USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 37
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 37
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Mr. Walters, in conjunction with his friend, Mr. B. F. Newcomer, his Trustee of this accumulation, to carry into effect his wishes for its use, that his life of labor might serve the city of his love for generations after him. Mr. Walters holds a life appointment as one of the Trus- tees of the Peabody Institute of Baltimore, where his colleagues have made him Chairman of the Committee on Art. During his residence in Europe, he grew familiar with the famous Percheron horse, so distinguished for its health, docility, endurance, economy of keep, and rapidity in drawing great loads. He traversed carefully the entire region producing these horses, and, through General Fleury and Mr. Du Hays, the writer of the book on the Percheron, both in the service of the French Government, having thus the very best facilities, he se- lected eighteen of these remarkable animals, and since their arrival in this country has used successful endeavors to widely disseminate this superior blood. He presented to the publishers, Messrs. Orange Judd & Co., an English translation of Mr. Du Hays's book on the Percheron, to foster an intelligent interest in the subject. Familiar with railways and their management, Mr. Walters was a controlling Director for many years in the Northern Central Railway Company, representing, at various times, not the private stockholders only, but the interests of Bal- timore and the State of Maryland. For a long time he has believed in the profitable practicability of uniting the Lakes and the Gulf by one continuous line of railroad, of straight line and easy grades, east of the Alleghanies; and he has already, for himself, his house, and as trustee for others, purchased many hundred miles of continuous and tributary Southern railroads in the last few years. This combination has now acheived Mr. Walters's original aim, and with its allies holds unbroken railway connection from the great Northern Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. He, and the gentlemen in close interest with him, own a majority control in all the roads that constitute the Coast Line from Baltimore, through Washington, Alexandria, Fredericks- burg, Richmond, Petersburg, Weldon, Wilmington, Flor- ence, and Charleston, nearly six hundred miles of railway. They control by majority ownership, lateral railroads, tributary to the Coast Line, amounting to over five hundred miles. And in addition, they have control of vast West- ern and Southwestern roads, penetrating to Atlanta, Geor- gia, to Memphis, Tennessee, and to the Mississippi River at Hickman, opposite St. Louis, Missouri. These Western and Southwestern roads come to the sea by continuous lines to Norfolk. This vast network of railways, sweeping all the Southern, Western, and Midland counties, comprise more than two thousand miles of track, the highways by . which our commerce to the extent of many millions is carried on; concentrating from vast areas the products of our soil for home consumption and for shipment; and taking to all the points of nearly a score of great States the products of the seaboard and of the whole producing
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world. This railway combination is made up of thirteen distinct corporations, in each of which Mr. Walters is a managing Director. They are all in one interest, and though with separate administrations, are yet practically under one control. Neither Mr. Walters or his house ever enters upon even the most tempting speculation in any- thing that is not thoroughly known to them. His prosper- ity is the simple result of quick intelligence, great energy and close labor applied to one line of business ; and their later operations, outside of their immediate business, have been for permanent investment. Never shaken by a panic, a broken market for Southern securities, or other property, only stimulated him to wider purchases, seeing that, before long, in the certain re-establishment of South- ern credit, the public judgment must approve and follow his bold intuitions. Ilaving not a doubt that the Southern States would rapidly recover from the losses of the war, Mr. Walters personally and minutely explored the South soon thereafter, purposely meeting the leading men of all parties and all shades of opinion. The full intelligence gained in this trip has notably served his house in its ex- tensive operations since. With a very limited tolerance for loose talkers, schemers, and the whole tribe of pretend- ers, he has always had a quick eye for real capacity in any form or in any calling, and a quick disposition to advance the interests of any man he met of probity, sincerity, en- ergy, sense, and skill. Being himself notably ardent and enduring in his friendships and zealous in all friendly ser- vices, he has always been able, in any emergency or purpose, to command fully the hearty aid of meu whom he had served before, and who, from continued observation, were assured of the success of every enterprise in which he led. This faculty for leadership and government, based on his broad sense, his tireless energy, his commer- cial probity, his knowledge of men, his quick appreciation of capacity, and the strength of his personal attachments, has had much to do with the steady growth of his fortune, which is now one of the largest of the time, while the credit of his house is without limit. Bold and aggressive, but cool and prudent ; wide reaching, but exact; prompt to the moment in all engagements, holding his verbal promise as of absolute obligation even in trifles; never repining under any circumstances; instant in his intuition of men's characters; a natural negotiator, yet more a keen listener and looker than a talker ; at work early and late ; always on his feet; always coming out right in practical results : he won early a leader's position, and commanded for his house a broad and solid financial credit, which has never been shaken for a moment, even in times of the greatest monetary stringency. Notwithstanding a lifetime of severe work, Mr. Walters is still in his prime, with all the health and vigor of his youth, while, from his estab- lished position, liberal conduct, and controlling character, he must have much yet to do, not for himself only, but for the general benefit.
