Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-10
|OLD COURTHOUSE
CLOCK PRESENTED
Dauphin County Historical
Society Receives Unique
Relic of Olden Days

Members of the Dauphin County
Historical Society, who last night
listened to a paper of rare interest
| by Captain John H. Campbell, OF
the State Internal Affairs Land Of
fee, on the methods of land patent
ing in Pennsylvania of to-day, were
presented with the clock which kept
time and record of the minutes" in
the old Dauphin county court house.
The presentation was made by B.
NJ. Mead. president of the society, in
an address which traced the history
entertaining way.
After the meeting the executive
committee arranged for an expansion
of the work of the society, which
has been made the depository of the
records of Dauphin county's soldiers
in the World War, and a series of
programs of much local interest was
outlined. the first to be presented
at the November meeting. The
rooms of the society will also be
brought to attention Of the public
so that 1t can enjoy the numerous
articles and records 1t contains.
These plans will be announced from
time to time.
At the opening of the meeting res
olutions on the death of Mrs. Eliza
beth Grain Kunkel, long a member
of the society, were presented by
George Il. Ross, and on George w.
Parsons, for years a member of the
executive committee, were read by
DR.. Hugh Hamilton, a life-long
friend.
Captain Campbell's paper told of
many interesting things in that
storehouse of records. the State Land
Office, and described the patenting
of lands from the days of William
Penn with an outline of the proceed
ure followed when Pennsylvania
passed from province to Common
wealth. He told how the Office now
operates and interspersed his paper
with some incidents of unusual i'm
portance in local history. Captain
Campbell was given q rising vote
Of thanks for his paper, which Will
be preserved.
The old clock was given to the
society by William M. Hoerner. In
presenting it, MIR. Mead gave an out
line of the early courts of the county,
which were held first in q log house
near Front and Washington where
Judge Green sat for the first time in
the spring of 1875, being held later
in the old log Jail on the Jail lot just
in from Court and Strawberry
streets; then moving to the COM
modious building on the site of the
Central hotel and moving to the
first court house either in 1893 or
1900. This building was occupied
until the Legislature went into the
court house when 1t first came to
Harrisburg and the courts moved
again to the White Hall tavern. now
the Charlton, to one of the churches.
and later to the brick building on
the site OF the Bell Telephone build
ing at Court and Walnut streets. The
old clock was in the first court house
and followed the courts to tempo
rary buildings, being for time
either Salem Reformed or the old
First Presbyterian church and re-
turning with the courts to the pres
ent court house where 1t was dis
carded and became the timepiece in
the old Hershey house where 1t got
to know a generation or two of Har-
risburgers.
The clock is Q huge white round
affair with a figure of Justice in the
center. It is now, as Mr.. Mead said,
Ito keep company with many of its
friends of long ago" in the collec-
ton of the society.