CHAPTER XIV (Part 1)

MILITARY HISTORY

Connection of Beaver County with the Revolution -Revolutionary Veterans and Pensioners – War of 1812 – Patriotic Proceedings­ Roster of Troops – Mexican War – The Alamo – Causes and Commencement of Hostilities – Enlistments – War of the Rebellion – Introductory Remarks – Patriotic Mass Meetings ­ Citizens’ Committees Appointed – Home Guards – List of Commissioned Officers – Sketches of Regiments in which Beaver County was Represented – Beaver County Men in the U. S. Naval Service­ Rosters of Troops in the War of the Rebellion.

Then marched the brave from rocky steep,
From mountain river swift and cold;
The borders of the stormy deep,
The vales where gathered waters sleep,
Sent up the strong and bold,-

As if the very earth again
Grew quick with God’s creating breath,
And, from the sods of grove and glen,
Rose ranks of lion-hearted men
To battle to the death.
BRYANT, Seventy-six.

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION

We have seen in the preceding chapters how closely Beaver County was identified with the early military history of western Pennsylvania. At the time of the Revolutionary War her population was too small to enable her to contribute volunteers to the Continental forces, but the few settlers who were here,

1 So far as known there is but one exception to this statement. It has recently been brought to our attention that Levi Dungan, who was probably the first settler in what is now Beaver County, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The record of his service is clear. It is found in Egle’s Penna. in the War of the Revolution (vol. xiv., page 691 of the second series of the Penna. Arch.). Here is given a Muster Roll of Captain James
474

History of Beaver County 475

confined then, of course, to the region south of the Ohio River, formed part of the thin line of defense which the frontier fighters threw about the interior of the State. And, as we have also seen, among those who took up and settled her lands as soon as the way for settlement was open, were many Revolutionary veterans. Here and there, throughout the county, they lie beneath the sod,

in those low, green tents, whose curtains never outward swing. 1

It would doubtless be impossible at this late date to obtain a complete list of all of the soldiers of the Revolution who later had their homes within the original limits of Beaver County, but the list which follows and which was prepared by the careful pen of Major Thomas Henry of New Brighton will show many of their names, viz. :
Arthur Ackles, Big Beaver township; Robert Agnew, Moon; Jeremiah Bannon, North Beaver, died September 7, 183I, aged eighty-four; John Buchanan, Beaver borough; Thomas Beatty, South Beaver, died prior to 1825; George Bruce, Moon; John Beaver, Ohio township; Samuel Bowan, Big Beaver, died May 16, I838, one hundred years and three months old; Thomas

Wright’s company of Youghegenia Meletia, in actual servis for the month of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, commanded by Coll. John Stevenson:’ and Levy Dungan’s name is entered, Sept. 14th. In the record of Dungan’s marriage in Philadelphia his first name is spelled in the same way, Levy; he himself always wrote it Levi. During the Revolutionary struggle, the Indians becoming especially dangerous to the settlers on the Ohio, Dungan removed his family to a safer position on Chartiers Creek in what is now Washington County, and himself enlisted to fight the British and their Indian allies. He returned to his home on King’s Creek about 1799.

l On the farm of John Ruckert, in New Sewickley township, is a tombstone, with the following inscription:
“In memory of John McKee, who departed this life December 14, 1834, aged 94 years. Emigrated to this, his adopted country, in the year A. D. 1765, was at the destroying of the tea in Boston present at the Declaration of Independence served two years in the Revolutionary War and took his share in the glorious struggle of gaining our independence.”

In smaller letters beneath the inscription is found: “J. W. Thompson, stonecutter.” Most …. if not all, of the old Revolutionary soldiers mentioned above, are buried in the public or private burying grounds of the county. Nathaniel Coburn, who was a fifer, and, as elsewhere stated, was toll-taker at the Brighton bridge, is buried in New Brighton; Lieut. Moore was buried on the Moore farm in Rochester township and in 1903 his ashes were removed to Grove cemetery. New Brighton; Matthias Shaner is buried in the graveyard of the old stone church in Chippewa township; John Main in the Presbyterian cemetery, and Albert Runyan in the Baptist cemetery at North Sewickley, and Samuel Peirsol in Mt. Pleasant cemetery, Darlington. Buried in the graveyard of the old Mill Creek Presbyterian Church, but with nothing to mark his resting-place, is a man known to the colonial history of Pennsylvania, namely Col George Stewart, who has many descendants in this State and in West Virginia.

History of Beaver County 476

Bevington, Ohio township; William Carnagey, Georgetown; William Cassidy, Moon; Daniel Campbell, Little Beaver, died March 4, I833, eighty-five years old; Nathaniel Coburn, New Sewickley, died April 6, 1844; John Coleman, North Beaver, died August 16, 1847, aged ninety-nine years; Charles Carter, James Chambers, John Crail, Raccoon; Michael Chrisler, Second Moon; James Craig, Thomas Davis, Joseph Douthitt, South Beaver; Zachariah Figley, Moon; Alexander Frew, Shenango; Hugh Gaston, South Beaver; William Grundy, Peter Hines, Sewickley township; William Iddings, Shenango; Joseph Johnston, James Jordan, Hopewell; William Langfitt, Hanover, died August 23, 1831, aged ninety-five; Joseph S. Line, Big Beaver, died August 6, I847, aged eighty-eight; George Lightner, died February 23, 1842, aged ninety-four; First Lieutenant James Moore, New Sewickley, died January 2I, I833, aged eighty; 1 Brice McGeehan, Little Beaver; Sebastian Mershimer, Shenango, died June 3, 1845, aged ninety-nine; Alexander McCurdy, John McGowan, David McCoy, James Purdy, James Reed, died September 17, 1845, aged one hundred, Borough township; Thomas Stratton, Chippewa, died August 30, 1846, aged eighty­eight; John Swick, Perry, died July 13, 1849, aged eighty-seven; Michael Sadler, died November 6, 1831, aged ninety; David Scott, First Moon; George Shillito, Henry Woods, Robert Wilson, South Beaver; Charles Willoughby, Hanover; Henry Ulary, Little Beaver.

As supplementing Major Henry’s list we give here an interesting old letter which was found a few years ago in the wreck of the John Barclay building on Third Street, Beaver, containing an official list for the year 1836 of the Revolutionary pensioners of this county. The letter is as follows:

TREASURY OFFICE OF PENN’ A, HARRISBURG, May 12, 1836.

To the Treasurer of Beaver County:

SIR :-Agreeably to the Provisions of an Act of Assembly, entitled, “An Act authorizing and directing County Treasurers to pay gratuities and pensions to soldiers and widows of Revolutionary soldiers residing

1 This was Lieutenant James Moore. whose son, Samuel Moore, aged 93, was one of the earliest settlers in Rochester. David Marquis married his daughter. and of his sons were Addison and the late Dr. David S. Marquis of Rochester. Capt. John Moore of Vanport is also a grandson.

History of Beaver County 477

in this Commonwealth, ” I forward to you a list of persons residing in Beaver County, with the amount due each, and when and how payable.
J. LAWRENCE, State Treasurer.

Agnes Bannon, John Grostcrost, Philip Hoenbaker, George Swager, S. Power, Trustee of Sarah Wilson, Mary Williams, John Hoobler, Lawrence Kunkle, Mary Fisher, John Turner, Neal McGing, William Cassidy, Thomas Hall, James Reed,
Jacob Van Gorder, Henry Woods, John Partridge, Alexander Long, James Robinson, Samuel Quigley, Mary Fisher, James Smith, of Columbiana, Co., O.

One of the Revolutionary soldiers who settled in Beaver County, not in either of the previous lists, was Matthias Shanor, who lived in the vicinity of Georgetown, and married Fanny Poe, sister of Andrew and Adam Poe, and settled later on a farm situated on the east branch of Brady’s Run in what is now Chippewa township. This farm is now owned by Squire Thomas Matthias Shanor enlisted in the year 1775 and served first as a private; was in the latter part of the war detailed and put in the commissary department, and was mustered out in the spring of 1783. He was the father of David Shanor, who was born in 1784, served in the War of 1812 and died in 1856; and grandfather of Alva L. Shanor of Brush Creek, this county. Still others of whom we have heard are Albert Runyan, Philip Wylie, and John Main, the latter said to have been one of Washington’s body guards. Below will be seen also the name of Stanton Sholes, who came to this county, and had in his early youth served in the Revolutionary War.

THE WAR OF 1812

In the War of 1812 Beaver County was able to lend a more active support to the cause of the nation. Her Representative in Congress during this period of gloom and despondency, Gen­ eral Abner Lacock, had been elected as a “war candidate,” and in his place there he took a bold stand for war measures, and stood firmly by the Democratic administration of James Madison in the noble effort to sustain the honor of the Republic

History of Beaver County 478

against the aggressions of Great Britain. 1 And the people of the county were prompt in responding to the call to arms.
The readiness and enthusiasm of their action will be seen from the following report, taken from the Pittsburgh Mercury of Thursday evening, August 27, 1812:

BEAVER COUNTY PATRIOTISM

On Monday last, in consequence of the disastrous intelligence from Detroit of the capture of General Hull’s army, a meeting of the inhabitants of Beaver County was held and sundry resolutions passed, and committees appointed to procure arms, ammunition, etc. On Tuesday the militia met at Beavertown, and after raising a subscription of nearly $1,000 to defray the cost of purchasing ammunition, etc., about 130 persons volunteered their services to march to Cleveland, O. They divided themselves into two companies and chose the following officers:
First company-Captain, Jonathan Coulter; lieutenant, John Lawrence; ensign, Robert Moore. Second company-Captain, James Kennedy; lieutenant, John Smurr, Jr.; ensign, James Louthan.
Among the privates are General Abner Lacock, James Lyon, Thomas Henry, Esq., Samuel Power, Esq., Samuel Johnston, William and John Wilson, Josiah Laird, John R. Shannon, Esq., Major Robert Darragh, Jonathan Mendenhall, John Wolf, James Moore, etc., etc. Both companies are composed of the most respectable inhabitants of the county. Each man is at his own expense, armed and equipped for service, and carries in his knapsack ten days’ provisions. They start from the vicinity of Beaver this morning, and expect to reach Cleveland in the course of four or five days. The example is worthy of imitation, and may the God of battles go forth with them in our righteous cause and grant them victory and honor.
A fuller contemporary account of this meeting, which was held on August 24, 1812, is found in a private diary

1 There is preserved in a valuable collection of old documents in the Carnegie Library at Pittsburg a handbi1l which was the gift of Mrs. Abraham Kellar to the Library, one of a number similar to it which were distributed in the city of Pittsburg at the time war was declared with Great Britain. This old circular contains proof of General Lacock’s interest and influence: it reads as follows:

“OFFICE OF THE PITTSBURGH GAZETTE, “PITTSBURGH. Thursday Evening. June 25, 1812.
“WAR”

“Extract of a letter from Mr. Lacock to a gentleman in this Town, dated Washington City, June 18, 1812 .

