USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
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This post, which meets the first and third Thursday of each month, has twenty-seven members, and has lost two by death since its organization.
Colonel D. S. Porter Post, No. 434, G. A. R., Department of Pennsylva- nia, called for a brave soldier of Indiana county, was mustered at Sprankle's Mills, in Oliver township, May 8, 1884, with the following officers: Com- mander, W. W. Perry ; senior vice-commander, F. W. Grove; junior vice- commander, T. L. Hall; adjutant, D. W. Smith; quartermaster, George Baughman ; surgeon, Philip Smathers ; chaplain, Henry Troutmore ; officer of the day, B. D. Blose ; officer of the guard, Samuel Haines; sergeant-major, Samuel Shilling ; quartermaster-sergeant, Peter Slagle.
The officers for 1887 are: Commander, George Baughman ; senior vice- commander, Andrew Alcorn ; junior vice-commander, Joseph Clontz ; adju- tant F. C. Eshbaugh; quartermaster, B. D. Blose ; surgeon, Alexander Mauk ; chaplain, J. C. Mauk; officer of the day, F. W. Grove; officer of the guard, H. Hinderleiter; sergeant-major, W. W. Perry; quartermaster-sergeant, Philip Smathers.
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This post meets on the second and fourth Saturday evenings in Seiler's Hall. The muster-in fee is three dollars, and the monthly dues for members is twenty-five cents. The benefit paid to sick comrades is three dollars per week. The post started with forty-seven charter members, and now has a membership of thirty-nine. Up to this date (1887) no deaths have occurred.
All these posts are in good working order and are doing much toward keep- ing green in the memories of the veterans the incidents, dangers and privations of camp, march, field, and hospital. The order which they represent since its first modest start in 1866, has grown to be one of the most influential organi- zations in the country. Its principles of fraternity, charity, and loyalty, met with a hearty response from the boys who wore the blue, and to-day the Grand Army of the Republic. has an organization of the rank and file of the Union Army of over 6,000 posts, with a membership exceeding 300,000.
SONS OF VETERANS.
Another organization that the late war has caused to spring up in the country, and which is becoming quite a large and well organized society, is the " Sons of Veterans." This order is composed of the sons of those brave men, who fought and won the battles that made this nation free. It should be kept up and encouraged, for in the years to come when the last soldier of the Grand Army has been " mustered out," the sons of veterans will have to take up some of the duties that now devolve upon the comrades of the Grand Army, one of which will be the beautiful ceremony of decorating the graves of " those dead heroes of ours."
There are now in Jefferson county six camps of this order, all being in good working order.
Captain R. R. Means, Camp No. 15, Western Pennsylvania Division, Sons of Veterans, mustered in October 31, 1883, with the following officers : Captain T. N. Humphreys ; first lieutenant, T. N. George; second lieutenant, D. D. Dunkleburg; chaplain, J. B. Whitchill; orderly sergeant, L. A. Thompson ; quartermaster-sergeant, H. G. Means.
Present officers .- Captain, John M. Van Vliet ; first, lieutenant, Archie J. McMurray; second lieutenant, A. H. Liebengood; chaplain, George W. Means ; orderly sergeant, A. S. Jackson ; quartermaster-sergeant, H. G. Means ; ser- geant of the guard, L. B. Long; corporal of the guard, I. L. Jones ; camp guard, W. D. Sager ; picket guard, Harry Harp. Number of members thirty- nine. One death, William H. Clark, died March, 1884.
Lambert Camp, No. 15, Western Pennsylvania Division, Sons of Veterans, was mustered at Punxsutawney, March 6, 1884, with the following officers : Captain, Grant Ramey ; first lieutenant, John D. Evans ; second lieutenant, Ed- win A. Murray; chaplain, Joseph M. Hughes ; quartermaster, A. M. Mc- Quown; orderly sergeant, Linn B. Hughes; sergeant of guard, James Spen- cer ; corporal of guard, James Dinsmore ; color-bearer, William Rodgers.
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The officers of the camp for 1887 are: Captain George B. Stumph ; first lieutenant, Ed. A. Murray ; second lieutenant, Frederick Rodgers ; chaplain, Harry McConnell ; quartermaster, Linn B. Hughes ; orderly sergeant, Thomas C. Redding; sergeant of guard, (Samuel Gibson ; corporal of guard, James Young ; color-bearer, Harry Myers.
