USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 32
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 32
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ILLIAMS, REV. ROBERT HUNTER, son of Wil- liam and Ann Williams, was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1834. Ile was prepared for college at Newark Academy, Newark, Delaware, and spent part of his college course at Delaware College, where, in the freshman year, he won the second prize for an essay on our " National Greatness." After graduating from Union College, under the presidency of Dr. E. Nott, he entered the Theologieal
Seminary of Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated in April, 1862. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Castle, in April, 1861, and in December of the same year received a call from the churches of Church- ville and Harmony, of Harford County, Maryland, and was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Baltimore, September 2, 1862. Having been called to Frederick, Maryland, he became pastor of the Presbyterian Church of that city, in May, 1864. The church edifice in which he preached had been used as a hospital, the congregation was scattered, the town was filled with commotion and alarm, and two months of his ministry had hardly passed, when he was advised and induced to leave the city before the approach of General Early's army. One of the shells of that army was thrown into the church. The pastor was sought by the Confederates after they entered the city, and when he returned to his home, he saw the blackened fields, three miles from the city, where the battle of Monocacy was fought. Ile was one of the earliest advocates, in the Pres- bytery of Baltimore, of the reunion of the different branches of the Presbyterian Church, and was appointed one of the delegates to represent the Presbytery in the Presbyterian Union Convention, which assembled in Philadelphia, in November, 1867. He was Moderator of the Synod of Balti- more when the reunion of the Old School and New School branches occurred, in 1870, and preached the sermon at the reconstruction of the Synod. With pen and voice he advocated the reunion of the Presbyterian Church South, with the Presbyterian Church, and in October, 1877, se- cured the adoption of resolutions by the Synod of Balti- more, which are softening the asperities of other years. He has published several sermons and addresses, as fol- lows; " The Good Land," " God's Chosen Ruler," " A Time to Weep," " Man's Highest Wants Satisfied," and " History of the Presbyterian Church of Frederick, Maryland."
EVERING, EUGENE, a highly esteemed and success- ful merchant of Baltimore, was born in that city, October 24, 1819. He was in the seventh gene- ration of a family of that name, whose genealogy we propose to briefly trace, Rosier Levering, the first person of the name of whom any account is given, is sup- posed to have been a native of France, and was born about 1600. Ile fled from France during some of the religious persecutions of that day, and took refuge either in Holland or Germany. He married Elizabeth Van De Walle, of Wesel, Westphalia. They had two sons of whom men- tion is made, but whether other children were born to them is not known. What was his occupation, and when he died, are questions to which no answer is given in the records. Their sons were named Wigard and Gerhard. The subject of this sketch is in the line of descent from Wigard Levering. The descendants of Gerhard occupied
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honorable positions in life, and many of them settled in the West. The Nazareth branch of the family were influential members of the Moravian Church, one of whom, John Levering, was a missionary to Jamaica, He was born about the year 1720. Wigard Levering, of the second generation, was born about the year 1648, in the town of Gamen, Westphalia, Germany. He married Magdaline Boker, in 1671, and resided for some time at Wesel, and also at Gamen and Mulheim. They emigrated to America in 1685, bringing with them four children. Their first set- tlement was at Germantown, Philadelphia County, Penn- sylvania, where they lived until 1692, when Wigard bought five hundred acres of land at Roxborough, three miles west of his former residence, extending from the river Schuylkill to the line of German Township. This land had originally been patented by William Penn to Francis Fincher, by a warrant, dated April 25, 1684, and confirmed to him by a deed from Penn's commissioners, dated No- vember 4, 1691. Fincher dying, his widow married Chris- topher Sibthorp, of Philadelphia, who, jointly with his wife Mary, conveyed the entire tract to Wigard for sixty pounds. It is now embraced in the northwestern part of the city of Philadelphia, and composes part of the Twenty-first ward. His wife died, in 1717, at his residence in Roxborough, at the age of ninety-seven, and was interred on his farm. They had twelve children. The tenth child, Jacob, was the first settler of Manayunk, Pennsylvania. William Lev- ering, of the third generation, was born at Mulheim, on the River Rühr, May 4, 1677. He was eight years of age when his parents brought him to America, In 1717, his father conveyed to him a large tract of land in Roxbor- ough. He died in August or September, 1746, and hence was about seventy-five years of age. He had five children, the eldest being a son, and named after his father. William Levering, of the fourth generation, was born at Roxborough, in Angust, 1705. He married Hannah Clem- ents, widow of Robert Clements, May 2, 1732. ller maiden name was Harden. Her