Events Honor "Mad" Anthony Wayne
Mention the name "Mad" Anthony Wayne and many Erieites will visualize the big black cauldron used to boil the flesh from his bones in 1809. But it is another year associated with the Revolutionary War general, the year of his death, that is being commemorated this week. Sunday, Dec. 15, marks the 200th anniversary of the day Wayne died in 1796 at the blockhouse overlooking Presque Isle Bay. A replica of that blockhouse now stands on the grounds of the Soldiers' & Sailors' Home, East 3rd and Ash streets. "This is the only time he was in Erie- for his death," said Kitty Felion, one of the organizers of Anthony Wayne commemoration Days.
The events commemorating Wayne's death at age 51 continue today as pupils from Wayne Middle School were to take the Heritage Trail, a historical trail narrated by Felion. The pupils were to start at the Erie Historical Museum, home of the infamous black pot, where on the general's relatives is said to have boiled his remains to return the general's bones to his home. The tour was to end at the Wayne Blockhouse. The blockhouse will be open to the public Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Felion said. Wayne's Legion, a group of re-enactors from Sewickley, Ambridge and Pittsburgh, is scheduled to arrive at the blockhouse Saturday at about 11 a.m. to set up camp. On Wednesday, a ceremony in Wayne Park dedicated a bronze-on-granite marker to the general. The plaque reads, "General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, died in Erie, Pa., December 15, 1796.