USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 45
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 45
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
EYNOLDS, HENRY, a distinguished Minister of the Society of Friends, emigrated with his wife from Nottingham, England, early in the cigh- teenth century, and settled in Nottingham, Cecil
County, Maryland. His brother William after- wards came to America and settled in New York. Another brother, John, accompanied him and settled in Carolina. Henry survived his English wife, and afterwards married a Mrs. Haines. Ile was the father of twelve sons, viz., Jacob, Stephen, Jonathan, Samuel, Reuben, David, Jesse, Israel, Henry, William, Elijah, and Benjamin. The most of these removed to other States, south and west, and
-
557
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
have numerous descendants ; many of whom are men of mark, wealth, and. influence in Church and State. Jacob, the eldest, married Rebecca Day and left nine sons : Hlemy, Stephen, Jacob, Israel, Thomas, Jonathan, Samuel, Benjamin, and Reuben ; all of whom lived and died in Cecil County and left numerous descendants. Reuben married Henrietta Maria Cromwell, a daughter of John Hammond Cromwell, of England, who married, in Mary- land, his cousin, Mary Hammond Dorsey. Ile was a
lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell, through his son, Sir Henry Cromwell and Lady Mary Russell. Reuben was a farmer and merchant, and a man of influence .in Cecil County. His children were Dr. John Cromwell Reynolds, Surgeon in the United States Army, who married his cousin, Ellen Moore Reynolds, daughter of Judge David
Reynolds, of Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and his wife Ellen Moore, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania (see his biography) ;
Mary, who married Colonel Samuel Jennings Prosser, a descendant of Governor Jennings, of New Jersey. Colonel Prosser was the son of Major Uriah Prosser, who fell at the battle of North Point, and whose memory is perpetu- ated on the Battle Monument in Baltimore city. Colonel Prosser, then a lad, went into the battle with his father, who was killed by his side. Edgar C. Prosser, land- broker of Philadelphia, is a son of Colonel Prosser. Mrs. Prosser survived her husband, and afterwards married Ben- jamin Briscoe and removed to Iowa, and has one son, John Oliver Briscoe, a leading man in that State. Rebecca, a lady of rare endowments of head and heart, died young and unmarried. Maria married George Calbraith, of Mc Veytown, Pennsylvania, and died leaving one child, Ilenrietta, who married Robert A. Clark, attorney-at-law, Altoona, Pennsylvania, and have children. Delia, a lady of intelligence, culture, and refinement, to whom the writer is indebted for the genealogical history of this sketch, married the Hon. Thaddeus Banks, eldest son of the late Ilon. Ephraim Banks, Auditor-General, member of the Constitutional Convention, etc., of l'ennsylvania. Ile was esteemed alike for his patriotism, learning, and piety. Ilis son is a lawyer of prominence at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. They have five children, viz., Cecil Crom- well Reynolds, attorney-at law ; Kathleen, who married C. Howard Porter, coal dealer, of Hollidaysburg, Pennsyl- vania ; Juniata, who married the llon. Ambrose Ewing, of Cecil County, Maryland; May Henrietta, who married Colonel M. H. Stacey, U. S. A .; Delia Cromwell, who married George W. Sadtler, merchant, of Baltimore. Judge David Reynolds, of Lewistown, Pennsylvania, was the. son of Benjamin, the youngest son of Henry. Judge Reynolds married first, Mary Job, daughter of Colonel Purdy, of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They had three children, viz., Dr. John Purdy Reynolds, who fell at the Alamo, Texas; Mary J., who married John Christy, of Juniata County : she survived her husband, and with her children removed to Monticello, Illinois; and Benjamin
