USA > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 33
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 33
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few were the pleasant surroundings of his boyhood. Ile attended a district school in winter and worked on his father's farm in summer. Thus his young life alternated between work and study until he was eighteen years of age, when he was placed at Damasens Academy, in his native county. In 1856, he was sent to Earlem College, from which he graduated with the highest honors. Ile then entered the " Ohio State Law College," where his talents and close study soon gave him the first place. When he graduated, in 1861, the Faculty of the college conferred upon him the degree of LL. D., a mark of dis- tinction rarely giving to students leaving college. In 1862, Mr. Blackburn began the practice of law at Carrollton, Ohio, as a partner of the IIon. John II. Tripp. In 1864, the Professorship of Elementary Law and the Law of Real Property, made vacant by the death of Professor Chester V. Hayden, author of Hayden's Practice, was tendered to Mr. Blackburn by the Faculty of the " Ohio State Law College." It was Professor Ilayden's dying request that young Blackburn should fill the place which he had adorned. The duties of the professorship were discharged by Mr. Blackburn with distinguished ability. In May, 1864, he was elected Professor of Commercial Law in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, at Cleve- land. He held these professorships until the close of the college year, in 1865, when he resigned both and removed to Martinsburg, West Virginia, as Attorney for the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad Company. Some time before his removal he had taken a very active part in the famous Vallandigham-Brough contest. Mr. Blackburn's abilities were soon recognized in West Virginia. He was elected City Attorney of Martinsburg, and was Prosecuting At- torney of Berkeley and Morgan counties for two consecu- tive terms. Soon after he located in Martinsburg he was appointed by Governor Boreman as one of the judges of the Special Court to hear contested election cases for State offices (other than members of the Legislature). The three judges commissioned by the Governor to constitute that court were J. L. Bunker, since deceased, E. W. An- drews, and the subject of this sketch. They held the office until the adoption of the new Constitution in 1872. In 1867, Chief Justice Chase appointed him Register in Bank - ruptey for the Second District of West Virginia. He was one of the original incorporators of the " People's Gas Company," and the People's National Bank of Martins- burg. Ile was also one of the operators and directors of the first Agricultural and Mechanical Association of Berke- ley County, of which, association he was Corresponding Secretary. Ile was for a time Assistant United States Attorney-General, under Attorney-General Hoar, and in that capacity was connected with the celebrated case of Brown v. The United States, involving the title to the armory property at Harper's Ferry, The case was argued by him on the part of the United States in the United States District Court, Chief Justice Chase presiding, and
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decided in favor of the Government. In 1869, upon the retirement of llon. Jeremiah Black from the law firm of Black, Lamon & Company, in Washington city, Mr. Black- burn took Judge Black's place. IIe at once entered upon an extensive and lucrative practice, principally before the Supreme Court and the departments. His profound knowledge of United States laws, his long experience in the management of claim cases, as well as his wide ac- quaintanee with the law in all its branches, gave him prom- inence among the first legal minds of the District of Columbia, Mr. Blackburn was married, October 10, 1878, to Miss Mamie E. Mcllenry, of Washington, District of Columbia, daughter of Robert McHenry, and grand- daughter of the late James McIIenry, of Baltimore, Maryland.
