USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Centennial biography : Men of mark of Cumberland Valley, Pa., 1776-1876 > Part 43
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At the request of the chief officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, he then resigned from the military service and was appointed Superintendent of the Eastern Division of the Philadelphia and Eric Railroad, with his office at Williamsport, and assumed charge on June 1, 1864; in this position he remained until March, 1873, being detailed temporarily in 1865 to manage the Oil Creek Railroad, during the great oil excitement of that period.
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In the autumn of 1871, the authorities of the Pennsylvania Railroad were requested by the Russian Government to designate a skilful officer to accompany the Grand Duke Alexis, and be responsible for his safety in an extended railway journey which he proposed to take through the country. Mr. Thomson was honored by their selection, and the details were left to his judgment. Under his direction one special train, fitted up with every convenience and comfort, was taken through the Eastern States and Canada, westward to Denver, thence south to New Orleans, and thence to Pensacola, run as a "special " over the various roads, an entire distance of six thousand miles, without any mishap or accident. In acknowledgment of their obliga- tion to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the following letter was addressed to the President by the Russian Admiral :
PENSACOLA, February 22d, 1872.
SIR :-- On arriving at the end of his journey, His Imperial Highness, the Grand Duke Alexis, begs me to assure you that he feels great pleasure in expressing his com- plete satisfaction with all the arrangements made by Mr. Frank Thomson. To conduct a large porty over nearly six thousand miles of railway. belonging to many different companies, without the slightest misunderstanding or delay during the whoie journey, requires an amount of intelligence, experience, foresight and energy, which we luckily found combined in the gentleman who had charge of the expedition. I may add that Mr. Thomson's gentlemanly manners made him no less agreeable as a com- panion, than his other qualities made him invaluable as a manager. As Mr. Frank Thomson has been so useful to the guest of the American Nation, 1 trust you will not regret having been for some time deprived of his services.
I am sir, your most obedient servant,
[SIGNED,] C. POSSIET. To J. EDGAR THOMSON,
President Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia.
Whilst Superintendent of the Eastern Division, Mr. Thomson initiated some valuable improvements in the construction of the roadway, and organized a system of track inspection, competitive in its nature which has been adopted on the entire road.
In March, 1873, he was promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Motive Power on the Pennsylvania Railroad, which placed under his charge all the various work shops of the entire line, and all of the rolling stock of all descriptions, together with over one thousand engines in active service.
On July ist, 1874, he was appointed the General Manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad extending from New York to Pittsburgh with various lines, of the Philadelphia and Erie Road from Sunbury to
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Erie, of the Northern Central Railroad, and Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, extending from Washington and Baltimore to Canandaigua, New York, and of the West Jersey Railroad, comprising a total under one control of twenty-three hundred miles ; and these duties he is now successfully discharging.
Such a record deserves a place among any archives of men of our valley, and is an evidence that the descendants of our good stock possess those high traits which animated their grandsires a century ago, whilst they are fully alive to the demands of the progress of to-day. Although quick and incisive in manner in business, Frank Thomson is a genial, kindly gentleman, refined in all his tastes. an ap- preciative lover of music, fully alive to the charm of good art, and a friend of culture in all its branches.
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MAJOR GENERAL S. W. CRAWFORD.
AKING our Generals as a class, they presented some of the finest figures of men, such as a country might well be proud of. At the head of these stands the splendid Hooker and the "superb" Hancock ; but alongside of them deserves to rank a Division Commander, who, for capable and faithful performance of duty certainly had no superior. That officer was Major General S. W. Crawford, now Colonel Second United States Infantry.
Tall, well-formed, in due proportion, strongly knit, erect, active and. as all well-made men are, graceful, he is worthy to be selected as a representative of our Volunteer superior officers.
Samuel Wylie Crawford is a Pennsylvanian by birth, born in Franklin county, a student of the State University, and a graduate of the class of 1846; a graduate of the Medical Department of that first class institution, in 1850, which, in 1867, conferred upon him the degree of I.L. D. The same year he was examined by the United States Army Medical Board, and stood first in the class of 1850.
