USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 53
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 53
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of this sketch, having given the entire fortune left her by her uncle Jeremiah to her husband to pay his obligations, was, after the death of the latter, reduced to the necessity of providing means for the support and education of her children, which she did, to her credit and honor, until other means were provided. The most prominent idea of her son William's early life was to assist his widowed mother in providing for her family, and he cared for her nutil her death, March 3, 1876, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. William E. Woodyear was educated in the city of Balti- more. In 1837, in the sixteenth year of his age, and soon after leaving school, he entered the commission house of William A. Moale & Brother, whose counting-room was a good school, in which much business knowledge could be gained. After remaining there for eighteen months, he entered the counting-room of James Cheston & Son, where he continued as the only clerk of the establishment until 1849. Hle then embarked in the milling business on his own account, with a small capital, partly his own, and the balance borrowed from his mother and brother, Thomas Y. In the same year he began manufacturing flour at Mount Clare Mill, in Baltimore, which property he after- ward purchased and still retains. He has recently greatly increased his milling facilities, and in addition to Mount Clare, he has been, and is now, conducting other mills. Since 1861 he has been extensively engaged in the manu- facture of flour for the Brazil market, brand, "Mount Vernon," so well established. His financial success has been greater than were his most sangnine expectations when he began. He is a member of the Baltimore Corn and Four Exchange. Prior to 1850, while a clerk, Mr. Woodyear was a Director and Treasurer of the Mercantile library Association. He has been one of the Trustees of the Maryland Inebriate Asylum, and one of the founders of the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children of Maryland. He is at present one of its Mana. gers, and at the first meeting of the Board was elected Treasurer, which position he still hills. He is a Director in the Washington Fire Insurance Company, and Treasurer of the Maryland Millers' Association. In ISGo Or, Mr. Woodyear was a member of the Minute Men's' Association of Baltimore, and labored hard to prevent Maryland from seceding from the Union during the rebellion. Ile was a Whig before the war, a Union man and Republican during its continuance, and has been since its close. He was brought up in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and con- times to attend the same. He was married, October 10, 1878, to Rosa Blanche, daughter of Laura and the late Samuel Shepard, of Baltimore. Habitually disposed to truth and justice, which have probably been the chief cause, Mr. Woodyear's success is attributable to his in- dustry, perseverance, and integrity, together with his mother's counsel, whose clear and sagacious judgment he frequently consulted before engaging in new and important business projects.
- EDDICORD, THOMAS JouN, was born near Cooks- ville, Howard County, Maryland, November 9, 1839. His parents, Washington Asberry and Rebecca (Crawford) Peddicord, were natives of the same county, of which, also, the ancestors of both - were residents from the early colonial days. lle was brought up to the work of the farm, to which, however, he carly manifested a great distaste, but had a fondness for study, improving every opportunity he could find to store his mind with useful knowledge. He acquired at the
common schoolsof the county a thorough knowledge of the usual English branches, and afterwards enjoying for three years the instructions of a private tutor, became pro- ficient in Latin and mathematics, and after the first year pursued also the study of medicine. He then attended a course of lectures, but deciding that his tastes were not in that direction, he engaged in teaching school for about two years; when, at the earnest solicitation of his father he bought a farm in Howard County, to which for a time he gave his attention, but sold it in 1867, and removing to Rockville, devoted himself to the study of law. He was at the same time acting sheriff for the county. Ile was admitted to the bar in January, 1871, and entered imme- diately upon the practice of his profession. In June, 1873, he removed to Oakland, where he soon built up a lucra- tive practice. Possessing a keen and practical mind, Mr. Peddicord thinks quickly and clearly on every subject, following each point presented rapidly, yet consecutively and logically, to its legitimate conclusion. Ihs course in any matter he decides with deliberation, but executes his plans with directness, energy, and dispatch. Combining these qualities with great industry and perseverance, he wins the confidence of men, and assures success. He joined the Order of Odd Fellows in 1864, and the follow- ing year received the degree of Master Mason in Patmos Lodge, No. 70, A. F. and .A. M., of Ellicott City. In 1870 he joined the Knights of Pythias in Annapolis, and in 1877 the Good Templars Lodge of Oakland, and has held important offices in all of these societies. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church of Oakland. November 15, 1860, he mar- ried Ara Rebecca, daughter of James II. Clagett, of Mont- gomery County.
