USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 15
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 15
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1864, at the ripe age of eighty-four years, six months, and sixteen days, he passed from earth, in the full possession of all his faculties, and in the Christian hope of immortal life. His remains were interred in West Nottingham Pres- byterian Cemetery, where also rest his wife, his deceased children, and his parents. The cemetery is a beautiful spot, one of the oldest and best cared for in the State.
RONES, JOHN WESLEY, was born October 10, 1833, at Glenmore, near Kennedyville, in Kent County, Maryland. His father, Daniel Jones, was born Oc- tober 10, 1796; married, November 27, 1821, Catha- rine Tilden Ireland ; and died April 23, 1865. Daniel Jones was the son of Jacob Jones, Jr., and Elizabeth Gale, a daughter of Rasin Gale and Martha Moore, who were mar- ried in 1756. Rasin Gale was the son of John Gale and the grandson of George Gale, who was born in 1670 in Kent County, England ; came to Maryland in 1690, and died in August, 1712. Jacob Jones, Jr., was High Sheriff of Kent County, Maryland, in 1783, and was the son of Captain Jacob and Elizabeth Jones. His mother, Mrs. Catharine Tilden (Ireland) Jones, was born November 23, 1804; dicd September 26, 1858. She was the daughter of John Ireland, who was born March 9, 1767, and married, De- cember 28, 1801, Mary Tilden. John Ireland was the son of Joseph Ireland, who was born June 17, 1727, near Hali - fax, Yorkshire, England ; settled in Shrewsbury Parish, Kent County, Maryland, and married July 10, 1761, Ale- thea Comegys, daughter of William and Ann Cosden Comegys. Ireland was the daughter of Dr. William Blay Tilden, who was the son of John and Catharine (Blay) Tilden. Mrs. Catharine (Blay) Tilden, who married, July 27, 1722, John Tilden, was the daughter of Colonel Wil- liam Blay and his wife Isabella Pearce, daughter of Judge William Pearce. Colonel William Blay was the son of Colonel Edward and Ann Blay, of Blay's Range, Kent County, Maryland. John Tilden was the son of Charles Tilden, the second son of Marmaduke Tilden. Mr. Jones was educated in Kent County, Maryland, and received in 1862 the appointment of Secretary to the President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. After- wards he successively held the position of General Freight Clerk, Auditor, Secretary, Secretary and Comptroller; and in May, 1873, was elected First Vice-President of the Com- pany, and filled that office with great efficiency until his resignation in 1877. Hle now resides in Philadelphia, and is the Second Vice-President of the Aztec .Syndicate of Arizona, incorporated in Pennsylvania, May, 1878. He married, October 22, 1867, Mary Billmeyer Murphey, daugh- ter of John A. and Mary Murphey, and had the following childien: Helen Blay Jones, Florence Tilden Jones, and Charles Tilden Jones.
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INGGOLD, MAJOR WILLIAM, of Eastern Neck, was born in Kent County, Maryland, February 23, 1723. He was the son of Thomas Ringgold. His mother was Rebecca ( Wilmer) Kingold, daugh. ter of Simon and Rebecen Wilmer. He was one of the Committee of Safety, Observation, and Correspondence, for Kent County, during the Revolution, and a member of the Convention which formed the first Constitution for the State of Maryland, Ile married twice, first, January 9, 1750, Sarah Jones; and secondly, his cousin, Mary Wil- mer, daughter of William and Rosa (Blackiston) Wilmer.
CEMBERLY, EDWARD, senior partner of the whole- sale provision and packing house of Kemberly & Brothers, was born January 23, 1819, in the city of Baltimore. His early education was obtained at the private schools of Baltimore, and at the age of fifteen years he commenced learning the business of a butcher. By his faithfulness and attention to his duties he became, at the age of twenty, proficient in the business, and embarked in it on his own account, Ile continued in the business and prospered, until he, with his brothers, estab- lished the large house of Kemberly & Brothers, which for thirty-eight years has transacted the most extensive business of the kind in Baltimore. At the age of twenty-three he married Catharine Pierce, the daughter of Colonel W. H. Pierce, a prominent citizen of Harford County, Maryland, and by this marriage had ten children, nine of whom are now living. Ile is now, and has been for many years, a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is connected with the Madison Avenue Church of that de- nomination. Mr. Kemberly is distinguished for his unos- tentatious benevolence. At his extensive packing estab- lishment the hearts of many of the poor are made glad by his liberal donations; the unfortunate never apply to him in vain. In politics, Mr. Kemberly is a Republican, and during the struggle for national existence he manifested his unfaltering attachment to the Union. His branch house at Norfolk, Virginia, supplied the army operating in that locality with provisions. Mr. Kemberly has won for him- self, by his integrity, fairness, and intelligence, not only a high place in the commercial world, but in the esteem of his fellow-citizens of his native city.
