USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 50
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 50
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Y HAMILTON, CHARLES, was born in Tynon, County Armagh, Ireland, in 1828. le resided in the county of his nativity until he obtained his ma- jority. He received his education at private schools and in the National Academy, that holds a position - corresponding with the High Schools of American cities. At the age of fifteen years he commenced the study of gardening, horticulture, etc., on the grounds of Sir James Strong, Bart., Lyon Abbey. His term of apprenticeship at that place continued for four years, and so thoroughly did he master a knowledge of the vocation he had chosen, and so high in the esteem of the head gardener did he
stand, that he was placed in the position of foreman during the fourth year. On leaving Tynon he went to Dublin, where he was engaged for three months at the Botanical Gardens of that city, at the expiration of which time he entered the Revenue Excise in her Majesty's service, which position he held until I851, when he came to America, landing in the city of New York. He remained there but a brief period, and then went to Baltimore, where he be- came engaged in the large flour establishment of Solomon B. Davies, with which he remained until 1854, when he entered, as shipping clerk and coffee examiner, the exten- sive commercial house of the late Ilngh Jenkins. During that time he was the means of importing many orchids and rare exotics, which supplied the conservatories of Thomas Winans and Dr. Edmondson. In 1859 he was employed in an important position by the Bank of Baltimore, which he retained for several years. In 1862, whilst yet living in Baltimore, and holding the position named, he estah- lished the floral business on the York Road, Baltimore County, as a matter of fancy and amusement, and in 1865 placed the same upon a business basis. Ilis floral estab- lishment embraces fine hot-houses, which, with the other appurtenances, occupy about an acre of land. In them may be found almost every species of plant, of foreign or in- digenous growth. He has received premiums from every exhibition of the Maryland Horticultural Society held during the last ten years. Mr. Hamilton's father was Cor- nelius Hamilton, of County Armagh. Ile was a highly respectable farmer, as was also his father, who was a native of that county. The mother of the subject of this sketch was the daughter of Charles Case, who was noted for his bravery and athletism. Mr. Hamilton married Miss Margaret Barnhill, daughter of William Barnhill, of Lon- donderry, Ireland, who was of an old and highly esteemed family, of Scotch descent. Mr. Hamilton has not only shown his enterprising spirit and energy by the erection of the hot-houses, etc., to which we have referred, but also in the building of a fine brick hotel in Waverly, known as the " Waverly Hotel." The great variety and excellence of his plants and flowers, as well as his pleasant and ac- comodating method of conducting business, have built up for him an active trade, that extends through Baltimore city and county, and through Pennsylvania and Virginia. lle is a gentleman of positive qualities of character and superior intelligence, coupled with the most indomitable energy and perseverance.
PIPSCOMB, JOHN DICKSON, was born in the city of Cumberland, Maryland, September 18, 1838. His father was Reverend Philip D. Lipscomb, a pions and eminent minister of the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died at his residence in Baltimore, in the seventy-first year of his age.
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The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, John Lips. comb, was a native and planter of Virginia. On the ma- ternal side Mr. Lipscomb is descended from one of the carliest families that settled in the Maryland colony, his mother's maiden name being Maria Gott, daughter of Ed mund Gott, farmer, of Baltimore County, whose ancestors trace back to the English proprietary, their original land patents heing derived from the Lords Baltimore. At the age of thirteen years, young Lipscomb entered William Abbott's Academy, Georgetown, District of Columbia, where he diligently pursued his studies for the period of four years, when he went to Baltimore with his parents to reside. Hc there, being at the time seventeen years old, entered upon the study of law in the office of the late William George Baker, a very distinguished member of the Maryland bar. After pursuing his legal studies under that gentleman's instructions for two years, he entered the office of the well-known law firm of Brown & Brune, re- maining therein until he attained his majority, in 1859, when, on motion of the senior member of the firm, the HIon- orable George William Brown, the present Chief Judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore, he was admitted to the practice of his profession in the Superior Court, the late Honorable Z. Collins Lee being the presiding Judge. Since then Mr. Lipscomb has been admitted as attorney in all the principal courts of the State, including the