and of the Cayuga County Savings Bank. He is a trustee of
Wells College at Aurora, and of course wears the bronze button
of the G. A. R. with the rosette of the Legion of Honor. Through
his descent from Colonel John Seward, his great grandfather,
he is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, and in New York
city he maintains membership in the Union League and Trans-
portation Clubs.
While always an active member of the Republican party, he
has held no political office, wherein it is safe to say that the
public has been the loser. In 1884 his friends pressed his
candidacy before the convention, but unsuccessfully, for the
gubernatorial nomination. Let us think that if he had been nomi-
nated he might have succeeded Grover Cleveland. In 1888 he
was an elector at large, and presided over the college which
cast its vote for Benjamin Harrison.
It is an interesting item for those who think that the sons
of well-to-do and noted men seldom have the spirit of self-help
themselves that, when eighteen years old, or in 18.57, when his
honored father was in the very zenith of his power, this the
youngest son chose to go to Albany and there to serve for two
years in a hardware store, thus acquiring a business training
to be had in no other way. Then as private secretary to his
father, at that time United States senator, he had an Invaluable
opportunity to form the acquaintance of prominent men in
Washington. .Vltogcther he had a good preparation for the
work he did during the war, especially for the mission to Lou-
isiana, in the early winter of 186.3, alluded to in the paper pre-
pared by Mrs. Seward.
The home life of a man is an excellent index to his character,
and General Seward's marriage in June, 1860, to Miss Janet M.
Watson of Auliurn has been an extremely happy one. With
the first child, Cornelia, or "Nellie," born the day before the
regiment left the city, the "boys" feel quite well acquainted,
for they dated their letters from her camp for some weeks. As
REV. CHARLES L. SHEKGUR,
Company F.
PERSONAL SKETCHES. 439
Mrs. Frederick I. Allen tliev might have some difficulty in rec-
ognizing her. Then, too, she must have changed some in the
intervening generation and more. There is another William H.
Seward, Jr., now, a lawyer and banker in Auburn. There is also
a younger daughter, Miss Frances Janet.
Retaining the old Seward homestead, where his father so long
dispensed free-hearted hospitality. General Seward maintains
the traditions of the family and the house, for the same goes
back of the governor and secretary, since it is a mansion built
by the distinguished lawyer and judge, Elijah Miller.
To the survivors of the regiment, the presence of the general
at their gatherings is always a pleasure. His words, though not
many, are carefully weighed and are ever listened to with ap-
proval. It is said that in manner of speech he much resembles
his noted father. Be this as it may, the men of the Ninth re-
member him for what he is and what he was. That at this
time, thirty-four and more years since the end of the war, our
colonel is still meeting with us, and likely to do so for years
to come, is a blessing for which all are grateful. Every veteran
grasps his hand with cordial greetings.
Charles L. Shergur. — The veteran who for a number of years
has been chaplain of the Ninth's association of survivors is a
Methodist preacher in the Wyoming Conference, and though the
rules of his denomination require him to live now here, now
there, his place of residence never disturbs for a moment the
thoroughness of his devotion to his old army friends.
When he was living down below the Pennsylvania line, he
came to the reunions just the same, and we may expect, as long
as the association continues and Comrade Shergur can raise
a dollar, just so long he will be on hand each recurring year.
Few if any men, among the survivors, have brighter recollec-
tions of the days rapidly becoming obscured in the lapse of time.
He came into Company F from Lansing, one of the small num-
ber that Tonijtkins county contributed to the regiment. Enter-
ing the company as private, he rose steadily till he was mus-
tered out as 1st sergeant; he also enjoys the honor of a brevet
2d lieutenancy for conspicuous bravery on the field.
His home now is Caton, Steuben county.
Frank A. Sinclair. — Veterans of the Ninth who go near Mott-
ville, Onondaga county, should look in on Captain Sinclair, who
has long conducted there a prosperous chair-making business.
410 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
He was born in 1834, a son of James Sinclair, who, a native of
Paisley, Scotland, 1804, came to this country and died in Skan-
eateles, 1892.
Mr. Sinclair began his business in 1859, and left it during
the war interval of 1862-'65, for he went out as a private in
Company I and came home the captain of L. On his return, he
resumed his business, and by dint of honest work and faithful
attention he has built up a reputation second to none. For su-
perior workmanship and quality of goods he possesses numerous
medals, diplomas, etc., awarded at many exhibitions.
