Valley Girl Views: The 4th Of July In Sunbury Pa 1800-1927

Thomas Edison on the platform in front of the City Hotel in Sunbury, where he had successfully demonstrated his first three wire electric light on July 4 1883. The hotel was renamed for him at the ceremony shown above, in July of 1922 when Edison returned for Sunbury's Sesquicentennial celebration.

Sunbury had many notable fourth of July celebrations over the years, with special extra trains running to that city for the holiday celebrations more frequently than to any of the other neighboring towns, over the years. They had that cannon that other towns coveted, and frequently stole, beginning in 1824, and then the first electric light was lit by Thomas Edison on the evening of July 4th 1883. After that the unveiling of the soldiers monument brought huge crowds, followed by their 1922 Sesquicentennial that they scheduled to celebrate over the holiday - with Thomas Edison returning to the town for that celebration. In two different years, there was a murder in the town during the fourth of July celebrations.

1918

About 1800
When Lynn owned the Island, he wrote a letter to his daughter, describing the 4th of July.
"On the fourth of July, which Mr Lynn explains to his daughter "was the anniversary of the American Independence", about 50 citizens met and dined together at the shade grove at the lower end of Lynn's island. "The dinner consisted of cold fowls, roast and boiled hams, beef, veal, etc, with plenty of good wine." "General Bull and Mrs Priestly were on chairs, the former at the upper end. Close to the point was placed a common 12 pound cannon (formerly belonging to the British government), which was fired after every toast, after some, nine, or six, or three times, which had a fine effect by the echo in the lofty hills surrounding us. Several of the company brought in instruments of music with them, and formed a good band."

According to Lynn, they had a pleasant day, and everyone returned home at 6pm perfectly sober. Lynn went on to say that the former proprietors, Mungo Reed and Abraham Scott "were federalists, synonymous with aristocrat". Lynn had found boards for the table and seats and had put them up himself, and had also gathered a bushel of cherries for the desert. He thanked his guests for their favorable opinion, and said he hoped that the annual meeting would always occur on the same spot on his island as long as he owned it.

1824 - 1840 The Cannon Thefts
Sunbury had a cannon that was used to fire salutes on the 4th of july and "other national festive days". Selinsgrove did not have a cannon, but "greatly coveted" the one at Sunbury. So a party from Selinsgrove was organized, and they went to Sunbury and stole it.
According to H.F. Deering, who told the story to the Snyder County Tribune in 1896 (When he was age 92) the cannon was stored in Capt. Daniel Bakers cellar for safe keeping. "The sunburians were determined to recapture their cannon, and immediately set to work. Some of their young men became smitten by the charms of the fair maidens of Selinsgrove, and by that means were able to make many visits to the town without raising undue suspicions.
One of them courted a hired girl of Bakers, and succeeded in persuading her to unbar the cellar door at a certain time. The cannon was recaptured and returned to Sunbury.
A party from New Berlin stole it next, and later it was brought back to Selinsgrove. It remained there for several yeas, before the citizens of Sunbury stole it back once again.

Deering then went on to describe the 4th of July celebrations in "the long ago" (Remember, he wrote this in 1896)
"The 4th of July celebrations of 'long ago' were of the convivial kind. they were generally being held on the east side of Penns Creek. Speeches were made, toasts were drunk, substantial refreshments were served and high old times generally had. The community that could muster a man who had been the 'youngest soldier' in Washingtons Army was happy indeed upon such occasions, whilst the soldiers of 1812 came in full share of honor. The most prominent characters of the later class at such gatherings were Captain John Jacob Hummel and Corporal John Ulrich.

1868
In 1868 the ladies of the Lutheran church gave a dinner on the 4th of July, to raise money "towards paying the debt on their parsonage" That year the Miltonian reported that many from Milton planned to attend the Odd Fellows celebration and take part in the grand parade.