FLOYD, EDWARD, for many years a Privy Councillor of Maryland, and a distinguished leader in the Puritan colony which came from Virginia in 1649, and settled Providence, on a part of the site of which Annapolis now stands, was born on the Wye River, in Wales. It is supposed that the Wye and the Severn rivers of Maryland were named by him in honor of his native land. lle was engaged among the Puritans as a land Surveyor. Their settlement was visited in 1650 by Governor Stone, for the purpose of organizing it into a county. While there he issued a commission "to Mr. Edward Lloyd, gent.," appointing him " to be Commander of Anne Arundel County until the Lord Proprietary should signify to the contrary ;" also to several other gentlemen, " to be Commissioners of the said county, with Mr. Ed- ward Lloyd, for granting warrants and commissions, and for all other matters of judicature." This commission bears date July 30, 1650, at Providence. July 8, 1651, it appears from the records that Mr. Lloyd granted, as he had been empowered to do by the Governor, a warrant to Thomas Todd for a great part of the land on which Annapolis now stands. January 3, 1654, a petition was addressed to the Parliament's Commissioners from the Commissioners of Severn, alias Anne Arundel County, subscribed by Edward Lloyd and seventy-seven others, in which they complained that, having been invited and encouraged by Captain Stone, Lord Baltimore's Governor of Maryland, to remove them- selves into the province, with promise of enjoying the lib- erty of their consciences in matters of religion and other privileges of English subjects; and having, with great cost, labor, and danger, so removed themselves, and been at great charges in building and clearing; " now the Lord Balti- more imposeth an oath upon us to make us swear an absolute subjection to a Government where the minis- ters of State are bound by oath to countenance and defend the Roman Popish religion, . . which, if we do not take within three months after publication, all our lands are to be seized for his Lordship's use." The Puritans were, however, not immediately molested. On the 27th of the following July the Commissioners, acting under Cromwell, appointed ten gentlemen, most of them " men of Severn," among whom was Mr. Edward Lloyd, to be Commissioners for the well-ordering, directing, and gov- erning the affairs of Maryland, under his Highness, the Lord Protector. About March 20, 1654, Governor Stone, instigated by Lord Baltimore, then in England, pro- ceeded with a company of about two hundred armed men, going part by land and part by water, to reduce the Puritans of Anne Arundel to submission to the Pro- prictary. But the Puritans, resolving " that they would rather die like men than live like slaves," met and speedily ronted the invaders, taking Governor Stone and most of his followers prisoners of war, and detained them for a long time. After this they were not again molested in their rights, Lord Baltimore signing an agreement by which they
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were protected in their religion, and their lands secured to them by patents, they, in return, taking a modified oath of fidelity, and paying all arrears for rent due to his Lordship from the time of entry of their land. After- wards, with many others, Edward Lloyd settled in Talbot County, where he patented a large landed estate, which has descended intact through the successive generations, and is now the property of the present Colonel Edward Lloyd, of Wye, in that county, President of the State Senate. In 1668, after a residence of nearly twenty years in the Province, he returned to London, where he became a mer- chant, and died in 1695. Ile, however, left behind him his son Philemon in the Province, and gave him his es- tate in Talbot. llis descendants have been distinguished in State affairs in every generation.
