00:07 - Hi i'm Joe farley.

00:08 - Job through.

00:10 - Montgomery cemetery

00:11 - in norristown Pennsylvania

00:13 - at the grave of major general

00:14 - John Frederick Hartranft

00:16 - who was a congressional medal of honor winner

00:18 - in the civil war

00:20 - and served Pennsylvania after the war as auditor general

00:22 - and as governor

00:23 - in eighteen seventy three

00:24 - eighteen seventy nine.

00:26 - Hartranft was born

00:28 - here in the Norristown

00:29 - area in Montgomery county.

00:32 - In December

00:33 - of eighteen thirty.

00:35 - He studied civil engineering and after he graduated from college

00:38 - he actually went to work for the railroad

00:41 - when when he was done with that work he came back to this area

00:44 - where he worked for on his father's real estate

00:47 - and stagecoach businesses.

00:49 - In the spring of eighteen sixty one.

00:51 - Hartranft's military outfit became a ninety day

00:53 - volunteer regiment and were assigned to Washington d c.

00:57 - Believe it or not

00:58 - at that time many northerners

01:00 - thought that the south would be easily defeated within ninety days.

01:03 - The men's ninety days

01:05 - enlistment expired.

01:07 - The night before

01:08 - the first battle of bull run

01:10 - and many of the men decided to go home.

01:12 - The commanding general Irvin McDowell

01:15 - pleaded with the men

01:16 - to stay and fight

01:17 - but they were unconvinced and started their march home.

01:21 - Hartranft was humiliated when his troops left

01:24 - and he decided to stay and fight.

01:26 - For that action

01:27 - he was awarded

01:28 - the congressional medal of honor

01:30 - after the battle of bull run

01:31 - Hartranft organized the fifty first Pennsylvania infantry

01:35 - which was a three year regiment

01:37 - and he became its colonel.

01:39 - Now

01:39 - that unit saw action at the second battle of bull run

01:42 - and at Antietam

01:43 - where Hartranft

01:44 - lead

01:45 - the fifty first across the burnside bridge through a hail of rifle and Cannon fire

01:50 - that resulted in one hundred and twenty

01:51 - casualties.

01:53 - The unit also fought

01:54 - at both fredericksburg and vicksburg

01:57 - and later

01:58 - helped repulse Robert E Lee's last defensive move

02:01 - there during the war

02:02 - at the battle of fort steadman

02:04 - as a result of these actions

02:06 - general Grant promoted Hartranft

02:09 - to major general.

02:11 - The end of the war did not end violence

02:13 - in Hartranft's life.

02:15 - President Johnson placed him in charge of the prisoners that were accused in the

02:20 - Lincoln assassination

02:21 - he was placed in charge

02:23 - of the arsenal penitentiary in Washington d c

02:25 - and had control over every aspect of the trial and execution

02:29 - of Lincoln's

02:30 - assassins.

02:31 - On

02:32 - July seventh he was on the scaffolding

02:35 - and read the prisoners their rights

02:37 - the order of execution

02:39 - and gave the order that sent them to their death.

02:42 - With his military career over Hartranft decided to go into politics

02:46 - he aligned himself

02:48 - with the Pennsylvania republican boss Simon Cameron

02:51 - and Cameron

02:52 - Picked Hartranft to be the republican nominee for governor in 1872

02:57 - he was elected twice to that office and served from

02:59 - eighteen seventy three to eighteen seventy nine.

03:02 - At the eighteen seventy six republican convention

03:05 - Hartranft was thought to be a possible nominee for the presidency

03:09 - but that nomination went to Rutherford B Hayes. During

03:12 - his second term

03:14 - Pennsylvania suffered an economic

03:16 - depression

03:17 - and Hartranft aligned himself with business interests

03:20 - as opposed to those of the labor movement.

03:23 - As time went on during the Hartranft

03:24 - administration it became obvious he favoured.

03:27 - Industry over labor.

03:29 - He allowed for the execution

03:31 - of twenty

03:32 - Irish

03:33 - former and present coal miners

03:35 - called the Molly Maguires.

03:38 - These men were

03:39 - arrested

03:40 - by company police

03:41 - and tried by attorneys

03:43 - hired by the companies.

03:45 - Jack Kehoe

03:46 - alledged leader of the molly maguire's

03:48 - was

03:48 - charged and convicted of a murder that two other men

03:51 - had admitted

03:52 - to and testified

03:54 - that Jack Kehoe was not there.

03:56 - Hartranft approved the executions anyway

03:58 - and in Kehoe's case

03:59 - he waited until after the fall elections to sign the warrant.

04:04 - When labour unrest broke out in Pittsburgh

04:06 - Hartranft responded by sending in.

04:09 - The state militia and the national guard to restore order.

04:13 - As it turns out the protesters cornered these soldiers

04:17 - in a railroad roundhouse

04:18 - and the soldiers opened fire on the protesters killing twenty

04:22 - and wounding scores more

04:24 - the

04:25 - protesters responded by beginning to destroy railroad property

04:28 - and Hartranft went to the President of the United States President Hayes

04:32 - and asked president Hayes to send in

04:34 - federal troops

04:35 - thus becoming the first governor

04:37 - to make such a request to the president.

04:40 - Hartranft

04:41 - died

04:41 - here

04:42 - in Norristown

04:43 - in October

04:44 - eighteen eighty nine.

04:46 - Hartranft is honored

04:47 - by a large equestrian statue outside the capital in Harrisburg

04:50 - and by this large

04:51 - grave

04:52 - that we stand before.

04:54 - You can learn more about John Hartranft

04:56 - in our book.

04:57 - Keystone tombstones the civil war

04:59 - available at and sunbury press dot com.