USA > Pennsylvania > Mifflin County > History of Mifflin County : its physical peculiarities, soil, climate, &c. ; including an early sketch of the state of Pennsylvania Volume I > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
The opening keys to him; And weary mortals sighing For sorrow and for sin, Pass through that gate in dying, And freely enter in.
Joshua Morrison.
Mr. Morrison is one of the natural products of Lewistown, and of Mifflin county, having been first brought to see day light here January 12, 1810. His grandfather lived in Cecil county, Mary- land, where he was one of the substantial citizens of that prosper- ous country. James Morrison, the father of the subject of this no- tice, came from Maryland to Lewistown, and died here in the year 1854, at the age of seventy-four years. His children were three in number, viz: Anna, William and Joshua, the latter being the only one now living. Born and raised in Lewistown he received, at his early day, only a common school education and graduated in the little antique, dilapidated old stone building, then used as a school house, and now standing, dilapidated with age, across the alley in the rear of his present residence. Like most town boys he acquired a mischieveous street education, and was ever alive for fun in all the varied departments of that comprehensive term. Among his experiencs we have obtained the following :
There resided in Lewistown, in his boyhood days, a feeble old widow lady in indigent circumstances who dreaded the approach of the rude blasts of winter and the diminutiveness of her wood pile. Joshua had heard of this, but kept prudently his own counsel, till a wealthy neighbor got a large boat load of fine, dry hickory wood down the Juniata and had it nicely piled for his winter's comfort near his residence. One "calm, stilly night " Joshua mustered a dozen or two of his muscular boy friends, each armed with a wheel- barrow, whose wheels ran on well-oiled journals, and when all na- ture was hushed in sweet repose in the gentle stillness of that au- tumn night, they transferred about six cords of the rich man's wood pile to the back yard of the indigent female without her knowledge or consent, and most certainly without his also. The old gentleman who lost the wood was one who rose with the lark, and the next morning, at a very early hour, discovered his loss, and during the forenoon his investigations proved to him that what was his loss was that old lady's gain. He had not the face to take the wood back, and he very abruptly remarked that he hoped now them
117
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
boys would chop her wood up for her. The boys acted on that sug- gestion and again assembled, armed with axes, and put her wood into fibres for her to her great joy and satisfation.
The business of Mr. Morrison has been blacksmithing, farming and'railroad building, and his mental and physical organism is to do with his might what his hands find to do.
His family consists of two daughters and two sons, viz : William I., and Elizabeth M., wife of Mr. Walters, then Henry F. and Ella McVey. His home is on Wayne street, between Market and Third, and is one of those pleasant homes of which Lewistown is so very justly noted, and is enlivened and made happy by a most intelli- gent and excellent helpmeet and their accomplished daughter. Mr. Morrison has had the experience in a greater or less degree of the early settlers. He remembers when Lewistown had no church edifice, and was a contractor on the erection of the first Presbyterian church, under the pastorship of the Rev. James Woods, whose services were held previously in the old court house. He also hanled the stone for the foundations of the Lewistown academy. Naturally some- what robust in constitution, both physically and mentally, he bids fair to be still represented in our census reports for several more decades.
Thomas Mayes.
Next in the programme of the substantial citizens of Lewistown, we note the gentleman named. His paternal ancestor, whose name he bears, was born in England, June 2, 1753, and his maternal an- cestor from Germany a few years later. They settled in Centre county, and were married in 1776, or 1777. Their son William was born December, 1778, George, 1781, Elizabeth, 1783, and others of their lineal descendants followed in 1797, 1798, &c. MICHAEL MAYES, a younger son of Thomas Mayes, senior, was born in Cen- tre county, August 14th, 1797, and died February 5th, 1841. He raised a family of four sons and three daughters, one of whom, Thomas, jr., is the subject of this notice. He removed to Lewis- town in 1841, and is still one of the permanent substantial citizens of this pleasant town. His aged mother, now seventy-nine years old, is still with him. He and his companion have had a family of seven children, five of whom are still living. His occupations have been not very numerous, but the practical ones of farming and hotel keeping have claimed his attention. His abundant means has enabled him to devote much of his time to leisure, and in serving
118
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
his township and school districts in unprofitable but necessary and important official positions in which all the substantial people of our county are called on to serve. Our personal acquaintance with Mr. Mayes is such, that it is with pleasure that we record him the pleas- ant, substantial, genial gentleman, kind and courteous to all, with a high sense of right and justice, and whose health and strength promises him yet to be long with us.
