USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 6
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 6
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clad expedition against Fort Sumter, and was on board the United States steamer Bibb when the attack was made. . His controversy with the commander of that expedition and the Navy Department is part of the history of the war. His opinions regarding the premature withdrawal of the fleet were subsequently confirmed from Southern sources. Mr. Fulton, amid all the excitements of that period, was remarkably successful in raising funds for the purpose of sending supplies of every kind to the Union prisoners at Richmond, who were reported to be starving and suffer- ing from the want of clothing and other necessaries. The following resolution, passed by the Maryland House of Delegates, proves that his efforts were appreciated :
" By the House of Delegates- Resolved, That the thanks of this House be, and are hereby, tendered to Charles Carroll Fulton, of the city of Baltimore, for his exertions for the relief of the soldiers of the Union now held by the so-called Confederate authorities; and espe- cially for the aid afforded by him to the officers and enlisted men of the regiments of this State in Libby Prison and Belle Isle, Richmond.
" THOMAS H. KERN, " Speaker of the House of Delegates. " Attest : N. R. COLE, " Chief Clerk of the House of Delegates."
Mr. Fulton did not confine his efforts to alleviating the miseries of the boys in blue in Southern prisons, but in many cases the sons of Baltimoreans, who had donned the gray, were indebted to him for attentions while lying in Northern prisons. Mr. Fulton's son, Albert K. Fulton, (now associated in the proprietorship of the American), was an engineer on board the " Hartford," Admiral Far- ragut's flag ship, and acted as correspondent, giving graphic descriptions of all the great naval engagements in which the illustrious commander conquered. The senior editor was present at the hoisting of the old flag over the ruins of Fort Sumter, when the country was in the full tide of rejoicing over the close of the war, unconscious of the impending calamity of President Lincoln's assassination. The setting sun that gilded the restored flag on the ruins, rose the next morning on a nation mourning the martyrdom of its chief. The public improvements of the city of Balti- more have always received Mr. Fulton's ardent support. He advocated the purchase and improvement of Druid Hill Park, and the tax upon the passenger railways to meet the outlay. Through his exertions the beautiful Centennial Fountain that adorns Eutaw Place was procured and erected, in which he was aided by other property-owners fronting its site, and the liberality of the City Councils. The American building, in which the paper has been located since 1876, can be pointed to as one of the ornaments that all Balti- moreans can view with pride. Its exterior is architectu- rally beautiful, and its interior a model of what a newspa-
per office should be, replete as it is with comforts, especially in the composing and press rooms, Mr. Fulton accompa- nied, in 1871, the commissioners, headed by the late Sen- ator Wade, appointed by President Grant to visit San Domingo, and report upon the advisability of annexing it to the United States. Ilis letters gave glowing accounts of the delightful climate, prolific soil, attractive scenery, and its bountiful yield of tropical fruits. During his ab- sence the public were startled by a sensational report of disaster to the steamship that conveyed the commissioners, and nearly two weeks of dread and uncertainty elapsed before authentic news was received of the safety of the commission. As a politician, he has occupied a prominent position in State affairs, and for many years he represented his party in the National Executive Committee. He has been delegate to national conventions for nominating Presi- dential candidates, and in every instance has fulfilled the expectations of the Republican party. Modest and retir- ing in his manners; delighting in the eloquence of others, he is not an adept at speechmaking, though in social mo- ments and in the committee-room, he expresses his opin- ions freely and to the point. As the editorial correspond. ent of the American, he has traversed all sections of the country, joined in excursion trips over new lines of rail- way, rambled through Texas, descended coal and iron mines, explored the Oil Regions, and has never failed to present the results of his observations so as to make them attractive and interesting to his readers. Ilis wanderings in foreign countries have also been very extensive. He spent the summers of 1859, 1872, 1873, and 1878 in Euro- pean trips. His work, entitled Europe seen through American Spectacles, being a selection of his letters to the American during the Vienna Exposition, has gone through two editions, and has become a sort of guide book, especially to Baltimoreans. His departure from Baltimore on the 15th of April, 1878, on his visit to Europe and the Paris Exposition, drew a large collection of friends to give " God speed" to himself, his daughter, and the other ladies that accompanied her. Among those present were the Hon. John 1 .. Thomas, Collector of the Port; Colonel Vernon, Surveyor; Mr. William Corkran, Naval Officer ; Captain William D. Burchinal, Deputy Collector; Messrs. Samuel M. Shoemaker, John W. Garrett, Charles P. Mon- tague, Christopher West, Theodore Hooper, and many others. Sir Andrew Head, of Canada, a guest of Mr. Garrett, also witnessed the scene. A delegation from the employees of the American were in attendance, and pre- sented a magnificent basket of flowers and a profusion of bouquets. . Among the number were three brothers. of Mr. Fulton, to bid him farewell, and to one of them it has been a final parting. Edington Fulton went to his rest May 13, 1878, after being associated with the American for thirty years, with the exception of intervals when he filled the post of Surveyor of the Port, and Public Store- keeper. Mr. Fulton, after an absence of five months, re-
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turned from Europe in excellent health, having, during his absence, sent eighty-six letters to the American for publi- cation. lle is still, at the age of sixty-two, as full of ac- tivity and energy as in his younger days, with the promise of many years of usefulness yet to come.
