Curtin, Andrew Gregg (1815-1894) to Col. J. B. Finlay
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02297.08 Author/Creator: Curtin, Andrew Gregg (1815-1894) Place Written: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Type: Letter signed Date: 20 October 1861 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy
Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania, writes to Finlay, who is organizing a regiment, then placing the regiment in the field under the command of another qualified officer. Recommends Colonel Samuel Morris Wickersham of Pittsburgh for the position. Remarks that Wickersham is "a high minded & honorable gentleman, of fine abilities, thorough education & patriotic impulses- Having already authorized Regimental organizations, somewhat in excess of the requisitions of the Genl Government on Penn, I cannot accommodate Col. Wickersham by a further extension of this authority, but take pleasure in introducing him to your acquaintance, in this connection, & shall be pleased to learn of any assignment mutually satisfying to yourself and him-" Written on Pennsylvania Executive Chamber stationery. Docketed in pencil, possibly at a later date.
Curtin served as Governor of Pennsylvania 1861-1867. According to a family history, Finlay organized and equipped the 78th Pennsylvania Volunteers in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. Later he organized the 103rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, and for this he received the honorary title of Colonel. Finlay was also Commissioner from Pennsylvania to the Paris Worlds fair in 1860 and to the Universal Exposition
at Vienna in 1873. Before the war he served as a Presbyterian minister in Brooklyn, New York.
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