Their Country's Call: The Byington, McHarg, and Porter Families in War and Peace
This exhibition highlights the contributions of three families which count among their members individuals who served America in various capacities in war and in peace. Whether that service was expressed through distinguished duty during the Civil War or through dedicated foreign service careers, the heroes of the Byington, McHarg, and Porter families embody many American ideals. They heard their country's call. The three families are related by marriage. They also are united in their devotion to service which is so characteristic of the American spirit.
The exhibition features selections from the Byington Family Papers (1, 2, 3), which were donated to Georgetown University Library by Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence E. Hinkle. The collection consists of the papers of A. Homer Byington (1826-1910), his grandson Homer Morrison Byington I (1879-1966), and Homer Morrison Byington II (1908-1987). A. Homer Byington made a name for himself as a journalist from Norwalk, Connecticut. He became a friend of Abraham Lincoln, especially during the Civil War. Well known for being the first to deliver the news of the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg, he later held the post of U.S. consul in Naples (1897-1907). Homer M. Byington I served for forty-seven years in the foreign service, rising to the office of chief of personnel in the 1930s. Homer Morrison Byington II (1908-1987), the son of Homer Morrison Byington I, enjoyed a forty-year foreign service career. It was Homer Morrison Byington II who married Jane McHarg, thus linking two of the distinguished families honored in this exhibition.
The items on display relating to A. Homer Byington focus on his relationship with Lincoln during the Civil War, his role in reporting the news of the Union victory at Gettysburg, and his tenure as U.S. consul in Naples. In addition, selected items document the foreign service careers of Homer Morrison Byington I and Homer Morrison Byington II. These members of the Byington family answered the call to serve their nation, albeit in different eras and in different capacities.
The McHarg family is the second family remembered in this exhibition. Just like A. Homer Byington, several McHargs contributed to the Union cause during the Civil War. The documents presented come primarily from the McHarg Family Papers (1, 2), a gift of Mr. Homer M. Byington III, which provide primary source documentation on two important episodes in American history: the Civil War and the development of the national pastime, baseball.
The McHarg family materials on display begin with Civil War letters exchanged among several family members. Among the topics covered are reports of skirmishes and Union activities near Hall's Hill (in present-day Arlington County), Virginia; the siege of Yorktown, Virginia; and news from the McHargs' hometown of Albany, New York. Among the correspondents are quartermaster John McHarg (1813-1884); his son and future financier Henry K. McHarg (1851-1941); and distinguished Union officer Horace Porter (1837-1921), who married John's daughter Sophie King McHarg (1840-1903) during the war in 1863. As an interesting sidelight, the exhibition also shows five fascinating letters bearing Civil War dates sent to Henry K. McHarg about the development of baseball.
The aforementioned Horace Porter stands as the representative of the Porter family in this exhibition. The Horace Porter Collection, a gift of Mrs. Horace Porter Mende, consists of letters, manuscripts, clippings, prints, photographs, muniments, and artifacts connected to the career of Horace Porter (1837-1921), who was best-known as aide-de-camp and biographer of General Ulysses S. Grant. On display in this exhibition are materials relating to Porter's days at West Point, his prominent role in battles at Fort Pulaski and Chickamauga, his experiences campaigning with Grant, his postwar honors, and his service as U.S. Ambassador to France. Porter epitomized these three families' devotion to service in war and peace at home and abroad.
Scott S. Taylor
Manuscripts Processor
Georgetown University Library
Special Collections and Archives
Byington, A. Homer (1826-1910)
Manuscript Notes Regarding Abraham Lincoln, 3 p, nd.
John William McHarg (b.1843)
November 19, 1861
Addressed to his brother Henry K. McHarg. Mentions a review the next day by General George B. McClellan of over 40,000 troops.
Horace Porter (1837-1921)
November 30, 1861
Addressed to his brother-in-law Henry K. McHarg. Describes how the Confederates were abandoning their forts in South Carolina.
Much used. Most likely Horace Porter's working sword during the Civil War.
