USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 22
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 22
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ISS, PHHIP, was born at the family homestead, seven miles from Baltimore, Maryland, on the old Harford Road, July 13, 1795. Ilis father, Jacob Iliss, was a native of Pennsylvania, and removed from that State to Maryland, locating at the place above mentioned, in the year 1750. The old homestead is still in possession of the family. Jacob Iliss married
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Elizabeth Gatch, a sister of Philip Gatch, who went to Ohio and became an Associate Judge with the late Judge Mel.can, of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ile had a large family, consisting of eight sons and eight daughters, all of whom were born at the family homestead, and remained there during their early life. Seven of them are still living, and the youngest died at the age of thirty- five. The ancestors of Philip Hiss, on the paternal side, came from Germany, and on the maternal side, from Sweden. The subject of this sketch received his early education at the country school, near his birthplace ; and at the age of sixteen left home and went to Baltimore, where he became an apprentice with Lambert Thomas, in the cabinetmaking business. After completing his ap- prenticeship, he remained there and worked as journeyman for two years, at the expiration of which time he entered into copartnership with Mr. George Austen, in the cabinet- making and furniture business. Ile commenced business on West Fayette Street, near Howard, Baltimore, where he remained until he retired from business, in 1860. Ile was a member of Captain Stephens's Company, of the Twenty- seventh Regiment, at the time of the battle of North Point, in 1814, and at the close of the war received an honorable discharge, and the bounty granted by the United States Government for faithful patriotic service. Ile has held no public office, and never joined any secret or beneficial so- ciety. On the 25th of August, 1816, being then twenty- one years of age, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the city of Baltimore, of which he has been an active and faithful member ever since. He is connected with the Madison Avenue Methodist Church, of which he was one of the original founders. In the year 1819, he joined the Asbury Sunday-school Society, and has been prominent and very efficient in the Sunday-school work in the city of Baltimore since that time. Ile was an old-line Whig until the formation of the Republican party, with which he has since been identified. On the 31st of January, 1826, he married Sarah, daughter of Jacob Rogers, of Baltimore, and has had seven children, three sons and four daughters, of whom five are living, two sons and three daughters. They are all residents of Baltimore, and the oldest is forty-eight years of age. Mr. Hiss is a man of medium stature, about five feet six inches in height, genial in manner, and full of life and activity. Ile never used intoxicating liquors or tabacco, and never entered a theatre. Ilis life throughout has been regulated in accordance with the teachings of the Bible, and has been one of eminent success and usefulness.
LEXANDER, COLONEL CHARLES MADISON, Law- yer and Patent Attorney, the son of Charles and Martha ( Madison) Alexander, was born in Wood- ford County, Kentucky, November 7, 1832. ITis father was born near Staunton, Virginia, and his mother in Jessamine County, Kentucky. She was a near
relative of P'resident Madison. His father was the brother of Sir William Alexander, Baron of the Exchequer under George Third, and of Robert Alexander, whose son, the late R. Atchison Alexander, was the great stock breeder of the world. Their only sister is the wife of Hon. Thomson Hankey, of London, who served a term as Governor of the Bank of England, and has now been for years a member of Parliament. He is also a large banker and shipowner. The Alexanders are lineal descendants of the famous Lord Stirling. Charles Alexander was a lawyer and a most accomplished linguist, speaking six languages with fluency and ease. His son, Charles Madi- son, commenced the study of the languages at the age of seven, and prosecuted his studies at the preparatory schools until he was seventeen, when he matriculated at Marietta College, Ohio, and graduated in 1852. Ilis father having removed to New Albany, Indiana, he engaged in that place in the wholesale and retail book trade. Unfortunately he indorsed notes for friends, and soon lost a considerable fortune. He removed to Washington, District of Colum- bia, in 1856, and studied law, making Patent Law a spe- cialty. At the first note of alarm, in 1861, he enlisted as a private soldier, and served with the three months troops. It should also be recorded that 'all his relatives of the