Biography

04/20/1837 - 02/18/1904

Private Samuel Stotler “Sam” Steel (R45) Allegheny County 1885-1896

Early Life: 

Born April 20, 1837, Antrim Township, near Greencastle Franklin County, Pennsylvania; son of Samuel and Nancy Dietrich Steel, public school, education; blacksmith; undertaker, Carnegie; dairy farmer; elected, Republican Pennsylvania State Senate, 1885-1896; appointed, election judge, 10th Regiment, PVI, Spanish American War; died, February 18, 1904 (aged 66), pneumonia, Green Tree, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, interment Chartier’s Cemetery, Carnegie, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (i)

Early Career:

Blacksmith, Long Brothers, Short and Water Streets, Pittsburgh, 1857.   

Tried to enlist, Taunton, Massachusetts, United States Navy, unsuccessful, enlisted, 1864, private, Captain Henry D. Scott, New Bedford, Massachusetts, 16th Massachusetts Battery, on a dozen defensive posts, Maryland and Northern Virginia, protecting the nation’s capital through the end of the war.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, 45th district, Pennsylvania State Senate, Allegheny County 1885-1896, member, Agriculture, Canal and Inland Navigation, Compare Bills, Congressional Apportionment, Federal Relations and Military Affairs Committees

Appointed, Governor Daniel H. Hastings, election judge, 10th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Spanish American War, Philippines, 1898. Oversaw casting of ballots for Governor of Pennsylvania, by soldiers doing duty there, last public service preformed. (ii)

Legacy:

An uncle, Senator Christopher L. Magee. (ii)

 Cited:

Smull’s Legislative Hand Book, (1890) Miller, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 660, 693-695.  

(i) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15684146/samuel-stotler-steel

(ii) The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Friday February 19, 1904 , Page 4