» >.J 3 5a 3 >»33 3 3 >v>> 13 :333 ~> > o> - >»3s>» ■ 3 *■« 3 ;>,?>> 3 > 3 >-3 3 51> 3>"50> J>0 > »»J>- s> 3 ... 3>>' r, 3 > ^> ^>.>~> ■> > 3* -3 ~y3> > -->-»2u> 3 3£>3>3 3 ' 3>>>3 i> 13 » G> . -> >>>3 3 © ■ 3 i i ) 3>» 3 iJD 3 KO ■ >1»& 3 B»3 3 ao > ,5 r7» 3 3|£> 3 >i? ^> >_Q 3 >/> » 3 »3 . -> J 2> 3 3 . 2> 5 3> . 3 O 3»> P > 3> >»3 4= 3p ' 3> 3 2. 3fe ■> > 33 3"3 13b ^ ><• 3 x> 3 <■?> 3*> 3 ~> 33 3 3 ^p 3 3 5> !>^rS> 3- £> » 3 3 :■» >' ) X)5? 3*> > £> -3d: 5^> 3s> • ■■■ 3 5 33 3 >35) 33 33 3 5 3»> 3 3 33 ^"2?3B> ■•-•• 3.3 .io:«T& 3 j 3 33 ^ -' "*>' 3-> 3 33 >~> im> .3 »3 .33 >»3S> o ^3 > 3 33 vY'D . >3 3 s» 3 » ?3S> ' >£> 5> xj3S> >3 3> > l3 3> » 3 g> r2> • »»3> x. ^»:-JB> .- . >i> „ > >:> » »sa» ?3> , ; » 2>;>^*» >£> >i ■ -<■>, > >> »>j 333> s» :».>••>:» • ^>x> .*>>' -» 3>a> «> .,-< '>^»J3S» 3» 3> 3>3 ^> 1d3 3 2»3 r> >^>3 ?^ 3>t>3 > )J)> I> > -3 > 3> 03 3 3^ >3 3 ZP 50 3 ^^ 5»3 3 !3> > 3 3 r» >).) ^^ 33 3 3 3J3 3 3 ^> •3 3 ^> * >3^ » 3 3 ► > 3 » 3 3 » 3 3 , '.-3>'3 3iSe> 3 > 3*3 3">>I> , 3 i3» 3 Bfc> 3 3)3 ' 3 2»J3 3 3» 3 0>3 3 Eg* ^> . 3 ^- '33 3> 3^>2» 3>^ ^> 3^3 ^ WS> ' - 5.3 _ S3 IBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRESENTED BY UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. *i>3>' ..3>3>'".^ ■ ■' ■ ~Z 3>53JTS! 3 3>>-3 ^ 3X» 3> ^ •33 ••3*"^ !3K>--3>'3> 33-;: ''X>52> '^3 . >->> 3> 3»>3>' r 3) 39 "3> 3R» "3> "3> 33 3>>3. 3>3 r £» ■3»>3> 3>>€> 3- -J3 ^3»>3 '•■• .■•^3-' ■ 3*>*> - ■.: 3 ).|> 1 ■- j, .3 >i5> > : 3^j-:ns 3^3 . 3 .33-. . v 3»l> ' : .3 ' ^> fc» ^>, ■■• 3> 3 33 _.3> 3»> 3 1 - 3>>.^ L .3 :■• 3 - . as* 2> > 3 DQ» "3 33a ;3> 33>-3> 3>3>T> 3>> -^ a». 3> 3&^ : 3> 5>> 2>» >-> ;»» 3>3 >■ :> ■ >• 3 3 . > :> :, 3 3> ^>/_»3 ~i»>3> 3-3-^0 »3 3 --3. : 3 33^3 3 3^t> 3>3^S>' :». 3 >3.lM3 ;?*^ 3 3Tg^ 3 3 3 1^3 2>*t23KB >-:> 3* ..3 '3-s f53 4» ">'">iD l>JQW»---3. ':.3 4^» " '13 IS»3 > -3 x • : 5> >s> >>r> ^r^»^r^ ;'?^ >SW»> 3* ■ 2»- r ^>-' 3 -33*3 > 3 §» 33>3 ^l» 3 33K> ^g» 3» >■■-3 "3>^*3 33*3> 333 "3» 3 >3g> 1>33 3» >.^>3S> ■ -J >t?3 ^3>>3 33g> • 3' ■ 2K>3".V^»' 3 3»3 3»> 5 ^«» > -;JB> > • 3 -3>> 3 »3B* > 1 3 3»3 >2» ■ ■ ■ ..> 3 3»3 • ?H> >: 3> 3>>>^3> >: * 33HBJ » 33>>1 /» 1 " 3 » ■■ ;>3i> v ' ■ >>3) I 3- i-->t»..X„ >»I3J 3 o;>'3> 3*»Z^ 3 3 .-;J> 33>3>r> 3 3 r 3 .33X>^> 3>3>3> v..\>J*» 3> >3ai» 3> 3JD>3> 333D3Z>- >3>303*"^ : 3> * 3 3»^ ''3> » 3 3>J X> ■>> ■ 3 3» >, - : l«> 3-> 3 3» >■ E8» » > ^>- >» >3» • 3> 3 » . 2> 2pOi» ' 35 3 ■3V' » 3>- 3>>T3»^73r > :>> »3D ~> S£S>' . :>m> • :>m> gog> 3 SO >> >> } ^ :> ■ ' ^ 4* ■ >>0>0 =■ 3 3 ^>0>i> - 3 3 >0»'3 ~Df > 3*3 P^ «^> 3 ^Z> 33 3G> . :> >J3_I> 3p 3 3 :>->£> 1»2> ■ ^> g§> ' > ^2> ' 3#1> :33^ :>3>.3> >5v> ■■■• -^.»i> ■ > 3D J>_ • - ~» 3 _ 3D 3>_ .3D -3>1 > G3> 3>-> >z> j> soC > > ,L>>3> ^G ::> > >^» ._3> 5fc> - ^> -= >oc "> «>\ "^ ^ l> :32g> >5> ?> Z>2>£> ~z*3^sr "_3>3S> ' 032> 32> 3SIBP 3M> »1> •"■■5>3S> 3»3t5> > ^>^DZ> 3»3ji>3». > . S»I3Qiros: 3mS>- ^iO> o>>^|» '--.3 "2362 330 ■ s>> z>_3 ->0^»R».» : ^e>^>i* : 5" O ^>53>3» £2W52|g>^> ■■■' C >> '3>3» •fl>.»3»aiB» > > C>_ > > > 1>_ S 3 »-> >T> •2>> Z> 5 3>> • SZi »3> 5 > o > > S" CITY OF MEMPHIS Shelby County, Tennessee, HISTORICAL ADDRESS JULY 4th, 1876, BY HON. W: Tf AVERY. .1 Vv * My Fellow Countrymen and Country- women, composing this vast concourse of* people — In approaching the per formance of the duty which has been assigned me to-day, t do so distrusting in no slight degree my ability to fulfill in a manner befitting the magnitude and importance of the occasion. And with its magnitude and importance I am profoundly impressed.' Very much afraid am I, too, that those who hear me to day will be disappointed in the character of the address they will listen to. Although the