first husband was a sea . captain in the East India service, and had married Miss Ilanden when she was but sixteen yours of age. She was of English birth, Mr. Levering was a large landed pro prietor. Ile built the first hotel in Roxborough, now called the " Leverington llotel," which bears on a date- stone the inscription, " Built by William and Hannah Lev- ering, 1731. Rebuilt by Nathan and Sarah Levering, 1784." William carried on the hotel, together with black- smithing and farming, until his decease. At that time his farm embraced two hundred and fifty acres. It was through his exertions that the first school-house was built in Raxborough, the grounds for which having been do- nated by him, in 1748. A school-house has been kept up on that spot, almost without interruption, since that time. It is now known as " The Levering Primary School," The present edifice was erected in 1857. llis wife died, May 23, 1768, aged fifty -nine years. He died,
March 30, 1774, in his sixty-ninth year. They had nine children, Enoch Levering, of the fifth generation, son of William Levering, was born at Roxborough, February 21, 1742. Ile was the owner of a large tanuery at that place, and conducted business there for many years. Ile removed to Baltimore, Maryland, and between the years 1773 and 1775, carried on an extensive grocery business, in partnership with a Mr. Barge, under the firm name of Levering & Barge. IIc married Ilannah Richter, April 10, 1765, a sister of his brother Aaron's wife, Aaron served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, and was promoted for gallantry at Brandywine, Mnd Fort, and Fort Mifflin. Ile removed to Baltimore about the year 1780. These two brothers were the founders of the Levering family in Baltimore, and were very successful merchants. Enoch Levering's wife died, February 21, 1794, in the- fifty-third year of her age, after an illness of twenty years. Ile died in his fifty-fourth year. They had nine children, all sons, of whom Peter was their first-born. Nathan, a brother of Enoch, was born May 19, 1745, and was a public-spirited and benevolent man. lle gave the lot on which the Roxborough Baptist Church is built, and super- intended the building. It cost £580, and was dedicated October 20, 1790. He was a constituent member of the church, which, previous to the erection of the edifice, met at his house. He also gave the lots for the cemetery in . which so many of the Levering family sleep. His son-in- law, Iloratio Gates Jones, son of Rev. Dr. Davis Jones, a chaplain of the Revolution, wrote a very interesting book containing a genealogical account of the Levering family, to which we are indebted for these facts. Peter Levering, of the sixth generation, was born at Roxborough, February 4, 1766, and went to Baltimore with his parents, where he afterwards became extensively engaged in the shipping and commission business, Ile formed a partnership, first un- der the firm name of Levering & Nelms, and then with his sons, as Peter Levering & Sons, Ile built a large sugar refinery an the present site of Abbott's rolling mills. Ile married, May 22, 1798, Hannah Wilson, daughter of Wil. liam Wilson, of the firm of William Wilson & Sons, one of the most extensive shipping houses of Baltimore. They were both members of the First Baptist Church of Baltimore. Mr. Levering died, December 7, 1843, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. llis wife died, April 30, 1854, in her seventy-fifth year. They had fourteen children, Eugene being the twelfth, the only surviving ones being Thomas, an honored grain and commission merchant, of Baltimore, and Louisa Sophia, widow of W. W. Lawrason, a highly respected drygoods merchant of the same' city. Eugene Levering, the subject of this sketch, was of the seventh generation. Hle was born in Baltimore, April 24, 1819, and was the four hundred and fifty-fifth descendant of Wigard Levering. Ilis early education was mainly re- ceived at private schools in Baltimore. He commenced a collegiate course, but was obliged to abandon it in couse-
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quence of an injury sustained in the gymnasium, His first step after leaving school was to enter as a salesman, and afterward as bookkeeper, in a drygoods house. Having acquired sufficient practical knowledge of business, he formed a copartnership, in 1842, in the grocery trade, with his brother, Frederick A., who married Martha E. Johnson, grand-niece of the first Governor of Maryland. They carried on business until about 1847, when they re- moved to Commerce Street, under the firm name of Lever- ing & Company. In the year 1850, they removed to the present extensive building on Commerce Street, near Ex- change Place, which was built for them. In 1861, when the civil war began, they had a large trade with the South, which was not only cut off, but failing to collect, they were compelled to make a compromise, paying fifty cents on the dollar. Near the close of the war they paid off their old indebtedness, with interest, amounting . to nearly one hundred thousand dollars, and were among the few who, not being legally bound, acted in accordance with a high sense of honor. In 1866, Frederick A. died, and Eugene gave his three sons, William, Eugene, and Joshua, an interest in the business, and changed the firm name to E. Levering & Company. The business gradually changed into the importing and jobbing coffee trade exclusively. Notwithstanding the comparative youth of the sons, under their father's training and counsel, they rapidly developed into thorough masters of their business, which they success- fully