The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2, Part 31

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

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the charter for the old St. Peter's Church, on Sharp Street. Judge Scott joined the Roman Catholic Church when quite a young man. Through life he adhered to and practiced its teachings with unbounded ardor and zeal, and was one of the Trustees of the Cathedral at the time of his death, which occurred October 13, 1873. He lived and died a strong Jackson Democrat. Judge Scott was married by Ambrose, Archbishop of Baltimore, January 12, 1826, to Miss Juliana M., daughter of Abraham White, Jr., mer- chant of Baltimore, by whom he had eight children. llis widow, one daughter, Mary Helen, widow of P. Arrell Browne, Dr. Henry C. Scott, a practicing physician at Ashland, Virginia, and John W. Scott, the Secretary and Treasurer of Delaware and Chesapeake Railway, Easton, Maryland, are the only survivors.

"COTT, JOHN WIFITE, Treasurer and Secretary of Delaware and Chesapeake Railway Company, Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, was born in Baltimore, February 26, 1836. Ile was the fifth child and third son of Hon. Thomas Parkin Scott, Judge of the Supreme Court of Baltimore, and Juliana M., daughter of Abraham White, Jr., of Baltimore. Ile was educated at Mount St. Mary's College, Emmettsburg, Frederick County, Maryland. After leaving college he engaged as a clerk on Buchanan's wharf, where he re- mained for four years. He then took a clerkship with Lemmon & Winter, and continued with them until the dissolution of the firm, after which he spent two years with Henry Winter. He then entered his father's office- as a student of law, at which he continued until the break- ing out of the war in 1861. In May, 1861, he went South and joined the Confederate Army as a Sergeant in Captain J. Lyle Clark's Maryland company, the left of the Twenty- first Virginia Regiment. In 1862 he served on the Mis- sissippi River with Captain Charles Il. MeBlair in the capacity of Commander's Secretary, he being in command of the gunboat " Arkansas." In 1863 he was taken pris- oner, and confined at General Hooker's headquarters, but was transferred to the prison-ship at Acquia Creek. He was tried by a military court as a spy, and was convicted and sentenced to be hung at such time and place as the President might designate; but owing to the fact of his being taken in Northumberland County, which was within the Confederate lines, he could not bet properly regarded as a spy, and the sentence was commuted by President Lincoln to imprisonment during the war. Ile was after- ward sent South. At the close of the war he went to North Carolina on government duty ; and April 20, 1865, he was appointed as one of the personal escorts of President Davis, Mr. Scott surrendered at Jacksonville, Florida,

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and returned to Baltimore June, 1865. In February, 1867, { he was appointed General Agent of the Maryland and Delaware Railroad. In 1871 he was made Treasurer and Secretary; and upon the reorganization of the road, under the name of Delaware and Chesapeake Railway Company, was again elected to the same position. Mr. Scott is a Roman Catholic, having been educated in that faith. Ile has been a Democrat from his boyhood. Ile was married at the residence of Most Rev. John Spaulding, Archbishop of Baltimore, by Rev. Thomas Foley, now Bishop of Chi- cago, January 9, 1868, to Miss Annie, only daughter of Mr. William B. Massey, a retired merchant, now farming in Greensboro, Caroline County, Maryland. They have two sons and one daughter living. Their first born, a daughter, died in infancy. Mr. Scott is a good specimen of the Maryland gentleman in manners, and is highly respected by all who know him.

MEIRSNIDER, JOHN L., retired Merchant, West- minster, Maryland, was born in Taneytown, Car- roll County, Maryland, October 19, 1836. ITis ancestors were born near that town. His father, Jesse Reifsnider, removed from Taneytown to Westminster in 1837, when John L. was but six months old. He conducted mercantile business in Westminster for many years, and has always been a prominent citizen, highly respected and much esteemed for his integrity and business qualifications. The subject of this sketch, the eldest of his father's children, received a plain English education in the schools of that day, and such was his ap- plication that he made rapid advancement in his studies, At the age of fourteen he withdrew from school to enter as a clerk the business house his father had established. Applying himself with industry and energy, he rapidly acquired knowledge of the business. Four years later, then eighteen years of age, his services had become so valuable to the concert as to secure him an interest in the business. The firm this time becoming Reifsnider & Son. Ile continued in this connection until his twenty-fifth year, when he married the eldest daughter of Dr. James L. Billingslead, December 10, 1861. They had four children, only one of whom is now living, John Milton. His wife died December 12, 1867. Immediately after his marriage he effected an arrangement with his father which led to his succeeding him, and founding, in 1861, the house of John 1. Reifsnider, dealer in drygoods, hardware, iron, etc. During the decade ending 1861, Mr. Reifsnider, by energy, industry, intelligence, and commercial foresight, increased the trade of his house until it became the repre- sentative firm in Westminster, enjoying the confidence of the community for commercial honesty and fair dealing.

