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 9
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rebel army, in 1864, where the fighting was almost continuous for three days, he illustrated the highest qualities of the accomplisli- ed leader. During the three years of his service, he was engaged in over thirty battles and skirmishes, as regimental, brigade, or division commander, receiving frequent complimentary notices of his division commander and superior officers. He was honorably discharged at the conclusion of his term, General Gregg, saying in his farewell order, "To you, COLONEL TAYLOR, my thanks are dne for the efficient manner in which you have ever performed your duty." He was promoted to brevet brigadier-general in Angust, 1864. He is in person full six feet high and robust. He was married in 1863, to Miss Sallie H. Nourse. On the 9th of May, General Sheridan commenced his raid upon Richmond. At Childs- burgh the enemy made a vigorous attack. The regiment was supported by the 6th Ohio, as rear guard to the column. Finding that the pressure was becoming too strong, that a stand must be made, Colonel Taylor threw his regiment into line of battle, a battalion on each side of the road, and one in reserve. It was scarcely in position, when the 6th Ohio was broken and came in disorder through Taylor's forming ranks, closely followed by rebel cavalry, one of whom dashed forward, seized the colors, and de- manded a surrender of the regiment. But scarcely had he uttered the word, when he fell dead. The captain of the charging column fell, sword in hand, by a ball from Colonel Taylor's revolver. The charge of this advancing column, were all killed or wounded but two, and was followed by his advancing regiment. The organization of this first regiment took place at Harrisburg, Pa., under Governor Andrew G. Curtin. This was to be a reserve corps, a state force, . under the control of the Governor, to be held in readiness to meet any emergencies that might arise from the events of the war. The defeat of General McDowell, at Bull Run, July 21, 1861, occasion- ed just such an emergency. The regiment consisted of companies A, Captain Robison ; B, Captain Stadelman ; C, Captain John P. Taylor ; D, Captain Gile ; E, Captain Wolf; F, Captain Harper; G, Captain Gardner ; H, Captain J. B. Davidson; I, Captain McNulty ; K, Captain Boyce. Major R. J. Falls, in his official report of the action of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry, at Cedar Mountain, uses the most complimentary terms as to the action of companies A, B and C, the latter commanded by Captain Taylor. He says in his official report "Company C was commanded by LIEUTENANT MONITT, CAPTAIN TAYLOR being in command of a squadron, and
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Lieutenant William McEwing detached in command of Company A. After getting in front of the point designated, and being in column of fours, I immediately formed squadron, my command being already under fire. I moved forward at a rapid gait, until within fifty yards of the enemy's lines, which I found in great force and numbers, when I gave the command "Charge," when, with loud and terrific cheering, my command charged through their lines, cutting, and running down, and scattering them in every direction, cansing sad havoc and discomfiture in their ranks. "After charging back and re-forming, I found my command reduced from 164 rank and file, to 71, the remainder having been killed, wound- ed, or otherwise placed hors de combat, by their horses falling over those killed and wounded. Our little band there proving them- selves true sons of the old Keystone State." To set forth the valuable and inappreciable services of the subject of this sketch, would be to write a history of the PENNSYLVANIA RESERVE CAVALRY. We make the following extracts from Colonel Taylor's farewell order, August 31, 1864, and from his address to his com- rades: "Officers and soldiers of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry :- You have now experienced three years of terrible devas- tating war ; you are familiar with its toils, its hardships, and scenes of bloodshed. During this time, there has been no toil that your manly efforts have not overcome, no hardships that you have not courted for your country's sake no field of strife too terrible to prevent you flaunting your banner in the face of your traitorous foes, and in every instance you have borne it off in triumph. Many have been the fields on which you have distinguished your- selves by your personal valor. From your first victorious blood spilt at Dranesville, down to that more green in your memories, such as Haw's Shop, Todd's Tavern, Childsburgh, Barker's Mills, White House, St. Mary's Church, and last, but not least, upon the bloody summit .of Malvern Hill, are still sounding in your ears, and eternally engraven upon your hearts. But now you have reach- ed a goal worthy of your ambition, you have won for yourselves, your regiment and your state an envious reputation. * * * * Your military career has been a brave and a clear record in which you have acquitted yourselves like men. But the war is not ended yet. There are more battles to be fought, and more lives to be of- fered on the altar of liberty. For this end some of you will re- main here, and many more of you will soon be back to battle for a just and holy cause. But whenever you may answer the bugle's
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call, and upon whatever field you may strike the black shield of" rebellion, let the memory of your fallen comrades strengthen your arms, and encourage your hearts, ever mindful that you were once members of the FIRST PENNSYLVANIA RESERVE CAVALRY. May the God of battles and of mercy be your shield and protection.
