Ursinus College - Ruby Yearbook (Collegeville, PA)

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Near Hancock, the “Superb,” but a stone-throw in distance, rests Hartranft, the “ Magnificent,” the soldier, statesman, and patriot. lie slumbers under that column erected to his memory by the National Guards of Pennsylvania. Let us stop and view that cenotaph. Its epitaph tells the story. A college graduate, he was a leader of men. Ho fought and held a command at Bull Run, at South Mountain, at Antietam, and at Vicksburg. He broke the Confederate cordon around Petersburg. and he was Governor of Penn sylvania. So reads the record, surrounding him with a halo of glory. Rut the deeds and heroism of war are more than equaled by the splendid achievements of peace in our district. The stupendous task, undertaken by our fathers in 1784, of building a bridge over the Per-kiomen at Phillip’s Ford has given us HIRTHPI.ACK OF C.ICN HANCOCK. NORRISTOWN the best-known historical landmark of the neighborhood. The strong, antique arches of Perkioinen Bridge are a tribute to the solidity of the men of a century ago. For over a hundred years the waters of the Perkioinen, in winter’s flood and summer’s drought, have washed its base| their onward flow to the sea, but the grim old stonework still stands and with calm indifference still hears the old stream’s lullaby. Adowu the banks of this gentle stream, nestling in the hillside in the bend of the river, there stands the home of America’s first naturalist, Audubon. Here, on this old plantation of Mill bank, the man who loved the beauties of nature and the plumage of the birds, lived ; and here he prepared his work on the birds of America, which took the world by storm. Many a time the waters of the river bore him to the opposite bank in his search for feathered singers, and many a time they bore him homeward, listening to the melody of his heart as he gazed with fondness at his winged prize. General history is made up of the most important events of local history. TOMB OF GHNKRAI, II ART RAN FT, NORRISTOWN '9

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cold silence is unbroken, save where on yonder ramparts, crunching the crisp snow with wounded feet, a ragged sentinel keeps watch for liberty.” But from the fame of Valley Forge and the memory of its patriotic deeds we turn, and with swiftly-treading feet march through well-nigh another century. Again our country is in commotion, again the thunder of battle is heard throughout the laud, and again our district adds to the glory of the moment. There in yonder cemetery of Montgomery, where the evening sun lingers lovingly among the monuments of the historic dead, lie in sleep the men who fought the nation s TOMIl OF C.KXKKAI. HANCOCK. NOK K IST( WN. battles. In yonder corner, where the weeping willow drops her tear upon the vaulted tomb, lies in state the hero of Gettysburg, Hancock, the “ Superb.” To trace the career of this groat general from his lowly birthplace, at the foot of that nearby hill, through his boyhood days and among the battlefields linked insolubly with his name, would be a pleasing task were time to allow it. In the mind’s eye we see him sweep over the fields of Chaneellorsvillc, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania. Again we see him storm the heights of Fredericksburg and hurl back the Confederate chaige in shattered and broken columns at Gettysburg. “God lives; he forged the iron will That clutched and held that trembling hill. God lives and reigns , he built and lent The heights for Freedom's battlement. Where floats her flag in triumph still. tS

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 The incidents of Valley Forge, although local to us, have become the possession of the country. There is, perhaps, no greater shrine in all the world than these very places, which are so near to us. The heart of the American citizen thrills with emotion as he ga .es on the hills of Valley Forge, where the wounded feet of the Continentals trod the snow in order to bequeath to him the breath of liberty. The soul of the scientist responds to a kindred glow when he looks upon the river banks, which the father of American Ornithology made historical by his labor. The life of the Christian rises to the spirit of a higher life as he glances at the place where holy men of old labored and sacrificed to sow the seeds of Christian teaching, that he might be drawn nearer to the great, loving heart of God. Clustered around these scenes, close by our door, there are entwined the names of America’s most noble heroes: Washington, Muhlenberg, Schlatter, Hancock, Hartranft, Audubon, and the innumerable company of the patriots, who bled and died and were forgotten by all save God, have pressed the same soil that we are treading, have seen the same landscapes that we have seen, and have hallowed them by their magnificent love and glorious fight for Liberty. THK lloMK l AMKKICA’S GRIiATIiST NATl'KAI.IST. ACI)CRON. 20