AITHER, GEORGE RIGGS, SR., was born April 15, 1797, in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he lived, attending country schools, until the age of sixteen years, when he went to Georgetown, District of Columbia, and entered as a clerk the chygoods store of his uncle, Romulus Riggs. He served in the war of ISr2, in Peter's Artillery, from Georgetown, par- ticipating in the battle of Bladensbnigh and several impor-
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tant engagements. In 1820 he purchased the store of his / uncle and conducted it on his own account until 1825. Ile removed to Baltimore during the latter year and estab lished himself in the wholesale drygoods business, on Bal timore, men Sharp Street, and continued to prosecute the same under different firm styles, George R. Gaither, Gai- ther, Matthews & Oulds, and George R. Gaither & Com- pany, until 1840, when he retired to private life. Mr. Gai- ther purchased and resided for several years on the mag- nificent country seat in Howard County, Maryland, known as " Oakland," which was the former property and resi- dence of the late Charles Sterrit Ridgely. He married, in 1823, Miss Hannah Bradley, daughter of Abram Bradley, Assistant Postmaster-General, and died September 18, 1875. Ilis father was Daniel Gaither, an extensive farmer of Montgomery County, Maryland. Mr. George R. Gaither accumulated a princely fortune in mercantile operations and judicious financial transactions, and contributed very largely to the improvement of Baltimore by the erection of rows of warehouses and dwellings on Baltimore, North Charles, Hanover, Cathedral, and other streets, about twenty-five first class structures in all. The estate he left may be estimated by the millions. He was one of Balti- more's most enterprising and energetic citizens, and the son who bears his name, and lives in the paternal mansion on Cathedral Street, Baltimore, is imitating the example of his distinguished father, Ilis only surviving daughter, Hannah B. Gaither, has shown her affection for her father by crecting to his memory the beautiful " Church of the Holy Comforter," on the corner of P'ratt and Chester Streets, Baltimore. The cost of this edifice will exceed forty thousand dollars. Mr. Thomas II. Gaither, the youngest son, is an extensive farmer of Howard County, Maryland.
YAITHIER, GEORGE R., JR., son of the subject of the preceding sketch, was born in Baltimore in 1831. On the breaking out of the American civil war he went to Virginia and became attached to the First Virginia Regiment of Cavalry, Confederate Army, in which he was made a Captain of the First Squadron, Ile participated in all the principal battles of the war, under that famous cavalry general, J. E. B. Stuart. Ile was taken prisoner at the second battle of Manassas, At- gust, 1862, but was exchanged in about two weeks, After the termination of hostilities he returned to Baltimore and became extensively established in the cotton business, which he continues to conduct. In 1870 he was elected a Major in the Fifth Regiment, Maryland National Guards, and was promoted to the Lieutenant.Coloneley, in same corps, in 1876, which position he resigned in 1877. Col. onel Gaither married, in 1851, Miss R. HI. Dorsey, dangh-
ter of Colonel Charles S. W. Dorsey, Howard Comty, Maryland, and granddaughter of General Charles Ridgely, of Hampton (Ex-Governor of Maryland), by whom he has had nine chillen. Mfred Gaither, Superintendent of Adams Express Company in Cinchmati, Ohio, is a cousin of Colonel Gaither, and ranks among Cincinnati's wealthiest and most respectable and influential citizens,
?TOKES, WILLIAM IL., M.D., was born in Maryland, January 21, 1812. His parents, William B. and Henrietta M. C. Stokes, were natives of Maryland, and removed from Havre-de-Grace to Baltimore, in 1818. In 1829 he entered the junior class of Yale College, where he graduated in 1831, with the degree of B.A., and received the degree of M.A. in 1845. Ile read medicine for a year in the office of Drs. Donaldson & Steu- art, of Baltimore, and was subsequently a student in the Medical Department of the University of Maryland, being at the same time Interne at the Baltimore Infirmary. In 1834 he received his degree of M. D. from the University, and was soon after appointed Resident Physician to the Maryland Hospital, a State institution for the treatment of the insane, and one of the oldest in the country, He oc- cupied this position for one year, when he resigned. Here his attention was first directed to the care and treatment of the insane, and from that early period in his professional career he began to employ his mental and physical energies in behalf of those unfortunate beings. Thirty-eight years of his life have been devoted to the professional charge of an insane asylum, In the autumn of 1835 he located in Mobile, Alabama, where he was engaged in a general practice until 1840, being from 1837 Visiting Surgeon to the United States Marine Hospital. During his residence in that city it passed through two severe and malignant epidemics of yellow fever, one in 1837, the other in 1839, when he gave special attention to the investigation of the important questions connected with that disease, and im- proved every opportunity of studying the laws that regulate its origin and diffusion. He endeavored to determine, by the most careful observations, whether it is contagious or not, and what sanitary regulations and precautions are most necessary for the arrest of this destructive pestilence. His experience and observations proved to his mind that yellow fever is not contagious, and that the existing quar- antine regulations are far more stringent than is necessary. During the epidemic of 1839, the effect of a large con. flagration in arrenting the disease was most manifest. Whilst it was at its height, and disease and death in every house, twenty five squares in the heart of the city were cousumed. . From that day, though carly in October, and several weeks before frost, the epidemic ceased its ravages, and scarce a new zase appeared. In the spring of
