History of Delaware County Pennsylvania United States of America

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Biographies:

John Cunnningham Kelton, soldier, was born in Delaware county, Pa., June 24, 1828. He was a great grandson of James Kelton, who emigrated from Ireland and settled in Chester county, Pa., about 1785. John C. Kelton was graduated at the U.S. Military academy in 1851; assigned to the 6th infantry and stationed at Fort Snelling, 1851-53; at Fort Ridley, 1853-54; Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1854-55; Fort Leavenworth, 1855; Fort Laramie, 1855-57; assistant instructor at West Point, 1857-59; on leave of absence in Europe, 1859-60, and instructor at West Point, 1860-61. He was promoted 2d lieutenant, Dec. 81, 1851; 1st lieutenant, May 9, 1855; brevetted captain of the staff and assistant adjutant-general, May 11, 1861, and was purchasing commissary in the Departments of the Missouri and the West. He was promoted captain of the staff, Aug. 3, 1861; colonel of the 9th Missouri volunteers, Sept. 19, 1861; and commanded a brigade, October and November, 1861. He was assistant adjutant-general of the Department of the Missouri early in 1862, receiving promotion to the rank of colonel of the staff and aide-de-camp, Jan. 4, 1862. He resigned from the volunteer service, March 12, 1862; was transferred to the Department of the Mississippi and was in the field during the siege of Corinth and its occupation, 1862. He then joined the staff of Gen. H. W. Halleck with the rank of major and assistant adjutant-general, July 17, 1862, remaining in Halleck's military family until July 1, 1865. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel, March 18, 1865, and brigadier-general "for most valuable and arduous services both in the field and at headquarters," on the same date. He served in the adjutant-general's office at Washington, D.C., 1865-70; on special duty in Europe, 1870; in the Division of the Pacific, 1870-85, and at Washington, D.C., 1885-89. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of staff, March 23, 1866; colonel, June 15, 1880, and brigadier-general, June 7, 1889, on which date he was made full adjutant-general. He was retired, June 24, 1890, having reached the age limit, and was governor of Soldiers' Home, Washington, D.C., 1890-93. He is the author of: Manual of the Bayonet (1861);Fencing with Foils (1882); Pigeons as Carriers (1882) ; Information for Riflemen (1884); Select Songs for Special Occasions (1884), and edited John Grace's System of Horse Training (1884). He died near Washington, D.C., July 15, 1893.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Frederick Engle, naval officer, was born in Delaware county, Pa., in 1799. He was warranted a midshipman in the U.S. navy Nov. 30, 1814, and was commissioned lieutenant Jan. 13, 1825. He thereafter received regular promotion, reaching the rank of captain in 1855; commodore in 1861, and rear admiral on the retired list July 25, 1866. He served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean squadrons, and in the war with Mexico was in command of the Princeton on blockading duty. When the civil war broke out Secretary Welles sent him to China to bring home the U.S. sloop-of-war Hartford, and after the arrival of that vessel he was given command of the Philadelphia navy yard then fitting out vessels for the war. After the war he was made governor of the U.S. naval asylum, Philadelphia. His daughter Emily was married to Alonzo Potter Douglass, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, 1867, private secretary to Commodore Engle, and later a lawyer in Philadelphia. Rear Admiral Engle died in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 12, 1868.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Peirce Crosby, naval officer, was born in Delaware county, Pa., Jan. 16, 1824; son of John P. and Catharine (Beale) Crosby; grandson of Peirce and Christiana (Richards) Crosby; great-grandson of Judge John (a captain in the Revolutionary army) and Ann (Peirce) Crosby; great great grandson of John (member of Provincial assembly, 1768-71) and Eleanor (Graham) Crosby; great great great grandson of John (member of Provincial assembly, 1723-24) and Susannah Crosby; and great great great great grandson of Richard and Ellinor Crosby, who came from Moore in the County Pallatine, Chester, England, in 1682, and settled in Pennsylvania, on the lands which had been purchased by him from William Penn in 1681. He was appointed acting midshipman, June 5, 1838, and served in the Mediterranean squadron on board the flagship Ohio, Commodore Isaac Hull, 1838-41. He returned to the United States, and afterward served on the frigate Congress and the sloop Preble, 1841-43, in the Mediterranean squadron, and on detached duty at the Philadelphia naval school, 1843. In May, 1844, he was promoted passed midshipman, serving on the U.S. coast survey till 1846 when he cruised on the sloop Decatur and on the gunboat Petrel in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican war, taking part in the capture of Tuxpan and Tabasco. In 1848-53 he was acting master of the Belief on the coast of Africa, and on the Savannah at Norfolk, Va. On Sept. 3, 1853, he was promoted lieutenant and ordered to the Germantown, sailing for Brazil, returning in 1857. In 1858-59 he cruised on the Saratoga, in the Gulf of Mexico, and returning was attached to the receiving ship at Philadelphia. In 1860 he was on duty on Chesapeake bay at the commencement of