USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 73
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But who were these young men, the members of the Wayne Guards? Fortunately it is possible to supply a list from the roster of 1860, furnished by Mr. Richard H. Arbuckle, the only survivor, save one, of the officers of the company. There are many people yet living who will be pleased to have the opportunity of glancing over the names, many of whom have since figured very prominently in city, state and national affairs. Therefore, the list is given :
R. H. Arbuckle
E. M. Cole
T. M. Austin
J. M. Clark
H. L. Brown
J. Clemens
R. R. Brawley
B. C. Canghey
J. S. Bryant
D. C. Clark
B. A. Baldwin
IV. Constable
H. Beckman
J. W. Douglass
IV. Brown
S. A. Davenport
H. Butterfield
H. Deighton
W. Brewster
B. Grant
IV. Boyd
G. W. Goodrich
C. R. Beechling
John Graham
A. H. Caughey
A. M. Guild
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
J. W. Gross
R. J. Pelton
Samuel Glenn
G. Selden
WV. Hoskinson
W. L. Scott
W. H. Harris
D. Snell
E. Harlow
J. W. McLane
J. W. Halderman
I. Moorhead
James Hunter
D. McCreary
WV. A. Jordan
C. Sherwood
A. King
J. M. Sell
C. M. Keep
J. Saltsman
A. McD. Lyon
C. M. Tibbals, Jr.
J. C. McCreary
J. R. Thompson
O. Miller
A. Vosburgh
HI. Mayer
J. F. Wittich
G. W. Miles
I. M. Wallace
T. McConkey
J. W. Wetmore
The officers of the company at the time were these: Captain, John W. McLane; first lieutenant, B. Grant; second lieutenants. George Selden and A. King; sergeants, J. W. Douglass, William Brewster, Isaac Moorhead, G. W. Goodrich, William L. Scott ; corporals, H. L. Brown, A. Vosburgh, R. H. Arbuckle and W. H. Harris. Henry But- terfield was secretary and John C. McCreary treasurer.
It is interesting in a high degree to glance over these names and note among them those that became distinguished. The captain be- came one of the bravest colonels in the War of the Rebellion and only fell short of being a general by losing his life early in the service. Two others became entitled by brevet to bear the title of general, earned by loyal and efficient service as colonels of their regiment-H. L. Brown and D. B. McCreary. One of the members, Alfred King, was an ex-mayor of Erie at the time he was serving in the company ; an- other, WV. L. Scott, afterwards filled the office of mayor and was also a member of Congress. Several became leaders at the bar-Grant, Davenport, Thompson, Wetmore, Butterfield. Some were very promi- nent in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits-Selden, Clemens, Mc- Creary, Caughey, Beckman, Tibbals, Goodrich, Austin, McConkey, Moorhead. Some of them are still living and active in affairs in Erie, among them men who bore the brunt of many a bloody battle. Of the officers but two survive, J. W. Douglass, now in government service in Washington, and Richard H. Arbuckle, very much a man of affairs in Erie at the present time. It is a goodly array of the best there was in Erie in the days before the war.
It is not right that the impression should obtain that the Wayne Guards were only play soldiers. Possibly they were in the business of soldiering at first purely for the fun of it. But there is reason to be-
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lieve they had other ideas as well. How otherwise can the motto of the company be explained-"Dulce et decorum pro patria mori." And then there was no foolishness about the man who was their captain. John W. McLane was a born soldier and knew the full meaning of the word.
It was said above of the Wayne Guards that their coming into ex- istence was so opportune that it might seem as though a higher power had ordained it. This is justified by occurrences. Whatever of play had been associated with the Wayne Guards went out when the echoes of the rebel guns at Charleston awakened a nation to the awful fact that war had been inaugurated. That instant the patriotism of the holiday soldiers changed them into real warriors. The Wayne Guards became the nucleus of the military movement that sent into the Union service from this region some of the noblest organizations that ever went out to keep the flag of their country afloat in the skies of freedom1. The call of President Lincoln for soldiers was instantly responded to by the captain of the Wayne Guards organizing a regi- ment for the three months' service. Captain McLane was its colonel and his first officer, Lieutenant Grant, became lieutenant colonel. Three of his companies were commanded by men from his company, Captains Austin, Brown and Graham, and three lieutenants came from the ranks of the Wayne Guards, Lyon, Wittich and Clark.