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1841, Dr. Stokes visited Europe, and spent that year in professional study in the hospitals of Dublin, London, and Paris. In :8.12 he returned to this country and established himself in Baltimore. He is a member of the Medical Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, and the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane; and Attending Physician of Mount Hope Retreat. He has contributed articles to the American Journal of Insanity, and has written thirty-six annual reports for the hospital, in which most subjects connected with the care of the insane are discussed. In 1845 he was appointed lec- inrer on Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, in the University of Maryland; resigned at the end of the year, and was appointed Professor of the same branches in Washington University of Baltimore. In 1850 he resigned this professorship, and since that time has devoted himself exclusively to his private practice and his duties as Phy- sician to Mount Hope Retreat, a private insane asylum, founded in 1840, and for several years known as Mount Hope Institution. Dr. Stokes has been con- nected with this hospital since 1842, and during this time over seven thousand patients are registered as having been under his professional care. He was married, De- cember 19, 1839 to Mary C., daughter of Dr. William Bradley Tyler, of Frederick, Maryland, and has four chil- dren living.
STONES, WILLIAM J., was born at Elkton, Maryland, August 25, 1829. Ile received an ordinary com- mon-school education at the Elkton Academy. Ile left school at fifteen years of age, and entered a mechanic's shop, where he remained until over twenty-two. During that time, unassisted, he improved his knowledge of Latin, the rudiments of which he ae. quired at school. He also pursued an extensive though desultory course of English literature. Ile read history, poetry, fiction, divinity, whatever he could lay his hands upon, without order of system of any kind, and came out of it all, as he says, " without mental dyspepsia, and with a taste for good reading, and a habit of thinking and writing about his reading." In the spring of 1852 he pur- chased a half interest in the Cecil Whig, of which he took the editorial management. The failure of a newspaper enterprise in which Mr. Ricketts, the original owner of the Whig, had engaged, brought that gentleman again to the Whig. In the early part of 1853, Mr. Jones commenced reading law in the office of Colonel John C. Groome, father of the present Senator of that name. In 1855 he was admitted to the bar. In politics, he had been a Whig, and he heartily advocated the nomination of General Scott for the Presidency. When the Whig party became de- funct, he took an active part in the organization of the American party. Mr. Jones, and half a dozen others in
different parts of the county, took the management of the new party into their own hands. They made appoint. ments, dictated nomination,, and, in short, ran the machine. A, a matter of course, they made enemies, and received very little personal advantage, if indeed any at all, except the gratification of having their own way, and beating the Democrats, whom they regarded as enemies, and whom they opposed with all the intensity of unrecon- structed and unconverted Whigs. In 1857 he was ap- pointed State's Attorney for Cecil County, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of the present Judge Grason from the county. In 1858 he married Miss May J. Smith, of Connecticut. The next year he was elected State's Attorney for the full term of four years. During his six years as State's Attorney, he was truly a terror to evil- doers. A man once indicted rarely escaped conviction. He was a prosecutor by nature ; and at this day, though years have passed since he gave much attention to criminal matters, nothing delights him more than to engage in the prosecution of a criminal with a good keen lawyer for the defence. On the breaking out of the war he took the side of the Government in the most uncompromising manner ; and in 1863 acted with Winter Davis in the organization of the unconditional Union party, and with speech and pen urged the abolition of slavery. As the advocate of this policy he was nominated and elected to the Legislature of Maryland. After this nomination, he was also nominated as a candidate for Congress, against Honorable John W. Crisfield, but declined, when Mr. Creswell was nominated and elected. Mr. Jones took his seat in the House of Delegates, January, 1864, and was made Chairman of Ways and Means Committee. In 1865 he was appointed by President Johnson, United States District Attorney for Maryland, but refusing to indorse Mr. Johnson's views, he was relieved after holding office about one year. Being told by a friend that he would be removed unless be pub fiely indorsed the President's views, he said : " I think it would be wrong for me, occupying this office, to discuss, on the hustings or in newspapers, questions which I am certain to be called upon to treat officially. But I will not deceive you or the President. I am utterly opposed to his policy, and am ready to take all the consequences of that avowal." Resuming his home practice in the fall of 1866, he has since then devoted himself exclusively to his profes- sion. Mr. Jones retains his old love of reading, and in this, and giving attention to the education of his children, he finds almost the only relief from the onerous labors of a very large practice. He is Attorney for the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company, the Pennsyl. vania Railroad Company, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, the MeCullough Iron Company, Mn. tual Fire Insurance Company, and Cecil National Bank. In early boyhood he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now a trustee of the church at the place of his residence.
