Rend

Soldier Profile: William P. Rend

Co. A, 14th New York Infantry Regiment

William P. Rend's life traced the arc of Irish America itself: fleeing the Famine as a child, building a new life through education and service, and rising to become one of the nation's coal barons—all while never forgetting the working men who made his fortune.

Early Life and Family

• Born: Circa February 1840, Newton Gore, County Leitrim, Ireland

• Father: Ambrose Rend (1814–1882)

• Emigration: 1847, at seven years old, during the height of the Famine

• Settlement: Lowell, Massachusetts, where William attended school

• Early Career: Worked as a teacher in Maryland in his youth

• Marriage: Married Elizabeth C. Barry (born Nova Scotia, 1864)

• Children: William and Elizabeth had eleven children; only five survived to adulthood

Military Service

William enlisted in the Union Army on July 7, 1861, at twenty-one years old, joining Company A of the 14th New York Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to corporal.

With the 14th New York Infantry

The 14th Regiment was immediately thrust into action, though William likely missed the disaster at Bull Run on July 21, 1861, having enlisted just two weeks earlier. By August, the regiment was attached to W. T. Sherman's Brigade in the defenses of Washington.

• Peninsula Campaign (Spring 1862): The regiment moved to the Peninsula in March, attached to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 3rd Corps. They saw action at Howard's Mills and Warwick Road in early April.

• Siege of Yorktown (April 5–May 4, 1862): William was wounded during this prolonged siege operation.

• The Seven Days Battles (June 25–July 1, 1862): After recovery, William returned to a regiment that was being ground down in the fighting before Richmond. Between June 25 and July 2, the 14th lost 4 officers and 49 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 8 officers and 147 enlisted men wounded, and 1 officer and 15 enlisted men missing or captured.

• Mechanicsville (June 26): The regiment lost 1 enlisted man killed

• Gaines Mill (June 27): A bloodbath—2 officers and 24 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Skillin fell. Major Davies was promoted to lieutenant colonel and Captain Michael Lewis of Company A—William's company—was promoted to major.

• White Oak Swamp and Turkey Bend (June 30): Another 2 officers and 25 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded

• Second Bull Run Campaign (August 1862): The regiment moved to Fortress Monroe, then to Centreville

• Antietam (September 16–17, 1862): Under Colonel James McQuade's command, the 14th was held in reserve and suffered no casualties, though they engaged Lee's rear guard at Shepherdstown on September 19

• Fredericksburg (December 12–15, 1862): Another brutal assault

• The "Mud March" (January 20–24, 1863): Burnside's infamous failed winter offensive

• Chancellorsville (May 1–5, 1863): The regiment lost 3 enlisted men wounded

On May 24, 1863, the 14th New York Infantry Regiment mustered out at the expiration of its two-year term of service under Colonel McQuade, Lieutenant Colonel Davies, and Major Lewis. Three-years' men and recruits were transferred to the 44th New York Infantry Regiment.

With the 44th New York Infantry

William was transferred to the 44th New York Regiment on June 24, 1863, joining a unit that would see some of the war's hardest fighting.

• Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville (June 1863): Cavalry actions as Lee's army moved north

• Gettysburg (July 1–4, 1863): The 44th New York, commanded by Colonel James C. Rice (who took brigade command during the battle, leaving Lieutenant Colonel Freeman Conner in charge of the regiment), brought 460 men to the field. They held a position about 100 feet in advance of the Little Round Top monument from 3 p.m. on July 2 until 11 a.m. on July 3, with 313 men engaged. The casualties were devastating: 2 officers and 24 enlisted men killed, 5 officers (one of whom died) and 75 enlisted men wounded (ten of whom died). Total loss: 106 men. At noon on July 3, the regiment was placed in reserve at the right of Little Round Top, where it remained until the battle's close.

• Pursuit of Lee (July 5–24): Chasing the battered Confederate army back to Virginia

• Bristoe Campaign (October 9–22, 1863): Autumn maneuvering

• Rappahannock Station (November 7, 1863): The regiment lost 3 enlisted men killed and 1 officer and 4 enlisted men wounded

• Mine Run Campaign (November 26–December 2, 1863): The year ended in stalemate

The spring of 1864 brought Grant's Overland Campaign—a relentless series of battles that would define the war's final year.

• The Wilderness (May 5–7, 1864): The regiment lost 1 officer and 14 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and 1 officer and 51 enlisted men wounded

• Spotsylvania Court House (May 8–21): The grinding continued. From May 8 through 21, the regiment lost 2 officers and 31 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and 3 officers and 45 enlisted men wounded. Both Lieutenant Colonel Conner and Major Knox were wounded in the Assault on the Salient on May 12.

• North Anna River to the Totopotomoy (May 23–31): Fighting at Jericho Ford and along the Pamunkey. The regiment lost 1 enlisted man killed and 2 officers and 7 enlisted men wounded.

• Cold Harbor (June 1–12, 1864): The slaughter at Bethesda Church cost the regiment 6 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 2 officers and 15 enlisted men wounded

• Assault on Petersburg (June 16–18): The regiment lost 3 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 4 enlisted men wounded

• Siege of Petersburg (June 16–October 11, 1864): The long siege claimed 1 officer and 3 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 17 enlisted men wounded. Actions included Six Mile House and Weldon Railroad (August 18–21) and Poplar Springs Church and Peeble's Farm (September 29–October 2), where the regiment lost 3 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 19 men wounded, and 4 enlisted men missing.

On October 11, 1864, the 44th New York Infantry Regiment mustered out at Albany. A battalion of 266 recruits whose enlistments had not expired transferred to the 140th New York Infantry Regiment, and 283 men went to the 146th New York Regiment. William appears to have been transferred to the 140th, though this is not certain.

