Columbus Indiana and the Liberty Bell On Wednesday, September 1, 1915, word began to circulate through the town of Columbus that the Liberty Bell might be brought through the city. School children of San Francisco had requested it be sent for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and after much reluctance and 500,000 letters by San Francisco’s school children, the city of Philadelphia relented. The Relic was loaded on a Pennsylvania RR flat car, departing Philadelphia on July 6, 1915. Its journey to San Francisco followed somewhat of a northern route, passing through Ft. Wayne and Gary Indiana on its way west. This was the Relic’s first venture west of St. Louis. The route went as far west as Seattle, then due south to San Francisco. On its return, it took more of a southern route. By October, officials in Columbus were notified that it would, indeed, pass through Columbus, Indiana. Plans immediately were put in place to greet this historic relic. The ongoing fiasco regarding the failure of getting George Caldwell to sell his property for a city park and hospital were put aside for the moment. Committees and subcommittees were formed. Mayor H. Karl Volland sent a telegram to Mayor Blankenberg of Philadelphia and arranged approval for a committee, consisting of himself, Charles S.Way, President of the Chamber of Commerce, and John Jewell, to travel to Indianapolis, then ride the Liberty Train from Indianapolis into Columbus. “Miss Vida Newsom was made chairmen of the program committee, Tom Elrod and Charles F. Mitchell were named as a publicity committee, Superintendent T. F. Fitzgibbons was appointed to arrange for the participation of the city schools in the affair and Samuel Sharp, county superintendent, was instructed to take up the same matter with the county schools.” (The Evening Republican, November 16, 1915, p.1) Church ministers throughout the county were encouraged to invite their congregations to attend this once in a lifetime event. By Friday, November 19, all the arrangements and details were set. Midnight, November 22, 1915, was freezing cold. But freezing temperatures were not enough to keep thousands from turning out to see the Liberty Bell. The school board suspended all classes later that morning. With the arrival of the Relic, the City Band would lead Columbus citizens from City Hall to the depot at Jackson and Seventh Street. The evening’s patriotic program kicked off at City Hall beginning at midnight. The welcoming address was given by John L. Jones, followed by Arthur Mason leading the 8th grade boys and girls in a chorus of songs beginning with America. The introductory address was given by Reverend Z. T. Sweeney, followed by Louis J. Richard, who entertained the crowd with cartoons. Then, the children sang The Battle Hymn Of The Republic, followed by a talk about Paul Revere by James F. Cox. Upon the closing remarks by Cox, the reverend Alexander Sharp gave a patriotic address. The children then sang The Battle Cry of Freedom. Up next were Paris McCord and Yandell Cline, high school students, offering up more patriotic addresses, followed by Howard J. Tooley Jr., who did a monologue with accompaniment by the City Band. The children then sang The Song Of A Thousand Years. Finally, the closing speech, The Bell of Bells, was given by Lewis A. Harding, and the night ended with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. By this time, it was close to the time of arrival: 2:20 am. Time was allowed for getting the crowd to the depot in time to greet the Liberty Train. The City Band played, and marched the crowd to the Pennsylvania Railroad station, and all greeted the arrival of the Liberty Bell. Mayor Volland had hoped that the Liberty Train could be placed on the track east of the depot, but due to the very limited time the train would be here, that would not be possible. Instead, the train came into Columbus using the track on the west side of the depot. The rear car stopped at a spot almost directly across from the Sanitary Ice Company (Seventh and Jackson Streets). Extra lights were placed at the Jackson/Seventh Street depot. “On July 4, 1776, a bell, hanging in the state house in Philadelphia, proclaimed throughout this land the birth of liberty. This morning the same bell proclaimed throughout Bartholomew County that liberty still lives—yes, liberty and curiosity. For a crowd, estimated at from three to five thousand people, left warm beds and went to the Pennsylvania Lines station here to demonstrate that patriotism is not confined to any one section of this country. The crowd waited patiently and good humoredly on a night that was biting cold to see the Liberty Bell and to show its Philadelphia chaperones that Columbus and Bartholomew County fully appreciated the honor of being placed on the itinerary. The scheduled 10 minute stop here was stretched to 20 minutes before the special train got away and when it pulled out of the station, people still were passing the car on which the Liberty Bell was mounted. The crowd had been marching past this car for 20 minutes, about four abreast on the east side and in larger numbers on the west side. Only those who passed on the west side of the car got to see the famous crack in the bell and the still more famous “proclaim liberty throughout the land” inscription.” (The Evening Republican, November 22, 1915) Before the festivities kicked off at City Hall, at 10pm, Crump’s Theatre showed a movie to a packed house, which the following day would be condemned by the clergy (because of showing a movie on Sunday). Both the Crystal and Lyric theaters also showed movies, but began their showings at midnight, thus avoiding any condemnation from the pulpits around town. By midnight, it was standing room only inside City Hall. As the courthouse clock struck midnight, so did the bell at Fire Station #1, which sat just west of the City Hall building. Both rung in the beginning of the patriotic gala.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 19:34:55 +0000