USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 17
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 17
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ing and shipping operations have been very heavy, and latterly his business has assumed such proportions that he is now regarded as one of the most extensive individual bituminons coal miners and shippers in Maryland and Vir. ginia. Commencing life with very limited advantages, his business career has been remarkably successful. His success has been attained solely through his own exertions, and the exercise of rare prudence, sagacity and judgment. Ile stands in the front rank of the business men of Baltimore, and is a public-spirited citizen, who enjoys the esteem and confidence of the community. Ile has been married twice; first, in 1844, and second, in 1850, both ladies being resi- dents of New York city. His first wife died in 1845, leav- ing one child, a daughter, who is still living. The fruits of his second marriage are six children, four sons and two daughters,' The youngest son died in 1871. The other children are living. Mr. Boyce's eldest son, James, is now largely engaged in the wholesale coal business in the city of New York, and is a member of the firm of Cox & Boyce, Trinity Building, New York.
ARROLL, BENJAMIN CROCKETT, was born in 1819, in the city of Baltimore. His father was James Barroll, a merchant, who died January, 1845. When fifteen years of age, the subject of this sketch was placed as a clerk in his father's counting- room, where he remained until the age of twenty. He then studied law for two years with Hugh Davey Evans, an em- inent member of the bar. After being at the bar a few months, he went as assistant into the office of the Hon. David Stewart, where he remained four years. In 1844, Mr. Barroll married Sarah, daughter of General Randall S. Street, of Poughkeepsie, New York, and confined him- self exclusively to the practice of his profession. When Judge John H. Price was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of Baltimore County, he appointed Mr. Barroll auditor of his court, which place he continued to fill during his ten years' term of office. Judge D. C. HI. Emory, his successor, retained him in the position until his removal under the new Constitution of 1867: In 1869 Mr. Barroll published a work on Maryland Chancery Practice, which has been adopted throughout the State, and in 1878, a work on Mary- land Equity. The father of Mr. Barroll was the son of Rev. William Barroll, a clergyman of the English Church in Cecil County, Maryland, at the time of the Revolution of 1776, and died there shortly after. Mr. Barroll has never mingled in politics, nor held any political office. He has seven children living. Ilis second son, Benjamin C. Bar- roll, Jr., married Miss Emma Lee, daughter of Washing- ton Lee, of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, September, 1874.
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B BALDWIN, EDWARD, Manufacturer of Building Material, Washington, was born in Warrenton, Virginia, September 30, 1830. His parents, Al- mond and Matilda (Seabury) Baldwin, were natives of Connecticut. His father, at the outbreak of the War of 1812, entered the American army, in which he served as an officer until the close of hostilities. He then removed to Warrenton, Virginia, and, in 1841, to Washington, D. C., where he established a factory for the manufacture of buikling material, and was the first to make use of machinery in this' connection. Ilis son Ed- ward was educated in the schools of the District of Co- lumbia. Ile early developed a talent for machinery, and at the age of twenty-six was taken into partnership with his father. The same year he married into the family of W. W. Birch, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of the District. When the Baldwin family settled at the National Capital, in 1841, they found a straggling collection of houses, scattered over a great space, most of them without any of the conveniences of a city dwelling. They were surrounded by great wastes, dignified by the names of streets and avenues, which were quagmires of mud in winter, and Saharas of dust in summer. With one or two exceptions none of these streets were paved, and no attempt was made at drainage. The elder Mr. Baldwin saw with his quick New England eye that Washington must advance, if not through her own exertions, she would be forced onward by outside pressure. It was impossible that the nation should progress so rapidly and the Capital stand still. He saw that a great advantage to the city would be the establishment of a building material manu- factory, where doors, sashes, blinds, shutters, balusters, newels, railings, etc., could be made as needed. The cus- tom of Washington previous to this had been to send North for these things, or to make them by hand. Ilis energy and enterprise soon overcame the many obstacles in his way, and in a short time he was on the highroad to success. His son inherited his characteristics and was constantly on the watch for new enterprises. Perhaps to no other two persons is Washington so much indebted for the change she has undergone from mad and dust and general wretchedness to a well paved, well-drained, beau- tiful and healthful city. The exceedingly kind and pleas- ant disposition and unvarying good humor of Mr. Edward Baldwin has doubtless had much to do with his success m business. llis workmen are greatly attached to him, and in his establishment a strike is unknown. In 1877 he was appointed a member of the Board of School Trustees of the District of Columbia, into which he carried the same spirit of enterprise, and has introduced a number of im- provements and a more business-like method of proce- dure. Mr. Baldwin is a member and vestryman of Trinity Church, Washington. Ile is one of the oldest Knight Templars in the District, having been Past Commander of Washington Commandery, No. 1, and has held other
offices of honor and trust. He has five children. His wife died May 21, 1876, aged forty-one years.