same name, though residing in slave States, without having learned each other's sentiments, espoused, with one accord, the Union cause, and without swerving in a single instance from their principles, endured all the fearful hardships of the four years' war. In the latter part of 1861, Colonel Alexander was largely instrumental in raising the Second Regiment of District Volunteers, in which he was made Major, and mustered into service in February, 1862. In less than a year, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel of volunteers, and placed in command of this regiment, at the head of which he remained till it was mustered out, in the spring of 1865. They were engaged in a number of the severest battles, including South Mountain and Antie- tam. Immediately after the latter, he was placed for a short time in command of Griffin's Brigade-that officer being disabled-and had an engagement with the enemy near Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in which his escape from death seemed miraculous. A large shell burst not more than twelve feet distant, throwing him to the ground with his horse, but neither suffered serious injury. During the winter of 1862-3, he was in command of the Division of General Mike Cochran. In 1864, at the Fort Stephens fight, his regiment was the first to reach the scene of action ; they held the line to the right of the fort until the ar- rival of the Sixth Corps, and were engaged in severe skirmish fighting during the entire day. When his regi- ment was mustered out, in 1865, believing the war to be practically over, and anxious to resume the practice of his profession, at his request, he was honorably discharged. During the latter part of the administration of Andrew Johnson, he was appointed Postmaster of the city of Wash-
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ington, but resigned during the first term of General Grant. For awhile after the war, Colonel Alexander acted with the Republican party, but is now independent. His re- ligious sympathies are with the Presbyterian Church. He has been, for a number of years, the humorous correspond. ent of The Turf, Field and Farm, under the nom de plume of Alec, and his letters are read and enjoyed in all sections of the country. In 1855, he married Miss Dow, a cousin of Lorenzo Dow, and granddaughter of Nathaniel MeLean, brother of Chief Justice Mellan. Colonel Alexander has undoubtedly a brilliant future yet before him, both profes- sionally and as a writer,
ENMEAD, FRANCIS, was born at Baltimore, Mary- land, November 15, 1829. Ilis ancestors on his father's side were natives of Ireland; on his mother's side, of France. His father, Adam Den- mead, a native of Maryland, was for many years en- gaged in Baltimore, on the corner of North and Monument Streets, in the manufacture of engines and other machinery. lle was a man of unusual force of character, and by in- dustry and sagacity, built up a large and lucrative busi- ness. He was highly esteemed by all who knew him. Francis Denmead was educated in the Baltimore schools, and the old St. Mary's College. After leaving school, he spent a few years assisting in the iron works of his father, under whose watchful eye and guidance he laid the foun- dation for that thorough practical knowledge which was afterward to show itself so distinctively in the man. When nincteen years of age, he went South, and spent about three years in Georgia and South Carolina, helping his uncle, Edward Demead, who had, for many years, in both of these States, been engaged as a large railroad con- tractor. In 1851, he went to Virginia and entered into a railroad contract on his own account. As contractor, he built the whole superstructure of the Virginia and Tennes- see Railroad. In this he was engaged about seven years. In 1857, he went to Baltimore, purchased the ground and buiklings on the corner of Block Street and West Falls Avenue, and engaged in the manufacture of malt, which business, together with the purchase and sale of hops, he has ever since carried on. He has added to his buildings until they now run seventy feet on Block Street, and one hundred and seventy on West Falls Avenue. For a number of years his sales have ranged from three to five hundred thousand dollars. Among the malt-houses of Baltimore his house stands in the front rank. His success has not been the result of mere fortuitous circumstances, but of close attention to business, energy and careful forethought. On the 15th of November, 1854, he married Rosalie V., daughter of Captain Pleasant Labby, one of the oldest tobacco manufacturers of Virginia, and one of the first, if not the first, in Lynchburg, of which city he has several
tines held the Mayoralty, and many other positions of trust and responsibility. Mr. Denmead has eight children living. Two of his sons, Francis and Charles, assist him in his business.