“I embrace the first opportunity to inform you that WAR has this day been declared, and the injunction of secrecy taken off. This measure passed in the House of Representatives by a majority of 30, and in Senate 19 to 13. This is an unqualified, unconditional War, by land and sea, against the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland:”

2 It will be seen from what follows that the statement on page 285 of the History of Beaver County (A. Warner & Co., Pubs., 1888), that “the first two years of the war did not call out any troops from the County,” is an error.

History of Beaver County 479

kept by Captain Stanton Sholes,’ who, during the War of 18I2, resided in Beaver in a house on Third Street on or near where the Shumaker block now stands. The handwriting of Captain Sholes is still clear and legible, though over ninety years have passed since he wrote the following minute;
At a general meeting of the inhabitants of the town and borough of Beaver, convened for the purpose of taking into consideration and for determining what proceedings should be taken in consequence of information received by express of the unfortunate defeat and capture of the army under the command of General Hull, at Detroit, August 24, 1812, Saml. Lawrence, Esq., was unanimously chosen chairman and Hugh Picknoll, secretary.
On motion of Robert Moore, Esq.

Resolved, That an express be sent to Pittsburgh to procure powder, lead, etc.
Resolved, That notices be sent to the members of the I39th Regiment to meet in the borough of Beaver on Tuesday, the 25th inst., at 12 o’clock, and that instructions be given to the several officers of the regiment to bring and cause to be brought with them all the arms in their respective companies and belonging to the regiment or the members thereof.

A letter from Brigadier-General Bell to the commanders of militias representing the western parts of Pennsylvania, dated New Lisbon, Ohio, August 24, 1812, received by Col. R. Moore by express announcing the defeat of the army under Hull, and the invasion of the American frontier by the British and Indians in considerable force and praying aid and reinforcements for the protection of the frontier inhabitants being read:-

Resolved, That every exertion be made to forward volunteers to the assistance of our fellow-citizens on the frontier, and their marching expeditiously, so that, if possible, they shall arrive at Youngstown, in the State of Ohio, on or before Saturday, the 29th:

Resolved, That the supplies intended to be furnished shall, as soon as procured, be delivered to Samuel Power, Esq., brigade inspector for the use of the I39th Regiment.

1 Captain Sholes. in May, 1812, received from President Madison a captain’s commission in the Second Division United States artillery, with orders to recruit a company of one hundred men for five years. He recruited the company and participated in the campaign until its close.

He was also a soldier in the Revolutionary War, having run away from his home in Connecticut. when a boy, to enlist in that war. He was the grandfather of Captain Henry H. Sholes, who died in Rochester, Pa., in the fall of 1898. Leaving Beaver, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he died at an advanced age, being buried in that city.
“The date here is evidently confused with that of Brig.Gen. Bell’s letter, mentioned above. It should be August fifth,

History of Beaver County 480

Resolved, That these proceedings be published in the Western Cabinet and signed by the chairman and secretary. S. LA, WRENCE, Chairman,
H. PrcKNoLL, Secretary. I

Immediately following the above entry appears this record:

BEAVER VOLUNTEERS.
27th of August, I8I2.

In consequence of notices sent to the members of the 139th Regiment, announcing the above alarming and distressing intelligence they assembled in order to render assistance to their fellow-citizens on the frontier by a voluntary offer of their services. On this occasion all were unanimous. Party distinctions were absorbed in the love of country.
After a few observations made by Col. Robert Moore volunteering commenced, about 66 brave citizens stepped out of the first battalion, and about 50 out of the second firmly resolved to conquer or die. A more brave and determined lot of men never trod the tented field. They are indiscriminately composed of lawyers, doctors, merchants, farmers and mechanics. One half of the men able to bear arms in this town have turned out. Yesterday they were busily engaged in preparing all the necessary equipage, in which the ladies performed a very conspicuous and patriotic part in making clothes, knapsacks, etc. Today they march to join General Wadsworth, at Cleveland. May glorious victory attend them.
This, though on a small scale, is a creditable instance of rapid mobilization, and one not surpassed or even equaled any­ where outside of this county at that time; scarcely equaled during the greater struggle of the Civil War. Here were two companies, respectively of sixty-six and fifty men, arming and equipping themselves at their own expense, with no prospect of “bounty,” and on the march in two days, and starting from Beaver on the morning of Thursday, August 27, 1812, passing through Darlington and Petersburg, they were in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday, August 29th. The famous “Pittsburg Blues,” under Captain James Butler, destined for the same services as the Beaver companies, did not leave Pittsburg until September 20th, and reached Beaver in boats, September 24th,

1 Colonel Robert Moore, to whom the letter referred to above was sent by Genexal Bell, was the grandfather of A. S. and W. S. Moore, Esqs., attorneys of Beaver, the former A. S. Moore. now U. S. Dist. Judge, as Div. of Alaska, at Nome; also of F. H. Agnew, Esq.
Samuel Power, the brigade inspector. to whom were to be turned over the supplies, was the father of the late Gen.. T. J. Power, of Rochester, Pa.
The Samuel Lawrence who presided at the meeting was Beaver County’s second prothonotary, and the grandfather of the late Hon. A. J. Lawrence of Beaver.
Hugh Picknoll was a property owner in Beaver, a member of the bar and a man of sterling worth. In the outlots of the town of Beaver, west of Beaver and Spring Lane, Nos. u5 and u6, were patented to Hugh Picknoll. These outlots are near Vanport.

History of Beaver County 480

and passed on down the river. Captain Markle’s troop of cavalry from Westmoreland County left Pittsburg, September 22d, and passed through Beaver County on their way to Urbana, Ohio.
The enlistment of Beaver County soldiers in the War of 1812 was made at different times and dates. In January, 1814, there were eight companies formed in this county, consisting of 587 officers and men. These companies were commanded respectively by Captains David Knowles, David Clark, Wilson Caldoo, Robert Leiper, William Calhoun, Thomas Henry, Armstrong Drennan, and Robert Imbrie, and the troops were embodied into two regiments, the 138th Pennsylvania Militia, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Miller, and the 26th Pennsylvania Regiment. The companies of Captains Imbrie and Drennan composed the First Battalion of the 26th Regiment, and were commanded by Major Andrew Jenkins of North Beaver township. All these companies marched by way of Meadville and served a tour of duty at Erie during the months of January, February, and March of the very severe winter of 1814.1

1 Captain Robert Beer, a soldier of the War of 1812, is quoted in Judge Parke’s Historical Gleanings of Allegheny (p. 38) as saying of his trip, in the winter of 1812-13, from Allegheny City to Upper Sandusky, Ohio: “To guard the teams and property, we had Capt. Johnson and his company from Greersburg, now called Darlington, and half a company from Beaver County, under the command of Lieut. Walker, who was subsequently killed by the Indians.”
Greersburg must have been a very patriotic village, when boys of fifteen ran off to the war. The following advertisement. which appeared in the Pittsburgh Gazette of July 6, 1814, is self-explanatory:

FIVE DOLLARS REWARD.
“It was the twenty third day of May
My boy JOHN WITHROW ran away.
He’s stout and sturdy I’ll engage,
And about fifteen years of age;
He is about a middle size;
His hair is fair, and has blue eyes:
His feet are large, his shoes are old.
And has but lately been half soal’d;
His shirt is old seven hundred linen.
And is made of this country spinning:
His outside jacket color yellow.
But has been much worn by the fellow;
An under-jacket home-made cotton;
A linsey one with pewter buttons;
His hat is black and made of wool.
Which serves right well to thatch his skull
His going I believe to be
Through council of bad company.
He went to Pittsburgh to engage
To be a soldier on the stage
Of war, which he had best not try,
Because he will both steal and lie:
And was encouraged to his hurt
To do these things rather than work.
A fife he took, which he can blow,
But how to play he does not know.
Whoever brings him home again
I’ll give FIVE DOLLARS for his pain.
SAMUEL CAUGHE
“GREERSBURG, BEAVER COUNTY.” VOL.I.-3X

History of Beaver County 481

ROSTER OF TROOPS IN THE WAR OF I8I2 1

Captain David Knowles’s company, I38th Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Robert Miller, under order of Major-General Mead, dated January 1, 1814, service commencing January 12th and ending February 22, 1814: Captain, David Knowles; lieutenant, James Withrow; ensign, William Cannon; sergeants, William Hunter, Alexander Johnson, Samuel Cross, Samuel Blackmore; corporals, George Crowe, Ethan Thomas, Joseph Wilson, David Anderson; privates:
Anderson, David Anderson, James Blackmore, Samuel Brittain, Jeremiah Bevington, Samuel Cline, John Cline, Joseph Cannon, William Calvin, Robert Crowl, George Cross, Samuel Cunningham, James Crowe, Henry Cotton, James Donald, Stacy Dearinger, Joseph Dickson, John Eakin, William Gibson, Samuel
Graham, Hugh Grosscost, David Gurrol, James Hamilton, James Henry, James
Hull, Gairham Johnson, John Johnson, James Johnson, Alexander Johnson, Fergus Kennedy, Thomas Lowry, Hugh Louthan, George Louthan, Moses Moore, Thomas McConnel, John Mier, George Mitchell, Hugh Martin, William
McCague, Daniel McGuffee, Andrew Moore, William Martin, John Phezzle, George Porter, David Pumphrey, William Reed, Samuel Ramsey, David Rayl, William Sheerer, William Stratton, Daniel Seabrook, Archibald Smith, Jesse Thompson, Thomas Wilson, Joseph Wilson, James Wolf, John Wolf, Isaac Wright, Richard.
Captain David Clark’s company of the same regiment, and for the same period, was recruited in the section north of the Ohio and west of the Big Beaver rivers, with headquarters at Darlington: Captain, David Clark; lieutenant, James Dunlap; ensign, Archibald Stewart; sergeants, James Davidson, John McCandless, John Imbrie, Andrew Reed; corporals, David Tidball, Francis Johnson, John Edgar, John Curry; privates: Adams, Asa Allsworth, Benjamin Aughenbaugh, P.
Boal, Daniel Bond, James Beer, John Boies, David Clelland, John Carson, John Wright.

1 This roster is from the Adjutant-General’s office. Harrisburg. Pa, It is not complete, but is the best that could be had at this late date. Additional items will be found in the Centennial address of Hon. Warren S. Dungan. (See our volume ii .,Centennial Section.)