Appel- late and United States courts. He at first engaged in practice on his own account, and subsequently under the firm nanie of Wilson & Lipscomb. After the dissolution of that firm he continued to practice alone for a few years, and then formed a legal copartnership with Colonel Henry D. Loney, under the present firm style of Loney & Lipscomb. These gentlemen attend to general practice, the main bulk of which is civil and chancery. Mr. Lips- comb has been a member of the Fifth Regiment of Mary- land ever since it> organization in 1867, and has, for a number of years, commanded one of its companies. Dur- ing the famous riots that occurred in 1877 on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Captain Lipscomb served as a Major in that regiment, and received severe injuries from the missiles hurled by the assailants. He is regarded as one of the most gallant and efficient officers of the " Fifth; " is thoroughly skilled in military tactics, and commands the general esteem of the members of the reg- iment. The Captain is one of seven children, of whom four survive. One sister married Rev. Alpheus W. Wil- son, Missionary Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Another sister married Captain Henry Fitzgerald, who was lost at sea, whilst in command of the " Ocean Pearl," in 1878. The third sister married IS. George Taylor, farmer, near Towsontown, Baltimore County. Captain Lipscomb married, in 1870, Miss Sallie Ricketts, daughter of David Ricketts, an old and respected citizen of Baltimore, and a member of the family of the Cecil County Ricketts,
HOREY, Wn.IAM Fass, Artist and Photographer, was born April 20, 1833, at Hollis, Maine. His parents were Nehemiah B. and Aun (Chase ) Shorey, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts, the former being of English descent, and the latter of French English extraction. His mother was a daughter of the Rev. Joshua Chase, of Massachusetts. Mr. Shorey's parents removed to Baltimore about the year 1840. IFis father was for many years engaged in merchandising and milling in Maine, and was held in high esteem by the citi- zens of Hollis and vicinity on account of his strict integ- rity and benevolence. Ile was a man of great energy and perseverance, which traits of character being recognized by an American ship company, a proposition was made to him, in 1835, to undertake the contract of building two ships, to be delivered at the mouth of the Saco River. The distance, some eight miles inland (where the timber needed was plentiful), deterred all others from undertaking so difficult a task. Accepting the contract, he completed the vessels, launched them when the river was swollen, and floated them about four miles to a dam, around which, with over a hundred yoke of oxen, he hauled the vessels, re-launched them, and floated them, without accident, to the place designated. After receiving a common-school education, the subject of this sketch served an apprentice- ship of five years at the tinner's trade, and soon after at- taining his majority was employed in the tinning depart- ment of Mr. C. S. Maltby's packing establishment, during which time he attended the evening sessions of the School of Design of the Maryland Institute. Here a strong talent for art was developed, and in connection with draw= ing, he pursued the studies of oil painting and photog- raphy. After graduating with honor, taking one of the Peabody premiums, he became, and was for a number of years, teacher of the elementary class of drawing at that Institute. Hle selected photography as the branch of art best suited to his inclinations, and withdrew from the em- ploy of Mr. Maltby, to establish himself in business in Baltimore, Ile first located at No. 87 West Baltimore Street, and after remaining there, and at No. 105, same street, for a number of years, he removed to No. 157 West Baltimore Street, where he is still in business. He has had a successful career, and his success is mainly attribu- table to the fact that he has always been conscientious in the execution of his work, exerting himself to the utmost to give satisfaction, and availing himself of the latest in- ventions and improvements in the art, so as to keep pace with the demands of his business. His skill as an artist has won for him an enviable reputation, and by diligence, energy, and strict integrity, he has succeeded in building up a lucrative business. He is President of the Maryland Wool Company, having its headquarters at Canton, or- ganized several years ago for the purpose of extracting wool from delain rags by a new chemical process. He has been a Freemason for the past ten years; he is a
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member of the Odd Fellows, and has held the principal offices in a subordinate lodge of that order; and is also a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, a mutual benefit order, which he helped to organize in Baltimore in 1873, the first meetings for the purpose of organization having been held in Mr. Shorey's gallery. This order now has about a thousand members in Baltimore, and is steadily increasing in mimbers and influence in various parts of the country.