URVIANCE, COMMODORE HUGH YOUNG, of the United States Navy, was born in the city of Balti- more, March 22, 1799. Ile was the son of James Purviance, who was born in Baltimore, in 1772, and died in 1836, and Eliza Young, a native of Virginia, who died. in Baltimore, in 1815. His paternal great- great-grandfather was a Iluguenot refugee, who was driven from France on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, and settled in Ireland. The Commo- dore's grandfather, Robert Purviance, was born at Castle Fin, Ireland, and came to America in 1763. On the adop- tion of the Constitution of the United States, this gentle- man was appointed by General Washington, Naval Officer of the port of Baltimore, for service rendered during the Revolutionary war, and on the death of General Otho Holland Williams, who was at the same time appointed Collector, Mr. Purviance was appointed his successor, in 1794. Ile held this office until his death, which occurred in October, 1806. In the war of 1812-15, James Purvi- ance, father of the Commodore, was a member of Captain Samuel Sterrett's Independent Company, and was at the battles of Bladensburg and North Point. He was buried in the First Presbyterian Church cemetery, corner of Green and Fayette Streets, Baltimore. The Commodore's mother was a daughter of Hugh Young and Mary Selden, of Elizabeth City, Virginia. The latter was the daughter of Colonel Cary Selden, a descendant of the Seldens of Eng- land, some of whom figured during the time of Charles the First. The celebrated John Selden, the historian and statesman, whose life illustrates what was excellent in the reign of Charles the First, was a near relative of his imme- diate ancestors. Colonel Selden's mother's maiden name was Cary. She came from England, with her two brothers, Wilson and Miles, about the year 1712, and settled in Vir- ginia, The Carys trace their descent from Henry Cary, maternal cousin of Queen Elizabeth, who was created by her Earl of Hunsdon. Henry Cary's daughter Catharine married Lord Howard, of Effingham, who was constituted by Queen Elizabeth, Lord Chamberlain of her household, and Lord High Admiral of England. Ile was com- mander-in-chief of the fleet by which the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588, and of another squadron which sailed against Cadiz, in the year 1596, having on board a number of land forces, under the command of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. In that year he was created Earl of the County of Nottingham. It was his Countess Catharine, daughter of Henry Cary, Lord Hunsdon, to whom the art of Essex is said to have delivered the
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ring that had been given him by Queen Elizabeth, ns a pledge of her perpetual favor. This ring was intended by the Earl, then under sentence of death, to be carried to the Queen, accompanied by a request of her Majesty's pardon, but was concealed from political motives by the Countess of Nottingham. Colonel Cary Selden married Elizabeth Jennings, daughter of Colonel Jennings, cousin of Sarah Jennings, wife of the Duke of Marlborough. Colonel Jennings was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, one of the Supreme Council, and Deputy Governor of Virginia. Dr. Porteus, the celebrated Bishop of London, was the son of this lady, who, on the death of Colonel Selden, returned to England, in 1730, settled in Yorkshire, and there married the father of Dr. Porteus. The an- cestry of the Commodore, on his mother's side, were re- lated to Captain John Creichton, a famous cavalier, who exhibited great loyalty and bravery in Scotland during the reigns of Charles II, James II, and William III, and whose life is found among the writings of Dean Swift. When Robert Purviance, the grandfather of Commodore Purviance, emigrated to America, in 1763, he and his elder brother Samuel established a commercial house in Balti- more the same year in which they arrived in that city. These two gentlemen were the financial agents for the Government during the Revolution. Samuel was the chairman of the famous Whig committee, and both were very active at a time which tried men. Their brother John established himself in Philadelphia, and their brother Wil- liam selected North Carolina as his residence. In 1788, Samuel Purviance went to the western country for the pur- pose of having surveyed and laid off for disposition, large tracts of land in Kentucky and Virginia. At that time all the western country was a wilderness, and inhabited by none but savages. In descending the Muskingum River to reach the Ohio, he was captured by a party of Indians and massaered. Commodore Hugh Young Purviance, the subject of this sketeh, attended school in Baltimore until fifteen years of age. He then went to St. Mary's College, where he remained for two years. Having completed his studies, he went to Europe, where he remained two years. On his returu he was appointed a midshipman from Mary- land, in the United States Service, November 3, 1818. Ile served in the frigate Congress, in 1819-21, on the East India station, and the Franklin, seventy-four-gun ship, 1821-4, in the Pacific squadron, and in the North Caro- lina, seventy-four-gun ship, Mediterranean squadron, 1824 -. 7. Ile was commissioned as Lieutenant, March 3, 1827, and served in the sloop-of-war Falmouth, West India squadrou, 1828-30; sloop-of-war Peacock, East ludia squadron, 1833-4; Rendezvous, Baltimore, 1836-7; Brazil squadron, 1837-8, commanding brig Dolphin and sloop-of- war Fairfield; relieved an American schooner from the French blockade at Salado, River Platte : for the latter service the Government acknowledged its great satisfac- tion for the manner in which the negotiation was con-
ducted ; Rendezvons, Baltimore, 1839-40; Brandywine, Mediterranean squadron, 1841 2; Rendezvous, Baltimore, 1843; commanding brig Pioneer, coast of Africa, 1843; frigate Constitution, Mexican blockade, 1846. . Ile was commissioned as Commander, March 7, 1849, serving on receiving-ship Consort, Baltimore, 1850-1; commanded sloop-of-war Marion, coast of Africa, 1852-5. IIe re- ceived his commission as Captain, January 28, 1856; com- manded frigate St. Lawrence on the blockade off Charles- ton and Southern coast, 1861 ; captured the Confederate privateer Petrel off Charleston, when just twelve hours out. This was the first capture that was made at the com- meneement of the civil war. She had formerly been a revenue cutter in the service of the United States, and had been seized by the rebel government. Captain Purvianee captured several prizes, and participated in the fight of the Merrimae, gunboats, and batteries off Sewall's Point, Hampton Roads. IIe was commissioned as Commodore, July 16, 1862; lighthouse inspector, 1863-5. Ile received a vote of thanks from the Maryland Legislature, in recog- nition of his patriotic services. He was married, October 23, 1834, to Miss Elizabeth R., daughter of James Beatty, Esq., of Baltimore. Two daughters were the fruit of this union. The eldest, Elizabeth, was the wife of B, Atkin- son, a nephew of Bishop Atkinson, of Virginia; Frances Susan, the other daughter, is the wife of General Adam E. King, of Delaware. The Commodore's history is one of unwavering attachment to the Union. Ilis religious views are essentially Presbyterian.
