The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 13

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 13
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 13

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beginning of the Inte war, when he was appointed by Governor Morgan as an agent for recruiting sokliers. This he followed for nearly a year, when the Governor appointed him First Lieutenant in the 108th New York Volunteers. The regiment proceeded to Washington, and soon after participated in the battles of Antietam, Freder- icksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. In all of these, Lieutenant Fellman led his men with great gallantry and bravery, and after the battle of Chancellorsville, was pro- moted to the rank of Captain. At the battle of Gettys- burg, the career that promised to be of so much service to the armies of his country, was cut short, his right leg being shattered by a cannon-ball, and it was found neces- sary to amputate the limb. When he was able to wear an artificial limb, he received an appointment in the Veteran Reserve Corps, in March, 1864, and served in the variouse hospitals at Philadelphia, Nashville, and Knoxville, Ten- nessee, until mustered out in July, 1866. While suffering from his wound, after the battle of Gettysburg, his family joined him in Maryland, and remained, and he now settled permanently in that State. In September, 1868, he was appointed Examiner in the Appraiser's Office, a branch of the Custom-House Service, which position he has since held. For over twenty-five years Captain Fellman has been a member of the Turners' Association of the United States, in which he has been very prominent, having held every office in the organization, and has been a delegate to the National Conventions held in Pittsburg (1856), Louisville, Rochester, New Ulm, Minnesota, and Cleve- land, Ohio. He was brought up in the Protestant religion, but has not been a member of any church since he left the old country. He has always been a Republican, hav -. ing cast his first vote for John C. Fremont. lle was mar- ried, April 25, 1845, to Elise Wolf, by whom he has one child, Emma Albertina, married to Albert Lovie, a native of Berlin, They reside in Baltimore, and have three children, J. R. Paul, Emma, and William.

ERRY, GEORGE R., Fire-brick Manufacturer, was born in Baltimore, December 5, 1820. Ilis parents were Benjamin F. and Eliza W. Berry, both natives of Baltimore, but of English descent. His father was a lumber merchant. Mr. Berry received the groundwork of a good English education in the common schools of his native city. At the age of eleven years, he entered the service of his uncle, Colonel John Berry, who was the oldest fire-brick manufacturer in the United States, having commenced in 1812, and from the beginning, making a brick fully equal to the English brick manufactured at Stowbridge, and on which this country had been dependent up to that time. The manu- facture of fire-brick, as well as other articles, had been urged in a circular issued by the General Government, to

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA ..

which several gentlemen responded. On being tested, Mr. Herry's brick was found to be a superior article, and was known as " Berry's Premium Fire-brick." It has been very extensively used by the Government ever since, and bas found its way into every State of the Union, as also to Cuba and South America. The most eminent geologists, and others competent to judge in the matter, have pro- nounced the Maryland clay superior to any in the world for the manufacture of brick; and it is certain no city can boast of- handsomer brick than those of which Baltimore is very largely built. Colonel John Berry, soon after the establishment of his brick works, associated with him his brother, Thomas L., the firm name being John and Thomas 1 .. Berry. For several years George worked as a brick- maker, and became a thoroughly competent manufacturer of the article. Ile was, at length, transferred to the office, and, at the age of twenty-one, placed in charge of the books. On account of his well-known integrity and knowledge of the business, he was given a one-fourth in- terest, in 1853, which was increased to one-half, in 1856. Both the senior members of the firm dying in that year, General John Summerfield Berry, son of Colonel John Berry, became possessor of the other half interest, and the business has since been conducted under the name of John S. & George R. Berry. The bricks manufactured by them have taken the first premium for many years at various ex- hibitions. The unexampled prosperity of the/firm is mainly due to the enterprise and energy, coupled with his thorough knowledge of the business, of the subject of our sketch. To firms of like character, Baltimore is indebted for the grand success of her manufacturing interests in the past few years. Mr. Berry, in addition to his successful . business career, has held many public positions of honor and responsibility. In 1858, he was elected a member of the State Legislature, from Baltimore. His efficiency as a Director of the Maryland Penitentiary is attested by the fact of his being appointed seven successive times to that position ; first, in 1865, by Governor Bradford, and then by each Governor since, except one, the last appointment to expire in May, 1882, which will make fifteen years' ser- vice, should he complete the term. In 1865, he was com- missioned, by Governor Bradford, one of the Board for the Registration of Voters for the Fifteenth Ward, in which he resided. In 1871, he represented that ward in the first branch of the City Council. In 1876, he was commis- sioned, by Governor Carroll, as a Delegate to the National Prison Congress, held in New York, in that year. IIe has also served as a School Commissioner; and, in 1878, was elected, by the City Council, as one of the Directors to represent the city's interest of five million dollars in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Mr. Berry's record for business capacity and integrity, is one of which he may be justly proud. He has risen from the humblest walk in life to a position among the distinguished repre- sentative men of his city and State. For many years he

has been a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. He is a member of the Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal Church. He has been twice married; first, to Miss Klenora Koster, in 18.13, and, in 1862, to Miss Lueretia B. Osborne.