OLYLAND, Jons, was born at Harsimus, Jersey City, New Jersey, October 6, 1841. His parents were natives of England, who emigrated to the United States about the year 1830. His father was an engraver, and acquired such skill in the art, that, within a few years after commencing business on his own account, he accumulated considerable wealth. Owing, however, to an ill-advised real estate transaction and some disastrous shipping ventures, it was entirely swept away. `Soon after their arrival in this country, his parents united with the Baptist Church ; and so, in after life, gave bent to their son's religious views and denominational preferences. After many vicissitudes, the family residence was estab- lished in Baltimore, where they were living at the break- ing out of the war of 1861. At the age of nineteen, John Holyland, the subject of this sketch, turned his attention to the study of photography. He entered the photographic gallery of Mr. Young, on the southwest corner of Balti- more and Charles Streets, Baltimore, and assiduously ap- plied himself to an acquisition of the art. While as yet he had attained but a limited knowledge of the business, his father purchased a gallery in Washington, District of Columbia, and placed him in charge of it. An average in- experienced youth would have been utterly discouraged and led to abandon the undertaking in despair ; but the difficulties to be surmounted served to give new zest to his pursuits of the requisite knowledge to constitute him a skilful artist. Through the day, and far into the night, he experimented and toiled, until at last success crowned his efforts. At the age of twenty-four years he married his cousin, Miss Rebecca Hart, of Middletown, Orange County, New York, July 27, 1865. On the death of his father, which occurred three months after his marriage, he re- turned to Baltimore and commenced business in the same gallery where he took his first lessons in photography. Mr. Holyland has met with great success and achieved a fine reputation as an artist. In recognition of his merits, he has been chosen Vice-President for the State of Maryland, of the National Photographie Society. He is a member of the Franklin Square Baptist Church, a very successful teacher of a young men's Bible class in the Sunday-school of that church, and is actively and heartily engaged in mission work, under the auspices of the denomination to which he belongs.
PEV, FRANCIS SCOTT, the author of " The Star- Spangled Banner," was born, August 9, 1780, at the residence of his father, John Koss Key, near Pipe Creek, in Frederick County, Maryland, and was educated at St. John's College, at Annapolis, during the presidency of Dr. John MeDowell. Hle studied law, in Annapolis, in the office of Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase; and in 1801 commenced the practice of his profession in Frederick City, Maryland. After several years, he removed to Georgetown, and rose to eminence in the courts of the District of Columbia, and at the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. On June 29, 1833, he was commissioned by President Andrew Jackson, United States District Attorney for the District of Co- lumbia; was reappointed, January 6, 1837, and again, a third time, was appointed by President Martin Van Buren. Ilis personal relations with Andrew Jackson were intimate and confidential, and he was frequently intrusted by that President with missions of trust, requiring delicate judg- ment and discreet diplomacy. He was the bosom friend of Joli Randolph of Roanoke. Some of their interesting correspondence is published in Garland's Life of Randolph. Ile was always a friend of the negro race, and was one of the founders of the American Colonization Society. Ilis poems were collected, in 1856, by Reverend Henry V. D. Johns, and published in 1857, with an introductory letter by Chief Justice Taney. They display much tenderness and purity of sentiment, and some of them are deeply religious and devotional. His hymn, " Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee," is one of the most popular and valued in the hymnal of the church of which he was a devout member, the Protestant Episcopal. His fame chiefly rests upon his national anthem, " The Star-Spangled Banner," which was composed during the night of September 13, 1814, after the unsuccessful bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British, while on a visit to the British fleet to obtain the release of Dr. William Beans, an eminent citizen of Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, Maryland, who had been kidnapped by the enemy. The song was written out in full the next morning at Annapolis, to which place he was carried by the enemy, and there released. The next day his brother-in-law, Judge Joseph Hopper Nichol- son, caused it to be set up in type, in handbill form, by an apprentice boy, Samuel Sands, and distributed to the public. It was first sung by Charles Durang, in a restau- rant adjacent to the Holliday Street Theatre, in Baltimore. Hle married, January 19, 1802, Mary Taylor Lloyd, dangh- ter of Edward and Elizabeth (Taylor) Lloyd, of Wye House, and had eleven children, Elizabeth Phoebe, who married Charles Howard, of Baltimore; Maria Lloyd, who married Henry Maynadies Steele, of Dorchester County, Maryland; Francis Scott, who married Elizabeth Lloyd Harwood; John Ross, who married Virginia Ring- gold ; Anna Arnold, who married Daniel Turner, of North Carolina ; Edward Lloyd ; Daniel Murray ; Philip Barton,
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who married Ellen Swann; Ellen Lloyd, who married Simon Blunt, U. S. A .; Mary Alicia Lloyd Nevins, who married Hon. George IL. Pendleton, United States Senator of Ohio; and Charles Henry, who married Elizabeth Lloyd, daughter of Edward and Alicia ( MeBlair) Lloyd, of Wye House, Talbot County, Maryland. Francis Scott Key died in Baltimore, Maryland, January 12, 1843.
