The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-04-21
THE MARIETTA CENTENNIAL.

The Centennial celebration of the
landing of the forty-eight pioneers at
Marietta, Ohio, April Z, 1888, came to
close Sunday night, April 8. The
distinguished orators and people who
came from different parts of the
country to rejoice in the celebration
with us have returned to their respect
i've homes, and we miss their inspiring
presence; but our two grand rivers,
the Ohio and the Muskingum, our In
dian mounds and elevated squares, our
picturesque scenery, and our dear old
town, all appear to US, to-day, more
charming than ever.
We had delightful season. The Gel
ebration was a success in every respect.
The Indian relics and the pioneer relics
attracted much attention, and yet we
could have increased them largely. The
wedding dress of Mrs. Israel Putnam,
the military coat presented to the gen.
eral by La Fayette, the first Jail lock
weighing seventeen pounds, and the
first bell, were curiosities. There was
large room filed with the furniture of
Blennerhassett, and German relics two
hundred and three hundred years old
and Persian relics brought here by
Germans and a Persian resident. But
the papers have said so much about
these things we need say nothing more.
Our town was filed with people eager
to see and hear; and our orators, one
and all, seemed at their best in every
respect. Governor Foraker, in his ad-
dress of welcome, made everybody feel
at home. Ex- President Hayes never
spoke more eloquently, and when he said
"Virginia men, such as Washington,
Lee and Jefferson had helped by voice
and vote in establishing liberty through
out the Northwestern Territory by
the Ordinance Of 17S7," and when he
added ''our boys in blue had repaid our
debt of gratitude to Virginia and the
whole South, by destroying slavery
and giving them liberty and equal
rights" there went up a voice of ap-
plause that made the house shake. SEN
ator Hoar assured US Massachusetts
had kindred feeling for Marietta and
Ohio. The pioneers were Massachus-
etts men. Marietta is Boston in mini
allure and Ohio is Massachusetts on
large scale. What grand men those
pioneers werel Rev. Manassah Cutler,
was a man Of education and genius, a
man of principle and character. He
was Puritan and had a Puritan's de-
termination; and it was through his
energy and tact mainly, that the Ordi-
nance of 1887 was passed, excluding
slavery forever from all lands North of
the Ohio River. He assured Congress
he would take his men to Maine or to
any place under the sun, to found a
colony, before he would go where labor
was degrading and every man not free.
George Washington considered Rufus
Putnam the best and most reliable en-
gineer, whether French or English, in
the whole army; and Washington was
his true friend. He was the real leader
of the pioneers of Marietta; and when
we remember the school these men,
the pioneers, had been in-the school
of the revolution, for eight years, with
Washington as their master, we need
not wonder that it has been said 'never
since the foundation of the world were
there forty eight men better prepared
to found a colony, than were these pio-
neers of 1855" They were the living
representatives and opponents of the
Declaration of Independence, Of the
Constitution and of the Ordinance Of
1888. They not only loved liberty for
themselves but for others also. They
loved righteousness as a principle and
wanted to exemplify it in their lives.
They loved equal justice and so were