USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 4
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
the Board of Commissioners of Public Schools, and with the exception of a short intermission, he has held that posi- tion ever since. In 1869 he was elected President of that Board, and has held that office until the present time. Only those who have a practical knowledge of the many matters of importance constantly arising in a Board of Education, requiring rare characteristics of intelligence, lirniess, tact, courtesy, and administrative capacity, can appreciate the value of such a man as the present President of the School Board. Much of the success which has at- tended the operations of the Board of Commissioners of Public Schools, is due to Mr. Morris's judicious distribu- tion to each member of the work especially suited to him. It is not surprising that with the peculiar adaptability to his position as President, coupled with a most commenda- ble zeal and enthusiasm in the work of our public schools, he should be held in popular esteem as a most useful and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Morris was appointed one of the original Board of Fire Commissioners in 1859, by Mayor Swann, to organize the Paid Fire Department. In 1862 he was elected President of that Board, and served in that capacity for several years, devoting to its many re- quirements that conscientious and intelligent attention which distinguishes his discharge of every public and pri- vate duty. llaving served as President for several years he resigned and declined a re-election, but in 1874 he was re- appointed by Mayor Vansant, and elected President of the Board, and held the position until the expiration of his term in 1878. In 1867 he was appointed one of the Managers of the llouse of Refuge, on the part of the State, in which capacity he still takes an active part. In 1865 he was elected a Director of the Maryland Institute for the Instruction of the Blind, became Secretary of the Board the following year, and continues in that position until the present time. No man in public position in Bal- timore is more deservedly popular than Mr. Morris. For several years he has been a member of St. Andrew's Society (Scotch), and is now its Vice-President. He has been for fifteen years a member of the Poor Association, and for many years connected with the Maryland Historical Society. Not one of all the offices above enumerated, which Mr. Morris has so long filled, is a place of profit-de- sirable for purposes of pecuniary gain or political advance- ment. There is no compensation attached to any of them save that first-named. He has devoted to them much valuable time, which has often stood in the way of other engagements, and from which professional emolument would have been derived. The firm of Ilinkley & Morris, to whose recognized rank in the legal profession he largely contributes, is among the most respected and learned in Baltimore. . In politics, Mr. Morris has always been a con- sistent but Conservative Democrat, and never suffers his politics to influence him in the discharge of his public duties. In religion, he is a Lutheran, having been raised in that communion.
373
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
8 BARD, JAMES THOMAS, was born in Georgetown, District of Columbia, August 21, 1820. His ; father, Ulysses Ward, was born near Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, April 3, 1792, being the youngest of eight children of John Ward (born in London, England, August 1, O. S., 1747), and Mary Ann Eustatia (maiden name Forbes), born in L.on- don, January 1, 1752, who came to America in 1770, and settled first in Prince George's County, Maryland, whence they removed to Montgomery County, in 1776. The an- cestors of John Ward had resided during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Yorkshire, England, being farmers by occupation ; about the beginning of the eighteenth cen- tury, the branch of the family from which he more imme- diately descended removed to London. On the mother's side, the ancestors of Mr. Ward were of Scottish origin. Ulysses Ward, his father, was married, September 26, 1816, to Susan Valinda Beall, daughter of James Beall (died 1821), son of James Beall, of the same family with George Beall, one of the first settlers of Georgetown, D. C., and son of Ninian Beall, who emigrated from Scotland toward the close of the seventeenth century, and died in Maryland at the great age of one hundred and seven years. Of the seven children of Ulysses and Susan Valinda Ward, James Thomas was the second. At the time of his birth his mother was a member of the Protestant Episcopal, and his father of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which latter his mother also subsequently joined ; and by a minister of which . (the Rev. John Davis) he was baptized. Ilis parents then resided in Georgetown, as before intimated, and continued there until the spring of 1822, when they removed to . Prince George's County ; and thence, after a brief stay in . Georgetown, to Washington city, April, 1826, which be- came their permanent place of residence until the death of the father, March 30, 1868, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Ulysses Ward was a most industrious, enterpris- ing, and useful man. As a local preacher in the Metho- dist Church, he became quite popular for his earnest labors, and was successful in winning many souls to Christ. He was extensively known as a business man ; first as a master workman in his trade, and afterwards as a merchant, and, when he had acquired wealth, as a benefactor, in church and city, by the judicious and liberal bestowment of his means. In the schools of Washington Mr. Ward received his first lessons in the common branches of an English education, his principal instructors being the well-known John Mc- Leod, and Joseph HI. Wheat. The advantages thus af- forded during the weekdays, were supplemented by ex- cellent home training, and on the Sabbath by the teach- ..
