The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2, Part 20

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802

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USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 20

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the printing office, the arrangement of type particularly attracted him, and he resolved that he would become a printer. This resolution he carried into effect as soon as he was permitted to leave school, and obtained a situation in the office of the Public Monitor, in Easton, of which paper Mr. William T. Rawlinson was editor. After a time his brother, Robert HI. Bustced, started a paper in Denton, called The American Union, which he assisted in establishing, and set the first type. When this paper was well in operation, he found employment on the Star, another Easton paper, of which Mr. T. F. Robson was editor. Here he remained till 1863, when he went to Dover, and worked one month on the Delawarian. Re- turning to Easton, he, in July, 1864, bought out the Centreville Times, in partnership with Mr. Charles T. Loveday, and they started the Centreville Observer. In six weeks the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Busteed has from that time remained the sole editor and proprietor. The task he had undertaken was no easy one, and a less determined and energetic person would inevitably have failed. Ile worked day and night with both head and hands, exercising the most pinching economy. The peo- ple among whom he had come were strangers, but he soon won their regard and respect, and eventually obtained in their midst a firm footing for both himself and his paper. HIis journalistic career having been a successful and pros- perous one, he now looks back to his early struggles with pardonable pride and self-congratulation. In his coming among them, the people of Centreville had also reason to congratulate themselves on the acquisition, he having on all occasions proved himself a public-spirited, enterprising and honorable citizen, a man of integrity and honor. Hle has never aspired to political promotion, but from April, 1871, to the same month in 1874, he consented to fill the position of Commissioner of the town, and represented the county in the Congressional Nominating Convention at Ocean City in 1876. He is a charter member of the Centreville National Bank, in which he has been a Direc- tor from its organization to the present time. He was one of the originators of the Circulating Library, and a Director from its establishment in 1874 to the present. Ile was one of the organizers of the Workingmen's Building and Loan Association, and has been a Director since October, 1872. Ile was very active in promoting the building of the Queen Anne's and Kent Railroad, and wrote many articles in its favor, but held no position in that corporation. When the new town hall was erected Mr. Busteed took a leading part ; also in the rebuilding and iron-fencing of the Court house. He has built several houses and bech instrumental in the building of several others, among them the bank, and a block owned by the Building Association. Ile brought into the county the first power-press ever used there, and also brought to Centreville the first fast job press. At considerable cost he employed a writer in 1872 to prepare for the pages of the Observer, a history of

Queen Anne's County, from its earliest date. In Novem- ber, 1864, he joined the Odd Fellows, and has three times passed through the chairs of that Order, and held numer- ous offices. In politics he has been a Democrat from his majority. He has travelled extensively through the United States. On October 6, 1870, he married Martha Vickers, an estimable Christian lady, who is now President of the Ladies' Church Aid Society of St. Paul's Church. Iler father, Samuel Vickers, was for several years Register of Wills for Queen Anne's County. Mr. and Mrs. Busteed have had two children, Julia V. and Catharine, of whom the eldest died in infancy.

OCKAIG, ALPHEUS BEALL, Lawyer, third son of William Wallace and Priscilla Ellen McKaig, was born August 23, 1847, in Cumberland, Maryland, where he now resides. His father, and his uncle, General Thomas J. Mckaig, are associated together in the law firm of McKaig & McKaig, of that place. ITis education, commenced at the Alleghany County Academy, in Cumberland, was continued at Mount St. Mary's College, near Emmettsburg, which he entered in 1863, but shortly after was attacked with very serious illness. When sufficiently recovered, early in 1864, he be- came an inmate of the Chestnut Hill School, Baltimore County. He returned home in June of the same year. On the 13th of the following month, by order of General Hunter, of the United States Army, he was sent, with his mother and younger brother, across the lines into the country then under the control of the army of the Confed- erate States. During the three months of their absence, their house and all their property was in the possession of the United States troops, but being permitted to return by . an order issued by Edward M. Stanton, Secretary of War, everything was surrendered back to them, with very small loss on their part. In 1864 he entered the Freshman class of Princeton College, from which he graduated in June, 1868. Ile then entered the law office of his father and uncle, and was admitted, April 19, 1870, to the bar of the Circuit Court for Alleghany County, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Cum- berland, with the exception of eight months of travel in Europe, in 1873, when he visited the Vienna Exposition and the points of greatest interest in England and on the Continent.

