The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 4

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

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BIOGRAPHICAL. CYCLOPEDIA.

his great kindness of heart, and his eagerness to render services which often demand great self-sacrifice.

BARRISON, REV. WILLIAM P., D.D., I.L .. D., Chaplain of the Forty-fifth Congress, and Pas- tor of Mount Vernon Place Methodist Epis- copal Church South, Washington, D. C., was born in Savannah, Ga., September 3, 1830. At a very early age he developed a fondness for literary pursuits, which, added to a remarkable power of applica- tion and facility in the acquisition of knowledge, gave promise of a career of eminent usefulness. In the choice of a profession, every consideration of personal advance- ment, seconded by the counsels of friends, urged him to the adoption of the law as the surest path to the attain- ment of those honors which his friends believed him qual- ified to win. After a brief conflict with ambition and per- sonal interest, however, under the influence of a devoted mother, he determined to consecrate his life to the Gospel ministry. Accordingly, in January, 1850, he entered the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. For several years thereafter he was engaged in the Itinerant Ministry, his labors being very arduous, and ex- tending over a wide field. In November, 1865, he was first stationed in Atlanta. That city then contained two Methodist churches, with four hundred and seventy-seven communicants. When Dr. Harrison closed his ministry there, in November, 1877, the number of churches had been increased to seven, and the number of communi- cants, to two thousand seven hundred. In 1867, he re- ceived the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Emory College, and in 1870, was elected, by the General Conference, editor of the Methodist Monthly Magazine, published in Nashville, Tenn. In 1871, he resigned his position as editor and resumed his pastoral charge in At- lanta, where he laid the corner-stone of a large and cle- gant church edifice, which was completed at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. In 1873, he was chosen to repre- sent the South at the Anniversary of the American Bible Society, held that year in Philadelphia, where he was re- eeived with distinguished honors. In 1877, he accepted the Chaplaincy of the United States House of Representa- tives, which position was tendered him without any solici- tation whatever on his part to obtain it. At the same time he was appointed to the pastorate of Mount Vernon Place Methodist Episcopal Church South, Washington, where his ministry has been adended with marked success. The membership of his church, already large, is steadily increasing in number, and his profound scholarship and ability as a pulpit orator have made him very popular among all classes. From youth Dr. Harrison has been a diligent student, and all his intellectual efforts have been directed toward the advancement of the cause of Christi- anity. Un ler the direction of Dr. James A. Alexander, of

Princeton, Dr. Harrison began the study of the Oriental languages, which he has for many years pursued with great enthusiasm. He has accumulated a library of four thousand volumes, containing forty four versions of the Sacred Scriptures, in twenty seven languages, together with much interesting Oriental literature. Whenever he has been drawn into controversy, he has proven himself a powerful opponent. Ilis sermons and addresses are characterized by their clearness, force and logical arrangement, and, in controversy, his bearing toward adversaries the most bit- ter, is eminently dignified and Christianly. As a literary critic, he exhibits-the highest order of intellectual culture and taste. One who has been under his ministry has written of Dr. Harrison as follows : " In character, he pre- sents most prominently the gentler features of the Chris- tian life-charity and modesty. His sermons evince at all times careful thought, and being gifted with rare descrip- tive powers, he often transports his hearers to unimagined heights. He seems, however, rather to avoid than to seek any display of his own powers; and the uniform tendency to instruct and elevate into the higher life may, perhaps, most justly be termed the distinguishing characteristic of his ministry. Whether he deals learnedly with questions of science, or speaks but of faith, the burden of his preach- ing is always the Gospel of Christ; and whatever may be his own trials, his sermons are always warm with sympa- thy for others, and full of earnest experience and Christian hope."

B POND, HON. FRANK A., Adjutant and Inspector- General of the State of Maryland, was born Feb- ruary 6, 1838, in Bel Air, Harford County, Mary - land, being the eldest son of Major William B. and Charlotte HI. ( Richardson) Bond. His father was a prominent lawyer, and for about thirty years was State's Attorney for llarford County. He was descended from one of three brothers who came from England in the first company with Lord Baltimore, and from whom have sprung all the families of that name in the State. Several of the name were conspicuous in the war of the Revolu- tion, and also in the war of 1812: On Battle Monument, in Baltimore city, is inscribed the name of one Benjamin Bond, who fell in the battle of North Point. The three brothers, or their immediate descendants, were supposed to have been Quakers, but none of the families now profess that faith. Samuel Bond, the grandfather of General F. A. Bond, was for many years Sheriff of Harford County; he was killed in a duel in 1810. General Bond was edu- cated at the Bel Air Academy in Harford County, from which he graduated in 1856, and the following year went to reside on a farm in Anne Arundel County, where he re- mained till 1861. His sympathies being with the South, on the breaking out of the war, he raised a company for the Confederate service, and upon the coming of General

