Coronavirus crisis restricts Heysel disaster remembrance

Virus created the country's shortest commercial jet flight

A meeting was held Nov. 25, 1809, at the home of Jason Scovell, believed to be in Exeter, to discuss plans to erect a monument in memory of those patriots who defended the Valley of Wyoming during the Revolutionary War, reported The Gleaner newspaper on Dec. 1, 1809.
				Attorney Obadiah Gore was appointed chairman and Anderson Dana was secretary of the committee. Sixty-six men were on the committee representing towns from Luzerne County, including those from Towanda (published as Towanday), Athens and Canton.
				The Gleaner published a resolution listing the reasons why the committee wanted to construct a monument, and listed the committee&rsquo;s next meeting to be held Jan. 3, 1810 at the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
				No other published stories were found until the Wilkes-Barre-based newspaper, the Susquehanna Democrat, on Sept. 15, 1826, mentioned efforts by &ldquo;Patriotic citizens of the valley of Old Wyoming for erecting a Monument to the memory of those who fell in the memorable Wyoming Massacre by the Indians and more merciless race of being called Tories.&rdquo;
				Another seven years would pass until the corner stone for the present-day Wyoming Monument would be placed during a ceremony attended by a large gathering of nearly 500 valley citizens.
				&ldquo;The ceremony of laying the corner stone of a Monument to the memory of those who fell in the Massacre on the 3d day of July, 17778, was performed on Wednesday last, the anniversary day of which that melancholy event occurred,&rdquo; reported the Kingston newspaper, the Wyoming Republican and Herald on July 10, 1833.
				Samuel Carey, a survivor of the massacre, laid the corner stone and also re-interred a box containing the human remains of those killed at the base of the monument, the Republican and Herald reported.
				&ldquo;To look upon a great number of skulls, and other human bones, some bearing the marks of the tomahawk and scalping knife and others perforated with balls, awakened a sense of the sufferings of those Wyoming Heroes,&rdquo; the Republican and Herald reported.
				Constructing the monument slowed due to lack of funds to finish the project. In 1841, a major fundraiser spearheaded by the Ladies Wyoming Monumental Association, was held raising enough money to finally complete the monument and landscape the grounds.
				Events were annually held from 1833 through the 1860s including exhibits, similar to a farmers market, held in September for more than a decade by the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society at the monument. Railroad companies offered free excursions to the agricultural exhibits.
				It wasn&rsquo;t until the 1878 ceremony became an annual event. when an annual ceremony was held July 3 of each year.
				President Rutherford B. Hayes was the first featured speaker in 1878, followed by other presidents including Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 and Jimmy Carter in 2013. Carter spoke during a Memorial Day event on May 27, 2013.
				When Hayes spoke, American flags with 37 stars were present.
				For the 100th anniversary marking Hayes&rsquo; appearance, one of the 37-star flags, which had been in the possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, was put on display during the 1978 ceremony.
				The 63-feet high monument suffered damage on Aug. 2, 2008 by a lightening strike that also cracked a bronze plaque listing the names of 57 survivors of the massacre.
				Donations were raised including $100,000 by the late Dr. Joseph Mattiolli to repair the monument, which took two years to complete.
				Unfortunately, for the second time since 1878, the Wyoming Commemorative Association announced last week that the annual event would not take place this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The only other time the ceremony was not held was 1972 following the Agnes flood.

Look back: Building of the Wyoming Monument