USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 72
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 72
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GRIFFITH, GREENBERY, an officer in the war of 1812, was a native of . Maryland, his ancestors coming to this country among the early settlers. Prior to that war he resided in Alexandria, Virginia, and followed the business of jeweller. At the battle of White House, Virginia, under Commodore Porter, when the British effected a landing at that place he commanded a battery of artillery. During the engagement a cannon- ball from one of the English gunboats struck the ground just in front of where he was standing, tearing away the
earth from under him, and making a deep excavation, into which he fell. Ilis men ran to him shouting that he was killed, but he arose to his feet, and cried out : " I'm all right, boys, give it to them again !" ; Though they fought with great bravery, their ammmmmition became exhausted, and they were forced to retire. Mr. Griffith afterward re- moved to Montgomery County, Maryland, where he spent the remainder of his life, and where his descendants still reside. IIis wife, Prudence (Jones) Griffith, is still living.
TOBINSON, JOSEPH J., Manufacturer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 29, 1829. His parents were also residents of Maryland, and were of English and Irish parentage. His grandparents filled positions of honor, and left behind them an honor- able record in the history of this country. His great-grand- father, Simpson by name, whilst surveying in the Western wilds in the year 1790, under the direction of the United States government, was murdered by the Indians. Joseph J. Robinson was educated in the schools of Baltimore city, where he made good use of his time in acquiring a thor- ough knowledge of those branches of study most service- able in the business of life. In his eighteenth year he began business for himself as a photographer, in which he continued for about one year, when he engaged in the dry- goods business. In the year 1800 his grandfather, George Robinson, began the manufacturing of brick in Baltimore city, and continued the business until his death in 1828, which brought George Robinson and his brother before the public, under the firm name of G. & L. Robinson. They continued in the business until 1850, having established the manufacturing of brick out of Canton clay by hand, being the first introduction of hand-made brick at Canton, which proved to be a success. This firm was dissolved by the withdrawal of the senior partner, George W. Robinson, who associated with him the subject of this sketch, Joseph J., under the firm name of George W. Robinson & Son. They continued the business at Canton with great success until 1873, when they received a notice from the Canton Company to remove from their land, in order to make room for some projected railroad improvements. Soon afterward the junior partner purchased for the use of the firm a piece of ground (about twenty-three acres), in the Eastern section of the city, bounded by East Avenue and Monument Street, where they have established their works, and increased their manufacturing facilities. Owing to the indefatigable energy of the junior partner (the senior being advanced in years), the business of the firm has steadily grown, until it is now one of the largest of the kind in Baltimore. Messrs. Robinson & Son are now manufactur- ing at the rate of ten millions of bricks per year. The superiority of the bricks manufactured by them is evidenced
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by the severe test to which they have been subjected, and the large purchases made by the officers of the city, State, and United States. They have filled, and are now filling large orders from corporations and contractors in various parts of the country. While Mr. Robinson's business career has been one of great energy and activity, and the demand made upon him in looking after the interests of the firm has been very great, he has found time to contribute in various ways to enterprises designed to promote the public welfare, and is regarded as one of Baltimore's public- spirited citizens. In 1863 he was elected by the citizens of the Sixth Ward to represent them in the First Branch of the City Comcil. As a member of that body he evinced the same energy and industry as in his business, and as Chairman of the Committee on Internal Improvements and Highways, displayed a thorough comprehension and apti- tnde to handle all business appertaining to those commit- tees. Ile discharged his duties with such fidelity to the interests of his constituents and the public at large, that they returned him for five consecutive years to represent them. In early life he married Mary E., daughter of Samuel Burnham, a merchant of Baltimore, and has three daughters.
