Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 29

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 29
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 29

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BRIGADIER GENERAL C. BOW DOUGHERTY, late colonel of the Ninth Regi- ment, Pennsylvania National Guard, chief clerk and purchasing agent of the Coal Companies of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was born in Wilkes- Barre, September 3, 1860. He is a son of Charles and Julia (Collings) Dougherty. His father was a native of Albany, New York, and his wife is a lineal descendant of John Blackman.

John Blackman, born in England, came to America prior to 1640. The Rev. Adam Black- man, with his family, came to America about the same time, both landing at Boston, Massachu- setts, the latter settling at Stratford, Connecticut, being the minister there when the town was set- tled. John Blackman, from whom the Wyoming valley family is descended, took up land at Dor- chester, Massachusetts, now a part of Boston. He married Mary Pond, and had the following children ; John, born August 10, 1656 (O. S.) ; Jonathan, born December 1, 1658 (O. S.); Joseph, born June 27, 1661 (O. S.) ; Benjamin, born November 25, 1665 (O. S.). His wife died about 1667, and he married Sarah -, by whom he had two children, Adam and Abraham. John Blackman died April 28, 1675. Joseph Blackman, his third son, married at Dorchester, November 12, 1685, Elizabeth Church, a daugh- ter of Joseph Church, of Little Compton, a

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Howdougherty

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brother of the redoubtable fighter and lively chronicler, Captain Benjamin Church, who on August 12. 1676, with his gallant band pursued King Philip, the son of Massasoit, and ended the life of that crafty barbarian. as well as King Philip's war. Joseph and Benjamin were sons of Richard Church, a soldier in the Pequot war. which ended in the extermination of the Pequot Indians and their raids on the settlers. The wife of Richard Church was Elizabeth Warren. daughter of Richard Warren, one of the passen- gers on the "Mayflower," which landed at Plym- outh Rock in November, 1620. Thus comes descent from the pioneers of the valiant and mighty host who have had so much to do with founding and peopling the United States. Rich- ard Warren was one of the forty-one signers to the compact drawn up on board the "Mayflower" before landing. said to be the first constitutional covenant ever written by men for the govern- ment of a people. Joseph Blackman and his wife Elizabeth (Church) moved to Little Compton. Rhode Island.

Elisha Blackman, one of his nine children. was born there September 23. 1699. He mar- ried Susanna Higley, in Lebanon, Connecticut, to which place his father had removed in 1717, where he purchased 120 acres of land for £600. Susanna Higley was a sister of Hannah Higley. who married Captain Joseph Trumbull, the famous governor of Connecticut during the Rey- olution. the friend and adviser of Washington. and whom the latter called "Brother Jonathan." Elisha Blackman and wife Susanna Higley had among other children, Elisha, born September 19. I727. He married on March 22, 1753. Lucy Polly, widow of Ebenezer Smith, and they had : Lucy, born September 7. 1755. married Titus Darrow: Lovina. born September 7, 1757, mar- ried (in Wilkes-Barre) Darius Spafford : Elisha. born April 4. 1760. married Anna Hurlburt, January 10, 1788 : Ichabod. born March 24. 1762. married Elizabeth Franklin 1786: Eleazer, born May 31. 1765, married Clarinda Hyde. 1787.

Elisha Blackman, who married Lucy Polly (the widow Smith). emigrated to the Wyoming

valley in 1772. He was a lieutenant in the com- pany commanded by Capt. William Hooker Smith. of the Twenty-fourth Connecticut Line, stationed in the fort at Wilkes-Barre at the time of the Wyoming massacre. His son. Elisha Blackman, was in the battle of Wyoming. escaped the massacre and swam the river, and fled to Wilkes-Barre, where he joined his father, the only man left in the fort at Wilkes-Barre, the others having gone with the women and chil- dren to the mountains to show them the way towards Stroudsburg and Connecticut. In the afternoon of the same day father and son fol- lowed. In August young Elisha returned to Wyoming with Captain Spalding's company, and in October helped to bury the dead at Wyoming. Later he served two years with the army in Cherry Valley and on the headwaters of the Sus- quehanna, in New York state, and in 1781 en- listed in Colonel Sherman's regiment on the Hud- son. being discharged in 1783. Major Eleazer Blackman, his brother, was thirteen years old at the time of the invasion of the valley in 1778 by the British and Indians under John Butler, and assisted in building the fort at Wilkes-Barre by hauling the logs. They were all of the stuff that good men honor. Their lives were true, and tried in the faith of patriots. In the search for free- dom's holy light on the then western frontier their souls were seared with the trials that befell. Nobly they lived their lives and played their parts with the mighty host of pioneers who shared the perils with them.