Bryson, who resides in Lafayette, Illinois, and has children. Judge Reynolds's second marriage was to Miss Ellen Moore, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Their only child, Ellen Moore Reynolds, married Dr. John Cromwell Reynolds, U. S. A. John Reynolds, the son of Benjamin, youngest
son of llenry, married Hannah Knight. Their children
who arrived at maturity were, Mary, who married Daniel
Megredy, of Cecil County, and left one child, Hannah Elizabeth, wife of Colonel Edwin Wilmer (see his biog- raphy); Eliza, who married the Rev. Robert Gerry, of the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and left one child, Lucius A. C. Gerry, of Port
Deposit ; Lydia Ann, who married William Parker, merchant of Port Deposit, and left three sons, Leonard Smith, Joseph Kosciusco, and Daniel Megredy, and one daughter, Hannah Marjory, all of whom are married. Mrs. Henrietta Maria (nee Cromwell) Reynolds survived her husband, Reuben Reynolds, and afterwards married . John Briscoe, who was the son of Benjamin Briscoe, of Kent County, Maryland, and his wife, Rebecca Porter, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ilis grandfather, Benjamin Briscoe, was one of three brothers who emigrated from Sussex, England, and settled in Kent County. One of the brothers, John, returned to England; another brother, Alexander, removed to Virginia. John Briscoe, after his marriage with Mrs. Reynolds, purchased a property near the Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland, and resided thereon until his death, in 1835, aged fifty years. They had five children, viz., Alexander, attorney-at-law and farmer, in Cecil County. He has represented his county in the Legislature of the State. llenry and his sister Elizabeth reside at the homestead. Benjamin, the eldest son, read medicine and removed to California. Sarah, married the Ilon. R. A. McMurtrie, of llollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and died in the second year of her marriage.
SONTAGUE, COLONEL CHARLES P'RICE, President of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was born in Richmond, Virginia, No- vember 26, 1827. After receiving a thorough edu- cation he, in 1847, went to Baltimore, where he accepted a position in the wholesale drygoods house of Hoffman, Burnetson & Co., where he controlled a large Southern trade, for which he received a handsome com- pensation yearly, which was gradually increased during his occupancy of the position. After the discontinuance of the business of the above establishment, Mr. Montague was appointed Tobacco Inspector, and, at the expiration of his term of four years, received the unanimous request of the tobacco interest of Maryland to reapply for the office. Hle declined doing so, and entered into the insurance busi- ness, which he pursued with great energy and unparalleled success. During the late war Colonel Montague was noted for his benevolence to the wounded of both armies on the
71
-
558
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
various battlefields of Maryland and Pennsylvania; for Southern though he was in sentiment, he recognized no difference when it came to the alleviation of human suffer- ing. After the war he removed to Baltimore County, and, a year thereafter, was elected to the State Legislature, in which he soon gained a reputation as an eloquent debater and parliamentarian. On the election of James B. Groome as Governor of Maryland, he appointed Mr. Montague on his staff, with the rank of Colonel. He has held several other important positions, but is now leading a retired, quiet life, in his elegant home in the northern section of Baltimore, where he dispenses his hospitality in the most liberal style. 'In 1851 Colonel Montague married the eldest daughter of the late Marcus Dennison, merchant, of Baltimore, by whom he had six children, three of whom, all grown, are living.
