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 7
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 7
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Justice Bradley was a man of strong 26th of October, and was not again pres- force of character, great erudition and ent until November 9. He was not industry, and beloved by his associates on expected to be present on that day, the bench. He was quiet in his tastes and but as the Behring Sea case had been not much given to the social gayeties of Washington. He lived ina large, roomy, plain pressed-brick front house, on I assigned for argument he came to the court and heard it, making a full court for the trial of this important suit. He street, in a part of the city that was fash- also . participated in the hearing of ionable years ago, in the days of Benton the anti-lottery and tariff-act cases. and Douglas. Since then the growth of His last appearance in court was the city has been toward the west end. on December 14, 1891, when the Van- In appearance he was small of stature, derbilt yacht case was argued.
with a spare frame; a small but well-
He had decided opinions on questions shaped head, crowned with silvery hair. of constitutional law and state rights. His eyes were the most striking feature These he expounded with great earnest- of his countenance and shown luminous, ness and vigor in the council chamber, clear, and with a sparkle indicative of the and even in open court it was an bright, cheerful, and humorous side of intellectual treat to hear him state forc- the man. He delighted in taking up ibly and explicitly his reasons for dissent- ing from the opinion of his associates when the majority differed with him on questions of a more or less historical char- acter and investigating them thoroughly, pursuing his inquiries into all the ramifi- legal matters.
cations to which they led. He was an
Justice Bradley passed away at his res- authority on many things relating to old idence, 201 I street, Washington city, at 6:15 o'clock, on the morning of January 22, 1892.
English poetry, intricate and almost for- gotten religious disputes, and other sub- jects of an unusual character. He was kindly in manner, and treated those who
MARK D. BRAINERD,
sought him for information on any matter one of the most popular attorneys of the with great courtesy and consideration. city of Washington, D. C., was born in In his long years on the bench of the Wayne county, N. Y., November 25, 1844, supreme court he had acquired an im- and received an excellent academical mense fund of legal knowledge, and was, education, although a somewhat desultory perhaps, the most erudite lawyer on it in one. He left his books at the age of eighteen, being fired with the patriotism that filled the breast of the youth of that day, and enlisted in the volunteer service
recent years. In his later years he was not so active as formerly, but was invalu- able as a counselor. Being familiar with all the questions which had ever come up in June, 1862, serving until mustered out
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HON. DAVID JOSIAH BREWER,
in July, 1865, as first lieutenant, having won his promotion by his gallantry in the eminent jurist and associate justice of the field and meritorious conduct during his entire term of service. After the war was over, Mr. Brainerd commenced the study of the law at Montgomery, Ala., and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He com- menced practice in Montgomery, and continued in that city until 1876, when he sought a home in Washington, where he has been equally successful, practicing now in all the tribunals of the district, in- cluding the supreme court of the United States. Mr. Brainerd was somewhat prominent in local politics, and while a resident of Alabama was a member of the constitutional convention of 1867, and was the youngest member of that body. He was chairman of the judiciary com- mittee of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., for several years, and has rep- resented the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia for the past ten years. In Freemasonry he has attained his thirty- second degree of the Scottish rite, and so- cially his position is an enviable one. supreme court of the United States, is the son of Rev. Josiah and Emelia A. Brewer, and was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor, June 20, 1837, while his parents were in that country as missionaries to the Greeks. Paternally, Judge Brewer is descended from English ancestry and the history of the family is traced back, through several generations, to Cambridge, England, where, as early as 1600, there was living one John Brewer, whose wife's name was Anna. His son John, who lived in Sud- bury, was born in 1642, married Elizabeth Rice, came to the United States and died in 1690. A son of John and Elizabeth Brewer, Lieutenant John Brewer, was born in the year 1669, married Mary Jones, and departed this life in 1709. His son, Cap- tain John Brewer, was born in 1698, was married to Hannah Merriam and died in 1758, leaving a son, Col. Josiah Brewer. The latter was born in 1744, and died in 1830. By his marriage to Mary Hall, Col. Brewer reared a family, one of whom, The Brainerds of today are descended from David Brainerd, an American mis- sionary, born in Haddam, Conn., in 1718. The father of Mark D., the subject proper of this sketch, was also named Mark D. and was born in Wayne county, N. Y .; he married Miss Elizabeth Dandridge, a native of Virginia, was a merchant of large business connection, and died in 1878. Eliab, the judge's grandfather, a distin- guished lawyer of Lenox, Massachusetts, and graduate from Yale college, was born in 1770. Eliab Brewer married Theodosia Bidwell and practiced his chosen profession very successfully until his death, which occurred in 1804. His second son, the Judge's father, Rev. Josiah Brewer, was born in 1796 in South Tyrn- ingham, now Monterey, Berkshire county, Mass., the family home, and, as already
The great-grandfather of Mark D., Jr., was David Brainerd, who was born in stated, became an eminent minister, and Connecticut, but removed to Livingston for some years was a missionary to the county, N. Y., where he was residing Greeks in Turkey. Ile returned to Amer- when the war for independence broke ica soon after the birth of his distinguished out; he was one of the first to enter the son and lived for twenty years in the state patriot army and rose from the ranks to of Connecticut. The maiden name of the be a major.