Major Eleazer Blackman, son of Elisha and Lucy Polly Blackman, was born in Lebanon. Con- necticut, May 31, 1765. He accompanied his parents to Wilkes-Barre in 1772, but fled with his mother and family. July 4, 1778. across the mountains and through the "shades of death" to Stroudsburg, where they were joined by his father. and they then made their way to Lebanon. Connecticut, where he was reared. He returned to Wilkes-Barre with his brothers in 1786, and the remainder of his life was spent in that place. In 1787 he married Clarinda Hyde, daughter of John Hyde. He died September 10. 1843. aged_/

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seventy-eight years, and his wife passed away January 25, 1830, aged sixty years. Their daughter Melinda, born May 4, 1793, became the wife of Daniel Collings in 1812, and eleven children were born to them, Julia Collings, mother of C. Bow Dougherty, being the tenth child. Daniel Collings died in 1861, aged sixty- eight years.

C. Bow Dougherty was reared in Wilkes- Barre, and his education was acquired in the pub- lic schools of his native city and at Emerson In- stitute, Washington, D. C. He began his busi- ness career as a clerk in the offices of the Sus- quehanna Coal Company, in whose service he re- mained twelve years. He has held his present position as chief clerk and purchasing agent of the Coal Companies of the Pennsylvania Rail- road (which includes the company above named) since 1885, a period of two decades. The fact of his having retained both positions for so long a time is ample proof of his capability, in- tegrity and fidelity to every duty entrusted to him.

August 1, 1881, he enlisted as a private-in Company B, Ninth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania. He was detailed as regimental clerk August 12, 1881 ; appointed principal musi- cian July 27, 1882 ; sergeant-major May 9, 1883 ; reappointed November 7, 1884; commissioned first lieutenant June 20, 1885 ; inspector of rifle practice April 28, 1887; and reappointed June 23, 1890. He was elected major of the regiment November 3, 1892; lieutenant-colonel June 22, 1894; and colonel July 14, 1897, and was unanimously re-elected July 14, 1902. During his incumbency of the office of colonel the regi- ment steadily progressed, and is rated as one of the best in the state of Pennsylvania. On April 9, 1906, Colonel Dougherty was appointed briga- dier-general of Third Brigade, N. G. P., to suc- ceed General Gobin.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war the Ninth Regiment above named was. mus- tered into the United States service, and became the Ninth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. The regiment left Wilkes-Barre April 27, 1898, and was mustered into the United States service

at Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania, May 11, 1898, and ordered to Camp George H. Thomas, Chicka- mauga, Georgia, where upon its arrival, May 20, Colonel Dougherty was assigned to the command of the Third Brigade, Third Division, First Army Corps, and retained command of the brig- ade until July 4, 1898, being relieved by the assignment of Brigadier-General John N. An- drews. He resumed command of the brigade on August 25, retaining it until the regiment was mustered out of service. The regiment reached Wilkes-Barre on September 19. 1898, was fur- loughed for thirty days, and was finally mustered out of service October 29, 1898. Before being mustered out the regiment participated in the Peace Jubilee in Philadelphia, October, 27th.

General Dougherty is a member of the Penn- sylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, and the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish- American War, of which he was the first state commander, and also the junior vice-commander of the national commandery for two years, and is also a member of the Westmoreland Club, and the Country Club, of Wilkes-Barre, the Wyo- ming Historical and Geological Society, and Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M. In politics he is a Democrat.

In 1883 General Dougherty married Anna D. Posten, daughter of M. Brown and Anna M. (Palmer) Posten, of Wilkes-Barre. They have two children, Helen and Marion. H. E. H.

NINTH REGIMENT INFANTRY holds a. foremost place in the National Guard of Penn- sylvania, and has received cordial recognition from the executive of the commonwealth for ex- cellent service in the maintenance of law and order in times of unusual turbulence, and from the War Department of the United States for the part it took during the Spanish-American war. That it was not privileged to go abroad during that conflict. detracts nothing from the credit due for its exhibition of patriotism, and for the fine soldierly spirit and ability which charac- terized both rank and file.

