USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 45
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 45
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
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generally regarded with suspicion and distrust. Dr. Shear- er's career in Baltimore has been one of marked success. Ilis patients include a large proportion of the most in- telligent and rehned citizens of Baltimore, and the sphere of his professional usefulness is constantly widening. Dr. Shearer's professional skill has been subjected to many critical tests in various forms of sickness and disease, and generally with the most triumphant and satisfactory results. Hle is eminently successful in the treatment of diseases of women and children. Although engaged in an extensive practice, his time is not wholly absorbed in the duties of his profession. He is a gentleman of cultivated tastes and fine discrimination in matters of art and literature. Hav- ing received a liberal and thorough education before enter- ing upon the study of medicine, his habits of study have led to literary and aesthetic culture, as well as a profound knowledge of medical science, upon which enduring pro- fessional success is based. He is now fifty-three years of age, and in robust health. Ile is courteous and agreeable in his manners, and most considerate and gentle in his demeanor toward his patients, commanding their esteem, and causing them to regard him as their personal friend, as well as their medical adviser.
UTER, CAPTAIN JOHN HI., was born in Baltimore, September 12, 1832, the eldest son of Charles and Henrietta Suter. Ilis father was a prominent furniture manufacture, and one of the founders of the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts. He was one of the building committee of the Institute on Baltimore Street, and during the prog- ress of that work he contracted an illness of which he died in November, 1851, having survived his wife but a few months. He was a member of the City Guards, and during the memorable mob in the city of Baltimore, when the destruction of the nunnery on Aisquith Street was at- tempted, he, with his command, was on duty several days. He was a kind, estimable Christian gentleman. Captain Suter received a good common-school education in several of the public and private institutions of the city. He, like many boys, was carly possessed with the spirit of adventure, and upon the breaking out of the California gold fever, when but sixteen years of age, he was so strongly in- clined to go that his parents finally yielded to his solicita- tions, and on May 11, 1849, he departed for San Francisco by the Isthmus route. He arrived there safely and ap- plied himself to different avocations, but still not satisfied with change and travel, after cleven months' sojourn at the " Golden Gate," he shipped as carpenter on the " Governor Davis," a ship of one thousand tous burden, bound for Callao, South America. When entering the harbor of that port the ship was stranded on a reef, and the voyage
being thus terminated he remained in that city and in Lima for about seven months, when meeting Captain James Hammond, an old California friend, at this time in com- mand of the bark Canton, he shipped for home. After a stormy voyage round Cape Horn, he was safely landed at New Bedford, Massachusetts, from whence he speedily made his way to Baltimore, to find on his arrival that death had robbed him of both father and mother. Recov- ering from the first shock and disappointment, and his views of life somewhat changed and sobered, he engaged himself with Mr. John HI. Tucker, at that time one of the largest chair manufacturers in the city, and an old friend of his father, and applying himself to learn the ornamental branch of the business, he became quite proficient. In 1854, at the age of twenty two, he married Miss Mary Jane Kidd, the second daughter of Churchill Kidd, of Middle- sex County, Virginia. From that time until the breaking out of the rebellion he was engaged in different pursuits, at times holding positions under the city government, and was an active member of the Vigilant Fire Company, under the old Volunteer Fire Department. During the memor- alle campaign of iSoo he was a prominent member of the " Bell and Everett Association of Minute Men," whose hall, on Baltimore Street, opposite Holliday, was attacked by the mob of Secessionists on April 19, 1861. The flag of this association, stretched across the street, was one of the very few exposed to view at the close of that eventful Friday. That evening he with others had an interview with Governor Holliday Hicks, and he was commissioned as lieutenant by the Governor, with orders to recruit men in the defence of the government, a duty which he imme- diately undertook and in which he accomplished much for his country. Ile was for a short time attached to the First Maryland Regiment, and furnished quite a number of good soldiers for the Second and Third Regiments. Having spent considerable time and what worklly means he pos- sessed in these laudable exertions, and in performing valu- able services for the Provost-Marshal of the city and for the Police Department, without compensation, till August 27, 1862, he on that day resigned his position and enlisted in Company A, of the Fourth Maryland Infantry, under Colonel R. N. Bowerman. He was soon promoted Orderly Sergeant, and served as such until January 17, 1863, when he was commissioned as Second Lientenant and as First Lieutenant. In August, 1863, a vacancy occurring in the position of Quartermaster, Lieutenant Suter was detailed as such, and discharged it> duties until October, 1864, when he was detailed as Brigade-Quartermaster, serving until re- lieved by a regular officer. In that position he was always addressed as Captain, and is still called by that title. ITis worth as an excentive officer was recognized in his being detailed by General G. K. Warren, commanding the Fifth Army Corps, as assistant to Colonel D. 1. Smith, Chief Commissary at those headquarters. Here be served until the close of the war, and although stores and funds to a