His first commission in the United States service as Assistant Sur- geon, is dated roth March, 1851, and he served in Texas from 1851 to 1853, and in New Mexico, from 1853 to 1856. Six years of frontier life! How were these employed? As in too many cases, wasted or worse? Not so! These six years were devoted to the practice of his profession and to scientific research.
Witness his paper, now in the Smithsonian Institute, upon the Flora and Fauna of the region near the headwaters of the Rio San Saba. published by order of Congress, and his collections of natural history, in the then wild and unexplored territory around El Paso del Norte.
In 1856, the War Department conceded permission for a tour through Mexico. Here again profit, and not pleasure, was the object of the young officer. In January, 1857, he was the first to carry a barometer to the summit of Popocatapetl, (the Volcan Grande de Mexico,) accomplishing the arduous task accompanied by a single guide. A Prussian scientific party, sent out under the auspices of their government to confirm the discoveries of Humboldt, having given out, the actual measurement of the American volunteer philosopher. was the one reported by the Prussian accredited agent. Not content with his first achievement, Crawford again ascended the volcano,
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remained all night in the crater, was let down by cords into its depths, and brought back valuable mineralogical specimens now in the col- lection at West Point .. He next climbed to the snowy crown of " The White Woman," Iztuchihuatl, (the Sierra Nevada de Mexico,) and settled the vexed question, that this mountain was no volcano, demon- strating that no crater existed. For these explorations he was made a member of the Geographical Society of Mexico ..
August, 1860, found him in Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbour. After crossing over on the memorable night of the 26th of December, with Anderson, to Fort Sumter, Crawford returned on the morning of the 27th, to Fort Moultrie, and removed thence the ammunition, &c .. and hospital supplies. Thenceforward he discharged double duty, his own proper functions and those connected with the command of a battery, whose three guns were the first to open fire on Fort Moultrie in response to the Rebel bombardment which ushered in the Great American Conflict. In a letter, remarkable for the warmth as well as force of its expression, General Anderson recommended Crawford to the consideration of the War Department and asked that he be brevetted for his services.
Appointed Major 13th U. S. Infantry, upon the recommendation of General Scott, Crawford was sent to serve with Rosecrans in West Virginia. Ile made Crawford his Inspector General, and the subor- dinate justified the superior's selection. Had not "the stars in their courses fought against " him, Crawford would have accomplished the passage of the New river, on Floyd's flank-a severe test of skill and daring. That he failed was no fault of his ; and such an estimate did Rosecrans put on the ability displayed by Crawford, that he recom- mended him for one of the two appointments as Brigadier General, whose nomination rested with him (Rosecrans.)
On the 28th of February, 1862, Crawford received his commission as Brigadier General. Ilis first service was with Banks in the Shenan- doah valley. His first active command was the First Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, with whom he led the advance into Virginia.
Crawford's first appearance on the battle field was at Cedar Moun- tain. This was on the 9th of August, 1862. On this occasion, he, with his little brigade on the extreme right, was ordered to charge across a wide opening into woods held by a large Confederate force. Never- theless he drove the enemy from their strong positions ; and had he been adequately supported, this would have been the decisive move- ment of the day. As it was, Crawford lost over half his effective force ; and if our army did not win a victory, Crawford won the admiration of
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all cognizant of the facts, and demonstrated that he was eminently worthy of the star which the prescient intelligence of Rosecrans had deemed him worthy to receive. Throughout the Pope campaign-a campaign fought with surpassing constancy and courage-Crawford did his duty as a gallant and an able Brigadier.
His next appearance in action was as an agent in one of the most glorious feats of arms which illustrate the records of the Army of the Potomac, when he led in his West Virginia brigade to support that victorious assault in which the noble Reno fell, paying, although a Virginian, " the last full measure of devotion " to his country, in Fox. next Turner's Gap, of the South Mountain; on that bright battle Sabbath, not brighter than the scene and triumph, 14th September, 1862.
Three days later he succeeded to the command of (his) the First Division, after the fall of the good, devoted and intrepid Mansfield ; and, after assisting to carry the blood-drenched corn field in front of the Dunker Church-that ebb and flow of slaughter on our right at Antietam -- Crawford received a wound which consigned him to in- action for the ensuing nine months, and bids fair to cripple him for the rest of his life.
