Biography

04/20/1837 - 02/18/1904

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

Early Life: 

Private Samuel Stotler “Sam” Steel, 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;  private, 16th Battery Massachusetts Light Artillery, 1864-1865; elected, Republican Pennsylvania State Senate, 1885-1896; gubernatorial appointed, election judge, 10th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Spanish American War; died, February 18, 1904 (aged 66) Green Tree, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, interment Chartier’s Cemetery, Carnegie, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.   

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 Battery Massachusetts Light Artillery, on a dozen defensive posts, Maryland and Northern Virginia, protecting the nation’s capital through the end of the war. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

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

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. 

Legacy: 

Uncle, Christopher Lyman Magee, Pennsylvania State Senate, 43rd district, Allegheny (Part) County 1897-1901.

Christopher Lyman Magee  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

 Cited: 

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

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1890). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 697, 702-704, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 670.

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

Samuel Stotler Steel (1837-1904) - Find a Grave Memorial