Nor was the bloodless service of the Erie regiment all these brave boys were willing to offer. Returning to Erie when the term of en- listment was over at once another regiment was enlisted "for three years or the war," and Colonel McLane led it in its glorious career until he fell at the battle of Gaines Mill. It has been aptly said that the Wayne Guards was a military school in which soldiers had been prepared for the great War of the Rebellion. From it there graduated into that service, Colonels McLane and Clark and Captains Graham, Brown, Sell and Austin with others of lower grade who made the old Eighty-third Pennsylvania in many respects the most notable regi- ment in the Union service during that terrible four years, from 1861 to 1865.
From the Wayne Guards also came other soldiers who led, for the 145th Pennsylvania, commanded in turn by Hiram L. Brown and David B. McCreary, was indebted for these officers to the Erie com- pany that had been a military school.
Few of that gallant company survive, but its fame will long en- dure-it merits that there should be a monument to it to forever recall what it was and what it did when there was need ; to tell to generations yet to come how the boys who played soldier became heroes, endur- ing and daring and suffering, many of them giving up their lives in the cause of the Union and liberty, all honoring themselves and the city that was their home.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
The story has more than once been told how this community, in common with the whole North, was roused into immediate action that morning in April, 1861, when the news was flashed from one end of the country to its farthest extremity that the flag of the nation had been fired upon by the hot-headed people of the South. risen in rebel- lion against the government. But the passage of time can in no meas- ure abate the interest it excites in loyal hearts, and today as we calmly consider what was then done we are compelled to wonder and admira- tion of the splendid exhibition of loyalty then made. We can, in fact, hardly conceive the breadth and depth of the feeling that then ani- mated this people, or fully appreciate the spirit that dominated every diversified interest of the Erie of the beginning of the sixties.
There was at that time in Erie, as has been related, a military organization known as the Wayne Guards. They had been holiday soldiers. Their principal duty had been to figure in spectacular fash- ion at Fourth of July celebrations, or any event in which a demonstra- tion of a public character was a feature. The completion of the Sun- bury & Erie Railroad was celebrated at Warren in 1859 and the Wayne Guards took part, their most gallant action upon that occasion being the election to honorary membership of all the ladies of Warren, a proceeding that called forth from one of the ladies, a response in which the boys of the Guards were dubbed "summer soldiers."
But how different after that gun had been fired upon Fort Sumter ! The reverberations of that cannon's report proved that "summer sol- diers" though they might have been in the "piping times of peace," they were entitled to be considered otherwise now that grim war was casting its terrible shadow over the land.
It was on April 12, 1861, that Fort Sumter was fired upon. At 'once Pennsylvania was awakened by the sound of the rebel guns. Among the first to be called upon for service was Capt. John W. Mc- Lane of the Wayne Guards. The governor offered him the position of Commissary General for the state. Immediately Capt. McLane pro- ceeded to Harrisburg, but to protest, not to accept the position.
"A lame man can fill the post of Commissary General." said Capt. McLane. "I am not lame, I am sound and strong. I want active work in the field. Give me that."
It was done. He was at once commissioned a colonel and was authorized to raise a regiment in response to the call of President Lin- coln for 75,000 men to serve three months. It was April 21 when Col. McLane arrived home in Erie. In four days he had enlisted his regi- ment. Out of the "summer soldiers" of the McLane Guards three companies had been formed, sufficient new recruits having been en- listed to fill the quota. Three of the minor officers of the guards be- came captains-Austin, Brown and Graham. From Waterford, Union, Girard, from the country surrounding Erie and from the Ger- Vol. I-43
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
man population of Erie. led by Capt. Frank Wagner, other companies were formed, and as has been stated, in four days the regimental roster was full and the troops were in camp on a common at the corner of Sixth and Parade streets.
