USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 59
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 59
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institutions of learning, among which may be mentioned one to the graduating class of Loyola College, Baltimore, 1870, one to the graduates of Rockhill College, in 1872, and one, of great force and beauty, to the graduates of Manhattan College, New York city, in 1877. In 1878 he delivered, before a large and appreciative audience, in Chickering Hall, New York, an admirable and highly in- structive address on the " Relation of Religion and Art."
RIGHT, GOVERNOR ROBERT, was a native of Kent County, Maryland, and received a liberal education at the celebrated county school at Chestertown. He served for several years as one of the Executive Council of Maryland. He rep- resented Maryland in the Senate of the United States from November 19,1801, until his resignation and the appointment of his successor, General Philip Reed, November 25, 1806. He succeeded Ilon. Robert Bowie in 1806 as Governor of Maryland, and held that position until Edward Lloyd was elected in 1809. Ile was a member of the Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Congresses of the United States, from December 3, 1810, to March 3, 1817, and also served in the Seventeenth Congress, from Decem- ber 3, 1821, to March 3, 1823. Ile died September 7, 1826.
INDER, GOVERNOR LEVIN, was born in 1756 in Kent County, Maryland. On April 17, 1777, he was appointed Major of the Fourth Regiment of the Maryland Line. Ile served with distinction until the close of the war, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. While serving in the Legislature of Maryland he was made Speaker of the House of Delegates, and discharged the duties of that position with ability and firmness. He succeeded Hon. Robert Bowie, in 1812, as Governor of Maryland, and served until 1815, when Charles Ridgely, of Hampton, was elected in his stead. In 18to he was a member of the Senate of Maryland. The was a zealous Freemason, and because the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland. Ile died in Baltimore, July 7, 1819.
AMBLETON, JOHN A. AND T. EDWARD, Bankers and Brokers, are natives of New Windsor, Carroll County, Maryland. The former was born March 28, 1$27; the litter, May 17, 1829. They are the sons of Thomas E. and Sarah A. Hambleton, who removed to Baltimore in 1831. Their family consisted of
seven children-Jesse S., John A., T. Edward, William Sherwood, Francis IL., James Douglass, and Clara. Their father established in Baltimore a drygoods jobbing house, and was widely known as an honorable and successful merchant. Their mother is a daughter of Jessie Sling- Inff, Esq., formerly an honored merchant of Baltimore. Their ancestors came from England, originally from the " Hambleton Hills," and were agriculturists. In 1659 they received a patent for a tract of land called Martingham and Williton, in Talbot County, which is still held by the family. William Hambleton received a commission April 9, 1778, as Captain, and served with credit in the Revolutionary war. Purser Samuel Hamble- ton, who was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1806, and John N. Hambleton, who was subsequently commis- sioned Purser, were all members of the same family. Jesse Slingluff Hambleton, a brother of the subjects of this sketch, died in Nicaragua, while on the expedition with William Walker. Another brother, William Sherwood, died while on his way to Japan with Commodore Perry. The studies of John and Edward were pursued in Balti- more. After acquiring a good English education, John, at the age of seventeen, entered upon active life in the dry- goods business, and was admitted as a partner in his twentieth year; the firm then becoming Hambleton & Son. T. Edward graduated at St. Mary's College in 1849, when he engaged temporarily in manufacturing, and after- ward went into the provision trade. He soon, however, joined his brother in the drygoods business as a partner. The business was prosecuted with marked success until the beginning of the civil war, when T. Edward went to Rich- mond in 1861. He made several trips to Europe, and built the steamer Dare, which he commanded. Being hotly pursued by five war vessels, January 8, 1862, he beached his steamer on the coast of Debedue, S. C., burned her, and captured the boarding party. In 1864 the brothers established the banking house of John A. Hambleton & Co., which, during the past fomteen years, has become one of the most prominent and reliable financial establishments in Baltimore. These gentlemen have sustained very im- portant relations with the business of Baltimore, being ac- tive participants in the organization of several of its most important enterprises. They brought to the banking busi- ness a thorough knowledge of the trade of Baltimore, a perfect understanding of the condition and wants of the mercantile community, and an honorable character, sus- tained during an active and important business career. In their new field of operation they found wider scope for their enterprise and public spirit. Their house at once took rank among the most reputable private banks in the city, and soon became noted for its large and creditable trans. actions. The investments that they have handled have proved to be exceptionally fortunate, and have given the firm a very strong hold upon the confidence of capitalists in this community. The members of the firm'are men of
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ample means and they have high standing as financiers. They are large but conservative operators, and have always contined themselves to a strictly legitimate banking and brokerage business, controlling a large and choice patron- age among leading business houses. Their own business is in a healthy and prosperous condition, giving every indi- cation that the house has still a long career of usefulness before it. John A. married Mary E. Woolen, of Balti- more, in 1855, who died in 1872, leaving three children, Grace. Bessie, and Bell. In 1874 he married Kate, daughter of Gustavus Ober, Esq., of Baltimore. In 1852 T. Edward married Arabella Stansbury, daughter of Major Dixon Stansbury, of the United States Army, who was taken prisoner in Canada in 1812, and wounded in the Indian wars in Florida. They have had three children, Sallie S., Frank S., and Thomas S., of whom Frank S. only is living.
