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Centennial Of Ohio

Centennial Of Ohio image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
May
Year
1903
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Plans of Celebration to Be Held at Chillicothe.

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"OLD HOME WEEK" FOR OHIOANS.

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Great Gathering Expected to Participate In the Festivities-Celebration to Be Primarily One of Speeches-Archaeological and Historical Exhibition One of the Features.

The third week of May is to be a sort of "old home week" for Ohioans scattered all over the Union-and there are over a million of them-for that is the date which has been set for the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the admission of Ohio to statehood, and there will be a great home gathering of Ohioans to witness it and participate in it, says the Chillicothe correspondent of the Washington Post. The formal celebration will be compressed into two days-Wednesday and Thursday, the 20th and 21st-but various adjuncts have been planned, extending into adjacent days.

The celebration is to take place in the quiet, staid town of Chillicothe, nestling in the wide Scioto valley, which the Indians used to call "the garden of the world." for it is there that the state was born and struggle upward through the first years of its existence. It was this little town which a hundred years ago was the capital of all that vast northwestern territory dying between the Ohio and the Mississippi. Here General Arthur St. Clair, honest, indomitable and most irascible gentleman, imposed his edicts as governor of the territory, and the house in which he dwelt is still standing. Here he engaged in that fierce battle against Massie, Worthington and Tiffin, the advocates of statehood, which culminated, in November, 1802, in a mob assaulting his house one night and compelling him to flee by the back way. It was in Chillicothe, on the 29th day of November of that year, that the first state constitution was adopted, and, finally, it was there that the first state legislature went into session on the 1st day of March, 1803.

With all these points in its favor it was inevitable that Chillicothe should be selected as the most fitting place to hold the great celebration, preparations for which have been in progress for many months. Last fall the state legislature appropriated $10,000 as the state's share toward the expenses of the celebration and authorized Governor Nash to appoint a commission to take charge of it. The governor at once appointed the following men to serve in that capacity: General J. Warren Keifer of Springfield, Rush R. Sloane of Sandusky, B. R. Cowan of Cincinnati, O. S. Gray of Columbus, James Barnett of Cleveland, C. M. Anderson of Greenville and Robert M. Manly of Chillicothe. 

The State Historical and Archaeological society appointed a centennial commission to act in conjunction with these men, and the two committees went to work at once arranging the programme. It was decided that the celebration must be primarily a speaking one, and orators of national reputation were invited to be present. For the band music it was decided that $1,000 should be set aside. As there was no auditorium in Chillicothe capable of seating the crowds who would be present it was decided to erect in the city park a temporary structure capable of seating from 5,000 to 6,000 people, and the great portion of the celebration will be held there. 

Another feature which impressed itself upon every one as appropriate to the occasion was an archaeological and historical exhibition, and this was placed in the hands of Mr. William B. Mills, one of the most enthusiastic collectors in the state, and Mr. Gerald Foulke, the noted archaeologist. A liberal appropriation was made for this,  which will be held in Memorial hall. Ohio, and more particularly Ross county, has long been esteemed a veritable treasure house of Indian and mound builder relics, and here will be gathered together all these treasures. There will also be a large department devoted to portraits, manuscripts and other things of interest connected with the history of the state. 

The addresses will form a consecutive series which will give more fully and accurately than ever before the history of Ohio and the Northwest Territory from the moment the French sailed down the Belle Riviere to the present time. The entire series will be gathered together and published in a handsome volume by the State Historical society.

The principal streets will be made into courts of honor, with elaborate arches and Venetian masts, ablaze with color by day and a-gleam with light by night. The public buildings will be outlined with electric lights, and every private building in the city will be draped with flags, banners and bunting.

It has already been stated that the celebration will last several days longer than the formal programme calls for. One of these extra days will be occupied by a tour of the most interesting mounds in the county, under the guidance of Mr. Gerard Foulke, a noted archaeologist. 

The celebration is also to have its spectacular features, the principal one of which will be a great parade, taking place on the morning of Wednesday, May 20. State, county and city will participate, and the governors of the states which were carved from the old Northwest Territory-Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota-will be given places of honor with their staffs. There are also to be pyrotechnic displays in the evenings.