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Show 1984 's Anniversaries Brown H3 Baltimore ' , ' McCorm.ck f-,- V'fV 'vw., f - h-TMfA . -.... sv; EdqarA. Poe First Oil Well in U.S., 1859 ffjarKSrTA Zachartj Taylor t By ELMO SCOTT WATSON iWTHE beginning of a new year is a tf9 1 time or 'ook'n8 forward and j VL) planning how to make the best J use of the' 12 months, the 52 I weeks, the 3G5 days which will Y&ji-iv ;'iSjS; be. ours during the coming year. I j't I 's a'so 8 -!me or 'oozing back- A ji f A ward over the past year and the Jj K n other years that have gone be-y be-y i I fre to take stock of our accom-1 accom-1 I pllshments and to benefit by our & " experience. One evidence of our pride In the American tradition Is the custom of observing In one way or another the anniversaries of certain events Vhlch proved to be significant In our national development. Taking the century, 100 years, as the unit of time which Indicates antiquity and a corresponding reverence for those things "which must be good because they are old" we have fallen Into the custom of pausing In the mrdst of the busy present and our plans for the future to hark back to the past and recall Its events. We do this not only on the one hundredth anniversary, which we call the centennial, but also upon the anniversary of multiples and fractions frac-tions of that period of time. Thus we frequently celebrate the twenty-fifth, the fiftieth and the seventy-fifth anniversary of events rather than wait for the one hundredth anniversary and we are even more pleased In our feeling of honoring antiquity when we can celebrate the sesqul-cen-tennlal (one hundred fiftieth), the bi-centennial (two hundredth) or the trl-cente'nnial (three hundredth) of some event In American history. As the year 1934 opens, an examination of American history will show that we will have occasion for a number of these celebrations if we choose. The only quad-centennial (four hundredth) hun-dredth) anniversary of any importance is that of the voyage of Jacques Cartier, the Frenchman, who In 1534 passed Newfoundland and discovered discov-ered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Two events of 1034 afford an opportunity for trl-centennial celebrations and plans are already under way for them. From "Michigan comes the " word that the Mackinac Island State Park commission com-mission is preparing a tercentenary celebration on that Island next summer of the voyage of a Frenchman, Jean NIcolet, upon whom the mantle of Samuel de Champlain, as explorer toward the west, had fallen. On July 1, 1634, NIcolet, accompanied ac-companied by seven Huron Indians, set out from Three Rivers on the St Lawrence, ascended the Ottawa river, went across to Georgian bay, paddled pad-dled his canoe along the north shore of Lake Huron to Sault Ste. Marie, passed through the Straits of Mackinac and was the first white man to gaze upon Lake Michigan, known then and for many j-ears afterwards as the Lake of the Illinois. Continuing down the western shore ef Lake Michigan, Nicolet and his companions entered Green Bay and landed, there to be greeted by party of Winnebago Indians with whom he made an agreement that they should take their furs to the French posts on the St. Lawrence to trade. He pushed on to visit other tribes, ascended as-cended the Fox river to the central part of Wisconsin Wis-consin and spent the winter there, returning to Quebec in 1635 to report to Champlain. The other tercentenary celebration which Is already under way but which will reach its climax cli-max during the coming year is that of the founding found-ing of the colony of Maryland from which grew the state of that name. In 1G32 King Charles I of England granted to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a large tract of land lying north of the Potomac river and south tt the Plymouth colony's boundaries. Calvert's potlve In seeking this grant was a desire to open in the New world a refuge for men of his own faith, the Koman Catholics, who were then suffering persecution In England. Under the charter granted to Calvert he had larger powers than had yet been granted to any colony settling in America and thus there was introduced here a new form of government, known as the proprietary pro-prietary system. But Calvert died before the signing of the charter char-ter and his son, Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, received the grant. Opposition from Virginia made It advisable for him to remain in England to protect his rights, so he appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, as lieutenant-general of the colony which had been given the name of Maryland, In honor of King Charles' Catholic queen, Henrietta Maria. On November 22, 1633, two ships, the Ark and the Dove, left Cowes bearing Lord Baltimore's two brothers, Leonard and George Calvert, "with very nearly twenty gentlemen of very good fashion," fash-ion," most of whom were Catholics, and "about three hundred laboring men well provided in all things," the majority of whom were Protestants. On March 25, 1634, the colonists landed on an island at the junction of the Potomac river and Chesapeake bay to which they gave the name of , St. Clement's island, where for the first time in history a party of English Catholics celebrated mass. Finding this island too small for the site of a settlement, a little later the colonists sailed down the river until they came to the mouth of a stream to which they gave the name River St. George. Ascending this a little way they came to an Indian village and purchased from them for