In 1872 he disposed of his business, and the following year began the erection of a handsome residence at the west end of Westminster, where he now resides with his family. In 1873 Mr. Reifsnider, seeking congenial pur- suits, again entered into business, which he conducted in his usual successful manner. This he continued until 1877, when he retired, at the age of forty-one, having ac- cumulated an ample fortune, largely due to his own exer- tions and successful business management. He always takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his city and the public good. The leading public interest to which he has given his time, energies, and means, and with which his name is most prominently identified, is that of the introduction of gas into West- minster. The Westminster Gas Company was organized March, 1870, with Mr. Reifsnider's election to the Presi- dency. The construction of the works was under his supervision. . So rapidly was it prosecuted, that in eight months from the time of the organization of the company, it was ready for business, and Westminster was first lighted by gas November, 1870, Ilis management of this impor- tant interest of the community has been complimented by the company from year to year with his re-election to the P'residency, which he still retains. Mr. Reifsnider is a leading member of the Reformed Church, and a member of the Board of Regents of Mercersburg College, Pennsyl- " vania. In manners he is courteous and affable; is well known, and enjoys the respect of the community. He is charitably disposed to the worthy distressed, and is settled in his convictions of right and duty. He married the eldest daughter of Augustus Shriver, Esq., January 12, 1871. They have had three children, William Keener, Harry Shriver, and John Lawrence. The first two having died, the only survivors of the issue of both marriages are John Milton and John Lawrence.

JOEN, Avousrus, of the firm of A. lloen & Co., Lithographers, Engravers, and Chromo Printers, Baltimore, Maryland, was born in Hoehn, Duchy of Warsaw, Germany, December 28, 1820. His father, Martin Hoen, was a farmer and burgomaster of the town. He had been a soldier, having joined as a volunteer the armies of the allies, and fought at Waterloo against Napoleon. His mother's maiden name was Eliza Schmidt. Her father was also engaged as a soldier in the great struggle for the liberation of Germany from the Napoleonic tyranny. His parents had nine children, namely, Augustus, the subject of this sketch; Berthold, who was one of the first settlers of the county of Santa Rosa, California, and is now a prosperous wine-grower of that State; Caroline, Dora, Ernst and Frederick (twins), Guida,

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BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

Ilermania, and Jennie. Caroline, Frederick, Hermania, and 1 of lithography, in its various relations, both in theory and Jennie, are deceased. Dora married Edmund Berger, a cashier in Burlington, Wisconsin, and had seven children, namely : Karuest, deceased, Alice, deceased, Helen, Frank, deceased, Alexander, Emma, and Harry. Guida married Maurice Lippman, an iron merchant, of St. Louis, Missouri, and they have had six children : Fanny, August, deceased, Walter, deceased, Theresa, Jenny and Felix. The family emigrated to the United States with the Schmidt and Weber families, and, after a tedious voyage of ninety- nine days in the ship Belerophon, landed in Baltimore in 1835. Augustus had received the advantages of a colle- giate education in Dillenburg, and upon his arrival in Bal- timore at once commenced, on a small scale, the business of lithography with E. Weber, a first-class artist, under the name of E. Weber & Co. Mr. Weber had acquired considerable knowledge of the art in Germany. A map of the projected Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the first pieces of work executed by them. The junior member of the firm at that day is the head of the estab- lishment of this day. Forty-three years ago the business started with one hand-press and a few hundred pounds of stone. In 1848 Mr. Weber died, and the firm became and has since been known under the style of A. Hoen & Co., the members personally consisting of A. Hoen, E. Hoen, 11. Hoen, and IT. Schroeder. Their establishment is on Second and Ilolliday streets, and consists of a whole block of substantial brick buildings, four stories high, and measuring one hundred and ten feet long by twenty-eight fect wide. By constant application and untiring energy, Messrs. Hoen & Co. have made theirs among the largest lithographie printing establishments in America, as it is the oldest. They have in constant use seven steam power presses, and a large number of hand presses, and their supply of lithographie stones amounts to about three hun- dred thousand pounds. The value of this stock must be very large when the cost, from five to twenty-live cents a pound, is considered, and also that much of it is engraved on one or both sides. This house has now become the most extensive of its kind south of New York, It was the first to introduce lithography in the Government reports, and has filled numerous contracts with the depart. ments at Washington, as well as many of the leading cities of the Union, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other large cities have awarded them large contracts on account of the superior workmanship performed, and the facilities which they possess for the execution of fine work. The specimens of their work on exhibition at their office are artistic in an eminent degree. Under the superintendency of E. A. Hoen, Jr., they have established a branch house in Richmond, Virginia, where they employ a number of experienced artists, and are enabled to turn out work of superior excellence. Mr. A. Ilocu, the senior member of the firm, was among the first to engage in this branch of business in this country. Ile has made the subject

