Biography

03/01/1802 - 01/07/1880

Colonel Maxwell “Max” McCaslin (D22) Fayette and Greene Counties 1849-1851 (D23) Greene and Washington Counties 1852-1854. 

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, Civil War, 1862-1864; bricklayer apprentice; stone mason merchant; cattle farmer and drover; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1843-1845, appointed, Commission to Equalize Taxes throughout Pennsylvania; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate 1849-1854, elected, Speaker of the Senate, 1850, 1854 terms; married, Joanna Hale, 1851, (d.1853); elected, delegate, National Democratic Convention 1852; Presidential appointee, agent, Osage River Miami Indian Reservation 1855-1858; unsuccessful campaign, Secretary of State Kansas, 1868; died, January 7, 1880, Paola, Miami County, Kansas; interment, Paola Cemetery, Paola, Miami County, Kansas.  

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; commissioned colonel, Governor Francis R. Shunk, Pennsylvania Militia, 1845; commissioned colonel, 15th Regiment, West Virginia Infantry, Civil War, 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.

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 1843-1845 terms; appointed, Commission to Equalize Taxes throughout Pennsylvania. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 22nd district, Fayette and Greene Counties, 1849-1851, Speaker of the Senate, 1850.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 23rd district, Greene and Washington Counties, 1852-1854; Speaker of the Senate, 1854.

Elector, President Franklin Pierce, 1851. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Appointee, President Franklin Pierce, Osage River, Miami Indian Reservation Agent, Kansas. 1855. 

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

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

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."  

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members M". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Col Maxwell McCaslin (1802-1880) - Find a Grave Memorial