CCARTER, COLONEL JAMES MAYLAND, of Pres- $ ton, Maryland, was born in the city of New York, in July, 1827. His parents were of Scotch- Irish lineage. Ilis father, who died in 1840, was a skilled machinist. His mother was Mary A. (Mayland) McCarter. She died in 1864. They were strict members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and gave to their children the example of saintly lives. Soon after his birth the parents of James removed to Philadel- phia, from whence, in 1832, on account of the breaking out of the cholera, they removed to Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, and afterwards to Montgomery County, same State, settling in Norristown, where Mr. McCarter established himself in his trade, with great credit to himself as a first- class mechanic, continuing therein until his death. Before the age of thirteen James had become a good English scholar, and had some knowledge of mathematics and the classics. At nine years of age he joined the Methodist Church; at fourteen was a licentiate in the ministry, and when fifteen years old began to travel a circuit as an itiner- ant minister within the bounds of the Philadelphia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was known for several years after this as the boy preacher. In the spring of 1842 he was admitted on trial in the Philadelphia Annual Conference. In 1849 he was ordained Deacon by the vencrable Bishop Iledding, and in 1846 was ordained Elder by Bishop Morris. He was successively stationed, after this, at Smyrna, Delaware ; at First Church, Lancas- ter, Pennsylvania ; at Port Carbon, Pennsylvania; at As- bury, West Philadelphia ; at St. Paul's, Philadelphia; at West Chester, Pennsylvania, and in the pastorate of St. Peter's, in . the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, in each of which charges he remained, according to their existing itinerant rulc, for two years. Colonel McCarter, early in life, opposed slavery in this country, and wrote in several leading papers, able articles against the system. In 1860 he wrote the work entitled Border Methodism and Border
Slavery, which created considerable agitation. In May of the same year he was the Reporter of the Buffalo General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for the New York Tribune, and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. When the civil war broke out he was pastor of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, In May of 1861 he was invited by Colonel John W. Johnston, a brother of ex-Governor Johnston, of Pennsylvania, then Colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Vol- unteers, three months' service, to become Chaplain of that regiment. Ile was commissioned by Governor A. G. Curtin, and was with the Patterson column, West Vir- ginia. For meritorious and brave conduct in several minor actions of his regiment he was made Colonel by Secretary of War Cameron, with authority to raise a regiment for three years' service. He was commissioned September 15, 1861, and on the 5th of the ensuing month he had one thousand men ready to be mustered into the service. His former Colonel, John W. Johnston, paid him the high com- pliment of serving in his regiment as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Lebanon Infantry, subsequently known as the Ninety-third Pennsylvania Volunteers. In October the regiment went to Washington and was brigaded with Gen- eral Peck, It accompanied the Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula, and was in the battle of Williamsburg. The regiment was complimented in orders from Generals Peek and Couch, Brigade and Division Commanders. In this action the regiment lost heavily, both of its officers and men. May 31, at the battle of Fair Oaks, his regiment, after three hours' hard fighting on the extreme left, in which one hundred and forty-three officers and men were killed and wounded, and thirty captured, was ordered to the right of the Williamsburg road, and sustained an im- petuous attack by the Confederate troops, after Casey's division was driven back. In this action the Colonel lost two horses, killed under him, was wounded by a minie ball slightly, and, at five o'clock in the evening, while en- deavoring to put in a fresh line of his own and the frag- ments of other regiments, was prostrated by a shell, which rendered him unconscious for thirty-six hours. He had been carried, supposed to be mortally wounded, to Savage Station, and thence sent to White House. By the action of an electric battery, under the direction of Surgeon- General King, he was restored to consciousness. This shock was so scrious, affecting both body and mind, as to produce the general belief among medical officers that he would be unable to resume the command of his regiment. After being in hospitals at Fortress Monroe and Baltimore, he however again returned to his regiment, and was with it in the seven days' fight before Richmond, closing with the ac- tion of Malvern Hill, The Colonel continued to command the Ninety-third, with but a short interval, until after the battle of Gettysburg. lle was in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, South Mountain, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, a serious relapse occurring at the latter place
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from the shock of the shell causing paralysis of one side. lle served as President of the court-martial of his division of the Sixth Army Corps until September, 1863, when he sent in his resignation, asking and receiving an honor- able discharge, on the ground of " injuries received in action in the battles of Fair Oaks and Gettysburg." Though very lame he offered his services in the last Confederate raid into Maryland and was placed in charge of the defences of Baltimore, with headquarters at Fort No. 4, near Druid lill Park. He was next appointed Deputy Provost-Mar- shal for the counties of Dorchester and Caroline, serving until May 1, 1865, when the war and its duties closed. Ile resumed his ministerial functions in 1869, and was, for another year, pastor of the church at Federalsburg, Dorches- ter County, Maryland. Since then he was, for three years, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Chincoteague Island, Accomac County, Virginia, in the Wilmington An- nual Conference of that Church, ending that relation in March, 1878, since which time he has served as one of the as- sociate editors of this publication. At the time of the com- mencement of the civil war Colonel McCarter was owner of the Montgomery Foundry and Machine Shops, Norristown, l'ennsylvania. This was closed, and four of his brothers went into his regiment, three of whom were wounded, but all are yet living. Colonel McCarter was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Kelly, of Caroline County, Maryland, in 1847. Ile has three chil- dren living, James Edwards, of Philadelphia, Charles 11., of the United States Revenue Marine Service, and Mary P. McCarter.