practical execution, an object of earnest study and iuves tigation. He possesses a thorough knowledge of the scientific principles upon which the art of lithographie printing is based, and a lifetime of practical experience and observation has enabled him to introduce and perfect a number of important improvements and new processes in this industry, which has a marked influence in the ad- vancement of the lithographie art. One of the most im- portant of these is the process, patented by him in 1861, under the name of " Lithocaustik." By this new method of engraving the lines are produced by being bit into the stone by acid, instead of cutting the same with a tool, as practiced in the usual mode of engraving. Most gratify- ing results have been achieved by this improved style of engraving. Printing by this process secures a delicacy of tinting equal to the finest steel engraving. Other advan- « tages of equal importance have been gained by this mode of engraving, such as facility of execution and artistic appearance, making it one of the greatest improvements introduced in lithography in modern times. Mr. Hoen has made and patented several other improvements, which have been introduced in the business of the firm, and to the use of which their success may partially be ascribed. Ilis devotion to the art has induced him to reduce to writ- ing the results of his experience and observation with a view to arranging his notes and memoranda for publica- tion for the advancement of lithography. Mr. Hoen mar- ried Mrs. Weber, the widow of his former partner, Febru- ary 28, 1849. She was the daughter of Philip Muth, the baker, to whom William Numsen was first apprenticed. They have seven children : Adolph Gustav, born Novem- ber 28, 1851; Earnest August, born September 8, 1853; Hermine Louise, born October 4, 1855; Walter Scott, born August 6, 1857, died August 4, 1871; Agnes Char- lotte, born Jannary 24, 1859; Irving Washington, born February 22, 1861; Albert Berthold, born February 4, 1865. Adolph Gustav Hoen is a practicing physician in Baltimore ; Earnest August conducts the branch house in Richmond. In theological views, Mr. Hoen is liberal ; in polities he is a Conservative Democrat. His tastes, and those of his family, run in the line of the fine arts, music and horticulture. Ile has had, weekly, a string quartette in his house for thirty years, and has now one among his own children. He has taken a lively interest in the suburban village of Waverly, of which he was one of the first set- tlers. Mr. Hoen's brother, Berthold, married in Califor- nia, Mary Anderson, a Danish lady, who was distantly related to Hans Anderson, the celebrated ,author of fairy tales. She is half-sister to the celebrated composer, Nils Gade. They have four children, Elizabeth, Earnest, Bertha, and'Moritz. Earnest Hoen married Fanny Mixdorf, of Baltimore. They have nine children, named as follows : Ida, Amelia, deceased, Frank, Harry, Edward, Earnest and Kemp (twins), and Alfred.

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ALLALIEU, THOMAS, was born in Saddleworth, € Yorkshire, England, September 17, 1814. Ilis ancestors were French Huguenots, who, fleeing . to England in the time of Queen Elizabeth, settled in the above place and engaged in the manufacture of woollen cloth, which continued to be the employment of the family for successive generations. His opportunities of education were limited to the Sabbath- school and night school, being employed at a very early age in his father's mill, where he acquired a very thorough knowledge of the business of finishing and dyeing woollen cloths. Ile came to the United States in 1839, and after spending six years in Philadelphia, took charge, in partner- ship with his brother John, of a woollen manufactory near Smyrna, Delaware. The firm of Mallalieu & Brother, thus established, continued till the death of John, in 1869. In 1852 they came to Maryland, establishing themselves at Unicorn Mills, near Millington, Queen Anne's County, where the business is still conducted. Here new and fine buildings have been erected, land and water privileges purchased, and from eighty to ninety thousand yards of cloth made per annum. The Mallalieu goods came into immediate request all over the Eastern Shore of Mary- land and Virginia, and throughout Delaware, and were soon in demand in the large cities, including New York. Mr. Mallalieu is a thoroughly self-made man ; his success is due to his unconquerable energy and perseverance, and to his invariable rule to put in the market honest goods at reasonable prices. He joined the Methodist Church in his seventeenth year, and has always been an active worker in the Sabbath-school, and in the cause of missions and edu- cation. He has been Sabbath-school superintendent for twenty-four years, and has twice been elected lay delegate to the General Conference of his Church. Ile is a man of great liberality. The beautiful Methodist Episcopal Church in the village of Millington has received from him large donations, and he has contributed largely to the Academy of the Wilmington Conference at Dover, Dela- ware, of which he is a trustee ; Ile is also one of the trus- tees of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Ile is President of the Millington Mutual Building Association, und is a Mason and Odd Fellow. In 1867 he made a visit to his native land. He was married, January 18, 1835, at Rochedale, England, to Miss Mary, daughter of Joseph Mallalicu, of York County, England. He has six children living.