FRENCHI, CAPTAIN ROBERT ARMSTED, Supervisor of Trains and Engines, Second Division, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, son of Captain William and Lucy Ann Culley French, was born in Baltimore city, October 9, 1825. His father was a native of Calvert County, Maryland, and his mother of Mat- thews County, Virginia. Captain French's father was a seafaring man, and for many years was captain of a mer- chant vessel engaged in the bay trade between Baltimore and Norfolk, before the days of steam navigation. He died when the subject of this sketch was about six years of age. Captain Robert A. French received a common school education in Baltimore city. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, he went to sea and followed the life of a sailor for several years, when he returned to Baltimore and served an apprenticeship at ship-carpentering with the. then well-known firm of Brown & Culley, ship-builders, his uncle, Mr. Culley, being a member of the firm. On the completion of his apprenticeship, in 1845, he commenced work as a journeyman, working in Boston one year in the employ of Donald McKay, a celebrated ship-builder of that city, when he returned to Baltimore, and worked as ship-builder until 1849. Ile then entered into the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, at Mt. Clare Station, Baltimore City, as locomotive fireman, running between Baltimore, Martinsburg, and Cumberland. He continued to work as fireman until the year 1853, when he was promoted to the position of locomotive engineer, and went on the first engine that ran through from Baltimore to Wheeling, on the opening of the road in 1853. He was employed as passenger engineer between Wheeling and Newburg, on the fourth division of the road, until 1860, when he was made Dispatcher of Trains at Grafton, West Virginia, and held that position until 1862, when he was prostrated for some time with typhoid fever, which left him partially paralyzed. After his recovery, Mr. Wil- liam P. Smith, Master of Transportation, appointed him passenger conductor on through trains running between Baltimore and Wheeling. Hle continued to act in that capacity until 1872, when he was appointed, by the same gentleman, Supervisor of Trains and Engines, of the second division, on the same road, which position he now holds. llis duties embrace the general supervision of all trains, the general oversight of agents, train men, and all matters pertaining to business done on the road, over a sec- tion of one hundred and six miles of road, from Martins- burg to Piedmont, In his experience of thirty years' rail- roading he has " gone down the bank " at night three times while acting as engineer of a passenger engine, and
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three times while running as passenger conductor, and has been in three collisions, In fact, he has passed through all the dangerous and thrilling experiences of railroad life, yet never received an injury, except having an arm dislo- cated, and has never known of any one being killed or injured on any train with which he has been connected, Ile has been an active member of the Free Masons since 1857, and of the order of Red Men since 1846. lle is a member of the " Railroad Conductors' Life Insurance Association of the United States and Canadas." He was married, in 1846, in Baltimore city, to Miss Mary E. Woods, daughter of Jephtha and Harriet Woods, Mr. Woods being formerly a citizen of Mansfield, Mass., and a soldier in the War of 1812. They have had twelve children, seven of whom are living.
