Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-03-30
SENATOR NJ. s. QUAY.

. utTsOu D. anu ,dlIldrlile NhaileJ quay
He was educated at jefferson College,
where he graduated at the age of six
teen. After completing his course he
travelled in the South, but finally set
tied in Beaver rs a student at law,
where he was admitted to the bar In
1854. In 1856 he was appointed Pro-
thonotary of Beaver county, and in the
fall of the same year was elected to that
office by the people and reelected in
1859. When the tocsin of war was
sounded in April, 1861, he resigned his
civil employment, and received the ap-
| pointment of Lieutenant in Company F,
Tenth Reserve regiment. In June fol-
lowing, he was elevated to n more ardu-
GUS and responsible position, that of As
| sistant Commissary General of the
State. On the lst of January, 1862, he
| private Secretary. In August, when
| the General Government was importu-
nate for troops, he again took the field
as Colonel of the One Hundred and
Thirty fourth regiment. lie was
brought upon the ground 1T Antietam
near the close of the battle, and remain
| ed under arms in mOmeHtary eXpecta-
ton of a renewal of the fight, until it
was discovered that the enemy had fled.
On account of serious i'll health lie was
obliged to tender his resignation, which
was accepted about week previous to
the battle of Fredericksburg. When he
! ascertained that battle was imminent,
he refused to leave the field, and vol
unteered to aid upon the staff of General
Tyler, commanding the brigade to
which his former regiment belonged.
In this capacity he was in tie hottest
of the fight at the Stone Wall on Marye's
Heights, and by his courage and endur-
ance won the high commendation of his
commander, both upon the field and in
his official report. In closing the detail
of the action of his brigade, he says {:
"Colonel NJ. 5. Quay, late of the One
Hundred AMI Thirty fourth Pennsylva-
mia infantry, was on my staff As vol
unteer aide-de-camp, and to him | am
greatly indebted. Notwithstanding his
enfeebled health, he was in the saddle
early and late, ever prompt and efficient,
and especially so during tie engage
ment."
For Col. Quay's distinguished and
meritOrious services on this occasion he
was awarded medal of honor by the
government.
When his health had become measur-
ably restored lie was appointed agent of
the State at Washington, where he per-
formed highly important and useful la
Dor in looking after and protecting the
interests of Pennsylvania soldiers. He
had not been long engaged in this
capacity when he was recalled to Harris
burg, to perform official duty near the
person of the Governor. At the State
election, in October, 1864, he was chosen
by the almost unanimous vote Of his dis
trict, a member of the Legislature,
where he exerted commanding inilu-
cnce, and on being returned for the sue
ceeding term was selected as Chairman
of the Committee of Ways and Means
the virtual leader of the House lie was
returned for third term, when he was
prominent candidate for Speaker AZ
ter retiring from this office he founded
st the seat of his county the Bearer
Radical, an eight-page sheet, which,
Il -@1-s Il III
gained large circulation and all innu-
encc scarcely second to any in the State.
When Governor Uartranft, at the OPEN
ing of 1873, formed his cabinet, he called
Colonel Quay to occupy the first place
that OF Secretary of State-wlich he
held until 1873, when he resigned to
accept the appointment of Recorder of
Philadelphia. In January, 1879, he was
again appointed Secretary of the Com
monwealth, filling the post until Octo-
Der 1882 when he again resigned. In
1885 he was elected State Treasurer by
the largest vote ever given to a candi-
date to that office, and in 1887 he was
chosen to the United States Senate fors
term of six years ending March 4, 1893.
Colonel Quay is about medium height,
well formed, of a reserved disposition,
but easily approached-a good listener,
but rather taciturn, and can keep in
confidence the counsel of his friends as
well as any public man living. In de-
bate he is calm but persuasive, and as a
political adviser or manager he has few
If any equals-having served several
times as Chairman of the Republican
State Committee, and in the last Presi-
dental Campaign as Chairman of the
National Committee, by skillful manage
ment secured victory for the Repub-
lican party. That he should be maligned,
and abused by the other |
Jeito1s-political opponents is to be
expected-but the true Republican, and
his soldier comrades of that
party who know him best will insist on
his being kept in positions where his
life long experience and his personal |
knowledge of public men and public af- |
fairs can be of service to them. The |
soldiers of the keystone State certainly |
should have at least one of their number |
in the U. S. Senate. The fact that there
are 90 U. S. Senators who served in the
rebel army and only 16 in the Union
army goes to show that the Southern
people honor the soldiers who fought
for them more than the people of the
North do those who fought to save the
country.
Comrade Quay lives in a plain and
brick dwelling in the
luiet old town of Beaver overlooking
both the Ohio and Beaver rivers-and
10 cQmrade ever visited him but found