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

Butler's army to that county, he made his escape across the Potomac with the arms and uniforms of his company, which he delivered to Colonel, afterwards General Stone- wall Jackson, at Harper's Ferry, and by whom he was ap- pointed Drill Master, with the rank of Captain, but after one month he resigned his position and enlisted as a private soldier in a Maryland cavalry troop, which became Company M, First Virginia Cavalry. Ile was soon promoted, and one week after the battle of Bull Run he was elected to a lieutenancy in that company. Ile had enlisted but for one year, which expired May 14, 1862, when he, as First Lieutenant, with Captain, after- wards Colonel Ridgely Brown, raised Company A, First Maryland Cavalry. This company was the nucleus of the First Maryland Battalion, of which Captain Brown became the Colonel, and Lieutenant Bond was made the Captain of Company A. Ilis company was so thoroughly disci- plined that it was chosen by General Ewell to accompany him for special advance and other duty on the invasion of Pennsylvania. In this capacity, he rendered important service at the battle of Gettysburg and on the retreat as far as Hagerstown, where he led a cavalry charge in the streets of that city. He was wounded in the knee on this occasion and taken prisoner. At the end of a year General Bradley S. Johnson, having captured a cousin of his, Cap- tain Tyler, released him on the promise that he would return Captain Bond, which promise was faithfully kept. Returning from imprisonment, he was soon after offered the very flattering promotion to be made Colonel of the battalion. This, however, the wound in his knee, which was still serious, compelled him to decline, and he was made Chief of the Staff for General C. Leventhorpe, which position he held till the close of the war. He was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, with General Joe Johnston's army. Afterwards, he again settled down in Anne Arundel County, and continued farming, but soon began to take an interest in public affairs, and was promi- nent in the canvass of 1871, when he was candidate for the Senate, but was unsuccessful. In 1874, he was ap- pointed to the office of Adjutant-General of the State of Maryland by Governor Groom, and was reappointed by Governor Carroll in 1877. Ile was married in 1859 to Miss R. Cassandra, daughter of Captain John A. Webster, of Ilarford County, by whom he had two children, Vir- ginia and Ridgeley Brown Bond. Mrs. Bond died in 1875. Ile was married again in 1877 to Miss Melissa Hughes, daughter of Dr. Alfred Hughes, of Baltimore city.

13 TEWART, JAMES AUGUSTUS, Chief Judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Maryland, and one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals, was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, November 24, 1808. Ile was married in 1837, and has a family of six children, three sons and three daughters. He is a resident

of Cambridge, in that county, where he is universally recognized as one of the most estimable, useful and public- spirited of citizens. Ilis ancestry came from Scotland. Ile was first sent to a country school, where he exhibited a high order of talent and an eager desire to become master of every branch of learning. He was generally found at the head of his classes. At the age of fifteen, he was placed in Franklin College, Baltimore, where he made rapid progress, manifesting a peculiar fondness for mathematics, which made him a great favorite with Pro- fessor Allen, the author of a work on that subject. Ile became well versed in the elements of learning. Hle commenced the study of law in 1827, under Mayor E. L .. Finley, in Baltimore; was admitted to the bar in Balti- more in 1829, and commenced practice at the April Term of the Court at Cambridge in the same year. His first public effort was an oration, July 4, 1829, for which he was much complimented. Much bitterness of feeling then resulted from political contests, in which members of the bar took an active part. It was the time of the Adams and Jackson parties, the former having very largely the ascendency in that county and throughout the State. Mr. Stewart was an active member of the latter. The advo- cates of the Jackson party had to encounter fierce and for- midable opposition politically, professionally, and, to some extent, socially. Under these circumstances he had no easy task to maintain his position, having to rely mainly upon his own exertions in the advancement of his pro- fessional fortunes. Mr. Stewart felt that his own success, as well as that of his party, required that a firm and decided stand should be taken and maintained. He was one of the electoral candidates in his district on the Jackson ticket in 1832. In 1843, he was elected to the Legislature from his native county, which was regarded as a great triumph for him and his party. The Democrats of the House of Delegates, although in a minority, complimented him by their solid vote for the Speakership. He was placed on the Committee of Ways and Means, of which the late Chancellor Johnson was chairman. Ile was a delegate to the Democratic Convention which met in Bal- timore in 1844, and nominated James K. Polk for Presi- dent, and George M. Dallas for Vice-President. He was also a member of the Democratic Convention which assembled at Cincinnati in 1856, that nominated James Buchanan for the Presidency, and John C. Breckenridge for the Vice-Presidency. In 1847, he was supported by a large body of friends in the Democratic State Convention, which met at Annapolis for the nomination for Governor of the State, but was defeated by four votes. In the year 1854, upon the resignation of Judge Ara Spence, he was recommended by the bar, without distinction of party, to supply the vacancy, and was duly commissioned by the Governar to be Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. Upon the expiration of the term, it was desired by the people and the bar that he should be a candidate for elec-

