreted in the wood near by when Washington should be invited to dinner. His daughter overheard a conversation that exposed this plot, and informed Washington of her sus- picions, and begged him not to accept the invitation of her father to dinner. The dinner hour was to be late, so that it would be dark before the meal was over. Then the seizure was to be effected, and the captive borne off to the bosom of the Hudson. The boat manned by strong rowers, would easily have reached the English vessels be- low West Point before Washington would be missed. He was accustomed occasionally to dine with Greene and Knox, three or four miles further south, and not be back till near midnight. On these occasions he was usually accompanied by his black servant. Instead of declining the invitation he had received, Washington accepted it, but in the meantime ordered a detachment of his life guard to march to the place just at evening, and present themselves at the door. While $£- 56.4 A— bitting Room. B — Family Room. C — Kitchen. D — Hall. . G — Washington's Bedroom. E — Parlor. H — Store Room, F — Washington's Office. DIAGRAM OF THE INTERIOR OF THE FIRST STORY OF WASH- INGTON'S HEADQUARTERS. the interior nearlv a mile bei'ore it sunk away so that it could be spmned by a bridge. As it approached the river the south bank* swept off in a wide semi-circle but again crowded against the creek, just before it plunged into the Hudson" The semi-circle enclosed a beautiful little vallev, known afterward as the "Vale of Avoca." In passing the mouth of the creek in a boat, the lofty banks of the chasm, heavily wooded, presented » gloomy pass, onlv wide enough for the stream of water. In this little secluded valley lived a man named Ettrick. His house lay almost in a straight line south from Washing- ton's headquarters and within cannon range, though the Shot sent from there would pass a hundred feet over its top. This house lay on the opposite side of the gorge, and could be reached only by a detour of some two miles back into the country. The tide set up close to the dwelling, and a boat could be sent from it onto the Hud- son in five minutes, and in an hour more be carried to the fastness of the Highlands. This Ettrick professed to be a warm patriot, but those who knew him best looked on him with suspicion, This man and this spot were se- trick was engaged in conversation with his distinguished guest, he heard their footsteps, and the low command of their leader, and supposing them to be the detachment of Tories, he rose, laying his hand on Washington's shoul- der, and said, " I believe, General, you are, my prisoner;" "I believe not, sir, you are mine," was the reply, as the life guard closed around him. Ettrick was immediately marched off and locked up. This threw the daughter into a paroxysm of grief. She had not anticipated such a result. She had given no positive information— simply told her suspicions to Washington, thinking the only re- sult would be to make him decline the invitation. That he would make her kindness to him the cause of pun- ishment to her father she did not for a moment dream, and she besoughthim not to repay her fidelity to ibim; by the imprisonment and death of her father. If it had been a mere personal matter, Washington would doubt- less have suffered the man to go unmolested; but the blow was not aimed at him, but at his country, and this he would not have forgiven in an only son. Still every instinct of his nature revolted against inflicting needless 44 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. suffering on the daughter who had acted so nobly. If it had become known, however, it is doubtful if even Wash- ington's influence could have saved the wretch whose crime was ten-fold greater than that of Arnold. A drum- head court-martial and a swift death was what he richly deserved. Washington, however, kept the whole matter quiet except to a few personal friends, and after a short confinement released him on the promise that he would leave the country. To this he gladly consented, and es- caped to Nova Scotia. The secrecy which Washington maintained in regard to it for the daughter's sake doubt- less kept it from becoming a part of the history of the times, but there is no doubt of its truth among the old Revolutionary families of this region. PRESENT CONDITION OP BUILDING. The Headquarters building is now substantially in the condition it was during Washington's occupation of it. The same massive timbers span the ceiling ; the old fire- place with its wide-open chimney is ready for the huge back-logs of yore ; the seven doors are in their places ; the rays of the morning sun still stream through the one window ; no alteration in form has been made even in the old piazza — the adornments on the walls, if such the ancient hostess had, have alone been changed for sou- venirs of the heroes of the nation's independence. In the presence of these surroundings, it requires but little effort of the imagination to restore the departed guests. Forgetting not that this was Washington's private resi- dence, rather than a place for the transaction of public business, we may, in the old sitting-room re-spread the long oaken table, listen to the blessing invoked on the morning meal, hear the cracking of joints and the mingled hum of conversation. The meal dispensed, Mrs. Wash- ington retires to appear at her flower-beds or in her par- lor to receive her morning calls. Colfax, the Captain of the Life-Guard, enters to receive the orders of the day — perhaps a horse and guard for Washington to visit New Windsor, or a barge for Fishkill, or West Point, is re- quired ; or it may be Washington remains at home and at his writing desk conducts his correspondence, or dic- tates orders for army movements. The old arm-chair, sitting in the corner yonder, is still ready for its former occupant. The dinner hour of five o'clock approaches ; the guests of the day have already arrived. Steuben, the iron drill- master and German soldier of fortune, converses with Mrs. Washington. He has reduced the simple marksmen of Bunker Hill to the discipline of the armies of Europe and tested their efficiency in the din of battle. He has leisure now and scarcely knows how to find employment for his active mind. He is telling his hostess, in broken German-English, of the whale (it proved to be an eel) he had caught in the river. Hear his hostess laugh ! And that is the voice of Lafayette, relating perhaps his adven- tures in escaping from France, or his mishap in attempt- ing to attend Mrs. Knox's last party. Wayne, of Stony Point ; Gates of Saratoga ; Clinton, the Irish - blooded Governor of New York, and their compatriots — we may place them all at times besides our Pater Patriae in this old room, and hear amid the mingled hum his voice de- clare: "Happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced hereafter, who have contributed anything, who have performed the meanest office in erecting this stupendous fabric of Freedom and Empire on the broad basis of independency ; who have assisted in protecting the rights of human nature, and in establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions." In France, fifty years after Washington lived here, Marbois reproduced as an entertainment for Lafayette, then an old man, this old sitting-room at Newburgh, and its table scene. From his elegant saloon he conducted his guests, among whom were several Americans, to the room which he had prepared. There was a large open fire-place, and plain oaken floors; the ceiling was support- ed with large beams and whitewashed; there were several small sized doors and only one window, with heavy sash and small panes of glass. The furniture was plain and unlike ^any then in use. Down the centre of the room was an" oaken table covered with dishes of meat and veg- etables, decanters and bottles of wine, and silver mugs and small wine glasses. The whole had something the appearance of a Dutch kitchen. While the guests were looking around in surprise at this strange procedure, the host, addressing himself to them, said, "Do you know where we now are?" Lafayette looked around, as if awakening from a dream, and exclaimed, " Ah ! the seven doors and one window, and the silver camp goblets such as the Marshals of France used in my youth. We are at Washington's Headquarters on the Hudson fifty years ago." COLLECTION OF RELICS. The°Headquarters buildinglis not only now preserved as a reminder of a century ago, but also serves as a mu- seum of the relics of the days of Washington and his co- patriots and earlier and later times. Constantly kept open to the public, with officers in charge, within its walls are gathered many interesting mementoes of the "past. These number between seven and eight hundred, some of which have much value. In the list are many official manuscripts relating to earlier times and the time of the Revolution; letters from Washington and his Generals, including Lafayette, the Baron Steuben, Knox, Alexan- der Hamilton, St. Clair and Heath; Robert Morris's resig- nation as Superintendent of Finance; a promissory note given by Patrick Henry; order and account books and other military records of the American forces; records of the War of 1812; portraits of General and Mrs. Washing- ton, copied from Stuart's original paintings in the Boston Museum; portrait of Uzal Knapp, the last of Washing- ton's Life Guard; a picture of Washington's New Windsor Headquarters; a sword of Lafayette and others worn by other officers at different periods; a variety of muskets pistols and other weapons; some of which have interest- ing histories; cannon balls, grape shot, bomb-shells and grenades from various battle grounds; powder horns, Indian weapons and implements, etc., etc. Also in the list are the following: •Martha Washington's watch. The watch bears the name of its maker, "Barwie, London, No. 743." It was made to order for Mrs. Curtis (1758) before her marriage with Washington, and was worn by her for many years, including the period of her occupancy of the Newburgh headquarters with her husband. Its authenticity is un- questionable. Relics from the Home and Grave of Washinnton— a monumental column composed of stones, etc. Razor formerly belonging to John O'Neil, a member of the Jersey Blues, detailed as camp barber ; the identical razor with which he frequently shaved Washington, Lafayette and other officers of the army. Stem and part of bowl of a pipe formerly owned and used by Genl. James Clinton. A shoe presumed to have been worn by a pony which belonged to Colonel Joseph Brant, Chief of the Mohawk Indians. Knife plowed up on the battlefield of Saratoga. Hessian camp kettle, of brass or bell metal, dug up on the battlefield of Bennington, Vt. A knife and fork (combined) formerly used by a Revo- lutionary soldier. A spur worn by Major Andre at the time of his cap- ture. Hessian cavalry officer's boot, with a great spur at- tached The boot was worn by a Hessian officer taken prisoner at Saratoga in 1777. Surgical instruments once used by a surgeon of the Continental army and which have been stained by the blood of many wounded men. The camp canister of an English officer who was killed. The door of a famous block house near Fort Lee, in the Bergen woods. The block house to which it belonged was that which Genl. Wayne unsuccessfully attacked in 1780. The house was occupied by a British picket for the protection of Tories, wood choppers, cattle, etc., on Bergen Neck. Wayne was sent to capture the works and drive the cattle into the American lines. When he arrived on the ground he found that he could not make NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. 45 an impression on the block house with musket balls, and as he had no artillery to help him, he retired without glory or cattle. His failure was the text of Andre's satir- ical poem, " The Cow Chase " — 11 And now I've closed my epic strain, I tremble as I show it, Lest this same warnor-d rover Wayne Should ever catch the poet." An arm chair belonging to the set in use in the Head- quarters during Washington's occupation, and known as " Washington's Chair." A piano made in 1760, which is said to have belonged to General James Clinton. A maple table made for and once used by Lafayette. Lafayette's tea-kettle. The lire shovel in use in the Headquarters building when Washington was there. A chair of the First Congress under the Constitution, used by Congress at New York at Washington's inaugu- ration as President, April 30th, 1789. A lock of Washington's hair, fully authenticated. A lock of Lafayette's hair, undoubtedly genuine. Piece of Washington's coffin. Piece of a dress worn by Mrs. Washington. Limb of the tree under which Burgoyne surrendered. Portions of the obstructions which were placed in the Hudson in the vicinity of West Point, to prevent English ships from ascending the river. Cannon taken by Wayne in the capture of Stony Point. Cannon that were once part of the armament of Fort Ticonderoga. A SOLDIER'S GRAVE — THE LAST OF WASHINGTON'S LIFE GUARD. The Headquarters property also contains the grave of Uzal Knapp, the last of Washington's Body Guard. He is buried in close proximity to the house where his great chief once lived, and at which he doubtless often did guard duty, his grave being marked by a block of stone erected to his memory. Uzal Knapp performed active service during the whole of the Revolution. On the first of June, 1777, then 18 years of age, he entered the army " for and during the war." and was on duty from that time until his final dis- charge at the hands of Washington at the close of the war. His first service was in the battle of White Plains, and his next under General Wooster in the skirmish at Ridgefield. At the storming of Forts Clinton and Mont- gomery, he was stationed at Peekskill ; and from thence marched with his regiment to Valley Forge, encountering on their way a detachment of Howe's army, at Chestnut Hill, in which engagement his regiment lost one hundred men. He arrived at Valley Forge, and there passed the memorable winter of 1777-78, with his naked, starving and sick compatriots ; and was, at the time of his death, the last survivor of that encamped band of suffering men. In May, 1778, he became a member of Lafayette's corps of Light Infantry, and took post at Barren Hill ; sub- sequently retreating to the fields of Monmouth, where his corps formed the rallying point after the disgraceful retreat of General Lee. In 1780 his regiment was encamped in the Hudson Highlands, and while there he was detailed to form part of a temporary increase of the Life Guard of Washington, and received a Sergeant's commission. This selection was in itself the best evidence of the fidelity with which he had served his country. He was discharged in June, 1783, having served five years and eleven months. His discharge is signed by Washing- ton, and countersigned by J. Trumbull. Jr., his secretary. Shortly after the close of the Revolution, Mr. Knapp removed from Connecticut, his native State, to the State of New York, and settled on a farm in the Town of New Windsor, this county, where he quietly and peacefully spent the remainder of his days. Having devoted the vigor of his early manhood to his country in her hour of deepest peril and need, he was graciously permitted by a kind Providence to live to an old age, advanced more than a score of years beyond the limit ordinarily allotted to man, in the enjoyment of all his faculties, witnessing from year to year happy progress in all that can elevate a nation and the strengthening of the fabric which he had taken so active a part in establishing. He died on Friday, the 11th of January, 1836, in the 98th year of his age, and was buried on the 16th day of the month with great honors, in the shadow of the house where his great leader formerly lived. THE HEADQUARTERS TO RECEIVE A MONUMENT. The Headquarters grounds are also to receive a monu- ment, for which the National Government and Congress have appropriated $35,000. The memorial is to commem- orate the Revolutionary events of which Newburgh and its vicinity were the scene. It was to have been finished in time for dedication as a part of the exercises of to-day, but that was found impossible, and its unveiling will now be the occasion for impressive ceremonies at some future time. The Joint Committee of the two houses of Con- gress who have the matter in charge have taken action in favor of the erection of an obelisk, but hopes are enter- tained that they will yet be induced to provide for a more suitable memorial, even if that should make necessary an increase in the appropriations already made. THE PRESENT HEADQUARTERS TRUSTEES. The present Trustees in charge of the Headquarters property are the following: Hon. Joel T. Headley, President. Hon. James G. Graham, Secretary. Joseph H. H. Chapman, Treasurer. Captain Charles S. Jenkins. David A. Carson. Major Edward C. Boynton. John C. Adams. Hon. M. H. Hirschberg. A. Smith Ring. 4fi NEW BURGH CENTENNIAL. HISTORY OF THE CENTENNIAL MOVEMENT. INCEPTION OF THE CELEBRATION— A PROPOSITION AT LEAST EIGHT YEARS OLD. A history of the movement which finally resulted in the arrangements for this centennial celebration at New- burgh must necessarily go back for some time and must show at first some lack of well defined plans and positive conceptions as to "what the occasion should be honored with. By degrees, however, the general wish for a proper commemoration of the Revolutionary events that took place in this vicinity and the diverse individual views as to what the commemoration should be, in refer- ence to the length of time that it should last, in regard to when it should occur, etc. , were more or less harmonized and order gave place to chaos. INCEPTION OF THE CELEBRATION. As long as eight years ago the Hon. Joel T. Headley, the well-known historian and biographer, publicly ad- vocated a centennial celebration at Newburgh in 1883. In an article published in the Galaxy in 1875, he gave an extended account of the notable occurrences at New- burgh in the closing years of the Revolution, and con- tended that the centennials that began at Lexington should not end until there was a final celebration at the old Headquarters of Washington in this city. He re- peated his arguments at different periods, other writers took up the refrain, and it was tacitly understood long ago that Newburgh would have a celebration when the proper year came. THB PROPOSITION TAKING FORM. But little was done in the way of preparation for the event, however, until 1881. Mr. Headley, at a meeting of the Trustees of Washing-ton's Headquarters, proposed that more decisive steps should be taken towards arrang- ing for a celebration. The other members unanimously fell in with the proposition, and appointed Mr. Headley to draw up a paper, setting forth the reasons why a cen- tennial should be held at Newburgh. He did so, and at a meeting called for the purpose of considering that paper it was unanimously adopted, and two thousand copies were ordered to be printed and circulated among the influential papers and statesmen of the land. The Trus- tees appealed to the Common Council to help them by getting a law passed enabling the people of Newburgh to tax themselves $5,000 toward paving the expenses of the celebration. The Common Council nobly responded to a man, and on the 21st of December, 1881, a special election was held at the Newburgh Court House, at which the taxpayers of the city, by a large majority, voted in favor of a proposition to raise $5,000 for the celebration by a municipal tax. The necessary authority so to do was then secured from the Legislature of the State, and the tax subsequently raised, one-half of the amount in 1882 and the balance in the levy of this year. This was the first definite step. With the advent of the year 1882 it was generally con- ceded that the time had arrived when affairs shonld take some form. Indeed the Trustees of Washington's Head- quarters had been urging this for some time, and on the evening of January 17 a meeting of citizens was held in the Common Council rooms, pursuant to a call issued by the then Mayor (Mr. Cassedy), the President of the Board of Aldermen and the President of the Headquarters Trustees. There were nearly a hundred prominent busi- ness and professional men at this meeting. Half a dozen impromptu speeches were made which invoked con- siderable enthusiasm, and a committee of sir was selected to report to a subsequent meeting the names of a general committee of citizens who should act in con- junction with the Mayor, Common Council and Trustees of Washington's Headquarters in the organization of matters generally and in applications from the State and General Governments. The committee of six discharged their duty a few days later, selecting two hundred and twenty-five of the most prominent and active citizens of the town, who, with the Mayor, Common Council and Washington's Headquarters Trustees, were then known as the General Committee on Centennial. As such they were called together on the 30th of January, when they took action for the appointment of an Executive Com- mittee, consisting of the Mayor of the city, four members of the Common Council, four Trustees of Washington's Headquarters and six other citizens to be selected by these officers. Some citizens of the town of New Windsor were subsequently added, so that the committee became composed of nineteen members. A sub-committee was then appointed by these gentlemen, to draft proper appropriation bills and to visit Albany and Washington and urge their passage by the Legislature and Congress. NATIONAL AND STATE APPROPRIATIONS. By April of 1882 there was pending in Congress a reso- lution for the appointment of a joint select committee of the two houses, to act in concert with the Newburgh com- mittee in reference to the centennial, and appropriating $20,000, partly for a monument at Washington's Head- qurrters and partly for the expenses of the celebration. This was first passed by the House of Representatives, and on the 20th of June was passed by the Senate and soon after received the approval of the President. This resolution provided for the appointment of five Senators and eight Representatives and gave $10,000 for the erec- tion of a monument and $10,000 for the other portions of the commemoration. Meanwhile State Senator James Mackin had introduced in the State Senate a bill appropriating $15,000 of the State funds for the celebration. This was passed by the upper branch of the Legislature on the 15th of May and soon after passed the Assembly. DIVERSE PLANS. Up to this time there had been no clear settlement of the time when the celebration should occur or as to what it should consist of, and, as a matter of fact, there were many diverse opinions on these subjects. Origi- nally the idea had been to have an affair in which the surrounding towns of Fishkill, New Windsor, Cornwall, etc., would join and which would last several days. Fishkill, New Windsor and the Town of Montgomery had gone so far as to appoint committees to act in concert with that of Newburgh, and different memorable dates were advocated as the proper ones for the celebration, which some proposed should last two days, some three, and even four days were spoken of. There was a strong sentiment in some quarters for June as the month of the centennial. One plan, which provided for a two days' celebration, proposed to give one day to a commemora- tion of the events that occurred in and about Washing- ton's Headquarters, in this city, and the other to a cele- bration at Temple Hill, in New Windsor, the place where much of the Revolutionary army was encamped in 1782- '83, and where also stood the Temple, where military and other important gatherings were held, and in whieh sig- NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 47 nifioant events took place. A rebuilding of the Temple was part of this program. July 31st, 1882, a proposition was made to the New- burgh Executive Committee for a two days' celebration. It was that the bells of Newburgh and Fishkill be joyfully rung, that one hundred guns be fired, and that a coun- terpart of the historic New Windsor Temple be dedicated as a monument, with proper exercises, in the morning of the first day; that the proposed monument at Washing ton's Headquarters, Newburgh, be unveiled and dedicat- ed, with fitting ceremonies, that afternoon; and that the second day be given to a military display, addresses, ar- tillery firing and a general illumination at night. This contemplated having the military display include a hun- dred men in Continental uniform from each one of the thirteen original States, and the building of beacon fires like those used to convey intelligence in the time of the Revolution, not only upon the mountains in the vicinity of the Hudson, but also upon the peaks of high hills throughout the thirteen States alluded to. It was likewise advocated that the celebration corre- spond in its general outlines with the celebration ordered by Washington at the time of the promulgation of the tid- ings of peace. This plan