ings imparted in the Sabbath-school. Thomas from his infancy had been feeble physically. He gained knowledge rapidly, and was scarecly beyond the period of childhood when he made a public profession of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and developed a fondness for learning and usefulness, At the age of sixteen he entered the Classical
Academy of Brookeville, in Montgomery County, Mary- land, at that time under the superintendence of Elisha J. Hall, where he had fine opportunities, which were so well improved that when he left for his home in 1838 he bore with him the classical prize. He returned to Washington and for a time was employed in business with his father, in the meantime devoting much of his time to study, and taking a deep interest in the Sabbath-school work. Still, he had no definite purpose of a professional career. In the summer of 1840 he decided to consecrate his life to the work of the Gospel ministry. In his preparations for this work he studied under the advice and counsel of Rev. A. A. Lipscomb and Rev. A. Webster. His parents were now, and had since 1832 been connected with the then recently organized Church known as the Methodist Protes- tant. In this Church he began his career as a preacher of the Gospel, being licensed Angust 30, 1840, by the Ninth" Street M. P. Church, of Washington city. After preach- ing in various places for several months he was called to serve a church in the eastern part of the city until the meeting of the Maryland Annual Conference in the spring of 1841. The session of that Conference was held in the city of Philadelphia, in the M. P. Church there, which had been organized by Rev. Thomas If. Stockton, and of which Mr. Ward became, years after, the pastor, succeed. ing that distinguished and eloquent divine. Mr. Ward's first regular appointment was to Pipe Creek Circuit, em- bracing part of Frederick County, Maryland. He was then in his twenty-first year. He was associated with an elder minister, the Rev, Dr. John S. Reese, a man of great wisdom, learning, eloquence and piety. Mr. Ward became very popular in all the churches of the Circuit. In 1842 the Conference stationed him at Williamsport Circuit, em- bracing parts of Washington County, Maryland, and Berkeley County, Virginia. He had signal success in his work there, and during his term built a new house of wor- ship and organized the church at Little Georgetown, Vir. glnia, besides being instrumental in adding largely to the membership of the churches which had been established. During these years .he also travelled very extensively in other portions of the Conference territory, preaching to large congregations, especially at various camp-meetings on the Eastern as well as the Western Shore of Maryland. HIis next appointment was to the city of Cumberland, 1845, in the spring of which year he married Miss Cath- arine A. Light, of Beddington, Virginia, a lady of great plety and Christian devotion, who was held in the highest respect and esteem by her husband's parishioners. This year Mr. Ward's health, always feeble, gave way, and, by advice of his friends, he asked the Conference to leave him without an appointment. His request was complied with, and he spent three months in suitable recreation, a portion of the time in leisurely travel northward. He returned to his father's house in Washington so much re- newed in health as to warrant him in applying to the Press
48
374
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
ident of the Conference for an appointment for the remain- der of the year, and being informed by the President that there was then no suitable field for him until the meeting of the next session of Conference, he accepted a position of- fered him by his father, who was then engaged in publish- ing a temperance journal called the Columbian Fountain,* to assist in editing the same. Thus he became linked with an enterprise from which he found no opportunity of dis- connecting himself until the close of the year 1847, at which time also the regular close of the volume of the journal expired. He then received a unanimous invita- tion to take charge of the church in Philadelphia, which Reverend Thomas 11. Stockton had served for nine years, but which he had recently left to take charge of a church in Cincinnati, Ohio. He accordingly obtained a transfer from the President of the Maryland Annual Conference, which was accepted by the President of the Philadelphia Conference, who appointed him to the pastorate of the church referred to. The subsequent sessions of the Phil- adelphia Conference renewed that appointment for three successive years. Then arose a condition of affairs by which the Philadelphia Conference was broken up, the church he served caused to assume a position of independ- ence, and he, not having any reason for abandoning his charge, compelled, as he viewed the case, to remain and serve it so long as pleasant relations between himself and it might continue.f This was the case until towards the close of 1856, when feeling it his duty to sever his con- nection with that charge, he returned to his