History of Beaver County 482

Cannon, Michael Campbell, Matthew Crum, Isaac Courtney, Jacob Chambers, John Caldwell, William Cooglar, Benjamin Dixon, William Duff, William Dunlap, John Elder, John Filland, Thomas Hoge, William Hatfield, Adam Hannah, Samuel Hughes, John Hunter, James Hope, Adam Hopper, Robert Kagler, Henry Losier, Stophel Losier, Peter Laughlin, James Leslie, James Leslie, George Morrison, James McMinn, Thomas Malone, Emley Miller, Samuel Moore, William, Sr. McCullough, James McCready, Hugh Moore, Andrew Moore, William Miller, Robert McCready, Daniel McCarter, James McCaskey, William Marquis, James Marquis, Robert McCaskey, John Moore, John McKibben, James McKeehan, John Marshall, J. Nesbit, Francis Parks, Samuel Pitcher, Mitchell Ruggle, Jacob Reed, William Reed, Robert Reeve, Archibald Ross, James Russel, Robert Reed, John Shingledecker, Michael Swaggers, George Stacey, John Stephenson, D. Suman, John Stinginger, George Stephenson, John Severs, Charles Sample, John Truesdale, James Vance, John Woods, Andrew White, John
White, Nicholas White, Nathaniel Wickershaw, Adam Wilson, William Warner, Henry Witherspoon, John Young, Philip Young.
Captain Wilson Caldoo’s (sometimes Kildoo or Kidoo) company was recruited east of the Big Beaver Creek and mainly in Shenango, Slipperyrock, and North Sewickley townships, now in Lawrence County: Captain, Wilson Caldoo; lieutenant, Alexander Clemens; ensign, Robert Catty; sergeants, Thomas Caldoo, David Sadder, William McMurray, Thomas Walton; corporals, John Tidball, Adam Marshinner [Mershimer], John Whan, William McKim; privates: Brown, John Blair, Samuel Brittain, John Baldwin, Samuel Custard, Joseph Clark, David Connor,John Carothers, William Cline, Henry Davidson, Patrick Davidson, Andrew Egbert, Isaac Foster. Thomas Flynn, Thomas Frew, James Fox, Michael Grass, Robert Harris, Samuel Henry, James Hannah, Thomas Jackson, William Jackson, James Jolley, Levan Joseph, Patrick Lackey, Robert Moore, John McKey, William Miller, William Mattocks, William Miller, John Miller, William McDowell, William Newton, Sabine

History of Beaver County 483

Pollock, Samuel Regley, Seth Robinson, Joseph Seward, Abner Stackman, James
Sample, Samuel Vingder, Elias Wilson, William White, John Whan, Ephraim Wright, Samuel Ward, William Ward, Jesse Wailace, John Wailace, Samuel

Captain Robert Leiper’s company, 138th Regiment, was recruited on the “South Side.” Captain, Robert Leiper; lieu­tenant, John Warnock; ensign, Joseph Calhoun; sergeants, David Wilson, Henry Davis, Noah Potts, Erastus Rudd; cor­ porals, Joseph Brown, Aaron Sutton, Thomas Barnes, Thomas Potts ; privates:
Allen, Solomon Applegate, David Brunton, Thomas Barnes, Thomas Brown, George Butler, George Beal, William Creegthon, John Crain, Adonijah Douglas, Nathaniel Dungan, David D. Ferguson, Hans Grimes, James Gilliland, John Hamilton, James Hannah, Alex. Hovington, Zenas Henry, Hays Hamilton, James Latter, William Lewis, John Leiper, William McElhaney, Robert McCray, James McHenry, Charles McCune, William Moore, Robert McCure, Thomas Nelson, John Odell, John Parkinson, James Patterson, Guy Reed, William Reed, Alex. Richmond, John Seeley, Samuel Stone, Jackson Smith, John, Jr. Smith, John Shane, Cornelius Santel, Alpha Smith, James Shively, Jacob Thomasburg, John Veasey, Elisha Vincent, Thomas Withrow, Thomas Wood, Silas Wilson, James
The roll of this company is certified by William McCune, lieutenant, and in the receipt roll for the period from February 23d to March 23d he is reported as lieutenant.

Captain William Calhoun’s company, 138th Regiment, was recruited on the “South Side.” Captain, William Calhoun ; lieutenant, Thomas Hartford; ensign, Benjamin Laughlin; sergeants, Thomas Sevaney, Daniel Heckathorn, Adam Gibb, Robert Neilson, Patrick Caughey; corporals, Jonathan Grimshaw, Andrew Hayes, William McCullough, J ames Allison; privates:
Allison, James Bear, Charles Butler, Abiah Baker, George Carson, William
Clear, George Cunnington, Clifford Caughey, Patrick Douglass, J obn Decker, Daniel Farrat, William Foush, Michael Ford, Eli Hodge, William Hall, James
Hartford, Thomas Hight, Aaron Hamilton, John J amison, William Justice, Joseph Kinners, James Lockhart, Hiram Lockhart, Allen Laughlin, Wilson Laird, William Laird,John Laughlin, Benjamin

History of Beaver County 484

Langfit, James Mercer, Nottingham McCauley, Hugh Miller, Samuel McCullough, William Myers, George Neilson, Robert Neilson, William Patten, Robert Patten, James Patten, William Skillen, Hugh Sevaney, John Snyder, Jacob S. Shafer, Anthony Sands, Andrew Swaney, Thomas Swaney, Thomas Thompson, Benj. Thompson, James Woods, William Weitzell, Henry Willoughby, Charles Wilson, William

After the first month’s service Thomas Hartford was promoted from private to be lieutenant, Patrick Caughey to be sergeant, and James Allison to be corporal.

Captain Thomas Henry’s company, I3Bth Regiment, was recruited in and around Beaver. Its term of service was from January I2, IBI4, to the 1st of March following. Captain, Thomas Henry; lieutenant, Samuel Ramsey; ensign, James McMilton; sergeants, William Joseph, David Warnock, John Minnis, Gasper Snooks; corporals, Ahiman Stibes, John Bell, Solomon Mains, John Shanks; privates:
Alexander, John Alexander, William Bennet, Robert Bennet, Solomon Borin, James Bond, Hugh Bradley, John Beam, Jacob Beggs, John Caldwell, John Craig, Archibald Champion, George Champion, Joseph Davis, Samuel Davis. John Daugherty, Edward Dunbar, Samuel Davidson, John Daugherty, Daniel
Everhart, John McMillan, John Embrie, Robert Old train, Absalom Freed, Jacob Riddle, James Ferguson, Robert Riddle, James, Jr. Ferguson, James Reno, Benjamin Feree, John Reno, Lewis Feree, Jesse Ramsey, Samuel Gardner, William Smith, William Gardner, Thomas Sloan, James Grim, Michael Small, Thomas
Graham, William Scott, Isaac Imbrie, Robert Scott, John King, John Stairs, John
Kennedy, Matthew Stairs, Robert Lacock, Atlas E. Thompson, John Maratta, Caleb Trask, Rufus McConaughey, Edward Wolf, John McGarvey, James Moor, James Wilson.
Captain Armstrong Drennan’s company, First Battalion, 26th Regiment, was recruited from all the sections of the county

History of Beaver County 485

north of the Ohio River, and served from February 10th until March 22, 1814. Captain, Armstrong Drennan; lieutenant, Jacob Cline; ensign, Stephen Clark; sergeants, John Johnston, James Fowler, Robert Johnston, Michael Nye ; corporals, David Drennan, James Hamilton, John McConnel, George Sanford; privates:
Anderson, Robert Aughenbaugh, George Adams, David Adam, Alexander Aughenbaugh, John Allsworth, John S. Bridgeman, John Bales, Charles Boggs, Robert Boylen, Aaron Cox,John Courtney, Nicholas Cheney, John Cobren, John Cannon, Joshua Coleman, John Cook, Benjamin Cook, John Downing, Samuel Dickson, Matthew Daugherty, Edward Douglass, John Dawson, Thomas Early, William Freed, Peter Graham, Christopher Graham, Frederick Hamilton, Hugh Harkin, William Harbinson, James Hageman, Stephen Herron, William Hamill, John Inman, Basil jackson, James Justice, John Jackson, Matthew justice, Ross
Justice, Matthew Lippy, William Lippy, Joseph Murphy, john McFarland,John McFarland, Robert McClelland, William Miller, James Marshall, John McCarter, Daniel McCready, John McCollough, James McCollough, William McCaskey, Andrew McCalla, John McGowen, Robert McCaughty, Robert McMinn, Robert Niblock, Joseph Nicholson, Francis Ness, William Nesbit, John Pierce, John
Powell, Samuel Percival, Jacob Pedan, James Pedan, Hugh Rayl, Nathaniel Robinson, Joseph Regal, Abraham Reed, Joseph Smith, George Scott, William Slentz, Philip Sheerer, John Swagers, John Sterret, George Steen, Matthew T. Stewart, George Vankirk, William Vanata, James Vanata, Thomas Welsh, Andrew Webster, Samuel Wiley, William Warnock, James Wallace, Benjamin Wells, John Whittenberger, Adam Whittenberger, George Wiley, John Wiley.

Captain Robert Imbrie’s company, being 2d Company, First Battalion, 26th Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, commanded by Major Andrew Jenkins, served at Erie from February 15 to March 23, 1814. Captain, Robert Imbrie; lieutenant, James Henry; ensign, James Veasey; sergeants, A. McKinnon, William Moore, John McCormick; corporals, William Roland, James Ferrel, John McCoy, William Hammond; privates:

History of Beaver County 486

Anderson, Thomas Bottomfelt, Samuel Bolliner, Simon Bell, John, Jr. Bell,John
Bower, Samuel Boyd, William Boyd, Andrew Brown, John Cristler, George Caston, William Caldoo, James Clark, James Cochran, James Cyphey, David Dermon,John Daugherty, Richard Daugherty, George Eckles, Thomas Eckles, John Fisner, John Fowler, Archibald Fegans, John Holmes, Joseph Hutchinson, William Hickey, John Harvey, James Hawk, John Hawk, Jonathan Hawk, Benjamin Hinds, John Harper, David Imbrie, James Irvin, James Junkins, Samuel Johnson, John Jack, Thomas Laughlin, Samuel Little. William Little, James Leonard, Hull Madison, Samuel Matthews, Duncan McDowell, John McDevit, Henry Miller, Joseph Manon, James McMurray, James Miller, Moses Moore, James McNeal, James McBride, Samuel McGowan, Ebenezer Melony, Henry Newton, John Naymen, Daniel Parks, Thomas Park, David Pollock, James Pollock, Samuel Roger, Jacob Reed, Matthew Scott. Thomas Semple, Robert Sharp, John Shaffer, Jacob Summerwell, John Smith, Andrew Simpson, William Shaffer, Peter Scott, George Smith, Benjamin Slater, Jacob Vancokle, Richard White, Samuel 1

MEXICAN WAR

Between the years 1821 and 1835 Texas, one of the original States of the Republic of Mexico, had been largely colonized “by men from the Southern States of the Union. In the latter year the Texan patriots revolted against the tyranny of Santa Anna’s government, and in March, 1836, they gave to the story of human heroism the bright but bloody page on which is written the deeds of the defenders of the Alamo. That splendid example of deathless courage is commemorated by a monument in the old State House at Austin on which is this beautiful inscription:

Thermopylse had Three Messengers of Defeat The Alamo had None!

Under the leadership of Sam Houston the independence of Texas was soon achieved, and in 1837 she offered herself for admission to the American Union. The Southern States were in favor of her admission, both on account of the presence of so many of their former citizens in the State, and because of the

1 John Javens, great grandfather of Thomas H. Javens of Rochester. Pa., was a soldier in the War of 1812; company unknown.

