The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 10

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 10
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 10

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practiced their profession. The remaining son, the youngest of the family, was the Ilon. Stevenson Archer, for several years Chief Justice of Maryland, They have all passed away. Four of them, however, left mimerous descendants, many of whom still live in Maryland, others in Pennsyl- vania, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Judge Archer and Hon. William S. Archer, of Virginia, once traced out a relationship between themselves, through a collateral branch of the family. Gen. James J. Archer, who greatly distinguished himself during the late war as commander of one of " Stonewall" Jackson's brigades, and died in Rich- mond, in 1864, was a grandson of the subject of this sketch, and a son of Dr. John Archer, Jr. Hon. Steven- son Archer, another grandson, recently in Congress from Maryland, represented the same district which was formerly represented at various times' by his father, Judge Archer, and his grandfather, whose history we are writing. Dr. Archer was above medium size, possessing great bodily strength, and had a large share of both moral and physical courage. Ilis mind was of the combative order, never courting, yet never declining controversy, if the cause to be upheld was of moment, and his sarcasm, when roused, is said to have been withering. Although, in politics, un- flinching in the support of his party, he was too inde- pendent to degenerate at any time into the demagogue or the . place-hunter, too honest to be led merely by public opinion, or to allow ambition to swerve him from his convictions of right. While, therefore, he was admired for his strength of character, he was honored for his incorruptible integrity. In his portraits, his physiognomy is remarkably stern. Ilis heart, however, was exceedingly kind, and he was ever prompt to relieve the distressed or resent their wrongs.

ERCHER, THOMAS, M.D., the eldest son of John Archer, M.B., was born in Ilarford County, Maryland, February 23, 1768. He received a good education, for those ill-favored times (em- bracing some knowledge of Latin), and after due preparation in his father's office, attended three courses of medical lectures in the University of Pennsylvania, at that time the College of Philadelphia. In 1788 he commenced the practice of medicine in his native county, and was constantly thus employed for nearly twenty-five years. In 1803, he married Miss Elizabeth Paca Phillips, daughter of James and Martha Phillips, of Ilarford County. Not many years afterwards, an attack of inflammatory rheuma- tism left him in a lamentable state of suffering and help- lessness, from which, though living several years after- wards, he never rallied, but gradually sank under it and other afflictions, and died on the 7th of October, 1821, in the fifty third year of his age. lle left a daughter and

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

three sons, all of whom are now dead. llis figure, pre- vions to the ravages of the diseases just named, was of re- markable symmetry. He was singularly gentle and unob- trusive in his manners, warm in his attachments, and his life throughout was so unexceptionable that " no human being," it has been said by those who knew him well, " could lay a wrong at his door." For many years he was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

ERCHER, ROBERT HARRIS, M.D., the second son of John Archer, M.B., was born in Har- ford County, Maryland, August 28, 1775. Ile received as good an English education as was at that time afforded in his native county ; becoming also quite proficient in Latin, and acquiring some knowl- edge of French. After the usual medical course in his father's office, he completed his studies in the University of Pennsylvania, in 1794-5, and 1795-6. In the spring of 1798, he removed to Baltimore, where for about seven years he enjoyed a large practice. Soon after settling in that city, and while the yellow fever was raging there, he was appointed physician to the City Hospital, which was crowded with sufferers from that disease. Seized himself with the epidemic, he came near losing his life. In 1799 he was commissioned by the Governor, Surgeon of the 27th regiment of State Militia. On the 5th of April, 1805, he married Miss Mary Stump, daughter of John Stump, of Cecil County. In the autumn of the same year, on the invitation of a former student of his father (Dr. Arthur May), he removed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ile does not seem to have received very favorable impres- sions of that city, which at that time was a very paradise of quacks, where scientific skill had Small chance af ap- preciation. Accordingly, in 1809, he returned to Mary- land, where he practiced medicine (in connection with farming) in Cecil County, for ten years, when he was elected to the State Legislature, and at the expiration of his term was re-elected. In 1822 he removed ta Harford County, having purchased a farm within a mile of his birthplace. In 1823 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the Governor's council of five, and re-appointed yearly for four consecutive years, embracing two years of Governor Stevens's term, and the whole of Governor Kent's. The loss of nearly all his property in his old age, compelled him to practice his profession even after he had become an octogenarian-his intellect remaining in extra- ordinary vigor. His professional career thus extended considerably over sixty years. During the last decade of his life, he served for several years as Judge of the Or- phans' Court. He died at his home, of apoplexy, 19th May, 1857, in his eighty-second year. His widow sur- vived him seven years. He was a large man, of strong