Judge Augustus Troxel,
Born June 24, 1812, came to Mifflin county in August, 1848. His . business was a hatter. Like all the rest of the inhabitants of this changeful world, Judge Troxel has seen some of its vicissitudes and changes. He married his third wife in 1852. Has four de- scendants, but two of whom are living, namely, a daughter in California, and a daughter in this city. One of the sons who died, was at sea, and was buried on the shores of San Juan de Ulua, in South America. The other son was a victim in rebellion, killed at Petersburgh, Va. The great-grandfather came from Switzer- land to Lehigh county, Pa., at an early date, with twelve sons, con- sequently contributed his full share towards settling this frontier country. The grandfather then took the part of a patriot in its defence, and served in the revolutionary army ; was at Valley Forge, and other important encounters. The father resided at Harrisburg, where he died in 1852, and the mother followed to "that bourne whence no traveler returns" the same year. Ably and well has Judge Troxel served the town and county of his adoption ; in ap- preciation of which his fellow citizens have in many cases said to him, "come up higher." He has been often called on to fill tho se lower, but no less important offices for schools, townships and county ; was jury commissioner and associate judge of court of common pleas. He is now getting on in years, enjoys fine health, and is one of the substantial citizens of Mifflin county.
Gen. Thomas F. McCoy.
In another part of this work we refer to this personal sketch of the life and services of Gen. McCoy, for data of the record of Mif- flin county in the Mexican war, in which he bore so honorable and conspicuous a part, hence this sketch will be more full and explicit on that special subject, in fact, to give a sketch of the part taken by Mifflin county in the Mexican war, and then a personal sketch
119
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
of Gen. McCoy, would only be a repetition of the same matter. Thomas F. McCoy was born in Mifflin county in 1819, was the youngest of nine children of John and Jane (Junkin) McCoy of Scotch-Irish lineage. At the breaking out of the war, having for seven years previous served in the militia, President Polk ap- pointed him first lieutenant in the Eleventh United States In- fantry, and with it he marched to the Rio Grande. He was sent with the column ordered to Vera Cruz, and thence into the interior. His first encounter with the enemy was at the National Bridge. He was afterwards engaged at Passa La Hoya, and in a reconnoi- sance at Contreras, conducted by Captain Robert E. Lee, then of Gen. Scott's staff. In the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino- del-Rey, Chapultepec, Garita San Cosme, and others, he took an ac- tive part, and was promoted to captain for gallantry. In the bloody battle of Molino-del-Rey, he found himself the ranking of- ficer, four of his superiors having fallen. Assuming command, he gathered up the thinned ranks of the regiment and led it to the close. Of his conduct here, Gen. Cadwalader says: " A reference to the official reports will show that his services were not over- looked by the late commanding officer of his regiment, Lieutenant- Colonel Graham, or after his death by his successor, Major Hunter, and that he is also named in high terms in my own report." In the civil history of Gen. McCoy, we find by the county records of Mifflin county, that he was for two successive terms prothon- otary of Mifflin county. After the expiration of an acceptable service in this position, he studied law with William J. Jacobs and D. W. Woods of Lewistown, and was admitted to the bar.