e ERRY, GENERAL JOHN . SUMMERFIELD, Manufac- turer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, June 18, G 1822. Ile was the son of Colonel John Berry, well known to the last generation as a patriotic, worthy, and enterprising citizen, whose deeds in de- fence of Baltimore in the War of 1812 will ever hold an honored place in the historic record. He was a descend- ant of Benjamin Berry, of England, who had resisted the appressions of Charles the First, and with Charles Bell, his brother-in-law, one of the men who beheaded that monarch, came to America and settled in a tract of country, then known as the " Forest," in Prince George's County, Maryland. Benjamin Berry married Miss Claggett. Their children were William, Jeremiah, Benjamin, and Richard. William was great grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Jeremiah settled in Cumberland. Benjamin's children were Richard, Sarah, Dorsey, and Ruth. The latter mar- riedl Captain Samuel Griffith, of the old Maryland Line, who in 1775-6 raised a company of eighty-four men at Baltimoretown, and fought at Brandywine, New Jersey, and Germantown, Pennsylvania, at which place he was ordered to storm a battery, and came out with only sixteen men who had not been wounded; being himself wounded in the right groin. General Berry's maternal great-grand- father qnitted England in an early day, and also settled in the " Forest." In immediate response to a circular issued by the United States Government in 1812, calling upon the citizens to devise means for the production at home of ar- ticles for which they had been until then mainly dependent upon England, Colonel John Berry, the General's father, established a manufactory of fire-brick, on the corner of Howard and Lee Streets, and succeeded in producing an article in every respect equal to the celebrated Stowbridge (English) brick, and which was in great demand. It at once secured a high reputation for excellence, and has maintained it to the present time. It is extensively used by the Government, and in iron, copper, and gas works in this country, as also in Cuba and South America. The General had the advantages of a liberal education in his youth, partly in Baltimore, and partly at Dickinson Col- lege, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. On leaving college, he en- tered the dry goods store of B. II. Richardson ; but in a year after, in 1845, he became associated with his brother- in-law, Mr. John Hurst, in the wholesale dry goods busi- ness, from which he retired after eleven years' successful trade. Soon after Colonel John Berry commenced to man- ufacture fire-brick he associated his brother, Thomas L., with him in the business, which was successfully conduct- ed by them until 1856, in which year they both died. In

BIOGRAPHICAL. CYCLOPEDIA.

1853, George R. Berry, a cousin of the General, who had from carly manhood been in the service of the firm, was taken into partnership. On the decease of the principals, the new firm of John S. & George R. Berry was formed, which has continued with much prosperity until the pres- ent time. In 1857, he was elected as a Delegate to the Maryland Legislature, from Baltimore County, and on the assembling of that body was chosen Speaker of the House. At that time party feeling ran high, rendering the position of Speaker a peculiarly arduous one. Up to that period Mr. Berry had never taken a seat in a deliberative body, and was practically ignorant of parliamentary rules. But he applied himself diligently to the study of the duties, and with such effect that no appeal was ever taken from his decisions. In the carly days of his speakership, an in- cident occurred which is scarcely paralleled in parliamen- tary history. The House was in Committee of the Whole, the Speaker having left the chair, and a highly excited and bitter debate upon certain portions of the Governor's message, which reflected severely upon the party then in power, was in progress. A member was severely denounc- ing the Governor, when another interrupted him, causing, in an instant, a scene of wild confusion, which the Chair- man pro tem. was unable to suppress. It was well known that many of the members were armed. The Chairman, himself, becoming greatly excited, declared that he would compel the interrupting member to take his seat; and leaving the chair with the manifest intention of using force if necessary, Speaker Berry promptly occupied it, and In commanding tones called the House to order. Quiet be- ing partially restored, the offending members took their scats, when a member arose, and demanded by what au- thority the Speaker had resumed the chair, while as yet the Committee of the Whole had not been dissolved in due form. " By the authority of this House, and to pre- serve the honor and dignity of the State of Maryland, and to bring this disorderly body to order," was the prompt re- ply. The objector refusing to take his seat, was at once placed under arrest by order of the Speaker. His friends persuaded him to make an apology to the Speaker. The apology having been made, the House called for a public reprimand, upon which he said : " I deserve it." The Speaker instantly said : " The gentleman has pronounced his own reprimand," and ordered his discharge. Thus closed a scene, which, but for the firmness of Speaker Berry, might have occasioned a terrible catastrophe. The Speaker of the Ilouse of Representatives at Washington, there regarded as one of the ablest presiding officers in the country, wrote to Mr. Berry complimenting him on the presence of mind and energy he displayed. In 1861, he was elected a member of the Legislature then assembled in extra session, as also to the next regular session in the following year, of which he was again chosen Speaker of the House, over a number of distinguished competitors. In 1862 he was appointed by Governor Bradford, Adju-