The camp is now called McClelland Camp, and the present number is 145. It has a membership of twenty members, and meets every Thursday evening in Grand Army Hall.
James McKillip Camp, No. 23, Division of Western Pennsylvania Sons of Veterans, was mustered at Corsica, March 22, 1884, with the following officers : Captain, H. C. Mathews ; first lieutenant, E. L. Baker ; second lieutenant, E. S. Armagost ; orderly sergeant, D. C. Cowan ; surgeon, H. T. Baker ; chaplain, W. J. Cowan ; quartermaster, S. J. T. Luther ; sergeant of guard, G. N. Mc- Millen ; camp council, E. L. Baker, N. G. Beatty, Joseph Armagost.
The officers for 1887 are : Captain, E. L. Baker : first lieutenant, W. J. Ev- ans; second lieutenant, R. M. Stahlman ; orderly sergeant, R. E. McKee ; quartermaster-sergeant, H. T. Baker ; chaplain, D. C. Cowan ; surgeon, -; sergeant of guard, John T. Luther; corporal of the guard, C. E. Mathews; camp guard, W. J. Cowan.
This camp was originally numbered 21, but on the consolidation of divi- sions became 23. It numbers twenty-two members, and the stated business meetings are held on the first and third Saturday evenings of each month.
General Phil. Kearney Camp, No. 36, Western Division of Pennsylvania, Sons of Veterans, was mustered at Reynoldsville, August 18, 1884, with the following officers : Captain, H. J. Cartin ; first lieutenant, J. C. Dillman ; sec- ond lieutenant, H. A. Stoke ; chaplain, C. A. Stephenson ; camp council, C. H. Stephenson, W. H. Ford, Wilbur Dillman ; first sergeant, Robert S. Lytle ; quartermaster-sergeant, John Conser ; sergeant of the guard, Louis Ford ; cor- poral of the guard, E. E. Watson ; camp guard, Charles Epler ; picket guard, M. C. Ferrier.
The officers for 1887 are ; Captain, B. E. Hover ; first lieutenant, George Kline; second lieutenant, S. E. Carl; camp council, H. G. Lewis, George Roller, George Kline ; first sergeant, Robert S. Lytle; quartermaster-sergeant, Joseph Roller chaplain, W. Z. Burris ; color-sergeant, C. Still ; sergeant of the guard, E. E. Watson ; corporal of the guard, John Howlett ; picket guard, George Roller.
The camp meets every Thursday evening in Grand Army Hall, and has twenty-five members in good standing.
Captain Charles McLain, Camp, No. 16, Sons of Veterans, was organized at Brockwayville, on May 14, 1884, with the following officers : Captain, O. A. Sibley ; first lieutenant, J. E. Frost ; second lieutenant, C. L. Foust ; chaplain, A. H. Lemmon ; orderly sergeant, J. P. Keys color sergeant, U. S. Grant ;
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quartermaster, R. W. Adams; sergeant of the guard, F. A. Callen ; corporal of the guard, W. J. Britton ; camp guard, C. T. Felt.
The camp was reorganized on December 3, 1885, and is now known as General Custer Camp, No. 47, and has twenty-five members in good standing. Thursday evening of each week is the time of holding stated meetings, and its officers for 1887 are as follows: Captain, J. P. Keys; first lieutenant, A. H. Lemmon; second lieutenant, C. T. Felt ; chaplain, L. C. Levis ; first sergeant, O. A. Sibley ; color sergeant, F. W. Lemmon ; quartermaster, W. J. Britton ; sergeant of guard, Charles Felt ; corporal of guard, L. E. Andrews; camp guard, M. C. Myers.
One of the most prominent members of the Sons of Veterans in Jefferson county, as well as in the order at large, is the captain of General Custer Camp, John Patterson Keys, of Brockwayville. Although only twenty years of age, having been born May 13, 1867-the day when Jeff. Davis was taken to Rich- mond on a writ of habeas corpus-he has already been honored by his division in being elected a delegate to the grand division, the national body of the order.
The Camp Fire published at Portsmouth, Ohio, says of him :
" He derives his right to membership from his father who was a member of Company C, Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers.
" He joined the Sons of Veterans as the second charter member of Camp No. 16, [opposition] which was mustered in on May 14, 1884. At the time of muster he was appointed and became the first orderly sergeant, and he had no intention of taking any active part in the work of the order ; but it gained such a hold on his affections that he was very careful not to miss a meeting, and became one of the hardest and most ardent workers in the camp, so much so that he was elected as a delegate to represent the camp at the division en- campment held at South Bethlehem July 4, 1884.
