USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 15
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
President, from 1709 to 1714 ; and John Hart, Governor, from 1714 to 30th May, 1715, and from that date, as Pro- prietary Governor until 1720. Lord Baltimore died 20th of February, 17144, aged eighty four years, and was suc. ceeded by his son, Benedict Leonard Calvert, the fourth Lord Baltimore.
HALVERT, BENEDICT LEONARD, the fourth Lord Baltimore, the son and successor of Charles Cal- vert, the third Lord Baltimore, married January 2, 1698, Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, daughter of the Earl of Litchfield, and had four sons and two daughters : Charles, his successor ; Benedict Leonard, mem- ber of Parliament for Harwick, in Essex, and Governor of Maryland from. 1727 to 1732, who died at sea, in 1732; Edward Henry, Commissary General of Maryland, in 1728, and President of the Council of Maryland; Cecil, who died in 1765; Charlotte, who married Thomas Brere- wood, Esq. ; and Jane. Ife returned to the religion of his ancient ancestors, and, on 13th of January, 1713, publicly declared his faith as a Protestant, and died April 16, 1715, having held the title of Lord Baltimore one year, three weeks and four days. lle left his son, Charles Calvert, to succeed as the fifth Lord Baltimore.
ALVERT, CHARLES, the fifth Lord Baltimore, son and successor of Benedict Leonard Calvert, fourth Lord Baltimore, was born 29th of Septem- ber, 1699, and educated in the faith of the Church of England. He was appointed January 27, 1731, a gentleman of the bed-chamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and on the 10th of December, of the same year, was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1732 he visited Maryland and administered the affairs of the prov- ince with ability. Upon his return to England, in 1734, he was elected a member of Parliament from St. Germain, in Cornwall, and from 1741 to 1747 he represented the County of Surrey. The author of the Founders of Mary- land, says that he " was a man of culture, pleasing ad- dress, and elegant person." The charter of Maryland was restored to him in 1715 by George 1. On the 30th of May, 1715, he commissioned John Hart, Governor of Maryland, and administered very successfully during his life the affairs of the colony, through the agengy of the following successors of Governor Hart : Charles Calvert, from 1720 lo 1727; Benedict Leonard Calvert, from 1727 to 1732 ; Samuel Ogle, in 1732; his lordship in person, from 1732 to 1735; Samuel Ogle, from 1735 to 1742; Thomas Bladen, from 1742 to 1747; and Samuel Ogle, front 1747 to 23d ! April, 1751. Ile married, July 20, 1730, Mary, daugh-
3
64
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
ter of Sir Theodore Jansen, and had three children, viz. : Frederick, his successor; Louisa, who married John Brown- ing, Esq., and died at Horton Lodge, in 1821, aged eighty- eight years; and Jane, who married Robert Eden, the last Proprietary Governor of Maryland, from 1769 to May 2.1, 1774. His wife lived until 1769. He died April 23, 1751, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick Calvert, the sixth and last Lord Baltimore.
VALVERT, FREDERICK, the sixth and last Lord Baltimore, was born in 1731. He was the eldest son of Charles Calvert, fifth Lord Baltimore. He administered the affairs of Maryland through the agency of Samuel Ogle, Governor from April 23, 1751, to 1752, Benjamin Tasker, President, 1752 to 1753, Horatio Sharpe, from 1753 to 1769, and Robert Eden, from 1769 to his death, in July, 1771. He married Lady Diana Egerton, youngest daughter of Scroope, Duke of Bridgewater, who died in 1758, leaving no children.
