Chapter IX: Canto IX

1847-1861.
PROGRESS.

Now we come to architecture,
In the annals of the city;
Now the spirit of improvement
Makes a giant-stride among us,
Opens wide her money-coffers,
In the growing, hillside city.
On the westward street, called Danville,
Rose an institute of learning,
Rose the Franklin Female College,
Soon the pride of all the region.
And within its classic chambers
Have the children of the county
Gone to school in many hundreds;
Have in hundreds learned to grapple
With the mysteries of science.
Num'rous teachers have united
In the duty of instructing,
Teachers from the distant sections,
Teachers from among our people.
Music, English, French and Latin,
Morals, manners, Calisthenics,
Healthful sports and games and pastimes,
Useful precepts, laws and lessons,
All were taught within this building,
Which the Odd Fellows erected
In eighteen hundred forty-seven.
Far and wide the ranks are scattered,
Strange their destiny and varied,
Yet the tie of love and duty,
Binds the teacher to the pupil,
Binds the pupil to the teacher,
Wheresoe'er their footsteps wander,
Wheresoe'er their fate may lead them.
May they ever fondly cherish
All the dear associations,
All the lessons of ambition,
Taught and gained at Franklin College,
Taught within its classic chambers.[4]

In eighteen hundred eight and forty,
Was a novel institution,
Introduced within the city;
A society established,
By an act of corporation.
And they called themselves, "The Hunters
Of Nimrod." Oswald Von Koenig,
Scion of a Saxon family,
Introduced this curious Order;
And the Lancaster Sanhedrim
Numbered six in solemn council,
Hill, Kinnaird and Cope and Burton,
Sandifer, McKee--the Council--
Were the city's chartered members.
Afterwards the German stranger,
Met his death in tragic manner,
Dashed his body from a window,
In the flourishing Falls City:
And the accident was mourned,
Was lamented by the Hunters.
They deposited their leader,
In the Cave Hill cemetery,
And the stone that marks th' enclosure,
Was the gift of A. A. Burton,
One among the chartered members.

Here the chronicle reminds us
Of the noble art of printing,
Now revived within the city,
Now engrossing all her readers.
And the news sheets are before us,
With their timeworn local items,
With their cunning jests and humor,
With their antique advertisements,
With their long-forgotten pages.
The "Republican" and "Argus"
Have the earliest existence,
In this era of advancement;
Then the famous "Garrard Banner"
Floats upon the world of letters.

And again the public buildings
Rise and multiply about us.
On the eastward street, called Richmond,
Was a Baptist Church erected.
Still another sect divided
From the Old Church congregation,
In eighteen hundred one and fifty.
In the next year of the cycle,
Eighteen hundred two and fifty,
The Reformers built another,
On the southern street called Stanford.
And the thriving, stirring city,
Boasts her dwellings and her churches,
Her Deposit-Bank and cash-box,
Her commercial business houses;
Spreads abroad her lawful limits,
Widens out her corporation,
Swells the list of tax and tariff,
By her handsome architecture.
And the energetic people
Cling to rustic ways no longer,
Learn conventional exactions,
Tread the labyrinths of fashion,
Con the magazines and modistes.
And no quaint old invitation
To the jolly square cotillon,
Now regales the hour of pleasure:
But, a dance at nine this evening,
Or a hop, or social gath'ring,
At the new hall, called the Sontag,
Where quadrille, or waltz, or Lancers,
Marked with grace the "light fantastic."
And the Categordian Maskers,
With the Callithumpian Minstrels,
Held high carnival among us,
Formed a Mysticke Crewe of Comus.
All the sewing-bees and quiltings,
Apple-parings, and corn-huskings,
Barbecues and basket meetings,
Chicken-fights, and swift foot-races,
Even singing-schools, were banished
To the primitive old fogies.
Tallow candles were supplanted,
By the lamp and spermaceti,
Linsey woolsey, jeans and cotton,
Long suspended from the weaving,
Changed to silk and print and muslin,
Changed to cassimere and broadcloth.
Now the seamstress plied her sewing,
With machine and modern patterns;
Now the drudge of toil domestic,
Sought out many new inventions,
Soon rejoiced in work made easy,
By the labor saving structures.
And the turnpikes of the county,
Echoed loud to wheels revolving:
All the rude, unsightly landmarks,
Were now graded and remodeled,
Were McAdamized and hardened.
Now the bridle and the saddle
Rose to harness and coach-trappings;
Now the rider and pedestrian
Took an airing in the carriage.
Sledges darted by in winter,
When the snows were firm and steady,
When the white and shining crystals
Covered road and wood and meadow.
There were speeches and mass-meetings,
When elections stirred the people,
Anniversary orations
Of the nation's independence.
In the springtime came the circus;
Summer time, school exhibitions;
Fairs and pleasure trips in autumn,
Rare festivities in winter.
And sometimes there were dissensions,
In this era of my story.
One disastrous feud was raging,
In the year of eighteen fifty,
And continued with great venom,
Through two years or more of bloodshed.
Yet the spirit of improvement
Tarried not for man's caprices.
Duties, taxes, trade, and commerce,
Public gala days and triumphs,
Dances, weddings, and storm-parties,
Floral festivals and music,
Or the promenading concert,
Lent a pleasing variation.
Or a serenade by moonlight,
Or a picnic, or band-meeting,
(It was Landram's skillful "Saxhorn,")
Or the famed association,
Called the Literary Circle,
Where was wit, and sense, and humor,
Where were readers and were critics,
Where were essays and selections,
In the style of choice belles-lettres.
And the weekly local paper,
In the year of fifty-seven.
Tells the story of the changes,
Tells the story of the pleasures,
Notes the firmer grasp of fashion,
Notes the new, intruding customs.
'Tis the "Sentinel" presiding
O'er the city's daily doings,
The "American Sentinel" watching
All the curious innovations.
And the interesting columns
Show contributors in numbers,--
Many writers of the city
Furnished items and productions.
Roscius, Citizen, and Alma,
Ida, Claude, and Regulator,
Many signatures unnoted,
Many noms de plume forgotten,
Filled the sheet with spicy reading,
With discussion, fact, and fancy,
Prose and poetry and fiction,
Rhyme and riddle and acrostic,
All the sorrows and the blessings,
All misfortunes and successes,
All the city's daily doings.

And the moons were waxing, waning,
As the cycle brought its changes.

[4]George W. Dunlap, Jr., purchased this Institute in 1874, and
established a graded school for young ladies.