"JOHN P. TAYLOR.
" Colonel Commanding Regiment."
After the above order was read to the regiment, Colonel Taylor made the following remarks :
" MY BRAVE COMRADES :- We stand to-day upon the threshold of an event, which, when we left our homes three years ago the most prophetic heart dared scarcely anticipate the scenes then rife in our midst. Such as the memory of an insulted flag upon Fort Sumpter,. which cast a gloom of shame over every true American heart, and the blood of brothers spilt in the streets of Baltimore, as it were, sprinkled over every loyal heart of the North. The rushing of men to arms, and our souls inspired by the spirit of our fathers, nerved us for action, and from homes of comfort, luxury and ease,. we rallied to the defense of our country. Another turn of the kaleidoscope found us marshalled beneath the proud ensign of our glorious republic. No longer separate and distinet in thought and action, but the firm resolve of the farmer, the willing hand of the laborer and mechanic, the shrewd energy of the merchant, the potent influence of the student, all suddenly into the trained and disciplined soldier, with hearts that beat as one. What were you then, and what you have since proven yourselves, you owe to the mighty impulses of your first great and noble commander, Col. George D. Bayard. Imbued with the influence of his mighty genius, you saw the star of his glory rising and shining brighter in the military sphere, and alas, too, to set before it had reached its zenith. Fol- lowing in his wake, ever ready to stand by you in the hour of dan- ger, to share with you your toils and your hardships, to cheer you on in your conflicts ; following strictly in the footsteps of his illus- trious predecessors, the champion of your rights and reputation, came your second colonel, Owen Jones.
" Officers and Soldiers : Through your esteem I had the honor to be your next commander, and as such, I deem it a high honor to- day to stand before the remnant of what was once a large regiment, to thank you for you esteem and willingness with which you have acceded to my every request, and complied to my every command, and for the manner you have so nobly and faithfully discharged
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your duty as soldiers. I believe I am the only officer now left of those who assembled at the call of the Governor, and witnessed the organization of the regiment in the presence of his staff, and heard it christened the First Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry, and it gives me pleasure to-day to think we can return to our native State, those colors intrusted to our care, tattered and torn though they be, without a tarnish or stain upon the reputation of the regiment. Officers and soldiers of the First Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry, you are the veterans of more than thirty engagements. Your ban- ner has proudly floated over almost every field on which this his- toric army has been engaged; the graves of your comrades are strewn from Gettysburg to James River. Your war paths may be traced by the blood of your fallen heroes, and by the strength of justice and the might of mercy, you have plumed your arms with honor and victory.
" Enlisted Veterans: When you re-enlisted my lips were sealed from encouraging you, because circumstances unavoidably rendered my remaining with you impossible. Let not our leaving discour- age you, but go on to greater deeds of valor. Be faithful and obe- dient, prompt and cheerful in duty as you always have been; a hopeful country awaits to crown yon, and we shall not forget you. We shall continue to breathe the desired hope and Christian prayer that you may soon be permitted to return to your homes, when the red-handed monster WAR, whose pestiferons breath blasts with with- ering death everything lovely on earth, may be banished from our distracted land, and peace, sweet peace, again returning, shed ever- more her heaven-born blessings on our fair Columbia's soil."
On the departure of this regiment from its division for home, Col. Taylor received from Gen. Gregg, the division commander, a most complimentary letter, from which we make the following ex- tracts:
"For nearly two years the First Penn'a Reserve Cavalry has been under my command, and now, at the end of its term of service, I can proudly say its record is without a blemish.