John McHarg (1813-1884)
December 5, 1861
Addressed to his brother Rufus McHarg. Mentions Union army activity around Falls Church, Virginia. Includes comment that as the army advances, emancipation follows.
Horace Porter (1837-1921)
January 16, 1862
Addressed to his brother-in-law Henry K. McHarg. Reports on his activities fighting the Confederates in Georgia. Porter hopes Henry is a member of the juvenile Zouave company.
Mende, Elsie Porter
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company
1927
96A155
Henry K. McHarg (1851-1941)
January 16, 1862
Addressed to his brother John William McHarg. Includes drawing in pen of John's horse.
John McHarg (1813-1884)
n/d
[Arlington House] Addressed to his brother Rufus McHarg. Includes lengthy description of Robert E. Lee's former home Arlington House being used as a depot for quarter master stores except clothing and tents.
Photo by Bell & Bro., Washington, D.C.
John Gilmary Shea Papers, Box 26, Folder 6.5
John McHarg (1813-1884)
March 2, 1862
Addressed to his brother Rufus McHarg. Reports on preparations for a march. Reference to Nathaniel P. Banks, Harpers Ferry (Virginia), Manassas (Virginia), and George B. McClellan.
Horace Porter (1837-1921)
March 23, 1862
Addressed to his brother-in-law Henry K. McHarg. Reports on war news. Porter laments the lack of hospital facilities. Reference to Union victories in the West as shortening the war.
Captured from the Confederates at the fall of Fort Pulaski and Presented to Horace Porter. Engraved on the scabbard is the following: "Fort Pulaski April 11th, 1862, Gen. Q. A. Gillmore to Lieut. Horace Porter, For Gallant and Meritorious Conduct."
Leslie's Illustrated
May 10, 1862
Provides newspaper coverage of the capture of Fort Pulaski.
circa 1861-1865
An Ohio native who graduated at the head of his West Point class of 1849, Gillmore led the Union forces which bombarded Fort Pulaski.
John McHarg (1813-1884)
April 19, 1862
Addressed to his brother to Rufus McHarg. Includes description of Union camp near Yorktown and of the siege of Yorktown. The siege of Yorktown began on 5 April 1862, and lasted until 4 May 1862.
John McHarg (1813-1884)
May 28, 1862
Addressed to his brother Rufus McHarg. Discusses the chances of the Union army reaching Richmond. References to the 25th New York, the 2nd Maine, the 13th New York, Yorktown (Virginia), Elbert Bland, controlling the Richmond Central Railroad, Nathaniel P. Banks, and John McHarg's life insurance policy.
John William McHarg (b. 1843)
July 20, 1862
Addressed to his brother Henry K. McHarg. Discusses the Union army's retreat to end the Peninsular Campaign. Discussion of Confederate treatment of prisoners, including Union surgeons. John requests that he be kept abreast of the whereabouts of Horace Porter. Reference to George B. McClellan.
Presented by General Ulysses S. Grant to his secretary, Harmon W. Brown (Private, Co. I 78th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry) at Oxford, Mississippi, 20 December 1862.
Trone, Daniel. Telegrapher
n/d
On verso: "Daniel Trone, Hanover, Pa. Telegrapher, who sent A Homer Byington's account of the Battle of Gettysburg to the tribune, New York, and war department, Washington, D.C."
Horace Porter (1837-1921)
September 27, 1863
Addressed to his brother-in-law Henry K. McHarg. Discusses fighting at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Porter writes that he made it through the battle unscathed though his horse was hit with a bit of shell. Reference to Braxton Bragg and to shotguns stored at Nashville, Tennessee.
The couple married in 1863. Reproduced from Elsie Porter Mende's An American Soldier and Diplomat: Horace Porter (New York: Stokes, 1927).
Inscribed, "The Congress to Bvt. Brig. Gen. Horace Porter, U.S.A. Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1863."
Part of Chattanooga Campaign of October and November 1863. Taken November 1863, after the Battle Above the Clouds. Photo by A. W. Judd.
