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The Scottish American History Club Newsletter
April 2002
Highest Ranking Union Officer
Killed In Action
 James
B. McPherson was born in the town of Clyde, Sandusky
County, Ohio on November 14, 1828, the eldest of four
children. His father, William, was born and bred in
Scotland. McPherson entered West Point in 1849 and
graduated first in the class of 1853. Others in his
class of fifty-two were men who would become high
ranking officers in the Civil War: Sheridan, Hood, Sill,
Scholfield and Tyler. At the time, Robert E. Lee was the
superintendent of the academy and Jefferson Davis was
the commencement speaker at his graduation. His roommate
at West Point was John Bell Hood, who took command of
the Confederate forces he was opposing five days before
his death.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was a captain in
the Corps of Engineers. He moved rapidly through the
ranks and was soon on the staff of General Ulysses S.
Grant.
Grant cited him for "conspicuous skill and personal
bravery" in the siege of Vicksburg and had him promoted
to brigadier general. McPherson was then put in command
of the Army of the Tennessee and fought under General
Sherman in the siege of Atlanta.
On July 22, 1864, traveling only with his orderly,
McPherson entered a grove of woods that separated two of
his corps. "He had traveled only about 100 yards when a
cry of 'halt' rang out. He stopped for an instant and
saw a line of gray skirmishers, wheeled his horse,
raised his hand, and made a quick dash to his right. The
skirmishers let go with a volley, McPherson staggered in
the saddle for a short distance and then fell to the
ground."
It was said by his military peers that his death was
"one of the heaviest individual losses ever suffered by
the Union forces." Many believed that had he lived he
would have been elected President of the United States.
Grant said of him that the "nation had more to expect
from him than from almost anyone living." He was only 35
years of age.
He is buried in the McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio. A
statue was unveiled at the cemetery in 1881 before a
crowd of 15,000 people and there is also a statute to
him in Washington, D.C. erected by the Army of
Tennessee. McPherson Square is named in his honor as is
both the city and county of McPherson, Kansas.
Sources: Vicki Balemian (employee of the Clyde, Ohio,
library), the Internet, and James Thomson.
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
& The USS Hopper, DDG 70
Grace Brewster Murray was born in New York City on
December 9, 1906. She was the oldest child of Walter
Fletcher and Mary Van Home Murray. Grace grew up in New
York City and earned a B.A. in mathematics from Vassar
College and later an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale. Over her
lifetime she was to be given honoree doctorates from
over thirty universities. Grace Murray and Vincent
Hopper were married in 1930. At the time he was an
English instructor at New York University. They
separated in the early 1940's and divorced in 1945, the
same year he was killed during WWII.
In December, 1943, Grace Hopper joined the U.S. Naval
reserve and was given a commission. She was sent to
Harvard and began her long fascination with computers
especially in computer languages, and most especially
COBOL. Once, trying to repair the Mark I, she found a
moth caught in a relay. She taped the moth in the log
book and gave us the term "debugging." "She is
considered the mother of computing. Her development of
the first computer compiler and the first computer
programming language helped revolutionize the world of
computers." In 1991, President Bush presented her with
the National Metal of Technology Award. She was the
first woman to receive this award. Congress elevated her
to the rank of Rear Admiral, the first woman to hold
that rank. She was also the first woman to be awarded a
Ph.D. in Mathematics from Yale University. She retired
from the Navy at the age of 80 and her retirement
ceremony was held on the USS Constitution in Boston
Harbor. On this occasion, she received the highest award
given by the Department of Defense - the Defense
Distinguished Service Medal.
 Rear
Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, often called "Amazing
Grace", died January 1, 1992, at the age of 85. She was
buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military
honors. Of her military career she often said "It's
always easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get
permission."
For only the second time in Navy history a ship is
named for a woman from the Navy's own ranks. The keel of
the USS Hopper was laid on February 23, 1995, at the
Bath Iron Works Shipyard in Bath, Maine. The launching
ceremony was held on January 6, 1996; the temperature
was at zero with a 30-mile-an-hour wind. Mary Murray
Wescote, Grace's 86-year-old sister, christened the USS
Hopper. The ceremony was witnessed by her 84-year-old
brother, Roger F. Murray. Clan Murray also had several
representatives at the ceremony.
The USS Hopper is a guided missile destroyer of the
Arleigh Burke Class. She is 504.3 feet in length and has
a complement of 325 (23 officers, 302 enlisted). Her
armaments include the Tomahawk cruise missile and 5'
guns
"In all, the USS Hopper is one of the most capable
warships ever built."
The Coat of Arms of the USS Hooper has at its center a
Rampant Lion in recognition of the Scottish heritage of
Grace Murray Hopper. The motto is "Dare and Do." The
home base for the Hopper is Hawaii.