proposed religious exercises, the drawing up in line of the troops present, a reading of the letter with which Washington accompanied his proclama- tion of peace to the army, addresses, etc., all on the first day ; and giving the second day to a reading of Washing- ton's famous farewell address to the army, the firing of thirteen guns from Fort Putnam, with a response of thir- teen from this city, the delivery of addresses, kindling of fires on the mountain tops, etc., the 12th and 13th days of June being urged as the proper days. GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS. By this time, however, a disposition began to be ap- parent to leave adjoining towns out of- the proposed demonstration, having Newburgh "go it alone " in cele- brating its centennial, and also to have the executive committee reduced to one of fewer members, which would, it was urged, be more likely to be harmonious and more certain to " get down to business." This feel- ing had a result September 11th, 1882. The Executive Committee of the General Committee then had a meet- ing, at which it was resolved that Mr. Ward (who had succeeded Mr. Cassedy as Mayor of the city) and four others to be selected by him should be made a work- ing committee, which should have power to take general charge of the organization of the cele- bration, appoint sub - committees and direct the entire enterprise. This year was the origin of "The Committee of Five in Charge of the Newburgh Centennial Celebration," Mr. Ward soon selecting his coadjutors on the committee and they began work. From this time on the Committee of Five had general direction of the entire affair. It was soon substantially settled that nothing would be done at the site of the former Temple in New Windsor, but that the celebration would be confined to Newburgh. Beyond this little was known in regard to the doings of the Committee of Five for some time. With the large powers vested in them, they met privately and went systematically to work, con- ferring for some time with hardly anybody but the Joint Congressional Committee, and pursuing the even tenor of their way regardless alike of good or evil report. The results are the arrangements perfected for to-day's nota- ble affair. THE WORK OF THE LAST SIX OB SEVEN MONTHS. A conference held at Washington in February last, be- tween the Joint Congressional Committee and the New- burgh Committee of Five, resulted in an agreement that the entire National appropriation of $25,000 and $10,000 of the money appropriated by the Legislature should be devoted to the monument to be erected at Washington's Headquarters, leaving but $5,000 of the State money and the $5,000 voted by the City of Newburgh for the ex- penses of the celebration. This arrangement was con- summated by the two houses of Congress and both branches of the Legislature subsequently making the necessary amendments to their appropriation acts, the object had in view being stated to be the securing of a more suitable monument at the Headquarters than could be hoped for from the smaller sum of $10,000. While this arrangement was being concluded and sub- sequent to its completion the Committee of Five, with a well-defined plan settled on, busied itself with the myriad of other matters requiring attention. They decided on a celebration of but one day's duration, for what they urged as good reasons ; selected the 18th of October as the date on which it should take place, and arranged a program, step by step. This work has been almost en- tirely done in the last six or seven months, when the com- mittee has frequently met and given much time to its la- bors. A good deal that was important was done in June. Mr. Evarts was selected as the orator of the occasion by the Congressional Committee, as long ago as last winter, but the other noted men who take part in the exercises were asked to do so by the Committee of Five. They secured in the month of June Senator Bayard's consent to be the presiding officer at the afternoon ceremonies, and it was in that month that the Grand Marshal was appointed. THE COMMITTEE OF FIVE. The Committee of Five, who have had the general dircetion of affairs, and been the head and front of cen- tennial matters for so many months, is composed of the following gentlemen: Mayor Ward, ex-Mayor John J. 8. McCroskery, Hon. Joel T. Headley, John C. Adams and Hon. M. H. Hirschberg. Their Secretary is Dr. R. V. K. Montfort. Hon. Peter Ward, present Mayor of the City of New- burgh, and Chairman of the Central Centennial Commit- tee, is a good specimen of the self-made men of America. He is a native of the near by County of Rockland, New York, and is now fifty-six years of age. When but six- teen he was employed by the Erie Railway as a conduct- or, and also in civil engineering, remaining in this busi- ness about four years. He then went to Coal Grove, on the Ohio River, with the idea of mining bituminous coal and supplying steamers with it. Closer examination did not impress him favorably with the speculation and he abandoned it. He then fitted up a large flatboat christened "The floating scow of ole Virginny," stocked it with dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, etc. , hired two clerks and a cook and sailed down the river, trading at various points with the planters and others until he reached Baton Rouge. Here he sold the scow to the boat breakers and sailed up to the head waters of the Missis- sippi, where he bought venison and corn and shipped them to New Orleans. He remained in the West fifteen months, returning with $700 more in his pocket than he started with. In 1849 he resumed engineering for the Erie Railway and run the level from Corning to Dunkirk. In 1851 he became Superintendent of the Newburgh Branch, filling that position up to 1859, except an interval of one year when he went to Kentucky to build the Maysville and Lexington road. In 1859 he became one of the firm of Ward & Leonard, painters and decorators, which firm was afterwards Ward, Leonard & Co., and is now Ward & Logan, one of the most prominent business houses in the city. Mr. Ward has also been extensively engaged in railroad building, either alone, as one of the firm of Ward & Lary, or as the head of the present firm of Ward, Mackin & Co., consisting of himself, State Senator James Mackin and Mr. V. L. Lary of Jersey City. The railroad building in which he has thus been engaged, which covers a long period of years, has been in various States — Kentucky, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It aggregates several hundred miles of work, and has only been done at an outlay of millions of money. That done since the formation of the firm of Ward, Mackin & Co. has been upon the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railway, both along the Hudson and in Central New York, some of which is yet unfinished. Mr. Ward never held any public office (except as member of the Board of Education for one term) prior to his election as Mayor. He was selected as Chief Execu- 48 NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. tive of the city in the Spring election of 1882, receiving nearly two-thirds of the vote cast, though the citv is ordinarily Republican and he is a Democrat in politics. The Mayor is a very popular man, as this shows. He has genial personal qualities, and while of liberal views, respects and honors the opinions of all. He is an eminently practical man, has no patience with arrogance MAYOR WARD.— [From a recent Photograph by Whiddit.] or conceit in any form, and appreciates worth wherever found. Successful in business, and ranking with the city's men of wealth, he is generous with his own purse 6trings, and always has aid for a good cause. The Mayor is blessed with an interesting family, to whom he is devotedly attached, and Mrs. Ward, his wife, is prominent in local charities, and a most engaging and estimable lady. Mr. McCroskery is a Newburgher by birth and is near- ing fifty years of age. He has been connected with the Bank of Newburgh for thirty years, going there as a clerk in 1853, and he has been the Cashier of that substantial, steady-going institution ever since it was made a National Bank in 1864. Mr. McCroskery was also prominent in the fire department at one time, having been both Second and First Assistant Engineer. In 1857 he was Collector of Taxes in the then village of Newburgh, and in later years he was twice elected Alderman in the Third Ward and twice chosen Mayor of the city, though politi- cally a Democrat. Mr. McCroskery is also prominent in church and Sunday School affairs. He is noted for great affability of manners, which tends to give him much popularity, and his energy and activity know no fatigue. Hon. Joel T. Headley, who may be styled the father of the centennial movement, is a native of Delaware County, N. Y, but has had a long residence in this vicinity. He graduated from Union College in 1839, and is now nearly seventy years old. He originally prepared for the minis- try, but was compelled to abandon a following of that profession by ill health. He then gave himself to literary work, in which he has spent the main part of his life, and which he still continues. Mr. Headley has published various historical and biographical works, among them being "Napoleon and his Marshals," "Washington and his Generals," "Grant, Sherman and their Generals," "The Imperial Guard of Napoleon," " History of the War of 1812," and lives of Oliver Cromwell, Scott and Jackson, Washington, Grant and Farragut. He still writes much for the magazines, Harper's Monthly for October contain- ing a splendidly illustrated article prepared by him on Washington's Headquarters in this city and the Revolu- tionary events that took place here. Mr. Headley has also been in official life. He has been in the New York Legislature, and was elected Secretary of State in 1855. All that Mr. Headley has written on the Newburgh Cen- tennial would fill a large volume. Mr. John C. Adams is a gentleman who has been prominent in local politics for some time. His birthplace was Tivoli, N. Y., and he has resided at Newburgh since 1860. Mr. Adams is 47. He has been a Supervisor, was for three years one of the Harbor Masters at New York, was twice an Alderman of Newburgh, was the city's Postmaster from 1876 to March, 1883, and is now the President of the only gaslight company in town, besides being engaged in other business. Mr. Adams is very vigorous physically, and is mentally quick to think and prompt to execute. He reaches a conclusion at express train speed, and usually has a thing done before most men would have made up their minds which way to move. Hon. Michael H. Hirschberg, the fifth member of the committee, is by no means the least in point of valuable services rendered, though we have left him to the last. A lawyer by profession, and still in the vigor of early manhood, he stands in the front rank of the Orange county bar of the present day. Thoroughly cultured, and well-read, not only in the law, but in literature and the news of the time, Mr. Hirschberg is highly successful in his profession, well informed on general topics and a ready and effective speaker or writer. He is famous for his skill at repartee and is capable of the most biting sarcasm when occasion requires. Socially he is the life of any group. His fund of puns is inexhaustible and his humor flows unceasingly. Ready to cross swords with the best, and fearless of no controversy, Mr. Hirschberg is the soul of honorable fidelity to any cause he «spouses or to any friend. He was Special County Judge of this county some years ago, has figured in many of the most important vicinity law suits of the last decade, and has served in the Newburgh Board of Education for twelve years, several of them as President of that important official body. He was once nominated for the office of Mayor, but declined to accept the offered honor. Mr. Hirschberg's far-seeing judgment, familiarity with public affairs and men, and his excellent ideas as to the pro- prieties of the occasion have made him of great value to the centennial committee, who have intrusted to him much important work, which he he has always done well. Dr. Robert V. K. Montfort, the Secretary of the Com- mittee of Five, is a practicing physician, was a Surgeon in the Rebellion, and was for fourteen years Superintend- ent of the Public Schools of Newburgh. He was known to be well fitted for the arduous position of Secretary to the Central Committee when he was appointed, and has conducted their large correspondence and discharged the other labors of the post with entire satisfaction. He has properly received a salary for his work, which for weeks has required almost his entire time and attention. THE JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. The Joint Committee on the centennial appointed by the two houses of Congress have more especially had in charge the monument that is to be erected at Washing- ton's Headquarters, but have also officially imparted to the celebration the National recognition and eclat de- sired for it and worked harmoniously with the Committee of Five to make the general commemoration a success. This Congressional Committee is composed of the follow- ing distinguished men : NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 49 Senator Warner Miller, of New York. General Joseph R. Hawley, Senator from Connecticut. Senator Nathaniel P. Hill, of Colorado. Senator Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware. Senator Wade Hampton, of North Carolina. Representative Andrew G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania. Representative Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan. Representative J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky. Representative Amos Townsend, of Ohio. Representative John E. Ellis, of Louisiana. Representative Ambrose A. Ranney, of Massachusetts. General John H. Ketcham, Representative from the 13th (Dutchess County) District of New York. Hon. Lewis Beach, Representative from the 14th (this) Congressional District of New York. LOCAL SUB-COMMITTEES. For the last four months the above committee have received more or less valuable aid in making preparations from a number of local sub-committees, who were appointed by the Committee of Five early in June. Some of these sub-committees, under the general direc- tion of the Committee of Five, have done very effective work, and are entitled to a large share of credit. They have been composed of the following : Committee on Reception, charged with arranging for the entertainment of the distinguished guests, military organizations, etc. — Hon. James G. Graham, lawyer and former Member of Assembly (Chairman) ; Hon. James Mackin, State Senator from this district ; Hon. Daniel B. St. John, President of the Newburgh Savings Bank and former State Senator ; Hon. Charles F. Brown, Supreme Court Judge ; Mr. S. R. Van Duzer, wholesale druggist ; Mr. J. Abner Harper, of Harper & Brothers' famous pub- lishing house ; Mr. Homer Ramsdell, of the Homer Rams- dell Transportation Company, one of the foremost citizens of the. place ; Mr. James J. Logan, Mayor Ward's partner in business ; Mr. James Patton, one of the leading citizens of New Windsor ; Mr. William O. Mailler, wholesale grocer ; Mr. Thomas W. Chrystie, a member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati ; Mr. Jonas Williams, a retired business man of large means ; Mr. David Carson, one of the Headquarters Trustees ; Mr. A. H. Havemeyer, of New Windsor ; Mr. John Schoonmaker, a prominent merchant ; Hon. Abram S. Cassedy, an ex-Mayor of the city. Committee on Fireworks, entrusted with arranging for the grand fireworks display — Joseph H. H. Chapman, Treasurer of the Headquarters Commission (Chairman) ; J. T. Joslin, a well-known druggist on Water street ; Daniel S. Waring, a prominent business man, President of the Board of Trade, and for years a Supervisor. Committee on Military, given the work of arranging matters affecting the coming of military organizations- Colonel Charles H. Weygant, an ex-Mayor of the city (Chairman) ; Colonel William D. Dickey, a prominent lawyer, who has seen much of military life and is con- spicuous in political affairs : Colonel Edward D. Hayt, former commanding officer of a battalion of State troops ; Captain Joseph M. Dickey, present Postmaster of the city, former Member of Assembly, and the commandant of the 10th Separate Company, N. G, S. N. Y. ; Captain James T. Chase, commanding the 5th Separate Company, N. G, S. N. Y. Committee on Societies, appointed to confer with and secure the presence of civic organizations of whatever kind — John F. Van Nort, Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of New York State (Chairman) ; Howard Thornton, lawyer and Past Master of a Masonic lodge and a Free Mason of promi- nence ; Henry M. Hirschberg, a Supervior and Free Mason ; Dr. L. S. Straw, a well known dentist and Free Mason ; Isaac C. Chapman, a leading druggist and Free Mason ; L. S. Sterrit a lawyer and recent Master Masonic lodge. Committee on Transportation, selected for the purpose of conferring with railroad and steamboat managers about special trains of cars, special arrangements for boats, etc. — Colonel John B. Leverich, a well known steamboat man (Chairman of the committee and also Harbor Master of the day) ; Captain Charles S. Jenkins, a gentleman interested in steamboat lines ; Charles H. Halstead, an Alderman of the city and Newburgh agent of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad ; Major Wilbur H. Weston, Newburgh agent of the New York Central and Hudson River and Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroads ; John Dales, local ticket agent of the Erie Railroad ; C. R. Stevenson, general Newburgh agent of the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway ; C. H. Piatt, agent at the Fishkill ter- minus of the New York and New England Railroad. Committee on Music, selected to organize and train the grand chorus — Arthur Wilson ^Chairman), Nathan S. Taylor, Arthur V. Wiltsie, James L. Teller, W. W. Whiddit, Prosessor S. W. Holdredge. These gentlemen are musicians of acknowleded ability and are nearly all choir leaders of the city. Committee on Decoration of streets, grand stand, etc. — Thomas B. Pope (Chairman), Henry Carter. The former is an artist and the latter is a successful florist. Committee on Firemen, to confer with fire companies and attend to matters affecting the fire company part of the demonstration — Nicholas Powell, Chief Engineer of the Newburgh Fire Department (Chairman) ; Cornelius S. McKissock, Foreman of C. M. Leonard Steamer Com- pany ; Henry C. Mellor, Foreman of Highland Steamer Company.; Alexander J. Blitt, Foreman of Washington Steamer Company ; William W. Boyd, Foreman of Brewster Hook and Ladder Company; John Ernest jr., Foreman of Ringgold Hose Company ; J. H. R. Strachan, Foreman of Columbian Hose Company ; Thomas H. Burke, Foreman of Chapman Hose Company ; DeWitt C. Cameron, Foreman of Lawson Hose Company. THE GRAND MARSHAL. Colonel Charles H. Weygant, the Grand Marshal of the procession, is a native of the neighboring town of Corn- wall, and an ancestor of his bears the distinction of being the first inn-keeper in Newburgh. Colonel Wey- gant was a student when the war broke out in 1861, but soon left his books and raised the first company of men that went to the front with the gallant 124th (Orange County) Vols. , which enlisted for three years service and was in the field till the close of the war. With his regi- ment, Colonel Weygant took part in many of the leading battles of the war, rising from the place of Captain of a company to the command of the regiment before it was over. He was three times wounded. Since the war he has served a term of three years as Sheriff of the county and a term of two years as Mayor of this city. The Colonel's selection as Grand Marshal of the centennial procession is undoubtedly a good one. He has given close attention to the necessarily large amount of pre- paratory work devolving upon the position, and he will manage the procession well. When in the war, his regi- ment was usually at the right of the line of their division, and he has had considerable experience in directing the movements of large bodies of men. THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CELEBRATION. It is but fair to explain that the $5,000 raised by tax is by no means all the pecuniary assistance that the city of Newburgh gives to the celebration. The actual amount will greatly exceed twice that sum. The Common Council have made appropriations to assist the fire department in their preparations, which will in the aggregate proba- bly reach $2,500 additional; the New York police and detectives and other officers secured in the interests of order will also cost a considerable sum, and several thou- sands of dollars have been raised by subscription for the purpose of feeding and entertaining the visiting troops. Adding all these to the $5,000 raised for the general pur- poses of the celebration and it will be found that the city's contribution is from $11,000 to $12,000, not to mention large sums raised by the fire, military and civic organiza- tions of the town for the hiring of numerous bands, entertainment of visiting bodies of men and many other 50 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. things. These would acid still other thousands of dollars l o the total of expenitures. THE HEADQUARTERS MONTJMEXT. The monument at Washington's Headquarters, which was designed to be a part of the commemoration, and for which there are $35,000 of available funds now on hand, has not yet been erected. Indeed it is not yet positive what form the memorial will take, and its unveiling and dedication are perforce reserved for a future oc- casion. CENTRAL FIGURES OF THE DAY. DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMEN WHO WERE CONSPICUOUS IN THE CEEEMONIES AT WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS. HON. WILLIAM M. EVARTS. The Hon William Maxwell Evarts, the orator of the day, is a native of Boston, where he was born February 6th, 1818. His father, Jeremiah Evarts, was a lawyer of good ability and fair practice. Mr. Evarts entered Yale • 'ollege at an early age and graduated in 1837. He then studied for two years or more at the Harvard Law School, i n 1841 he went to New York City and began the practice of the profession in which he now holds so eminent a nrosition. Earnest application, industry and fidelity, combined with great ability as an advocate, gained him ;; large clientage in a comparatively short time, and be- fore he had attained his thirtieth year he held a high position at the bar. This position he has maintained with increasing honor and usefulness, until, in legal I 'iirning and ability, he has for some time ranked as one of the foremost in the profession of the law, not only at The bar of New York, but in the nation. In 1851 Mr. Svarts was appointed United States District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the same year he was one of the Commissioners of the Alms House of the great city, now known as the Commissioners of Charities and Correction. After his retirement from the District Attorney's office in 1853, he became a member of the law iiiiu of Butler, Evarts & Southmayd and subsequently of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate, which firm still exists and has wide reputation. In 1861 Mr. Evarts was proposed in The Republican Legislative caucus at Albany as United states Senator, his competitors being Horace Greeley and the Hon. Ira Harris, the latter of whom was made the compromise candidate and eventually chosen for the position. Mr. Evarts was Attorney General of The United States from the 15th of July, 1868, until the (lose of President Johnson's administration; he having b 'en the principal counsel for President Johnson in the Litter's impeachment trial in the Spring of 1808. In 1871 lie was selected by President Grant as the leading counsel of the United States at Geneva, before the tribunal of arbitration on the Alabama claims, and during President Hayes' administration Mr. Evarts occupied the very honorable position of Secretary of State of the United States. He was also prominently advocated for the I epublican nomination for Governor of New Y T ork in 187G, 1 it the same spirit of compromise which defeated him for the United States Senate in 1861 contributed to de- ]i ,'ive him of this nomination. Mr. Evarts has won his greatest . fame as a lawyer. While he was United States District Attorney, he had a c.i -e that grew out of a Cuban expedition. Early in 1851 .in expedition was fitted out by John L. Sullivan, a well- known journalist, which was to sail in a vessel called the ( lleopatra, to aid in an insurrection to be begun in Cuba. Warrants of arrest were issued to prevent the departure of the expedition, and were served when the Cleopatra had steam up ready to sail. The trial of the fiilibusters lasted a month, but the jury failed to agree. Two years later Mr. Evarts had a celebrated slave case. A vessel containing