1909 Champlain Tercentenary
Report of the NY Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission
to the Legislature of the State of New York, Sept. 19, 1911

WORK OF THE NEW YORK COMMISSION

The Commission took up its work promptly and prosecuted it with diligence. More than thirty meetings were held from August, 1903, to June, 1910. Both as a matter of convenience and in order to familiarize themselves with local conditions, the meetings were held by the Commissioners at various places in the Champlain Valley; and also at Albany and in New York. Numerous joint meetings with the Vermont Commission were held, one of them on November 10, 1908, at Montpelier, and others, later, at Albany, Burlington and Plattsburgh.

Early in its deliberations the Commission recognized that two distinct problems awaited its action. They were, first, to provide for a suitable celebration of the historic anniversaries connected with the Champlain region; and second, a no less important function was to bring about the erection of a suitable permanent memorial to Champlain. The consideration of both of these matters occupied the attention of the Commission at many of its meetings; but for the purpose of this report the celebration ceremonies will first be reviewed, followed by a summary of the action which has been taken relative to the memorial.

The Commission early in its deliberations recognized that the proposed celebration presented many unusual features, which would tax their ingenuity to provide for. Here were two States, whose local interests were to be equitably considered. On both sides of the lake were numerous communities, each with local claims for consideration, and all to be included in any programme of exercises, whether literary or spectacular. Although local claims were repeatedly urged with much insistence upon the attention of the Commission, and although no little tact and firmness were called for in the adjustment of rival interests, yet it is but fair to say that throughout the two years of its activities, the Commission met the problems as they rose with a judicial disposition and carried through its tasks to the general satisfaction of the various committees most concerned; while from the viewpoint of the general public the celebration, in its conception, scope of entertainment, and high level of literary contribution, equaled anything of the sort ever undertaken on the American continent.

The details of the Commission’s work were multifarious. At early sessions, consideration was had of some of the larger matters which demanded attention, such as effective and economical advertising, negotiations with transportation lines, the securing of attractive amusement features, which should at the same time be appropriate to the occasion and of a dignified character; and the perfection of a literary programme. As the work of the Commission progressed, the details multiplied, so that in the weeks immediately preceding the event the Commissioners found themselves dealing with such matters as electrical decorations, flag decorations in the various towns to be included in the celebration; the provision of grand stands, and speakers’ stands; hotel accommodations for specially invited guests; vehicles for their local transportation and comfort; the employment of detectives and of secret service men on occasions when great crowds were expected; the hiring of bands; employment of official stenographers; the making of provision for Associated Press representatives; the granting of special privileges to photographers; and even, in some cases, making arrangements for the placing of extra cots where hotel accommodations were small; for the lighting of roads with gasoline torches, and the placing of water barrels alongside the way to relieve the thirst of the multitude.

At the second meeting of the Commission, held at the Hotel Belmont, New York city, September 30, 1908, the arrangement of the literary exercises was placed in the hands of a committee headed by Senator Hill; associated with him were Judge Booth and Mr. Lafontaine. They were authorized to arrange programmes for the exercises at the different places on the lake. This committee, realizing the importance of the duty thus laid upon it, sought to secure the cooperation, not only of several of America’s foremost literary men, but of the highest official representatives of the nations and states concerned.

This committee recognized the great scope presented by the history of the Champlain Valley and sought to include in the exercises suitable recognition of the several great historic events of the region. The ceremonies were to commemorate not merely the three hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the lake, but a remarkable chain of events following that discovery, which were of great significance in the history of three nations. Especially was the Revolutionary period rich in incident, including the military engagements in which Arnold’s vessel, the Royal Savage, was sunk near Valcour island; and the renowned capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen.

Crown Point and Ticonderoga recall to the student the early strife of French and Indian; then comes the British supremacy on the lake; later still, Plattsburgh and Cumberland Bay are memorable for engagements in the War of 1812; and it was the purpose of this committee to recognize the significance of each of these events and to pay proper tribute to the gallantry alike of French and British, and of the American patriots.

Among the specially invited guests were several to whom peculiar interest attached. They included Samuel Verplanck Hoffman, president of the New York Historical Society, who has in his possession the original astrolabe of Champlain. Another gentleman, whose attendance was asked, was the Hon. S. A. Beaman of Malone, late county judge of Franklin county, New York, whose grandfather piloted Ethan Allen into Fort Ticonderoga on the memorable day of its capture. Among the bidden guests were also Commodore J. W. Moore, United States Navy, retired; Rodney Macdonough, a descendant of Commodore Macdonough; Major-General and Mrs. Fred D. Grant; and the Hon. George Clinton of Buffalo, a grandson of DeWitt Clinton, father of the canal system of New York State.

