The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1, Part 79

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844


USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 79
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 1 > Part 79


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England to return again after he acquired the art of clipper building in this country and engage in the business there ; but American institutions and opportunities so won his heart that he lost all inclination in that direction. He is


now thoroughly Americanized, and has done much for the commercial prosperity and permanent interests of Balti- more. The glowing accounts of the advantages afforded by this country which Mr. Woodall wrote to England in-


duced his father to come on a visit in 1855. Ile was so


pleased he sent for his wife and two youngest children, leaving four others behind. lle purchased a large tract of land near Bladensburg, and engaged in farming, until fail- ing health caused him to remove to Baltimore, where he died, May 19, 1859. Ilis wife survived him until January


2, 1876. Mr. Woodall married November 13, 1860, Mary Eugenia, daughter of Benjamin A. Ilooper, a well-known house carpenter of South Baltimore. They have had nine children, six of whom are living : Mary Eugenia, William E., Bessie, Flora, Lillie, and Robert. Ile has taken an


of the State in the School Board, attending to the educa- since 1860; and now (1879) represents the Grand Lodge active part in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows


tion of tlie orphans of Odd Fellows. He is passionately fond of children, and in this work of benevolence he takes


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John Scott


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great interest. Ilis two greatest characteristics appear to be indomitable energy and benevolence. Ile has no sym- pathy to expend on a lazy person, but is always ready to ex- tend a helping hand to the deserving. He is Conservative in politics, and rigidly opposed to a high tariff. His parents were old Wesleyan Methodists, but, with his family, to whom he is warmly devoted, he attends the Light Street Presbyterian Church.' On principle, instead of investing his money in ground-rents or bonds he places it in a busi- ness which, while adding materially to the commercial in- terests of Baltimore, has the benevolent feature of giving employment to hundreds of mechanics.


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OFFMAN, DANIEL, a prominent Merchant of Bal- timore, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in the year 1768, in which place his parents had settled a few years previous, having emigrated from Germany. During the first years of the Revolution they removed to Baltimoretown, as it was then called, being little more than a village, the waters of the bay sweeping up to Charles Street. Their son Daniel was then eight years old. Ile ever afterwards resided in Baltimore, and became one of the most successful and wealthy mer- chants of his day. Upon attaining his majority he entered upon the pork-packing business, and is said to have been the first to engage in the foreign exportation of the article. Ile had received but a plain education, but possessed a well-balanced mind, which with great determination and energy of character, combined with his untiring activity, enabled him in a few years to acquire sufficient means to : engage extensively in the wholesale grocery business. This he conducted successfully and amassed a fortune. Hle owned fourteen acres of land just beyond Franklin Square, Baltimore, and many acres on Fremont, and con- tiguous streets; also houses, stocks, ctc. He was esti- mated to be worth from one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred thousand dollars. He retired from business at the age of sixty, and passed the remainder of his days in · the quiet enjoyments of the family circle. Public-spirited and philanthropic, he entered warmly and actively into every enterprise for the common welfare, contributing largely of his means for the improvement and extension of the city. Ile died October 3, 1842, in the seventy- fourth year of his age, leaving to his posterity, in addition to his wealth, that which they esteem as infinitely more precious, the memory of his unsullied character for hon- esty, virtue, integrity, and acknowledged general useful- ness. Ile married Miss Mary Schrote, of what is now Carroll County, then called Baltimore County, and left a family of nine children. He had forty-eight grandchildren living at the time of his death.