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

tion to the same position ; but he declined, preferring to run for Congress, although the district was doubtful and the chances against him. He was, however, elected over his competitor, the late John Dennis. Mr. Dennis lind repeatedly represented his district in Congress, As It member of Congress, Judge Stewart commanded from the first the high respect of that body ; he expressed his views freely, clearly and forcibly upon all leading questions, and the reports of his speeches in the Congressional Globe evi- dence his deep research and thorough acquaintance with all vital questions, constitutional and otherwise, under dis- cussion, and rank him among the ablest jurists of the nation. He was re-elected to Congress in 1857, and again in 1859. Throughout his Congressional services of six years, consecutively, he industriously discharged his duties as confided to him by the people of his district. The late civil war having commenced in 1861, Judge Stewart declined being again a candidate for Con- gress. In 1867, the people of his county desired him to represent them in the State Constitutional Convention, but he declined, as his private affairs called for close personal attention. Under the provisions of the new Constitution respecting the Judiciary, one Chief Judge, and two Asso- ciate Judges from different counties in the Judicial Circuits were required for each Court. Upon the urgent solicita- tion of his friends of the First Circuit, comprising Dor- chester, Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico counties, he consented to be a candidate, and was elected in the fall of 1867, the Chief Judge, for a term of fifteen years. His duties as such require his attendance in the Court of Appeals, which holds its sessions in the city of Annapolis, not less than ten months in the year, if the business before it so requires. But little opportunity, therefore, is afforded him to attend the courts upon his circuit. When he is permitted to do so, he is proverbial for prompt and faithful dispatch of the public business. His opinions, as one of the Judges of the Appellate Court, upon questions adjudi- cated by it, may be found in the published reports of cases disposed of by that Court. Its decisions require much attention and laborious research, and furnish evidence of the industry and ability of the members of that bench, Judge Stewart is a man of vigorous constitution, exem- plary habits and genial temperament. It is to be hoped he may live many years to adorn the social circle of which he is a cherished member, and to contribute his experience and attainments to the public service.

B YRN, WILLIAM WILSON, EsQ., of Cambridge, Maryland, President of the Dorchester and Dela- ware Railroad, was born March 29, 1811. Ilis father, Henry Byrn, was a merchant for many

,9 years in Cambridge, He is of English descent. His mother was Miss Hester Marshall, daughter of Elijah