1872
In 1872 The Sunbury Gazette announced that "All the poor and rich of Sunbury are invited to attend the 4th Of July celebration in Market Square Park"

1879 - Unveiling The Soldiers Monument
In 1879, the Northumberland Press reported "Some of our Point b'hoys behaved themselves in a very creditable (?) and pious (?) manner while spending the 4th in Sunbury. They suffered so much from an overdose of Sunbury 4th-of-July inspiration that it required considerable close attention to prevent them from evaporation, and for several days after they suffered from the effects of overindulgence.

The Soldiers Monument was unveiled in Cameron Park on July 4th 1879. 15,000 people were expected to attend. The mayor made a plea "that large preparations be made to feed and accommodate the throng. Do not underrate the gathering for we are going to have a big time." He went on to say that it was fitting to decorate every part of the town with arches, evergreens, and flags. "Let us each one make a special effort to appropriately decorate, and by all means clean up the streets and sidewalks so the town will look neat in it's holiday attire"

1883 - Let There Be (Electric) Light

Using Sunbury's City Hotel as its base, the Sunbury Company built a coal-fired power plant on a vacant lot at the corner of Vine and Fourth streets in just three weeks. After a three-wire line was strung to the City Hotel, Edison, on the night of July 4,1883, switched on the current to a 100-candle power light over the City Hotel entrance, to the cheers of residents and marches played by a local brass band.

In the Fourth Of July Notes, published in a column below the fold of the Sunbury weekly news, it was the 4th thing mentioned; after a note that that the railroad had to run two trains, mention that there was a shameful amount of drunkenness and fights, and that in the afternoon storm, Fred Shank accidentally fell of Dietz's Coal Wharf, severely injuring his head. After those notes, the paper remarks:

"The electric light appeared for the first time in Sunbury, at the City Hotel this evening. It was a complete success, and was inspected and admired by a large number of citizens. Thomas Edison, the inventor, was here."

Murder in 1900
"The fourth of July celebration at Sunbury produced a murder. Frederick Kline of Shamokin was hit over the head with a piece of gas pipe by Arthur Brown, one of the men employed on the Clement steamers running on the day from Sunbury to SHamokin Dam. Kline it is claimed tried to upset the boat and started a quarel when the boatman hit him. The force of the blow fractured the man's skull.

The Fairmont About 1910

1909
In 1909, the fourth of July was celebrated in "West Sunbury", under the direction of the West Sunbury Academy. There was a parade at 9:30am, "In addition to the fantastic element the parade will include various floats, twelve Sunday schools, two bands, and fraternal orders". At 10:30 there was a baseball game between West Sunbury & Renfrer, and at 1:30 there were to be field sports, including races and contests.
After the field sports, there would be a second baseball game, and then in the evening there was a patriotic program in the Academy Hall, consisting of Orchestra music, speeches, and musical performances, including a fife solo.

Friendship Fire Company, 1911

Sunbury held a LOT of parades. Mummers parades, patriotic parades (in April), 4th of July parades, Welcome Home Parade (every town held that one, when the soldiers returned after WWI) , fireman's parades.. I can't tell you what event the above photo is from, but it shows how the town decorated, and would have been similar to the look for the 4th of July that year, even if this was not on the 4th of July.

1911 - Another Murder
Ugly Murder in The Kessler House Fourth Of July Night
Stranger Killed Workman Employed On Railroad Subway
Frank Miller came from Philadelphia to Sunbury on Tuesday July 4th.
He was seen with Jacob German, an employed for the railroad contractors, throughout the day and it was believed that the two had known each other previously.
On that evening, Miller was "wrangling" with five others in the bar room at the Kessler, when German arrived. German remarked that it was the fourth of July and Miller out to stop wrangling. He invited the others to take drinks.

Miller said "Yes, take a drink; it will be the last one you take" And with that, he picked up a sharp cheese knife and stabbed German, who died almost instantly.

The Lewisburg Journal headline says that Miller was driven to insanity by the extremely hot weather. Miller later proclaimed his innocence, stating that if he had done such a thing, he must have been out of his mind at the time.

John Vincent gave a 4th of July speech that was printed word for word in that weeks paper, I have included the article all the way at the bottom in the "read more" section of this post.