B AKER, CHARLES JOSEPIt, head of the house of Baker Brothers & Company, was born in Balti- more, May 28, 1821. Ilis parents were William and Jane Baker. Ilis paternal grandfather, the head of the drygoods importing house of William Baker & Sons, once well known in Baltimore, went to that city to make his own way in the world at the early age of twelve years. He had been left an orphan by the massa- cre of his parents, and all the other members of the family, by the Indians, not far from the present town of Reading, Pa., about the year 1750. The maternal grandfather was Richard Jones, who came to America from. Wales, in 1781, leaving his family behind until he should provide a home and send for them to join him. He settled at Fell's Point, in Baltimore, and commeneed business as a mannfactmer and dealer in paints and oils. About twelve years after his arrival in this country, he bought and improved the beautiful site to which he gave the name of " Friends- burg," where the subject of this sketch was born, and where his parents resided until their death. Mr. Jones, while yet a young man, and before coming to America, be- came a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, under the preaching of Mr. John Wesley, its founder, whose per- sonal acquaintance he enjoyed. Mr. Baker received his early education at home, and at the Franklin Academy, in Reisterstown, Baltimore County. Afterwards, he attended St. Mary's College, in Baltimore, for a short time, and, in 1835, entered the grammar school of Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. In 1837, he was admitted freshman in the
college proper, and graduated in 1841, under the Presi- dency of the Rev. J. P. Durbin, D.D. In 1836, while in attendance at the grammar school, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Carlisle, the seat of the college. After completing his college comse, he entered his father's counting-room, who was then engaged in the manufacture of window-glass, at the foot of Federal Hill, Baltimore. In 1842, he started in business with his bro- ther, 11. J. Baker, on their own account, in the paint, oil, and glass trade, in North Liberty Street. Soon after they became proprietors of the Baltimore Window Glass and Bottle and Vial Glass Works, previously carried on by Shaum & Reitz. In 1843, they removed to South Charles Street, and in 1848, purchased the two warehouses, Nos. 32 and 34 South Charles Street, and changed the style of the firm to Baker & Brother. In July, 1850, their warehouses, with seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of stock, were destroyed by fire. They immediately commenced the work of rebuilding, and, in the course of the next year, the present five-story warehouses on the same site were finished. In the year of the fire, they organized the firm of H. J. Baker & Brother, in New York, for the purpose of conducting the same business there, and for the impor- tation of French glass and chemicals. In 1851, the Bal- timore firm was changed to Baker Brothers & Company, upon the admission of J. Rogers, Jr., as a partner, and so continued until 1865, when Charles J. Baker purchased the entire interest of his partners, and admitted his two sons, William Baker, Jr., and Charles E. Baker, retaining the old style of Baker Brothers & Company. In 1859, Mr. Baker was elected a director in the Franklin Bank, and in 1867 was chosen its President. In 1860, he was elected a director in the Canton Company, and in 1870, was elected President. He is also interested in several enterprises of associated capital and skill. It was through his energetic efforts, as President of the Canton Company, the Union Railroad was constructed. In 1859-60, he took an active part in the Municipal Reform movement of that year. Ile was elected by a, large majority to the second branch of the City Council, on the same ticket with George William Brown for Mayor. Although the youngest mem- ber, Mr. Baker was made President, which position he continued to fill during the memorable days of April, 1861, and the period which followed-acting as Mayor of the city, ex officio, from September, 1861, to January, 1862, while Mayor Brown was a prisoner in Forts Lafayette and Warren. Mr. Baker's interest in religious matters has never abated since, in his college days, he identificd himself with the Church. He has been always actively associated with prominent men in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of church extension in Baltimore. Ile also took a very lively interest in the cause of missions, especially the German mission, under Dr. Jacoby, in Bremen, Frank- fort, and elsewhere in Germany. In 1860, owing to the dissensions which disturbed the peace of the M. E.
