John F . Hartranft John Frederick Hartranft ( December 16 , 1830 – October 17 , 1889 ) was the 17th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1873 to 1879 and a Union Major General who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Civil War . Early life and career . Hartranft was born in Fagleysville , a village in New Hanover Township , Montgomery County , Pennsylvania , near Pottstown . He attended Marshall College in Mercersburg — a forerunner of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster — and received his degree in civil engineering in 1853 from Union College in Schenectady , New York . He briefly worked for two railroads in eastern Pennsylvania before returning home to Norristown to assist his father in the real estate and stage line businesses . In 1854 , he was appointed deputy sheriff of Montgomery County . That same year , he married Sallie Douglas Sebring . They had six children , but three died 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 Pennsylvania Militia . Civil War . In April 1861 , Hartranft raised a Montgomery County regiment of ninety - day volunteers in Norristown , serving as colonel of the 4th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry . Their term of enlistment up , the regiment returned to Pennsylvania on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run , 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 on August 21 , 1886 , for volunteering his services to fellow Pennsylvanian Col . 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 three - year regiment , the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry , and became its colonel . They first served on the North Carolina coast in the Burnside Expedition , Hartranft led them in battle at Roanoke Island and New Bern . In July 1862 , Hartranft ' s men proceeded to Newport News , Virginia , to become part of Burnside ' s IX Corps , with whom they fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run and at South Mountain . They also fought at the Battle of Antietam , where Hartranft led its famous charge across Burnside ' s Bridge , suffering 120 casualties . They 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 ; in the latter two actions , he served as commander of the 2nd Division of the IX Corps while still a colonel . He commanded the 1st Brigade , 3rd Division , of the IX Corps in the 1864 Overland Campaign , participating in the fighting at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania before he was promoted to brigadier general , as of May 12 , 1864 . He continued in operations against Richmond and Petersburg . His brigade distinguished itself in the Battle of Peebles ' Farm . When the IX Corps was reorganized , he was given command of a new 3rd Division , consisting of newly raised Pennsylvania regiments . Hartranft was brevet ted major general by Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant for defeating Confederate General Robert E . Lee ' s last offensive at the Battle of Fort Stedman , bringing his untested division from its reserve position and counterattacking to recover the captured fort . Postbellum activities . At the war ' s end , Hartranft commanded the Old Capitol Prison and was appointed a special provost marshal during the trial of those accused in the Lincoln assassination . He was noted for his kind treatment toward Mary Surratt , the first woman executed by the Federal government . On July 7 , 1865 , Hartranft led Mary Surratt , Lewis Paine , David Herold and George Atzerodt to the gallows in what is now called Fort Lesley McNair . He read them their last rites , and they were hanged . Hartranft switched party allegiances following the war and became a Republican , serving in former general John W . Geary ' s Pennsylvania 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 to 1877 . The United States celebrated its centennial as a nation in 1876 , and Hartranft saw that Pennsylvania led the way in the celebration that was centered in Philadelphia ' s Fairmont Park . At the Republican National Convention in June 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 disturbance s , 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 and was buried in Montgomery Cemetery in West Norriton Township , Montgomery County , Pennsylvania , near Norristown . The Pennsylvania National Guard later provided an obelisk for his grave . In memoriam . 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 as well as another elementary school in Philadelphia . The Hartranft section of North Philadelphia , and a street in the Packer Park section of South Philadelphia near the sports complex , both in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , are also in his honor . A residence hall at the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University is named after him . Three avenues in Montgomery County , Pennsylvania are named in his honor : the first is in Norristown , Pennsylvania and is the avenue leading to the cemetery in which he is buried . The other avenues are located in nearby East Norriton Township and in Fort Washington , Upper Dublin Township . A street in the Brookline section of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania is also named after him . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Colonel , 4th Pennsylvania Militia . Place and date : At Bull Run , Va . , July 21 , 1861 . Entered service at : Norristown , Pa . Born : December 16 , 1830 , New Hanover Township , Montgomery County , Pa . Date of issue : August 26 , 1886 . Citation : 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 .