The celerity with which this regiment was raised was an index to the depth and strength of the union feeling which prevailed. But there was another evidence of this. The men who had enlisted had forsaken all for the patriotic duty of defending their country. The merchant left his counter ; the lawyer left his brief unfinished ; the me- chanic left his tools upon his bench ; the farmer deserted his plow in the unfinished furrow. And, in every case there was also left some dependent. There were wives and children; in many cases aged par- ents. What of these?
Devoted friends and loyal citizens were not lacking. Public meetings were called. Speeches were made in which the duties of those left behind to those who were proceeding to the front were set forth. Pledges were made and money subscribed-the whole city seemed ablaze with loyalty and the men who gave themselves a sac- rifice on the altar of their country if necessary felt free to go, satisfied that those loved ones left behind would be protected and shielded from want.
One May day they marched away. Breaking camp the soldiers proceeded along Sixth street to State, and thence to the railroad sta- tion, the streets lined with people, flags waving everywhere, senti- ments and mottoes displayed in many places. At the station, as the train was about to depart, the spectacle was impressive. There were gathered there a crowd that numbered not less than ten thousand peo- ple. There were partings, sad and sorrowful; wives bidding good- bye to husbands they feared they would never see again ; children sobbing as they bade their fathers farewell; and friends parting from friends with lingering hand-clasp only hoping for the best.
Then, the final scenes as the long train slowly pulled out. Cheers and tears were mingled, while the booming salute of Captain Jarecki's artillery company punctuated the patriotic good-bye in fashion pro- phetic-it was the voice of war, and its echoes continued their rever- beration for four long, dreary, terrible years. That was the Erie reg- iment. It was this city's first contribution to the cause of the Union. It was one of the first regiments organized in the state-one of the first in the country. When it arrived in Pittsburg it created a sensa- tion, for it was the first body of troops that city had seen. As it turned out, the Erie regiment never saw service other than that of the bar- racks or camp. Its term of enlistment expired before it had been or- dered to the front, and in July the soldiers were all home again.
But the patriotism of those soldiers had in no measure cooled. They had been in dread earnest when they offered themselves to their
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
country. Therefore they returned home only to reorganize. In but a brief time they were again enlisted. The Erie regiment became the Eighty-third, and on many a bloody field gave proof of the valor of the Erie boys and of their devoted patriotism.
But there were others just as devoted, just as loyal, just as self- sacrificing in behalf of their country as the brave boys who were bearing the brunt of many a bloody battle on the soil of Virginia, and it is now time a word should be said about the women these Union soldiers left behind. But how can it be approached, and in what man- ner can it be told. For theirs was a Spartan courage. They sent their husbands and sons away with their blessing and then set about a toil that never ceased until the news of Appomatox set the country wild with joy; a toil that had in constant mind the dangers, the suffering, the death of those they held dear; with every morning looking appre- hensive for the news that might announce their widowhood, and then working with the inspiration of loyal love to alleviate the pain or suf- fering of the boys in the field. And the story of it is of such a contin- uous performance, one day so like another-how can it be told?
Years of peace, with no one earlier to set down the tale of what the Erie women did
"In the brave days of old,"
have dimmed the memories of what occurred here in those stirring times. But yet what a vast amount of interesting reminiscence is still to be gathered !
Their work began early. That regiment, brought together on four days' notice and marched away to service of unknown danger, was deficient in almost everything. The men had no guns. They had not even uniforms !
And here was where the work of the women began. Capt. T. M. Austin, who commanded Company A, told his wife of the state of af- fairs. It is to be presumed the captain had no thought beyond con- veying the news. But his patriotic wife had thought, and she was swift to act upon it.
"It was not difficult to raise the money required," she said years afterward, when interviewed.
For what?
