Edgar Gregory
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Edgar Mandlebert Gregory (1804 - 1871)

Edgar Mandlebert Gregory
Born in Sand Lake, Rensselaer, New York, United Statesmap
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Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
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Died at age 67 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United Statesmap
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Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Edgar Gregory is Notable.

Edgar Gregory was a long-time abolitionist and temperance advocate, motivated by his deep religious beliefs. He formed the 91st Pennsylvania Infantry in 1861, served throughout the war, and was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General effective 1864 and to Brevet Major General effective 1866. He served as Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau for Texas, was removed apparently on President Johnson's orders because he was perceived as too pro-freedmen, and then served as Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau for Maryland. He was Provost Marshall for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and intervened in the 1870 election to force the Philadelphia police to allow African-Americans to vote. Although he was not successful in business (declaring bankruptcy in 1866 and dying insolvent), he was a deeply moral man who acted on his firm convictions, despite the cost to himself.

Timeline

1804 born, in Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, New York
about 1822 moved to Deposit, New York; became lumber merchant
by 1828 married Ellen Young
1830 Dusenbury, Wheeler, May, and Company began working
1840 moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
1841 seminary formed a militia under him to defend against anti-Negro mob
about 1843 formed firm Gregory + Burnet
1851 President of First Bank
1854/55 both of his firms went broke; Gregory lost almost all his possessions
1860 moved to Philadelphia, formed Gregory + Company
1861 formed 91st Pennsylvania
30 September 1864 effective date of brevet promotion to Brigadier General
1865-1866 Assistant Commissioner of Freedman's Bureau for Texas
1866-1868 Assistant Commissioner of Freedman's Bureau for Maryland
16 July 1867 received brevet promotion to Major General to date from 9 August 1866
25 December 1868 his wife Ellen died
31 December 1868 filed for bankruptcy; granted 21 June 1869
1869-1871 US Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
7 November 1871 died

Early Life

Edgar Mantlebert Gregory[1] was born on 1 January 1804,[1][2] at Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, New York,[1][2] to Justus Gregory and Clarissa Downs.[1]

When he was 18 years old, he went to Deposit, New York, and became a lumber merchant, first with his brother, and then on his own. While living in Deposit, he joined the Presbyterian Church; he became an Elder when he was 30 years old. He also served as Colonel of a militia regiment. [2]

Marriage and Children

He married Ellen Young. They had three children: [1] [3]

Francis Henry Gregory
Justus Abram Gregory
Sarah Augusta Gregory

In 1833, a Gregory, in Deposit, New York, told William Wheeler that Russell Kelsey had been talking about the Allegheny River being a good place for a lumber company. (Whether this is Edgar Gregory isn't certain.) Later, Wheeler, Deacon Ezra May, Edgar Gregory, Henry Dusenbury, and Russell Kelsey formed a lumber company (named 'Dusenbury, Wheeler, May, and Company'), and Wheeler started lumber operations in February 1834. (Henry Van Bergen bought Kelsey's interest about a year later.) In 1837, Dusenbury, Wheeler, May, and Company (in Portsville, New York) started a lumber yard in Cincinnati, Ohio. Edgar Gregory and VanBergen were in charge. [4] In 1840, the firm was named Vanbergen, Ross, & Company. [5]

Cincinnati

In 1840, he moved to Cincinnati, where he was still a lumber merchant. [2]

Grant Gregory claims he "incidentally" helped runaway slaves escape to Canada. [1] McFeely describes him as a "radical Abolitionist". [6] His obituary claims he "had always been a determined and outspoken anti-slavery man". [2] And an 1866 letter describes him as having had "twenty-five years of Anti-Slavery life". [7] Perhaps his actions in Cincinnati earned that description.

In September 1841, a mob attacked Negroes in Cincinnati. In his Reminiscences, the abolitionist and underground railroad leader Levi Coffin quotes a newspaper account of the attacks, since he was not yet living in Cincinnati. But he adds a note in his own voice, claiming that the students of Lane Seminary "formed a militia company under command of E M Gregory" to defend the seminary against the mob, who regarded it as the "d--d abolition hole". The mob started to attack the seminary, but retreated because of "the warlike preparation of the students". [8]

He seems to have been successful for the next decade. In 1842, he was living on Elm Street, between 3rd and 4th Streets, Cincinnati, Ohio. He was with the firm Ross, Gregory, & Comany, lumber merchants, at the corner of 8th and Plum. [9] In approximately 1843, he formed the firm of Gregory + Burnet, with William Burnet, George Dusenberg, and William F. Wheeler. They were a lumber company. In approximately 1845-1846, Gregory and Burnet bought out Dusenberg and Wheeler. [10] In 1843, he was living in Mt Auburn. He was still with the firm Ross, Gregory & Company, at the same location. [11] He seems to have become a vice president of the State Temperance Society in 1844. [12] In 1846, he was still living in Mt Auburn. The firm was now named Gregory, Burnet & Company; they were still lumber merchants, at the northwest corner of Plum and 8th Streets. [13] In 1849, he was living on the south side of Richmand, east of John. He was still with Gregory & Burnet, lumber dealers, at the same place. [14]

Paper of Gregory + Burnet first went to protest about November-December 1849. The firm failed because they lost money in stocks and in business by bad debts. They continued to do business, but never really recovered. [10]

In 1850, he was living in Cincinnati, with his family. He was a lumber merchant. [3] He was living at 86 east 4th. His company was now named Gregory E M & Company; it was still at the same location. He was also a director and the president of the City Bank. [15]

In 1851, he was President of City Bank, in Cincinnati, and one of its Directors. He was also President, and on the Board of Directors, of the Washington Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was on the Board of Directors of Farmers' College. And he owned one or more paintings by George W Phillips. [16] He was living at 86 east 4th, and was still with the firm EM Gregory & Company, along with two other men. [17]

While in Cincinnati, he was active in the Sabbath School and temperance movements. [18] [19] [20]

In 1853, he could not attend the State Temperance Convention, but sent a letter explaining his absence and agreeing to support whatever was adopted.[18] He was living at 13 west 3d, and was the president of the Washington Life Insurance Company, [21]

In 1854 or 1855, both of his firms (Gregory + Burnet, and Gregory Ingalsbe and Company) went broke, because of a general economic downturn, with almost all banks suspending payment. They paid small debts and made partial payment on others. Gregory surrendered all of his private property to their creditors, except for some household furniture and other small items. [10]

In 1855, he was living at 107 Pike. He was with the firm Gregoryy, Ingalsbe & Company, bankers. [22]

In 1856, he was living at 298 West 7th. His office was at 13 West 3rd. His sons are also listed in the city directory, living with him. [23]

In 1857, he was living at 298 West 7th, with an office at 70 West 4th. [24]

In 1858 and 1859, he was living in College Hill, and working at 13 West 3rd Street. [25]

Philadelphia

According to an obituary in a Cincinnati paper, he moved to Philadelphia because he had failed in business there.[26]

In 1860, he and his wife Ellen were living in the 13th ward of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a lumber merchant, but did not report owning any real or personal property. [27]

In 1860 he formed the firm of Gregory + Company, with his daughter Mrs Sarah A Sheldon, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were a lumber firm. He put $4,000 into the firm. Sarah Sheldon put nothing into the firm; he had expected she would receive money from her husband's estate, but she did not. [10]

In fall 1860, he was living at 876 North 6th Street (just south of Poplar Street); he was a lumber merchant at 924 Richmond Street (about 3.3 miles away, according to Google). [28]

Gregory + Company failed in July 1861, because the business was unprofitable. [10]

Civil War

By 29 April 1861, Gregory was elected (by acclamation) Captain of the first company to be formed of the Thirteenth Ward Home Guard in Philadelphia.[29] In June 1861, Gregory and John M Bickel ran for election as Colonel of the Home Guard. Results published in the Inquirer have Bickel winning 408 to 297 votes.[30] He was captain of Company A, from the Thirteenth Ward.[31] He and the Thirteenth Ward Home Guard took part in the Fourth of July parade in Philadelphia.[32]

The Home Guard held a meeting on 18 July 1861, with Gregory as chair, discussing forming a regiment.[33] He began forming a regiment sometime in July 1861.[34] The regiment was based on the Home Guard, particularly Gregory's company in the Thirteenth Ward, whose members were discharged honorably if they volunteered for active service.[35]

Bvt Major General Edgar Gregory served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: Aug 2, 1861
Mustered out: Jul 10, 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): Pennsylvania 91st Volunteer Infantry

On 2 August 1861, he enrolled in the 91st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, at Philadelphia, and was mustered in on 4 December 1861, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Lieutenant Colonel Ruff, with the regiment.[36]

At a meeting on 19 August 1861, reporting the status of regiments in training, Edgar Gregory reported that his regiment comprised seven incomplete companies, two of which were to be mustered in on the 20th, and that the regiment could be ready to march in two weeks.[37] Events showed he was overly optimistic. Perhaps that is why Commanders of the Home Guard organizations (including Gregory) met on 21 August 1861 in the Supreme Court Room to discuss quickly forming a regiment to serve for short term (six months or less).[38] In any event, on 26 September 1861, he had not yet taken possession of the camp where his regiment was going to train, but was going to do so soon.[39]

The regiment trained until 21 January 1862, when it was sent to Washington. On 27 April it was sent to Alexandria, Virginia. He was Provost Marshal of Alexandria, beginning on 23 April 1862.[40] He was acting Military Governor of Alexandria, Virginia from 27 April 1862 until 21 August 1862.[41]

Occasional rhetorical flashes show up in the dry language of his orders.

We come here to be soldiers; to that end we must bind our energies.[42]
It is the pride of every true soldier to know his duty and do it well, while the indolent and shiftless find it more congenial to their feelings to spend their time in grumbling and complaining of their hard fate.[43]

One contemporary newspaper article described Colonel Gregory as the "energetic and popular Provost Marshal", but later gives a different impression, by suggesting that Gregory would appreciate support from "some of our Alexandria ladies, who now express so much indignation at his every official act".[44]

In June 1862, Gregory attended a ceremony marking the display of a new flag outside the City Hall, and gave a speech there.[44] He ordered Reverend Bitting, of the Baptist Church in Alexandria, that if he could not pray for the President and for the success of the Union, he would close the church, and when Bitting refused, Gregory closed the church.[45] He also refused to return a escaped slave to a Maryland citizen, even though the citizen had sworn a loyalty oath, and had a warrant for the arrest of the slave.[46]

On 16-17 October 1862, he commanded Tyler's Brigade (with 2500 men) on a reconnaissance to Leesburg, West Virginia.[47]

On 13 December 1862, he led the left rear of the charge of Tyler's Brigade at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He was wounded slightly, in his right hand, and his horse fell under him, shot by five balls. He took a sword from another officer, shouted "Come on, my Ninety-first!", and ran towards the Confederate position, having lost his hat, and with his "grey hair streaming in the wind". Humphreys mentions him as one of the officers 'who distinguished themselves by their gallant bearing'.[48] And on 27 February 1863, the regiment's commissioned officers gave him a horse, and the enlisted men gave him a "costly and beautiful sword", presented by Joseph Sinex and David Mansfield respectively.[49] George W Simon & Brother, Philadelphia, made the sword.[50] The sword was exhibited to the public, in the window of Grover & Baker (on Chestnut Street below Seventh) on 13 February 1863.[50]

He was severely wounded, in action, by a gun-shot wound of his right leg, at Chancellorsville, on 3 May 1863. According to a newspaper account, "a ball passed through his leg, shattering the bone badly". He was permitted to return to Philadelphia for medical treatment, at his home. [51] He initially had a twenty-day leave, starting on 9 May 1863.[52] His leave was extended seven times, until some time in September 1863.[53] He probably returned about 23 September 1863, when John Jamison (or possibly David Jamison) began serving as his hostler,[54] but he was not officially reported returned until 25 September 1863.[55]

With the regiment, he mustered out on 25 or 26 December 1863, at Bealton, Virginia, and was reenlisted as a veteran volunteer.[56]

On 8 January 1864, he spoke for ten minutes at Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before dismissing the men for their veterans' leave. The Philadelphia Press reported his speech:[57]

He returned thanks, on behalf of the men in his command, for the patriotic reception tendered them. The shouts of Union victory on the battle-field inspired the soul with courage, and the shouts of patriotism at home kindle the flame of love for our country. The brave men of my command have re-enlisted for the war. (Great cheering.) They may not have to serve for three years more, because we think we see the beginning of the end of the rebellion. (Cheers.) He would make one remark, and that is this--the rebellion never will end until the shackles are broken from every slave in the country. (Immense cheers.) The war cannot cease until every black man is set free, and this country becomes, what God Almighty intends it to be in reality, the land of the free and the home of the brave. (Enthusiastic cheers--voice from a window of American Hotel, "Good, good;" voice from the crowd, "That's the ring of the true metal, no copperheadism about that.")