1403 DAREAM, EVERETT, Agent of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Pittsburg Division, at Cum- berland, Maryland, son of Stedman and Mary C. (Wheeler) Maream, was born in Harford, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, March I, 1840. His parents are natives of Massachusetts. His father carried on business as chairmaker and painter at llarford, Pennsylvania, for several years, and also filled the position of postmaster at Montrose Depot, Pennsylva- nia, for some time. Mr. Maream received a common school education at his native town and at Brooklyn, Pa., and in his seventeenth year learned telegraphing. He soon acquired great proficiency in all branches of that business, and was rapidly promoted to the most responsi- ble positions. Ile was first employed as telegraph opera- tor on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, most of the time being stationed at Forks Station, From there he was transferred to Stroudsburg, on the same road, where he remained six months. After which he went to Oxford Furnace, Warren County, New Jersey, where he was also employed as telegraph operator and agent. After remaining there two years, he went to Scranton, Pa., the main office on the Lackawanna road, his service there be- ginning January 1, 1872. He was at first employed there as operator, but was soon promoted to the position of Super- intendent of Telegraph in the general office and Train Dis- patcher, an arduous and very responsible position, which he filled for four years. In 1866, he went from Scranton to Washington City, and entered into the service of the American Telegraph Company, where he remained nine months, and on October 1, 1866, returned to Harford, at what is called Montrose Station, to engage in the wood and lumber business, his transactions being principally with the railroad company, with whom he contracted to supply the road with wood. He continued to do a pros- perous business there until January, 1868, when a change
in the officers of the road having been made, and an over- supply having caused a great reduction in prices, Mr. Maream retired from the business, and accepted a position as telegraph operator on the Morris and Essex Railroad, New Jersey. He remained in the employ of the Morris and Essex Railroad Company until March, 1873, when he went to Cumberland, to enter the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and has continued in the employ of that company to the present time, his services having been of such a character as to secure his early pro- motion to the responsible position which he now holds. He has never been discharged from the service of any company employing him. From boyhood his life has been one of constant industry, and by his strict integrity, and the faithful discharge of the duties required of him, has won the respect and esteem of the community in which he resides, and of all who know him. He was married, February 1, 1862, at Oxford Furnace, Warren County, New Jersey, to Margaret Radle, daughter of John and Catharine Radle, and has six children living.
BROWN, GEORGE STEWART, was born in Baltimore, May 7, 1834, in a house occupying the site on Gre which the City Hall now stands, His father, 6:22 George Brown, was born in Ballymena, Antrim County, Ireland, April 17, 1787, and came to the city of Baltimore in the year 1800. llis mother's maiden name was Isabella McLanahan. She was a native of New Castle, Pennsylvania. Mr. Brown received his academical education at McNaley's Institute, in Baltimore. At the age of sixteen he entered his father's office, who was con- ducting business under the firm name of A. Brown & Son; and at the age of twenty he was achnitted a member of the firm. Ilis father died in 1859, leaving him the only sur- vivor of the firm. In 1867, Mr. W. 11. Graham became associated with him, and in 1872, Mr. W. G. Bourdoin was taken into the firm, Mr. Brown has been for the last ten years, and is now (1878), Paymaster General of the State. Ile was first appointed under Governor Swann, and has been continued in his position by the several suc- ceeding occupants of the gubernatorial chair. Several positions of trust and honor in commercial, benevolent, and religious enterprises have been intrusted to him, Among others, he has been President of the Baltimore and Hlavana Steamship Company; Director in the Na- tional Mechanics' Bank, and is now one of the Park Com- missioners. lle has been a manager of the llouse of Refuge since 1859, and for several years of the Blind Asylum, and also of the Maryland Bible Society. He is one of the trustees of the Peabody Institute, and has been connected with the Canton Company for twenty years, either as Vice-President or Director. He has been long
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Identified with the Young Men's Christian Association, and notably the most liberal contributor to its support. For several years he has been a Director in the Calvert Sugar Refinery Company, and is now a Director in the Union Railroad Company. He hus twice served the city on the Harbor Committee, and also on the Committee on Manufactures. Mr. Brown was married to Miss Ilarriet Eaton, of New York city, in 1857. They have one son, Mevander, named after his great-grandfather. Politically, he is a Democrat ; although at all times preferring " the right man in the right place," independent of his political views. Religiously, he is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He has travelled extensively in Europe, having visited it several times, spending altogether about six years.