"They met death facing the foe; let them be properly remem- bered by those who survive. To you, Colonel, my thanks are due for the efficient manner in which you have always performed your duty, whether as regimental or brigade commander, you return home well satisfied that you have not failed in your duty, bearing with you the sincere friendship of myself and all your companions in arms."
While we might extend the military record of Col. Taylor to a
.
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more extended space with equal credit to himself and his regiment, we now note his home, his family, his accomplished companion, his farm, his flowers, his education, his books, paintings, music, &c., &c., and no better picture of home happiness need ever be found than is here presented. His fine stone mansion, ample in dimensions and durable as time, stands on the side of a beautiful elevation, of which the valley presents so many fine specimens. This home-picture, these picturesque surroundings, too, are the lands secured by both the maternal and the paternal ancestry of Mr. Taylor, renders them historically one of the most interesting surroundings of our county or State.
Bryant describes the undulations of the Western prairies, "Lo, they stretch in airy undulations far away, as if the ocean in his gen- tlest swell stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed and motion- less forever," but these undulations would be better described :
"As bounding billows first in motion, When the distant whirlwinds rise ; Like the tempest, troubled ocean, When the seas contend with seas."
The yard and garden are beautifully set and ornamented with shade trees and flowers, natives and exotics-not in large, inappro- priate quantities, but in tasteful numbers and most varied assort- ment that abundant means and a cultivated taste would suggest. There is no apology for a neglect to grow flowers, for they prosper equally by the rich man's mansion or the poor man's cot, on the mountain side unseen as in the public park.
We now refer to his ancestry. The great grandfather, ROBERT TAYLOR, resided at Pineford, Dauphin county, Penn'a. Was the father of Henry, William, Robert, John and Matthew.
Henry settled near Taylor's Mills, in Kishacoquillas Valley, and adjoining him on the east are the Hope and other properties to Cof- fee Run. Robert in Tuscarora Valley. John at this place, on Tea Creek, which was afterwards owned by Neal McManigle. Matthew joined him on the north. Robert sold out and went to Erie county, Pa., where his descendants now reside. John removed to Augusta county, Va. His descendants are still the substantial inhabitants of that county. The others, Henry and Matthew, died at their old homes. His maternal ancestry were descended from Neal McMani- gle, who emigrated from Donegal, Ireland, and settled in Big Val- ley, where Mr. Kyle now resides.
On January 26, 1861, at a meeting held at Reedsville, Col. Tay-
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lor offered a resolution offering the Governor of Pennsylvania troops, and Mifflin county had the honor of the first acceptance of its sol- diers for the defense of Washington, D. C. The first company re- porting for duty at Washington were the Logan Guards.
An interesting relic of antiquity shown the writer by Colonel Taylor, and found on his farm and ever to be preserved by him, is a teaspoon marked " WILLIAM PENN," found in 1871 ; on the ad- verse side from the name of William Penn is stamped the British crown and "Yates," the probable manufacturer's name ; the quality of the metal of which it is composed, is about equal to the common German silver. It is the lot of few of the inhabitants of this world to enjoy the health, home and surroundings of Colonel Tay- lor; but the enjoyment of these surroundings is dependent on the head and the heart of their possessor, for without these no surround- ings are a blessing, hence men are still the artificers of their own fortunes by that educated intelligence that is so conspicuously the boon of this nineteenth century. Since writing the above, we have come in possession of the following in reference to the characteris- tic turn of General Taylor's mind. This occurred at Sulphur Springs, October 31, 1863 : The General, with his men, were en- camped in a grove and the weather was becoming quite cool, and fire was needed for health, comfort and cooking, and some timber was cut to supply these ends. The proprictor of the grove, who was a rebel, came to General Taylor and requested him to order his men to desist from the use of his timber, that he valued it very highly; that this grove had been handed down to him from his great-great grandfather, and therefore he persisted that they should spare these trees. General Taylor reminded him that "he" was destroying a Government that was handed down in the same man- ner by our great-great ancestors, and politely begged him that he would not think it any disrespect to those ancestors that we should decline freezing to death just now, but would use the timber of the grove and save the Government. The argument and the compari- son were forcibly viewed and appreciated by those present. To General John P. Taylor and Captain Robert J. McNitt, belongs the honor, in a high degree, of leaving their valuable properties and homes for the hazards and dangers of camp life. In affluence and the enjoyments of these surroundings, all was relinquished for the vicissitudes of the march, the siege and the battle field. Can our country ever reward the sacrifices made by our soldiers ? Let us
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emulate their examples and deeds of honor with a proper appre -- ciation of their patriotism.