slaves belonging to a Mr. Leminon was driven by a storm into New Y'ork harbor, and there- upon writs of habeas corpus were obtained requiring cause to be shown why the slaves should not be released, they being in a free State. Mr. Evarts appeared in behalf of the State of New Y r ork, and the case was car- HON. WILLIAM M. EVARTS, of New York— [/■>-,. Copyright, by Harper &* Bros.] Harper's Weekly. ried to the Supreme Court of the United States, where he finally succeeded in obtaining a verdict against the claimant. The orator at this centennial was also counsel in the great Parish will case, in which an attempt was made to break the will of Henry Parish, on the ground of the mental incapacity of the" testator ; was stilf later engaged in the lawsuit in which there was a contest of the will of NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 51 Mrs. Gardner, the mother of ex-President Tyler's widow, on the ground of undue influence on the part of Mrs. Tyler to obtain the making of the will ; made a great effort when defending President Johnson against his pro- posed impeachment ; likewise distinguished himself in the great Tilton-Beecher case, and made further fame before the Electoral Commission of 1876, where he advo- cated Mr. Hayes' election. Mr. Evarts is tall, thin, angular ; long-headed, with a square and prominent forehead, dark hair and dark skin ; a face perfectly smooth, but thin, cadaverous, shrunken ; deep-set, grey eyes, a very prominent nose, and a square, decisive, nnely-chiselled chin. He is tragile, almost to attenuation, and so far- from attesting the idea of a vehement orator, he impresses one as a man of retired scholarly tastes, gentle manners and academic belong- ings. In none of his ways has he the magnetism of a great speaker. He has a clear, sharp, ringing voice, though it is not powerful or musical. His action is spar- ing, but effective. In making his points he is lucid, pre- cise and cogent, seldom rhetorical or ornamental. He has an easy, colloquial way, is never in haste, and never hesitates. His style is classic in its correctness ; his sentences long, faultless and freighted with words which show that profound thought is selecting felicitous vocab- ulary as it goes along. He has a fine humor, but it is the humor of cultivation, not the coarse fun of the vulgar, and his appeals to the intelligence of juries are classed as the highest in tone, the broadest in scope, and the deep- est in power of any made in modern times. Webster was not more logical, Story was not a more thorough lawyer, Choate not a more brilliant verbalist, nor Sumner a firmer believer in pure moral power. Mr. Evarts was probably the guiding spirit of President Hayes' administration. To his subtlety of intellect, his strength of character and his firmness and rectitude of purpose, that administration probably owed much of the success it had. MR. BAYARD. The Hon. Thomas Francis Bayard, who presided at the afternoon exercises at Washington's Headquarters, is of distinguished ancestry and is recognized as one of the foremost statesmen of the day. The origin of his family has been traced back to the province of Dauphiny, now the department of the Isere, in the southeast of Prance, where the ruins of the Chateau Bayard mark what is regarded as the cradle of the race. Prom the earliest times the Bayards of France were dis- tinguished for courage in war and fidelity to their sovereign. Among them was the famous Pierre du Ter- rail, the Seigneur de Bayard of the 16th century, and others scarcely less famous. They were also known of in this country in the time of the Revolution. One hold- ing the rank of Colonel in the American army, who won reputation by his courage and conduct, commanded the artillery at the battle of Brandywine. The Bayard who takes part in the JNewburgh centennial commemoration has been one of the United States Senators from Delaware since 1869, now serving a third term, and his father, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather were in the United States Senate before him, four generations of his ances- try having been there from Delaware. The present Senator is a son of the Hon. J ames Ashton Bayard, who was his predecessor as Senator from Delaware from 1851 to 1869. On March 5th of the latter year, both father and son were members of the Senate, the term of the latter beginning at noon of the day when that of the former expired. Thomas Francis Bayard was bom in Wilmington, Del., where he also now resides, in 1828, being now fifty-five years old. At the age of thirteen he went to school at Flushing, L. I. A little later on he entered a mercantile house in JNew York, and then was employed in one in Philadelphia, where he remained till he was twenty years old. He then returned to Delaware and studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1851. Two years later he was appointed United States Attorney for Delaware, but resigned the office in 1854 and removed to Philadelphia, associating himself in legal practice with William Ship- pen and staying there four years. In 1858 Mr. Bayard again returned to Wilmington and devoted himself laboriously to his profession, in which lie rapidly attained eminence. Besides his regular professional business, his ability and character caused him to be selected by many of his numerous kindred for trusts, executorships anil the management of involved estates. In this way there had been thrown upon him a great mass of business SENATOR THOMAS F. BAYARD, of Delaware. Copyright, by Harder b> Bi -[/■;■ «■■] ■.Harper'sWeekly. which he could not delegate to others, and both before and since his entrance upon public life he has been one of the hardest-worked of hard-worked men. In the United States Senate Mr. Bayard is known as one of the most active and laborious members. His voice is often heard with effect, as it always is with attention. His moderation, urbanity, dignity of manner and per- sonal character win him the esteem of political opponents, who accord him respect. The Democratic party of the nation look to him as one of their chief leaders, and he has for some time stood in the position of a possible nominee for the Presidency in some political campaign. Mr. Bayard married a Baltimore lady and has three sons and six daughters living. To quote a newsrjaper correspondent, his summer home in Wilmington is a fine old-fashioned mansion in the outskirts of the city which was once the property of S. B. Davis, the guardian of Myra Clark, now known to fame as Myra Clark Oaines. It is a roomy house, furnished with a view solely to com- fortable living. Mr. Bayard's "den," or library, has all the marks of the working-room of a man of literary tastes. The walls are lined with book-shelves, and the table is always covered with books and papers, which are confusion itself to anybody but himself. The floor, too, 52 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. is strewed with books and newspapers. The visitor always finds the host at work, but never too busy to talk ; for Tom Bayard is not only the soul of hospitality, but one of the most fluent talkers you ever saw. When he gets very much interested, he is apt to walk up and down the room with his hands in his pockets and indulge in a monologue. His words flow like water from the mouth of a pitcher, and if taken down in shorthand they will be found to make perfect sentences and notable for the dis- play of a rich vocabulary. Very few are more popular in Washington society than Mr. Bayard, and, adding to his genial, manly qualities a thorough acquaintance with French, he is one of the most THE REV. Dk. S. IREN.'EUS PRIME, of New York.— [fir U r eebly. Copyright, by Harper &r filros.] ■ Harper's sought after of our public men at the dinners and recep- tions of the diplomatists who make their residence at the National Capital. He lives, however, the life of a very simple republican gentleman, with good taste and unos- tentatiously. He gives his hospitality to his friends, and never turns his home into a place for the intrusion of vulgar politics, where he may advance his interests by entertaining a horde of people in whom he has no in- terest, save as they may advance his own. A gentleman well acquainted with Senator Bayard writes of him as follows: "He is very fond of poetry, and very much alive to its influences in all wavs. His sensibilities are quick ; his feelings are tender ; he has a great deal of sentiment, and before he took to finance and statesmanship in gen- eral was of a decidedly imaginative turn. In social and private life he is absolutely simple, natural and un- affected, with a boyishness that would be boyish, if it were not, like everything else in his character, thoroughly manly. It is very, very attractive to me, that perfect genuineness of life, thought and conversation, in any man who has seen the world and knows it ; but in a public man, who has breathed the malarious air of the Capital for so many years, with all its moral sinks and undrained political sewers, it is positively marvelous. But ah this is talk, which you have more than enough of. I have not one reminiscence to give you ; nor do I believe you can get many from those who know Bayard best and see him most. He belongs to that thoroughly healthy class who exhibit no symptoms — much less phenomena. You would not notice a manly, or kind, or gentle thing in him, because you associate the idea of nothing else with him. If I wanted him to try a case for a poor client for nothing, and do his best, I would send the case to him without asking, and he would do it as a matter of course. He lives his life so naturaUy that you cannot write it unless you write the whole of it." REV. DR. S. l t PRIME. The Rev. Samuel Irenasus Prime, D. 1)., the clergyman who officiates in the Headquarters exercises, is the prin- cipal editor of the New York Observer, one of the most influential religious journals in the country. He is a brother of the Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin Prime, likewise connected with the Observer, and the publisher of several works ; also a brother of William Cowper Prime, lawyer, journalist and author ; the father of the Rev. Dr. Wen- dell Prime, a former pastor of Union Presbyterian Church, Newburgh ; and a grandson of the Rev. Eben- ezer Prime, who was one of the clergy of the Revolution, though an aged man when hostilities began. The Rev. Dr. S. I. Prime was born at Ballston, Sara- toga County, N. Y.. in 1812 and is therefore now 71 years old. At the age of thirteen he entered Williams College, from which he graduated in 1829. He then pursued a course of study at Princeton Theological Seminary, be- came a member of the Presbyterian Church and at one time was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Matteawan. In 1840, from ill health, Dr. Prime was obliged to abandon regular preaching, and then became associated in the editorial charge of the New York Ob- server, and for more than thirty years his able pen had been employed editorially and as a literary contributor and traveling correspondent of this influential paper. His contributions under the signature of " Irensus " have had great popularity and under his management the Observer has taken high rank. Dr. Prime has also traveled extensively and published works of travel and of a religious character which have had wide circulation, one or two of which have been translated into several European languages. During all the years of his retirement from active ministry Dr. Prime has frequently preached, sometimes supplying the pulpits of absent ministers for a consider- able period. His learning and literary gifts make his sermons highly attractive, and his services as a preacher WALLACE BRUCE, of Poughkeepsie. have been eagerly sought for, but his chief distinction has come from his writings in the Observer and his books. In the first his style is clear and vigorous, with the in- troduction of an exquisite humor in some of his lighter articles, and in the second he has shown the most bril- NEWBLJEGH CENTENNIAL. 53 liant descriptive powers, making every scene and object as vivid as apt and graceful language can depict it. In manners Dr. Prime is unassuming and polite ; in disposi- tion he is unusually cheerful and genial. He is fond of social life, especially with high-bred and christian people, and in such company is usually the life of the circle. The country, and flowers, and children, and everything that is beautiful and pure attract and delight him. Those who know him esteem and love him, and by the public he is regarded as a man who is strong for all good works. Newburghers will be interested to know that both Dr. Prime and his father were in their day instructors at the Newburgh Free Academy. WALLACE BRUCE. Wallace Bruce, the poet of the day, was born in Hills- dale, Columbia County, N. Y., on the 10th of November, 1844, but is now a resident of the neighboring City of Poughkeepsie. Mr. Bruce is of Scottish ancestry on both sides, though three or four generations of New England and New York blood intervene. His great-grandfather on his mother's side was a Revolutionary soldier under General Putnam. Mr. Bruce early in life showed a taste for literature and history. He attended school at Claverack and then entered Yale College, from which he graduated in 1867, after taking several college prizes for compositions and oratory. In 1870 Mr. Bruce visited Europe, specially study- ing Scotland. On his return to this country he adopted lite- rature as a profession, and his lectures on Scott, Shake- speare, Burns, Irving and Bryant have been favorably received on both sides of the Continent. His poems " The Hudson, " the ' ' Land of Burns " and the ' ' Yosemite " have received high endorsement, alike from scholars and the press. His enthusiasm for literature is coupled with fine memory, and he has the gift of quoting by the hour from the best poets of England and America. It is said that his poem fl Scott's Greeting to Burns," suggested by the unveiling of the Burns monument in Central Park, New York, had the widest circulation, through the press, of any poem ever published in this country. The present occasion is not the first on which Mr. Bruce has been the poet of a centennial celebration. He of- ficiated in a like capacity at the celebration of the Battle of Bennington, in Vermont. PRELIMINARY DEMONSTRATIONS. THEEE PEIOE CELEBEATIONS IN THIS CITY AND VICINITY. The present celebration has been preceded by no less than three prior centennial demonstrations in this city and the immediate vicinity, all of which have served a useful purpose. They fittingly commemorated other dates that some people thought should have been chosen for the present celebration, afforded a channel for the escape of surplus enthusiasm, and awakened still greater interest in the main centennial. WASHINGTON'S CELEBRATION COMMEMMORATED. The first of these prior demonstrations was in April, in this city, in commemoration of Washington's formal announcement of a cessation of hostilities with Great Britain and of the celebration held by the Revolutionary army by his order. The observance, which was mainly projected by the 10th Separate Company of the National Guard, commanded by Captain Joseph M. Dickey, was quite extemporaneous in its preparation, but was heartily joined in by citizens of the city and vicinity, and created a good deal of enthusiasm. The public schools were closed half of the day. Some manufacturers gave their hands either a whole or a half holiday. Mayor Ward issued a suitable proclamation. Decorations were exten- sively displayed. A salute at noon from Washington's Headquarters in this city. was answered by one fired at Fishkill Landing, and by one from a battery at West Point, the latter being ordered by the Secretary of War, while the church bells of Newburgh clanged forth in glad tones and steam whistles added their shrill notes to the other greetings. In the afternoon the 10th Separate Company, with full ranks, and headed by a band, made a parade through the city, while in the evening they had a banquet at the United States Hotel, which had all the accessories of prominent guests, music, toasts, speeches, etc. Judge Monell, of Fishkill, responded to the toast of "The Day We Celebrate ; " Mr. E. M. Ruttenber, of Newburgh, spoke to a toast to ' ' Washington ; " Mr. Headley, the historian, was called out on the subject of " Our October Centennial ; " Rev. Dr. Forsyth was heard from in regard to the "Chaplains of the Revolution," and J. Hervey Cook, of Fishkill, and Hon. James G. Graham, of this city, spoke on other fitting sentiments. The 10th Separate Company supplemented these exer- cises by an additional commemoration of a religious character on the ensuing Sunday, as was done by Wash- ington's army in 1783. These later exercises were held at the Newburgh Armory, being placed in charge of the clergymen of the city, and though the Sunday was a stormy one, there were several thousand people present — the greatest gathering the armory ever saw. The Rev. Dr. William K. Hall presided at the services and made an address, and Mayor Ward, the Common Council, nearly all the clergymen of the city, members of the Newburgh and Fishkill centennial committees and others occupied seats on the platform. The large audience joined in sing- ing hymns selected for the occasion, led by a choir of a hundred voices and a brass band. The Rev. Dr. Forsyth offered prayer, the Rev. Samuel Carlisle read suitable Scripture passages, another prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Mickle, the Rev. Dr. Applegate and the Rev. Arthur Jones made stirring addresses, Dr. Hall read the Revolutionary army's great anthem of " No King but God," and various other clergymen took less prominent parts in the exercises. A FISHKILL OBSERVANCE. Saturday, June 2d, there was a memorable observance in the Village and Town of Fishkill, across the river from this city. The village was gaily decorated. Business was entirely suspended. The air was filled with music, huzzas and cannon-firing. There was a procession, including thirty-eight young ladies in a representation of the States; also music, addresses and general rejoicing. A CELEBRATION IN NEW WINDSOR. June 22d a celebration was held in New Windsor, under the direction of citizens of that town, in connection with the annual re-union of the survivors of the 124th N. Y. Vols. This observance took place at Temple Hill, the site of the Temple of 1783, where the Revolutionary of- ficers held meetings and the troops worshipped. Probably four thousand people attended the exercises, over a thou- sand going from this city. A flag was raised on the site of the old Temple. Patriotic addresses were made by various distinguished men. An original ode was read by Clarence F. Buhler, author of the prize poem on the Battle of Antietam, and there were other exercises of great interest. 54 NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. HISTORY OF NEWBURGH. A BRIEF SKETCH OF ITS SETTLEMENT AND STEADY GROWTH. FIRST SETTLEMENT. It was in 1709 that Newburgh was first settled by white people. A full century previous Hendrik Hudson had ascended the noble river which now bears his name, on a vessel called the Half Moon ; but what is to-day a city of stirring scenes was for a hundred years after part of a country peopled only by Indians. They were not Indians of a savage character, but tribes of some civilization, who were kindly and hospitable in disposition, and who had to some extent made breaks in the forest; with clearings in which they grew corn and other articles of food. The white people who appeared on the scene in 1709 were Lutheran immigrants from the Palatinate of the Rhine- They were people whose former homes on the Rhine had been ravaged by the wars between the French and Ger- mans in the time of Louis XIV. They were a band of about fifty needy souls, men, women and children, who had made their way to London and had been sent on from England by Queen Anne, who desired them to settle on Hudson's River, in the then province of New York, and promised them 9d. a day per head for twelve months and. a grant of land on which to settle. The im- migrants reached New York in the Winter of 1708-9, and in the Spring of the latter year were removed to the dis- trict lying between the Quassaick Creek, southern boun dary of the present City of Newburgh, and the Danskam- iner, a rocky point about six miles up the river. These first settlers were poor, owing to the calamities that had befallen them on the Rhine, but were of good character. They did not receive their promised grant of land till some years after their settlement on the bank of the Hudson, till 1719, when some changes had taken place in the list of the company, by death, removal, etc. The changes were recognized by the British Government, however, and the patents were issued to the then occu- pants of the land, each family receiving from one hun- dred to three hundred acres, according to the number of its members, and a central plot of five hundred acres was set apart as a Glebe lot for the support of a minis- ter of their faith. There were at this time but nine families on the entire tract covered by the grant, which included not only the thickly inhabited part of the pres- ent city, but also what is now the Balmville suburb, on the north. The whole settlement was designated as "The Palatine Parish by Quassaick." The Lutherans maintained their settlement for a number of years, tilling more or less of their land and erecting a church. Home, however, were led to move eleewhere, from one consideration or another, after disposing of their land. Some of that in the vicinity of Washington's Headquarters, the centre of interest to-day, was among the first land that was sold. Lot No. 4 of the original plots, situated on the north side of what is now known as Broadway, in the course of time fell into the hands of an association of six or seven persons, who divided it up into smaller lots and gave it the name of "The Town of New- burgh Plot," As part of the Lutherans left for other fields, their settlement on the Hudson found new comers in Dutch and Engli.