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large amount passed through his hands, his accounts were so well kept that in twenty days after being mustered out he had received from the departments a certificate of non- indebtedness to the goverment. Captain Sater is now one of the most respected citizens of the thriving village of Woodberry, Baltimore County, having resided there since 1867, and is connected with all the enterprises of his neighborhood. Ile is a member of the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Py- thias, Red Men, Mechanies, the Grand Army, and other organizations, having filled important positions in most of them. In July, 1869, he was appointed by the Hon. John 1. Thomas, Jr., Collector of Customs at the port of Balti- more, as clerk to the Auditor, and in this office has been retained by the different Collectors since that time. He is now holding the position of Assistant Auditor. Although not a pensioner, Captain Suter has been a constant sufferer, since the winter of 1863, from the effects of a severe cold contracted in Virginia during his term of service. He has four children, Charles Churchill, in business in Central America, II. Clay, in Parkersburg, W. Va., a daughter, Ilenrietta, and the youngest, Jolin U.
B RACKENRIDGE, W. D., was born near Ayr, 6.6-5: Scotland, in ISIo. After receiving a thorough education in the best schools of his native town, one of his special studies being botany, he, at the age of eighteen years, assumed charge as floral gar- dener of Sir John Maxwell's extensive pleasure-grounds at Springkell, Scotland. After the expiration of a year, and at the solicitation of William McNab, Curator of the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens, he was appointed head gar- dener to Dr. Neill, at Edinburgh, where he remained four years. Subsequently he was engaged to lay out a large and elegant place in Poland, after fulfilling which engage- ment, he became connected with the Berlin Botanical Gardens, performing the duties of florist, etc., therein, for three years, when he set sail for America, landing in Phila- delphia in 1837. Ile had not been in that city many days before he became the foreman of Robert Buist, a dis- tinguished florist in the United States. Such was the repu- tation that he had acquired in Europe as an expert in botany and horticulture, and so satisfactorily had he per- formed his duties whilst in the service of Mr. Buist, that the attention of Mr. Poinsett, Secretary of War of the United States, was directed to him as the most suitable person to occupy the position of botanist for the Wilkes Ex- ploring Expedition. Captain Wilkes tendered Mr. Braek- enridge the post, which the latter accepted. The squad- ron sailed from Fortress Monroe in August, 1838, and the cruise extended to a period of four years, during which the circumnavigation of the globe was accomplished. Dining
the voyage Mr. Brackenridge made a large and valuable collection of plants, seeds, etc., which laid the foundation of the Botanical Gardens at Washington, which were origi- nally established in connection with the Patent Office, but are now located west of the Capitol. Mr. Brackenridge succeeded the late Charles Downing as Superintendent of the Public Grounds in Washington, and whilst acting as such, laid out the Smithsonian Grounds, the public squares around the President's house, etc. He resigned that posi- tion in 1854. Within the three years immediately subse- quent to the return of the Wilkes Expedition, he wrote an exhaustive work, embracing a description of all the ferns, mosses, etc., collected during the voyage. This book, with an accompanying atlas, was published by the United States Goverment, and some idea of its vastness and importance can be formed when we state that the plates alone cost three thousand dollars; that the volume was fourteen by sixteen inches in superficial extent, and two inches thick ; and the atlas thirty-six by twenty-four inches in size, and two inches thick. On resigning the position of Superin- tendent of the Public Grounds at Washington, Mr. Brack- enridge went to Baltimore County, where he established (on the York Road, near Govanstown) the nursery and floral business. In 1876, his only son, Archibald Brack. enridge, assumed entire charge of the horticultural depart- ment, and the establishment is now conducted by the father and son, in their separate capacities of nurseryman and florist. There are ten hot-houses, which comprise sixty thousand square feet of glass, and, when fully stocked, con- tain two hundred thousand plants, bulbs, roots, etc., which include many rare growths, such as coens weddliana, tree ferns, palms, cycods, cactus, etc. The trade of the Messrs. Brackenridge extends through Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. The most elegant country seats in the neighborhood of Baltimore city were laid out by Mr, Brackenridge the elder, whilst his son, as the florist of the establishment, supplies the principal families of Baltimore County and city with the choicest flowers. The structures which were erected by the Brackenridges are heated by hot water, cover an area of three acres of land, and may be regarded as the most extensive of the kind in or near Balti- more. The Brackenridge family dates back for many gen- erations in Ayr, its progenitors being mostly large land- holders and agriculturists. Mr. W. D. Brackenridge married, in 1843, Miss Isabella A. Bell, of Jedborough, Scotland, and has four children living, one son and three daughters. His son, Archibald Brackenridge, married Miss Fraser, of Morayshire, Scotland, and one of his daughters married Frank Renwick, son of the late Robert Renwick, of Baltimore, a native of Scotland. Mr. W. D. Brackenridge is a gentleman of fine intellectual culture, and a writer of great ability. He has been a considerable contributor to various publications, and is the present hor- ticultural editor of the . American Farmer. He takes an active part in all agricultural, horticultural, and pomologi.
