Centennial Celebration July 2-3-4 1916 Commemorative of the one hundredth an- niversary of the granting of the first charter, April 17th. 1816, to the village of PeekskiU Compiled and Edited by GEO. E. BRIGGS. Assisted by LEVERETT F. CRUMB and KARL M. SHERMAN. Published by the HIGHLAND DEMOCRAT COMPANY by resolution of the Centennial Committee Chester De Witt Pu^sley Chairman of the General Committee . P37IS 8 The IJinlsall House, One Hun dred Years Ago, on Main Street Eagle Hotel, wlure .>l(»ii(l;iy's and I iiesdivj's lunclieons were served. Re- viewing stand for the parade Monday. The oldest hotel in the villiige, town and county. PEEKSKILL CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION JULY 2, 3, 4, 1916 WHERE AIM) WHEN IT STARTED. ence J. Lent, Richard W. McGlnty, Dr. H. E. The celebration of the one hundredth Monroe Mace, Charles Tweedy, anniversary of the granting of a char- Thomas Timmons, Oscar V. Barger, Lanning G. ter to the Village of Peekskill on April Roake, H. Alban Anderson, A. Ellsworth Garrison, William W. 17, 1816, originated in a regular meet- Dr. ing of the Peekskill Board of Trade, Hoyt, E. de Mott Lyon, George E. McCoy, Dr. Perley H. Mason, Dr. January 12, 1915, when during the dis- Albert E. Phin, A. D. Dunbar, J. cussion of some project to boom the Fred Bohlmann, J. village, Karl M. Sherman, a member, Fred Jones, Dr. Willard announced that the next year, 1916, H. Sweet, John W. Balluffi, William B. Baxter, w^ould mark the one hundredth anni- George A. Creed, Clifton E. Forbush, Jewell, J. versary of the granting of the first George H. John Heleker, Jr., E. E. charter to the village. Why not cele- Elmer Seymour, R. brate the Russell, C. W. Horton, Jr., E. Ervin event? , After a short debate the president Gardner, Jr., James J. Finnigan. Thos. Dasey, was instructed to appoint a committee S. J. McCord, George A. Cass- on the matter. He named Chester De cles, J. Coleridge Darrow, Robt. Cross, Franklin Witt Pugsley, chairman; Joseph F. Montross, James Dimond, Harold H. Durrin, Isaac M. Beatty, Raymond, vice-chairman ; Edward F. Moses M. Hill, Edward E. Young, Jacob Fish, Scucclmarra, Walter Homan, Charles Melvin R. Horton, William B. Baxter, LeClair, Joseph Sparrow, Geo. Naylor, Jr., Andrew B. Buchanan, Pe- Karl M. Sherman, Samuel J. McCord, Dr. H. Monroe Mace and the president, ter Valente, Allen Elkins, Charles Weller, William H. H. MacKellar, and the sec- Antonio S. Renza, William F. Hoehn, retary, Geo. E. Briggs, as ex-officio Melvin R. Horton, Fred A. members. Smith, Robert McCord, John B. Hal- sted, Jas. Dempsey, They met together and at the next Sanford R. Knapp, William J. J. session of the Board of Trade reported Charlton, Wesley Barker, favorably upon the matter and sug- Dr. George C. Colyer, Nathan P. Bush- nell, E. gested an outline for the proposed cel- Edward Young, James F. Mar- ebration. tin, A. Wesley Wyatt, William H. Clin- ton, George The report was approved and a res- Winters, Max Saloman, William G. olution passed requesting the presi- Preston, John S. Baker, Theodore P. Birdsall, Frank N. dent of the village to appoint a com- McCoy, Rev. Everitt, mittee of one hundred citizens to take Benjamin H. Charles E. Clinton, the matter In hand. William H. Stevens, Jay R. Decatur, Charles J. Donohue, Edward THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED. G. Halsey, Clarence W. Stetson, S. On June 11, 1915, President Leverett Fletcher Allen, Edward McDermott, F. Crumb announced at a meeting of the John N. Tllden, S. Allen Mead, Otto Board of Trustees the following gene- Graninger, Robert Johns, James A. r;U committee: Chester De Witt Pugs- Sloat, William C. Hoffman, James F. ley, chairman: William H. H. MacKel- Thompson, Nathan Posey, Dr. Edward lar, Hon. Cornelius A. Pugsley, Albert C. Duryee, Joseph S. Austin, Rev. E. Cruger, Karl M. Sherman, William Henri de Vries, Clifford M. Lent, Alonzo Lawson, James W. Husted, Thomas Seymour, George W. Buchanan, Ed- Nelson, Jr.. Geo. E. Bri ggs, Cassius M. mund Jordan, William H. Croft, Har- Gardner, Isaac'H. Smith, James K. Ap- old D. E. Hyatt, Elbert H. Bagley, Geo. gar, Edward F. Hill, Fred F. Roe, Fred A. Timmons, Geo. B. Joseph, Edward T. Pugsley, William H. Glsh, Angelo J. Wilson, Dr. Charles A. Robinson, Bleakley, Milton W. Lounsbury, Clar- I B. B. Nostrand, Jr., Charles W. Old- ^ /iUU Id — 1816—PEEKSKILL CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION—1916 field, Frank H. Whitney, George D. chairman of Parade Committee; L. F. McCutchen, Frost Horton, Allan L. Crumb, chairman Historical Commit- Sutton, David S. Murden, Isadore 01- tee; A. S. Renza, chairman Illumina- stein, John J. Slattery, Joseph Ives, tion and Decoration Committee; Eli R. George Goetchius, Leon Heady, Chas. Russell, chairman Athletic Events H. Nelson, Edward J. Lockwood, Wm. Committee; Clifford