HERNAN, LUKE, Importing and Shipping Merchant, was born in 1757, in the County of Meath, Ire- land, on the spot famous in Irish history & here the " Battle of the Boyne " was fought. IIe came to the United States in 1787, and settled in lagers- town, Maryland. In 1793 he married Ann Owen, a de- scendant of Colonel Cresap, whose family was from York-

shire, England, and who was one of the pioneers of Maryland. Colonel Cresap is historically known, on ac- count of the charge made against him by Thomas Jeffer- son, as having been concerned in the murder of the family of Logan, the Indian Chief. That charge, however, has been satisfactorily refuted by others, but especially by Luther Martin, a son-in-law of the Colonel. Captain Michacl Cresap, his son, commanded the first company of the Maryland line which was raised in the Revolution, in 1775, and died in the service, in New York, while on his way to join the main army under Washington. Luke Tiernan removed to Baltimore in 1795, and went into busi- ness as an importer of drygoods and shipowner, being the first to engage in direct trade between Baltimore and Liv- erpool. Hle built and lived in the house on Baltimore Street now forming part of Ilamilton Easter & Son's store ; and took great interest in politics and in the prosperity of the city. Among the first commissions issued by President Thomas Jefferson was one to him. In politics he was a Whig, and a warm personal friend of Henry Clay, who frequently stopped at his house, and spoke of him as the Patriarch of the Whig party in Maryland. Ile was a Presidential elector for John Quincy Adams. Ilis name stands at the head of the list of the founders of the Ili- bernian Society, and he was for many years its President, taking great interest in its welfare. Ilis portrait now oc- cupies a conspicuous position in the upper room of the association. He was one of the committee appointed in 1826-7 to urge upon the Legislature the incorporation of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company -- the first railroad company incorporated in the United States. The first locomotive in this country was brought from England for that road in one of his ships, the " Herald." Ile was one of the organizers, and also President, of the Screw Dock Company, of Baltimore. During the bom- bardment of Baltimore by the British, in 1814, he, together with other old citizens, constituted the Board of Relief. lle was one of the Trustees of the Catholic Cathedral, and contributed largely to the cost of its erection. At the inauguration of the Washington Monument he was one of the committee. Mr. Tiernan had eleven children, all now deceased except his eldest son, Charles Tiernan, Esq., now living in Baltimore: IIis eldest daughter, Maria, was mar- ried to David Williamson ; his second, Rebecca, to Henry Vernon Somerville ; his third, Ann, to Robert Coleman Brien; and his fourth, Catharine, to Captain Frederick Chatard. Ilis son William, who died in 1863, was a fine scholar, of distinguished literary attainments, and a fre- quent and valued contributor to the press. Mr. Tiernan died November 10, 1839, in the eighty-third year of his age, respected and beloved by all who knew him, he having been strongly attached to the people and Govern. ment of his adopted country, embracing every opportunity offered to serve them faithfully and well with his mature experience and ripe judgment.