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cal conventions, and delivers before them addresses upon the subjects which bring them together. He made a do- nation of eight hundred species of ferns (collected by him in Berlin) to the Philadelphia Academy of Science, and was one of the judges appointed by the Centennial Com- missioners, for making the awards on plants, flowers, and cverything pertaining to horticulture.
EID, ELIJAH MILLER, M. D., was born November 15, 1844, in Fairfield County, Ohio. Ile is the son of Mr. Thomas N. Reid, a native of Mont- gomery County, Maryland, and one of the oldest cs- tablished and best known real estate brokers in the city of Baltimore. The doctor's grandfather, George Reid, served in the United States army in the war of 1812, and his great-grandfather, Alexander Reid, was a gallant sol- dier of the Revolutionary war. His mother was Kitturah Miller, daughter of the late Elijah Miller, of Baltimore, and sister of Rev. Elijah Miller, of the Wilmington, Dela- ware, Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church. When the subject of this sketch was in his infancy, his parents re- moved with him from Ohio (where they had been residing for a few years) to Baltimore, in which city Elijah received his early education. When he was but sixteen years of age he commenced the study of medicine in the office of the late Professor Dunbar, and matriculated as a student in the University of Maryland, graduating from that institution in the spring of 1864. After receiving his diploma, Dr. Reid located for a short time in Baltimore, in the practice of his profession, and then entered the United States army as Assistant-Surgeon, passing a highly creditable examination before the Army Medical Board. His first assignment was to Columbia College Hospital, District of Columbia, where he performed his professional duties most satisfac- torily for about eleven months, and was subsequently sta- tioned at Armory Square and Lincoln hospitals, After serving in the army for some thirteen months, he established himself in practice on the Reisterstown Road, Baltimore County. There he attended the operatives of the exten- sive cotton factories of that vicinity, including the Wood- berry, Clipper, Druidville, and Mount Vernon mills. Ile continued to practice in that locality for about four years, and then returned to Baltimore, where he has been prose- cuting his profession up to the present time, giving special attention to diseases of the throat, lungs and heart, in the treatment of which he has been eminently successful, owing to his expertness in the use of the laryngoscope and stethoscope, which he has been employing for some years in the examination of those affections. No physician in Baltimore commands more than he the respect of his pro. fessional brethren, or the esteem and confidence of his patients, to which his talents and great skill entitle him.
