Biography

03/01/1802 - 01/07/1880

Colonel Maxwell “Max” McCaslin (D23) Fayette, Greene, Washington Counties, 1848-1854

Early Life:

Colonel Maxwell McCaslin, born March 1, 1802, Martinsburg, Berkley County, Virginia (now West Virginia); son of Francis and Jane Booth “McCausland”; quartermaster and adjutant, Franklin Rangers Volunteers, Pennsylvania Militia, 1822-1828; major, First Battalion, Washington and Greene Van Guards, 1828-1835; captain, Franklin Blues 1835; elected, Commonwealth Brigade-Inspector, Pennsylvania Militia, 1835; colonel, Pennsylvania Militia, 1845; colonel, 15th Regiment, West Virginia Volunteers, 1862-1864, Civil War; engaged, bricklayer, stone mason merchant; cattle farmer and drover; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1843, 1844, and 1845 terms; appointed, Commission to Equalize Taxes throughout Pennsylvania; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1849-1854; Speaker of the Senate 1850, 1854; married, Joanna Hale, 1851, d.1853; elected, delegate, National Democratic Convention, 1852; appointee, President James Buchanan Jr., agent, Osage River Miami Indian Reservation, 1855-1858; unsuccessful campaign, Secretary of State, Kansas 1868; died, January 7, 1880, Paola, Miami County, Kansas; interred, Paola Cemetery, Paola, Miami County, Kansas. (i)

Early Career:

Quartermaster, adjutant, Franklin Rangers Volunteers, Pennsylvania Militia, 1822-1828; major, First Battalion, Washington and Greene Van Guards, 1828-1835; captain, Franklin Blues, 1835; elected, Commonwealth Brigade-Inspector, Pennsylvania Militia 1835; colonel, Pennsylvania Militia 1845; colonel, 15th Regiment, West Virginia Volunteers 1862-1864, Civil War.

Commissioned, Colonel, Governor Francis R. Shunk, Pennsylvania Militia, 1845.

Bricklayer apprentice; stonemason merchant; cattle farmer and drover.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans association.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Greene County 1843, 1844, and 1845 terms; Appointed, Commission to Equalize Taxes throughout Pennsylvania. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, Fayette, Greene, Washington Counties, 1848-1854; Speaker of the Senate, 1850 and 1854.

Elector, President Franklin Pierce, 1851. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Appointee, President James Buchanan Jr., agent, Osage River, Miami Indian Reservation Agent, Kansas, 1855-1858. 

Commissioned, colonel, 15^th West Virginia Infantry, September 6, 1862, West Virginia Governor Francis H. Pierpont; Colonel; organized Infantry Company, Wheeling Island; served, September 7, 1864. Retired, military, poor health, returned, Greene County, Pennsylvania to recuperate.

Unsuccessful, Kansas, Democratic candidate, Secretary of State, 1868.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=8807&body=H

Legacy:

Visited, Ford’s Theater, Washington D.C., April 14, 1865, witnessed assassination, President Lincoln.

One of the provisions of Maxwell's Will "I give and bequeath to Tommy Pauley of Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania (a Boy deprived of his sight, son of W & K Pauley) my Violin the same to be sent to him by my executors." (i)

Cited

              (i)   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35105127/mccaslin