5-3LOYD, COLONEL EDWARD, Farmer and President of the State Senate of Maryland, the son of Colonel Edward and Alicia (McBlair) Lloyd, was born in Baltimore, October 22, 1825. The family are descended from Edward Lloyd, who came to the colony of Maryland in 1640, and figured conspicu- ously in the history of that period. He was Surveyor- General, and also Governor of a part of the Province under Lord Baltimore. He emigrated from Wales, where the family still possess ancestral estates on the river Wye. Receiving a large grant of land on the Eastern Shore, he gave the river that borders it the same name, which it has ever since retained. To this estate, which has continued uninterruptedly in the possession of the family, and is now inherited by Colonel Lloyd, large additions have been made, till it now includes about twelve thousand acres. The name of Edward Lloyd has been continuously promi- nent in Maryland politics since before the independence of the United States. The great-grandfather of Colonel Lloyd was a member of the Continental Congress, and is among the figures included in the great historical painting, hanging in the Senate Chamber, of Washington Resigning his Commission. His grandfather, besides being Presi- dent of the Senate, was Governor of the State from 1809 to 1811, and a United States Senator. Ilis father was President of the Senate in 1851 and 1852. All of these bore the name of Edward. No other family, from the carliest settlement of the colony to the present time, has furnished so many distinguished representatives in promi- nent official positions. At College Point, near Flushing, New York, Colonel Lloyd was prepared for college by Rev. William Muhlenberg, D.D. He entered Princeton College, New Jersey, where, after a full course, hc gradu- ated A. B. in 1844. Immediately afterward he returned to his ancestral home on the Wye River, in Talbot County, and entered upon his chosen vocation. In the autumn of
the succeeding year, and before he was twenty-one, he was elected to the House of Delegates, but he passed his ma- jority before the opening of the session. Although the youngest member of the Legislature, he acquitted himself with great credit, and won the admiration of his constitu- ents. During the war with Mexico he entered the army, was advanced to the rank of Captain, and placed on the staff of. Brigadier-General Tench Tilghman, and was afterwards on the staff of Major-General Handy, as Major. He was on the staff of Governor Philip Francis Thomas during his official term. In 1849 he was again elected to the House of Delegates, in which he took a leading part, and was one of the most active and useful members. But the care of his immense estates required all his time, and he retired from public life. He owned large tracts of land and many slaves, both in Maryland and Mississippi, and was the largest land and slave owner in the State. In consequence of this his sympathies were with the South during the late war, but he took no active part, deeming it his duty to remain with his State. The results of the war were very disastrous to him at the time ; he lost nearly one million dollars' worth of property. In 1873 he con- sented to be the candidate for the State Senate on the Democratic ticket, and being successful, was made Chair- man of the Committee on Finance. His previous ex- perience as a legislator and acknowledged ability as a party leader, at once gave him a commanding influence in the Senate, and being elected in 1877, for a second term of four years, he received the entire vote of his party for the Presidency of that body. No candidate was opposed to him, the other party voting blank. The Lloyd family have always been Democratic in politics, and Episcopa- lians in religious faith. Colonel Lloyd has travelled ex- tensively in the United States and in the West Indies. lle married, in 1851, Mary, daughter of Charles Howard, who was a son of General John Eager Howard. She is a lady of superior culture, grace, and beauty. They have eight children, five sons, Edward, who graduated at the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, is a Past Midshipman ; Charles floward, MeBlair, John Eager, and De Courcy. The daughters are Aliec, Elizabeth, Phabe, and Mary Howard. Colonel Lloyd is in appearance tall, large, and imposing ; he has a fine head and handsome countenance, beaming with intelligence and cordiality ; a devoted husband and indulgent father, he is the centre of a charming home circle ; he entertains bountifully, and possesses the happy faculty of making his guests feel en- tirely at home and at case. Yet in the midst of every- thing beautiful and luxurious his own 'habits are simple and regular; he rises at daybreak, and attends personally to all the details of his estate, five thousand acres of which he cultivates himself, renting the remainder. Ilis popu- larity in his own county is unbounded. As President of the Senate he is dignified and prompt, exceedingly cour- teous and impartial.
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LATT, LANDY BEACH, a prominent Oyster and Fruit Packer of Baltimore, was born in 1812, at Milford, Connecticut, and is a descendant of one of the old Puritan families. Mr. Platt first entered into the oyster trade in the year 18.16, at New York city, receiving his oysters from the waters of New Haven Harbor. In 1849 he removed to Chicago, and .estab- lished himself in business there at the corner of Clark and South Water streets, receiving his oysters part of the route by stage, railroads not then connecting through, and from thence to Milwaukee by sledge, trips only being made from Chicago to Milwaukee during the winter season. In 1852 he made Buffalo his distributing point, on account of that city having railroads and superior lake communica- tion to the West and Southwest at that time. In 1858, the trade having so greatly increased that the supply from New Ilaven waters became nearly exhausted, he was compelled to find other sources of supply, and therefore went to Sea- ford, Delaware, at the head of navigation of the Nanticoke, the then famous river for oysters. In the year 1864 he rc- moved to Baltimore city, and added to the fresh oyster business that of canning fruits and vegetables, as well as oysters hermetically sealed, which find a market in all parts of the world. Mr. Platt has continued in business in Baltimore since that time, and has succeeded in build- ing up a very large trade, being recognized throughout the country as one of the pioneers and leaders in the oyster trade. His son, Mr. II. S. Platt, is associated with him in business.