Nothing less than to buy material from which to make uniforms. John Gensheimer then was in the tailoring business on the corner of Seventh and State streets. From him Mrs. Austin procured the blue flannel. Swiftly the word went round, and as swift came the respon- ses. From every quarter of the town the women reported. Trousers and blouses were cut out of the cloth and the women took charge. Some did the sewing at home, but others chose to sew in company,
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
and they sewed without interruption (except possibly for sleep) until the uniforms were finished. Sunday came with the work incomplete. So much the worse for Sunday. Over Gensheimer's store there was a group that worked all day Sunday. In the conference room of the First Presbyterian church there was another; and all day Sunday the clatter of the sewing machine continued, even while the service was in progress in the church adjacent. The soldiers needed uniforms. That was enough for the women to know. It was a work of necessity and mercy, therefore proper for Sunday, and if proper for Sunday it was proper to be done in the church. And, notice among the women who were leaders: Mrs. McLane, the wife of the colonel (she was a widow before the war was well begun), Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Graham, wives of captains and a corps of associates that never was enrolled ; the ros- ter of which only the Recording Angel ever kept.
They were not experts in the designing of uniforms, and they had no knowledge of military regulations with reference to dress. And yet it may well be doubted whether any body of men ever pre- sented a more attractive appearance than did the Erie regiment in the uniform designed by the ladies and worked out with so much expedi- tion. A member of the regiment writing on the subject of the uni- forms. at the time, said :
"Our patriotic women in the meantime were not idle. It was de- termined that the regiment should be uniformed in some shape before leaving for the scene of action. The needle and the sewing machine were kept busy night and day, and before the day of our departure nearly all the companies were clad in a handsome uniform consisting of a blue jacket and pants and a shirt of yellow flannel. This was a sort of compromise between the Zouave and the regular uniform, and though not durable it was one of the most singular and picturesque that we have seen during the war."
We of today are interested in knowing, but we cannot in full measure comprehend the spirit and the depth of feeling that prevailed in those days. It was an outburst of loyalty that was resistless and that made nearly the entire populace heroic. The making of the uni- forms was but the preface of what was to follow. It only afforded the opportunity to get the business in motion that was to be kept active during the entire period of the war. It seemed as though every woman had her part in the work that was to be done, and rank and social condition were entirely disregarded. With a common impulse all joined, nor needed urging for any undertaking in behalf of the army no matter what it involved.
The women organized at an early day the Ladies' Aid Society and Mrs. I. B. Gara, wife of the editor of the Gazette, was president. They had weekly meetings at the headquarters of the society in the Perry block, and there the plans were made and the work assigned. There
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
was no waiting for demands from the army. Needs were anticipated. In the fall of 1861 when the Eighty-third Regiment was about to de- part for the scene of action the work was so forward that there was a tour of the regiment to learn what was needed, and socks and blan- kets were distributed among those who were needy. It was so also when the 111th and the 145th regiments were in camp out on the old fair ground near Wesleyville. In every way that was possible aid was lent to the soldiers.
Mrs. Austin told of an incident in connection with recruiting for the Eighty-third. Her husband came in one night pretty late with seven recruits who, on account of the weather and the lateness of the hour, could not be taken out to camp. There the accommodations were poor ; at the Austin house, with so large a contingent to provide for it was a question whether they could be accommodated at all. Bustling about, however, Mrs. Austin improvised a shake-down on the floor and there the seven men slept, at the expense of the family who had surrendered pillows and bed-clothes that the recruits might be as comfortable as possible. It is only an incident that tends to show the spirit that animated the people at that time.
The general work was so well organized that all the women had a share and the calls at headquarters were regular, the women taking the work home with them. Many things were made, at first stock- ings and shirts and articles of clothing.
But soon the work changed as war's grim work made a new neces- sity. The boys on the march and in the camp did not alone claim attention. There was a more powerful cause that appealed. The hos- pitals! and for these everyone worked, old and young. It seemed as though there was work to be done day and night. Comforters and quilts, shirts, stockings, and hundreds-no doubt thousands-of car- pet slippers for the use of the patients in the army hospitals were made by the women of Erie. The sewing machine at that time was a recent invention, and there were not very many in Erie. It was also a very crude mechanism compared with what is to be had today, and it was a laborious task to operate a machine for any length of time. But yet the machines, assembled in numbers at several differ- ent places in the city, were kept constantly busy, and more than one woman permanently injured her health by overwork on the sewing machines during those trying times.