At the commencement of the rebellion he tendered his services to Governor Curtin, who, appreciating the value of his military ex- perience, appointed him, in April, 1861, Deputy Quartermaster- General of the State of Pennsylvania, and in conjunction with the late R. C. Hale, chief of the department, labored assiduously through all the earlier part of the war, in clothing and fitting the volunteers for the field. Upon the death of Colonel Thomas S. Zeigler, of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment, on the 16th of July, 1862, the line officers united in inviting Colonel McCoy to fill the vacaucy. His regiment was in Pope's army, and on taking the field, was at once engaged in the unfortunate campaign which culminated in the battle of Bull Run. Colonel McCoy joined it, and assumed active command on the 15th of August, near Cedar Mountain, and from that moment through the long three years of
120
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
battles and sieges, until the last battle was fought in front of, the Appomattox Court House, he was devoted and faithful in the dis- charge of his various duties. During this time he was fre- quently in command of a brigade. General Duryea commends him for " his gallant conduct in the various battles in the campaign of Virginia," and designates him as "an officer, cool and deliberate under fire, and subordinate and respectful in an eminent degree, commanding the confidence of his companions in arms." At Fredericksburgh he made a daring and successful charge, of which Colonel Root, then leading the brigade, in his official report spoke in high terms. No less important was his conduct at Chancellors- ville, holding the skirmish lines on the left of the army for two days and nights without relief. At Mine Run he was designated to lead the brigade in the charge upon the enemy's lines. He commanded the brigade on a perilous outpost duty at Mitchell's Station in 1864, with eminent caution and success. In the advance to the James, his regiment occupied an important position, covering the move- ment, and successfully repulsed an attack, when other troops gave way, which brought from General Crawford an expression of satis- faction " for holding effectually the position without support." At the Weldon Railroad Colonel McCoy was surrounded in a dense woods in which the battle was fought, and many of his officers and men were captured. Although repeatedly summoned to surrender he refused, and at the imminent risk of being shot down, he made his escape. In the hottest of the battle of Dabney's Mill, General Morrow, being dangerously wounded, turned the command of the brigade over to General McCoy, together with its flag which he had been carrying in the thickest of the fight. McCoy was not to be out-done in gallantry. He seized the proud emblem and bore it trinmphantly. " I was wounded," says General Morrow, "in the first day's fight, Colonel McCoy then assumed command, and I know his conduct through the whole engagement to have been gallant and skillful." Especially were Colonel McCoy's services appreciated in the battle of Five Forks, for which he was brevetted brigadier-general. He had the friendship, and 'high regard of General Baxter, with whom he served more than two years. "I wish to express," says that sturdy soldier, " my high regards and appreciation of the moral worth, and integrity of purpose that governed him in every action, and the promptness and ability with which his services have been rendered under all circumstances. In the camp, on long tedious marches, and on the battle field his.
121
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
duties have been performed with that decision and ability that cannot but render a command effective and reliable, which his has ever been."
Not less complimentary was the communication bestowed by Gen. G. K. Warren, who characterized him as "one of the most worthy officers of the corps." There was one merit due Gen. Mc- Coy quite as important as that of leading in the "imminent peril of the deadly breach." In the course of his correspondence he cas- nally remarks : "I feel sure that the highest type of a soldier is a citizen fighting the battles of his country." To model his com- mand after that type was his constant aim. To restrain hilarity and a tendency to riotous or immoral life in camp was often unpopular, and unless judiciously done, was likely to draw odium on him who attempted it, but the purity of life, and the seasonable and sensible way in which Gen. McCoy impressed his men and his associates with his own spirit commanded respect. After the close of the war he returned to his home at Lewistown, where he resumed the practice of his profession. He was married on 22d of May, 1873, to Miss Maggie E. Ross of Harrisburg. Having thus detailed his experiences in the rebellion, we proceed to compile a more explicit record of his experiences in the Mexican war, were his record and services were no less conspicuous.
The Wayne Guards.
The company in which Gen. McCoy went to Mexico in 1847 was Company D, Eleventh United States Infantry, and officered as fol- lows, viz :
Captain, Wm. H. Irving ; First Lieutenant, Thomas F. McCoy ;. Second Lieutenants, James Keenan, Thomas Walch, Charles Stout and Wm. H. Scott. These four last named died in the service .. Sergeants were James B. Alexander, John Maguigan, Joseph Dull, Isaac Signer, Michael Maginnis and Albert B. Kaufman. Cor- porals were Geo W. Soult, Wm. M. Coulter, Wm. Bogle, H. Wells, Peter Beaner, J. N. Ragar, John A. Bayard, and seventy-three pri- vates, principally from Mifflin county, though sixteen were from Centre county, and a few from Juniata and Huntingdon.
This company left Lewistown for the seat of war in Mexico, March 26, 1847. Twenty-five of the enlisted men were returned, having been killed or died of disease, and many that did return died of disease contracted in the service.
