Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-09-04
Ehrntrg Gl1at

packer, who passed away on Saturday
at his beloved country home at
! Sehwenkville. often voiced warm
attachment for Harrisburg. Coming
here at a time when the improve
ments provided under the first city
loan for that purpose were commence
ing to be noticeable, he closely fol-
lowed every development and fire.
quently referred to the manner in
which the States capital lifted itself
out of the mud and made an adequate
setting for the great granite building
erected as the official center of the
Commonwealth. Except for the hot
months, Mr.. Pennypacker made hA
| home in Harrisburg during his term
as Governor and entered much into
the life of the community and studied
| II as he did every place he visited.
| He kept up his interest after he left
| his high office and when he returned
to the city as Public Service Com
| missioner, showed he was in touch
| I'm part Harrisburger again." said
he not long after he had assumed the
Commissionership to which he was
| named by Governor John X. Tener.
Il always believe in being a part OF
/ the community where l am engaged as
much as where live. Do you know
/ feel that l have had a long connec-
ton with your town? The first time
came here was as part of a regiment
| organized to defend it. We were quar-
tered in the Capitol and slept on the
floor of the rotunda. 1 had a pretty
fair chance to see the place and as
had been here off and on between
those days and my election as Cover
nor / felt that 1 was coming to a
friendly city when l became chief
magistrate. l have always admired
the way it progressed and l am glad
that the Capitol Park is to be eX-
tended. l always felt that was bound
to come. 1t was largely a question
when the State could do it. We have
a great State Capitol and I hope the
people of the city will visit it more
and learn to know its beauties"
Mr.. Pennypacker liked to roam
about Harrisburg. He one time
startled the people at the courthouse
by dropping in in the course of an
after he became Governor. He
looked into the offices and then
l Went into the courtroom and
| sat down. Some friends who
heard that he was in the building
hunted him up and he gave a most
| interesting talk about some of the not
able trials that had taken place in the
| Dauphin courts and the men who had
aoorned It's bench. incidentally, he
told some things that his hearers did
not know and which if they can be
] recalled by those who listened to him
! would add much to the historic inter-
I est of the white belfried house of ius-
: tice. 1t might be remarked in passing
that the Ex-Governor never could un-
|, derstand why the city of Harrisburg
: did not have city hall.
h In an address before the Dauphin
: county Historical Society upon one oc-
: casion the then Governor showed an
= amazing grasp of the history of this
: poruon or the Susquehana valley and
s. especially or the part that had been
o played by John Harris ferry, which as
q state Librarian Montgomery wrote for
= the tablet on the ferry memorial
marker, was the place of crossing for
e the people who settled in the south
= western portion of the State and of ad-
r Joining Commonwealths. He gave
: anecdotes of the two John Harrises
h and William Maclay which his hearers
h had never heard of, but which the in
s defatigable reader had run across in
s his study of the history of the State.
e And some things which he said in con-
! Tversations after the meeting would
n nave made tingle the ears of descend
ants of that select band of raiders
known as the 'PaXtang Boys" WhildA
never losing sight of the prime impor-
lance OF Philadelphia and the lower
Schuylkll valley in the history of
pennsylvania, province and State. Mr.
Pennypacker always referred to this
region as one which played a great
part not only as a bulwark against
the Indians and the French, but as a,
FACTOR IN the development of the Com
monwealth. Dauphin county, as he
pointed out, suffered from raids and
the Quality of its men showed forth
ID IN the correspondence with the colo
NAL officials at Philadelphia The To-
e. cation OF Harrisburg as the center of
- web of highways, he said, was bound
to make 1t place of industry.
There were some books and papers
of interest to Dauphin county in the
Wonderful collection of such things to
s. which the late historian devoted so
many years of his life. He bought all
over the State and he bought we'll He
s paid no fancy prices and he got only
the real things. Some of the books
ne secured In this neighborhood and
unfortunately no effort was made to
buy them by Harrisburg people at the
time of the sales which Mr. Penny
n packer held as part of what he called
" his plan of being his own literary
executor" The bulk of these books
are in Philadelphia collections and are
available for study by those interested
in the history of this district
1t is not generally known that some
OF the choice early prints of Pennsyl-
vania which formed so famous a part
of the Pennypacker collection, par
ticularly those of the Christopher
Sauer series, are now owned by the
present Governor. 1t is one of the
ambitions of DR.. Brumbaugh to own
complete set of the Sauer publica-
tions and he has been following out
| his plan for years. He bought several
| Of the Sauer books at Pennypacker
| sales and they are among the gems
) of a valuable collection
In passing, it may be said that Mr..
Pennypacker when a judge and al
ready famous as historian, noticed
, DR.. Brumbaugh when he was a student
. and marking his attainments con-
t tributed to one of the early Brum-
Z baugh books a preface to which it Is
always pleasure of the present Gov
ernor to refer. The two men had been