1 REWER, JAMES RAWLINGS, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Baltimore City and Editor and part proprietor of The Baltimore Daily News, was born in Annapolis, Maryland, December 28, 1840. His father, James B. Brewer, was a na- tive of the same city, and died there at the age of sixty- three years. His mother's maiden name was Eliza A. Rawlings, her father being a member of the firm of Shep- pard & Rawlings during the war of 1812. James R. en - joyed at an early age all the educational advantages which the capital of the State afforded. When only fourteen years old he commenced to write both political and poetic articles for the press, several of which elicited praise from the pen of the editor in whose paper they ap- peared. At seventeen years of age, Mr. Brewer, for satis- factory domestic reasons and because of his fondness for the art, determined to acquire a knowledge of the printing business, With the knowledge already acquired at school and college, his mind now rapidly improved, and at the age of eighteen he aceepted the charge as editor of the . Maryland Republican, at that time the organ of the Demo- cratic party for Anne Arundel County and large portions of the surrounding country. In that position, he discharged the responsible duties of his profession with remarkable ability. Having lost his father, the care of his widowed mother and several sisters greatly inereased his responsi- bilities, which induced him to bring them with himself to Baltimore, where he might obtain more lucrative business. Hle therefore established his home in that city in 1862. In Baltimore, he formed a connection with the Southern Herald, published by Messrs. Beach & Young. Being by birth and education a Southerner, and in full sympathy with the Southern cause, he did not hesitate in the expres- sion of his views through the columns of that journal. This at once incurred the hostility of the military authori- ties, and the Herald survived but a few weeks. About a month afterward he became connected with the Evening Transcript, a sprightly, popular, and successful journal. It also became too bold and outspoken for the same authori- tics, and in May, 1864, it was suppressed by General Lew Wallace. A few weeks after the suppression of the Transcript, in connection with Mr. Joshua M. Bosley, he established The Evening Post, which from its first number proved a great success. But, it too, after innumerable an- noyances, was finally suppressed by the Federal authorities, September 30, 1864, by an order from the headquarters
of General Wallace. Becoming convinced that indepen- dent journalism could not be sustained at that time in Baltimore, Mr. Brewer resolved to abandon it during the continuance of the war. But an idle life he would not brook ; it was no matter of surprise, therefore, that he ac- cepted the position to which he had been elected, of President of the Democratic City Convention, which at that time was hazardous to the incumbent. During the autumn of that year, he was nominated for the State Senate from the Third Legislative District of Baltimore city, upon what was known as the Mcclellan tieket. Ile was not then twenty-five years of age, but so great was his popu- larity that he would have been elected, were it not that three-fourths of the people of Maryland had been disfran- chised, and the opposition ticket was declared triumphant. His fame, by this time, had extended beyond the bounds of his own State, and Manton Marble, Esq., editor and pro- prietor of the New York World, tendered him an editorial position on that leading Democratic journal, which he ac- cepted. In connection with the responsible position as- signed him, he remained, discharging its onerous duties with signal ability, until the spring of 1865, when the filial affection which had characterized him from his earliest boyhood, caused him to resign, and return to the home in Baltimore now doubly endeared by the presence of his mother, whose health had grown quite precarious. Soon after his return, Mr. Brewer assumed editorial control of the Sunday Telegram, which he held for several years. During his connection with it he wrote several serial storics, which proved highly popular and