HOPKINS, HENRY POWELL, Farmer, eldest son of Elias and Sallie (Powell) Hopkins, was born March 30, 1817, in Talbot County, to which place his father had removed two years previously. The latter was Captain of Light Cavalry in Kent County, Delaware, during the war of 1812. He died July. 29, 1848. Mrs. Hopkins was a relative of Mr. Dickinson, who was killed in the famous duel between himself and Jackson. She was the daughter of Ilowell and Anna (Dickinson) Powell. The first American ancestor of the family was John Ilopkins, an Englishman, who landed at Black Water Point, Sussex County, Delaware, in 1735. Ile there purchased real estate, which is still in the pos- session of his descendants. Ile had two sons, Zebediah and Ilooper. The latter had one son, Robert, the father of Elias, who was born September 30, 1792. Henry P. Hopkins had three brothers : Robert D., Elias, and John ; and two sisters : Mollie and Eliza Ann. He received the rudiments of an English education at the public school of his native county, and afterwards attended the Academy at Easton for a year. Having been brought up on a farm, his tastes and carly habits inclined him to agriculture, in which pursuit he has engaged from the time of leaving
school. He owns a farm of two hundred and forty acres at Rock Cliff, on which he resides. Mr. Hopkins was Captain of a company of Light Infantry in IS446, but was not called into service. In 1864 he was elected Judge of the Orphans' Court for four years on the Union the ket, and School Commissioner from 1865 to 1867. He was again elected in 1870, and has ever since held that office. In May, 1849, he joined the Sons of Temperance, and has filled all the chairs of the society. In 1872 he joined the " Pa- trons of Husbandry," and occupied prominent positions in the Order. He was a Whig while that party existed, but is now a Democrat. In the fall of 1847 he was converted, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1845 he was married to Alcxine, daughter of Ilenry Jump, of Queen Anne's County, a family highly respected. He has had eight children, six of whom are now living : Sallie P., now Mrs. J. Frank Turner, Lizzie F. and Elma Hopkins, Nannie K., now Mrs. J. K. Jarrell, M. Loulie, now Mrs. George T. Melvin, and Harry J. Hopkins. The four eldest daughters were educated at the Wesleyan College, Delaware, and the youngest at Pennington Seminary, New Jersey. Harry, the son, took the degree of A.B. at Wash- ington College, Maryland. Mr. Hopkins's Christian char- acter and usefulness are highly appreciated in Talbot County, where he has resided all his life.
ALLACE, HON. JAMES, Lawyer, was born in Dor- chester County, where he still resides, March 14, 1818. Ilis parents were Robert and Susan (Lecompte) Wallace. The latter was the daughter of Levin Lecompte, and the great-granddaughter of Monsieur John Lecompte, a Huguenot refugee, who served in the Protestant armies under the Prince of Conde and William of Orange. After the treaty of Ryswick, and the close of the long and bloody wars resulting from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he emigrated to America, and settled on the Choptank River, in what is now Dorchester County, where he has numerous descend- ants. The paternal grandfather of James Wallace emi- grated from Scotland about the year 1762, and settled in Charles County. Towards the close of the Revolutionary war he enlisted under General Smallwood, and was with the Maryland troops until the conclusion of hostilities. James Wallace was very active in his boyhood, and fond of the busy, stirring scenes of life, but on entering Dick- inson College, Pennsylvania, he became a close student, devoting himself more particularly to belles-lettres and to philosophical studies. He graduated in 1840, and entered the law office of Henry Page, in Cambridge, Maryland. Ile was admitted to the bar in 1842, and, entering at once upon the active duties of his profession, was from the first un- usually successful. In 1854 he was elected to the House
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of Delegates, and in 1856 was an Elector for the State and voted for Millard Fillmore. The same year he was sent to the Senate of Maryland, and served until 1868. Mr. Wallace was in politics an old line Whig. He took part with the Government at the outbreak of the war, and was in command of a well drilled and spirited company, which, as early as April, 1861, rendered efficient service to Gov- ernor Hicks in quelling disturbances and in preserving Maryland to the Union. Soon after this he was summoned to Washington, and induced by Governor Hicks and the Secretary of War to accept a commission to raise a regi- ment of volunteers for the war. This he undertook in August, and in November, 1861, was mustered into ser- vice, and marched with his command to Salisbury, Mary- land, where they quartered during the winter. In the spring of 1862 they entered Virginia, and occupied the eounties of Accomac and Northampton until the summer of 