Captain Robert J. MeNitt.
It is with pleasure and propriety that we are able to introduce as our succeeding subject after Colonel Taylor, his worthy friend and comrade in arms, and present neighbor, whose name stands above, and who is also a descendant of one of the early pioneer families of Big Valley. There will always, through all time, attach an interest to the pioneer family which will never properly belong to those of a later date, as they laid the foundations of our social and material status, and coming generations can only modify and develop that which they by their energy and perseverance established. By their strong arms and determined will, were these primeval forests felled, and the undergrowths cleared away, and the virgin soil broken. By them were the cabin, the log school house, and the primitive and rude log church erected. Then the wheat, on the newly cleared fields, was sown by hand, " broadcast," and thrashed by the flail, reaped by the sickle, and stored in the loft of the rude cabin. Later emigrants make further and higher advancements in all these and proceed to further develop the embryo foundings of their pioneer ancestry. Now we look over the finely cultivated fields of wheat, corn, and clover, as they cover these beautiful undulations as far as eye can reach, and we see the farmer sowing his wheat and other small grains by means of the drill, and harvesting it with the header, or self-binding reaper, planting his corn with a check-row planter, and plowing it with a Black Hawk cultivator, or some. other modern improved plow. Now, instead of thrashing with the flail or tramping it out with horses, we see the steam engine on wheels near the barn door, and the most improved thrasher, separator and cleaner on the barn floor, thrashing the grain, clean- ing it and filling it into bags, while the straw is, by the same machine, thrown onto the stack below, or into the hay-mow for fu- ture use. Then you would see the farmer sowing his three or four acres broadcast, and harrowing it in with a brush, and furrowing his ground for corn with his two-horse plow, dropping it by hand, and covering it with a hoe, and sometimes plowing it with a forked sapling hitched to a " steer." He sowed his flax seed on "Good Friday " and in "the moon," and after pulling it laid it out to " rot," and then after "breaking" and "sentching " it by hand, it was turned over to the female department of the household to be " hack-
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eled " and spun and woven into cloth, to make up for the girls and boys for their summer wear. But to return to our subject. Cap- tain MoNitt was born in Kishacoquillas Valley, April 13, 1833, and had the usual experiences of the farmer boy of that day, namely, to work on the farm during the summer, and attend that most use- ful and by far the most valuable of all the educational institutions in the world, the common school, during three months in the winter, and here he graduated as has also some others of the most con- spicuous, able and talented in our Nation's history.
When the sound of war called the patriotic young men of coun- try from their home fireside and farms to the camp and tented field, Capt. McNitt was among the first to respond to the call, and en- listed to serve his country, April 11, 1861, in the State service, and then in the U. S. service, in August, 1861. His services were so conspicuous and abilities so much appreciated by his company that he was made captain in February, 1863. On June 21, 1864, was captured with others of the Pennsylvania Cavalry at White House, Virginia. Was-exchanged April 12, 1865, and was in the city of Washington on the night of President Lincoln's assassination.
Captain MeNitt had a most peculiar prison experience-first in Libby prison, then in Macon, then Savannah, Georgia, then in Charleston, South Carolina, then in Columbia, S. C., then to Ra- leigh, North Carolina, and then exchanged at Wilmington, North Carolina. His whole term of military service was four years.
To detail this term of conspicuous usefulness and service to his country would be to repeat here what we have detailed in the mili- tary service and experience of Captain Taylor in our last notice, :and as brevity is our object in this work, and to avoid repetition we refer the reader to the services there detailed, as our present sub- ject accompanied them in all their arduous work of the First Penn- sylvania Reserve Cavalry.