some axes, hatchets and "several yards of cloth" the site of the first permanent settlement settle-ment in Maryland, to which was given the name of St. Mary's. Although March 25 is the Important date In Maryland history, the principal celebration of the Maryland tercentenary in 1931 will be held on June 20, since it was on June 20, 1632, that Lord Baltimore was granted his charter by King Charles and more favorable weather for the celebration cele-bration can be expected in June than in March. The year 1734 had no outstanding events such as these two in 1034, to provide the occasion for bi-centennial celebrations of an elaborate nature na-ture although the following are noteworthy dates in that year: January 20 Robert Morris, Philadelphia merchant, mer-chant, banker and "Financier of the Revolution" Revolu-tion" was born in Lancashire, England. March 19 Thomas McKean, member of the First Continental congress, signer of the Declaration Dec-laration of Independent and president of the Eighth Continental congress, wns born In Chester Ches-ter county, Pennsylvania. November 17 John Peter Zenger, Colonial printer and editor of the New York Weekly Journal, arrested for "false, scandalous, malicious mali-cious and seditious libels" against the royal governor gov-ernor of New York. Out of this arrest came the trial and acquittal of Zenger which marked an important step In establishing the principle of the freedom of the press in America. December 17 William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a member of every Continental congress from 1775 to 17S2, was born in Brookhaven. N. Y. Events of 1784 which have sesqul-centennlal significance: June 2 Legislature of North Carolina ceded to the congress of the United States the title which that state possessed to lands west of the Alleghanies, leading to the holding of a convention conven-tion (August 23) at Jonesborough where the westerners decided to organize a separate government gov-ernment and a second convention at Jonesborough Jonesbor-ough (December 17) at which a temporary constitution con-stitution was adopted and the new state of "Franklin" was launched upon Its stormy career. September 24 Zachary Taylor, officer in the War of 1S12, the Black Hawk war and the Seminole war, the "Old Rough and Ready" of the Mexican war and twelfth President of the United States, was born in Orange county, Virginia. Vir-ginia. A commission has been appointed by the present governor of Virginia to arrange for a sesqui-centennial celebration of this event in 1934. October 29 Robert Hoe, first of a line of printing press inventors, who revolutionized the newspaper business, was born at Hoes In Leicestershire, Lei-cestershire, England. December 30 Stephen H. Long, American army engineer and explorer, discoverer of Long's peak In Colorado, was born In Hopklnton, N. H. Events of 1S09 which recall that "125 years ago" on January 19 Edgar Allan Poe, great American poet and story-writer, was born In Boston. February 12 Abraham Lincoln was born In Kentucky. February 15 Cyrus McCormick, Inventor of the reaper, was born In Walnut Grove, Va. September 11 Sterling Price, officer in the Mexican war, governor of Missouri and general in the Confederate army, was born In Prince Edward county, Virginia. December 24 Kit Carson, famous trapper, guide and scout, was born in Madison county, Kentucky. During the coming year will occur the centennial cen-tennial of these events: March 20 Charles W. Elliott, educator, president presi-dent of Harvard university and famous for his "Five-Foot Shelf of Books," was born In Boston. March 24 John Wesley Powell, geologist, soldier, sol-dier, explorer of the Grand canyon, director of the United States Geological survey, founder and first director of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Eth-nology, was born at Mount Morris, N. Y. April 20 Charles F. Browne, famous writer under the name of "Artemus Ward," was born in Waterford, Maine. May 5 A party of emigrants under the leadership lead-ership of Nathaniel J. Wyeth left Liberty, Mo., for the West, later built Fort Hall, Idaho, where the American flag was first flown over that part of the country, and established a colony near the present site of Portland, Ore. May 20 Lafayette, the great Frenchman who helped establish American independence, died in Paris. During the coming year will occur the seventy-fifth seventy-fifth anniversary of these events which occurred In 1859: August 26 Col. E. L. Drake sank the first oil well in the United States near Titusvllle, Pa., starting this giant industry In this country. September 6 Irving Bacheller, famous author, was born in Pierrepont, N. Y. In 1884 (50 years ago) he established one of the first newspaper syndicates In the country. October 16 John Brown took possession of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, was later captured, cap-tured, tried for treason and executed on December Decem-ber 2, giving to the embattled anti-slavery forces an Immortal song "John Brown's Body LIe A-Molderlng In The Grave." The year 1034 will mark the fiftieth anniversary anniver-sary of these events of 1884 : June 22 Rescue of seven survivors of 25 members mem-bers of the Lady Franklin Bay polar expedition, including its commander, A. W. Greeiy (now an admiral), Sergt. D. L. Brninard (now a general) the rescue party being led by Capt. WInfield S. Schley, later famous in the Spanish-American war. November 4 Grover Cleveland was elected President of the United States, the first Democratic Demo-cratic President In 28 years. by Westorn Newspaper Union. |