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BIOGRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

REESE, GERARD HI., senior partner of G. II. Reese & Brothers, wholesale grocers, Baltimore, was born near Brookeville, Montgomery County, Mary- land, September 8, 1818. Ile is the ellest son of the late Thomas 1. and Mary M. Reese. John Reese, the father of Thomas L., died when the latter was about ten years of age, leaving him as the ward of the late Gerard T. Hopkins, an eminent merchant of Baltimore city, and a minister of the Society of Friends. It was in the counting-room of this worthy man that Thomas L. Reese acquired that business education and integrity of character which was the foundation of his success in after- life. Soon after he became of age he married Mary M., daughter of Thomas Moore, of Montgomery County,"Mary- land, who was a brother-in-law of Gerard T. Hopkins. Mr. Moore was also a member of the Society of Friends, of Irish descent. IIe was a man of considerable scientific attainments and practical skill as an engineer, and an ag- riculturist. His estates " Longwood " and " Retreat," were among the best cultivated in Maryland. He is said to be the first inventor of a refrigerator. Thomas Moore was an intimate friend of Thomas Jefferson, with whom he corre- sponded up to the date of his death. He was employed by Mr. Jefferson in the prosecution of many public works, the chief of which were the laying out of the National road over the Alleghanies, and the building of the causeway at Georgetown, to improve the navigation of the Potomac River. All his public works were performed to the satis- faction of the Government. The children of Thomas L. Reese and Mary M. Moore, were three daughters and six sons ; one daughter and five sons are now living ( 1878), of whom Gerard 1I., the subject of this sketch, is the eldest. Gerard II. Reesc was educated in the city of Baltimore, having pursued a thorough course in English branches, with a view towards mercantile life. His tastes and the natural bent of his mind would have led him into the higher walks of literature and the knowledge of men and books. In early life he frequently contributed to newspa- pers and other periodicals on subjects of passing interest ; but these had to give way to that which was most probably the turning point of his life ; the necessity imposed upon his father of providing for a large family after being thrown out of business by the death of his uncle and partner, Gerard T. Hopkins. He was obliged, therefore, in 1834, to leave his studies unfinished and devote every effort of body and mind to the aid of his father in the family sup- port. It was the discipline of necessity which changed the tastes and habits of earlier life, and the knowledge thus acquired of business attainments, which, after the retire- ment of his father, developed into the extensive business afterwards prosecuted by him, with the aid of his brothers, who, as they arrived at legal age, were admitted as full partners in the business of the house and its branches. The family grocery trade conducted by G. H. Reese & Brothers was founded on the principle that all the supplies furnished

by their house should be strictly pure and unadulterated, and that spiritnous liquors should have no place among them. At that time these were deemed an indispensable item of stock ; but the subsequent successful career of this house has proven its error. Without the aid of this prolific source of misery and crime, they have increased a business which they purchased from their father in 1840, from fifty thou- sand dollars annually to over five hundred thousand. As the business of the house increased and the city extended its borders, it became necessary to establish branches in various localities, which subsequently became the separate property of the several brothers, when, to provide a busi- ness for their own sons as they arrived at maturity, it was necessary for them to separate their interests from the old house. The senior member of the old firm, with his son, Thomas I .. Reese, Jr., continues the business on Pratt Street, established by Thomas L. Reese, Sr., in 1834. Notwithstanding the care and oversight of his business made heavy drafts on his time, Mr. Reese has for many years been enabled by a systematic economy of every hour of the day to devote a portion of every week to the duties of a Director in the Union Bank of Maryland, giving to its interests all the powers of his mind and experience, and has rarely failed to be present at every meeting of the Board. He was also one of the original members of the Board of Directors of the Third National Bank, which he assisted in organizing, and in the Directorship of which he served for three years. He has also given much thought and time to the erection and completion of the " Sheppard Asylum and Hospital for the Insane," to the building and endowment of which the late Moses Sheppard, of Balti- more, left his entire estate of nearly one million of dollars, selecting Mr. Reese as one of the Trustees to carry out his views in relation to this great purpose. In pursuance of this trust the Trustees deemed it essential to make them- selves acquainted with all the requirements necessary for the successful treatment of insanity. With this end in view, Mr. Reese spends much time visiting similar institutions, noting and studying their practices and arrangements, so that the best and most approved methods of treatment may be adopted. Ile has also given efficient aid and encour- agement to Swarthmore College, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. This institution of learning, now in suc- cessful operation, originated in Baltimore, with Mr. Reese and a few other members of the Society of Friends, who felt the need of a higher standard of education than ex- isted at that time within the limits of their Society. It claimed the attention of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and they soon enlisted the co-operation of New York and Phila- delphia Yearly Meetings, which resulted in the appoint- ment of a Board of Managers, of which Mr. Reese was one of the most persevering and energetic. lle devoted much time to the selection of a suitable site ; and as a mem- ber of the Building Committee of the Board, was untiring in his vigilance of plans and details, that no errors, espe-

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2, Part 31

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