Captain McNitt was united in marriage to a daughter of Mr. John Naginey, also of the old pioneer settlers, of which see sketch in this work, and a most bright and interesting family of scions are spring- ing up, the light, joy and comfort of their beautiful and well-or- dered home. The home and splendid farm of Captain McNitt is beautifully located in the east end of Big Valley, with splendid views and picturesque scenery on every side, and at every point of the compass. On the north, fine farms, good improvements and the best possible cultivation is hemmed in by the mountain. On the east, high promontory peaks terminate a few miles distant that di-
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vide New Lancaster, Havice and the Treaster Valleys. And south hemming in the same rich farming perspective as on the north is Jack's Mountain, while on the west is the rich rolling undulations of Big Valley, for forty miles, including the towns of Milroy, Reeds- ville, Greenwood, Allenville, &c., &c., all bearing the fruits of one hundred and thirty to forty years cultivation and improvement.
The MeNitt Family.
Among the early pioneer families whose descendants continue to hold conspicuous positions in the affairs of our country are the family named above. Their ancestry were among the very first of the white pioneers of Kishacoquillas Valley, and located there some- where between the years 1752 and 1754, when only Brown and Reed were near Logan Spring, above the Narrows, and Alexanders further east in the same valley. Five brothers of the McNitts came together; their names were Robert, John, William, Alexan- der and James. They located lands to the amount of nearly four hundred acres, and received their titles direct from the British Government; and those lands in a greater part, and those old war- rants of title are yet in the hands of their descendants, the sub- stantial inhabitants and farmers of Kishacoquillas Valley, East End. The surveys of this early location include the property now known as the McDowell tract and the old McNitt homestead. After the location and survey of the above lands others were located and surveyed in the valley, and even mountain surveys were extensively made as early as 1767. The improvements first made were of course in the primitive style, and their successors have given place to the beautiful residences of the present day. The old home occu- pied by Robert Neely, who removed to near Tiffin, Ohio, in 1832, (and died soon after, and whose remains rest in a private burial ground north of that city,) is all gone but the old stone chimney, and near it an old orchard of seedling trees, perhaps over a hun- dred years old, and one of the first orchards in Big Valley. Alex- ander McNitt, a son of John, died in 1830. Brown McNitt, son of Alexander, is now a resident of the location just named. He mar- ried a lady from the State of Maine, and an interesting growing family enliven their beautiful home.
A young Robert McNitt, a cousin of Brown McNitt's father, Alexander, at the age of eight years, was captured by the Indians and carried to Canada, where he remained near three years. A lit- tle girl in the harvest field with him escaped, and he was taken
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prisoner from the top of the fence as he was making his way to his father. He was brought with a little girl prisoner from Canada to lower Pennsylvania by the father of the girl, who refused to return with her father unless the boy was brought along. Here his father heard of him and found him, though unable to speak the English language to any extent but he recognized his father's voice. He returned to his old home, was afterwards married, and a few months after was killed by the falling of a tree iu sight of the point where he was made prisoner when a boy. The girl with this boy in Can- ada was named Lee, from Chester county, Pennsylvania. On the boy's return, and arriving at years of maturity, he married Miss Jane Taylor, of the Taylor's referred to in former biographical sketches in this work, and a daughter of Henry Taylor, Senior. Five months after the death of McNitt, by the falling of the tree above noted, a daughter was born who became the wife of Robert. Milliken, an old and prominent resident of Mifflin county. In sketching the lives of the numerous old settlers of Mifflin county,. while their experiences were similar, they were still somewhat va- ried, still human life in the main has its similitudes that the general outlines are described in the following picture of
OUR LIFE.
Upon the summit of a hill whose sides sloped either way, A toilworn traveler musing stood upon a summer day. Behind him lay the path of life his weary feet had trod Before the dim declining way that to the future led. Upon his ear there rose a song of mingled wail and mirth, From memory's wonder-waking harp the music of the earth; And sights, and sounds, and dreaming things that evening shadows bring Up to the windows of the heart like birds upon the wing, A vision of his childhood's home, a group in alder grove,
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