The Wearing of the Green

 

The first thing you notice is their hats.
Tall, silky black top hats,
and lots of them.
And next are the mustaches.
Long, bristly, mustaches
like cartoon Yosemite Sam's brush.
And then it's their sticks.
Not umbrellas or canes,
but very slender knobbly sticks,
almost switches really,
with small American flags attached.

It's a curious bunch of gentlemen,
assembled outdoors on the steps of a building
for a formal group photo.
Oh, and there's a brass band too,
which is why I took an interest
in the photograph.

Unfortunately there is nothing stenciled
on the bass drum head to identify them.

{Click on any image to enlarge it.}

 

 

Altogether there are 69 men and one boy in the group, and everyone is wearing a hat. On either side are two men astride horses with felt homburg hats. (The men, not the horses!) The band has 16 musicians, one hidden behind the horseman at left, dressed in wool uniform coats with short brimmed field caps. The band's leader, holding a cornet and wearing a longer wool coat, stands in front right. Further right next to a tall trombonist, is a young boy of seven or eight wearing a larger winter-weight hat. The remaining 51 gentlemen, sporting nearly identical top hats, zylinders in German, wear heavy double-breasted overcoats. It appears to be a sunny day but there is snow on the ground.

 

On the back of this 8" x 10" albumen photo, mounted on brittle buff card stock is a helpful stamp from the photographer.

 I. U. Doust
Photographer,
Supplies, Printing and
Developing for Amateurs
130 E. Genesee St.
Syracuse, N.Y.

 

   

The photographer's full name was Isaac Uriah Doust. Born in Syracuse in 1856, he first opened a studio and gallery in Syracuse in 1875. Mr. Doust also sold photography supplies, materials, and equipment and continued in business until just a year before his death in 1937 at the age of 80.

The photo's albumen print style is typical of the late 19th century going into the first decade of the 20th. But dating men's clothing is difficult since top hat fashions didn't change much between the 1850s and the 1920s. Initially I mistook them for a minstrel show company. In this era there were dozens of professional minstrel shows touring the theater circuits of America. Minstrel bands and singers, which often numbered over 50 members, typically marched in a parade before commencing their first concert, all dressed in identical long overcoats, top hats, and carrying canes. My story from 2018, Hi Henry's Minstrels and the Big Dog, featured a similar photo of 32 men wearing top hats standing outside a civic building in San Francisco. That photo was dated from 1899.

But here there are many more sticks and fewer instruments. Most of these fellows don't look like they ever wore blackface or sang novelty minstrel songs. Who were they? Could there be more clues?

 

 

Behind the group on the two columns framing the portico entrance are two pairs of numerals, 18—82, which I interpret as the year the building was constructed. In front of the doorway, one of the men holds a pole on which hangs a fringe-edged banner. It has the words DIVISION No. 8 separated by an design of a harp, a symbol recognized around the world as the emblem of Éire—Ireland. This was a terrific clue as no one likes to march in parade better than an Irishman.

Syracuse, New York has a long history of Irish immigration and even today Irish ancestry makes up the largest segment of nationalities represented within the city's population. So not surprisingly Syracuse has a tradition of celebrating St. Patrick's day on March 17, the Catholic feast day of Saint Patrick - the patron Saint of Ireland. In the newspaper archives I found several reports of the event beginning in the 1880s and continuing on to the 1920s. The principal organization responsible for overseeing the Syracuse parade was an Irish-American fraternal society, the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Founded in New York City in 1836, the A.O.H. sought to provide assistance and protection to Irish Catholic immigrants, and defended Catholic churches from anti-Catholic abuse that the Irish encountered in 19th century America. The Irish harp is prominently displayed in its emblem, along with shamrocks and the flags of Ireland and the United States.

 

Emblem of the Ancient Order of Hibernians
Source: Wikipedia

In a report from the 1894 St. Patrick's parade in Syracuse, there was a description of the A.O.H. units marching with blackthorn canes and bands playing tunes like "Yankee Doodle", "Garry Owen", and "The Wearing of the Green". Yet even though it was a long parade, the order listed only five Hibernian divisions, not eight. But in 1896 the celebration promised to be even larger, a "Monster Parade" with close to 1,500 men.

