2008 News

September 18, 2008

Commissioners Ring Courthouse Bell in Honor of Constitution Day

At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17, Bucks County Commissioners James F. Cawley, Esq. and Charles H. Martin rang the courthouse second-floor bell in tribute to “Bells of America” – a celebration of the 221st anniversary of the Sept. 17, 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution.

“We are perpetually grateful for the courage, conviction and sacrifice of those who continue to help preserve and uphold the principles of a free society,” Chairman Cawley said.

Back in 1955, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) spearheaded the movement to commemorate “Constitution Week.” The DAR successfully petitioned Congress to set aside this week annually as a time to officially observe the oldest document still in active use that outlines the self-government of a people.

The courthouse bell, forged in Philadelphia in 1813 in the image of the Liberty Bell, was purchased that same year for $211.20 to hang in the steeple of a new Bucks County Courthouse. When a larger courthouse was built in 1877, the bell was transferred to the new steeple and remained there until that building was demolished in 1960.

After being removed in 1960, the bell lay discarded in a Philadelphia junk yard for nearly three decades. The late Horace Collins, a philanthropist and president of the Philadelphia Rivet Company of Doylestown, believed that the bell should be returned to Doylestown. Through the efforts of then-Commissioners Andrew L. Warren, Mark S. Schweiker and Sandra A. Miller, it was refurbished with a foundation, frame and stock through contributions of Central Bucks School District elementary students and woodworking students at Bucks County Technical School.