requirements of the occasion call more especially for historic facts than rhapsodies of fancy, yet one more gifted than myself might well invest his lofty theme with those charms of oratory which it will not be possible for me, in the poverty of my resources, to employ. We are here, therefore, in patriotic response to a resolution ol Congress, as well as a proclamation of the President, for the purpose of making a brief and com- pendiou? history of our county and our city, that the same may be filed with — the Librarian of Congress at Wash- ington, and also in the archives of our own county. And it is a pleasing thought that today, at this hour, throughout the length and breadth of the land, everywhere in this great Re- public of ours on this, our Centennial day, this patriotic duty is being per- formed. So, then, my fellow citizens of the county of Shelby, you will please be content with the plain recital of such facts and incidents connected with the early history of our county and our city, and the mention of those revered names closely identified with their foundation, as I shall be able crudely and imperfectly to group together in the brief space of time it will be proper to employ in the presentation of them ; I hope, too, it will be borne in mind that in the short time allotted it will be impossible to embrace in this sketch many, very many of the names and in- cidents it would be both pleasing and profitable to record. The great diffi- culty which confronts me at the thresh- old is not the paucity of material, but from the varied historical facts, inci- dents and names which crowd upon the memory of your historian which to select and which to discard. I wish it was possible that the early history of every name con- nected with the first settlement of our county and our town could find a. place in this imperfect record; knowing most of them personally as I did, it would be a labor of love to em- balm their memories in historic paye. But this cannot be done. To my task then. The spot we inhabit to day is rich in the history of the past. It was upon these bluffs that more than three hundred years atro, not fiity years after that great navigator, Columbus, had lifted from the seas a hidden continent and held out to view a new and undis- covered world ; that that wonderful but ill fated Spaniard, Hernando DeSoto, discovered our great river and with the crucifix in one hand and the sword in the other, planted upon its savage banks the Christian cross. A little be- low our city still stand, despite the effacing fingers of time, the remains of the mounds of Chisca, which history tells us is the name of the village which DeSoto founded upon reaching the river. A little more than one hundred years thereafter, Father Marquette, a missionary, together with an explorer named Joliette, descend- ed the Mississippi in canoes, and from the maps and charts accom- panying the history of their explora- tions, evidently camped for a season upon these bluffs, as they passed along. A few years thereafter a French ex- plored named La Salle, under a com- mission from his Government to "per- fect the discovery of the Mississippi," built a fort and established the armies of France upon the 4th Chick as**/ Bluff. In 1739, Bienville, third Gover- nor of Louisiana, and founder of New Orleans, in his campaign against the Chickasaws, established Fort Assump- tion, and remained the winter here. In 1782 General Gayoso, from whom the bayou that runs up stream through our city, from its southern to its northern limits, takes its name, by authority of the Spanish Government, occupied the bluff, and at the mouth of Wolf river established