History of Beaver County 487

opportunity it would afford of extending slave-labor over new soil. But the Whig party, strongest in the North, were opposed, and for a time her admission was defeated. The final incorporation of Texas into the Union brought about the war with Mexico, the Mexican Government being determined to resist the claim of Texas and the United States to any territory beyond the river Nueces. Upon this issue hostilities com­ menced early in 1846. On the r13th of May, that year, Congress announced that by the act of Mexico a state of war existed between that government and the United States, and voted men and money for the prosecution of the war. The President was authorized to employ the militia, naval and military forces of the United States, and to call for and accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers. Within a period of thirty days ninety companies of volunteers offered their services, enough to fill nine regiments-three more than the President asked for. In December, 1846, one regiment of volunteers was mustered into the service of the United States at Pittsburg, two companies of which were from that city, and in January of 1847 another regiment was mustered in in the same place, with one company from Pittsburg. With the exception of a few individuals who enlisted in these Pittsburg companies and elsewhere, Beaver County cannot be said to have contributed much to that brief but bloody conflict which ended with the capture of the city of Mexico on September 14, 1847, when General Winfield Scott dictated terms to the vanquished in the famous halls of the Montezumas.
In the old graveyard at Beaver is the tomb of a soldier of this war, who died on a boat on his return from Mexico. For some reason the body was landed at Beaver and interred there. His name was William Thomas, and the muster-roll at Harris­ burg shows him to have been a member of Company D, 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers, mustered in, January 4, 1848, and deceased, July 12, 1848. Through the instrumentality of a former comrade and the kindness of Beaver citizens, his grave is fittingly marked with a stone bearing the record of his services.

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, 1865

We read the events of history in the light of our philosophy, and according to the influence of our individual temperament. To some the whole story of the titanic struggle between the

History of Beaver County 488

North and the South is like a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. They can see nothing but what is sad and sordid or crafty and cruel in the long preliminary contest, with its political manoeuvrings, its” Compromises” and “Provisos” and” Bills,” its Kansas “feuds” and John Brown “Raids,” and to them the war itself is nothing but the irrational outburst of mad human passions, as blind and chaotic as the explosion of a tropic volcano, a Krakatoa, or a Mont Pelee.
But we are able now to estimate this mighty social upheaval more thoughtfully than this. We are able to look upon it as the proof that there is a power not ourselves behind phenomena, social phenomena as well as physical, that makes for righteous­ness. We can now do equal justice to the victors and the van­ quished, and recognize the essential uprightness of character and sincerity of purpose that animated the men of the North and that belonged no whit less to the men of the South, as illustrated in the persons of the two great opposing captains, Grant and Lee. We see these men, now,-those of the North and those of the South,-as men who had to work out a nation’s destiny, to suffer together, because their fathers and they had sinned together, and who could not” dree their weird” and be purged of the sin and curse of slavery without paying a price of cost. By terrible things in righteousness God answered us, answered the cry of the slave and the curse of the task-master and the prayer of the pitiful. And so for four years the American nation was made to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and in the agony of civil and fraternal war the wrongs and blunders of more than two centuries were atoned for. The contest called into the field five million soldiers, sacrificed half a million lives, and cost six billions of money, but it was worth all it cost because it settled forever that the United States is a NATION and not a loose confederation of States, and made America the land of the free as well as the home of the brave.

Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules. Her gentler purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years,
Lamenting all her fallen sons!

The people of Beaver County took a deep interest in the questions under debate in the Nation at large, and a prominent

History of Beaver County 489

part in the agitation of them. They did yeoman service in the anti-slavery cause, and, as the ominous shadow of Secession and Rebellion began to cast its malign influence upon the country, they were aroused to the highest pitch of patriotic feeling and enthusiasm. Even before the war opened a large mass-meeting was held in Beaver to get the expression of the popular mind upon the events that had taken place since the election of Lin­coln. The “cotton States “- South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas – began to make active efforts to dissolve the Union from the moment that the election of the Republican candidate became known. South Carolina first passed an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, and by the rst of February the following year each of the seven “cotton States” had declared itself separated from the Union and independent.
Meantime, with the temporary success of the Missouri Com­ promise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 in mind, individual members of Congress were trying to settle the troubles by further compromise, and many plans for changes in the Constitution and laws were proposed, but all without avail. On February 4,1861, a “Peace Convention,” suggested by Virginia, assembled in Washington. There were delegates in attendance at this convention from all but the above-named seceded States, and John Tyler, ex-President of the United States, was its president. But the plan of compromise which it proposed failed like all the rest: the time for compromise was past; the conflict was an irrepressible one, and it had to be decided by the appeal to arms.
The mass-meeting in Beaver to which we referred above was held on the very date of the Peace Convention at Washington, February 4, 1861. It was called the” People’s Meeting,” and was held in the court-house. The friends of the outgoing administration of Buchanan, and those of the administration that was to be in office after March 4th, and whose purpose to support the Constitution and the Union had already been made known to the country, were gathered in full force at this convention, which proved to be the most exciting that had ever been held in the county. It was known that an effort would be made at this meeting to pass resolutions condemnatory of the policy of coercion towards the seceding States, and the friends

History of Beaver County 490

of the incoming administration made strong appeals to its supporters to prevent this being represented as the sentiment prevailing in the county. The following note from M. S. Quay, then prothonotary of the county, to a Republican at Vanport, was published in the Western Star of February 7th:

DEAR SIR:-
Turn out to the meeting at one o’clock this afternoon if you possibly can, and bring every Republican from Vanport with you, if possible. They intend passing Locofoco resolutions, and sending them out to the State as the expression of the people of Beaver County. It should be prevented if possible.

The crowd that assembled at this meeting filled the old court-house to suffocation, and the organization of the meeting was secured by those opposed to the policy of coercion, they having the president, all the vice-presidents but two, and both the secretaries.
Hon. Joseph Irvin was chairman; James Wallace, Henry Alcorn, Thomas Conway, Boston Grove, Ephraim Jones, Levi Barnes, Jacob Wagner, John Graham, William Leaf, William F. Lafferty, Robert Russell, Elwood Thomas, and David Stanton -the last two Republicans were vice-presidents; and Robert Potter and N. C. Barclay, secretaries.
Two prominent Democratic attorneys, Lewis Taylor, Esq., and N. P. Fetterman, Esq., who were to have addressed the meeting, being absent, another of that party, Samuel B. Wilson, Esq., made a fervid appeal for moderation and leniency towards the Southerners. A call was then made for Richard P. Roberts, Esq., who presented with fiery eloquence the reasons which the North had for opposing slavery and secession.
A series of resolutions opposing coercion and war were then presented by Samuel B. Wilson, Esq., voted on and passed, the Republicans protesting. The Democratic officials then withdrew, and the Republicans reorganized the meeting and passed a counter series of resolutions, which, considering the inflamed state of public feeling, seem to us extremely temperate and dignified. As reported in the Argus, they are as follows:

Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to protect the Federal property, and execute the Federal laws, “and for these purposes to employ all the means at its disposal.
Resolved, That the imposition of the institution of slavery upon the

History of Beaver County 491

people of a territory against their will, or without their consent, whether by congressional legislation, or constitutional enactment, is in direct conflict with the spirit and purpose of a republican form of government.
Resolved, That any statute of any state which conflicts with the con­ stitution or laws of the United States should be repealed.
Resolved, That we are opposed to any interference with the institution of slavery in the states where it now exists, or by which it may hereafter be legalized, either by the federal congress or by the free states or by illegal individual enterprise, such as was exemplified in the murderous fray of John Brown against Virginia.
Resolved, That the thanks of the nation are due to our President, J ames Buchanan, for the promptness with which he extricated himself from the ruinous policy into which he had been misled by traitors; for purging his cabinet of their presence, and for surrounding himself by such patriotic and competent advisers as Holt, Scott, Dix, and Stanton, in whose statesmanship and fidelity to the Union all parties can confide.
Resolved, That, since the purchase of Florida and Louisiana territories by the government of the United States was to secure unmolested commerce in the Gulf, and the free navigation of the Mississippi and its tributaries as transits to the ocean, and since their maintenance as territories and states has been secured only by the lavish expenditure of the blood and treasure of the whole nation, the recent revolutionary acts of levying war, and by coercion seizing and holding the forts and arsenals, hospitals and treasury of the United States, forcibly driving the United States troops from the other property of the United States, dishonoring the national flag in the eyes of the world, are treasonable in character and in violation of the equality, fraternity and common rights of all the states, and thus impose the patriotic duty upon the people of all the states, as citizens of the United States, to rally to the common defense of our Union and the constitution.
As indicated in the last resolution, the leaders of the South had long been preparing for an armed conflict by accumulating stores of arms and ammunition, and occupying Federal forts and arsenals in the South. while at the same time they were emptying the arsenals of the North. On the 24th of December, 1860, an attempt was made by them to remove the ordnance from the arsenal at Pittsburg, which was prevented by the citizens. And, when at length the designs of the Southern leaders were unmasked by the attack on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, the North found itself impoverished of the munitions of war. In this respect no State in the Union was more badly off than Pennsylvania. Her military stores were well-nigh exhausted, and her volunteer soldier system had fallen into such decay that there were in 1860 fewer volunteer military companies in the

History of Beaver County 493

State than ever before were on the rolls of the Adjutant-General’s office. But no sooner was the news flashed over the country that Fort Sumter had been fired on than the old Keystone State rose quickly with her loyal sister States to meet the emergency. Three days after the rebel attack had been made the President of the United States issued a proclamation calling out seventy­five thousand militia from the different States to serve for three months in the war that was now inevitable, and a requisition was made on this State for fourteen regiments. The response to this call was so prompt and great that at once sufficient men rushed to Harrisburg to organize not fourteen regiments, but twenty-five. It is true that neither these ardent spirits nor the people of the State or of the country had as yet any adequate idea of the magnitude of the task that was before them. But there were at least two men in Pennsylvania that had more nearly estimated the seriousness of the coming conflict and its probable duration. These were General Simon Cameron, Secretary of War under President Lincoln, who advised the organiza­ tion of the most powerful army the North could raise; and Andrew G. Curtin, Governor of the State, who took advantage of the excess of men offering their services and began at once, after the requisition of the Federal Government for fourteen regiments had been met, to organize the famous Reserve Corps. His foresight in this was apparent in the need of just such well­organized and disciplined troops as these Reserves that was developed by the disaster of the first battle of Bull Run.

On the 18th of April, 1861, Camp Curtin was established at Harrisburg, and before the end of that month twenty-five regiments were sent to the field from this camp. An extra session of the Legislature was called by Governor Curtin on April 30th to take measures for the war; and on the 15th of May following an Act was passed providing for the organization of the Reserve Corps, to consist of thirteen regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and one of artillery.
The people of Beaver County showed themselves like-minded with those of the other parts of this Commonwealth in patriotic enthusiasm and alacrity in rising to meet the situation which confronted the country and the Government, and in organizing to lend their assistance in the work of crushing the Rebellion.