URLONG, REV. HENRY, was born in Baltimore, March 21, 1797. Ilis father, Captain William Furlong, was a native of Massachusetts, and a prominent ship-master. Ile was an officer in Colonel Stiles's regiment, and participated in the defence of Baltimore against the British in 1814. Ile was a devoted member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Captain Furlong gave each of his children, seven in number, a good education. Ile died after a brief illness in 1814. Ilis mother's maiden name was Sarah Johnson. She was born in Baltimore. Iler father, William Johnson, Sr., was one of the most prominent citizens of Baltimore, and an intimate associate of William Fell. Mrs. Furlong was a resident of Baltimore during her lifetime, which embraced the periods of the Revolutionary war, the war of 1812-15, and the recent civil war of 1861-65 ; concerning these and,other important events intervening, her memory was remarkably accurate. For more than half a century she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Her death occurred in December, 1870, in her ninety-seventh year. Henry Furlong was the third child. Ile com. meneed attending school when about four years of age,
and acquired a thorough education at the best institutions of learning then in Baltimore. After leaving school he was employed as a clerk in mercantile houses. In the spring of 1814 he joined Wilk Street Methodist Episcopal Church, under Rev. A. Griffith. Feeling that he had a call to the ministry, he chose it as his life-work, and Septem- ber 14, 1816, was appointed to fill a vacancy on Mont- gomery Circuit. In the spring of 1817 he was admitted on trial by the Baltimore Conference ; in 1819 was received into full membership at the session in Alexandria, Virginia, and was ordained deacon by Bishop Roberts. In 1821 he was elected into elder's orders, and ordained in the old Wilk Street Church, now Eastern Avenue Church, by Bishop George. He filled many prominent appointments in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. His first charge in Baltimore was the City Station in 1830-31. Ile was a member of the General Conference in 1828 and 1832; was Presiding Eller of the Huntingdon District four years, and was stationed in East Baltimore in 1837-9, and in 1855-7. March 2, 1864, after forty-seven years and six months of active and successful work, he retired to the superannuated rank. For more than fifty-seven years he was one of the leading and most influential members of the Baltimore Conference. Some of the most prominent and valuable members and ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now in Baltimore, united with that communion under his ministrations. His sermons were models of Gospel preach - ing. lle was a clear, strong theologian, possessed sound judgment, and was judicious in administering the disci- pline. Ile possessed great purity of character, was ex- ccedingly modest and refined. Ile did not, however, lack courage when duty called for its exercise. Ile was a Christian patriot, and clearly comprehended the duty of citizens and their obligations to the Goverment. In per- sonal appearance he was of medium size, neat, and precise ; a constant serenity reigned in his countenance, the visible sign of the calm within, " the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." Ilis voice was clear, sweet, and strangely impressive, and his manners gentle and persua- sive. lle was intimate with Bishops Mc Kendree, George, Soule, Roberts, Emory, and Bascom. While stationed in Wheeling, West Virginia, February 14, 1822, he was mar- ried to Miss Jane Sophronia, daughter of George Carru- thers, Esq., of that city. This proved a most happy union. For fifty-two years and a half she shared with him the pe- culiar joys and privations of an itinerant's life. She still survives him and resides in Baltimore. They had ten children, three of whom died in carly childhood. Rev. Henry Bascom Furlong, the second son, was also a mem- ber of the Baltimore Annual Conference. lle was a preacher of great promise and superior talent. lle died in Baltimore, June, 1853, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, and the seventh of his ministry. Wilham George, the eldest child, was for many years actively engaged in the drygoods business in Baltimore, From his youth he
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was a useful and devoted member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. He died December, 1870, in his forty- ciglith year, leaving a widow and three sons, MeKendree Carruthers, the youngest son, was also engaged in mer- chandising. He was a genial and sincere young man, of rare excellence of character, and from boyhood had been an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, His death occurred in March, 1871, in his twenty-eighth year. Four daughters survive. Rev. Henry Furlong died in Baltimore, Saturday evening, August 29, 1874. His funeral, held at the Fayette Street Methodist Episcopal Church, was largely attended by ministers and friends, Rev- erends Brown, Ilildt, Rodgers, Gibson, and France officiat- ing. His remains rest near those of his sons in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Ilis nobility of character endeared him to troops of friends. Children always loved him, and after his death expressed their affection for him by strewing flowers upon his grave. The holy triumph of his last days on earth, his blessings upon and exhortations to those around him, his many expressions of trust in God and vic- tory over death, can never be forgotten.