ROSSITER, REVEREND JOEL T., Pastor of the First 3 Reformed Church of Baltimore, was born at Blue Bell, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, January 9, 1842. His parents were Samuel and Anna S. (Lukens) Rossiter. His father's ancestors were from Scotland, his mother was of English descent, of the line of
Percivals, His father's small farm could not sufficiently support his large family, and he taught the public school of the place a portion of the year. At an early age youu; Rossiter felt that he was called to the Gospel ministry and bout all his energies in that direction. He knew that noth. ing could be expected from the slender home means to as- sist him in accomplishing his purpose, that he must depend on his own exertions. He had the advantage of a good public school training, having regularly worked on the farm in the summer and attended the school in the winter. At the age of sixteen he was examined by the County Superintendent of the Public Schools for a position as teacher, and being a successful candidate, labored steadily for five years in that capacity, at the same time studying Latin and Greek, and reciting twice a week to his pastor, Rev. Samuel G. Wagner. At the end of five years he had laid up the sum of eight hundred dollars, upon which he felt he might commence his full preparation for college, and entered the Allentown Military and Collegiate Institute as a teacher in mathematics and the English branches. In this way he paid for his tuition in the higher classes, and also earned his board and received a small salary besides. Ile con- tinued in this manner for two and a half years, and in Sep- tember, 1865, entered the Sophomore class of the Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated July 9, 1868, with honors in mathe- matics and the languages. He was chosen by the Literary Society of the College as their orator on this occasion, and was also class orator. On September 15, 1868, he entered the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church of the United States, at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. During his vacations he taught select and normal schools in Somerset, Somerset County, of that State, graduating May 12, 1871. He was then urged by the president of the seminary to ac- cept a position in a theological school in Iowa, but pre- ferring the active duties of the ministry, he accepted a call from a small Reformed congregation at Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Ifere he labored with great acceptability and success for three years and a half, when he received a call to the First Reformed Church of Baltimore. This congregation was then very small, numbering but one hun, dred and forty-five members; it has trebled under his pastor- ate. Mr. Rossiter is very popular with his people. He com- bines all the elements of a successful pastor. He is a close student, and is a scholar of rare attainment; he has a keen, logical, and analytical mind; is a clear, forcible speaker, and holds his audience by the strength of his rea- soning, and the eloquence of his discourses. He is of a genial happy temperament, and is greatly loved and ad- mired for his manly Christian character. Ile preaches to a highly intelligent congregation. Mr. Rossiter was mar- ried, October 25, 1871, to Bennetta M., youngest daughter of Ex-Mayor Sherer, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Their only son is named Percival, Mr. Rossiter is a member of the Oriental Lodge of Admitted and Free Masons. Hle of
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ganized, in 1868, the Blue Bell Beneficiary Society, which has proved very popular. This Order now exists in a number of the States, and has several thousand members.