judge's mother was Emilia A. Field, a
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sister of David Dudley and Cyrus W. same in 1864-5, and for three years there- Field.
Judge Brewer spent his early life in Connecticut and commenced his literary studies at Wesleyan university, Middle- town, that state, but before completing the course, moved to New Haven, and entered Yale college, from which he grad- uated in 1856. On leaving Yale he entered the law-office of his uncle, Hon. David Dudley Field, in New York city, where he spent one year as a student, and completed his legal studies at the Albany law school, from which he graduated in the class of 1858. In the fall of that year Judge Brewer went west, and after a few months' residence in Kansas City started up the Arkansas valley, with Pike's Peak and Denver as his destination. He returned to Kansas in June, 1859, and the following September located in Leavenworth, where he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession when not attending to his many official duties, until his appointment as justice of the supreme court of the United States by President Harrison De- cember 18, 1890.
after served as superintendent of the public schools of the county. While con- nected with the educational interests of the county of Leavenworth, Mr. Brewer enjoyed much more than a local reputa- tion as an able official, and in 1868 served as president of the State Teachers' associ- ation. His thirteen years of service, as one of the justices of Kansas, earned for him a record for judicial ability and integ- rity that was thoroughly recognized and appreciated by the bar of that state, and his eminent legal attainments, his broad and comprehensive views on all matters of public interest, and his steadfastness of purpose and honest desire of accomplish- ing what was best for the people, attracted the attention of the entire country, and in recognition of his record he was ap- pointed in 1884 a judge of the United States circuit court for the eighth circuit, and December 18, 1890, justice of the supreme court of the United States. To a mind naturally judicial, enriched with the ripest treasures of scholarship, he has added a thorough knowledge of jurispru- dence and a profound acquaintance with the code of the different states, so that it may be fairly doubted if any other justice of the supreme bench is any better quali- fied to render an unimpeachable decision upon questions of the law than Judge Brewer. He has honestly merited the confidence and respect which is so univer- sally tendered him by the public, and is
In 1861 the judge was appointed United States commissioner, and in 1862 was elected judge of probate and criminal courts for Leavenworth county. In 1864 he was elected judge of the district court for the first judicial district of Kansas and in 1868 became county attorney for his county. In recognition of his eminent legal abilities Mr. Brewer was honored, in 1870, by an election as justice of the an honor to the bench which he adorns. supreme court of Kansas, and so highly Judge Brewer was married October 3, were his services appreciated that he 1861, to Louise R. Landon, of Burlington, was re-elected in 1876 and again in Vermont, and has a family of four daugh- 1882, and served in all thirteen years, ters. leaving the bench in 1884. In 1863-4 he COL. A. T. BRITTON, was a member of the board of education banker and president of the American of Leavenworth city, was president of the Security and Trust company, which com-
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PERSONAL SKETCHES - DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
pany was incorporated under act of con- de-camp to Gen. Braddock. He served gress of October 1, 1890, with a capital of with him in that capacity in Braddock's celebrated march, and Major Coren com- manded the column that rescued Brad- dock and carried the remainder of his army off the field of battle. The other officers under his command with the res- cuing column were Capt. Urwin and Lieut. George Washington. $1,250,000, is a son of Alexander Britton, who was commander of the packet-ship "Siddons," and later of the packet-ship "United States," sailing in Robert Ker- met & Co.'s line between New York and Liverpool. This was in the days before steamers, and when the packet service between New York and England held the same relation to passenger and freight traffic that the large steamship lines do now. In the great December gale in 1844 the packet-ship "United States," com- manded by Alexander Britton, and the packet-ship "England" came out of the English channel together upon their voy- age to New York. Neither of them was ever seen again, and it is supposed that they came together in the storm, and both sunk. No parts of the wreck were ever found. The conjunction of names of the two vessels was curious.