IL.PIN, BERNARD, was born at Sandy Spring, a Friends' settlement in Montgomery County, Mary- land, March 6, 1826. He is a son of Bernard and Letitia (C'anby ) Gilpin. His father came to Mary- land about the year 1800, from Chad's Ford, Penn- sylvania, on the Brandywine, where his ancestors settled in the days of William Penn. The old homestead has re- mained in the family ever since. From accurate genea- logical charts of the Gilpin family in America and Eng- land, his ancestry in this country may be traced to Joseph Gilpin, who was born in England in 1664, and emigrated to America in 1696 ; and in England to Richard de Guyl- pin, 1206, during the reign of King John. Joseph Gilpin, the first of the family who came to America, raised a large family of children, who settled in the West and Southwest, a number, however, remaining in Philadelphia, and Wil- mington, Delaware. Joseph Gilpin's ancestors took an active part in the important events in England in peace and war. Estates and titles have been given to a number of them for deeds of valor, and Scalby, in Cumberland County, England, has been held until recently by the family. An early Bernard Gilpin was called the Apostle of the North, and made himself so obnoxious to Queen Mary by his radicalism and non-conformity to the religion of the crown that he was sentenced to be burned at the stake. The Gilpins have always taken advanced steps in the early history of this country as well as England, and have done much to shape the course of the nation. The subject of this sketch was educated at Sandy Spring with a view to becoming a farmer, but at seventeen years of age he went to Baltimore in search of other employment. Ile engaged in the retail drug business, as under clerk, with Mr. C. B. Barry. In 1846 he entered the house of E. 11. Stabler & Co. In 1851 he married Mary Bernard, of Baltimore, and has three children, Henry Brooke, Bet
nard, Jr., and Frank. Soon after his marriage Mr. Gilpin engaged in the wholesale drug business with . James Baily, and finally became a member of the well-known firm of Canby, Gilpin & Co., of which he is still an active part- ner. For several years Mr. Gilpin took an active part in the cause of emigration, with a view to induce emigrants to settle in Maryland, but the Western inducements were so superior that he abandoned it. He has always taken an ac- tive interest in the prosperity of the great West, however, and has made several extended trips as far as the Pacific coast. He has written very interesting letters descriptive of the country. He has established his son, Bernard, at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, he having gone to that country in his seventeenth year as an explorer and surveyor under the United States government, and settled there to engage in stock raising. Mr. Gilpin's father and mother being members of the Friends' society, he has in the main held their views, always, however, maintaining the most liberal and anti-sectarian opinions, accepting re- ligion in its broadest sense, believing that forms and creeds are no part of true religion. He believes that the light within is sufficient for all God's creation as a guide that never leads astray. Politically, he has followed in the footsteps of his family predecessors, and was a Whig until the dissolution of that party. Since then he has affiliated with the Republicans. Although quiet and unostentatious in manner, he is a driving, energetic business man, and a public-spirited citizen, who has made his influence felt in the community. Ilis strict integrity, affability, and gener- osity have won for him the esteem of all who know him, and his liberal donations and personal efforts in behalf of charitable and benevolent enterprises have greatly con- tributed to the welfare and happiness of his fellow-men.