tant-General of the State, and at the earnest request of Governor Swann, Governor Bradford's successor, he re- tained the office. General Berry served the State in that capacity, much to the neglect of his private business, for the space of eight years and three months. During that period be devoted much time to carrying out in all its par- tientars the law creating the Maryland National Guard. On the acceptance of his resignation by Governor Bowie, the Governor complimented him highly on the efficiency and fidelity which he had displayed during his long service. In 1864 he was elected a member of the Convention to frame a new Constitution for the State; and was the only slaveholder who advocated the insertion of the article abolishing slavery. He has been three times elected Grand Master of the Masonic Order in the State of Maryland. General Berry served as aid to Governor Hicks in 1857, and in 1861 to Governor Bradford. He was a State Com- missioner of Spring Grove State Insane Asylum from 1860 to 1866, and President of the Board for four years. Ile is President of the Board of Managers of the Home of the Friendless, and fills the same position in the Board of Trustees of the Home for the Aged of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. He is also President of the Emory Grove Camp Meeting Association. From 1863 to 1866 he was one of the Directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, appointed by the Board of Public Works to represent the interests of the State, He has been twice married; first, to Miss Alverda M. Waters, daughter of F. G. Waters, of Baltimore ; his present wife was Miss Emily I1. Berry, daughter of Thomas Berry. He is a member of Summer- field Circuit, Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore County, where he has been Recording Steward since 1853.

GO DALLORY, DWIGHT DAVIDSON, one of the most prominent and successful men in the oyster and canned fruit trade in the United States, was born at Fair Haven, Connecticut, April 10, 1838. lle is a son of Willard and Elizabeth ( Davidson) Mallory, both of whom were natives of Connecticut, and both of English descent. Mr. Mallory received a common school education in his native town, and in 1854, being then in his sixteenth year, commenced the grocery business on his own account. He continued in that business at Fair Ilaven, until December, 1856, when he removed to Detroit, Michigan, and entered into the oyster business in that city, receiving large shipments from his father, who was then engaged in the same business at Fair Haven, and who had been in the oyster trade from boyhood. Mr. Mallory con- tinued in business, at Detroit, six years, and in the fall of 1862, removed to Baltimore, where he commenced the oyster and fruit packing business on Aliceanna Street, rent- ing the property adjoining William Taylor's packing house. That place being poorly adapted to his rapidly increasing business, he soon afterwards built the house now occupied

Youso Finty D. D. Mallory

BIOGRAPHIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

by William 1 .. Ellis & Co., which he sold to that firm in 1865, and finally erected the large buildings now occupied by the firm of D. D. Mallory & Co., on the northeast cor- ner of Wolfe and Lancaster Streets, one of the largest pack- ing houses of the kind in the city of Baltimore. Mr. Mallory has several hundred persons continually in his employ, and during the busy season his employees have shucked over seven thousand five hundred bushels of oysters per day. He is also extensively engaged in the business of fruit packing, and in this line has packed over fifteen hundred bushels of peaches per day. These state- ments will enable one to form some idea of the extent of his business. The firm of D. D. Mallory & Co. is well known throughout the country; its trade extends to all parts of the United States, and frequently large shipments are made to Europe and other foreign countries. It has branch houses in Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Mallory has frequently been solicited to become a candidate for public office, but has invariably declined, preferring to devote his entire attention to his business. Ile has always avoided speculative enter- prises calculated to interfere with his business success ; and as a result of his foresight, prudence and diligence, he is to-day at the head of one of the largest establishments of the kind in the country, with an enviable reputation for business integrity and financial stability. He has been a member of the Free Masons for nineteen years, and is a member of the Knights Templars. He is a member, and one of the trustees, of the Second Presbyterian Church, of Baltimore, and has always been a liberal supporter of various charitable and benevolent enterprises. He was married in the year 1860, at Fair Haven, to Miss Elizabeth C. Spencer, daughter of Lewis Spencer, of Brooklyn, New York.

