{"id":87,"date":"2008-03-17T10:27:47","date_gmt":"2008-03-17T16:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs2.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/?p=87"},"modified":"2014-01-15T15:50:48","modified_gmt":"2014-01-15T21:50:48","slug":"st-patricks-day-1869-a-tradition-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/2008\/03\/17\/st-patricks-day-1869-a-tradition-is-born\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Patrick’s Day, 1869 — A Tradition is Born"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"Happy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ahh, St. Patrick\u2019s Day. The wearin\u2019 o\u2019 the green is surely a celebration at its finest! Davenport has a long tradition of observing this delightful day as evidenced in the March 18, 1869 edition of the Davenport Daily Gazette<\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the beloved patron saint of the Emerald Isle chanced to look down upon Davenport yesterday, his happiness must have been enhanced by the grand procession and noble exercises which made up the city\u2019s first public observance of his natal day. The day was as beautiful as nature could make it-in fact St. Patrick\u2019s day in the morning was as nice a day as one could well expect in March.\u201c<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The procession of two brass bands, children of the Catholic Schools, members of Davenport\u2019s Irish societies, the clergy and Irish citizens formed on Fourth and Main Streets at St. Anthony\u2019s Church, dressed in green and creating a parade so long that \u201con Second street, when the head of it was crossing Ripley, the rear had not passed Main street\u201d. The Daily Davenport Democrat reported flags and banners gaily floating over the procession, and the windows, balconies and streets crowded with spectators\u201d inspiring \u201cevery Irish heart with genuine honest pride\u201d. The route eventually made its way down Second Street to Fillmore in order to celebrate the formal opening of St. Mary\u2019s Catholic Church. After services concluded, the procession reformed, marching back to St. Anthony\u2019s church where the societies disbanded in order to prepare for the parties to follow. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Looking for some evening activities? The public was invited to Lahrmann\u2019s Hall for supper. Tickets admitting a gentleman and lady were $2; each additional lady, 50 cents. Apparently the \u201cgreat multitude were served to the satisfaction of every one present\u201d and it was nearly midnight before the toasts and speeches began. No doubt Irish eyes were smiling by then!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On Arsenal Island the Saint Patrick\u2019s Military Ball was a grand affair attended by parties living in Davenport, Rock Island and upon the Island.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe hall in which the party assembled for dancing was brilliantly illuminated and beautifully decorated. . . Two ponderous and elegantly polished brass howitzers, mounted on carriages, were placed upon the platform adding much to the effect produced and exciting the curiosity and admiration of all present. At 12 o\u2019clock an elegant collation was partaken of by the guests, after which dancing was resumed and continued until the ‘wee hours.'”<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those folks knew how to party on!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThus was celebrated the happiest St. Patrick\u2019s Day the Irishmen of Davenport ever saw.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Ahh, St. Patrick\u2019s Day. The wearin\u2019 o\u2019 the green is surely a celebration at its finest! Davenport has a long tradition of observing this delightful day as evidenced in the March 18, 1869 edition of the Davenport Daily Gazette. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[352,353,354,351],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-history","tag-parades","tag-st-anthonys-church","tag-st-marys-catholic-church","tag-st-patricks-day"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXc-1p","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5168,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/5168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}