conducted during their father's sickness. Ile died, after a lingering illness, June 19, 1870. His widow still survives him. In his will, Mr. Levering provided that the business should be carried on as usual for five years after his decease, leaving everything at the risk of the business, and making his three sons his executors. The wisdom of such a course, by many considered critical, was demon- strated by the fact that the estate was thereby largely in- creased. He left about forty thousand dollars to various charitable and denominational institutions, payable after the settling up of the estate, which was effected in 1875. Mr. Levering was a gentleman of fine business qualifica- tions, and of a very amiable disposition. He was affec. tionate toward his family, and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him. He joined the First Baptist Church under Eller Jacob Knapp. His membership in late years was with the Seventh and Eutaw Place Baptist churches, Dr. R. Fuller, pastor. He was true, both to his church and his country, at all times. For many years he was Treas- urer of the Maryland Baptist Union Association. His loss to the denomination was greatly lamented. He married, October 4, 18.12, Ann Walker, daughter of Joshua and Mary E. Walker, of Baltimore, and a descendant of Henry Sater, who came to America from England in 1709 and through whose liberality, and mainly through whose efforts, the first Baptist church in Maryland was formed, in 18.12, at Saters, Baltimore County. They had twelve children, nine of whom are now living.
FACIUS, REV. G., was born at Mainz, on the Rhine, September 22, 1830. Hlis grandfather on his mother's side served in the Prussian army in the . war of 1812, and was one of the most celebrated surgeons of his day. His father, Charles Facius, was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Hesse Darmstadt. The early education of Mr. Facius was received in the Academy of Biedenkoff, Hesse Darmstadt, and afterward at the Gymnasium at Glessen. Immediately after having finished his studies at the gymnasium, in 1847, he left Germany, with his parents, for the United States. Ilere he continued his scientific, classical and theological studies from eight to ten years. Soon after going to Baltimore he assisted in laying the corner-stone of the present Concordia building, on Eutaw Street, of the Concordia Society, then chiefly devoted to literary pursuits. Ile was President of that society for about ten years. From about 1857, for eighteen years, he was first assistant in Professor Knapp's Institute. In 1874, he received a call from the German Reformed Zion Congregation, to organize and become Principal of its day school. In January, 1876, he received a call from the same congregation to become its pastor. IIe was immediately examined and ordained by the Mary- land Classis of the German Reformed Church of the United States, and became pastor of that church. He was one of the founders of the American German Teachers' Associa- tion, of which he has ever since been President. He was for a number of years President of the General German Orphan Asylum. During his Presidency the present build- ing on Aisquith Street was erected. In the pulpit, Mr. Facius is a bold defender of the truth. His sermons are logical and full of pointed and striking illustrations. He has an earnest, forcible, and impressive delivery. His church has already nearly doubled under his ministry. In 1863, he married Leopoldina, daughter of John Lorz, of Bavaria. They have one child. For the last thirty years' he has taken 'an active and efficient part in the intellectual and religious development of the German population of Baltimore.
GODGE, AUGUSTUS WILLIAM, M.D., was born Oc- tober 28, 1837, at Cedarville, Herkimer County, New York. Hle is the son of Caleb Dodge, Esq., a native of Montgomery County, New York, who married Miss Marcin Jepson, of Ashfield, Massa- chusetts, by which marriage he had eleyen children, seven sons and four daughters, all of whom married and settled in different parts of the country. Caleb Dodge was a well- educated gentleman and highly esteemed for his integrity and benevolence. , He died February 10, 1850, at Winfield, New York. The mother of Dr. Dodge died April 22, 1840. Dr. Dodge was the seventh son. He was educated
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at the district school of his native town, until his fourteenth year, and on the death of his father, removed to Plymouth, Chenango County, New York, where he lived with his uncle, Daniel Dodge, and attended school at the acade- mies of Norwich and Oxford, and received instructions from a private teacher, D. G. Barber, at New Berlin, Ot- sego County, New York. In the interim of going to school he taught district schools at Pharsalia, Norwich, Sherburn, and last at Preston, Chenango County, New York. After completing his term at the latter place he decided to study medicine, and went to East Winfield, Ilerkimer County, New York, and commenced reading with Dr. Spencer, with whom he remained six months, and then entered the office of Dr. 1. J. Ilunt, of Utica, New York. After re- maining there six months, he entered Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, in the fall of 1860, where he attended lec- tures for six months, and returned to prosecute his studies at Utica, New York. At the breaking out of the civil war, in 1861, he went to Washington, passed an examination, and was admitted to the United States army as one of the original ninety-five cadets appointed by Surgeon-General Finley. Ile was then ordered on duty at West's United States General