"In December of the same year he was appointed assistant mustering officer by the colonel, and was elected captain of his camp, but resigned and was ap- pointed orderly sergeant for the ensuing year. Was elected again to represent his camp at the encampment held at Bellefonte, Pa., on the ISth day of Au- gust, 1885, at which time he was elected as a delegate to the grand division or national body. On September 2d, Sergeant Keys was appointed aid-de-camp on the staff of the colonel, to rank as lieutenant.
"Through the influence of Lieutenant Keys his camp severed its connection with the Philadelphia branch and was mustered into the national order on De- cember 3, 1885, as Camp 47, and he was again installed orderly sergeant for the third time. One day later he was appointed assistant inspector and com- missioned chief of staff of the West Pennsylvania Division.
" At the election of officers for 1886 he was unanimously elected captain, and re-elected in 1887.
"In June, 1886, he was re-appointed and commissioned chief of staff by 25
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Colonel Brockway, and the colonel could not possiby have made a better selec- tion. Captain Keys is well qualified in every particular to perform the duties of that honorable and dignified office. He has the honor of being the young- est division officer in Pennsylvania. He is also a member of the executive committee of the Northwestern Association Sons of Veterans. His only defeat for office occurred when his supporters brought him out for colonel of the divi- sion at the encampment held at Allegheny City, June 8, and 9, 1886.
"It is seen that he has held numerous offices in the order, but they have come unsought and undesired, and he has accepted them with a full sense of their duties, and the exactions they would make upon his business. But he never shirked a duty or allowed an opportunity to pass without rendering assistance to a camp, or event of interest to the order, when he felt that his action or presence would be of avail. In camp or division elections the various candidates seek his advice, influence, and support.
"May his efforts in life's labors be crowned with success, and may the world be as bright and happy in its intercourse with him as he has been with us."
WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS.
This order is an auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic. It was started by the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the soldiers, sailors and marines, the veterans who aided in putting down the rebellion, and other loyal women of the land who desired to aid the Grand Army in its work of charity towards the destitute soldiers and their widows and children. Its doors are open to all loyal women of good moral character, and who have never given aid to the enemies of the Union. It welcomes into its ranks the noble women who gave up all the comforts of home, to care for the sick and wounded sol- diers of the Union armies.
The Woman's Relief Corps is a helpmeet of the Grand Army, rendering assistance in caring for those who are in need, and a soldier or his family never appeals in vain for help; but the organization is a secret one, and the good work and relief given by the ladies is never divulged. The widow and the orphan have all their wants attended to quietly and lovingly without ostenta- tion.
These ladies teach their children patriotism, and love of country ; to main- tain true allegiance to the United States of America, and to discountenance treason. There is no desire to perpetuate a war feeling or hatred towards those who aided the rebellion, but to teach and encourage patriotism and the defense of the flag, wherever assailed, and, along with it, virtue, temperance, and truth, their crowning motto being fraternity, charity, and loyalty.
There are now three of these societies in Jefferson county.
Captain J. C. Dowling Women's Relief Corps was organized at Corsica, May 5, 1886, with thirty charter members. The first officers elected were :
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president, Mrs. N. Taylor ; senior vice-president, Mrs. J. Baker ; junior vice- president, Miss Lyde King; secretary, Mrs. K. Baker ; treasurer, Mrs. J. D. Orr; chaplain, Mrs. H. Smith; guard, Miss Carrie Jones; conductor, Miss Laura Orcutt.
The following officers were elected for 1887: President, Mrs. J. D. Orr; senior vice-president, Mr. A. P. Simpkins; junior vice-president, Mrs. A. Knabb; secretary, Miss Mande Shultz; treasurer, Mrs. J. Mccullough ; chap- lain, Mrs. A. Shirey ; guard, Miss Ollie Mckinley ; conductor, Miss Jennie Baker.
E. R. Brady Woman's Relief Corps, No. 74, was organized by Mrs. Anna Wittenmeyer, of Philadelphia, at Brookville, February 25, 1887, with the following officers: President, Mrs. Annie M. Garrison ; senior vice-president, Mrs. Marie Bishop; junior vice-president, Mrs. S. J. Thompson ; secretary, Mrs. Jennie Pinney ; chaplain, Mrs. Ella Henderson ; treasurer, Mrs. D. E. Taylor; conductor, Mrs. Virginia Blood ; assistant conductor, Mrs. M. E. Steel ; guard, Miss Eva Andrews; assistant guard, Miss Minnie Ewing. This corps meets in Grand Army Hall, the first and third Saturdays of each month.