Conference in Maryland, was received by his brethren and associates of former years, and was again appointed to Pipe Creek Cir- cuit, which he had served sixteen years before, embracing, however, not so large a field as during his first appoint- ment to it. His colleague was the Reverend J. Thomas Murray, and they were both continued on the Circuit for three successive years. During these years nearly four hundred members were added to the churches. Mr. Ward's next appointment was Alexandria, Virginia, in the spring of 1860. During this year he visited Fredericks- burg, Virginia, by request, and organized a Methodist Protestant Church in that city, where he continued for two years. The Conference of 1863 sent him to Liberty Cir- cuit, where he labored with success. From Liberty he was sent by his Conference to the church in Washington city, from which he had first received his license to preach, and of which his parents, grown old by this time, were still members. His pastorate there continued for two years, when, on account of failing health, he asked the Con- ference to relieve him from pastoral charge, and retired
in the spring of 1866 to a little suburban home, which had been provided for him by his parents at Westminster, Maryland, which had been one of his regular preaching places in the years when he travelled Pipe Creek Circuit the second time. Ilis health being restored he became a teacher in the Westminster Academy, and afterwards Presi- dent of Western Maryland College, to which position he has been re-elected from year to year since by the Board of Trustees, the appointment being confirmed by the Maryland Annual Conference, under whose auspices the college was founded, and under whose patronage it has been from the time of its incorporation by the General Assembly of Maryland in 1868. Western Maryland Col- lege was organized in September, 1867, and incorporated by act of the General Assembly of Maryland, approved March, 1868. There have been about 600 students; about one-tenth of the number have graduated, besides a score of young men educated with a view to entering the sacred office of the ministry, and others who are now in positions of prominence and usefulness. About the time of his entrance upon the duties of the Presidency of the College, Mr. Ward inherited from his father some con- siderable means, all the available portion of which he devoted to the college enterprise, fulfilling the duties of his office at a salary far below his actual and necessary expenses in such a position. Mr. Ward has great reason to rejoice at the success that has crowned his pastoral labors, and deserves the heartfelt sympathies and aid of his Church in his efforts to promote the success and pros- perity of the College over which he presides.
ESBITT, HENRY CLAY, Merchant, was born March 31, 1822, in Port Deposit, Cecil County, Mary- land, where he now resides. Ilis father, Samuel Nesbitt, was a prominent merchant of that place, and the senior member of the firm of Samuel & Gordon Nesbitt. Henry C., his eldest son, was taken into the store as a clerk, on the completion of his studies at the Academy in that town. Ilis father died in 1841. In 1849, deciding to seek his fortune from home, he sailed from Baltimore, January 10, in the ship Greyhound, for California. On arriving he spent three months at the mines, after which he engaged in lightening and discharging ships at San Francisco. Returning home in March, 1850, he was taken into partnership with his uncle, Gordon Nes- bitt, with whom he remained connected until 1854, when he became sole proprietor of the establishment. Possess- ing superior business qualifications, Mr. Nesbitt prospered in his undertakings, and in 1860 was enabled to erect another store, and to separate his drygoods and grocery departments, conducting a general mercantile business in the two separate divisions. Subsequently he established a
* Published daily and weekly, 1846-1848.
t During his nine years' pastorate in Philadelphia he made impor- tant additions to his library, further increased since his college Presi- dency, until now it is believed to be one of the largest and most valu- able private libraries in the State, and to which the students of the College have always been allowed free access,
..
-
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
375
branch store at Lapidam, in Harford County, where in connection with William T. Mackinson, as agent, he has built up an extensive and lucrative trade. Mr. Nesbitt now occupies an acknowledged position as the leading merchant of Port Deposit, and has acquired a handsome competency. Through every period of financial depression he has maintained an unbroken credit, and steadily en- larged his business enterprises. Ile is a Director of the Cecil National Bank, and has long held official position in the Methodist Episcopal Church of his town. He was married, October 18, 1854, to HIannah, daughter of Joseph W. and Maria Abrahams, of Port Deposit, and has had three daughters and three sons, of whom five, Eva S., Harry A., Clarence S., Willie R., and Bertha E. Nesbitt are now living.