RELAND, DAVID CALDWELL, M.D., was born in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, May 4, 1844, of which county his father, Thomas Ire- land, is a prominent resident, and has held official positions therein. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Miss Nichols, daughter of William Nichols of above county. After receiving an excellent education at the schools of his native city, and at St. John's College, he commenced the study of medicine in 1862, in the office of Dr. Abraham Claude, at Annapolis. After continuing his studies for fifteen months under Dr. Claude, he went to Philadelphia, and matriculated at the University of Penn- sylvania. This was in the fall of 1864, and three years thereafter, in the spring of 1867, he graduated from that institution with the highest honors. Immediately after re- ceiving his diploma Dr. Ireland entered Blockley Hospital, Philadelphia, as Resident Physician, and for two years enjoyed the advantages of the extensive clinical practice therein, both medical and surgical. In the autumn of 1869, he established himself in the practice of his profession, in the city of Baltimore, which he has continued to prose- cute successfully to the present time. Though a general practitioner, Dr. Ireland gives special attention to the diseases of women and children. IIe has performed, with eminent success, many of the most delicate and important surgical operations. He held the position of Vaccine Physician under Mayor Joshua Vansant in 1873 and 1874, and that of Coroner of the Eastern District of Baltimore, under Governor John Lee Carroll, which position he con- tinues to occupy. Ile is a member of the Medico-Chi- rurgical Faculty of Maryland, and is the President of the Northeastern Clinical Association. Though engaged in a large practice, Dr. Ireland has found time to contribute several valuable scientific articles to the medical journals. In 1871, he married Miss Lizzie Henderson, daughter of Rev. David Henderson, of Baltimore. Dr. Ireland stands in high repute as a medical practitioner, and commands the confidence and esteem of his patients and the public gen- erally.


COTT JOHN, Minister of the Society of Friends, was born June 1, 1798, at Ilebron Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Mathews) Scott. Mrs. Elizabeth Scott was the daughter of Thomas and Price Mathews, of Baltimore County. Thomas Scott was the son of Abraham and his wife Elizabeth Rossiter Scott, who with their children, Rachel, Amos, Jesse, Rossiter, Hes- ter, and Thomas, procured a certificate from Wrightstown Meeting, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1772, and removed to and settled in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was a man of strong mind and good judg-


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ment ; much sought for as an arbitrator in cases of dispute and universally respected. Abraham Scott's father, Jacob Scott, was a man of much prominence, and most highly esteemed among the Quakers, or Friends, in PennsyIva- nia. He died at an advanced age, December 11, 1706. Abraham was born 1731, and died March 29, 1804. Ilis wife Elizabeth was born 1732, and died October 12, 1803. Their son Thomas was born June 24, 1770, and died February 8, 1852. Elizabeth, wife of Thomas, was born March 3, 1769, and died August 20, 1852. They were married March 27, 1793. Their children were George Dent, Eli, John, Elizabeth, Rachel, and Eliza. John Scott, the subject of this sketch, married Elizabeth Littig, who was born in Baltimore city, December 13, 1800. She was the daughter of George and Rachel (Bosley) Littig. They (George and Rachel) were married by the Rev. I. Wyatt in 1796. George Littig was the son of Philip and Elizabeth Margaret ( Brown). Littig. George Littig was born November 29, 1729. Rachel Bosley Littig was the daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth (Wheeler) Bosley. They were married by Rev. James Stewart, February 27, 1772. Elizabeth Wheeler was the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Wheeler, of Baltimore County, Maryland. Elijah Bosley, an elder brother of Caleb Bosley, was a man of vigorous constitution; and lived to the age of one hundred years. His son, Colonel Nicholas M. Bosley, was a large landholder, and a very prominent citi- zen of Baltimore County. At his death he bequeathed to his grand-niece, Miss Louisa Gittings, now Mrs. John Merryman, the elegant and far-famed estate known as " Ilayfields," on which she and her husband now reside. John Scott and Elizabeth Littig were married December 18, 1827, by the Rev. Joshua Wells. The issue of this happy union was cleven children, five of whom are de- ceased, viz., Georgianna, Jolm Thomas, Caleb Bosley, Joseph John Gurney, and Rachel Littig, all of whom died young, except John Thomas, who died in 1866, leaving a widow and two children. The six living children are Elenor A. B., born November 16, 1828, who married Edwin Scott, and resides on their farm " Rosedale," in Baltimore County. George 1 .. , bom November 23, 1833, who married Mary, daughter of Dr. Wakeman Hopkins, of Darlington, Har- ford County, and now resides on their farm " Wildfell." He is a minister of the Society of Friends, and greatly es- teemed for true goodness. Harrison, born March 18, 1836, is unmarried. Ile resides and does business in Baltimore city. Irving Murry, born Dceember 25, 1837, who mar- ried Laura, daughter of John R. Ilorde, of Covington, Kentucky. He is one of the firm of P'rescott, Scott & Co., Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, and is one of the most prominent, influential, and respected citizens of that city. The firm employs about six hundred men, and does a business of two millions of dollars a year, being the most extensive machine works on the Pacific coast. Mary Frances, born July 15, 1844, who married Oliver S. Orrick,