EWCOMER, JOHN, father of B. F. Newcomer, whose sketch is contained in this volume. Of his early life we have no details, save that he was born, December 18, 1797, and that he was 's married to Catharine Newcomer, December 12, 1822. Ilis home was in Washington County, Maryland, where he died, April 21, 1861. Mr. Newcomer was a man of the strictest integrity and veracity, liberal, disinter- ested, frank, and sincere. As a Christian, he was zealous, earnest, and untiring ; and as a business man, he had per- haps a more extensive experience than any other citizen in his county. He was always prompt, active, and diligent, mingling with his duties a never-failing courtesy, and a bland, kind forbearance, that rendered intercourse with him a delight. He was a devoted friend, never swerving from the true line of sincerity. The interests of others seemed to be his study, and this trait caused him to appear as fulfilling his life mission when occasion enabled him to contribute by any labor or sacrifice to the happiness of his fellow-men. He fulfilled to the letter, as completely, perhaps, as man has ever done, that beautiful characteristic shadowed forth in the Apostolic injunction, " in honor preferring one another." ITis popularity was unbounded, and the people of his county elevated him to the most re- sponsible public stations whenever he sought their suf- frages. In 1836, he was elected sheriff of the county, in which office he served the full term of three years. In 1840, he was elected to the State Senate, and served six years. In 1846, he was elected County Commissioner, and served three years. In 1850, he was elected to thic Convention which framed the present State Constitution, and served until that important body closed its sessions. In 1859, he reluctantly consented to become a candidate for County Commissioner, and was the only one of the five candidates on the ticket with him who was elected to that office, and which he held at the time of his decease. In all these responsible positions, he rose far above the mere
level of the politician, by discharging his duties with an eye single to the public good, thereby establishing a repu- tation for integrity which the breath of calumny dared not sully.
EWCOMER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, was born in Washington County, Maryland, April 28, 1827, and is the eldest son of Jolin and Catharine Newcomer. Ilis earliest progenitor in the United States came to Philadelphia, from Switzerland, about the year 1720. Some of his descendants settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and from that State, three brothers-Christian, Peter, and Henry-removed to Washington County, Maryland, where they became owners of large landed estates, in the vicinity of Beaver Creek, near Hagerstown. Ilenry was the great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch. Benjamin F. was born in the old homestead of Henry, which is still in pos- session of the family, and is now the residence of his mother, who was a Newcomer before her marriage. Of a naturally strong mathematical turn of mind, he was edu- cated at the Ilagerstown Academy, with a view to civil engincering as his future calling; but, in the year 1842, his father formed a connection with Samuel Stonebraker, and established, in Baltimore, the house of Newcomer & Stonebraker, wholesale dealers in flour and grain, and sent this son, then but sixteen years of age, to represent his in- terests in the business. In a short time, that firm became the leaders in that line in the city. For many years their sales aggregated one-tenth of all the flour sold in Balti- more. At the age of eighteen, the son purchased his father's entire interest in the establishment ; having at that period sole charge of the correspondence and financial department of the house. Previous to this, realizing that there was much to be done towards completing his educa- tion, he had become a member of the Mercantile Library Association, and very soon thereafter a director in that in- stitution, spending his evenings in reading, study, and attending lectures, including several courses on philosophy, astronomy, and chemistry. In 1862, the firm of New- comer & Stonebraker was dissolved, and that of New- comer & Co. was established, in the same line. That house continues to the present time; occupying a position second to none in integrity and substantial capital. It is widely known throughout the nation, and everywhere bears an untarnished reputation. When a little over twen- ty-one years of age, Mr. Newcomer married Amelia, daughter of John II. Ehlen, Esq., one of the earliest stockholders, and, for many years, a director in the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad Company ; as also, in the Chesa- peake Bank, and in the Firemen's Insurance Company ; a gentleman noted for his integrity in business, genial manners, and general kindheartedness. At the carly age