ROBERTS, JOSEPH, Pharmaceutist, son of Edward P. and Elizabeth (Davenport) Roberts, was born in Baltimore, February 15, 1824. His father was of Welsh descent, and was born in Annapolis in the year 1791. He settled in Baltimore in early life, commencing his business career as a grocer. Being a vigorous writer and an ardent politician of the old Whig school, he soon became connected with the Baltimore press, and spent many years of his life in its service. He was for a long period editor of the Farmer and Gardener, and the American Farmer, the first agricultural paper printed in the United States, it having been started in Bal- timore in 1819 by John S. Skinner, and is still conducted by Samuel Sands & Son. Edward P. Roberts, during the last seven years of his life, was engaged in the manufac- ture of agricultural and other labor-saving machinery, as an active member of the firm of George Page & Co. He was one of the defenders of Baltimore in 1814, and a highly esteemed and useful citizen. He died in March, 1858. His wife was of German parentage, and most exem- plary and devoted as a wife and mother. She died in 1876, in the $3d year of her age. Joseph Roberts was educated at the Academy at West Nottingham, Cecil County. In 1841 he commenced the study of pharmacy with John Milhan, in New York, and graduated from the College of P'har- macy in that city in 1845. Returning to Baltimore the following year he opened a drug and apothecary store at No. 1 Greenmount Avenue, where he is still successfully engaged. The interest which he has ever manifested in his profession, and his efforts to bring it to its highest per- fection have been recognized and duly appreciated. With others he was instrumental in having laws passed by the Legislature of Maryland to guard against the dangers arising from the practice of pharmacy by incompetent persons. He has been for many years an active member of the Maryland College of Pharmacy (established in [841), and has held many offices under it, having been for several years past its President. He is a life member of the American Pharmaceutical Association, of which he has twice been Vice-President. This association is national . in its character, enrolling amongst its members over one .. thousand of the leading pharmacists of the United States, and has for its object the general advancement of the science of pharmacy. Ile, with his fellow-members .of the Maryland College of Pharmacy, issued the call that was the means of first bringing into existence the annual convention of teaching Colleges of Pharmacy. This has since become a fixture in pharmaceutical guidance, and
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has brought about uniformity in the course of instruction pursued by the many Colleges of Pharmacy throughout our land. Mr. Roberts is not a politician, but has twice been called in times of emergency to serve his ward in the City Council, first on the Reform ticket, during the may- oralty of the Honorable Thomas Swann, and again under Mayor John Lee Chapman. During this last term he was President of the Second Branch, and performed his duties faithfully and intelligently. While thus prominently and actively identified with other important interests of the city, Mr. Roberts is at the same time a member of the extensive agricultural and manufacturing firm of George Page & Co., having in 1858 purchased his father's interest in that business, and has since been acting as its financial and corresponding member. Not far from North Point, where his father, with other brave men, went forth to repel the invasion of the English, Mr. Roberts has a farm of five hundred and fifty-three acres, called " Black Marsh," on which yet stands the house then used by the American forces as an outpost. He is a gentleman of strong athletic appearance, of excellent judgment, and apt in everything he undertakes. Ile was married, February 26, 1861, to Caroline Hutton, of Hardy County, West Virginia, daughter of Job Hutton, of Scotch descent, and Rebecca (Seymour) Hutton. Iler ancestors on both sides were among the earliest settlers of that section of the country, and were well known and highly respected. They have had three children, Joseph, Edward S., and Franklin. The last- named alone survives.
ICKES, HONORABLE PEREGRINE LETHBURY, was born, August 14, 1837, in Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland. Ile is the youngest son of Colonel Joseph and Elizabeth Caroline (Chambers) Wickes; was educated at Princeton College, New Jersey, and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June, 1856. Subsequently the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by the same institution. He studied law with Honorable S. Teackle Wallis, of Balti- more, was admitted to the bar of Kent County, Maryland, on April 18, 1859, and practiced his profession, in Chester- town, until 1866, when he removed to York, Pennsylvania. In November, 1875, he was elected Additional Law Judge of the Nineteenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, which position he now holds and ably fills. Hle is a gentleman of much literary culture, an accomplished speaker, and in many respects, intellectually, resembles his deceased eldest brother, Honorable Benjamin Chambers Wickes, who was born October 12, 1823; was Deputy Attorney-General in and for Kent County, Maryland, from March 18, 1850, to January 2, 1852, and died July 1, 1854, at the commence- ment of a career of unusual promise. Judge Wickes married, February 27, 1862, Henrietta Catharine Welsh,
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daughter of Henry and Catharine Welsh, of Vork, Penn- sylvania, and had eight children, viz., Joseph Lee, Catha- rine Barnitz, Peregrine Lethbury, born January 25, 1868, died July 17, 1868, Henry Welsh, Benjamin Chambers, Pere Lethbury, Henrietta Elizabeth, and Walter Forman Wickes.