of Baltimore city, in 1875. Ile removed to Oakland, Cali- fornia, in 1876, and is engaged in business in San Fran- cisco. Henry Tiffany, born September 20, 1846, who in 1867 married KIsie, daughter of William Housley, of Al- freton, Derbyshire, England. He is the junior member of the firm of Prescott, Scott & Co., and resides in San Fran- cisco, Mr. and Mrs. Scott have had twenty-six grand- children, nineteen of whom are now living ( February I, 1879). John Scott received his education in the county schools of Baltimore County. His buoyant temperament and social qualities made him fond of society, but being strictly moral from his youth, he avoided companionship with profane, vicious, or irreligious persons. At an early age, by the advice of his father, he learned the business of manufacturing (carding of wool), but not liking it, sold the machinery, and for five years thereafter worked for his father on the home farm. He then took charge of his father's mill, and continued to live with his parents for fifty-four years, and after his father's death remained and conducted the business of the farm and mill for nineteen years, mak- ing a continuous residence of seventy-three years, in the house in which he was born. He then sold the farm and mill and removed to Darlington, Harford County, and after a residence of two years with his son George, he then, in 1875, visited his sons in California. Returning again to Maryland, he in 1876, accompanied by his wife, went again to California, residing principally with his daughter, Mrs. Orrick, making San Francisco their home, but visit- ing wherever inclination prompts them. Mr. Scott was successful in business, and reared and educated a large family of children, all of whom are doing well and are useful and honored members of society. Ile is methodical, and has carefully kept a diary for over fifty years. Mr. Scott's religious training was adverse to military or politi- cal positions, and the only public office he would hold was `that of School Commissioner of Baltimore County, which he held for thirteen years, always manifesting a lively in- terest in and a practical acquaintance with the public school system. In 1866 he was sent to North Carolina by the Society of Friends to reorganize the Friends' schools that had been closed during the war, and was afterwards commissioned, with funds at his discretion, for the relief of the destitute Friends in that State. Ile was one of the Vice-Presidents of the Baltimore County Bible Society, during the continuance of that institution. Though taking no active part in politics, Mr. Scott has felt it proper to ex- crcise the right and duty of the clective franchise, and has always voted with the Whigs and Republicans. Educated in the faith of his fathers, and reared under the influences of their religious life, he early became a true believer in the Christian religion, as held by the Society of Friends, to which he has ever since adhered, as in accordance with the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures. When thirty-five years of age he became a minister of that society, and has abounded in labors ever since. Travelling and ministering


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extensively in the United States and Canada, and in his eightieth year visited different societies in California and Oregon, ministering to various meetings there. He ann- ally attends the yearly meeting of Friends in Baltimore, and is now preparing for his tenth trip across the continent. On June 1, 1879, he will be eighty-one years of age. A number of his family have attained to ages from eighty-five to one hundred and three. He is small of stature, strong and compactly built, and capable of enduring great fatigue. Is in the enjoyment of perfect health and in possession of all his faculties unimpaired, except his hearing. He has given his time and means and talents to his Heavenly Master, and lived so irreproachable a life that there is none who can say anght against him. Ile ever gratefully ae- knowledges the goodness of God manifested towards him, and is actively seeking opportunities for usefulness. So vigorous is his constitution, so vivacious his spirits, that his family and friends expect he will yet live to number a cen- tury of years. As an instance of the confidence and affec- tion existing between the parent and the children, Mr. Scott on the oceasion of his visit to Baltimore last fall, said to the writer of this sketch : " No father has better children than I have ;" and in a letter recently received from his son Irving M. Scott, of San Francisco, he writes : " No better man or father ever lived." On the morning of Decem- ber 18, 1827, Mr. Scott and Miss Littig were married, and made their bridal tour from Baltimore to Washington, D. C., in their private carriage. They attended a levee of President Adams that evening, and were presented to His Excellency by Colonel Little. On the day on which they were to return, a home-coming entertainment at her grand- mother's house was in preparation, but the festive occasion was changed to a scene of mourning, by the sudden death of