Fort Fernandina. In 1803 General Pike took possession of the fort and planted the stars and stripes in place of the Spanish flag. Some time thereafter General Wilkerson dis- mantled this fort and established Fort Pickeiing which stood down near the Jackson Mounds long after my remembrance, and I have often seen hoys with their pocket knives picking out the bullets embedded in the timbers of the old block houses of the fort. Shelby county was named in honor of Isaac She by, the first Governor of Kentucky, and who, by the side of Sevier, distinguished himself at the battle of King's Mountain. In 1818, together with General Jackson, he nego- tiated upon this bluff an advantageous treaty with the Chickasaws, by which were ceded to the United States all the lands in West Tennessee, then known as the Chickasaw purchase. The coun- ty was established bv an act of the Leg- islature, then sitting at Murfreesboro, passed November 24, 1819, and on the 1st day of May, 1820, the first Court was organized, composed of Wm. Irvine, Chairman; Jacob Tipton, Anderson B. Carr, M. B. Winchester, ThosTD. Uarr, and Benj. Willis. The first county offi- cers were: Sam'l R. Brown, Sheriff; Wm. Lawrence, Clerk; Thos. Taylor, Register; Alex. Ferguson, Ranger; William A. Davis, Trustee; Gideon Carr, Coroner; William FJettis "and William Dean, Constables, and John J. Perkins sworn in as attorney. The first Grand Jurors of the county were Thomas H. Persons, foreman; Wm. Roberts, John Grace, John W. Oadham, Drury Betas, Patrick Meagh- ar, Thomas Palmer, Humphrey Williams, J. W. Riddle, J. Fletcher, Joseph James, and Robert Quinby. The first Petit Jury ever sworn in the coun- ty were Daniel Harkleroad, Robert Mc- Allister, W7m~ T Fhompson, Tilman Bet- tis, Enos Wade, Wm. Bettis, W. D. Ferguson, Gideon Carr, Wm. West, Ar- nold Kelly and Benjamin Willis, sworn to try Henry Gibson for an assault "and battery. It will be observed that this was the beginning of civil government in our county and that this initial court had all the jurisdiction of our Chancery, Circuit, Criminal and County Courts; hence the responsibility of the court was great, and the sterling character, unbending integrity, and good sense of the men who composed it left their im- press upon the community they estab- lished. The County of Shelby is the wealthiest in the State, occupying the extreme south- west corner of the State, and em- 3 bracing an area of 720 square miles, with a taxable property of about $40,000,000, being one-eighth of the whole taxable property of the whole State. At the organization of the county, in 1820, there were but 364 inhabitants; in 1830, 5648; in 1840, 14,721; in 1850, 31,157; in 1860,48,092; and in 1870, 76,378, show- ing an increase of population far out- stripping any other county in the State. Besides the city of Memphis, the county can boast of quite a number of flourish- ing villages, situated on the different lines of railroad running out from the city — Bartlett, Germantown, Collier- ville and others, the last mentioned being 24 miles out on the Memphis and Charleston railroad, a place of much commercial importance, with a popula- tion of some 1200. I wish I had time and opportunity to allude in befitting terms to the geology, topography and soil of this magnificent county. To tell of its varied resources, the salubrity of its climate, the cheapness of its lands, the rich yield of its products, and the variety of its production*, its railroad and other facilities, its schools, colleges and other institutions its great resources and advantages, and to present to you to day as it deserves to be presented the wonderful advance- ment which