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Matthew S. Quay's career could be a manual for political success in the late 19th century. He first came to Beaver in 1840, where his father was pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Afte: receiving his education at Jefferson College, he began to practice law here in 1854. After successive terms as prothonotary he was commissioned in the Union Army, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor at Frederickburg. After the war came advancements, terms in the legislature, State Treasurer, Secretary of the Commonwealth, chairman of the Republican State Committee, delegate to the National Convention, membership and then chairmanship of the National Committee. Elected U. S. Senator in 1887, he was reelected in 1892 and again in 1901. A master of political strategy, he was described also as a great classical scholar by Rudyard Kipling, who visited with him in Beaver several times.