 

Syracuse NY Sunday Herald
16 March 1896

 

In the days of old, newspapers were printed on extra-large paper sizes with tiny fonts and multiple dense columns. The editor of the Syracuse Herald managed seven column pages and parades like this were always a great way to fill space with hundreds of official's names and details on the street route that would never get mentioned in reports today. On this St. Patrick's day there would be 10 divisions of the A.O.H. and Division No. 8 would be led by Patrick J. Guilfoyle followed by the band from Marcellus, a community about 12 miles west of the Syracuse.

 

  

Syracuse NY Evening Herald
17 March 1896

 

The parade started in the afternoon after mass was observed at Syracuse's Catholic churches that morning. The day was crisp and clear, though "the only disagreeable feature was the slush  through which the paraders tramped. The decorations of the stores and other places of business were in keeping with the occasion. The green flags, with the cherished 'Erin Go Braugh' were fluttering from many places. Side by side they were hung with the red, white and blue. Little bits of green were on pinned on coats out of honor to the patron saint." Thousands of people turned out to watch the parade which lasted several hours before it finished. Entertainments continued throughout the evening and into the early morning.

 

 

Syracuse NY Sunday Herald
16 March 1896

 

The Syracuse weather report for the previous day confirmed that it snowed overnight, a common springtime occurrence for a city so close to Lake Ontario. This snowfall matched the frozen precipitation seen on the ground in my photo. The slippery slush and mud must have given trouble even to the horses. Still it made good business for laundries and shoeshine boys.

 

 

 

A week later the Syracuse Sunday Herald rand a full page of news on the "Secret Societies" around Onondaga County. There was reports on the activities and lodge meetings of the Elks; the Odd Fellows; the Masons; the Royal Arcanum;  the Good Templars; the Select Knights; the Knights of Honor; the Knights of Pythias; the Knights of Sobriety, Fidelity, and Integrity; the Red Men; the United American Mechanics; the Ancient Order of United Workmen; the Foresters of America; the Daughters of Liberty; the Patriotic League; and a short followup on the Ancient Order of Hibernians at their St. Patrick's day parade.

 

 

 

Syracuse NY Sunday Herald
22 March 1896

Ancient Order Hibernians.

True to general expectation, Division No. 8 was far and away the finest appearing body in the parade on St. Patrick's day. The members were all attired in new dark clothes, the very latest style silk hat and carried themselves in fine marching style. Each member wore a bouquet and had an American flag fastened to the end of the cane, which was carried at the shoulder. Eighty men were in line, and the Central City band, the finest in the line, discoursed sweet music during the parade. All the pretty girls along the line were loud in their praises of Division No. 8.

 _ _ _

 

The description of the wardrobe worn by the Hibernian members of Division No. 8 could not be a better match for the smart coats, boutonnieres, canes, little flags, and silk hats that we see in my photo. So I am pretty confident that it exactly dates the photograph to 17 March 1896. 

 

 

 

 

However there is one mystery that will never be solved. The original photo is quite faded and bleached, but digital photo software is amazingly adept at restoring the image's contrast. But when I did that I noticed there was one man in the center, third row back, whose face has suffered an ink stain. It might be the result of an accident at Mr. Doust's studio or a blemish caused by storage next to a leaky ink pen. But I wonder if it was deliberate smudge, an inept attempt to eradicate the man's face. Could it be a mark of an Irish "black hand"? Sadly, not everything can be knowable. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

This photograph is a great example of two popular American pastimes, parades and fraternal societies. Once upon a time Americans loved the spectacle of parades, big or small, either watching one from the sidewalks or actually taking part as a marcher. Pick a newspaper from the 1890s at random and inevitably there is news about a parade. And every parade required a band to provide music. For this Hibernian celebration there were ten bands listed in the parade order. It was a source of pride for a community to have good bands, and in big cities like Syracuse there was a lot of work for professional musicians in accompanying an important parade.

 

This photo also illustrates how America's heritage was built by fraternal societies. These groups were originally formed as a means of self-protection and insurance against the many hardships America inflicted on immigrants and workers. The Irish-American gentlemen who marched on St. Patrick's day were celebrating more than just a Catholic tradition. The Ancient Order of Hibernians were demonstrating a patriotic connection to both old Ireland and their new home in America. It was a fun celebration, to be sure, but it was also a political statement as well, particularly since Ireland in this era was not free, but still an unwilling subject to Great Britain's monarch and parliamentary laws. In America the Irish could find freedom from the long history of English domination and repression. That deserved raising a toast to the American flag too.