On 3 February 1864, he accepted a new set of flags, in a ceremony at Concert Hall. The Philadelphia Press reported his speech in this way:[58]

Mr. President, ladies and friends of the 91st Regiment, we accept this suit of colors with grateful hearts. Boys, these are your colors, the colors of your country. I need not say that you will defend them. The audience know it. He then proposed three cheers for the colors, which were heartily given. The men then sat down, and the Colonel proceeded. He said: We receive these colors with gratitude to you; with thankfulness to God that we have friends at home. We have returned to your midst, but not all of us. We have left brave men behind, but we expect to meet them at the judgment seat, where they will not be condemned for what they have done on the battle-field. He had made up his mind that when the last chain shall be severed from the body of the last slave in America, then he believed the war would be at an end, and he hoped it would be at the time when Abraham Lincoln was re-elected President of these United States. [Cheers.] We have lost many dear ones on the fields of Virginia. The day will come, and, we trust, before long, when this was will be over. We have 403 [last digit unclear] men left out of 1,100 and odd, and we have recruited about one hundred lately. We come to Philadelphia to fill our regiment to a thousand strong, and we expect to do it, and you young men must come forth. We are in for this war to the end. This Government was founded upon principle--the principle of freedom to every man. The Government was ordained by God, and we believe that it was ordained that Abraham Lincoln was to lead us through this trial. We accept these banners, and they will be accepted and protected we believe. He then introduced to the audience Sergeant Chism, who, he said, had carried the other flag through every battle. Should these banners fall, I should find you, from your past character, beneath them. These colors you are to carry. May God spare you to carry them through this context. Take this color, and I ask no more of you in the future than I have had from you in the past. The State flag was then placed in the hands of Corporal Winner [sic]. This rebellion, he continued, has cost much and it will cost more. This Government is destined to be the greatest in the world, and to-day there is not a monarchy in the Old World which does not tremble at the power of our Government. This all arises from the one national principle of freedom to all within it. He believed that this rebellion would have been crushed before had it not been for the fire from the Copperheads in the rear. [Applause.] Heaven grant that there shall never be peace until every rebel shall lay down his arms, and the shackles be broken from every slave in the land. [Applause.]

On 4 February 1864, he was relieved from the recruiting service, and ordered to go to Chester Hospital and take command there of the rendezvous for all troops sent for furlough and reorganization to the eastern district of Pennsylvania.[59] On 18 February 1864, he was 'assigned to the command of Chester Hospital, Chester, Pennsylvania, so long as it may be used as a point of Rendezvous for Veteran Volunteers'.[60] The regiment was late leaving for the front, and many enlisted men took an unofficial leave (that is, went absent without leave) because of the delay. Lieutenant Colonel Sinex seems to have blamed the delay on Gregory; he claimed he received the relevant orders days after they were issued, through Gregory, who was still officially commanding the regiment.[61] The War Department also raised some question about Gregory's authority to detail officers and enlisted men for draft and recruiting service; Gregory apparently thought Lieutenant Colonel Sinex knew about the relevant order, which Sinex denied.[62]

He was at various times commanding the First Brigade, Second Division, Fifth Corps, Army of the Potamac (e.g., 5 June 1864[63] and the 91st Pennsylvania (eg., 20 June 1864[64]) While commanding the brigade, he often lead religious services, sparking a revival in the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry (especially companies G and K).[65]

He was commanding the brigade during the destruction of the Weldon Railroad in August 1864. The brigade faced only one attack, on 21 August 1864, which was repulsed with only light casualties.[66]

On 3 October 1864, Brigadier General Griffin (Fifth Corps commander) recommended that Gregory be promoted to Brigadier General 'for gallant conduct displayed' on 30 September 1864, saying that '[t]he bravery and valor evinced by them and their commands in the operations of that day have not been excelled in any action during the war'.[67]

He was appointed brevet brigadier general for 'gallant and distinguished service in the battle of Poplar Spring Church near Petersburg Va.', to date from 30 September 1864, by General Order No. 15, dated 6 February 1865.[68] He continued commanding the brigade through the end of the war.[69]

He was mustered out with the regiment, on 10 July 1865. He had last been paid, by Major Gresson, through 31 May 1865. [70]

Freedman's Bureau, Texas

At some point, the army chaplains met en masse in Washington, DC. A chaplain he had met briefly asked if Gregory remembered him, and later reported Gregory as replying, "I do, chaplain, well remember that time; those were dark days then, but God has since done wonderful things for us, of which we are glad." [71]

On 4 July 1865, Gregory addressed a meeting of the National Colored Monument Association, held on the Treasury Department grounds, in Washington DC.[72] Also speaking were the noted abolitionists William Howard Day, Henry Wilson, and ex-Governor Hahn; others, including Governor Andrew, Horace Greeley, and Frederick Douglass sent letters. Unfortunately, the printed program barely mentions Gregory's speech:

"Following the speech of Senator Wilson, interesting remarks were made by Senator Hahn, of Louisiana, and by Gen. Gregory, after which the assembly quietly dispersed."

While nothing is known about Gregory's speech, the other speakers are at least consistent with Gregory's being an abolitionist.[73] Henry Wilson (1812-1875), Senator from Massachusetts, 1855-1873, dedicated himself to emancipation, because of his observations of slavery on an early visit to Washington DC. George Michael Hahn (1830-86) was the pro-union governor of Louisiana from 1864-65, and supported black suffrage. William Howard Day had been editor of the Cleveland True Democrat and Aliened American before traveling around Europe to raise money; he later worked for the Freedman's Bureau, was ordained a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and was general secretary of the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1875-1880.

On 5 July 1865, he was assigned to duty as Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen Abandoned Lands for the State of Texas, and was ordered to report to Major General Howard at Washington. [74]

Howard said that 'Gregory was well reputed for the stand he always took in the army in favor of clear-cut uprightness of conduct. He was so fearless of opposition or danger that I sent him to Texas, which seemed at the time of his appointment to be the post of greatest peril'. [75] According to the New York Times, General Meade and others recommended him. [76]

At least some initial reaction in Texas was positive. The Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph described Gregory as "an officer of high executive reputation", and expressed hope that the Bureau would quickly regulate negro labor well.[77] They also published a letter from Cairo, Illinois, claiming he was a Philadelphian (apparently praiseworthy!), "a thorough-going man", and someone "of whom gentlemen who know him well speak in the highest term".[78]

Gregory arrived in Galveston on 5 September 1865.[79]

According to one story, when he arrived in Texas, he asked a local attorney for a copy of the laws of Texas. The attorney replied by giving him a bowie-knife. When Gregory repeated his request, the attorney replied that the bowie-knife was effectively the only law in Texas.[80]

From the beginning he had trouble obtaining officers to assist him. Only one had reported by 21 September, although four had been assigned, and General Wright had ordered each of the three district commanders to provide five officers, and to investigate alleged mistreatment of Negroes until the Freedmen's Bureau had agents in the field. By the 21st he had spoken to at least one hundred planters, mostly from eastern Texas. Religion continued to be important to him--his first letter to Howard reports with obvious disappointment that "[t]he churches of white people are but slenderly attended", but with praise that "the Collored [sic] Churches ... [are] well attended on the Sabbath".[81]

Opposition to Gregory emerged early. On 25 September 1865, the Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph reported that "an unfavorable impression [of Gregory] has gone abroad". They suggested that he was devoted both to helping the freedmen, and also to "saving the Agriculture of the State".[82]

He returned to Houston on Tuesday afternoon, 26 September 1865, after an inspection tour through Austin and Washington Counties. He left for Galveston, where he was going to establish his headquarters, on 28 September 1865.[83]

At the end of September 1865, he spoke to the freedmen at their church in Galveston, Texas, telling them that they now had the same legal rights and responsibilities that whites had, encouraging them "to be honest, faithful, and industrious", and advising them that they had to earn their own living. The Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph claimed that this "gave great satisfaction to his audience, and should do them much good".[84] In an amusing variant, some versions report that Gregory assured the freedmen that "they should not be burthened by the government", instead of that they should not be a burden to the government![85] He repeated this message in an early order, which also explicitly denied that property would be distributed to the freedmen at Christmas.[86]

Establishing schools was important to Gregory; he had decided to establish public schools by the end of September 1865. One early report claims they would be available to whites and blacks.[87]

On 17 October 1865, Gregory issued a "circular letter", which explained the rules about contracts agents were to enforce. Any contracts for a freedman's labor for one month or more had to be in writing, approved by an agent, and a copy had to be deposited with the agent. A contract for plantation labor applied to the entire family, and the employer had to provide food, lodging, fuel, and medical care for the entire family, along with whatever additional compensation the parties agreed to. The contract constituted a lien on the crop, and no more than half the crop could be removed before the freedmen had been paid. If the employer violated the contract, the "usual remedy" of damages secured by the lien, or by personal security, applied. If the freedmen violated the contract, the freedmen's wages would be forfeited. But Gregory added an additional penalty against freedmen:[88]

"... when any employer under this Order shall make oath before a Justice of the Peace acting as Agent of this Bureau and having local jurisdiction that one of his employees has been absent from his employ for a longer period than one day without just cause, or for an aggregate term of more than 5 days in one Month the Authorities shall proceed against such person as a Vagrant."

On 31 October 1865, he reported to Howard that the freedmen were working well. Although some people had expressed fear of an insurrection during the holidays, Gregory saw no basis for that fear, and claimed "that if any thing of the kind occurs, it will [be] caused by the impudence [?] of the white people". Further, the planters and other employers were not willing to pay fair wages (although they claimed to be), and had to be closely monitered. The schools that had been started were doing well, and the military was cooperating.[89]

On 8 November 1865, Gregory ordered AM Norris to give her former slave Tanzy Edgar all Tanzy's property. They refused, because they believed Tanzy was in debt to them. Gregory then ordered her to appear before him to answer charges that she owed Tanzy six dollars and several chickens. She denied the charges, and claimed Tanzy owed her money she had earned while "hiring out". Gregory decided that she owed Tanzy three dollars, which she paid. Several weeks later, Tanzy and two soldiers came to take property from the Norris's, which they refused; months later, they had not returned.[90]

By November 1865, further opposition had emerged. A Georgia newspaper claimed on 29 November that "[prominent Texans] concur in stating that the mismanagement of the Freedmen's Bureau has demoralized the negroes, who were at first generally contented to remain with their owners and work for them, and has also created great dissatisfaction amongst the whites against General Gregory and his agents". The Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph tried to dissipate the opposition, by emphasizing that people should not trust rumors.[91]

Gregory conducted four tours of Texas, speaking to freedmen and planters.[92]

His first tour took place from 10 through 31 November 1865. Gregory travelled 700 miles, and spoke to 25,000 freedmen and planters, on that trip.[93] While he was on that trip, a freedwoman named Mahaly filed a complaint against her former mistress, Mrs Sims. Mahaly had stayed with her for months without being paid, because she couldn't find anywhere else to live. She did at least some work while she was living there. Gregory decided that Mrs Sims should pay Mahaly $32.50, which she did. On her way out, Mrs Sims told Mahaly "to come home, get your things and child, leave my premises, and never again put your foot on them!" This upset Gregory, who insisted that she return to the room. When she did, he told her:

Madame, I demand of you in the name and by the authority of the United States Government, that you show all due respect to its citizens, whether they be white or black!"

Mrs Sims left without saying anything more, but later complained to David Burnet about Gregory's treatment of her. The "insult" to her at the end seems to be criticized at least as much as the decision![94]

Before 20 November 1865, Gregory also ordered Sarah Hardy to pay "reasonable wages" to a freedman named Adam for his work from 1 June to 3 October 1865. She claimed that her husband had a contract with him, and had complied with the terms, but paid him $20 "to get rid of him and have no trouble". (She doesn't say what the terms of the contract were.[95]

General Strong, the Inspector General for the Freedmen's bureau, accompanied Gregory part of the way on this first trip, to Huntsville. (They separated because they thought they would accomplish more separately, not because of a disagreement, as some newspapers reported.) Strong claims Gregory was "an earnest and very able speaker", who was doing everything in his power to fix the labor problems, which Strong thought were primarily caused by past injustices against the freedmen, who had not been paid for work in 1865, and by false hopes of a land distribution in 1866. However, Gregory was greatly handicapped, by having only six or seven subordinates, although he needed fifty. Strong observed more cruelty and injustice towards blacks in Texas than in any other Southern state he had visited, and said that he did "not think it possible for any man to hold General Gregory's position in Texas, do justice to the freedmen, and be popular with the people". The situation was so bad that Strong actually said that "[o]ne campaign of an army through the eastern part of the State, such as was made by General Sherman in South Carolina, would greatly improve the temper and generosity of the people". Strong's report did not convince everyone, however--according to the conservative Galveston Daily News, Strong's report was "here universally known to be false and published only for the purpose of enabling the Radicals the better to carry out their policy".[96]

His second tour of Texas began on 10 December 1866. He travelled through the Lower Brazos Oyster Creek, Old Cany [?], and Colorado Districts, which were the major cotton- and sugar-producing parts of Texas. Most of the freedmen were under contract, with widely varying terms (and some problems of ambiguity). The wages ranged from eight to fifteen dollars per month, usually in addition to lodging, food, fuel, medical care, and clothing. Instead of wages, many planters promissed their laborers part of the crop (one-quarter to one-half), often along with lodging and boarding.[97]

On 23 December 1866, he stayed at the home of a Mr Spears. He insisted on staying although the daughter did not want him to, because her father was not at home. He ignored the white women who were present, shook hands with the Negroes, and told them that he was there to ensure that they were treated fairly. Nannie Rodarmel later reported that when one of the Negroes was initially reluctant to shake hands with Gregory, she told them that Gregory and the others were their friends. Gregory apparently took this badly, and according to Rodarmel "rudely said, that he was their friend and was there to prevent the negro being abused by white people, and would not be laughed at for speaking to them. He also said to me: "shut your mouth or I will make you. I have the power to shut it and will do so, if necessary." After his visit, according to Rodarmel, the freedmen "became insolent and refractory".[98]

