USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 16
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 16
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It is published simultaneously in Washington and Phila- delphia. In 1866 Prof. and Mrs. Spencer took up their residence in Washington, D. C., and became teachers in the widely known Washington Business College. In Jan. mary, 1871, Prof. Spencer purchased the College, and be. came its principal and proprietor. Mrs, Spencer as vice- principal co-operates with her husband. They are both proficient, experienced, and successful teachers in all the branches of a business education, and give their time and personal attention to the thorough training of the large classes of students who throng their beautiful college halls. For twelve years they have labored unremittingly in Wash- ington, and thousands of young men and women who have been their pupils, now holding worthy positions at the capital and elsewhere, regard them with love and grati- tude. Prof. Spencer's reputation and acquaintance are co- extensive with our country. He has instructed personally more than fifty thousand persons within twenty years, and trained many teachers.
(From " Baltimore, Past and Present.")
EEDER, CHARLES, Manufacturer, was born in Bal- 3 timore, October 31, 1817. His parents, Charles and Elizabeth Reeder, were Pennsylvanians, but el removed to Baltimore in 1813. There Mr. Reeder's father established himself as a machinist and engine- builder, and constructed the first steamboat-engine that was built in that city. Ile acquired a wide reputation, and the first successful engine introduced on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and which continued in use for many years, was one which had been improved according to Mr. Reeder's designs, and rebuilt in his workshops. Charles Reeder, the subject of this sketch, was withdrawn from school at the age of fifteen, and entered his father's shops to learn the machinist's trade. Hle employed his leisure hours in the study of mathematics and mechanical philoso- phy, under the tuition of Mr. J. J. Reekers, an accomplished mathematician. Ile also attended lectures at the Univer- sity of Maryland, and from these and other sources, ac- quired a knowledge of chemistry, and the natural laws which have a bearing upon the steam-engine. In this way he laid the foundation of his subsequent success as a me- chanician. In the years 1836, '37, and '38, being then a member of the firm of C. Reeder & Sons, and foreman of the machine department, he assisted in the construction of several steamers, which, in their day, were considered first-class vessels. In 1838 a great disaster befell the firm ; the entire works being destroyed by fire, entailing a heavy loss. The expense of rebuilding brought the company into financial embarrassment, from which they were not free for several years. In 1842 Mr. Reeder commenced business in partnership with his elder brother, under unfavorable circumstances ; but by energy and perseverance they suc-
ceeded in a few years in restoring the credit which the es- tablishment had formerly enjoyed. This partnership con- tinued for about six years, when the eller brother with- drew, and assumed the management of a line of steamers, of which he was in part owner. Mr. Reeder's first con. tract undertaken individually, was to furnish the machinery for a mail steamship to run between Charleston and Ila- vana. This ship, the Isabel, was completed in 1848, and her successful performances attracted the attention of builders in Northern cities engaged in the construction of ocean steamers. Some of Mr. Reeder's improvements were of such importance that not only were they adopted in the construction of steamers subsequently built for ocean navigation, but many of those already built were altered; and the improvements first applied in the Isabel became a general feature of ocean paddle-wheel steamers. From these shops a number of ocean, bay, and river steamers have since been supplied with machinery, and their per- formances have fully sustained the reputation which the establishment has enjoyed for half a century. Since 1866 the establishment has been conducted by the firm of C. Reeder & Co., the other partners being Mr. Reeder's younger brother and his sons. The city iceboat, Chesa- peake, was constructed by them. This is a powerful steamer designed to keep the harbor channel open in win- ter, and is supplied with the necessary apparatus for ren- dering relief to vessels in distress. It has been fully tested by actual use, and is believed to be unsurpassed in power and efficiency by any vessel of the kind in the United States. Mr. Reeder has acquired as the reward of thirty years' devotion to his business, a handsome fortune. Ile is largely interested in several steamship lines, as well as being a stockholder in several banks and insurance com- panies in Baltimore, Mr. Reeder was married, in October, 1838, to Frances Ann Sherlock, daughter of Peter and Frances Sherlock, and has seven children living, four sons and three daughters, namely : Andrew J., Oliver, Frances, Charles M., Teresa, Alice, Leonard. The two eldest of each sex are married ; and those of the sons who are of age are connected with him in business.