In politics he is an out-and-out Prohibitionist. He is one of
four brothers who went into the service and all came out again.
James W. Snyder. — In all the labor of preparing this volume,
nothing has occasioned greater regret than the utter failure to
secure direct information from the last commander of the regi-
ment. There is no survivor of the Ninth who has not in his
heart the most kindly sentiments for the gallant officer who
always led to win success. It mattered not whether it was his
first or last fight; he went in like one born to rule. But his
"boys" have seen very little of him since war's din was over,
and for this their regret is all the greater.
He was born in the town of Wolcott, N. Y., in the Red Creek
portion thereof, and there resided till the war sent him to Wash-
ington. His career in the army the preceding pages have al-
ready told. Coming home in 1865, he remained in his native
county for a time and then went, possibly, to Buffalo, where
he engaged in the flour and grain business, and for a time was
a member of the Board of Aldermen, serving in this capacity
when Grover Cleveland was mayor of the city.
He was next heard of in Oklahoma, where he was treasurer
of the city of Guthrie. An attack of the "grippe" two years
since made sad inroads upon his strength, leaving a legacy of
rheumatism, and as the colonel is now turning seventy years
of age, he does not recuperate as he did in his younger days.
Irvin Squyer. — Many years have passed since the first cap-
tain of Company K went to his eternal home, but many of us
love to think of his heroic endurance and the grand record that
he made. His educational advantages were those of the district
school, and at an early age he began learning the millwright's
trade with his father, with whom he labored many years. One
of the jobs that they did in workmanlike manner was the put-
PERSONAL SKETCHES. 441
ting in of a wheel for the Auburn Woolen Mills, when it was
supposed that the mills would have to be shut down, but they
did not, for the night enabled the workmen to make all the nec-
essary changes, and the day work went on as usual.
He was working in a mill when the war epidemic overspread
the land and infected him and his neighbors. We are told that
the Ira infection came from a fervid address made in Hannibal
by Colonel D. C. Littlejohn, and we well know how eloquent
he could be on occasion. "It seemed as though every one was
beside himself that night, each saying to the other, 'I'll go if
you will." About 12 o'clock Sunday night there was a rap at
the door, and, when opened, there stood four of our best young
men, and one of them said, 'Irvin, if you will go as our captain
we will go to the war.' The horses were gotten out, and away
they went to the eastern part of the town. Tuesday thirty men
started for Auburn, returning Saturday. Sunday night the peo-
ple of the town presented the captain with a sword and belt,
and Monday all went back to Auburn, where in September they
were sworn into the service of the United States."
Mrs. Squyer was with her husband for some time in the de-
fenses, having very pleasant experiences in Forts Gaines, Mans-
field and others, but when the grand marching orders came she
had to return to the North. It was at Cold Harbor that the
captain received the wound which laid him off so long. Colonel
Seward had sent his orderly for a report, which the captain
made upon a piece of paper, not leaving the works; but the
man speedily returned saying the colonel wanted a report in
person. Captain Squyer rose and started, but had gone only a
few steps when he was hit by a sharpshooter, the ball badly
wounding the right shoulder. He was carried back on a
stretcher and when he reached the commander, he said, "Col-
onel, I am here for orders."
While his friends advised him to go to the hospital, he de-
termined to go home, and did so, reaching that blest spot wholly
unannounced. Let Mrs. S. tell how he was received: "I knew
nothing about his coming nor his wound till he stepped on the
veranda, looking like a ghost. He had on his fatigue coat, with
one sleeve empty. I could not get out of my chair, and when
I could speak it was to say only, 'Oh, Irv, where is your arm?'
He threw back his coat and said, 'Here it is,' having it in a
sling. He was put to bed and kept there for quite a while, and
442 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
I dressed his wound three times a day, from then till September,
when two large pieces of his flannel shirt were taken out with
three pieces of bones."
He started back to the regiment in October, and on his arrival
found a major's commission awaiting him, but be was not mus-
tered for several weeks. He was home on leave of absence when
I/incoln was assassinated, and, thinking the war practically
over, he resigned his commission May 17, 1865. Till his death,
April 16, 1879, he continued to reside in Ira. His widow, Mrs.
