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Bellefonte Gazette March 19 2005, page 4
The Dreamer (part two)
by Richard Knupp SR
The following may seem more like fiction than fact but is strictly fact.
"Bellefonte & Beyond: It's Up to You!" A great idea which is only limited by the truths we know about the subject. Behind a veil of time and stories are some giants hidden in our past, giants waiting to be released. Our biggest giant at this point I shall call the Dreamer.
Bellefonte has a superb history that should make each of ds proud to be part of it. Bellefonte's history was a huge part of what was going on in the country at the time. Bellefonte had a history that was way ahead of its time. Bellefonte's history is a history with great market value. Even the name the Dreamer gave to his town was of great significance. Unfortunately the great history and dreams of the Dreamer have been replaced by meaningless stories created by people who had no idea what they were destroying.
Bellefonte isn't about rogue French Prince's, springs or even Philip Benner but is about its earliest commerce, something that should interest us all.
There is nothing wrong with putting Gov. Curtin's likeness on your pin for he excelled as a citizen of Bellefonte. A likeness of the person responsible for our governors being here probably would have worked as well for without the Dreamer we would have had few, and probably none, famous people from here.
Bellefonte, as well as Centre County; was established by this 24 year old humble Dreamer who also possessed a dynamic personality that never quit. The Dreamer was admired by people throughout the world. The Dreamer was one of those people that it was difficult to say no to.
Between 1794 and 1814, there were many hundreds of people who followed the Dreamer into a vast wilderness on something called blind faith. Many of these people had nothing to gain by coming other than to be part of the Dreamer's great adventure. There were wealthy retired people. Bellefonte's first merchant closed a successful business in Carlisle to come to a town where trees had yet to be cut down to start the town. The Dreamers parent's and eight of his sibling's families came here leaving mansions and luxury behind. A much sought after young attorney came to the wilderness to begin his law practice. Thomas Burnside could have settled in any place of his choosing but chose to join the Dreamer. The Dreamer even built a new home so that his friend, Thomas Burnside, could live in his old one. Many of the Dreamers cousins were in the same situation but came here to be part of the Dreamers great adventure. Did you know the Dreamer was also closely related to Gov. Findlay and Gov. Shunk?
If the Dreamer had not chosen to come here in 1794, there are many things that would never have existed like Bellefonte, the Governors, Centre County the Bellefonte Academy, and Penn State. In essence, we today would be living in an area similar to much of much of north-central Pennsylvania.
The real history is extremely saleable as far as promoting Bellefonte. Please remember that the Industrial Revolution was about iron and steel. Any books I have read concerning the manufacturing of iron all tell you that people who operated iron furnaces were treated like royalty. Bellefonte was lucky enough to have the king of kings and the finest iron ore in the country and possibly world at that time. The Belle Font Forge (someday someone is going to open a French dictionary for the meaning of the French word font) and its associated iron furnaces were known throughout the world for its high quality iron' and castings which the French term belle fits nicely.
When did the freeing of slaves begin in Pennsylvania? Would you believe ninety years 'before the Civil War? The Dreamers family played an important part of the bill that passed the state legislation in 1770 that would eventually do away with slavery. By the time the Civil War had started slavery was pretty much done away with in Pennsylvania. Why? There was a small town in central Pennsylvania that gave the state an example of why the slaves should be free. Bellefonte should someday be recognized for its great contribution to the abolishing of slavery. Bellefonte also produced a Civil War governor that pushed Lincoln on the anti-slavery issue. The Dreamer discovered that free men earning a wage worked much harder than slaves and is probably the reason that the Dreamer's iron works were superior to those of other local iron masters who used slaves.
From the onset of Bellefonte, there were women living here who were far ahead of their times. They were highly educated. They argued publicly which was unheard of pushing the abolishment of slavery and woman's rights issues of the time. One wrote a book on Metaphysical reasoning entitled "The Alphabet Of Thought". This woman was continually sought out by the ablest theologians for consultation. Of course, nothing could hurt their reputation for they had a brother called the Dreamer. It is possible that these women were as great at dreaming as their brother was.
Why don't you know the Dreamer? Fate plays some dirty tricks sometimes. Fate altered the direction Bellefonte was headed. Fate destroyed the dreamer and his dreams. There were great people here but none that compared to the Dreamer. Only the eyes of a dreamer can see and understand another dreamer's dreams. It is easy to visualize a much more grandiose Bellefonte and Centre County if fate had not taken our dreamer in 1814 at the age of forty-four. The Dreamer was an integral part of the system that was creating turnpikes to connect Bellefonte to the rest of the state and country. The Dreamer knew that it was important that the capital be accessible. Forty years later there were still people calling their first newborn son after the Dreamer. In 1854 another prominent citizen of Bellefonte, Charles McCafferty, named his firstborn son John Dunlop McCafferty.
Through the years, his memory and generosity have been replaced by greed and the pursuit of wealth. His love for all mankind has been replaced by self gratification. His devotion to the protection of his workers, the thing that killed him, has been replaced by a devotion to the almighty dollar at all cost.
Until the time of his death, progress played an important part. in the lives of all people. After his death, Bellefonte and Centre County also started to die with the end of the dreams of the dreamer. The bank failed, the Academy closed and Centre County was on the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately the Dreamer had prepared for a time when he would no longer be in control and had prepared a man to replace him.
Bellefonte's finest dreamer was named John Dunlop. Second in command was John Dunlop's manager of his vast holdings, John Lowery. Look around Bellefonte and see the recognition given these men. Look around to find the homage paid to Ann Dunlop Harris and Elizabeth Dunlop Smith for what they did for women's rights and for just being great women with great minds. Better yet, don't look, for there is nothing to see."
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