GILLIS, HONORABLE ARTHUR JOHN, Capitalist and Landowner, was born September 27, 1813, in Sussex County, Delaware. His father, Short A. Willis, married Mary Rich, in 1812. They removed to Caroline County, Maryland, in 1822. At eighteen years of age young Willis was engaged on his

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father's farm in Dorchester County. In 1833 he took charge of a vessel belonging to his father, but soon after went North, and sailed from Boston in the brig Franklin, with Captain Elthridge, of Chatham, and since that time has visited every seaport in the United States. After a time he was able to make the first payment on a tract of land on the Choptank River. Commencing, in 1835, the lumber business, he succeeded by dint of hard work in paying for his land, and for the improvements. Ile was married in 1839 to Mrs. Caroline E. Hutchinson, a most estimable lady of Dorchester County. They removed in 1844 to Rosedale, and in 1847 to Mount Washington, and again in 1849 to Potter's Landing, Mr. Willis having pur- chased the well-known estate of General Potter. He was elected during this year to the State Senate. In 1854 he visited his brothers in Texas, and went to Minnesota in 1856, travelling the following year on the Great Lakes, and through the British Provinces, from the Straits of Macki- naw, Canada West, to Newfoundland and New Bruns- wick. At the first breath of the national disturbances in 1860, he took a decided stand for the Union. Governor llicks commissioned him in 1861 as Colonel of the State Militia, but such " confined valor " he felt was but little better than cowardice, at such a time, and obtaining an order from the War Department, he endeavored to raise a regiment for active service. Not succeeding in this as he desired, he turned over his stores and skeleton companies to Colonel Wallace of the First Maryland Regiment, but before entering the army he made a visit to Europe. While in Liverpool, London, and Paris, he gave informa- tion to our authorities of the shipping of arms and supplies from Liverpool to the Southern Confederacy. In his letters to his friends at home he was strong and confident for the Union, and ridiculed the slender chance of the Confederacy of obtaining either a final success, or of se- curing recognition or support from the crowned heads of Europe. After visiting the principal European cities he took passage from South Wales in the Great Eastern to New York, and in 1863, during the Confederate raids into Maryland, he joined the Ninety-third Pennsylvania Volun- teers, and served under Colonel McCarter till he received an honorable discharge. On returning home he was again elected to the State Senate. In 1866 he was elected to the Legislature. He visited Texas and the West Indies in 1871. In March of the following year his wife died. By the failure of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1873, he lost the large sum of seventy-six thousand eight hun- dred dollars. The next year he was a candidate for the Senate, but was defeated by twenty-four votes. Colonel Willis had four brothers settled in Texas, but one of whom, Richard S. Willis, of Galveston, is now living. He has three married daughters; two are settled in Maryland, and one in Texas. In 1875 he married his present wife, whose maiden name was Belle M. Rawlings, and has since lived' very retired. Mr. Willis's life has been one of varied ac-

tivity and usefulness, and he has contributed in the last thirty years perhaps more than any one to build up the schools and churches of Caroline County, giving freely of his land for the required sites. Colonel Willis is widely and favorably known ; he is a man of sterling patriotism, liberality and courage. Somewhat eccentric in manner, he never gives offence in word, and few are more generally popular.

SOCMASTER, JOHN THOMAS BAILEY, Physi- cian and Surgeon, was born in Worcester County, Maryland, December 18, 1827. Ilis parents were Samuel and Ann Bailey (Merrill)

