USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical > Part 32
USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical > Part 32
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From Cumberland County .- William Armstrong, Michael Lougsdorf,
From other Counties .- George Swreted, Centre; J. Criswell, Mitdin ; Gen. E. Maillecca, Franklin; David Reese, York ; Capt. William P. Brudly. Clinton,-3.
From New Jersey .- Jesse Horton. Tutal, 50.
" July 4, I-UI .- A procession of citizens and "old soldiers" was formed, marcbel to the capitol, where the DerInration was read by James Mc- Cormick, Jr., and an oration delivered by Rev. Charles A. Hay. Dinner was prepared at Brant's Hall. James R. Boyd was chosen president. Rev. Willum R. De Witt, D.D., chaplain, and David Harris secretary. The deaths of Messis. Ree-, Wilenw, Isett, Taylor, Gallagher, Bu-sel, and Han Lin were announced.
July +, 1962 .- The day was celebrated on Independence Island, twenty being present. Charles Carsun was chosen president. The following resolution- were unanimously adopted :
" Readyed. That we. a few of the remaining soldiers of the warnd 1919. must cordia ly approve of the course pursued by his Excellency Andrew G. Cartin, Governor of Pennsylvania, in reference to the present war for the suppression of the wicked rebellion now racing au ain't the gov- ernment, and especially of his inerea-ing care for the ach and wounded of the soldiers from Pennsylvania.
" Resolved, That a committee of the association be appointed to pre- pere a memorial to the Pirate st of the P'ilted states that he may rec- ombread to Congres the passageof law Frasting pensions to the few surviving coldarts and the widow auf soldiers of the war of 1-12.
" Resolved, That some person be appointed to solicit the signatures of
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY.
the soldiers of the war of 1$12 in Dauphin and adjoining counties to offer their services to the Pre-wdeut of the United States to defend any particular point, believing that they could fight and not run away. and that they still beheve they are able to defend their country in her titne of need."
May 16, 1863 .- Twenty members of the association attended the recep- tion of the One Hundred and Twenty-sereuth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.
June 25, 1:63, -- In consequence of the rebel raid into our State the association resolved to form themselves into a military company for the protection of the city, and offer their services to the Governor. The fol- lowing officers were elected :
Cuptuin,-Charles Carson.
Firat Lieuten .1. Andrew Krause. Second Lieutenant -George Prince.
First Sergeant,-Dovid Harris.
July 4, 1563 .- The association met after parade and elected Samuel Holman president, with the other officers.
July 25, 1863 .- The "Old Home Guards" met at the court-house this morning The company was formed and marched to the capitol, where, after a complimentary address by Governor Curtin, was mustered out of service, and delivered their arms and accoutrements to the State an- thorities.
January 19, 1804 .- By invitation the association participated in the ceremonies att-uding the inauguration of Governor Curtin, thirteen members being present.
June 6, 1864 .- By invitation the association joined in the reception of the Pennsylvania Reserves.
July 4, 1864. - The day was celebrated by a dinner on Independence I-land, fifteen members present. The Declaration was read by John B. Cay. Dr. Joho Hvisely was chosen president, and the deaths during the year announced of Mes-rs. Himmelright, Holman, Shell, Ayres, and Brady.
July 4, 1865 .- The a-sociation met, seven members only present, and after the election of James R. Boyd, president, with the other officers, adjourned. This was the last general meeting, sav . to attend the funeral of their comrades, who one by one passed from off the stage of life.
CHAPTER XXI.
The Buckshot War-The Causes which Led to It-The Proclamation of the Governor-The Call to Arms-Proceedings in the Legislature.
AT the October election, 1838, David R. Porter, of Huntingdon County, the Democratie candidate, was chosen Governor of the State, after a hotly-contested political canvass, over Governor Joseph Ritner, the candidate of the Whigs and Anti-Masons, the major- ity for Porter being five thousand five hundred and four votes. Immediately upon the result of the elec- tion being made known, on the 15th of October, Thomas II. Barrow-, Secretary of the Commonwealth and chairman of the Anti-Masonic State Committee. issued a private circular " To the friends of Governor Ritner," calling upon them to demand an investiga- tion of the alleged trands committed at the polls, and advising them to " treat the election held on the 9th of October as if it had never taken place." This cir- enlar had the desired effect, and the defeated Anti- Masonic and Whig candidates for the Legislature in different parts of the State contested the seats of their successful Democratie competitors upon the slightest pretext.