Byington, A. Homer (1826-1910)
Handbill, "The Lincoln Flank Movement on Connecticut: A Letter from Homer Byington, of the Norwalk Gazette, to 'Dear Smith,' of Bridgeport!", 1 p, 25 March 1864.
April 4, 1864
Signed by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
C. D. Sheldon
September 26, 1864
Addressed to his friend Henry K. McHarg, Walnut Hill School in Geneva, New York. Provides lengthy discussion of a game played by Sheldon's amateur baseball club, the Hiawathas, against another club, the Alpines. Includes play-by-play accounts of game action. Also includes a detailed, full-length manuscript box score of the game. The Hiawathas won 34-25. Includes reference to another club, the Niagaras. This letter provides outstanding primary source material on the development of baseball.
C. D. Sheldon
October 9, 1864
Addressed to his friend Henry K. McHarg, Walnut Hill School in Geneva, New York. Discusses recent games of Sheldon's amateur baseball club, the Hiawathas, against the Niagaras and the Alpines. Mentions that the New York Knickerbocker baseball club defeated the Utica baseball club by four runs.
C. D. Sheldon
October 11, 1864
Addressed to his friend Henry K. McHarg. Provides ample discussion of baseball games played recently by Sheldon's amateur club, the Hiawathas. Includes post-game analysis of a game played against the Niagaras. Contains full length, detailed manuscript box score of game against Niagaras; the Hiawathas won 34-32. Also includes discussion of and detailed manuscript box score from Hiawathas' victory over the Alpines, 32-25. Sent from Albany, New York to Walnut Hill School in Geneva, New York.
C. D. Sheldon
October 28, 1864
Addressed to his friend Henry McHarg, Walnut Hill School, Geneva, New York.. Discusses the Hiawathas, an amateur baseball club for which Sheldon played. Reference to playing another club, the Niagaras. Discussion of team news.
C. D. Sheldon
November 16, 1864
Addressed to his friend Henry K. McHarg, Walnut Hill School, Geneva, New York. Makes references to Sheldon's amateur baseball club, the Hiawathas, who were just then ending their season.
National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 29. New York: James T. White, 1941.
Kirsch, George B. Civil War Times Illustrated, May 1998, pp.30-31.
Horace Porter (1837-1921)
October 26, 1864
Addressed to his brother-in-law Henry K. McHarg. Regarding the birth of Porter's child. Porter mentions that he came from Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters last Monday and will stay with his wife as long as he can. Porter refers to the Union army's drive toward Richmond as awaiting more men provided by the draft. He notes that some southern boys Henry's age were encountered among those defending Confederate forts.
Immediately before the Surrender at Appomattox.
April 9, 1865
Photo by Pach Bros., Broadway, New York
On verso: "Grant wrote terms of surrender at Appomattox on this table, which now belongs to Mrs. Custer. H[orace] P[orter]."
Signed by Andrew Johnson and Edwin M. Stanton, 1866.
Byington, A. Homer (1826-1910)
"Speech of Hon. A. H. Byington." Tributes of Connecticut Citizens, To the Memory of Abraham Lincoln, Late President of the United States. Assassinated April 14, 1865. New Haven: William D. Stanley, Printer, 1865. Printed speech by A. Homer Byington offering a tribute to Lincoln, 17 April 1865.
Byington, A. Homer (1826-1910)
Autograph Manuscript, "President Lincoln, as I Personally Knew Him", 15 p, nd.
Owens, Richard Henry
New York: Garland Pub.
1990
Off-Campus Shelving E467.1.P82 O84 1990
Inscribed, "Horace Porter Mende from Horace Porter." nd.
Porter, Horace (1837-1921)
New York : Bonanza Books
c1961
Reprint. Edited with introduction and notes by Wayne C. Temple.