MeMaster. Ilis mother was the daughter of William Merrill, and granddaughter of Colonel Clement Baker, of Accomac County, Virginia. The McMaster family descended from the old Scotch Covenanters. They emigrated to America soon after the restoration of Charles 11, and settled near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In his boy- hood Dr. McMaster attended the country schools of the period, and was well drilled in the English branches and mastered the elementary classics. Ile possessed a quick and active mind and learned with great readiness. Soon after leaving school he engaged in mercantile pur- suits, but finding them unsuited to his tastes, he commenced, in 1848, the study of medicine with Dr. George S. D. Shipley, of Newtown. The following year he matriculated at the University of Maryland, where he attended two full courses of lectures, and graduated with honor in the spring of 1850. He at once commenced the practice of his pro- fession in Newtown in partnership with Dr. J. L. Ilearn, and soon succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice. The partnership was dissolved in 1857, since which time Dr. McMaster has continued alone in the same place, growing constantly in favor as a practitioner and as a citizen. Several young men trained by him for the pro- fession 'are now practicing in that county. In 1859 he took an extended trip West and Northwest, visiting nearly all the large cities of the West, and portions of Canada. In 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln, Brigade Surgeon of Volunteers, but on account of the death of the oldest physician in the town, too many duties devolved upon him at home, and he did not join the army, but was employed during most of the war as Contract Physician, with headquarters at Newtown. In 1862 he was appointed by Governor Bradford, Examining Surgeon for the first draft of militia called for by President Lincoln, which duty he fulfilled to the general satisfaction of the people of his county. In 1866 he was appointed Postmaster for Newtown, and held that office for two years. In 1868 he was appointed Inspector and Gauger of Liquors, and In- spector of Snuff and Segars, but only held these positions for a short time. In 1864 he was elected to the Senate of

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Maryland for two sessions, and taking an active and lead- ing part in the debates, became an influential member of that body. The General Assembly through his efforts granted a charter for Newtown, and in 1867 he was elected Town Commissioner, which position he held for two years, to the entire satisfaction of the community. During this period he was mainly instrumental in having the town well lighted, the streets broadened and widened, and many other things accomplished that have greatly improved the place. In 1868 he was appointed by President Johnson, Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue, which position he held nearly two years. In 1869 a charter was obtained to construct a railroad from King's Creek to Newtown, and Dr. McMaster was elected President of the company. Through his active exertions the road was soon completed and in running order. In 1865 he procured a charter for a company to build a bridge across the Pocomoke River. He subscribed to the stock, organized the company, and within the year the bridge was built, taking the place of the ferry-boat which had done service at that point for nearly two hundred years. Dr. McMaster has never becn connected with any secret society, except for a short time in 1855 with the Native American party. He now con- siders his connection with that party as one of the mis- takes of his political life. He was schooled in his youth in the tenets of the Whig party, and followed its fortunes until it was disbanded. In 1860 he voted for and advo- cated on the stump the Bell and Everett ticket, but when the South seceded he at once took part with those in favor of the preservation of the Union, making every effort in his power to this end. He constantly spoke and wrote, and was at all times ready to make any personal sacrifice in his country's cause, declaring his determination to de- fond it to the last. He indorsed the war measures of President Lincoln up to the period of the proclamation of emancipation, which he opposed. When the war was ended, believing the time had come for reconciliation and peace, he heartily indorsed the reconstruction measures of the President, and still holds the opinion that in his assassi- nation the South lost her best and wisest friend. lle was an ardent supporter of President Johnson. For many years past Dr. MeMaster has acted with the Democratic Conservative party, but for the last decade has not been actively engaged in politics, owing to the heavy drain of professional duties upon his time; he, however, takes a great interest in and is always ready to express his views on all the questions of the day. In-his religious views he prefers the forms and practices of the Presbyterian Church, both as a matter of choice and of respect for the opinions of hi, forefathers, but has not united himself with any dc- nomination, and believes that all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved, On May 15, 1851, Dr. MeMas- ter was united in marriage with Elizabeth Grace, daughter of John S. Stevenson, a well-known citizen of Worcester County. They have had seven children, five of whom are

still living. The eldest son, Jolin L., is preparing to enter the legal profession. Dr. McMaster is one of the leading physicians of the State; he has rendered large publie ser- . vices, and is regarded as one of the most public-spirited citizens of Maryland.