-.h, who gradually became more numerous than the remnant of the original settlers, and took from them the control of local affairs. In 1747 the new element elected the trustees of the Glebe lands, closed the Lutheran Church to the people of that sect, and took measures to replace their clergyman with one of the Church of England. These steps were successful, and a few years saw the end of the Palatine parish, though the city to this day contains descendants of some of the original settlers. The income from the Glebe land now went to the maintenance of a minister of the English Church and the support of a schoolmaster, the old title of the settlement was discarded, and the name of "The Parish of Newburgh " was adopted, being suggested by that of the "Town of Newburgh Plot." While this change in the state of affairs was taking place, the population of the settlement was increasing, and when the new name was adopted, it had become much more numerous. The residents then included Alexander Golden, son of CadwalladerColden, Lieutenant- Governor of the Province ; Duncan Alexander, brother of William Alexander, who was known in Revolutionary affairs as Lord Stirling ; James Denton, son of Daniel Denton, the first historian of New York, and Jonathan Hasbrouck, who had come from the Huguenot settlement of New Paltz. Colden, who had been a resident of the parish for some years, had previously obtained a charter for the ferry which still runs to and from Fishkill, and had also erected a grist mill and residence and sailed a sloop to New York. Denton had a grist mill and store. Hasbrouck bought and operated the Colden grist mill, and also erected the original part of the Washington's Headquarters house. Among the other residents were ancestors of the Ward brothers, the famous oarsmen, and of Colonel Weygant, the Grand Marshal of to-day's parade. Alexander Colden is supposed to have been chiefly instrumental in giving the settlement the name cf Newburgh. NEWBURGH AT THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTION. A writer on Newburgh as it was at the time of the Revolution says it certainly was one of the most forlorn looking places that he ever saw. It had but one opened street, the King's Highway, which is now Liberty Street. This man described this street as a very good one, to be sure— along which was scattered a few old-looking brown houses — but he said this was the village, for below the hill there was comparatively nothing except the Colden house and storehouse, Isaac Belknap's house and the ferry. The side-hill was principally covered with or- chards. The road to the ferry was an irregular one. It ran across the farm of Hasbrouck and the Colden plot, from Hasbronck's grist mill to about where the south- west corner of Colden and First Streets now is, and thence circled around the hill to the river, which then ran close up to the present east side of Water Street. At this time the settlement bore the title of the "Pre- cinct of Newburgh." It still included the district from the Quassaick Creek to Balmville. Its entire population was less than fifteen hundred, and most of the people lived on the Glebe, where small lots could be leased. There was considerable heavy timber still standing on the farms, and even as late as 1800, when Western Avenue (now Broadway) was opened, it was cut through the woods for a large part of the way. When the Revolution came, the Precinct of Newburgh had its own Committee of Safety, responsible at first to the general com.nittee of the City of New York, and subsequently recognized by the provincial committee of safety and invested with the control of the minute men and all the duties of local administration. And the war NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 55 entailed much hardship on the people of the precinct, most of whom arrayed themselves on the side of the colonists. Companies of militia were raised, which were frequently called out ; a depot for stores, which was established in the precinct in 1777, was maintained until peace came, the people often being called upon to collect the stores needed by the army and to transport them to other points ; the place was made a general rendezvous for troops, and the billeting of soldiers on the inhabitants was of frequent occurrence, often causing- the families want to meet the requirements made upon them. It is true that the precinct escaped direct devastation by the British. Even the vessels of the Crown did it but little injury when they voyaged up the Hudson in the Fall of 1777, but many of the men of the neighborhood were killed or taken prisoners in the gallant, though hopeless, defense of the forts in the Highlands. It was after the siege of Yorktown that the main por- tion of the American army returned to the Hudson and encamped in the vicinity of the Precinct of Newburgh — when Washington had his Headquarters within the present city and his Generals at different points in the neighborhood — when took place the important events that to-day's celebration is commemorative of. With the disbandment of the army, the precinct received an in- crease of population, some of those who at last laid down the sword resuming civil pursuits here. There was also a considerable addition of families who had fled from New York City upon its capture by the British, and streets be- gan to be laid out, lots to be taken up and the neighbor- hood to do an increased business. AFTER THE REVOLUTION. With the remaining years of its first century of white settlement, more lands were cleared and planted within the precinct, grist and saw mills were erected, shops and stores sprang up, and better dwellings were built. A heavy lumber business was developed, ship building was begun, and the place became as thriving a town as there was on the Hudson. Newburgh ships crossed the ocean and engaged in coasting trade. In 1788 the title of " pre- cinct " was dropped for that of " town," when an act of the New York Legislature divided the counties of the State into towns. In 1797 the place became important enough to have a fire department. Its population had now grown to nearly three thousand, and it had a news- paper, a Masonic lodge, an academical school and a post office. The thickly settled portion of the town was duly con- stituted the Village of Newburgh in the year 1800, being the second village in the State to be incorporated by act of the Legislature. The act making it a village, passed in March, took effect immediately, and on the first Tues- day in May Trustees and other village officers were chosen. The very next year the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike Company was formed, with a capital of $126,- 000, for the building of a road from Newburgh to the Delaware River, which was a project that resulted in much advantage to the village. The stock was soon taken and the road constructed, becoming an avenue of trade which extended many miles into the interior and con nected the southern tier of counties with New York by way of Newburgh. Previous to the building of this road, the trade from the west had reached the Hudson at New Windsor, to which place the roads nearly all led, but now the current was changed. New Windsor lost its ad- vantage. Its merchants removed to Newburgh, and with the building of other roads, which reached to the interior in various directions, Newburgh entered upon a notable era of prosperity. The number of its inhabitants steadily increased. Its turnpike roads, by connection with others, extended to Canandaigua Lake and were traveled by stage coaches carrying passengers and by freight wagons laden with goods. Connections were made till the route reached to Ithaca, and then to Geneva and Buffalo, from which point the road to New York via New- burgh was the best known. It was traversed in sixty-five hours. This importance as an outlet to the Hudson and con- sequent prosperity was maintained by Newburgh till the building of the Erie Canal and the advent of railroads. These, one after another, cut off much of the commerce that had been moving by way of Newburgh, diverting it to other channels, but the village for a long time after retained a trade of large proportions, which principally came from northeastern New Jersey, and the interior of Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties. As late as 1834 there is record of the village streets being blocked up for hours with country teams, to such an extent that it was at times impossible to pass ; substantial progress was always made, though the pace was less rapid at some periods than in others, and no decade in its history ever passed that did not leave behind it an increase in popula- tion. The residents of the village numbered 2,877 in 1821. In 1830 they approached 3,500. By 1840 the inhabitants of the village were nearly 6,000 strong, there having been an average increase of about 250 per year since 1830. Between 1845 and 1850 there was another large increase, one averaging several hundred a year, so that in 1850 the population exceeded 8,000. In 1855 an enumeration showed 9,256, and in 1860 it was 11,600 or 11,700. Of course the village did its full duty in the days of the civil war. A place with such associations as Newburgh enjoys — where "the air itself is fragrant with Revolu- tionary memories " — could hardly do otherwise. The first volunteers recruited in New York State were enlisted in the village and adjoining town, which together furnished nearly 1,400 men under the various calls of the President for troops. Newburgh became an incorporated city on the 22d of April, 1865, though its first Mayor, Aldermen, etc., were not chosen till the Spring of the following year. In the decade during which this important step was taken, the population of the place grew to 17,021, and in 1875 had reached 17,433. The census of 1880 showed a further increase of inhabitants to 18,043, and a large influx since that time has unquestionably made the number now fully 20,000. NEWBURGH IN 1883. THE PRESENT CITY — ITS COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES— WATERWAY AND RAIL- ROAD FACILITIES. The present City of Newburgh equals in size any city on the Hudson between New York and Albany. Its only rival between the Metropolis and the Capital, in the number of residents, is Poughkeepsie, whose popu- lation of twenty thousand it now equals, while it sur- passes Poughkeepsie in commercial advantages, means of communication with the rest of the world, present growth and business activity, and in prospects for future prominence. No city on the river approaches it in low- ness of taxation. No place could be more healthfully located. Its people are industrious and law-respecting, and it is inviting alike as a place of business and a place of residence. It amply vindicates the judgment of Hud- 56 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. son, who, after gazing on the site in 1609, from, the deck of the " Half Moon," wrote that it was "a very pleasant place to build a town on." The city is less than sixty miles from New York, in a direction almost due north, though the Hudson bends or turns somewhat between the two places. It covers an area of four square miles, having a water front two mil es long, and its western boundary line being two miles back from the river. In the eastern portion — that part nearest the river — the city is thickly populated ; but toward the western part the buildings are fewer, except along Broadway, the principal road out of the city west- ward, which is well built up, almost to its farthest limits. The streets number about fifty. They are kept clean, many of them are nicely shaded and some are fine broad avenues. The retail stores are principally on Water and Colden streets, thoroughfares running parallel with and but a short distance from the river, though of late years Broadway, the widest street in the city, has secured many stores and business places and is popularly be- lieved to be destined at some future day to become the business avenue. For scenic attractions the town is rarely favored. The river before is spreads out into a broad bay one mile wide and eight miles long, the city being situated opposite its center. Distance hides the narrower channel worn through the romantic Highlands and in a similar way shuts off from view the inlet at the north, giving that part of the historic stream in front of the city the appearance of a large lake, in great part bordered by hills, while most of the buildings overlook one another from their positions on the hillside and afford their occupants extended views of great beauty. The city has been blessed with wise municipal administration. While the taxation is almost nominal as compared with some places, and the bonded debt is trifling, the citizens can boast of adequate water works (when an improve- ment now in progress is completed), an efficient police force numbering nineteen men, a model volunteer fire department, excellent free schools and a fine public library, which is open day and evening. COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES. Chief among Newburgh's commercial advantages are its abundant means of communication with all the rest of the world. These, in this year of 1883, leave but little, if anything, to be desired. The bay in front of the city, protected by high hills, is the best harbor in the whole length of the river. The water is deep enough for vessels of any burthen, and there is sufficient room for a navy to ride at anchor. The place is still the market for the pro- duce of a considerable section. The river affords an out- let to the sea, and a means of reaching the great lakes by way of the Erie Canal. A dozen steamboat lines are constantly making regular trips to and fro during the season of navigation, running to Albany and New York, or to intermediate points. These boats are usually in operation about ten months of the year, carrying either passengers or freight, or both, and there is in addition a daily barge line to and from Newburgh and New York, which carries both freight and passengers, and a legion of other craft which carry merchandise to other river towns or outside ports, as occasion demands. Coastwise and sea-going vessels are not unfrequently seen at the city's wharves, discharging or receiving cargoes, and vessels have been loaded here for European ports. Indeed, the subject of making Newburgh a port of entry, with a Custom House officer in charge, has been some- what agitated, and it is thought that Congress will take the necessary action at no distant day. On the other hand, the railroad facilities of the place are fully equal to those afforded on the river. Newburgh is a regular passenger and freight station of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, with which connec- tion is had at Fishkill by a well-appointed ferry, now supplied with two first-class iron ferryboats, the second one of which is just being finished by the builders. The city is also the western terminus of the New York and New England Railroad, running to Boston, Providence, and various other cities in the New England States. Connection is had with the Erie Railroad by two branches, one of which strikes the main line at Greycourt and the other at Turners. These branches also serve as a roadway to the Hudson for the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad, which runs westward from Greycourt to the Delaware River, and will likewise be used by the Pennsylvania, Slatington and New England Railroad, now nearly completed from Slatington, Pa., to Goshen, on the Erie's main line. In addition to all these is the great New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway, the new trunk fine between New York City and Buffalo and the West, now in operation from New York to Syracuse, and fast approaching entire completion to Buffalo. The road of this corporation, of the most approved construc- tion, runs through the centre of the business portion of the city, on an elevated roadway, which crosses but does not obstruct the streets, and it affords not only an opposi- tion route to the New York Central to New York, Albany, points along the Mohawk Valley and Buffalo, but by connection with its Ontario and Western branch at Cornwall, also supplies a new way of reaching places in the interior of this county and towns and villages on what was formerly the New York and Oswego Midland road to Oswego. The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad supplies Newburgh with from seven to nine regular pas- - senger trains each way daily — just now seven to the North and West, and nine to New York. The Erie gives six outward bound passenger trains to New York or the West each day, with five trains in from New York and four from the West. By the Lehigh and Hudson River Rail- road there are several trains a day to and from Belvidere, N. J., making connections with the New York, Susque- hanna and Western; Delaware, Lackawanna and West- ern; Pennsylvania Railroad; Lehigh Valley Railroad; Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. By the new West Shore and Buffalo, just opened for traffic this year, there are now six regular passenger trains each way to the North and West or to New York, not to speak of trains to Middletown, etc., by Ontario and Western connection, and the certainty of additional trains in the very near future. Adding to these the facilities afforded by the New York and New England, it will be found that about eighty passen- ger trains leave from and arrive at Newburgh daily, with a good prospect of early increase, as the West Shore road is required to stop at Newburgh with all the trains it may hereafter add to their finished road. The New York and New England run Pullman cars through to and from Boston. The West Shore and Buffalo run through par- lor and buffet cars to Saratoga, Lake George, Montreal, Long Branch, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore, by connecting roads. In freighting .facilities these railroads supply equal conveniences, and the freight business done at Newburgh has large dimensions. First in importance in this con- nection is a transfer business across the river between the railroads on the two sides — the Erie and Lehigh and Hudson River on the West bank and the New York and New England and Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut on the other. A mammoth iron steamboat now used in this service, the William T. Hart, which transports to and fro from two to three hundred cars a day, is not near equal to the traffic, while floats are also in use at times, and the new West Shore and Buffalo road has constructed very substantial ferry slips, with a view of establishing a further transfer of like character from its own freight yard. The New York Central, with a different arrange- ment over the regular Newburgh and Fishkill ferry, brings to Newburgh about ten thousand tons of freight per year, consisting of general merchandise and flour and grain for merchants and raw materials for factories, while it forwards from the city about half that amount of goods manufactured in the city, which are shipped to places in Western New York and points in the West. A large traffic is done with the Newburgh Dutchess and Connecticut road, partly by the transfer boat Hart and partly by a barge which crosses the river. Over a hundred thousand tons are ferried over the Hudson each NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 57 year to and from this comparatively small railroad. It is principally coal, much of which comes to Newburgh over the Brie, from the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, going to points on the Dutchess and Connecticut, the Bousatonic and the Connecticut "Western Railroads. Important items in this traffic are ore and pig iron, which goes both ways — from mines in Dutchess County to furnaces on the line of the Erie and from the Lehigh and Hudson River road to places on the Dutchess and Connecticut, the ores from one direction being different from those coming from the other. Going east between the Erie and the New York and New England roads the bulk of the traffic is in grain from the west. This goes through to Boston, where large quantities are exported to Europe. Westward between the two roads goes a good deal of sugar, bound for Buffalo or the lakes, as well as general merchandise and manufactured goods from Eastern factories. Arrangements are also being made for the receipt and shipment of ores, etc. , between the Lehigh and Hudson and Lake Champlain and other points reached by water, by an exchange from cars to boats and from boats to cars at this city ; coal is taken from the Lehigh and Hudson to the New York and New England without breaking hulk. The Erie, in addition to its local traffic to and from Newburgh merchants, etc. , delivers to the Pennsylvania Coal Company's dock dur- ing the summer season about four hundred tons of coal daily, which is shipped from this' city by water, besides carrying large quantities of merchandise to and from the Ramsdell barge line to New York. The latter business is done between the barge line and various Erie road stations between Greycourt and Deposit. The new West Shore and Buffalo trunk fines has already developed a local freight business of some amount, as well as a large passenger, traffic. On the full completion of the road to Buffalo, it is likely to bring East great quantities 01 grain and produce from the West. It now bids fair to have the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada as a western outlet, and sanguine people look forward to a time when New- burgh's excellence as a shipping point will lead to the erection here of large elevators. There is no doubt that Newburgh Bay is the railroad center of the Middle Hud- son. What has been stated shows that. If additional evidence were needed, it could be found in the project of bridging the river in the vicinity, which is surely taking definite shape. INDUSTRIES OF THE TOWN. The interests of Newburgh are numerous and of a varied character. They are not confined to large factories in a few lines, as is the case in some places, but rather incline to smaller concerns engaged in turning out diversi- fied products, so that any dullness of trade in certain manufactures is little felt by the city as a whole. Prominent among the leading industries at the present time is the boat building establishment of Ward, Stanton & Co., which is located in a conspicuous place on the water front. They employ from 300 to 400 men, skilled mechanics and otherwise, and have facilities for building and hauling out and repairing vessels of large size. Among the crafts launched from their yard in recent years have been river and sea-going tug boats of the largest size, great iron ferryboats for the West Shore and Buffalo Railroad's and other New York ferry routes, ocean yachts for Philip Phoenix, Dion Boucicault, Pierre Lorillard and James Gordon Bennett, and some vessels for the United States Government. Boats are built com- plete at this establishment, if desired, being supplied with machinery, boilers, etc., of the concern's own con- struction. Yachts and ferryboats are often turned over to the parties ordering them fully furnished, with supplies on board and steam up, ready to sail whenever the word is given. Now on the stocks in their yard or at their docks being finished are several large ferryboats. The steam engine and boiler works of William Wright employ from 150 to 200 hands. The facilities of the estab- lishment are equal to the largest work. They can build engines of 2,000 or 3,000 horse power. The shop has recently been working on engines for grain elevators in Oregon. Robert Whitehill, who has a very complete foundry in the First Ward and a machine shop at the corner of Broadway and Grand street, gives work to over 100 men. He not only builds steam engines, but has of late years manufactured many Pictet artificial ice machines, for the making of artificial ice and the cooling of warehouses, cellars, etc. The Newburgh Steam Mills, with a handsome large factory on the river shore, represents an investment of probably $500,000 and gives work to about four hundred hands. It has a capacity of 32,000 spindles and turns out from 25,000 to 30,000 yards of cotton goods daily. The works of the Pennsylvania Company, situated at the southern end of the city's water front, are that com- pany's principal tide-water depot during the season of navigation. Three hundred or three hundred and fifty men are employed here, and a million tons of Pittston coal are annually received at and shipped from this point. The coal reaches Newburgh by the Erie Railroad, but is mostly shipped away by boats. Large tows leave the dock every night in Summer, going to New York, up the river or to eastern points. Former ships, now dis- mantled and converted into mammoth barges, may be seen among the vessels being loaded at the dock. The Chadwick Brothers' Newburgh Bleachery, in the southern part of the city, has a capital stock of $150,000. It is situated on the Quassaick Creek, a never-failing water power which could accommodate many more fac- tories than are yet on its banks, and it gives employment to a hundred persons. The business carried on is the bleaching and finishing of shirtings and cotton flannels. Newburgh has six woolen mills, engaged in the manu- facture of blankets and other woolen goods. They are James Taylor's, employing 175 hands ; William W. Trask & Co.'s, giving work to about 80 persons ; James Harri- son's, where about 120 are employed ; ex-Alderman Haigh's, which employs about 65 ; Joshua Harrison's, where about 50 work, and Hugh Moore's, which ordi- narily employs 60. This is an exceptionally dull time for the woolen trade, and one or two of these mills have tem- porarily suspended operations, but usuaUy the factories are all highly prosperous and produce large quantities of manufactured goods. The Newburgh Plaster Works, another river front in- stitution, yearly turns out about 18,000 tons of calcined and land plaster and about 4,000 tons of marble dust, the last of which is used for the neutralization of acids. The plaster is made from gypsum, brought to the mill dock by vessels from Nova Scotia and' New Brunswick, one of which bears the name of H. C. Higginson, proprietor of the works. An average of a hundred men are at work here. Not far from the plaster works are the Commercial Paint Works of H. F. Taintor, where large quantities of paint and Paris white are made. The Chadborn & Coldwell Manufacturing Company, makers of the Excelsior lawn mower, give work to about sixty hands. They have a capital stock of $80,000, and turn out from 8,000 to 10,000 lawn mowers per annum, sending them all over the world. The company maintain their own house in London, and have general agencies in France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, India and Australia. D. N. Selleg, a famous blind man, has a folding chair factory, which turns out thousands of folding chairs yearly, and he also operates a mattress factory, in which only blind persons are employed. He now makes about seventy-five different kinds of folding chairs, adding new patterns every year, and sells them all over this country, from Maine to California and Oregon, besides exporting them to South America and Australia. An industry of comparatively recent establishment here is the making of overalls of different kinds, engineers' jackets, etc. Two factories are engaged in it, both having been started in the early part of 1881. One con- cern, that of Sweet, Orr & Co. , has long been in the busi- ness elsewhere — were doubtless the pioneers of the indus- try in this country. They employ between 300 and 400 hands at their Newburgh factory. The other firm, 58 NEWBT7BGH CENTENNIAL. Whitehill & Cleveland, with about 100 hands, turn out about sixty dozen of garments daily. James McCord has a brush factory in a large building on Broadway, where he employs over 100 hands. Adams & Bishop have a paper mill in the vicinity of Quassaick Creek. Patrick Delany, one of the Aldermen of the city, is the