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.LAGLE, CHARLES \., Merchant, was born March II, 1828, in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania. His father, David Slagle, was a prominent and highly respected citizen of that place, and occupied many important and responsible public positions there, such as that of Chief Burgess, etc. The great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch was one of a company of pioneers who first settled west of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. Charles received a sound pre- liminary education in the public schools of his native town, and completed the same at the New Oxford Collegiate Institute. After leaving the Institute he entered, in a clerical capacity, a store in Hanover, and subsequently one in Reading, and one in York, Pennsylvania, serving in these for a period of about seven years: In December, 1851, Mr. Slagle went to Baltimore and entered into the wholesale grocery and commission business, -January 7, 1852, in connection with Edmund Neff, under the firm style of Neff & Slagle, which establishment was conducted for four years, when Mr. Slagle sold his interest therein to his partner, and founded the present grain, flour, and seed concern of C. W. Slagle & Co., March 1, 1856. As the head of this house he has heen eminently successful, and has established an extensive trade all over Maryland, Penn- sylvania, and through the Western States. Mr. Slagle is one of the most publie-spirited and enterprising citizens of Baltimore, and is identified with many of its leading banking and other important institutions, fire insmance,
railroad companies, etc. Ile has taken a very prominent and active part in the construction of the Baltimore and Hanover Railroad, which runs through a rich agricultural region of Pennsylvania. Mr. Slagle is connected with a number of religions and charitable societies in Baltimore, and is ever ready to lend a helping hand to the deserving poor. November 8, 1860, he married Miss Rachel A. Matthews, of Baltimore County, his wife being a member of a highly respectable Quaker family. He has had six children, four of whom are living. Mr. Slagle stands high in commercial circles, and commands the respect of the general community .-
CKEWEN, WILLIAM FRANCIS, was born in Bal-" timore, Maryland, June 18, 1832. IIe went through a regular course of education in the public schools, including the High School, in which latter institution he was a diligent student for three years. At the age of fifteen years he entered, in a clerical capacity, his father's stove manufacturing estab- lishment, then located on the corner of Light and Lom- bard streets, and after remaining there for two and a half years he became engaged with Messrs. Hayward & Bart- lett, and served a term of four years with them as stove and hollow-ware moulder. After the expiration of the latter period he re-entered his father's establishment as bookkeeper, which position he occupied until 1859, when he was appointed Secretary to the Board of Police, of which the late Colonel George P. Kane was Marshal. Shortly after the disbanding of the force, and the arrest of Marshal Kane and the Commissioners, July, 1861, Mr. McKewen was arrested and taken before General John A. Dix, then in command of the Federal forces at Baltimore, for paying off said disbanded police. He was discharged with the understanding, on the part of General Dix, that if the police force were again paid off by him he would he re-arrested and sent to Fort Mellenry. An effort was made to exact a promise from Mr. McKewen that he would make no further payments to the police, which endeavor was unavailing, and he in September, 1861, again paid them. The same month he was arrested and sent to Fort McIlenry. Though informed that he would be detained in prison until he subscribed to the oath of allegiance to the Federal authority, he persistently refused to do so, and was trans- ferred after a month's incarceration in Fort MelIenry to Fort Columbus, Governor's Island, port of New York. From thence he was conveyed on the steamer State of Maine to Fort Warren, Boston harbor, his companions and ca-prisoners being the members of the Maryland Legisla- ture and others, including S. Teackle Wallis, Mayor George William Brown, Judge T. Perkin Scott, and the Board of Police Commissioners, of which the late Charles Howard
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was President. Mr. McKewen, declining to take the pre- scribed oath, was detained until May of 1862, when, upon a notice of five minutes, he was placed on board a tug and landed on the wharf at Boston, the captain bidding him "good day" and telling him he was a five man. Mr. MeKewen returned to Baltimore, and thence immediately to the South. Shortly after his arrival in Richmond, Vir- ginia, lie was requested by the Secretary of War of the Confederate States to perform an important mission to Washington for the Confederate government. Whilst crossing the Potomac he was captured and taken aboard the gunboat Live Yankee. He was imprisoned in the Old Capitol, tried by court-martial, and at the ex- piration of thirty days acquitted. After his release he accomplished the object of his mission and returned to Richmond, continuing to perform other services for the Confederate cause until the termination of the war, when in June, 1865, he returned to his native city. He had not been in, Baltimore long when he accepted a situation as bookkeeper in an extensive oyster-packing establish- ment. During the second year of his clerical connec- tion with the house, he became a partner thereof, until 1867, when he was nominated by the Democratic Conser- vative party for the Clerkship of the Criminal Court of Baltimore City, to which position he was elected by over fourteen thousand majority. He performed the duties of that position with such fidelity and general acceptability as to cause his re-election in 1873, again receiving a popular majority of nearly fifteen thousand votes. The second term of Mr. McKewen's clerkship of the Criminal Court has been characterized by the same devotion to the public interests as his previous administration of the office. The unfortunate have always found a friend in Mr. McKewen, and through his kindly aid and advice many a heart sink- ing under affliction has been lightened. He is eminently fitted for the position which he has been twice called upon to fill. From his earliest manhood Mr. MeKewen has been a zealous member of the Democratic Conservative party, and has taken an active part in its various organiza- tions and movements. He has been Chairman of the Ex- entive Committee of that party for Baltimore city, and has been, for several years, as he still is, a member of the. State Central Committee of the party. He possesses su- perior executive ability, and is looked to by the members of his party for advice and counsel, and is regarded as one of its most trusty leaders. The father of the subject of this sketch is Archibald McKewen," who was born in County Armagh, Ireland, and came to America in 1808. Ile retired from business many years ago, and is still liv- ing, at the advanced age of ciglity-four years. Ile is the third of fifteen children, seven of whom are living. There ,was but one daughter, who is in the Convent of Mount de Sales. Mr. MeKewen married in 1857. His wife died in 1875, leaving one son, now eighteen years old, a student at Mount St. Mary's College, Emmettsburg.