KOLK, COLONEL. JAMES, was born in Somerset County, Maryland, in March, 1794. He received his education at Washington College, in that county, and at the age of twenty years commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. Joshua Bayly, at that time Attorney General of Maryland. After pursu- ing his legal studies for two years, he was admitted to the bar of Somerset County, and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession. Having inherited a large estate, it was unnecessary for him to devote his exclusive attention to the law. In 1818 he was elected Register of Wills for Somerset County, which office he held continu- ously for the long period of twenty-seven years. In 1845 Mr. Polk was appointed by his cousin, James Knox Polk, President of the United States, as Naval Officer of the Port of Baltimore, which position he retained until the ex- piration of that administration. In 1850 he was made Chief Clerk of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, Hon. Thomas Bayly, of Vir- ginia, being Chairman of the same. As such he served during the term of Taylor and Fillmore. Under General Pierce he was appointed Consul to Bordeaux, France, which position he declined, and was subsequently ap- pointed by President Pierce as Coal Agent for the pur- chase of all the coal required for the United States naval vessels. Ile occupied this position during Mr. Pierce's administration, and under his successor, James Buchanan, until the office was abolished by act of Congress. He then resumed the practice of his profession, devoting him- self more particularly to practice before the Court of Claims at Washington, and the United States Treasury Depart- ment. Colonel Polk's father was Judge William Polk, of Somerset County, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and Chief Justice of the Circuit Court for his District. The latter's father was David Polk, son of Robert Polk, a native of Ireland, where he died, and of Magdeline Tasker Polk, daughter of Lord Tasker, High Chancellor of Ireland. The widow came to America in 1756, with seven sons, one of whom returned to Ireland. From those who remained are descended all the Polks in the United States. Colonel Polk's mother was a widow Dennis, daughter of Lyttleton Purnell, of Worcester County, and granddaughter of General Arbuckle, who was Commander-in-Chief of Queen Anne's forces in the Prov.
ince of Virginia. The Polks are not only one of the oldest and most honorable families of Maryland, but are also re- lated to many other of the most distinguished families in the country, among whom may be mentioned General William H. Winder, and Attorney General Josiah Bayly, of Maryland; President James Knox Polk, of Tennessee ; HIon. Trusten Polk, United States Senator, of Missouri ; Bishop Polk'and Judge Thomentine, of Louisiana; Gen- eral Thomas Bayly and Hon. Ilenry .A. Wise, of Virginia ; David Dudley Field, of New York, and Hon. Herschell V. Johnson, United States Senator, Georgia. Colonel Polk married Ann Stuart, daughter of Alexander Stuart, of Kent County, who was a surgeon in the Revolutionary service. Ile was captured in the early part of the war and held in captivity during nearly the whole of its continu- ance. The Colonel was the father of fourteen children, seven of whom attained adult age. There are six living : Esther, who married Ex-Governor Enoch Lonis Lowe; Mary, who married the late G. O. Gorter, Belgian Consul to Maryland for thirty years; Adriana, who married Lu- cilius 11. Brisco, of Milledgeville, Georgia ; James, who married Nannie Maddox, of St. Mary's County ; Lucius C. Polk, who married Mary, daughter of Gabriel D. Clark, of Baltimore, and Josiah Bayly Polk, the comedian, who married Julia Parker, daughter of Joseph Parker, of Balti- more. Colonel Polk died December 8, 1868, in the seventy-fifth ycar of his age. Ile was a man of fine pres- ence and pleasing manners. Ile had a smile and a kind word for all with whom he came in contact ; he was warm and sincere in his friendship; and although firm and earnest in his own convictions, political or otherwise, he was tolerant of the opinions of others. His superior worth was generally recognized, and won for him great personal popularity.
