{"id":10256,"date":"2021-07-04T09:46:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T13:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=10256"},"modified":"2021-07-04T15:08:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T19:08:43","slug":"celebrating-4th-of-july-in-wheeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/celebrating-4th-of-july-in-wheeling","title":{"rendered":"A History of Wheeling’s 4th of July Celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>245 years ago, on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies\u2019 separation from Great Britain. A year later, in the most populous city in the \u201cUnited Colonies\u201d where the Declaration was signed,\u00a0Philadelphians marked the first anniversary of American independence with a spontaneous celebration, which is described in a\u00a0letter by John Adams to his daughter, Abigail<\/a>.\n

\u201cMy dear Daughter Philadelphia, July 5th, 1777 Yesterday, being the anniversary of American Independence, was celebrated here with a festivity and ceremony becoming the occasion. I am too old to delight in pretty descriptions, if I had a talent for them, otherwise a picture might be drawn, which would please the fancy of a Whig, at least.\u00a0The thought of taking any notice of this day, was not conceived, until the second of this month, and it was not mentioned until the third.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
4th\u00a0of\u00a0July\u00a0Celebrations\u00a0in\u00a0Wheeling<\/h2>\nThough surveyor William Crawford, writing in 1772 to George Washington<\/a>, reported that settlers were arriving to the area \u201cin such numbers the like was never seen,<\/em>\u201d by July 4th, 1777, Wheeling was still little more than an outpost on the western frontier of the colonies. By the time the first federal census was taken in 1790, the population of Wheeling was approximated to be between 200 and 250 residents. Eight years later, Tarleton Bates, a law clerk and newspaper publisher in Pittsburgh described a visit in his journal in 1798<\/a>, writing that Wheeling consisted \u201cprincipally of one street [and] about 60 houses one good looking brick one & 5 or 6 taverns \u2014The Inhabitants appear tolerably Genteel & were they not Virginians might pass for decent people.<\/em>\u201d When Merriwether Lewis passed through in 1803, he wrote of Wheeling,<\/a> \u201cthis is a pretty considerable Village contains about fifty houses\u2026<\/em>\u201d Though Lewis\u2019s estimation of houses in the village would indicate little growth had occurred, the federal census of 1800 recorded a doubling of Wheeling\u2019s population to 500 residents. In 1806, the same year Wheeling was officially incorporated as a town, Thomas Ashe, author of Travels in America<\/em><\/a>, counted \u201cabout two hundred and fifty houses; ten of which are built of brick, eighteen of stone, and the remainder of logs.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"Cover$ Cover page of the Wheeling Repository<\/em>, July 9, 1807.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt is a year later that the earliest mention of a 4th of July celebration in Wheeling has been found (if anyone knows of an early record, please let us know). The description of the July 4th, 1807 festivities was printed by Wheeling\u2019s first newspaper, the Wheeling Repository<\/a>,<\/em> a weekly which had a short publication run from March 5, 1807 to November 5, 1808.<\/p>\n
July 9, 1807 edition, pg 6<\/a> (excerpt).
