USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 2
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 2
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Ilis funeral was attended by the public authorities of the city and an immense concourse of people. " A mourn- ful interest appeared to pervade all ranks of the community, who flocked from every quarter to take a farewell glimpse of the remains of one who had possessed whilst living their unbounded respect. The military appeared in fine order, and the hollow beat of their muffled drums told that a soldier had gone to rest." " Few men have enjoyed a more enviable lot ; his youth distinguished in the field, his age in the council, and every period solaced by the attach- ment of friends." He left behind him a noble record
EALE, JAMES FRANKLIN, the only son of Martin and Sarah A. (Beard) Deale, was born in Balti- " more, May 11, 1845. llis father died when he was only two months old; his mother, who has always remained a widow, resides with her son. Iler father, John Beard, a native of Anne Arundel County, was an officer in the war of 1812, and was engaged in the battle of North Point. Ile and his father, also named John Beard, were merchants of Baltimore. Their ances- tors emigrated from England in the early settlement of Maryland. The ancestors of the Deale family were Scotch. They also came at an carly period in the history of Maryland, and settled at West River, where some of their descendants still reside. James F. Deale was edu- cated in his native city, in the public schools and in Balti- more City College. Leaving the latter at eighteen years of age, he went into the commission business with Messrs. Marling & Son, with whom he remained two years. Ile then engaged as a clerk two years in the Harnden Express Company, a branch of the Adams Express. In 1867 he went to San Francisco, and in a short time entered the employ of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, remaining three years in the service. Ile made four trips to China, stopping first at Yokohama and proceeding thence to Hong Kong. At the latter city he had a beautiful picture of his mother painted from a carte de visite. It was in oil, nearly life size, and wonderful in its fidelity and beauty of execution. Mr. Deale learned the language of the " l'low- ery Kingdom," and when the Chinese Embassy were in Baltimore, in October, 1878, he conversed with Chin Pan Ling in his own tongue, greatly to his delight. The ships brought at every trip from fifteen hundred to two thousand Chinese to California. Mr. Deale returned to Maryland in 1870 and connected himself with the Gas Light Com- pany of Baltimore, transferring his services in 1872 to the l'cople's Gas Light Company. He remained with the lat- ter till November 1, 1878. In 1873 he was married to Laura B., daughter of William Collison, of Baltimore. They have two children, Beatrice Barron and William Collison. Mr. Deale is a member of the Democratic
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party, and has taken an active interest in political affairs for several years. In 1876 he was appointed a member of the School Board of the city of Baltimore from the Eighteenth Ward, which position he filled with ability till elected to a seat in the First Brauch of the City Council from the same ward in 1878. Mr. Deale is a gentleman of superior intelligence, and of very prepossessing appear- ance. Ile is a natural leader, and combines in a rare de- gree those elements which insure popularity and success.
OCKE, CLAAS, was born, November 18, 1815, at Emden, then kingdom of Ilanover, Germany. He is descended from a long line of honored an- cestors, dating back to 1490. On his father's side they were originally from Bavaria, and were re- markable for their probity, learning, and ability. Ilis grandfather, John C. C. Vocke, held an office under gov- ernment. llis father, G. L. Charles Vocke, a highly edu- cated and polished gentleman, was a prominent merchant, and for many years Consul at Emden for the kingdom of Bavaria. Ile repeatedly labored in the interest of the city and state as a delegate to the Provincial and National Con- gress. Although his time was mostly given to mercantile pursuits, he took delight in cultivating a knowledge of the languages, and was distinguished for his linguistic ability. He died at Emden in the year 1869, at the age of eighty- six. Mr. Vocke's mother was the daughter of Claas Tho- len, an eminent and successful merchant of Emden. Mr. Vocke received his primary education at the common schools and at home by a private tutor. He then attended the Gymnasium of Emden. When sixteen years of age he entered the counting-room of his grandfather Tholen, through whose rigid and thorough instructions, for a period of about four years, he laid a solid foundation for future mercantile success. In 1837 he was sent by Mr. Tholen as supercargo on a vessel loaded with wheat for Balti- more, which, after a voyage of one hundred days, he safely reached. Soon making the acquaintance of some of the leading merchants, he entered the counting-room of Fred- erick Rodewald & Didier, where he remained for about a year. Afterward he entered the counting-house of E. G. Oelrichs & Lurman, remaining for about seven years. Ile then returned to his native city, where he married Johanna E., daughter of William 1 .. Abegg, Registrar of the city of Emden. She died in 1852. In 1846 he embarked with his wife in a sailing vessel at Bremerhaven for Baltimore, where, soon after his arrival, he entered into the shipping business on his own account. June 1, 1851, he associated with him as partner Mr. Herman Iloppe. This partner- ship continued until the death of Mr. Hoppe, June 9, 1862. January 1, 1870, he associated with him his son, G. L. Charles Vocke, which partnership continued until the latter