As soon as -- nay, before -- he was fully fit for active duty, on his own application for field service, at the special request of the Governor of Pennsylvania, Crawford was placed in command of the Divisiom com- prising three Brigades from his native State, known as the " Pennsyl- vania Reserves."
Towards the close of the second day-the great day which de- termined that the decisive battle of the war at the cast-perhaps the decisive battle of the whole war -- should be fought at Gettysburg, and fought out THERE, Crawford arrived on the field just as the glorious old fighting Third Corps, sacrificed at Williamsburg, on the Peninsula, in the Pope campaign, amid the harvest of death at Chancellorsville, was being cut to pieces, not driven but pressed back from the position the maintenance of which had cost such hecatombs of its best and bravest, having been reduced from a strong Corps to a weak Division. Seizing the colours of his leading regiment as they fell from the wounded hand of the bearer, Crawford bore them aloft on his saddle, and, like the first Bonaparte at Arcola, the great Austrian Archduke at Aspern. and the Russian Bayard at the bridge of Licco, led on a charge which retrieved our desperate affairs on the left.
If the writer's many years' study of military history entitles his judgment to any respect, he would be false to his own convictions if he
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did not claim for Crawford all the honours due to a resultive " feat of intrepidity."
When the sublime charge of the enemy had resulted in glorious annihilation, Crawford was the first to assume the aggressive, which, had it been imitated, or, rather, had its imitation been permitted, the retreat of Lec from the field on which he made his mightiest and most desperate throw, would have been converted into a catastrophe, such as his allowed escape deferred until the hunt from Petersburg to Appomattox Court House.
In the ensuing "campaign of inanœuvres;" in that blood bath from the Rapidan to the James ; in that dreary series of operations dignified with the title of the "siege of Petersburg-Richmond," Crawford commanded his Division with dignity and ability.
The vastness of the field ; the intensity of the labors ; the sufferings and the fighting ; the thousand accidents which smelted the actions of the different Divisions into an amalgam ; which rendered the detection difficult of even the richest constituents; all this, as well as space, render it impossible to go into details of what Crawford did, and did well, at the head of the Third Division, Fifth Corps, from Lee's defeat at Gettysburg to his surrender at Clover Hill. At Williamsport, at Manasses Gap, in the battles of the Wilderness, at Spotsylvania, on the Fredericksburg road, at Alsop's farm, at Bethesda Church. Crawford was on hand with his "Pennsylvania Reserves." Their losses attested the fidelity of their service.
On the 31st May, 1864, the Reserves were mustered out of service, and Crawford was transferred to the command of a provisional Division-the Second Division of the Fifth Corps; and at Cold Harbor, all of the regiments (22) of the old First Corps were formed into a Division of three Brigades, and Crawford ordered to its com- mand, as the Third Division. Before Petersburg, in the hard fight on the Weldon Railroad, and in the labyrinthine maze of Hatcher's run, Crawford did his best to support his comrades, his commander, and `associate corps. Shortly after he was brevetted Major General of Volunteers.
In the second expedition to Hatcher's run, Crawford, judging from Lee's report, performed efficient service. As a demonstration of the estimation in which he was held, he was at this time offered the com- mand of the Cavalryof the Army of the Potomac, by Major General Meade. Early in the war, in his reconnaissance to Luray, he had shown a marked capacity for the handling of this "arm of the moment." He declined the honour, preferring to remain with his
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Division. This he led with marked ability at Gravelly Run, and at Five Forks, where he struck the rear of the enemy, and for his gallant behavior in the latter conflict, he was commended by Sheridan in his report, and subsequently brevetted Brigadier General in the United States Army, and afterwards Major General in the United States Army, for gallant and meritorious services during the war
Upon the reorganization of the Infantry of the Army, in the spring of 1869, when that arm of the service was reduced from forty-five to twenty-five regiments, Crawford was selected, although the last Colonel upon the list, and was promoted to command the Second Regiment of Infantry. On the 22d of February, 1869, he was pro- moted to the Colonelcy of the Sixteenth Infantry, and upon the reorganization of the Infantry, when the Sixteenth and Second Regiments were consolidated, in April, 1869, he was assigned to the command of the new Second Infantry.