With the 140th New York Infantry Regiment

If William did transfer to the 140th, he would have participated in the war's final campaigns:

• Warren's Raid on Weldon Railroad (December 7–12, 1864): Disrupting Confederate supply lines

• Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run (February 5–7, 1865): The regiment lost 3 enlisted men killed, 2 mortally wounded, and 18 wounded

• Appomattox Campaign (March 28–April 9, 1865): The final pursuit began

• Lewis' Farm, near Gravelly Run (March 29): The noose tightening

• White Oak Road (March 31): The regiment lost 4 enlisted men killed and 2 mortally wounded

• Five Forks (April 1): The decisive battle that broke Lee's flank—2 enlisted men killed and 1 mortally wounded

• Fall of Petersburg (April 2): The city that had held for nine months finally fell

• Pursuit of Lee (April 3–9): The final chase to Appomattox

• Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865): Surrender of Lee and his army

• March to Washington (May 1–12): The long walk home

• Grand Review (May 23, 1865): The victory parade through the capital

The 140th New York Infantry Regiment mustered out on June 3, 1865, under the command of Colonel William Grantsyne and Lieutenant Colonel William Clark.

Life After the War

William and Elizabeth settled in Chicago, where he began the transformation from soldier to businessman. The census records trace his remarkable rise.

The 1870 Census: The Teamster

In 1870, William and Elizabeth lived in Chicago's 12th Ward, Cook County, with two young children: John, age two, and Mary, age one. They employed a domestic servant, Anna Welch, an eighteen-year-old Irish girl who lived with them. William worked as a teamster—driving teams of horses for hire—but he was already a man of means, with personal wealth of $1,000 (roughly $23,000 in today's money).

During this period, William joined the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company, then set up his own teamster business, making what contemporaries called a "small fortune." By the end of the decade, he likely owned his own company.

The 1880 Census: The Coal Dealer

By 1880, the Rend household had grown and prospered. William was thirty-six (the census age is inconsistent with his birth year, as often happened) and Elizabeth was thirty-five. Their son John from the 1870 census does not appear and may not have survived. Five children now filled the house: Joseph, age nine; Minnie, eleven (possibly Mary from the previous census); Charlie, six; James, four; and five-month-old Edward.

William had entered the coal business and listed his occupation as "coal dealer," though he almost certainly owned his own mines by this time. The household employed three servants: Mary Ellen, Kate Synch, and Mary O'Hara. The coal business was booming, and William P. Rend was becoming a wealthy man.

The Strike of 1884: A Man of Principle

In 1884, Ohio coal miners rejected an attempt by the coal barons to reduce wages by 10 cents per ton and went out on strike. William P. Rend did not drop the price per ton he paid his miners and kept his mines working. For the miners, this proved that the coal barons could afford the rate they had been paying. Rend remained popular among the miners for the rest of his life, even as other coal barons heavily criticized him for making gains at their expense during the strike.

In 1885, Rend testified on behalf of the miners at legislative hearings into the strikes. One observer later recalled seeing Rend followed by crowds of small children as he walked the streets of Rendville, near his mines, on periodic visits. She also remembered that "the long lines of his railroad cars leaving town bearing his name 'W. P. Rend' constituted a source of community pride."

The 1900 Census: The Coal Baron

By the turn of the century, William P. Rend had become a very wealthy man. The 1900 census found William and Elizabeth living with two of their children: Bessie, eighteen, and Frank, fourteen. They employed two servants, Kate Corcoran and Maria McNamara, and maintained two coachmen who lived with them: Martin Fleming and Joseph Will. The census noted that they had eleven children, of whom only five survived—a heartbreaking reminder that wealth could not protect against the era's high child mortality.

William still listed his occupation as "coal dealer," but by this time he owned at least three coal mines in Illinois and Ohio and one in Pennsylvania. The surviving children included:

• Mary Agnes (1868–1928)

• James Edward Rend (1876–1928)

• Frank Anthony Rend (1885–1916)

The Height of Success

In 1902, the Continental Coal Company of Pittsburgh purchased six mines with an annual output of one million tons from W. P. Rend and Company for over $750,000—approximately $18 million in today's terms. William also became involved in the oil industry in his later years.

By the time of his death, William owned 2,000 railroad coal wagons for transporting coal and served as president of the William P. Rend Coal Company. He had become one of the Hocking Valley Coal Barons—a Famine refugee turned industrial titan.

The Final Years

William applied for an invalid pension on December 21, 1910, recognizing his service to the Union more than forty years earlier. On November 30, 1915, he died of pneumonia at his residence at 421 Barry Avenue, Cook County, Illinois, aged seventy-six years.

Legacy

William P. Rend lies in Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Evanston, Cook County, Illinois. His widow Elizabeth applied for a pension on February 19, 1916.

From a seven-year-old Famine refugee arriving in Lowell to a teacher in Maryland, from a corporal in the Army of the Potomac to a coal magnate commanding 2,000 railroad cars—William P. Rend lived the American dream. But what set him apart from other Gilded Age tycoons was what happened in 1884, when he refused to cut his miners' wages and stood with them against his fellow barons. The children who followed him through Rendville's streets, the pride residents felt watching his railroad cars roll past, the miners who never forgot his testimony on their behalf—these were the true measure of the man.

William P. Rend never forgot where he came from. And in an age of robber barons and ruthless capitalism, that made all the difference.

Date Event Detail

Feb 1840 Birth Newton Gore, Co. Leitrim

July 1861 Enlistment 14th New York Infantry

July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg Defense of Little Round Top

April 1865 Appomattox Witnessed the Surrender of Lee

1870s Industry Founded W.P. Rend Coal Co.

1884 The Strike Stood with miners against wage cuts

Nov 30, 1915 Deceased Chicago, Illinois

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