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IOWA
ANTI MONOPOLIST Thursday
Sept. 10, 1874 IN
MEMORIAM
Captain
Bradley Mahana,
who died at his residence in this city (Iowa City, Iowa) on last Friday
morning (September 11, 1874), was born in Hopwood, Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, (March 1), 1806. Early
in life he removed to Waynesburg, PA where he resided until he came to
Iowa. He was married to Miss
Catherine Seals on September 1, 1827.
From 1842 until 1855 he served as captain of the Waynesburg Blues,
attached to the Highland Brigade of Pennsylvania.
Captain Mahana also served as Brigade Inspector of the 4th
Brigade of Pennsylvania. In
April 1855 he removed with his family to this city.
In 1861, when the three months call for men was made, Captain
Mahana responded promptly to the call.
His company was the first one raised in the State (of Iowa); but
from certain jealousies or some other reason, his company was made Company
B instead of Company A
as it deserved. His
company was accepted by the Governor and marched at once to the front.
When the three months had expired he returned home and immediately
formed another company, was elected its captain, which position he held
until the close of the war.
After
returning from his brief southern campaign, his company was ordered to
proceed to Ft. Randall (South Dakota), where he remained almost a year.
His company, together with three others were ordered to proceed up
the Missouri River and establish a fort which was afterwards known as Ft.
Pierre. Here he remained
until June 1863. During the
winter he heard that a tribe of Indians quite a distance away, had several
children which they had captured during the Minnesota Massacre.
He desired to liberate the children, and arranged with three
Indians to take a number of ponies and other articles to the distant tribe
to trade for the little captives. They
bargained for and bought one of the children, Malinda Ingals, by giving
three ponies for her, but no inducements would tempt them to give up the
others.
In
June the Captain and his company joined Sulley’s expedition against the
Indians, and went to Crow Creek Agency, and thence to the White Stone
Hills. His company afterwards
returned to the Missouri River and established what is now Ft. Sulley;
after which the company proceeded up the river and established Ft. Rice.
The expedition then proceeded to Hart Mountains where they corraled
the stock and marched five days, when upon the 26th of August,
they overtook the Indians, consisting of, it is estimated 7,000 warriors.
Previous to the meeting of the two combatants, the Indians had sent
word to our boys that they were coming, and that they need not run down
their horses, but travel moderately, as they expect to soon meet the
whites, kill the soldiers and roast and eat the officers.
The Captain, to this startling intelligence, remarked that “they
would find tough picking when they came to him.”
The killing process was, however, mostly on the other side.
The Iowa and Minnesota brigades in which Captain Mahana’s company
was one of the advance guards, engaged the Indians, driving them before
them, killing 127 of their numbers, camping upon their own campground,
burning their property and scaring the balance of the redskins out their
existence.
After
a long sojourn in the mountainous regions of the Northwest, during which
time he experienced dangers and privations of many kinds, he and his
gallant comrades returned and were mustered out of service at Sioux City
on November 1st 1864, to go on their many ways, ever bearing in
mind the sacred ties of dependence and humanity which bound them together,
and remembering their leader as a brave and merciful soldier and a true
and honest man.
The
Captain was a bright zealous, and old Mason, having been made one nearly
forty years ago. At one time
he was District Deputy Grand Master of Pennsylvania, and was frequently
honored with important positions of trust in the various Lodges, Chapters,
and Commandries to which he had belonged.
He was a worthy brother, and excellent companion and valiant and
magnanimous Sir Knight.
He
was converted and joined the M. E. Church at an early age and for many
years led an exemplary Christian life, most loved and respected by those
who knew him best.
He
was taken suddenly ill on the 31st of August and quietly and
peacefully passed away at 4 o’clock AM on the 11th of
September 1874. Although he
suffered much during his sickness, yet he was patient and perfectly
resigned. The Saviour, whom
he loved and trusted in life, was his support in the hour of need.
A friend standing at his bedside a short time before he expired
asked: “Captain, is all well?” He
replied is his peculiar emphatic manner, “Oh! Yes.”