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NINTH REGIMENT ARMORY

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The Ninth Regiment is distinctively identified with the Wyoming valley, and more immediately with the city of Wilkes-Barre. It had its incep- tion in that city, which has been its headquarters to the present time, and whose people cherish it with deepseated sentiments of local pride. The nucleus of the regiment was the old Wilkes-Barre Fencibles, organized in 1878 through the effort of Henry Crandall and others. Under Captain Oscar J. Harvey the Fencibles gave such stimula- tion to military spirit in and about Wilkes-Barre that in the following year another company was formed in that city, with D. S. Bennett as cap- tain, and in that same month and year were also formed companies at Pleasant Valley and Nanti- coke. There were companies of prior existence at Pittston, Towanda and Berwick, and all these made eight companies in the city and neighbor- hood of Wilkes-Barre, so located as to suggest the desirability of their union in a regimental or- ganization, in the conviction that this would prove conducive to the highest military interests-tech- nical proficiency, esprit de corps, and efficiency in the field in case of necessity. Moved by these considerations, the officers of the companies above named brought the matter to the attention of Governor Hoyt (see sketch elsewhere), and their views were further urged upon him by a number of influential citizens of Wilkes-Barre. The governor quickly appreciated the force of their suggestions, and gave assurance of carrying them into effect as soon as he could discover a commander who should possess sufficient force of character and military capability to ensure the stability of the proposed regiment. In reply, the company officers and others of wise judgment in the valley, recommended G. Murray Rey- nolds, of Wilkes-Barre (sketch elsewhere), for the colonelcy, and he, after a personal interview with Governor Hoyt and Colonel Conyngham, the governor's aide-de-camp, agreed to accept the ap- pointment. To consummate the plans thus form- ulated, the governor, on June 24, issued through his adjutant general, Colonel James W. Latta, an order creating the Ninth Regiment, to be com- posed of the following companies :

Company K, Twelfth Regiment, Towanda, Capt. J. Andrew Wilt, organized January 20, 1876, to be Company A.

Wilkes-Barre Fencibles, Capt. O. J. Harvey, organized November 28, 1878, to be Company B.

Company C, Twelfth Regiment, Pittston, Capt. James Ginley, organized January 19, 1866, to be Company C.

Company D, Twelfth Regiment, Berwick, Capt. Samuel Simpson, organized August 15, 1870, to be Company D.

Pleasant Valley Company, Capt. Charles A. Jones, organized July 1, 1879, to be Company E.

Wilkes-Barre Independent Company, Capt. D. S. Bennett, organized July 7, 1879, to be Com- pany F.

Nanticoke Company, Capt. John Dunn, or- ganized July 7, 1879, to be Company G. ..

Company H, Twelfth Regiment, Hazelton, Capt. W. W. Wenner, organized July 21, 1877, to be Company H.

July 25th, the company officers met in Wilkes- Barre, and with entire unanimity elected G. Mur- ray Reynolds as colonel. In his absence there was no election for other field officers, it being held that his views in the matter should be con- sidered. It is of interest to note that during this meeting the officers visited the market house on Northampton street (now used by the Trac- tion Company as a car house) and discussed its desirability as an armory. While there they suf- fered detention owing to a severe thunder storm, and they utilized the time by going into line for drill by Captain Ginley, this being the first drill of the officers of the new regiment, and in the building which was destined to be its headquar- ters for a number of years.

Colonel Reynolds on assuming command ap- pointed Lieutenant A. D. Moore as adjutant. In September, 1879, the regiment rendezvoused at Bloomsburg as a part of the Third Brigade, and on that occasion, notwithstanding its brevity of service, made an average of 88.1, next to the highest in the brigade. Shortly afterward a new company was organized in Wilkes-Barre, under Captain Augustus H. Rush, which was mustered

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into service October 28 as Company I. On the 30th of the same month the regimental organiza- tion was perfected by the election of the follow- ing officers : Morris J. Keck, lieutenant-colonel, and Daniel S. Bennett, as major. In 1882 Com- pany E was disbanded, and was replaced by a new company recruited at Parsons, under Capt. John D. Colvin ; and Company C, also disbanded, was replaced by a new Pittston company under Capt. William J. Hughes. Company H at Hazleton was mustered out the same year, reduc- ing the regiment to seven companies, but in Jan- uary the next year another company was formed to take its place, under Capt. James Ginley. May II. 1885, Colonel Reynolds resigned, and this occasioned the following promotions: Lieuten- ant-Colonel Keck to be colonel; Major Stark to be lieutenant-colonel ; and Captain Hughes to be major. Lieut. J. Ridgway Wright (sketch else- where), had succeeded Lieutenant Moore in the adjutancy in the previous year. In 1885 Company A was disbanded. In 1890 Colonel Keck and Lieutenant-Colonel Stark were recommissioned. and Lieut. John S. Harding (sketch elsewhere).

was appointed adjutant, succeeding Lieutenant Wright, promoted to major and inspector Third Brigade. In 1894 Colonel Keck resigned, and the following promotions were made: Lieut .- Col. William C. Price to be colonel; Major C. Bow Dougherty (sketch elsewhere), to be lieutenant- colonel: and Capt. George Wallace. Jr .. to be major. Colonel Price resigned in 1897. and Lieut .- Col. C. Bow Dougherty was advanced to the colonelcy, Major Wallace to lieutenant-col- onel and Frank L. McKee to major.