MARKLAND, WILLIAM T., Carpenter and Builder, of Baltimore, was born January 10, 1822, at Oxford, Talbot County, Maryland, where his great grandfather, who was an English nobleman, settled in early colonial times. Ile owned a tract of land called " Plenhemmen," afterward the property of General Tench Tilghman. His grandfather, as also his father, lived and died in that county. His father, William Markland, was a highly respected merchant and miller, and the owner of a vessel of that port. He also owned considerable real estate in the neighborhood. He died in 1840. Mr. W. T. Markland's mother was Elizabeth Brom-
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well, daughter of Jacob Bromwell, a well-known farmer of Talbot County, of English lineage. She died in Bal- timore in 1875. Their children were, Sarah, deceased ; William T., the subject of this sketch ; Margaret Ann, the wife of Edward J. Stevens, of Oxford; Charles 11., part- ner of William T., who married Susannah Kelly, daughter of Caleb Kelly, of Baltimore. William was educated in the district country school, receiving plain English instruc- tion. In April, 1837, at the age of sixteen, he left Oxford and went to Baltimore, where he learned the carpenter trade with John B. Redgrave. After attaining his majority he served two years as a journeyman. About the year 1847 he formed a partnership in the carpenter business with his cousin, under the firm name of J. T. & W. T. Markland, which continued for three years. In 1850 William T. went to California, and remained about eighteen months, where his brother Charles and himself did consid- erable building, mostly in San Francisco. They carried with them a large supply of brick and other building ma- terials. William returned to Baltimore in January, 1852, and successfully prosecuted his business there alone until 1857, when he was joined by his brother Charles, the part- nership continuing until the present time (1878). They are among the most extensive and reputable builders of the city of Baltimore. Messrs. Markland & Brother have erected some of the largest and best business houses, school- houses, station-houses, churches, and dwelling-houses in the city. They were the builders of the Governor's man- sion at Annapolis, at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. The Traders' National Bank, and the elegant granite structure known as Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, in Baltimore, are also specimens of their superior workmanship. Mr. Markland is a Director of the Traders' National Bank, and has been a Director of several insurance companies. IIe was a member of the State Legislature for three succesive terms, having been elected by the Democrats in 1868, '70 and '72. In politics he has always been Democratic. He was a Delegate to the St. Louis Convention which nominated Mr. Tilden for the Presi- dency. He was a member of the State Board of Control, and served on the revision of the assessment for the Third District. Ile is a member of Warren Lodge, No. 51, and is also a Royal Arch Mason. He has been identified with the Masonic Order since he was twenty-four years of age, and with the Odd Fellows since he was twenty-two, in which Order he is a Past Grand. His parents were Methodists. Ile attends the Associate Reformed Church, of which Dr. Lcyburn is pastor. Mr. Markland married Miss Ann Jane Phelps, daughter of Gardner Phelps, of Baltimore. Their children are Elizabeth M., who married James Hollingshead; Sarah, wife of William R. Brewer, Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court; Charles H., who died in his nineteenth year ; Mary Ann, died in early life ; Mar- garet Emma ; Mollie ; William T., Jr. ; and Alexander Franklin.