the civil war, and afterward at Fort Monroe. In 1861, he volunteered on the Butler expedition to the coast of North Carolina and the capture of forts at Hatteras Inlet, and with the army boats and a launch of the Pawnee he landed the troops through the surf. He received special commendation from Gen. B. F. Butler in his official report of the operations. In December, 1861, he was in command of the gunboat Pinola, fitted out in Baltimore. He ran the batteries of the Potomac, received her battery in Washington, and joined Admiral Farragut at Ship Island. He took his vessel within two hundred yards of Fort Jackson in trying to break the chain barrier across the Mississippi river, and saved the Itsaca which had grounded near the guns of the fort while breaking the chain on the Fort St. Philip side of the river. He aided the mortar fleet in its bombardment of the forts, fought his way with Farragut and his fleet by Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and participated in the capture of the Chalmette batteries and of New Orleans. He also took part in the passage of the batteries at Vicksburg and the engagement with the Arkansas. In September, 1862, he was promoted commander and became fleet captain of the North Atlantic squadron under Acting Rear Admiral S. P. Lee. He commanded an expedition up the York river to cooperate with the army at White House, Va. While in command of the steamer Florida in 1863, he destroyed two blockade runners undertaking to make Wilmington, N.C. With the Keystone State he captured five blockade runners in 1864 besides causing others to discharge their cargoes at sea in order to escape. He commanded the Metacomet on blockade duty off Galveston, Texas, 1864-65, and with this vessel aided in the attack on the city of Mobile in 1865. He first planned and directed the use of nets in removing one hundred and forty torpedoes that prevented the passage of the fleet to the city and had already destroyed two iron-clads. For this service he received the special commendation of Rear-Admiral Thatcher. He commanded the Shamokin at the South Atlantic station, 1865-68. He was promoted captain, May 27, 1868; was inspector of ordnance, Norfolk navy yard, 1869-70; executive officer, Philadelphia navy yard, 1871-72; commanded the Powhatan, 1872-73, and was acting commandant of the Washington navy yard until Oct. 3, 1874, when he received his commission as commodore. He commanded the League Island navy yard, 1877-81. He received his commission of rear-admiral March 18, 1882; commanded the South Atlantic station in 1882, and was afterward transferred to the command of the Asiatic station. In October, 1883, he was placed on the retired list by his own request, and ordered home, having been in active service over forty-eight years. He died in Washington, D.C., June 15, 1899.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Robert Patterson, soldier, was born in Cappagh, county Tyrone, Ireland, Jan. 12, 1792. His father immigrated to the United States in 1789 to escape punishment for complicity in the Irish rebellion, and settled in Delaware county, Pa. Robert attended the public schools and was employed in a Philadelphia counting house. Upon the outbreak of the war of 1812 he was commissioned 1st lieutenant of infantry and toward the end of the war served on Gen. Joseph Bloomfield's staff. He returned to Philadelphia, was married to Sarah Ann Engle, and engaged in mercantile pursuits and in establishing cotton mills. He was a member of the convention that met at Harrisburg March 4, 1824, and was commissioner of internal improvements in Pennsylvania, 1827. In 1836 he was the Democratic elector for the first congressional district of Pennsylvania, and in 1837 was president of the electoral college that declared Martin Van Buren the President elect. He was commissioned major-general of volunteers in 1847, and served throughout the war with Mexico. He commanded a division at the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17-18, 1847; led the advance brigades in the pursuit, and entered and captured Jalapa. He was honorably mentioned in Gen. Winfield Scott's reports. He was major-general of the Pennsylvania militia, and on April 15, 1861, volunteered for three months' service, was mustered in as major-general of volunteers, and was given command of the military department composed of the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He crossed into Virginia June 15, 1861, at Williamsport, and was instructed to watch the troops under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Winchester, Va. When McDowell was preparing to engage the enemy at Bull Run, July 21, 1861, Patterson, not receiving promised orders from Gen. Winfield Scott, failed to detain Johnston by giving him battle, and Johnston marched to the assistance of Beauregard, Patterson taking no part in the battle of Bull Run. He was honorably mustered out of service on the expiration of his commission, July 27, 1861, and resumed the charge of his important cotton manufactures. He was a member of the original board of trustees nominated in the charter of Lafayette college; was senior member of the board, 1826-35; again a trustee, 1874-81, and president of the beard of trustees, 1876-31. He is the author of: Narrative of the Campaign in the Shenandoah (1865.) He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 7, 1881.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Delaware County Pennsylvania

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