Ellen Squyer, resided for several years in her old home, but
latterly has made her home with her daughter in Athens,
Greene county, N. Y. The veterans of the Ninth remember
with pleasure the interest that Mrs. S. takes in the annual
gatherings of the men who were so long associated with her
husband. She holds the veteran soldier in the highest esteem.
Alfred E. Stacey. — He is a native of Elbridgc, where he
now resides. He was born Jan. 20, 1846, and through all his
life has been a citizen of this town. Not only has he been a
citizen in the ordinary sense of the word, he has been active,
energetic, straightforward, and always identified with the
town's best interests.
He was one of a family of seven children, all of whom were
reared in Elbridge, and all remained in the county except
James, who went in 1S67 to Missouri. As a school-boy Alfred
E. was educated in JIunro Collegiate Institute, under the
instruction of Prof. T. K. Wright, one of the foremost educators
of the country.
Upon quitting school at sixteen years of age, he accepted a
clerkship with A. Wood & Sons, general merchants in Elbridge.
After a service of two years in that capacity, he resigned, and
enlisted as a private in the 9th Heavy Artillery, serving till the
close of the war. He was the youngest member of his company,
and in point of size probably the smallest, as he then weighed
only 106 pounds. Three of his brothers were also his comrades
in the Civil War: Anthony in the 19th N. Y. Infantry, after-
wards changed to the .Sd Light .Vrtillery. after serving his term
of enlistment and being honorably discharged, re-enlisted in
Battery L, 9th Heavy Artillery, with George, a member of the
same company; and James, in the 1.5th N. Y. Engineers.
Alfred, Anthony and George were with Sheridan at Cedar
Creek, and afterwards with General Grant at Petersburg and
HON. ALFRED E. STACEY.
Company L.
PERSONAL SKETCHES. 443
Appomattox. As a result of this service at Cedar Creek, Mr.
Stacey received two gunshot wounds.
After his discharge from the army in 1865, he returned to El-
bridge, and again entered the Munro Collegiate Institute. While
Alfred E. Stacey has been active and successful in building up
and conducting his business affairs, he has also given much
valuable time and service in the interest of public affairs. Every
plan that has been on foot for the betterment of the town and
county has found him in hearty sympathy with its advance-
ment. As a result of his energy and regard for the best interests
of Elbridge. Mr. Stacey has built up the industries of the vil-
lage not only by increasing those of his own, but by inducing
other manufacturers to locate at that place.
In politics Mr. Stacey has always been an earnest, active Re-
publican, always zealous in its interests, and ever faithful to
the trusts that the party has imposed upon him. He has been
honored at home by having been chosen as president of the
village as well as its clerk for several terms. He has also been
its postmaster, and was instrumental during his term in
introducing the money-order system, and increasing its mail
service, thereby more than doubling the receipts of the office.
Few state or county conventions have been held in recent years
in which he did not represent his town as delegate.
In 1886 he was elected to represent the 2d Onondaga District
in the Assembly, and was reelected in 1887 by a majority of
nearly 600 over Hon. W. B. Kirk, after one of the hardest con-
tests on the part of his opponent that was ever waged in the
district. During his service as member he was successful in
securing the passage of the law which removed the necessity
of indigent soldiers or sailors of the Civil War applying to the
poormaster for aid, or being confined in the poorhouses of the
state. This equitable and just law is still in force in New York
state. Mr. Stacey was in the Assembly at the time Frank His-
cock was elected United States senator, and, like Grant's famous
"306," he was one of the eleven who stood firm and unwavering
till it resulted in his candidate's election. He served upon the
Committee on Railroads, and was also chairman of the Com-
mittee on Charitable and Religious Societies.
The Anthony Stacey Post, G. A. R., named in honor of his
brother, was organized through Mr. Stacey's efforts, and it was
through his influence it was located in Elbridge. Mr. Stacey
444 NINTH NBW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
has taken a deep interest in this organization. He is also a
prominent member of the Odd Fellows, in which lodge he has
occupied all the chairs; has been its noble grand, and elected
to represent the lodge in the state conyentions.
Nelson F. Strickland. — Company B's 1st lieutenant, at the
muster-in, was a native of Walworth, a son of one of the very
first settlers, born Nov. 14, 1815. In 1840 he moved to Adrian,
Mich., where for six years he was foreman in an iron-foundry.
