There is a long sketch of the life of Alfred B. McCalmont on Contempora ry Biography of Pennsylvania, pp. 84-86.

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Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Volume II, p. 84- 86.

General Alfred Brunson McCalmont the third son of Alexander and Eliza H. M cCalmont, was born at Franklin, Venango County, Pennsylvania, on April 2 8, 1825, and died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 7, 1874. His fathe r, Alexander McCalmont, the son of John and Elizabeth McCalmont, was bo rn in Cistacoquillos Valley, now in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in 178 5. When he was two years old the family removed to Nittany Valley, Cent re County (1787) and thence to Venango County, Pennsylvania, in 1803. Jo hn McCalmont, the father of Alexander and grandfather of Alfred Brunson, w as born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1750. When sixteen years old (176 6) he came to Philadelphia with his elder half brother Thomas. Near Philad elphia they remained for some years; each married and had children, and bo th families moved towards the west, Thomas with his, remaining in Penris V alley, Centre County, and John with his, locating in Venango County. Bo th Thomas and John were Presbyterians in faith, and the names of most of t heir children, who generally attained a good old age, can be found in t he records of that church in Centre and Venango Counties. The earliest McC almont, whose history has been hunted up was a Scotchman, a Covenanter pre acher, who migrated from Scotland to the North of Ireland in the time of K ing Charles the First. From this McCalmont many families of that name in I reland, England and America have descended. It is supposed that the name C almont or Almont is of French origin, and that the patronymic McCalmont w as made by the prefix of Mac, common at one time in Scotland to designa te the sons of a particular clan. It is not easy, in the space allott ed to a brief sketch, to do justice to the life of Alfred Brunson McCalmon t. As, in many other cases, the danger is, that by condensing and avoidi ng details, important facts will be omitted, and unimportant reflections w ill take their place. It will perhaps be admitted by all who were well acq uainted with him in his lifetime, that, from his earliest boyhood up to t he day of his decease, he occupied a conspicuous place among his fellow s, and was esteemed for his honesty, sincerity, truthfulness and constan cy in friendship, as well as for his wit, learning, elocution, courage a nd honor. From childhood he evinced a disposition to learn, and was acti ve and industrious in the pursuit of knowledge. And this may be regard ed as somewhat peculiar in his case, for he was very social in his disposi tion, and had a more than common sense of the humorous and the ludicrou s. In his early years his instruction and deportment were very carefully a ttended to; and at the age of eleven or twelve he went to the Latin scho ol kept by Rev. N. R. Snowden. This was about the time that Mr. Snowden, w ho instructed many Franklin boys in the rudiments of Latin, and exercis es of declamation, ceased to teach, and gave way to Mr. Gamble, a fine Lat in scholar who, for awhile, succeeded him. At Mr. Snowden's school, amo ng other companions of McCalmont, his most intimate one perhaps, was a sch olar equally as bright, Jesse Lee Reno--who afterwards graduated at West P oint, became distinguished in Mexico, as a Lieutenant of Ordnance, w as in the Government survey of the Pacific Railroad; and at last, with t he rank of Major-General, laid down his life for his country at South Moun tain. In 1839 Mr. McCalmont entered Allegheny College. He remained there o nly a few sessions; and in the autumn of 1840 he entered Dickinson Colleg e, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he at once took rank in the foremo st of his class, dividing the honors with another classmate at graduati on in 1844. Mr. McCalmont then commenced the study of law in the offi ce of his brother-in-law, Edwin C. Wilson, at Franklin, Pennsylvania, und er the supervision of his father, Alexander McCalmont, who was then Presid ent-Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District, but who still retained h is residence at Franklin, although at that time it was not within the boun ds of his district. In April, 1845, Thomas S. Espy, then a promising lawy er of Franklin, removed with his family to Iowa. At his solicitation Alfr ed Brunson McCalmont went with him. After being a short time in Iowa, M r. McCalmont concluded that he would not remain, and set out for his ho me by way of St. Louis. To get the means to prosecute his journey, he taug ht school for some months at St. Charles, Missouri, until the spring of 18 46, when he returned to his native village, Franklin. His letters to his f ather and family during this period were very entertaining; full of his tr ials as a pedagogue, and sparkling with humorous touches, very graphical ly written. In fact, when he had leisure, he displayed in his conversati on and correspondence his humorous inclination to the best, nor did he ev er cease to take pleasure in reading the works of humorous authors, as Dic kens, Thackeray and the like. It would be, however, a mistake to suppose t hat most of his time was taken up with light reading or social conversatio n. On the contrary, he was a very close and thorough student, not conte nt until he had mastered any subject which he undertook, whether in l aw or other science. His transient companions, who saw him only in his hou rs of recreation, and observed his good humor, and sallies of wit in conve rsation, got mostly but a slight perception of the strength of his charact er for thorough research and profound meditation which distinguished h im in his professional duties. He was extremely modest and diffident in al luding to his own merits. He was admitted to the bar in Venango Coun ty in 1847, and then, at the suggestion of his brother John, went to Readi ng, Pennsylvania, with a view to locating there; but soon discovering th at there was not sufficient promise of a practice there, inasmuch as he w as unacquainted with the Dutch language, he took the advice of Judge Burns ide, and removed his office to Pittsburgh. There he had, as every beginn er at the bar has in a strange city, a hard time of patient waiting and so licitude as to his future success and support. Gradually as his merits bec ame known he acquired considerable practice; conducting with ability his c ases, clearing