ILLIS, HENRY FISHER, Physician, and Judge of the Orphans' Court of Caroline County, was born in that county, near Preston, in 1831. Ilis parents, Zachariah and Mary ( Fisher) Willis, who are still living, were both natives of Caroline County. In his boyhood, Dr. Willis attended school in the winter season only; the rest of the year he spent in as- sisting his father on the farm, which was the means of the family support. At the age of fifteen, he was obliged to give his whole time to this labor, but having a love of knowledge, he improved every opportunity for study. In 1850 he commenced to teach a country school, which vocation he followed for three years, and while thus em- ployed began also the study of medicine. He graduated in 1854, and in February of that year settled at Millsboro, Sussex County, Delaware. The malaria of the place so affected his health that he was compelled to leave his " practice there, removing in 1862 to Preston, Caroline County, Maryland, where he now resides. IIe succeeded Dr. E. E. Atkinson, who had entered the army as a sur- geon, and entered at once on a large and successful prac- tice, and though his labors were necessarily constant, his health became better than it had been for many years. Ilis medical skill and kindness and sympathy in the sick- room, and his Christian character, have won for him the affectionate regard of his patients, and the esteem of the public generally. lle is greatly interested in everything that affects the welfare and happiness of the community, and especially in the public schools. In anything destined to advance the cause of education he has always taken the lead. Dr. Willis was a Union man throughout the war, and has always been a Conservative Democrat. In 1876 he was elected one of the Judges of the Orphans' Court for Caroline County, a post he occupies with honor and usefulness. Ile is a member and Vice-President of the Medical Society of Delaware, and is delegate-elect to the National Medical Association. Hle was married in 1856 to Emily R., daughter of Matthew Patton. They have had three children. The eldest, whom they had carefully educated, had just reached womanhood when she was suddenly removed by death after a few hours' ill- ness in February, 1875. The remaining children are a son and a daughter. Dr. Willis is an office-bearer in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He owns a farm, and is much interested in agriculture, is a fruit-grower and a Granger.
29% ODD, HON. CHARLES HENRY, Farmer and Legis- lator, was born on the land now owned by him in Caroline County, Maryland, in the year 1824. Ilis parents were Tilghman and Mary ( Fountain) Todd, both of whom he lost in his childhood, his father dying when he was in his fourth year, and his mother
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before he reached the age of ten, leaving him in the charge of his brother, Nathan Todd, who cared for him with un- weatying; kindness until his death in 18.17. The carly ad vantages enjoyed by Charles Todd were limited to the schools of the neighborhood, which he attended only in the winter, his summers being employed in the work of the farm. After his parents died his brother kept him at the winter school till he was twenty-one years old. Nathan, being a carpenter, was anxious to have his younger bro. ther learn the same business, but all his tastes were for farming. As soon as he reached his majority he com- menced farming on the family estate, in which he held a one-fourth interest. Assuming the charge of it, and en- tering into the business with enthusiasm, he was soon able to buy out the other heirs and became the sole owner of it. In 1848 he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Aaron and Lydia Clarke, of Caroline County. The earliest office to which Mr. Todd was assigned was that of Trustee for the Poor of the County. In 1857 he was nominated by the Whig party for the General Assembly of the State, and after an exciting contest was elected a member of the House. ITis course as a legislator was gratifying to his friends, and his party were ready to give him any position in their power, but he steadily declined a nomination for any office. In 1865 he was appointed by the Governor as one of the State Assessors for Caroline County. IIe per- formed the duties which devolved upon him, but resolved that he would not again 'accept official position. This resolution he kept until, in 1877, the Reform party of the county nominated him for the House of Delegates. He was elected and served in the last session of the IIouse with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents, who were of both political parties. Mr. Todd was an ac- tive Whig in early life, and from the time of Mr. Lincoln's elevation to the Presidency he has acted and voted with the Republican party. During the war he was an ardent patriot, and unhesitatingly supported the Government in every measure to maintain its authority. His homestead is known as " Mount Washington." He has added to the original property, and is now the owner of over five hun- dred acres of land in its immediate vicinity.