llospital, Baltimore, in September, 1862. In the winter following, he entered the University of Mary- land, where he graduated, in March, 1864. Ile served as medical officer in the West Hospital, and also in the United States general hospitals at York, Pennsylvania, and other places. Ile was offered a commission as assistant surgeon of the Tenth New York Cavalry, and as surgeon of the Sev- enth Maryland Regiment, both of which he declined. Ile susbequently entered the Fourth Maryland Regiment as as- sistant surgeon, and served from May, 1864, until the close of the war. IIe was executive officer of the United States General Fair Ground Hospital, after the surrender of Petersburg. On April 30, 1865, he was honorably mus- tered out of the service at Arlington Heights, Virginia. Ile then commenced the practice of medicine in the city of Baltimore, and from that time to the present ( 1878), has been extensively engaged in the same. He was appointed Examining Surgeon of Pensions, in 1866, which position he holds at the present time, being President of the Board of Examining Surgeons of Baltimore city. In February, 1862, he was elected School Commissioner of the Fifteenth Ward of the city of Baltimore, and was the only Republi- can who held office in the municipal government for many years. The following year he was re-elected. Ile was commissioned by Governor Oden Bowie as Aide-de-Camp on the First Division Staff of Maryland Militia, on August 30, 1869, and afterward promoted to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel, on the same staff. Ile has been connected with the various medical societies, and is also a Free Mason and Odd Fellow. His religious sentiments are inclined to the Universalist belief. In politics he has always been a Republican. In personal appearance, Dr. Dodge is five feet eleven inches in height, and weighs two hundred and
fifteen pounds. He is an active, energetic man, kind and courteous in his manner, and highly esteemed by all who know bim. He enjoys a large practice, and has an exten- sive acquaintance. He was married, in 1863, to Miss Maggie J. Murray, daughter of James and Margaret Mur- ray, of Baltimore city. His wife died, December 14, 1877. She endeared herself to a large circle of friends and ac- quaintances by her many excellencics of character, and made her influence felt in the community by the active part she took in benevolent and charitable enterprises, especially in aid of the free excursions for the poor, and entertain- ments for the relief of the needy of the city. Her remains now repose in Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore. The Grand Army of the Republic has passed resolutions to suitably decorate her grave with flowers, on May 30, every year-a beautiful tribute to her memory and worth.
VOLBURN, AUGUSTUS WESLEY, M.D., was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 22, 1819. llis father, Dr. Edmund W. Colburn, was born in Leominster, in the same State, January 11, 1796, and studied at Harvard University. Ilis ancestors were among the early settlers of Massachusetts; the first of whom the record is preserved, is Jonathan Colburn, born in 1735. His son, Pliny, was born, in Leominster, June 8, 1772. Several members of the family were patriot sol- diers in the Revolution. Dr. Edmund W. Colburn prac- ticcd his profession a short time in Boston, and, in 1829, removed to Baltimore, where his family joined him two years later. For many years he taught penmanship, in which he was an expert, but finally resumed the practice of his profession, which he continued till his death, which occurred June 19, 1872. Dr. Augustus W. Colburn was educated at Mount Hope College, under President Ilall, after leaving which he studied for the profession of civil engineer, but finding that it would not furnish him with the amount of business he had anticipated, he commenced studying law under Hugh Davey Evans, a prominent law- yer of that time. His removal, with his father's family, to Washington County, interrupted his legal studies, and his brother, Edmund F., having already entered upon the practice of medicine, he decided to follow his example. Accordingly lie soon after returned to Baltimore and entered the office of Professor J. R. W. Dunbar, M.D., a very prominent physician and Professor of Surgery in Washington University, from which he graduated, March 2, 1853. For nearly a year following he practiced at Loretta, Pennsylvania, a Catholic community, where, in addition to his general practice, he attended the Franciscan monks, the Sisters of Mercy, and the students of the various schools. Returning to Baltimore, he has made it from that time his home. Warmly patriotic, he entered
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the Union hospitals as a volunteer surgeon at the breaking out of the civil war. After a time he was appointed to regular duty as Acting Assistant Surgeon, and was con- nected with this branch of the service till the close of hostilities, after which he resumed his practice in the city of Baltimore, which is of a general nature, and has become very large and profitable. He has won the confidence of the people, and is highly honored and respected, both with them and among his professional brethren. Ile has been a member of the Baltimore Medical Association from the time of its formation, in March, 1866, and served as one of its first officers. Dr. Colburn is a Republican in politics. Ile is unmarried. Ilis twin sister died in childhood; he has now only one sister living, Mrs. Delia Ilenser, of Baltimore. Ilis brother Edmund, mentioned above, died November 30, 1858.