greatly enhanced its cir- culation. Meanwhile he was not idle in politics. He continued president of the Democratic City Convention, and was also chairman of the Democratic Executive Com- mittee. He was one of the originators of the Anti-Registry Convention, which was composed of many of the best men in the State, and was appointed by that convention a com- mittee of one, with power to select assistants, to prepare a memorial to the Legislature of 1866, and obtain signatures thereto, praying the modification of the Registry Law, then so obnoxious to a large proportion of the citizens of the State. That memorial received the signatures of several thousands of the best citizens of Baltimore, and was probably the most numerously signed document ever presented to the Maryland Legislature. Early in 1867, Mr. Brewer called the first Democratic City Convention, after the fusion of the Democratic and Conservative parties, and was made chairman of the Executive Com- mittee. He was appointed by that convention chairman of the committee to prepare an address and resolutions to the people of Baltimore. Ile wrote the address. He was unanimously nominated as a delegate at large from the Third Legislative District of Baltimore to the Constitu- tional Convention of that year, and was elected by a ma- jority amounting ahnost to unanimity. In the fall of the same year he was elected Clerk of the Baltimore Circuit Court,
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by a large majority. This position he continues to fill to the satisfaction of the court, the bar, and the public gen- erally, having been re-elected in November, 1873. In 1870, he was unanimously chosen a member at large and Chair- man of the Executive Committee, by the City Convention, and successfully conducted one of the most brilliant con- tests of the previous deeade. A notable feature of that contest grew out of the enfranchisement of the negroes, it being the first time that that element of the population had exercised the right of suffrage. The following year Mr. Brewer was conspicuously identified with the conduct of the exciting canvass so well remembered by those who were then residents of Baltimore. When connected with the Sunday Telegram, he was the first to advocate the running of the City Passenger Railway cars on Sunday, and was largely instrumental in bringing to it an overwhelming majority when submitted to a popular vote. He was also chiefly instru- mental in deposing the police of 1866. On February 9, 1874, he became part owner of the Baltimore Daily News, and is its responsible editor. Amid all the excitements of politics, and the activities and pressure of business, Mr. Brewer has ever evinced a decided and cultured poetic talent. At the request of the Grand Lodge of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Maryland, he wrote the two odes which were read and sung at the dedi- cation of the Wildey Monument in Baltimore a few years since. He was also the author of a poem which was re- cited at the Poe memorial celebration in the same city. The publication of that poem called out numerous compli- mentary letters from distinguished poets and members of the literati throughout the United States. As a writer, Mr. Brewer's style of composition is bold, terse, fluent; and when occasion demands, terribly sarcastic and satirical. He has an unusual command of language, and his invective is sharp, severe, and incisive. He is yet comparatively young; and with his ambition and untiring and closely studious habits it is safe to predict for him future prefer- ment and advancement. In physique, Mr. Brewer is a notable personage, of heavy build, tall in stature, eyes black, brilliant and penetrating, dark hair, with a large, intellectual head and countenance. He looks like a man born to lead. In conversation he is sprightly and brimful of humor, and possesses an ardent temperament, but so thoroughly under control as never to lead to any excess of act or expression. He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. Mr. Brewer is a man of family, ex- ceedingly fond of his home, and surrounded by his loved ones he spends his moments as happily as it is allotted to mortals on this earth to live.
