USA > Washington DC > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 10
USA > Virginia > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 10
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married in 1860 to Fannie Ann Campbell a descendant of Sir Gilbert Campbell, collector of customs of the lower Poto- mac, commissioned by King George. He died in 1888. J. B. Cralle's grandfather was Mattrom Ball Cralle, who was born at Cherry Point, in Northumberland county, Va. He was clerk of the county and circuit courts for many years and at the time of his death held that position. He was married three times, and his second wife was Lucy Haney, the grandmother of the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch. The father of town and auditor of the circuit court of Mattrom B. Cralle, was John Cralle, who the same city. He was united in matri- was born in England, and came to mony, in 1825, with Miss Mary Ringgold, America in the eighteenth century, locat- daughter of Richard Ringgold, of Ches- ing Northumberland county, Va., where tertown, Md., and this union was blessed he was engaged in planting.
with the birth of three children, viz: Walter S .; Elizabeth, who died unmar- ried, and Clement, who died in 1865, Clement Cox, the father of this family, died in 1848, and his widow in 1851.
GEN. SAMUEL J. CRAWFORD,
ex-governor of the state of Kansas, and one of the most remarkable men of our day, was born in Bedford, Ind., April 10, JEFFERSON BALL CRALLE, 1835; was educated at the schools in Bed- ford, and attended the law school in Cin- claim agent at Washington, D. C., was cinnati, Ohio, completing his law course born in Heathsville, Va., March 4, 1861, in April, 1858. He was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati in 1858, and removed in March, 1859, to Garnett, Kas., where he opened a law office and practiced his pro- fession until the war began. In the fall of 1859 he was elected to the first state and was educated in the schools of Northumberland county, Va., and by pri- vate tutor, and graduated from the law department of Columbian university in 1887. He was then engaged in private practice before the department of the legislature which convened at Topeka in interior prosecuting claims and has con- March, 1861, and served in that body tinued to be so engaged ever since. He until May 10, 1861, when he resigned, and
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raised a military company, of which he | re-elected and served until January, 1869. was appointed captain. This company In April, 1865, he was brevetted bri- gadier-general for gallantry and meritori- ous conduct on the battle field. Retiring from the gubernatorial chair, Mr. Craw- ford engaged in real estate speculations at Emporia, Kas., until 1876, when he re- moved to Topeka, where he still retains his legal residence. In 1877 Mr. Craw- ford opened a branch law office in Wash- ington, D. C. ( which he still retains), having been employed by the state of Kansas to prosecute a number of suits against the United States government, in all of which he has been successful. Gen. Crawford is a member of Lincoln post G. A. R., of Topeka, Kas., and of the Loyal Legion. was assigned to the Second Kansas in- fantry, and was in active service five months, when the regiment, which suf- fered heavy loss at the battle of Wilson's Creek, was reorganized and became the Second Kansas cavalry. Capt. Crawford was assigned to the command of com- pany A of that regiment, and served as such until September, 1862, when he was assigned to duty with the first battalion of the Second Kansas cavalry as acting major, and served as such through the campaigns west of the Mississippi until March, 1863, when he was assigned to the command of the regiment, with the rank of acting major, and commanded it until Oc- tober, 1863, when he was made colonel and Gen. Crawford was married in Novem- ber, 1866, to Miss Isabel M. Chase, daughter of Enoch Chase, of Topeka. Kas. Two children were born to this marriage, Florence and George M. Craw- ford. assigned to the command of the Eighty- third United States infantry and held that command, and part of the time com- manded the brigade, until November, 1864. During all this period of military service Gen. Crawford was at the front The record of the Crawford family runs back through Scotland for over a thousand years, but is here retraced only to its origin in America. William Craw- ford, father of Gen. Samuel J., was born in North Carolina in 1788, was a planter, and moved to Indiana in 1815, settling first in Orange and then in Lawrence county, where he died in 1845. James Crawford, father of William, was born in Virginia and moved to North Carolina when a young man, where he died in 1820. He was a soldier in the Revolution, The father of James Crawford was born in Scotland, and immigrated with two brothers to America early in 1700, one ( the great-grandfather of Samuel ].) settling in Virginia, one in the Susque- hanna valley of Pennsylvania, and the and participated in the following engage- ments: Forsythe, Mo., Dug Springs, Mccullough's Ranch, Wilson's Creek, Shelbina, Newtonia, Cross Hollows, Maysville ( where he captured a battery ), Cove Creek, Cane Hill, and numerous skirmishes which led up to the battle of Prairie Grove; and then came Dripping Springs and Van Buren, Perryville, Back- bone Mountain ( Ft. Smith ), Prairie De Han, Ark., Camden, Saline River, ( where he captured another battery ), Webber's Falls, Blue River, Westport, and Mine Creek, where he assisted in capturing eight pieces of artillery and 500 prisoners, including two generals - Marmaduke and Cabell. Two weeks later ( Novem- ber, 1864), he was elected governor of Kansas, and in November, 1866, he was other in Georgia.
