Norwich bulletin., 1921-05-23
ODD INCIDENTS IN AMEKIcAS
 HISTORY
OUR CELEBRATION OF INDEPEND.
 ENEE nAX

ENcE DAY.
 We celebrate July 4 as the date of il the birth of our nation. It is the most important of the days in the early II part of July, 1776, in which the Decla
 ration document was being prepared. presented and signed. On July ? all the delegates, but those from New York, voted in favor of it. The formal declaration prepared by the committee was reported and discussed until late | July 4, when it was finally accepted | and signed by the president of the Con-
 gress, John Hancock, and the Secre- tary.
 Within week the Provincial Con- gresS of New York expressed it's ap- | ! proval. On August an engrossed copy l of the Declaration was laid before Con- 1 gress and received the signature of , delegates from thirteen colonies, fifty six in all, though Matthew Thornton,
 of New Jersey, did not sign until No- Vember.
 Grim jests were passed in the sign | ing of the document. John Hancock,
 writing his name large, said he did so
 in order that John Bull could read it
 his comrades that since the fatal die
 without spectacles, and impressed upon | was cast they must all hang together
 in this matter which gave Franklin a | chance for his bon mot. Yet, indeed,
 we must all hang together or assured | ly we shall all hang separately"
 Of the sIgners of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest, seventy years, and Edward
 Rutledge of South Carolina, the young est, twenty-seVen years. The average 1 age of the signers was forty three
 years and three months. Many occu-
 pations were represented, but lawyers,
 of whom there were thirty, were in the ma iority.
 Three of the signers, John Adams,
 Thomas Jefferson and Charles Carroll l lived to see the fftieth anniversary of
 American independence, but the first two died on the day of the celebration,
 and Charles Carroll, the last surviving , signer. lived until August 2. 1926. A third President of the United States
 also died on July 1, James Monroe, but l live years later than Adams and Jef-
 ferson.
 The 4th of July has, in years past, been a date on which to inaugurate
 important enterprises. On July 4, 1877 1 Governor De Witt Clinton turned the f first sod in the construction of the Erie n Canal, then considered a great under taking. July 4, 1928, was celebrated as n the beginning of the first railway in n this country, the Baltimore & Ohio a when, Charles Carroll the surviving e signe1 of the Declaration, was present n and turned the first spade of earth. Carroll said: T consider this among n the most important acts of my life Ii second only to that of signing tn, , Declaration of Independence, if, indeed d second to that" To the Blacksmiths ? Association, which presented to hin 'e the pick, spade, hammer and trowe .s used in the ceremony of dedication 5 Carroll wrote: You observe that a re
 i Y,atf1 1io oar nryfp lz h that form of government can be hap
 pier than unde any other. That tn
 Republic created by the Declaration O
 Independence will continue to the en
 of time, is my fervent prayer" 10 The corner stone of the Washingto d. Monument at the National Capital wa if laid on July 4, 1850. It was a very ho r, day. President Taylor, who was ex IS posed to the heat of the sun for thre to hours, on his return to the Whit pr House, drank freely of iced water an a iced milk and also partook of som " cherries, and shortly afterward wa CT taken ill and died on July g. D. The national birthday has, in tn lg course of years, seen the birth of man ts men. some of whom have achieved re Id nown. Among those whose birthday ts have often been celebrated by the CT
 tire nation are Nathaniel Hawthorn en John Stephenson, pioneer builder as street cars; Reuben F. Fention. Gov Or ernor of New York; Stephen G. Foste to composer of "Swanee River" etc, ar k. Joseph Pennell, the artist
 ay The first public celebration of u ed event was that in Pennsylvania. C as July 8, 1776. On July g. Washingto ay commander in chief. announced
 general orders. The honorable Cor lit tinental Congress, impelled by the di, ve tates of duty, have been pleased to di d. solve the connection between tn he country and Great Britain. and to d, he clare the United States of America fir ng and independent States, the sever to brigades are to be drawn up this ev ng ming on their respective parades at in o'clock, when the declaration of Col 'e- gross, showing the grounds and re- nd sons of this measure, is to be read ng an audible voice."
 'e (Tomorow-The Uniting of Ameri ne and England).