' her grandmother, Mrs. Shaffer, who died while engaged in her morning religious devotions. Their groomsman, Thomas R. Mathews, died only a few years since, and their brides- maid, Mary Ann West, is still living. In 1877 Mr. and Mrs. John Scott removed to San Francisco, and Decem- ber 18, 1877, they celebrated their golden wedding at the elegant mansion of their son Irving M., on Harrison Street, in that city, an occasion never to be forgotten by the hundreds of guests who were present, many of whom were from remote States. Mr. and Mrs. Scott were dressed in the style (if not the identical garments) they were married in fifty years before. Both were the centre of attraction, and each looked hale, fresh, and were in buoyant spirits. Mrs. Scott is in every sense of the word an accomplished lady. In the prime of life she excelled in vocal and musi- cal accomplishments, and her paintings show her to have been an artist of much taste and skill. By request of the groom, the' marriage ceremony was omitted, and in lieu . thereof, the Rev. Dr. Stone, of " The First Congregational- ist Church," delivered a most appropriate and beautiful address. Among the many congratulatory letters received was a characteristic one from the Quaker Poet, John G.


Whittier, then in his seventy-first year. Irving M. Scott then read a carefully prepared address, grouping in a masterly manner the incidents of marked importance of the last half century, contrasting past and present, in time and modes of travel, the first steamship that crossed the Atlan- tie, the railroads, the Atlantic cable, improved printing press, sewing machines, and other machinery, telegraphing, discovery of gold in California, and indeed, nothing of interest was omitted. The address was printed in an ele- gantly bound album, handsomely illustrated, and presented to Mr. and Mrs. Scott. A poem of rare beauty, composed for the occasion by Mrs. C. C. Webb, a sister of Mrs. Irving M. Scott, was read by her son, Harry Webb. Mr. and Mrs. Scott's relatives and family connections in Mary- land arc numerous, and of high respectability and social position. He is extensively known and esteemed through- out the State, and among the Friends his name and good works are as familiar as household words.


NAPP, FREDERICK, Educator, was born in Wurt- emberg, Germany, April 26, 1821. Ilis parents were in the line of an old and well-known family. His father was an architect and builder of promi- nence. In his sixth year he entered the state schools, and made rapid progress in his studies. Com- pleting the course there he was sent to the Iligh School at Reutlingen, from which he passed to the Normal Institu- tion at Esslingen, there to be educated for a teacher under the instruction of the celebrated litterateur Denzell. Here he remained two and a half years. There being great need of competent teachers, an examination was ordered to be held among the students of the seminary. Young Knapp, then in his eighteenth year, presented himself and passed with credit the required examination. Out of fifty who were examined, he took a first place among the successful fifteen. IIe was immediately assigned to duty at Sehoe- nich, taking charge of a school numbering one hundred and one pupils. Ilere he remained two years and a half, rapidly acquiring practical knowledge of his profession. Ilere he organized a choral association called Gesang- verein. On the occasion of a ehoral festival his society received the prize of a handsome flag. On May 10, 1840, he was sent as teacher by the government to the institution from which he had been graduated. In connection with his official duties he superintended a private school which had been founded by Prof. Gustave Werner, a preacher of distinction well known throughout all Germany. Here Prof. Knapp educated six teachers who successfully passed the government examination. For six years he was leader of the Mannergesang-verein, Cecilia-verein, and Turner. liedertafel. IIc remained at Reutlingen nine years. His thought and study had turned his attention to the subject


