(Reprint from our Summer Newsletter)
Our Newsletter is posted to Facebook, is available at our website on our Stories Page and is available by subscription thru our office. http://www.nanticokehistoryonline.org/
Samantha Mill House • 495 East Main Street • Nanticoke, PA 18634• 570.258.1367
What's Buried in Patriot Square?
The
Susquehanna Coal Company laid out Nanticoke’s “Central Park”, now Patriot
Square, in 1874 providing a place for residents to gather, discuss the events
of the day and enjoy warm sunny afternoons. Locals did just that attending park
concerts, shopping at the surrounding stores and enjoying the beautiful trees
and flowers. In 1904, Commander George W. Simpson, Spanish-American War
Vets made arrangements for securing a cannon for the public park, The gun was
to be shipped from Ft. Wadsworth, NY, with 20 8-inch shells that would be
placed in a pyramid at the base of the weapon. The cannon was placed on its
concrete base and unveiled on July 4, 1904.
By
1909, city fathers were concerned with Central Park’s deteriorating walkways,
unkempt trees and bushes, litter and vandalism. In July of 1912, Council
members made a decision to spruce up the park and create a circular walkway in
the center. Work was scheduled for bordering walkways along Broad, Market,
Green and Prospect Streets as well.
While
doing the excavation for the project, a young city worker, John Werth,
uncovered a box described in the July 29, 1912 Wilkes-Barre Record as, “one
foot in length, five inches in width and two and one-half inches in depth.” One
can imagine Werth’s piqued curiosity as he lifted the box from its dirt-filled
nest, handling it with care and pondering its contents. He immediately took it
to his father, Street Commissioner Anthony Werth, who upon opening the lid, discovered
the value of its contents worth more than he may have expected. The metal box
contained a paper dated April 26, 1876, upon which, the following was written:
“Burgess of
Nanticoke, Milton Stiles. John Werth, Jr, president of town council.
Council members: Dr. William Barnes, George D. Morgan, S.S. Driesbach and
Isaac D. Williams.”
One can only wonder
what connection Anthony Werth had to the 1876 town council president, John
Werth, Jr. No mention of a relationship could be found by this writer in
Historical Society records. We do know, however, Commissioner Werth, named his
son, the fellow who discovered the box, John. As Werth continued reading he
must have recognized other names of prominent Nanticoke families.
“School directors, George
Arrs, president; Jerry O’Brien, John Dunn, George Blakely,
Samuel Keithline, Thomas R. Williams and Treasurer John
Fairchild. Borough attorney, Dr. Harry Hakes. Street Commissioner,
John Dunn. Constable, James Ryan. High Constable, John Dunn.
Principal business
houses, Hildreth & Co., S.P. George, Silas Alexander, W.P. Jones, Evan
Morris, George Hill, I.P. Vandermark, Charles Lewis, general merchandise.
Druggists: Dr. A.A. Lape, and D.K. Spry; Clothiers: A. Hursh, George
H. Aurback and C.H. Rich. Bankers: Washington Lee Co., with John
Werth, Jr. cashier. Doctors: Dr. A.A. Lape, Dr. W. Robbins, Dr. R.A.
Hylton and Dr. William Barnes. Ministers: Rev. Johnson, Rev.
Hill, Rev. Harris and Father Mattingly.
Also enclosed, was a
document noting the borough had been organized in Feb. 1874.
Obviously what young
John Werth had discovered was a time capsule, that had been buried 36 years
earlier on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation.
Also
found in the box, were two coins, a check and a number of newspapers. The check
read as follows: “Nanticoke Bank, Nanticoke, April 26, 1876, Washington Lee and
Co. Pay to the coming generations or bearer, $9 trillion, signed by Centennial
Committee. Written on the back a notation which read, “We surmise that
future ages will consider this event perhaps in the light of ridicule, but we
give it as the best light we have in this (so-called) barbarous age.”
The coins were an
1863 penny and a three cent piece made in 1868. Newspapers enclosed were the
Daily Record of the Times, Wilkes-Barre dated April 25, 1876; The Luzerne
Union, Wilkes-Barre, dated April 12, addressed to Charles Lecher; The New York
Tribune, dated Oct 2, 1872; the Weekly Herald, New York, dated April 28, 1876;
The Weekly Star, Plymouth, dated March 1, 1876 addressed to A.A. Lape; The
Plymouth Index, dated April 2, 1876, addressed to Jacob Krause; The People,
Wilkes-Barre, dated April 19, 1876 and The Pittston Comet, dated April 19,
1876.
According
to the Wilkes-Barre Record
Commissioner Werth
took the box to a Councilman Craig, chairman of the park committee who was
unsure of what to do with the box.
In an article
published in the Wilkes-Barre Record on August 14, 1912, Council President
Smith suggested that “the box found in the park be placed in the window of
Scureman's,” (a drug and photo store located on Main Street) for one week, then
in a vault in the city building until the completion of park renovations.” It
was then decided by council that the box would be reburied with “other similar
data and articles.”
Without
a Trace…
No one can be
absolutely sure, but legend has it that Street Commissioner Werth personally
oversaw the reburying of the box in Central Park. It is said that he made known
the site’s location only to his daughter. Over time, and with the death of
Werth, his daughter, and anyone who may have known of its whereabouts, the
location of the box and its contents are forever a mystery.
In 1976, in honor of
the countries bi-centennial celebration, a new time capsule was buried in the
park. The park was renamed Patriot Square and a monument to local WWII Veterans
was placed at the center of the circular walkway that Anthony Werth's son,
John, excavated for so many years ago.
At the time, no mention was made of the
discovery of the 1876 time capsule. One can only assume that the box with all
of its contents, remains in the same location Anthony Werth had placed it 102
years ago.
By Judy Minsavage for NHS