went to Europe, December 31, 187.1. June 28, 1856, he' was appointed Consul for the Netherlands, which position he still holds. In iSo he was one of the founders of the Germania, of Baltimore, a society for literary and social purposes, of which he was the first Vice President, then Treasurer, and afterward repeatedly elected President. He has been Secretary and is now President of the German Society of Maryland, Director in the Savings Bank of Bal- timore, Director and afterwards President in the People's Fire Insurance Company, the affairs of which he wound up. Ile is a member of Gay Street Zion Church. Mr. Vocke has two sons, whom on the death of their mother, in 1852, he took to Emden, Germany, there to be edu- cated, and to remain under the care of their grandparents. The eldest of these, George Lewis Charles Vocke, is now successfully carrying on business for himself in Bremen, Germany. Ilis youngest son, Henry B. Vocke, having re- turned to this country, assists his father in his business in Baltimore. Mr. Vocke has worthily achieved success, and is held in high esteem by the mercantile community of Baltimore and the public generally.
INANS, THOMAS, eldest son of Ross Winans, was born at Vernon, Sussex County, New Jersey, December 6, 1820. In 1830 his father re- moved with him to Baltimore. After receiving a common-school education, Thomas was taught the trade of a machinist, and soon developed great me- chanical talent. In 1842 Major Whistler was appointed by the Czar superintendent of railroads in Russia, and the ensuing year Mr. Ross Winans was invited to take charge of the mechanical department. Instead of doing so he sent his son Thomas, then but twenty-two years old, in his place, and put in his charge a locomotive he had built es- pecially for the Nicolai Railroad, then being constructed in Russia. On his way to Russia, Thomas Winans met Mr. Joseph Harrison, of the firm of Eastwick & Harrison, en- gine-builders at Philadelphia, with whom he formed a business partnership to secure railway contracts from the Russian Government. . The first contract made by the new firm (in 1843), was to complete the road from St. Peters- burg to Moscow, and supply it with rolling stock, the work to be completed in five years, at a cost of five million dollars. It was finished to the entire satisfaction of the Russian Government more than a year before the term of the contract had expired. During the' progress of this work, orders reaching nearly two million dollars were added to the original amount, including the erection of the great iron bridge over the Neva at St. Petersburg, In 1851 Mr. Thomas Winans and Mr. Harrison returned to the United States, leaving Mr. William 1 .. Winans to fulfil the remaining contracts, which were closed up in 1802.
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In 1866 the Messrs. Winans were reealled to Russia to as- sume the management of the St. Petersburg and Moscow Railroad, under a new contract to run for eight years. The new firm included Major George W. Whistler. At the end of two years they were bought out by the govern- ment, which reimbursed them for their outlay, paying them a bonus of several million dollars. Soon after Mr. Winans' return to Baltimore, in 1851, he purchased nearly an en- tire square of ground fronting on Hollins and Baltimore streets, known as the old McHenry property, and erected thereon a fine mansion. In 1861-2 he opened a soup- house near his residence, which fed four thousand people daily. He had a country residence on the Franklin Road, and had also, subsequently, a villa at Newport. After 1870 Mr. Winans took up his permanent residence in Baltimore, where he led a quiet and unostentatious life, until his death, June 10, 1878. Mr. Winans was fond of experimenting in mechanics, and made improvements in organs, pianos, ventilation, etc. He turned his attention to steamers for fast navigation; and in 1859 built the first of what is known as his segar steamers, so called from their shape. These proved to be a failure. It was re- marked by a friend at the time of the death of Mr. Winans, that " if it was a piece of good fortune, a happy accident, that took Mr. Thomas Winans to St. Petersburg, chance had nothing to do with his subsequent success. All that he wanted was opportunity, and when it arrived he grasped it and held it fast by the strength which his inventive genius, his rare skill, his stern common sense, and his de- termined character gave him. These characteristics dis- tinguished him through life. He undertook nothing that he did not attempt to do better than it had been done before." During his sojourn in St. Petersburg, Mr. Winans married, August 23, 1847, Miss Celeste Revillon, a Russian lady of French and Italian descent. He had four children, two of whom are living, Ross and Celeste. The estate of Mr. Winans was estimated at twenty million dollars.
