USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 51
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 51
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moved, in 1839, to South Charles Street, where he remained ,until his death. Being a thorough mechanic, and under- .standing his business in all its details, he was excep- tionally successful, and his establishment soon became favorably known throughout the entire Southern and Western country. Since Mr. Marden's death the factory and business are still continued by his sons, Jesse and George W. Marden, who are doing their utmost to follow in the footsteps of their father. The goods manufactured by them still possess the same characteristics which gave them their first celebrity-simplicity of construction, strength, and accuracy. They also embody all the latest improvements in scientific manufacture ; and are made in every variety, from the immense railroad scales, hundreds of feet in length and weighing entire trains of cars at a single draft and hundreds of tons of merchandise; the hay and coal scale; the ordinary platform and counter scales for general warehouse use, down to the most mi- nute gold and druggist scale and balances for analysis --- working with the smallest fraction of a grain, a test of the latter having been made with a piece of paper weigh- ing the three hundredth part of a grain. Mr. Marden always objected to holding public office. In ISGo, how- ever, he was prevailed upon to serve the Third and Fomth wards as a member of the " Reform Council " in the Second Branch. This was the only occasion on which he ever held public office. Ile was thoroughly public- spirited, taking stock in all enterprises tending to pro- mote the business of the city. Ile was one of the origi- nal stockholders in nearly all the railroads and canals now acting as aids to the business of the city, and in fact in nearly every enterprise tending to the advancement of trade. For more than forty years, Mr. Marden was a prominent member of Washington Lodge and Jerusalem Encampment Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religion, he was liberal in his views, believing in the doc- trine of final restoration, and giving liberally of his means for the advancement of that cause. He was ever the friend of the workingman and the patron of the mechanic art. In connection with llon. joshua Vansant and others, he established the Mechanic Institute for the Pro- motion of the Mechanic Arts, holding the first fair in Washington Hall, in the fall of 1849. Ile was also one of the building committee for the erection of the building known as the " Maryland Institute." It was in conse- quence of his individual exertions that Broadway, from Baltimore Street north, was widened from a narrow lane to the magnificent avenue it now is. In politics Mr. Marden was an unflinching Democrat and an ardent admirer of Andrew Jackson. During the civil war he was opposed to the coercive policy of the North, and never hesitated to express his views. Ile often alluded to his own early efforts and the struggles through which he had passed dur- ing the first half of his life, and never claimed that he had accomplished anything except by untiring energy and per-
severance. Hle frequently said to his children : " Never say, ' I cannot ;' but resolve to go through with whatever yon undertake, and you will accomplish it." In business he was always ready to help those who help themselves, and many young men have been brought forward in their career by his timely assistance and advice. In his temper and disposition he was kind and affectionate, and con- siderate_ of the comfort of all around him. In general society his manner was such as to make every one feel at home around him, and making him a general favorite with those younger than himself. To the poor, he was always a friend, and his ear was never closed to a tale of sorrow, giving most liberal encouragement and assistance to all who stood in need ; but so quiet and retired in his acts of charity, that many of them were never known during his lifetime, even by his family. Ile had an attack of strangu- lated hernia, and after forty-eight hours' suffering, passed away peacefully, June 23, 1877. He died at his country seat, near Baltimore, in his seventy-first year, respected and lamented by all. Ile had eight children, six of whom survive him, two sons and four daughters.