-
-
Charles Balkon
1
65
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
Church in Baltimore, he severed his connection with that body, and assisted in organizing the Chatsworth Indepen- dent Methodist Chinch, and in building the house of wor- ship for that society, and, in 1867, he aided in building the Bethany Independent Methodist Church at Franklin Square, of which he and his family are members. Euergy and probity in business, a high sense of duty in all the re- lations of life, a liberal heart and hand in the support of all undertaking, which commend themselves to his sym- pathy and judgment, have made Mr. Baker widely re- spected, trusted, and esteemed, not only in Baltimore, but wherever he is known. In 1842, he married Miss Eliza- beth Bosserman, daughter of Ephraim Bosserman, a mer- chant of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
REWER, JOHN, one of the Puritan settlers of Maryland, was born in the South of Wales, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Early in life he emigrated to Massachusetts, and in 1645 settled in Virginia, with others who had gone to that province, upon the solicitation of Mr. William Ducand. We learn from the " Historical Notices of St. Anne's Parish, in Anne Arundel County," by Rev. Ethan Allen, that the first Puritans appeared in Virginia about 1641 ; that to prevent their coming, " severe laws " had been made against them, in 1639, under the administration of Sir William Berkeley. These measures, however, failed to accomplish their object, and some years later over one hundred were found to be in the colony, of which number was John Brewer. The Governor at length putting the laws which had been made into rigid execution, they " at once," in 1649, in the language of their own historian, "removed themselves, their families, and estates, into the Province of Maryland, being thereunto invited by Captain William Stone, then Governor for Lord Baltimore, with the promise of liberty in religion, and the privileges of English subjects." John Brewer was one of that company. They settled in part on the site of the present city of Annapolis, naming the town Providence. Mr. Brewer took up his residence on South River, on a tract of land which was soon called Brewerton, and which he patented ten years after, in 1659; also, in 1664, another property called Larkington. Brewerton is still in the possession of the family. Very near it, in former times, was a place called Londontown. John Brewer was one of the county justices commissioned by Leonard Calvert. He married Sarah, daughter of Henry Ridgely, and at his death, April 5, 1690, left three children, John, Eke, and Joseph. Ile was one of the few wealthy men of that period who adhered to the law of primogeniture, and left a large landed estate in entail, which finally falling to Joseph Brewer, the fifth in
descent, he had the same dissolved only a few years ago. The descendants of John Brewer now number over one thousand ; many of them settled in the West, the larger number in Indiana. The generations in succession were John, son of the emigrant ; John, his son, whose daughter, Rachel, became the wife of Charles Wilson Peale, the dis- tinguished painter, and the mother of the late Rembrandt l'eale, of Philadelphia, also an eminent artist; William, son of the third John ; Joseph, his son, and Nicholas, the father of Judge Brewer.
REWER, HONORABLE NICHOLAS, a distin-
ـة guished lawyer, was the son of Joseph Brewer, and was born in Annapolis, in the year 1770. He married Miss Fanny Davis, by whom he had one son, Nicholas, and one daughter, Mrs. Richard Ridgely. He was a leading equity lawyer of his time, and represented the city of Annapolis in the Legislature for many years. Ile was several times a member of the Execu- tive Council, an elector, Judge of the Orphans' Court, and for many years Registrar of the Court of Chancery.
REWER, HONORABLE NICHOLAS, Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, was born in Annapo- lis, Maryland, November 23, 1795. After pass- ing through the regular course at St. John's Col- lege, Annapolis, he studied law with Arthur Shoaf, Esq., a distinguished member of the bar, and was ad- mitted to practice as an attorney as soon as he came of age. Ile was married, in 1827, to Catharine Musser Medairy, a lineal descendant of one John Bauer, who at the time of the occupation of Alsace by Louis XIV, in 1682, was a large landhokler, residing near the city of Strasburg. Shortly after the peace of Ryswick, Bauer, who was a man of violent and uncompromising temper, gave offence to the new regime by his freedom of speech, and rather than make the necessary apologies and submission, and take the oath of fealty to the new monarch, secretly withdrew from the country with his family, and took refuge in the island of Madeira. From this island, about the middle of the eighteenth century, two of his sons came to America, assuming the name of Madeira or Medairy, and took up their abode near York, in Pennsylvania. Jacob Medairy, a grandson of John Bauer, and the father of Mrs. Brewer, settled in Baltimore, Maryland, toward the close of the last century, and she was born in that city in the year 1807. Judge Brewer had ten children, of whom seven are now living ( 1878). Hle died October 16, 1864, at Annapo-
€
66
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
