Search the Newspapers Browse Newspapers by Date Articles Indexed by Topic About the Newspapers Valley of the Shadow Home

Franklin Repository: January 26, 1870 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Inaugural Address of Gov. John W. Geary, Delivered at Harrisburg, Tuesday, January 18, 1870
(Column 03)

Summary: The paper prints Gov. Geary's inaugural address. He promises to bring honesty to government, expresses support for protectionism, and reflects on the outcome of the war. "The settlement of the vexed questions growing out of the armed conflict with treason, devolves a mighty responsibility on the loyal men of the land. Armed rebellion was signally crushed by the force of armed loyalty, and the Government has triumphantly established its ability successfully to suppress domestic insurrection, however gigantic. The war itself has served to stimulate our people to fresh energies, and to the development of new enterprises. Our manufactories have multipled, plenty has smiled upon our fields, and blessed the labors of the husbandman. Peace has restored our people to their homes, and cheered our firesides. The rates of taxation have been reduced, and are entirely abolished upon real estate for the use of the Commonwealth. Our State debt is being steadily and surely liquidated. Immense sums have been paid for pensions and other charities. The cause of education has advanced, and the institutions for the support and tuition of the soldiers' orphans have been liberally supplied. Railroads have been constructed, and new material resources developed. And thus our State and nation are rapidly progressing in the attainment of those elements of greatness."

Our Poor House Farm
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper supports the sale of the poor house farm except for the 40 acres surrounding the house since the land has never been productive or profitable.

The Slave Law-Givers
(Column 03)

Summary: "A. K. M." reports on a trip to South Carolina. He pays particular attention to the actions of African Americans in the state legislature. He stresses that the ex-slaves are now the masters.

Court Proceedings
(Column 01)

Summary: This weekly article lists court proceedings, including the verdicts, people involved, and punishments.
(Names in announcement: Franklin Kurtz, John Sites, Nick Keefer, Scott Wolfe, Benjamin Jackson, George Shough, Martin Ruthrauff, Samuel Gorman, Gilbert B. Valentine, Charles Myers, Calvin Plowden, Peter Pote, Samuel Walters, Edward Jordan, Ferdinand Evans, Samuel Garner, Franklin Kurtz, Alice Gray, William Keyser, David Harper, William A. Kogler, S. G. Hays, Idelia Martin, William Krome, Hezekiah Keefer, Daniel Miller, Michael G. Minter, David Guyer, George H. Myers, Henry Kurtz, Samuel Staver, Jacob L. Deatrick, Lewis Etter, Philip Fendrick, A. B. Siebert, E. P. Brumbaugh, P. M. Shoemaker, W. S. Fletcher, Peter Brough, Daniel Trostle, C. C. Foltz)

Full Text of Article:

The following cases were disposed of last week:

Com. vs. Franklin Kurtz and John Sites. - Assault and Battery. Verdict guilty, and each sentenced to two months imprisoned in county jail.

Com. vs. Nick Keefer. - Assault and Battery. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of ten dollars and costs of prosecution.

Com. vs. Scott Wolfe. - Assault and Battery - two cases - to each of which he plead guilty and was sentenced, in one to pay a fine of one dollar and costs of prosecution and in the other a fine of ten dollars and costs of prosecution.

Com. vs. Benjamin Jackson. - Assault and Battery. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of one dollar and costs of prosecution and to six weeks in county jail.

Com. vs. George Shough, Martin Ruthrauff, Samuel Gorman. - Riot. Martin Ruthrauff was not arrested. The two others were tried and found "not guilty," and the prosecutor, Gilbert B. Valentine, to pay one-third of the costs of prosecution and Shough and Gorman each one-third.

Com. vs. John Sites. - Disturbing religious meeting. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of one cent and undergo imprisonment in county jail for two months.

Com. vs. Charles Myers. - Larceny. Verdict guilty. Sentence deferred.

Com. vs. Calvin Plowden. - Assault and Battery. Verdict guilty. Sentence deferred.

Com. vs. Peter Pote. - Malicious Mischief. Verdict not guilty, and defendant to pay three-fifths and prosecutrix, Margaret Vellis, two-fifths of costs of prosecution.

Com. vs. Samuel Walters and Edward Jordan. - Assault and Battery. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of one cent and costs of prosecution.

Com. vs. John Sites. - Misdemeanor. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to be imprisoned four months in county jail.

Com. vs. Ferdinand Evans. - Highway Robbery. The facts in the case were these: As Mr. Samuel Garner was walking home from Greencastle he met defendant on the public road, just as he passed by him defendant knocked him down with a club and robbed him of every thing in his possession, amounting almost to one hundred dollars. Defendant plead guilty and said he was drunk at the time. Sentenced to nine years and nine months in the Penitentiary.