ENDERSON, GEORGE, was born in the city of New York, July 3, 1828. 1 lis parents were Rob- crt and Margaret (Vail) Henderson. Ilis father was a native of England ; his mother, of New Jer- sey, and a member of the Vail family of that State. Ilis parents removed to Philadelphia in 1835, where he was carefully educated, first, at private schools in that city, and afterwards at the Chester Street School, from which he passed to the High School, being the only one in a class of nineteen who was found qualified ou examination. After entering college, he formed a decided preference for commercial life, and withdrew after a few months' atten- dance, to the great disappointment of his friends. Ile then spent a short time at his father's coal mines, at Ta- maqua, Pennsylvania. Returning to Philadelphia, he entered the employment of Newell Sturtevant & Company, the largest coal shippers at that time. After several years in their service, he was sent by the senior member of the firm to Baltimore, as agent of the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company, of which Mr. Newell Sturtevant was Pres- ident. In the spring of 1853, after a residence in that city of six months, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, he was promoted to the general superintendency of that com- pany, with headquarters at Eckhart mines, in Alleghany County, Maryland. This position embraced the manage. ment of the immense coal property of the company ; the railroad ; canal-boats; mining and transportation of the coal, until it was put on board the vessels awaiting it at Baltimore and Alexandria; the large sales, and all the other important business connected with such an extensive
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corporation. The duties of this responsible trust he dis- charged with the utmost fidelity, until, in 1859, he resigned it to become a partner with his employers, Newell Sturte- vaut & Company, in the bituminous coal trade in Phila- delphia. In this business he was successfully engaged until the breaking out of the civil war, in 1861 ; soon after which he joined the Philadelphia Board of Brokers, and entered the Banking and Stock Commission business, in which he continued with great success until 1865, when he retired from business. In 1866 Mr. Henderson made a trip to Europe, accompanied by his son, Robert R., then only eight years of age. Ile returned the following year. In 1875 he visited Europe, taking with him his entire family, returning in the latter part of that year, after a de- lightful tour of six months' duration. In January, 1856, while a resident at Eckhart mines, Mr. Henderson married Miss Rebecca E. Magruder, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Lynn) Magruder, both of old and well-known fami- lies of the Western Shore of Maryland. They had five children, four of whom are living : Mary L., Robert R. and George M., at Princeton College, New Jersey, and Anna M. In 1867 Mr. Henderson removed his family, to whom he is intensely devoted, to Cumberland, Maryland, where they formed so strong an attachment to the beauti- ful and romantic mountain scenery surrounding them, that they have since made it their permanent home. In 1860 he became a member of St. Matthias's Protestant Episco- pal Church, and afterward served as Warden and Treasurer in the Church of the Atonement, of Philadelphia, and Em- manuel, in Cumberland, Maryland. He is now Warden in Christ Reformed Episcopal Church, having united with that body soon after its organization by Bishop Cummins and others. He was the chief mover in that organization in Cumberland. He is a true Protestant and determinately opposed to the Romanizing tendencies of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In politics, he is independent ; above its allurements, and always looking at political affairs with the eye of a business man, acting for the best interests of the country. Ile is a liberal giver to all charitable pur- poses. He is withal an ardent lover of nature.
PARSWELL, JOHN S., was born in Paisley, Ren- frewshire, Scotland, January 8, 1807. Ile received a plain, practical education, and early in life de- veloped a mechanical ingenuity and skill which were productive of important inventions and results in man- ufacturing processes. He appears to have inherited this special mechanical birn of mind from his father, George Carswell, who was a prominent citizen of Paisley, in which he held the position of magistrate. The latter, about 1820, invented the manufacture of spool cotton. He was also the inventor of the process of manufacturing chenille shawls, a specimen of which he presented to the English
sovereign, from whom he received a highly complimentary letter, expressing the greatest satisfaction in receiving so elegant a fabric from a British subject, the product of his . own mechanical genius. Mr. Carswell's uncle, Kobert Scott, was a near neighbor and friend of Sir Walter Scott. John S. Carswell came to America in 1827, and settled in Canada, where he remained for about twenty years en- gaged in mercantile pursuits, which embraced extensive operations in the turpentine trade. Mr. Carswell discov- ered the process of applying turpentine to illuminating pur- poses. Whilst experimenting with that article he learned the fact that, in its distillation, steam could be used instead of flame, the latter having been universally applied, until the American civil war cut off the supply of turpentine from the South. Distillers in the United States took advantage of and used this important invention almost universally. In 1874 Mr. Carswell retired from active business, which is, however, still continued by his sons, under the old and favorably known firm name of Carswell & Sons. In 18440 he married Harriet Von Ripper, a native of Bellville, New Jersey. She died in Baltimore in 1856. Seven children were the issue of the marriage, three only of whom are living, Robert Scott, Elizabeth M., and Lockhart Scott Carswell. The latter resembles, in physical appearance, his distinguished relative, Major-General Scott. Mr. Cars- well has been a worthy member of the society of Odd Fel- lows since 1845, and is also a member of the "Old Kirk of Scotland," and of St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore. In political sentiments he is in accord with the old-line Whig party. He is a gentleman of great firmness and decision of character ; methodical and scrupulously exact in all his transactions; kindly and benevolent in his disposition ; a man of the most rigid integrity. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church. The two sons, Robert Scott and Lockhart Scott, who are now conducting the coal oil busi- ness under the old firm style of Carswell & Sons, possess many of the excellent qualities of their father. They are energetic in business and enterprising, without being rash or speculative.