Legislature met on the 4th of December, and the new Governor was not to be inaugurated nutil the 15th of January following, it being the first inauguration under the then new Constitution. As trouble was anticipated upon the assembling of the Legislature, a large number of excited people, especially from the di-triets in which contests were pending, flocked to Harrisburg to witness the result of the struggle. The House of Representatives then consisted of one hun- dred members. Of these, eight were from Philadel- phia, who-e seats were contested ; and of the remain- ing members, forty-eight were Democrats and forty- four Whigs and Anti-Masons. The majority of the Senate belonged to the latter party, and consequently promptly organized by the election of Charles B. Penrose as Speaker. The House met with all the contesting delegates present. The clerk read the names of those member- which had been handed to him by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Upou reaching the returns of Philadelphia County it was discovered that the legal returns had been with- held, and fraudulent ones, signed by only six of the seventeen return judges, substituted. This had been anticipated and provided against by the Democrats, who produced and had read the true return-, duly cer- tified by the prothonotary of Philadelphia. The read- ing of these returns and the seating of the two -et- of contesting delegates from Philadelphia County eansed the greatest excitement in the House, during which Thaddeus Stevens, then a member of the Legis- lature from Adains County, moved that that body pro- ceed to the election of a Speaker. The clerk then called the roll of Whig and Anti-Masonic members, and de- clared Thomas S. Cunningham, of Beaver County, elected Speaker. He was conducted to the Speaker's chair and took his seat. The Democrats paid very little attention to the movements of the opposition, and elected William Hopkins, of Washington County, as Speaker. Two members escorted Mr. Hopkins to the Speaker's platform, where Cunninghama had been already seated. It is said Col. Thomas B. MeElwee, of Bedford County, one of Hopkins' escorts, ordered Cunningham, in a peremptory mauner, to surrender the Speaker's chair to Hopkins, and he obeyed, taking another that stood near by on the platform. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives thus enjoyed a double-headed organization. The members of the House of each party were then sworn in by their re- spective officers. After qualifying all their member- and eleeting officers, and appointing a committee to wait tipon the Governor, and one to wait upon the Senate to inform them that the House was ready to proceed to business, both parties adjourned their re- spective bodies to meet the next day at ten o'clock. But the Cunningham party did not wait until the time appointed. In the afternoon they met again in the hall, and after their Speaker had called them to order, he requested Mr. Spackman, of Philadelphia
The election took place on the 9th of October, the . to act a- Speaker pro tem. Some Philadelphians beinz
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GENERAL HISTORY.
in the lobby of the hall as spectator-, and feeling very indignant at the proceedings of the Cunningham body, then went up to the platform and carried pro tem, Speaker Spackman off' and -et him down in the aisle. This interference from outsider- the Cunningham House had not the power to resent, and it imme- diately adjourned in confusion. It afterwards met in Matthew Wilson's hotel, now known as the Lochiel Hou-e.
During these exciting -cenes inside the State-Honse large crowds of people gathered outside the capitol who were more or less boisterous. Determined and desperate men were there on both sides, threats were made, defiance hurled back and forth, ind to the timid the aspect of affair- appeared alarming. On the night of the first day of the session a large public meeting was held in the court-house, over which Thomas Craig Miller. of Adams County, presided, with a number of vice-presidents. The meeting was addressed by Col. J. J. McCahan, E. A. Penniman, of Philadelphia, and George W. Barton, of Lancaster. A committee on resolutions was appointed, who re- ported the following, which were adopted :
" Resolved, That we recommend to the citizens generally to pursue a prudent and a calm course, awaiting the events of the day with that firminess which freemen in a free country have resolve I upon.
" Resolved, That ueither those in puwer, who endeavor to perpetuate their reign through unlawful and fraudulent returna, or citizen-soldiers, who have the same feelings and interest with us. will intimidate peuple resolved upon having their rights."
A committee was al-o appointed by the meeting to wait on Thoma- II. Burrowe -. Secretary of the Com- monwealth, and request of him forthwith to furnish the clerks of the Senate and House of Repre-enta- tives the full legal returns of the election. A Com- mittee of Safety, consisting of fifteen persons, was also appointed. About the time of the a -- embling of the meeting, Governor Ritner, acting under the advice of his political adviser-, Messrs. Stevens, Burrowes, and Penrose, issued the following procla- mation :
" Pennsylvania, st. .