494 History of Beaver County

The issue of the Western Star of April 26, 1861, shows that on April 22d a great meeting of the citizens was held in Beaver to formulate a line of action. This meeting organized by electing the following officers:

President – Hon. Daniel Agnew. Vice-Presidents – Hon. Joseph Irvin, Hon. William Cairns, Major Thomas McCreery, Moses Doak, Dr. John McCarrell, Archibald Robertson, Isaac Covert, Daniel Dawson, Robert Douthitt, Moses Hendrickson, Hon. John Scott, Andrew Watterson, B. Wilde, Dr. M. Lawrence, John Graebing, Robert Wallace, William D. Eakin, Major R. Darragh, Major David Warnock, Thomas McClure, Thornton Shinn, Dr. Palmer. Secretaries – Henry Hice, P. L. Grim, W. B. Lemon, S. Davenport, J. Trimble.

A committee on resolutions was appointed, consisting of seven members, viz.: B. B. Chamberlin, Jno. Allison, Thomas McClure, R. P. Roberts, S. B. Wilson, Archibald Robertson, and P. L. Grim, who at a later hour brought in a strong report. The preamble of this report set forth the facts concerning the national situation, the duty of the citizens to support the Government, etc., and the following resolutions were offered:

Resolved, That a general county committee of safety composed of one hundred men be appointed, for the purpose of considering the duties devolving upon all loyal citizens, in any emergency that may arise during the civil war now raging between the constituted authorities of the nation and the aggressive and rebellious states; and that also the organization of local committees be recommended in different localities of the county.
Resolved, That a home military organization be recommended in every locality of the county, and that in view of the emergencies now arising, all encouragement be extended to the formation of volunteer corps, to act on the requisition of the general and state authorities.
Resolved, That a committee of six persons be appointed in each election district of the county to see that the families of our noble, brave and patriotic citizens who may volunteer to serve our common country be properly cared for and protected during the absence of their natural protectors, and that we unitedly pledge our sacred honors and fortunes to enable said committee to carry this resolution into effect.
Resolved, That the president of this meeting appoint and announce the above committees at his earliest convenience.

On motion of R. P. Roberts, Hon. Thomas Cunningham was then called upon to address the meeting, who in an eloquent manner supported the resolutions and called upon all to respond loyally to the call of their country in its hour of need. Several

“Fellow Citizens. arouse’ The rest of Peace is broken. War’s alarms are upon us. We are threatened with immediate invasion by the South. The news of the last twenty four hours is exciting, and informs us tthat following speedily upon the fall of Sumter, by the hands of the insurgents Virginia has seceded. The armory at Harper’s Ferry has been seized, and an army is about moving to invade the Cap­ itol of the Nation. In a few hours Washington may be in the hands of the enemy. Immediate action is necessary for the protection of our homes and the soil or our country At a large meeting held in the Court House, the undersigned were ap­ pointed a Committee to call a Public Meeting of the citizens of the county at the Prothonotary’s office, and

History of Beaver County 495

others, being called for, responded in a similar vein, viz.: R. P. Roberts, Esq.; Rev. Dr. McLean; Rev. S. K. Kane; Rev. S. Patterson; Rev. B. C. Critchlow; Rev. D. A. Cunningham; Rev. J. M. Smith; Hon. John Allison; Captain Kagarice, a soldier of the Mexican War; Thorton Shinn, Esq., late of Kansas; and S. B. Wilson, Esq.

A committee from the Harmony Society at Economy was present at this meeting and pledged the Society for financial aid to the Government in suppressing the rebellion. The names of the Committee of One Hundred appointed by the president, as recommended by the first of the above resolutions, are as follows:
Hon. Thos. Cunningham William Barclay, Samuel Davenport, R. P. Roberts, Robert Graham, Rev. D. A. Cunningham B. B. Chamberlin, Capt. D. Dawson, Thomas McCreery, Edward Hoopes, Capt. Samuel Smith, Gen, J. H. Wilson, William Henry, Hon. William Cairns. William B. Clarke, Dr. James E. Jackson, John Wilson. H. B. Beisel, Dr. John Murray, Andrew Watterson. Silas Merrick.
James Arbuckle, J esse Carothers, Jason Hanna, Dr. David S. Marquis, Archibald Robertson, George W. Glass, Hon. Joseph Irvin, Thomas B. Wells, Hon. John Allison, Capt. Gilbert Pendleton, Hon. John Scott, Matthew Gilliland, Thomas G. Kerr, Joseph Wallace, George S. Barker, Henry Bryan, William M. Reed, Benjamin Wilde, George Shiras, Benjamin Butler, James Wilson, Thornton Shinn, Joseph Nevin, M. T. Kennedy, George Neely, Philip Cooper, George W. Fulton,
Samuel Hendrickson, J ames Smith, Isaac Covert, Henry Goehring, David Kennedy, Sylvester Hunter, John Cheney, Dr. Milton Lawrence, Rev. B. C. Critchlow, Elwood Thomas, Charles Calhoun, John Stiles, William Wallace, Andrew R. Miller, Robert Jackson, S. C. Clow, Robert Patton, Lewis Reno, Hugh Bennett. Dr. John McCarrell, William D. Johnston. George Hartzell, William H. Frazier. Agnew Duff, E. N. Boots, Francis Le Goullon, James Duncan, Henry Metz, Jacob Shaffer, Andrew Jackson, Francis S. Wilson, Rev. – M’Abee, R. D. Cooper, George M. Young. Rev. D. H. A. McLean, William K. Boden, Robert Shannon, Dr. Smith Cunningham Capt. Charles Stone, David Dunlap, P. L. Grim. Rev. R. T. Taylor, Robert Douthitt, Hiram Stowe, Richey Eakin, John White, J ames Darragh, Joseph C. Wilson, Rev. S. Patterson, John Roberts, Robert McCreery.

History of Beaver County 496

The committees appointed by the chair in accordance with the third resolution above were as follows:
Rochester Boro. and Township -Joseph Irvin, George. C. Speyerer, John H. Whisler, William Porter, Robert Jackson, Gilbert Pendleton, James A. Sholes, Abner P. Lacock, William Wallace.
Bridgewater – Thomas Campbell, Samuel Davidson, James Arbuckle, Thomas Allison, James Porter, John Murray, Rev. William F. Lauck, Samuel Moorehead.
Borough Tp.- Dr. Smith Cunningham, Thomas McCreery, Daniel Thurston, Jonathan McKenzie, James Darragh, Hugh B. Anderson, Isaac N. Atkins, Michael Weyand.
Darlington Tp.- Dr. Ross, Martin White, John A. Frazier, John Cain, Robert A. Cochran. J. P. Martin.
Chippewa Tp.- John McCarter, Joseph Brittain, James Kennedy, Robert Dunlap, Thomas White, Jonathan Rhodes, Robert Douthitt.
Patterson Tp.- Jesse Williams, Archibald Robertson, John R. Hoopes, William Carothers, John Sims.
Economy Tp.- George Neely, Patterson Mitchell, Samuel McManamy, William Mars, Jacob Breitenstein, John H. Beighley, Robert Gray (big).
Pulaski Tp.- James Wallace, Ephraim Smith, John Baxter, Henry Phillis, Thomas Ferguson, Thomas Hays.
Marion Tp.- Nicholas Boots, George Hartzell, Joseph Phillis, Austin Thomas, George Scheene.
Franklin Tp.- Henry Metz, Alexander Fombell, Conrad Fisher, John
H. Wilson, Francis S. Wilson. James W. Pander.
Fallston Boro.- David Johnston, William Henry, R. D. Cooper, Dr.
James E. Jackson, James Duncan, Samuel Kennedy.
Freedom Boro. and Dist.-W. W. Kerr, Jonathan Paul, Henry Bryan, Thomas H. Cooper, Erasmus Gripp, Charles H. Bentel, Robert McCaskey, James Stoops, Charles Haller, W. Brown.
Raccoon Tp.- Robert Moffit, James Smith, R. R. Gamble, Alexander Ewing, Samuel Kennedy, James Hall.
New Sewickley Tp.- Henry Goehring, George Geyer, George Rouser, Abraham Hunter, George Teets, Edward Reeder, John Cheney, Samuel Peirsol.
New Brighton Boro.- Hon. John Allison, Isaac Covert, William Kennedy, H. B. Beisel, Benjamin Wilde, Edward Hoopes, M. T. Kennedy, Sylvester Hunter.
Phillipsburg ~ Francis Le Goullon, G. Trompeter, John M. Shrodes, Lawrence F. Schaffer, Joseph Bentel, Peter Markey.
South Beaver Tp.- Michael Conkle, Sr., Joseph McMillin, Robert Graham, Esq., Reuben Watt, Dixon Reed, Peter Crowl, Thomas F. Elder.
Big Beaver Tp.- W. H. Powers, Dr. Hezlep, Thomas McClure, Robert Wallace, William H. Foster, Samuel Blair, George Young, Fergus Me­ Clelland.
North Sewickley Tp.- Hugh Bennett, Hugh Wallace, JamesJ. Hazen,

History of Beaver County 497

S. C. Clow, Benjamin Whisler, James Warnock, Thomas Ramsey, Alex­ ander Caven.
Industry-John Wilson, Samuel Hoyt, Dr. J. P. Cummins, John Michaels, Hon. William Cairns, Richard Walton, J. M. Phillis, Joseph Ewing.
Greene Tp.- Charles Calhoun, Dr. Milton Lawrence, James H. Trim­ ble, James Bryan, David Kerr, Jr., James Mackall, Samuel McLaughlin, James Cameron, John Vance, Samuel Leeper, Jackson Swearingen.
Frankfort Dist.- Dr. Bingham, Dr. John McCarrell, R. A. Cooley, Captain S. Swearingen, Samuel Bigger, Moses Doak.
McGuire’s Dist.-John A. Gibb, Robert Harsha, Henry Keifer, Joseph
K. Buchanan, Eli Ramsey, George Littell.
Ohio Tp.–Captain D. Dawson, R. Laughlin, James Scroggs, Matthew Johnston, S. B. Briggs, William Rayl, John Henderson, Robert Me­ Gaffick.
Hopewell Tp.- Robert Duncan. Robert C. Scott, James Irons, G. K. Shannon, Thomas McKee, John R. McCune, William A. Thomson, James Jordan.
Independence Tp.- James Sterling, Henry Reed, Dr. A. R. Thomson, William Reed, Alexander Gibb, Benjamin Butler, William McCoy, Thomas Standish.
Moon Tp.- D. B. Short, John Davis, Daniel Figley, Milo Reed, Hill Douds, Robert Cooper, Henry Alcorn, William McBriar.
Brighton Tp.- Andrew Watterson, George Barclay, William Scott, Jr., Richey Eakin, Jesse Carothers, Robert Gilmore.

These various committees rendered great service in securing enlistments, and in caring for the families of the men at the front.
At a meeting of the Committee of Safety held in Beaver, May 17, 1861, it was moved by W. B. Clarke that each member of the Committee take the following oath or affirmation, to be administered by competent authority.

