The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1885-10-15
mcrdecai NoaE.'z Gra,.d Project


On the Goth OF October. 1925 WAS
celebrated the opening OF the Erie
canal About q month before, when
the community, eagerly anticipating d
connection with the tide water, was ey-
cited with the visions OF prospective
greatness, and ready for any display.
there arrived from New York Major
Manuel Mnr:iccai Noah. high sheriff of
the county 6. New York. consul at
Tunis. and seif-styled Judge of Israel.
He came with giitteriag robes and in
sigma OF Office, to establish the city Of
Ararat on Grand islaud, then covered
with & dense forest. Although { loyal
and devoted son OF Abraham, Major
Noah had not succeeded in arousing
enthusiasm n his scheme among those
OF his own faith. as shrewd man Of
the world, An able lawyer. a success
| full politician, and the editor OF the
principal organ OF the Tamnlany party
in New York, and Withal sanguino
that the city would provo mine of
wealth to its founders, he had 10 diff
Guilty III persuading some of his Gen
| tile friends, among whom was the
father of the late Gclritt Smith, to buy
nearly the whole of Grand Island. then
just surveyed and offered for sale by
the United States government.
On this lonely but extensive island,
between the forks of the Niagara, and
lying midway between Lake Erie and
! the Falls of Niagara, he determined to
build city Of Oriental splendor. Al
ready before his arrival on the scene, q
flagstaff bearing the ''grand standard
| of Israeli had been erected on the
chosen site, ard a stone having an il,
scription in Hebrew and in English had
been prepared to dedicate with i'm
posing ceremonies. This stone, al
ways known in local history as '.Mor-
| decai's cornerstone" was intended
| rather IS q memento of the founding
of the magnificent city of the Jews than
as the support of any particular build
ing. In those days the luxurious
steam-yachts of wealthy citizens, which
now plough the rapid current OF the
Niagara, existed not in the imagina-
ton of the veriest dreamer; even row.
boats were wanting with which to con-
vey the crowd eager to behold the
spectacle presented by the birth of an
Oriental city in the depths of the for
est. The brilliant and audacious Noah
conceived the idea of having the cere-
mony celebrated with due pomp within
the walls of st. Paul's Church (in But
falo) twelve miles from the site OF his
city. To this .eud were invoked the
willing services of all the dignitaries of
the town, the military and the Masons,
Major Noah the central figure appear
ing as the Judge OF Israeli in black.
wearing judicial robes of crimson silk,
trimmed with ernine, and a richly
embossed golden medal suspended
from his neck.
The bright September day opened
with the booming OF cannons. The grand
procession embraced the best that the
town could offer. Hating at the church
door, the troops opened each way, and
the pageant entered; while the band
played the grand march from Judas
l0ccabeus the cornerstone of Ararat,
the city OF rouge for the people who
rejected Christ, was laid Oh the COM
munion table Of Protestant Episcopal
church, and dedicated by Hebrew
ritual. The Masonic rites were per-
formed with the typical corn, wine,
and oil, the choir sang ''Old Hundreds,
and the rector, in full canonicals, prs
nouncei Christian benedicticn.
Mordecai Noah never saw the site
Ararat, and the Hebrew race disro
garded his grandiloquent proclamation
and the tax levied for its building; but
its cornerstone, after many curious
migrations, occupies g conspicuous
place in the rooms OF the Buffalo His
torical Society, where relic-hunters
are frequently seen copying its inscrip-
tion.-Ja'ss ~. We!ch, al Aa9peT's diGg.
azi.e for Jmty.