" In the name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania, by Joseph Ritner, Governor of the said Commonwealth :
" A PROCLAMATION.
"WHEREAS, A lawless, infuriatet. armed mob from the counties of Philadelphia, Lancaster, Adamis, aud other places have assembled at the seat of guvernment, with the avowed object of disturbing, interrupting, and overawing the Legislature of this Commonwealth, and of prevent- ing its proper organization, and the peaceable and free discharge of its duties ;
" And whereas, The said mob have already, on this day, entered the Senate Chamber, and in an outrageous and violent tuinnner, by clamor- ing, shouting, aml threatening violence and death to score of the niem- hers of that body and other . theers of the government, And fin, diy, by reaching within the bar of the aznate Chamber, to defiance of every efort to restrain them, compelled the Senate to suspend business ;
" And whereus, They still remain here in torce, enconrige! by a person who is an officer of the Get. tal Government from Philade phia, and ato setting the law at open define, and roudering it unzale for the Legislative bonies to assetit le su the Capitol ;
"THEREFORE. This is to call upon the civil authority to exert theni - welves to restore order to the utmost of their power, and upon the militia force of the Commonwealth to hold themselves in instant readiness to
repair to the seat of government, and upon all good citizens to ail in curbing this lawless mob, aml in rrinstating the supremacy of the tiw. "Given under my hand atl the Great Seal of the State, at Harri-burg, this fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord obe [L. S.] thousand eight hundred and thirty. ight, and of the Con- monwealth the sixty-third.
" By the Governor . "THOMAS H. BURROWES, " Secretary of the Commonte. with." The State arsenal was taken possession of by a force in the interest of Governor Ritner, and large quantities of powder, cartridges, and other ammuni- tion taken there. Ritner's proclamation and call for troops and the seizure of the arsenal, filled the citi- zens of Harrisburg and the people who had assem- bled here with intense alarm. There had been no actual outbreak, but the situation now began to assume a grave aspect, and large numbers of people flocked into the city, attracted by curiosity, to par- ticipate in the impending struggle. As an offset to the Governor's proclamation, the sheriff of Dauphin County deemed it his duty to issue a counter proela- mation, in which he stated that at no time had there been any riotous proceedings upon the part of the people, nor any disturbance which rendered neces- sary his interposition as a civil officer to preserve the peace.
The excitement among the people continued to grow, aud a large erowd flocked to the arsenal, deter- mined to prevent the army and ammunition there stored from being seized by the Governor and his party for the purpose of -ubduing them. These cx- cited people would probably have captured the arse- nal if Maj. George Ford, of Lancaster, and Joseph Henderson, a committee appointed by the State au- thorities, had not appeared at this juncture before the Committee of Safety and made the following pledge for themselves and for those who sent them :
" That, as men of houor, no ordnance, arms, mutiskets, or ammunition should, by any order of the covernor, or any other authority whatever, be taken from the arsenal for the purpose of arning any forces that might collect in obedience to the proclamation of the Governor; and that if any use of them should so be made, they would hold themselves personally responsible for the consequences."
This pledge was satisfactory to the Committee of Safety, who believed that the only object of the people in making a demonstration upon the arsenal wa-, not to employ the public arms themselves, but, if possi- ble, to prevent their adversaries from making use of them.
At this time a large multitude had collected around the arsenal, having been attracted thither by the in- telligence that a quantity of ammunition had been taken there, and that their adversaries had stationed in the building a body of armed men as a rendezvous to subdue the people. The excitement had become tremendous, and for the purpose of acting in good faith on the part of the committee, ou motion of L. Kidder, it was
" Resulted, That a committee of three be appointed to go apil address the people, make known the pledge of Messis. Ford and Henderson, and urge theni quietly to disperse."
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY.
Whereupon L. Kidder, Gen. Adam Diller, and Lewis S. Coryell were appointed the said committee. who immediately retired to discharge their duties.
Afterward the above-mentioned committee, by L. Kidder, reported that they had successfully discharged the duties assigned to them, and that they had sev- erally addressed the people, who manifested every disposition to preserve the peace and to act on the defensive, and that the multitude had already quietly dispersed. The report was adopted.
