In 1795 he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and was again elected in 1803. He was a presidential candidate in 1796, and from 1801 to 1803 was one of the Associate Judges of Dauphin County.
William Maclay’s brother, Samuel, was almost as distinguished a citizen as his older brother. He, too, was a soldier in the Continental Army, a surveyor and statesman. He served as Associate Judge, was in the Fourth Congress, State Senate and Speaker of that body, and December 14, 1802, he was elected to the United States Senate. William and Samuel Maclay are the only brothers to sit in that body.
William Maclay was the father of nine children. He died at his home at Harrisburg April 16, 1804, and was interred in the old Paxton Presbyterian Church graveyard at Paxtang. An elegant stone marks the final resting place of this distinguished Pennsylvanian.
Colonel James Cameron, First Pennsylvania
Officer Killed in Civil War July 21, 1861
It may not be generally known that the first officer of his rank to be killed in the Civil War was none other than Colonel James Cameron, who commanded the Seventy-ninth New York Highlanders, yet was a native of Lancaster County, Pa., a resident of this State, and a brother of the distinguished General Simon Cameron.
The Cameron family in America is of fighting stock, descendants of the Camerons of Scotland, who shared their fortunes with the disastrous Charles Edward, whose star of hope went down on the bloody field of Culloden. Donald Cameron, their great-grandfather, was a participant in that memorable battle, and having escaped the carnage made his way to America, arriving here about 1746. He afterward fought under the gallant Wolfe upon the heights of Abraham at Quebec.
On his mother’s side, Colonel James Cameron was descended from Conrad Pfoutz, one of those sturdy German Protestants, whose faith no terrors could conquer. An exile from his native land for conscience sake, he sought the western wilds, and was for a time the companion of that famous Indian fighter, Captain Samuel Brady, the history of whose life is more captivating than romance.
James Cameron was born at Maytown, Lancaster County, March 1, 1801, and spent his boyhood there. He was apprenticed to his older brother, Simon, in the printing trade, and as early as 1827 he became associated with John Brandon in the publication of the “Lycoming Gazette,” at Williamsport, but only for a short time, as the business was not successful, and in December of that year the paper was sold to William F. Packer, who later became Governor of Pennsylvania.