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MAJOR HENRY L. CRAWFORD,
contractor at Washington, D. C., was born in New York, May 10, 1833, and educated ordered to the cavalry and with it went at Mechanics' institute. Leaving the into the Shenandoah valley, serving on Gen. Wesley Merritt's staff until the close latter at the age of fifteen he entered the large wholesale drygoods house of Grant & of the war, when he was brevetted a Barton, and remained two years and then major. After the war Major Crawford'
went to sea for five years, his first voyage being in a whaler; at the age of twenty- one he had risen to the position of second officer of the clipper ship "Panama" in the merchant service. Leaving the sea Mr. Crawford spent one year in the Me- tropolitan bank, in N. Y., as assisstant paying teller, and then traveled for a house in the west and in the south; in 1857 he and his brother went into business in New York, successfully conducted it until 1861, and on April 18, in the same year, he entered the Federal service as first lieutenant of company G, Fourteenth Brooklyn Guards; he served as such until May, 1862, when he was detailed by General S. C. Anger on his staff, and then soon afterward to the staff of General John P. Hatch, and served with the latter until the battle of South Mountain, in Septem- ber, 1862, when General Hatch was suc- HORACE STUART CUMMINGS. ceeded by Colonel Walter Phelps, with This gentleman is one of the active and prominent lawyers in the city of Wash- ington, confining himself mostly to gov- ernment business. He was born in Southborough, Worcester county, Mass- achusetts, July 1, 1840, and is a descendant of one of the oldest families in New Eng- land. He is a son of Rev. Jacob and Harriot ( Tewksbury ) Cummings. Jacob was a son of Solomon Cummings and his wife, Mary ( Graham) Cummings; he graduated at Dartmouth college in 1819, whom Mr. Crawford remained acting as assistant adjutant-general for about a year, or until after the battle of Chancel- lorsville, having, on February 18, 1863, been appointed captain and commissary of subsistence; he entered on the duties of his office after the battle of Chancel- lorsville, and continued to serve as such until the close of the war. In 1863, after the battle of Chancellorsville, he was ordered to the headquarters of the First Army Corps, and remained with that and at Andover Theological seminary; corps until after the death of General Solomon was a son of Jacob Cummings, Reynolds at Gettysburg, when that officer of Ware, Massachusetts, whose ancestors was succeeded by General Doubleday. landed at Salem, Massachusetts, prior to
Mr. Crawford then served on the latter's staff until the spring of 1864, when he was resigned his commission in the service and returned home to New York, and after resting a while was appointed general manager of the Blackheath Coal corn- pany, in Clinton county, Penn., and served as such two years, and then re- turned to Brooklyn, N, Y., and went into the paving business, which he followed until 1871, when he moved to Washington, D. C., where he continued the same busi- ness, doing the greater part of the paving of that city. Major Crawford is a member of Kit Carson Post, G. A. R., and of the Loyal Legion, and has held office in the latter. The major was married April 28, 1861, to Margaret J. Munn, and to them were born five children, of whom two sur- vive, as follows: Joseph H. and H. Percy Crawford.
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to the year 1640. Jacob Cummings, the last named, settled in Ware, Massachu- setts, in 1721, and his old homestead is still in possession of the Cummings fam- ily. Mary Graham, the mother of Jacob Cummings- the younger - was a daugh- ter of the Rev. Dr. John Graham, of Suffield, Connecticut, who graduated from Yale college in 1740, and who was a son of Rev. John Graham, of Southbury, Con- necticut, who graduated from the univer- sity of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1714, studied theology and then came to America, landing in Boston in 1718. Rev. John Graham was, in turn, a son of Andrew Graham, of Glasgow, who lived and died in that city.