FORSUCH, JOHN THOMAS, was born at Owing's Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland, August 21, 1832. During his infancy, his parents removed with him to Baltimore city, where he attended the public schools, graduating with high merit at the High School, now known as the Baltimore City College. After graduating, young Gorsuch served as a clerk, as he had done much of the time during his schoolboy days in his father's office, and after the expiration of two years commenced to learn the bricklaying trade, serving a regu- lar apprenticeship. On attaining his majority he went to Washington, D. C., and entered into that business, work- ing on the Capitol, the Marine Hospital, at the Navy Vard, and on various Government buildings. In 1858 he re- turned to Baltimore, and was appointed by Edward Dow- ling, Clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore City, as Examining Clerk in the office of that court. At the end of a year he entered into the service of the Baltimore City
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Passenger Railway Company as conductor, which position he held for over seven years. After leaving that service, he was appointed in May, 1867, by Governor Thomas Swann, as Justice of the Peace, in Baltimore, which position he still holds. In 1858 Mr. Gorsuch married Miss Sarah R. Griffin, daughter of the late Levi Griffin, of the United States Navy, and has eight children living. His father was the late Peregrine Gorsuch, a highly esteemed citizen of Baltimore, who held the position of chief clerk and treasurer in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, and was a member of the First and Second Branch of the City Council, justice of the peace, etc. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest and most reliable conveyancers in Baltimore. Mr. Gorsuch's ancestors settled in Maryland contemporaneously with the Lords Baltimore. A portion of the original land grants from the proprietary are still held in the Gorsuch family, and lie in the area embraced by Eutaw, Baltimore, Fayette, and Harrison Streets. Mr. Gorsuch is prominently identified with scv- eral benevolent societies, among which are the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Knights of the Golden Eagle. HIc is the Past Grand Recorder of the Royal and Select Masters of the State of Maryland, in the Masonic Fraternity. In 1858 he made application to Lafayette Lodge, No. 110, of Free and Accepted Masons, and was duly clected to receive the degrees of Masonry. In 1860 he was elected to the Royal Arch Chapter, as also the Concordia Chapter, of which he was elected Secretary, which position he ae- cupied for ten years. In 1865 he joined the Knight Templars, and was elected Sword Bearer. In conjunction with George 1. McCahan, he instituted the Grand Lodge of Royal and Select Masters, and was elected its Grand Recorder, which position he held for three years. He also hield the position of Master of Phoenix Lodge, No. 139, of F. and A. Masons. In all the positions hell by Mr. Gor- such, he has acquitted himself with honor and fidelity ; has proven himself worthy of the trust and confidence re- posed in him. As a Justice of the Peace, he is fair and impartial, and administers his office in the spirit of honor and prolaty. In manners he is affable aud courteous; is extremely sociable and communicative, and is deservedly popular.
OOPER, THOMAS, Merchant and Shipbuilder, was born on Taylor's Island, Dorchester County, Mary- land, in 1803, where his father, James Hooper, an extensive agriculturist, was also born, and where his ancestors, according to ancient records and old tombstones, established themselves contemporaneously with the settlement of the State. The pioneers of the family in this country were three brothers, who came from England in the carly Colonial times, one settling in Dorchester
County, Maryland, one in South Carolina, and one in the West. Thomas Hooper, who had received the best edu- cadion that the schools of his native county could furnish, removed to Baltimore whilst quite a young man, and en. gaged in the wholesale grocery and commission business, which he successfully followed for several years, and then associated therewith the shipbuilding business, his ship- yard, with three marine railways, being located on the south side of the Basin, and occupying a frontage of one hundred and eighty-five feet, and a depth of eight hundred feet. Mr. Hooper was one of the most extensive shipbuilders and shipowners of his day, having built and owned, in whole and in part, one hundred and forty-seven vessels during his lifetime, the vessels constructed by him being sen-going craft, of a first-class character, and many of them clipper vessels, famous for their speed. Notably among the number were the bark Flying Cloud, brig Foaming Sea, and schooner Leocadia. He was also ex- tensively engaged in