constitution and fine appearance. Ile left six sons and a daughter. Four of the former married and had children. Three of his sons and as many of his grandsons served in the Confederate Army. Dr. Archer's mind was of no com- mon order, and in professional skill he wa, surpassed by few of his contemporaries. Socially, he formed the warm- est attachments. For more than half a century he was a member of, and during the greater part of that time an elder, in the Presbyterian Church.

RCHER, JOHN, M.D., third son of Dr. John Archer, Senior, was born at Medical Hall, in llarford County, Maryland, October 9, 1777. lle and three of his brothers, all of whom be- came distinguished members of the profession, studied medicine with their father (who had established a medical school of some note at his residence, called Medical Hall), and graduated at the University of Penn- sylvania, in Philadelphia, May 22, 1798. Hle practiced his profession successfully during his life, but divided his attention between that and other business in which.he was extensively engaged. In the year 1802, he was married to Ann, eldest daughter of John Stump, of Stafford, with whom he became connected in business, at that place and at Rock Run, where they had merchant flour mills, stores, etc., and transacted a large and lucrative business. During the war of 1812, when the British forces invaded Mary- land, he received from the Governor of Maryland a com- mission as Surgeon in the army, and served with the Maryland troops while they remained in active service. Hle was elected President of the Port Deposit Bridge and Banking Company, which prospered during the many years of his presidency, continuing in good credit until after his death, in 1830. These, with the improvement and management of his landed estate, furnished him such full and agreeable occupation that he had neither time nor inclination for politics, and was never a candidate for any alice except that of Presidential Elector, in 1828. He was distinguished for clearness of intellect, soundness of judgment, dignity and suavity of manner, and strict integrity.

ERCHER, JAMES, M.D., the fourth son of John Archer, M.B., was born in Harford County, Maryland, August 2, 1779. He received, in the schools of his native county, a good English education, with considerable knowledge of Latin. After the requisite preliminary studies under his father, he attended in 1804, 1805, and 1806, medical lectures in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in the last-named

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

year. After practicing his profession for a few years in Harford County, he removed, in 1810, to Mississippi Terri- tory, where he combined planting with the practice of physic. In 1812, on the roth of May, he married Miss Margaret A. Koss, daughter of Captain Ross, from South Carolina. He died in May, 1815, leaving no children. He was a man of good constitution, robust health, and fine personal appearance. Ilis habits were in all respects ex- emplary ; although prematurely cut off, he attained great skill in his profession, and seems to have been entirely destitute of political aspirations.

2200 RCHER, HON. STEVENSON, LL. D., youngest son of John Archer, M.B., was born in Har- ford County, Maryland, October 11, 1786. After an academical course in Baltimore city, he entered the sophomore class of Princeton College, where he graduated in 1805. He then studied law, at first in the office of Joli Montgomery, at Bel Air, and after- wards with Chancellor Johnson, at Annapolis. Soon after his admission to the bar, he was elected (1809) to the Legislature as an independent candidate; and in 1810, was re-elected as a Democrat. About this time he was appointed Paymaster of the 40th regiment of Maryland militia. In 1811, he married his second cousin, Miss Pamelia B. Hays; and in the same year was clected to Congress, having barely attained the requisite age. He was re-elected in 1813, and again in 1815. In that body he was a stanch supporter of all the war measures against Great Britain. In 1817, he declined to stand for a fourth election ; and as soon as his Congressional term had ex- pired, he was appointed by President Madison, Judge of Mississippi Territory, which included the whole area now constituting the States of Mississippi and Alabama. This judgeship comprised both gubernatorial , and judicial powers. After an arduous journey on horseback through the wilderness to his new field of duty, he ordered a flat- boat to be built at Wheeling to transport his family and effects; but, it seems, resigned his office before it was com- pleted. He had several terms of court at St. Stephens (on the Alabama river), a town which then rivalled Mobile. In less than a year, however, he gave up his position and returned to Maryland. In 1819, he was, for the fourth time, elected to Congress from his old district as a Demo- crat. From the date of his admission to the bar until 1824-except while Territorial Judge-he practiced his profession in the counties of Harford, Cecil and Kent. In the last-named year, he was appointed Chief Judge of the Judicial District embracing Baltimore city, and Balti- more and Ilarford counties. This position he filled until 1844, when he was appointed by Governor Pratt, Chief Justice of the State, in place of Judge Buchanan, deceased.