Mr. Witherbee of the Commission, associated with Mr. Myers, was charged with the duty of extending the official and other special invitations. They visited Washington and made the necessary arrangements that through the State Department invitations should be sent to the diplomatic representatives of France and Great Britain and the Premier and Governor-General of Canada and to the Premiers and Lieutenant-Governors of the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The mayors of many American and Canadian cities were also invited.

Prior to the celebration the New York Commission held some two score meetings. During the winter of 1908—9 the Commission usually met at Albany. Alexander R. Smith, Esq., of New York, was employed to assist in the work of the Commission, and was of great service in many ways to the Commission. On May 5, 1909, a meeting was held at Ticonderoga, where the Commission visited the historic spots to select sites for pageants, grand stands, etc. The following day the Commission visited Plattsburgh. On May 31st, at Burlington, a joint meeting was held with the Vermont Commission. Numerous meetings were held in June at Plattsburgh and, as the celebration week approached, at Hotel Champlain, which became for the time being headquarters for the Commission.

Of the mass of details which were considered and perfected at these meetings, a few only need be specifically mentioned.

It was decided at an early date to lay especial stress upon the religious features of the anniversary, and Commissioner Lafontaine was appointed a committee of one to visit the Archbishop of Quebec and invite him to share in the religious celebration at Isle La Motte on July 4th.

In the report of the celebration which follows, the exercises which were held at various places in the Champlain Valley on that day, are duly recorded. Nothing which the Commission provided as a feature of the celebration proved more satisfactory, alike to the Commission itself and to the people who shared in the services.

The cooperation of Federal troops and of military bodies from the militia of Vermont, the National Guard of New York and from the voluntary military organizations of Canada, was early considered and arranged for by the Commission. Commissioners Witherbee and Pell visited Governor’s Island and received assurances of the cooperation of this arm of the Government service so far as circumstances would permit. An invitation was sent to the Fifth Royal Canadian Highlanders, a volunteer Scottish Canadian regiment at Montreal, the Commission furnishing their transportation. The cooperation and financial assistance of the Federal Government were guaranteed at an early day. Commissioners Walter C. Witherbee and Henry W. Hill were delegated on December 5, 1908, to visit Washington and confer with Federal authorities in regard thereto.

To the secretary of the Commission was delegated in general the supervision of all matters pertaining to publicity. Under this head and with the assistance of special committees, an effective advertising project was entered into, including the advertising of the celebration in street cars in New York and other cities, the printing and distribution of large editions of folders, attractively illustrated and containing much valuable historical information. The services of a press-clipping bureau were enlisted and specially prepared articles were distributed setting forth various features of the occasion. In connection with this work several publications developed of no little literary value.

A timely publication of permanent value was “ A Chronological History of the Champlain Valley,” compiled by Mrs. George Fuller Tuttle of Plattsburgh. Mention should be made of Walter H. Crockett’s valuable “History of Lake Champlain,” and of “La Grande Semaine,” compiled and edited by J. Arthur Favreau, Secretary of the Société Historique Franco-Aniéricaine; “Champlain, a Drama in Three Acts,” by J. M. Happer, and “Lake George and Lake Champlain,” by W. Max Reid.

The July number of the Travel Magazine was largely devoted to the history of Lake Champlain and the celebration. Many of the leading newspapers devoted illustrated pages to the subject just prior to the celebration, as did also several of the magazines with popular or more distinctively historical or literary features. The Education Department of New York State recognized the occasion by issuing an attractive and useful pamphlet on the subject. A few days before the celebration began a publicity bureau was organized for cooperation with the members and for the systematic dissemination of reports, the extension of courtesies to representatives of the press, etc.

Much of the detail of this work was admirably carried through by Mr. L. E. Shattuck. The Commission caused a commemoration medal to be struck bearing the conventional portrait of Samuel Champlain on the obverse and a representation of his entrance into the lake on the reverse. A small number of these medals were struck in gold and white metal, but the greater part of them were in bronze. One of the medals and a copy of all printed matter issued by the Commission has been deposited in the State Library at Albany.

Among the many things undertaken in the way of advertising or decoration may be mentioned the five oil portraits of Champlain, painted by Mrs. L. Kirby-Parrish. These were used in decorative designs. After the celebration, one of them was presented by the Commission to Commissioner Lafontaine, one to the Catholic Summer School at Cliff Haven and one to Commissioner Booth, to be given by him to one of the French societies at Plattsburgh.

The general celebration plans recognized the desirability of general co-operation by organized bodies resident in the Champlain region. Labor organizations, fraternal societies, the local granges, and numerous other organizations shared in one phase or another of the celebration. The Plattsburgh Rod and Gun Club arranged a shooting tournament and exhibition of expert team shooting. The sum of $300 was given in prizes for racing contests between sailing or motor boats.