JEISH, WILLIAM II., Proprietor, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of the Baltimore Gazette, was born in York, York County, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1826. His father, Henry Welsh, was born in Hanover, York County, same State, Jan- nary 13, 1800. Ile was a prominent Jackson man, and at one time publisher of The State Reporter, at Harrisburg, the Democratic organ, and afterward of the York Gazette. He was naval officer of the port of Philadelphia, during the administration of President Polk, and is now President of York National Bank. His mother, Margaret Maria (Small) Welsh, was born in York, September 29, 1804, and died October 8, 1834. William HI. received his early education at the York County Academy, uhder the tutorship of Rev. Stephen Boyer, one of the best teachers of his day. In 1840 his father removed to Philadelphia to engage in mercantile pursuits, and for several years Wil- liam went to the best private schools in that city. In 1842 the family removed to York, and he was placed under the tutorship of Rev. Benjamin J. Wallace, to prepare for en- trance into Princeton College, New Jersey. He entered the junior class of that institution in August, 1845, and during his term was selected as one of the junior orators graduating at the Centennial Commencement, June 30th, 1847. Ile delivered a poem as part of the Commence- ment exercises, at the request of the Faculty. Mr. Welsh began the study of law in Philadelphia, July c., 1847, in the office of Ilon. Benjamin H. Brewster, and was examined for admission to the bar, July 3, 1849, passing his exami- nation on that day. On the 3d of October following he commenced the practice of law in that city. In conse- quence of ill health, he left Philadelphia and returned to Vork, where he was admitted to practice in November, 1849. Ile at once took a prominent part in politics as a member of the Democratie party, and represented his county in several State conventions. He was also actively engaged as a public speaker in different counties, and de- livered a number of lectures on literary subjects before and after his European continental tour. When James Buchanan was sent to England as American Minister by President Pierce, in 1853, he appointed Mr. Welsh private secretary and attache to the American Legation at Lon- don. He sailed from New York August, 1853, and arriv- ing at Liverpool, at once proceeded to London and entered upon his duties. While abroad, he travelled extensively in England and over the continent of Europe, and accom- panied Mr. Buchanan when, in accordance with instruc- tions from Secretary Marcy, the Ostend Conference, as it was called, in reference to Cuba, was held, commencing at Ostend, but finishing at Aix-la-chapelle. There were present at that conference Mr. Buchanan, Minister to Eng- land, John Y. Mason, Minister to France, and Pierre Sonle, Minister to Spain, with their secretaries. Mr. Welsh retired from the Legation and returned home in March, 1855, and resumed the practice of law in York.
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In the summer of that year he was unanimously nominated by the York County Democratic Convention candidate for State Senator, against a candidate who had previously been elected by the Democrats and joined the Knownothing party, and after a severe contest was elected by more than nine hundred majority. In 1856 he became part owner of the York Gazette, the Democratic organ of the county. The last year of his senatorial term (1858) he was elected Speaker of the Senate, and in the fall of that year was re- elected Senator for three years. In 1860, he was chosen President of the Democratic State Convention, held at Reading, Pennsylvania, to nominate a Governor, and was unanimously chosen by the Convention Chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee for several years. In the fall of 1861, he removed to Philadelphia and re- smned the practice of law. He started, in connection with two others, March 25, 1863, in that city, The age, which was published daily and weekly during the war, as 1871. he pa thorough Democratic and State Rights journal, with great success. In the spring of 1871, Mr. Welsh retired from The Age, and in the spring of 1872 he purchased an interest in the Baltimore Gazette. In 1875, he became President of the Gazette Publishing Company. He is now proprietor, publisher, and editor-in-chief. Mr. Welsh is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He has al- ways been a consistent and unswerving Democrat. Ile married, November 29. 1860, Miss Sallie A. Wickes, youngest daughter of Colonel Joseph Wickes, a prominent citizen of Chesterton, Kent County, Maryland, and a niece of Hon. Ezekich T. Chambers, of the same county. Three children were the result of this marriage : Henry Welsh, born October 26, 1867, Joseph Wickes Welsh, born Feb- ruary 7, 1870, and Bessie Welsh, born February 28, 1872.
