Conversations with the Court House Deer: Timely thoughts on local matters is a book about articles written in the 1880s by a young reporter who “interviewed” the life-size iron deer on the courthouse lawn in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The deer statue on the lawn of the Luzerne County Courthouse has been a part of Wilkes-Barre since 1867. He’s been the subject of photos by and with Wilkes-Barreans for over a hundred years. But in the 1880s-1890s, he was also the subject of a newspaper column, in which he discussed local matters.
Ernest Hanson was a young reporter who emigrated from England when he created a column for the Wilkes-Barre News-Dealer about the Court House Deer. His first article was in November 1888, and in it the reporter is startled to be spoken to by the deer on the courthouse lawn. At that time, the Luzerne County Courthouse was in the Public Square. In the image below, the deer can be seen to the left of the arch-topped door on the North Main Street side of the courthouse (when it was in the Public Square).
In his interviews the Court House Deer was wise, occasionally sarcastic and often funny. He gave his sometimes scathing opinions about current events and local politicians, and not sparing the reporter himself. The following is a quote from one of the articles:
July 6, 1889: (The Deer talking to and about the reporter) “…Any man who can transform himself into so vast and unmitigated an ass is deserving of the highest popular recognition…[but] Don’t get mad about it,” said the Deer, “for let me tell you, it takes a smart man to make a really first-class ass of himself…”
The Deer is equally unflattering about other newspaper men, politicians, and the wealthy and powerful who appear to be abusing their power.
In “Conversations with the Court House Deer” are photos of several of the people mentioned in the articles, brief histories of the Luzerne County Courthouse, the Deer, and the reporter, and an appendix with mini biographies of the people mentioned in the articles.
The book is 8 1/2 x 11, 300 pages, black & white. It’s available on Amazon, as well as the Luzerne County Historical Society in Wilkes-Barre, the Anthracite Heritage Museum in Scranton, and Sellers Books + Art in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
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