So
lived and passed away, Captain B. Mahana, who in life was a kind neighbor,
an affectionate husband and father, a brave soldier, a true and worthy
Mason, and above all, as we trust, a humble and faithful Christian. The mortal part of him, who now sleeps in the silent city, was accompanied to its last resting place by a long train of friends, and laid in its narrow home by that beloved brotherhood of light, who believe that this earth is not man’s abiding place, that life is not a bubble cast upon the ocean of eternity to float a moment, and then to sink into nothingness. His immortal part has gone to fill a higher and nobler destiny than that of earth in that bright realm where it matters not, where the rainbow never fades; where the stars will spread out before our immortal vision like the islands that slumber on the bosom of the ocean, and where the beautiful imaginary beings which here flit before us, like shadows, will remain forever with us.
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From
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA By
Rev. William Hanna BIOGRAPHIES
Starting
page 305
On the 11th of December, 1882, I called at the house of
John D. Patterson, on Brushey Fork of Tenmile creek, and received from
Mrs. Patterson (who was formerly Miss
Amanda Mahanna) the following information with reference to her
father, (Captain Bradley Mahanna) and grandfather: Captain James Seals, who
was born in England during the 18th century, immigrated to America
somewhere near the middle of the century, and was united in marriage with Miss
Sarah Brown, sister of Capt. John Brown, (not old Ossawatamie), came
to the vicinity of Waynesburg before the town had much of an existence.
Here he (Captain James Seals)
erected the old stone house, a part of which can yet be seen near the
toll-gate immediately west of the borough. Here he and his wife raised thirteen children, viz:
John, James, Samuel, William, and Vincent were the sons, while
daughter Sarah married Mr. Bloomfield; Lottie married Robert Hix; Martha
married Mr. Boyle; Matilda
married Mr. Beck; Catherine married
BRADLEY MAHANNA ; the other two names my informant could not recall.
Capt. Seals lived in those troubled times when “eternal
vigilance” was not only “the price of liberty”, but also of life.
He was Captain of a company that might be denominated “minute
men”, or “wood rangers”, who were constantly on the alert to protect
themselves and their families against the prowling savages by whom they
were surrounded. Reports were
made at different times to various commanders; among the rest, to Gen.
Anthony Wayne, in 1794, who immediately directed Capt. Seals and company
to join him on the banks of the Miami.
The company was put in motion without delay and marched as far as
Catfish camp (Washington). Here
the news met them that the victory was gained and their services were not
needed. Mrs. Patterson then
proceeded to give me some account of her father,
Captain Bradley Mahanna, and then loaned me a paper, Iowa State Press,
dated Iowa City, September 16, 1874, which contains quite a lengthy
obituary notice from which the following is obtained;
Bradley Mahanna was born
in Hopwood, Fayette County, PA, March 1, 1806.
He removed to Waynesburg in 1827, where he and Catherine
Seals were married on the 1st of September of that year.
Here he continued to reside until April 1855, when he removed to
Iowa City where he resided until his death on the 11th of September, 1874.
Early in life he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and so consistent was his profession that neither prosperity nor adversity
could damp the ardor of his devotion.
He, like many of his day, was fond of military training.
He was commissioned by Gov. David R. Porter, Captain
of the Waynesburg Blues, in
1842. -----------------------------------(see
original of article for omitted narrative)-------------------------
The commission of Capt. Mahanna was renewed in 1849 by Gov. Wm. F.
Johnson, and was again renewed in 1854 by Gov. Wm. Bigler.
The subject of our sketch (Capt. Mahanna) was finally commissioned
Brigade Inspector of the Fourth Pennsylvania Brigade.
In the war or rebellion (the
Civil War), he took an active part, having gone to the front among the
seventy-five thousand that were called out by the President (Abraham
Lincoln) immediately after the fall of Fort Sumpter in 1861. After the term of his enlistment had expired he returned
home, recruited a company and was elected its Captain. In this capacity he continued until the end of the (Civil)
War.
He was also a member of the Masonic order by whom he was decently
interred. (italics
and bold print added.)
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