On 30 November 1865, Gregory arrested a Mr Elmore (formerly a Colonel in the Confederate army) for using dogs to catch a freedman named Shade and falsely imprisoning him. (Apparently, Elmore claimed that he had simply been using the dogs to track an unknown thief; he wasn't targeting the Negro because he was a Negro.) A Texas court issued a writ of habeas corpus. Gregory asked for an extension to allow him to receive instructions from Washington, which Judge Caldwell granted, and Elmore was released on bail. On 17 January 1866, Judge Caldwell heard the case. Gregory (represented by Judge DJ Baldwin and District Attorney AP Wiley) argued that the state courts had no jurisdiction, because the state had done nothing about the crime, which had occurred in July 1865, and under Federal law, the Freedmen's Bureau had jurisdiction when the local government ignored negroes' right to justice. Elmore (represented by Judge Baker and Colonel JH Mauley) argued that the Freedmen's Bureau had jurisdiction only in circumstances that did not obtain. Judge Caldwell decided in favor of Gregory.[99]

He returned to Galveston by 29 December 1865.[100]

The Sunday before 2 January 1866, he spoke at a Negro church, on Broadway, giving them advice that Flake's Bulletin described as "good, plain advice, which, if they follow, will redown to their well-being and prosperity". He also spoke at the Negro Sunday school that Mr. Tambling directed.[101]

On 20 January 1866, from Galveston, Gregory wrote a letter to Benjamin Harris, who was the foreperson of a grand jury in Panola [?] County, Texas. Harris obviously expressed fear of the freedmen, and apparently asked for federal officers. Gregory's response is telling (and well worth reading). While he claims that while most freedmen are good citizens, he admits that some may not properly understand their rights and duties. But he insists that when Negroes are treated fairly, they behave commendably, that no special laws regarding Negroes are necessary, and that the extant laws should be applied in a race-blind way: "the Bureau leaves the freedmen as other men are left to the protection of equal law, insisting only that no distinction against one race be made in favor of the other". He claims that problems may be due to the planters' insistence on keeping their old powers: "The governing class are today what the past has made them, and they cannot cut loose at a single blow from their past traditions, beliefs, hatreds, and hopes. After all the rough schooling of the war they have still a lesson and a hard one to learn: it is to be just to the Black man". And in particular he claims that freedmen are hesitant to work because they were defrauded of their earnings in 1865. He concludes by advising Harris to treat "laborers with liberality and on a basis of Justice", and claims that then "your labor [will] unite with your capital and become [a] productive force". But he also issues a prediction: ".I sometimes think that long after the oppressed race shall rise into rights, duties and capacities so haughtily denied the dominant class will not have overcome their contempt for the Negro. Its roots will even then exist and trouble the land."[102]

On 31 January 1866, Gregory reported that only about 67,000 of about 400,000 freedmen were receiving government support. Most freedmen had made contracts, and the planters were treating freedmen better because of the labor shortage. Assaults on and abuse of freedmen, including "murder, savage beating, merciless whipping, hunting men with trained bloodhounds, through all the lesser degrees of cruelty", were still too frequent, but Gregory claimed they were declining. Gregory had experienced great difficulty in obtaining and keeping officers from the army; he had only twenty assistants, ten of whom were civilians. Twenty-six schools, with more than 1600 students, were operating with no government funds. All expenses had been paid from fines imposed on people who had violated freedmen's rights. Gregory had explicitly forbidden levying a tax on approving contracts, and had ordered the arrest of the agents who had done that. Their levying that tax had resulted in trouble and opproprobrium; nothing else had caused Gregory "more mortification and trouble".[103]

In February 1866, Burnet (the ex-President of the short-lived Texas Republic) published charges against Gregory. Gregory denied them, and demanded that Burnet either retract the charges or prove them.[104] Shortly after, Burnet was "preparing a reply".[105]

In February 1866, CB Comstock visited Gregory, and concluded that:[106]

... while I think he probably tells some plain truths to the unreconstructed in a plain way, also think him a very good man for his place; determined to make the whites do their part, and just as determined to make the negroes do theirs, his idea evidently being that the negro should have precisely the same rights as the white man--no more and no less.

On 19 February 1866, the New York Times published a piece that praised Gregory.[107] Was this part of a counter-campaign, to save him? If so, the Times had abandoned it by July, when they published an article claiming Gregory was "a bitter and implacable radical", whose administration "had some dark spots".[108]

Some time in March 1866, Gregory told Judge Roberts, in Harris County, Texas, that the county had to take some additional responsibility for the Negroes there. Roberts refused.[109]

On 3 March 1866, Howard warned him that he had received many complaints that Gregory was favoring the freedmen over whites, and recommended that Gregory "be as wise as a serpent as well as harmless etc.".[110]

Gregory responded to Howard's letter on 17 March 1866, thanking Howard for his kindness and generosity and for his suggestions. He claimed he was no more friendly to Blacks than to Whites, but sought justice for both. He often consulted with General Wright but had not yet seen Governor Hamilton.[111]

At the end of March 1866, Gregory gave a speech in the courthouse at La Grange. The La Grange New Era summarized it in this way: "The drift of his remarks was to the effect that negroes must adhere to their contracts, and not let any one entice them from their present homes". A few days later, the Galveston Daily News approved this, and then claimed:[112]

The white people, generally, know much better what is good for the negroes than they do themselves. Besides the whites really wish the negroes well, and are anxious to promote their interests. Complaints can arise, therefore, only upon such management on the part of the Bureau as would seem to assume an antagonism between the two races, and to induce the negroes to act accordingly under assurances of military protection.

The later history of Negro-White relations, in Texas and elsewhere, shows Gregory's assessment was more accurate than this.

However, on the next day, the Galveston Daily News published three criticisms of the Texas Freedmen's Bureau and Gregory, collected by David G Burnet, the respected first president of the Texas Republic.[113] These included the complaints made by Sims, Hardy, and Rodarmel, which I summarized above, and also two complaints against subagents (at least one of which Gregory had not allegedly not responded to).[114]

The Galveston Daily News also cites a correspondent for the Louisville Courier as describing Gregory as "represented to be unsympathizing with the wants of the people, overbearing and insulting to citizens, officious in the affairs of master and servant, and repulsive to petitions for redress". Given the previous articles, this seems to mean that he did not agree that the whites in Texas knew and wanted what was best for the freedmen, and that he insisted they respect the freedmen.[115]

As part of their campaign against Gregory, the Galveston Daily News reprinted part of an article from the Cincinnati Commercial, which described Gregory as "a pleasant, kindly old man, but thoroughly absorbed in the negro, crochety, confused, obtuse, and with no capacity for affairs". The author admits Gregory has not profited from his position, but insists that he is "odious" because of his "unblushing discriminations against the white, and in favor of the negroes". For example he fined a planter $200, because the planter "boxed an impudent piccaninny [sic] on the ears".[116] Perhaps the real complaint is that he had committed the unpardonable offence of believing Negro testimony and rejecting inconsistent White testimony.

On 10 April 1866, he ordered Gaza Harazthy to arrest Augustus Gilmanot and Gilbert Gar for "unmercifully flogging two freedmen". Harazthy arrested them, and wrote his commander to find out if he was under Gregory's orders.[117]

On 17 April 1866, Flake's Bulletin requested Gregory to ask the freedmen to be calmer during their religious meetings, since he "has the confidence of these people", and "we have no doubt but that a word from him would remedy the evil more readily than all the law-executing force in the city".[118]

Gregory's third tour of Texas had ended by 18 April 1866. He then reported that he had visited western Texas, which was the major area he had not yet visited. He claimed that the laborers were working hard throughout that area, and that his agents were easily settling disputes between them and their employers. He admitted, however, that instances of mistreatment of and violence against freedment had increased dramatically in March and April, because of the significant reductions in Army troops. He praised the freedmen for working hard, even when the government had little power to force them to. He predicted that more would be made from the sugar, corn, wheat, and cotton crops than in any previous year. The Bureau was directing 42 days schools, 29 night schools, and 19 sunday schools, with 43 teachers, and a total attendane of 4,590; there were another 18 to 20 private schools in Texas.[119]

By the end of his third tour, his replacement had been announced.[120] Howard announced that Brigadier General Kiddoo would become the Assistant Commissioner, and recalled Gregory to Washington. He also commended Gregory "for the marked energy and ability with which he has discharged his duties as Assistant Commissioner". The Galveston Daily News was less complimentary, unsurprisingly, claiming that "the great majority of the people of Texas will be abundantly delighted to hear of his removal".[121] (On the other hand, Flake's Bulletin published a statement from planters in Falls County talking about how well the freedmen were working, and supporting Captain A P Delano.[122] And the San Antonio Express claimed that "though he may have many enemies in this State, he has also many friends who respect and esteem him".[123]

Howard removed Gregory because of political pressure caused by white planters' complaints (including the complaints published in the Galveston Daily Times)--apparently, because he insisted on full legal rights for the ex-slaves.[124] Apparently, General HG Wright had also said that Gregory lacked the requisite "amenity of manner" and "savoir faire".[125] The Galveston Daily News later described Gregory's errors:[126]

The General was very oppressive—used his authority to insult ladies, and to injure gentlemen, with a recklessness of feeling, such as could have been expected only in the essential enemy of humanity himself ....

He did also appoint problematic subordinates. For example, according to the New York Times, Captain Sloan, who was sub-assistant commissioner in Richmond, forced them to work on his own plantation, abused freedmen, and took bribes, including one that allowed a planter to avoid trial for assault and battery with intent to kill a freedman.[127] Gregory was himself accused of owning plantations, but those accusations were baseless.[128]

Gregory's replacement, General Kidoo, arrived on 11 May 1866, and relieved Gregory then. He claimed:[129]

The present aspect of affairs of the Bureau in this State is very encouraging. I am agreeably disappointed in all I have heard or seen this far.
Gen. Gregory has received me with commendable cordiality and has been very dilligent [sic] in giving me the result of his very valuable experience and all the information I may need for the conduct of the Bureau. I feel it is my duty to report his kindness in this particular to the Commissioner.

After he was relieved, Gregory conducted a fourth and final tour of Texas. He and General Kiddoo were at the Old Capital Hotel, in Houston, on 17 May 1866.[130] He was in San Antonio before that.[131] This tour included Washington, Grimes, and adjacent counties. They spoke to many freedmen, reportedly telling them that their duty was to work late to recover from the excess rain (which caused excessive grass growth). They reported that the planters were generally satisfied.[132]

Gregory left Texas for New Orleans on 20 June 1866, with General Sheridan, who had just finished a tour of the Rio Grande.[133]

In July 1866, Generals Steedman and Fullerton visited Texas as part of a tour investigating the Freedmen's Bureau. The New York Times reporter with them initially reported that Gregory was "evidently a bitter and implacable radical", and that "[e]vidence of arbitrary and oppressive decisions has been elicited, which were made by Gen. Gregory, and which will soon be made public". However, a week later, he reported that Gregory was "undoubtedly a pure and honest man, though a Radical of the deepest dye, [but] was exceedingly unfortunate in the choice of some of his subordinates, as recent developments have shown that a portion of them have been engaged in planting, and have also been guilty of malfeasance in office". (Although he claims that Gregory's key mistake was appointing civilians as agents, the only agent he mentions by name as having "been guilty of misdemeanors" is Captain Sloan!)[134] The Steedman-Fullerton report concludes, "While we believe Gen. Gregory to have been honest in his administration, we think his extreme views and policy produced ill-feeling and bitterness between the whites and blacks."[135]

Perhaps we should give more credence to the report of an educated free African American who lived with the freedmen in Texas for two months. Besides describing horrifying conditions, with the freedmen treated as slaves, cheated, robbed, murdered, and "infinitely worse off ... than ... during the war", he noted: "Through Cana, in Fort Bend and Horton counties, the poor freedmen have heard of Gen. Gregory, and they whisper his name among themselves, and pray that they may see him and lay before him their numerous grievances for redress."[136] Gregory needs no further commendation.

Gregory's obituary claims that while in Texas he "did good service and gained the respect of the white population, as well as the devotion of the freedmen".[137]

Freedman's Bureau, Maryland

Howard (Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau) ordered him to tour Texas for the commissioner, report to Washington, and after taking 20 days leave, to become assistant commissioner for Maryland.[138] He placed Gregory on a Board to revise the regulations of the Freedmen's Bureau for several months.[139] He was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau in Maryland on 1 September 1866.[140]

He was appointed brevet major general by general order 67, 16 July 1867, for 'gallant conduct in the battle of Five Forks, Va. Apr 1, 1865' to date from 9 August 1866.[141]

On 13 October 1866, he wrote a letter to O.O. Howard, summarizing his investigation of the riot on 30 August 1866 at the camp meeting at the Methodist Episcopal grounds, in Shipley's Woods, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He concluded that the riot was premeditated, started by white people, intended to attack the colored people who were properly camped there, and was also aimed at breaking up the camp meeting, because its ministers and members were believed to be opposed to slavery. The Annapolis Gazette urged its readers to "ponder over the danger which threatens that Church [sc. the Methodist Church] if these men obtain supreme power in the State". [142]

He wrote a report in November 1866.[143]

On 15 November 1866, Ulysses S Grant wrote to Secretary of War Stanton recommending either Chas. T. Campbelle or Gregory for appointment as Lieutenant Colonel in the 37th Infantry, but on 19 November he wrote recommending Galusha Pennypacker instead, enclosing a letter from Governor Curtin (which isn't reprinted in his papers).