PHOMAS, COLONEL JOUN B., was born in Frederick County, Maryland, December 23, 1819. Itis pa- rents, Levin Thomas and Margaret E. Dutrow, were of English and German descent. His carly educational advantages were confined to the county of his birth. When seventeen years of age he took charge of his father's farm and managed it for a period of five years. He married Miss Charlotte E. Thomas, October 20, 18.jo, and spent the first year of his married life on his father's farm. He then rented a farm for himself, and continued in that line of business until 1855. After that he spent one year in the city of Frederick, wholly disen gauged. In the spring of 1856 he bought and moved upon
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a farm about ten miles south of Frederick. In 1846 he was elected Chief-Judge of a Magistrate's court, and hekl that position until the office was abolished at the Conven- tion of 1850. In the fall of 1$51 he was elected County Commissioner for one year. In 1857 he was elected a member of the Legislature. In 1867 he was chosen to represent Frederick County in the Constitutional Conven- tion of the State. In 1869 he was again returned to the Legislature. He served one term as a member of the School Board of his county. Mr. Thomas has been a member of the Reformed Church since 1843, and has hekl the offices of Deacon and Elder in that communion. In politics he was originally a Whig, but subsequently identified himself with the Democratic party. In 1860 he was commissioned Colonel by Governor Hicks. In 1873 he rented his farms and took up his residence in Frederick City, where his wife chied, July 25, 1875. Ile has seven children living, one deceased. In 1876 he was appointed by the Governor as one of the assessors to assess and value the real and per- sonal property of Frederick County. In 1877 he opened a real estate agency in the city of his residence, and is now (1879) engaged in that business.
ORWITZ, ORVILLE, EsQ., is the eldest son of Dr. J. Horwitz, who was a favorite pupil of the cele- brated Dr. Benjamin Rush, and was graduated in 1813, at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ilorwitz was greatly distinguished as a linguist and orientalist, and was a popular and most instructive lee- turer. Ile settled in Baltimore in the early part of the present century, and for many years practiced his profes- sion with success. He died in 1852, and is buried in Greenmount Cemetery. Orville Horwitz, at an early age, showed a decided talent for mathematics and the acquisi- tion of languages. When quite young he was entered as a pupil at St. Mary's College, at that time one of the best and most thorough of the Catholic colleges of the country. There he took high rank, and at the age of sixteen years the graduating honors of the college were conferred upon him. Upon leaving college he at once entered on the duties of life, and, with an independence which has marked his career, at once began to mould his own future. With the double object of gaining a livelihood, during the period that he had determined to devote to the study of medicine, and afterwards of law, and of fixing permanently his clas- sical and mathematical studies, he taught for two or three years in Maryland and Virginia, ending this part of his career as principal of Winchester Academy. Ile attended two full courses of medical lectures at the University of Maryland, which were only intended to serve for general
information, and as preparatory to the study which was to be the occupation of his life. The law studies of Mr. Hor- witz were under the guidance of the late Judge Albert Constable, whose office in Baltimore he entered for that purpose. His fondness for the study of language and of comparative philology had led him to devote considerable time at this period of his life to the study of the Anglo- Saxon ; and when the learned Dr. Klepstein published his Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Analecta, and other kindred works, the author, who had been a fellow-student of Mr. Ilorwitz, induced him to write, as an introduction to the Grammar (now the textbook of the schools and colleges of the country), a compendious history of the Anglo- Saxon language and literature, and of the part they play in the structure of modern English. Immediately after his admission to the bar, Mr. Horwitz went abroad, to com- plete his education and to perfect himself in the modern languages. On his return, in 1841, he began the practice of his profession in the city of Baltimore. He is a ripe, classical scholar; a finished and forcible writer ; master of several languages, speaking fluently German, French, and Italian. Ile has read a vast deal, and forgets nothing that he has react; full of anecdote and humor, with great sim- plicity of manner, he is an instructive and most agreeable social companion. He has visited Europe several times and travelled on the continent extensively. Upon his re- turn from the Old World, in 1854, he published the result of his observations abroad on men, manners, and things, under the title of Brushwood, picked up on the Conti- nent. This little volume shows that few things worthy of note escaped the writer's attention. It contains a large amount of information, and is full of valuable suggestions to the tourist. In 1861 Mr. Horwitz