RAVERS, CAPTAIN SAMUEL HICKS, was born Jan- uary 23, 1811, near Cambridge, Dorchester Coun- ty, Maryland. Captain Travers traces his descent from an ancient family of long standing in Lanca- shire and Devonshire, from whence members of the family of that name settled in Ireland. The first Travers of the Irish settlers married the sister of Spenser, the cele- brated English poet. Ile was the father of Colonel Robert Travers, who was killed at the battle of Knockacross in 1647. Robert Travers married Elizabeth, daughter of Archbishop Richard Boyle. From them have descended several of the families of the County of Cork, Ireland. Prominent among them is John Travers, Esq., late of Gar- rychone, now of Brick Hill, County of Cork. At what time the first of the family came to America is not known, The subject of this sketch is descended from one of three brothers, named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who came to the United States, one of whom settled in Accomac County, Virginia, another in Calvert County, Maryland, and the third, in Washington, District of Columbia. His father was William Hicks Travers, a sea-captain, whose home was in Dorchester County, Maryland. His grand- father, John Travers, was also a sea-captain, and a resident of the same county. Ilis mother's maiden name was Mary Phillips; her father followed the same vocation. Samuel's early education was very limited, being quite young when he entered upon a seafaring life. At the age of eighteen he was master of the schooner " Three Sisters," and afterward of the schooners " Topaz," " Isaac P. Davis," and "Richmond." Ile successively commanded the brigs "Orbit," " Hope," and "General Scott." He sailed prin- cipally to South America and the Spanish Main. In 1855 he quit the sea, and was at that time the owner of two schooners, He has since been engaged in ship brokerage, and now possesses the largest interest in eight vessels. On January 11, 1848, he married Elizabeth, daughter of George C. Addison, by whom he has had five children, three of whom are living, namely, George C. A., who is in business with him, Samuel Bascom, who is attending an academy at Williamsport, Delaware, and Susan Virginia, who mar- ried William Reister. His first wife having died, be mar- ried, May 14, 1866, Edua Eliza Schuler, of Winchester, Virginia, by whom he has two children, named respective- ly, Mary Eliza, and Edna Gertrude. Since his sixteenth year he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as his parents also were. His grandfathers on both sides were preachers. He is Treasurer of Wesley Chapel, Baltimore. He has been an old-line Whig-is now a Republican. For thirty years he has been an Odd Fellow, and for sixteen years a Freemason. He has been Treasurer of Mount Vernon Lodge since its organization, a period of eight years, and of Corinthian Lodge for the same length of time. He has seen much of the world, and profiting by his varied experience, is now making use of the same for the benefit of those around him.
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BLACK, ANDREW L., was born Angust 23, 1840, in the town of Jedburgh, County of Roxburgh, Scotland. His ancestors came from the West of Scotland in the time of the Covenanter persoen tions. In order to have freedom of worship, they had started for Holland, but their conveyance breaking down in the village of Ancrum, Scotland, they remained in that region. ITis great-grandfather, George Black, be- came a farmer in the parish of Minto, in the neighborhood where was laid, by Sir Walter Scott, a part of the scene of the " Lay of the Last Minstrel." His grandfather, John A. Black, was educated for a civil engineer, and afterward became Surveyor for the County of Roxburgh. In the South of Scotland he laid out most of the new roads, which remain until this day. He engineered the tunnel for the draining of the Berry Moss, which, for that age, was considered a great work. Ile employed stone for the macadamizing of roads even before the time of MeAdam. His father, George Black, was engaged in the town of Jedburgh in the nursery and seed business. He was a man of education, good mathematical talent, and fine natural ability. His judgment was so much relied on that he was often selected as a referee in the settlement of disputes. His determination was regarded a final decision. In the training of his children he combined strictness of discipline and a large-hearted affection. His children both feared and loved him. Many of his ancestors were men of learning, ability, and political distinction. Mr. Andrew L. Black, the third son of a family of twelve children, was educated at the Latin school of Jedburgh, at which school Sir David Brewster, Thomson, the author of the Seasons, and other men of note, laid the foundation of their education. When about eighteen years of age he began to help his father in the nursery. To perfect him- self in a knowledge of plants and flowers, he went to Edinburgh, in his nineteenth year, and, for about two years, became connected with the flower and seed firm of Peter Lawson & Sons. While in that city he attended the semi-monthly meetings of the Edinburgh Botanical Dis- cussions. Here he was materially helped in laying the foundation for his wide and thorough knowledge of plants. Having returned to Jedburgh, and spent some time in travelling in England, in 1865, he came to New York. few months after his arrival he engaged as foreman of the Frost Nurseries, in Rochester, New York. Finding the climate too severe for his constitution, he remained but a part of a year. Returning to New York, he went thence to Richmond, Virginia, where he remained for about three years as superintendent of the nursery of the firm of Allan & Johnson. In 1869 he went to Philadelphia, and for two years became superintendent of the Logan Nursery. He then, for one year, became superintendent of the grounds and houses of William B. Dinsmore, of Satts- burg, New York. In 1871 he removed to Baltimore, Maryland, and established the Belvedere Nursery, at the
corner of Chase and Barclay Streets, Here he has abont two aeres, almost wholly devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fully three quarters of an were being covered with glass. He has a great variety of exotics. With one ex- ception, he has the most extensive glass-covered houses, either in Baltimore or Maryland. Ilis hot-houses are heated by hot water and hot-air flues. In June, 1866, he married Annie, daughter of John Turnbull, formerly of lenderside, Scotland. He has four children, all sons. Besides his brother, John A., also an expert at the nursery business, who is connected with him in Belvedere Nursery, he has three brothers engaged in the same business-one, Thomas, in Scotland, and two, Robert and George, in England, proprietors of Vorkshire Nursery and Seed Estab- lishment. They have large business connections, not only in Great Britain, but on the continent of Europe and else- where, through which Mr. Black, on account of his intimate relations with them, has facilities in his business which but few possess. HIe is one of the Board of Managers of the St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore, and has also been one of the Executive Committee of the Maryland Horticultural Society since its foundation. The peculiar traits of the better class of his fellow-countrymen, industry, persever- aneg, sterling integrity, prudence, and sturdy independence, eminently show themselves in Mr. Black.