John C. Conser Woman's Relief Corps, No. 75, was organized at Reynolds- ville, March 18, 1887, with twelve members. The installing officer was Mrs. Cowles, of Foxburg, Pa. The following officers were elected : President, Mrs. Anna J. Montgomery ; senior vice-president, Mrs. Julia A. Reynolds; junior vice-president, Mrs. Ann Gibson ; chaplain, Mrs. M. D. Scott; secretary, Miss Elenore Reed; treasurer, Miss Emma Cartin ; conductor, Miss Nevada Foust ; guard, Miss Clara Foust ; assistant guard, Miss Minnie Beers. The corps meets in Grand Army Hall, on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.
SOLDIERS' ORPHANS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
No prouder scheme was ever formed than that which adopted as the "wards of the Commonwealth," the children of Pennsylvania soldiers, made orphans by the war, and for which almost the entire credit is due to Andrew G. Curtin.
On Thanksgiving morning, November 26, 1863, two children called at the executive mansion, in Harrisburg, and asked for bread. Fortunately, they were met by the governor himself, and, in reply to his questioning, the little waifs informed him that their father had been killed in battle; that their mother had since died, and they had no one to care for them. This artless story appealed at once to the heart of Governor Curtin, and all through the ser- vices of the morning it kept before him, and as soon as he again found himself at home, with his family, he burst forth: "Great God, is it possible that the people of Pennsylvania can feast this day, while the children of her soldiers who have fallen in this war, beg bread from door to door ?"
From that moment he never, for a moment, lost sight of this problem- how to care for these orphan children of the State.
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After the failure of our arms on the Peninsula in 1862, the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad tendered to Governor Curtin fifty thousand dollars, for the organization and equipment of troops ; but this offer he had to decline at the time, as no disbursement could be made of the sum for the State, with- out legislative action. When the scheme for the gathering in and educating of the orphans of our dead soldiers took possession of his mind, he requested the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad to allow this sum to be paid into the State treasury, for the purpose of creating a fund, to be used for the main- tenance and educating of destitute soldiers' orphans. The company finally agreed to allow the money to be thus appropriated, and no one but will allow that this was a purely unselfish act, for while the original purpose of the offer, to use it in equipping soldiers for use in time of danger, was a means of pro- tecting their own property, giving money to aid the helpless orphans would not advance or protect the interests of their road.
Governor Curtin now turned his attention to the Legislature, without which he could do nothing, and in his annual message of January, 1864, he brought to the attention of that body the project he had in view, as follows : " I commend to the prompt attention of the Legislature the subject of the relief of the poor orphans of our soldiers, who have given, or shall give, their lives to the country during this crisis. In my opinion their maintenance and education should be provided for by the State. Failing other natural friends of ability to provide for them, they should be honorably received and fostered as children of the Commonwealth. The $50,000 heretofore given by the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, referred to in my last message, is still unappro- priated ; and I recommend that this sum, with such other means as the Legislature may think fit, be applied to this end, in such manner as may be thought most expedient and effective. In anticipation of the adoption of a more perfect system, I recommend that provision be made for securing the admission of such children into existing educational establishments, to be there clothed, nurtured and educated, at the public expense. I make this recom- mendation earnestly, feeling assured that in so doing, I represent the wishes of the patriotic, the benevolent, and the good of the State."
The friends of the bill, framed in accordance with the suggestions and. wishes of Governor Curtin, failed to pass anything, during the Legislature of 1864, except the following, in regard to the donation of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company : "Be it enacted, etc .: That the governor of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania be, and is, hereby authorized to accept the sum of fifty thousand dollars, donated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, for the education and maintenance of orphan children of deceased soldiers and sailors, and appropriate the same in such manner as he may deem best calculated to accomplish the object designed by said donation ; the accounts of said disburse- ments to be settled in the usual manner, by the auditor-general and the gov- ernor, and make report of the same to the next Legislature."
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Calling to his aid the services of Professor Wickersham and Hon. Thomas H. Burrows, Governor Curtin began the work that resulted in the care and educating of so many orphans.
