Historic Moment: The Skaneateles Military School mourns for a President
By Beth Batlle
Town Historian
On July 2, 1881, the residents of Skaneateles, along with the rest of the nation, were shocked to learn that their 20th president, James Garfield, had been shot.
President James Garfield was at the train station on that day, on his way to a family vacation at the beach. Suddenly two shots rang out; he was hit in the arm and abdomen. The mentally disturbed gunman was Charles Guiteau who was later hanged for his crime.
Garfield’s presidency had been short as he had taken the oath of office on March 4 of 1881. His agonizing death from sepsis on September 19 occurred 80 days after he was wounded. An inexperienced Vice President, Chester Arthur, acceded to the Presidency at the age of 51, serving out the next 3 years and 6 months.
According to the Oct. 1, 1881 issue of the Skaneateles Press, the shaken Skaneateles community held memorial services for the deceased president in late September. Stores closed at noon. Symbols of mourning, many quite elaborate, appeared throughout the village.
The artillery squad of the Skaneateles Military School began the day of mourning by firing off a salute of 13 guns at sunrise, followed by a one gun salute every 30 minutes and concluding with a 38 gun salute at sunset. Sergeant John F. Tower was in charge of this firing squad.
At 2 P.M. a precession was formed, lead by the Skaneateles Military School Band. Other members of the march included: the Military School, the Ben H. Porter G.A.R. Post, the Skaneateles Lodge, the Good Templar Lodge, the St. Mary’s Temperance Society and private carriages. The parade, organized on short notice by Frank Marshall, proceeded up Genesee Street, through Cross (later named East Lake Street) and several side streets, then back to the Packwood House (now called the Sherwood) on West Genesee Street.
In spite of the fact that the Military School had just been formed in November of 1880 by Colonel Porter Tremain, the students, in full dress uniform, marched well, first parading in the form of a cross, then changing to that of a crown. The young students had previously learned along with other instructions, how to march and counter march at their weekly Wednesday meetings at Legg Hall.
The guns they carried and fired were breech-loading rifles. One hundred of these guns had been issued to the Military School in June 14, 1881 by the commissary-general and chief of ordinance for New York State. At that time former Vice President Charles H. Poor, Jr. had replaced Dr. J. E. Hilts as president of the military group while C. H. Poor served as Vice President, George A. Stewart as the Secretary, and C. S. Hall as Treasurer.
The members of the Military School returned to normal activity after the day of mourning ended. However, on February 18, 1882, they attended another funeral service, that of young Julius Earll, a prominent member of the school. He had been killed in an ice boating accident on the lake.
After that event the newspaper noted that some members of the school apparently began resigning and more would follow. The last newspaper item concerning the group appeared on Sept. 9, 1882 and stated “The Skaneateles Military Band was out serenading Monday evening and it is noticed that the boys render good music.” No further mention could be found after that date.
Note: At the end of his term, President Arthur failed to win the Republican nomination for re-election. Probable that was just as well as he died two years later, of Bright’s Disease, a fatal kidney disease.