SMITH, HON. ASA HI., Legislator, son of Captain Benjamin B. and Ann (Thompson) Smith, was born in Baltimore, February 26, 1823. His father was a native of New York and his mother of Mary- land ; the latter is still living at the advanced age of ciglity-five. Mr. Smith's father was wounded on board the vessel, Joseph and Mary, of which he was mas- ter's mate, in the War of 1812, and was afterwards captain of a schooner, which was lost at sea, when Captain Smith perished. On account of his father's death, which occurred while the subject of this sketch was quite young, Mr. Smith was thrown upon his own exertions for support at the age of twelve. His education, therefore, was very limited. He attended one of the first schools organized in Baltimore under the public school system. On leaving school, at the age above mentioned, he served an appren- ticeship as paperhanger, manufacturer, and upholsterer, the three branches of the business then being connected. After serving seven years, he entered into that business on his own account, in which he has ever since continued. Ile

has also been extensively engaged in the building and sale of houses in the city of Baltimore. Having qualified himself as a builder in early life, he has superintended the construction of these buildings. The houses built by him have yielded him a handsome revenue. Although Mr. Smith lost heavily during the civil war, on account of the depreciation of real estate, his creditors did not suffer; for he has never met with a reverse in business which prevented him from paying dollar for dollar. In 1861 Mr. Smith's wall paper manufactory, then in operation, with twenty-one employees at work, was closed, in consequence of the general suspension of business resulting from the war. He has since been engaged in the retail paperhanging business. Ile was on Pratt Street at the bridge over Jones's Falls, near the place where the first shot was fired, and saw the riot of 1861, amid great danger, but escaped by entering a door on East Pratt Street, the doorframe being cut away within a few inches of his body by bullets from the guns of the Massachusetts regiment. He was at Fortress Monroe and saw the great naval fight between the Merrimac and the Union vessel, Monitor, by which the United States man-of- war Congress was destroyed, the Cumberland sunk, and the Minnesota disabled. Ile saw the subsequent fight the following day between the iron-clad Merrimac and the Monitor, when the Merrimac was disabled, and had to put into Norfolk, where she was finally captured by the United States forces. After the engagement, Mr. Smith rendered good service in caring for the dead and wounded. He has been director of the Catonsville and Ellicott City Passenger Railway since 1868. He served seventeen years in the Baltimore Volunteer Fire Department, being a member of the Howard Fire Company, acting as treas- urer of the company for five years, and as President for seven years. He was a member of the organization known as " The Baltimore United Fire Department," which con- sisted of seven representatives from each fire company of Baltimore, the object of the organization being to create a fund for the benefit of disabled firemen. On the creation of the Paid Steam Fire Department, the volunteer com- panies went out of existence, and this fund was finally appropriated to the Aged Men's Home, which had been a short time before organized. The appropriation was made on condition that the firemen should be provided for. Mr. Smith retired from the fire department on the organization of the paid department, having served without any remu- neration whatever. During his seventeen years' service he was a very active and energetic member of the volunteer department. He served at as many as five fires during a single night, and passed through all the exciting and thrill- ing experiences which characterize the life of a fireman, and has been instrumental on several occasions in saving human life. Ile is one of the managers, on the part of the city of Baltimore, of the House of Refuge, which has been in existence for over twenty years. Ile has been a member of the Odd Fellows for several years and has

BIOGRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

filled every important office in the subordinate lodges. Hle is a member of the Democratic party, and was a firm Union man during the late war. He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates on the Democratic ticket, in 1877, by a majority of 0437, having been nominated without opposition. He took an active part in the canvass, speaking and organizing workingmen's associations in opposition to the candidate of the Workingmen's party. lle has introduced several bills and been an efficient and reliable member of the Ilouse. He has been married four times, and has a large family of children and grandchil- dren. The maiden name of his present wife is Laura E. Beal, daughter of Alpheus and Jane Beal, of Prince George's County, Maryland. His oldest son served in the Union army, from the beginning to the close of the late war, and died from exposure soon after the capture of Richmond.

