USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. I > Part 4
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ANDREW TODD MCCLINTOCK.
William A. Wallace, then United States Senator; William H. Playford, then a State Senator; Henry W. Williams, a Judge of the Supreme Court; and Andrew T. McClintock. It is not too much to say that, distinguished as were each and all of these gentlemen in the profession of the law, Mr. McClintock was the peer of the ablest of them. The commission held a number of sessions, Mr. McClintock participating actively in all the discus- sions, and returned its report to the Governor, by which official it was submitted to the Legislature. No action has as yet been taken upon it by that body, but it is the opinion of many of the best legal minds of the Commonwealth that in such delay a grave error of judgment has been committed, and many important interests neglected.
Mr. McClintock is one of the busiest men in the community in which he lives. He has a very large and important clientage, including the Pennsylvania Coal Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Company, for which corporations he has been many years counsel. In 1870 Princeton College conferred upon him the degree of L.L. D. He is a Director of the Wyoming National Bank, President of the Hollenback Cemetery Associa- tion, and President of the Luzerne County Bible Society. He has been a Director of the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital since its organization; is a Director of the Home for Friendless Children, and President of the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association. He is a member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society of Wilkes-Barre, and during the Centennial year was its President. He is an Elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre, and has been chosen a number of times a Delegate to the General Assembly of that denomination.
Mr. McClintock has always been an old-school Democrat, but never in any sense a politician. His views have been those of the Jeffersons and Jacksons of his party, and his contempt for that class which has, from time to time, for selfish purposes, sought to compromise the views which made the names men- tioned and the party they led great, has always been thorough and outspoken. This is the kind of party nian who never sacri- fices the esteem of his political opponents, and hence it was that
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ANDREW TODD MCCLINTOCK.
nearly all the leading Republicans of his county were so willing and anxious that Mr. McClintock, Democrat though he was, should sit upon the judicial bench, to be the arbiter of their lib- erties and their properties. The names of Henry M. Hoyt, now Governor; Henry W. Palmer, now Attorney General; W. W. Ketcham and Garrick M. Harding, since Judges themselves; Hubbard B. Payne, since a State Senator, and others equally distinguished, and of the same party, will be noticed as among those who bear witness to the justice of this tribute to Mr, McClintock's deserving, in the flattering terms in which they speak of him in the correspondence quoted. .
Mr. McClintock was married May 11th, 1841, to Augusta. daughter of Jacob Cist, of Wilkes-Barre, and has had five chil- dren, four of whom survive. His only son, Andrew Hamilton McClintock, is a member of the Luzerne county bar. J. Vaughan Darling, also a member of the Luzerne bar, is his son-in-law.
Mr. McClintock is above the medium height, and of more than average weight. He has a stately presence and kindly countenance. Having always been a man of good habits, he is wonderfully well preserved, and few would take him from his appearance to be within fifteen years as old as he is. The numerous civic positions he holds evidence the esteem in which he is held, and the faith reposed by his fellow-citizens in his resources. His charities are numerous, and of the practical sort. He has acquired a consid- erable fortune through his profession, but lives quietly, and utterly without ostentation. In brief, he is one of the most use- " ful and most respected of our citizens, as well as in the forefront of his chosen profession. He is the oldest member of the Luzerne county bar in active practice, and is still in full possession of all his normal mental vigor. Had his ambition led him in that direction, he might have occupied high political positions, but he always preferred the private station, and therein has achieved such honors as few men have in similar pursuits had the mind, patience, and perseverance to lay up for themseves.
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EDWARD INMAN TURNER.
EDWARD INMAN TURNER.
Edward Inman Turner is a native of Plymouth, Pennsylvania, , where he was born May 27, 1816. He graduated at Dickinson . College, and immediately after commenced the study of law in the office of the late Hon. John Nesbitt Conyngham. He was admitted to the bar November 5 1839, upon the recommendation of George Griffin, George W. Woodward, and O. Collins, the Examining Committee. Mr. Turner is a son of the late John Turner, also a native of Plymouth, and grandson of John Turner, who emigrated about the year 1780 from near Hackettstown, New Jersey. Mr. Turner is unmarried. Soon after his admis- sion to the bar he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, but subse- quently returned to Plymouth, where he has been chiefly engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits. The late Hon. Samuel G. Turner was his brother.