You and each of you do swear by Almighty God, the searcher of all hearts (or affirm.) that you will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of Pennsylvania, and that you will maintain, support and defend the government of the United States against treason and rebellion.

Following the recommendation of the resolutions a number of Home Guards were organized in different parts of the county. There were reported by May 17, 1861, the following:

Gali1ee–Captain William H. Power, 60 men. Economy township–Captain James Conway, 54 men. North Sewickley township–Captain J. J. Hazen, 50 men. South Beaver-Cap-
VOL. 1.-32.

History of Beaver County 498

tain A. J. Lawrence, 45 men. Raccoon-Captain James Smith, 45 men.

The number of these Home Guards was later greatly increased. In and around Beaver was also another organization called the” Jackson Grays.” There was also another sort of Home Guards whose names do not appear on any regimental or company roster, but without whose unflagging zeal, self-sacrifice, and love the American Union could never have been saved. Tribute to these was fittingly paid by Colonel Vera in his Centennial address at Beaver in 1900, when he said:

“Yes, and the women too were in war. Picking lint, making bandages, sending boxes of garments to the hospitals, and, in organized groups, with clattering machines and chattering tongues, they were busy daily and devotedly, a home guard of slippered warriors and fireside defenders. God bless the women, the ministering angels of war, in their silent home courage, when every fated bullet of the battle field rebounded from a far-off hearthstone carrying desolation, mournin

mustered into the service at Camp Curtin, and Washington being threatened by the advance of the enemy in the second Bull Run campaign, the regiment was ordered to the Capital before its organization was completed. There it was sent to
Arlington Heights, and at that place its regimental organization was completed with the following field-officers: Matthew Stanley Quay of Beaver, Colonel; Edward O’Brien of Lawrence County I Lieutenant-Colonel; John M. Thompson of Butler County, Major. The regiment was variously engaged in the defenses, not being fortunate enough to participate in the Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam fights, through no fault of its own, and until the 30th of December lay in camp near the latter battlefield. While here Colonel Quay was stricken down
with the typhoid fever, and the command devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel O’Brien. Later, Colonel Quay returned to duty, but was so much reduced by disease that he was compelled to resign.
In the battle of Fredericksburg, in the formation of Tyler’s brigade for storming the heights in the last grand struggle of the day, the 134th had the post of honor in the brigade, the right of the first line. During the brief time the regiment was
in the conflict it lost 14 killed, 106 wounded, and 19 missing, many of the latter known to be wounded. Colonel Quay, though unfit for service, refused to remain behind, and served as aid on the staff of General Tyler throughout the battle. In
his official report General Tyler bears this testimony to Colonel Quay’s faithfulness:

“Colonel M. S. Quay, late of the One Hundred and Thirty­fourth, was upon my staff as volunteer aid-de-camp, and to him I am greatly indebted.
“Notwithstanding his enfeebled health, he was in the saddle early and late, ever prompt and efficient, and especially so during the engagement.”

Burnside’s defeat was followed by the historic “mud march,” his effort to retrieve disaster by a new campaign being rendered abortive by the bad weather and the sudden deepening of the roads, making it impossible to move his artillery and trains. But” Fighting Joe” Hooker assuming command of the army, its morale was soon restored.
The next important engagement in which this regiment took

516 History of Beaver County

part was the battle of Chancellorsville, when, on May 3d, it fought bravely and lost very heavily, having 48 killed, wounded, and missing. General Tyler, in his official report, said of it:
“The One Hundred and Thirty-fourth was second in line, and no set of men could have behaved better. The officers, one and all followed the example of their Colonel, who was constantly on the alert; they were very active, and not a man shirked his duty.”
The term of service of this regiment expired shortly after the Chancellorsville engagement, and it was ordered to Harrisburg, where, on the 26th of May, it was mustered out of the service.
The 139th Regiment, P. V. 1. (three years).-This regiment was organized at Camp Howe, near Pittsburg, under Colonel Frederick H. Collier. Company H, Captain John A. Donald, was recruited in Beaver County in part. The regiment was immediately upon its organization ordered to the front, and arrived at Washington on the 3d of September, 1862. The dead of the second Bull Run battle were still unburied, and the regiment was at once assigned to the mournful duty of interring them. They buried over 1700 bodies, and then joined the army at the battle of Antietam, but did not become engaged. At Chancellorsville the regiment lost 123 in killed, wounded, and missing. In the battle of Gettysburg it fought on the extreme left of the Union line, and with its brigade, on the 3d, held the enemy in its front in check all the rest of that day.
At the brilliant affair at Rappahannock Station, and in the preliminary movements at Mine Run, the 139th was present and took a vigorous part. Later, in the Wilderness, it bore the brunt of some of the fiercest assaults of the enemy, and lost in killed and wounded 196, including nearly every commissioned
officer; and at Spottsylvania Court-House and Cold Harbor it fought bravely and lost heavily. In Sheridan’s triumphant clearance of the Shenandoah Valley the 139th took part, and in the hard fought battles of Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek suffered severely. The regiment took part in the final and successful assault at Petersburg, and was subsequently moved to North Carolina with other troops to the support of Sherman, but, Johnston having surrendered, it was not needed and so was ordered to return to Washington, where, on the 2nd of June,
1865, it was mustered out of the service.

History of Beaver County 517

The 140th Regiment, P. V. 1. (three years).-Companies F, H, and I of this regiment were recruited in Beaver County, captains, Richard P. Roberts, Marcus Ormond, and James Darragh. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, where, on the 8th of September, 1862, a regimental organization was effected, with the following field-officers: Richard P. Roberts of Beaver County, Colonel; John Fraser of Washington County, Lieutenant-Colonel; and Thomas B. Rodgers of Mercer County, Major.
On the l0th the regiment moved to a point on the Northern Central Railway near Baltimore, where it was posted to keep open communications with the front, and after Lee was driven back from Antietam into Virginia the men were occupied with drill and instruction. Ordered to the front in December, they
were assigned to Zook’s brigade, First Division of the famous Second Army Corps, and went into camp at Falmouth.
April 28, 1863, the regiment moved on the Chancellorsville campaign, arriving at the Chancellor House, May 1st. During the desperate fighting here they had their full share and did their part nobly. On the morning of the 3d, while the 140th was supporting the 5th Maine Battery, the Chancellor House near by, which was being used as a hospital, took fire. A part of Company F, under Captain Thomas Henry (now of New Brighton), was ordered to rescue the inmates from the flames. Thirty-three wounded men and three women, who had taken refuge in the cellar, were saved from the burning house.
The next important engagement of the regiment was at Gettysburg, in that awful and glorious struggle which dealt to the Rebellion its death-blow and gave to American history one of its brightest pages.
Gettysburg may not only be named with Marathon and Thermopylse, Balaklava and Waterloo, and the other great and decisive battles of the ancient and the modem world; but no battle of modem times shows a greater, or, perhaps, even so great a percentage of casualties to the troops engaged. The
greatest losses in European battles were at Mars-la-Tour, in the Franco-Prussian War, where the 3d Westphalian had casualties of 49.4 per cent in killed and wounded; at Metz, where the Garde-Schutzen lost 46.1 per cent; and at Balaklava, where the British loss was 36.7 per cent. In the Union army there
were sixty-three regiments during the Civil War that lost more

History of Beaver County 518

than 50 per cent. in single engagements, and one hundred and twenty whose loss exceeded 36 per cent. At Gettysburg no less than twenty-three Union regiments had casualties of more than 50 per cent. The loss of the rst Minnesota was 82 per
cent., of the 111th New York 71 per cent., of the 14Ist Pennsylvania 63 per cent., of the 147th New York 60 per cent., and of the 10th Indiana 56 per cent.
The 151st Pennsylvania, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel George F. McFarland, principal of the McAlister Academy in Juniata County, and consisting of school teachers and their boys, had such heavy losses that the Confederate General, Heath, said afterwards, “The dead of the 151st marked the line of battle
with the accuracy of a dress parade.”
The Second Corps arrived on the field of Gettysburg on the morning of the ad and took position on the left center, stretching away from the heights above the cemetery, towards Round Top. On this day the 140th was in the thick of the fight. Sickles, who occupied the extreme left with the Third Corps, had been nearly smashed. Parts of the Fifth Corps, which had been sent to his relief, had met a like fate. This terrific fighting was about the fatal wheat-field and the wood beyond. Finally Hancock sent Caldwell’s Division to repair the disaster that seemed in­
evitable. The brigades of Cross and Kelly, which went in first, were terribly cut up, and Colonel Cross was killed. Then came the brigades of Zook and Brooke as a forlorn hope. Zook was killed almost before his troops reached the spot where death was holding high carnival, when the command of his brigade fell
upon Colonel Richard P. Roberts of the 140th. With desperate courage these two small brigades now pushed forward, and succeeded in driving the enemy from
the woods and the ridge beyond the wheat-field. But this gallant action, achieved at fearful cost, did not save the position. Sickles’s weak point, the angle at the Peach Orchard, had been hopelessly broken, and the enemy had turned the right of Caldwell’s position, compelling him to retire. The 140th was not again ordered into the thickest of the fight at Gettysburg, but remained on the left center under a heavy artillery fire during the night and the following day. In this action the fighting had been terrific, the 140th losing in killed and wounded 263, more than half its effective strength. Colonel Roberts, Captain David Acheson,

History of Beaver County 519

and Lieutenant A. M. Wilson were among the killed,as was also Quartermaster-Sergeant Smith, who, not yet having been mustered in, need not have gone into the fight, but thought his duty was there, went in, and was killed.
In the later movements of the Army of the Potomac during the summer and fall of 1863, the regiment took its part and went into winter quarters with the army on the line of the Rapidan. In the campaigns of 1864 and 1865 the 140th went through the trying marches and the awful struggles of those years; was in
the battles of the Wilderness, of Spottsylvania, of North Anna, of Cold Harbor, losing tremendously in all these battles; took part in the fearful assaults at Petersburg and fought its last fight at Farmville on the 7th of April, 1865, being mustered out of the service at Washington, May 31, 1865.1
The 162d Regiment, 17th Cavalry (three years).-By the call of the President, of July 2, 1862, Pennsylvania was required to raise three regiments of cavalry. The 17th was one of these, of which Company A was recruited in Beaver County. This
company was raised as an independent company of cavalry by a special order from Governor Curtin, issued, after the call of President Lincoln in July, to D. M. Donehoo and James Quigly Anderson of Beaver, Pa. It was named the” Irwin Cavalry,” in honor of W. W. Irwin of Beaver County, who was at this time
Commissary-General of the State of Pennsylvania, and after the close of the Civil War served two terms as State Treasurer.
The regimental organization was effected October 18, 1862, at Camp Simmons, near Harrisburg, with the following field­officers: Josiah H. Kellogg, Colonel; John B. McAllister, Lieutenant-Colonel; David B. Hartranft, Coe Durland, and Reuben R. Reinhold, Majors.
The regiment left for Washington on the 25th of November, 1862, where it went into camp on East Capitol Hill, but was soon ordered to the front, and continued in active service with the Army of the Potomac to the close of the war. It had its

