Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/266

 BEAVER.

BECK.

regiment, and was made its lieutenant -colonel. As oolunel of the U^tli regiment Pennsylvania volunteers he rej^rted to Cleneral Hancock at Falmouth, Va.. Dec. Itt, 1862. and was assigned to the 1st liriirail*'. l.^t division, '2d army corps. He was severely wound- ed at Chancellors- ville. May, 1863. He then served as an emergency man on the staff of General Couch, and was a'-ssigned to duty as commandant of Camp Curt in. On July 15 he rejoined his regiment. He was in action at Auburn Mills, Oct. 14. and at Mine Run, Nov. 26, 1863. In the battle of the Wilderness. May 7, 1864, Colonel Beaver guarded the rear of the army as it advanced on Spottsylvania, and he received the thanks of General Hancock for bringing in every man. Before reaching Spottsylvania his regiment was cut off, the woods on fire threaten- ing the rear and the Confederate line converging upon it in front. Colonel Beaver swung the line of the regiment so that the right rested on the river, and after pouring volley after volley upon the enemy, he, under a withering fire, forded the river. Two days later, in the battle of Spottsylvania, his regiment lost, by wounds or death, one man in every five, and for his heroism Colonel Beaver was assigned to the command of the 3d brigade, but declined, preferring to remain with his regiment. On June 1, 1864, Colonel Beaver, with his regiment, was at Cold Harbor, stationed on the left of the line, and after a des- perate charge the works were carried, and three hundred prisoners, three guns and a flag were captured, and Colonel Beaver took command of the brigade. General Brooke being wounded. On June 16, 1864, in charging the Confederate re- doubts. Colonel Beaver was dangerously wounded. At Ream's station, Aug. 25, 1864, he went to the field in an ambulance, was assigned to com- mand his old brigade, and was scanning the skirmish line, when a shot crushed his right thigh. HLs leg was amputated at the hip. On Nov. 10, 1864, he was promoted brevet brigadier-general "for highly meritorious and di.stingui.slied conduct throughout the ramjKiign, particularly for valu- able ser^-ice at Cold Harbor, while commanding a brigade." On Dec. 22, 1864, he was mu.stered out of service " on account of wounds received in battle." General Beaver resumed the practice of his profession. In 1 865 he was the Republican can-

didate for the state legislature. He gained 759 votes from Democrats, but was defeated by 141 votes. General Beaver was married, Dec. 26, 1865, to Mary, daughter of H. N. McAllister. He was president of the board of trustees of Pennsylvania state college; trustee of Washington and Jeffer- son college, and one of the commission that built the insane asj'lum at Warren, Pa. He was chosen delegate to the national Republican convention that met in Chicago in 1880, and was chairman of the Pennsj-lvania delegation. His first choice as candidate was General Grant, but when General Garfield was nominated he seconded the nom- ination. General Beaver was nominated for governor by acclamation at the Republican convention that met in Harrisburg, June 10, 1882, but because of internal dissensions in regard to party management and the nomination of an in- dependent Republican ticket, the entire Demo- cratic ticket was elected. He was again the unanimous choice of his part}' for governor in 1886, and was elected by a plurality of over forty thousand. He was inaugurated Jan. 18, 1887, and served until January, 1891. Upon his retirement he returned to the practice of his profession, and to the development of large business interests requiring his personal attention. The legislature in 1895, in view of the burdens resting upon the supreme court of Pennsylvania, which is the court of last resort in that state, provided for the organization of another appellate court. In November, 1895. he was elected a judge of the superior court of Pennsylvania for the term 1896- 1906. He received the degree LL.D. from Dick- inson and Hanover colleges in 1889.

BECK, James Burnie, senator, was born in Dimifriesshire, Scotland, Feb. 13, 1822. He came to the United States with his father, a hard- working Scotch farmer, some twenty-two years later, and settled in Lexington, Ky., in 1845, where he obtained employment as overseer of a farm. He had received an academical education in Scotland and entered the Transylvania uni- versity law school, where he was graduated in 1846. He formed a partnersliip with John C. Breckinridge and practi-sed law at Lexington, Ky. In 1866 he was elected as a repre.sentative to the 40th and was re-elected to the 41st, 42d and 43d congresses, serving 1867-'75. Early in 1876 he was elected to the United States .senate and was appointed meml>er of the commission to define the Maryland-Virginia boundary. He took his .seat in the senate on March 4, 1877, and retained it until his death. During his congres.sional life Senator Beck served on many imjxjrtant com- mittees, and took a prominent part in many notable debates. He was specially interested in economical questions pertaining to the tariff and currency. He died in Washington, May 3, 1890.