EDMUND LOVELL DANA,
Edmund Lovell Dana was born at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, January 29, 1817. His father was Asa Stevens Dana, a descend- ant of the Dana family that came to America about 1640. Its various members all through the history of our country have borne a conspicuous and highly honorable part, as well in politi- cal positions they have occupied, as in the paths of science, law, and literature; and through the pre-eminent literary accomplish- ments of Richard H. Dana, the name has become endeared to every scholar and household throughout our land. To particu- larize, and give the name and history of the various leading and prominent men of this family, would lead too far from the pur- pose of this sketch, which is to give an account of the Danas of Wyoming, and particularly of Gen. Edmund L. Dana, a promi- nent member of that family.
The name of Anderson Dana is first found at Wyoming in "a list of the inhabitants of Pittstown, April 30th, 1772," where
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
he owned a share of the town. He soon sold out, purchased and removed to a farm at Wilkes-Barre, a part of which, includ- ing the old homestead, still remains in the possession of General Dana, and for which he holds a deed dated September 11th, 1772. When the enemy came to desolate the valley in 1778, he mounted his horse and rode through the settlement, arousing and urging the people to the conflict. Although exempt, he went out with the little force, acted as adjutant and aide to Col. Zebulon Butler on the field, and fell in the midst of the hottest of the strife. "He came from Ashford, Conn .; was a lawyer of handsome attainments, and the leader in the establishment of free schools and a gospel ministry. He represented Wyoming in the Connecticut Assembly, and had just returned home when the news of the invasion reached the valley." He left a family of children, of whom his son Anderson became his successor in keeping the old homestead farm, and raised there a large family of children. . The latter married a daughter of Asa Stevens, who fell in the battle. Stephen Whiton, son-in-law of the elder Ander- son, also fell in the battle. He was Deputy Sheriff at the time. Captain Hezekiah Parsons, the father of our respected citizen, Calvin Parsons, Esq., married his daughter, who was born several months after the battle. Anderson Dana, the elder, was the grandson of Jacob Dana, of Cambridge, Mass., where the family first settled.
One of the sons of Anderson Dana, Jr., Asa Stevens Dana, was the father of Gen. E. L. Dana, the subject of this sketch. His mother was Ann, daughter of Hon. Joseph Pruner, a descendant of one of the carly German settlers of this State, and who settled in Hanover at an early day. In the spring of 1819 the father of Gen. Dana removed to Eaton, now Wyoming county, opposite Tunkhannock, where he resided until his death. Here Edmund L., with a number of brothers and sisters, grew up, working on the farm and attending school in the winter. At the age of fifteen he began preparing for college at the Wilkes-Barre Academy. and entered the sophomore class in Yale College in October, 1835, graduating in 1838. Immediately after graduating he was engaged as civil engineer on the North Branch Canal, where he continued until the 7th of April, 1839. At this time he began
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
the study of law under Hon. Luther Kidder, and was admitted to the bar April 6th, 1841, upon the recommendation of Oristes Collins, Thomas Dyer, and Chester Butler, the examining com- mittee. He soon after entered the office of the late Hon. George W. Woodward, at one time Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, on his appointment to the bench, and took charge of his large business, which he successfully managed, and from that time to December, 1846, was actively engaged in practice in the counties of Luzerne and Wyoming.
In December, 1846, when a call was made by the government for troops to aid in prosecuting the war with Mexico. he tendered the services of the Wyoming Artillerists, of which company he was Captain, which was accepted; started by canal boat for Pitts- burg December 7, 1846; and on the 16th of December was there mustered into the United States service to serve during the war. His company was assigned to the First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and designated as Company I. Upon the arrival of the advance transport and troops at Lobos Island on their way to Vera Cruz, Captain Dana was selected to make a survey of Lobos harbor. He and his command were at the subsequent landing of the troops, participated actively in the siege of Vera Cruz, and his company was part of the troops assigned to receive the surrender of the city and the castle of San Juan D'Ulloa. After the capitulation of the city and castle, he accompanied Gen. Scott into the interior of Mexico; was at the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 18th, 1847; accompanied the movement to, and occupation of Perote Castle and the cities of Jalapa and Puebla; in the siege of the latter was actively engaged, and for good and soldierly conduct there he received special mention in General Orders. He led the charge at the Pass of El Pinal; marched to the city of Mexico; remained there until peace in June, 1848, and returning was mustered out of service at Pittsburg July 20, 1848. He and his company were welcomed home with the highest honors by an immense concourse of people. He at once resumed the practice of law. ·
In 1851 Gen. Dana was a candidate for Congress in the district composed of the counties of Wyoming, Luzerne, and Columbia. This was previous to the division of Columbia county, and before
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
Montour was formed out of Columbia. His competitor, John Brisbin, was elected. In 1853 he was a candidate for State Sen- ator in the district composed of the counties of Luzerne, Colun- bia, and Montour. His opponent, Charles R. Buckalew, was elected.
