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[[Image:Edward McPherson.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Edward McPherson]]
[[File:Edward McPherson.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Edward McPherson]]
<!--{{Distinguish|Edward G. McPherson}}-->
{{For|the [[Gettysburg Battlefield]] location associated with this person|McPherson Ridge}}
'''Edward McPherson''' (July 31, 1830 &ndash; December 14, 1895)<ref name=gravestone>{{Cite web |title=Edward McPherson [gravestone<nowiki>]</nowiki> |url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=6856454&PIpi=3292182 |format=User:Stonewall [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6856454 FindAGrave] image |accessdate=2011-11-01}}</ref> was a prominent [[Pennsylvania]] newspaperman, attorney, and [[United States Congressman]]. As a director of the [[Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association]], he effected efforts to protect portions of the [[Gettysburg Battlefield]].
'''Edward McPherson''' (July 31, 1830 &ndash; December 14, 1895)<ref name=gravestone>{{Cite web |title=Edward McPherson [gravestone<nowiki>]</nowiki> |url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=6856454&PIpi=3292182 |format=User:Stonewall [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6856454 FindAGrave] image |accessdate=2011-11-01}}</ref> was a [[Pennsylvania]] newspaper editor and politician who served 2 terms as a [[United States Congressman]]. As a director of the [[Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association]], he effected efforts to protect [[72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument |and mark]] portions of the [[Gettysburg Battlefield]].


[[File:TotalGettysburg McPhersonFarm.jpg|thumb|left|1863 [[Battle of Gettysburg]] combat on July 1 was at the barn on [[McPherson Ridge]], which had been named for McPherson by 1892.]]
==Early life and career==
==Early life and career==
McPherson was born in [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania]], and attended the common schools. He graduated from [[Gettysburg College|Pennsylvania College]] as [[valedictorian]] in 1848 and studied law and botany. After passing the bar exam, he joined the practice of [[Thaddeus Stevens]] in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] and came to share Stevens' political views as a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]. Falling ill, McPherson left the law practice and moved to [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], where he briefly edited the ''Harrisburg American'' in 1851. He returned to Lancaster to edit the ''Independent Whig'' from 1851&ndash;54, and the [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] ''Daily Times'' in 1855. He moved back to Gettysburg in 1856 and resumed his legal career. His father died in 1858 and willed him a large farm two miles west of town along the [[U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania|Chambersburg Turnpike]].
Born near [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg]], McPherson studied law and botany to graduate as 1948 [[Gettysburg College|Pennsylvania College]] [[valedictorian]]. In [[Thaddeus Stevens]]' firm in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], McPherson became a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]. McPherson left the law practice due to illness and moved to [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], editing the ''[[Harrisburg American]]'' in 1851, the Lancaster ''[[Independent Whig]]'' (1851-1854), and the Pittsburgh ''[[Daily Times]]'' (1855).<ref>{{Cite web |volume=M000591 |title=McPherson, Edward url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000591 |work=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]] |publisher=[[United States Congress|Congress.gov]] |date=2012-01-15}}</ref> He moved back to Gettysburg in 1856 and resumed his legal career. He inherited his father's farm west of town along the [[U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania|Chambersburg Turnpike]] in 1858.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}} and was elected to the [[Thirty-sixth United States Congress|36th]]and [[37th United States Congress]]es (1859-March 1863, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]). He was a member of the [[Republican National Committee]] in 1860.


==American Civil War==
That same year, McPherson was nominated to represent Pennsylvania's 17th District in the [[United States House of Representatives]]. He was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[Thirty-sixth United States Congress|Thirty-sixth]] and [[Thirty-seventh United States Congress|Thirty-seventh Congresses]], serving from 1859 through March 1863. He was a member of the [[Republican National Committee]] in 1860. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1862 to the [[Thirty-eighth United States Congress|Thirty-eighth Congress]] when his district was expanded to include [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Somerset County]], a moderate region opposed to McPherson's [[Radical Republican (USA)|Radical Republican]] views. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] appointed McPherson as [[Commissioner of Internal Revenue|Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue]] in 1863.
McPherson organized Company K of the First [[Pennsylvania Reserves]] at the beginning of the [[American Civil War]],[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_qtcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hlgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2496,3941573&dq=edward-mcpherson+gettysburg&hl=en] and was defeated in the 1862 reelection when his [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] district (Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, and Juniata counties)[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C0AmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JP8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5692,3491014&dq=edward-mcpherson+gettysburg&hl=en] was expanded to include opposing [[Radical Republican (USA)|Radical Republicans]] in [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Somerset County]]{{Citation needed|1 county of opposition of 5 does not seem to be enough to defeat|date=January 2012}} (substituted for Juniata).<ref>{{Dead link|date=January 2012}}{{Cite book |year=1886 |title=Part III, History of Adams County |work=History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania |url=http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/adams/bios/hoac/mcpherson-edward.txt |location=Chicago |publisher=Warner, Beers & Co. |pages=364-5}}</ref> President [[Abraham Lincoln]] appointed McPherson as [[Commissioner of Internal Revenue|Deputy Commissioner of Revenue]] in 1863. After the [[Battle of Gettysburg]], McPherson became an officer of the [[Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association]] with an office on the corner of Baltimore and Middle streets[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p_0lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qvIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2911%2C5380427] and after Congressman Morehead nominated him,[http://www.google.com/search?q=McPherson+Gettysburg&tbs=nws:1,ar:1&source=newspapers#q=McPherson+Gettysburg&hl=en&tbs=cdr:1,cd_max:1900,sbd:1&tbm=nws&ei=oHATT-bhM6iaiQLq9_y0DQ&start=50&sa=N&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=8d41aea12053c4fb&biw=1600&bih=737] [[Thaddeus Stevens]] had him appointed as [[Clerk of the House of Representatives]] (December 8, 1863-December 5, 1875).{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}