1 From Major Thomas Henry of this regiment we have received the following statement of its casualties:

Enrolled. KIlled Died of Wds. Died. Wounded.
Company F. 120 13 9 1 36
H. 133 13 13 5 12
I. 110 7 4 14 19
__________________________________________
363 33 26 02 67

520 History of Beaver County

first brush with the enemy at the town of Occoquan, where it encountered Hampton’s Legion on the 22d of December, being compelled to retreat after a sharp skirmish.
Chancellorsville was the first important battle in which the 17th took part, and the service which they rendered there was so singular that it is worth relating. “Stonewall” Jackson had driven the Eleventh Corps and was pressing on to sever the Union army, with no adequate force to oppose him. General Pleasanton, returning from a flanking movement against Jackson, came upon the scene just in time to perceive the extent of the disaster, and immediately ordered Major Keenan to charge full upon the head of the advancing rebel column in order to hold them until he could get his artillery into position. Then with two squadrons of the 17th he cleared the field of fugitives and stopped what cannon and ammunition he could, getting into position twenty-two cannon, double shotted with canister.
The guns were aimed low to strike in front of the enemy, and the men were ordered not to fire until the word was given, so as to deliver the whole weight of metal at once. For a moment a deception was created by the enemy displaying a Union flag, and then the immense masses of rebels poured over the field in full charge upon the guns. The rest concerns the 17th, and we will quote what General Pleasanton says of it:

“I immediately gave the order, “fire,” and the fire actually swept the men away; it seemed to blow those men in front clear over the parapet. . . . We had this fight between musketry and artillery there for nearly an hour. At one time they got within fifty yards of the guns. . . . There were two squadrons of the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry left. This remaining regiment I had was composed of raw men, new troops, and all I could do with them was to make a show. I had them
formed in single line, with sabres drawn, with orders to charge in case the enemy came to the guns. They sat in rear of the guns, and I have no doubt that the rebels took them for the head of a heavy column, as the country sloped back behind them, and they could not see what was back of them.
In a general order, issued immediately after the battle, Gen­
eral Pleasanton says:
“The coolness displayed by the Ijth Pennsylvania Regiment, in rally­
ing fugitives, and supporting ‘the batteries (including Martin’s) which re­
pulsed the enemy’s attack under Jackson, on the e .•.. re of the ad instant,
has excited the highest admiration.

History of Beaver County 521

With its division, and under General Buford, the regiment moved northward to Gettysburg, where it arrived on thurs. night of the 30th of June. The inhabitants received the boys in blue with enthusiasm.
On the morning of the rst of July, Buford met the enemy in force about a mile and a half from the town on the Cashtown Road. For four hours he held at bay a third of the entiree rebel army, until Reynolds and Howard were able to reach the field. In his report General Pleasanton says:
“To the intrepidity, courage and fidelity of General Buford and his brave division,
the country and army owe the field of Gettysburg.” During the remainder of the battle the cavalry moved upon the flanks of the infantry, preventing flanking movements by the enemy, and protecting the lines of communication with the base of supplies.
We cannot follow the regiment in its successive campaigns. It bore an honorable part in almost every engagement from this point on to the close of the war, as is witnessed to in what was said by General Devin in his farewell order to the I7th, in which he uses this language:
In five successive campaigns, and in over three score engagements, you have nobly sustained your part. Of the many gallant regiments from your State none has a brighter record, none has more freely shed its blood on every battle field from Gettysburg to Appomattox. Your gallant deeds will be ever fresh in the memory of your comrades of the Iron Brigade and the First Division.
These meager outlines do not do justice to the record of heroism and devotion which was made by the regiments in which we are interested here, but they must suffice. The men in these regiments who went from Beaver County 1 were equal
in intelligence and bravery to those from any other part of the land, and, dead or living, they have their place on Glory’s page, and their reward in the preservation of the Union for which they fought. Beaver County will not forget them or ever cease to honor them.
It would be improper to close this chapter without some notice of the service rendered during this gigantic struggle by the men who, at the crises in the war, entered the militia of the
1 Captain Bulford’s Co. H, of the 87th Penna. Infantry was organized at New Brighton, but few, if any, of the men were from Beaver County.

522 History of Beaver County

State and put themselves at the disposal of the Government for anYl post of duty or danger to which they might be called. Two important calls for the militia were made, one in 1862 and one in 1863, the history of which is in brief as follows:

MILITIA OF 1862

After the second battle of Bull Run the triumphant rebel forces were pressing northward, and an invasion of the territory of Pennsylvania was evidently contemplated by them. On the 4th of September Governor Curtin issued a proclamation, calling on the people to arm and prepare for defense. On the l0th,
the enemy being already in Maryland, he issued a general order, calling on all able-bodied men to enroll immediately for the defense of the State and to hold themselves in readiness to march upon an hour’s notice, properly officered and equipped, offering arms to such as had none, and promising that they should be held for service only so long as the emergency lasted.
On the 11th, acting under the authority of the President of the United States, the Governor called for fifty thousand men. The response was prompt and enthusiastic, and companies and regiments began at once to move forward to the State Capital. On the 16th the head of the Army of the Potomac met the enemy
at South Mountain and hurled him back through its passes, and on the evening of the rtith and the following day a fierce battle was fought at Antietam. In the meantime the militia had rapidly concentrated at Hagerstown and Chambersburg, under the command of General John F. Reynolds, then com­
manding a corps in the Army of the Potomac, and who, the following year, bravely fell at the opening of the battle of Gettysburg.
Fifteen thousand men were pushed forward to Hagerstown and
Boonsboro, and a portion of them stood in line of battle in close proximity to the field, in readiness to advance, while the fierce fighting was in progress. Ten thousand more were posted in the vicinity of Greencastle and Chambersburg, and “about twenty-five thousand,” says Governor Curtin, in his annual message, “were at Harrisburg, or on their way to Harrisburg, or in readiness and waiting for transportation to proceed thither. ” The Twenty-fifth regiment, under command of Colonel Dechert, at the request of General Halleck, was sent to the State of Delaware, to guard the Dupont Powder Mills, whence the National armies were principally supplied. But the enemy was defeated at Antietam, and

History of Beaver County 523

retreated in confusion across the Potomac. The emergency having passed, the militia regiments were ordered to return to Harrisburg, and in accordance with the conditions on which they had been called into service, they were, on the 24th, mustered out and disbanded.
The Beaver County companies of the militia of 1862 were Co. C. of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, Capt. George S. Barker; and Co. F. of the rath Pennsylvania, Capt. James S. Rutan. These two companies served at Chambersburg.

EMERGENCY AND STATE MILITIA TROOPS OF 1863

The victories of the rebel arms at Fredericksburg in December, 1862, and at Chancellorsville in May, 1863, encouraged the enemy to undertake once more the invasion of the North. The full gravity of the crisis was not appreciated either by the people or the general Government; but some alarm was felt by the latter, and as a precautionary measure, by order of the War Department of the 9th of June, 1863, two new military departments were established: that of the Monongahela, under the command of Maj.-Gen. W. T. H. Brooks, with headquarters at Pittsburg; and that of the Susquehanna, under the command of Maj.-Gen. Darius N. Couch, with headquarters at Harrisburg. On the r ath of June, Governor Curtin called out the entire militia of the State. The response was prompt, and large numbers of troops proceeded at once to Harrisburg. A difficulty now arose. The general Government refused to accept on this first call any troops for less than six months, and the men who had suddenly left their homes, expecting to serve only for the emergency, were unwilling to be mustered into the service of the United States. While the North was still incredulous that an invasion in force was contemplated by the rebel leader, and this delay in enlistments was existing, the enemy was steadily advancing, masking his movements behind his cavalry, and by the middle of the month (June) he had struck the Union forces under General Milroy at Winchester and dispersed them. It was evident now that he intended to cross the Potomac in force, nor did he long delay. During the 24th and 25th the main body of the rebel army crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown and
Williamsport, and on the 26th the Army of the Potomac crossed

1Bates’s Hist, of Pennsylvania Volunteers, voL v., p. :1146.

History of Beaver County 524

at Edwards’s Ferry. On that day, the 26th, Governor Curtin issued his second proclamation, declaring that the enemy in force was advancing upon the border, and calling for sixty thousand men to be mustered into the service of the State for ninety days, or for the emergency. Under this call twenty-eight regiments of infantry, numbered from the 32d to the 60th, besides several independent companies and batteries, were organized.
Five of these regiments, the 54th to the 58th inclusive, were organized in the Department of the Monongahela, in camps near Pittsburg. Detachments of the rebel forces had been thrown out to Carlisle and York, and seemed to be threatening the State Capital when Lee, discovering that the Army of the Potomac was approaching, hastily recalled them all to the point towards which his main body was tending-the town of Gettsyburg. There, on the first three days of July, was fought the battle that sent the pride of the Confederacy to the dust. The movements of the armies were so rapid, and the grand drama was so quickly
enacted, that the newly organized militia had no opportunity to participate in its scenes. But the work which was done by the militia in connection with this great event was by no means unimportant. When General Lee’s army was advancing by the Cumberland valley, they constructed a system of earth works for the defense of the State Capital; after Gettysburg was fought they were usefully employed in bringing in the wounded and stragglers from both armies and collecting the debris of the field, and the major portion of those at Harrisburg were pushed forward up the valley, a part of them joining the Army of the
Potomac in Maryland, in readiness to take part in the battle which it was thought would be fought at Williamsport, but which was prevented by the escape of the enemy on the I3th and 14th. They were employed also in different portions of the
State in repressing demonstrations from the disaffected elements of the people; and those regiments which were in the Department of the Monongahela rendered very important service in effecting the capture of Morgan, whose raid was extended almost to the territory of our own county. Says Bates:

With the close of this raid, ended the rebel invasion of the north, of 1863. Further service, for which the militia had been called, was no longer required, and during the months of August and September, the

History of Beaver County 525

majority of the men were mustered out. With few exceptions they were not brought to mortal conflict. But they, nevertheless, rendered most important service. They came forward at a moment when there was pressing need. Their presence gave great moral support to the Union army, and had that army been defeated at Gettysburg, they would have taken the places of the fallen, and would have fought with a valor and desperation worthy of veterans. Called suddenly to the field from the walks of private life, without a moment’s opportunity for drill or discipline, they grasped their muskets, and by their prompt obedience to every order, showed their willingness – all unprepared as they were – to face an enemy, before whom veterans had often quailed. The bloodless campaigns of the militia may be a subject for playful satire; but in the strong arms, and sturdy hearts of the yeomanry of the land, who spring to arms at the moment of danger, and when that danger has past, cheerfully lay them down again, rests a sure guarantee fer the peace and security of the country.
The Beaver County companies of the militia of 1863 were in the 56th Regiment. They were Co. C, Capt. George S. Barker; Co. E, Capt. Samuel R. Patterson; Co. H, Capt. Samuel Lawrence; and Co. I, Capt. Robert Gilmore. This regiment served at New Creek, a tributary of the Potomac in West Virginia.