ARTENET, SIMON J., City Surveyor of Balti- more, was born in that city April 13, 1832. His father, Jonas Martenet, a native of St. Blaise, near Neufchatel, Switzerland, came to this country when scarcely of age, and resided from that time in Baltimore. He died in 1835, leaving his widow, Cath- arine (Johannes) Martenet, with six sons. Mrs. Martenet was a native of Hesse Cassel, Germany, her father having emigrated to this country with his family and settled in Baltimore in the year 1800. Simon J. was less than four years old at the time of his father's death, and very early was obliged to exert himself for the maintenance of the family. Ile was sent to the public schools, finishing his course at the lligh School, which he entered when just over twelve years of age. After attaining the age of thir- teen he supported himself by working out of school hours. He early chose the profession of Surveyor and Civil En- gincer, and in March, 1849, began to learn the business practically with Mr. Thomas P. Chiffelle, a graduate of West Point, and City Surveyor of Baltimore for several ycars. Mr. Chiffelle left Baltimore in 1855, and Mr. Mar- tenet succeeded him in business, in which he has continued to the present time with uninterrupted success. In the same year (1855) he was the Democratic candidate for City Surveyor. Though only twenty-three years of age he was fully competent for the position, having for several years previously done the principal work of the office, but was defeated with his whole ticket by the American party, which was then dominant. During the financial crisis of 1857, when his business had somewhat fallen off in the general depression of that period, to fill up his time he commenced surveys of several counties of the State with the design of making maps of the same, and of finally making and publishing a complete and detailed map of the State of Maryland. He had completed surveys and maps of Cecil, lloward, Kent, Anne Arundel, and Prince George's counties, and had commenced the work in several others, when the civil war interrupted its further prosecution till 1865. Surveys were then completed and maps made of Carroll and Harford counties, and the remaining counties surveyed for the purposes of the State map only, the en- tire work having required about fifteen thousand miles of surveys. The large map and atlas of Maryland which bear his name were published in 1867, and are recognized as the standard representation of the geography of the State. So speedy and so general was this recognition that the fol- lowing year, by act of the Legislature, copies of the maps

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were supplied to the public schools throughout the com. monwealth. In November, 1867, the first year of the re- turn to power of the Democratic party, Mr. Martenet was elected City Surveyor of Baltimore. He was succeeded in 1800 by M. Charles P. Kaller, but was ie elected in 1871, and at the end of each term to the present time, filling this responsible office with great acceptance to the people. In 1871-2 he made an atlas containing very ac- curate and complete maps in detail of the lands of the Canton Company, which comprised a large part of the eastern section within Baltimore city, and extending sev- eral miles into the country, and embracing much of the best manufacturing and water front property in and near the city. This atlas shows the real estate operations of the company from its incorporation for over forty years; and he also, in connection with it, established a complete system of grades on the streets to be projected, covering several square miles of the same territory. The long ex- perience, untiring energy, and ability which Mr. Martenet brings to his work, constitute him the leading man of the city in his profession. Ilis business is conducted with per- fect system ; his numerous surveys, maps, and other data, accumulated during the last thirty years, are all recorded and indexed on the plan of a recorder's office. He was united in marriage, in August, 1853, with Philena L., daughter of Jacob Fussell, of Baltimore. They have five children living. Jefferson and Simon J., Jr., are also sur- veyors, and associated with their father in business. Jacob Fussell, the third son, is studying medicine; while Wil- liam H. and Clarissa F. are still in school. Mr. Martenet is a member of the Society of Friends.

MILLIIOLLAND, JAMES ALLAIRE, Vice-President of the Consolidated Coal Company, and of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany, the eldest son of James and Frances (Curtis) Millholland, was born in the city of Baltimore, December 8, 1842. His father was closely identified with the history and progress of railway and steamship mechani- cal engineering from the earliest days of railroads up to the time of his death in 1875. In this line he was the author of many important inventions which form, to this day, the characteristic features of American railway ma- chinery. The family removed from Baltimore to Reading, Pennsylvania, when James A. Millholland was six years of age. He here received a good public school education, and graduated at the Reading High School in 1858, in his sixteenth year. Shortly afterwards he entered the me- chanical drafting room of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, where he was instructed in the theories of loco- motive construction, and other branches of practical knowl-

edge connected with the large machine works. He then entered the shops as a practical workman, and in time rose to be general foreman, and eventually to be assistant to his father, who was then the Engineer of Machinery and As- sistant Superintendent of that road, In 1800 be removed with his lather to Mount Savage, Maryland, where he was given charge of the mechanical departments of the Con- solidated Coal Company, and of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company. His father retired from the Presidency of these companies in 1869, and his son was elected Vice-President of the same. In this year also he was married to Miss Virginia Randolph Keim, daughter of John High Keim, of Reading, Pennsylvania, and of Martha Elizabeth Randolph, of Virginia. The grandfather of the bride, Colonel Thomas Beverly Ran- dolph, was an officer of the United States Army, educated at West Point, and served with distinction in the war of 1812, and subsequently in the war with Mexico. Mr. Millhol- land resides at Cumberland City, Maryland, having here the general supervision of the companies above mentioned, with which he still continues his connection. The aggre- gate capital of these two companies is $10,250,000.

