April Seventh 1892

Marietta Register, Tri-Weekly, April 9, 1892

The gray cool morning of April seventh, 1892, came in heralding a pleasant day. At an early hour, flags were unfurled and residences and business houses were decked with the loyal colors, the read, white and blue.

The business meeting of the Pioneer Association took place at 10 A.M. at the Mayor's office, City Hall.  The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:  Douglas Putnam, President; W. D. Devol, Vice President; William G. Way, Secretary; F. A. Wheeler, Treasurer; Dr. H. B. Shipman, Corresponding Secretary; Dr. N. J. Morrison, Necrologist.

Much interest and enthusiasm was manifested throughout the meeting, some new lines of work introduced, and plans laid for an entertainment on the 12th of October, 1892, which is to be historical in its nature and its aim to assist in further enhancing the sentiment and interest of the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago next year.

It was noted that six deaths had occurred during the year among the members of the Pioneer Association. The most recent is that of Mr. William Warren of this city.

Mr. Lawton, Barlow; Mr. Israel W. Putnam, Belpre; Mr. W. D. Devol and Mr. Theodore Devol and others out of town were present.

For the afternoon Mr. Douglas Putnam, long the President of the Society, and his estimable wife, extended an invitation for a reception at their palatial home to the Pioneer Association, the faculty and students of the College, and their friends generally.  Broad as the invitation implied, the hospitality of the home also seemed unbounded, and those receiving with Mr. Putnam, Mr. Henry Fearing, Mr. F. A. Wheeler, Mr. A. Pixley and J. W. L. Brown were taxed to a great degree to keep up the social handshaking which was constant from before 3 o'clock to even a later hour than was named for the reception to close.

Refreshments were served to the throngs of visitors, and at 5:00, the hour when the representation from the College and Academy came in, the numbers were so great that it proved almost a crush and a jam.

A few selections were rendered by the students, such as: "Oft on a Stilly Night," "Auld Lang Syne," etc., which was followed by an address by Mr. H. G. Blish of the College, which was appropriate to the occasion and exceedingly entertaining.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel H. Putnam were the first to greet the visitors and make them feel at ease in the hallway. Among the guests who assisted Mr. and Mrs. Putnam in entertaining, were Mrs. Danforth, Andover, Massachusetts; Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Putnam, Ashland, Kentucky; Mr. and Mrs. N. J. Morrison, who were untiring in their efforts to see that everyone had a pleasant time and were well cared for at the lunch tables; Mrs. Sleigh and Miss Putnam, nieces of the host; with Miss Dimond, who had many friends around her most of the afternoon.

The occasion was a birthday anniversary, as well, it being Mr. Putnam's eighty-sixth birthday, and also the birthday of W. F. Curtis, who did not feel able to be present.

Mr. W. F. Moore, 102 years of age, came from Crooked Tree, Noble County, to attend the Pioneer Association, but felt too feeble to be present at the reception. The seventh of April, 1892, will be long and pleasantly remembered as one of the happiest celebrations that the past has placed on record.