General Crawford was retired from the United States Army, Feb- ruary 19th, 1873, by reason of disability, resulting from a wound received at the battle of Antietam, September 17th, 1872, with the rank of Brevet Major General. He visited Europe in the spring of 1873, and was handsomely received in the various counties through which he extended his tour. In the spring of 1875, he again visited Europe, as a delegate from the New York Geographical Society to the Geographical Congress then about to meet at Paris He is a member of the Academy of Sciences, Historical Society, &c., and is at this time pursuing his foreign travels.
DR. ISAAC WAYNE SNOWDEN.
HIE subject of this sketch, who for many years was one of the most prominent physicians, not only in the Cumberland valley but in the state, was born at Harrisburg on the 4th day of March, 1796. His father, the Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden, was at that time pastor of the Presbyterian Churches at Harrisburg, Derry and Paxton. When Isaac was quite a youth his father returned to Philadelphia, where for four generations his family had resided.
Dr. Snowden was the eldest of six children, of whom four, including himself, studied and subsequently practised medicine. James Ross, his youngest brother, turned his attention to the law, and has since occupied many places of honour and trust. His only sister, Mary Parker Snowden, was married to the late distinguished Chief Justice Thompson, of the Supreme Court. Dr. Snowden received both his academical and medical education at the University of Pennsylvania. Shortly after leaving the University in the year 1816, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army, and ordered to report for duty at Sackett's Harbor. He remained for a brief period only at this post, when he was ordered to join the army under General Jackson then operating against the Seminole Indians in Florida. On his joining the army Dr. Snowden was assigned to duty at Head- Quarters, and became a member of Gen. Jackson's military family. From that period until the death of "Old Hickory," there existed between them the warmest personal friendship. So late as February 7th, 1844, Gen. Jackson, in writing to a gentleman in Pennsylvania, desired to be "especially remembered to his (my) old friend and companion, Dr. Snowden."
The limited space assigned for this sketch precludes the possibility of giving more than a passing glance at the services rendered by Dr. Snowden during the Florida campaign. He was in Fort Scott when it was besieged by the Indians, when the inmates were reduced to a pint of corn per day. And although his duties as Surgeon were special, yet his noble spirit would not permit him to remain an inactive spectator when so many of his brave companions were in deadly conflict with a relentless and bloody foe. He therefore joined heartily in the defence wherever his duties as Surgeon would permit. Whilst
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thus engaged he was severely wounded, which did not prevent him, however, from assisting in the defence until the Fort was relieved.
He participated in the subsequent campaign and was present with Jackson at the decisive battle of the Horseshoe, where the Indians were defeated after a long and desperate struggle.
In 1823, Dr. Snowden resigned from the army and resumed the practice of his profession in Mifflin county, Pa. In a brief period he acquired a large and lucrative practice, extending into the neighbour- ing counties. In 1832, he was united in marriage to Miss Margary B. Louden, youngest daughter of Archibald Louden, Esq., whose family were among the earliest settlers, and largest land owners in the Cumberland valley. Shortly after his marriage Dr. Snowden removed to Cumberland county, near the birth place of his wife, and there remained in active practice until his death, which occurred June 4th, 1850. Dr. Snowden was the type of a Christian gentleman, and died respected and beloved by all who knew him. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, in which his ancestors for generations had been prominent as laymen and ministers. His father was one of four brothers who graduated at Princeton and all of whom were ministers in the same church.
Dr. Snowden had five children, two sons and three daughters. One of the latter still resides with her mother in the old homestead. The second son, Col. A. Louden Snowden, is now and has been for many years, an officer in the United States Mint at Philadelphia. He is also prominently identified with many of the most important interests of the city, and is justly esteemed one of her most valued citizens. He is a graduate of Jefferson College, Pa., and is a gentleman of fine literary culture, genial, popular manners, and growing influence.
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GENERAL D. B. McKIBBIN.