GOODALL, JOHN, son of John and Jane Woodall, was born in February, 1810, near the town of Smyrna, Kent County, Delaware. His father was born in Kent County, Maryland. Ilis ances- tors were Welsh and among the early settlers of that county. Jane Woodall was the daughter of Joseph , Ilock, a Friend, and a carpenter and builder. Hle erected the Court-house in Dover, Delaware. His death occurred at the close of the last century. John Woodall, Senior, was a farmer, a very popular man in his day, and com-
manded the highest respect of his neighbors, notwithstand- ing it was known that he was an Abolitionist, not merely in sentiment, but one who was not afraid to carry out his sentiments. His wife was in full sympathy with him; they fed and clothed many poor slaves fleeing from the far South, and helped them on to a free State. Their son John was-early taught those practical lessons of humanity, and many a time at night carried to the barn or the swamp the food and clothing that the runaways needed. Ile grew up to strongly hate and oppose slavery, and also the sale of spirituous liquors. His father was a Methodist, and his mother a Friend. They removed while he was very young to a farm three miles from Dover, Delaware. Here he commenced attending a country school, in his seventh year, and when older went to school in Dover, and also worked on the farm. When he was seventeen he went to Philadelphia to learn the business of a house-carpenter and architect, and was apprenticed to Daniel J. Weaver, a well-known builder in that city. Young Woodall was an enthusiast in his business, in which he became very pro- ficient, and won the confidence and regard of his employ- ers. In his nineteenth year he was often placed over the other workmen, who were journeymen. On attaining his majority in 1831 he returned to Dover, and was at once engaged to build the large hotel afterwards known as the Fountain House. In 1835 he became the architect and builder of the State-house at Dover, which is still standing. In the spring of 1836 he purchased a farm in Little Creek Neck, and giving up his former business, devoted himself for thirty years to agriculture. In 1836 he was united in marriage to Anna Matilda, daughter of Andrew and Ma- tilda Calley, of Kent County, Delaware, and his children were brought up on this farm. In 1865 he purchased a handsome property at Camden, Delaware, to which he re- moved. Mr. Woodall was elected on the Whig ticket in 1847, by a very large majority, as a member of the Gen- eral Assembly, and served in the session of 1848. During this session he brought before the House a bill to " pre- vent profanation of the Sabbath, commonly called Sunday," the intention of which was to close on that day all places throughout the State where intoxicating liquors were sold. This bill was carried triumphantly through both Houses, and still stands as a law in Delaware, and has done much to improve the morals of that State. A local option bill was also passed, leaving the vote to school districts ; this, however, was afterward pronounced unconstitutional. In this session, also, Mr. Woodall was the leader in the great effort made to free the State of Delaware from the incubus of slavery. The bill met with strenuous opposition on the part of the members from Sussex and Kent counties. It passed the lower House, and was lost by a single vote in the Senate. Precisely the same thing occurred in 1827. In 1853 he was again nominated and elected on the Whig ticket to the Assembly. During this session he was very earnestly engaged in obtaining a prohibitory law for the
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State of Delaware. Such a law was passed by both Houses, and received the signature of Governor Cansey. Ile was also one of the most resolute and determined friends of the Delaware and Maryland Railroad, which, commencing at Oxford, Talbot County, runs to Clayton, Delaware, and there connects with the main line of the Peninsula. That road is largely indebted to his influence for its charter from the State of Delaware. Mr. Woodall voted for President Lincoln, and was an ardent patriot. In 1861 he was one of the most active men in the State in support of the General Government, holding meetings and addressing them in its favor, when, as at first, there were few to stand by him. He joined with others and drew from the Smyrna Bank thirteen thousand dollars for the purpose of equipping the first Delaware regiment, and gave to it, and to the country, his youngest son, afterward General Daniel Woodall. Ile was one of the most effi- cient supporters of the patriotic Governor Cannon during those stormy days, and served as Chairman for the Sani- tary Committee on Finance for his district. Mr. Woodall came to Maryland in 1857, and purchased the Denny farm for his son Edward, within a mile of Easton, Talbot County. In 1875 he removed from Delaware to Mary- land, and now resides with his son on the Walton Place, on Third Ilaven Bay, opposite the town of Oxford. Mr. and Mrs. Woodall have had four children,-Edward, men- tioned above, General Daniel Woodall, late Assessor of Internal Revenue for the State of Delaware, Mrs. Bartlett, of Talbot County, and Mrs. Mary Massey, wife of Colonel George V. Massey, a well-known and popular lawyer of Dover. Mr. Woodall has been a member of the Society of Friends since 1834.