 

After researching this photograph, I have reassessed a story I wrote in January 2018, Top Hats on Parade, about an unmarked postcard photo of a parade of men in top hats led by a British military band. At the time I speculated, based on the houses in the background, that the picture was taken in Canada. Now I think the men in black top hats could be a Canadian lodge of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.  

 

I can't resist adding some music to this story. One of the favorite tunes played by the bands on that St. Patrick's day was "The Wearing of the Green", a old Irish street ballad that laments the English suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The lyrics also describe an Irish rebel's exile to a free foreign land which might be France or America.

 

The melody can easily be played at a spirited tempo suitable for marching, but I bet later that evening after the parade the gentlemen of Division No. 8 sang the this song in a way not unlike this version recorded in 1912 by the celebrated Irish Tenor, John McCormack (1884–1945).

 

 

 

 

 Oh! Paddy, dear, an' did you hear the news that's going round,
The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground.
No more Saint Patrick's Day we'll keep, his color can't be seen,
For there's a true law agin' the wearing of the green.

I met with Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand,
And he said "How's poor old Ireland? and how does she stand?"
She's the most distressful country that ever you have seen,
They're hanging men and women there for wearing of the green.
 

Then if the color we must wear is England's cruel red,
Let it remind us of the blood that all Ireland has shed.
Then take the shamrock from your hat and throw it on the sod,
But never fear, 'twill take root there, though under foot 'tis trod.

When the law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they grow,
And when the leaves in summer time, their colors dare not show,
Then I will change the color to I wear in my caubeen,
But 'till that day, praise God, I'll stick to wearin' o' the green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where if you're not careful
somebody's liable to get poked in the eye.

 

The Grand Parade of the Knights Templar

Spontaneity. Whimsy. Humor.
People photographed before 1900
didn't typically exhibit such playfulness.
But this animated cornet player
with a bottle balanced on his head
shows that sometimes early cameras
could capture a moment of fun.

The bandsman's friends get the joke,
sharing a smile over his antics.
They are not musicians
but they are dressed
in elaborate uniforms
with plumed bicorne hats
and gleaming swords.

In the 20th century we would call
such a lighthearted image a common snapshot.
 

But in 1895 it was a new art form.

{click the images for larger detail}

The cabinet card photo has a handwritten caption:

Boston Aug 27. 95   Compliments of Bearce & Wilson

The four men are resting after participating in a grand parade
They are members of the Masonic Order
called the Knights Templar
which gathered together in Boston
for a great conclave in August 1895.
Over 25,000 marched in the parade.

Boston Post
27 August 1895

The Sir Knights as they were called, had been arriving during the previous weekend from all across the country. Boston's train stations and docks were filled with thousands of men dressed in splendid regalia who took up temporary residence in the city's many hotels. On Tuesday morning the 25,000 masons assembled for a parade through Boston. It was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM and take over 2 hours to finish the roughly 5 mile route. Not surprisingly it took a bit longer than that.

Boston Post
28 August 1895

The Knights Templar, formally known as the United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, were a Christian order of Freemasonry. Masonic lodges of Knights Templar were first established in Ireland and Scotland in the 1780s and then in England in the 1830s. In America the Knights Templar first organized in 1816 as the highest degree within the York Rite masonic society, and this event in Boston was their 26th triennial conclave.

A local lodge of the Knights Templar was called a Commandery and part of the Grand Encampment of the United States. In 1895 the number of commanderies had increased from 30 to 36, and each one sent large groups of men to the Boston conclave. The national membership of the Knights Templar was reported as 106,770.  Though some of the Sir Knights brought wives, women were excluded from membership in Freemasonry, as they were in most fraternal societies at the time.


The cornet player came from the No. 6 KT Commandery of Lewiston, Maine, identified by the badge pinned to his jacket. In August 1895 Maine sent over 1200 knights, nearly the full ranks from the 11 commanderies in the Pine Tree State. The Lewiston KT commander was Charles E. Libby, a baker who lived in Auburn, ME, Lewiston's twin city on the western side of the Androscoggin River. The lodge's membership was then 154.  Four years later in 1899 it expanded to 225.

* * *

Boston Post
28 August 1895

The newspapers of 1895 did not yet have the technology to print photographs. Instead wood and metal engravers duplicated the work of artists. The Boston Post illustrated the activities of the Knights Templar that week with dozens of splendid images. Some like this one of the Grand Marshal and KT Commander leading the procession on his black charger, were printed on a full page.