the bay and coasting trade, and had lines of vessels, passenger and freight, running to Norfolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Jacksonville, Mobile, New Or- leans, Galveston, and other ports of the Southern States, as well as to many South American and West Indian. Whilst engaged in the Baltimore business he also built vessels on his farm, Taylor's Island, and had two other builders constructing vessels for him at Church Creek and Tobacco Stich, in the same county. The shipyard in Bal- timore was conducted for a number of years after his death by his sous, Edwin E. Hooper and Samuel 11. Hooper, who also built quite a number of vessels, a few of them being steamers of a small size. Through energy, industry, and unswerving integrity, Mr. Hooper amassed a considerable fortune. He died June 28, 1857, not quite fifty-four years of age, and his death was generally lamented by the com- munity in which he had spent the greater part of his life, whilst the shipping interest manifested especial respect to his memory by the half-masting of all the flags in the harbor. The Maryland press, at the time of his demise, paid the highest eulogies to his worth as a citizen ; to his exalted moral character and nnostentatious Christian benevolence. Though always a stanch Democrat, of the Jacksonian school, Mr. Hooper never sought, but, on the contrary, persistently avoided political station. Mr. Hooper was prevailed upon at one time to represent the Fifteenth Ward in the City Council. He served during the session of 1845 and 1846, and performed his duties in a manner most conducive to the commercial interests of Baltimore. The term which Mr. Hooper served in the City Council was during the administration of Mayor Jacob G. Davies, Hon. Joshua Vansant and John S. Brown were also mem- bers of that body at the same time, and Angustus II. Pen- nington was the clerk of the Branch. Mr. Hooper was afterwards proffered by the Democratic party the nomina- tion for the Mayoralty, but declining to sacrifice his busi- ness interests to accept office he refused it. The wife of
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the subject of this sketch was Miss Hannah Robinson, the daughter of a highly respectable farmer of Dorchester County. The issue of the marriage were eleven children, five of whom survived their father, Mary M., Edwin E., Samuel 11., Emma J., and Frank 1 .. Hooper. No one stood in higher estimation than Thomas Hooper,
SHEPHERD, THOMAS F., was born October 10, 1815, near Union Bridge, Frederick County (now Car- roll) Maryland, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. ITis great-grandfather, William Farquhar, and his wife, Ann, moved from the Province of Pennsylvania to the Province of Maryland in 1735, and settled near the present town of Union Bridge, Carroll County. Ile was the first white settler in that part of the State; and there being no roads except the paths made by Indians and wild beasts, he was obliged to move his family and goods on pack-horses. He was a tailor by trade, and made buck- skin breeches and other clothing for the settlers when they came. Ilis father, Allen Farquhar, gave him two hundred acres of land, and he took up and patented from time to time, as he acquired means, different tracts of land until, in January, 1768, he owned two thousand two hundred and fifty-six acres, including all of the site of the town of Union Bridge, which he divided among his seven chil- dren, some of which is still owned by his descendants. His grandfather, Solomon Shepherd, was the oldest son of William and Richmonda Shepherd, of Menallen Township, County of York, Province of Pennsylvania. lle married Susanna Farquhar, daughter of William Farquhar, Octo. ber, 1779, and built a fulling mill on a part of his wife's land. He subsequently built a woollen factory on the same site, which is still owned by some of his descendants. There were many wolves, wild cats, and bears in that sec- tion of the State when Solomon Shepherd operated his fulling mill ; so that it became necessary for him to carry fire-brands to frighten them away when he passed from his house to his mill at night. This gentleman had four daughters and two sons, His oldest son, William Shep- herd, was born February 2, 1786. He married Ruth Fisher, daughter of Samuel Fisher, of Baltimore. They had four sons and four daughters. The subject of this sketch was the oldest son and second child. One brother and three sisters are dead. Solomon, one of the brothers, and Mary Stultz, his sister, are living near Union Bridge; James, the other brother, lives in Iowa City. Thomas I'., being the oldest son, in his youth was needed in the factory, and all the education he received was obtained at a district school, and the business training he got by managing the factory and keeping its books, Ilis brothers were more highly favored in this particular.