INES, HON. JESSE KNOCK, was born November 17, 1829, near Millington, in Kent County, Maryland. He is the son of Isaac and Ann Bathsheba (Knock) Hines, and received his education at the schools of Dr. Baxter and Joseph Walker, in Bal- timore, and at the primary school at Sudlersville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland. In February, 1844, he entered the country store of Thomas Walker, at Millington, and in December, 1845, became a clerk in the store of William F. Smyth, of the same place, and was subsequently cm- ployed in the store of P. & E. Spruance, in Smyrna, Dela- ware. During the years 1849 and 1850, he worked as a bricklayer, and afterwards had charge of the primary school in Morgan's Creek Neck, Kent County, Maryland. In 1852 he commenced merchandising in Millington, and in October, 1854, was appointed Constable. In 1855 and 1856 he was Collector of Taxes in the Fourth District of Kent County, having been elected in 1855 Constable by the American or Know-Nothing party. In 1857 he was elected, by the same party, Clerk of the Circuit Court for Kent County. In 1863 he was re-elected Clerk by the Union party. In 1864 he joined the Democrats, and by them was again, in 1867, elected Clerk. HIe, studied law with Richard Ilynson, in Chestertown, and was admitted to the bar on May 2, 1868. In 1872 he was a member of the Democratic National Convention which nominated llorace Greeley for the Presidency. In 1873 he was elected to the Legislature of Maryland, and served as Speaker of the House of Delegates in the January session

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yours truly 20 M. abrahams - 1 1

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of 1874. In May, 1874, he was appointed Commander of the Maryland Oyster Police Force, and held that office two years. He was immediately afterwards Assessment and Corporation Clerk in the office of the Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland. On February 1, 1877, he was appointed by the Comptroller, Hon. Levin Woolford, In- surance Commissioner. By the act of 1878, chapter 106, the Insurance Department of the State of Maryland was established and made distinct, and in April, 1878, he was appointed Insurance Commissioner by Governor John Lee Carroll, Comptroller Thomas J. Keating, and Treasurer Barnes Compton, for the term of four years. He was made a Freemason in 1852, in Union Lodge, at Elkton, Maryland, and afterwards assisted in forming Eureka Lodge, at Millington, and Chester Lodge, in Chestertown. Of both of the two last-named lodges he is now a Past Master. He also became a member of Phoenix Royal Arch Chapter, and of Maryland Commandery of Knights Templar, in Baltimore. He attends the Methodist Episco- pal Church. He married December 2, 1852, Emily Alphonsa Massey, daughter of Elijah E. and Mary E. (Knock) Massey, and has the following children now living : Thomas Lucien, William Franklin, Jesse Knock, Isaac Massey, Annie, Jennie Quigg, and Catharine AI- phonsa.

BRAHAMS, WOODWARD, Merchant, Baltimore, is descended from a sturdy New England stock, which, in the early days of the Republic, stamped upon the National character the impress of brain, labor, and good morals ;- a nobility of descent which rests its claim upon a robust manhood and hardy virtue. Joseph Abrahams, the progenitor of the family in America, emigrated from England about the year 1660. Ilis son William, born in Chestertown, Massachusetts, in 1694, was married, on November 19, 1719, to Martha Boylston. He died in 1763, aged sixty-nine years. She died at Andover, in 1783, aged eighty-five years. Their son Woodward was born in 1727, and was married in 1751 to Tabitha Smithurst. She died in 1793, aged sixty- four years, leaving a large family of children. In 1757 he removed to Marblehead, where he continued to reside un- til his death, in 1813, aged eighty-six years. For many years he was Postmaster, Collector of Customs, and filled various other public positions. He was a Lay reader in the Protestant Episcopal Church. His son Woodward was born at Marblehead, July 14, 1762. On June 4, 1790, he married Miss Gallison, by whom he had one son, Wil- liam, born June 10, 1792. This son was on the three-gun battery that guarded the mouth of the north branch of the Patapsco River during the war of 1812. Mrs. Gallison Abrahams died November 16, 1800, aged thirty-eight

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2, Part 20

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 802

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802