They served to the end of the war, and in addition to fights with.
122
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
guerillas on the march to Puebla, it participated in all the battles in the valley of Mexico, and in the capture of the city of Mexico. The company was raised and went out under Captain Irwin and Lieutenant McCoy, the former having been severely wounded at the battle of Molino-del-Rey, was returned to the states in the fall of 1847.
Lieutenant Scott is the only other officer named above that was with this company in the battles, the others having joined after the fighting was over. Lieutenant Keenan was Adjutant-General of the State under Governor Pollock. While holding that position Presi- dent Pierce appointed him United States Consul to Honolula, China, where he remained until the beginning of the rebellion, and re- turned with a view of engaging in the war on behalf of the Union. A few days after his arrival in New York he died.
Lieutenant Welch, partially disabled by a wound received in the battle of Buena Vista, engaged in the late wars, first as lieutenant- colonel of the Second regiment in the three-months' service, aud subsequently as colonel of the Forty-fifth regiment Pennsylvania volunteers. He was promoted to brigadier-general, and while in the Western army died of disease.
Lieutenant Stout was a captain in the late war for a short time, and is supposed to be also dead.
Lieutenant Scott was from Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was a ser- geant in Jeff. Davis' regiment in the battle of Buena Vista, in which he was wounded. He remained an officer of the old army, having engaged in a duel and killed a brother officer, he resigned and was next heard of in one of Walker's expeditions against Nicaragua, and was blown up in one of the vessels and believed to have died of his injuries.
Captain Irwin served in the late war as a colonel of the Seventh three-month regiment, and afterwards as colonel of the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania volunteers, and was afterwards brevetted brigadier- general.
Lieutenant McCoy engaged in the late war, and was colonel of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment to the close of the war, and rank as brevet brigadier-general. His kindly care for the soldiers is still gratefully remembered by the living, as well as the friends of the departed dead.
Corporal Bayard was from Bellefonte, and had been promoted to a lieutenancy in the Mexicau war, and in the rebellion served as a cavalry officer, and died soon after the war closed.
123
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
Corporal Soult served as captain in the late war in the One Hun- dreth and Forty-ninth regiment, and was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. He then became a resident of Lewistown.
Private B. F. Miller was a captain in the late war, and died in the service. A large number of privates were engaged in the late war, not a few of whom were killed or died. Amongst them Rob- ert Davis, William Cowden, J. N. Ragar. Many will recall vividly the scene in the M. E. Church in Lewistown the night before the company left for the seat of war, when the ladies presented each soldier with a pocket Bible, and the next when thousands of our people from town and county, and from neighboring counties, were assembled on the canal wharf to witness their departure. On the following day a similar scene took place at McVeytown. When the company returned, diminished one-third by the casualties of war, they were honored by a public reception and an entertainment in the court house by the ladies. The company was absent about a year and a half, and in that time had traveled about 8,000 miles in various ways, but not a mile by railroad, but 1,000 of which was on foot in Mexico, beneath a tropical sun.
Below we add the remarks of General McCoy at the reception above alluded to, in Lewistown:
" Your very kind words and the peculiar and very interesting as- sociations of this occasion have nearly deprived me of proper terms in which to express our sense of gratitude. Our hearts are full, our tongues almost mute.