At the breaking out of the war with the South, he held the commission of Major General of the Ninth Division Pennsylvania Militia, and in the summer of 1862 was appointed by the Governor commandant of a camp of organization and instruction, located in Kingston township, and called Camp Luzerne. The 143d Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers was recruited and organized at this camp, and he was elected Colonel, October 18th, 1862. On the 7th of November, 1862, the regiment broke camp, proceeded to Harrisburg, where it was armed; thence to Washington, being assigned to duty in the northern defenses of Washington; and , thence to the front, February 17, 1863, going into camp at Belle Plain, where the regiment was attached to the Second Brigade, Third Division, First Army Corps, commanded by Gen. John F. Reynolds. On the 20th of April, Col. Dana, with his regiment, accompanied the division on an expedition to Port Royal, below Fredericksburg, when a feint was made of crossing the river. On the 29th, with his command, he was exposed to a brisk can- nonade from the opposite bank of the river, the sharpshooters on both sides being very active. On the morning of May 2d marched to Chancellorsville; arrived at midnight, passing in the last three or four miles many wounded borne from the front, and through woods lit up by the glare of bursting shells. The First Corps went into position on the extreme right of the army, on the Ely road towards the Rapidan, Col. Dana's regiment being on the left of the corps. After the battle, returned by a tedious march, and went into camp at Falmouth on the 8th. A month later the corps started on the Gettysburg campaign, and was the first infantry to reach the field. Bivouacking on Marsh creek, four miles from Gettysburg, on the night of June 30th, it moved forward on the morning of July Ist, and soon heard the cannon of Buford's cavalry engaging the enemy's advance. Sometime before noon the brigade went into position on a ridge beyond that on which the seminary stands, under a heavy fire, the 143d
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forming on the line of the railroad. Early in the action the command of the brigade devolved on Col. Dana.
"A terrific fire of infantry and artillery was brought to bear on the position; but it was manfully held, though the dead and wounded on every hand told at what a fearful cost. Repeated charges were made with ever fresh troops, but each was repulsed with fearful slaughter. Finally the enemy succeeded in flanking the position, and the line was pressed back a short distance, but made a stand in a field a little back from the railroad cut. Later in the afternoon the brigade was forced to retire to a position near the seminary. When this movement became necessary, under the pressure of overwhelming numbers, and the command was given, tlie color-bearer and many of the men were with diffi -- culty made to face to the rear, seeming determined to die rather than yield the ground. In executing this movement the color- bearer of the regiment was killed, still clinging to his standard. This incident is mentioned by an English officer who was at the time with the enemy, in an article in Blackwood for September,
1863, Am. Ed., p. 377: 'Gen. Hill soon came up. He said the Yankees had fought with a determination unusual to them. He pointed out a railway cutting in which they had made a good stand; also a field, in the center of which he had seen a man plant the regimental colors, around which the enemy had fought for some time with much obstinacy, and when at last it was. obliged to retreat, the color-bearer retired last of all, turning round every now and then to shake his fist at the advancing rebels. Gen. Hill said he felt quite sorry when he had seen this gallant Yankee meet his doom.' The flag was rescued and brought safely off. Col. Dana throughout the severe and pro- tracted contest moved on foot through the fire along the line wherever his presence was required. When all hope of longer holding the ground was gone, the brigade fell back through the town, and took position on Cemetery Hill, where the shattered ranks of the two corps which had been engaged were reformed." Bates' Hist. Pa. Vols., vol. iv., p. 488.