has been made in all the material interests that go to make up a great and prosperous part of a Kate. But I must rapidly pass from this cur- sory view of our county to our own town, whose history is part and parcel of the county. Memphis, like its namesake of the Nile, stands upon the banks of a great inland sea, with a delta broader and richer far thau that through which the great Egyptian river flowed in the days of the grandeur, wealth and glory of its ancient^ metro- » polis. It is the chief city, and about equi-distant between St. Louis, and Louisville and New Orleans. It was laid out as a town in 1819, on what is known as the John Rice grant, being a grant of 5000 acres of land by the State of North Carolina to John Rice, John Rice having parted with his in- terest to John Overton, Andrew Jack- son, William, George and James Winchester, who were the original proprietors of the town. In 1822, how- ever, Gen. Jackson sold his proprietary interest to John C. McLemore. Jacob Tipton was appointed Surveyor Gen- eral of this, tne eleventh surveyor's district. Of the long list of Deputy Surveyors appointed by Gen. Tipton to lay off and survey this vast territory recently acquired, consisting of John Ralston, William Lawrence, James Vaulx, James Caruthers, John H. Bills, Nathan and Joel Pinson and James Brown, the last mentioned only re- mains, and is to-day spending the rem- nant of his days in peace and quietude with his children in the neighborhood of Memphis. The old tavern, known as the "Bell Tavern," where Tipton had his surveyor's office, and where Jackson and Overton, and the Win- chesters and McLemore, all of them, used to "put up," still stands on the corner of Toncray's alley and Front street, an old building with cedar posts in the ground and weather- boarded up. I believe it was at that time kept by Col. Nathan Anderson, as grand a type of the old Virginia gen- tleman as that famous old State ever sent to the wilderness of the West. He has children and grandchildren still among us Rearing his honored name. Although the town was laid off in 1819, yet it was not until 1826 that by an act of the Legislature it was made an incorporated town, and on the 3d of March, 1827, the first election was held for town officers, composed of M. B. Winchester, Mayoi, and Joseph L. Davis, John Hook, N. B. Atwood, George J*. Graham and John R. Doug- herty, Aldermen ; the two last of whom, however, died during the year, their places being filled by Nathaniel Ander- son and Littleton Henderson. During that year, the county seat was moved from Memphis to Raleigh, where it re- mained ior more than forty years. The first Postmaster in Memphis was Captain Thomas Stewart, an offi- cpr of the Twenty-fourth regiment of United States infantry, and formerly a citizen of Jonesboro, East Tennessee. He, however, died soon after his ap- pointment, and is buried where the First Presbyterian Church now stands, at the corner of Third and Poplar, that being the first graveyard in Memphis. Marcus B. Winchesler was the success- or of Capt. Stewart, and remained Post- master for many years. The first bank in Memphis was the Farmers' and Merchants', established in 1835, with Robert Lawrence, President, and Chas. Lofland Cashier. The old building in which itdid its first business still stands on the northeast corner of Main and Winchester streets, with the figures 303 prominently painted high up on its walls. This is the first point in Tennes see where LaFayette landed in his tri- umphal visit to the United States in 1824, and the last that the immortal Crockett ever saw of his natve State when he turned his face toward strug- gling