WINGATE, JOHN HARRISON DUTTON, Farmer, was born in Charles County, Maryland, Sep- tember 13, 1810. His father, Elias G. Win- gate, also a farmer of the same county, was born in St. Mary's County. According to tradition the Wingates of Maryland sprung from three brothers, who came to this country from England about the close of the Revolutionary war. One settled on the Eastern Shore of the State, and the grandfather of the present sketch settled in St. Mary's. Elias G. Wingate died in 1842, and his wife in her seventy-fifth year. John was the youngest of three brothers, of whom he is the only survivor, his brother Henry having died in 1854, and the other brother, Thomas C. Wingate, when thirty years old. John enjoyed but meagre educational advantages, being taken from school when but nine years of age and placed at work upon his father's farm, on account of the very moderate circumstances of his par- ents. He continued working for his father until the autumn of 1830, when he married, and began life for himself. His first employment was as manager of a farm belonging to Captain John Fendall. He continued in the management of other farms until 1850, when he rented the farm now owned by him, which then belonged to the heirs of James Bur- roughs. The ensuing year he purchased it from the admin- istrator, John Henry Burroughs. It consisted of about one hundred and fifty acres of excellent land, with but few im- provements. The house was merely a log structure ; there was no barn and but little timber for building. Seven years after his occupancy of that place he purchased the adjoining farm of one hundred acres. In 1858 he moved into his pres- ent residence and engaged more extensively than hitherto in raising wheat, corn, and tobacco. In 1860 he added forty-eight, and in 1866 sufficient more acres to make his estate, known as " Poppleton," embrace three hundred acres of fertile land, yielding prolific crops, and insuring its energetic owner handsome returns for his well-applied industry and farming skill. Considering his early disad- vantages we may pronounce Mr. Wingate to be truly a self-made man, and his character for integrity is equal to that of any man, whilst his business capacity has been abundantly demonstrated by his success. In politics Mr. Wingate has always been a Democrat, and his religious beliefs are those of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has been married four times: first to Miss Margaret, daughter of James Nettle, of Charles County, by whom he has one surviving son, James Wingate, of the firm of Boswell & Wingate, Port Tobacco; secondly, to Jane, daughter of Barton Robey, by whom he has one surviving son, Thomas Curran Wingate, who for three years served as a member of the First Maryland Artillery, Confederate States Army ; thirdly, to Miss Susanna, daughter of Ben- jamin Dent, by whom he had no children ; and fourthly, to Miss llarriet, daughter of Thomas S. Franklin, by whom he has one surviving daughter, Mrs. Alice J. Dutton, who is living on a farm contiguous to " Poppleton."
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6. AMILL, CHARLES WEBB, Manufacturer of Silver Plated Ware, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, March 2, 1845, and was the eldest son of Robert and Catharine (Conant) Hamill. flis father, fol. lowed the business of shoemaking. He was born in 1821, in Sokfiers' Delight, Baltimore County, and was the sixteenth child. Ilis parents came to this country from Ireland early in the present century. Ilis father, also named Robert Hamill, fought in the defence of Baltimore in the war of 1812. The mother of Charles Webb Hamill was from Boston, Massachusetts, and a descendant of the Winslows, celebrated in the history of New England. Iler son Charles, from childhood, gave evidence of great reso- luteness of character, and strong tenacity of purpose. Ilis perfect system in everything that he undertook, and his love of order, were very noticable from earliest childhood. lle attended the public schools of Baltimore till he was thirteen years of age, when, having conceived the idea that it was his duty to assist his father in the support of the family, he could not be diverted from it. His parents greatly preferred that he should continue longer in school, but finally yielded to his wishes, and he entered a shoe store as an errand-boy. In this he continued faithfully for three years, never discouraged by any circumstance, never disposed to go back to the casier school-boy life he had left, but far better satisfied, even at that early age, to feel that he was of use in the world, and earning his own liv- ing. In 1861, carried away with the common enthusiasm of a large proportion of the Baltimore boys at that time, he started for the South to join the Confederate Army, but was brought back and put on parole. Ile then found em- ployment in an aerated bakery. It was his rule, adhered to from boyhood, that whatever kind of establishment he entered, he would, from the day of his entrance, set him- self to work to master every detail of the business; this he never failed to do, and following out this rule, he had been but two years in the bakery before he had the management of it. It however had never been a success, and failed in 1863; when he entered a book store for two years. Family love and helpfulness were very strong in him, and at the expiration of that time, his brother having returned from the army, he gave up his situation to him and started out to find another place, considering himself best fitted to meet any trial and hardship that might need to be encountered. lle seemed to meet at first with poor success, and after a few days, determined to be earning something, he persuaded a shoemaker to let him take home two dozen pairs of shoes to make. He had never learned the trade, but with "the aid of his father's direction, he completed a pair in one day ; the remaining twenty-three he did not make. Seeing in a newspaper an advertisement for young men to learn the silver burnishing business, the lowest round in the manufacturing of silver-plated ware, he answered, the next morning, the advertisement in person. His quick eye and ready comprehension at once took in the fact that this was