1555754
The morning of July 2d opened with artillery and picket firing, and in the afternoon a severe attack was made upon the left of the line, in which Gen. Sickles' corps was engaged, and Col. Dana with his brigade was ordered to its support. The movement was effected under a heavy fire of shells, under which some loss was sustained, and a position taken on the left center, in open ground, where it rested for the night, having recovered several captured guns. At four o'clock on the morning of the 3d, a heavy artillery
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fire was opened along the whole front, which was increased at one P. M. so as to envelop the Union line, shells and solid shot . plowing the ground in every direction. Later in the afternoon the last grand infantry charge by Gen. Longstreet was made upon the left center, the strength of which fell a little to the right of the position where the brigade lay. This charge, made with great force and bravery, and pressed with unusual persistency, was completely ' repulsed, large numbers were slain, many pris- oners taken, and the enemy, retiring broken, did not again venture to renew the battle. The loss of the brigade in killed, wounded, missing in action, and prisoners was more than half its entire strength. After the battle Col. Dana accompanied and led his command in the pursuit of the Confederate army, crossing at Berlin into Virginia. He participated in the movement, October, 1863, to Centerville, and with his regiment and a battery of artillery aided in repelling a cavalry attack at Haymarket, Octo- ber 19. ʻ
The losses of the First Corps were so great during this unex- ampled campaign, that it was broken up in March, and the rem- nants consolidated with the Fifth Army Corps. The 143d Regi- ment thus became part of the First Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps. On the 4th of May, 1864, Col. Dana with his regiment marched on the Wilderness campaign, encamping at night near the house which Jackson had used for his headquarters at the battle of Chancellorsville. Early the next morning the march was resumed; the enemy, posted in the woods, was encountered in large force; the corps was formed in line of battle, and the fighting became severe. Col. Dana had his horse shot under him, was wounded, and taken prisoner with a number of his officers and men. He was conveyed that night to Orange Court House, thence to Danville and to Macon, Ga., and in June following to Charleston, S. C., and was one of the fifty officers, including Brigadier Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, and Majors, who were placed under the fire of our own guns, in retal- iation for some supposed violation of the usages of war by the Federal Government in the siege of that city. On the 3d of August, Col. Dana and his fellow prisoners were exchanged for an equal number of Confederates, released from confinement, and
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
sent North, and early in September he rejoined his command before Petersburg. On the Ist of October, he was with his regi- ment in the movement upon the Vaughn road, and participated in the fighting of that day, and in the erection of breastworks in continuation of the line of investment. Returning to camp on the 4th, he was assigned to the duty of guarding Fort Howard and two batteries in the investing line. On the 8th of October, he was instructed to make and conduct an advance of the out- posts, skirmish and picket lines of the Fifth Corps. This was ' effected after a sharp encounter with the enemy's outposts, and for his conduct and management of the affair he was compli- mented by the General commanding the corps in the following official communication :
HEADQUARTERS FIFTH ARMY CORPS, October 9, 1864. COL. E. L. DANA, Com. 143d Pa. Vol.
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Colonel: The General commanding the corps directs me to express to you his satisfaction with the performance of your duties yesterday as commander of the line of skirmishers of the corps. Your duties were important, arduous, and of a highly responsible character, all of which you performed with credit to yourself and the command,
I am, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, FRED. I. LOCKE, Lt. Col., A. A. Gen. Through Brig. Gen. Baxter, Com. Fifth Division.
He was at the first battle of Hatcher's Run, October 28th and 29th; on the Weldon raid from the 7th to the 12th of December; and in the second Hatcher's Run battle of the 6th and 7th of February, 1865. The 143d, together with the 149th and 150th Pennsylvania Regiments, and 24th Michigan, all greatly reduced by hard fighting, and all amongst the most trusted troops, was detached from the corps, and sent on special service to Baltimore; thence the 143d was sent to Hart Island, to the duty of guarding the prisoners of war collected there, and of furnishing escort for conscripts, recruits, and convalescents as they were sent to differ- " ent points. The war being ended, the regiment was mustered out of the service on the 12th and 13th of June, 1865, and reach-
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
ing Wilkes-Barre, was, with its officers, welcomed home, after three years' absence, with an enthusiastic reception
Col. Dana was retained in the service, detailed on court martial duty at Elmira, and later at Syracuse, N. Y. For long, faithful, and tried service he was brevetted Brigadier General, and was honorably mustered out of the service on the 23d of August, 1865. His military record equals that of any other individual in northern Pennsylvania; it is great in extent, experience, and brilliancy. As an officer, his reputation is best attested by his old comrades in arms, the 143d Pennsylvania Regiment; who worship him with a devotion rarely surpassed.