married Miss Maria Gross, the accomplished daughter of Prof. Gross, of Phila- delphia. Ile is an untiring student, finding time, amid all his professional and other engagements, to keep up with the current literature of the day. By the practice of his profession and judicious investments, Mr. Horwitz has ac- cumulated a large fortune. Ile spends liberally a large part of his income. To the poor his car is never closed. Ile despises ostentation, however, doing his charities as quietly and privately as possible. In all his dealings he is frank and scrupulously honorable. Mr. Horwitz is devoted to the profession which he has practiced with so much success, and of which he is so bright an ornament. At the trial-table nothing escapes his acute and penetrating mind, seeing almost instantly the weak points of his ad- versary. As an advocate he is able and fearless; as a counsellor cautious, safe, and reliable ; as a Speaker ready, fluent, graceful, and at times eloquent. His forte, how- ever, is in stating and argning propositions of law. His thorough knowledge of the law, his great familiarity with reported cases, his close and convincing logic, have se- cured to him the position of one of the leaders of the Maryland bar.
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AWTON, JOHN L., was born September 25, 1821, at Old Point Comfort, Virginia. His parents were George Latham and Ann Maria Lawton, Ilis mother's maiden name was Hill. She was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and died in Baltimore, June 29, 1852. Mr. Lawton traces his ancestry through an honor- able line to the beginning of the last century. His father was born in Newport, Rhode Island, June 10, 1794. Ile was a gentleman of cultivated literary taste, and was Private Secretary to Commodore St. Clair on the United States frigate Congress. Ile excelled as a penman, and speci- mens of his penmanship are still in the possession of his son. He married Miss Ilill, June 5, 1823, and died in Bal- timore in the year 1834. They had eight children, all of whom died young, excepting their first-born, the subject of this sketch. While John was quite young his parents removed to Baltimore. The death of his father occurred when he was but ten years of age, and his mother was left in very moderate circumstances. His educational advantages were therefore very limited. Ile, however, gladly availed himself of every opportunity that presented itself for intellectual improvement. He attended public schools until he was thirteen years of age. At that age he entered a glass-cutting establishment, where he remained about eighteen months. His wages being very small, and having a laudable desire to be of pecuniary help to his mother, he changed his employment and became an ap- prentice to Mr. Joseph Thomas, in the wood-turning busi- ness, whose sketch is to be found elsewhere in this volume. llis worth was properly appreciated by that gentleman, and the encouragement at all times given to him by this his early patron and friend, now deceased, is remembered with gratitude. His memory is kept ever fresh by the name of Joseph Thomas being retained in the firm name of the house he established many years ago. Having served his apprenticeship and about two years as jour- neyman, he was made foreman, and filled that position for several years, He married Miss Henrietta Thomas, his employer's daughter, January 12, 1847. After the death of Joseph Thomas, Sr., he represented for several years the widow's interest in the business. He then became an ac- tive partner with his brothers-in-law, Joseph, Jr., and Jacob B. Thomas. After the death of Joseph, Jr., he became an equal partner with Jacob B. Thomas, continuing the busi- ness until the present time under the old firm name. Mir. Lawton is a gentleman of refined tastes and good judgment, a useful and public-spirited citizen. For several years he was connected with the order of Odd Fellows and the Red Men. Ile is at present an active member of Ben. Franklin Lodge, A. F. and A. Masons, also of Bauseant Command- ery, Knights Templars. He was an active member of the old fire department, being Secretary of the Liberty Fire Company, of which Hon. Joshua Vansant was President. Ile has represented the Thirteenth Ward in the School Board for seven years, of which he is still a member. Ile
has always displayed a lively interest in the cause of edu. cation. He has been a member of the Matyland Institute since its organization, and is now one of the Board of Man agers. For three years he has been a Director of the How- ard Fire Insurance Company, and is connected with vari- ous minor institutions. Mr. Lawton's benevolence is well known and duly appreciated. It is his constant aim to co-operate in the elevation of the moral tone of the city, and in the promotion of its material interests. llis eldest daughter, Ellie M., married Thomas Norwood. Joseph Thomas, one of his sons, is an architect and practicing draughtsman, and is now interested in the business ; he married Mollie Willis, adopted daughter of Jacob B. Thomas. Willie Tilford and Alice W., make up the num- ber of the children living. Two others, Walter and Ida, died in infancy. Mr. Lawton is Democratic in politics, and in religion is an attendant with his family at the Christian Church on Paca Street.
