The Beaver Area Historical Museum has acquired two original political cartoons of U.S. Sen. Matthew Stanley Quay, of Beaver, who was senator from 1886 to 1904.

The cartoons, donated by a Beaver area resident, are caricatures of Quay and other famous legislators sparring in the aftermath of the controversial election of Benjamin Harrison as president and in the debate over ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty.

The Harrison cartoon was published in the January 1889 edition of Puck, a popular political satire newspaper of the era. The Panama Canal item was printed in the Feb. 28, 1903, issue of the Utica (N.Y.) Saturday Globe newspaper.

The cartoons will be added to the museum's growing Quay collection, which also includes an autographed lithograph portrait and a carved wooden chair from his office, among other photographs and items.

Quay, who was chairman of the Republican National Committee, was known as a "kingmaker" for his role in selecting presidential candidates. He died in Beaver in 1904.

On Memorial Day this year, the centennial of Quay's funeral and burial in Beaver Cemetery, three of his great-granddaughters placed a wreath at his grave. Quay biographer James Kehl, retired history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, talked about Quay's life.

Quay became so powerful that trains that normally did not stop in Beaver made special stops there when the senator was aboard.

He dispensed patronage through appointments and discouraged rivals from ascending to office. Kehl conceded that Quay was not known for any legislation or for making many improvements to his hometown. "He wanted most to be a kingmaker instead of a king."

As national chairman of the Republican Party, Quay spent a lot of money in getting Harrison elected president in 1888.

A colonel commanding a Pennsylvania regiment of the Union Army, Quay received the Medal of Honor for bravery in battle. Before that, he had been accused of stealing a horse during one misadventure and was nearly court-martialed.

Kehl said in an interview earlier this year that Quay's life could make an exciting subject for a movie.