lis, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, after a protracted ill- ness, which he bore with Christian fortitude. An obituary notice appeared in one of the Annapolis journals from the pen of the late Honorable Reverdy Johnson, a classmate in col- lege of Judge Brewer, from which the following extract is taken : "As a lawyer, his success, if not rapid, was sure; and when, on the 18th of October, 1837, he accepted the appoint- ment of Associate Judge of the Third Judicial District of Maryland, it was at the cost of relinquishing a large and lu- crative practice. When the judicial system was remodelled in 1851, he was, without opposition, elected sole Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit for the term of ten years, at the expiration of which he was again re-elected, and had served but three years of the new term at the time of his death. At the bar, Judge Brewer was noted for his skill and accuracy as a special pleader, and for the thorough preparation of his cases for trial. It was frequently re- marked by his contemporaries, that during a practice of many years, they had never seen him taken by surprise at the trial table. As an equity pleader, it was conceded by his professional brethern that he had few superiors. As a judge, no man could have possessed more entirely the con- fidence of those who resorted to the courts in which he presided. While no man having the right, felt he had aught to fear from the stern integrity of the man, to evil- doers he was verily a terror. At nisi prius, his rulings were prompt, clear, and positive. But it was in equity that his ability as a judge was most conspicuous, and to the force and authority of his orders and decrees in equity the Maryland Reports bear ample testimony. His usefulness was not, however, limited to his profession, or to the faithful performance of official duties. A friend of agriculture in all its branches, especially as a fruit-grower and horticultu- rist, his influence has been felt far and wide in the portion of the State where he resided. Warm and constant in his attachments, of a kind and considerate disposition, he was at the same time firm and decided in his opinions, and fearless in their expression, and intrepid almost to rashness in the performance of what he considered a duty. This latter characteristic contributed much to keep alive that influence in the community which he so often wielded for its benefit and advantage. There are some still living, in Annapolis, who remember how, when a lad, he was in- fluential in defeating a disgraceful attempt, during the war of 1812, to surrender his native city to a British Admiral. Many will remember how, during the session of the slave- holders' convention in that city in 1838, he rescued from the hands of an excited populace, one Charles Torrey, charged with being an 'abolitionist emissary,' and at great personal risk conducted him to a place of safety ; and again, his spiking the loaded eannon 'on the occasion of the memorable (to Annapolitans) riot of July 4, 1847. And who of his fellow-citizens can fail to recall with grati- tude his successful efforts at the breaking out of the re- bellion, in counteracting and defeating the attempt of a few
deluded notables to re-enact at Annapolis the scenes which Baltimore had witnessed on the 19th of April, 1861, at so great an expense of her fair fume and prosperity. Though entering upon the Christian life in the winter of his days, he was no laggard in the new path. The same earnest en- denvor that had marked every previous step in life was in this pre-eminent, and his latest whisper told of his trust in a crucified Redeemer."
PINDSAY, GEORGE W., Judge of the Orphans' Court, was born, May 10, 1826, in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents, William and Elizabeth ' (Griffith) Lindsay, were natives of Fintaugh, Ireland. His father emigrated to America in 1825. Arriving at Baltimore the same year, he entered into the grocery business. He died in 1849, in the fifty-second year of his age. The subject of this sketch attended school from his eighth until his fifteenth year. Having a desire to learn the printing business, he entered into an apprenticeship, in his sixteenth year, with Mr. John Murphy, the well- known publisher of Baltimore, with whom he served for five years. IIe continued in the business for five years after the expiration of his apprenticeship. In 1857, owing to ill health, he gave up the printing business, and estab- lished a real estate and collection agency. For some time he had many discouragements to contend against, but by industry, energy, and indomitable perseverence, suc- ceeded in building up one of the most successful agencies in the country. The firm of George W. Lindsay & Son has attained wide reputation. Its business extends over the United States and part of Europe. For fifteen years, Judge Lindsay was an active fireman. He has always been deeply interested in the Steam Fire Department of Baltimore. In the year 1871, he was elected Judge of the Orphans' Court of Baltimore, which position he filled for four years. Hle was elected for another term in 1875. ITe has been a Director of the Merchants' and Traders' Banking Association of Baltimore, and President of the People's Mutual Land Company. For thirty years he has been an active member of the Secret Benevolent Associa- tion. In 1848, he became connected with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows; in 1849, with the Improved Order of Red Men; in 1863, with the Masonic Fraternity ; and in 1869, with the Knights of Pythias. In 1875, he was elected Chief Officer of the Red Men in the United States; and in the Knights of Pythias, he has held the second office in the Supreme Lodge of the World. He has filled other important positions in these various orders, and his name is familiar to the members of these fraterni- ties in all parts of the country where these organizations exist. Judge Lindsay's parents were members of the Episcopal Church, and he has continued in the same
no good
1
67
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
faith. He was christened in St. Paul's Church, Baltimore ; was a member of its Sunday school; and was one of its communicant, until the erection of Mt. Calvary Church. He finally became a member of Ascension Church, at La- fayette Square, Baltimore; as a vestryman of which he has served for several years. llis political views are Dem- ocratie, and he has always worked for the advancement of that party. On the 10th of January, 1847, he married Elizabeth Aull, of Baltimore. Ile has six children, three sons and three daughters. His unbiassed and equitable decisions, courtesy, generosity, and unflinching advocacy of truth and justice, have given Judge Lindsay a high place in the esteem of the best class of his fellow-citizens.