Next he was on a farm in Adrian for three years; coming back
to Wayne county in 1853, he built a saw-mill in Lincoln, town
of Walworth, which he ran till 1857, when he returned to the
home farm, and was on that till 1862.
In 1865 he was instrumental in getting a post oflSce at Lin-
coln, and was made the first postmaster. He held this office
till 1872, when he again went back to the old farm where he
was born and where he died April 29, 1.S85.
Tn 1840. October 21, he was married to Miss Lodema Sherman
of East Palmyra, N. Y. He was a member of the Baptist
Church, and in 1879 was superintendent of the Lincoln PYee
Baptist Sunday-school.
Philip Sturge. — Lieutenant Sturge, long resident in Weeds-
port. N. Y., writes that, by the order of Major Snyder, com-
manding, lie was made adjutant Oct. 14, 1864; but served as
such only a few days, since he was severely wounded on the
19th day of October at Cedar Creek. He thus alludes to the
seemingly fatal wound received as above: "The ball entered in
front of the left ear, passed under and out between the large
cords in the back of the neck. Tiie later-day explanation of this
is that a Johnnie Reb gave it to me in the neck."
George W. Swift. — Now a clergyman, he is able to say that
during his enlistment he was never sick a day nor absent from
service once. Enlisting as private, he held non-commissioned
rank, and then was commissioned 2d and 1st lieutenant, for
some time commanding his company.
After the war, he continued his militant services, though not
with carnal weapons, since he is and has been for several years
pastor of the Baptist Church in Stockton, Cal.
Though very far removed from his former haunts, he retains
all his old-time interest in the Ninth.
Edward P. Taft. — The first major of the regiment was born
in Lyons Sept. 10, 1832, the son of Newell and Jane (Sterrett)
PERSONAL SKETCHES. 445
Taft. The fatlier was an early settler of Lyons, eominji thither
from Goshen, Mass., in 1816, and soon established an iron-
fonndry, the first in the county and one of the most successful
in the state. Possessed of great bodily vigor, he was a business
man for more than forty years, dying in 1874, having survived
his son. That he was of good New England lineage is evident
in the name that he gave this son, for Edward Payson, the
Portland (Maine) divine has had as many boys among Congre-
gationalists and Presbyterians named after him as John Wesley
ever had among the Methodists.
Possibly the father intended that his preacher-named son
should himself be a minister, since he sent him to the Mills
School in 8outh Williamstown and at Easthampton, Mass., to
be prepared for college. He entered Williams College in 1851.
having as classmates many men subsequently to achieve dis-
tinction, among them John J. Ingalls, to be. at a later date,
U. S. senator from Kansa.s, and James A. Garfield was in the
class immediately following. Ill health, however, compelled
him to leave college in 1853, but Williams, in recognition of his
services for the nation, later conferred upon him, in course, the
degree that he would have had could he have stayed to the end.
He entered business with his father and so continued till
September, 1862. when he threw himself into the plan of rais-
ing a new regiment in the district. His zeal and success in this
enterprise secured for him the position of major, and as such
he went with the regiment to the Capital. In the sequence of
events, he succeeded Lieutenant Colonel Seward in his rank,
and later was promoted to the colonelcy of the Ninth, though
he did no more active service with the regiment. In all that
makes the soldier, Colonel Taft excelled, and no one was earlier
than he upon the breastworks at Cold Harbor, cheering his men
to their deadly work. He was with us through the tedious
marching to Petersburg and on the excursion to Monocacy,
where, on the afternoon of the 9th of July, he rode his horse
into the thickest of the fray, and in the performance of duty
was wounded, so that he not only lost his leg, but his health
was permanently shattered.
At first borne to the hospital in Frederick, he suffered ampu-
tation of the wounded leg, but illness resulting from the same
he was never able to return to the regiment ; instead he served
in New York as a member of several courts-martial. Follow-
446 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
ing his discharge from the service in 1865 he was appointed U.
S. consul at San Juan del Sur, the Pacific seaport of the city of
Nicaragua, but fever incident to the climate soon seized his
already weakened body, and he was obliged to return, and in
his old home, Lyons, he died Jan. 30, 1867, still a young man.