It was not until 1865, however, that the Legislature could agree on a bill, to carry out these wishes and suggestions of the governor. The plan met with much opposition, but finally the act which we give below became a law, by the Honse passing the bill, as amended by the Senate (which had stood by the governor all the way through), by a vote of sixty-four in its favor, and twenty- four against. We give the act in full :
" SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That there is hereby granted the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, ont of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the education and maintenance during the year 1865, of the destitute orphan children of the deceased soldiers and sailors from this State, in the service of the United States, during the existing rebellion, to be drawn on the warrant of the governor, as it shall be needed, and to be expended and ac- counted for in the manner directed by said act.
"SECTION 2. That the conveyances and transfers of the custody, care, and control of said orphans, till their arrival at the age of sixteen years, heretofore made, or hereafter to be made, to the State Superintendent of Soldiers' Or- phans' Schools, by their respective mothers, guardians, or next friends, and upon said orphans for all the purposes of education and maintenance, till their arrival at said age ; and that if said orphans abscond, or be withdrawn without his consent from the custody of the superintendent, or from the institution in which he shall place them, they, and all persons withdrawing and harboring them, shall thereupon be liable to the provisions of the Acts of Assembly re- lating to absconding apprentices.
"SECTION 3. That when any of said orphans shall arrive at the age of six- teen years, or sooner if deemed expedient, said superintendent shall, at the written request of said orphan, and of his or her mother, guardian, or next friend put or bind him or her out to such trade or employment, and to such master, mistress, or employer, as shall be thus requested, and for such terms as shall expire, if a male, at or before the age of twenty-one, and, if a female, at or before the age of eighteen years, in which indenture there shall be included such covenants for the further education of the orphan as said superintendent shall prescribe, and such apprenticeship shall be, in all other respects, not herein provided for, subject to the provisions of the Acts of Assembly relating to mas- ters and apprentices."
Governor Curtin during his entire term of office took the greatest interest in these orphan schools, which he soon had established on a firm basis, and the orphans ever found in him a firm, true friend.
Governor John W. Greary, who succeeded Governor Curtin, a veteran of the Mexican War, and of the Rebellion, warmly espoused the canse of the
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orphans. In his inaugural he said : " Among our most solemn obligations is the maintenance of the indigent widows, and the support and education of the orphan children of those noble men who fell in defence of the Union. I pledge myself to bear in mind the injunctions and wishes of the people, and if possible, to increase the efficiency of and multiply the benefits of the schools and institutions already so creditably established for the benefit of the orphans of our martyred heroes."
In January, 1873, Major-General John F. Hartranft was inaugurated Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania, and in him the soldiers' orphans found another devoted friend, who, as his first recognition of them, invited them to his inaugural, and eight hundred and nineteen boys from the different schools, were allowed to be present. In his official message he gave the subject of the orphans a con- spicuous place. "What prouder monument " said he, " could we erect to the Pennsylvanians who fell in battle, than to care for and educate their children ?"
Thus Pennsylvania was the first to gather in these children bequeathed to her care by the life-blood of their fathers, and she has nobly fulfilled her trust. Over ten thousand of these soldiers' orphans have been fed, clothed and edu- cated, and incalculable good has been done by this grand scheme of benefi- cence.
The Grand Army of the Republic has stood manfully by the orphans of their dead comrades, and it was through their efforts that an appropriation was made in 1872 by the Legislature of two thousand dollars to assist a limited number of the most worthy pupils who had completed their term in the or- phan schools, to further pursue their studies at the State Normal Schools.
In 1874 they gained another benefit for the children of soldiers, admitting the children of disabled soldiers born after the first day of January, 1866, into the soldiers' orphan schools, the previous act having excluded them. In IS75 a bill was drafted by Hon. Charles W. Graham, member from Allegheny City, which removed the limitation, and provided for the admission of the children of both deceased and disabled soldiers, without regard to date of birth. This bill was warmly opposed in the Legislature, but owing to the efforts of Mr. Graham and other members of the G. A. R., was finally passed.
The members of the Grand Army also had a constant watch over the in- stitutions in which the orphans are cared for, and it has been through their instrumentality that the abuses and corrupt management that have crept into some of them have been ferreted out and corrected.
From the statistics furnished us by superintendent E. E. Higbee, February 1, 1887, we find that the number of children admitted to soldiers' orphan schools since their organization, from Jefferson county, is two hundred and eighty-six ; number now in the schools, fifty-one; number admitted to Nor- mal Schools, eight.
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