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3. fur TONE, IIONORABLE WILLIAM, the third Proprietary Governor of Maryland, was born in England about the year 1605. The ancestors of his family lived in Northamptonshire. He emigrated from London and settled in Northampton County, Virginia, where he served, for several years, as High Sheriff, and gave to that county its name. In 1648 the affairs of Lord Baltimore and of his colony were in a very precarious condition, and the Lord Proprietary, in order to quiet the discontent of the inhabitants and remove the injurious im- pressions, produced by his enemies in England, deemed it prudent to reconstruct the government of Maryland, and make it acceptable to the majority of the colonists. Ile, therefore, on August 6, 1648, appointed William Stone, Esq., who was " generally knowne to have beene always zealously affected to the parliament," to be his Governor of Maryland, and also, August 12, 1648, constituted Thomas Greene, Esq., Captain John Price, Secretary, Thomas Hatton, John Pile, and Captain Robert Vaughan, to be the Privy Council. All of whom were Protestants, excepting Thomas Greene and John Pile. New oaths of office were exacted of the Governor and Council, chiefly for the protection of Roman Catholics and dissenters, as by the charter granted to Lord Baltimore the English Church was the legal Church of the Province, and remained so until the year 1776. One of the first and most impor- tant acts of Governor Stone was to convene the General Assembly of Maryland. It met April 2, 1649, and was composed of men of every shade of religious belief, a majority being Protestants. At this Assembly was passed, April 21, 1649, the famous " Act concerning religion," which was assented to by Lord Baltimore, August 6, 1650. The administration of affairs by Governor Stone gave great satisfaction to the people, invited a large influx of emigrants; and in consequence of his wise liberality a settlement was made by the Puritans on Severn River, in Anne Arundel County. In 1650 he again convened the Legislature. On April 6, 1650, it passed the " Act for settling of this present Assembly," which remained as the form of government for the Province until 1774. On March 29, 1652, Richard Bennett, Edmund Courteis, and William Claiborne, Commissioners of the Commonwealth of England, reduced the Province of Maryland, and deposed Governor Stone. Afterwards, June 28, 1652, two.af the Commissioners, Bennett and Claiborne, upon the urgent request of the Council and others, restored him
to his position, as Governor, " to the good liking of the inhabitants." Governor Stone, by all the means in his power, continued to strengthen and uphold the authority of the Proprietary ; but, July 22, 16544, his office was wrest ed hom him, and the administration of affairs and the conservation of peace and publie justice was assumed by a Puritan Council. In 1655, under instructions from Lord Baltimore, he determined to assert the rights of the Pro- prietary, and organized a small military force for that pur- pose. The battle took place at Providence (now Annapo- lis) Sunday, March 25, 1655, and resulted in his defeat and capture. He was sentenced by a Puritan court- martial to be shot, and was only saved by the intercession of some of the soldiers and women among his antagonists. After his deposition he resided upon his estate, " Poynton Manor," which with " Court Leet and Court Baron," had been granted to him in consideration of his " good and faithful services." When the Proprietary's rights were restored, he served as one of the Privy Council. He died about 1660, and is regarded as the ablest of the Proprie- tary Governors. HIe left the following children, viz., Thomas, Richard, Jolm, Matthew, Elizabeth, Catharine, and Mary. Ilis son John left a son, William, whose son, Thomas, was the father of David Stone, of Charles County, Maryland, who married, first, a daughter of IIon. Samuel Hanson, and had a son, Samuel Stone, and mar- ried, secondly, Elizabeth Jenifer, daughter of Dr. Daniel and Ann (Hanson) Jenifer, and had the following children, viz., Hon. Thomas Stone, who signed the Declaration of Independence, Hon. John Hoskins Stone, who was Gov- ernor of Maryland from 1794 to 1797, Judge Michael Jenifer Stone, who was member of Congress from 1789 to 1791, Walter Stone, Frederick Stone, Daniel Stone, Sarah Stone, who married Rev. Mr .- Scott, of Virginia, Elizabeth Stone, who married Mr. Eden, son of Governor Robert Eden, of Maryland, and Grace Stone.
BLATER, GOVERNOR GEORGE, was born in 1736 in St. Mary's County, Maryland, and was grad- uated at William and Mary College in 1753. Ile adopted the profession of law. lle was a member of the Maryland Convention convened at Annapolis, May 8, 1776, and on May 24, 1776, was elected one of the committee, with Matthew Tilghman, William l'aca, Thomas Johnson, and James Hollyday, which invited Governor Robert Eden to vacate, and on the 26th of the same month was made one of the Council of Safety. Ile represented St. Mary's County in the Maryland Conven- tion which met August 14, 1776, at Annapolis, and on the 17th day of the same mouth was chosen one of the committee " to prepare a declaration and charter of rights and a form of government" for the State of Maryland.
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Ile represented Maryland in the Continental Congress, from 1778 to 1781, and was l'resident of the Maryland Convention which ratified, April 28, 1788, the Constitu- tion of the United States, At the expiration of the term of Hon. John Eager Howard, he was elected, in 1792, Governor of Maryland, and was succeeded by john Il. Stone. Ile died in Annapolis, February 10, 179 -.