Horace S. Cummings, when a child, was taken by his parents to Hillsborough, New Hampshire, where he had his home from 1843 to 1855; in the latter year the family removed to Exeter, New Hamp- shire, where he was prepared for college at Phillips' academy, which preparation resulted in his attending Dartmouth col- lege, from which venerable institution he graduated in 1862. He then passed through a course of law, studying under the supervision of Governor Charles H. Bell. Mr. Cummings next attended the Albany ( New York) Law school, and there further pursued his legal studies until admitted to the bar of the New York supreme court by examination in December, 1863. He went through an additional course of study of practice in the city of New York, and was finally admitted to the supreme court of New Hampshire in April, 1864. In 1865 he was called to fill a position in the United States treasury department at Washing- ton, and held that position until 1873,
successfully prosecuting claims against the government, to which branch of prac- tice he exclusively devoted his attention, until of late years he has-been much occu- pied in corporation and financial matters. He has taken much interest in politics, and still retains his legal and polit- ical residence in the state of New Hampshire. He was secretary of to the state senate from 1863 1867, and a member of the state house of representatives in 1876 and 1877. He has also been closely identified with a number of business interests in the District of Columbia, having been an incorporator and the first president of the National Capital Telephone company-now the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone- and being now director therein. He is also a director in the Washington Loan and Trust company, as well as a director in the West End National bank, and is an officer and director in several other com- panies and business enterprises.
Mr. Cummings was married in 1874 to Miss Jeannette Irvin, a daughter of James Irvin, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS.
William Eleroy Curtis was born in Akron, Ohio, and educated at a high school in Clinton, New York, and at Western Reserve college, Ohio, graduat- ing in 1871. His father was a Presby- terian clergyman of limited means, and the son was early accustomed to support- ing himself. He learned type-setting be- fore going to college; and during his college course frequently found himself obliged to seek outside work in order to raise money for his tuition bills. During vacations he served on the staff of the when he resigned and embarked in prac- Cleveland Leader, as a reporter, and tice on his individual account, and is still after graduation at once entered the pro-
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fession of journalism. In 1872 he went to Chicago to take a subordinate position on The Inter-Ocean and remained with that paper for fifteen years, filling almost every position on the staff, from reporter to managing editor.
During this period he accomplished many journalistic feats, which gave him a wide reputation among the fraternity. One of the most noteworthy was a trip in 1873 with a party of Pinkerton detec- tives to Missouri, in pursuit of the James and Younger brothers, the celebrated highwaymen. On this occasion all his comrades were murdered, and he doubt- less would have shared their fate had he not been temporarily absent from the party in search of evidence against the murderers. After this, he had the nerve to go and interview the bandits. He was detained a prisoner for several days, on suspicion of being a spy, but finally escaped, and wrote up a vivid account of his adventures.
In the next year Mr. Curtis accom- panied General Custer in his campaign against the Sioux Indians, and it fell to him to reveal to the world the first news of the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, which discovery was one of the re-
assume a disguise. At one time a reward of $5,000 was offered for his capture, dead or alive.
He was summoned to Washington as a witness before a committee of congress, and while there was deputed to take charge of the Washington office of The Inter-Ocean He presided over it for several years in a most efficient manner, and until called back to Chicago to be- come the managing editor of the paper, which position he held for some time, re- signing it in 1884 to accept the secretary- ship of the South American commission, which was offered him by President Arthur.