William HI. studied medicine ; practiced in Maryland and Wisconsin; went to Australia in 1857, and thence to Cali- fornia, where he practiced his profession until his death in 1864. Solomon carried on the woollen factory for a few years after Thomas left it; then moved to Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming for a few years; returned to Maryland, and is now farming near Union Bridge. James was farming in lowa until his health failed; he then sold his farm and moved to Iowa City, where he now resides. In October, 1842, Thomas F. Sheppard married Miss Harriet Haines, born January 6, 1822, near Union Bridge, and daughter of Job C. Haines, a farmer, and sister of G. S. Haines, President of the First National Bank of West- minster, In 1846 Mr. Shepherd withdrew from the factory on account of his health, and removed to the farm on which he now resides (1879), containing about two hun- dred acres. In January, 1860, he was elected a Director of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery County, which position he still holds. In May, 1861, he was appointed Postmaster at Uniontown, and still holds that office, though never attending personally to its duties, on account of his residence being a mile from the town. In November of that year he was elected County Commis- sioner, and held the office six years, having been re-elected in 1863 and again in 1865, and was legislated out of office by the Constitution of 1867. Ile was President of the Board most of the time. The First National Bank of New Windsor was organized in 1865, and Mr. Shepherd was chosen President, to which position he has been re-elected every year since. Ilis wife died in February, 1869, leav- ing two daughters. During the same month the bank was robbed by burglars of about one hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars, over one hundred thousand of which was recovered. The stockholders expressed their confidence in the integrity of the officers, and the management of the bank, by immediately making good the entire loss, each one paying his proper proportion. Mr. Shepherd, with his whole family, were old-line Whigs. He joined the Know Nothings, but did not approve some of their principles. During the rebellion he was a strong Union man, and was active in calling and conducting the first Union meeting held in the State. Ile was for many years a member of . the State and County Republican Central Committees, also the Executive Committee of the National Council of the Union League of North America. At the first annual meet- ing of the State Grange, March, 1874, he was elected Chair- man of the Executive Committee, and re-elected at every election since. Mr. Shepherd's parents were members of the Society of Friends, of which he is also a member. Rev. Thomas Shepherd, of Boston, Moses Sheppard, of Balti- more, founder of the Sheppard Insane Asylum, and Colo. nel Sheppard, of the Revolutionarmy, were all of the same family. In every position to which Mr. Thomas F. Shep- herd has been called, he always secured and retained the esteem of the community.
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-3 FOWLER, HON. ROBERT, Ex-State Treasurer and Legislator, was born in Frederick County, Mary- land, near the little town of Urbana, July 4, 1812. Ilis early childhood and youth were spent at the place of his birth, on the farm of his father, Hemy Fowler. His parents were both of English origin, and if they gave him but little of this world's goods, he received from them those priceless gifts, " a sound mind in a sound body," together with a generous and happy heart. Ile was educated at the schools in the neighborhood of the place of his birth. Like many others whom nature formed for the higher walks and occupations of life, he lived to regret the want of a more liberal education. Ilis energy and self-reliance soon urged him to leave the home of his childhood, but he never wandered far from his father's roof, nor ceased to be a citizen of the State of Maryland. At the age of twenty-one, we find him in Washington County, which adjoins his native county on the west. . llere at the town of Boonsboro, when he had scarcely more than attained his majority, he married Susan, the daughter of Henry Keedy, Esq., and soon after his mar- riage, removed to a farm at Beaver Creek, a few miles west of Boonsboro, which had been part of the estate of his father-in-law. He remained here engaged in farming and other kindred occupations, until the year 1841, when he removed to Hagerstown, the county seat of Washington County. At this time Mr. Fowler's handsome person, popular manners, and generous disposition, together with the large and influential connections of his wife's family throughout the castern and southeastern parts of the county, adjoining Keedysville and Boonsboro, at once secured for him a host of devoted friends, gave him an extensive acquaintance throughout the county, and brought him prominently before the public. Hle first became a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Wash- ington County, in which position, it is said, " he displayed at an early age that aptitude for business and management of public affairs that so distinguished him in after life." In the year IS4b he was nominated by the Whigs as a delegate to the General Assembly of Maryland. The canvass consequent upon this nomination was a most excit- ing and remarkable one, and is yet remembered by those who took part in it. The lon. William T. Hamilton, who has since represented Maryland in the United States Senate, and is now one of the most valued and respected citizens of the State, an eloquent orator and a learned and successful lawyer, was Mr. Fowler's opponent. Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Fowler were then both young, ardent, full of energy, and were just entering public life. The following is quoted from a speech delivered by the Ilon. George Freaner, of Washington County, before the House of Delegates, just after the death of Mr. Fowler : " In 1846, in times of very high political excitement, and when party supremacy varied with almost every election, Mr. Fowler, then a Whig, was nominated for n seat in this
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