John F. Hartranft
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John Frederick Hartranft (1830–1889) was a general during the American Civil War, and the governor of Pennsylvania from 1873 to 1879.
Early life and career
John F. Hartranft was born on December 16, 1830, in New Hanover Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He attended Marshall College in Virginia and received his degree in civil engineering in 1853 from Union College in Schenectady, New York. He briefly worked for the railroad. In 1854, he was appointed deputy sheriff of Montgomery County. That same year, he married Sallie Sebring. They would have seven children, but three would die in infancy.
Hartranft was active in the Norristown fire company and the local Freemason lodge. Hartranft was admitted to the bar in 1860, and rose to the rank of colonel in the county militia.
Civil War
In April of 1861, Hartranft raised a Montgomery County regiment of ninety-day volunteers in Norristown, serving as Colonel of the 4th Pennsylvania Militia. Their term of enlistment up, the regiment returned to Pennsylvania on the eve of the First Battle of Manassas, just as the firing began. Hartranft was humiliated by his men's decision to go home. He stayed to fight with the Army on July 21, 1861. This act earned him the Medal of Honor, volunteering his services to fellow Pennsylvanian William B. Franklin. His citation reads: "Voluntarily served as an aide and participated in the battle after expiration of his term of service, distinguishing himself in rallying several regiments which had been thrown into confusion."
Hartranft raised a 3-year regiment, the 51st Pennsylvania Volunteers, and became its colonel. They first served on the North Carolina coast in the Burnside Expedition. In July of 1862, Hartranft's men proceeded to Newport News, Virginia. His regiment fought at the Battle of Antietam, where he led its famous charge across "Burnside's Bridge." He also participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg. The 51st Pennsylvania was transferred to the Western Theater, where Hartranft saw action at the battles of Vicksburg, Campbell's Station, and Knoxville.
As a brigadier general, he commanded the 3rd Division of the IX Corps, participating in the fighting at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, as well as operations against Richmond and Petersburg. Hartranft was brevetted major general by General Ulysses Grant for having foiled Confederate General Robert E. Lee's last offensive at the Battle of Fort Stedman.
Postbellum activities
At the war's end, he was appointed a special provost marshal during the trial of those accused in Lincoln's assassination. Hartranft was noted for his kind treatment toward Mary Surratt, the first woman executed by the Federal government.
Hartranft switched party allegiances following the war and became a Republican, serving in former general John Geary's administration as Auditor General from 1867 to 1873 before being elected governor in 1872. He was a strong advocate of education, municipal reform, regulation of banking, improved industry and commerce, and the reorganization of the National Guard. He supported suffrage for African Americans, fought the corrupt Simon Cameron political machine, and championed the rights of the workingman.
During his administration, the revision of the Commonwealth's constitution was completed and ratified as the Constitution of 1873, which prohibited special and local legislation and changed the terms for members of the state legislature to two years instead of one, and state senators from three years to four.
He was the 5th commander-in-chief of the Union veterans’ organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, serving from 1875–77.
The United States became one hundred years old in 1876, and Hartranft saw that Pennsylvania led the way in the Centennial Celebration that was centered in Philadelphia's Fairmont Park.
At the Republican National Convention in June of 1876, he was a contender for the presidential nomination that eventually went to Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, who had served with Hartranft during the Civil War in the same army corps.
During his second term, economic depression and unemployment, following the industrial boom of the early 1870s, caused several serious civil disturbances, including the railroad strikes of 1877 and the incidents with the Molly Maguires in the anthracite coal regions. Hartranft called out the state militia and then Regular Army troops to maintain order. In Philadelphia, Reading and Pittsburgh, fires burned and eleven people died along the Schuylkill River before Federal troops restored the peace. Hartranft later proposed recognition of labor unions and arbitration of claims.
Concerned with the governor's precedent in calling out the militia to battle civilians in Pittsburgh, the District Attorney of Allegheny County tried to force Hartranft to appear before a grand jury to explain his rationale. The courts backed Hartranft when he refused to appear. Their ruling became known as the "Hartranft Decision".
Hartranft returned to his home in Montgomery County in 1879, where he accepted the position of Postmaster. He was subsequently appointed Port Collector for Philadelphia. He was also reappointed to command the Pennsylvania National Guard, which he had helped develop.
John Hartranft died in Norristown on October 17, 1889, and was buried in Montgomery Cemetery. The Pennsylvania National Guard later provided an obelisk for his grave.
Memorialization
An impressive equestrian statue next to the Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg honors Hartranft. Camp No. 15 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is named in his honor. Marble monuments at Petersburg and Vicksburg honor his Civil War service. An elementary school in Norristown is named for the governor. A residence hall at the University Park campus of Penn State is named after him.
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