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.