On the 5th of December the Governor made a special requisition on Maj .- Gen. Robert Patter-on, commanding the First Division Pennsylvania Militia, for a force of troops sufficient to quell the "insur- rection," and march them immediately to the seat of government. Upon receiving orders, and before leaving Philadelphia, Gen. Patterson obtained from the United States Arsenal at Frankford a supply of ammunition, of which the following is an official in- ventory :
"Twelve thousand four hundred and eighty musket-ball and buck- shot cartridges, tou pistol cartridges, 400 priming tubes, 6% 6-pounder strapped shot, fixed; 132 6-pounder cannon-balls, 200 musket-flints, 100 pistol-Hints, 20 pounds slow-match.
" GEORGE D. RAMSEY, " Cupt. of Ord. "FRANKFORD ARSENAL, Dec. 7, 1538."
The regulation ammunition for the infantry then was buek-hot cartridges. which consisted of twelve bnekshot, each as good as a bullet. The headquarters of the Whig party during these troubles was the Shakespeare Hotel, on Locust Street, where Shake- speare Hall now stands. A report was cirenlated upon the streets that a number of men at this hotel were engaged in making buckshot cartridges to be used on the " mob." A watch was set to prevent these cart- ridges from being taken to the arsenal, and this watch intercepted a negro who had been employed to deliver them. He was compelled to surrender the cartridges, . which were distributed among those present, and some are yet preserved as mementoes of the "Buckshot war." From these incidents the name "Buckshot war" is derived.
About one hundred of the troops arrived on Satur- day night | December 8th; following, and obtained quarters in the court-hou-e; and at four o'clock P. M. the next day the main body, numbering about eight hundred, under the command of Maj .- Gen. Patterson and staff, arrived below town. and balted until com- munication could be had with the State authorities, which was effected in about an hour, when the troops entered the town, and, after marching through several of the streets, proceeded to the public ground in front of the State Arsenal, where they were divided off into detachment», who severally obtained quarters in the arsenal, the Exchange, where the United States post- office is now erected, the court-house, the Lancas- terian school-house on Walnut Street, and the Pres- byterian Church, on Second below Chestnut Streets.
Gen. Patterson's command to the seat of government, but on the 5th of December addressed a letter to Capt. E. V. Sumner, U.S.A., then in command of Carlisle Barracks, with a small body of United States dragoons, requesting him to march his troops to Har- risburg for the protection of the State authorities. To this appeal, and one made to him by Charles B. Penrose. Capt. Sumner replied that he did not deem it proper to interfere in the troubles then existing at Harrisburg, which appeared to him to proceed from political differences alone. On Friday, December 7th, Governor Ritner wrote to President Van Buren, laying before him a full account of the affair, and re- que-ted the President to take such measures as would protect the State against violence. In this commu- nieation the Governor stated that he had the day before made a formal application to Capt. E. V. Sumner for aid, inclosing a copy of his formal re- quest, together with a copy of Sumner's reply He also inelosed a copy of the proclamation he had is- sued, and a published statement of the facts connected with the riot in the Senate Chamber, signed by a majority of the Senators, and sworn to by the Speaker and other members of the Senate. He also deemed it proper to state to the President that the most active leaders of the "mob" were J. J. MeCahan, of the Philadelphia po-t-office; Charles F. Muench, a dep- uty marshal of the Middle District of Pennsylvania; and E. A. Penniman, said to be an officer of the cus- tom-house of Philadelphia. The President replied to this communication through Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War, declining to interpose until it ap- peared certain that convening the Legislature was impracticable.
The Governor's party, finding that Gen. Patterson refused to install them in power, and would obey only such orders as he regarded proper after the orders had been given him by the Governor, made a requisition on Samuel Alexander, major-general of the Eleventh Division of the State militia, a citizen of Carlisle, and an ultra Whig in politics. There were at this time three volunteer companies at Carlisle, mustering in all about ninety men, but only sixty-zeven par- ticipated in the Buckshot war. The Carlisle infantry was officered as follows : William S. Ramsey, captain ; Robert McCartney, first lieutenant ; George L. Mur- ray, second lieutenant; and Alexander S. Lyne. orderly sergeant. Carlisle Light Artillery : Capt .. E. M. Biddle; First Lient., William Porter ; Second Lieut .. Robert A. Noble. Washington Artillery. formerly the Marion Riflemen : Capt., William Crop; First Lieut., Alfred Creigh ; Orderly Sergt., Thomas B. Thompson. The battalion was in com- mand of Col. Willis Foulk, an ardent Democrat, who was ignored by Gen. Alexander. The troops received orders on December 15th to march to Harrisburg, and on the following morning embarked for the seat of war. On reaching the western side of the river they The Governor did not stop with the ordering of ! disembarked and marched across the wagon-bridge,
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GENERAL HISTORY.