He died on the 26th of June, 1848, after a brief illness, at his home, " Medical Ilall," which was also the home of his father and grandfather. Some years before his death, the degree of 1.1 .. D. was conferred on him by his alma mater. He had four sons and five daughters; one of the former died in his youth ; all the rest married and had children, and with the exception of two daughters, are still living-two sons and two daughters in Mississippi and Louisiana, and a daughter and a son (the Ilon. Stevenson Archer, who recently represented in Congress for four consecutive terms, the Second Congressional District), in Harford County, Maryland. Five grandsons of the sub- ject of this sketch served in the Confederate Army. Judge Archer was a large man, of fine physique and prepossessing appearance; his mental endowments were of a very high order, and his decisions had always great weight with the members of the bar throughout the State. Though not an old man at the time of his death, he had been in public life almost continuously for nearly forty years-twenty-five of that time upon the bench, and during the whole period, not a suspicion was ever cast upon his good name. He appears to have been cminently qualified for the judicial station which he held so long. He possessed in a remark- able degree the " suaviter in modo cum fortiter in re," so essential in, a judge, was always kind, courteous, patient, calm, thoughtful and deliberate, and by his admirable manner, as well as by the strict impartiality of his conduct, he secured the affectionate regard and unbounded confi- dence of the whole community.

ERCHER, GENERAL JAMES J., C. S. A., was the fourth son of Doctor John Archer. He was , born at Stafford, Harford County, Maryland, on the 19th day of December, 1817. He graduated at Princeton College in 1835, and in 1838 as civil engineer at Bacon College, Georgetown, Kentucky. Ile afterwards studied law with his brother, Henry W. Archer, and was admitted to the bar; but before he had fairly en- tered upon the practice of his profession, war was declared against Mexico, when he accepted a commission as captain in one of the voltigcur regiments raised for the occasion, and with his company joined the army of General Scott, then on its march from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, and served with him until the close of the war. He par- ticipated in all the battles which resulted in the capture of the city of Mexico; and for his gallantry at Churubusco and Chapultepec, was promoted to the rank of major. After the Mexican war, the regiment to which Major Archer be- longed was disbanded, and he received a new commission as Captain in the regular army of the United States, and was in command of a post on the Pacific Coast at the commencement of our civil war in 1861. His principles

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

and associations attached him strongly to the Southern side, and upon the first notice of the beginning of the con- flict, he resigned his commission in the United States Army, handed over his command to Philip 11. Sheridan, who was his next in rank at the station, crossed the plains by the shortest route to Virginia, and tendered his services to the Confederate States. His first appointment was to the command of a regiment, composed of Georgian and Texan troops, which he thoroughly trained and led in battle until June, 1862, then after the battle of Chicka- hominy, in front of Richmond, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in command of the brigade com- posed of the first, seventh, and fourteenth Tennessee, and nineteenth Georgia regiments, and fifth Alabama battalion ;. and subsequently the thirteenth Alabama regiment. This brigade was attached to General A. P. Hill's division of General Stonewall Jackson's corps, and took a conspicuous and efficient part in the battles of Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Frazier's Farm, and the other great battles near Richmond, which resulted in the defeat of General Mc- Clellan, and his retreat to the shelter of his gunboats on the James River, and afterwards in the battle of Cedar River, the second battle of Manassas, the capture of Ilarper's Ferry, the battle of Antietam, the battle of Fredericksburg, and in the memorable battle of Chancel- lorsville, where General Stonewall Jackson was slain. In all these, and in many other minor engagements, his valor and good conduct were conspicuous. . In the battles around Richmond, General A. P. Hill's division, of which General Archer's brigade was part, lost three thousand eight hundred and seventy killed and wounded out of thirteen thousand men. General William McComb, who succeeded to the command of his brigade, in a letter in reference to General Archer, says: " In his death, the writer lost one of his warmest friends, Maryland one of her most gallant sons, the brigade the best commander it ever had, and the Confederacy one of the bravest officers in the army-one competent to fill any position in the corps. He could see, decide and act with as much alacrity as any officer I ever knew." At the battle of Gettysburg he was slightly wounded and captured, and being taken to Johnson's Island, was confined there as a prisoner of war until the summer of 1864. Ile was then taken, with other Confederate prisoners of high rank, to Charleston Ilarbor, where the Union fleet was bombarding the city, and was there exchanged. Upon being liberated from imprison- ment, General Archer immediately returned to Richmond. , Ile was then in feeble health, and was urged by his friends to take time to rest and recruit his strength, but he refused to do so, and immediately returned to active duty under General Lee. His long and rigorous confinement had, however, so undermined his constitution, that he was unable to endure the fatigue and exposure of another campaign. Ile sank under the attempt, and died at Richmond on the 24th day of October, 1864. A plain