Com. vs. Franklin Kurtz. - Disturbing Religious Meeting. Defendant plead guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine of one cent, costs of prosecution and to two months in county jail.

Com. vs. Alice Gray. - Burglary. Verdict not guilty.

The following bills were ignored by Grand Jury: Com. vs. Wm. Keyser, Com. vs. David Harper, Com. vs. Wm. A. Kogler, Com. vs. Alice Gray, Com. vs. David Harper, Com. vs. S. G. Hays, Com. vs. Idelia Martin.

The following tavern licenses were granted by the court last week: Wm. Krome, Funkstown; Hezekiah Keefer, Chambersburg; Daniel Miller, Chambersburg; Michael G. Minter, Quincy; David Guyer, Letterkenny; George H. Myers, St. Thomas; Wm. Bratten, st. Thomas township; Henry Kurtz, Roxbury; Samuel Staver, Roxbury; Jacob L. Deatrick, Greencastle; Lewis Etter, Marion.

Philip Fendrick was granted a license to keep a restaurant in Mercersburg.

A. B. Siebert, of Concord, and E. P. Brumbaugh, Dry Run, were refused licenses.

Report of the Grand Jury in relation to our County Institutions:

To the Honorable the Judges of the several Courts of Franklin County: We, the Grand Jurors of the January session of 1870, would respectfully report that after acting on all the bills handed us by the District Attorney, we visited the Alms House, and that we found everything in good order; the buildings being neat and clean. We believe the paupers are well cared for. We would, however, recommend that some change be made in the hospital with regard to ventilation. We would also report that we believe that it would be to the interest of the county, to sell all the land belonging to the Alms House farm, except from thirty to forty acres of that lying nearest to the buildings. We would also recommend to the Directors of the Poor to allow nothing to out-door paupers, unless well satisfied that they are worthy subjects. We would further report that we visited the Prison, and that everything is neat and clean, and we well arranged as can be in the present building. We would recommend that arrangements be made to put all prisoners therein confined at labor of some kind, for the benefit of the county. P. M. SHOEMAKER, Foreman.

SECOND WEEK. - W. S. Fletcher. vs. Peter Brough, Daniel Trostle and C. C. Foltz. - Summons in Assumpsit. Defendants abandon their case and confess judgment in favor of plaintiff for $632,72.

Franklin County Horticultural Society
(Column 01)

Summary: The Horticultural Society met on the 11th. Twenty-one members and several ladies attended. A variety of fruit and produce was displayed. Officials were elected for the coming year.
(Names in announcement: W. G. Reed, T. B. Jenkins, J. L. Suesserott, John Stouffer, W. D. Guthrie, E. B. Engle, Edward Culbertson, J. S. Nixon, J. G. Elder, Jacob Heyser, Charles F. Miller, Alex W. Kyner, James Linn, Tobias Martin, Joseph G. Cressler, W. H. Boyle, W. S. Stenger, John Jeffries, Frank Henderson, J. S. Brand, J. P. Keefer, William Heyser, Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. S. G. Lane)

Blind Tom the Pianist
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper reviews the performance of "Blind Tom" the pianist, expressing wonder at the musical talent of this "homliest specimen of the pure African race."

Full Text of Article:

A very large and appreciative audience was assembled on Thursday evening last, in Repository Hall, to listen to this wonderful prodigy. If any still doubted that he really was what has been claimed for him, they could scarcely be in doubt after hearing him on the evening referred to. What seeming contradictions meet us in this homliest specimen of the pure African race. An idiot and yet a musical genius of a high order, possessing a mastery over the piano truly wonderful. No matter how difficult the piece of music, or how long, one hearing is sufficient for him to re-produce it note for note, chords and discords, without a slur, false register, or omission. The writer has heard him elsewhere, where an expert performer improvised a long and difficult piece, which Tom reproduced perfectly. Also, eight bars of Mendelsohn's "Song without Words," (very peculiar and difficult), and a part of Back's Fugue, No. 17, the theme of which, as well as parts of the answer, he imitated correctly. When waiting for some one else to play, and while listening to a performance which is to be re-produced, he throws himself into all sorts of clownish positions--poising himself on one leg, sawing the air with his arms, whistling through his teeth, &c., but as soon as he is led to the piano he appears "all right," and with a half maniac laugh will sometimes ejaculate: "that's just's easy es nothin'!" His manager will perhaps call on some one in the audience to hold up anything they please, and if there is, for instance, a fan raised, the manager will strike a few notes, and Tom, with his back turned to the audience, will spell out the right word. Or he will analyze any number of notes--chords or discords--struck at random on the piano, and will with wonderful celerity name every note. Or he will play one piece with his right hand, another with his left hand, and will sing a third piece on another key!