proprietor of a large boiler shop. The molding and planing mill firm of Thomas Shaw's Sons gives employ-'' ment to about eighty men. The oil cloth factory of D. Powers & Son has about fifty men on the pay roll. The Laflin & Rand Company have powder mills a few miles from town, where large quantities of powder are made. George Crawshaw & Sons have a factory in which seventy-five hands are employed in the manufacture of rugs and ingrain carpets. There are lime works, operated by the Brown Lime Company. T. Beveridge & Co. are the proprietors of an ale brewery which has been in operation since 1812. The Leicht Brothers have a lager beer brewery, which also turns out a large product! Three soap making firms are now in business in this city. The former Jesse Oakley & Co. factory on Washington street, which is a large concern, is now occupied jointly by L. & J. Oakley, manufacturers of laundry soap, and Babcock & Co., makers of toilet soaps and perfumery. The other firm in the soap business is Belknap & McCann, whose factory was established in 1804 by the grandfather of one of the present proprietors. George H. Ross has a flour mill at West Newburgh. The Brokaw Manufactur- ing Company are makers of flannel shirts and flannel furnishings. A large carriage factory on Broadway is operated by L. J. Bazzoni. John L. Westervelt is a' manufacturer of gold and silver wares. William B. Carman has a piano factory. Oars made by Tim Donoghue, of Newburgh, are used by nearly all the cele- brated rowers of the present era ; and the other enter- prises of the place include pork packing establishments, several steam granite and marble works, tobacco manu- facturing concerns, etc. Just now it is proposed to add to the already diversified fist a new undertaking in the way of a shoe factory. Concerns in other than a manufacturing business also give employment to many persons. The Homer Ramsdell Transportation Company, of which Homer Ramsdell is the head, have a very large warehouse on the river front and do a large wholesale grocery trade, as well as their forwarding business. Other wholesale grocers are William O. Mailler & Co., Skidmore, Bull & Co., and James A. Townsend. The railroad business of the city requires the employment of a good many men, and one firm of painters, decorators, etc. (Ward & Logan), give work to a large number. WATER WORKS. The source of Newburgh's water supply is Washington Lake, a body of water covering 140 acres, which is about three miles from the heart of the city, in a southwesterly direction. It is at an elevation of 276 feet above the river, the water reaching the city by gravitation. The lake is fed partly by Silver Creek, also belonging to the water works, and partly by springs. The balance of the water comes from a water-shed. The lake has a storage capacity of probably 300,000,000 gallons of available water. There is direct connection between it and the city, but the past Summer the water has reached town by way of a natural underground passage, transit though which has a very wholesome effect on its quality. This underground passage has a length of about three-quarters of a mile, and terminates in a basin called the ' ' Trout Hole " reservoir, from which there are also lines of pipe to the city, and the water as it comes from this reservoir is entirely palatable and healthful, when it would be unpleasant for use if taken direct from the lake. There has been some difficulty in adequately supplying the elevated northwest section of the city, but this will be fully remedied with the erection of a small pumping sta- tion on an upper street, which is now under way, and the city may be said to be out of trouble for a long time so far as water is concerned. FIRB DEPARTMENT. Newburgh's fire department is one of the institutions of the city in which special pride is taken. It is a model volunteer organization and is generously supported. The department consists of about four hundred and fifty men, divided into eight companies. Three of these are engine companies, one hook and ladder organization and the other four hose companies. All are well supplied with excellent apparatus. Each engine company has a steam fire engine of approved make and also a hose cart, they acting as hose companies when a fire is not serious enough to require the engines, or is located where the water has enough "head" to render pumping unneces- sary. The hook and ladder company have a handsome truck, which has attached all the paraphernalia ever re- quired. The hose companies each have a service hose carriage and a more beautiful and costly one kept for parade purposes, except in an emergency. These are all in addition to some reserve apparatus. The companies are all supplied with good quarters. They have hand- some, roomy houses, containing parlors and dining rooms, as well as rooms for their apparatus and for meeting pur- poses. One company has the further addition of a library and reading room, and all have painted and frescoed walls and handsome furniture. Firemen so well housed can be found nowhere in New York State at least, and they are well disciplined, effective at fires and worth all the money that the city expends on them. The department also has a growing fund, now amount- ing to about $14,000, which is well invested and which is used, when necessary, for the relief of sick and disabled firemen. CHURCHES. Newburgh is well supplied with churches, there being several more than a score in the city. The list of denomi- nations includes Episcopal, Catholic, Methodist, Presby- terian, Reformed Presbyterian and United Presbyterian, German Lutheran, American Reformed, Baptist, Unita- rian, African Melhodist, etc. There are also a Jewish congregation and one of colored Baptists. A number of the edifices are valued at from $40,000 to $70,000 each, some of them possessing much architectural beauty. As another writer on Newburgh has said, church-going is eminently popular here. The people of the city are emphatically a church-going community, and their ob- servance of the Sabbath is a marked feature. SCHOOLS. The city has both public and private schools. The former include a free academy, at which the higher branches of study, languages, etc. , are taught ; three grammar schools and five primary schools. The school properties of the city have an estimated gross value of nearly $200,000, and sixty-five teachers are employed. At the present time the buildings are greatly taxed to accommodate the number of children who apply for instruction, owing to the recent material increase of the population of the city, but proposals to add to the build- ings and corps of teachers are now receiving considera- tion. The present structures are mostly of modern design and comparatively recent construction, and the manage- ment of school affairs generally has a good deal of popu- lar approval. The expenditures for public instruction ■ are liberal, as will be seen elsewhere. The private schools of this city include Mr. H. W. Siglar's Newburgh Institute, a boarding and day school where young men are prepared for college. There are also some schools maintained by the Catholic churches and Catholic societies— Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, etc. — and schools for young ladies. PUBLIC LIBRARY. The City Library occupies a handsome building on Grand Street, one of the finest thoroughfares in town, and the structure was erected at a cost of about $30,000. It is maintained as a reading room as well as a library, being open daily (except Sunday) from 10 a. m. to 9 p. m. KEWBUEGfi CENTENNIAL. 5!) It contains over 14,000 books, which have an estimated commercial value approaching $25,000 ; is also supplied with various magazines and periodicals, and is much resorted to. As from 500 to 700 volumes are added to the library yearly, the already large collection of books grows steadily in number. POOR SYSTEM. The City of Newburgh unites with the adjoining town of the same name in the support of the indigent poor. Together they own and maintain a model alms-house, in which the city has a four-fifths' interest, and also keep a Children's Home, for the care of destitute children. The alms-house property is valued at nearly $50,000, and em- braces seventy-four acres of land, some of which is tilled by pauper labor and made to grow considerable crops. The administration of poor affairs is in the hands of a Board of Commissioners elected by the city and town, who have the appointment of Superintendent, etc. The expenditures of the Board in the year ending March 1st, 1883,- were $22,275. Their receipts had been $27,959.69— $8,203.37 from the excise authorities (being the fees paid for liquor licenses), $331.50 from police court fines, $10,000 from taxation, and the rest from miscellaneous sources. The whole number of persons given more or less relief during the year, in or out of the alms-house, was 769, the average number of persons in the alms-house during the year being 78. The average number of children in the Home for such time was 36. The Home is left wholly separated from the alms-house, being in a different neigh- borhood, and is presided over by a matron. The average cost per child per week last year was $2.15. BANKS. The banks of the city are four in number, three of which are National banks. Of the latter, the National Bank of Newburgh may be said to be at the head, while the others are the Quassaick and Highland National Banks. All of them are "solid." The first-named bank has $800,000 capital stock. On the 22d day of June last it had a sur- plus fund and undivided profits to the amount of $291,- 681.49, and deposits, etc., to the amount of $481,194.48. Its loans and discounts on that day amounted to $848,084.09. The Highland Bank has a capital stock of $450,000. On the 22d of June last it had a surplus fund and undivided profits to the amount of $149,557.44 ; deposits, $377,909.08 ; loans and discounts, $749,381.14. The Quassaick National Bank has a capital stock of $300,000 ; surplus fund and undivided profits on the 22d of June last, $97,574.69 ; deposits, etc., $417,001.95 ; loans and discounts, $606,165.25. The quotations for stock of the above banks at the most recent sales have been as follows on the dollar. Newburgh Bank, 158 to 160 ; Quassaick, 141 ; Highland, loU. The fourth bank is the Newburgh Savings Bank, which exhibits a very pleasing condition. On the 1st of July, when its last statement was made, it showed assets of the market value of $4,572,232.95, of which $700,639.28 was surplus, although the banking house, which is one of the finest buildings in the city and cost $115,527.16, is put down at a valuation of but $50,000. The bank held deposits on the 1st of July to the amount of $3,871,593.67. CONCLUSION. The celebration of to-day finds the City of Newburgh upon the full tide of a prosperity that bids fair to greatly exceed any known in its past history. It represents a wealth of probably about $20,000,000, the city's assessed valuation this Fall being $8,971,729.05. Its four per cent, bonds for short terms of years, when any are offered in the market, readily sell at from 103 to 106. It has citizens distinguished in every walk of life — eloquent clergymen, learned lawyers, skillful physicians, successful merchants, gifted writers, fortunate speculators, shrewd politicians, expert mechanics. There are several hotels, and all the other conveniences of city life, combined with healthful country air. Now supplied with gas, two different com- panies are chartered to introduce the electric light, at least one of them being ready to commence work as soon as the centennial celebration is over. A new source of trade, the shipment of fruit to points east and north, like Boston and Montreal, was created the past Summer, as much as ten or eleven tons of peaches and grapes having been sent away in a single day by one line only, and a happy and contented population, realizing that the cere- monies of to-day mark an important epoch in then his- tory, are mindful of the fact that they are specially favored by an auspicious Providence, and will endeavor to deserve continued good fortune. AN OFFICIAL REGISTER OF NEWBURGH. MEN WHO HAVE BEEN AT THE HEAD OE LOCAL AFFAIES DUEING THE LAST EIGHTY YEAES. The names of the men who have managed the local affairs of Newburgh will fitly form a part of the history of the place. Unfortunately the list of Village Trustees is incomplete for the first four years that such officials existed and cannot therefore be given for that period. The records give the names of all the other Trustees, however, as well as a perfect list of past and present city officers, both of which are given below. TRUSTEES OP THE VILLAGE OP NEWBURGH. 1804. George Monell, President. Hugh Walsh, Jacob Powell, William H. Smith, Hugh Spier, John Mandeville, Solomon Sleight, Solomon Sleight, Clerk. 1805. George Monell, President. Charles Clinton, Hugh Walsh, Jacob Powell, William H. Smith, Hugh Spier, Solomon Sleight, Solomon Sleight, Clerk. 1806. I. Belknap, jr., President. Leonard Carpenter, John Mandeville, Samuel Downing, John Anderson, jr., Jonathan Hedges, Alexander Denniston, John Anderson, jr., Clerk. 1807. George Monell, President. Hiram Weller, Jacob^Powell, John McAuley, Daniel Stoingham, Hugh Spier, William Taylor, William Taylor, Clerk, 1808. George IMonell, President. Hiram Weller, Jacob Powell, John McAuley, Daniel Stringham, Hugh Spier, William Taylor, William Taylor, Clerk. 1809. George Monell, President. Jacob Powell, 60 NEWBTTKGH CENTENNIAL. Edmond Griswold, Jonathan Hedges, Hugh Spier, Selah Reeve, William Ross, William Ross, Clerk. 1810. James Hamilton, President. Jacob Powell, Jonathan Fisk, John D. Lawson, John Mandeville, Selah Reeve, John Chambers, Aaron Belknap, Clerk. 1811. Jonathan Fisk, President. Jacob Powell, George Monell, Seth Belknap, Isaac Belknap, jr., William H. Smith, John Chambers, Aaron Belknap, Clerk. 1812. Jonathan Fisk, President. Seth Belknap, Jacob Powell, George Monell, John Chambers, John Harris, Cadwallader Roe, Aaron Belknap, Clerk. 1813. Walter Case, President. Jacob Powell, John Harris, Leonard Carpenter, John Chambers, James Hamilton, John D. Lawson, Aaron Belknap, Clerk. 1814. Walter Case, President. Jacob Powell, John Harris, Leonard Carpenter, John Chambers, William Ross, John D. Lawson, Aaron Belknap, Clerk. 1815. Walter Case, President. Jacob Powell, John Harris, Leonard Carpenter, John Chambers, Solomon Sleight, John D. Lawson, David H. Bate, Clerk. 1816. F. Crawford, President. Isaac Belknap, John Anderson, jr. , Jonathan Carter, Levi Dodge, Samuel Downing, Henry Walsh, Nathan C. Sayre, Clerk. 1817. F. Crawford, President. Isaac Belknap, John Anderson, jr., Thomas Phillips, jr. , Benoni H. Howell, Samuel Downing, William Walsh, Marvin R. Griswold, Clerk. 1818. Selah Reeve, President. Francis Crawford, Thomas Phillips, jr., Benjamin Case, jr., William L. Smith, Jacob Carpenter, Jonathan Hedges, Marvin R. Griswold, Clerk. 1819. Selah Reeve, President. Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., William Seymour, William L. Smith, Isaac Belknap, Jonathan Hedges, Marvin R. Griswold, Clerk. 1820. Selah Reeve, President. Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., William Seymour, William L. Smith, Isaac Belknap, Jonathan Hedges, Marvin R. Griswold, Clerk. 1821. Selah Reeve, President. Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., Francis Crawford, William L. Smith, Isaac Belknap, Jonathan Hedges, John W. Brown, Clerk. 1822. F. Crawford, President, Isaac Belknap, Alexander Falls, Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., William L. Smith, Jonathan Hedges, John W. Brown, Clerk. 1823. F. Crawford, President. Isaac Belknap, Alexander Falls, Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., William L. Smith, John Forsyth, John W. Brown, Clerk. 1824. F. Crawford, President. Isaac Belknap, Alexander Falls, Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., William L. Smith, John Forsyth, John W. Brown, Clerk. 1825. F. Crawford, President. Isaac Belknap, John Forsyth, Samuel Williams, Thomas Phillips, jr., William L. Smith, William Walsh, John W. Brown, Clerk. 1826. William Walsh, President. Samuel Williams, Robert Lawson, John Forsyth, John Ledyard, Ward M. Gazlay, Thomas Phillips, jr., Benjamin H. Mace, Clerk. 1827. William Walsh, President. Samuel Williams, Robert Lawson, John Forsyth, John Ledyard, Joseph Hoffman, Thomas Phillips, jr. , Benjamin H. Mace, Clerk. 1828. Robert Lawson, President. Selah Reeve, Samuel Williams, William Walsh, John Forsyth, John Ledyard, Joseph Hoffman, Benjamin H. Mace, Clerk. 1829. S. Williams, President. Selah Reeve, David Sands, William Walsh, Samuel G. Sneden, John Ledyard, Joseph Hoffman, Benjamin H. Mace, Clerk. 1830. John Ledyard, President. Charles A. Johnes, Jackson Oakley, David Sands, David Crawford, Robert Kelley, Benjamin Carpenter, William B. Wright, Clerk. 1831. Jackson Oakley, President. Robert Lawson, Benjamin Carpenter, Samuel Williams, David Crawford, Aaron Noyes. Moses H. Belknap, Alex. C. Mulliner, Clerk. 1832. M. H. Belknap, President. Robert Lawson, Benjamin Carpenter, Samuel Williams, David Crawford, Aaron Noyes, Jackson Oakley, Alex. C. Mulliner, Clerk. 1833. M. H. Belknap, President. Robert Lawion, Benjamin Carpenter, Samuel Williams, David Crawford, Aaron Noyes, Jackson Oakley, Alex. C. Mulliner, Clerk. 1834. M. H. Belknap, President. Samuel Williams, Benjamin Carpenter, Christopher Reeve, David Crawford, Eli Hasbrouck, Jackson Oakley, Alex. C. Mulliner, Clerk. 1835. John Ledyard, President. Minard Harris, William C. Hasbrouck, Samuel Johnson, John Jamison, Samuel J. Farnum, Aaron Noyes, Horace Armstrong, Clerk. 1836. John Ledyard, President. Minard Harris, William C. Hasbrouck, Samuel Johnson, George Reeve, Samuel J. Farnum, Aaron Noyes, Horace Armstrong, Clerk. 1837. John Ledyard, President. Samuel J. Farnum, William C. Hasbrouck, Benjamin Carpenter, Jackson Oakley, David Crawford, Christopher Reeve, Horace Armstrong, Clerk. 1838. M. H. Belknap, President. Samuel J. Farnum, William C. Hasbrouck, Benjamin Carpenter, Jackson Oakley, Nathaniel Dubois, Robert Lawson, Solomon Tuthill, Clerk. 1839. M. H. Belknap, President. Samuel J. Farnum, William C. Hasbrouck, Odell S. Hathaway, Jackson Oakley, Nathaniel Dubois, Robert Wardrop, Solomon Tuthill, Clerk. 1840. M. H. Belknap, President. Samuel J. Farnum, Thornton M. Niven, Odell S. Hathaway, George Cornwell, Nathaniel Dubois, Robert Wardrop, Solomon Tuthill, Clerk. 1841. M. H. Belknap, President. Samuel J. Farnum, Ebenezer W. Farrington, Odell S. Hathaway, Benjamin Carpenter, Nathaniel Dubois, Benjamin F. Buckingham, Jackson Oakley, Clerk. 1842. Minard Harris, President. William M. Wiley, Joseph Hoffman, George Reeve, William K. Mailler, NEWBUttGfi CENTENNIAL. 61 Samuel Johnson, Alexander Whigam, 8. C. Parmenter, Clerk. 1843. M. H. Belknap, President. Samuel J. Famum, Joseph Hoffman, Benjamin Tyler, Jefferson Roe, Robert D. Kemp, David W. Gridley, Stephen B. Brophy, Clerk. 1844. M. H. Belknap, President. Benjamin Tyler, Joseph Hoffman, Ebenezer W. Farrington, Aikman Speir, Robert D. Kemp, Homer Ramsdell, Jaekson Oakley, Clerk. 1845. S. J. Famum, President. Lewis W. Young, David Crawford, Robert A. Forsyth, William L. F. Warren, Edmund S. Sanxay, Homer Ramsdell, Jackson Oakley, Clerk. 1846. S. J. Farnum, President. Lewis W. Young, David Crawford, Robert A. Forsyth, William L. F. Warren, Aikman Speir, Homer Ramsdell, Jackson Oakley, Clerk. 1847. S. J. Farnum, President. Homer Ramsdell, David Crawford, Robert A. Forsyth, William L. F. Warren, Aikman Speir, William P. C. Smith, *Peter F. Hunn, Clerk. "Died. David C. Ringland appointed in place. 1848. S. J. Farnum, President. Homer Ramsdell, David Crawford, Robert A. Forsyth, William L. F. Warren, Aikman Speir, William P. C. Smith, David C. Ringland, Clerk. 1849. S. J. Farnum, President. Homer Ramsdell, Lewis W. Young, Robert A. Forsyth, William L. F. Warren, Lewis D. Lockwood, Eli Hasbrouck, Jackson Oakley, Clerk. 1850. S. J. Farnum, President. Homer Ramsdell, Lewis W. Young, Robert A. Forsyth, William L. F. Warren, Lewis D. Lockwood, Eli Hasbrouck, Jackson Oakley, Clerk. 1851. S. J. Farnum, President. Minard Harris, Homer Ramsdell, Robert Lawson, Henry T. McCoun, Thornton M. Niven, Eli Hasbrouck, Daniel G. Mven, Clerk. 1852. E. W. Farrington, Pres't. Robert Lawson, Charles Drake, George Gearn, William L. F. Warren, John R. Gorham, Eli Hasbrouck, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1853. E. W. Farrington, Pres't. Robert Lawson, Samuel J. Farnum, George Gearn, William L. F. Warren, John R. Gorham, Eli Hasbrouck, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1854. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. Samuel B. Gregory, Franklin Gerard, James H. Mallory, Edson H. Clark, John R Gorham, Charles Johnson, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1855. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. John F. Van Nort, Eli Hasbrouck, Edwin T. Comstock, William E. Peck, Charles H. Doughty, William H. Callahan, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1856. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. George W. Kerr, Franklin Gerard, Edwin T. Comstock, James H. Mallory, Isaac Wood, Jr., Lewis D. Lockwood, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1857. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. Ebenezer W. Farrington, Franklin Gerard, Halsey R. Stevens, Robert Sterling, George Lawson, Michael Doyle, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1858. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. Ebenezer W. Farrington, Edwin T. Comstock, Halsey R. Stevens, Robert Sterling, George Lawson, Michael Doyle, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1859. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. Ebenezer W. Farrington, J. H. H. Chapman, Halsey R. Stevens, Robert Sterling, George Lawson, Michael Doyle, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1860. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. Ebenezer W. Farrington, J. H. H. Chapman, George C. Spencer, Robert Sterling, George Lawson, Michael Doyle, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1861. Homer Ramsdell, Pres't. Robert Sterling, J. H. H. Chapman, Thomas Beveridge, John Lomas, George Lawson, Isaac S. Fowler, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1862. Robert Sterling, President. Thomas Beveridge, J. H. H. Chapman, Homer Ramsdell, John Lomas, Hugh McCutcheon. Isaac S. Fowler, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1863. Robert Sterling, President. Thomas Beveridge, J. H. H. Chapman, Homer Ramsdell, John Lomas, Cornelius McLean, Isaac S. Fowler, Chas. Halstead, Jr., Clerk. 1864. Wm. L. F. Warren, Pres't. David Moore, Benjamin B. Odell, James Bigler, Charles Root, Robert A. Forsyth, Lewis Jennings, Charles B. Royce, Clerk. 1865. David Moore, President. James Bigler, Benjamin B. Odell, Alexander Leslie, Charles Root, Edson H. Clark, Jacob Brown, Charles B. Royce, Clerk. MAYORS AND ALDKRMBN OF THE CITY OF NBWBUR&H. 1866. From March n, 1866, to March 12, 1867. Mayor — George Clark. Aldermen. First Ward— Daniel A. Rheutan, John Lomas. Second Ward — Henry Ross, John Corwin. Third Ward— Edson H. Clark, Benj. B. Odell. Fourth Ward — James Bigler, James Whitehill. Clerk — Charles B. Royce. 1867. From March 12, 1867, to March io, 1868. Mayor — George Clark. Aldermen. First Ward— Daniel A. Rheutan, Geo M. Clapp. Second Ward— Henry Ross, James H. Phillips. Third Ward— Edson H. Clark, Charles Root. Fourth Ward — James Bigler, David Moore. Clerk — Charles B. Royce. 1868. From March n, 1868, to March 9, 1869. Mayor — George Clark. Aldermen. First Ward— Geo. M. Clapp, Alexander McCann. Second Ward— James H. Phillips, William R. Brown. Third Ward— Charles Root, Jonathan N. Weed. Fourth Ward— David Moore, Abram S. Cassedy. Clerk— Charles B. Royce. 1869. From March 9, 1869, to March 8, 1870. Mayor — George Clark. Aldermen, First Ward— Alexander McCann, Gavin R. McGregor. Second Ward— William R. Brown, Francis Boyd. Third Ward— Jonathan N. Weed, J. J. S. McCroskery. Fourth Ward— Alex. Cauldwell, Jacob Brown. Clerk— Charles B. Royce. 62 NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 1870. From March 8, 1870, to March 7, 1871. Mayor— Robert Sterling. (Died April 30, 1870.) Alexander MeCann, Presiding Officer and Acting Mayor. Aldermen. First "Ward— Alexander MeCann, Gavin R, McGregor. Second Ward— Elkanah K. Shaw, Francis Bovd. Third Ward— Charles Root, J. J. S. McCroske'ry. Fourth Ward— Alex. Cauldwell, James T. Lawson. Clerk— Orville M. Smith. 1871. From March 7, 1871, to March 6, 1872. Mayor— William W. Carson. Aldermen. First Ward— Alexander MeCann, William Doyle. Second Ward— Elkanah K. Shaw, Robert Whitehill. Third Ward— Charles Root, J. J. S. McCroskery. Fourth Ward — Nathaniel B. Hayt, James T. Lawson. Clerk— Orville M. Smith. 1872. From March 6, 1872, to March 10, 1873. Mayor — Samuel E. Shutes. Aldermen. First Ward — Joseph M. Dickey, William Doyle. Second Ward— Henry F. Travis, Robert Whitehill. Third Ward— Edward Haigh, J. J. S. McCroskery. Fourth Ward — Nathaniel B. Hayt, Robert Kernahan. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1873. From March 10, 1873, to March 10, 1874. Mayor — Samuel E. Shutes. Aldermen. First Ward — Joseph M. Dickey, William Doyle. Second Ward — Henry F. Travis, W. F. Cameron. Third Ward — Edward Haigh, John C. Adams. Fourth Ward — Nathaniel B. Hayt, Robert Kernahan. President of the Common Council — Joseph M. Dickey. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1874. From March 10, 1874, to March 9, 1875. Mayor— Chancey M. Leonard. (Died Dec. 3, 1874.) President N. B. Hayt, acting Mayor. Aldermen. First Ward — William Doyle, Hugh Hamilton. Second Ward — W. F. Cameron, John Dotzert. Third Ward — John C. Adams, Grant E. Edgar. Fourth Ward — Nathaniel B. Hayt, Lewis B. Halsey. President of the Common Council — Nathaniel B. Hayt. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1875. From March 9, 1875, to March 13, 1876. Mayor — John J. S. McCroskery. Aldermen. First Ward — William Doyle, Hugh Hamilton. Second Ward — William F. Cameron, John Dotzert. Third Ward — John C. Adams, Grant E. Edgar. Fourth Ward — Noah Collard, Richard Sterling. President of the Common Council — John Dotzert. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1876. From March 13, 1876, to March 12, 1877. Mayor— John J. S. McCroskery. Aldermen. First Ward — William Doyle, Benjamin Cliff. Second Ward— William F. Cameron, John Dotzert. Third Ward — John C. Adams, W. Schoonmaker. Fourth Ward — David S. Lockwood, *Noah Collard. President of the Common Council — William Doyle. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1877. From March 12, 1877, to March 12, 1878. Mayor — John J. S. McCroskery. Aldermen. First Ward — William Doyle, Benjamin Cliff. Second Ward — John Dotzert, George L. Chadborn. Third Ward — *John C. Adams, W. Schoonmaker. Fourth Ward — David S. Lockwood, James Dickey. President of the Common Council — tJohn C. Adams. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1878. From March 12, 1878, to March 10, 1879. Mayor — Charles H. Weygant. Aldermen. First Ward— William Doyle, Benjamin Cliff. Second Ward— James C. Grant, George L. Chadborn. Third Ward— William 1. Underbill, B. B. Moore. Fourth Ward — James Dickey, RobertKernahan. President of the Common Council — Geo. L. Chadborn. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1879. From March 10, 1879, to March 8, 1880. Mayor — Charles H. Weygant. Aldermen. First Ward— Benjamin Cliff, Charles J. Embler. Second Ward — James C. Grant, William Chambers. Third Ward— William I. Underbill, B. B. Moore. Fourth Ward — Robert Kernahan, Hugh McKissoek. President of the Common Council — B. B. Moore. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1880. From March, 1880, to March, 1881. Mayor — Abram S. Cassedy. Aldirmen, First Ward— Charles J. Embler, William Doyle. Second Ward— William Chambers, Lewis C. Vernol. Third Ward— B. B. Moore, Thomas A. Simonson. Fourth Ward— Hugh McKissoek, Richard Sterling. President of the Common Council — B. B. Moore. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1881. From March 8, 1881, to March 13, 1882. Mayor — Abram S. Cassedy. Aldermen. First Ward— William Doyle, Joseph S. Embler. Second Ward — Lewis C. Vernol, John T. Moore. Third Ward — Thomas A. Simonson, B. B. Moore. Fourth Ward— Richard Sterling. Chas. A. Harcourt. President of the Common Council — Richard Sterling. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. 1882. From March 13, 1882, to March 12, 1883. Mayor — Peter Ward. Aldermen. First Ward— Joseph S. Embler, William Doyle. Second Ward— John T. Moore, Lewis C. Vernol. Third Ward— B. B. Moore, Charles H. Halstead. Fourth Ward— Charles A. Harcourt, Richard Sterling. President of the Common Council— Lewis C. Vernol. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. •Deceased May 13, 1876, and Richard Sterling appointed May 29, 1876, to fill vacancy. "Resigned July 3, 1877, and Moses C. Belknap appointed August 7, 1877, to fill vacancy. tResigned July 3, 1877, and William Doyle elected President. NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 63 1883. From March 12, 1883, to date. Mayor — Peter Ward. Aldermen. First "Ward — William Doyle, Patrick Delaney. Second Ward — Lewis ('. Vernol, Curtis Stanton. Third Ward — Bartholomew B. Moore, Charles H. Hal- stead. Fourth Ward — Richard Sterling, Charles A. Harcourt. President of the Gommon Council — Richard Sterling. Clerk — Daniel J. Coutant. VILLAGE AND CITY COLLECTORS. Bancroft, Robert C 1869-71 Goodrich, Charles T 1868 Gibson, Robert 1865 Lyon, Charles H 1867 Lomas, Joseph 1875-81 McKinstry, Stephen 1881-83 Reeve, Hemv 1866 Tremper, Jacob 1872-74 Collector in 1883, Stephen McKinstry. TREASURERS. Dickey, James N 1872, 1879-83 Post, Alfred 1865 Ring, A. Smith 1876-78 Scott, Francis 1866-68, '70, '73-75 Smith, Lewis M 1869-70 Treasurer in 1883, James N. Dickey. RECORDERS. Kerr, John B 1875-78 Shafer, Joseph D 1866-70 Titus, Charles B 1871-74 Waring, Cornelius L 1879-83 Recorder in 1883, Cornelius L. Waring. CORPORATION COUNSELS. Cassedy, Abram S 1875-76 Clark, George H 1880-81 'Dickey, William D 1872, '78-80 Fentoh John B. J 1870-71 Graham, James G 1873-74 Headley, Russel 1881-83 Taylor, James W 1865-69 Corporation Counsel in 1883, Russel Headley. CITY SURVEYOR. Caldwell, Charles 1866-83 SUPERINTENDENTS OP STREETS. Lawson, Robert 1878-80 Lozier, Henry 1870-71, '74-77, '80-83 Morgan, Alexander 1872-73 Rogers, McLeod 1865 Winans, Lemuel J 1866-69 Superintendent of Streets in 1883, Henry Lozier. ASSESSORS. Allard, Nahum W 1867-68 Booth, Thomas H 1867-68 Boyd, John A 1878-81 Brown, Charles L 1872-77 Coleman, John 1869-74 Corwin, Isaac L 1878-81 Donoghue, Timothy 1875-81 Gibb, Cornelius S 1875-83 Grant, James C 1881-83 Higby, William S 1867 Johnston, Charles 1869-71 Kelly William H 1868-77 Oakley, Jackson 1872-74 Ryan, Daniel 1881-83 Smith, Daniel 1869-71 Toohey, John P 1881-83 Assessors in 1883 : Cornelius S. Gibb, John P. Toohey, James C. Grant, Daniel Ryan. WATER COMMISSIONERS. Beckman, Horatio B 1876-78 Clark, George 1866-71 Carson, William W 1872-78 Chapman, Joseph H. H 1875-80 Doyle, Michael 1883 Gerard, Franklin 1871-75 Gerecke, Frederick W : . 1879-83 Kimball, Samuel G 1873-77 Lawson, William C 1878-83 Leonard, Chancey M 1869-72 Lockwood, Charles S 1880-83 Mailler, William 1877-82 McCann, Henry 1880-83 Root, Charles 1876-79 Scott, Francis 1866-71 Shafer, J. D 1866-69 Shaw, Elkanah K 1875-76, 1882-83 Smith, Lewis M 1875-76 Sterling, Robert 1869-70 Townsend, Timothy 1871-75 Van Nort, John F 1870-75 Wyckoff, William 1869-72 Water Commissioners in 1883 : Henry McCann, Presi- dent, Frederick W. Gerecke, Charles S. Lockwood, Elkanah K. Shaw, Michael Doyle. SUPERINTENDENTS OF WATER WORKS. Allard, N. W 1869-70. Boynton, Edward C 1874-81 Clark, Leander, jr 1866-68 Miller, William C 1881-83 Rogers, Daniel T 1866 Royce, Charles B 1870-73 Superintendent in 1883, William C. Miller. MEMBERS OP THE BOARD OF HEALTH. Cameron, William F 1882-83 Carson, William W ■•• 1882-83 Comstock, Stephen S., M. D 1866 Church, Samuel P., M. D 1868 Callahan, William H 1873-77, 1882-83 Crissey, Gilbert K 1881-82 Decker, Charles N ." 1867-68 Deyo, Nathaniel, M. D 1870-80 Deyo, Dr. John 1882-83 Heard, JohnS., M. D : 1867-83 Jones, Hiram A 1866 Kimball, Samuel G 1867-68 Moffatt, David H 1866 McCann, Alex part of 1873 Mapes, Charles 1878-82, 1883 Marsh, Edward J. F 1883 Scott, Francis 1867 Smith, Lewis M 1880-81 Tice, Charles W. . . 1869 Townsend, William 1869-83 Van Nort, John F 1869-72 Board of Health in 1883 : Mayor Ward, President ex- officio. William Townsend, William W. Carson, Dr. John Deyo, William. F. Cameron, Charles Mapes, Edward J. F. Marsh. • HEALTH OFFICERS. Deyo, Dr. John 1880-82 Fenton, John W., M. D 1870-71 Gordon, James, M. D 1872-76, 1882-83 Montfort, R. V. K, M. D 1866-69 Stone, M. C, M. D 1878-80 Health Officer in 1883, James Gordon. MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, 1852 TO 1883. Alsdorf, Egbert 1862-65 Beveridge, John 1852-57 Beveridge, Thomas 1858-60 Brewster, E. A 1858-63, '67-68, '73-77, '80-83 Brown, Rev. John 1852-58 Brown, Jacob !855 64 NEWBURGH CENTENNIAL. Callahan, W. H 1861 Case, Kobert L 1874-77 Cassedy, A. S 1874-77 Clapp, George M 1865 Clark, George 1858-60 Corwin, John 1864-72, '77-81 Culbert, Dr. W. A. M 1855-57 Dickson, James R 1857-59 Ely, Dr. Smith 1876-80 Bmbler, Charles J 1881-83 Estabrook, Charles ' 1864-67 Forsyth, Rev. John 1853-77 Gearn, W. W 1876-80 George, Thomas 1859-61 Gregory, L. B 1852-54 Haines, P. S 1867-70 Hirsehberg, M. H 1871-83 Johnes, Edward R 1861-63 Jones, Nathaniel 1852-56 Jones, Hiram A 1878-82 Kerr, George W 1852-54 Kimball Thomas 1864-67, '73 King, Stephen 1882-83 Lawson, John K 1858-61 Leonard, D. GUlis 1852-57, '60-62, '64 Leonard, C. M 1869-71 Lewis, John N 1870-72 Martin, Cyrus B 1868-72 McCroskery, John J. S 1880-83 NcCutcheon, Hugh 1863-66, '68-69 Merritt, Theodore 1870 Moore, B. B 1872-75 Monell, J. J 1852-54, '65 Peck, Wm. E 1862-64 Reeve, Charles F. V 1852 Reilley, John 1872-75 Ring, Thomas C 1852-57 Rogers, Daniel T 1866-72, '75-78 Ruttenber. E. M 1857-64, '66-69, '82-83 Smith, LewisM 1881-83 Smith, Orville M 1856-57, '59-64 Skidmore, E. T 1877-81 Thayer, John S 1855 Van Buren, John D 1883 Van Dalfsen, James T 1883 Ward, Peter 1861-66 Williams, Samuel 1856-58 Wilson, Nicholas 1867-74 Westervelt, John L 1878-82 Weygant, Chas. H 1877 Williams, George A 1879-33 Board of Education, 1883 : Lewis M. Smith, President ; Eugene A. Brewster, Vice-President ; John J. S. McCros- kery, Charles J. Embler, Edward M. Ruttenber, Stephen King, John D. Van Buren, James T. Van Dalfsen. SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS. Banks, Hugh S 1857-59 Jones, Nathaniel 1852-57 Jones, Hiram A 1864-72 Miller, John 1883 Montfort, R. V. K 1859-62, '78-83 Ruttenber, E. M 1863-64 Superintendent in 1883, John Miller. PRINCIPALS OP PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 1883. Newburgh Free Academy, John W. Doughty. Grammar School No. 1, William H. Kelly. Grammar School No. 2, Charles E. Snyder. Grammar School No. 3, E. V. Clark. Primary School No. 4, Susan A. Wright. Primary School No. 5, Agnes C. Miller. LIBRARIAN OF THE CITY LIBRARY, 1883. Charles Estabrbok. SUPERVISORS. Beveridge, James B 1870 Brennan, Patrick 1869-78, '80, '81 Brown, Wm. R., (in place of J. Tremper resigned). . .1876 Cauldwell, Alexander 1872 Chapman, Isaac C 1873 Corwin, John 1867 Dickson, James R 1868 Farrington, Ezra 1868 Hirsehberg, Henry M 1875-76, '83 Horton, James E 1867-68 Johnson, Andrew 1872-74 Lawson, George 1869-70 Leonard, Chancey M 1867 Leon, David D 1873-74 Leslie, Alexander 1871 Mason John A 1879-80 Miller, John 1875-77 Moshier, George 1878-82 McKissock, Hugh 1882-83 Oakley Jackson 1867-68, '71 Purdy, Thomas W 1881-82 Sloat John L 1882-83 Strachan, William G 1869 Taylor, Jonathan 1879-80 Travis, Henry F 1871 Tremper, Jacob 1876 Vernol, Lewis C 1869-70 WaTing, DanielS 1872, '74-83 White John H 1882-83 Withers, Alexander J 1877-78, '80-82 Supervisors in 1883: First Ward, John H. White. Second Ward, H. M. Hirsehberg. Third Ward, Daniel S. Waring. Fourth Ward, Hugh McKissock. ALMS-HOUSE COMMISSIONERS. Barns, William D 1873-78 Bate, David W 1853-54 Barclay, D. H 1853-55 Bannon, Thomas J 1876-82 Belknap, Chauncey F 1854-56 Belknap, Oliver 1857-59 Belknap, James 1858-60 Belknap, Lynde 1865-67 Beattie, Alexander 1878-80 Beede, William H 1859-64 Brewster, E. A 1853-54 Bond, John H 1869-74 Birdsall, John 1876-83 Carson, David F. B 1873-75 Carter, Enoch 1857-65 Clark, George 1863-65 Farrington, Ezra W 1861-66 Fowler, David E 1862 Fullerton, Stephen W 1854-56 Gearn, George 1853 George, Thomas 1858-66 Gregory, L. B 1855-57 Halsey, Lewis B 1871-73 Lawson, Charles J 1877-83 Lockwood, Charles S 1860-65 Leonard, Chancey M 1865-67 Littleton, Thomas 1882-83 Lockwood, Daniel S 1882-83 Mallory, James H 1858 McGregor, Gavin R 1875-83 McLean, Cornelius 1869-72 McAlles, Thomas S 1874-76 Noble, William C 1867-69 Post, Alfred 1853-54 Purdy, John S 1866-71 Roe.ThomasH 1855-57 Spencer, George C 1859-61 Sloat, John L 1875-76 Smiley, William E 1871-73 Taylor, James W 1877-82 Thompson, Elmor 1880-83 Warren, William L. F 1867-69 Wilson, Tilden H 1883 Wood, Isaac, 'Jr 1856-58 Wyckoff, Henry 1853-55 Aims-House Commissioners in 1883 : Charles J. Lawson, President ^Thomas Littleton, David S. Lockwood, Tilden W Hilson, John Birdsall, Elmor Thompson. NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 65 SUPERINTENDENTS OP ALMS-HOUSE. Gardner, Chauncey F 1878-83 June, William II 1872-78 Miller, William C 1853-65 Rogers, McLeod 1866-72 Winans, Lemuel C 1865-66 Superintendent in 1883— Chanoey F. Gardner. City Marshal, 1883— Robert C. Bancroft. Excise Commissioners, 1883— Henry M. Hirschberg, President ; John Reilly, James G. Fitchey. Clerk to the Board— Cornelius S. McKissock. Justices of the Peace, 1883 — Rensselaer Howell, Elmer E. Roosa. Constables, 1883 — Alexander Morgan, James Hamilton. ENGINEERS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. Chief— Benoni H. Howell. ) Chief — James Belknap. - Dates not recorded. Chief— B. F. Buckingham.) 1850. Chief — William Lisle. 1851. Chief — Cicero A. Gardiner. First Assistant — Isaac Wood, Jr. Second Assistant — John W. Thomas. 1852. Chief — Isaac Wood, Jr. First Assistant — John W. Thomas. Second Assistant — J. A. McCartney. 1853. Chief — B. F. Buckingham. First Assistant — Aikman Speir. Second Assistant — James T. Hamilton. 1855. Chief — John K. Lawson. First Assistant — J. A. McCart- ney. Second Assistant — John Proudfoot. 1857. Chief— John D. Kelley. First Assistant— J. H. H. Chapman. Second Assistant — J. J. S. McCroskery. . 1859. Chief — J. H. H. Chapman. First Assistant — J. J. S. McCroskery. Second Assistant — H. McCutcheon. 1861. Chief— C. M. Leonard. First Assistant— Hiram S. Brewster. Second Assistant— James C. Taggart. 1863. Chief — C. M. Leonard. First Assistant — John B. Stans- brough. Second Assistant— John W. Forsyth. 1865. Chief — C. M. Leonard. First Assistant— John DeLancy. Second Assistant — James C. Farrell. 1866. Chief— C. M. Leonard. First Assistant— James T. Van Dalfsen. Second Assistant — Archibald Hays. 1869. Chief— C. M. Leonard. First Assistant— Archibald Hays. Second Assistant — Patrick Herbert. 1870. Chief — C. M. Leonard. First Assistant — Archibald Hays. Second Assistant — Patrick Herbert. 1871. Chief— C. M.Leonard. First Assistant— Archibald Hays. Second Assistant — Patrick Herbert. 1872. Chief — C. M. Leonard. First Assistant — Archibald Hays. Second Assistant — Patrick Herbert. 1873. Chief — C. M. Leonard. First Assistant — Archibald Hays. Second Assistant — John Fitchey. 1874. Chief — Archibald Hays. First Assistant — John Fitchey. Second Assistant — O. S. Hathaway, Jr. 1875-78. Chief — William Nixon. Assistants — Elkanah K. Shaw, Michael Barry, Robert W. Hamilton. 1878-81. Chief — William Nixon. Assistants — Samuel J. Hewitt, Jr., Robert W. Hamilton, Hugh M. Hays. 1881— SEPTEMBER, 1882. Chief — Nicholas Powell. Assistants — *Norman B. Bu- chanan, Samuel J. Hewitt, Jr., Hugh M. Hays. SEPTEMBER, 1882, TO DATE. Chief— Nicholas Powell. Assistants— tCharles A. Miller, Samuel J. Hewitt, Jr., Hugh M. Hays. *Rcsigned. tElected to vacancy caused by resignation of Norman B. Buchanan. 66 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. STATISTICAL INFORMATION. NEWBUBGH'S COBPOBATE ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT THE TIME THE CITY WAS FOBMED AND AT THE CLOSE OF THE OFFICIAL YEAB ENDING IN 1883. The claims made on the part of the City of Newburgh for good municipal management, small debt, excellent financial condition, low taxation, healthfulness, etc., are demonstrated by the statistics of the official records. Some compilations of these convincing figures are given herewith. The assets and liabilities of the late village, inherited and assumed by the City of Newburgh at its incorpora- tion, March 12, 1866, may be fairly summarized as follows, viz. : ASSETS, 1866. Public Schools, Fire and Police Department buildings and nuscellaneous personal prop- erty, valued at $90,700 00 About four-fifths interest in Alms House prop- erty 30,000 00 Cash in Treasury 198 36 Collectable accounts, consisting of back taxes and assessments 7,463 33 $118,361 69 Water works — cost and actual value 140,000 00 Total assets $258,361 69 LIABILITIES, 1866. Contingent and miscellaneous debts. $30,965 40 About four-fifths of Town Bounty Bonds 133,200 00 $164,165 40 Water bonds 95,000 00 Total liabilities 259,165 40 Liabilities in excess of assets $ 803 71 NEWBUBGH'S ASSETS AND LIABILITIES IN 1883. MUNICIPAL ASSETS IN MARCH, 1883. Value Buildings of and Appa- Land. Furniture, ratus. Total. Grammar School No. 1, Washington St. $5, 000... $30, 000 $35,000 00 Grammar School No. 2, Grand St 15,000... 32,000 47,000 00 Grammar School No. 3, SouthSt r 8,000... 30,000 88,000 00 Primary School No 4, Clinton St 1,500... 5,000 6,500 00 Primarv School No. 5, West St 2,000... 10,000 12,000 00 Acadamy School Mont- gomery St 10,000... 2,000 12,000 00 Library, Grand St 5,000... 30,000 35,000 00 Library Books, Grand St.'. 20,000 00 Washington Steamer No. 4, Broadway... 2,000... 3,500... $4,000... Leonard Steamer No. 2, North Water St. 1,500... 4,000... 4,000... Highland Engine, No. 3, Broadway 600... 2,500... 4,000... Brewster Hook and Ladder, No. 1, Broadway 1,500... 3,500... 1,500... Ringgold Hose, No. 1, Colden St 2,500... 4,000... Columbian Hose, No. 2, Montgomery St. 800. Lawson Hose, No. 5, Montgomery St ... . 2,000. . Chapman Hose, No. 4, SouthSt 1,000.. Police Headquarters, First St 1,000.. Brick Storage Build- ing and Stables, Chambers St 750... 3,000 3,750 00 About forty acres of land, South St 10,000 10,000 00 Water Commissioners' Office 750... 4,000 4,750 00 The " Pound Lot " 750 750 00 Four-fifths interest in Alms House prop- w erty 40,000 00 The "Reservoir Lot," 15£ acres 3,500 3,500 00 Miscellaneous person- al property 10,000 00 Balance due from City Treasurer, March 12, 1883 21,295 93 3,000... 3,500... 3,000... 2,500... 2,000... 2,000... 1,500... 9,000 05 9,500 00 7,100 00 6,500 00 9,000 00 5,800 00 7,500 00 5,500 00 2,000 3,000 00 $362,945 93 Water Works cost (which is not more than the actual present value) 448,501 06 Total municipal assets $811,446 99 MUNICIPAL LIABILITIES IN MARCH, 1883. Street improvement bonds $ 17,001 00 Quassaick Creek bridge bonds (Newburgh's portion) 30,030 00 Floating debt and outstanding bills, none $ 47,031 00 Water bonds 280,500 00 Total liabilities $327,531 00 Assets in excess of liabilities, March 12, 1883 $483,915 99 NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 67 EXPENDITUEES FOE PIEE DEPAETMENT. YEAR ENDING JUNE i. Contingent. Special. Total. 1867 1868 $3,910 03 1,855 79 2,692 00 5,670 65 7,244 75 8,436 33 3,572 70 6,691 03 5,817 29 6,378 98 8,457 85 4,959 80 5,299 29 4,102 19 4,050 14 3,454 71 5,320 08 $4,099 36 $8,009 39 1,855 79 1869 3,692 00 1870 5,670 65 1871 1872 5,056 00 12,300 75 8,436 33 1873 1874 4,200 00 7,772 70 6,691 03 1875 1876 8,832 25 14,649 54 6,278 98 1877 8,457 85 1878 4,959 80 1879 1880 1881 4,447 01 657 34 9,746 30 4,759 53 4,050 14 1882 1883 440 00 5,933 50 3,894 71 11,252 58 BONDED DEBT OF THE CITY OF NEW- BUEGH, MAECH 12, 1883. 3 Bonds, 1 20 " 2 " 1 50 " $10,000 e« 5,000 1,000 10,000 5,000 1,000 1,000 4,000 1,000 2,000 4,000 1,000 2,000 5,000 3,000 1,000 35,000 1,000 500 1,000 5,000 20,000 15,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 WATER BONDS. Due. ich, 1886, 7 p.c... $20, 000 " 1886, " ... 5,000 " 1887, " ... 20,000 " 1891, " ... 20,000 " 1891, " ... 5,000 " 1892, " ... 50,000 4 " 1 9 " 1 1 " " 1895, 6 p.o... $4,000 " 1895, " ... 4,000 " 1896, " ... 9,000 " 1896, " ... 3,000 " 1896, " ... 4,000 2 " 1 1 1 30 " 1 " 1897, 5 p.c... 2,000 " 1897, " ... 2,000 " 1897, " ... 5,000 " 1897, " ... 3,000 " 1897, " ... 30,000 " 1897, " ... 35,000 7 " 1 " 2 " " 1890, 4^ p.c. 7,000 " 1890, " ... 500 " 1890, " ... 2,000 2 " 1 1 1 " 1 1 " 1900, 4 p.c... 10,000 " 1901, " ... 20,000 " 1902, " ... 15,000 " 1885, " ... 3,000 " 1884, " ... 2,000 " 1883, " ... 2,000 $120,000 23,000 77,000 9,500 51,000 -$280,500 STREET IMPROVEMENT BONDS. At 7 per cent., due Dec. 1, 1883 $5,667 1884 5,667 1885 5,667 17,001 QUASSAICK CREEK BRIDGE BONDS. Bonds were also issued in part payment of the con- struction of a six-arch stone bridge over Quassaick Creek, to be paid by the City of Newburgh and Town of New Windsor jointly, in proportion to the amount of taxable property in each. These bonds were as follows : At 4 per cent., due in 1891 $5,000 1892 5,000 1893 5,000 1894 5,000 1895 5,000 1896 5,000 1897 5,000 35,000 New Windsor's share of this debt.... 4,970 Newburgh's portion 30,030 Total of Newburgh's bonded debt in March, 1883 $327,531 DEATHS AND DEATH EATE IN CITY SINCE 1867. YEAR ENDING DEC. 31. 1867 1868 1869 1870 (Census). 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 (Census). 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 (Census). 1881 1882 _o O rt 3 p. o X> . EJ2 fcg «q e o -a s* W 16,763 351 16,813 377 16,952 308 17,014 312 17,075 313 17,137 367 17,198 336 17,260 384 17,322 323 17,383 331 17,445 293 17,506 303 17,568 319 18,076 302 18,226 357 19,226 413 p §• I 8 « z M Z 22.0 100 23.5 126 18.6 75 18.3 62 18.3 79 21.4 96 19.5 100 22.2 120 18.6 73 18.9 69 16.8 66 17.3 36 18.1 64 16.7 38 19.5 78 21.4 103 6.44 7.86 4.54 3.64 4.52 5.59 5.81 6.95 4.21 3.97 3.78 2,04 3.64 2.01 4.33 5.35 The number of deaths in 1882 was greater than for any preceding year in the history of Newburgh, but the population was greater, and the number of deaths per thousand of population and the rate from zymotic dis- eases were less than some other years, as may be seen by reference to the statistics given. THE DEATH RATE LOW AS COMPARED WITH OTHER CITIES. The lowness of the death rate in Newburgh may be seen by the following table, which is a comparison for the year 1878 : Milwaukee, No. of deaths per 1,000 of population 14.3 Cincinnati, 15.8 NEWBUEGH, 17.3 San Francisco, 17.3 St. Louis, 17.8 Cleveland, 18.2 Chicago, 18.4 Richmond, 18.4 Philadelphia, 18.9 Providence, ' 19.4 Boston, 1 20.5 Brooklyn, 21.5 New York, Baltimore, 25.4 Washington, 25.6 Charleston, ' 31.8 New Orleans, ' 31.9 It will be seen that Newburgh ranks third in point of healthfulness in a list including sixteen others of the most important cities in the country. YEAELY TAX LEVIES. THE CITY'S ASSESSED VALUATION AND THE AMOUNT OF TAXES REQUIRED FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES SINCE IT HAS BEEN A CITY. * FISCAL YEAR ENDING IN MARCH. 1867. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1883. 1883 Assessed Valuation. $8,032,667 00 7,873,049 54 7,569,415 00 7,004,939 50 6,056,995 00 6,093,305 00 6,118,700 00 5,723,850 00 5,628,735 00 5,617,030 00 11,821,025 00 11,470,775 00 9,273,035 00 9,122,010 00 8,591,859 00 8,678,168 00 8,716,043 92 City Tax Levy. $67,376 72 67,966 00 63,489 50 81,770 27 79,849 97 96,684 98 104,477 95 99,333 28 102,925 49 104,999 32 103,658 11 98,068 25 99,358 02 80,562 37 90,475 64 97,629 57 100,236 38 Water Rents. $14,796 05 20,086 79 .17,754 64 19,566 73 19,679 63 20,667 60 23,573 68 37,358 17 29,307 71 28,295 02 29,882 01 29,767 33 28,559 75 30,696 29 27,334 50 27,429 11 30,427 37 State and County Taxes. $110,998 44 117,414 69 111,960 43 100,173 57 111,586 07 92,027 81 79,493 01 85,006 49 90,519 17 72,799 53 58,051 82 60,844 16 51,427 01 49,714 06 52,614 02 47,304 96 46,944 74 Total Taxes. $193,171 21 205,467 48 193.204 57 201,510 57 211.205 67 209,380 39 207,543 64 211,497 94 222,752 37 206,093 87 191,591 94 188,679 74 177,442 44 160,973 72 170,434 16 172,363 64 177,608 49 THE STATE AND COUNTY TAXES LEVIED. Fiscal Year Ending in March. 1867. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. State Tax. $41,484 07 59,466 52 43,485 29 41,504 53 51,559 '63 40,984 56 38,571 96 40,094 20 44,635 00 42,200 15 26,231 34 31,685 18 25,696 13 24,474 40 28.489 35 18.490 30 20,754 36 General County Fund. $9,221 74 7,699 64 11,944 64 9,825 44 14,432 61 11,609 53 13,912 58 16,659 60 15,228 93 15,416 39 18,992 90 13,861 02 14,827 00 13,700 12 14,589 65 14,650 44 15,879 88 Poor Fund. $5,800 00 3,293 18 1,631 97 2,428" 87 3,240 "49 4,800 41 11,847 73 7,923 28 8,103 66 8,052 36 7,214 20 6,445 88 8,005 25 7,999 76 7,964 56 Town and Counly Bounty Fund. $32,276 44 37,874 76 41,645 42 39,555 43 30,085 15 32,672 78 22,053 12 21,548 24 15,127 98 City Audits. $6,171 99 614 71 3,460 87 '1,178 28 2,479 55 1,974 99 681 95 1,352 57 1,764 61 2,103 74 2,767 32 2,504 98 1,747 29 1,646 18 1,364 11 1,118 90 1,149 95 Roads and Bridges. $6,555 23 6,565 63 9,792 24 6,695 47 8,555 76 1,348 19 66 01 551 47 1,404 40 2,792 01 50 05 2,573 58 237 92 3,447 48 165 66 5,045 56 1,195 99 Sworn-off taxes, minus back taxes collected. $9,489 05 1,900 25 * 1,414 42 2,044 50 3,437 76 966 90 * 510 52 2,363 98 1,916 55 2,167 04 1,704 47 * * * * Total. $110,998 44 117,414 69 111,960 43 100,173 57 111,586 07 92,027 81 79,493 01 85,006 49 90,519 17 72,799 53 58,051 82 60,844 16 51,427 01 49,714 06 52,614 02 47,304 96 46,944 74 * In year ending in March, 1869, the back taxes collected exceeded sworn off taxes by $377.65 ; in year ending in March, 1874, by $460.86 ; in year ending in March, 1880, by $1,917.67 ; in year ending in March, 1881, by $280.85 ; in year ending in March, 1882, by $884.04, and in year ending in March, 1883, by $1,769.28. All of these amounts were deducted from the general fund of corresponding years. TAXES LEVIED FOR EACH DEPARTMENT OF CITY EXPENDITURE. The following table gives the taxes levied in various years for all city purposes excepting the Water Works : YEAR ENDING IN MARCH. 