New York: Stokes
1927
Reproduced from Elsie Porter Mende's An American Soldier and Diplomat: Horace Porter
"An Application for Office, New Style, A Plea for the Privates, Respectfully Inscribed to President Grant." Dalzell applies for a government position through verse, circa 1868-1876.
A. Homer Byington (1826-1910)
July 15, 1876
Addressed to President Ulysses S. Grant. Concerns the position of "Congressional Printer." Includes testimonials from congressmen Bainbridge Wadleigh, Phineas W. Hitchcock, Aaron A. Sargent, Algernon Sidney Paddock, and others.
Orville H. Platt (1827-1905). U.S. Senator
January 14, 1881
Appoints A. Homer Byington Platt's private secretary.
Nehemiah D. Sperry (1827-1911). U.S. Congressman (1895-1911)
May 23, 1881
Addressed to U.S. Secretary of State James G. Blaine. Endorses the appointment of A. Homer Byington to a consulate.
Orville H. Platt (1827-1905). U.S. Senator
June 11, 1895
Discusses a trip to Europe, Ebenezer J. Hill, and railway problems in Norwalk, Connecticut.
A. Homer Byington (1826-1910)
November 30, 1896
Addressed to his grandson Homer Morrison Byington I (1879-1966), son of George R. Byington.
March 4, 1897
Horace Porter Collection, Box 9, Folder 3
With three stag horn handles, marked May 5th, 1897/ General Horace Porter/ and an engraved portrait of the General. On the bottom is "From Grenville M. Dodge." Grenville Mellen Dodge (1831-1916) was a civil engineer, railroad builder and politician, who had a distinguished military career as both a soldier and engineer during the Civil War.
Orville H. Platt (1827-1905). U.S. Senator
June 14, 1897
Signed by Platt. Admits A. Homer Byington to the Reserved Gallery.
A. Homer Byington (1826-1910), U.S. Consul, Naples (1897-1907)
July 27, 1897
Issued to Byington as U.S. consul, Naples. Signed by President William McKinley.
1927
New York: Stokes
Reproduced from Elsie Porter Mende's An American Soldier and Diplomat: Horace Porter
August 6, 1899
Byington Family Papers, Box 2, Folder 22
Porter, Horace (1837-1921). U.S. Ambassador to France
n/d
Horace Porter Collection, Box 9, Folder 11
A. Homer Byington (1826-1910). U.S. Consul in Naples (1897-1907)
June 29, 1900
Addressed to Edward C. Frisbie. Comments on American domestic politics, with references to Admiral George Dewey, William Jennings Bryan, and Nehemiah D. Sperry.
Together with two letters giving the award in 1903 to General Horace Porter.
Signed by Oliver Otis Howard.
On reverse is engraved, "A. Mr. le General H. Porter et a sa famille pour qu'ils le Souviennent d'Avoir ete Parisiens. Paris, Avril 1905."
October 26, 1905
Horace Porter Collection, Box 2, Folder 10
In blue box of Tiffany & Co. marked on lid: "Gen. Horace Porter from the American Scenic & Historic Preservation Society, 1906."
Scott, James Brown (1866-1943), ed
1910
Boston and London, For the International School of Peace: Ginn and Company
Off-Campus Shelving JX1913.A2 U68
December 30, 1910
New York Tribune
Byington Family Papers, Box 2, Folder 21
December 10, 1931
Printed invitation, admission card, presentation card, and envelope for reception given by President and Mrs. Herbert Hoover at the White House.
Clippings of printed photographs from the American Foreign Service Journal showing classes of the American Foreign Service Training School. Photograph for class of June 1933 includes Homer M. Byington (front row) and his son, Homer Morrison Byington II (second row). Homer Morrison Byington II (1908-1987) married Jane McHarg, thus linking the Byington family with the McHarg family.
Cordell Hull. Secretary of State
September 30, 1944
Addressed to Homer Morrison Byington I. On occasion of the Byington's retirement from the U.S. Foreign Service. Includes typed copy of Byington's reply.
Article Regarding Horace Porter's Search for the Body of John Paul Jones, 19 April 1956.