ENDERSON, GUSTAVUS R., Merchant, was born in the city of Baltimore in 1811. Hle there spent his youthful years attending various private schools, and at the age of sixteen commenced to learn the block and pump making business. Being of an adventurous disposition, and having a strong inclina- tion toward a seafaring life, young Henderson became a sailor, and voyaged in different vessels on near and distant waters. At the age of nineteen years he studied naviga- · tion under the instruction of Professor Tower, a distin- guished mathematician of Cohasset, Massachusetts, from whom he acquired a thorough knowledge of that science, which profitably availed him in his subsequent career as a shipping merchant and large owner of sailing craft. At the age of twenty-one years he established himself in part- nership with his brother John in the cordage manufactur- ing business, under the firm style of John Henderson & Co. This firm was the first to start the tugboat business in Baltimore, and was at one time one of the most consider- able owners of shipping in that city. The house ran packets to New Orleans and Liverpool, and was largely instrumental in building up the foreign trade of Balti- more. " Henderson's Wharf," a valuable water-front in that city, belongs to the above firm. Mr. Henderson spent much time in Europe in the interests of his house, his transactions there being very profitable. He is one of seven children. His brother and partner, John, died in 1874, leaving Gustavus in the sole management of the business, which is still continued under the old firm name. The house of John Henderson & Co. is one of the oldest mer- cantile establishments in Baltimore, having been founded in 1833. Mr. Henderson is of Scotch-Irish parentage, his father being a native of Ireland and his mother a native of Scotland. ITe has never held any public position, and has always kept carefully aloof from politics. His career has been an eminently practical and useful one, and the great success he has met with is attributable to his energy,
enterprise, and unswerving integrity. He is pleasant and gentle in his manners, and possesses that disposition which is calculated to win and retain the friendship and affection of all with whom he is brought into intimate personal relation.
ODSON, R., was born in 1835 in the town of St. Michael's, Talbot County, Maryland. His father was Captain R. A. Dodson, who at present holds the position of Postmaster in St. Michael's. Ilis mother was Miss Hester A. Keithly, of Baltimore. Ile received his classical instruction under the Rev. Dr. Spencer, a greatly honored and successful teacher, with whom he studied for four years. At the age of eighteen he engaged in the profession of teaching in his native county. Hle graduated in medicine in 1859, and began to practice in Queen. Anne's County, which he continued un- til 1862, when he entered the United States service as As- sistant Surgeon of the First Maryland Cavalry. He served under Banks, McDowell, Pope, Hooker, Stoneman, Pleas- anton, Buford, Kilpatrick, and Meade ; he was appointed to operating corps at various times from Slaughter Moun- tain, battle of Bull Run, Petersburg, etc. He was pros- trated with fever at Bull Run, and was unable to return to duty until December 7, 1862. From excessive service he broke down in February, and was unfit for duty until the following May. IIc was appointed as Surgeon of his regi- ment in 1863, and served in various relations on regimental and brigade service. In the winter of 1863 Dr. Dod- son was appointed one of the examining surgeons for the State of Maryland, acting in this capacity until the close of. 1864, with headquarters in the city of Baltimore. Ile remained in the service and witnessed the closing scenes of the war at Appomattox, and was not mustered out until Angust, 1865, being on special duty. After the close of the war he was married to Miss Lucy, eldest daughter of Charles E. Skinner, Esq., of Kent Island, Queen Anne's County, and entered upon the practice of his profession. He has practiced in Talbot and adjoining counties ever since. His first wife died leaving three children, two of whom now survive. Ile subsequently married Miss Addie Skinner, a sister of his first wife, and is practicing his pro- fession in St. Michael's, Maryland. Dr. Dodson has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since boyhood, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
POYD, A. HUNTER, State's Attorney for Alleghany County, Maryland, was born at Winchester, Vir- ginia, July 15, 1849. His father, Rev. A. II. II. Boyd, died at that place in December, 1865. Mr. Boyd received his elementary education at Win- chester. In September, 1865, he entered Washington Col- lege, afterwards called the Washington and Lce Univer-
gath Brown)
1
559
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
sity, at Lexington, Virginia. He remained during two ses- sions, after which he spent one session at the University of Virginia. In the fall of iSoy he commenced the study of law in his native place, and was Deputy Clerk in the office of County Clerk until October, 1870, when he entered the law school at Lexington, Virginia. In June of the following year he took the degree of Bachelor of Law, and in August he settled permanently in Cumberland, Maryland, and commenced the practice of his profession. Ile was elected State's Attorney for Alleghany County in November, 1875. This office he still holds; his time will expire in January, 1880. He married, in December, 1874, Miss Berien M. Thurston, daughter of the late General A. Thurston, of Cumberland.