Suitable displays of fireworks were made on successive evenings at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Plattsburgh and Rouse’s Point. In several of the towns local committees raised independent funds for their town celebrations in addition to the work of the State Commission. The citizens of Plattsburgh subscribed $10,000 as an independent fund; Burlington subscribed a like amount, which was doubled by individual subscriptions. Isle La Motte, the smallest of the towns sharing in the general celebration, raised $500 as its contribution to the occasion. At Rouse's Point the local village board appointed committees and made an appropriation for the day. Similar action was taken at other places on the lake. These special funds were devoted usually to decorations and prizes for aquatic races and other contests.

In planning and carrying forward the Tercentenary Celebration, special mention should be made of the cooperation of the people of the Champlain valley and of the timely suggestions made and valuable assistance rendered in various ways to the Commission by Governor Charles E. Hughes, Lieutenant-Governor Horace White, Major-General Charles F. Roe, Brigadier-General Nelson H. Henry, Adjutant-General; Hon. Jacob M. Dickinson, Secretary of War; Colonel H. 0. S. Heistand, Adjutant-General U. S. A.; the United States Senators and Members of Congress from New York and Vermont; Hon. Fletcher D. Proctor, ex-Governor of Vermont; Hon. George H. Prouty, Governor, and other members of the Vermont Tercentenary Commission; Hon. Joseph C. Sibley; Colonel Calvin D. Cowles and Colonel William Paulding, both U. S. A.; the Hon. Frank S. Witherbee, of Port Henry; Hon. Nelson W. Fisk, of Isle La Motte, Vt.; Ira H. Shoemaker, Esq., industrial agent of the D. & H. R. R.; Mr. A. A. Heard, General Passenger Agent of the D. & H. R. R.; Daniel A. Loomis, Superintendent of the Champlain Transportation Company; Hon. John R. Myers, of Rouse’s Point; Hon. Andrew S. Draper, Commissioner of Education; Dr. William A. E. Cummings, President of the Ticonderoga Historical Society; Hon. Francis Lynde Stetson, President, and Hon. Benjamin E. Hall, and Edmund Seymour, Esq., of the board of Governors of the Lake Champlain Association; Hon. Victor H. Paltsits, State Historian; Hon. Smith M. Weed of Plattsburgh, Col. Robert M. Thompson of New York, Stephen H. P. Pell, Esq., of New York, Hon. John F. O’Brien, Hon. Thomas F. Conway and many others, including various patriotic societies.

Governor Hughes received the Commissioners on December 5, 1908, listened to their report of progress to that date and of their plans, and gave to the work his hearty endorsement.

The Commission arranged with the trunk lines reaching the valley for round trip excursions at one and one-half fares, with suitable time extension on the tickets. The steamer Ticonderoga was engaged for five days and placed wholly at the service of the Commission. The greater part of the Hotel Champlain at Bluff Point was similarly secured by the Commission for its Guests.

It was found necessary in some places to repair the docks and at Ticonderoga practically to build a new one. This work was carried out under the direction of the Commission.

By the middle of June these and numberless other details had been satisfactorily arranged. At the suggestion of the Secretary the Commission requested Dr. John M. Clarke, State Geologist, to prepare a paper on the geology of the Champlain valley, to be published with the official report of the celebration.

On May 29th, Secretary Hill announced the completion of the literary programme, giving the schedule of speakers at Crown Point, Ticonderoga, Plattsburgh and other points, and the Banquet Committee announced the progress of arrangements for the banquet to the President at Hotel Champlain. These arrangements, as the following pages record, were ultimately carried out with but little change.

As the work of the two commissions matured, the results attained through their joint efforts were formulated in a bi-State programme of exercises, arranged to be held at the various places on July 4th to 9th, inclusive.

Religious exercises were appointed for Sunday, July 4th, with some devotional features for other days, to be conducted and shared in by distinguished prelates, among them some of the most eminent church dignitaries of Canada and the United States.

The week-day programmes presented a combination of spectacular, musical, patriotic and literary features. The purely spectacular entertainments, many of which were of an historical character, proved highly instructive as well as entertaining to the multitudes. Other features of the programme, which appealed chiefly to the eye, were necessarily of a popular character, but were carried out with exceptional skill and effect. The participation of the militia of Canada, Vermont and the National Guard of New York, and of detachments of the United States army and navy, was everywhere throughout the week one of the most enjoyable features of the programme.

The crowning success, however, lay in the literary offerings and the participation of the executive heads of government. New York and Vermont, and Canada, were thus officially represented; and the presence and utterances of the diplomatic representatives of Great Britain and of France, and of the President of the United States and members of his cabinet, lent to the celebration an extraordinary dignity and significance. Through these high official representatives were heard, as it were, the voices of three great nations offering to each other sincere assurances of esteem and amity. The occasion of such pledges marked in the eyes of the world a new step in the progress of the nations towards the era of peace and good-will.

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