Some time around April 1867, Gregory was staying at the principal hotel in Frederick City, on official business. Three African-American clergymen visited him there. The hotel's proprietor insisted that Gregory leave the hotel, since Gregory had entertained African Americans outside his private room. After trying unsuccessfully to explain, Gregory agreed. As he was leaving, the proprietor insisted that he would have assaulted the African Americans and Gregory, to which Gregory replied that he would not have permitted it.[144]

In April 1867, he gave a speech at the African Methodist Episcopal Conference.[145]

In late April 1867, Gregory and others visited Easton, Maryland. He spoke at an African American church on Sunday, about "education and the proper course to pursue to make themselves useful to their families and to themselves". On Monday, he spoke at a meeting at the newly built Stevenson Institute, about "the education, the morals, the conduct, and the rights of the black man". He advised African Americans to be "industrious, courteous and moral", commanding respect "by good conduct and uprightness". He also insisted that the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence accorded the same rights to African Americans as to whites.[146]

In May 1867, he spoke at the Maryland Radical State Convention. He said that he "had just come from an association where the ladies declared for equal rights", and that he wanted all men to have the right to vote.[147]

The Freedman's Bureau and the Baltimore Association held educational meetings throughout Maryland in 1867. These were better attended than expected. Gregory and Hugh Lennox Bond (a Baltimore Criminal Court judge) spoke at a meeting in Dorchester County in June 1867; the Baltimore American estimated that three thousand people attended. Two to three thousand blacks attended a meeting in Havre de Grace (Harford County) in July. And 1000-1200 attended a meeting near Prince Frederick (Calvert County), and 1000-1500 attended a meeting in Centreville (Queen Anne's County) a week later. Meetings with more than one thousand attendees were also held in September at Port Tobacco (Charles County) and at Leonardtown (St Mary's County).[148] Gregory apparently spoke about the "duty of industry and scrupulous regard to the performance of contracts entered into"[149], and advised the audience to be "polite, humble, honest, and industrious".[150]

Gregory spoke at a temperance meeting in Philadelphia, apparently in June 1867.[151] Late in June 1867, he was admitted to the sessions of the National Temperance Convention, in Wilmington Delaware.[152]

On 21 July 1867, he spoke briefly at the dedication of the Gregory Aged Women's Home, in Baltimore, Maryland.[153] On 28 July 1867, he spoke to a meeting at Havre de Grace, "on the moral and educational improvement" of African Americans.[154]

The 1 August 1867 meeting at Centreville (Queen Anne's County) was disrupted by whites, who started a scuffle that became a larger battle, with several blacks seriously injured. No whites were arrested. The Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser claimed the riots were incited by the Centreville Observer, and condoned (and perhaps organized by) the county Sheriff. The Centreville Citizen ("a radical paper") published a report by someone who allegedly was sympathetic to the South. He claimed that Gregory's speech was "more intemperate" in style than the other speakers, but did not object to its content. After the meeting concluded, a drunk white man and an African American fought "about passing each other on the sidewalk", and later an African American show at a town commissioner. (The commissioner convinced the crowd who arrested his assailant to deal with him legally.) He concluded that "though some of the negroes were ripe for a riot, still it would not have taken place but for the rashness of a few intoxicated white men". [155]

On 16 August 1867, "Many Union Citizens" in Baltimore wrote to Ulysses S Grant that the Freedman's Bureau in Baltimore, controlled by Gregory, was extravagantly wasting money that should have gone to Negroes. Erastus Tyler wrote a letter to Andrew Johnson, which was endorsed by Montgomery Blair, claiming that "no other ten men had done 'half the dirty work for the extremists, or half the mischeif [sic] this man Gregory' had done".[156]

The Washington Star claimed that the attempt to remove Gregory was "very ill-advised", since Gregory was responsible for advancing the freedmen in Maryland "in industry, intelligence, thrift and probity". It suggested that those who were opposed to Gregory were "men who would destroy the Union to-morrow, if they could, men who hate the negro because his enfranchisement was literally the turning point in saving the Union from destruction at the hands of the atrocious conspirators who engineered the rebellion."[157]

On 2 September 1867 the Lincoln Zouaves (from Baltimore) staged a "grand encampment" in Baltimore, on the grounds of the Gregory Aged Women's Home, which lasted for three days. The speakers included Gregory, Archibald Stirling Jr., and Captain MH Maroney of the US Army. Fukes describes the speech in this way:[158]

'The remarks of General Gregory were perhaps the most forceful. "The sufferings endured by the Union soldiers during the rebellion," he said," were not intended to save the life of the nation, but were [to ensure] that four million people for whom Christ died might be set at liberty for ever." Gregory went to stress the value of education, and as a conclusion to the assistant commentator's remarks, Archibald Stirling, Jr. added a clarion call for universal suffrage. "The time is not too far distant," he declared, "when you and I can rally around the same ballot box and there plant our tickets."'

On 12 November 1867 Grant requested that Gregory and any other officers with volunteer rank as high as Brigadier General be mustered out of service. His resignation was accepted on 16 November 1867 (order no 497 AGO). Gregory was mustered out and honorably discharged on 30 November 1867.[159]

On 11 January 1868, Gregory claimed that the schools were prospering, and that no school had been burned since September 1866.[160]

On 13 January 1868 General Rawlins wrote General Howard that Grant directed that General Gregory be removed as Assistant Commissioner for Maryland. General Howard replied that Gregory had been detailed as a military officer, and had been continued temporarily when mustered out. The senior officer was to take on the responsibility on 15 February 1868. Howard described Gregory as 'an excellent [off]icer, faithful in the discharge of duty'. He had advised giving him an extra month because there were no charges against him.

Bankruptcy

On 31 December 1868, he filed for bankruptcy, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. On 26 March 1869, George Tucker Bispham was appointed Assignee. Gregory had been a member of three partnerships and two other firms:[161]

Gregory, Ingalsbe & Co., of Cincinnati (Gregory and Levi D. Ingalsbe)
Gregory & Burnet, of Cincinnati (Gregory and William Burnet)
Gregory & Co., of Philadelphia (Gregory and Mrs. Sarah A. Sheldon)
Dusenbury, Wheeler, Gregory & Stowe, of Cincinnati
Van Burgen, Ross, Gregory & Co., of Cincinnati

His largest debt was to his former partner William Burnet (then living in Augusta, Georgia), who claimed Gregory owed him $150,000.00. Gregory said, 'Suit has been pending in Cincinnati for Eleven years past and I deny that I owe him near that much but I cannot state the amount accuratly [sic]'.[162] His assets were valued at $393.00. The most valuable items were 96 ounces of silverware (valued at $144), a gold watch and chain (valued at $100), and two swords (valued at $50).[163]

US Marshall

In May 1869, he was appointed US Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. [2]

Gregory's petition for discharge of his debts was granted by the court on 21 June 1869.[164]

He was responsible for taking the 1870 census in Philadelphia, which was done badly enough that it had to be redone. But in his obituary, the Philadelphia Inquirer claimed that the fault was 'mainly' due to the system, and not to him. [2]

In 1870, he was living in Philadelphia, with his daughter Sarah, her husband Samuel Wright, and their child Sheldon. Edgar Gregory owned $2200 in personal property. [165]

During the Congressional election of 1870, he was responsible for ensuring that voters were able to vote, and eventually called on marines to help him. Mayor Fox was bitterly angry with his decision. [2]

Death

In September 1871, he became very ill, from a severe kidney inflammation. [2]

On 7 November 1871, at 4 AM, he died at his home, 1723 Master Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died of Bright's disease of the kidneys. On 13 November, he was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [2] [1] [166]

Gregory's estate was insolvent, and went entirely to the US government. [167]