Marshall, a farmer of Dorchester County. Their son, William Wilson, was educated at the Cambridge Academy, beginning at the age of six years and continuing until his thirteenth year, when, for his services as an assistant teacher, he was taught the higher English branches, thereby earning his own education. At the age of sixteen years, he entered his father's store as a clerk, and in his twenty-first year was made a partner in the business. In 1838, he went to Baltimore and engaged as clerk for Israel Griffith, a wholesale drygoods dealer, where he continued until 1844. He then formed a partnership with O. C. Tiffany and Ellis B. Long, under the firm of Tiffany, Long and Byrn. He retired from business in 1855, and removed to his farm, known as Rose Hill, in the vicinity of his native town. He purchased that property a year before, fitted up the dwelling with all the modern conveniences, and has since resided there. He has also improved the land to such an extent that one of the fields, which only produced forty-nine barrels of corn at the time of the purchase, has since yielded two hundred and ninety barrels. The finest stock of Alderney cattle, and a fine flock of Southdown sheep, together with other stock of superior character are on his farm. Cambridge lies on the Choptank River in Dorchester County, about seventy miles from Baltimore, and all its commercial intercourse was at that time with that city. There was no outlet for the products of the county northward, where peaches and other fruits were beginning to be grown, could find a market. Seeing the need of a railroad to connect with the trunk line at Seaford or some other suitable point, he called the first meeting of his fellow- citizens in favor of such a road. At that meeting he presided and made a speech which carried conviction to all minds. That meeting was held October 30, 1865. Mr. Byrn and others succeeded in obtaining subscriptions from private sources to the amount of $100,000, besides $50,000 from the county and $101,000 from the State. Mr. Byrn was elected president in May, 1866, and has been annually re-elected since. Ground was broken October 23, 1867, and the road was completed and a train run through a distance of thirty-three miles, November 8, 1869. The opening day was a great occasion for the citizens of the county, who provided a grand banquet, and received as guests Gov- ernor Swann and other State officers, together with promi- nent men from Baltimore and other places. This road has developed the county, and towns and villages dotting its line tell of prosperity, arising, in large measure, from the untiring energy of Mr. Byrn. The present harbor of Cam- bridge admitting vessels drawing eleven feet of water was not navigable except by the smallest craft. Mr. Byrn went to work with his usual energy, and, with the help of gen- themen in and out of Congress, succeeded in obtaining twenty-five thousand dollars, which, with seven thousand voted by the town, has made it what it is. The wharf of the Maryland Steamboat Company, at the mouth of Cam- bridge Creek, and the depot of the Dorchester and Dela-

BIOGRAPHIICAL, CYCLOPEDIA.

ware Railroad adjoin cach other, and a track runs on the wharf by which freight is delivered at the gang-plank of the steamboats. Mr. Byrn was also the agent in procuring the erection of the Benonie's Point Light, which is greatly serviceable to vessels navigating the waters contiguous thereto. Mr. Byrn, by birth, education and choice, is a Methodist. lIc has been twice married; first, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of William Jenkins, Esq., of Talbot County ; and second, to Miss Clara, daughter of Dr. Simon Kollock Wilson, of Delaware. Dr. Wilson married Louisa, daughter of Dr. John P'. White, of Lewes, Delaware. Mrs. Byrn's great-grandfathers, on her father's and mother's side, were colonels in the Revolutionary war. Truly can it be said of President Byrn that he is a most valued and highly esteemed citizen. Combining, in an admirable de- gree, dauntless energy, broad comprehensiveness, rare business capacity and extensive commercial experience, he has ever been foremost in every movement looking to the advancement of Cambridge and the development of the resources of Dorchester ; while the marvellous success with which he has managed the Dorchester and Delaware Rail- road, under the most trying difficulties, has marked him as a railroad financier of no ordinary ability. His will ever be one of the names that will stand out prominently and inseparably, in connection with the growth and prosperity of his section.

A. S. ABELL.

BY WILLIAM H. CARPENTER.

BELL, ARUNAH S., the founder and proprietor of 6 the Baltimore Sun, was born in East Providence, R. 1., Angust 10, 1806. Ilis first American progenitor was Preserved Abell, who, with three of his brothers, sons of Robert Abell of England, em- igrated to Massachusetts in the carlier days of that colony. Preserved Abell settled in the town of Seekonk, in the pres- ent township of that name, but then known as Rehoboth ; the Providence River separating it from the State of Rhode Island. Robert Abell, his grandson, served with honor and distinction in the war of the Revolution. Caleb Abell, the son of Robert, and father of A. S. Abell, was an officer con- nected with the Quartermaster's Department in the war of 1812. There is an ancient chair, still in possession of the Abell family, which has been handed down through several generations as a memorial heirloom of King Philip's war, and is called King Philip's chair. According to Barber, in his historical collection of memoranda relating to Massa- chusetts, it is a tradition of the Abell family that King Philip, the famous chief of the Wampanoag tribe of Indians, who

