History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson." In accordance with this resolution " a large and respectable meeting" was held at the court house in Hagerstown on the 22nd of July, 1826. David Schnebly was elected chairman, and Thomas Kellar secretary. The following resolutions were adopted:
" Having heard with the deepest sorrow and most unfeigned regret of the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, and desirous to evince to the world in common with our fellow-citizens of these United States the great veneration and respect we entertain for the characters of those illustrious patriots of the Revolution, for their pure and exalted worth, pre-eminent talents, and long and faithful public services, we therefore resolve as follows, viz.:
" 1st. Resolved, That there be a public procession in Hagerstown on Tuesday, the first day of August next.
" 2nd. Resolved, That the citizens of this county be requested to wear crape on their left arm for sixty days, and the ladies be solicited to wear badges of mourning for the same period.
" 3rd. Resolved, That the clergymen of the different congregations of this county be requested to preach an appropriate sermon in their respective churches at such times as may be convenient.
" 4th. Resolved, That in order to impress the minds of the rising generation with the virtues and characters of those illustrious dead, the teachers of the public schools in this county be requested to read at least once a week for two months obituary notices of those benefactors of mankind.
" 5th. Resolved, That the committee of arrangements request their fellow-citizens to deliver an eulogium on the above solemn occasion; also request two clergymen to address the Throne of Grace.
" 6th. Resolved, That the citizens of Hagerstown be requested to abstain from all business during the procession.
" 7th. Resolved, Th.at the chairman of this meeting, together with such other persons to be named by him, constitute the committee of arrangements, who shall have power to carry the foregoing resolutions into full effect, and make all other arrangements which the occasion may require.
" 8th. Resolved, That the bells in the different churches in this county be tolled for one hour on the morning and evening of the day of the procession."
The following persons composed the committee of arrangements: " David Schnebly, chairman. Samuel Ringgold, William Gabby, Frederick Dorsey, Thomas Kennedy, George W. Boerstler, Otho H. Williams.
The committee held a meeting soon afterwards and agreed on the following order of procession:
Chief Marshal.
Revolutionary officers and soldiers in carriages.
Committee of arrangements.
Choristers. Orator and officiating clergy.
Clergy of the county.
Moderator and commissioners.
Judges and officers of the court.
Judges of Orphans' Court.
Judges of Levy Court.
Members of the bar.
Physicians.
Students of divinity, physic, and law.
Teachers, with their pupils.
Representatives in Congress.
Delegates of the General Assembly.
Officers of the United States army and navy.
Militia officers.
Band.
Masonic brethren.
Citizens.
The procession rested with its right near the courthouse, at the intersection of Washington and Jonathan Streets, and moved up Jonathan to Franklin Street, down Franklin to Potomac, up Potomac to the " stone" church, then countermarched down Potomac Street to the Lutheran church, which it entered in the same order. The officers of the army, navy, and militia appeared in uniform with crape on the left arm, and the usual badges of mourning on their side-arms. The ladies of the choir and the young girls attached to the different schools were dressed in white with a black ribband around the waist. One gun was fired at dawn, another at twelve o'clock, and a third at sundown, and the bells of the different churches tolled during the procession, which was under the direction of a chief marshal on horseback, with his assistants on foot, all of whom were designated by white sashes and wands.
A public meeting was held at the court-house, in Hagerstown, on the 24th of July, 1827, at which a committee was appointed to meet the engineers employed in surveying the proposed route of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and give them all the information in their power. William Gabby was selected as chairman, and William D. Bell was chosen secretary. After remarks by Dr. John Reynolds and Col. Otho H. Williams, the committee was appointed, as follows:
District No. 1, Col. John Miller, Robert Clagett; No. 2, Joseph Hollman, Col. Daniel Malott; No. 3, Gen. Samuel Ringgold, Col. Henry Fouke; No. 4, Lancelot Jacques, Henry Fiery; No. 5, John Johnson, Anthony Snider; No. 6, David Brookhartt, Elie Crampton; No. 7, M. W. Boyd, John Welty.
In December, 1827, the Hagerstown Torch-Light announced that Lieut. Dillebunt and a party of engineers had examined the route through Harman's Gap to the Antietam, thence down the stream to a point below Funkstown, and thence to Williamsport.
On the 4th of July, 1828, a number of gentlemen from Hagerstown repaired to the Black Rocks on South Mountain and celebrated the day in festive fashion with a good dinner, toasts, etc., and encamped there all night.
In the Hagerstown papers of April 7, 1841, there appeared an advertisement of Wise's twenty-sixth balloon ascension, announced to take place on the afternoon of the 24th day of that month from the prison-yard in Hagerstown.
During the performance of the circus company of J. M. June & Co., in Hagerstown, one evening early in October, 1850, some persons outside pulled down part of the canvas, and a conflict ensued between the circus people and the aggressors. The combatants fought for some time with dirks and clubs, and a number of persons were injured more or less severely.
On the 22nd of May, 1872, Alexander Smith, Wesley Finnegan, and Frederick Fridinger were crushed to death by the falling of a wall of the court-house, which they were engaged in taking down. Smith was forty years of age, and lived on the Cavetown turnpike near Hagerstown. He served through the civil war, and was at the battle of Gettysburg. Finnegan was thirty-six years old, and had also been a Federal soldier. Fridinger was about seventeen years of age, and his father lost his life when the court-house was burned during the previous fall. On the Sunday following the catastrophe the three funerals took place, and the bodies were borne to the grave in a procession of Odd-Fellows, the Fire Department, and many citizens.
Hagerstown, like many other communities throughout the country, was invaded by the centennial epidemic, and a Martha Washington tea-party was the result. The entertainment was given on the evenings of the 18th and 19th of March, 1875, at Lyceum Hall. The following ladies were appointed on the various committees which managed the affair:
President, Mrs. Louis F. McComas; Vice-President, Albert Small; Treasurer, Miss Agnes McAtee; Secretary, Miss Nellie Gibson. Members of Committees: Mrs. J. E. McComas, Mrs. P. A. Brugh, Mrs. J. H. Seymour, Miss Lizzie Hagerman, Miss J. E. McComas, Mrs. Kate Fechtig, Mrs. Charles Bechtel, Miss Laura Kepler, Mrs. P. A. Brugh, Mrs. E. C. Bushnell, Mrs. P. B. Small, Mrs. N. B. Scott, Mrs. George Freaner, Mrs. S. D. Straub, Miss M. Robertson, Miss Lily Syester, Miss Ada McComas, Mrs. J. H. Van Lear, Mrs. David Zeller, Miss S. Thompson, Mrs. F. M. Darby, Miss Minnie Moon, Miss Cephie Herbert, Miss Nannie Cushwa.
In addition to these ladies the following gentlemen took part: Messrs. W. S. Herbert, C. A. Small, Albert Small, W. Harry, and Samuel Ogilby.
The executive committee consisted of Messrs. Straub, Small, Brugh, Kendall, and Rev. J. C. Thompson. Mrs. P. A. Brugh, Mrs. John