ILKERSON, BASI. M., M.D., D. D.S., was born in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, March 28, 1842. Ilis father, Presley 11. Wilkerson, a native of Kentucky, was a successful . builder and farmer, and married in 1832 Miss Eliza Foster, of Georgia. Their son Basil, at the age of fifteen years, assumed control of some mills owned by his father, and by his successful management of them made large profits. At this time he displayed a talent for invention, which has since been developed, and has brought forth good results. At the age of seventeen years he entered Greene Springs College, Greene County, Alabama, a private educational
institution of high reputation, and during his sojourn there was noted for his Christian conduct and prompt and thorough discharge of his duties, whilst his "reports of standing " in his class were excellent. The civil war breaking out before he had completed his college conrse, he volunteered his services in the Confederate cause. 11]- health twice caused his discharge from the army, but, noth- ing daunted, he enlisted for a third time, and a favorable change occurring in his physical condition, he found his health completely restored when paroled May 14, 1865. After the war he resumed the charge of his father's mills, and still continued his studies until the spring of 1866, when he began the study of dentistry, under the tuition of his brother, a successful practitioner of that profession. After attending one course of lectures at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, session of 1866-67, he returned to his native place, and acquired an extensive practice, during the vacation ; returning in the fall he matriculated at the above college, and received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, March 12, 1868. During the summer of the same year he removed to Columbus, Mississippi, where he gained the confidence of the community, and established an excellent practice, but at the expiration of two years, his brother and preceptor retiring from the profession, he accepted inducements offered him to settle in Tuscaloosa,' Alabama, and took charge of his brother's large practice at that place, where he remained, meeting with success, until November, 1872, when he received and accepted an unex- pected call to fill a vacancy in the Faculty of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, as Demonstrator of Mechanical Dentistry. While executing the duties of this office, he at- tended a course of lectures, during the session of 1872-73, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, in which institution he took the degree of M.D., February 18, 1873. The following winter he devoted himself to improve- ments in dental appliances while attending to his official college duties. Among these improvements may be men- tioned the " Wilkerson Dental Chair," the " Wilkerson Adjustable Local Fountain, Spittoon, and Instrument Bracket," the " Wilkerson Dental Plate Retainer," and the " Wilkerson Dental Cabinet." October 27, 1874, Dr. Wilkerson opened an office in the city of Baltimore, and has since created for himself a highly reputable and lucra- tive practice. In 1876 he was elected Demonstrator of Operative Dentistry, which position he now holds, as a member of the Faculty of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He joined the Masonic Fraternity in 1865, in the State of Alabama, and has attained the degree of Master Ma- son. At an early age he became a member of the Baptist Church, and is a moral and high-toned gentleman. Dr. Wil- kerson is endowed with an unusual degree of inventive ge- nius ; is persevering and thorough in all that he undertakes, and enjoys a high reputation for professional knowledge and skill. Though as yet quite a young man, he has already attained great prominence in his profession.
