Hold your horses: Salvation Army in Elmira had a shaky start to 139-year history
It was an unusual event. The Salvation Army paraded through the streets of Elmira in silence. The band marched without a drum beating, there was no singing or shouting. Indeed they did not even carry their banner. The Daily Gazette and Free Press on April 6, 1893, noted, “it was a quiet march, and the attention of the bystanders along the way were attracted even more than if every soldier had been beating a drum and singing at the top of his or her voice.”
The change in the nature of the parade resulted from an order issued by Elmira Police Chief Levi Little. He had requested the suspension of singing sacred hymns, the playing of drums and tambourines, and the carrying of the American flag. The Chief promised the Army “that the first soldier who broke the order would be arrested and subject to a fine of $5 or imprisonment for each offense.” (Daily Gazette and Free Press, April 6, 1893).
The cause of the chief’s actions was a runaway horse on West Water Street, which was alleged to have been caused by the “army’s noise.” The rig in question collided with a rig in front of him, then with a telegraph pole, throwing the driver out of the wagon, which was damaged. Apparently, Salvation Army leaders were arrested and the changes in parade procedures came about.
The Daily Gazette and Free Press, on the same day, came to the defense of the Army in a blistering editorial. “The Gazette remains of the same opinion. Salvation is no more to be halted through deference to equine nervousness than the trolley car, the baseball wagon, the 30th separate company or Dockstader’s minstrels. Supreme respect for the timid spirit of the stud would bar everything from a circus parade to the solitary bicycle … the songs of salvation, the clang of symbols, the boom of drums and the display of the star spangle banner, glorious emblem of our three million square miles of union, do not constitute sound and sight inimitable to public comfort.”
This would not be the only incident with a horse and wagon the Army would have to face. In December of 1894 a farmer drove his team into the assembled Salvation Army on Water Street. The captain took hold of the horses, “the farmer arose in his wagon and cursing the captain lashed his whip at him and striking his team again drove into the midst of the army. The farmer ordered the army off the street and was about to run the soldiers down again when the captain blew his cornet in the ear of one of the horses and the team started up West Water St. at a lively pace.” (Daily Gazette and Free Press, Dec. 17, 1894)
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The Salvation Army came to Elmira in 1884. In his opening address on June 10, Captain Woodyard stated “Well, we’re here, and we mean to stay.” (file in Chemung History Museum archives) The Army found a great deal of prejudice and little encouragement at first. Over the next two decades, the Army labored in the trenches fighting the evils in society. Adjutant Edith Marshall noted that “there is nothing whatever attractive in the Salvation Army for persons afraid of work … The Salvation Army is an army in truth and a fighting army.” (Daily Gazette and Free Press, Oct. 4, 1894)
For a number of years, the Army occupied a building at 153 Baldwin St. In 1905 they acquired that property and the one next door when a building there had burned. The plan was to use the current four-story building for barracks and lodging and to erect a new Citadel for the work of the Army on the 155 Baldwin St. site. The purchase price for both properties was $10,960. Building and equipping the new building cost $7,840. (Star-Gazette, Oct. 28, 1919)
In contrast to the silent parade in the early years, the dedication of the new Citadel led to a weekend of festivities in July of 1905. The National Staff Headquarters Salvation Army Band played to a crowd of 10,000 at Eldridge Park. There was a public meeting at Grove Park and a tent meeting at the southern approach to the Main Street Bridge. Various Army officers spoke at The First Methodist, Hedding Methodist and First Presbyterian Churches.
In 1919, the Elmira Corps of the Salvation Army undertook a major fund drive. The Star-Gazette headline on Oct. 27, 1919 noted “Salvation Army Meetings In Theater, College, Church Attract Admiring Throngs.” The article noted that hundreds had to be turned away at the Majestic Theater. Special attractions were the National Headquarters Staff Band and the “Salvation Army Doughnut Girls.”
Miss Irene McIntyre and indeed her sister Gladys were the “Doughnut Girls.” They had become famous because they “stirred, rolled, cut out and baked thousands of doughnuts for American soldiers on the firing line in France. … ” In fact one of her rolling pins, donated for the Salvation Army fund drive in New York City, netted $1,000. (Star-Gazette, Oct. 24, 1919)
Irene was quoted in the Oct. 27th Star-Gazette that “during service in France and Belgium she had met soldiers of every country, but had found none so clean, wholesome and chivalrous as the boys from America. … ”
In 1948 the Salvation Army had to find a new location for its Citadel as the buildings on Baldwin Street had been condemned.
Eventually the property would be purchased by the Elmira Parking Authority for the expansion of the Rathbun Parking lot. Religious and administrative functions of the Corps would move to 414 Lake St. The cornerstone of which was laid on Dec. 5, 1955, with its dedication taking place on June 3, 1956. It became the new, and current headquarters for the Salvation Army of Elmira.
The emblem for the Salvation Army is known as a crest.
It was designed by General Booth, the founder. The Elmira division of the Salvation Army uses the British version, which has a crown. It is the crown of life and not of empire. The American version has an eagle. “The words, ‘Blood and Fire’ … are from the Bible (Acts) and they refer … to the blood and fire of the Holy Spirit. The words represent the spirit, Cross needs no explanation. (Star-Gazette, July 31, 1955).
The emblem for the Salvation Army is known as a crest. It was designed in 1878 by Captain William Ebdon. In 1884 the founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, secured a trademark. This original crest has a crown which is the crown of life and not of empire. The words “Blood and Fire” are from the Bible (Acts) and they refer to the blood and fire of the Holy Spirit. The swords represent the fight against sin. The shots (seven dots on the circle) stand for the truths of the Gospel. The cross of Jesus stands at the center.
In 1890 a copyright issue developed in the United States resulting in the crown being replaced by an eagle. In the 1980s the copyright expired and the Salvation Army in the United States reverted to the original design. That is the crest that is at the Elmira headquarters.
Jim Hare is a former history teacher and mayor of the City of Elmira. His column appears monthly in the Star-Gazette.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Elmira Salvation Army began in 1884, still operates Lake St. offices