Couch, chairman E. Lane, Jr., William J. Wiberley, Publicity Committee; Wm. F. Hoehn, Clifford Couch, Thomas Snowden, Ed- chairman Carnival Committee, and ward Burger, David Hartstein, Clifford Thomas Nelson, Jr., Edward F. Hill, Denike, Herbert Griffin, John Mabie, George Naylor, Jr., Martin Nilsson, 2d, Fred T. Slack, Harry Stevenson, William E. Lane, Jr., Richard H. Rixon, Rev. Clarence P. McClelland, Jacob Edward E. Young, John S. Baker, Hon. Fish, Louis Ettlinger, Daniel Odell, James W. Husted, James K. Apgar, Rev. Richard H. Tobin, John Towart, Geo. E. McCoy, William Lawson, Geo. Jr., James J. Manning, Thos. C. Gard- E. Briggs, Melvin R. Horton, Clifton ner, Geo. P. Wygant, James A. Barker, E. Forbush, James V. Clune, Harry W. George W. Robertson, Clinton S. Bird, Cortiss, Jacob Fish, Frank M. Dain, Harry W. Cortiss, Frank M. Dain, Rob- Daniel Odell and Cassius M. Gardner. ert Valentine, George F. Canfield, Ed- These committees met from time to ward Balluffi, Samuel Levy, Enoch J. time in the Municipal Building and Tompkins, J. Homer Wright, A. J. formulated the plans which carried out Mason, Douglas Macduff, Dr. P. W. resulted in the largest and most ex- O'Brien, John E. Holden, Louis Lau- tensive celebration ever held in Peeks- dati. Rev. F. G. Illsley, E. C. Alsop, kill which in the following pages is Robert F. Barrett, Joseph M. Fox, described in detail and which is placed Charles N. Wells, Coleridge A. Hart, in this permanent form as a result of Fred W. Otte, Jr., Isadore Wolff, D. a resolution passed at the final meet- Levinson, Louis Keller; A. E. Linder ing of the committee held July 6, 1916, and F. J. Welton (Mohegan Lake). which provided that the book should Their first meeting was held Tues- be compiled by Geo. E. Briggs, editor day evening, June 29, 1915. By reso- of the Highland Democrat, aided by a lution Leverett F. Criimb, president of committee, Messrs. Leverett F. Crumb the village, was added to the commit- and Karl M. Sherman, appointed by the tee. The following other officers were chairman of the general committee. H. elected: Vice-chairman, William H. MR, DEPEW OPEIVS CELEBRATION. MacKellar; secretary, Albert E. Cru- ger; assistant secretary, Karl M. Sher- The first important event of the cen- man; treasurer, Hon. Cornelius A. tennial celebration took place on Fri- Pugsley. day evening, June 30, 1916, when ex- The chairman of the general com- Senator Chauncey M. Depew addressed mittee, Chester De Witt Pugsley, his fellow townsmen in the auditorium named a number of sub-committees of the Guardian. with chairmen as follows: The auditorium, brilliantly illumi- Finance—Hon. Isaac H. Smith. nated, was well filled with Peekskill Executive—Chester De Witt Pugsley, people, women and young ladies pre- ex-officio. dominating. Parade—Fred A. Smith. On the stage, in addition to ex-Sen- Illumination and Decoration—A. S. ator Depew was Congressman Husted, Renza. the chairman of the evening and the Publicity—Clifford Couch. president of the Cortlandtown Soldiers' Historical and Public Exercises Monument Association, under whose Hon. I.,everett F. Crumb. auspices the meeting was held, and Carnival—William F. Hoehn. also John Halsted, John Smith, Jr., Athletic Events—Eli R. Russell. Rev. Father Richard H. Tobin, San- The Executive Committee comprised ford R. Knapp, Henry S. Free, Homer the officers; Isaac H. Smith, chairman Anderson, George L. Hughson, Frank- of Finance Committee; Fred A. Smith, lin Couch and William J. Charlton; 1816—PEEKSKILL CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION—1916 Sanford R. Knapp, John Halsted and tesy in coming to his old town and Chauncey M. Depew, all three born in speaking to its people. The vote was Peekskill, are each over eighty-two given with a chorus of ayes. The years of age. speaker of the evening waved a fare- The exercises of the evening were well and said a few words of good-bye opened with an overture, "Cumber- and left. land March," by Mrs. Grippen's or- Another selection by the orchestra chestra of seven pieces. concluded the program of the evening. Congressman Husted, in a few felici- As the people passed out the orches- tous remarks, presented Rev. Father tra played "Grand American Fantasie." Tobin, who made a brief but very 3Ir. Depew's Address. charming address of welcome to the Ladies and Gentlemen, and I think I audience and to the guest and speaker may add, My Fellow Townsmen: of the evening. To be in Peekskill has been a pleas- ure for me all my life. It is a great j pleasure to participate in cere- 1 the mony which celebrates the hun- dredth anniversary of the formation of our village government. For eighty-two years of that hundred I have been either a resident or a fre- quent visitor, and always deeply inter- ested in the affairs, the welfare and the prosperity of the town.