a great business, and one that would suit him. The con- ditions were not inviting : he was to work three months without pay, but he accepted them unhesitatingly. At the end of thice months the conductor of the business desired to keep him at the silver burnishing and pay him wages. lle replied that he wanted to learn the next higher depart- ment, and left. Ile however found another establishment, and proceeding as he had resolved to do, step by step up- ward, he mastered every department of this very nice and difficult business, and made himself an expert in every de- tail. The lapse of time did not discourage him ; he aimed at thoroughness and perfection. After cleven years spent in attaining this object, he commenced business for him- self, a fine opportunity having opened before him. During all these years from his boyhood he had been very careful of his earnings, till by constant small deposits, he had ac- cumulated enough to buy a house. This house he mort- gaged for three thousand dollars, in order to obtain the necessary means, and in 1876 began, at No. 28 North Holliday Street, the manufacture of silver-plated ware. Ile soon added to it the next building, No. 30, of the same street. He commenced with ten hands, but steadily in- creased their number, till in 1878 he had forty hands. This success he had accomplished in the face of the very worst times ever known in the country ; by judicious adver- tising, by making only first-class goods, by a bold confi- dence in himself, and by steady persistent effort. Mr. Ilamill has removed his establishment to the southwest corner of German and South streets. It. is one of the largest and most successful of the kind south of New Eng- land. Mr. Hamill's birth as a Marylander has secured him largely the Southern trade; he has also a large trade in the West, in South America, the West Indies, and Mexico. Ile manufactures everything in his line of business, his goods are unsurpassed, and he is constantly devising new and elegant designs. There are but few establishments of this kind in the United States. Mr. Hamill was married, April 2, 1873, to Elizabeth T. Wellener, daughter of Basil S. Wellener, a well-known shipbuilder of Baltimore. They have four children, Grace, Harry, Frank, and George.
INNEMON, PERRY SPENCER, Physician and Sur- geon, was born in Talbot County, Maryland, December 7, 1809. His parents were John and Ann (Orem) Kinnemon. Ilis father, a large planter and prominent man in that county, was called " the old King," from his commanding presence and dignified demeanor. IIe died when his son Perry was only eight years old, and his wife followed him a few months later. The Kinnemon family is of Scotch descent ; three brothers, John, Andrew, and Ambrose, came to New Jersey in the early settlement of the country, and soon
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afterwards removed to Talbot County, Maryland, where they bought a large tract of land, known as " the Trappe." They agreed that if one died the others should have the property, but they all lived, and it was finally divided among them. After the death of his parents, Perry, with his sister still younger, was brought to Baltimore by his guardian, who conspired with the guardian's bondsman to rob the helpless orphans. The whole of the large estate to which they were heirs was squandered; they were stripped of everything and left in utter poverty. Only the slenderest advantages of education were afforded the un- fortunate boy, who had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, which he gratified at every possible opportunity, and de- spite every drawback, grew up singularly well informed. At thirteen years of age he was apprenticed to a cabinet- maker, but could make no headway in mechanical labor, and his employer, finding him utterly useless in the shop, was very willing to part with him. He had a strong pre- dilection for medicine, so strong that he was really unfitted for anything else, and fortunately a kind physician, Dr. Poits, became interested in the friendless youth, helped him, taught him, and after his death, Dr. Baker, one of the professors in the Maryland University, was very kind. Young Kinnemon obtained a place as an apothecary in the Eastern Dispensary, while pursuing his studies, and struggled against every obstacle, till, in 1833, having secured a thorough education, he graduated M. D. from the Maryland University. lle had succeeded, but against fearful odds. Of the sufferings of his childhood and the anguish of his struggling youth he could never speak. The sight of orphan children always deeply affected him. After his graduation Dr. Kinnemon was a physician in the Eastern Dispensary for some time ; he also commenced at once the general practice of his profession, having his office on Pratt Street. In 1845 he built a handsome resi- dence for himself, on the corner of Pratt and Gough streets, where he resided the remainder of his life. He had a very large and lucrative practice among a superior class of people, and was idolized by his patients. He was for many years a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, of which society he was also at one time the Treasurer ; he was also a member of the Medical and Surgical Society of Baltimore. Ile was a delegate many times to the National Conventions of medical men, and was always highly honored among his professional brethren, as well as everywhere esteemed and beloved as a man. He was from his boyhood a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, and attended the first Sabbath- school in Baltimore. He was a Trustee for many years, and a Steward, at the time of his decease, of the Caroline Street Church, to which he had always belonged. Dr. Kinnemon was united in marriage, March 19, 1844, with Sarah Grabill, of Frederick County, Maryland, daughter of John Grabill, a prosperous farmer and miller, who did a very large business near Rummettsburg. The grandfather
of Mrs. Kinnemon was from Germany. The family is of high respectability. Dr. and Mrs. Kinnemou had six children, five of whom are living : Aun Elizabeth, now Mrs. J. Stewart Grabill, of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, George Spencer Kinnemon, M.D., of Baltimore, Charles Henry, and Sarah Frances, now Mrs. Frank T. Norton, of Baltimore. Dr. Kinnemore died of heart disease, January 1, 1877, after only three or four weeks' illness. Resolu- tions highly complimentary to his memory were passed by the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty, and by the Medical and Surgical Society of Baltimore. All his life his chari- ties had been most constant, but so quietly and unostenta- tiously performed that of many of them his family knew nothing till after his death. During the fearful epidemic . of cholera in 1832 he was connected with the Eastern Dispensary, where his labors were unremitting and most self-sacrificing.