"This deeply exciting, this all absorbing scene is indelibly stamped upon our hearts. A welcome so cordial, so hearty, universal and splendid has seldom been witnessed. It is with sensations of de- light and heartfelt gratitude, that I view so many of the patriotic people of Mifflin county present themselves with hearts swelled with gratitude and eyes dimmed with tears of joy, to do honor to that gallant band of soldiers now before you, to welcome them to their dear homes, their beloved friends and families. The god of battle has in his great goodness, mercifully preserved them through strange and wonderful scenes. He has thrown his protecting shield around them in singular vicissitudes, hardships and afflic- tions, emphatically in all the dangers of the land and sea, the bat- tle and the pestilence. Gratitude, deep and lasting I trust, is felt by every heart to Him who has thus magnified his goodness and power in their preservation. I am rejoiced in being enabled to say, that amidst the dangers and trying circumstances by which they
124
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
have been surrounded, they have ever presented the true and noble characteristics of American soldiers. Patriotic, brave and devoted, anxious to serve well this great and glorious country, of which they were proud to be the natives and defenders, and to which they return with hearts better fitted for appreciating her excellencies. They had a commander who dared to lead them into the thickest of the fight, and they dared to follow, and with that irresistible en- thusiasm, which has always distinguished our victorious troops in Mexico. But apart from the victorious impulse that impelled to the discharge of our duty, we had particular incentives to act well our part. We had generous noble friends who were observing our conduct and movements with an abiding confidence and fatherly interest. They were embalmed in our affections, and were ever present in our minds. That parting scene, when we were about to. leave you for the camp and the battle field, exhibited here and at Me Veytown, was a continued bright and happy recollection. This all-absorbing thought inspired us with strength in moments of weakness, and discouragement, and despondence ; gave encourage- ment in darkness and difficulties, and nerved us in the hour of con- fliet. This feeling possessed us like a living spirit. Rather would these gallant fellows have left their arms to wither on the plains and valleys in Mexico, than to have offended you by proving re- creant, and coming short of the high expectations you had formed of their courage and their gallantry. I regret that my closing words must be mingled with the shades of sorrow and of sadness. The only affection that is in the breast calculated to disturb the perfect delight of this happy occasion, is that ALL our beloved and gallant comrades are not with us to experience the joys of this welcome. Many (nearly one-third of our number) who left with us with high hopes and happy anticipations, and looked forward to an occasion like the present, are now resting far from country, from friends and home, beneath the clods of the valleys and plains of Mexico. Some of them fell fighting upon the battle field, others by the slower progress of disease. We mourn their fate, and sym- pathize with their friends, our consolation is, and it is a comfort that comrades and friends may have, that they died in the service of their country, a sacrifice upon her altar to aid in purchasing the great and enviable achievements which have shed a brighter lustre upon the American name. This remuant before you have re- turned, and live to-day to receive and rejoice in your congratulations.
.
125
HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY.
They feel grateful, very grateful for your kindness. They never can, they never will forget you. Accept the soldiers' gratitude."
At a soldiers' reunion, held at McVeytown, September, 1877, Gen- eral McCoy was called on for some remarks, from which we extract the following :
" LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND FELLOW-SOLDIERS :- I feel quite a deli- cacy in keeping you longer in this hall, but I have the pleasure to claim a nativity here. Years ago, before wars or rumors of wars came to disturb the peace and happiness of our people, I took my first lessons in the military art in marching through the streets of this beloved old town, then my home. I am sure we all feel happy over the fact that this is not a political or a partisan gathering, but one in which all can unite heartily in sentiment and purpose. It is a soldiers' meeting; soldiers of all the wars; soldiers who were loyal to the government, when that government was in peril ; those who rallied around and fought for the old flag of the Uniou, when that Union was in imminent danger of destruction from confeder- ate hands and rebel bayonets. We cannot have the pleasure of looking upon the face of the revolutionary hero. Time, with its rolling years, has deprived us of that pleasure, but we have so re- cently had the Centennial, with its inspirations, that we have a fresh view of the old glories of '76. We may have one or two veterans of the war of 1812 with us, and I know we have three or four (for I have seen their faces in this audience) of those who marched through a tropical sun from Vera Cruz to the halls of Montezumas, but all the rest of you come fresh from the marches, the sieges and the battle grounds of the late rebellion. Time rolls along very rapidly. If we survive a few years longer we shall all be old sol- diers. Just think of it. Sixteen years have rolled around since the war began. Twelve years have gone since its close. It is, therefore, high time for the soldiers of Mifflin county to have a grand re-union that they may look each other in the face again, to renew the old bonds of sacred friendship contracted on the march, in the camp and upon the battle field. I presume there are soldiers before me representing all the armies of the republic that fought in the rebellion, the armies of the North, East, West and the Gulf. Those who passed through the fiery ordeal of Vicksburg, who fought in the bloody struggles in the mountains of Tennessee, and in the series of battles ending in the capture of Atlanta, Georgia, and with Sherman through Georgia in his grand march to the sea. Then we have some who served in the army of the James. But above all
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.