\n\u201cOn the 4th inst. the Wheeling Light infantry company paraded, in order to celebrate the 31st anniversary of American Independence. A suitable repast was provided for the occasion, on the bank of the Ohio, where they were joined by several gentlemen of the Corporation\u2026 The day was spent with that conviviality and harmony which mark the character of genuine Republicans.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Even if this was the first 4th of July celebrated in Wheeling, it would seem that the fledgling town was ahead of its time. According to multiple sources, the observation of Independence Day only became commonplace across the United States after the War of 1812. Finding records of subsequent local celebrations in the early part of the 19th century, however, has been difficult.<\/p>\n
Though containing no mention of a local celebration, in the Wheeling paper, the Virginia Statesman<\/em> (Jan. 1828\u2014June 1829) on July 16, 1828<\/a>, the editor of the paper remarked that \u201cOn account of some of our hands wishing to celebrate the 4th of July at a distant place, there was no paper issued from this office last week.<\/em>\u201d The paper went on to report that, \u201cThe Washington and Baltimore papers are filled with descriptions of the pageantry of digging the first full spade full on the Ohio and Chesapeake Canal and the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Road, in the neighborhood of those cities, on the 4th of July. The coincidence in time of commencement is remarkable.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wheeling Compiler<\/em> (1829-1831) mentioned<\/a> a July 4th, 1829 \u201cyoung men\u2019s<\/em>\u201d celebration, though attended by \u201ca highly respectable audience of Ladies and Gentlemen<\/em>.\u201d Festivities commencing at the Methodist Meeting House included \u201can impressive prayer made the Rev. R. C. Hutton,<\/em>\u201d the reading of the Declaration of Independence by a Mr. Ewell in \u201ca manly tone, and with scholastic correctness<\/em>,\u201d and \u201cannexed toasts were drank with loud and repeated cheering<\/em>\u201d following an\u00a0\u201cexcellent<\/em>\u201d afternoon dinner on the Island served by Mr. Thomas Bernard.<\/p>\n
In his 1905 Reminiscences of his Schoolboy Days<\/em><\/a>, then octogenarian Joseph Bell recollected that in the 1830s, when \u201cThe whole of Wheeling Island was then owned by the two Zanes<\/em>\u201d and \u201cThere being no bridges over the Ohio,\u00a0<\/em>alI crossing was done by ford or ferry<\/em>,\u201d that \u201cFourth of July public dinners and celebrations were commonly held on the eastern bank of the Island, just north of<\/em>\u00a0[then the yet to be built ]\u00a0terminus of the Suspension Bridge<\/em>. Thomas Bernard generally furnished the entertainment on these occasions.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"Depiction$ <\/p>\n
A circa 1840 wood engraving depicting Wheeling prior to the Suspension Bridge (source unknown).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
In 1842, The Wheeling Times and Advertiser<\/em><\/a> (1839-1849) reported a July 4th celebration given by the Guards and Riflemen in a grove on Wheeling Island following a Battalion parade. The Declaration of Independence was read by Seargent A. S. Glenn of the Guards and an address delivered by Lieutenant J. S. Lowry of the Riflemen. The two companies were then \u201caccompanied by a large number of Citizens\u201d to the hotel of Mr. Glime where they \u201cpartook of one of the \u2018best gotten up\u2019 and most sumptuous dinners ever prepared about Wheeling.<\/em>\u201d Following thirteen toasts, Mr. Hiram Kaine delivered an original ode.<\/p>\n
ANNIVERSARY ODE<\/em><\/strong> (excerpt only).<\/em><\/p>\n
When o\u2019er our fathers, tyrants sought<\/em>
\nTo bind the chain their wrong had wrought,<\/em>
\nAnd weave around each symbol dear<\/em>
\nThe emblem of oppression drear.<\/em>
\nThey scoffed, the sceptred King to scorn,<\/em>
\nAnd bared the rustic blade, <\/em>
\nAnd sounded Freedom\u2019s battle horn,<\/em>
\nThrough every mountain glade;<\/em>
\nTill roused by the inspiring peal,<\/em>
\nAnd fired with flame that patriot\u2019s feel, <\/em>
\nThey poured upon the plain\u2014<\/em>
\nWild, sweeping as a river on\u2014<\/em>
\nLo! the invading hosts were gone<\/em>
\nWith banner, plume and chain.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In 1843, \u201cThe anniversary of our national birth was duly observed, we believe, by almost all of our citizens in some form, and so far as we can learn all appeared to enjoy it<\/em>,\u201d according to the Times and Advertiser<\/a>.<\/em> A crowd of approximately 4,000 took part in a celebration and picnic hosted by the Temperance Society and Sunday Schools while others gathered on Wheeling Hill and informed the newspaper that \u201cthey will not yield the palm of enjoyment to any.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