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"PICER, IHIRAM LOUIS, M.D., was born in Balti- more, Maryland, March 24, 1840. He attended private schools in that city during his youthful years, and at the age of eleven entered St. Charles College, Howard County, Maryland, where he re- mained some three years. Ile then became a student at Loyola College, Baltimore, and continued to pursue his studies at that institution for two years, at the expiration of which time, having in contemplation the study of medi- cine, and being anxious to ground himself in one of its most essential branches, pharmacy, he associated himself with the drug business in a clerical capacity, remaining therein about two years and a half. In the eighteenth year of his age he commenced reading medicine in the office of the late Professor Dunbar, and graduated at the Maryland University in the spring of 1860. After receiv- ing his diploma he was appointed Clinical Assistant at the Baltimore Infirmary, the duties of which he acceptably discharged for about twelve months. He then established himself in private practice, in the western section of Bal- timore, which he has continued to prosecute to the present time, in the same neighborhood where he originally loca- ted. In 1870 Dr. Spicer was appointed Coroner for the city of Baltimore, by Governor Oden Bowie, under the law then in existence authorizing the appointing of a Cor- oner for the entire city. As it was regarded as an impor- tant public position, and there were many rival candidates for it, some of whom were very prominent members of the medical profession, it was highly complimentary to the doctor's attainments and personal merits to have the posi- tion conferred upon him. After serving in that capacity during the term of Governor Bowie's administration, he resumed his private practice, which had so increased as to ·require his undivided attention. His professional talent and great experience, as well as his kind and gentle man- ners and tender solicitude for the wellbeing of his patients, have caused him to be recognized as one of the most suc- cessful medical practitioners of Baltimorc. Previous to and during the two years he held the office of Coroner, Dr. Spicer also occupied the position of Public School Commissioner from the Eighteenth Ward, and for a brief period was Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics in the Wash- ington University, Baltimore. The doctor's father, Iliram . Spicer, is a native of Baltimore County. Though in his . . seventieth year, he is in the full possession of all his men- tal faculties and in a healthy physical condition. His father, the doctor's grandfather, Thomas Spicer, was a na- tive of Maryland, and took an active part in the repelling of the British at the battle of North Point in 1814. Hle married, August 17, 1782, Elizabeth Lloyd, of the Eastern Shore, Maryland. The doctor's mother was a Miss Alice Cutler, a daughter of George Cutler, who came to Amer- ica from England in 1826, and settled in Baltimore. Dr. " Spicer married, in March, 186.1, Miss Mary C. Scharf, daughter of Thomas G. Scharf, an enterprising and opu-
lent citizen of Baltimore, He is a brother of Colonel J. Thomas Scharf, anthor of the Chronicles of Baltimore, a history of Maryland, and several other valuable histori. cal publications, The doctor has had five children, all of whom are living. In religions sentiment Dr. Spicer ad- heres to the faith of the Church of Rome, faithfully per- forming his duties as a Christian.
BIEBMANN, GUSTAVE, M.D., was born in Aufhausen, Wurtemberg, Germany, January 27, 1833. Ile commenced the study of Latin at the age of ten, and received a classical education, his father, Henry Liebmann, being a man of literary taste, and liberal both in political and religious views. He had also a great fondness for poetry and literature, and many of the strug- gles and asperities of life, incident to a limited purse, were softened by his keen enjoyment of the best German and English authors. At the age of eighteen he was admitted to the University of Wurtemberg, which then numbered among its professors men of great renown, Hugo Mohl, Bruns, William Griesinger, and others. He studied here four years, and passed his primary examination. Another year was spent in the hospitals of Stuttgart, Tubingen, and Munich, and after again passing an examination, he re- ceived his degree of M.D. His parents had already come to the United States, and he immediately left Germany to join them, landing in New York in 1856, from whence he proceeded to Baltimore, which he reached with only five dollars left in his pocket. In that city he commenced the practice of medicine, a series of lectures on medical sci- ence forming a favorable introduction. Dr. Liebmann has devoted himself to diseases of the mind and to the diseases of children, having, especially in the latter, a large prac- tice, and meeting with a very uniform success. Ile has contributed occasional articles for the medical journals. Prominent among these is his Rhythm of Respiratory Move- ments. He is Medical Examiner of the Baltimore Lodge of the Knights of Honor. He was married in 1858 to Fanny, daughter of the late Elias Necht, of Baltimore, and has eight children, the eldest being nineteen years of age.