Then as to his style and manner of playing no one who heard him render such a piece as Gottschalk's "Last Hope," or the "Fantasia" by Liszt, or his "Imitation of a Musical Box" or his own "Battle of Manassas," if he has any musical apprehensions at all, but must have been thrilled with delight or solemnized as if in an act of devotion.

Indeed the sweetness and delicacy of touch, or, when he choses the brilliancy and overpowering grandeur with which he seems to inspire the dumb instrument, may well constrain, as it did, the great Moschelles--the instructor of Thalburg and Mendelsohn--to say, that Tom's gifts were "marvellous," beyond his comprehension entirely.

Whence has this demented son of Africa this gift--this wonderful attainment? How can such skill--artistic skill of the highest order--dwell in such a being? Or put in another form. How can art and scientific knowledge proceed from what seems the very embodiment of ignorance and stupidity? Our philosophies are here at fault. It is a deep question for the psychologist to unravel. Man can only wonder, adore and feel, that a higher power is at work here. Does not God here also "move in a mysterious way?" bringing light out of darkness--yea, the bright corruscations of light in thick, Egyptian darkness? How others were impressed, I do not know, but to me the performance of that evening was more than gratification of the taste or sense--and the morality of even that innocent gratification has its limits at some point--to me it seemed designed to raise our thoughts and contemplations upward, even to him the primal source and fountain of all art and science, of all good and ennabling gifts and blessings. It is a theme worthy to think of--worthy of calm thought and reflection.

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper celebrates the fact that the committee sent by the Franklin County Horticultural Society to the meeting of the Pennsylvania Fruit Growers Society have secured Chambersburg as the site of the group's next meeting.
(Names in announcement: John Stouffer, William D. Guthrie, Alex Keyner, William G. Reed, Dr. J. L. Suesserott, Enos B. Engle)

Chambersburg in Darkness
(Column 02)

Summary: A stoppage in the gas pipes left the town without light on Monday. Allen C. McGrath, superintendent of the gas works, was able to remove the obstruction and restore gas to the town.
(Names in announcement: Allen C. McGrath)

[No Title]
(Column 03)

Summary: Nathaniel P. Pearse, a well-known citizen of Chambersburg, died on Saturday. He was 54 years old. He had served at the post office and once held the post of Assistant Revenue Assessor. He eventually lost his post due to his fealty to the Republicans.
(Names in announcement: Nathaniel P. Pearse)

Religious
(Column 03)

Summary: Rev. Prof. Bowman of Dickinson College will preach at the First Methodist Church on Sunday. He will also appear with Prof. Shumaker to address the Chambersburg Academy upon their Missionary Anniversary.
(Names in announcement: Rev. Prof. Bowman, Prof. Shumaker)

[No Title]
(Column 03)

Summary: Samuel R. Pentz of Scotland, Franklin County, has been appointed Assistant Bookkeeper in the National Bank of Chambersburg. Pentz had been a long-time clerk at Curriden's book store.
(Names in announcement: Samuel R. Pentz)

[No Title]
(Column 03)

Summary: Dr. J. L. Suesserott of Chambersburg was elected Vice President of the State Horticultural Society at Lancaster.
(Names in announcement: Dr. J. L. Suesserott)

Married
(Column 05)

Summary: D. Smith Fahnestock and Miss Ellie M. Brandt, both of Chambersburg, were married on January 12th by the Rev. H. C. Pardoe.
(Names in announcement: D. Smith Fahnestock, Ellie M. Brandt, Rev. H. C. Pardoe)

Married
(Column 05)

Summary: D. R. Gorden of Chambersburg and Miss Mary M. Nevin of Waynesboro were married on January 19th by the Rev. J. A. Demoyer.
(Names in announcement: D. R. Gorden, Mary M. Nevin, Rev. J. A. Demoyer)

Married
(Column 05)

Summary: Andrew H. Rice of Mowersville, Franklin County, and Miss Leah J. Quickel of Cumberland County were married near Newburg on January 11th by the Rev. J. M. Bishop.
(Names in announcement: Andrew H. Rice, Leah J. Quickel, Rev. J. M. Bishop)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Miss Hannah S. Wilhelm died near Fannettsburg on January 17th. She was 26 years old.
(Names in announcement: Hannah S. Wilhelm)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Henry L. Hege died at Dry Run, Peters township, on January 4th. He was 59 years old.
(Names in announcement: Henry L. Hege)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: James King died in Chambersburg on January 6th. He was 65 years old.
(Names in announcement: James King)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Abraham Bricker died in Chambersburg on January 17th. He was 15 years old.
(Names in announcement: Abraham Bricker)