BYDELOTT, HON. WILLIAM JAMES, Farmer and Legislator, was born in Worcester County, Mary- land, in which he still resides, October 30, 1816. His parents were John and Scarborough (IIender- son) Aydelott. ITis father's ancestors were among a colony of Scotch Huguenots, of French extraction, who came to America in the early settlement of the country. His mother was of English descent. She died when he was in his fifth year, and before he had reached the age of fourteen the death of his father occurred. llis early ad- vantages were very few. llis father's estate became heavily involved through the failure of a friend for whom he had become security. By entering into an agreement with his creditors, by which the whole. debt was cancelled in time, he was thereby able to save from the wreck the family servants and the homestead farm. The land was immediately rented and the servants hired out, and not until young Aydelott reached his twenty-first year did any- thing accrue to the heirs of the estate. The land he still owns, the servants remained in his family until they were freed by the war. He had the privilege of attending school in the winter season only, his summers being em- ployed upon the farm. The farmers of that neighborhood have always given their attention principally to corn- growing. On the death of his father he was received into the family of his uncle, who was kind to him, but upon the death of his uncle's wife a few years later, it was no longer a desirable home to him, and with only ten dollars in his pocket, the youth started to seek his fortune in the distant West. He made the journey
from Baltimore to Wheeling on foot. From thence he proceeded by water to Missouri, where he obtained a sitn. ation as overseer in a large steam mill and warehouse. This was in May, 1835. He was thus employed until he met with an accident that disabled him for three months. Soon afterward he took charge of a school in Roy County, near the town of Richmond. At the end of three years he returned to Maryland, and settling on the old home- stead began an agricultural life. He was married, in 1839, to Ellen Frances, daughter of Solomon Marshall, a wealthy farmer in Virginia. Ile was soon after appointed to the Board of Education for Worcester County, in which he served until his removal to Virginia in 1851. In 1847 he was nominated on the Whig ticket to the General Assem- bly, and, after a sharp conflict, was elected to the biennial session. In 1849 he was re-elected without opposition, and served until 1851. He then removed a few miles over the line into Virginia, and settled on a large farm lying near the village of New Church, which had been given to his wife by her father. Here, besides the man- agement of his farm, he was largely occupied in settling estates, in both his native and adopted county, and after 1858 he served as a member of the old Virginia County Court, to which he had been elected for four years. In 1860, at the time of the Secession excitement, he warmly esponsed the cause of the Union, and at a large meeting of the citizens of the upper parish of the county, held at Temperanceville, he offered a resoulation declaring that nothing had occurred that would justify Virginia in seced- ing. When she did secede he returned to Maryland with his family, bought land near Pocomoke City, and erected upon it his present residence. He was elected a member of the School Board of the county, in which he served six years, and was President of the Board for four years. Hle was appointed by Governor Bowie, a member of the State Board of Education, in which he served two years, and was also County Commissioner. " While in that office he was nominated and elected to the House of Delegates. Ile served two years, and in 1873 was elected for four years to the State Senate. By the act of 1872 Governor Whyte was empowered to appoint thice commissioners to adjust the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia. He appointed on behalf of Maryland, Hon. Isaac D. Jones, Col- onel W. J. Aydelott, and Levin L. Waters, Esq. Ex-Gover- nor Henry A. Wise, Colonel D. C. De Jarnette, and Colonel William Watts were appointed on behalf of Virginia, and the first joint meeting was held at Annapolis, May 7, 1872. From the year 1632 the question had given rise to fre- quent disputes, sometimes resulting in quarrels in which life had been sacrificed. Every important paper from the earliest settlement of the respective provinces was sought out by the Commissioners, and the archives of England, and copies of important papers were obtained, examined and passed upon. Finally, after the work had occupied about four years, Mr. Aydelott suggested to his fellow-