BEAVER COUNTY MEN IN THE NAVAL SERVICE OF THE UNITED
STATES

Naturally the number of men entering the naval service from a county so far inland as Beaver would be small, but there have been several of Beaver County’s sons in each of the last two wars, and of these it seems fitting that some notice should be given in the chapter which records her military history. We shall here give brief sketches of those of whom we have heard and have been able to obtain information. There mav be others equally worthy of mention, but we have knowledge of only the following:

Lieutenant-Commander James P. Robertson, U. S. Navy, son of Hon. Archibald Robertson of Beaver Falls, was born December 18, 1840. He entered the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., September 25, 1857.
In May, 1861, the acting midshipmen of the first and second classes of the Academy were detached and ordered into active service, Midshipman Robertson being assigned to Admiral Du Pont’s flag-ship Wabash. The young midshipman received his first baptism of fire aboard that vessel at the battle of Port

History of Beaver County 526

Royal, and a few weeks later he was promoted to the grade of acting master, a rank corresponding with ensign to-day. July 16, 1862, Robertson was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1862-63 was attached to the North Atlantic blockading
squadron. During 1863-64 he was executive officer of the U. S. S. Keystone State, which vessel was very successful in overhauling privateers and blockade-runners, capturing many large cargoes of cotton. He was promotedlieutenant-commander,
August 16, 1866, and served on Admiral Goldsborough’s flagship Colorado on the European station, 1866 – 67, and was retained by Admiral Farragut when that officer relieved Golds­ borough, and placed in command of the Admiral’s yacht Frolic during Farragut’s famous cruise of 1867-68. During the following years Lieutenant-Commander Robertson’s service was rendered on ordnance duty at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1869-70; torpedo duty at Newport, R. I., 1870-71, and at Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1872-74. He died in Philadelphia, July 21, 1875.

Joseph Hoopes, son of John R. and Lydia Hoopes, was born at New Brighton, Pa., September 19, 1841. Early in the Civil War he entered the navy as Third Assistant Engineer, being attached to the second of the Monitors, the Passaic. He sailed in her for Charleston, S. C., in company with the original Monitor, which sank south of Cape Hatteras, the Passaic barely escaping by getting into Beaufort (N. C.) harbor. Mr. Hoopes served on the Passaic until the spring of 1865. He was then assigned to the Kearsarge, and left Boston, Mass., in her the night of Presi­
dent Lincoln’s assassination, the present Admiral Dewey being the executive officer of the ship. He died of yellow fever off the coast of Liberia, Africa, in the spring of 1866, and was buried at sea. A monument to his memory is in Grove Cemetery at New Brighton, Pa.

Oliver Blackburn Shallenberger was born at Rochester, Penn., May 7, 1860. His father, Dr. A. T. Shallenberger, was one of the leading physicians of the county, and upon his mother’s side he descended from the Bonbright family of Youngstown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Shallenberger received his early education in the public

History of Beaver County 527

schools of his native place, and at Beaver College in the neigh­boring town of Beaver. In 1877 he entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis as cadet engineer, and at the head of the twenty­five candidates then admitted, which position he held throughout the year. At the end of the three years’ course, despite serious physical disabilities which had interfered with his application to study, he held third position in his class. After his graduation he took the customary two years’ cruise upon a Government vessel, being assigned to the U. S. flag-ship Lancaster.
The greater portion of this time was spent in the Mediterranean, during which Mr. Shallenberger witnessed the bombardment of Alexandria by the British fleet under Admiral Seymour, July 11 and 12, 1882. In 1883 he returned to the United States, and resigned from the naval service in the following year.
While Mr. Shallenberger was at Annapolis particular attention was being
given to the development of electrical science, for which he exhibited a special aptitude. After his resignation from the navy he devoted his entire attention to studies connected with this science, and soon began to make important
contributions both to the knowledge of the subject and to the solution of the problems with which it deals in the modern systems of electrical distribution. His genius was at once recognized by students and by the men interested in the commercial development of electricity, as shown in the fact that he was made chief electrician of the several great Westinghouse plants. Our space and the scope of our work do not permit us to even name the many inventions due to his engineering skill, of which the principal one is, perhaps, the current meter which bears his name. But beyond even the most valuable of these were the character and life of the man who made them. We think it can be truly said of him:
None knew him but to love him None named him but to praise.
November 27, 1889, Mr. Shallenberger was married to Miss Mary Woolslair of Beaver, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter. For several years preceding his death he had been in failing health. He died in Colorado, January 23, 1898.

Capt. Joseph Henry Pendleton, son of Joseph R. and Martha (Cross) Pendleton, was born at Rochester, Pa., June 2, 1860.

History of Beaver County 528

He was educated in the public schools of his native town and in the Beaver Seminary, Beaver, Pa., and also took a course preparatory for Annapolis at the Agricultural College near Washington, D. C. In a competitive examination for admission to the Naval Academy he was No. 3 in the entering class of 1878, which was a very large one. Graduating in June, 1882, he made the Southern Pacific cruise in the Hartford. This cruise lasted about two years, and at its close he returned to Annapolis for his final examination and commission.
Choosing the Marine Corps, he was made second lieutenant in that corps, in which he has remained ever since, holding now the rank of captain, and being within two or three numbers of his promotion to major. Captain Pendleton was married, August 20, 1884, to Mary Helen, daughter of Prof. William Wirt Fay of the Naval Academy. He was ordered to the Brooklyn Navy Yard; thence to
Portsmouth, N. H., Navy Yard; and thence to the Mediterranean on a three years’ cruise on the Pensacola, commanded by the present Admiral Dewey. Since then he has been on duty at Brooklyn Navy Yard; Mare Island; Sitka, Alaska; Washington, D. C.; and Annapolis.
At the breaking out of the Spanish-American War he was assigned to duty on the converted cruiser Yankee, which was at first part of the effective patrol established along the Atlantic coast, when the descent of the Spanish fleet upon that coast was apprehended. Afterwards the Yankee was ordered south and took part in the bombardment of Santiago, one of the earlier naval engagements of the war. Through a misunderstanding of signals the Yankee continued throwing shells after the signal, “cease firing,” had been displayed on the flag-ship. One of the guns in the command of Captain Pendleton fired the last shot of the engagement. Soon after this engagement the Yankee was ordered north, and was among the vessels selected to form Commodore Watson’s flying squadron, which was to cross the Atlantic and strike the Spanish coast. She did not return in time to see or participate in the destruction of Cervera’s fleet. The retina of Captain Pendleton’s right eye having become detached by the concussion of the rapid-fire and heavier guns during target practice and in the bombardment at San-

History of Beaver County 529

tiago, he was compelled to undergo several months’ treatment at the Presbyterian Eye and Ear Hospital, Baltimore. The retina became reattached, but in a damaged condition, and when he was able to resume his duties he asked for an assignment to Sitka, Alaska, where he is now stationed, being in command of
the Marine Barracks. Like most naval officers, Captain Pendleton is not much of a
politician, but he is an advocate of the single tax on land values. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

The interesting picture on the opposite page “Signaling at Sea,” was taken on board the auxiliary cruiser St. Paul during the Spanish-American War. In this picture the young man who is seen standing upon the rail with the flag in his hands, “wig-wagging,” is Mr. Walter Lincoln Fry of Rochester, Pa. Mr. Fry was born in Rochester, March 16, 1881, and was edu­ cated in the public schools of that place. On the 4th of January, 1897, he entered the school-ship Saratoga at Philadelphia, where, on the 2d of May, 1898, at the beginning of the war with Spain, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was assigned to duty on the St. Paul.
It will be remembered that this vessel was one of tour belonging to the American Line-the three others being the St. Louis, the New York, and the Paris-which, by an Act of Congress, had been placed at the disposal of the United States Government for its use as auxiliary cruisers in case of war. She and her sister ship, the St. Louis, both of 11,6oo tons, were built by the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company of Philadelphia. The St. Paul was the first of the American liners to go into commission as an auxiliary cruiser of the United States Navy. Captain Sigsbee, of the ill-fated Maine, was commissioned as her commander, and on May 15th she sailed out of Hampton Roads to join Commodore Schley’s squadron at Key West, the graceful ocean liner of a few weeks before having been transformed into a formidable fighting craft. The St. Paul was immediately ordered on scouting duty, and a few days later began the blockade at Santiago, capturing there Cervera’s collier, the Restormel, and definitely ascertaining the presence of his fleet in that harbor. Relieved from blockade duty here by the arrival of Schley’s squadron, she rendered
VOL. 1.-34.

530 History of Beaver County

further effective service in assisting to re-establish cable communications and in carrying supplies of ammunition and rations to the American marines and Cuban insurgents fighting at Guantanamo, where she joined the Texas, Marblehead, and Suwanee in the second bombardment of Fort Caimanera. She then proceeded to Porto Rico to take part in the blockade of that island. At San Juan, on the 22d of June, she engaged the Spanish cruiser Isabella II, and the torpedo-boat destroyer Terror, destroying the latter and driving the cruiser and a gunboat which had joined her to cover in the harbor. From this time to the close of the war, the St. Paul served as a troop-ship. Mr. Fry was with his vessel in all her engagements and various duties until she went out of commission and he was honorably discharged, August 31, 1898. Later, he spent about three years as quartermaster in the merchant marine, and as quartermaster’s clerk on the United States transports Rawlins and Sedgwick. He is at present residing in Rochester and doing business in Pittsburg.

Richard Gray McConnel, son of William P. and Lydia (Stewart) McConnel, was born in Bridgewater, Pa., May 4, 1872. He was educated in the common schools and in the high school of Beaver, Pa., and in the spring of 1892 entered the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.. Here he spent three years, when, on account of failing health, he was compelled to leave. After a year’s rest he entered the course of mechanical engineering in the Western University of Pennsylvania. At the opening of the Spanish-American War he enlisted for duty in the naval service and went through the war as ensign on board the U. S. S. Leonidas. Until his last illness he was a first lieutenant in the U. S. Marine Corps, stationed at the Norfolk, Va., Navy Yards. He died at Albuquerque, New Mexico, June
17, 1904, and was buried in the cemetery at Beaver, Pa.

Other Beaver County boys who have served the United States for a longer or shorter period in the navy are Leslie Patterson, son of Mead Patterson, of Rochester, Pa.; George H. Schlagle, son of John H. Schlagle of the same place, now a marine guard at League Island; and Harry O. Clark of Freedom, son of the well-known riverman, Capt. Bentley Clark.

NOTE.-James H. Gillis, a retired Admiral of the U. S. Navy, lived for some time in
Beaver, in the house on Third Street in which Dr. Milton Lawrence afterwards lived-the second house on the left hand side of Raccoon Street.

(Source: History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, it’s Centennial Celebration by Rev. Joseph H. Bausman, Vol. 1, The Knickerbock Express, New York, 1904.)

About Author

admin

See author's posts