Alexander's two brothers, Thomas and John, respectively commanded one of the first ships between New York and Lon- don. John subsequently commanded one of the first steamers sailing between Eng- land and the continent. Queen Victoria knighted him for gallant services in res- cuing the crew of a sinking ship in her presence. He died about two years since, being the last surviving captain of the old packet service from New York city. He sailed in the line of Grinnell, Minturn & Co. All of these, the father and both brothers, were born at White Hall, near Enniskillen, in Ireland. All of them came to America in infancy; and always resided in New York city. Col. Britton's earliest ancestors, on his mother's side in this country, were Major Coren and wife. Major Coren was major in the British army, and came to this country as aid-
When the Revolutionary war broke out, Major Coren resigned his command in the British army and was appointed major in the Continental army, being in command of an independent company of artillery in the division of Gen. Knox. He was also in command of Fort Du- quesne in the old French and Indian war, and in command of Fort Pitt during part of, and after, the Revolutionary war - where Pittsburg now stands-and it is understood the old log house still exists there. The colonel has the original log book of the fort in his possession, and the commission of Major Coren in the British army, and his commission in the Conti- nental army, also the sword that he wore on Braddock's field and the dress sword worn on parade. Major and Mrs. Coren had two daughters, one of whom married Peter Hagner, who served in all grades during the Revolution, from ensign to general; and who is the ancestor of the Hagner family located in the vicinity of Washington. Amongst its members are Gen. Hagner, retired officer of the United States army, Dr. Hagner and Judge Hagner. The other daughter married Captain John Towers, the great-grand- father of Col. Britton. Captain Towers resided in Philadelphia; he made a for- tune in the merchant's marine between Pennsylvania and Liverpool, and subse- quently became a manufacturer of woolen goods, having built the first mill at Man-
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ayunk that utilized the water power of challenges to duels, so that he fairly the Schuylkill river. Captain Towers was drove Dobson out of political life and de- stroyed his future. a remarkable man and the colonel has a book of the early history of Philadelphia wherein considerable space is devoted to him. His son, also John Towers, was captain in the United States navy during the war of 1812, and was in command of one of the United States vessels that were blockaded in Delaware bay by a power- ful British fleet. His father had a violent antipathy to England, although that was the country of his ancestry - his im- mediate ancestor, Rear Admiral Holmes, having a monument in Westminster ab- bey. The silver christening bowl, jewelry and silver of over 200 years of age are point, and kept there until the British also in the possession of Col. Britton.
When the British advanced upon Phil- adelphia Isaac Coren was in command at Fort Pitt, and in the early legends of Philadelphia there are very romantic tales of the experiences of his daughter in making her escape from Philadelphia upon the advance of the British troops and making her way through them on horse-back, across the state of Pennsyl- vania, to rejoin her father. The chimes of Christ church in Philadelphia were taken down by the Hagner family and buried outside of the city at a distant army had retired from Philadelphia. Captain John Towers, Jr.'s, daughter, Britton in Philadelphia, the colonel being their only child.