PENCER, PROFESSOR HENRY CALEB, Proprietor and Principal of Spencerian Business College, Wash- ington, District of Columbia, is one of the Spencer Brothers, sons of Platt R. Spencer, the originator of the world-renowned Spencerian style and system of penmanship. The brothers are: Robert C., the eldest, principal and proprietor of Spencerian Business College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Platt R., Jr., principal and pro- prietor of Spencerian Business College, Cleveland, Ohio; Ilarvey A., principal of Commonwealth Business College, Dallas, Texas; and Lyman P., employed in the prepara- tion of Spencerian publications, at Washington, District of Columbia. The father, Platt R. Spencer, was born November 7, 1800, at East Fishkill, New York. His family removed to Ashtabula County, Ohio, when he was ten years of age, and he resided there until his death, May 16, 1864. The following is from his biography, in the History of Ashtabula County : " Like all men who are well made, he was self-made. Though his boyhood was limited by the hard lot of pioneer life, his love for the beautiful found expression in an art which his genius raised from the grade of manual drudgery to the rank of a fine art. It is hon- orable to undertake any worthy work and accomplish it successfully ; it is great to become the first in any such work ; and it is nuquestionably true that Mr. Spencer made himself the foremost pennan of the world. And this he did without masters. He not only became the first pen- . man, but he analyzed all the elements of chirography, sim- plified its forms, arranged them in successive order, and created a system which has become the foundation of iu- struction in that art in all the public schools of our coun- try." Ilenry C. Spencer, the subject of this sketch, was born February 6, 1838, in Geneva, Ashtabula County, Ohio. During his minority he attended excellent district and select schools, the Hiram College, and the Business Col- lege, and is a graduate of the Law Department of the National University. At twelve years of age he was re- garded by his father and other competent judges the best penman of his age in the country. He assisted his father in many of his writing-schools, and in the public schools of Buffalo and Sandusky. In 1858 he taught in the Bryant & Stratton Cleveland Business College, the first of the cele- brated chain of colleges, and being then nineteen years of age, was offered a partnership, which he declined. In 1859
he was in charge of penmanship in the public schools of Buffalo and in the Buffalo Business College. Subsequently, when the Spencerian copy-books were published for gen- eral use, he introduced them and systematized instruction in pemmanship in the public schools of many cities and towns East and West. Among them were Rochester, Syra- cuse, and Oswego, in New York ; Detroit and Ypsilanti, in Michigan; Richmond and Fort Wayne, in Indiana ; Madison, Wisconsin ; and St. Louis, Missouri. He was called the " Prince of Blackboard Writers," and in this respect never found a successful competitor. In 1861 he located in New York city, teaching in the various institu- tions of the great metropolis and adjacent towns, intro- ducing and firmly establishing the Spencerian system, and aiding in founding the Brooklyn Business College. He also taught in the New York City Business College. In 1864 he was appointed Superintendent of Penmanship ni the Bryant & Stratton chain of business colleges, compris- ing forty institutions, located in the most important cities of . the country. In December, 1864, he married Miss Sara J. Andrews, whose acquaintance he had formed while teaching in St. Louis. His children are : Leonard Garfield, born January 12, 1867, and Henry Caleb, Jr., born February 14, 1875. Prof. Spencer's wife, Sara Andrews Spencer; is known throughout the country in connection with leading philan- thropic and social reform movements. She was born in Savona, Steuben County, New York, October 21, 1837, and early developed superior literary talents. At the age of thirteen she removed with her mother to St. Louis, and from the age of fourteen she has been a frequent and popu- lar contributor to the daily press of St. Louis, New York, and other citics, her articles generally being aimed at popu- lar errors and wrongs. At nineteen she was principal of the " Mound " Female Grammar School of St. Louis, being the youngest principal in the city. In 1863 she went to New York, and being recommended by Horace Greeley, obtained employment in the office of the Scientific Ameri- can ; at the same time writing for two daily papers and one weekly, doing fourteen hours' intellectual labor each day. ller writings are widely read, and her appeals to Congress for suitable shelter and training for vagrant, homeless girls, have touched many hearts, For seven years she has been a most efficient member and'officer of the National Woman Suffrage Association. She was a delegate of the National Suffrage Association to the Cin- cinnati Republican Presidential Convention, June 14, 1876, and addressed the Platform Committee in behalf of a wo- man suffrage plank in their platform, and on the following morning, upon motion of Hon. George 1} Hoar, of Massa- chusetts, was invited to address the Convention ; the first instance in the history of this country in which a woman ever addressed a National Presidential Convention. She is associate editor and publisher of Woman's Words, a hand- some journal, recording what women are saying and doing in art, literature, philanthropy, reform, and government.
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