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Grant Gregory, Ancestors and descendants of Henry Gregory (Provincetown, Mass, 1938), no. 826, p.219; image copy, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/10279/dvm_GenMono000111-00119-1/225 : accessed 30 August 2021).
    Edgar Mantlebert Gregory
    born 1 January 1804, Sand Lake, New York, to Justus Abram Gregory
    married Ellen Young
    died 7 November 1871 or 1872
    buried West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia
    moved from Deposit to Cincinnati Ohio, 'where he prospered in lumber, banking and railroad bus., incidentally aiding runaway slaves to escape to Canada'
    transferred to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    Colonel of 91st Pennsylvania Infantry, 4 Dec 1861 through close of war
    had five horses shot out from under him
    leg wound at Chancellorsville ultimately causes his death
    brevetted brigadier general 30 Sept 1864, major general 9 August 1866
    Assistant Commissioner of Freedmen's Bureau
    US Marshal, Philadelphia
    three children: Francis Henry, Justus Abram, Sarah Augusta
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 'Obituary: death of United States Marshal Edgar M Gregory', Philadelphia Inquirer 8 November 1871, p.2. col.3; image copy, Newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com/image/167870823/ : accessed 30 August 2021). transcription
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 1850 U.S. census, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, population schedule, p.[92] stamped = p.46 verso stamped, family 756; image copy, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DBBQ-WR3 : accessed 30 August 2021); citing National Archives, microfilm series M432, roll 687.
    Edgar Greggarry [sic], 48, male, lumber merchant, born New York
    Ellen Y ", 44, female, born Pennsylvania
    Francis H ", 24, male, clerk, born New York
    Caroline H ", 19, female, born Connecticut
    Justice H ", 20, male, clerk, born New York
    Sarah H ", 17, female, born New York
    Harriete [sic] Allen, 12, female, born Canada
    Mary Evens, 30, female, born Wales
    Mary Williams, 17, female, born Louisiana
  4. ↑ Wilhelm, Samuel A. 'The Wheeler and Dusenbury Lumber Company of Forest and Warren Counties'. Pennsylvania History 19 (October 1952) 413-420. (https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/view/22228/21997 : accessed 29 April 2021).
  5. ↑ The Cincinnati, Covington, Newport and Fulton directory for 1840, by David Henry Shaffer. transcription
  6. ↑ William S McFeely, Yankee stepfather: General O.O. Howard and the freedmen, page 68. Unfortunately, McFeely cites only three sources here. One is Howard's autobiography, which McFeely quotes from in this sentence, but which says nothing about abolitionism. A second is Gregory's death notice in the New York Times, which also says nothing about abolitionism. The third is 'Freedmen's meeting in Washington', New Orleans Tribune, 25 July 1865, which reports Gregory as giving an address to the National Colored Monument Association on 4 July 1865 (mentioned below), along with many other people.
  7. ↑ 'Letter from a radical on the Freedmen's Bureau'. Flake's Bulletin 1 July 1866 page 1
    LETTER FROM A RADICAL ON THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
    GALVESTON, TEXAS, July 1st, 1866.
    HON. THOMAS ELIOT, M.C., Washington, D.C.
    My Dear Sir:--In the semi-weekly issue of the New York Tribune, of May 15th, I find an article upon Generals Steadman and Fullerton, and the Freedmen's Bureau, and a letter from Gen. Howard to the Rev. Mr. Whipple; also, the report of a meeting of colored men, held at Newbern, N.C.
    In his letter to the Rev. Mr. Whipple, Gen. Howard says, "you and our friends, may rest assured, that every shadow of accusation of complicity in crime on the part of those officers is utterly without foundation." It is a little singular, however, that while Gen. Howard was volunteering this sweepingdefence of his agents, without, as he admits, having received the facts in the case, the colored people themselves, in a meeting at Newbern, a meeting called to defend the Bureau and its agents, were distinctly declaring by resolution, that they must strongly condemn the atrocity of one of those very agents, and the short-comings of others.
    I know nothing of the merits of the case in North Carolina, whether the agents there were guilty or not; and I only refer to it, as another evidence of the Administration of Gen. Howard. I know somewhat of that administration in Alabama; much more of it in Texas, and all about it, in Louisiana. The article in the Tribune, suggests, very naturally, that Gen. Howard should know more of his own Bureau than Generals Steadman and Fullerton. I have been rather inclined to attribute the melancholy management of the Bureau, by Gen. Howard to his real ignorance of its condition and needs. His sources of information have been partial and prejudiced. It would seem as if he had stopped his ears, and closed his doors and the portfolios of his Bureau, to statement, to petition and to remonstrance, from others, than his own school of martinets and bigots.
    A Quaker, a Unitarian, a Universalist, a Jew, or any other person suspected of belonging to what Gen. Howard would term, "the unevangelical classes of society," have had little access to the ear of Gen. Howard, unless endorsed by some one of the General's own discipleship; or the person himself, was of sufficient importance to compel consideration.
    Antecedents, exhibiting a life-time devotion to the principles of Freedom; a vital loyalty, in the reign of treason; a steady expenditure of blood and treasure for an imperiled nationality, have seemed to weigh nothing with the Chief Commissioner, as against the accusation or the opposition of any Puritanic employee, whom Gen. Howard, having appointed, in the name of God, must in the name of God, defend.
    Men, like the Rev. Mr. Fitz, the Rev. Thomas W. Conway, and Mr. Isaac G. Hubbe--the latter sent out of a Department, by a special military order, for officially robbing the teachers of the colored schools, and for speculating, upon the necessities of the Freedmen--are of the class of men to whom Gen. Howard appears to have given hearing and credence. It was the interest of these men to impose upon the Chief Commissioner.
    They besieged him day and night. They inundated his Bureau and himself with private letters and communications, and they incompassed it in personal appeal. In addition, they moulded official papers for special effect. There are instances wherein reports have been made by this class of agents to the Chief Commissioner at Washington, which reports were fabricated; manufactured from altered official papers; made up without data, and after having been interjected with the needful number of pious phrases were forwarded as official reports. Gen. Howard was immediately and accurately informed of the fraud. Facts, dates and figures were furnished him. Not only did he reject the truth and accept the falsehood, but he interposed his personal influence to sustain the culprits, and to retain them in place, thereby losing many thousands of dollars to the Government, and in the end subverting a paramount interest of the freedmen.
    In this manner, the Bureau in Louisiana has been conducted. The colored schools of Louisiana--the most extensive and successful scheme of colored instruction that has existed, as a sequence of this war--have been utterly overthrown and dispersed.
    It must be remembered that the colored schools of Louisiana were begun and carried to the point of great success under what Gen. Howard is pleased to regard as unevangelical auspices; that is, Unitarian and Quaker, and that these results were attained before Gen. Howard became Chief Commissioner.
    Under such auspices, Gen. Howard, upon his accession to office, found in the colored schools of Louisiana, in July last, over twenty thousand freed people, with no debt or reproach upon the system of instruction. At that time the colored schools were transferred by Gen. Howard to the Rev. Thomas W. Conway, and to Capt. Henry R. Pease, and under them to the tender care of numerous agents of the class of the Rev. Mr. Fitz and of Mr. Hubbs, and of worse. Under such men in a little over four months the colored schools of Louisiana disappeared, leaving as a residium a large debt upon the Government, and a biting reproach upon the Northern name.
    I have said that much of Gen. Howard's apparent official failure may result from his real ignorance of his own Bureau. Gen. Howard is a Major General in the American army. He was educated at West Point. He has just emerged from active service, through the late civil war. He is living in the capital of the country, and is there exercising the functions of a high military-civil official. He is in daily intercourse with the Executive of the nation, with the Commander-in-Chief of the armies, with the Congress of the United States, with the Ministers of State, and with all the Bureaus of the Government. And yet, it seems that a Major General, so educated, and so circumstances, did not know that the army regulations forbade himself and his subordinates to use, in any manner, their official positions for private advantage in money making. He was ignorant of the fact that the law of Congress, passed three years ago, had re-affirmed that paragraph of the army regulations, and had extended it over civilians, making it a penal offense for any appointee so to act. So ignorant was General Howard of these vital provisions of the military and civil law, which he is daily administering, that by his own admission he not only justified, but encouraged his subordinates, in running plantations, and in the exercise of official privilege for individual enrichment.
    In the face of these facts, it is not surprising that Gen. Howard should be ignorant of lesser and secondary matters, appertaining to his Bureau.
    Brigadier General Gregory was recently relieved from the Assistant Commissionership of Texas. Major General Kiddoo was assigned to the place. Gen. Kiddoo passed through New Orleans and arrived in Galveston and assumed the duties of his office during the first week of May. Early in April, Gen. Kiddoo, on the eve of leaving Washington, called on Gen. Howard for information respecting the Bureau in the vast empire to which he had been assigned. Gen. Howard to Gen. Kiddoo his, Gen. Howard's Report to Congress, made in December, six months before. From that report, Gen. Kiddoo was expected to asertain the condition of Texas. In that report it is state, among other things, that there were in Texas "eleven colored schools with nine teachers," which would embrace about six hundred pupils. No further or later information was afforded the new Assistant Commissioner. That was all that Gen. Howard knew of that branch of his Bureau in Texas, so last as April, although accurate and regular official monthly reports had been sent to him from that State during the six months from December to April.
    While in New Orleans on his way to Texas, Gen. Kiddoo, who justly regards the education of the freed people as of primary importance, expressed surprise and regret at the lone state of the educational interest in Texas, as represented by the report of Gen. Howard. Gen. Baird, the Assistant Commissioner, used the occasion to say that the colored public schools of Louisiana had ceased to exist, and that "pay schools," or schools supported by the colored people themselves, were a fallacy and impossible. Gen. Kiddoo left New Orleans for Texas, arriving in Galveston in less than a month after his interview with Gen. Howard in Washington. Gen. Kiddoo was more than surprised to find in active operation in Texas, ninety schools with four thousand seven hundred pupils, all of the schools self-sustaining; maintained wholly by the colored people, without cost to the Government. So little did Gen. Howard know of his own Bureau, in this great State; so little did his Assistant Commissioner, Baird, know of what was passing around him relating to the general affairs of the Bureau, so little does he appreciate the issues of the time. From a military Bureau, so officialed, what is there to hope? From an army, so officered, who would expect success?
    General Kiddoo also found these prospering schools, under the care of Mr. E. M. Wheelock, a Unitarian, the same who was three years connected with the colored schools of Louisiana. Mr. Wheelock was removed in that State upon the accession to office of the Rev. T. W. Conway. From that hour, the colored schools of Louisiana began to decay. Dogmatism took the place of liberality and common sense in their management. The popular sentiment which had grown to be with them was soon arrayed against them. It was announced that none but approved christians were to be employed in the Louisiana Bureau. It was openly stated that Catholic teachers wouuld be no longer employed, although New Orleans is a papal city, and many of the teachers and thousands of the colored children were of that faith. When it became apparent that the schools were to be no longer secular, but sectarian, they began to go down.
    Soon after Mr. Wheelock was removed form the Bureau in that State, he was called by Gen. Gregory to the superintendence of the colored schools in Texas. Under his control they grew as rapidly in Texas as they have decayed in Louisiana, under the direct interposition of Gen. Howard. It is a singular comment upon these facts, that the Rev. J. B. Shiphard late, (I believe) private secretary of Gen. Howard, and later Secretary of the "Freedmen's Aid Commission," at Washington, wrote to Gen. Gregory, towards the first of March, saying, that the "Freedmen's Aid Commission," was not disposed to assist the Bureau in Texas, while the Texan Bureau kept in service Mr. E. M. Wheelock, with whose administration in Louisiana, he, the Rev. Mr. Shiphard assumed to be familiar. It must be observed that this letter of Secretary Shiphard was written at the very moment when the schools of Texas under Mr. Wheelock were prospering signally, and without cost to the government while the schools of Louisiana had just ceased to exist, leaving a large debt upon the government under the bigotry, weakness, and corruption of Mr. Shiphard's own especial friends. Gen. Gregory, late Assistant Commissioner of Texas, is a sharp Calvanist. He is fixed in the faith, and diligent in the forms of his church. But he is still Catholic in spirit, from native common sense and from twenty-five years of Anti-Slavery life. Therefore he declined to accede to the covert, demand of Secretary Shiphard to remove Lieut. Wheelock, and he wrote to the Secretary, that in the magestic epoch we need men of works as well as of profession! In a short time Gen. Gregory was himself removed. It is thus, through all its ramifications that Gen. Howard has run the Freedmen's Bureau, by a puritanical fanaticism. The exceptions are, where the Assistant Commissioners have been wiser than their chief. In connection with this subject, I notice, that a Boston paper, "The Right Way" alleged as an argument against Gen. Fullerton, that the colored schools of Louisiana were destroyed by him.
    Mr. Sterns and Mr. Whipple of the "Right Way," are just and able men--they are simply misinformed. The truth is, that Gen. Fullerton, when temporarily Assistant Commissioner of Louisiana, strained every nerve, and drew upon every resource, to sustain the colored schools of Louisiana. When the government found it absolutely necessary to speedily dismiss the Rev. Mr. Conway, Gen. Fullerton was sent, to exercise for a short time, the functions of Assistant Commissioner in this State. Gen. Fullerton found the Bureau under the Rev. Mr. Conway involved in debt, loaded with business accumulated by neglect, incumbered by sinecures and parasites and administtered by incapacity and passion. Gen. Fullerton did what he could to rectify the gross misrule. In his efforts to corret the abuse he was impeded by the direct interference of Gen. Howard..
    I disagree from Gen. Fullerton upon some points of public policy. I am a Radical. I am an Abolitionist of the early time. But I believe in Gen. Fullerton's integrity and ability. I am inclined to credit his report of affairs in North Carolina, partly because he makes it, and partly, because I know, and I know that he knows, how bad they were in Louisiana under the Rev. T. W. Conway. That they have not improved under Gen. Baird is manifest, for the New Orleans Tribune, the able and fearless organ of the colored people, avers that the Bureau here is, at present, simply an engine of oppression.
    So much is sure, that General Baird, Assistant Commissioner, and quasi Departmental Commander, is no improvement, either in philosophy or practice, upon his predecessor, Mr. Conway. Having by his incapacity for administration, his utter incomprehension of the tremendous issues of our civil war, and by his martinet and dilitante habits, succeeded in completing the ruin of the schools, and in landing the Bureau in effeminacy and reproach, it is natural that Gen. Baird should seek to direct attention from his own misrule by mean and cruel aspersion of the colored people, as, in his sneering remarks that niggers wouldn't pay for their own instruction. This, Commissioner Baird asserts, in the face of the alacrity with which the colored people have come forward to pay tuition, even when they were satisfied that, under Gen. Baird, the money was being wasted. He uttered this mean accusation of the colored people in the face of the facts within reach of his hand, in the State of Texas--a State where it is said, no Northerner can live; where the temporary turbulence of society makes life itself a sufferance rather than a right.
    The facts, in respect of the Louisiana Bureau, will be printed in detail, in a short time. I perceive that considerable trepidation is already manifested in certain quarters in New [page 8] Orleans, in anticipation of the coming of Gens. Steadman and Fullerton. Gen. Baird avers that he does not fear the ultimate results of "investigation;" he only dreads the annoyance!! If Steadman and Fullerton would not come for three or four months, he would have things "fixed up!" The Assistant Commissioner is uneasy, and well he may be. He is spending twenty-five thousand dollars a month to run the Louisiana Bureau into the ground, while the Bureau of Texas, six times as large, and in every respect more difficult, is self-sustaining.