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AINE, COLONEL, FREDERICK, Editor and Pro- prietor of the German Correspondent, of Balti- more, son of the late William Raine, was born at the Fortress of Minden, in Prussia, May 13, 1821. Ile received a good education in the excel- lent public schools of bis native land. At an early age, he entered, as an apprentice, a book and publishing house at Munster, where he became familiar with the mysteries of the printing art and acquired a knowledge of proof-reading. Possessing natural abilities, he occasionally essayed news- paper articles, and earnestly devoted his leisure hours to study under private tutors, directing his attention particu- larly to the acquirement of the French and English lan- guages. When scarcely seventeen years of age he came to America, whither his father had preceded him, and located in Baltimore. About the year 1838, William Raine established the Die Geschaeftige Martha, a religious weekly, and conducted it until the memorable political
campaign in Baltimore County of 1840, when he changed it to a weekly political paper called the Democratic Whig, in the conduct of which he was assisted by Frederick, who thus acquired a thorough knowledge of type-setting, and of many other things which were of infinite value to him in his subsequent career as a journalist. The paper survived but for a brief period, and young Raine, not then twenty years old, displayed his indefatigable will and energy by assuming charge of the office, and issuing, Feb- ruary 6, 1841, a paper of his own, entitled the German Correspondent. It was published weekly, with four columns to the page, and started with only eighty subscribers. Mr. Raine closely observed and patterned after the American press, which, at that time, was receiving a new impetus from the genius of Greeley and Bennett. He shaped his little enterprise accordingly, discarding the mannerism of European journals. His was the first German-American paper that emancipated itself from these trammels, and he made it his chief aim to furnish his patrons with all the important foreign and domestic news, in an easy and readable style, thus making his journal a newspaper in every sense of the word; and, in this connection, we would remark, as indicating his industry, assiduity and perseverance, as well as the difficulties and disadvantages under which he labored, for the want of proper assistance, that Mr. Raine served as the exclusive editor, compositor and carrier of his paper. In 1842, le published the Cor- respondent bi-weekly, and the ensuing year tri-weekly, meeting with steadily increasing success. His great am- bition, however, was to give to the Germans of Baltimore an acceptable German-American daily paper, and, on January 5, 1844, he issued the German Correspondent as a daily morning penny paper, of four pages, with three columns to the page. ITis limited means, however, being inadequate to the increased expenses, he resumed the tri- weekly publication. In the beginning of 1845, he made a second attempt to issue a daily, which proved successful. During the Mexican war the Correspondent rapidly in- creased in circulation, and also in value as an advertising medium. The large influx of German immigrants during I849 and 1850, added greatly to its subscription list, and it speedily assumed a rank among the first German-American papers of the day. It has always been the advocate of Democratic principles, though it has maintained them without any sacrifice of its independence. In 1867, Mr. Raine was appointed by Governor Swann as Colonel on his Staff, and, in 1868, he was chairman of the Council Committee of Reception on the arrival of the pioneer vessel of the German line of steamers between Baltimore and Bremen, in which enterprise he took a prominent part. During the two above-mentioned years, Colonel Raine represented the ninth ward of Baltimore in the first branch of the City Council in a most able and acceptable manner, introducing and advocating many measures pro- motive of the city's interests. He was an Elector at
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large on the Greeley ticket in 1872, and again on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket in 1876. He has travelled extensively throughout the United States, making a journey to California and through that State in 1875, and a tour of the Southern States in 1876. October 31, 1877, he was appointed by Mayor Latrobe and confirmed by the City Council as one of the five Commissioners on the system of Public School Education in Baltimore, which was a mark of especial trust and confidence in his integrity, prudence and ability. On July 15, 1878, he started on a second tour over the European Continent, first visiting Great Britain. Whilst travelling in Europe, he furnished the German Correspondent with a series of letters, embracing all matters of interest that came under his personal obser- vation. Colonel Raine is ably assisted in his journalistic duties by his brother, Edward Raine, and his nephew. Ile married, in August, 1854, Miss Pamilia C. Bull, of Harford County, Maryland. He has a brother, William, who is the publisher of a German paper in St. Louis, Missouri. Starting in life with no capital save his own brains, energy and determination to succeed; establishing a newspaper which is the peer of any of its kind in this country, and which will also safely challenge comparison with the leading American journals; filling honorable and responsible positions with faithfulness and fidelity; con- structing elegant and valuable improvements, such as the Raine Building in the heart of the city, thus adding to Baltimore's architectural beauty and its taxable basis; proving himself, in all his acts, public and private, to be the honorable, upright and useful citizen, Frederick Raine presents a record of which the entire community whom he has so materially benefited by his enterprises and services, should feel proud. In manners, Colonel Raine possesses the social traits of the German people; intelligent to the highest degree; quick and intuitive in his perceptions; clear and just in his notions of right or wrong; forcible in argument, yet never eaptious; he im- presses all who enjoy his acquaintance with the conviction that he is a man of no ordinary type.
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