HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



119 



"In the Field before Petersburg, Va., Oct. 7, 1864. 



" Dear Sir, — Having received our ballots to-day, we are reminded 

 that the time has arrived for us to discharge the sacred duty of voting. 

 We are thankful that, through the liberal policy of our noble State, 

 the soldier is permitted to vote. They say but little about politics, 

 but they think and feel much. 



" Our regiment numbers now about three hundred present for duty. 

 The men are in good health and spirits. Col. Lansing is in com- 

 mand, and although there is no forward movement since the affair at 

 Deep Bottom, yet he has found enough to occupy his attention. Our 

 regiment has been in the rifle-pits in the extreme front, within speak- 

 ing distance of the enemy, for several weeks past, exposed to the fire 

 of the sharpshooters. For two weeks past the 86th held Forts Michael 

 and Scott, which constitute a portion of our front line of works. 

 An attack was made several nights ago on our pickets, a little to our 

 left, which resulted in a repulse of the enemy, with a loss of several 

 killed and wounded, and about one hundred prisoners. Capt. Har- 

 rower was in command of the picket line on that occasion, and for 

 his prudent and brave conduct received a flattering compliment, in a 

 general order from our corps commander. 



" Yours, etc., 



" D. F. Brown, Q.-M.'' 



GEN. NIROM M. CRANE. 



Gen. Nirom M. Crane was born in Penn Yan, Yates 

 Co., N. Y., Dec. 13, 1828. The family of Crane is of 

 English descent, and the ancestor of the family, Henry 

 Crane, — born 1635, — came to America about the year 1660, 

 as record is found of his descent as son of John Crane, of 

 Norfolk, England. Gen. Crane traces his descent from 

 Capt. John Crane, son of Henry Crane, who was born in 

 1664, and commanded a company in an expedition against 

 Canada, in 1711, and died in New York, as the result of 

 hardship and exposure in that campaign. 



His grandfather, Daniel Crane, — born 1756, — was a sol- 

 dier during the Revolutionary war. He, with others, being 

 at church when the news of the battle of Concord came, at 

 once enlisted in the service of his country. 



About the year 1806 he removed from Connecticut with 

 his family, and settled in Yates Co., N. Y., in what is 

 now the town of Benton, — then a wilderness. Hence he 

 was a pioneer in that county, and there spent the remainder 

 of his life as a farmer, dying at about the age of seventy. 



Gen. Crane's father, Nirom Crane, one of nine children, 

 was a volunteer and ranked as second lieutenant of a rifle 

 company in the war of 1812 ; was engaged in the battle of 

 Queenstown Heights, Canada. He led a quiet life as a 

 farmer, and died, at the age of sixty-one, in the year 1845, 

 leaving two sons and five daughters who reached maturity, 

 of whom the subject of this notice was the youngest. 



At the age of fifteen he became a clerk in a general 

 merchandise store in Wayne, this county, and continued as 

 such, in that place and Penn Yan, during the remainder of 

 his minority. 



In the year 1849 he established himself in business as a 

 merchant at Wayne, which he continued successfully for 

 three years, and removed to Hornellsville, where he carried 

 on mercantile business until 1856, when, being chosen 

 vice-president of the Bank of Hornellsville (the first bank 

 established there), he remained in connection with the busi- 

 ness of that bank until it was closed, in 1859. He at 

 once started a private bank, the business of which he car- 

 ried on until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion. 



In April, 1861, inspired with that patriotism and loyalty 



to country so characteristic of his ancestors, he raised a 

 company of volunteers, and in May following, as lieutenant- 

 colonel of the 23d New York Volunteers (called the South- 

 ern Tier Rifles), hastened to the capital, reaching Arlington 

 Heights the next morning after the battle of Bull Run. 



As lieutenant-colonel he commanded the regiment through 

 Pope's campaign, and led it successively in the more im- 

 portant battles of Rappahannock, Groveton, Bull Run 

 (second), Chantilly, South Mountain, and Antietam. 



After the latter battle he was detailed as acting in- 

 spector-general on the stafi" of the 1st Army Corps of the 

 Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj.-Gen. John F. 

 Reynolds, where he remained until after the close of the 

 battle of Fredericksburg, and on which he officiated as 

 aide-de-camp to Gen. Reynolds, and was complimented 

 in general orders for gallantry on the battle-field by him. 

 Subsequently he was assigned assistant provost-marshal- 

 general on the staff" of Gen. Hooker, in the Army of the 

 Potomac, where he remained until the expiration of his term 

 of service of two years, when, after only two weeks' respite 

 at home he returned to his regiment as colonel of the 107th 

 New York Volunteers, joined the regiment at Leesburg, 

 Va., then on the march to Gettysburg. In the battle of 

 Gettysburg he had command of the regiment in the thick- 

 est of the fight, yet losing only a few men. 



His corps (the 20th) was then sent, under command of 

 Gen. Hooker, to join Sherman at Chattanooga. To fol- 

 low his career through " Sherman's march to the sea" 

 would be to give an outline sketch of the victories, priva- 

 tions, marches, etc., of that renowned campaign, the princi- 

 pal of whicb were Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, Peach-Tree 

 Creek, and Atlanta, and the taking of Savannah, followed 

 by the march through the Carolinas, and the capture and 

 surrender of Johnston's army. 



During the campaign in South Carolina, for gallant and 

 meritorious conduct, he was brevetted brigadier-general 

 with rank from March, 1865. 



Gen. Crane was mustered out of the service in June, 

 1865, and returned home. 



In the fall of the same year he opened a private bank, 

 under the name of N. M. Crane & Co., which he continues 

 to carry on. 



In 1869 he was chosen county clerk, which office he held 

 one term. 



Upon the organization of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, 

 at Bath, N. Y., Gen. Crane was appointed by Governor 

 Robinson as one of the nine trustees, and is also the treas- 

 urer of that institution. 



Gen. Crane has been identified with the Republican 

 party since its organization, although not in any sense of 

 the term a professional politician. 



In the year 1852, Oct. 19, he married Marie Louise, 

 second daughter of Matthew MacDowell, of Wayne, Steu- 

 ben Co., a lady of rare culture, and descended from English 

 ancestry on the maternal, and Scotch ancestry on the pater- 

 nal side. 



Their children are Sidney H., Marion Louise, and Guy 

 MacDowell. 



