Did George Washington ever visit Easton, PA? 

Did the father of our country, Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and our very first president of the United States, ever visit Easton, PA?

There are many that say he visited Easton, PA, several times and the fact is that he very well may have but actual evidence of his visiting is sparse.

One account is a typewritten document found at the Easton Area Public Library in a file at the Henry F Marx Local History Room titled, George Washington, that talks about Elizabeth C Van Duzer.  Elizabeth C Van Duzer was associated with the Warwick Historical Society in Warwick, NY.  In 1927, Mrs Van Duzer is said to have visited Henry F Marx, the first director of the Easton Area Public Library.  Mrs Van Duzer was supposedly researching prisoners of war from Massachusetts that may have passed through the City of Easton during the Revolutionary War.  During a conversation she is said to have had with Mr Marx, she became actively interested in George Washington visiting Easton, PA.

The account of Mrs Van Duzer’s visit goes on to say that in January 1928, Mrs Van Duzer supposedly wrote a letter to Henry F Marx noting the following:

“Friday, July 26, 1782. At a very early hour His Excellency, George Washington, left Bethlehem on his way to Easton. “ 

Another account of Mr Washington visiting Easton, PA, is found in a book in the Marx Room by Joshua Trachtenberg.  On page 71 of the book titled Consider the Years, it states that Mr Washington visited with Michael Hart in Easton, PA, either in 1778 or 1782. 

It is still possible Mr Washington may have visited Easton, PA, at other times but finding concrete proof of his visits to Easton, PA, remains a history mystery.  Come to the Easton Area Public Library Henry F Marx Local History Room to uncover more history mysteries!  

                                                     

                                                   

                        

 

July 8, 1776

Do you know why Easton, PA, each year holds a celebration at the beginning of July that includes family activities, food vendors, and fireworks and calls it Heritage Day?

The reason for Heritage Day in Easton, PA, is because on July 8, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read in Easton, PA, by Robert Levers, a Northampton County politician.

July 8, 1776, Robert Levers reading the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the old Northampton County Courthouse to a large, attentive, and serious audience including a light infantry company displaying the famous thirteen-star flag of Easton, Pennsylvania.       

 

On July 5, 1776, the Committee of Safety in Philadelphia stated the following:  “Resolved, that copies of the Declaration be sent to the several Assemblies, Conventions, and Councils of Safety, and to the several Commanding Officers of the Continental Troops, that it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the Head of the Army.”  In Consequence of the above Resolve, Letters were wrote to the Counties of Bucks, Chester, Northampton, Lancaster, and Berks, Inclosing Copy of the said Declaration, requesting the same to be publish’d on Monday next, at the places where the Election for Delegates are to be held.” Pennsylvania. Council of Safety. "Minutes of the Council of Safety, July 5, 1776." In Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, from the Organization to the Termination of the Proprietary Government, Vol. 10. Edited by Samuel Hazard. Harrisburg: Printed by T. Fenn, 1851-1852.

It has been stated that the Declaration of Independence was read in three places - Philadelphia, PA, Easton, PA, and Trenton, NJ.  However, the Declaration may definitely have been read at several other locations as well. Most notably it was read by Colonel John Nixon on July 8, 1776,  in Philadelphia and in Trenton, New Jersey, by Samuel Tucker.

Want to learn about the City of Easton, Robert Levers, or other events that occurred in Northampton County during the early years of the birth of our country? If yes, then come to the Marx Local History Room at the Easton Area Public Library to find out more.

AN ORDINARY SOLDIER

 

by Rory Morgan

When the U.S. declared war on Germany in April, 1917, the furthest thing from anyone's mind was the flu. Patriotic excitement swept through  the country. Young men rushed to military recruiting offices to enlist. Newspapers proudly announced the number of locals who had signed up to become soldiers and sailors. These early recruits received a modest amount of training in the U.S. and then were loaded onto transports for the journey to France, on their way to becoming the "doughboys" of the American Expeditionary Force (or AEF), fighting alongside the British and the French.

One of the early recruits in Easton was Robert E. Bitzer. He was 26 years old, one of nine children. He lived in the family home at 802 Spring Garden Street, and appears to have worked as a plumber in a silk mill. He was well-known in Easton for his participation in local football and baseball leagues. He was sworn into the Army on May 15, 1917, and was assigned to Battery A of the 7th Field Artillery, 1st Division. 

The unit shipped out to France in July, and was one of the first U.S. units to arrive. (The earliest-arriving American field artillery units, lacking adequate cannons of their own, had to borrow them from the French. These were usually the famous "French 75" rapid-firing howitzers.) Battery A claimed credit for firing the first American shot at the Germans, in October 1917. It was engaged in frequent combat from then until the Armistice brought an end to the fighting in November, 1918. Bitzer was promoted to Corporal in late 1917. By October of 1918, he had experienced a year of fighting and had received just one minor wound. 

Suddenly, the doughboys faced a new enemy, one that wore no uniforms and carried no guns. It was the worldwide epidemic of influenza. It somehow came to be called the Spanish Flu, even though Spain had no more to do with it than any other country. The first sign of the illness was often cyanosis - a blue coloring of the face. Some of those affected died within a day of becoming ill. Pneumonia frequently developed. Autopsies revealed unusual lung damage. Compared to earlier editions of influenza, it was particularly harmful to young, otherwise-healthy people - such as soldiers. Overcrowded training camps and troopships provided a ideal environment for the spreading the disease. New arrivals to France brought the virus from the U.S., passing it to exhausted veterans.

Eventually, about 25,000 soldiers of the A.E.F. died from the effects of the disease. Corporal Bitzer was one of the them; he died of pneumonia on October 15, 1918. He was initially buried in  France. In 1921, his body was exhumed, returned to the U.S., and reinterred in Easton Cemetery. In addition to his stone in the cemetery, Bitzer has a plaque in the grove at Hackett's Park which honors the Easton World War I service men who gave their lives.