CHAMBERS, HON. EZEKIEL FORMAN, Jurist and Statesman, was a native of Kent County, Mary- land, and the son of General Benjamin Cham- bers, a sketch of whom is contained in this volume. 2. He died at his residence, in Chestertown, Maryland, January 30, 1867. After his death, the following interest- ing autobiographical sketch was found among his mann- scripts: "1 was born in Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland, February 28, 1788, and have resided there all my life. My parents were General Benjamin Chambers (of the family of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania), and Eliza- beth Forman, daughter of Ezekiel Forman, and niece to General David Forman, who was greatly distinguished during the Revolutionary war, in Jersey, his native State, under the nom de guerre of . Black D; vid.' My father was an officer in the famous Maryland line, under Colonel Smallwood, for a short time, and was a brigadier in the war of 1812, and was, for many years, clerk of the county, as my grandfather Forman had been before him. I com- meneed my collegiate course at a very early age, at Wash- ington College, Chestertown, where I graduated when between sixteen and seventeen years of age. My legal
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studies were immediately commenced under the late Judge James Houston, and I was admitted to the bar in March, 1808, being but a few days beyond the age of twenty. Mr. Houston was appointed District Judge of the United States, for Maryland, about the time of my coming to the bar, and his professional business fell into my hands; this circumstance, together with the fact that my father was clerk of the court of the county, and a popular man, gave me at once a large practice, which continued until my pro- motion to the Bench. From the age of seventeen, I took an active part in the party politics of the day, frequently canvassing the county and the counties adjacent, and mak- ing addresses to the popular meetings, having been a zeal- ous member of the old Democratic party, until its disruption after Mr. Monroe's administration. Frequent offers to send me a delegate to the Legislature were declined, and in 1821, the nomination to Congress was offered to me, when the election was considered as a certain result. It was de -. clined on account of the permanent ill health of my then widowed mother, whose situation required my constant personal attention. In 1822, I was made a member of the State Senate, against my earnest remonstrances, by the College of Electors, then having the constitutional power to elect that branch of the Legislature, for the term of five years. Before the expiration of that term, in the winter of 1825, I was appointed by the Senate, as a member of a committee of three-the late Robert Ilenry Goldsborough, afterwards a Senator of the United States, and Mr. Archi- bald Lee, who were then members of the House of Dele- gates, the other two-with instructions to visit the Gover- nors and Legislatures of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, to arrange a system of legislation which might se- cure to those States perfect security for their free colored inhabitants, while at the same time it should facilitate the recovery of slaves absconding from Maryland. This object was accomplished, and the result was entirely satisfactory until it was resolved, unwisely it is now generally conceded, by those who controlled the affairs of the State, to urge a decision in Prig's case, in the Supreme Court, declaring this legislation to be opposed to the Constitution of the United States. While absent from the State on this mission, Colonel Edward Lloyd, who had been re-elected to the Senate of the United States for six years, resigned before having taken his seat under this re-election, and without my knowledge, I was elected in his place. I took my seat in the Senate, February 22, 1826, and at the expi- ration of the first term of six years, was re-elected and served three years more, when, after nine years' service, in 1834, I was appointed Chief Judge of the Second Judicial District of the State, and a Judge of the Court of Appeals, which office I continued to fill until the year 1851, when the judiciary was remodelled and made clective by the new Constitution. I was an active member of the Convention of 1850, to remodel the Constitution and propose a new one, and claim the merit of being the most ardent oppo-