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881, 1882, 1883, Contingent. $25,000 00 23,000 00 17,496 74 35,000 00 25,000 00 25,000 00 30,000 00 28,769 94 30,000 00 30,000 00 30,000 00 25,335 39 30,000 00 23,500 00 25,000 00 26,500 00 26,500 00 Police and Light. $10,000 00 12,328 00 10,512 00 20,174 61 18,068 63 22,346 66 22,500 00 20,244 15 18,494 47 22,428 54 22.091 82 23,507 86 26,100 90 23.092 61 24,316 97 24,500 00 24,500 00 Board of Education. $22,376 72 25,000 00 29,490 00 34,710 53 31,220 00 43,800 00 37,840 15 35,435 17 40,339 83 40,085 17 39,821 94 39,925 00 33,607 13 39,500 00 31,400 00 36,695 46 36,994 49 Miscellaneous purposes. $10,000 00 7,638 00 5,990 76 1,885 13 5,561 34 6,538 32 14,137 80 14,784 03 14,091 19 13,485 61 11,744 35 9,400 00 10,650 00 4,469 76 9,758 67 9,934 11 13,341 89 Total. $67,376 72 67.966 00 63,489 50 81,770 27 79,849 97 96,684 98 104,477 95 t 99,233 28 102,925 49 104,999 33 103,658 11 98,068 25 99,358 02 80,562 37 90,475 64 97,629 57 100,236 38 The only current city expenditures not included in the above are those of the Water Board. They are provided for mainly by water rents assessed against real estate actually benefitted thereby, and they are given below. Receipts and disbursements of Water Board from 1867 to 1883 : RECEIPTS * Year endi'g in March. Water Rents. Miscellaneous. Sale of Bonds. Total. 1867 $14,796 05 30,086 79 17,755 64 19,566 73 19,679 63 20,667 60 23,572 68 27,258 17 29,307 71 28,295 02 " 29,882 01 29,767 33 28,559 75 30,696 29 27,334 50 27,429 11 30,427 37 $16,084 44 3,030 00 $30,880 49 23,116 79 17,755 64 19,566 73 19,769 63 98,071 70 115,973 68 27,358 80 36,043 00 38,355 03 43,354 01 29,771 31 38,559 75 40,196. 29 40,686 99 29,919 10 34,803 97 1868 1869 1870 1871 1873 77,404 10 93,400 00 1873 1874 $100 63 071 29 2,080 00 1875. . 1876 1877 6,083 00 8,000 00 12,375 88 1878 1879 1880 9,500 00 11,300 00 1,100 00 3,970 00 X881..,. 1883 1883 2,152 49 1,389 99 403 60 DISBURSEMENTS. Year Ending in March. 1867. 1868. 1869, 1870. 1871. 1873, 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. Rents, Repairs and Expenses. $4,353 06 3,761 35 3,581 77 3,373 33 3,097 18 4,736 75 4,569 87 6,313 33 6,037 78 10,177 55 5,813 29 6,334 13 4,459 66 3,901 10 8,363 89 6,586 19 3,966 87 Interest. $5,834 50 6,866 44 6,797 03 6,813 00 6,477 75 8,339 30 9,368 63 17,536 67 17,978 48 18,380 83 18,355 00 17,485 46 17,300 00 16,990 00 17,407 50 17,133 50 16,377 50 Construction. $19,367 19 8,498 97 8,198 37 4,989 34 4,801 04 59,113 94 116,375 59 4,603 47 13,917 36 3,313 78 13,103 54 7,648 63 4,383 04 14,553 79 10,877 05 3,056 78 13,953 85 Total. $29,454 35 19,126 76 18,577 16 15,174 67 14,375 97 73,168 89 130,214 08 38,342 46 37,933 52 30,872 16 36,170 83 31,358 21 36,041 70 35,443 89 36,648 44 26,375 47 33,296 73 «S" Every year from $2,000 to $5,000 of the moneys received from water rents is set aside to the credit of a " sink- ing fund," which is used solely in the payment of the water bonds as they fall due. This course steadily reduces the water debt, and will in time liquidate it. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY. Receipts and disbursements of the Board of Education from 1867 to 1883 : RECEIPTS. DISBURSEMENTS. YEAR ENDING OCTOBER i. City Tax Levy. 1867 '. $35,000 00 39,490 00 34,710 53 31,320 09 43,800 00 37,840 15 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 ■: 1873 : 1874 35,435 17 40,339 83 40,085 17 39,831 94 39,925 00 32,607 13 39,500 00 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 ..' 1880 31,400 00 1881 1882 36,695 46 36,994 49 30,397 71 1883 State Ap- propriations. Miscellaneous. $4,533 77 $7,947 83 7,536 73 1,383 22 7,873 93 953 66 8,078 15 602 76 8,531 46 436 77 8,918 43 798 46 9,002 86 409 08 9,343 83 993 97 9,470 44 1,339 33 10,396 41 639 18 10,673 80 753 01 11,135 05 537 04 10,581 68 1,594 81 10,541 98 3,197 12 10,593 83 498 07 10,385 50 4,153 31 10,358 33 6,590 44 Total. $47,480 59 38,288 95 43,538 11 39,900 91 51,768 33 47,557 03 44,847 11 50,576 63 50,884 84 50,857 53 51,346 81 44,369 21 41,676 49 44,139 10 47,787 35 51,533 20 47,346 48 Contingent. $39,403 38 25,652 32 31,876 21 30,194 01 35,095 34 33,641 34. 41,343 43 40,793 81 41,558 24 39,104 17 44,558 96 43,746 02 40,237 93 40,814 86 44;756 84 45,450 73 44,752 48 For New Buildings. $17,100 00 8,668 08 12,148 60 9,000 69 2,600 00 33,338 50 13,001 11 9,471 55 5,000 00 16,831 35 6,787 97 3,319 70 ""45418" $46,503 38 34,320 40 44,024 81 39,194 70 37,695 34 56,969 74 54,243 53 50,26* 36 46,558 34 55,935 42 51,346 93 43,746 03 40,237 93 44,134 56 44,756 84 45,904 91 44,752 48 STATISTICS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY. YEAR ENDING OCTOBER i. No. of Children of school age in city. Number Enrolled at Schools. Average Attendance. Number of Teachers Employed, No. volumes in Library. 5,150 5,281 5,225 5.388 5,416 5,497 5,496 5,887 5,873 5,765 5,802 5,885 5,896 5,874 5,897 5,913 6,373 6,344 3,842 3,092 3,154 3,388 3,449 3,345 3,239 3,137 3,307 3,313 3,396 3,415 3,365 3,323 3,348 3,335 3,376 3,646 1,386 1,346 1,433 1,541 1,593 1,633 1,647 1,633 1,736 1,887 1,970 3,195 3,314 3,239 2,230 2,130 2,118 2,215 32 34 35 39 40 42 43 43 46 47 48 49 51 55 60 64 66 65 6,634 7,150 7,500 7,750 8,060 8,160 8,372 8,573 9,073 9,373 9,496 10,421 10,705 11,432 11,974 12,451 13,603 14,312 X a < o H ft ft o ft) o H n H o H « o n H o ft ft y ^ fcl S'fc." CD s a ^^ ... 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[Before the celebration] : — "The event which is to be celebrated to-day at Newburgh is one of the landmarks of American history. * * * * These are the historical associations which render the Washington Headquarters at Newburgh sacred at all times to Americans. It is fitting that they should form to-day the theme of oratory and patriotic reminiscence, and be celebrated with appro- priate ceremonies under the auspices of the Nation and the State. Washington's military career was memorable mainly for its disasters ; for Trenton, Princeton, Mon- mouth and Yorktown did not compensate for the reverses of Long Island, the retreat through the Jerseys, Brandy- wine, Germantown and Valley Forge. It was at New- burgh that his commanding personality achieved its grandest conquest." [After the celebration]: — "It is gratifying to observe that the ceremonies at Newburgh were characterized by a greater degree of heartiness and painstaking care than many of the recent centennial celebrations. The pro- gram was tolerably effective, and the oratory was the best that has been heard on such occasions since 1876. Mr. Evarts's address was at once an admirable review of the protracted period of suspense which followed York- town, and an elegant tribute to the exalted patriotism of Washington. It was a theme that afforded more oppor- tunities for discriminating narrative and philosophical reflection than for brilliant declamation. On this account the address possesses greater value as an historical study than Mr. Evarts's previous oration at Independence Hall. It was an intellectual effort entirely worthy of the memorable encampment and the final disbandment of the Continental Army." From the New York Times. It was a difficult matter for the speakers at the New- burgh celebration to find any freshness in the theme which could alone engage their attention on such an occasion. But in spite of all that has been said and written about the sacrifices of the men who brought the Revolutionary struggle to a successful close and about the transcendent purity and patriotism of the character of Washington, they are subjects that can never become stale or tiresome to true Americans. They are a fountain of instruction and inspiration to which we do well to return whenever a fitting occasion is presented. Too many of our tendencies are away from the exalted stand- ard which the founders of the Republic deemed essential to the safety and perpetuity of the new nation, but it has a hold upon the deeper convictions of the people which cannot be shaken. * * * * The various committees are entitled to very great praise for the successful man- agement of so great a celebration in so limited room. Nothing was left undone that could be done, and Presi- dent Arthur missed participation in what was generally conceded to be one of the most enjoyable celebrations ever undertaken in so small a city. From the New York Herald. It was a glorious day, and the little city on the Hudson had as fine a military turnout in its streets as has been seen anywhere in the country this great while. * * * * Though perfected slowly, the arrangement of the proces- sion was skillfully carried out, and after the start was once made there was not the slightest hitch. From the New York Evening Post. The Newburghers to-day celebrate the hundreth anni- versary of the last act in the great drama of the Revolu- tionary war — the disbandment of the army and its return to peaceful pursuits, to live under a new political order, and to witness the rise and progress of ideas and institu- tions of which only the faintest signs were then visible on the horizon. There were probably but few of the actors who had then any perception of the real greatness of the occasion. If there had been many it would per- haps not have been markedby somuch heroic simplicity. The self-consciousness which the activity and influence of the press has since diffused through the community, and which makes us all look round to see if the reporters are present before we consent to say fine things or do great deeds, was then unknown. The written style of the time was a little stilled, it is true, but the men and women were not. The Newburgh episode is perhaps most memorable as having given the finishing touch to Washington's fame. It was the critical period at which so many preceeding politico-military heroes had failed, and more particularly his Anglo Saxon predecessor, Cromwell. In fact, the great military chiefs who can ad- vise the army to go home when the war is over, and put away power which it not only offers, but can bestow, have been so few, that if Newburgh was celebrating Washington's conduct on this occasion, and nothing else, it would be celebrating one of the greatest events of human history. The last seven years have been studded thickly with Revolutionary anniversaries, but Newburgh is commemorating what was in moral significance, as the final test of the political capacity of the people and their leaders, the greatest event of the war. From the Brooklyn Eagle. Yesterday's celebration at Newburgh transcended the expectations of the most sanguine in almost every respect. The crowd that attended the ceremonies immensely over- taxed the capacity of the little town ; the best of order prevailed ; there' was only one accident worth mention- ing ; the pageant was imposing, citizens, soldiery and ships of war contributing all they could to the general effect ; and lastly, the orations were excellent. The weather favored the celebrants generously, and the main regret the thousands who participated in it could feel was that all their friends could not share with them the pleasure they felt. It is worth noticing that the prepara- tions made by the people of Newburgh, and the State and General Governments were singularly quiet and un- ostentatious, and that the fact greatly exceeded the promise. The importance of the anniversary cannot be overestimated, and though no distinguished foreigners were imported to grace the event, there was no one present who did not realize that he stood on historic ground and amid traditions the richest and most beauti- ful in the history of our country. The religious elements of the exercises were fully appropriate in this commemo- ration of peace. Washington himself was essentially a religious man ; his proclamation of peace is pervaded by honest, simple piety, and the renewal of the thoughts of a century ago upon such an occasion would be in the broadest sense incomplete without some devotional expression as is found in the " Te Deum." On the whole, the people of Newburgh deserve the warmest commenda- tion of the country for their share in this historic festival, both in the preparations for it and the generous straining 72 NEWBtTEGH centennial. of their hospitality to the accommodation of strangers. The heartiness with which the ceremouies were per- formed is one of those tranquillizing proofs that are now and then offered that wealth, its inequitable division, snobbery and the vices of excessive prosperity have not yet seriously affected our people. v\ e still maintain the patriotic spirit of our fathers, are as ready as they were to make any sacrifices to defend our liberties, arid still recall with pride the glory of those plain men who were fittingly led by Washington. The celebration has, apparently, suffered nothing so far as popular enthusiasm is concerned by being the last of a long series extending over a period of several years, and interest in it is rather increased than diminished by the reflection that it commemorates the last of the Revo- lutionary incidents which had so important a bearing upon the destinies of the country. It is pleasant to reflect some of our own young men are participating in the military manoeuvres and personating the patriots who sank back into private life when their military work was done, as spontaneously and readily as they emerged from it to resist oppression and to establish a govern- ment. They set an example which nearly a century later their descendants followed, to the amazement of the world. That this act of disbandment should be celebrated with a pageant equal to that which graced the centennial of the surrender of Cornwallis is not surprising, for while it was the crowning act of the war, it was also the begin- ning of a not less glorious peace, when the national character began to develop and to convince the world that the federated colonies were quite able to form a government and a people. The episode and the place draw additional lustre from the character of the gentle, patient patriot to whom more and more the people had looked for direction. In the trying times that succeeded the actual cessation of hostilities, new elements of great- ness showed themselves in him, and the qualities of his mind were never more manifest than during his occupa- tion of the interesting spot to which all eyes are directed to-day in kindly recollectionx)f what our forefathers did. From the Albany Journal. It is a matter for congratulation that the weariness and surfeit of over ten years of centennial celebrations have left in the American people not only the desire, but the energy, to commemorate the closing act of the Revolu- tionary period with so magnificent a display as this re- ported from Newburgh to-day. A feeling deeper and broader than the mere passion for festivities must under- lie such a splendid completion of. so long-sustained and tiresomely similar a round of anniversary demonstrations. There is one thought suggested by Newburgh and its anniversary which perhaps may escape attention there- upon, which, indeed, it would not be hospitable to -the guests of the State to lay much stress. The peaceful dis- bandment of the Continental Army at Newburgh, under circumstances which point affirmatively and directly to the erection of a Republic, was even less a triumph of Washington's personal influence than it was of New York ideas. Had the long, tedious period in which the Army on the Hudson, badly fed, refused its pay and rankling under the sense of popular ingratitude, been spent in Massachusetts or Virginia, or even Pennsyl vania, we do not believe that at its end its soldiers would have been so willing to calmly lay down their arms, abdicating their power to shape by force the future government of the new world, and returning to their long-neglected homes as simple private citizens. The arrogant self- assertion of the Puritan and the hot-headed influences of the Cavalier had their innings in the first years of the Revolution, and a prodigious and profitable part they played. But the safe and dignified close of the Revolu- tionary episode, the serene solution of the vexed prob- lem how to get rid of the geni of military spirit which the war had evoked, a solution which at the close of a cen- tury still seems one of the most wonderful things in our history— thai belongs to New York. The Army and its guiding officers imbibed from the broad, philosophic, equable environment of the Dutch, who in this country as in Europe were the true pioneers and parents of lib- erty, the patriotic spirit in which they ceased to be soldiers, and, took up under new conditions the tamer duties of civil life. And from that day, too, New York has been the dominant factor of the Union, the leading, sway- ing force in its councils, the Empire State. The pro- vincial individualities of the several English colonies lend romance and picturesqeness to the Colonial and early Revolutionary periods. But from the inception of the idea, New York has been foremost as the conservative, liberal and constructive leader of American national sen- timent. The Albany Journal also stated: "The Newburgh Journal is always active and judicious in gathering and selecting news, but its Thursday's edition, covering in full the Centennial proceedings of the day, was an excep- tional evidence of its ability to meet every emergency. The Journal deserves the highest commendation." From the Utica Herald. The celebration at Newburgh was the appropriate and impressive finale of the series of commemorated anniver- saries which have marked and made unique the last eight years in the United States. These centennial anniversary celebrations, which began with Lexington and Concord, which gained impetus and splendor from the Philadelphia exposition in the year which signalized the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and which were continued at Oriskany, at Bemis Heights, at Saratoga, at Bennington and at Yorktown, fittingly cul- minate at Newburgh, where the State and national authorities joined with the people, in commemorating the signing of the articles of peace which permitted of the disbandment of Washington's army and saw the United States of America finally and tremblingly launched as a free and independent nation. The essence of the senti- ment typified in all these previous celebrations was con- centrated and has culminated in the Newburgh demon- stration. It is the last time upon which we will be called to thus contemplate and eulogize the character and the achievements of the men who plucked the purely military laurels of the American revolution. In a double sense, therefore, Newburgh is the most important of all these anniversaries. Of more importance is it to the future weal of the republic than all the elections which annually engross our attention with their petty details and their transient ambitions, that the masses of the American people should understand and appreciate the significance of that eighteen months during which the forlorn, be- draggled, unpaid and homesick army of Washington waited at Newburgh for the word which told them that the war was actually ended and that they might return to the homes which longed for them. In all the history of the world, there are not to be found another eighteen months the military story of which is so dramatic, so tragic in detail, so momentous in its relations to all the future, so heroic in its abnegations, so splendid in its courage, as this period of waiting which culminated at Newburgh on October 18, 1783. The true significance of that most critical period in the whole revolutionary war — the period during which the whole political destiny of America hung in the balance, and depended upon the resolute will and the unparalleled abnegation of a single man, is revealed in the address delivered by Hon. William M. Evarts. Mr. Evarts has done man j' notable services to the republic, and has delivered many addresses that will live long after his per- sonality has grown to be a myth. Many orations he has delivered which as oratorical efforts will outrank that at Newburgh. But his splendid attainments were never brought to the study of an epoch where the utilitarian results of his mastery of it were more certain to benefit and exalt the people. We can only bespeak for it the perusal of every man who claims to love his country, and who is ready to subordinate personal and petty purposes to the public good. Mr. Evarts draws a graphic picture of the situation as it existed during those long months of waiting at Newburgh ; of the restlessness and the discon- tent of the citizen soldiery ; of the eagerness with which they dreamed of a solution of then- troubles through reli- NEWBUKGH CENTENNIAL. 73 anoe upon the man "whom they loved and confided in. He pictures, without an epithet of exaggeration, the tempta- tion offered that man, and the Spartan virtue that was required to put it aside. He makes the services of George Washington to his country reach their climax at this period, before he had entered at all upon his civic career. He draws, without realization, a picture of personal patriotism which we believe stands utterly beyond parallel in the world's history, and which vastly over- shadows the careers of the American statesmen who have come after him — who direct and control, or seek to direct and control, the American politics of to-day. How infini- tesimally small and trivial appear the ambitions and the achievements of living Americans, by the side of this picture! If the American people will pause long enough in their busy and engrossing vocations to grasp the picture and to draw the parallel, it will be well for the republic! From the Philadelphia Press. Newburgh is one of the few military celebrations over the disbanding of an army ; but this is the trade-mark of English-speaking history that its victories disband armies. So our own war closed, so the dissolution of Cromwell's army left a permanent mark on the traditions of industrial England, and in like manner the men disbanded at New- burgh, care-worn, unpaid, their pockets full of protested promises, formed again as the advance guard in the Westward march which, in thirty years, reached the Mississippi; Revolutionary soldiers at every turn laying the foundations of the three great States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and spreading over the wilderness in Penn- sylvania west of the Alleghanies. From the New York Star. The account of the celebration given elsewhere tells with what spirit and zeal the people of Newburgh worked up and carried out one of the most interesting and suc- cessful of our centennial celebrations. The occasion celebrated not the triumphs of war, but the victories of peace. What America is to-day is chiefly owing to the fact that for a hundred years it has had peace most of the time. It has no army to speak of, and no navy de- serving the name. It is a nation of workers, traders, cultivators, builders, scholars. Its arts are industrial and pacific. Its progress has been on the broad line of human improvement and welfare. The bottom question of our civilization is how to make all the people prosper- ous and happy. The men who fought the battles of the Revolution, and celebrated its close at Newburgh a cen- tury ago, had not the faintest idea of the grandeur of their own work. They fought and suffered and sacrificed in a spirit of faith and hope which events have more than fulfilled. And their example is a lesson to their descend- ants for all time. From the Syracuse Herald. To-morrow is the day set for the celebration of the most memorable of all the long series of Revolutionary centenaries. It marks the glad welcome of peace by a country bleeding from the wounds inflicted by a seven years' war. It marks the return of thousands of scarred and tattered soldiers to the pursuits which they had made over to their mothers and daughters, sisters and wives, in order that they might themselves take up arms in liberty's cause. It marks the dawn of that day of progress and prosperity whose high noon the American people are now enjoying. But an even greater historic association clusters about the ground at Newburgh, where a multi- tude of Americans will assemble to-morrow to rejoice to- gether over the happy events of which the dav is an anniversary. It was here that Washington, pressed to accept the same reward given to other victorious Generals so many times before him, put away the temptation and declared, with that splendid force which it was his to exert in exigencies like this, his opposition to monarchical government in every form and guise. It is a coincidence interesting to all New Yorkers that our State should have furnished the