New-York tribune., 1881-09-13
MEMORIES or HIS BTRTHpL4cE.
LETTER FROM SECRETARY BLAINE, READ AT THE
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF WASHINGTON
COUNTY, PENN, LAST THURSDAY
WAsrINGTON. DC Sent =

COUNTY, PENN, LAST THURSDAY.
WASuNGTON, D. c. Sept. . 1881
JOHN L. MCkENNAN, esq.,, UdshiHgf0n, Penn.
DEAR SIR; | had Anticipated great pleasure in
being present at the centennial celebration of
Washington County. but the National sorrow which
shal every household dctains me here | s. ali
perhaps never again have the opportunity OF seeing
my blood and kindred, and You may well conceive
that my disappointment is great.
The strong attachment which feel for The county
the PRIDE which cherish III ITS traditions, and the
high estimate which have always placed on tho
character OF It's people, increase with years and with
reflection. The pioneers were strong g-hcarted God
fearing, TcSolute men, wholly, or almost wholly
OF Scotch or Scotch-lrsh descent. They were men
who according To an inherited maxim never turneJ
their backs on friend or enemy. For twenty
wears, dating from the middle period of the Revolu-
who had themselves served in the Continental
Army, many of them aS officers, and they impaired
an intense patriotism to the public sentiment II
may be among the illusions of memory, but | think
have nowhere else seen the Fourth of July and
Washington's Birthday cclcbNtcd with such zeal
recall n great meeting of the people on the Fourth
Of July, 1910, on the border of the county, in
Brownsville at which "A considerable part Of the
Revolutionary soldiers | was but ten wears old
ana may possibly mistake. but think there were
more IMAM two hundred of the grand odd heroes
me modern cant and criticism which we sometimes
near about Washington not being, after all, u very
great man would have teen dangerous talk on that
day and IN that asscmblagc.
hese pioneers placed high value on education.
and while they still on the frontier struugi no.
with Its privations they established two excellent
colleges long since prospcrously united in one /
would II" Impossible to OvcrState the bcncGc,nt and
widespread influence which Washington and Jn,
ferson Colleges have eXered on the civilization of
!hat great country which lies between the Alcghcn-
lcS and the Mississippi River Their graduates
nave been prominent III the pulpit, at the har on
the bench. and i'll the high stations of public life
during my service of eighteen years in Congress |
met a larger number of the alumni Of WASHINGTON
ana Jefferson than of any other single college in the
Union. ! make this statement from memory Int |
iee assured that close examination of the rolls of
the two Houses from 1868 to 1881 would fully es-
tabllsh ITS correctness. ~
NOt only were the two colleges founded and well
sustained, but the entire educational system of thc
county, long before the sch .ol-tax and public
schools was comprehensiye and thorough / re-
Helhber IN my own boyhoOd that there were ten ar
eleven academies or select schools in the comfy
where lads could be fitted for college In nnnrIIS
every Instance the Presbyterian pastor was thc
principal teacher. Many who will be present NJ
your centennial will recall the succrssipn Of ,vo ~
uriiled students who came for many wears from
me tuition of DR.. McCluskcy, of West Alexander.
% IRON @ 5ne hGv John tockton, at Cross Creek from
tlS iIcV. ,John ElgestOn, at Buffalo and from
others of like worth and reputation ''''' ''oi"
III Is inevitable that country thus peoped
should grow III strength wisdom and wealth Ia
sixty thousand inhabitants are favored far heyonJ
the average lot OF man They are blessed with frr
IilG sou and with the hcalti-glving climate which
belongs to the charmed LATITUDE of fhe fnrtior' % n
alIel-the middle OF the wheat and corn bcIt Of ith
c0,ihGmt: bryond this they enjoy the happy and
tiirlPpIlnS ir hnehccS OF scenery grand and beau
lIu as that which lures tourists thousands of nils
oeYQQnu llie sea nave myself visited many of the
celePrated spots IN Europe and America and have
nowhere witnessed a more attractive sight thnn
TWafS FAMILIAR to my eyes in boyhood from tie old
ihdiah mn Farm, where ! was born and whore
ny gTeat-grandtather, the elder Neal Gil cspe SET
uea before the outbreak of tho Rcyolution The
majestic sweep of the Monongahela thrnn1b tho
iootilS OF the Alleghanics with the chain of NOM
tdlIl5 put twenty miles distant in full view give ~,
be eiiaced i'Ai o"h never
talk thus familiarIy of localities and chilJbooJ
hlCluSh Us DecalSe your assenblage, though com
posed oil thousands, Will III effect be a family re-
Gillioh, Whcre the only things order will he fra
ultloh ana recollection and personal history Lien
llhei, as | have been for twenty eight years win
great ana noble people in another section of In"
Ohloh have never lost any OF my attachment i"r
my native county and my native State The two
ieeHlgs no more conflict than does mans Iovp For
ms wlle and his love for his mother Whcrcver ~
naS De II Hie, or whatever my fortuuc the Comfy
OF w asllngton, ms 1T aucently was taking in hntR
siues OF tne MOnongahca, will be sacred in nv
memory shall always recall with pride hat my my
ancGstry ana Kindred were and are not inconspicii
SIDE Of the beautiful river in ProtestonI oUd ~
Sathoiic cemeteries, five generations of NV own
oiooo Siccp III hooreu graves Very sincerely yours
Il ~ Dr