The first recorded instance of the Wheeling Suspension bridge being involved in the festivities doesn\u2019t come until 1853. The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer<\/em><\/a> (Aug. 1852\u2014 ) reported that the programme for the \u201cCelebration of the Anniversary of American Independence, by the German citizens of Wheeling<\/em>\u201d included a 5 a.m. national salute of thirteen rounds to be fired, followed by a 9 a.m. parade \u201cto be formed in Market Square, which will move through several of our principal streets, and then proceed over the Suspension Bridge to a selected spot on the Island, where the festivities will take place.<\/em>\u201d A reading of the Declaration of Independence and speeches in English and German were given, along with toasts followed by gun shot, so it\u2019s just as well that, as the the paper noted, \u201cno strong liquors shall be sold on the festival ground.<\/em>\u201d The afternoon was filled with music and further speeches, and at 6 p.m., three rounds of a cannon signaled a procession to move back to the city, which dissolved at Market Square.<\/p>\n
$\"This$ This notice ran in the Wheeling Time & Advertiser on July 1, 2, 3 and 4, 1845.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
As early as 1845, notices of \u201cAn ordinance to prevent certain improper practices<\/em>\u201d were printed in the local newspaper in the days leading up to the 4th of July, reminding citizens that \u201cIf any person shall fire or discharge within such parts of the city\u2026limits, any cannon, gun, pistol or fire arms, or any cracker, squib, rocket or fireworks\u2026 such person for every such offense shall forfeit and pay to the city not less than one more than ten dollars<\/em> (between $35-350 dollars in today\u2019s money).\u201d It seems some things never change, as Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger was quoted in the June 25, 2021 edition of the Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as saying \u201cEach year, especially the first week of July, the Wheeling Police Department becomes inundated with fireworks complaints. <\/em><\/span>We are asking everyone to be courteous of others and not ignite (illegal fireworks).<\/em>\u201d City Council recently amended its fireworks code to make the ignition of illegal fireworks within city limits to now carry a $500 fine, making it more expensive to set off illegal fireworks downtown than it was in 1845.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Though we can infer from the above that fireworks were part of the revelry in the 1840s, the first reported instance of their inclusion in any official 4th of July celebration in Wheeling comes from the July 04, 1856 edition<\/a> of the Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>. \u201cDo not forget the exhibition of fire-works to be given by the employees of the B. & O. Railroad from the roof of the Depot tonight\u2026 We learn that most a powder car load of rockets, \u2018fly arounds,\u2019 \u2018blue, red, and white\u2019 have been brought out from the East for the occasion.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"The$ The B&O Depot in Wheeling in the 1860s. The original B&O Depot sat along the bank of the Ohio River and spanned Wheeling Creek. It sat on the current location of WesBanco Arena. \u2013Photo from the collections of the Ohio County Public Library Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Following the start of the Civil War in April of 1861, the 4th of July took on a somber tone. The Daily Intelligencer<\/em><\/a> reported, \u201cToday is the 85th anniversary of American independence. It comes to us this morning unlike all that have preceded it\u2026 With heavy hearts our patriotic people will go to the woods and the groves today, to hear orations and sing national anthems.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheeling\u2019s first celebration of the 4th following West Virginia\u2019s admission as to the Union as the 35th state was marked by a contemplative editorial in the July 4th, 1863 issue<\/a> of the Daily Intelligencer<\/em>. The reflection came a mere two weeks following\u00a0 President Lincoln\u2019s June 20 proclamation that West Virginia would officially be recognized as a state in a country still at war.