This appointment resulted in Mr. Curtis's identification with what is known as the "Pan-American Movement." He made an extensive tour in Central and South America, in the course of which he visited and thoroughly examined all the countries of the western hemisphere south of the United States, and secured a valuable fund of knowledge concerning subjects at that time but little understood by the people of this country. Of this in- formation Mr. Curtis has made good use. While absent in South America he wrote letters to a number of papers at home, the preparation of the formal reports of the commission, he prepared and pub- lished his book on "The Capitals of Spanish America," which was published by the Harpers, and met with a very large sale. He also wrote numerous ar- ticles on kindred subjects for the North American Review, Princeton Review, Harper's Magazine, The American Miaga- zinc, The Cosmopolitan, The Youth's Companion, and other periodicals, and
sults of the Custer expedition. Imme- and after his return, besides assisting in
diately after this, Mr. Curtis was sent to Louisiana to report concerning the Ku- Klux, and made an extensive tour through various southern states, gaining thorough information concerning the sub- ject of his mission, of which extensive use was made in the subsequent political cam- paign by the republicans. During this tour, Mr. Curtis, whose mission was known by the southerners, had several narrow escapes from assassination; and at last, in order to get back safely to the north, sketches of travel, stories and novels of he was obliged to change his name and Spanish life, some of which have since
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been published in book form. By these [ publics, the West Indies and the United means, as might have been expected, he States, in the interest of the World's fair. made himself, what he is now universally acknowledged to be, the best living authority on all South American topics.
After settling down in Washington again, Mr. Curtis accepted the position of correspondent of the Chicago Daily News, and in 1888 he went to Russia in the interest of that paper, to investigate the Nihilist troubles. The results of his work appeared in a volume entitled "The Land of the Nihilist." On his return he resumed his work at Washington, and when the Pan-American movement was revived his services were naturally called into requisition by the national authori- ties. He drew the bill, subsequently passed by congress, authorizing the meet- ing of the International American con- ference and secured its passage. When the conference met, Mr. Curtis was made its executive officer, and acted as the personal representative of Mr. Blaine, the secretary of state. He arranged and managed the excursion given to the for- WILLIAM WEAVER DANENHOWER, eign delegates through this country, and was active in preparing the reports adopted by the conference on the vari- ous topics which came before it for con- sideration. After the Bureau of the American Republics was created by the of which he mastered by a course of read- conference, the foreign delegates waited upon Mr. Blaine and expressed the wish that Mr. Curtis should be placed in charge of it, which was accordingly done.
In 1890, Mr. Curtis was invited by the management of the World's Columbian exhibition at Chicago to take charge of its Latin American department, and he undertook that work in connection with his other duties, having several army and navy officers detailed to serve under his direction in the South American re-Danenhower entered the service of the
Notwithstanding all these multitudi- nous duties, Mr. Curtis has found time annually to deliver a series of lectures at Chautauqua, and frequent public ad- dresses in various cities. He is engaged in the preparation of what promises to be a notable work, entitled the "Footprints of Columbus;" and a history of American diplomacy for the Chautauqua associa- tion. As may be inferred from this brief account of his life and achievements, Mr. Curtis is a man of unusal physical and mental energy, of indefatigable·persever- ance and industry, as well as uncommon versatility. Unlike many busy men, he is very domestic in his tastes, and devotes a generous share of his time to his family and personal friends. He resides in a charming home on Connecticut avenue, which is filled with books, and pictures and curious things he has collected in his extensive travels.
retired lawyer, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., February, 1820, and received a liberal education in the schools of that city. His early inclination led him to adopt the legal profession, the principles ing in his native city; but he did not at once engage in practice, choosing rather to accept the position of chief clerk in the naval office at Philadelphia, which he held from 1841 to 1845. In 1847 he engaged in the book and publishing business, which he conducted successfully till 1856, when he went to Chicago, Ill., and opening a law office, practiced until he removed to Washington, D. C., February, 1861. On locating in the national capital, Mr.
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government as chief clerk, and acting | many,from which country there emigrated auditor, of the fourth auditor's office, to America, as early as 1743, one George Danenhower, founder of the branch in this country and who settled at Old Ches- ter, Penn. He had a son George, who also had a son of the same name, an early resident of eastern Pennsylvania, and great-grandfather of William W. The latter's grandfather was John Dan- enhower, a native of Germantown, Penn., and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He died about the beginning of the pres- ent century, leaving a family, one member of which, Charles Danenhower, the father of William W., was born in Germantown in the year 1873, and died on the 20th of February, 1845. treasury department, and was thus en- gaged until 1864, at which time he resigned and resumed the legal profes- sion, making a specialty of prosecuting claims against the government. In a few years he relinquished his legal business and in 1874 was appointed, by the United States attorney-general, as special United States attorney for the state of Mary- land to prosecute election frauds, the duties of which position he discharged in an eminently satisfactory manner for a period of one year. In 1880 he engaged in the real estate business in Washington and followed the same with success and financial profit until 1888, since which time he has been living a life of retirement WASHINGTON DANENHOWER. such as only those who have successfully battled with the world for over half a century know how to appreciate.