DKINS, ISAAC LEONARD, M. D., was born at Mil- ford, Delaware, February 9, 1823. His father, Leonard Adkins, was born in 1778, and died in 1826. Ile was for many years, and to the close of his life, cashier of the Commercial Bank of that
town. IIe was of grave and dignified demeanor, and venerable in appearance, though but forty-eight years of age at the time of his death. He was a man of piety and of strictest integrity, unswerving in the discharge of duty. Ilis mother was born in 1786, and died in 1844. Her maiden name was Sarah Shockley. Her parents were William and Elizabeth Shockley, of Sussex County, Dela- ware. Her nature was the gentlest and bravest - of mingled tenderness and fortitude, and her life was full of sacrifices for her children, who owed everything to her benign influence and example. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of eight children, and but three years old at the time of his father's death. Ile was educated at the village academy, in which Alfred Emerson, Franklin Backus, and Dran R. Howard, graduates of Yale College, were teachers. Mr. Emerson became a Congregationalist minister ; Mr. Backus, a lawyer of Kentucky, and Mr. Iloward, a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, a doctor of divinity, and is at present rector of St. Thomas's parish, Bath, Western New York. From this school, unable to take a college course, he went into the store of his brothers, in his native town, continuing four years, with a brief interval, until his majority, when, at the solicitation of the l'hiladelphia firm of Brown & Godwin, he went to New York to establish a branch of their grain commission house. In that capacity, his diligence, fidelity, and apti- tude gave promise of a successful business career. He bad here opportunity to gratify, to some extent, his thirst for knowledge, and his spare hours were not wasted in mere pleasure. Hle was a frequent attendant at lecture
halls, and passed his evenings with a private teacher in study. Poor health, however, and discontent with the jar of city life, caused him to give up his business engage- ments and to seek some change. At this crisis he chanced to meet and form an acquaintance, which ripened into a strong mutual attachment, with Dr. Scruggs, of Tennessee, a successful physician and an accomplished scholar, who persuaded him to place himself under his care, and to enter upon the study of medicine. Accordingly, he soon fol- lowed that gentleman to his home, near Memphis, and under his guidance pursued his studies, often being his attendant, with lasting benefit, in his rough country prac- tice. In due time he went to Philadelphia and attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College. Here he became an office student of the eminent surgeon, the late Professor Thomas D). Mutter. He graduated, in 1848, and began. the practice of medicine in Philadelphia. In 1849, Asiatic cholera visited that city, and, with the greatest fatality, the district of Moyamensing. Dr. Adkins was appointed assistant physician in the cholera hospital opened in that district. In the second month, his plan of treatment proving the most satisfactory, he was placed at the head of the hospital staff, which position he held during the con- tinuance of the epidemic. Physical prostration followed upon this fearful season of exposure and privation. His thoughtful preceptor, seeing a respite for him in the mili- tary service, urged him to go before the Army Medical Board, then in session in Philadelphia, to be examined for the post of assistant surgeon in the United States army. Ile passed first in the class, and was immediately commis- sioned and ordered to Fort Columbus, in New York harbor. Ile was next sent to Florida, and, a year afterward, to California, returning the following year on leave of absence. On his return, he was married, August 12, 1852, to Mary E., sccond daughter of Colonel William Hughlett, of Easton, Maryland. Ile resigned his commission while waiting orders in the city of Baltimore, and there commenced again the practice of his profession, but the year after he removed to Talbot County, where he engaged in agricul- tural pursuits, with success and the gain of health. Ile has large landed estates, which, for many years, it has been his chief business to improve, employing overseers and farm hands, keeping them under his own supervision. . He is a Past-Master of Easton Grange, Patrons of llus- bandry, and has been zealous in promoting the material and social interests of the farmer. He is quiet and unos- tentatious, and necessarily systematic in business. He has scientific tastes, and is especially fond of metaphysical Studies, but, withal, is eminently practical in'affairs. He has large capacity for work, and enters scrupulously into the minutest details. In 1857, he was elected a Director of the, Easton Bank of Maryland, which, in 1865, became a national bank, and, in 1869, was chosen its President. This office he still holds, devoting much of his time to its duties, and enjoying the success of his institution. In
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