HEEDEN, JAMES C., was born in the city of Bal- timore, August 30, 1805. Ilis ancestors, a hardy, industrious people, had been residents of Balti- more for several generations. His father, James Wheeden, and also his grandfather, were ship- builders, and his maternal grandfather, Thomas Lamdin, followed the same occupation. James C. Wheeden was the ellest child of his parent>, who had two sons younger.
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The little family had the great misfortune to be deprived of its head when he was only a child of seven years. His widowed mother was left with but small means of support, and found it necessary when the sou reached the age of ten to put him out to learn a trade. He was accordingly indentured to a saihmaker, Rev. Amos Beldin, a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, who after some time became involved in business and fled from his creditors in the night. Young Wheeden then found another master, who also after a time left the city in the same man- ner. He had at this time been an apprentice five years, and seeking a third master, bound himself, and remained with him four years. This man fell at length into the vice of intemperance, ruining both himself and his business, and gave young Wheeden his liberty at the age of nineteen. He now felt himself a man; he had learned thoroughly the mechanical part of the sailmaking business, but was ignorant of the scientific part, the draughting and cutting. Being anxious to acquire this, he applied to a Mr. Sher- wood, a prominent man in that business, and offered him his services for a year if he would impart to him the requi- site knowledge, which contract was faithfully carried out by both parties; and on his twentieth birthday he became his own master, having completely mastered his trade. This had been accomplished under great difficulties and privations. During the long ten years, as was the custom for apprentices at that time, he had worked, eaten and slept in the sail-loft. Ilis educational advantages had been very limited; confined for the most part to what he had learned in a night school, and in the Episcopal Sunday-school, under the Rev. Mr. Bartow. When, however, he had acquired the rudiments of an education he pursued his studies by himself till he became a well-informed man. He .began on the completion of his apprenticeship to earn money as a journeyman, working sixteen hours a day for the small sum of one dollar and twenty five cents; and continued faithfully to do this for two years. This life becoming monotonous, and desiring a change, he made several sea voyages, in which he performed the double duty of seaman and sailmaker. He visited the Mediterranean, and made two voyages around Cape Horn to Peru, in the Peruvian, a fine ship sailing out of the port of Baltimore.' But the hardships he encountered cured him entirely of all fondness for a seafaring life ; especially did it lose its charms when reefing sails off the coast of Patagonia, in the months of July and August, that being there in the dead of winter; and this labor performed at ten dollars per month, far from home and friends and cvery comfort. Ile had his full share of experience with storms and other perils of the sea. On one occasion, in May, 1829, when homeward bound from the Pacific, in latitude 14º, off the coast of Brazil, his ship was pursued nearly a whole day by a Spanish pirate. Many times the little black craft sailed round them, and frequently came close to them, but finally sailed away without an at- tack. The same pirate had boarded, killed the crew, and
suuk the English ship Lindock, only a few weeks pre- viously. After two years' experience at sea, Mr. Wheeden returned to his former occupation in Baltimore, and having in January, 1831, married Miss Jane Belash, of that city, he began business on hisown account. He had a partner who becoming intemperate he bought out. The young married pair found it necessary at first to practice the strict- est economy, but Mr. Wheeden was exceedingly industri- ous and gradually making a way for himself, when, in 1836, he was offered a third interest in the house of Messrs. B. Buck & Sons, one of the most prominent firms in that line in the city. This offer he gladly accepted, and the part- nership so formed proved not only a very agreeable but a very profitable one. It lasted about twenty years, till the death of the elder Mr. Buck, after which the son and Mr. Wheeden continued together three or four years longer, when the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Wheeden carried on the business alone for several years longer, when, in 1861, he retired from it, having ac. cumulated a handsome property, and became one of the most substantial and highly respected men of East Balti- more. Mr. Wheeden is a gentleman of superior intelligence and great business sagacity. Upright and honorable in his dealings, firm and decided in his character, his life well il- lustrates what can be accomplished by steady attention to business, and by pursuing a course of unswerving integrity. Such an example as his is of inestimable value to all young men whose success in life must depend upon their own ex- ertions. His two brothers are deceased, and his wife died in [872. Of their eight children only four are living, James Wheeden, Dr. Thomas J. Wheeden, of Brooklyn, New York, Edward Wheeden, and Harriet Dallas, now Mrs. Theophilus Cook.
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