By far the most general work was the making and rolling of bandages and the picking of lint. Everyone who had any old linen freely gave it over to the cause, and from anywhere and everywhere in the city voluntary contributions came in. Miss Davenport, in speak- ing of this feature of the work stated that her own people were but examples of the entire community in contributing practically every- thing in the shape of linen that they possessed. Much that otherwise
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would have been carefully kept and preserved as heirlooms, linen that had been spun and woven by ancestors and had descended in the family was freely given to be converted into bandages or lint.
Many a middle-aged woman of today well remembers how she picked lint when a little girl "for the soldiers."
The war and its conditions affected the entire community to such an extent that socially it was transformed. All gaiety was for the time abolished. There were no social functions aside from the gathering of the women in sewing clubs, and no entertainments save lectures and such like, and it was a noteworthy feature of all such gatherings that even then the women did not cease from work. One lady, speak- ing of these entertainments said it was a really curious sight to ob- serve all the ladies of an audience busily engaged in the work of knit- ting while a lecture was being delivered. They were generally occu- pied, at the time of which she spoke, in making woolen mitts with the first finger as well as the thumb free.
There was an immense amount of work necessary to be done aside from the sewing and knitting, and the correspondence alone was an item of no insignificant proportions. The work done by the women was for the army without discrimination as a rule, but yet their own were not lost sight of. The officers of the aid society by correspond- ence kept in close touch with the Erie regiments in the field and as soon as any need was reported proceeded at once to supply it.
In another way the women made themselves useful, and that was by keeping posted regarding the movements of the army and antici- pating the wants of the men as crises came. To be sure when any crisis impended the women were not alone in the apprehensive interest such a condition awakened. A meeting would be called at Farrar hall and speeches would be made by leading citizens and money raised. It is astonishing how much money was raised from first to last during the war times. Every time a demand was made there was cheerful and generous response, and in addition to financial aid rendered per- sonal service was as freely offered.
These meetings were generally called upon the eve of an expected battle and there would be a committee appointed to do whatever might be necessary in aid of the Erie wounded. As a rule these committees consisted of three men and three women. While there never was a woman called upon to go to the front or to lend a hand in a hospital, there were plenty ready to do so in case it were really needed.
It will not be out of place here to say that early in the history of the war Mrs. Austin went to the aid of her husband then ill in hospital at Arlington, and that while there, besides nursing the captain back to health she also lent valuable aid throughout the camp, there being much sickness among the Erie soldiers at that time. Her services as a letter writer were in great request during that visit and when she
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
departed on her return home she was the custodian of upwards of $2,000 in money for deposit in Erie banks to the credit of soldier boys in the field.
But perhaps the most effective service rendered by the women of Erie was in the preparation of dainties for the soldiers sick in hospi- tal, or in need, while in camp or on the march, of something cordial or strengthening; and also in the work of personal attention upon the soldiers as the opportunity offered.
Many cases and barrels of goods of various kinds were shipped to the south, and many people denied themselves in order to provide for the soldiers something that would please a fickle appetite while slowly recovering from a wound. More than one family can tell how a little was saved from household expenses here and a little there in order that contributions might be made to the soldiers' relief fund.
Better than all was the work in feeding the soldiers as they passed through and in the attentions bestowed upon the wounded.
For a long time the women of Erie held themselves in constant readiness to respond to calls for food and refreshments for soldiers at the railroad station. In those days the means of communication were not as now, and intelligence traveled slowly. The telephone came many years later, and even the telegraph was crude compared with what it is today. Often it was not known, until but a very short time in advance, when a detachment of soldiers would pass through. When it became known, however, there was hustle and bustle. The court house bell was rung, and when the peculiar signal, agreed upon and universally understood, was given on the bell there was prompt re- sponse. Provisions were hurriedly gathered and carried to the station.
In those days there was a long shed extension to the freight house, west of the depot, and this was utilized by the women as a place to spread the feast with which the blue-coated travelers were to be re- galed. Usually time was allowed for this.
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