meeting place for the first Colonial Congress to protest against the stamp act, and to kindle the flames of war which a few years later swept the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to trie Savannah river; that it should have furnished the scene of that devilish plot which threatened to turn the whole tide of the war against the Colonies and sell them into slavery, and of its most dramatic frus- tration; that it should have witnessed a Yankee victory which, from a military point of view, rivalled Yorktown's and perhaps outranked it; and that it should have been chosen by fate as the ground for the general disbandment of Washington's army. The celebration at Newburgh to-morrow commemorates a great deal. We trust that it will be a success in every sense, and that the memory of it, the associations which cluster about it, and the mani- fold lessons which the oratars of the day endeavor to im- press upon their hearers, will long cling in the minds not only of all New Yorkers, but of all American patriots. From the New York Commercial Advertiser. The fire parade was the finest ever seen in this section. From the New York Sun. The procession was a very remarkable one in its length, order and beauty. The oldest New Yorkers never saw anything that they think excelled it. General Hawley, of Hartford, said he never saw anything like it. From the Troy Times. As a whole the celebration was eminently successful and splendidly managed. Whatever drawbacks existed were to be expected under the circumstances and well- nigh unavoidable. The crowd was so great that it was impossible to fully and promptly meet all the require- ments. But courtesy, good nature and good order pre- vailed, and Newburgh has reason to congratulate itself upon the admirable way in which it discharged its duties as host. Poor Newburgh, having enjoyed her day of greatness and glory, is now paying for it. A storm of abuse is pouring upon her devoted head from the columns of newspapers in neighboring and envious towns, which have had no centennial celebration splendors. She is charged with all sorts of misdoings, extortions and dis- courtesies. The accusations are most ill-natured and unjust. The picturesque little hillside city happened to draw a bigger crowd than it could readily accommodate, and the annoyances, delays and vexations in conse- quence were simply unavoidable. The visitors were as well treated as the most exacting could have demanded under the circumstances, and there was no reasonable ground for fault-finding, except in regard to transporta- tion facilities, which were wretchedly inadequate. But for this shortcoming neither the city, its officials nor the committee of arrangements were in the least degree responsible. From the Kingston Freeman. The celebration at Newburgh on Thursday was in no sense a local or even a State affair, but it can fitly be termed a national demonstration and a glorious com- memoration of the centennial of the Revolutionary war. It was more than a great day for the city set on a hill, and well may its citizens feel proud of the celebration down to the smallest detail. The most captious critic could not possibly find even a point to harp on. This old time City of Kingston right royally celebrated the cen- tennial in 1877, and great and notable as that event was, the Freeman in all candor must confess the celebration at Newburgh eclipsed it, not only in point of numerical strength in rank and file in the procession, but on account of the vast multitude that gathered from far and near to see the parade and to hear the distinguished gentlemen, who in glowing language told the story and drew a moral of the finale of the happenings of one hundred years ago. The Newburgh Centennial Committee of Five — Messrs. Ward, Headley, Hirschberg, McCroskery and Adams — who for months worked assiduously with patience and untiring zeal, are worthy of the praise that is showered 7i NE AY BURGH CENTENNIAL on them on every hand. The Scotch have a saying, "The proof o' the pudding is the eating of it." and the celebration of Thursday speaks volumes, aye, and a whole library, if such a phrase is permissible, in their behalf. The celebration was conceived in a spirit of patriotism, and it was carried out as only men permeated with a true sense of liberty, with hearts overflowing with gratitude, could do, though the events commemorated oc- curred decades ago. All honor to the Committee of Five ! All honor to Newburgh's citizens, public and private ! They undertook an immense undertaking, and how grandly it was carried out will be a story that will be told again and again, both by young and old who were there. That the marshals did their work well, with precision and good judgment, was conceded by all. The parade, in which there were 10,000 men, as a whole, was a magnifi- cent one, and no accident occurred to disturb the lines. The men marched many miles in all and they marched well. The procession was nearly two hours passing a given point. To describe it is hardly possible. Nothing like it has ever been seen in this State. From the New York Observer. The Committee of Arrangements had been hard at work for many months in making preparations, and their energy, wisdom and patriotism were fully rewarded by a magnificent celebration, and a perfect success, not an accident having occurred, and no failure in anything having marked the admirably arranged program. * * * There were nine other committees [besides the Com- mittee of Five] equally faithful and efficient, by whose combined energy this celebration was made so succesful in the minutest details. They deserve immense- credit for their indefatigable labors in carrying out » demons- tration so honorable to Newburgh and the country. From the Pouc/hkcepsie Eagle. The work of a newspaper reporter at such collossal gatherings as were seen at the Newburgh celebration is very heavy, involving not only accuracy of detail, but also a scope of observation, lightning rapidity and the exercise of the powers of remembrance to such an extent as to bring into play all the strength and endurance he possesses in the pursuance of his avocation. The New- burgh Journal had a splendid corps of men in the busi- ness, and that paper's report of the Centennial, covering as it did several days of preparation and the celebra- tion itself and two or three days of after happenings, shows upon the face of it that the editorial and repor- torial departments must have been " rushed" night and day getting it out. Taken as a whole it was work well done, and it gives to the people of that city a faithful re- production of the most minute details, and makes the Centennial Journal, both morning and afternoon edi- tions, papers worth preserving for future reference, and no doubt thousands of copies were sold. Messrs.'Bitchie & Hull are entitled to credit for their enterprise and vigor in the matter. From the New York Mail and Fxprrss. The Newburgh Centennial was a perfect and magnifi- cent success. The day was glorious; the attendance was immense; the parade was splendid; the arrangements were judicious and well carried out; the pageant was a worthy culmination of a long series of centennials, and the oration, by Mr. Evarts, was a great effort, both as a historical review of a most interesting and touching episode in the history of Washington and of the country and as a grand oratorial display. " F. W. Jr." in the Albany F.rpress. There is a delicate haze on the mountains to the north, and over all is a gorgeous splendor which is the glory of the American Fall. The picture is full of animation in the foreground and sweetness in the perspective. The observer gets away from his surroundings and imagines the fateful days in the long ago when the ragged army of Washington, unfit for war and unfit for peace, was tramping up the hills of Newburgh. You think of the illustrious soldier in this, one of his great successes, and also his great extremities, and you commence weaving a romance a century old until your day-dreams are rudely shattered by the harsh voice of a noisy huckster calling out, " Here's your portrait of de Fodder ev his country! Only fi cents ? The great George Wash. He was a good one, and don't you ferget it. Only fi cents." From the Fishkill Standard. The day was very propitious, and so full and ample were the preparations by the Centennial Committee that everything passed off in a satisfactory manner, to the great delight and pleasure of vast numbers of people, many of whom had come from scores of miles distant for the express purpose of witnessing the greatest of the Centennial celebrations. Newburgh never looked hand- somer or ap) leared to better advantage. So profuse and beautiful were the decorations that the city seemed one mass of brilliant color, and here and there was an out- burst that almost dazzled the beholder and made him think of scenes in fairyland. For days before the place had a holiday appearance, giving evidence of what might be expected on the great day, when the greatest antici- pations were not disappointed. From the Cornwall Reflector. The most remarkable order prevailed throughout the day, and little or no lawlessness was observed. The Newburgh Centennial was, certainly, an honor to the managers, and to all who participated in it. From tlir Hudson Rrr/ister. Newburgh has been drawn upon to its utmost limits, and has proved equal to the emergency. The narrow streets and narrower pavements are packed with a moving, surging throng of human beings, but the utmost order prevails, and there is little work for the large police force brought into requisition as a precautionary measure. Every individual in the vast throng appears to be on his and her own personal good behavior, and a more decor- ous crowd never assembled at any gathering. From the Albany Art/us, 1882. A celebration which will be full of significance to Amer- icans, just as the events commemorated were full of bene- fit to all mankind. COMPLIMENTS FROM PUBLIC MPN. From Charles O'Conoi: " Nanttcket, Massachusetts, t " October 5, 1883. >" " To Messrs. Petri- Ward, J. J. S. MeCroskery, J. C. Adams, J. T. Ileadlei/. M. II. Itirsrltberfj, R. T. K. Mont- fort, Committee — Oenf/emen: Retirement from active life at mjr age best observes its harmony by forbearance from appearing in person on great public occasions. I pray therefore that you kindly impute to this cause alone my non-attendance on Newburgh's Centennial, when the Hudson shall re-echo to its lofty hillside your plaudits in honor of Washington, America and Liberty. " It was when the achievements of Bunker Hill, Sara- toga and Yorktown found a reward in the benign announcement you are about to celebrate that monar- chical tyranny first heard the assured prophecy of its coming doom. Though he failed in his attempt to rivet the chains designed for a New World, Cornwallis was chosen as the messenger of desolation to the ancient abode of wealth in the yet unconquered East. Success crowned his mission, and to a rapacious aristocracy was afforded, in lieu of America's expected tribute, the rich plunder of India. Still there is reason to hope that this was only a temporary respite. The ' sons of liberty ' in America had shown that the hireling warrior was no match for a yeo- NEWBUEGH CENTENNIAL. 75 manry who were patriotic, brave and free. Washington's proclamation announced to the world that defensive war was honorable and that the lruit was peace, while cruel military aggressiveness was approaching the termination of its triumphs. Emancipated America then began the great career now brilliantly closing its first century. From that hour progress was steadily onward, winning the hearts of men and animating them to imitation. Thus has been inaugurated a mighty change. The despotisms of the Old World, hitherto so contentious, are being now driven by fear to the relinquish- ment of their sanitary strifes. Henceforth they must cultivate the policy of artful combinations against the liberties of mankind and the interests of humanity. True, the feeble races of Hindoostan yet pine in tributary bond- age to that power which perfectly represents the predato- ry tribes of ancient story and are forced not only to pay the cost of their own subjugation, but Lo furnish poison for the emasculation of the Chinese kindred. Still, like all others founded on oppression, that power is evidently tottering to its fall. Vanquished in its contest with the few brave Caucasian settlers of South Africa, it is obliged to lay aside its schemes of conquest and content itself with inflictions upon a neighboring island, or with vain attempts by absurd titles and flimsey dignities to captiv- ate the fancies of week-minded upstarts in its former colonies, which now form the most commanding nation of the earth. In such small works and the transitory enjoy- ments of a receding domination are now displayed the pretensions of that monarchy once so proud and power- ful, whose expulsion from your country you have resolved to celebrate. May the day soon arrive when the long- oppressed Hibernian, the menaced South African, the pillaged Hindostanee and the drugged Chinese shall in- vite you to join them in exultation at their deliverance, so like your own, from foreign thraldom. In the mean- time let us each morn, each noon, each night invoke the blessing: " Hail liberty ! Supreme delight, Thou Idol of the mind, Through every region spread thy light, To nations unconhned." " Yours fraternally, "CH. O'CONOR." From Admiral Cooper. " U. S. Flagship Tennessee (1st rate) f Off Newburgh, N. Y., October 18, 1883. j" "Hon. Peter Ward, Chairman Executive Committer Newburgh Centennial Celebration — Sir : Being about to leave Newburgh, with the North Atlantic Squadron, I desire to express i"o you and to all the members of your Committee my appreciation of the cordial reception and of the many attentions which you have extended to me and to the officers under my command. "It has been a great pleasure to us all to be present and to participate with you in the Newburgh Centennial celebration, and we will carry away with us most pleas- ant recollections of our visit here. "Thanking you for the interest you have taken in the navy and for your many courtesies, ' ' I am very truly yours, "Gh H. COOPER, "Sear-Admiral Commanding U. S. Na.ral Force on North Atlantic station." From General Josepih Ii. Hawley, of Connecticut, to one of the Members of the Committee of Five. I congratulate you and all other gentlemen of New- burgh who have given so much time and thought to this, the real crowning celebration of the revolutionary cen- tennials. With as few of the little mishaps and vexations that I have encountered as a manager or witnessed as a spectator in similar affairs, the celebration was a gratify- ing success. The hearty hospitality with which your guests were received will give your town a very agreeable place in their recollections, From Judge Ingalls. The occasion cannot fail to be most interesting. From the Mat/or of St. Louis. The exercises will be interesting to every American. Washing/on, Speaking of One of the Brents, in 1783. On such a happy day * * * it would be in- gratitude not to rejoice, it would be insensibility not to participate in the general felicity. From Mayor Ward. The historic soil which witnessed the fruition of the hopes of the patriot army is the fitting theatre for com- memorating both the event and its unexampled results. From General Schofleld, V. S. A. No event in the history of our country is more worthy of celebration than the final triumph of our patriotic ancestors in their heroic struggle for their inde- pendence. irom Judge Daniels. The events to be commemorated are justly and deeply cherished, not only by all Americans, but also by every lover and aspirant of liberty throughout the civilized world. From Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. Few -thing would afford me greater pleasure than to listen to the oration of my friend M. Evarts and to recall, under the inspiration of his eloquence, the grand inci- dents in the life of Washinnton and the history of our country in which New-burgh was a scene. From General Robert C. Schenck. Certainly the history of our country records no more momentous events and revives no more stirring emotions of patriotism than are connected with the closing scenes of the Revolutionary war in and about your city and this whole neighborhood. From W. A. Jones, Norwieh, Conn. As the culminating centennial of the Revolutionary War, second {if second) in interest and national impor- tance only to the centennial of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, 1776, this glorious anniversary merits a splen- did memorial, which I trust and believe it will receive in your proposed celebration. From F.r-Governor Lucius Robinson. One of the grandest events in the history of the world. The celebration will, I trust, stimulate the American people to an emulation of the unselfish patriotism, the heroic devotion, the endurance, the courage and all the manly virtues which made the results of the war possible and forever memorable. From an address by Hon. James G. Graham. In no other centennial has Washington been the central figure of reverence. Here, above all, honor should be paid him, for after achieving by arms his country's inde- pendence, he here refused the offered crown, quelled the spirit of military anarchy and thus secured the establish- ment of a republic. From Hon. William W. Belknap. The patriotic associations which will surround your city on that - dav, the fact that Newburgh is my birth- place, and that the old Headquarters building is the first house in which I attended school, all unite in making me wish to be with you. It will be a day which will cheer every patriotic heart and make every true man proud of his countrv. 76 NEW BURGH CENTENNIAL. From Jacob F. Miller. The closing scenes of the Revolution are well calculated to eTcite our liveliest interest. When we consider the weakness of the Federal Government and its consequent well-known inability to protect the people, the hardships endured by the army with scarcely any pay, the influence which Washington had with his soldiers and the ease with which they might have made common cause for their own aggrandizement, * * we cannot but admire the patriotism of Washington in refusing the tempting offer of a crown and the restraint which he put upon himself in order that a Republican Government might be established. Had Napoleon or one like him been in the place of Washington, we might not yet have been in the enjoyment of free institutions. Surely he "that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." I trust that the day may be fair and that many persons may be able to attend the exercises. From the Governor of Kansas. It is flttting that the series of centennial anniversaries which have been held during the past eight years * * * should close with the imposing pageant you have inaugurated, which in interest must transcend them all, as being held on the cherished ground which wit- nessed the last act in the great drama, namely, the dis- banding of the army by order of Congress * * * at the close of the ever memorable and heroic struggle of our sires for liberty. Mindful of the wonderful progress which within the hundred years has been made by this Republic, placing it in material prosperity above and in power by the side of the foremost nations on the globe, and sensible of the undying debt of gratitude we owe those patriot sires for all these blessings, may the thousands of the happy descendents of the heroes of the days of Washing- ton and the gallant men of '76 who will be assembled * * * bow with uncoveaed heads to pay their homage to their deeds and virtues — those pleasing rites which cannot but awaden the fires of patriotism and make them more capable of performing their duty as American citizens. From Hon. Joel T. Headley. The greatest events of the world are not those which are accompanied with outward commotion and tumult. Thoughts, principles, purposes, move the world. Con- cord and Lexington are rememberod because the musket shots on the village green on that bright spring morning were the answer to the anxious question of Hancock, and Adams, and others, "Will the people fight?" Bunker Hill, because it made the conflict inevitable and settled the question whether the colonies would organize a de- termined conflict for their rights; Independence Hall be- cause it pledged the nation to freedom. But all these looked only to independence of the mother country, to a separate nationality, like England or France. With only this accomplished our work would have been but half done. Not merely a constitutional government, based on our declaration of rights, but a republic is what the world needed. Here at these old headquarters at Newburgh that question first came up in public discus- sion, and Washington showed to the army what his course would be. Here the dictatorship and the crown were offered him. Here, after his refusal, it was resolved to induce the army to march on Congress, and break it up as did Cromwell the Long Parliament. Here, Wash- ington declared, occurred the greatest crisis in our long struggle, one that filled him with more alarm than all the disasters of the past seven years, and here at last were exhibited the noblest self-devotion and the loftiest patri- otism the world has ever witnessed. From, Cyrus B. Martin, former Editor of the Newburgh . Journal. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to unite with my old friends and neighbors of Newburgh in the observances with which they propose to commemorate * * * the Cen- tennial of those " closing events of the Revolution" which occurred on and about the site of your beautiful city. Your people have done well to make the commemora- tion a national and merely not a local affair, and the Na- tional and State authorities in seconding your efforts in this direction, have shown a proper appreciation of the real importance and significance of the notable occurrences which the proposed commemorative services will do so much to freshen and fix in the minds of present and fu- ture generations. There were many phases and incidents of the struggle of our fathers for liberty which ought not be allowed to pass from the fainiliar knowledge of their descendants; and of these none should be oftener recalled or recorded with more proud and patriot fervor, than those critical and crucial events of which Newburgh and the country immediately surrounding it was the the- atre during the two years which closed with the memor- able 18th of October, 1783. Citizenship on Newburgh's sacred and consecrated soil confers a lasting honor, of which those who have borne it are justly proud; and few thus favored could willingly fail to respond in person to a call to participate in so pa- triotic an observance as that to which you have invited, me. From George William Curtis, April, 1882. The surrender of Burgoyne, the treason of Arnold, and the dangerous dissatisfaction of the Army at Newburgh are three of the chief incidents of the war, and the scene of all of them was the Hudson. There are plenty of minor incidents which fill the story of the river with pa- triotic interest, but these are the great events. ********* One of the great centennial celebrations of the last six years has been that of the surrender of Burgoyne. But there is one more which will complete the series of cen- tennaries of a truly national character, and that is the hundredth anniversary of Washington's refusal of the crown, his pacification of the army at Newburgh, and its peaceful disbanding. These events mark the moment in which he stayed the American Revolution from taking the course of the English Revolution of 1645, and the French Revolution of 1789. It was the hour in which the greatness of Washington was contrasted with that of Cromwell and Napoleon, and no event in American his- tory merits more perpetual and particular commemora- tion. "Washington's Headquarters" at Newburgh are forever associated with the essential grandeur of Wash- ington and the sure foundation of the republic. It was there that the commander-in-chief, alone, prevented the great victory, after the long and terrible conflict, from ending in an incalculable catastrophe, and alone secured the well-ordered and lawful peace for which the war had been waged. With such a national celebration the great cycle of cen- tenaries will fitly end. The war that began at Lexington and Concord Bridge in 1775 finally ended at Newburgh in 1783, and ended happily only because of the trans- cendant greatness of the leader in recalling the army to itself. It should be among the most highly honored, ay it is among the most profoundly interesting, events of the war. Burgoyne had been crushed, Cornwallis had sur- rendered, Carleton alone remained; and awaiting British movements, Washington suddenly confronted a greater danger than any British army. But before his steady soul both dangers vanished. Truly it is a national event, and should be nationally commemorated. >#& ■*ET£ ■M fl« :S ££■-: pOj*0^ ■■+. ■ jifat