Pennsylvania Troops Mustered for Mexican War, December 15, 1846

During the second year of Governor Francis R. Shunk’s administration the war with Mexico was begun. Pennsylvania was authorized to furnish six regiments of infantry. Two were mustered into the service, the first on December 15, 1846, at Pittsburgh, under command of Colonel Wynkoop, the second on January 5, 1847, also at Pittsburgh, under command of Colonel Roberts, who was succeeded by Colonel Geary.

The gallant services of the troops on the fields of Mexico at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Chepultepec and the City of Mexico, their bravery and valor, secured the highest commendation of their venerated chieftain.

During Governor Shunk’s administration the economic condition of the State was greatly improved. The financial storm was passed and men were recovering from their reverses. Banks were clamoring for charters, but the Governor limited the number and refused to sponsor the establishment of a system of free banking, such as was in operation in several States.

It was during Governor Shunk’s term that the Legislature enacted the first law extending to women the rights of property. There also was a change made in the law relating to the separation of married persons.

In 1847, Governor Shunk was re-elected for a second term. Early in the year 1848 he was attacked with a pulmonary trouble which soon assumed a serious character. Just as the remnants of our brave and heroic troops were returning from the battlefields of Mexico with their laurels, Governor Shunk suffered a severe hemorrhage of the lungs, on the morning of July 9. On that day, feeling that his days were numbered, 880the Governor wrote a letter of resignation to the people of Pennsylvania and a few days later, July 20, 1848, died. His body was laid to rest in the old Lutheran burying ground at the Trappe.

Governor Shunk was succeeded by William Freame Johnston, the Speaker of the Senate, according to the provisions of the Constitution, the vacancy occurring three months before the general election. The Acting Governor issued the necessary writs for the election of a Chief Magistrate, which resulted in the election of Senator Johnston. The new Governor was a native of Greensburg, Westmoreland County.

The attention of the Legislature having been called to the neglected and suffering condition of the insane poor of the State, in 1844, there was provision made for the establishment of an asylum to be located within ten miles of the seat of Government. The citizens of Harrisburg, with the aid of a liberal appropriation by Dauphin County, purchased a farm adjoining that city, and in 1848, the commissioners appointed by the State began the construction of the first building erected by the Commonwealth for the reception and care of the indigent insane.

The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress during Governor Johnston’s administration, and the excitement incident to the return of fugitives under it, soon became a subject of heated discussion. In 1851 a serious riot occurred at Christiana, Lancaster County, and in other localities the arrest of fugitive slaves led to bloodshed.

Under the administration of Governor Johnston, the records of the Provincial and State Government, which had remained in single manuscript copy in a very confused condition, were preserved.

In compliance with the Governor’s recommendation, an act was passed authorizing the appointment of a suitable agent to select and superintend their publication. Samuel Hazard, of Philadelphia, was delegated, and under his supervision twenty-eight volumes of colonial records and Pennsylvania archives, containing a vast amount of original papers of incalculable value and interest were published.

They form almost complete details of the transactions of Government from 1682 to 1790, invaluable in their importance to a full comprehension of the early history of Pennsylvania. The work has been continued and only recently the seventh series of the Archives appeared.

In 1849 considerable excitement existed in Pittsburgh and in the western part of the State, occasioned by the erection of a bridge over the Ohio River at Wheeling, W. Va., which obstructed the river to navigation in time of high water. Appeals for relief were made to the Legislature, and to Congress, and finally to the Supreme Court of the United States. Measures, however, were adopted which removed all objections.

Governor Johnston was renominated for a second term. His Democratic opponent was William Bigler, of Clearfield. The campaign was unusually spirited and was carried on vigorously from midsummer 881until the day of the election in October. State questions were forgotten, the Fugitive Slave law and slavery in the Territories now demanded universal attention. Bigler was elected by a good majority, and was inaugurated January 20, 1852.

By a remarkable coincidence his own election as Governor of Pennsylvania was simultaneous with the election of his elder brother, John, also a native of Pennsylvania, to the same dignity in the new State of California.

Governor Bigler’s Administration is marked with stronger features than any one of his immediate predecessors. Several very important measures were adopted by the Legislature, the principle of which were the establishing of the office of the County Superintendent of Common Schools and the founding of the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children.

The completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh in February, 1854, added a powerful impulse to the development of the resources of the State.

The County of Philadelphia was merged with the city February 2, 1854, a measure of great importance, as it enlarged the sphere of municipal action.

Governor Bigler urged the payment of the public debt, and used his great influence in behalf of the public schools with beneficent results.

In March, 1854, Bigler was unanimously nominated for a second term and immediately entered upon another hard campaign for re-election. Opposed to him was James Pollock, of Milton, a man of rare culture and ability. In the midst of the campaign Governor Bigler was stricken down with sickness, and he lay ill at his home in Clearfield during most of the canvass, thus being unable to stir up his followers by his personal presence and earnestness. Pollock’s campaign was allied with the Native American or Know-Nothing Party. He also was an active leader in the Free Soil movement. Bigler had violently opposed the Know-Nothing Party from its first organization, and his attitude toward the Kansas-Nebraska Bill cost him many votes. As a result Pollock was elected Governor by a large majority.

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