Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1907-10-10
SURRENDER OF CORVALLIS.
Memorable Historical Event To Be
Celebrated at jamestown Oct. 18th

Nearly one hundred and twenty-six
years have gone by since CORVALLIS
surrendered to the allied armies of
France and America at Yorktown and
In keeping with the historical signifi-
cance of the event, great celebration
will be held at the jamestown Ter
Centennial Exposition on October 10,
the anniversary of the date. The cele-
bration will be held under the auspices
of the Exposition authorities, the
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Associa-
tion and the descendants of the signers
OF the Declaration of Independence.
This will be one of the last historical
days, the ceremonies of which have
attracted such wide attention. Repre-
sentatives of the original thirteen states
will meet in the auditorium, and after
the formal ceremonies of the day will
organise a new society which will be
known as The Society of the Descen-
dants of the Signers of the Declara-
tion of Independence.
Senator P. C. Knox, of Pennsylvania,
Hon. John Sharpe Williams, of Missis-
sippi, and Senator John w. Daniel. of
Virginia, will he among the orators of
the occasion. The idea of banding to-
gether in society the descendants of
the signers of the declaration, originat-
ed with William Shields Mexican, a
temporary president of the proposed
organization. Mr. Mexican has made
tour of the states, and has succeed
ed in interesting a large number of
eligible members. No effort will be
made according to the present arrange
ments of the program to organize state
societies. One national society will be
maintained, with headquarters proba-
bly, in Washington, d. C. The bylaws
will provide for the observance of all
holidays growing out of the Revolu-
tionary War, and also for the proper
decorations of the battlefelds and the
graves of the patriotic heroes.
For long time it has been the con-
tention of many members of the existing
hereditary societies that there is a
disposition to slight the acts performed
by civil officers in favor of the more
spectacular deeds done by the army and
navy. At the Philadelphia congress of
the Sons Of the American Revolution,
held in 1905, it remained for delegate
from the District of Columbia to point
out that the grave of John Morton, a
delegate of the Continental Congress,
and one who gave the casting vote of
Pennsylvania for the Declaration of
Independence was neglected and un-
marked.
The celebration of Yorktown day at
the Ter-Centennial is peculiarly appro-
pirate with the towering shaft erected
on the field of surrender by grateful
government, almost in view from the
Exposition grounds, and with the his
toric features and exhibits of the
celebration all in accord and contribu-
tory to the success and interests of
such an event. Millions of Americans
thrill with patriotic fervor at the men
ton of Yorktown and a celebration of
this kind, affording as it will as side
trip an opportunity to walk the streets
of this quaint old town, to see its his
torical buildings, its grand monuments,
the battlefelds, the ruins of the famous
redoubts and hear the story of the
great surrender from the lips of those
who heard it first from the brave parti-
cipants in that glorious event.