breaking step to keep from jarring the structure. Gen. Patterson and his command had already taken their departure for Philadelphia when the troops from Carlisle reached Harrisburg. They marched into the city market, and thence to the arsenal, where they were quartered for a week. There was no actual ne- cessity for any troop- at any time during the cooting- ance of the dead-loek of the Legislature, for no dia- turbances occurred or were threatened that the eivil authorities could not have quelled. The appearance of armed troops, however, upon the streets, and close to the halls of legi-lation, only added to the excite- ment. It was estimated that there were in the bor- ough at this time " between thirty and fifty thou-a id strangers." When the Carlisle troops arrived the contest was approaching its end, and the soldier- re- garded their trip as a frolic, and enjoyed themselves.
On the 17th of December, Messrs. Butler and Stur- devant, of Luzerne County, and Montelius, of Union, three legally Whig members, abandoned their a-soci- ates and were sworn in as members of the Hopkins House, which gave it a legal quorum over and above the eight Democratic members from Philadelphia, whose right to seat- the " Rump House," as it was contemptuously called, disputed. Finally, on Tues- day evening, December 25th, a majority of the Sen- ate, finding that it was impossible to accomplish the designs of the revolutionists, by a vote of seventeen to sixteen, agreed that a committee should be ap- pointed to inform the Hopkins House that the Sen- ate was organized and ready to co-operate with it, which ended the difficulty.
In the Senate the troubles were of a more compli- cated character. There were contests for seats in this body from several senatorial districts. Upon the ' floor were members of the House, among them Thad- deus Stevens, of Adams, the leader of the " Stevens Rump Honse," and the Secretary of the Common- wealth, Thomas H. Burrowes, of Lancaster, who had gone there with the minority return .. In the lobbies at the rear of the Senate chamber was a dense crowd of spectators, composed of excited and enraged citi- zen-, some of whom were there out of curiosity and others with the determination of preventing the seat- ing of Hanna and Wagner, the illegally-returned senators from Philadelphia, either by the form pre- scribed by law or by intimidation. The spectators were noisy and demonstrative, and the sight of Ste- vens, Penrose, of Cumberland County, and Burrowes exerting themselves to exelnde senators legally enti- tled to their seats aroused the lookers-on to such an extent that threats of personal violence were indulged in. At last Speaker Penrose, unable to stem the eur- rent any longer, abandoned his post, and with Ste- vens and Burrowes escaped from a window in the rear of the Senate chamber, and under shelter of the night from the State-House inclosure. A paper pub- lighed at Harrisburg at this time states that " Mr. Penrose, the Federal Speaker of the Senate, in effect-
ing his retreat from the Senate chamber on the first day of the session, jumped out of a window twelve feet high, through three thorn-bushes, and over a seven-foot picket-fence."
In the midst of the excitement and turbulence it was impossible for the Senate to proceed with busi- ness, and after the Speaker abandoned his post, that body adjourned to meet the next day. When the hour arrived no quorum was present, -the Whig members being absent by agreement,-and of course the Senate was adjourned until the following day. and so on day after day until December 17th, when, as before stated, Messrs. Butler, Sturdevant, and Mon- teliu- left the Cunningham or Ritner branch of the House, and were sworn in a- members of the Demo- eratic Hou-e under Speaker Hopkins. This gave to the latter body a quorum of fifty-one members whose seats were not disputed. so that no legal obstacle could longer prevent the Senate from recognizing it as the legitimate House. Accordingly, on the 27th of December, in the Senate, Mr. Miehler, of Northamp- ton, submitted the following preamble and resolution, which, after various fruitless attempt- to amend, were adopted by a vote of seventeen yeas and sixteen nays :
" WHEREAS, Difficulties have arisen in the organization of the House of Representatives, aud two bodies have for some time hven iu existeacc, each clanning to be the regularly constituted House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, but neither having had a constitutional quorum of members whose seats were regularly returned, and neither has yet been fully recognized by the senate ;
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