AYLOR, HENRY, was born December, 1823, in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland. It is a place of historic fame, having been the home of Wallace and Bruce, and containing the castle whither Mary, Queen of Scots, fled for shelter with her child. His parents were John and Elizabeth ( Ronald) Taylor, of Scotch ancestry, and members of the Presbyterian Church. llis father was a carpet weaver, and died when Henry was fourteen months old. His mother resided with him about thirty years, and died in Baltimore in 1873. Ile was the youngest of twelve children. When four years old, he was taken to Falkirk, a few miles from Stirling, where he re- ceived a common-school education. At the age of twelve years he entered as an apprentice in the shoe business with a Mr. Johnson, and remained with him until he sailed for America, after a service of six years. In 1843 he followed his brother William to Baltimore. William came to this country in r825, and was engaged in the weaving business in Connecticut until 1840, when he removed to Baltimore and opened a small book and stationery store on North Street, near Market Street, now Baltimore. He paid con- siderable attention to the news business. The post-office then being on the corner of North and Fayette streets, his stand was considered a good one. In 1843, Henry entered his brother's store as a clerk. The business greatly in- creased, and they rented No. 45 and 46 Jarvis's Building.
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When Henry first came to the city he went to the steam- boat wharf, foot of South Street, at eleven o'clock at night for the New York morning papers, carrying them in his arms; since then it has required three wagons to transfer them from the trains, arriving about eleven in the morning. After the lapse of a few years, Henry purchased the in- terest of his brother in the business, he having been a part- ner for some time. Ilis brother went to New York, where he died. In 1852 Ilenry moved to the Sun iron building, then just completed, where he built up one of the most ex- tensive news agencies in the country. During the war his sales amounted to over four hundred thousand dollars per year, receiving on his own account seventeen thousand seven hundred copies of the New York Herald, and twelve thousand copies of the Philadelphia Inquirer per day, twenty-four thousand copies of the New York Ledger, weekly, and forty-five thousand copies of Harper's Monthly, the bulk of which was sent to the army. Transportation being often interrupted by the burning of bridges and from other causes, great losses occurred at times, but these were subsequently made up. In the year 1870 the Baltimore News Company (a stock company) was formed, and Mr. Taylor appointed manager. This company supplies the wholesale trade and newsdealers, Mr. Taylor has been a member of the Masonic fraternity about twenty-seven years, and a manager of the Boys' llome for several years, as also one of the managers of the St. Andrew's Benevolent Society. Ile has been President of the Peabody Ileights Railway, and a director of the Old Town Bank. Ile has been a member of the Iligh Street Baptist Church since 1860, and a deacon for over fifteen years. Ile has also been an active worker in its Sunday-school. Ile is liberal in his contributions to all benevolent work. He was one of the first residents of the village of Waverly, and con- tributed much toward the present improvements of that delightful suburb. He gave largely to the erection of the Baptist church in that place, and has contributed liberally to the erection of churches in Baltimore. He married Miss Mary A. Thorne, daughter of Rev. Francis Thorne, Baptist clergyman of Devonshire, the garden spot of Eng- land. In polities he is conservative. In iSob he made a pleasant trip to Europe with his wife, visiting the plices and friends of bygone years,
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