Capt. Henry C. Coates was foreman of the job department of the Pioneer
office. He was an officer in the Pioneer Guards, and when the war
broke out was made a lieutenant in the First regiment, was in all the
battles of that famous organization up to and including Gettysburg;
was commander of the regiment for some time after the battle. After
the war he settled in Philadelphia, where he now resides.
Jacob J. Noah at one time set type, with Robert Bonner. He was elected
clerk of the supreme court at the first election of state officers;
was captain of Company K Second Minnesota regiment, but resigned early
in the war and moved to New York City, his former home.
Frank H. Pratt was an officer in the Seventh regiment and served
through the war. He published a paper at Taylor's Falls at one time.
After the war he was engaged in the mercantile business in St. Paul.
John C. Devereux was foreman of the old Pioneer and was an officer in
the Third regiment, and still resides in the city.
Jacob T. McCoy was an old-time typo and worked in all the St. Paul
offices before and after the rebellion. Mr. McCoy was a fine singer
and his voice was always heard at typographical gatherings. He
enlisted as private in the Second Minnesota and served more than four
years, returning as first lieutenant. He now resides in Meadeville,
Pa.
Martin Williams was printer, editor, reporter and publisher, both
before and after the war. He was quartermaster of the Second Minnesota
cavalry.
Robert P. Slaughter and his brother, Thomas Slaughter, were both
officers in the volunteer service and just previous to the rebellion
were engaged in the real estate business.
Edward Richards was foreman of the Pioneer and Minnesotian before the
war and foreman of the old St. Paul Press after the war. He enlisted
during the darkest days of the rebellion in the Eighth regiment and
served in the dual capacity of correspondent and soldier. No better
soldier ever left the state. He was collector of customs of the port
of St. Paul under the administration of Presidents Garfield and
Arthur, and later was on the editorial staff of the Pioneer Press.
The most remarkable compositor ever in the Northwest, if not in the
United States, was the late Charles R. Stuart. He claimed to be a
lineal descendant of the royal house of Stuart. For two years in
succession he won the silver cup in New York city for setting more
type than any of his competitors. At an endurance test in New York he
is reported to have set and distributed 26,000 ems solid brevier in
twenty-four hours. He was originally from Detroit. In the spring of
1858 he wandered into the Minnesotian office and applied for work. The
Minnesotian was city printer and was very much in need of some one
that day to help them out. Mr. Stuart was put to work and soon
distributed two cases of type, and the other comps wondered what he
was going to do with it. After he had been at work a short time
they discovered that he would be able to set up all the type he had
distributed and probably more, too. When he pasted up the next morning
the foreman measured his string and remeasured it, and then went over
and took a survey of Mr. Stuart, and then went back and measured it
again. He then called up the comps, and they looked it over, but no
one could discover anything wrong with it. The string measured 23,000
ems, and was the most remarkable feat of composition ever heard of in
this section of the country. It was no uncommon occurrence for Mr.
Stuart to set 2,000 ems of solid bourgeois an hour, and keep it up for
the entire day. Mr. Stuart's reputation as a rapid compositor spread
all over the city in a short time and people used to come to the
office to see him set type, with as much curiosity as they do now to
see the typesetting machine. In 1862 Mr. Stuart enlisted in the Eighth
regiment and served for three years, returning home a lieutenant. For
a number of years he published a paper at Sault Ste Marie, in which
place he died about five years ago. He was not only a good printer,
but a very forceful writer, in fact he was an expert in everything
connected with the printing business.
E.S. Lightbourn was one of the old-time printers. He served three
years in the Seventh Minnesota and after the war was foreman of the
Pioneer.
M.J. Clum is one of the oldest printers in St. Paul. He was born in
Rensselar county, New York, in 1832, and came to St. Paul in 1853.
He learned his trade in Troy, and worked with John M. Francis, late
minister to Greece, and also with C.L. McArthur, editor of the
Northern Budget. Mr. Clum was a member of Company D, Second Minnesota,
and took part in several battles in the early part of the rebellion.
J.B. Chancy came to Minnesota before the state was admitted to the
Union. At one time he was foreman of a daily paper at St. Anthony
Falls. During the war he was a member of Berdan's sharpshooters, who
were attached to the First regiment.
S J. Albright worked on the Pioneer in territorial days. In 1859 he
went to Yankton, Dak., and started the first paper in that territory.
He was an officer in a Michigan regiment during the rebellion. For
many years was a publisher of a paper in Michigan, and under the last
administration of Grover Cleveland was governor of Alaska.
M.R. Prendergast, though not connected with the printing business
for some time, yet he is an old time printer, and was in the Tenth
Minnesota during the rebellion.
A.J. Underwood was a member of Berdan's Sharp-shooters, and was
connected with a paper at Fergus Falls for a number of years.
Robert V. Hesselgrave was employed in nearly all the St. Paul offices
at various times. He was lieutenant in the First Minnesota Heavy
Artillery, and is now engaged in farming in the Minnesota valley.
William A. Hill came to St. Paul during the early '50s. He was a
member of the Seventh Minnesota.
Ole Johnson was a member of the First Minnesota regiment, and died in
a hospital in Virginia.
William F. Russel, a compositor on the Pioneer, organized a company of
sharpshooters in St. Paul, and they served throughout the war in the
army of the Potomac.
S. Teverbaugh and H.I. Vance were territorial printers, and were both
in the army, but served in regiments outside the state.
There were a large number of other printers in the military service
during the civil war, but they were not territorial printers and their
names are not included in the above list.