PINNEMON, GEORGE SPENCER, Physician and Surgeon, the eldest son of Perry Spencer and Sarah (Grabill) Kinnemon, was born in Baltimore, May 10, 1848. His early education was obtained in the city schools, and he completed his classical studies at the Central Institute-which has now ceased to exist-under the care of Professors Clinton Morgan and John Harmon. On leaving school, mercantile business at first attracted him as a speedier method of succeeding in life. Ile was for a time engaged in several stores in the city, after which he went to Chicago. In this place his health. became much impaired, and finally convinced that his tastes were not for business, he returned and pursued with his father the study of medicine, to which he had already given considerable attention. He also studied with Pro- fessors Miles, Chew, and Chisholm. In 1872 he matricu- lated at the Maryland University, from which he graduated March 3, 1874. Before the death of his father he had al- ready acquired quite an extensive practice, and after that event he succeeded to his father's practice, retaining the larger part of it. Dr. Kinnemon has a fine address and pleasing manner, and is regarded as one of the ablest and most promising of the young physicians of Baltimore.
MOOT, ANDREW JACKSON, M.D., was born in Charles County, Maryland, July 7, 1828. Ilis father, Captain John W. Smoot, farmer, died in 1861. Ile served as an officer under General Winfield Scott in the war of 1812. Dr. Smoot's mother was Miss Elizabeth Eleanor A., daughter of Thomas Hawkins, a farmer, of Charles County. She died in 1868. She was a most estimable Christian lady, and a member of the Metho.
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dist Episcopal Church. The doctor is one of four chil- dren, he being the oklest. He received his early education at a country pay-school, and at the age of thirteen years entered the grammar school of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, then under the direction of Rev. George R. Crooks, D. D. After two years in the grammar school, he entered the Freshman class of the college. Shortly after his entrance into the Junior Class he was called home. Subsequently he became a student for a short time at Charlotte Hall Academy, St. Mary's County. In 1849 he commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Dent, a well-known physician of Charles County. He matriculated at the University of Maryland in the fall of 1850, and graduated therefrom in the spring of 1852. Whilst attending the lectures he was in the private office of Prof. Nathan R. Smith. After graduating he practiced. in the Baltimore City and County Almshouse for thirteen months. Ile then attended a course of lectures in the New York University, and during his attendance thereon prac- ticed his profession in Bellevue Hospital. Returning to his native county he established himself in the practice of medicine in the village of Newport. At the expiration of two years he removed to his father's residence, where he continued the practice of medicine, and in 1860 purchased the cstate known as "Society Ilill," in Picawaxen, where he has ever since continued to reside, engaged in the man- agement of his farm and the duties of a country practice. Before the war the doctor acted as surgeon of the volun- teer cavalry, known as the First Maryland Cavalry. IIe served as County Commissioner of Charles County from 1870 to 1876. In political sentiment he is a Democrat, and in his religious convictions a Protestant Episcopalian. In 1872 he entered the Masonic fraternity, and is now a member of St. Columbia Lodge, No. 150, l'ort Tobacco, Maryland. Dr. Smoot married, November, 1855, Miss Nannie W., youngest daughter of Dr. Robert Crane, of Charles County, and niece of Judge P. W. Crane, of that County. Ile has four children living, three sons and one danghter.
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