EREMIAH MCKIBBIN, born in the county of Antrim, Ireland, at an early period settled upon the spot now occupied by the depot of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, at Newville. He was married to Mary Chambers, of Chambersburg.
Chambers McKibbin, his youngest son, and father of the subject of this sketch, alone survives him. He was born in 1798, at Newville, and married Jane Bell, of Shippensburg. Mrs. McKibbin was born in 1802, died in 1873, and was very highly and widely esteemed for her womanly and Christian virtues. Mr. Mckibbin's life fully illus- trates the cosmopolitan traits of the American character, having been farmer, financier and politician. He enjoyed the friendship and confi- dence of all the Democratic leaders of his time, and has been an active and influential citizen of Pennsylvania. He was Assistant Quarter Master at Pittsburg, under President Jackson, Postmaster in the same city, under President Polk, Naval Officer at Philadelphia, under President Buchanan, and Assistant Treasurer of the United States at the same city, under President Johnson, and at this time, in his 78th year, is a member of the Senate of Pennsylvania. His life has been a remarkable and unblemished one, and is now crowned with a green old age. Jeremiah, the eldest son of Mr. Mckibbin, after spending several years in Mexico, settled in Philadelphia, became an active politician, was the nominee of the Democratic party for Sheriff, in 1864, and is now proprietor of the Girard House in that city. William, second son, died in Philadelphia in 1868, his death being greatly lamented by his numerous friends.
D. B. McKibbin, sixth child, was born in 1831. He served a cam- paign in the Mexican War when sixteen years of age. He was appointed Second Lieutenant, Ninth Infantry, on its organization, March 31st, 1855. The regiment was sent to the Pacific coast, and Company H, under the command of Lieutenant McKibbin, was in a desperate and successful Indian fight before the close of a year. He served continuously in Washington Territory against the Indians, and on the North Western Boundary Survey until 1861, when he was pro- moted to a First Lieutenantcy, and ordered, on the outbreak of the Rebellion, to Washington. He was appointed Captain Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, in May of that year, for gallant services against the
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Indians. In February, 1862, he took the field with his regiment as second in command, having been appointed Assistant Field Officer, by General McClellan. He served with the Army of the Potomac through all the battles of the Peninsula until after the battle of Malvern Hill, when he took command of the Second Battalion of his regiment, which command he held until after the battle of Antietam, when sickness compelled him to leave the field for a short time.
In the following November, he took command of the One Hundred and Fifty-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, a nine months' regiment, serving in Virginia and North Carolina. When this Volunteer Regi- ment was mustered out, he returned to the regular service in command of the Second Battalion, and remained with them in the Army of the Potomac until June 2d, 1864, when he was captured at Bethesda Church, Va., imprisoned in Libby, in Macon, Georgia, and in Charles- ton, S. C., in the last place, under the fire of our own guns during the bombardment. On his return from prison, he took command of the Eighth Union League (214th Pennsylvania Volunteer) Regiment, which command he retained until the end of the war. He was brevetted five times, viz: Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel and Brev. Brigadier General of the Regular Army, and Brev. Brigadier General of Volun- teers. Ile is now Major of Cavalry.
General Mckibbin was highly and deservedly complimented by distinguished officers of the army. General Meade refers to him as " frequently distinguished for conspicuous gallantry in battle." Gen. Warren testifies to his "gallantry and noble disregard of personal danger." General Sykes says: "There was no more promising young officer in the Division of regulars, and no one that I would sooner have selected for any operation in which dash, energy and enterprise were required." And General Ayres, pronounced him " especially distinguished for gallantry and good conduct at the North Anna and Bethesda Church, at the latter of which he was captured." Several of General Mckibbin's brothers deserve notice here for their valuable military services.
Joseph C. McKibbin, third son, was a lawyer by profession, emigrated to California in 1849, and served in the Senate of that State in 1852 and 1853. He was appointed Superintendent of Public Buildings in 1853, by President Pierce, elected to the Thirty-Fifth Congress in 1856. In 1861, he was appointed Colonel of Cavalry by President Lincoln, serving in the armies of the Southwest and Centre, was acting Inspector of the Army of the Cumberland under Major General Rose- crans and Major General George 11. Thomas, from both of whom,
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