ment of the (to Maryland) novel and unwise system of constituting the judiciary by a popular election of judges. Since the adoption of the new Constitution, I have busily oc- cupied myself in the profession of the law and farming ; and my design is to continue, while life and health are allowed me, to keep up the active mode of life to which I have al- ways been accustomed, esteeming it necessary not only as the only means of fulfilling the purpose of my being, but also the surest means of health and happiness. Having no aspirations for political life, I have kept aloof from any union with either of the political parties that at present di- vide the country, professing still the same old- fashioned creed, which under the patronage of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other distinguished Whig leaders flourished more than thirty years since. An offer was made me by President Fillmore to act as Secretary of the Navy, in 1852, on the resignation of Secretary Graham. My health at the time was not good, and the offer was declined. It may not be amiss to say that I was honored, in 1833, with a diploma, as Doctor of Laws, by Yale College, and had a similar honor from the Delaware College, in 1853. The degree of A.M. had been received from Washington Col- lege, as of course, in two years after graduating. I had been appointed by the executive one of three commis- sioners-Chancellor Johnson and Colonel James Boyle, being the other two-to act with commissioners from Vir- ginia in settling the disputed boundary line between Mary- land and Virginia. Chancellor Johnson died on his way to the appointed place of meeting, and after much dis- cussion with the Virginia commissioners, the disputed line was left unsettled. I was in service as a military man in the war of 1812, having command of a most efficient vol- unteer company in the regiment of Maryland militia, com- manded by the veteran, Colonel Reed, which was kept on active duty during all the time the British were in the Chesapeake, and by which regiment the battle of Caulk's Field was so gallantly fought in 1814, in which Admiral Sir Peter Parker was killed." Judge Chambers was dis- tinguished as a churchman. Ile was elected April 23, 1821, one of the vestry of Chester Parish, and from his first appointment as a lay delegate, May 21, 1823, always represented his parish in the State conventions of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church of Maryland. For many years he was a representative of the Diocese of Maryland, in the General Conventions of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. After having served several years as one of the Board of Visitors and Governors, he was elected, September 2, 1843, President of Washington Col- lege, and continued to hold that 1.osition until his death. The life of this distinguished jurist and statesman, as indi- cated by the foregoing, was filled with usefulness and hon- orable deeds, and his name goes down to posterity connected with one continued elfort to faithfully perform every duty imposed upon him, so that the country and the world should be benefited by his having lived in it.
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ROYCE, HONORABLE EUGENE T., State Senator, son of Thomas and Celia Joyce, was born in the town of Clifden, County Galway, Ireland, March 28, 1839. Owing to the death of his father, which oc- cured white Mr. Joyce was about six years of age, his educational advantages were limited, and early in life he was thrown upon his own exertions for support. Through self-discipline, perseverance, and the advantages of extensive travel, he became qualified to discharge the various duties required of him in the prominent positions which he has been called upon to fill during his active business and political career. He emigrated to Canada, in company with his mother, sister and one brother ; after re- siding there for several years, he went to Virginia in search of an uncle, where he remained a short time, afterward go- ing to Louisiana. Leaving New Orleans, he took passage for Europe, and travelled through France, England and Ire- land. Soon after his return to this country, he sailed from Boston to California, where he remained a few months, and removed to Baltimore to engage in the hotel business, in which he continued from 1860 to 1877. He was also engaged in the real estate business from 1865 to 1872. HIe is at present engaged in the shipping business. In 1867, he organized a regiment of infantry, known as the Emmet Guards-Maryland National Guard-of which he was colonel until the fall of 1868, when he resigned on account of his health. In the spring of 1869, he was re-elected Colonel, in opposition to the Honorable George P. Kane, Mayor of Baltimore. Having taken an active part in politics, he was chosen as one of the nominees of the Democratic party for Representative, and elected to the House of Delegates in the year 1874. The following year, he was elected to the State Senate, taking his seat in 1876, to serve until 1880. He is a man of great personal popu- larity, and has been an active and useful member of the Legislature. Ile is a member of the Catholic Church, and in 1877, was Chief Knight of the Knights of St. Patrick, an organization which dispenses its charities without re- gard to nationality or creed. He was married, January 29, 1859, to Margaret (. Hesten, daughter of Richard Heslen, deceased, a former merchant of Baltimore, and has five children living, two sons and three daughters.
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