Kids today love to get autographs from their
favorite baseball players, sometimes standing in line for hours. Chris
Sanderson made autographs a passion and collected hundreds over a period of
decades from people who changed the course of history. Inventors, statesmen,
Indian Chiefs, Presidents, Wild West horsemen- they’re all there on the wall in
front of you after climbing the steps to the second floor of the Sanderson
Museum.
You can see an enormous variety of
personalities captured here, some on note cards, others simply shreds of paper
with a signature written centuries ago. There are three wall displays brimming
with remembrances. On the left, there’s a photograph of Geronimo, whose
piercing eyes hold you entranced. He’s inches above an autograph by Indian
Chief Sitting Bull, signed just three weeks before he was killed. That
inscription lies near one by W.F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. A letter to Chris lies
prominently in the center of the case, signed “Very Truly Yours, Alexander
Graham Bell.”
This gem is near one signed by Samuel F.B.
Morse, the man who invented the telegraph and a new industry —
telecommunications — in 1844. Andrew Carnegie and even Grandma Moses are there,
just above the signature of another man who changed the world— Orville Wright.
There’s also a priceless relic from the day our nation was “born” — a note dated
July 4, 1776 describing a business transaction. Other luminaries include Thomas
Edison, John Wanamaker and Daniel Webster. Babe Ruth’s signature lies near a
letter signed by Abner Doubleday, the inventor of baseball- on the 100th
Anniversary of the sport.
The center cabinet highlights composers and
entertainers, with scripts from Johann Strauss, John Philip Sousa and Irving
Berlin. To the right is a cabinet filled with signatures of people whose
decisions literally changed the world. Presidential autographs include Teddy
Roosevelt, F.D.R., Calvin Coolidge and Grover Cleveland- the only man elected
President twice in non-consecutive terms. Nearby is a letter from William H. Taft
after his Presidency, the note on the stationery of the United States Supreme Court,
where he was Chief Justice- the only President to serve in that capacity. Warren
Harding says hello in a letter from The White House dated May 27, 1921.
Nearby are men who put their lives on the
line to help save our nation- Generals Phil Sheridan, Ambrose E. Burnside
(after whom the slang “sideburns” was developed) and “Fightin’ Joe” Hooker, who
all served in the Civil War. General Sickles sits on the porch of a house
smiling and smoking a cigar, just as he did after his leg was blown off by a
cannonball at the Battle of Gettysburg and he was carried off the field.
Admiral George Dewey, hero of the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American
War is prominently displayed.
With these signatures the viewer takes away
the immense sweep of history, the tragedies and triumphs, great inventions
which improved our way of life and heroic acts in battle which preserved it-
and sadly, the last vestiges (with Geronimo and Sitting Bull) of a way of life
that no longer exists. So, the next time you see a kid eagerly awaiting an
autograph at a baseball game, think about the people who made our world what it
is today. Stop by and see them at the Sanderson Museum- A Man’s Life, A Nation’s
History, 1755 Creek Road (Old Route 100) in Chadds Ford, Pa. or on-line at www.SandersonMuseum.org.
For more information on the author of this article, visit his website at www.GenePisasale.com
About Gene Pisasale
Gene Pisasale is an historian, author and lecturer based in Kennett Square, Pa. His eight books and historic lecture series focus on the history of the mid-Atlantic region. Gene’s latest book is Alexander Hamilton: Architect of the American Financial System, which delves into the life and many accomplishments of this important Founding Father who almost single-handedly transformed our nation from a bankrupt entity into the most successful country in the history of mankind. Gene’s books are available on www.Amazon.com. His website is www.GenePisasale.com; he can be reached at Gene@GenePisasale.com.
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