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MAJOR GENERAL SAMUEL SMITH.
J'aime Fully
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MIT11. MAJOR GENERAL, SAMUEL, was born in Car- lisle, Pennsylvania, July 27, 1752. He was of Irish extraction. His grandfather, Samuel Smith, cmi- grated from Ireland in 1728, and settled in Pennsyl- vania. He was then in his thirty fifth year, On hi- decease, his son John disposed of the patrimonial estate, and engaged in merchandising in Carlisle, where Samuel, the subject of this sketch, was born, In 1760 John Smith removed to Baltimore and resumed the mercantile busi- ness. Ile was a man of much ability and influence, and took a lively interest in all the political movements against the aggressions of the English crown. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Maryland in 1776, and afterwards a representative of the State in the General As- sembly, in which he was Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, to the close of the war.
His son Samuel received his first rudiments of learning in Carlisle, continued his studies for a time in Baltimore, and was then placed in an academy at Elkton, Maryland. At the end of two years he entered his father's counting- room, where he remained in active duty until he was nine- teen years of age. In May, 1772, he was sent as super- cargo in one of his father's vessels to Havre, and, after attending to the business with which he was charged, made a tour of Europe, for the purpose of establishing commer- cial relations and visiting celebrated localities. The ac- complished, but unfortunate Major Andre, was a passenger in the ship in which young Smith returned home, and a warm friendship sprung up between them. On his return home he engaged in commerce with his father. In the meantime the disputes with the mother country had reached their height, and, being of an ardent and generous temper, he took an active part in the measures adopted to resist the British government in its attempt to maintain by force the authority it claimed to exercise over the American col. onies. He joined one of the volunteer companies of the day, and in January, 1776, was appointed a Captain in Smallwood's regiment. April 14, he was ordered by the Baltimore Committee of Correspondence to seize the per- son and papers of Governor Eden, but owing to a conflict of authority between that committee and the Council of Safety at Annapolis, the arrest was not made. He par- tieipated in the battle of Long Island, where the regiment did eminent service, and suffered a loss of more than one- third of it> men. He distinguished himself at Harlem and White Plains, where he received his first wound. After the fall of Forts Washington and Lee, he was with the Commander-in chief in the harassing retreat through New Jersey, where he covered the rear of the army, and at this time attracted the attention of Washington. December 10, 1776, he was commissioned Major in Gist's Battalion, and in 1777 was made Lientenant- Colonel in the Fourth Mary. land Regiment, commanded by Colonel Josias C. Hall. Ile was at the attack on Staten Island, and participated in the battle of Brandywine. Immediately after he was detached
by Washington to the defence of Fort Mifflin, on Mud Island, in the Delaware, We give his letter of instrue- tions, which is not only a testimonial of the great conti- dence reposed in Colonel Smith, but an evidence of the prudence and cantion of the Commander in chief. Hlad his prudential instructions been carried out at Long Island, the fortunes of the day would have been entirely different. Perhaps no letter written by Washington expresses so forci- bly the great lineaments of his character, prudence, judg- ment, caution, and promptness, as this letter to Colonel Smith :
" HEADQUARTERS, CAMP POTTSGROVE, Sept. 23, 1777.