On one occasion, the British fleet hav- ing been carried from the mouth of the Susan Towers, was married to Alexander
bay by a storm, the smaller American vessels ventured out a distance beyond forts Delaware and Mifflin. Upon the approach of the British fleet, the Amer- ican admiral hoisted the signal of retreat, vessels in the fleet. The old gentleman
Alexander Thompson Britton was born in New York city, December 29. 1835. He commenced the study of law in New which was, of course, obeyed by all the York city at the age of fifteen, in the of- fice of Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr., but after two took his son to task for retreating in the years of study of the law, entered col-
presence of any English force, no matter how powerful, and notified him that he would disinherit him if it ever occurred again. Later on the same facts came about. Capt. Towers obeyed his father of law in the office of Tillinghast & Brad-
lege and graduated at Brown university in the class of 1857. During the period of his collegiate course, and for some months thereafter, he pursued the study ley, Providence, R. I., and was admitted to practice by the supreme court of Rhode Island in March, 1858. He com- menced active practice by taking the office of Judge Bosworth at Warren, R. I., who had just been elected judge of the supreme court of the state. In 1860 he
instead of the admiral to retreat, and came near getting his vessel sunk before he could finally get behind the forts. By direction of the secretary of the navy, Dobson, he was court-martialed and cash- iered. Dobson was from Pennsylvania and was thought highly of there, and he had the prospect of any office within the removed to Florida and practiced law at gift of that state and of its people. Old Madison in that state. The rebellion Capt. Towers pursued him vindictively, drove him north immediately after the both through the newspapers and by passage of the secession ordinance in
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PERSONAL SKETCIIES - DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
South Carolina. In March, 1861, he was appointed under the administration of President Lincoln to a clerkship in the general land office, and on the 19th of April, 1861, he enlisted as a private for three months' service in the National Rifles of the District of Columbia. Upon the night when the army advanced upon Alexandria, his company was ordered to cross the Long bridge to clear the road of the rebel scouts so that the troops might reach Alexandria without notice. In this way the Rifles were the first Fed- eral soldiers to cross the river Potomac during the war, as they were also the first company to tender their services to the government. His term of service having expired immediately before the battle of Bull Run, Mr. Britton, never- theless, went as a volunteer to the battle with the First Rhode Island regiment.
In June, 1864, he settled in California in the practice of the law, but a little later. returned to Washington, where he has since resided, being the senior mem- ber of the law firm of Britton & Gray. He was appointed by President Grant upon the board of police of the district, of which he subsequently became president and served until the re-organization of the district into its present form abolished that and similar boards. Subsequently he was appointed, by President Hayes, commissioner to codify the public land laws, and in that capacity prepared and published, by author- ization of congress, such codifica- tion in three volumes, and of such value was the work, that congress has since made several appropriations to republish the work and to continue it. He was ap- pointed by the republican national com- mittee and the citizens of the District of Columbia to take charge of the inaugura-
tion ceremonies of President Harrison, which he successfully conducted, turning over to the district commissioners as an inaugural poor fund over $26,000 surplus. He was next appointed by President Har- rison commissioner of the World's fair from the district. He is president of the American Security & Trust company, as previously stated, which corporation he organized. He is president also of the Atlantic Building company, and director in very many of the leading business and charitable enterprises of the city.
Alexander T. Britton has been twice married. His first wife's maiden name was Mary Wilcox, who was born at Provi- dence, R. I., and by her he had born to him four children, of whom three are living; Mamie Martin became his second wife, by whom he has become the father of five children, all still living. Two of Mr. Britton's children are married; the third daughter, Belle, is the wife of Allen Galt, the son of M. W. Galt, the jeweler, and she is the mother of three children; his fourth child, Alexander, married Lula Reed, whose father was fire commissioner of the District of Columbia, and has one child.
ALDIS B. BROWNE.