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo-day is the eighty-seventh anniversary of American Freedom. How different is the situation when compared with this day one year ago. Last 4th of July the nation was oppressed with the disastrous tidings that the army of the Peninsula had been defeated and perhaps destroyed. Everything looked dark around us and above us. It seemed as if our country\u2019s birth day was soon to be a thing of memory. With heavy hearts the people went forth to the groves to seek relief from their painful anxieties and their gloomy forbodings. To-day the scenes are changed and the prospects also\u2026 Rest assured this day, loyal fellow citizens, that the cause for which our liberty loving countrymen <\/em>are in arms will prevail. The day of overwhelming victory is very near. Take courage in your hearts and resolve anew to never\u00a0abandon\u00a0the glorious traditions and associations of this sacred anniversary.<\/i>\u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
$\"Wheeling$ Wheeling Daily Intelligencer<\/em>, July 4, 1865.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFollowing the end of the Civil War in April of 1865, the occasion of the 4th returned to celebratory. The Wheeling Daily Register<\/em><\/a> (1863\u2014[currently News Register]) printed, \u201cThe anniversary of our national independence will be celebrated today with more genuine heartiness than for many years heretofore. It has more meaning to-day than the present generation of Americans has heretofore attached to it. The blessings of civil liberty and the grandeur of the work accomplished by our fore fathers are better appreciated today than ever before. The peril in which our liberty has been placed has awakened us to a keener sense of its value, and, now that the danger is past, we have a greater incentive to rejoicing than before<\/em>.\u201d The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer<\/em> devoted its entire front page<\/a> to the reprinting of the Declaration of Independence, the 1862 Proclamation of Freedom, and the lyrics to America, The Star-Spangled Banner, Columbia! Arise to Glory!<\/em>, and other patriotic songs.<\/p>\n
By the 1870s, as the nation reunified, the Fourth of July was the most important secular holiday on the calendar and Congress passed a law making Independence Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1870. \u201cNo Paper To-Morrow<\/em>,\u201d noted the Intelligencer<\/em> on July 4, 1870<\/a>, \u201cTo-day being not only the \u2018glorious Fourth,\u2019 but a legal holiday under present enactment of Congress, no work will be done in this establishment to-day and no Intelligencer will be issued to-morrow<\/em>.\u201d The first celebration as an official federal holiday went well according to the July 6 edition<\/a>. \u201cAltogether, we doubt if a more quiet and orderly Fourth of July is remembered in this city. To the credit of our people we are gratified to be able to state that very few intoxicated persons were visible on the streets<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1876, Wheeling, once again the state capital<\/a> following Charleston\u2019s stint from 1870 to 1875, became the official headquarters for organizing the West Virginia display at the United States Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia that year. Planning for the national celebration led to local interest in creating a \u201conce-in-a-lifetime\u201d local centennial celebration, according to an article by Dennis E. Lawther in the July 1977 issue of West History History<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlans called for the firing of a canon to open the gala event, a two-day concert, a gigantic picnic on the Island, and an exciting fireworks display to climax the day\u2019s event\u2026 The \u2018Red, White, and Blue\u2019 flew briskly in the wind from balconies, businesses, and residences. National flags honoring forty-one nations decorated the windows of the City Building. City workers placed 506 Chinese lanterns on the Suspension Bridge for illumination during the night hours\u2026 At 12:00 a.m., a \u2018100-gun\u2019 salute by West Virginia University Cadets echoed across the hills announcing that Independence Day had arrived. Quickly Wheeling came alive. On the surrounding hills, people ignited bonfires which lit up the night sky. Bells rang from all sections of the city. People continued to celebrate throughout the night.<\/em>\u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Following an early morning parade, townsfolk gathered on the Island for the picnic and entertainment from various bands and singing societies, enjoying such games as greased pole climbing, egg racing, and stilt racing. A mid-afternoon thunderstorm left the picnic grounds \u201ca sea of mud,<\/em>\u201d but didn\u2019t dampen spirits. It did, however, dampen the fireworks. As night fell crowds began to gather along the river bank and on the Suspension Bridge. \u201cThe display was less than spectacular, however, since most of the fireworks had been destroying during the afternoon storm<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"Front$