Texas to meet his sad fate at the fall of the Alamo. The population of Memphis in 1820 was 53; in 1830, 663; in 1840, 2,000; in 1850, 10,000; in 1860, 27,623; in 1870, 48,230. The city direc- tory for 1876 shows 15,260 names against 13,472 iu the last directory. Multiply- ing the number of names by four, as is the most common custom, would give us a present population of 61,040, and an increase of 7,152 since the publi- cation of the last directory. In 1826, the first corporate year of Memphis, her cotton receipts were 300 bales, all told; in 1830, 1000 bales; in 1840, 35,000: in 1850-51, 163,000; in 1860-61, 396,000. The sales of cotton this year amounted to $39,000,000; sales of merchandise to $9,700,000; of articles manufactured here, $3,000,000; total business, $51,700,000. Of the year 1870-71, I have no reliable statistics; but tor the years 1873-74 the receipts of cotton were 417,171 bales, value of gen- eral merchandise and cotton, $73,016,- 867; of articles manufactured here, $5, 300,860; total business, $78,317,777, an increase since 1861, of $24,316,867 in gen- eral business, and of $2,300,860 in value of manufactured articles produced here. The figures for the current year have not been made up, but I am informed by John S. Toof, Esq., the efficient and able Secretary ot the Chamber of Com- merce, that to date the receipts have reached 481,081 bales, and by Septem- ber 1st, the end of the commercial year, they will reach close upon 500,000 bales, with a corresponding increase in the sales of general merchandise and manufactured articles produced here. The volume of receipts, therefore, properly ranks Memphis as the third in importance of aU the great cot ton receiving points in the United States. Up to about the year 1836-7, as some amongst us may still remember, a great rivalry existed between Randolph and Memphis; the former town at one time shipping as much cotton and doing as much business as Memphis; an 1 it seemed about to wrest from her the palm of commercial superiority. But about that period the United States Government purchased from theChick- asaws that vast scope of magnificent country which now makes up the whole of North Mississippi, the rapid settle- ment of which, all tributary to Mem- phis, threw into her lap a large and increasing trade, and Randolph per- ished as a place of business. It is ever pleasing to recur to the early history of our county and our city, and of the sterling men who founded them, but peculiarly so is it upon this Centennial occasion. We ought, indeed, to fully appreciate this great opportunity of put- ting upon record, in something like enduring form, their names and deeds. The history of every country shows that the pioneers, the first set- tlers, the men who blazed the pathway and established the civilization of the country, were marked men in their day and generation; men noted for their high integrity, energy and enterprise. They are the men who stamp the im- press of their character upon the country they establish. Look at the Boones, Shelbys, Clays, Hardins, Hendersons and Adairs of Kentucky; the Bentons, Atchisons and others of Missouri; the Seviers, Pikes, Yells, Johnsons, of Ar- kansas; the lioustons, Busks, Austins, Burlesons, of Texas; the Jacksons, Car- rolls Craigheads, Whites, Overtons, Seviers, Tiptons, Crocketts, Winches- ters, of Tennessee; and then coming along down to our own goodly countv, look at the men who were its first set- tlers—the men who wrested from the savage, who had held undisputed pos- session of this vast country, the scepter of civilization, and planted deep and broad in the fairest portion of our State the great principles