Year: 1874

TARY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS.


As General Robert B. Bcath our can
didate for Secretary of Internal Affairs,
was first nominated for the position of
Surveyor General from Schuylkill County,
and had made this his home for some years
prior to his removal to Harrisburg to as
sumo the duties Of his Office, it is proper,
as we esteem it pleasant task personally,
that we present to our readers some Of the
more prominent points in his history as we
have learned them from those who know
him long and well.


He is Philadelphian by birth After
receiving such an education as could be
obtained in the grammar schools Of that
city, lie was apprenticed, whilst quite
young, to learn the trade Of machine
blacksmithing in Merrick & Sons foundry
Whilst learning his trade, and after
wards when working at the anvil among
the hardy sons of toll, he was noted for
his industrious and steady habits, and for
his earnest efforts to acquire a wider range
Of knowledge through books, to which he
assiduously devoted his leisure moments.
How well he succeeded his subsequent career
proves.


When civil war burst upon the country
he was among the first to enlist for its
defense entering the service as private
soldier in April, 1861, in the three months
service. On the expiration Of this term
Of enlistment, though not in good health
at the time, be again entered the service
in Company d, S8th Regimet Pennsyl-
yania Volunteers, in which he was pro-
moted to a leutenancy, and whilst serving
with this regiment he was wounded at the
second battle Of Bull Run


Upon the organization of the colord
troops in 1868, it was determined by the
Government to give them the advantage
Of intelligent and tried officers from our
Veteran regiments, and to this end an
Examining Board, with General Casey at
is head, was detailed by the War Depart
ment. Lieut.. Beath, after passing a
croditablc examination in August of that
year was appointed Captain of Company
~, " Sixth u. S. Colored Troops In ac-
ccpting this appointment he evinced his
willingness to serve his country in what
ever position his services could be made
most useful, and cheerfully took upon him
self the additional hazard of such a com
mand, and that such command was re-
garded as attended with more danger and
greater risk will be remembered by all who
were in the army. In fact an order was
issued by the Confederate authorities that
officers Of colored troops, if captured, should
be summarily dealt with This order did
not, however, deter Captain Beath, whose
heart was in the cause in which his sword
was drawn, for he was always found at his
post. When leading his company in the
charge on the Rebel works at New Market
Heights, near Fort Harrison, in Virginia.
in 1864, he was again wounded very Sc
verely, which resulted in the loss of his
leg-disabling him for life After leaving
the hospital, where he was confined some
months, being longer unfit for field service,
he was assigned to duty at Camp William
Penn, near Philadelphia, and subsequently,
at Wilmington, n. c., in positions requir-
ing administrative ability, which he had
shown himself to possess in an eminent
degree. At the muster-out of his regiment,
Captain Beath received from the War
Department commission as Lieutenant
Colonel in recognition Of his services.


After the war Colonel Beath returned
to his home at Philadel phia, where, no
longer able to earn livelihood as one Of
the sturdy sons Of Vulcan, he was soon
after appointed sub-postmaster at Station
ID, which he afterwards resigned, to take
| charge Of the books of large colliery in
Schuylkill County, During the time that
he was thus engaged his fellow soldiers
throughout the State, with an appreciation
of the qualities which were so conspicuous
in hun, marking him at once the man and
the soldier, selected him as the Assistant
Adjutant General Of the Grand Army of
the Republic, an organization composed of
soldiers of the late war without regard to
party, but bound together for friendly
intercourse mutual assistance, and for the
purpose Of aiding the orphans of fallen
comrades To this position he was reelected
three different times, and subsequently was
unanimously elected Commander of the
Department.


Colonel Beath's worth was early APP
preciated at his new home, for in few
years after his removal to Schuylkill county,
he received the hearty support of this
county for the Office Of Surveyor General,
to which he was nominated by the Repub-
lican State Convention in May, 1871, and
elected in October following by majority
Of over 10000 votes over Colonel Cooper,
formerly the commander Of the celelFa:,d