[[File:TotalGettysburg McPhersonFarm.jpg|thumb|McPherson's farm where heavy fighting took place on July 1, 1863<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.totalgettysburg.com |title=Battle of Gettysburg, Relive the Bloodiest Battle of Civil War |publisher=Totalgettysburg.com |date= |accessdate=2011-09-29}}</ref>]]

The [[Battle of Gettysburg]] ruined the crops and pastures of McPherson's [[tenant farmer]], John Slentz, and caused considerable damage to fences, buildings, property and supplies, for which McPherson was never compensated (McPherson sold the farm in 1868).{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}


==Postbellum career==
==Postbellum career==
⚫
McPherson presided over the [[Republican National Convention]] in 1876, and President [[Rutherford B. Hayes|Hayes]] appointed him as Director of the United States [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] (1877-8). Returning to the newspaper business, he was editor of the ''[[Philadelphia Press]]'' from 1877 until 1880. He also served as editor of the ''[[New York Tribune|New York Tribune Almanac]]'' from 1877&ndash;1895 and was editor and proprietor of a newspaper in Gettysburg from 1880 until 1895. He was the American editor of the ''[[Almanach de Gotha]]''. He again served as Clerk of the House of Representatives from December 1881 to December 1883 and for a third time from December 1889 to December 1891. McPherson was the attorney for the 1893 complaint against the [[Gettysburg Electric Railway]] which ended in the Supreme Court case of [[United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co.]]<ref name=Hensel>{{Citation |last=Hensel |first=W. U. |date=August 7, 1893 |title=Gettysburg Trolley: Attorney General Hensel Refuses to Interfere |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cP0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jAAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5866,2959653&dq=trolley+tax+gettysburg&hl=en |format=letter |accessdate=2011-05-24}}</ref>
Rep. Thaddeus Stevens used his considerable influence to have his protégé McPherson appointed as [[Clerk of the House of Representatives]], a position he held from December 8, 1863, to December 5, 1875. He authored a pair of books, ''Political History of the United States of America During the Great Rebellion'' (1864) and ''The Political History of the United States of America During the Period of Reconstruction'' (1871).


McPherson died of [[accidental poisoning]] in Gettysburg[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0E12FD355911738DDDAC0994DA415B8585F0D3] (interred [[Evergreen Cemetery (Adams County, Pennsylvania)]]) after being married to [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I0pAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dP8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6873%2C6060493 Annie D. Crawford McPherson] in 1862[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BE4mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G_8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7097%2C6810876] with four sons and a daughter: William L. McPherson.[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SXAmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SAAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6423,1352256&dq=edward-mcpherson+gettysburg&hl=en] The [[Edward Mcpherson Society]] is named in his honor.
⚫
McPherson presided over the [[Republican National Convention]] in 1876. President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] appointed him as Director of the United States [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] in 1877 and 1878. Returning to the newspaper business, he was editor of the ''[[Philadelphia Press]]'' from 1877 until 1880. He also served as editor of the ''[[New York Tribune|New York Tribune Almanac]]'' from 1877&ndash;1895 and was editor and proprietor of a newspaper in Gettysburg from 1880 until 1895. He was the American editor of the ''[[Almanach de Gotha]]''.


{{External media|
He again served as Clerk of the House of Representatives from December 1881 to December 1883 and for a third time from December 1889 to December 1891. He died four years later in Gettysburg, and was buried in [[Evergreen Cemetery (Gettysburg, PA)|Evergreen Cemetery]].
|image1=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C0AmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JP8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5692,3491014&dq=edward-mcpherson+gettysburg&hl=en 1866 Adams Sentinel portrait]