ILLIAMS, OTHO HOLLAND, was born in Prince George's County, Maryland, in 1748. His an- cestors were among the earliest settlers in Mary- land, from England, after Lord Baltimore became proprietor of the province. The subject of our sketch was left an orphan at the age of twelve years. While yet a youth he was placed in the Clerk's office of the county of Frederick, Maryland, from whence he was transferred to the Clerk's office of Baltimore. In 1775 he was appointed a lieutenant in a rifle corps, raised in Fred- erick County. The company to which he was attached marched to Boston, and its captain being promoted, young Williams succeeded to the command. When Fort Wash- ington was attacked, he had the rank of Major. Ile was severely wounded, taken prisonet, and carried to New York, where he was released on his parole. On suspicion that he would open a secret correspondence with General Washington, he was re-apprehended and placed in close confinement, in a small room, where he suffered great in- dignities and cruelty. He was exchanged after a captivity of fifteen months. During his imprisonment Major Wil- liams was promoted to the command of the Sixth Regi- ment of the Maryland Line, and participated in all the battles of that line with distinguished bravery. He acted as Deputy Adjutant-General of the Southern Army, under General Gates. On General Greene assuming command of the army, he appointed Colonel Williams Adjutant- General of his army. At the battle of Eutaw he led the charge, which gained him the highest honors of the day. At a critical moment General Greene issued the order, " Let Williams advance and sweep the field with his bayo- nets !" Promptly was the order obeyed; the field was swept, but the victory was dearly bought. Near the close of the war Williams was sent by General Greene with dis- patches to Congress, and was by that body promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. On the cessation of hos- tilities with Great Britain, General Williams settled in Baltimore, and was appointed by the Governor, Collector
of the Port of Baltimore. He held that office under the Governor's appointment until the adoption of the Fed- eral Constitution, and was then reappointed by General Washington. In 1786 he married Mary, second daughter of William Smith, a wealthy and influential merchant. He had four sons, William, Edward, Henry, and Otho. Ile died July 16, 1794, at Woodstock, Virginia, whilst on his way to the Sweet Springs.
ICKINSON, JOHN, was born in Maryland, Novem- ber 2, 1732. He was the eldest son of Samuel and Mary (Cadwalader) Dickinson. After study- ing law under John Moland, of Philadelphia, John Dickinson went to England, and remained three years at the Temple in London. He returned to Phila- delphia and there established himself in the practice of the law. In 1764 he was elected to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, wherein he delivered an able speech in oppo- sition to a proposition favoring the petitioning the King for a change of the government of the Province. September 11, 1765, he was appointed a delegate to a general Con- gress, which assembled at New York in the ensuing month. During the above year he commenced his famous writings against the aggressions of England, which were continued with vigor until the close of the conflict. The first pro- duction of his pen was a pamphlet entitled, The Late Regulations respecting the British Colonies on the Con- tinent of America. The work which most extensively spread his reputation was the celebrated Farmer's Let- ters to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, which were published in 1767. His object in writing them was to arouse the attention of his country to the illegality of British taxation, and to the necessity of adopting vigorous measures to induce the mother country to retrace her steps of oppression. October 17, 1774, Mr. Dickinson took his seat in Congress as a deputy from l'ennsylvania, and be- came engaged at once in the composition of the addresses of that body, which shed so much lustre upon its procecd- ings. One of the most eloquent and soul-stirring produc- tions of Mr. Dickinson's pen was the declaration of Con- gress, July 6, 1775, setting forth the causes and necessity of taking up arms, and which was proclaimed at the head of the several divisions of the army. April, 1779, he was unanimously re-elected to Congress, and in May of that year, he wrote the address of that body to the States, upon the situation of public affairs. In 1780 he was elected to represent the county of New Castle in the Assembly of Delaware. In 1782 he was elected President of the Su- preme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. Mr. Dickin- son married, July 19, 1770, Mary Norris, only daughter of Isaac Norris, of Fair Hill, Philadelphia County, and had two daughters, who survived him. Ile died February 14, 1808.
.
376
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
.