    It is to be hoped that your Congressional Committee will not be misled by culpable officials, of whatever rank or position; nor captured, or possessed, or stultified by the gastric delights of dinners, the all-controlling agency of the Crescent City. If your Congressional Committee arrives in New Orleans hungry and thirsty, their report will be as harmless and comfortable, as their own subsequent fullness. The virtue essential to a committee of inquiry in that city is only to be attained, like the healing virtue in scripture, by "fasting." Justice and the colored man have a long account to settle with the Bareau [sic] officials in Louisiana.
    If the Congressional committee you have raised is not to be sent out for the single purpose of counterstating Gens. Steadman and Fullerton, but is to seek the truth, in good faith, then that committee might sit with profit all summer in New Orleans, with plenary powers to send for persons and papers.
    I do not design to encumber this letter with the detail of the malfeasance and corruption, [sic] Elaborate and proper statements will be made. Let the inquiry of your committee run back to the beginning of the Bureau in Louisiana. It will be interesting to inquire, and profitable to know, how much money has been wasted; how much embezzled; under what vociferous and pious cant the Government and the black man have been robbed.--If you are in earnest, Mr. Eliot, the field is wide. It is true that the policy of Gen. Howard not only gave to his special appointees the opportunity for plunder, but for escape, and many have dispersed and records have been destroyed or lost. But enough remains. You design to extend the time of the Bureau and to vote it millions of money. Are its enlarged powers and vast resources to be administered in the future, as in the past, by a cold and bilious bigotry? Is the Freedman's Bureau to become a Calvanistic Missionary Society? I have no war with Calvanists, and no objection to Missionaries; but, when a high Government Official becomes, officially, a Theological propagandist,and points his bigotry with the bayonet, I have a right to protest. Has the Government created a high office, and appropriated to its support millions of money, that through it may be precipitated upon the South, whatever there is of vagabond Evangelism in the North? It is not so much the Bureau that the South resents, as it is the administration of it. Little as the Southern people like the Bureau, they still accept it as a part of a "disagreeable situation."
    But when they meet, in agents of the Bureau, men who are self-righteous and intolerant--who are ignorant of secular affairs, destitute of administrative or executive ability--men whose lust of power is in the inverse ratio of their fitness to exercise it; whose greed of gain is quickened by an unexpected hope of profit--whose only claim to place is a dogmatical agreement with the chief of the Bureau, is it not natural that hostility to the agent should be transferred to the Bureau that quarters such men upon communities?
    If it is a part of the plan, or of the political necessity of our friends to fast upon the reviving vitality of the nation an administration such as that of Gen. Howard, then they are supplying arguments against the Bureau more rapidly than they can answer them. In thus clothing unfitness with power, in placing the incubus of bigotry and incapacity upon the greatest secondary measure of the Revolution, we are defeating the end we have in view; and from being the friends, we are becoming the enemies of the colored man. It is the colored man who has to foot the bills of suffering and of every form of loss, from the mal-administration of a Bureau established, especially, for his benefit.
    And not only the colored man, but the white, is affected by this rule. Not only the planting interest, but the whole labor and production of the South, and in so far as they have relations to the north, the industrial interests of the country are in the grip of the Chief Commissioner.
    In this way, the Freedmen's Bureau swells beyond local importance, to national magnitude. The question of "Reconstruction," of a recompacted Nationality, lie [sic] within the determining of a chief, whose standard of a man's capcity, integrity, or fitness, for official place, is his acceptance of the Westminster Catechism. You have in the north a plethora of governing ability. The revolution has stimulated even ordinary men to the exercise of great capacity. There must be some one of these, who has insight and outsight to compass the issues of the times. In whom is the aptness to meet the exigencies with courage and fairness to harmonize capital and labor and to re-unite the disjoined interests. [sic]
    Give us such a man at the head of the Bureau, and festering individual discontent and political complications will disappear before the activity and hope that must spring from renewed and harmonized industry.
    I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
    A RADICAL.
  8. ↑ Levi Coffin, Reminiscences of Levi Coffin (Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Tract Society, 1876), pages 527-534 at pages 533-534.
    'Some particulars not given in this account may be mentioned here. While these demonstrations were in progress it was reported that a number of negroes had fled to Walnut Hills, and were concealed at Lane Seminary. The mob expressed their intention to ferret them out, and breathed many threats against those who protected them. The students of Lane Seminary heard of this, and began preparations for defense. They formed a military company, under command of E. M. Gregory, and collected all the available weapons in the neighborhood. Governor Corwin, hearing of their organization, sent them a supply of fire-arms from the State Arsenal. The mob mustered a company two hundred strong, and started to make an attack on the "d--d abolition hole," as they called the seminary, but hearing of the warlike preparation of the students, they concluded that prudence was the better part of valor, and relinquished their purpose.'
  9. ↑ The Cincinnati directory, for the year 1842 (Charles Cist, compiler; Cincinnati: E Morgan and Co). transcription
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 'Examination by Assignee before Register', in bankruptcy file, Edgar M Gregory, National Archives (Mid Atlantic Region), Record Group 21, US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, case #1042, 1869, transcription
  11. ↑ The Cincinnati directory for the year 1843 (Charles Cist, compiler; Cincinnati: R P Brooks, 1843). transcription
  12. ↑ 'Ohio State Temperance Convention'. The Sandusky Clarion (Sandusky OH), 28 December 1844, page 2.
    'OHIO STATE TEMPERANCE CONVENTION.
    ... 'The committee appointed on yesterday to select officers for the State Society, reported as follows, which report was accepted by the convention:
    ... 'For Vice Presidents--Hon. Humphrey H. Leavitt, of Jefferson; E. M. Gregory, of Hamilton.'
  13. ↑ Robinson & Jones' Cincinnati directory for 1846, p.183. transcription
  14. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory and business advertiser for 1849-50. h[ttps://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Edgar_M_Gregory_-_city_directories#cd49 transcription]
  15. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory and business advertiser for 1850-51 transcription
  16. ↑ Charles Cist. Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1851. Cincinnati: W H Moore & Co., 1851. Pages 89, 97, 122, 127, 273-4. (Available on The Making of America.) transcription
  17. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory and business advertiser for 1851-52. transcription
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 'Proceedings of the State Temperance Convention'. The Athens Messenger (Athens OH), 29 April 1853, page 3
    'Letters were received from ... and E. M. Gregory, Esq., of Hamilton, giving satisfactory reasons for their absence and expressing the warmest interest in the work, and pledging a cordial co-operation in whatever measures might be adopted.'
  19. ↑ 'Ohio State temperance convention', The Sandusky Clarion (Sandusky OH), 28 December 1844, page 2, [1]
    'The committee appointed on yesterday to select officers for the State Society, reported as follows, which report was accepted by the convention:
    ..
    'For Vice Presidents--Hon. Humphrey H. Leavitt, of Jefferson; E. M. Gregory, of Hamilton.'
  20. ↑ 'General Edgar M Gregory
  21. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory, city guide, and business mirror; or Cincinnati as it is in 1853 illustrated. transcription
  22. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory, city guide, and business mirror; or Cincinnati as it is in 1855 illustrated. transcription
  23. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory, city guide and business mirror; or Cincinnati in 1856 illustrated. transcription
  24. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory for 1857. transcription
  25. ↑ Williams' Cincinnati directory, city guide, and business mirror; for 1858. Eighth annual issue. transcription. Williams' Cincinnati directory, city guide and business mirror, for the year 1859. Ninth annual issue transcription
  26. ↑ 'General Edgar M Gregory
  27. ↑ 1860 United States census, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, ward 13, page 422 = 2 handwritten, family 9, FamilySearch
  28. ↑ 1861 Philadelphia city directory. Published by C Sherman and Son. Page 376. transcription, Fold3
  29. ↑ 'Local intelligence: home guard', 'Thirteenth Ward Home Guards'
  30. ↑ Home Guard elections'
  31. ↑ 'The Home Guard organization'
  32. ↑ 'Local intelligence'
  33. ↑ 'The Home Guard regiment', Philadelphia Inquirer 19 July 1861 page 8
  34. ↑ 'Edgar M Gregory', obituary, Philadelphia Inquirer 8 November 1871, p.2.
  35. ↑ 'The Philadelphia Home Guard Regiment' and 'Head-quarters Home Guard', Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 August 1861, page 5
  36. ↑ Field and staff muster-in roll, in Edgar M Gregory, Compiled service record.
  37. ↑ 'Important military movements', Philadelphia Inquirer 20 August 1861 pages 1 and 8
  38. ↑ 'Important meeting of home guards', Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 August 1861, page 1
  39. ↑ 'The camps near the Schuylkill River'. Philadelphia Inquirer 26 September 1861 page 8
  40. ↑ 'By magnetic telegraph'. North American and United States Gazette (Philadelphia PA), 24 April 1862. See also 'Our Alexandria letter', Philadelphia Inquirer 23 August 1862, page 1 (which claims he was Provost Marshal beginning 25 April), and [appointment as provost marshal of Alexandria] ([Baltimore] Sun 24 April 1862 page 4); 'Col Gregory' (Alexandria Gazette 13 May 1862 page 2; transcribed 26 March 2011, from GenealogyBank)
  41. ↑ Samuel Penniman Bates, History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, state printer, 1869-71), vol.3, p.186.
  42. ↑ General order 46, 91st PA, 4 September 1862.
  43. ↑ General order 49, 91st PA, 11 September 1862.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 'From Alexandria'. Daily National Intelligence (Washington DC) 18 June 1862 (issue 15,552), column D (1 Sep)
  45. ↑ 'A secesh church shut up' (New York Times 19 June 1862, page 4), 'Churches for hospitals' (New York Times 16 June 1862, page 5), 'A Philadelphia minister in trouble' (Philadelphia Press Monday 21 July 1862 page 3), and 'Disloyal ministers' (Philadelphia Press Tuesday 22 July 1862, page 2).
  46. ↑ 'Fugitive-slave case in Alexandria' (Philadelphia Press, Saturday 28 June 1862, page 1), 'Alexandria' ([Baltimore] Sun 27 June 1862, page 4)
  47. ↑ Reports of Brig. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys, U.S. Army, commanding Third Division, Fifth Army Corps. HEADQUARTERS THIRD DIVISION, FIFTH ARMY CORPS, October 19, 1862.
  48. ↑ . Andrew A Humphreys, report, dated 16 December 1862, Official Records series 1, volume 21, pages 430-434, at p.432. Casualty sheet, 13 Dec 1862, based on casualty report, 1st brigade 3rd division, 5th corps (in compiled service record) (slightly wounded in right hand). The muster roll for Nov/Dec 1862 has him present (compiled service record). Tyler's report about Frederickburg, pp.437, 438
  49. ↑ 'Obituary' [for Edgar Gregory], Philadelphia Inquirer 8 November 1871 page 2. anonymous 'From the Ninety-First Penna Regiment', Philadelphia Inquirer 9 March 1863 page 2
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 'Compliments to Col E M Gregory' (Philadelphia Press Saturday 14 February 1863, page 2)
  51. ↑ Bates, p.188. consolidated morning report, 91st PA, 7 May 63. Field and staff muster roll for 28 Feb to 10 May 1863 (in compiled service record), according to which he had a 20 days leave from 9 May 1863. Casualty report, based on Nominal report of casualties in 5th corps, in operations on South Bank of the Rappahannock River (in compiled service record) ("severely wounded"). Tyler describes the wound as slight; Welch claims he eventually died of it. The regimental and division surgeons pronounced him "seriously" wounded (casualty sheet, based on casualty report, 1st brigade, 3rd division, 5th corps, in action of 3 May 1863) (in compiled service record). See also Humphreys' report about Chancellorsville, and 'Further from General Hooker's army', Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 May 1863, page 1; 'List of some of the killed and wounded', Pittfield Sun 14 May 1863, and 'Killed and wounded in Gen. Sykes' division on Friday' (Philadelphia Press, 6 May 1863, page 1), 'The ninety-first Pennsylvania volunteers' (Philadelphia Press, Wednesday 13 May 1863, page 2), 'The Ninety-first Pennsylvania at Chancellorville', (Philadelphia Inquirer 13 May 1863, page 8).
  52. ↑ Field and staff muster roll, 28 Feb to 10 May 1863 (from second auditor's roll) (in compiled service record). Letter, R Crowell (Act Asst Surgeon in charge, 91st Regt PV), 1 May 1863 (in compiled service record). request for leave to Philadelphia for medical treatment: letter, Gregory to Ranney, 7 May 1863, with endorsements approving it (in compiled service record). consolidated morning report, 91st PA, 9 May 1863.
  53. ↑ Field and staff muster roll 10 May to 30 June 1863 (on leave for 20 days from 16 June 63); July/Aug 1863 (surgeon's certificate for 20 days dated 15 Aug 63) (in compiled service record). Medical certificates, 22 May 1863 (and consolidated morning report 28 May 63); 11 June 1863; 6 July 1863; 26 July 1863; 10 Aug 1863; 4 Sep 1863; and 9 Sep 1863 (in compiled service record; see also consolidated morning report 19 Sep 63 for the 9 September extension). All except the 4 and 9 September certificate grant him 20 days leave; the 4 September certificate grants him 10 days, and the 9 September certificate grants him 15 days.
  54. ↑ letter, Gregory to Marvin, 29 September 1863. In his letter of 14 November 1863, Gregory claims James Jameson, company H, was his hostler from 29 September to 16 October. Bates lists no James Jameson in company H. The Sept/Oct 1863 muster roll has him present (compiled service record).
  55. ↑ consolidated morning report, 91st PA, 25 Sep 1863
  56. ↑ Detachment muster-out roll, 25 Dec 1863 (in compiled service record); Supplementary muster and descriptive roll of vet. vols (in compiled service record).
  57. ↑ 'Arrival of the 91st regiment Pennsylvania volunteers' (Philadelphia Press 9 January 1864, page 2)
  58. ↑ 'Presentation of flags' (Philadelphia Press 4 February 1864, page 2)
  59. ↑ Special order 72, Office Supt Vol Rec Ser Eastern Dis PA office AA Provost Marshal General at Phila, 4 Feb 1864 (in compiled service record). According to the muster rolls for January/February and March/April 1864, he was absent on duty, in command at the Chester Hospital Rendezvous (by special order 80, 18 Feb 1864) (in compiled service record).
  60. ↑ Special order 80, paragraph 22, War Department, AGO, 18 February 1864 (in compiled service record). Field and staff muster roll, Jan/Feb 1864 (in compiled service record). The Mar/Apr 64 muster roll still has him commanding the Chester Hospital Rendezvous (in compiled service record). He was again assigned to this command on 31 March 1864, by special order 133, paragraph 56, War Department, AGO, 31 March 1864; I do not know how the two assignments differ.
  61. ↑ letter, Sinex to Fowler, 23 March 1864.
  62. ↑ letter, Sinex to Marvin, 2 April 1864; see also letter, Sinex to Gregory, 26 March 1864.
  63. ↑ report, Lentz, 9 August 1864. An edited version was printed in Report of Major John D Lentz, Ninety-first Pennsylvania Infantry, 9 August 1864. Official Reports series 1 volume 36 part 1 pages 555-557, at page 557.
  64. ↑ special order 47, HQ 91st PA, 20 June 1864; and special order 55, HQ 91st PA, 30 June 1864. The May/June muster roll has him present (compiled service record). See also the consolidated morning report for 3 July 1864, which no longer reports him absent on detached service, unlike the 10 June report; the 29 June report (the only one between those dates) is unclear
  65. ↑ Pennsylvania Infantry. 155th Regt., 1862-1865, Under the Maltese Cross, Antietam to Appomattox. The loyal uprising in Western Pennsylvania 1861-1865 (Pittsburg [sic], PA: The 155th Regimental Association, 1910), page 220
  66. ↑ 'Report of Col. Edgar M. Gregory, ... commanding second brigade, of operations August 18-30', The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies Series 1, volume 42, part 1, pages 466-467
  67. ↑ letter, Brig. Gen. Charles Griffin to Brig Gen E D Townsend, 3 October 1864. Printed in Official Records series 1 volume 42 part 3 pages 59-60. Regimental descriptive book See also, but do not trust, the stories in Augustus Buell , The Cannoneer. Recollections of service in the Army of the Potomac (Washington DC: The National Tribute, 1897. Especially pages 320-321 and 321-322). As Bill Flis has told me, Buell was a notorious fraud; see the Wikipedia entry on him (accessed 26 March 2010).
  68. ↑ Hunt & Brown, Brevet brigadier generals. General order no 15, War Dept, AGO, 6 Feb 1865, in Compiled service record; 'Promotions and confirmations of Pennsylvania officers', Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 February 1865, page 3
  69. ↑ Field and staff muster rolls, Sep/Oct 1864, Nov/Dec 1864, Jan/Feb 1865, Mar/Apr 1865, and May/June 1865 (in compiled service record).
  70. ↑ muster-out roll, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, record group 19, series 19.11, records of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs
  71. ↑ 'A christian soldier'
  72. ↑ The Association was also called the Colored People's Educational Monument Association, and the Educational Monument Association to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln.
