Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-24
Eurtttttg Gl1at

~ NOSS iot olbCll l0ll u IHG lOt
of the smaller inland cities of the
United States to entertain royal or
| notable visitors, but a reading of
! the newspapers of Harrisburg pub
lished over a period of more than
century and n quarter tell of dis
tinguished men being in the capital
OF pennsylvania, some of them Of
ficial guests of the Commonwealth,
such as Theodore Roosevelt was
when he dedicated the present
State Capitol and others as guests
| of the municipality as are King AL
bert and the members of the royal
Belgian party for their brief sojourn
to-day. Back in early days John
Harris mansion, which stands on the
river front overlooking the site of
! the ferry, was the place where John
| and Richard Penn, sons of the pro-
! prietor, visited when they came
here and where Colonial officers,
British officers. Conrad Weiser and
Indian chiefs made their head
quarters while here; Generals An
/ thony Wayne, Thomas Miffiin,
Henry Knox. John Sullivan, Arthur
| st. Clair and others of the Revolu-
| tionary army came this way on sew
! eral occasions to visit Harris and
| William Maclay. But the first
| great visitor was Washington who
| tarried here and was given a public
reception on his way to put down
the Whisky Insurrection. He was
here October and 4, 1894. John
! Adams came here for a short visit
| on his way from Washington and so
did other early Americans of promi-
nence. among them Albert Gallatin,
| who became famous as secretary of
the treasury. General Lafayette
was guest here January 80 and 81,
! 1925, and the visit of the Prince of
Wales, later King Edward VII,
October 2 and g. 1860, has been
much written of. President Lincoln
| stopped here on his way to be in
augurated on Washington's birth
day, 1861, while James Buchanan,
whom he succeeded, was a frequent
visitor to Harrisburg, when he was
becoming national figure. Gen.
erals Zachary Taylor and Winfield
Scott were here after the Mexican
War. President Johnson visited
Harrisburg late in September, with
General q. S. Grant and Admiral
David Farragut and General Grant
was guest of Governor Hoyt at the
Executive Mansion December Is,
1879. General Winfield S. Hancock
came here while on a visit to the
late Col. James Young, at Middle
town, and many men of fame were
visitors to Harrisburg in the days
when General Simon Cameron was
alive. One visit of James G. Blaine
to Harrisburg is well remembered
by many. President Woodrow Will
son was here several times before
he became national chief and Will
liam II. Taft came here a couple of
times to make speeches when he
was president, saying that he enjoy
ed his visit Immensely. The visits
of Charles Dickens and Jenny Lind
to Harrisburg have been left in
} their writings. William Henry Har-
rison came to Harrisburg soon
after he had been nominated in
1899 for the presidency in Zion
Lutheran Church, which was visited
years afterwards by his grandson,
Benjamin Harrison. 1t is an inter-
esting fact that no less than five
members of President Wilson's cabi-
net and three of the men who sat
in the Taft cabinet have been
speakers at Harrisburg gatherings.
1t is an interesting thing how
people come to Harrisburg to visit
the scene of some event in their
lives or in the lives of a forefather
and occasionally to see a portrait.
A few days ago Captain Frederick
A. Godcharles, Deputy Secretary OF
the Commonwealth, was visited by
Mr.. and Mrs. w. r. Rushmore, of
Plainfield, n. ]. They were on their
! wedding trip and stopped here to
see the Capitol, but rather surpris-
, ed the Captain by asking to see the
: portrait of James Trimble, big
figure in early Commonwealth his
tory. The portrait of James Trim
| yyh @ fiffU-ninp in the
, service of Pennsylvania, is in the
gallery of the secretaries of the
Comm He was secretary
, of the supreme executive council
from 1777 to 1871, part of the time
when the British were very anxious
! to catch members of that body and
Deputy Secretary of the Common
!, wealth from 1871, when the Gov
! ernment was organized under the
constitution, until 1886. He was the
I great grandfather of Mr.. Rushmore,
who bears a striking resemblance to
the likeness of this sturdy Pennsyl-
: vanian.
: One of the first drives in this city
! for Belgian Relief, was made in a
quiet way April 8. 1916, King AL
, bert's birthday, when Harrisburg
,, chapter, Daughters of the American
: Revolution, cooperating with the
, National organization, sold hundreds
of Belgian flags as tags. The city
. was districted, and groups of women
offered for sale, at anything one
+ wished to pay, the tiny souvenirs OF
! black, yellow and red, with the
. Kings picture on one side and the
: words: Let us highly resolve that
. this people shall not perish from
: the earth." on the other. The chap
y ter realized several hundred dollars
which was turned in to the general
Headquarters in New York City.