Pennsylvania Railroad Centennial Excursion, Columbia to Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 14, 1876

"Pennsylvania Railroad. Centennial Excursion. Under the auspices of Putnam Circle, No. 113, B.U. (H.F.) of Pa. Columbia to Philadelphia and return. On Saturday, October 14, 1876 . Tickets, $2.00. 1."

As Wikipedia explains, the Centennial Exposition "was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia." It was "the first official World's Fair in the United States."

The organization sponsoring the rail excursion--"Putnam Circle, No. 113, B.U. (H.F.) of Pa."--was a local chapter of the Brotherhood of the Union (Holy Flame) of the Continent of America. Founded in 1850 by author and labor organizer George Lippard, the Brotherhood was "a secret benevolent society aiming to eliminate poverty and crime by removing the social ills causing them."

Putnam Circle, No. 113, was organized in Columbia on February 10, 1875, and had sixty members by 1883, according to the History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, by Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans (Philadelphia: Everts and Peck, 1883), p. 581. Columbia is located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, about ninety miles west of Philadelphia.