  73. ↑ 'Freedmen's meeting in Washington'. See also another report of Wilson's speech in The life and public services of Henry Wilson. The Library of Congress has a 34-page pamphlet with reports of Day's and Wilson's speeches, reproduced in their "Frederick Douglass Papers", with a transcription in their "American Memory" pages. Unfortunately, it merely claims that Gregory and Hahn made some interesting speeches after Wilson's. I am assuming "Mr. Day, a negro" was William Howard Day. Further support occurs in an 1866 ** 'Letter from a radical on the Freedmen's Bureau', which claims Gregory had "twenty-five years of Anti-Slavery life".
  74. ↑ Special order 351, War Dept, AGO, 5 July 1865 (in Gregory's compiled service record). On his tenure as Assistant Commissioner, see especially Overreached on all sides and The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Texans
  75. ↑ Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard, vol.2, p.218.
  76. ↑ 'Texas'. New York Times 25 December 1865, page 2
  77. ↑ re appointment of General Gregory to the Freedmen's Bureau], The Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 11 August 1865 page 4
  78. ↑ 'Letter from Cairo, Ill, Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 21 August 1865 page 2
  79. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Major General O O Howard, 31 Sep 1865 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 6-7); 'Brig. Gen. Gregory, ...', Dallas Herald 16 September 1865, page 2. See also 'It is believed by some ...', Dallas Herald 21 October 1865 page 2, which claims that near the end of October they had heard of no appointments by General Gregory.
  80. ↑ 'The laws of Texas'. Saturday Evening Post (7 July 1866, page 2); see also 'Texas Statutes' (Georgia Weekly Telegraph 23 July 1866 page 4).
  81. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Major General O O Howard, 31 Sep 1865 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 6-7)
  82. ↑ 'Gen Gregory ...', Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 25 September 1865 page 4
  83. ↑ 'The City', Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 29 September 1865 page 7
  84. ↑ 'The city', Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 27 September 1865 page 7. see also 'From New Orleans', Philadelphia Inquirer 5 October 1865 page 1
  85. ↑ 'From the Gulf', The Macon Daily Telegraph, 7 October 1865, page 2) and [Gregory's speech] ([Georgia] The Daily Sun 8 October 1865 page 2)
  86. ↑ See [General Gregory's order], The Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 18 October 1865 page 1; see also 'Southern items', Philadelphia Inquirer 24 October 1865 page 1
  87. ↑ 'The Galveston Bulletin says ...', Macon Daily Telegraph 30 September 1865 page 2
  88. ↑ Circular letter, Edgar Gregory, 17 October 1865 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 20-21).
  89. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Major General O O Howard, 31 Oct 1865 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 37-38)
  90. ↑ 'The Labor Bureau', Flake's Bulletin 8 March 1866 page 5
  91. ↑ 'From Texas', [Columbus Georgia] Daily Sun 29 November 1865.
  92. ↑ Richter Overreached page 19 claims Gregory took a trip 'immediately after his September 5 arrival at Galveston'. But he refers only to Gregory's letter to Howard (21 September 1865), in which Gregory says he has seen one hundred or more planters, but does not say where he has seen them.
  93. ↑ Report, Gregory to Howard, 9 December 1865, Galveston Texas. National Archives, Record Group 105, microfilm publication M821, reel 1 (Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869, Letters Sent, Volume 1), pages 65-70. A slightly revised version is printed in the serial set as Senate Executive Document Number 27, 39th Congress, 1st session, serial set volume 1238.
  94. ↑ Statements by Mrs Sims and LC Rountree, published in the Galveston Daily News, 5 April 1866.
  95. ↑ Statements by Sarah A Hardy and John Hardy, published in the Galveston Daily News, 5 April 1866.
  96. ↑ Strong, Testimony before the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, 1 January 1866. 'Radical Misrepresentations in England', Galveston Daily News, 27 April 1866, page 2, column 2.
  97. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Major General O O Howard, 31 January 1866 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 122-125). See also the summaries in 'Affairs in Texas' Georgia Weekly Telegraph 26 February 1866 page 8 and 'Freedmen's Bureau' New Hampshire Sentinel 8 February 1866 page 2, and the brief mention in 'Telegraphic', Dallas Herald 3 March 1866 page 3.
  98. ↑ Statement by Nannie Rodarmel, published in the Galveston Daily News, 5 April 1866.
  99. ↑ note about Elmore's arrest (New Orleans Tribune 24 December 1865; since this was republished from a notice in the Houston Telegraph of 1 December, the arrest apparently occurred in November 1865), 'Texas' (New York Times 9 December 1865, page 2), 'The city [re Elmore vs Gregory]' (Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 1 December 1865, page 5), 'The city' (Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph 1 December 1865 p 7), 'Freedmen hunted with bloodhounds' (Philadelphia Inquirer 9 December 1865 page 1), 'Highly important decision' (Flake's Bulletin 17 January 1866 page 4), and 'Texas' (Philadelphia Inquirer 31 March 1870 page 2).
  100. ↑ 'Return of Gen. Gregory', Flake's Bulletin 29 December 1865 page 4. This is probably the tour the Philadelphia Inquirer referred to in 'From New Orleans and Texas', Philadelphia Inquirer 1 January 1866 page 1.
  101. ↑ 'Return of Gen. Gregory', Flake's Bulletin' 29 December 1865 page 4. 'From New Orleans and Texas', Philadelphia Inquirer 1 January 1866 page 1.
  102. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Benjamin Harris, 20 January 1866 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 109-113).
  103. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Major General O O Howard, 31 January 1866 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 pages 122-125). See also the summaries in 'Affairs in Texas' Georgia Weekly Telegraph 26 February 1866 page 8 and 'Freedmen's Bureau' New Hampshire Sentinel 8 February 1866 page 2, and the brief mention in 'Telegraphic', Dallas Herald 3 March 1866 page 3.
  104. ↑ 'Texas'. New York Times 8 February 1866 page 8.
  105. ↑ 'Texas'. New York Times 26 February 1866 page 1. Also 'From Texas' Philadelphia Inquirer 8 February 1866 page 1 'From Texas' Philadelphia Inquirer 26 February 1866 page 1, and 'The Hon David G Burnet ...' Dallas Herald 17 February 1866, page 3. See also 'The Labor Bureau', Flake's Bulletin 8 March 1866 page 5
  106. ↑ CB Comstock to General Rawlins 7 February 1866
  107. ↑ 'Affairs in Texas'. New York Times 19 February 1866, page 1
  108. ↑ E.P.B. 'Gen. Steedman's Tour'. New York Times 29 July 1866, page 2
  109. ↑ [General Gregory and Judge Roberts], Galveston Daily News 28 March 1866 page 2 column 1], and [Gregory and Roberts] Dallas Herald 7 April 1866 page 2.
  110. ↑ Bentley, History of the Freedmen's Bureau, p.121, citing letter, Howard to Gregory, 3 March 1866, letters sent II 95.
  111. ↑ Edgar Gregory to Major General O O Howard, 17 March 1866 (from NARA RG 105, microfilm M821 reel 1 page 169)
  112. ↑ [report of a speech by General Gregory]. Galveston Daily News 4 April 1866 page 3 column 2.
  113. ↑ 'The Labor Bureau', Galveston Daily News 5 April 1866, page 1 columns 6-8, and page 4 column 1.
  114. ↑ 'The Labor Bureau', by David Burnet. Galveston Daily News, 5 April 1866, page 1, columns 6-8.
  115. ↑ [complaints from the Louisville Courier], Galveston Daily News 5 April 1866, page 2 column 2.
  116. ↑ [report from the Cincinnati Commercial], published in the Galveston Daily News 5 April 1866.
  117. ↑ Gaza Harazthy, letter, 13 April 1866.
  118. ↑ 'Local intelligence' (Flake's Bulletin 17 April 1866); see also among other relevant articles 'Texas' (Philadelphia Inquirer 31 March 1870 page 2).
  119. ↑ letter, Gregory to Howard, 18 April 1866. For a later evaluation of the schools, see 'The Colored schools of Texas' (Flake's Bulletin 19 May 1867 page 4 [reprinted 21 May 1867 page 4 and Flake's Bulletin 22 May 1867 page 4). See also 'From Texas' (Macon Daily Telegraph 24 April 1866 page 4), 'From Texas' (Georgia Weekly Telegraph 30 April 1866 page 2), 'The Freedmen's Bureau in Texas' (Philadelphia Inquirer 19 May 1866, page 1), 'The synopsis of an important report ...' (Flake's Bulletin 31 May 1866 page 18), and 'The Texas Freedmen' (Flake's Bulletin 31 May 1866 page 6).
  120. ↑ [rumor of Gregory's relief], Galveston Daily News 7 Apr 1866; [official notice of Gregory's relief], Galveston Daily News 13 Apr 1866; [Gregory's replacement], Galveston Daily News 14 April 1866. See [prediction of Gregory's relief] (Flake's Bulletin 6 April 1866 page 4) for an early prediction; also 'Gen. Gregory', Flake's Bulletin 15 April 1866 page 4; and 'The case of General Gregory'. Philadelphia Inquirer 26 April 1866 page 1.
  121. ↑ 'Headquarters Bureau of Refugees Freedmen and Abandoned Lands' (Flake's Bulletin 22 May 1866 page 5). See also [official notice of Gregory's relief] (Galveston Daily News 13 Apr 1866), 'Brevet Brigadier-General E. M. Gregory' (Flake's Bulletin 17 April 1866 page 4). For the same quotation, see 'Gen. Gregory relieved' (Dallas Herald 28 April 1866 page 1). For a later criticism, see 'The Galveston News of the 16th ...' (Daily Columbus Enquirer, 29 July 1866, page 1).
  122. ↑ 'To Brevet-Brig.-Gen. Gregory' (Flake's Bulletin 17 April 1866 page 4). See also 'The Assistant Commissioner of Freedmen' (Flake's Bulletin 13 May 1866 page 4), and 'General Gregory' (Flake's Bulletin 19 June 1866 page 4).
  123. ↑ 'We clip ....' (Flake's Bulletin 17 May 1866, page 6). See also 'Texas' (Philadelphia Inquirer 31 March 1870 page 2).
  124. ↑ For Andrew Johnson's opposition to the Freedmen's Bureau (but not specifically about Texas or Gregory), see Hans L Trefousse, 'Andrew Johnson and the Freedmen's Bureau', in The Freedmen's Bureau and Reconstruction, ed. Paul A Cimbala and Randall M Miller (New York: Fordham, 1999), pages 29-45. Crouch refers to "numerous complaints" about Gregory, citing "letters in the Commissioner's Files, RG 105, and the Andrew Johnson Papers (Library of Congress)" (The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Texans, page 20 and page 147 note 30). Disregard the suggestion in a 'Letter from a radical on the Freedmen's Bureau', published in 1866, that Gregory was removed because of his refusal to dismiss an effective Superintendent of Schools (EM Wheelock) merely because he was a Unitarian. The general tenor of the letter indicates that if the author had had any evidence for that suggestion, he would have trumpeted the claim, since the letter is an attack on General Howard (the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau) for making personnel decisions based on the doctrinal beliefs of the person rather than on the person's competence. (Wheelock was later reappointed; see ' ... Our friend E. M. Wheelock Esq., ...' (San Antonio Express 19 November 1867 page 1).
  125. ↑ Bentley, History of the Freedmen's Bureau, page 121, citing General HG Wright to Howard, 18 December 1865, Freedmen's Bureau records, synopses of reports. Crouch, The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Texans, page 20, citing PH Sheridan to Howard, 20 December 1865, and HG Wright to Sheridan, 18 December 1865, both in Commissioner's Files, Letters Received.
  126. ↑ 'Gen. Gregory' (Galveston Daily News 19 May 1866, page 2, column 2). For a general statement, without details, see 'From our Texas correspondent' ([Columbus Georgia] The Daily Sun 6 May 1866 page 2).
  127. ↑ E.P.B. 'Gen. Steedman's Tour'. New York Times 29 July 1866, page 2 Some of his officers were accepted; for one example, see 'We have had the pleasure ...' (Dallas Herald 13 February 1869 page 1).
  128. ↑ 'In speaking of the order ...' (Flake's Bulletin 31 May 1866 page 4); 'General Gregory' (Flake's Bulletin 19 June 1866 page 4), 'The Mission of the two generals'. Flake's Bulletin 10 July 1866 page 4), and 'Genls. Steadman and Fullerton ...'. Flake's Bulletin 12 July 1866, page 4).
  129. ↑ Letter, Kiddoo to Howard, 14 May 1866.
  130. ↑ 'Letter from Houston', Galveston Daily News 18 May 1866 page 2 column 6. This claims that Gregory used his office for private gain, that he is "vile and hypocritical", and that "those who have seen him are struck with loathsome disgust at the mere contemplation of his features"! The author's vituperation was too much even for the News (see 'Gen. Gregory').
  131. ↑ 'We clip ....' (Flake's Bulletin 17 May 1866, page 6). See also 'Texas' (Philadelphia Inquirer 31 March 1870 page 2).
  132. ↑ 'The crops' (Flake's Bulletin 19 June 1866 page 4).
  133. ↑ [Gregory's departure], Galveston Daily News 20 June 1866. 'Texas'. New York Times 21 June 1866, page 5
  134. ↑ E.P.B. 'Gen. Steedman's Tour'. New York Times 29 July 1866, page 2; and EPB, 'A cowardly officer--Gen. Gregory's administration ...'. New York Times 29 July 1866
  135. ↑ 'The Southern investigation' (New York Times 10 August 1866); see also 'We hear that an effort ...' (Flake's Bulletin, 9 June 1866, page 4), 'Generals Fullerton and Steadman ...' (Flake's Bulletin 15 June 1866 page 4), 'General Gregory' (Flake's Bulletin 19 June 1866 page 4), 'Major General Steadman ...' (Flake's Bulletin 8 July 1866 page 4), 'The Mission of the two generals'. Flake's Bulletin 10 July 1866 page 4), 'Genls. Steadman and Fullerton ...'. Flake's Bulletin 12 July 1866, page 4), and 'From Galveston'. Philadelphia Inquirer 14 July 1866 page 1).
  136. ↑ 'A rich letter' (Flake's Bulletin 22 January 1867 page 5). For further description of the abysmal state in Texas, see 'Senator Wilson's charge against Texas' (Flake's Bulletin 6 March 1867 page 5).
  137. ↑ 'Obituary' [for Edgar Gregory], Philadelphia Inquirer 8 November 1871 page 2
  138. ↑ See Fuke Imperfect equality (especially chapters 2 and 5) on the Maryland Freedmen's Bureau.
  139. ↑ 'A board to revise the regulations of the Freedmen's Bureau' ([Baltimore] Sun 28 July 1866, page 1). Bentley, History of the Freedmen's Bureau, page 121, citing Freedman's Bureau records for Texas, General and Special Orders, Circulars and Rosters of Officers, page 319.
  140. ↑ Bentley History of the Freedmen's Bureau page 215. See also 'The report that Gen. Tillson ...' ([Georgia?] The Daily Sun 6 September 1866 page 2), [assigned in Maryland] ([Baltimore] Sun 1 September 1866, page 4), and and 'Brig. General Gregory has been appointed ...' (Flake's Bulletin 8 September 1866 page 4).
  141. ↑ Hunt & Brown, Brevet brigadier generals. General Order 67, War Dept, AGO, 16 July 1867 (in compiled service record). 'Brig. Gen. E. M. Gregory, ...' (Flake's Bulletin 14 February 1867 page 4).
  142. ↑ letter, EM Gregory to OO Howard, 13 October 1866, reprinted in the New York Times, 19 October 1866, page 1, column 5. 'The Camp-meeting outrage the truth vindicated' (Annapolis Gazette, 25 December 1866, page 2).
  143. ↑ Edgar M Gregory, report to O. O. Howard, Senate Executive Document no.6, 39th Congress, 2d session, pp.89-94; serial set volume 1276
  144. ↑ 'General Gregory'. Flake's Bulletin (25 April 1867 page 4 [reprinted Flake's Bulletin 1 May 1867 page 10).
  145. ↑ 'The African Methodist Episcopal Conference', [Baltimore] Sun 23 April 1867 page 1.
  146. ↑ [visit to Easton], Easton Gazette 27 April 1867 page 2.
  147. ↑ 'Maryland radical state convention', [Baltimore] Sun 15 May 1867 page 1.
  148. ↑ Fuke, 'Land, lumber, and learning', pp.304-305, citing articles from the Baltimore American on 1 and 30 July, 3, 5 and 12 August, and 5 September 1867. Fuke Imperfect Equality page 172 claims that the Bureau and Association sponsered more than 20 meetings in rural counties in 1866-1867; citing Annapolis Gazette 26 Apr 1866; Baltimore American 22 May 1866, 6 and 30 July, 24 August, and 5 September 1867; Baltimore Sun 10 September 1867; and Special Order 125 (RG 105, DC, Book Records, Special Orders, Assistant Commissioners, 1867).
  149. ↑ Fuke Imperfect equality, p.36, citing Baltimore American 5 August 1867.
  150. ↑ Fuke Imperfect equality page 237, citing Baltimore American 25 April 1867.
  151. ↑ 'At a temperance celebration ...' (Flake's Bulletin 28 June 1867 page 2 [reprinted 29 June 1867 page 4]).
  152. ↑ 'National Temperance Convention', [Baltimore] Sun 22 June 1867 page 1.
  153. ↑ 'Dedication of the Gregory Aged (Colored) Women's Home', [Baltimore] Sun 22 July 1867, page 1.
  154. ↑ [visit to Havre de Grace] (Easton Gazette 3 August 1867 page 2).
  155. ↑ 'The riot at Centreville, MD', [Baltimore] American and Commercial Advertiser, Monday 5 August 1867, page 1, column 4. 'The late disturbance at Centreville' ([Baltimore] Sun 6 August 1867 page 2). See also 'General Gregory' (Annapolis Gazette 15 August 1867 page 2). See Fuke Imperfect equality page 206, citing Baltimore Gazette 3, 6, and 9 August 1867; Baltimore American 3, 5, and 6 August 1867; Baltimore Sun 3 and 6 August 1867
  156. ↑ Bentley, History of the Freedmen's Bureau, page 197, citing Tyler to Blair, 23 September 1867, and Blair to Johnson, 7 January 1868, Johnson Papers volumes 121, 128; Howard to WG Moore, 10 February 1868, Johnson Papers, volume 131.
  157. ↑ 'Speaking of General E.M. Gregory, ...' (Flake's Bulletin 24 October 1867 page 2 reprinted 26 October 1867 page 6).
  158. ↑ Fuke Imperfect equality pages 187-188, citing Baltimore American 4 September 1867.
  159. ↑ Field and staff muster-out roll [in compiled service record], which cites par. 11 special order 497 Hd Qrs of the Army AGO. Officers' casualty sheet (citing same order) (in compiled service record). See also 'Washington, Nov. 21 ...' (Flake's Bulletin 22 November 1867 page 1 [reprinted at Flake's Bulletin 23 November 1867 page 1]; also Georgia Weekly Telegraph 29 November 1867 page 4).
  160. ↑ Bentley, History of the Freedmen's Bureau, page 180, citing a report by Gregory, in Freedmen's Bureau, letters received.
  161. ↑ bankruptcy notice
  162. ↑ 'Schedule A-3, creditors whose claims are unsecured', in bankruptcy file
  163. ↑ 'Appraisement of Genl Edgar M Gregory's personal property', in bankruptcy file
  164. ↑ 'Decree of discharge of bankrupt', in bankruptcy file
  165. ↑ 1870 United States census, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, ward 20, district 65, page 364 recto =49 handwritten, family 352, FamilySearch
  166. ↑ Philadelphia death certificate, Gen E M Gregory, 7 November 1871, FamilySearch
  167. ↑ Philadelphia reports 11 (1881) 126f.

