Edward McPherson
McPherson, 1860–1870
Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
In office 1889–1891 1881–1883 1863–1875
Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
In office 1877–1878
Preceded by	Henry C. Jewell
Succeeded by	O. H. Irish
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's17th district
In office March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1863
Preceded by	Wilson Reilly
Succeeded by	Archibald McAllister
Personal details
Born	July 31, 1830 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 14, 1895 (aged 65) Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Party	Whig(before 1855) American(1855–58) Republican(after 1858)
Education	Pennsylvania College
Signature

Edward McPherson (July 31, 1830 – December 14, 1895) was an American newspaper editor and politician who served two terms in theUnited States House of Representatives, as well as three terms as theClerk of the House of Representatives. As a director of theGettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, he effected efforts to protect and mark portions of theGettysburg Battlefield.

Edward McPherson was born inGettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1830.^[1] He studied law andbotany atPennsylvania College, graduating in 1848 asvaledictorian.

InThaddeus Stevens' firm inLancaster, McPherson became aWhig. McPherson left the law practice due to illness and moved toHarrisburg, editing theHarrisburg American in 1851, and the LancasterIndependent Whig (1851–1854).^[2] In 1855, he started and edited anAmerican Party paper, thePittsburghEvening Times.^[3] He moved back to Gettysburg the next year and resumed his legal career. He inherited his father's farm west of town along theChambersburg Turnpike in 1858^[4] and was elected to the36th and37th United States Congresses (1859 – March 1863,Republican). He was a member of theRepublican National Committee in 1860.

During his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives he served on the Committee on Military Affairs andJoint Committee on the Library.^[5]

McPherson organized Company K of the FirstPennsylvania Reserves at the beginning of theAmerican Civil War,^[6] and was defeated in the 1862 reelection when hisHouse of Representatives district (Adams,Franklin,Fulton,Bedford, andJuniata counties)^[7] was expanded to include opposingRadical Republicans inSomerset County^{[citation needed]} (substituted for Juniata).^[8] PresidentAbraham Lincoln appointed McPherson asDeputy Commissioner of Revenue in 1863. After theBattle of Gettysburg, McPherson became an officer of theGettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association with an office on the corner of Baltimore and Middle streets,^[9] and after Congressman Morehead nominated him,Thaddeus Stevens had him appointed asClerk of the House of Representatives (December 8, 1863 – December 5, 1875).^{[citation needed]}

McPherson presided over theRepublican National Convention in 1876, and PresidentHayes appointed him as director of the United StatesBureau of Engraving and Printing (1877–1878). Returning to the newspaper business, he was editor of thePhiladelphia Press from 1877 until 1880. He also served as editor of theNew York Tribune Almanac from 1877 to 1895 and was editor and proprietor of a newspaper in Gettysburg from 1880 until 1895. He was the American editor of theAlmanach de Gotha. He again served as Clerk of the House of Representatives from December 1881 to December 1883 and for a third time from December 1889 to December 1891. McPherson was the attorney for the 1893 complaint against theGettysburg Electric Railway which ended in the Supreme Court case ofUnited States v. Gettysburg Electric Railway Co.^[10]

McPherson diverted printing contracts away from Radical Republican newspapers and to moderate newspapers instead. He diverted the contracts from theJacksonville Florida Times toFlorida Union in Florida,Albion W. Tourgée'sUnion Register toWilliam Woods Holden'sRaleigh Daily Standard in North Carolina, and gave contracts to two newspapers edited by former Confederate officers. He initially granted a contract toThe New Orleans Tribune, a black-owned newspaper supported by Radicals, but revoked it in 1868 at the request ofThomas W. Conway.^[11]

McPherson married Annie D. Crawford in 1862,^[12][13] and they had four sons and a daughter.^[14]

He died ofaccidental poisoning in Gettysburg on December 14, 1895.^[1][15] He was interred atEvergreen Cemetery in Adams County, Pennsylvania.

The Edward McPherson Society is named in his honor.

In 1941, the papers of Edward McPherson were added to theLibrary of Congress,[1] and his published works include:

• McPherson, Edward (1864).Political History of the United States of America During the Great Rebellion (2nd ed.). Philp & Solomons.
• —— (1871).The Political History of the United States of America During the Period of Reconstruction.
• —— (September 12, 1889)."Remarks of Hon. Edward McPherson".The Star and Sentinel. RetrievedJanuary 15, 2012.

In the 2012 filmLincoln, McPherson is portrayed byChristopher Evan Welch.

• Abbott, Richard (1986).The Republican Party and the South, 1855–1877: The First Southern Strategy.University of North Carolina Press.ISBN 0-8078-1680-9.
• Martin, David G. (2003).Gettysburg July 1. Combined Publishing. p. 584.ISBN 0-938289-81-0. RetrievedJanuary 15, 2012.
• Standing Committees of the House of Representatives of the United States, Thirty-Seventh Congress, Third Session, Commencing Monday, December 1, 1862.United States Government Publishing Office. 1863.LCCN 2022691784.

• Works by or about Edward McPherson at theInternet Archive
• Edward McPherson atFind a Grave

• 1830 births
• 1895 deaths
• 19th-century American journalists
• 19th-century American male writers
• 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
• 19th-century United States representatives
• American male journalists
• Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Adams County, Pennsylvania)
• Clerks of the United States House of Representatives
• Hayes administration personnel
• Pennsylvania lawyers
• Pennsylvania Whigs
• Politicians from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• Republican Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania
• Union (American Civil War) political leaders
• United States Department of the Treasury officials

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