marble shaft marks the place where his body lies buried in Hollywood Cemetery, in a lot presented by the proprietors.

70 ERCHER, HON. STEVENSON, Ex-member of Con- gress, was born in Harford County, Maryland, February 28, 1828. Ilis grandfather was Dr. John Archer, and his father Judge Stevenson Archer, memoirs of whom are contained in this volume. The subject of this sketch graduated at Prince- ton College in the class of 1846, afterwards studied law in the office of Otho Scott, -Esq., in Bel Air; was admitted to practice his profession in 1850; in 1851, formed a partner- ship with llon. E. 11. Webster, which was continued until Mr. Webster was appointed Collector of the Port of Balti- more. In 1853, he was elected to the Maryland Legisla- ture by the Whig party. In 1867, he was appointed Special Judge for a term of the Cecil County Court, and won the high opinion of the members of that bar. In 1866, he was elected a member of Congress from the Second Congressional District, and was re-elected to the same position in 1868, 1870, and 1872. While in Congress, he always maintained the principles of the Democratic party. During the whole eight years of his service, he was a member of the Naval Committee. In 1868, he was delegate to the National Democratic Convention which nominated Seymour, and in 1876, was a delegate to the National Convention at St. Louis, which nominated Tilden for the Presidency. In 1855, he married Jane C. Franklin, a daughter of Smith and Elizabeth Cage, of Sumner County, Tennessee. Their surviving children are Estelle, Frances, Stevenson, Blanche, and Percy.

URCHINAL, WILLIAM DOLBY, was born in Dover, Delaware, October 4, 1832. His par- ents were of English birth. His mother's maiden name was Burton ; and was a member of the large family of that name settled in Sussex County, Del- aware. lle had five sisters and three brothers, namely : Mary Howard, Elizabeth Dolby, who married John W. Harris, John C., Jesse Burton, Addie Emma, Joseph T., Anna, and Rebecca Burton; the last three are not now living. Ilis father and mother, ou their immigration, took up their residence in Delaware, where they re- mained for seven years. They then removed to Maryland, where they lived for the next three years. After that time we find them alternating between these two States and New Jersey, taking William with them, and procuring employment for him as helper or clerk in stores in the several towns. In 1861, he was employed as a clerk in