- - -

Boston Post
28 August 1895

The Knights Templar based their origins on the knights of the Christian Crusades to the Holy Land. Their elaborate uniforms, hats, and swords  were part of a quasi-military tradition that included practicing precision drills and marching, both on foot and on horseback. To see a parade of  25,000 was a sight not to be missed in Boston that summer.

  

- - -

Boston Post
28 August 1895

Boston's Masonic Temple was decorated for the conclave with symbols of the Knights Templar. Every hotel in the city was occupied by the Sir Knights and numerous restaurants and halls were booked for KT banquets. Boston's numerous theaters and summer amusement parks also did a good business entertaining the visiting masons.

- - -

Boston Post
28 August 1895

The newspapers played up the fellowship and conviviality of the Knight's conclave. The Boston papers printed lists of honors, transcripts of speeches,  and detailed schedules of events. The membership of the Knights Templar were men largely from America's business class, along with farmers and land owners. The mission of the Knights Templar was a continuation of Freemasonry with an emphasis on non-denominational Christian spirituality. Secular politics were considered to be outside the order.

- - -

Boston Post
28 August 1895

The Boston Post enlivened the columns and columns of reports by interposing charming woodcut views of the grand parade. According to this image, young women tossed fruit to the knights from the windows of the Post building.  The official bleachers set up along the parade route held over 4,000 people. Enterprising wagon owners sold standing room on their vehicles to anyone who wanted a better view.

- - -

It was a grand day.
Even old Sol was blinded by the display.

Boston Post
28 August 1895

* * *

Now let's return to the bottle.

It's a clear glass bottle with a flip-top. It's also empty, which reveals lettering in the glass. Despite my best efforts I can't quite identify the name but I am certain it is a typical circa 1890s beer bottle from Boston. Notice that the cornet player's pointing finger is actually offering someone a corkscrew. It looks to me like he has just won a wager to play his cornet while balancing a bottle on his hat. You'd have to be pretty good to pull that off.

The lines on his face put the  man's age at around 60+. His hat is not the KT bicorne style but a military kepi with two badges, LB - initials for Lewiston Band, and Second Regt. In the 1890s Lewsiton-Auburn, Maine had a combined population of 33,000 citizens which supported six bands and orchestras.

1904 New England Business Directory and Gazetteer

One was the Lewiston Brigade Band and another was Payne's Second Regiment Band which belonged to the National Guard of the State of Maine. The Brigade Band was also called the "best military band in Maine" but it was not a regular US Army band. More likely it was "attached" to a  volunteer infantry unit in Lewiston. All the Lewiston bands and orchestras shared musicians and performed for various civic functions. It's likely that the cornet player was one of the leaders who worked in both bands and was also a mason. His band may have been hired to accompany the Lewiston Commandery of Knights Templar on their parade through Boston. Given the length of the Boston parade, there was at least one band if not several accompanying every KT State Commandery marching.  You can not march with precision without a good drum beat and catchy tune. The Boston Post printed music composed for the occasion by Wiliam Bradford Fairchild called the Freemason's March. The paper claimed that 300 bands would play it in the procession.

The photo was marked Compliments of Bearce & Wilson. This was not the name of a photography studio in either Boston or Lewiston. Actually Bearce & Wilson were dealers in coal and wood, essentially a fuel supplier for Auburn-Lewiston.

1898 Lewiston-Auburn, ME city directory

Perhaps the clever cornetist indulged in bottle of
Van Nostrand's
Bunker Hill Lager
Quality the best.
Taste agreeable.
Effect beneficial.
Order a case of your grocer.

Boston Post
27 August 1895

Boston Post
28 August 1895

Or perhaps it was a bottle of
King's Bohemian Beer

"Now could I drink hot blood!"
quoth Hamlet.
Poor Fellow who had never known
the charms of...

- - -

Boston Post
29 August 1895

Perhaps it was a bottle of
Old Sterling Ale
from the
Highland Spring Brewery
of Boston

The Knights Templars
 

Right noble they performed their part
Dealt many a valiant blow,
 

When Richard of the lion heart
Went forth to meeth the foe.
 

Before them Saracens went down
As falls the winter hail,
 

And here today in Boston town
They drink Old Sterling Ale.

- - -

Or maybe it was just a bottle of
Moxie  Nerve Food
New Englan's Leading Health Drink.
 

Recommended to every tired and thirsty Knight Templar.

Boston Post
29 August 1895

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
click the link to buy another round!