HARCOURT, CAPTAIN WILLIAM, was born at Tomp- kinsville, Staten Island, New York, October 9, 1823. His father, Richard Harcomt, was a native of Ireland, and took an active part in the rebellion egy's of 1798, against the British Crown. He came to America about the year 1800, and a few years afterwards married Miss Sallie Thompson, of Stonington, Connecticut. Several children were the issue of that marriage, of whom William, the subject of this sketch, is the only survivor, and who was the youngest of the family. lle acquired the rudiments of a plain English education, as they were taught in his early years, on Staten Island; but, like many other self-made men, he has been a close student, and now ranks , as a gentleman of more than ordinary intelligence and liter- ary ability. In early life Mr. Harcourt being of an ad- venturous disposition, left his home and chose a seafaring life as his profession. This he followed for many years, in the course of which he visited almost all parts of the world
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where commerce by sea has found a trading-place. Ile served in the Texan navy against Mexico, under Commo. dore Moore, on the sloop of war Austin. He afterward sailed out of New Bedford on a whaling vessel. He was next found with Commodore Stockton, when Texas was annexed to the United States, being present when the lone star flag was hauled down and buried and the stars and stripes hoisted in its stead. He also served on the United States brig Porpoise, when sent on special service to St. Domingo, under the command of Lieutenant-Commanding William E. Hunt, and Lieutenant Raphael Semmes, as executive officer, Lieutenant D. D. Porter being special bearer of dispatches to the Dominican Government, which had just declared its independence of the Goverement of Hayti. Ile was also in the United States naval service during the Mexican war, under Commodore Conner and Perry, and General Scott; receiving for meritorious services a medal and one hundred and sixty acres of land. On his return to the United States he married, May 2, 1850, Miss Mary E., daughter of Captain William M. Betts, of Nor- folk, Virginia. The same year he removed with his wife to Washington, District of Columbia, where he served in the navy yard under instructions of Lieutenant John A. Dahlgren, and on May 8, 1851, he was appointed an act- ing gunner in the United States Navy, receiving his com- mission from Hon. William A. Graham, Secretary of the Navy. He was ordered to report for duty on board the United States sloop of war Plymouth, bound for the coast of Japan, and attached to the squadron of Commodore Perry. From that time until November 10, 1865, with a comparatively brief interval, he was in active service, when, in consequence of a reduction of the navy, he was honor. ably discharged, being at the time an Acting Master. Ile then settled in Baltimore. Captain Harcourt is in posses- sion of several official documents commending him for gallant conduct during the war of the rebellion. Ile has filled with credit several offices under the municipal gov- ernment of Baltimore, during the administrations of llon. Thomas Swann, John Lee Chapman, and others. In poli- ties he was a Fremont Republican, and took an active part as such, He was a member of the Native American party, and also of the Bell and Everett party. He was at one period connected with the newspaper press of Balti- more, and in 1867 had charge of the Masonic Reviewe and Keystone, as editor and manager. Ile was connected with the Internal Revenue Collector's office, of the Second District, under James L. Ridgely, Collector. He has been, connected with the Baltimore Post-office for the past twelve years, during which time he has filled several positions of trust. Ile is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, also of the Masonic Order ; of the Grand Army of the Re- publie ; of the Sons and Daughters of America; of the Mexican Veteran Association of 1846-7-8, and many tem- perance organizations, in which he takes an active part. Ile is also connected with several solller and sailor orders in
Baltimore and other cities. His son, William Mansfield Harcomit, born in Norfolk, Virginia, September 20, 1851, served during the late war in the squadron of Admiral Farragut on the Mississippi River, as clerk to Captain Howard Tibbitts; was honorably discharged in 1865, and is now on the editorial staff of the Baltimore American.
ARDEN, JESSE, was born at Rye, New Ilamp- shire, March 19, 1806. Ile was the third son of Josiah and Ilannah Marden. Ilis parents hav- ing a large family to provide for, he commenced to earn his own living when but eleven years of age, attending school in the winter, and adding to his little stock of knowledge as opportunity served. In his fifteenth year, he went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to learn a trade. Although very indifferently treated, and receiving really but about one year's practical instruction, he re- mained, according to agreement, until he attained his majority. Ile then returned to the old homestead for a short time, going frequently to Portsmouth on business. On one of these visits he met Mr. Amos Stevens, a promi- nent and wealthy scale manufacturer of Boston, who offered him a position in his factory, which he accepted. lle went to Boston and commenced work August 31, 1827. That was the turning-point in his carcer. The platform scale, now in such general use, was then almost wholly unknown, but four of them having been made previous to that time, and they unwieldy and ponderous. With the quickness of apprehension which has ever distinguished Mr. Marden in everything relating to mechanics, he saw a wide field for invention and improvement, and during the year 1828, constructed ten platform scales, improving on each as he progressed. These were probably the first portable platform scales ever manufactured in this country. By his close attention to the business of his employer, and the devotion of all his leisure hours to self-improvement, he soon won the confidence of Mr. Stevens, with whom he remained until April, 1829, when he sent him to Balti- more with a stock of goods to open an establishment in that city. Before leaving Boston, he built, out of his sav- ings, a new dwelling for his parents, and saw them com- fortably settled in their new home. He remained in Baltimore two years, and on July 10, 1831, closed his business and returned to Boston, to go into business with Mr. Stevens in that city. That partnership continued but one year. On March 25, 1832, he married Miss Roxana, daughter of Eli Brown, a distinguished officer of the United States Navy of 1812. After his marriage he re- mained in Boston but a short time, when he went to New York and prepared a stock of goods for his permanent estab. lishment in Baltimore. After occupying a business house on Pratt Street in the last-named city for some time, he re-
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