of civil government and enlightened liberty. Let me put upon record such of their names as I can call to mind, that they may be re- membered and their memories cher- ished: NSthaniel Anderson, M. B. Win- chester, Anderson B. Carr, Charles D. McLean, James Rose, John Houston, Neil B. Holt, Zacheus Joiner, Tilma n Bettis, who landed at the mouTh~of Wolf in 1819 on a flatboat with his fami- ly; Enoch and James Banks, Solomon Rozell, Wilks BrooKs, N. Ragiand, Eugene Magevney, Isaac Raw lings, Robert Lawrence, G. B. Locke, Fraz t Titus, S. M. Nelson, Samuel Mosby, Joseph H. Mosby, J. J. Rawlings, \V. D. Fergusou, Charles Lofiand, John Ralston, Wyatt Christian, Robertson Topp, Seth Wheailey, Hez j kiah Cobb, Samuel Leake, Richard Le;>ke, John R. Frayser, Starkey Redditt, John F. Sehabel, John Y. Bayliss, Emanuel Young and his worthy sons, Gus, Tom and Henry, James D. Davis, Edwin Hickman, Frederick Christian, Jesse Benton, Roger Barton, Wm. Battle, John K. Balch, Joseph Graham, John D. Graham, John W. Fowler, S. T. Toncray, Cesario Bias, Geo. W. Fisher, James C. Jones, and then the Reaves, Remberts, Smiths and Taylors of Raleigh; the Harrels, Messicks, Pres- cotts, Peytons, Parks, McKeons, Green- laws, Newsoms, Richards, Kimbroughs, Persons, Bunds, Lakes, Fowlkes, Do- tys, Waldrans, Duncans, Echols, Eck- lins, Hardaways, Hawkins, Harts, Howards, Holmes, Popes, Rudisils, Sanderlins, Spickeroagles, Trezevants, Triggs, Whitsitts. Eppy aud John D. White, Yates, Dunns, Tales, Buutyns, Goldsbys, and many others I might mention. And, let me say here, that if all the children or children's children who chance to see that the names of their worthy fathers are not in this brief record, let it be charged to the frailty of human recollection, and not that they did not deserve a place in this imperfect role. At the period of which I now particu- larly speak, because my personal iden- tity with Memphis dates from that time, I think I can mention every law yer, doctor and merchant, of which Memphis could then boast. Of THE MERCHANTS, let me mention Wilks Brooks, Joseph Cooper, Isaac Rawlings, M. B. Win- chester, Anderson B. Carr, Wiley Kim- brough, Samuel Mosby, W. D. Dab ney, Nelson & Titus, La wrence& Davis, Neil McCeul, Zich Edmonds, Nath. Anderson, Park & Graham, and W. B. Miller, who was the pioneer wholesale merchant of the city. The doctors were Dr. Wyatt Christian (a great and good man),Wheatley & Frayser, our present estimable Dr. John R. Frayser and M. B. Sappington. The lawyers consisted of R. C. MeAlpin, P. G. Gaines, Seth Wheatley and Robertson Topp, whose mortal remains were followed to the grave the oth^r day by a large con- coufse of the oldest citizens of the city. The preachers at this early period prin- cipally, were Father Whitsitt, Silas T. Toncray. Elijah CoffVy, and the now venerable Thomas P. Davidson, still living in the neighborhood, whose cir- cuit extended throughout the length and breadth of this wilderness of the West. OLD TIME NEWSPAPERS. The first newspaper published here was the Memphis Advocate, by Thos. Phoebus. Soon thereafter it was sup- planted by the Memphis Gazette, pub- lished by P. G. Gaines and James H. Murray, printed on material purchased from our venerable patriarch, Charles D. McLean, himself the pioneer of the press in West Tennessee, and then pub- lishing in Jackson, Tenn., the leading journal in all this country — The Jack- son Gazette. About this time, however, there was being published at Randolph Tenn., the rival town heretofore alluded to, a larger paper called the Randolph Recorder, by F. S.Latham, one of the pioneers of the press in this country, who is still living