B 3 RAUN, JOHN B., was born in Bremen, Prussia, June 1, 1817. He received his education in Bremen. At the age of fifteen he made a voyage to England. On his return he entered the service of 11. Meyer, a tobacconist, with whom he remained four years, when he went into the same line of business, conducted by Charles Ludwig, with whom he continued ten years. He then spent four years in mercantile pur- suits, when he again entered the tobacco trade, in the en- ployment of Messrs. Hopkins & Staid, with whom he re- mained for eight years. The two following years he was in the tobacco business on his own account, when he closed up in that country and came to Baltimore, having first spent a few weeks in New York. He spent about one year in the tobacco and segar business with A. Bohn & Co., on .Pratt Street. Mr. : Braun then formed a connection with II. Wilkins as manufacturers and dealers in the " Durham Bull" tobacco, as manufactured by Mr. Wilkins in Bremen, That partnership was dissolved after three years in conse-
quence of the death of his partner. Mr. Braun then con- tinued the business alone. About one year after Mr. Wil- kins's death, Mr. Braun manied his widow. A few months afterward the Collector of Internal Revenue seized Mi. Braun's establishment on the charge of not paying sulfi- cient tax. The claim made upon him was for nineteen thousand dollars. Ilis property was estimated at forty thousand dollars, all of which was carried off and sold. Mr. Braun claims to have been illegally dealt with in the transaction. For some time thereafter be had much trouble in the attempts he made to go into business again. Ile finally succeeded, however, and is now conducting a very prosperous establishment at 335 West Pratt Street, Balti- more.
ac HORISON, NATHANIEL HOLMES, LL. D., Provost of the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, was born in Peterborough, New Ilampshire, December 14, 1815. He was the third son and fifth child in a family of seven children. Four of the sons graduated at Harvard College. The family were of Scotch- Irish descent, their ancestors having settled in London- derry, New Hampshire, in the year 1718. Captain Nathaniel Morison, the father of Dr. Morison, was a farmer, and also a merchant and manufacturer. He died of yellow fever at Natchez, Mississippi, when his son Nathaniel was but three years old. This son was fitted for college at the celebrated Phillips Academy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated at Harvard College, in 1839, with high rank as a scholar. Among his class- mates were the Rev. Edward Everett Hale and Dr. Samuel Elliot, of Boston; George H. Williams, J. B. Williams, and Edmund Lloyd Rogers, of Baltimore. Immediately after his graduation, Mr. Morison came to Baltimore as the principal assistant in a fashionable school for young ladies, just opened by Mr. F. H. Davidge on St. l'aul's Strect. After two years of service in this semi- nary, he opened, in 1841, a young ladies' school of his own, which increased in numbers and reputation, until it became the leading girls' school in the city, a position it maintained for more than twenty years. In it were edu- cated about a thousand of the most cultivated ladies of Baltimore, including the principals of several of the lead- ing girls' schools of the present day. Ilis school was never in a better condition in regard to numbers and effi- ciency than when he surrendered the charge of it at the end of more than a quarter of a century. In 1867 he was invited by the Trustees of the Peabody Institute to take charge of that institution, and he entered on the duties of his office in September of the same year. The Institute was founded in 1857, and the first portion of the building had just been completed when the great civil war broke out, and arrested its further development. A librarian had
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