AGNER, HON. ALEXANDER BURTON, Lawyer, was born in the city of Washington, D. C., July 13, 1826. He was the youngest but one in a family of ten children. Ilis parents were Peter and Frances (Randall) Ilagner. He was sent to the best schools in Washington and Georgetown, and in 1843, to Princeton College, from which he graduated in June, 1845. Ile then read law in Annapolis, Maryland, with his uncle, Ilon. Alexander Randall, with whom, in 1854, he entered into partnership. This partnership con- tinued until 1876, when Mr. Randall withdrew, and the fırın of Randall & Ilagner was continued with the son of his former partner, J. Wirt Randall, as a member. Since his admission to the bar Mr. Ilagner has been actively en- gaged in the duties of his profession, in the Court of Ap- peals, Circuit Courts of Anne Arundel, Calvert, and other counties, in the courts of Baltimore city, and before committees of the Legislature. IIc has been engaged in numerous important cases involving novel and interesting questions, among which were the mandamus cases of Mar- shall against Ilarwood, respecting the title of the office of State Librarian ; of Magruder against Swann, and Gwinn against Groome, involving the question of the right of a State court to issue a mandamus against the Governor ; the Adjutant-General's case of MeBlair against Bond ; and the injunction cases of Gilbert against Arnold, and Hunt against Townshend, which determined the questions of property in Maryland between the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Ilagner has been engaged for the defence in the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel County in several conspicnons criminal cases, among which were those against Mrs. Wharton for the poisoning of Gen. Ketchum and Mr. Van Ness. Under the Constitution of Maryland of 1864, he acted as special judge in Prince George's County, in a large number of cases where the county judge was dis- qualified to act. Hle was Judge Advocate of the Naval
Court of Inquiry, of which Commodore Morris was Presi- dent, called in 1850, to investigate the conduct of Com- mander Ilunter in the capture of the Alvarado; and of the Naval General Court-Martial which was in session in San Francisco, from February to June, 1876, for the trial of Pay Inspector Spalding. Mr. Hagner was the attorney of the Farmers' National Bank of Annapolis, of which he has been a director for several years. In politics, he be- longed to the Whig party, and as such was elected to the Legislature in 1854, and during the session served as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. In 1857, he was an Independent Union Candidate for Con- gress, but was defeated, and in 1874, was again a candidate indorsed by the Republican Convention of the district, with the same result. He served, in 1860, as a Bell and Everett Elector for Maryland. On the 20th of January, 1879, he was appointed one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, to succeed Judge Olin. He married, in 1854, Louisa, daughter of Randolph Harrison, of Virginia.
e BOYD, WILLIAM A., Merchant and Manufacturer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 25, 1810. His father, Alexander Boyd, was born in Bangor, Maine, and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Bowen, was born in Baltimore. Mr. Boyd began life in humble circumstances. In boyhood he cultivated studious habits, and was exceedingly indus- trious. After having served a brief term as an apprentice in the manufacturing of cigars and tobacco, he commenced as master-workman in that vocation, and by industry, in- tegrity, and frugality was enabled to occupy a commanding and lucrative position among those engaged in that branch of industry. In the year 1830 he married Harriet Rust, the second daughter of Samuel and Martha Rust, of Bal- timore. Six children were the fruits of that union. In 1835, he commenced the wholesale tobacco commission business, with Thomas Chappell, under the firm name of Boyd & Chappell, on South Street, Baltimore, the site now occupied by the Safe Deposit Company. In 1837, the firm removed its place of business to Pratt Street, west of Cal- vert, where it did an extensive export trade with St. Thomas, Demerara, Jamaica, and the West India ports gen- erally. Ilis partner, Mr. Chappell, died in the year 1846, and Mr. Boyd continued the business alone, Hle subse- quently associated with him his half-brother, Mr. B. F. Gees, and in 1857 removed to New York city, where he opened a branch of the Baltimore house, which proved very successful. In order to regain his health, which had been impaired on account of close application to business, he abandoned the branch house in New York in 1862. The Baltimore house, however, continued a successful ca-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.