After the cessation of hostilities, he resumed the practice of the law, and in the fall of 1867 was nominated and elected over Hon. Henry M. Hoyt, now Governor of Pennsylvania, who was his opponent, to the office of Additional Law Judge of the Elev- enth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, comprising the populous · county of Luzerne. He took his seat on the 2d of December, 1867, and served for the full term of ten years. For several years, in addition to presiding alternately with Judge Conyngham in the Courts at Wilkes-Barre, he also presided as an ex-officio Recorder in the Mayor's Court of the cities of Scranton and Carbondale. Prior to the expiration of his term, the following correspondence took place :
HON. EDMUND L. DANA.
Dear Sir: The undersigned, members of the bar of Luzerne county, hereby respectfully urge you to consent to be a candidate for re-election to the office of Additional Law Judge of this dis- trict. We do this in view of the very satisfactory, able, and im- partial manner in which you have discharged your official duties hitherto. We shall be glad to take all proper steps to secure your re-election.
Andrew T. McClintock, Henry W. Palmer,
A. R. Brundage, Alfred Hand, H. B. Payne,
Elliott P. Kisner, George K. Powell, George B. Kulp,
Henry M. Hoyt, Hendrick B. Wright, Stanley Woodward,
L. D. Shoemaker,
Charles E. Rice,
George R. Bedford,
E. S. Osborne, J. Vaughan Darling,
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
T. H. B. Lewis,
William P. Ryman,
W. W. Lathrope,
Charles H. Sturdevant.
R. W. Archbald,
G. Mortimer Lewis,
E. Robinson,
Mont. J. Flanigan,
J. M. C. Ranck,
P. C. Gritman,
E. G. Butler,
Gustav Hahn, A. M. Bailey,
Charles Pike,
Alfred Darte, Jr.,
R. . C. Shoemaker,
L. B. Landmesser,
Paul R. Weitzel,
E. V. Jackson,
Charles D. Foster,
Isaac P. Hand,
J. A. Opp,
Jerome G. Miller,
Alexander Farnham,
Joseph D. Coons,
M. Cannon,
Joseph E. Ulman,
F. C. Sturges,
A. D. Dean,
Benjamin F. Dorrance,
F. E. Loomis,
David L. Patrick,
George W. Shonk,
W. L. Paine,
John A. Gorman,
F. C. Mosier,
A. H. Winton,
Jabez Alsover,
T. R. Martin,
George Loveland,
Harrison Wright,
Andrew Hunlock,
Edward H. Chase,
H. H. Coston,
F. M. Nichols,
L. Amerman,
M. J. Wilson,
S. B. Price,
H. A. Knapp,
W. H. McCartney,
James H. Torrey,
P. J. O'Hanlon,
Isaac J. Post,
D. S. Koon,
W. G. Ward,
Lyman H. Bennett,
J. H. Campbell,
Henry A. Fuller,
S. P. McDivitt,
Thomas H. Atherton,
Edward N. Willard,
Allan H. Dickson,
H. M. Hannah,
L. M. Bunnell,
A. Chamberlin,
John O'Flaherty,
B. M. Espy,
George Sanderson, Jr.,
C. W. Kline,
George S. Horn,
Charles E. Lathrop,
D. W. Rank,
John Espy,
W. H. Gearhart,
C. S. Stark,
L. W. Dewitt,
Sheldon Reynolds,
E. B. Sturges,
Frank Stewart,
E. P. Darling,
William S. McLean,
· N. Taylor.
H. Hakes,
C. P. Kidder,
E. W. Simrell,
E. H. Painter,
D. M. Jones, S. J. Strauss, Oscar J. Harvey,
Q. A. Gates,
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EDMUND LOVELL DANA.
C. L. Lamb, F. L. Hitchcock,
G. F. Bentley,
George S. Ferris, Thomas Nesbitt, H. M. Edwards.
WILKES-BARRE, April 11, 1877. A. T. MCCLINTOCK, H. M. HOYT, EsQs., AND OTHERS.
Gentlemen: The communication signed by you and the members of the bar of Luzerne county, requesting me "to con- sent to be a candidate for re-election to the office of Additional Law Judge of this district," is received. The assurance it con- tain's, that the manner in which my official duties have been dis- charged, during the past ten years, has merited your approval, is truly grateful. I had not intended to be a candidate for re-elec- tion. My purpose was, at the close of my judicial term, to retire from an office of some labor and of great responsibility. The wishes, however, of the bar, so generally expressed, together with intimations of their desire, by citizens in different portions of the county, have induced a reconsideration of that purpose; and, after reflection, I have concluded to assent to your request, that my name may be presented to the people of this judicial district for re-election as Judge, if it be their and your pleasure.
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