"SIR : You will proceed with the detachment under your command to Dunk's Ferry on the Delaware, if you find in your progress the way clear and safe. When ar- rived there, you will take the safest and most expeditious method of conducting the detachment to Fort Mitllin; by water would be easiest and least fatiguing to your men, and, if practicable and safe, will certainly be most eligible ; otherwise, you will cross the Delaware, and march then on the Jersey side to Fort Mifflin. In the whole march you will make all possible dispatch. Keep your men in the most exact order; suffer no one to straggle; make each officer take a list of his platoon or division, and, at the beginning of every march, see that every man be present. You will also take every necessary precaution to prevent the enemy's surprising you on your march, by keeping out small van, flank, and rear guards and sentinels, when you halt. The keeping of the fort is of very great importance, and I rely strongly on your prudence, spirit, and bravery, for a vigorous and persevering defence. The Baron D'Ar- endt will be appointed to the chief command, and, when he arrives, you will give him every aid in your power, A commissary must be appointed, if there be not one already, to supply the garrison with provisions. And it may be highly expedient to lay in a stock of salted meat, if to be had, and a quantity of bread, flour, and wood, for at least one month. Immediately on your arrival, make inquiry of the state of ammunition for musketry, as well as artil- lery, and if either be wanting, love not a moment's time in getting a supply.
" Wishing you all desirable success, " I remain your friend and servant, " GEO. WASHINGTON. "To LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SAMURL SMITH."
It was necessary for the British, now in possession of Philadelphia, to have communication with their fleet in the Delaware, that they might receive supplies for their army. To render the navigation of the Delaware im- practicable, works and batteries had been erected on Mud Island, and a fort constructed at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore opposite, covered with heavy artillery, under the brave Colonel Green, and some defences further down the river. In the channel between Mud Island and Red Bank, and under cover of their batteries, were sunk in the river
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ranges of chevaux-de-frise, composed of transverse beams firmly united and strongly headed with iron, so as to be destructive to any ship that would strike against them. These works were luther supported by several galleys mounting heavy canon, two floating batteries, some anned vessels and fireships, under Commodore Hazlewood. Im- pressed with the importance of his position Colonel Smith made every effort to strengthen his defences against the attack of the enemy, which began three days after he took command of Fort Milllin, and continued without inter- mission. Simultaneously with the attack on Red Bank by Count Donop, several ships of the British feet, having passed the lower barrier, furiously assailed Fort Mifflin, which returned their fire with good effect; the Augusta 64 blew up, killing several of her officers and men, and the Merlin, having grounded, was fired by the enemy them. selves. Undaunted by their reverses at Fort Mifflin and Red Bank, the British erected batteries on Province Island, a morass like Mud Island, and near to it, and bringing up the Isis and Somerset men-of-war, enfiladed with a destruc. tive fire the works of Fort Mifflin. The defence was most gallant, the garrison laboring day and night to strengthen the defences, and repair the breaches that were made, but this could not last long; the ramparts crumbled under the continual fire, the guns were dismounted, and the enemy's ships approached so near the fort that hand grenades were thrown within the fort and wounded the men. When further resistance was in vain, the torch was applied to everything combustible and the garrison retired. Colonel Smith received a severe contusion from bricks knocked down by the cannonade, and was carried to the mainland. For this gallant defence he was honored with a vote of thanks by Congress and the presentation of an elegant sword. Baron D'Arendt had not assumed the command of the fort, as was expected. Before Colonel Smith was entirely re- covered, he joined the army, and participated in the hard- ships and privations of Valley Forge, and afterwards took an active part in the battle of Monmouth. Reduced from affluence to poverty by a neglect of his personal interests, after a service of three years, Colonel Smith resigned his commission in the regular army, but continued to do duty as a colonel of militia to the end of the war. When the government was organized under its newly-adopted Consti- tution, he was instrumental in removing the prejudices of its opponents against it, and in reconciling different parties in Baltimore. Ile was a member of the Legislature of Maryland for a year, where he took a leading part in the questions of the day; and a member of the National Legislature for forty years, from 1793 to 1833. He was in the House of Representatives sixteen years, and in the United States Senate twenty-four years, and served on many of the most important committees. lu the House he was Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and in the Senate of the Committee of Finance. In the discharge of his legislative duties he was dis-|
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