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of republican ideas of government and a United Germany. The suffering and distress of the year 1848 awakened his sympathies, and made him an ardent, though can- tious supporter of the revolutionary ideas of that year. His freedom of speech was offensive to the government, and he became a suspected person. Having been cited for treason, he was tried, but was found not guilty. The dis- pleasure of the government with his course, however, was manifested in his being degraded in the rank of his profes- sion, and he was sent far off to a small country place where his influence would be lost. An old friend, who had sev- eral years before gone to America, was at this time on a visit to his family in Germany, having informed him that his prospects as a teacher would be much brighter in this country, he decided to emigrate to America. On May 26, 1850, he left Reutlingen apparently to go to his new school in conformity with official orders. His societies, together with prominent burgomasters, accompanied him partly on his way to wish farewell. After separating from them he changed his course, went down the Rhine to Bremen, where he embarked on the ship Ocean, and after a voyage of sixty-four days, landed in Baltimore, August 8, 1850. Hle at once obtained employment in the house of William A. Marburg, 26 Light Street. He was employed as a tutor for Mr. Marburg's children, and also as his bookkeeper. Ilere he remained six months. On February 10, 1851, he secured the position of Principal of the Fourth German Reformed Church School on Calvert Street, Baltimore, which then numbered twenty-eight pupils. Ile remained there two years, and left the institution in a flourishing condition, the number of pupils having been increased to one hundred and ninety-three. On May 4, 1851, he mar- ried Fraulein Louisa Anne Groczinger, a lady whom he had formerly known in Germany, and who two days before their marriage had arrived in Baltimore. The marriage ceremony was performed by the Rev. Kessler. On leaving the church school, March 1, 1853, he founded a select school on the present site of the Rialto Building, Second Street, Baltimore. He began with eight pupils, and at the close of the year hi, institution numbered one hundred. That place being too small, he removed to Frederick Street, between Second and Baltimore streets, where he remained six years, and his school having reached the number of four hundred pupils, he removed to Gay Street, the same square, occupying large brick buildings. He re- mained there several years. His school was incorporated by the State Legislature as F. Knapp's German and Eng- lish Institute, in 1859. From Gay Street he removed in 1865 to Nos. 29, 31, and 33 Holliday Street, opposite the City Hall, his institution being now firmly established and acquiring wide reputation throughout the country. Here he has remained ever since. Mr. Knapp has had under instruction during a quarter of a century about eight thou- sand pupils, boys and girls, from almost every State in the Union, the Territories, the West Indies, and South America.


Mr. Knapp is extensively known throughout the country as a prominent and successful educator of the young. Within the past few years he has incorporated with his in- stitution a department for the deaf and dumb, the system of instruction having been learned in Germany. His sys- tem, that of vocalization, is the only one of the kind in suc- cessful operation in the State. Mr. Knapp has been and is now prominently identified with leading German and other societies. Ile was President for four years of the Ger. mania Mannerchor; a director of the Schuetzen-verein ; one of the founders of the Turner-verein, and its first leader; a member of Baltimore city Lodge of Odd Fel- lows, Druids, Harugari, filling all of its chairs; one of the founders of "O'Keil;" a prominent member of King David's Lodge, No. 68, A. F. and A. M., being its organist and treasurer for ten years; a member of Monumental Commandery, Knight Templars, Liederkranz, and direc- tor of the German Waisenhaus. He has travelled exten- sively North, East, West, and South, as a representative to educational conventions, acquiring valuable information for the purposes of school instruction. He gives close at- tention to his business, and carefully supervises every de- partment of his institution. He is a man of great energy and a hard worker ; courteous, warm-hearted, and genial. He has had four children : Emma, Willie, Fred, and Ber- tha, the first of whom is married and has children.


COSIIER, CALVIN S., Photographer and Temper- ance Reformer, was born at Newport, Nova Scotia, August 6, 1825. Ilis parents were James and Mary Mosher, both natives of Nova Scotia, and both of whom died at Windsor, in that colony, within a few days of each other, in the summer of 1858. James Mosher was for many years a Justice of the Peace for the county of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and his brother was a member of the Provincial Parliament for Hants County. James Mosher was one of the very carli- est advocates and organizers of total abstinence societies in Nova Scotia, and for years stood almost alone in such advocacy in his section of country, and although he fre- quently encountered hostility and opposition in conse- quence of his earnest devotion to the temperance cause, he never faltered in the great reform, batthing manfully in the good cause to the close of his life. In 1857 he rep- resented the Grand Division, Sons of Temperance, of Nova Scotia, in the National Division, at Providence, Rhode Island. His son, Calvin S., the subject of this sketch, caught his enthusiasm, and for more than thirty years has devoted much of his time and means to the ad- vancenient of the temperance cause, being equally zealous in his efforts to reclaim the fallen by moral suasion, and to




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