ERRING, COLONEL JOHN Q. A., was born May 15, 1825. Hle is the son of David and Julia A. (Kalbfus) Herring, of German descent. His father was well known in connection with the tax office ; also, as warden of the almshouse, and for eight years as, warden of the city jail. llis grandfather, Ludwig Herring, a leading and well-known contractor, built the old German Reformed Town Clock Church, on Second Street. Ilis maternal grandfather was a dresser in the morocco trade. His parents are Methodist Protes- tants, his father being one of the original seceders from the M. E. Church to organize the M. P. Church in Balti- more. Mr. Herring entered the private school of John Walker, an English teacher, well remembered by many of the leading men of Baltimore as a strict disciplinarian and thorough mathematician, under whose tuition for four years he received his training in the elementary branches of scholarship. In 1840 he entered the Patapsco College, to complete the higher branches. After leaving college, he studied German for one year in Scheib's school on Gay Street. In 1839, then in his fourteenth year, he entered the china store of Aaron R. Levering, who commanded the Independent Blues of Baltimore at the battle of North Point. In 1841 he was apprenticed to Samuel Winters at the carpentering trade. Having served four years, he con- ducted business in that line on his own account from 1846 to 1852. On November 7, 1852, he engaged as a messen- ger with the Adams Express Company, and has been con- nected with that company until the present time (1879). Faithful attention to business has won for him the respon- sible position of superintendent, which he tills with credit to himself, and satisfactorily to the company and all who do business with it. When he first entered the service,
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the company had but two one horse wagons and five horses in the Baltimore branch, now there are thirty wagons and eighty horses, with a business extending in every direction. At one period their business extended only as far South as Richmond, Virginia, now it embraces Texas. He is Past Grand Master of Odd Fellows, President of the Boy's Home Association, the first institution of the kind known, having been elected for the fourth year, and is a direc- tor for three years, on the part of the city, of the Maryland Industrial School for Girls. In politics, he was an old-line Whig, but is now conservative, voting for the best candi. dates, Democratie or Republican, During the civil war, he was a Union man. Ile is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Hle married Miss Ann M. Evans, of Quaker descent, daughter of Isaac Evans, of Baltimore. They have five children, Carrie ( Wilhar), John Wollford, Grace (Turnbull), Alice and Katie. Mr. Herring is a man of robust physique and pleasing address. Mr. Herring received his title from Governor Thomas Swann, having been appointed a member of his staff with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He has been chief marshal of several of the largest civic processions ever held in Baltimore, including the occasion of the dedication of the Wildey Monument by the Order of Odd Fellows, the passing through to Springfield, Illinois, of the remains of President Lincoln, and the inauguration of the Balti- more and Bremen line of steamers.
UMSEN, WI.I.AM, was born December 3, 1803, in the town of Delmhorst, Dukedom of Olden- berg, Germany. His father, Peter Numsen, had been engaged in mercantile pursuits; but, being unsuccessful, and becoming involved in lawsuits, was at length reduced to actual want. His mother, Sophie, whose maiden name was Mendsen, then started for America with her infant child, and came to her brother, who was a lutheran minister in Philadelphia. A year afterward, she was followed by her husband, who lett William and a sister, two years older, to the care of their maternal grandfather. They had six children, three of whom were born in Germany, and three in this country. Ilis parents were well connected, and of highly respected families in Germany. After the death of their grand. father, William and his sister fell into the hands of stran- gers, who resolved to make good profit by their labor. William constantly suffered from hunger, and was no better clad than fed. To rescue him from this condition, his grandmother induced a good Moravian sea-captain to take the children to America. By night they secretly escaped from their bondage, and, though pursued by the police, reached Bremen safely, after a good two hours' walk, and embarked in the Diana. When within one
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