1976 Bicentennial Edition of the Wheeling-New Register & Intelligencer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
One hundred years later, Wheeling put on another grand celebration. The Wheeling News-Register<\/em> and\u00a0Intelligencer\u00a0<\/em>released a massive eighty-page supplemental Bicentennial Edition on July 2, 1976, documenting 200 years of Wheeling History with sections on the Wheeling of \u201cYesterday,<\/em>\u201d \u201cToday,<\/em>\u201d and \u201cTomorrow.<\/em>\u201d Nurses and orderlies at Ohio Valley General Hospital dressed in colonial garb from July 4th through the 7th to \u201cmake the bicentennial a little special for the patients.<\/em>\u201d On the day of the 4th itself, \u201cOhio Valley residents turned out by the tens of thousands Sunday to participate in the bicentennial activities<\/em>\u2026\u201d A boat parade was held on the Ohio River along with canoe and flatboat races. Human kite flying was also listed as one of the festive activities of the day (if anyone remembers what this involved, please let us know). The Wheeling Area Firefighters held a \u201cwater battle<\/em>\u201d at the Wharf Parking Garage, spraying a keg suspended on a wire between two city trucks. Daredevil divers leapt from the railing of the suspension bridge into the Ohio River, one performing a swan dive, the other a back dive. The Intelligencer<\/em> reported that \u201cWhen the divers emerged from the water with clenched fist indicating to the crowd that they were \u2018O.K.,\u2019 roars from the crowd and wails from the sirens and horns on the pleasure boats could be heard cheering the divers.<\/em>\u201d Later that night, the Wheeling Suspension bridge was officially dedicated<\/a> as a National Historic Landmark as part of the city\u2019s bicentennial celebration.<\/p>\n
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For many years, the city\u2019s 4th of July fireworks had been set off from the Suspension Bridge, ending with a waterfall of sizzling lights<\/a> cascading from the deck to the river. In 2013<\/a>, however, the West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways began the ban on fireworks being set off from the Suspension Bridge. Smaller fireworks shells were set off from Wheeling Island that year while larger shells were fired from just south of WesBanco Arena. Viewers of the fireworks were unhappy with the \u201cdueling\u201d fireworks and were disappointed the cascading waterfall on the Bridge would no longer be a part of the display. Fireworks today are frequently now set off at the location near WesBanco Arena, just south of Wheeling Creek, close to where the first reported 4th of July fireworks would have been launched from the roof of the B&O Depot in 1856.<\/p>\n
$\"Fireworks$
Fireworks over the Suspension Bridge, 4th of July, 2013.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Todays\u2019 4th of July festivities at Wheeling Heritage Port will kick off with a 7:30 pm concert by the Wheeling Symphony followed by fireworks at dusk.<\/p>\n
Happy<\/strong>\u00a04th<\/strong>\u00a0of<\/strong>\u00a0July!<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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245 years ago, on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies\u2019 separation from Great Britain. A year later, in the most populous city in the \u201cUnited Colonies\u201d where the Declaration was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,6],"tags":[1248,1249,1246,1255,1245,34,666,939,1250,1247,1259,1252,1257,1251,52,64,1258,1254,139,1253,1256],"coauthors":[312],"class_list":["post-10256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archiving-wheeling","category-contributor-ocpl","tag-1876-centennial","tag-1976-bicentennial","tag-4th-of-july","tag-bo-depot","tag-celebrations","tag-civil-war","tag-declaration-of-independence","tag-digitized-newspapers","tag-fireworks","tag-frontier-era","tag-george-washington","tag-intelligencer","tag-joseph-bell","tag-newspapers","tag-parades","tag-suspension-bridge","tag-wheeling-compiler","tag-wheeling-daily-register","tag-wheeling-island","tag-wheeling-repository","tag-wheeling-times-and-advertiser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/AW_FI_2021-07-04_4th-of-July-in-Wheeling.png?fit=738%2C355&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5pkc7-2Fq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10256"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10306,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10256\/revisions\/10306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10256"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}