ECATUR, COMMODORE STEPHEN, son of Stephen Decatur, a Captain in the United States Navy, and a native of Newport, Rhode Island, was born in Worcester County, upon the Eastern Shore of Maryland, January 5, 1779. Ile entered the navy in 1798 as a Midshipman on board the frigate United States, In 1801 he sailed as First Lieutenant on the Essex, one of Commodore Dale's squadron, to the Medi- terranean. Ile was afterwards appointed to the com- mand of the brig Argus, and proceeded to join Com- modore Preble's squadron at Tripoli. On his arrival there he took command of the schooner Enterprise, in which he engaged and in a few minutes captured a Tri- politan ketch. This prize was afterwards called the In- trepid. Shortly after this Lieutenant Decatur conceived the daring project of recapturing or destroying the frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli. Having with great difficulty obtained the Commodore's consent, he manned the Intrepid with seventy volunteers, and ac- companied by other young officers sailed from Syracuse, February 3, 1804, in company with the United States brig Syren. Arrived off Tripoli they found the Phila- delphia, with her guns mounted and loaded, moored under the guns of the Castle. The ketch carried her gal- lant crew within two hundred yards of the frigate, when they were hailed and ordered to anchor. A Maltese pilot, by Decatur's order, answered that they had lost their anchor in a gale of wind and could not anchor. By this time they had approached near the frigate, and the crew be- gan to warp the ketch alongside. Up to this moment the enemy had suspected no danger, but now, in great confu- sion, they began to prepare for defence. Before they were well aware of the character of their visitors Decatur and his companions had sprung on the deck. The surprised Turks crowded together on the quarter-deck without at- tempting to expel the invaders, who rushed upon them and very soon cleared the deek. About twenty Turks were killed, the rest jumped overboard or fled below. De- catur ordered the ship to be set on fire in several places, and when certain of her destruction sailed out of the har- . but without the loss of a man, four, only being wounded. For this gallant achievement Congress voted him their thanks and a sword, and he was appointed to the rank of Post Captain. The following spring Commodore Preble determined to make an attack on Tripoli. He gave Cap- tain Decatur the command of one division of the gunboats. On August 3, the squadron began to bombard the town and the vessels in the harbor. The gunboats, led on by Decatur, attacked the Tripolitan gunboats, which were moored along the mouth of the harbor. Advancing through a heavy fire from the battery and gunboats he boarded one of the boats with twenty-seven Americans; the deck was cleared in a few minutes, and Decatur was about to take his prize out of the line, when a boat which had been commanded by his brother, Lieutenant James
.
.
Decatur, came under his stern, and he was informed that his brother, after capturing one of the enemy's boats, had been treacherously slain by the commander, who was then making for the port. He hastened to overtake the assassin, and with his single boat pursuing the retreating foe beyond the line of the enemy, he succeeded in laying his boat alongside, when he threw himself on board with eleven of his men, all the Americans he had left. The fight con- tinued on the deck for twenty minutes, but four of his men remaining unwounded. Decatur, now singling out the commander, who was the special object of his vengeance, killed him, after a fierce struggle, and secured both his prizes, for which he received the highest commendation from Commodore Preble. On the conclusion of peace at Tripoli he returned to the United States. Ile superseded Commodore Barron as Commander of the Chesapeake, and was afterwards removed to the frigate United States. In the war of 1812-15 his skill was again eminently con- spicuons. On October 8, 1812, the United States captured the Macedonian, esteemed one of the finest ships of her class in the British Navy, the battle lasting one hour and a half. The United States had but six killed and seven wounded. The Macedonian lost thirty-six killed and sixty-eight wounded. The reception of Captain Carden on board the United States was highly honorable to De- catur. When he presented his sword Decatur declined receiving it, observing that he could not think of taking the sword of an officer who had defended his ship so gallantly, but that he should be glad to take him by the hand. De- catur escorted his prize into the harbor of New York, where she was repaired and equipped as an American frigate. The name of the gallant victor was hailed with enthusiastic admiration throughout the country. Congress, and several of the State Legislatures, testified their high sense of his services by votes of thanks and costly pres- ents. The Algerines had taken advantage of our war with Great Britain to capture some of our merchantinen, and enslave their crews. That war having been termi- nated, a squadron was dispatched to the Mediterranean under command of Commodore Decatur. Ile captured an Algerine frigate, in which the celebrated Rais Ham- mida was killed, and a brig of twenty-one guns, and arrived before Algiers, June 22, 1815, demanding an im- mediate treaty. His terms were a relinquishment of all annual tribute or ransom for prisoners; property taken from Americans to be restored or paid for; all enslaved Americans to be released, and no American ever again to be held as a slave. In forty-eight hours the treaty was negotiated, giving to Americans privileges and immuni- ties never before granted by a Barbary State to a Christian power, On his return Commodore Decatur was appointed one of the Board of Navy Commissioners, and took up his residence in Washington. He was killed in a duel with Commodore Barron, March 22, 1820, when forty years of age.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.