Books

  • Crouch, Barry A. The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Texans. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992. See especially pp.14-21.
  • Howard, Oliver Otis. Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard. New York: The Baker & Tayler Co., 1907. Reference to Gregory at volume 2, page 218.
  • Richter, William L. Overreached on all sides: The Freedmen's Bureau Administrators in Texas, 1865-1868. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1991. Part One, pages 19-75, is about "The Gregory Era".
  • Philadelphia Reports 11 (1881) 126-127
[Leg. Int., Vol. 33, p.140.]
Estate of EDGAR M. GREGORY, deceased.
By sections 3466 and 3467 of the Revised Statutes, the United States has a preference before other creditors in the distribution of decedent's estate. Sur exceptions to adjudication. Opinion delivered April 1, 1876, by

HANNA, J.--The decedent at the time of his death was marshal of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Upon the settlement of his accounts it was ascertained he was largely indebted to the government. Suit was afterwards brought by the United States, and judgment recovered against the administrator. The estate of decedent was insolvent, and upon the audit of the account of his administrator, the judge before whom it was heard awarded payment of the judgment of the United States, to the exclusion of all other claims. This award is the subject of the exceptions filed. In view of the acts of Congress upon the subject, we are unable to discover any error in the adjudication. It is expressly provided, that whenever any person indebted to the United States is insolvent, or whenever the estate of any deceased debtor, in the hands of the executor or administrator, is insufficient to pay all the debts due from the deceased, the debts due to the United States shall be first satisfied. And any executor, administrator, or assignee, or other person, who pays any debt due by the person or estate for whom or for which he acts, before he satisfies and pays the debts [page 127] due to the United States from such person or estate, shall become answerable in his own person and estate for the debts so due to the United States, or for so much thereof as may remain due and unpaid: Revised Statutes, p.691, sects. 3466, 3467. The claim of exceptant was for services performed as a deputy marshal after the death of decedent, the fees and costs arising therefrom having been paid over by him to the administrator.

Admitting claimant's right to compensation out of the estate, yet he occupies no better position than any other creditor. His claim, with others, must be postponed to that which is preferred by express statute.

The balance in the hands of accountant being insufficient to pay any portion of the postponed claims, it was entirely within the discretion of the judge to mention them in the adjudication.

The exceptions are dismissed, and the adjudication confirmed.

And now, April 1, 1876, it is ordered and decreed, that the exceptions filed to the adjudication upon the account of Joseph G. Henszey, administrator of the estate of Edgar M. Gregory, be dismissed, and the adjudication confirmed absolutely.

George S. Graham, Esq., for exceptant.

Hood Gilpin, Esq., Assistant U.S. District Attorney, contra

Archival

  • bankruptcy file, Edgar M Gregory, National Archives (Mid Atlantic Region), Record Group 21, US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, case #1042, 1869
  • compiled service record, Edgar M Gregory, 91st Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 94 (Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917)
includes muster roll cards, casualty sheets, records about his medical leave of absence (March-September 1863), and orders relating to him

Newspaper Articles from before 1860

Newspaper Articles from the 1860s

  • 'Local intelligence: home guard', Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 April 1861, page 2, Newspapers.com
  • 'Thirteenth Ward Home Guards', Philadelphia Inquirer Monday 29 April 1861, page 3, GenealogyBank
  • 'Home Guard elections', Philadelphia Inquirer 26 June 1861 page 8, GenealogyBank
  • 'The Home Guard organization', Philadelphia Inquirer 29 June 1861 page 2, GenealogyBank
  • 'Local intelligence', Philadelphia Inquirer 5 July 1861 page 8, GenealogyBank
  • 'The Colored Lincoln Monument Association', Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 July 1865, page 4, GenealogyBank
  • 'Freedmen's meeting in Washington', New Orleans Tribune 25 July 1865, page 3, GenealogyBank
  • 'Texas', New York Times, 25 December 1865, page 2
  • bankruptcy notice, Cincinnati Daily Gazette 1 April 1869 page 3, Edgar M Gregory, GenealogyBank
'IN the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.--In Bankruptcy. In the matter of Edgar M. Gregory, a bankrupt. At Philadelphia, March 26, 1869
'The undersigned hereby gives notice of his appointment as an Assignee of Edgar M. Gregory, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, in the said District, who has been adjudged a bankrupt on his own petition by the District Court of said District.
'Notice is also given that the said Edgar M. Gregory was formerly a member of the following partnerships: Gregory, Ingalsbe & Co., of Cincinnati, composed of the said bankrupt and Levi D. Ingalsbe; Gregory & Burnet, of Cincinnati, composed of the said bankrupt and William Burnet; Gregory & Co., of Philadelphia, composed of the said bankrupt and Mrs. Sarah A. Sheldon. The said bankrupt was also a member of the firms of Dusenbury, Wheeler, Gregory & Stowe, and Van Burgen, Boss, Gregory & Co., of Cincinnati.
'GEORGE TUCKER BISPHAM, Assignee,
'209 South Sixth street.
'To the Creditors of said Bankrupt. apl-3tTh'

Newspaper Articles from the 1870s and Later

  • 'General Edgar M Gregory', Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 9 November 1871, page 4
'GENERAL EDGAR M. GREGORY. The intelligence of yesterday by telegraph of the demise of General GREGORY, in Philadelphia, was received by many of his old friends in this city with profound sorrow. For many years he was an active and successful lumber merchant and banker in this city, and was well and widely known for his philanthropy and public spirit. Having failed in business here, he removed to Philadelphia just before our late war. He took command of a regiment of young men in Philadelphia, and soon won by his bravery and gallantry on the field of battle the position of Brigadier-General, and was long in command as Military Governor at Alexandria, and there, as well as elsewhere, made hosts of friends. At the close of the war he was a Major-General by brevet, and was sent to Texas to conduct the affairs of the Freedmen's Bureau, and subsequently was assigned to duty in Maryland. He remained in the military service for several years after the close of the war. He was appointed by General GRANT Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which office he held at the time of his death. The General was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and when in this city took an active part in the Missionary Sabbath-school and temperance causes. We are not advised of the circumstances of his death.'
  • 'A christian soldier', New York Evangelist, 4 January 1872, page 1, GenealogyBank

See also





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LaChell (Bouton) Schultz
We are fifth cousins 7x removed!
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Danielle Sullivan
19th cousins 7xs removed, thank you for your service.
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Brown-8212 Abby (Brown) Glann
Hello Profile Managers!

We are featuring this profile in the Connection Finder this week. Between now and Wednesday is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can.

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Categories: American Temperance Movement | Abolitionists | Bright's Disease | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Union Army Generals, United States Civil War | 91st Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, United States Civil War | Featured Connections Archive 2021 | Notables