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

the store of T. W. Ellison, Sr., in Chestertown, Maryland, when he enlisted in the Federal service, and was com- missioned as Second Lieutenant, Company D, Second Regiment, E. S. Maryland Infantry. He was afterwards promoted to First Lieutenant, then Adjutant, and, finally, to the Captainey of Company A, same regiment. lle served in that capacity until November 1, 1864, when, with the regiment, he was mustered out of service, by rea- son of expiration of time. The following February, he was again commissioned; this time as Quartermaster to the eleventh regiment Maryland Volunteer Infantry. In this capacity he served until June of the same year, when that regiment was mustered out also. Returning to Kent County just at the time the Registry Law passed, at the session of 1864-5, and was about to be put into operation, Governor A. W. Bradford forwarded to him a commission as one of the Registrars. Although opposed to the act, as unnecessarily oppressive, and believing that in the end it must destroy the very object which it was intended to per- petuate, he accepted the appointment, presuming he would be less obnoxious than if a man were sent from Baltimore to perform the duties required. His worst enemies ac- knowledged the propriety with which he executed the un- pleasant task. Mr. Burchinal was married to Mrs. Mar- garet A. Brown, May 1, 1868, formerly Miss Merritt, a descendant of one of the oldest families in the State. Mrs. Burchinal is a lady probably unsurpassed in the character- isties essential to true womanhood. By her first marriage she had four children, namely : Mary M., who married J. C. Burchinal, Hiram, William II., and Arthur M. Hav- ing been selected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, held at Chicago in that year, he made it the occasion for a wedding tour. In 1869, he was tendered a position in the Baltimore Custom-house, by the Hon. John I .. Thomas, Jr., the Collector, as Inspector of Cus- toms. Ile was afterwards promoted, by the same gentle- man, to be Assistant Cashier of Customs, which position he resigned in 1872, in consequence of impaired health. Ile then purchased a farm near Chestertown, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1873, he received the Repub- lican nomination of his county for the County Clerkship, but was defeated through the intense feeling engendered against the Republican party, growing out of the war. In 1876, he received the appointment of Deputy Collector, under Colonel Edward Wilkins, which he still holds un- der Hon. John 1 .. Thomas, Jr. Mr. Burchinal is a man of decided opinions and great force of character ; true in his friendships and outspoken in his antipathies; social in his temperament, and courteous in his intercourse ; and gives promise of still greater political influence and position in his county and in the State.

EVANS, WILLIAM WARRINGTON, M.D., D. D.S., 4 was born in Baltimore, April 30, 1843. Ile is the third son of Elizabeth and Rudulph H. Evans, who, in 1849, founded the beautiful Balti- a more Cemetery. On his father's side the family traces no farther back than four generations. Thomas Evans is the first of whom there is authentic knowledge. Ile came from Wales and settled in what is now known as Upper Darby, near Philadelphia. On his mother's side, the record goes back to Robert d'Oyley, first feudal Baron of Hook Norton, and King's constable in the time of William the Conqueror. He built the famous Castle of Oxford, in 1071-2, and rebuilt the embattled walls around that city. The subject of this sketch is a nephew of Thomas W. Evans, of Paris, France, whose fame as a den- tist has made his name renowned throughout Europe. The Doctor's eldest brother, John d'Oyley Evans, now Baron d'Oyley, is living in Paris, where, in 1876, the title of Marquis was conferred upon him by the late Pope Pius IX. Doctor Evans's early studies were pursued at home, under a private tutor, and afterward, at Georgetown Col- lege, District of Columbia. At the age of nineteen, he was graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Sur- geons, and two years later from the Medical University of Maryland. Ile subsequently pursued an additional course of studies at the Long Island Medical College, Brooklyn, New York, and received from it a graduate's diploma. The Doctor's early life was spent in the country, where his love of art and nature seems to have been his chief de- light. Even when a mere boy he gave evidence of artistic taste and mechanical skill. In his seventeenth year he made a model house and gave it to a fair in Baltimore. It brought five hundred dollars, and architects and experi- enced carpenters pronounced it perfect in all its details ; but could not believe that it was the handiwork of a boy who never had a lesson in drawing or carpentering. Dr. Evans commenced the practice of dentistry in Baltimore, in 1864, and was associated with his old preceptor, Dr. P. Il. Austen, who first endeavored to elevate artificial den- tistry to the standard of a fine art. After being thus asso- ciated for two years, he was called to Paris by his uncle, Dr. Thomas W. Evans, who desired to make him his as- sistant. Ilis stay in Paris was of very short duration, ow- ing to disagreement of terms, for the most part; and in a few weeks after the arrival in France, the young dentist returned to America. The great city of Paris had power- ful attractions and allured him from his native land again. On his return there he entered into a lucrative and select . practice of his profession, apart from his distinguished uncle. After some time his health failed, when he again returned to the United States. Up to this time he had never experienced want, as all his needs were supplied by a kind father, whose wealth had been equal to any emer- gency, until a reverse of fortune swept away nearly all he had. Cut off from those supplies, the battle with the

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 10

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844