It was an ordinary day. Just finished reading an article written by Lancaster Newspaper's "The Scribbler" who writes a weekly Sunday newspaper column about items related to Lancaster County and it's history or current goings-on. The title of his article today was "Buchanan spent his early years in a place that remains far out." If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you probably realize that James Buchanan, former 15th President of the United States, lived in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. But, he didn't live in Lancaster his entire life. James was born on April 23, 1791 in the remote location known as Cove Gap, Pennsylvania which is on the western edge of civilization. The small town was surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains which provided a formidable barrier to those trying to find their way westward. Cove Gap ran through two of the mountains which made the trip westward quite a bit easier. In the town of Cove Gap was one of the last mercantile stores for miles. The store, known as Tom's Trading Place, was owned by James Buchanan's father during its heyday in 1789. The town, if it could be called that, had a store, an orchard, a few stables, a few barns, a few cabins and a few storehouses. James' father renamed the store Stony Batter after the Buchanan home in Northern Ireland where they lived before finding their way to America. Eventually the business was moved to nearby Mercersburg when James turned six. James never forgot the many happy memories he had of Stony Batter. In 1865, the owner of the site invited the former President to visit his birthplace. After the visit, James wrote, "It is a rugged but romantic spot, and the mountain and mountain stream under the scenery, captivating. I have a warm attachment for it...." Perhaps by now you know that James Buchanan has often been chosen as the worse President in our country's history. In the meantime we have a recent President who tried his best to outdo our late, great President Buchanan and the verdict is still out as to whether he overtook President Buchanan or not. Buchanan graduated from Dickinson College in nearby Carlisle and became a lawyer in the state capital of Lancaster at the young age of 21. While in Lancaster he became active in the Federalist Party which is the predecessor of the Democratic Party. One really neat fact about James Buchanan is that once nominated, he never lost an election during his entire political career. He served two terms as a Pennsylvania Assemblyman, 10 years as a U.S. Congressman, two years as the Foreign Minister to Russia, 10 years as a U.S. Senator, 4 years as U.S. Secretary of State, 4 years as Foreign Minister to Great Britain, and four years as our 15th President of the United States. After Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, James retired to his home, Wheatland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On May 30, 1868 he gave his last public statement from his bed the day before he died. He said...“My dear friend, I have no fear for the future. Posterity will do me justice. I have always felt, and still feel that I discharged every public duty imposed upon me conscientiously. I have no regret for any public act of my life and history will vindicate my memory from every unjust aspersion.” While in the White House, James' sister Jane's youngest child, Harriet Lane, served as his First Lady, being that James was never married. James eventually became a guardian of Harriet in 1842. He arranged for her education and refinement. While serving as First Lady, she pursued humanitarian causes such as hospital and prison reform and better treatment of the American Indians. The Chippewa Indians named her "The Great Mother of the Indians." Harriet's quest to honor her uncle through the creation of a monument began in the early 1880s. She made a few attempts to purchase James' birthplace, Stony Batter, but was never successful. Her will stated that upon her death $100,000 would be used to set up the James Buchanan Monument Fund. The will also stipulated that the board had 15 years to build a monument at Stony Batter and/or receive permission from Congress to erect a statue in Washington D.C. But, the time passed with no monument. Two men, a Washington D.C. banker and a Baltimore lawyer took over to make Harriet's dream a reality. They acquired Stony Batter in 1865 and had an architectural firm in Baltimore, Maryland design the monument in pyramid form which was to be 38 feet square and 331 feet high. It was constructed of 50 tons of hammered American gray granite. The pyramid contained 600 tons of native rubble and mortar. Work began in October of 1907 with a work force of 20 men which eventually was increased to 35 men. On November 15, 1907 the monument was complete. The final instructions of the will for Stony Batter requested that the monument be enclosed in an iron railing for protection. The remaining grounds were for the enjoyment of the people of Pennsylvania. Well, "The Scribbler" recently made a visit to the monument. In his column he writes of the 31-foot-tall, 650 ton rock pyramid built in 1907.
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| President of the United States James Buchanan's Monument! |
A wrought-iron fence keeps vandals from defacing the monument. Today shrubs and weeds sprout from dirt accumulated on the pyramid's surface. While making his visit to see the monument, The Scribbler said that the primary noisemakers were cicadas, bullfrogs in Buck Run and the occasional vehicle driving into the park and turning around upon finding the way in is the only way out. Was this the best that our country could have come up with for it's 15th President of the United States? It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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