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Commissioners of the State of Maryland, that an equitable adjustment of the State line could never be made with the Virginia Commissioners, and therefore it be recommended to the Legislature of Maryland that the matter be settled by arbitration. They concurred in the proposition, and the Senate of Maryland, to which it was submitted, also gave its concurrence, the Ilouse of Delegates approving. In his speech in the Senate on that occasion, Mr. Ayde- lott said : " I venture the assertion that no paper of any import, no book or map has been published during the last two hundred and fifty years, whether in colonial times or of more recent date, pertaining to the boundaries of the State, that has not been found and diligently examined by your Commissioners." The proposition of arbitration was referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, and two thousand copies ordered to be printed. The committee reported an act in accordance with the suggestion of the Commissioners, recommending that the Governor of Mary- land should select an arbitrator from beyond the limits of the State, to act with such arbitrator to be appointed by the State of Virginia, the two to select an umpire, and the three to determine finally all matters of dispute between the States touching the settlement of boundary. This long controversy and difficult question is now virtually settled, the arbitrators and umpire having reported a line which is accepted as satisfactory by both States, and the matter has received the sanction of Congress by special enactment. In 1876 Mr. Aydelott was appointed an aid on the staff of Governor Carroll, with the rank of Colonel. In 1846 during the Mexican war he was appointed by Governor Pratt a Captain of State militia. He drilled his company thoroughly, holding it in readiness for ser- vice, and became very proficient in military tactics. After the late war the Maryland Agricultural and Mechanical Association was reorganized, and Colonel Aydelott was elected Vice-President for Worcester County, which post he still holds. He has always been a practical farmer, in which pursuit he takes great delight. Ile owns nearly one thousand acres of land in Worcester County, divided into six farms, some in a high state of cultivation. He has tive children, four daughters and one son, Dr. John S. Aydelott, a well-known and popular physician of Snow Hill. Colonel Aydelott has been a member of the Pres- byterian Church since his twenty-fifth ycar, and a ruling elder for more than twenty years.
RANKLIN, IlON. JOHN R., was born May 6, 1820, 'near Berlin, in Worcester County, on the old an- cestral estate, on which had lived three Henry Franklins of succeeding generations, his father being the last. Mr. Franklin's father was a pros- perous farmer, a man highly esteemed throughout the country. He had been a Major in a regiment raised for a
home guard in the war of 1812, and was enlled Major Franklin through life. His death occurred when his son John was but sixteen years of age. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Sarah A., daughter of the Rev. John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister, at one time settled in Berlin. Mr. Franklin was educated at Jefferson Col- lege, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Ile entered the Junior class when he was only fourteen years of age, and gradu- ated at sixteen, in the class of 1836. He was considered too young to commence his professional studies, and was appointed a teacher in Washington Academy, near Princess Anne, a popular classical school of that day. He taught two years, after which he commenced the study of law at Snow Hill, under the late Judge William Tingle, who was then on the bench. Ile was admitted to the bar on his twenty-first birthday, entered upon a profitable practice, and was appointed State's Attorney ; but in a short time resigned the office, as it interfered with his civil practice. He participated in nearly all the prominent lawsuits which occurred in his county while he was at the bar. In 1843 he was elected to the Legislature of his State, and again elected in 1849, when he was chosen Speaker of the House. He was, for two years, President of the Board of Public Works. In 1853 he was elected to Congress as a Whig. Ifis party being greatly in the minority, he de- clined a re-election. In 1864 he was a member of the Chicago Convention, which nominated George B. Mc- Clellan for President, and was a delegate to the great Wigwam Convention, which met in Philadelphia in 1866. In 1865 he was elected Judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Maryland, was commissioned, and took his seat upon the bench, but his election was contested before the Legis- lature by his competitor, Judge Thomas A. Spruce, who succeeded in his claims. After the change in the Consti- tution in 1867, he was again elected to a seat on the bench, which he retained the remainder of his life. As a Judge he was able, upright, and pure, just and impartial, yet merciful and kind. IIe was one of the pioneers in the enterprise which resulted in building the railroad through Worcester County, which now terminates nt Franklin City -- named in his honor-in Accomac County, Virginia. Judge Franklin was a member of the Masonic Society, and belonged at one time to the Evergreen Lodge in Snow Hill. He attended the Presbyterian Church, was deeply interested in its welfare, and contributed liberally to its support, but never made an open profession of his faith. After the dissolution of the Whig party, to which he had always been attached, he allied himself with the Democracy. Ile was married, in 1847, to Annie F., daughter of the late John P. Duffield, of Snow Hill. She died in 1863, and five years later he was united in mar- riage with Kate Martin, a granddaughter of the late Dr. John S. Martin. Her death occurred in October, 1877. She left a son eight years of age. Judge Franklin died January 11, 1878.
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