1863. During this time Colonel Wallace frequently sent detachments into Maryland to preserve order, and into Delaware to disarm her volunteer militia. On the approach of General Lee into Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863, he joined the army of the l'otomac under Briga- , dier-General Lockwood, and with his command formed part of his Independent Brigade of Marylanders. At Gettysburg on Culp's Hill they met and repelled Stew- art's Confederate Brigade, and it was their fortune to hurl back the last dash of the Confederate Maryland Regiment. In his official report of the battle of Gettysburg, General Meade especially commended the Maryland Brigade for services rendered on that occasion. In December, 1863, Colonel Wallace resigned his commission and returned to the practice of his profession, which he has continued from that time. Ile has since taken no active part in politics, not being decidedly in unison with either party. In his boyhood he gave his serious attention to religious matters, and deeiding that Christianity was the only safe rule and guide through life, took his stand with the professed people of Christ, uniting with the Methodist Episcopal denomina- tion. Ilis early resolution he has kept, and according to the Scripture promise, it has also kept him. Nothing affords him greater satisfaction than this recollection. Colonel Wallace was married, December 12, 1843, to Annie E., daughter of Dr. F. P. Phelps, of Ellon.
EUISLER, JOSEPH STANISLAUS, Lawyer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 17, 1832. Ilis father, Joseph Anthony Heuisler, was a native of Munich, capital of Bavaria. Ile came to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and set- tled in Maryland, where he pursued the vocation of a hor- ticulturist, and died in 1862, universally respected. The 67
mother of the subject of this sketch was Mary Parker, daughter of a distinguished English gentleman, George W. Parker, who was descended from an old and honored family of England, which ranked among its members the British Naval Commander, Admiral -- Parker. Mr. Par- ker settled in Baltimore toward the close of the last century. At the age of twelve years Joseph entered St. Mary's Col- lege, Baltimore, where he continued to pursue his studies for five years, at the expiration of which time he became connected, in a clerical capacity, with the office of Register of Wills, and served with great efficiency for two years under Register David M. Perine, and six years under his successor, the late Nathaniel Ilickman. In 1857 Mr. Heuisler resigned his position in the office of Register of Wills, and formed a copartnership with Cornelius M. Cole, for the conducting of a general conveyancing and property agency business, which he prosecuted until 1861, when, having applied himself to the study of law, at intervals, during his clerkship in the Register of Wills office, a por- tion of the time under the instructions of the late llonor- able James M. Buchanan, he commenced the practice of the legal profession in the city of Baltimore. He has served with ability and success as counsel in many noteworthy cases in the various courts. He has particularly distin- guished himself as a criminal lawyer, having been engaged in several celebrated murder trials. In 1873 Mr. Heuisler was elected by the Democratic party as a member of the First Branch of the City Council, from the Twelfth Ward, and performed the duties of that position with such accept- ability as to cause his re-election the ensuing year. He served as Chairman of the Committees on Claims, City Passenger Railways, and City Property. He was also mem- ber of several other important committees, including that on the Harbor; and, as such, vigorously opposed all measures antagonistic to the interests of the city. Mr. llenisler was an industrious and very efficient member of the City Council. His character for integrity was such that no one dared to approach him with any bill or proposition that had the least savor of corruption. If he made any enemies at all, as a City Councilman, it was because of his uncompromising adherence to right, and honorable princi- ples. In 1875 Mayor Ferdinand C. Latrobe, appreciating Mr. Heuisler, appointed him to the position of Examiner of Titles under the city, the duties of which he faithfully discharged until the expiration of Mr. Latrobe's first term of office. Mr. Heuisler is wedded to his profession, com- mands the confidence and respect of his professional breth- ren and the public generally. He is a fluent and foreible speaker, and in addition to his efforts in the court-room, ha: frequently addressed political and other assemblies. In 1853 he married Miss Catharine McCann, daughter of Henry McCann, a well-known instructor. Mr. Heuisler has eight children living, six sons and two daughters. His oldest son, Charles W. Heuisler, is a promising member of the Baltimore bar, and the second one, Joseph G. Henisler,
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