The Ninth Regiment has participated in num- erous notable events, but it is not within the prov- ince of this narrative to present them in detail, but only to epitomize its history in the large. De- cember 16, 1879, it paraded with the Third Bri- gade at the reception given by the city of Phila- delphia to General Grant on the occasion of his return from his tour of the world. At the sum- mer encampment of 1884, with the division to which it was attached, it was reviewed by Gen. Phil H. Sheridan and Hon. Robert T. Lincoln,

secretary of war, and on the following day by Governor Pattison. In 1885 it attended the in- auguration of President Cleveland, and it has taken part in ever presidential inaugural proces- sion from that time to the present. It also par- ticipated in the centennial celebration in New York City in honor of the inauguration of Wash- ington as the first president of the United States. In 1880 Reig's Band of Wilkes-Barre was at- tached to the regiment, remaining with it until the following.year, when regimental bands were abolished by act of the legislature. In 1887 the Ninth Regiment Band was formed-a most excellent organization, comprising thirty-three pieces.

The excellency of the regiment in target prac- tice dates from an early day, though the begin- ning was inauspicious. In 1879 (the year of its organization) Captain Daniel S. Bennett, of Com- pany F, was detailed as acting inspector of rifle practice for the regiment, but no practice was held until 1881 on account of the difficulty of se- curing a suitable rifle range. In 1880 a num- ber of citizens of Wilkes-Barre provided a suit- able trophy, a shield of value and beautiful ar- tistic design, to be awarded to the best drilled company in the regiment, and to be contested for anually. Interest in rifle practice lagged until 1887. when the legislature created the position of regimental inspector of rifle practice, to which position was appointed Sergeant Major C. Bow Dougherty, who was thus advanced to the rank of first lieutenant. In 1900 a first class rifle range, one of the best in the state, was laid out at a cost of $1,200, but was abandoned in 1893 on account of the danger to people living in its vicinity. In 1891 the regi- ment had qualified fifty-nine sharpshooters and 372 marksmen, a total of 431, and the member- ship made the high percentage of 93.3. In 1888 the regiment was first represented at the state rifle matches at Mount Gretna.

In 1880, on Decoration Day, the regiment (with the exception of Company D) assembled in Wilkes-Barre, and this was practically its first parade in that city. On that day it took posses-

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

sion of its first armory-the market house before referred to, and which had been leased for a term of years and refitted to suit its new purpose. In 1883 removal was made to a new armory-the old Atlantic Garden Hall on Northampton street. In 1885 the Officers' Association of the Ninth Regiment was formed, and entered upon the task of procuring funds for the building of an armory. In the following year a fair was in- augurated for this purpose, which resulted in net proceeds amounting to $30,513.20. The present armory site on South Main street was purchased at an outlay of $8,919.82. The building was completed in 1887, and was dedicated October 26, in the presence of Governor Beaver and a brilliant array of military men and civilians from all por- tions of the state. This was at the time the finest edifice of its kind in the state. The total cost, site included, amounted to $53,503.01, and the last of the outstanding indebtedness was liqui- dated June 24, 1905.

The principal interest attaching to the Ninth Regiment lies, however, in its active service, and its first effort was in the interest of humanity. Following the disastrous fire in Wilkes-Barre on August 9, 1890, the regiment guarded the city for three days and nights, protecting life and property against the miscreants who seek such an opportunity to pillage and work revenge.

In 1892 the regiment was arranging for its en- campment at Berwick when ( July Io) it was or- dered to move to the support of the sheriff of Al- legheny county at Homestead. "in order that peace might be maintained, and all persons pro- tected in their rights under the constitution and laws of the state." In this movement the Ninth Regiment made a record second to none other in the state, parading ninety-two per cent. of the regimental strength within six hours and twenty minutes after the receipt of the order, and leav- ing Wilkes-Barre at II. I. a. m. on July IIth. The regiment was on duty at Homestead for nine- teen days, and the lines were of necessity tightly drawn in the presence of open hostility on every side. That there were not many open conflicts in the face of the menacing attitude of the strik-

ers and their sympathizers is one of the marvels of that military occupancy. Tact, discretion and a strict observance of duty on the part of both officers and men prevailed against actual conflict.