Among the energetic young attorneys of Washington city will be found the gentleman whose name heads this brief sketch. He was born in Washington in 1857, read law in the office of Britton & Gray for nearly ten years, and graduated from the law deparment of Columbian university in 1879. In February, 1882, he entered into partnership with the old firm of Britton & Gray, with whom he had been so long, and has since been ac- tive in promoting the joint interest of the firm, which is one of the most reliable and prominent in the city. Mr. Browne
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has become popular with the public, al- volunteer infantry as a drummer boy, though quite unobtrusive in his manners and served until the October following. and habits, and is now one of the board In June, 1863, he re-enlisted, but this of governors of the "Down Town" club, time for the purpose of bearing arms in as well as a director in the Atlantic Build- the Eleventh Ohio cavalry, under ing company. He was married, in De- Col. Collins, and served until November, cember, 1890, to Miss Mary B. Delaney, of Baltimore, Md., a stepdaughter of Rev. French S. Evans (deceased), of Washington. 1865; he took part in the pursuit of Gen. Morgan through Kentucky and Ohio and Tennessee; he then went to Missouri and Kansas and took part in the pursuit the city of Lawrence, in 1863, and next served in the Indian campaign in the territory up to the time of his discharge. Mr. Bryan was the youngest of five brothers, who all entered the Federal army, and of whom one was killed in a cavalry raid into Mississippi. At the close
Jerome Browne, father of Aldis B. of Quantrell after the latter had burned Browne, is a son of Jerome Browne, Sr., who was a native of Connecticut, but when a young man removed to the state of New York, where he passed away his days. Jerome Browne, Jr., was born in Oneida county, N. Y., in 1812. He was a merchant and transacted business for some time in New York, whence he of the war he returned to Cadiz, Ohio, moved to Washington city, and in the and was engaged in business until his latter place was in trade from 1845 to appointment to a position in the treas- 1871, when he retired. He married Miss ury department in March, 1867, which he Elizabeth Padgett, of Montgomery filled until transferred to the postoffice county, Md., and of the ten children born department in April, 1869. In August, to this union but three survive, as fol- 1872, he resigned his situation, in order lows: Elizabeth, wife of J. West, of Washington, D. C .; A. B. Browne, and
to visit Japan, to present to its govern- ment his scheme for the organization of Frank B. Browne, also of Washington. a postal system in that country, and this Mrs. Jerome Browne, Jr., departed this life in 1887, after a life of Christian de- votion to church and family obligations and virtues.
SAMUEL M. BRYAN,
system was adopted in February, 1873, since which time probably no one person on the globe has had more experience in making postal treaties and or- ganizing postal systems than Mr. Bryan. On the adoption of his postal plans by
president of the Chesapeake & Poto- the government of Japan, he was ap- mac Telephone company, was born in pointed as his majesty's Japanese com- Cadiz, Ohio, September 20, 1847, and is missioner to visit Washington, London,
a son of George W. Bryan, of Irish ex- traction, and Susannah (Shidell) Bryan, a native of Frederick, Md., and of Hol- Paris, and Berlin for the purpose of ne- gotiating postal treaties. He arrived in Washington in April, 1873, and sucess- land decent. Samuel M. Bryan attended fully arranged the postal convention that the common schools of Cadiz until June, was concluded August 7th of the same 1862, when, not yet fifteen years of age, year. Then, on November 7, 1873, he went he entered in the Eighty-eighth Ohio to London, thence to Paris and Berlin,
8
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PERSONAL SKETCHES -DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
where similar negotiations were opened Potomac Telephone company, and later but not concluded, as further nego- became its president, which position he tiations were rendered unnecessary by the adhesion of Japan to the general postal union in April, 1877. Prior to
now holds. He is also vice-president of the Morganthaler Printing company, is treasurer of the Appomattox Land com- Japan's adhesion to the postal union Mr. pany, and is connected officially with sev- Bryan returned to Japan in April, 1874, to eral other business enterprises. His marriage took place December 1, 1870, to Miss Melissa A. Shipley, daughter of John W. Shipley of Washington. organize an interior postal system, and was engaged on that work until August, 1876, when he was again appointed spe- cial commissioner by the emperor to secure a modification of the postal con- SAMUEL S. BURDETT, vention with the United States, and to con- attorney-at-law, Washington, was born in Prime Thorp, Leicestershire, England, February 21, 1836, came to America with an elder brother when twelve years old, and went to Avon, Ohio, where he re- mained until about eighteen years of age, farming in summer and attending school clude the negotiations begun in Europe. The latter part of this work was ren- dered unnessary, however, by his previ- ous services in Europe, which eventually led to Japan's adhesion to the general postal union in 1877. Mr. Bryan, never- theless continued his negotiations in in winter; later he attended the Oberlin Europe for the removal of foreign post-
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