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of twenty-five years, Mr. Newcomer became one of the | be attributed to a good mother and a good wife, in both corporators, with Judge John Glenn, Jacob J. Cohen, Wil- of which he has been peculiarly blessed. In the spring of 1870, accompanied by Mrs. Newcomer, he joined, at Paris, their eldest danghter, who had been sent there to complete her education. Together, they made the tour of Southern Europe and Great Britain. Again, in 1877, accompanied by his wife and two younger daughters, he made another, and more extended tour, embracing France, Italy, Ger- many, part of Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, England, and Scotland. liam George Baker, J. Smith Hollins, J. N. MeJilton, and David Laughery, in obtaining an act of incorporation from the Maryland Legislature for the " Maryland Institution for Instruction of the Blind." That institution is in a highly flourishing condition, and has been remarkably successful in educating large numbers of these afflicted ones to be- come useful and self-supporting citizens. Of the original corporators, Mr. Newcomer is the only survivor. He is treasurer, and still takes an active interest in its welfare. In 1854, he was elected a Director in the Union Bank of Maryland (now the National Union Bank). During the whole of his connection with that bank he was the young- est member of the board. In 1868, he resigned his posi- tion, on account of the great pressure of other business. He was also one of the original promoters of the Corn and Flour Exchange, organized in 1853, and which has come to be one of the most important mercantile institu- tions in Baltimore, now numbering about five hundred members. In 1861, he was elected a Director in the Northern Central Railway Company, and, soon after, was made Chairman of the Finance Committee, holding that position until his resignation, in 1875. At a meeting of stockholders of this company, held in Baltimore, in Feb- ruary, 1878, at the carnest solicitation of the officers of the company, he was induced to consent to a re-election in the board. With William T. Walters, Esq., he served as one of the Finance Commissioners of the city of Balti- more, from 1867 to 1869; discharging the duties of the commission with that fidelity which has characterized his whole business course. After the close of the war, he ac- quired large interests in various railroads in the States of North and South Carolina; and is now Vice-President of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company, and also a director in several other Southern roads. In 1868, he was elected President of the Safe Deposit and Trust Com- pany of Baltimore. This is a corporation chartered for the safe keeping of bonds, stocks, and valuables of every description, in its fire and burglar-proof vaults; and for the purpose of acting as executors, administrators, guar- dians, trustees, etc. Mr. Newcomer is confessedly pecu- liarly qualified for this position, by his well-known finan- cial ability, and his thorough knowledge of testamentary and other laws governing business transactions. He has also been a Director in the National Exchange Bank; is now a Director in the Third National Bank, and in the Savings Bank of Baltimore. While, in manners, he is the courtcous gentleman, he is but little given to consultation with others. He thinks and acts for himself, and promptly arrives at his conclusions and decisions. He shrinks from notoriety, and of all the positions he has been called upon to fill, not one was ever sought by him. Ilis attachments and affections are strong and ardent. He has frequently said that whatever successes he has achieved in life, can
CARROLL, CHARLES, of Carrollton, was born in An- napolis, Maryland, September 30, 1737. Ile was the son of Charles and Elizabeth ( Brook) Carroll, and the grandson of Charles Carroll, the son of Daniel Carroll, of Kings County, Ireland. At the age of eight years he was sent to France to be educated. Ile remained six years at the College of English Jesuits at St. Omer; one year at a College of French Jesuits, at Rheims; two years at the College of Lonis le Grand; one ycar at Bourges, to study civil law, and then returned to college at Paris. In 1757, he went to London, and com - menced the study of law in the Temple. He returned, to Maryland in 1764, and became deeply interested in the exciting topics of that day. Ile achieved distinction among the ablest political writers of that generation, and in a controversy, concerning " settling fees by proclama- tion," with Daniel Dulany, he won a reputation for wis- dom and profound reasoning which placed him in the front rank of the champions of freedom, and decided his career for life. In December, 1774, he was appointed one of the " Committee of Correspondence for the Province of Maryland." In 1775, he was made one of the " Commit- tee of Observation for Anne Arundel County," and, also, one of the "Council of Safety" of the Province. lle represented Anne Arundel County in the Maryland Con- vention, which met December 7, 1775. In February, 1776, he was appointed, by the Continental Congress, a Commissioner, with Dr. Benjamin Franklin and Judge Samuel Chase, assisted by Rev. John Carroll, to endeavor to persuade the people of Canada to co-operate in the struggle for independence. When the Commissioners re- turned from their unsuccessful mission, Congress was de- bating the propriety of a Declaration of Independence, . and the situation was critical. On June 28, 1776, the Maryland Convention, then in session at Annapolis, unani- mously resolved that the deputies from Maryland in Con- gress, " be authorized and empowered to concur with the other United Colonies, or a majority of them, in declaring the United Colonies free and independent States." On July 4, 1776, the following were elected deputies to repre- sent Maryland in the Continental Congress: Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, William Paca, Samuel Chase,
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