not many miles away, and illustrates more vividly the character of a hard handed granger, with hay seed in his hair, than of the honest, bold pioneer journalist of earlier days. In 1836 Latham started the En- quirer, with whom that accomplished journalist J. H. McMahon subsequently became identified. McMahon afterward established the Bulletin. And Latham again, in January, 1842, printed at Fort Pickering the Memphis Eagle, which I have seen him myself dis- tribute to his Memphis subscribers from a bundle tied up in a bandanna hand- kerchief. After the Enquirer, followed the Western World aud Memphis Ban- ner of the Constitution, by Solon Bor- land. What a name! Then came the lamented Van Pelt with the Appeal, which alone of all this long list, together with many others I might mention, has stood the vicissitudes of time, and still maintains its high place as a jour- nalistic power in the land. The Ava- lanche, founded by M. C. Gallaway in 1858, also takes rank among the lead- ing journals of the day. The Ledger, a live evening daily, besides half a dozen weeklies, both religious and secular, go to swell the newspaper record of our city. My countrymen, although not cov- etous of being considered an old man, I have myself seen the red man of the forest, whose primeval home was not a half day's journey on horseback from where we now stand, pushed away across the gr^at river, over to the wilderness of the west, aud the native wilds he then inhabited, peopled by a hardy, intelligent and enterprising population. . Flourishing towns and young cities, marts of commerce and centers of civilization and refinement now adorn the places where savage huts then stood. I have personally known every chief magistrate Memphis has ever had (save those appointed by military authority during the war), from Winchester, the first, down to His Honor Judge Flippin, who is help- ing us celebrate here to-day. I have seen every stately structure that now stands between Pinch and Pickering rise from the earth in their majesty and beauty, monuments, as they are, to the skill, enterprise, energy and public spirit of such citizpnsas Lemuel Austin, the Saffarans, Charley Jones, the lament- ed Greenlaws, and many others I might mention, who builded up this young city of ours. And now, having, in afeebleand im- perfect manner, presented some of the leading historical features connected with the foundation of our county and our city, aud made honorable mention )f such names as I could bring to mem> ory connected therewith, may we not be pardoned if we pause for a moment on the top of this Centennial Pisgah where we stand to-day, and taking a more extended range of vision, view OUR PROMISED LAND. Look at it as it stands mapped out before us and before the world to-day! From thirteen snarsely populated colo- nies, with three millions o( people, this Centennial day dawned on thirty-eight independent States, some of them young empires in themselves, with iorty millions of population. But a little while ago, long within the mem- ory of many who hear me to-day, the star of our empire had scarcely peeped over the blue heights of the Alleghauies in the east. This star, still westward taking its onward way, has gone on, and on, and on, until it has shot across a continent, and to-day shines its glit- tering sheen in the placid waters of the golden shored facific. May we not be pardoned, then, for indulging in a little patriotic c c <:C < . oc. c^ c «- . «£?>. c ■ . <; < ? •« «3tt . C c C .1 -'■■' *JH~V c\< C <2C Cc.CC .'■«vc <&3C dec tCx < c < ,; c_ ^ CC c«cc .;- ;>. : «C -saC :cco < -CI- «T' : cc©- c: C'C «CT, C « L-.«Kjf' cC 1 c «rc . :; «i. - «3