|image2=[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000591 1881 Harper's Weekly portrait]
He and his wife Annie Crawford McPherson were married in 1862 and had four sons and a daughter.
|image3=[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0E12FD355911738DDDAC0994DA415B8585F0D3 New York Times obituary]
}}
==Works==
In 1941, the papers of Edward McPherson were added to the [[Library of Congress]],[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XK1cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kVgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1809,5702763&dq=edward-mcpherson+gettysburg&hl=en] and his published works include:
*{{Cite book |last=McPherson |first=Edward |year=1864 |title=Political History of the United States of America During the [[American Civil War|Great Rebellion]]}}
*{{Cite book |last=----- |year=1871 |title=The Political History of the United States of America During the [[Reconstruction Era of the United States|Period of Reconstruction]]}}
*{{Citation |last=----- |date=September 12, 1889 |title=Remarks of Hon. Edward McPherson |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e1dAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ef8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4838%2C3006122 |format=speech |newspaper=The Star and Sentinel |accessdate=2012-01-15}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
* {{Cite book |last=Martin |first=David G. |year=2003 |title=Gettysburg July 1 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hK5kYSmGAXkC&lpg=PA650&ots=aI5t6zPXIa&dq=%22Gettysburg%20July%201%22%20martin&pg=PA584#v=onepage&q=McPherson&f=false |publisher=Combined Publishing |isbn=0-938289-81-0 |accessdate=2012-01-15}}{{Not in source|book does not contain info about Edward McPherson|date=January 2011}}
*{{CongBio|M000591}} Retrieved on 2009-04-11
* Martin, David G., ''Gettysburg July 1'', Combined Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-938289-81-0.
* [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/adams/bios/hoac/mcpherson-edward.txt History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886]
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mcpherson.html The Political Graveyard]


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Revision as of 19:50, 16 January 2012

Edward McPherson

Edward McPherson (July 31, 1830 – December 14, 1895)[1] was a Pennsylvania newspaper editor and politician who served 2 terms as a United States Congressman. As a director of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, he effected efforts to protect and mark portions of the Gettysburg Battlefield.

1863 Battle of Gettysburg combat on July 1 was at the barn on McPherson Ridge, which had been named for McPherson by 1892.

Early life and career

Born near Gettysburg, McPherson studied law and botany to graduate as 1948 Pennsylvania College valedictorian. In Thaddeus Stevens' firm in Lancaster, McPherson became a Whig. McPherson left the law practice due to illness and moved to Harrisburg, editing the Harrisburg American in 1851, the Lancaster Independent Whig (1851-1854), and the Pittsburgh Daily Times (1855).[2] He moved back to Gettysburg in 1856 and resumed his legal career. He inherited his father's farm west of town along the Chambersburg Turnpike in 1858.[citation needed] and was elected to the 36thand 37th United States Congresses (1859-March 1863, Republican). He was a member of the Republican National Committee in 1860.

American Civil War

McPherson organized Company K of the First Pennsylvania Reserves at the beginning of the American Civil War,[1] and was defeated in the 1862 reelection when his House of Representatives district (Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, and Juniata counties)[2] was expanded to include opposing Radical Republicans in Somerset County[citation needed] (substituted for Juniata).[3] President Abraham Lincoln appointed McPherson as Deputy Commissioner of Revenue in 1863. After the Battle of Gettysburg, McPherson became an officer of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association with an office on the corner of Baltimore and Middle streets[3] and after Congressman Morehead nominated him,[4] Thaddeus Stevens had him appointed as Clerk of the House of Representatives (December 8, 1863-December 5, 1875).[citation needed]

Postbellum career

McPherson presided over the Republican National Convention in 1876, and President Hayes appointed him as Director of the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing (1877-8). Returning to the newspaper business, he was editor of the Philadelphia Press from 1877 until 1880. He also served as editor of the New York Tribune Almanac from 1877–1895 and was editor and proprietor of a newspaper in Gettysburg from 1880 until 1895. He was the American editor of the Almanach de Gotha. He again served as Clerk of the House of Representatives from December 1881 to December 1883 and for a third time from December 1889 to December 1891. McPherson was the attorney for the 1893 complaint against the Gettysburg Electric Railway which ended in the Supreme Court case of United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co.[4]

McPherson died of accidental poisoning in Gettysburg[5] (interred Evergreen Cemetery (Adams County, Pennsylvania)) after being married to Annie D. Crawford McPherson in 1862[6] with four sons and a daughter: William L. McPherson.[7] The Edward Mcpherson Society is named in his honor.

External images
image icon 1866 Adams Sentinel portrait
image icon 1881 Harper's Weekly portrait
image icon New York Times obituary

Works

In 1941, the papers of Edward McPherson were added to the Library of Congress,[8] and his published works include:

  • McPherson, Edward (1864). Political History of the United States of America During the Great Rebellion.
  • ----- (1871). The Political History of the United States of America During the Period of Reconstruction. {{cite book}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
  • ----- (September 12, 1889), "Remarks of Hon. Edward McPherson" (speech), The Star and Sentinel, retrieved 2012-01-15 {{citation}}: |last= has numeric name (help)

References

  1. ^ "Edward McPherson [gravestone]" (User:Stonewall FindAGrave image). Retrieved 2011-11-01. {{cite web}}: External link in |format= (help)
  2. ^ "McPherson, Edward url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000591". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Congress.gov. 2012-01-15. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  3. ^ [dead link]Part III, History of Adams County. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. 1886. pp. 364–5. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Hensel, W. U. (August 7, 1893), Gettysburg Trolley: Attorney General Hensel Refuses to Interfere (letter), retrieved 2011-05-24
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district
1859 - 1863 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
1863–1875 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
1877 – 1878 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
1881–1883 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
1889–1891 		Succeeded by

Template:Persondata

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