His body rests in the beautiful cemetery of that village.
Colonel Taft was married Oct. 8, 1856, to Miss Josephine L.
Avery of Wateiville, N. Y., who with a son and two daughters
survived him. Mrs. Taft afterwards became Mrs. Medbury of
Ballston Spa. N. Y., where she now resides.
Our colonel did not survive the war long enough to have time
work in his face and figure the changes so noticeable among his
associates and followers who are alive to-day. He went to his
grave with all the indication of young manhood that we must
ever associate with the major and lieutenant colonel whom we
saw on parade, with whom we marched, and whose place in the
battle-line we vividly recall. With unblanched hair, his body
has been sleeping in Lyons burial-ground, though the leg shat-
tered in battle, years before with other and kindred clay, was
resolved into its elements, near the field where the wound was
received, which won for him in the college records the words,
"Pro patria mortuus est," or, "He died for country."
Frank Tallman. — In the slip of a boy who came down to the
defenses in the spring of 1864, no one would have thought there
was the future tireless statistician and painstaking secretary
of the regiment in the coming years, but such was the case.
He was born in Scipio a couple of years later than his enlist-
ment-paper would indicate, and though he was not large, when
the rebels gobbled him at Monocacy, he was smaller still when
he saw York state again after a winter's stay with the Johnnies.
Looking on his solid figure to-day it requires a stretch of imag-
ination as well as confidence in Frank's word to realize that
he was sent home weighing only seventy-eight pounds. Dan-
ville was not a good boarding-place.
For many years he labored at the paper-hanger's trade in
Auburn, but ill health has prevented his doing much in that
way recently. If, however, any one wishes an answer to a ques
tion concerning the Ninth, just drop Tallman a line.
Abram H. \'anderbilt. — Arcadia, whose chief village Is New-
ark, was not one of the towns contributing largely to the Ninth,
but some good men live there, and among them is Comrade
i
PERSONAL SKETCHES. 447
Vanderhilt, who is one of the regulars at reunions, and is the
president of the association in this current year, and his village
is to entertain the gathering.
The enterprise of the town is proverbial, and the very best
of meetings is expected.
Charles S. Warn. — Few regiments furnished more officers
for colored regiments than the Ninth, and one of the men thus
placed was Comrade Warn, who had been advanced from pri-
vate to 1st sergeant of Company D. He was a Newark boy,
one of the farmers' lads that Wayne county furnished in such
abundance, born there March 18, 1843.
Jan. 29, 18C5, he was ordered to report to the headquarters
of the l.?tli li. S. Colored Troops in Smithland, Ky.; served with
the same till the following November, when the regiment was
mustered out. He was offered a similar place in a regular
regiment then raising, but declined. He was recognized as an
excellent drill-master in both infantry and heavy artillery, and
an expert marksman.
With the exception of seven years spent in Port Huron, he has
lived in Capac, St. Clair county, Mich., of which he has been
county clerk for six years.
George E. Watson. — Lieutenant Watson was twenty-two
years old when he was mustered in as 1st lieutenant in 1864.
The most of his service was upon the staff of General Seward.
He resigned in June, 1865. Soon after the war he went to
Detroit, engaging there in the hardware business. Afterwards
he became the agent for the "Brush Estate Heirs" of that city,
discharging successfully his duties till failing health compelled
his return to Auburn, where, in his mother's house, he died Oct.
26, 1891.
Joseph Welling. — The first colonel of the regiment was a
resident of Lyons at the time of organization, actively engaged
in the practice of law. It is extremely unfortunate that more
specific data are not at hand concerning his early life, but dili-
gent search in several directions has been absolutely bootless.
Seemingly, those who might were unwilling to impart informa-
tion, and those whose dispositions were good had nothing to
give.
In an obituary notice appearing in a Lyons paper near the
date of his death, it is stated that he came to Lyons from Clyde
in the early fifties, and immediately became prominent in his
448 NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY AETILLERY.
profession. He was one of the prime movers in the resuscita-
tion of Humanity Lodge of Free Masons, and was its first sec-
retary. I-ater for eight terms he was the master. As stated
in the earlier pages of this volume, he had a very prominent
part in the formation of the 138th, and was always a popular
officer with the men. His age and long experience with men
gave him an excellent presence, and it would seem that the ac-