Quick, forceful acts of courage upon the part of the provost guard suppressed outbreak, and convinced the reckless that there would be no trifling, and so well was this fact impressed that during the presence of the troops at Home- stead not one human life was sacrificed.

On the night of September 10, 1897, the regi- ment was suddenly ordered to Hazleton by Gov- ernor Hastings, to assist in quelling the riotous disturbances growing out of the labor troubles at Lattimer and other towns in the Lehigh region. That afternoon, September 10th, the sheriff of Luzerne county (James Martin) with a posse of sixty deputies had a clash with the strikers and twenty-five or thirty men were killed at Lattimer. The whole Third Brigade of the National Guard was that night ordered to Hazleton. The Ninth Regiment, on this occasion, answered the call to duty with a remarkable demonstration of their ability to mobilize quickly. Within four hours and twenty minutes after Governor Hastings had given his order to Colonel Dougherty, the regi- ment was entrained and on its way to Hazleton. The most flattering commentation from the press and the higher officers of the Guard was given to the regiment for its splendid and quick response on this occasion.

In 1898, at the outbreak of the war with Spain, the regiment comprised the following companies : Companies A, B, D and F at Wilkes-Barre; Companies C and H at Pittston ; Company E at Parsons; and Company I at Plymouth.

On April 26th Colonel Dougherty received from Gen. J. P. S. Gobin, commanding brigade, telegraphed orders to assemble the Ninth Regi- ment and proceed to Mount Gretna. At 9 o'clock p. m., next day the regiment left its armory, and arrived at the rendezvous next morning at 6 o'clock, in the midst of a blinding snow storm. On May 4th it was paraded to admit of its mem- bers declaring their intentions as to volunteering

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

for active service under the general government. The regiment at this time comprised the follow- ing companies :

Co. A, Wilkes-Barre, Capt. Henry R. Wil- liams ;

Co. B, Wilkes-Barre, Capt. Denison Stearns ; Co. C, Pittston, Capt. Erastus G. Gage ;

Co. D, Wilkes-Barre, Capt. Oliver H. Bell ; Co. E, Parsons, Capt. Darius L. Miers ;

Co. F, Wilkes-Barre, Capt. George S. Mc- Cleery ;

Co. H, Pittston, Capt. John T. Flannery ; Co. I, Plymouth, Capt. Harry W. Pierce.

These eight companies numbered 37 officers and 481 men. of whom 34 officers and 417 men volunteered for war service, and of these two officers and 61 men were rejected on account of physical disability. Company F volunteered to a man, and all of Company I save one. The total number mustered into the service of the United States was 32 officers and 345 men. The field and staff officers were as follows: C. Bow Dougherty, colonel; George W. Wallace, lieu- tenant-colonel ; John S. Harding and Frank L. McKee, majors ; William Sharpe, adjutant ; Ed- mund N. Carpenter, quartermaster ; William G. Weaver and Charles H. Miner (sketch else- where), assistant surgeons; Walter De F. John- son, chaplain ; George F. Buss and Robert S. Mercur, battalion adjutants.

May 12th Colonel Dougherty reported to the adjutant-general of the army that his regiment had been properly mustered into the service of the United States, and next day he received tele- graphic orders to proceed to Chickamauga, Geor- gia. Delay in provision of transportation held the movement in abeyance until May 17, when the regiment took train in three sections, and reached its destination about noon on May 20th. It was at once assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division, First Army Corps. Shortly afterward Colonel Dougherty was given com- mand of the brigade and Lieutenant Colonel Wallace succeeded to the command of the regi- ment.

Under the second call of the President for

troops, the Ninth regiment recruited through its own officers an additional battalion, bringing its total strength up to 1.323 officers and men. The additional companies were as follows:

Co. G, Reading, Capt. Henry D. Green : Co. K, South Bethlehem, Capt. Henry Adams ; Co. L, Summit Hill, Capt. Robert S. Mercur ; Co. M, Towanda, Capt. Frank N. Moore.

From the day it went into camp at Chicka- mauga the regiment was busily employed under theoretical and practical instruction-in practice marching, outpost duty, battle maneuvres, pa- rades, inspections and reviews, and rifle practice. Through improper sanitary conditions there was much sickness, and Colonel Dougherty, through personal solicitation, procured an order to move to a new camping ground. Between July 2 and October 22 there were twenty-nine deaths. As Colonel Dougherty truthfully observed in his report : "These men gave up their lives for their country as truly as did they who fell at San Juan, El Caney and Santiago. Death came not upon the battlefield, it is true, but in the line of duty, in the service of their country, in a war for humanity, and they fell with the honor which comes to men who serve their country well."

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 29

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 988

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 988