xiv, 521 p. plates, ports., facsim., front., pl. 23 cm.
Notes
Articles by various writers, relating to Curtin.
"Curtin was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He attended Bellefonte Academy and Dickinson College and the Dickinson School of Law and was employed as a lawyer. Curtin first entered politics in the 1840 election, where he campaigned for Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison. In 1855, Governor James Pollock appointed him as Superintendent of Public Schools. With the collapse of the Whigs, Curtin switched to the newly formed Republican Party and successfully ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 1860. Curtin won re-election to the office in 1863. In the 1860 presidential election, Curtin helped Abraham Lincoln win the Republican nomination. Curtin was a strong supporter of President Lincoln's policies in the Civil War, and Curtin committed Pennsylvania to the war effort. Curtin organized the Pennsylvania Reserves into combat units, and oversaw the construction of the first Union military camp for training militia. It opened in an agricultural school nearby Harrisburg as Camp Curtin on April 18, 1861, and more than 300,000 men were drilled there during 4 years. In the years that followed, Curtin became a close friend and confidant of Abraham Lincoln, visiting the White House several times in order to converse about the status of the war effort. Curtin was very active during the Gettysburg Campaign, working with Major General Darius N. Couch and Major Granville O. Haller to delay Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and prevent it from crossing the Susquehanna River. Major General George G. Meade, a Pennsylvania officer whom Curtin had recommended for brigadier general and command of one of the Pennsylvania reserve brigades in 1861, defeated Lee in the Battle of Gettysburg. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Governor Curtin was the principal force behind the establishment of the National Cemetery there. Through his agent, David Wills, Curtin procured the attendance of President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the cemetery. Governor Curtin was sitting with Lincoln on the platform on November 19, 1863, when Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. To coordinate Union war efforts, Curtin convened the Loyal War Governors' Conference on September 24 and 25, 1862, in Altoona. This event was one of his most significant contributions to the Union war effort. After the war, Curtin lost his party's Senate nomination to Simon Cameron, and was appointed Ambassador to Russia by President Ulysses S. Grant. Curtin later switched to the Democratic Party, and served as a Congressman from 1881 until 1887. He died at his birthplace of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and is buried there in Union Cemetery." [wikipedia]
Contents
Chapters: Andrew Gregg Curtin / Curtin and free schools / Curtin elected governor 1860 / Curtin's first administration / Curtin re-elected governor 1863 / Curtin's second term / Soldiers organized by Curtin / The Pennsylvania Reserves / Curtin and the soldiers' orphans / Curtin and the Altoona conference / Curtin's early war trials / Curtin's first military telegraph / Curtin's care of the soldiers / Curtin and the private soldiers / Curtin's personal attributes / Curtin and his home community / Curtin and the state credit / Curtin and Clement B Barclay / Curtin as minister to Russia / Curtin's gubernatorial battles / Curtin as a civil administrator / Curtin and Pennsylvania at the beginning of the war / Curtin in the constitutional convention / Curtin and the state flags / Curtin's funeral
Summary
The book is a collection of essays by various men who knew or worked with Governor Curtain. They describe aspects of his character and the challenges he faced.