Mr. Danenhower and Miss Elizabeth Uber, of Pennsylvania, daughter of Adam Uber, were united in marriage on the Sth of October, 1840, and to their union eleven children have been born, seven of whom attained mature years, namely: Charles, of Washington, D. C .; Rachel E., wife of John H. Schenk; Joseph L., of Chicago, Ill .; Lieutenant John W. Danenhower; the noted Arctic explorer, who formed one of the crew of the ill-fated steamer "Jeanette," in the celebrated Arctic expe- dition under the auspices of James Gordon Bennett, Jr. Lieutenant Danenhower was born September 30, 1849, and died April 20, 1887. The other members of the family are William W., Washington and Sue B., wife of Frank L. Williams, Esq., all three residents of Washington city.
The seventh son of William Weaver and Elizabeth S. Danenhower, was born on the southwest corner of LaSalle and Washington streets ( the present site of one of the largest business blocks in the great city ), Chicago, Ill., June 7, 1855. He was named after the illustrious George Washington by his father's old friend, the late Henry Wilson, vice-presi- dent of the United States. In March, 1861, he removed with his parents to Washington, beginning his studies in the "old engine house," at present the site of the "Abbott School building," and after- ward finished his training in the state Agricultural college of Maryland. At the age of seventeen, he concluded to embark in the printing business and was appointed an apprentice in the government printing office by the Hon. A. M. Clapp, then pub- lic printer. He served the full time re- quired, four years, three years of which he worked on "rule and figure work," well known as the most difficult kind of work
The Danenhower family is an old one and highly respected, its history dating back through many generations to Ger-lin printing, and continued on the same
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work for four years longer as a journey- man, when he resigned and embarked with his father in the real estate business, together founding the well-known firm of Danenhower & Son, to which, on January 1, 1888, he succeeded (his father retiring at that date, after having accumulated a large fortune) and which he has contin- ued so successfully from that date to the present time. His specialty has been suburban real estate, and during the sea- son of 1890 his sales in that line exceeded $1,250,000.
Mr. Danenhower's advertising bills in 1888, 1889, 1890, in connection with his forty real estate excursion trains to his several sub-divisions, exceeded $25,000, some- thing never attempted before or since by any one in the city. His fine new four- story building, situated corner 13th and G streets, N. W., erected especially for his large business, is not only the most complete and the most elegant office of its kind in the city, but it is also a monu- ment to the skill and ability of one of the youngest men in his profession. In addi- tion to Mr. Danenhower's large sales and rental business he has erected in the past ten years over 500 brick dwellings, in size ranging from four to twelve rooms each and costing over $1,000,000, which would form quite a little city in themselves.
On October 17, 1883, Mr. Danenhower married Miss Mary Frances Smoot, the accomplished and only daughter of James R. Smoot, Esq., one of Alexandria's (Va.) oldest and most successful lumber merchants and a gentleman well and fa- vorably known throughout the entire state.
JONATHAN H. GRAY,
one of the oldest real estate dealers of Washington city, was born in Lewiston,
N. Y., February 26, 1816, and educated at the local academy. Leaving school at the age of twenty, he entered into the mercantile business at Lewiston, N. Y., at which he continued for two years, and then went to Branch county, Michi- igan (in 1838), and in 1840 went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, then engaged in the milling business with Gragger, Ball & Co., of Buffalo, but returned to Branch county, Mich., in 1852, and in 1854 was elected probate judge of that county; in 1861 he was called to Washington, D. C., to take a position in the general land office; held the position until 1868, when he re- signed to accept a commission from Britton & Gray to visit the Pacific coast, in refer- ence to land tities. In 1868 he retired to his farm in Fairfax county, Va., called " Munson Hill," and remained there until 1881, when he was appointed collector of customs of the district of Alexandria. In 1885 he returned to Washington, D. C., where he has been extensively engaged in the real estate business ever since. Mr. Gray was married, in 1836, to Maria E. Lee, daughter of Seth Lee, of Otsego county, N. Y., and to them were born six children, of whom but two lived to matur- ity and still survive, as follows: Horace J. Gray and Helen M .. wife of L. L. Johnson, of Washington.
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