now and then by his advocacy some prisoner in the Crimin al Court; or gaining here and there, by his careful preparation, caus es in the Common Pleas or Supreme Court. But the business was not enough f or his active temperament. He wanted to be occupied continually. He seem ed to fret at the slowness of clients, and the smallness of fees. In fac t, his generosity and love of good cheer were so marked, that he was scarc ely prepared to gnaw the crusts or subsist on the crumbs of the professi on for many years. He assisted his friend Keenan, who was at college wi th him, in editing the Legal Journal, and also the Daily Union, a Democrat ic journal. He was a Democrat. But he had located in a Whig or Republic an city. It is evident that his true policy would have been to stick to la w, and let politics alone. He seems to have been of that opinion himse lf at times. But he was considered a good stump speaker. As such he was ve ry popular in his native county, and he could not well resist the importun ities of his friends to help the party, by his voice, as well as his vot e, in election times. In these years he formed an agreeable acquaintance w ith Miss Sarah Frances Evans, the granddaughter of Mrs. Sarah Collins (wi th whom Miss Evans lived, her parents being deceased), at whose commodio us and hospitable mansion, near the city, the best of society loved to mee t. The acquaintance in time ripened into an engagement, and result ed in a matrimonial alliance. The wedding took place in Trinity Church, Pi ttsburgh, April 28, 1853. From that time, till the day of his death, Mr. M cCalmont was perfectly happy in his domestic relations, and enjoyed intens ely the society of his wife and children and home. His arguments in cour t, as well as his editorials in the Legal Journal and Daily Union broug ht him to the attention of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvani a, and he was appointed Prothonotary. Afterwards Judge Jeremiah S. Blac k, who had been appointed Attorney-General by President Buchanan, offer ed Mr. McCalmont, in 1858, the appointment as Chief Clerk, with the assura nce that when the office of Assistant Attorney-General should be creat ed by Congress, he should receive that appointment. Under this view he acc epted the office, and became the first of the Assistants to the Attorney-G eneral. At the close of Mr. Buchanan's administration, when the Democrat ic party had been disrupted, and the Union threatened with a like fate, M r. McCalmont, in resigning his office under the new administration, retir ed to his native town, Franklin, where he entered into partnership with Ja mes K. Kerr, in the practice of law; but soon catching the spirit of the U nion music and determining to keep step to it, in spite of former affiliat ions or antipathies, he, in conjunction with William Hasson and Geor ge R. Snowden, raised a company of volunteers. It became a part of the O ne hundred and Forty-second Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Uni on Army, of which Mr. McCalmont was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel. The hist ory of its participation in many battles which the Army of the Potomac fou ght, can be found in many records, and its hard fighting and terrible loss es are engraven on many tombs. The regiment was so reduced by casualti es in battle and on the march, that not enough men were left for a battali on. The War Department failed to give orders to recruit it. New regimen ts were forming in Pennsylvania, and Mr. McCalmont was offered and accept ed the Colonelcy of the Two hundred and Eighth Regiment. It immediately jo ined the Army of the Potomac, and continued with it, in General Hartranft 's Division, to the close of the war. For his services Col. McCalmont rece ived the brevet of Brigadier-General, by the title of which he was subsequ ently known. He participated with his regiment, or the remnant of it, in t he grand parade in May, 1865, when the veteran troops marched in their la st review before President Johnson and Cabinet at Washington, preparato ry to their final muster out of the service. General McCalmont (now brevet ted) then returned to his wife and children at Franklin, Pennsylvania, a nd again resumed his profession. He soon acquired a large and lucrative pr actice at the bar. He was a candidate for Congress in 1866, but was defeat ed. And in 1872 he was strongly recommended as a candidate for Govern or on the Democratic ticket. But he must have been aware-that he was on t he wrong party ticket for success, however deserving of it he might have b een. His friends saw, however, that his success at the bar was assured, a nd looked forward to further honors for him; but about 1872 a small tum or appeared on his cheek, near the ear. It gave him much concern, especial ly when it began to suppurate. In the winter of 1873 it appeared to be hea ling, but in the spring of 1874 it again presented an angry appearance, a nd General McCalmont determined to have it removed by a surgical operatio n. In the meantime he had been selected as Orator for the occasion of t he annual reunion of the Army of the Potomac in May, 1874. He much appreci ated the honor, and was anxious to perform the duty. In April he visited P hiladelphia, and there, at the Girard House, whilst engaged in writing h is address, he consulted Dr. Joseph Pancoast, who with his son William, bo th eminent surgeons, performed the operation of removing the tumor. It cre ated but little pain, and seemed simple, healing easily; but on the seco nd or third day after the operation, symptoms of malignant erysipelas s et in, and so rapidly affected the head and brain that the physicians h ad from its onset but little if any hope. They did all that medical ski ll could do, but without avail, and in a week's time, on Wednesday afterno on the 7th day of May, 1874, General McCalmont, in the presence of his dev oted wife, brother, nephews and other kind friends, breathed his last. H is remains, carefully and tenderly guarded, were conveyed to his home, whe re, on Sunday the 10th of May, after appropriate services in the Episcop al Church, they were followed to the tomb, in the Franklin Cemeter y, by a very large company of his comrades in arms, legal brothers, fellow -citizens, neighbors and sympathizing friends.

• Married: 28 APR 1853 in Pittsburgh, Alleghany Co, Pennsylvania
• Note: Marriage took place at Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1. Lydia Collins McCalmont b: 12 FEB 1854
2. Sarah Lowry McCalmont b: 7 JUN 1856
3. Robert McCalmont b: 18 SEP 1859 in Washington, D.C.