Source for both stories about
Grace Hooper and the USS Hooper: The Internet.
Zion, Illinois
 The
man who founded Zion, IL in 1911 was born in Scotland.
John Alexander Dowie (dou'E), was a charismatic preacher
and faith healer. He was a graduate of Edinburgh
University and was ordained by the Congregational
Church. His travels led him to Australia, America, and
around the world. It was said that he prayed "for as
many as 70,000 sick people a year, and thousands of the
most astounding and remarkable miracles have taken
place."
He arrived in Chicago in 1893 and built a small
tabernacle outside the gates of the Columbia Exposition
at 63rd and Stoney Island. His building was across the
street from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Sadie Cody, a
cousin of Buffalo Bill, who had been sick for quite some
time, was brought to the meeting. According to a source,
"she was prayed for and received immediate healing."
As the attendance grew, they rented a 3,500 seat church
at 16th and Michigan. Later they moved to the Chicago
Auditorium. In time a large office building at 12th and
Michigan was leased at $25,000 a year and used as an
office, headquarters, residence and school. (This
building may still be present on the original site.) On
February 22, 1896, the formal organization of the
Christian Catholic Church was announced. Churches were
started in almost every major city and country, "with
missionaries going to China, South Africa, Switzerland,
England, France, Germany, Mexico and many other places."
With the assistance of some of the finest men of his
day, Dr. Dowie searched for a place to establish the
headquarters of the Church. They dreamed of a coming
City...to develop a city for God's people. One day,
they dressed as itinerants, and looked at the beautiful
rolling farm land six miles north of Chicago. They took
options on 6,000 acres of land and the purchase made for
their new city. Burton J. Ashley became the city-planner
and the land was laid out in subdivisions with sewer,
water, lighting and transit systems for a population of
200,000 people.
Dowie was a very controversial person, but his ideas
were progressive: free and compulsory education for
children, an eight-hour work day, and voting rights for
women. Zion was one of the first multiracial religious
movements in the country. "In 1905, 200 of Zion's
residents were African American, South African or
Carribean."
The
corporate seal of Zion, Illinois, is circular in form
with a Zion Banner in the center, surrounded by the
words "God Reigns." There is also a dove with an olive
branch above, on the left side is a cross and on the
right side a sword and crown. Dowie said, "I shall pass
away - at the longest it shall not be long, but this
seal is one that I hope will never pass away from Zion
City, until the end shall come and a new heaven and a
new earth be created." (Given the circumstances of our
times, one is surprised Zion is still allowed to use the
seal.)
In 1900, Dowie dedicated the Temple Site before 10,000
followers. Today, the Temple is the Christian Catholic
Church, which he founded. John Alexander Dowie died
March 9, 1907. He is buried in Lake Mound Cemetery at
Sheridan Road and 29th Street.
More information is available at the
Zion
Historical Society.
Michigan Hails Pioneer David Buick
 Lansing,
Mich. - A state historical marker commemorating
automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick will be placed
near General Motors Corporations' world headquarters in
downtown Detroit's Renaissance Center. The marker was
approved by the Michigan Historical Commission.
Buick, a native of Scotland, was born in 1854 and began
his career as a plumbing inventor and builder of
gasoline engines for boats used on the Detroit River.
His first automotive enterprise, Buick Auto-Vim and
Power Co., began operating in Detroit about 1900. In
1903, the Flint Wagon Works purchased what was then the
Buick Motor Co. and moved operations to Flint. The
company became the foundation for GM, founded in 1908 by
William C. Durant. Buick died in 1929.
Associated Press
From the Editor
My thanks again for your continued interest and
support of our effort in publishing this Newsletter. We
do appreciate the comments and the stories that you have
been sending. In some of the other mailings you will be
notified of the various events surrounding National
Tartan Day and our Scottish American Heritage Month. The
history tour will be on Sunday, April 28. Those of you
who want to meet the tour group at Rosehill should know
that we will arrive about 3:30 pm. However, I hope that
many of you will plan to ride our chartered bus and
visit the Robert Burns Statue in Garfield Park. Bruce
Mackie will read some of Burn's poetry and it would be
nice to have a piper if you know of one.
Our very first history tour was in April of 1993 and we
made a visit to Rosehill. We returned again in 1994 and
held the first Society Kirkin' in the Chapel. Roger
Kunkel, pastor of the Riverside Presbyterian Church was
our speaker for that occasion. Society members were
invited to send in the names of persons buried at Rosehill. We still have that list and will use it again this
year. However, if you are a new member and have family
members buried there, please let us know so they can be
included in our tour book. Twenty three past presidents
of the Illinois St. Andrew are buried at Rosehill. We
plan to pay our respects to several of them during our
tour. Hope you will plan to join us.
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