resided across the Providence River at Mount Ilope in Rhode Island, before he entered upon the bloody and de- vastating war that only ended with his death, was in the · habit of frequently visiting the house of Preserved Abell, and whenever he came this chair, being " the big arm chair" of the house, was brought forth as a mark of dis- tinction for his seat. At the burning of Seekonk, in 1676, the Indians brought the chair out of the Abell house for their chief to sit in and witness the conflagration. When they left that house for another, an Indian threw a fire- brand into the chair, which consumed the bottom, but left the huge frame uninjured, except such scorching as the parts received to which the bottom was attached. After the war of 1812, Caleb Abell, the son of Robert Abell and the father of Arunah S. Abell, served the people of his township for more than thirty years in various offices of trust and responsibility, receiving at each election the al- most unanimous vote of his constituents. Ilis wife, the mother of Arunalı S. Abell, was a daughter of Colonel Arunah Shepherdson, and by those who knew her is said to have been of superior character and intelligence. Arunah S. Abell, after acquiring at the school to which he was sent the elements of a plain education, was placed, at the age of about fourteen years, in the store of Mr. Bishop, a dealer in what was then. called " West India goods." But, at the end of two years, his youthful ambition prompted him to seek a wider field for the exercise of his talents. His desire was to be a printer, and with the consent of his father he left Mr. Bishop in October, 1822, and entered as an apprentice the office of the Providence Patriot, a Democratic journal, conducted by Messrs. Jones & Whee- ler, who, at that time, were also printers to the State and Federal governments. At the expiration of his apprentice- ship Mr. Abell went to Boston, taking with him letters of introduction to Mr. Greenc of the Post, and Mr. Bucking- ham of the Courier. Hle immediately obtained employ- ment in one of the best offices of the city, of which he was soon made foreman. On the election of General Jackson to the Presidency, in 1828, he appointed Mr. Greene post- master of Boston, who offered Mr. Abell an important clerkship under him. This he respectfully declined, on the ground that he had a definite object in life which he was resolved to pursue, and from which he would not per- mit any prospect of gain or promotion in any other career to divert him. That object was to so perfect himself in the practical details of his profession as to qualify him, eventually, to become the manager of a public journal. Having confidence in his ability to make his way in a wider field of action, and seeing that New York offered better opportunities for facilitating the purpose he had formed, he went there with letters of introduction to Major Noah and Colonel Webb of the Courier, Colonel Stone of the Ad- vertiser, and Colonel Morris of the Mirror. He soon ob- tained employment. But the better advantage that New York gave him was that it brought him into personal rela-

BIOGRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

tion with many members of the craft who have since become distinguished in the higher walks of journalism. It was . at this time he formed an acquaintance with William M. Swain and Azariah 11. Simmons, both of whom were practical printers. Three years before this the initiative in the publication of cheap daily papers-" the penny press " as it was called-had been taken in New York. The enterprise had met with such remarkable success, that Messrs. Swain and Simmons proposed to Mr. Abell that they should start another penny paper in New York on their joint account. Mr. Abell declined, believing that the field for such papers was already fully occupied there by the Sun, Transcript and Herald. Ile was willing, he said, to join them in starting a penny paper in Philadelphia. The suggestion being favorably received, the three associ- ates forthwith entered into articles of agreement, which were drawn up and signed on the 20th of February, 1836. The original document, handsomely framed, is in posses- sion of Mr. Abell, and will doubtless be kept as an heirloom in his family. It was at first intended to call the new paper " The Times," and this name was inserted in the articles of copartnership; but there were local reasons why it should be abandoned, and Mr. Abell proposed, instead, the " Public Ledger," which was adopted. Thus the memorable association of Swain, Abell, and Simmons, was formed, and on the 25th of March, 1836, the first num- ber of the Public Ledger was issued. Each page was nine by thirteen inches in size. The Philadelphia public, ac- customed, at that time, to move in old grooves, was slow to appreciate the benefits of the cheap press. The new paper struggled for existence for some time, and Mr. Abell's partners, growing disheartened, proposed to discontinue it ; but yielded to Mr. Abell's solicitations to hold on until their funds were exhausted. Soon afterwards, the editor- ial boldness of the paper began to attract attention. Its strictures on local apathy and lack of public spirit were felt. Its circulation and advertising increased, and before the end of the year the Ledger was on a paying basis. Early in 1837, thinking there might be a promising open- ing for the publication of a similar paper in Baltimore, Mr. Abell proposed that he should go on there and examine into the feasibility of the enterprise, and, with the approval of his partners, in April, 1837, he visited Baltimore for the first time. All the papers then published there were " six- pennies." From the proprietors of the several journals whom he consulted he met with very small encouragement. Their doubts had much to justify them. The year 1837 was one of great financial disaster and business depres- sion. But it was not in Mr. Abell's nature to be anywise discouraged by difficulties that in his judgment were sur- mountable by perseverance. Ile believed that such a pa- per under judicious management would succeed. His partners were not so sanguine; but they were willing he should hazard the experiment on condition that he would assume the immediate responsibility and personal control.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 4

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844