KANKIN, REV. JEREMIAH EAMES, D.D., Pastor of the First Congregational Church, Washington, D. C., was born in Thornton, Grafton County, New Hampshire, January 2, 1828. llis father, Rev. Andrew Rankin, widely known in that State for his early advocacy of total abstinence, and abundant Christian effort, was of Scotch descent, the family having settled in littleton, N. II. Ilis mother, Lois Eames, was the daughter of Jeremiah Eames, Esq., of Stewartstown. She was of English descent, and a woman of rare Chris- tian excellence. The early childhood of Dr. Rankin was spent in Salisbury, New Hampshire, South Berwick, Maine, and Concord, New Hampshire. Although exceed- ingly fond of boyhood sports, he early evinced a great fondness for books, and, at nine years of age, began the study of Latin under Stephen Chase, LL. D., afterward Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth College. llis successive teachers were J. D. Berry, D. D., at South Ber- wick, Maine, William Cowper Foster, A.M., Concord, New Hampshire, and Lafayette Ranney, M.D., Chester, Vermont. He entered Middlebury College at sixteen ; was among the leading scholars of his class, standing sometimes at its head, and graduated with honor from that institution. Two years after graduating, having spent the first year teaching the languages in " The Bartlett Gram- mar School," New London, Connecticut, and the second, as private teacher in Warren County, Kentucky, he was invited to the tutor's chair in his alma mater. His as- sociates in the faculty were President Labarec, Profes- sors II. Eaton, W. H. Parker, and R. D. C. Robbins. At the termination of one year's tutorship, he delivered the master's oration, and that autumn went to Andover Theo- logical Seminary. At this time he was a regular contrib- utor to several religious papers, and had published articles in Simmons's National Magasine, and one article of unusual brilliancy, entitled " Byron and Shakespeare," in the P'ar-

lor Magazine, conducted by Rev. J. T. Headley. During his seminary course he taught one term at Saubornton Square, New Hampshire, where he was actively engaged in promoting a revival of religion in his school and in the Congregational Church. Upon graduating at Andover, in 1854, he had the first literary honor of the societies and the third honor of his class. Ilis instructors at Andover were Professors Park, Shedd, Phelps, Stowe and Barrows, all of them variously eminent men. Dr. Rankin was in- vited to remain as resident licentiate, which he declined. The same year he delivered the poem before the associated alumni of his alma mater. Ile declined a call from the Congregational Church, in East Wilton, N. II., and began his ministerial labors at Potsdam, New York, with the Presbyterian Church; being twice invited to become their pastor. This pastoral call he declined, though, in De- cember, 1854, he was ordained as an evangelist, at Stock- holm, New York, by the St. Lawrence Association, at the same time with Fayette Pettibone, under appointment of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions for Turkey. After two years labor in Potsdam, he was called to the First Congregational Church in St. Al- bans, Vermont, where he was installed as pastor, June 24, 1857. There the largest revival ever known in the history of that church took place under his ministry. After five years' service at St. Albans, he was called to Appleton Street Church, in Lowell, Massachusetts, where his people were very devotedly attached to him and his ministry was very successful. After a pastorate of two years in Lowell, he received two almost simultaneous calls from the First Church in Lynn and the Winthrop Church in Charlestown, now Boston. The latter he accepted, and had for five years a large congregation and a prosperous ministry. During his pastorate in Charlestown he was one of the editors of the Congregational Review, being associated with the Rev. Drs. Bodwell, Barrows, Marvin, and Tucker. In 1869 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by his alma mater. In October of the same ycar he received a unanimous call to the First Congrega- tional Church of Washington, D. C., and was installed there, March 20, 1870, though he began his labors the August previous, the Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs preaching the installation sermon, and the Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson preaching the sermon of dedication. Other distinguished ministers from many parts of the country participated in the services. The church at that time had about one hun- dred and thirty members, one hundred and three, with the previous pastor, having organized a new church the previous May. The division in the church was the result of a serious difference as to the wisdom of receiving colored people to the communion upon an equality with the . whites, those who remained as members of Dr. Rankin's church, with General O. O. Iloward at their head, main- taining that no distinction should be made on account of race or color. During the nine years of Dr. Rankin's -

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 13

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