BROWN, JAMES H., D.D., was born August 20, 1807. Ilis parents were of different nationalities. His father, Henry Brown, was a native of Waterford, Ireland. llis early life was spent on the ocean. His mother, Michol Magdalene Boyer, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, February 1, 1772. She was a descendant of a German refugee family that fled to this country under the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They settled in Pennsylvania when it was a colony of Great Britain. His father and mother were united in marriage February 3, 1791. They had six sons and two daughters. The subject of this sketch was the last but one. 'To his mother James HI. was deeply indebted for the whole bent and type of his life. She possessed great firmness, and had the art of leaving the impress of her mind upon her children. When quite young his parents removed to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and finally settled near what is now called Kingstown, six miles cast of Carlisle. In his fifteenth year he left the parental home to enter the world for himself. It was the day after Christ- mas, and very cold. His mother followed him to the gate, and with tears in her eyes she bid him good-bye, saying, " Henry, try and be a good boy, fear the Lord, and you shall never be without a friend." That parting scene and the sweet influence of a mother's love followed him in ten- der memories in after years. Ile travelled that day thirty miles on foot to York, Pennsylvania, which he reached late in the afternoon. There a brother resided, engaged in the watchmaking business, with whom he purposed learning the trade. Whilst engaged in this new occupation he was impressed with the importance of improving his mind. His leisure moments were therefore devoted to reading and mental improvement. Toward the close of 1824 his brother opened a shop in Shrewsbury and put him in charge of it. Ile was now fully among strangers, and felt what it was to make the best of life for himself. Imme- diately ou las arrival he formed the acquaintance of . Dr. James Gerry, who had just located in the place and com- menced the practice of medicine. Ile was the only friend
and companion he had until his conversion. They boarded for some time together, and occupied the same room and the same shop. The doctor was a moral, intelligent, and thoughtful man. He became a Christian, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was eminently use- ful in his day. Ile died in 1873, and his funeral address was delivered by his early associate. Mr. Brown availed himself of the opportunity which this acquaintance with Dr. Gerry afforded him, and rcad medicine and studied chemistry, He attracted the attention of the good people of the town. A religious family invited him to board with them, which was cordially accepted and proved of perma- nent good. Robert and Susan Fife are names embalmed in his memory forever. In their house he became ac- quainted with many of the old preachers of the Baltimore Conference. About this time he had frequent conversa- 2 tions with Henry Doll, a local preacher, to whom he owes more for religious and spiritual instruction than any other man. On September 5, 1826, he was converted at a camp meeting on the old Shrewsbury ground, and, September 16, 1827, joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. He received license to preach in October, 1828. On the 28th of that month he left Shrewsbury and entered upon the career of an itinerant Methodist preacher. He was re- ceived into the Baltimore Conference March 2, 1829, and was appointed as junior preacher on the Bellefonte Circuit. Since that period he has held many important appointments in the Baltimore Conference, within the States of Mary- land, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. His last regular appointment was to Whatcoat Chapel, Baltimore. In 1861, depressed in spirit with the agitated state of the country and the affairs of the Church, he re- tired from the active duties of the itinerancy, but with the privilege of preaching whenever his health and oppor- tunity would permit. During the war he gave all the means he could command to aid the Government. Ile was appointed Chairman of the committee by the loyal minis- ters of Baltimore to draft resolutions as an expression of their loyalty, and to give moral support to the Government. "The paper was presented and adopted without amendment. In 1869 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Dickinson College. He is now far in the evening of life, sensible that the shadows are length- ening. On March 26, 1837, he was nited in marriage to Ann Maria Hines, of New Oxford, Adams County, Penn- sylvania, who is still living.
.
BONAPARTE FAMILY.
B CHARRONAPARTE, JEROME, youngest brother of Napo- leon, was born, November 15, 1784, at Ajaccio, in Corsica, celebrated as the birthplace of Napoleon, and died at Paris, June 24, 1860. He was educated in the college at Juilly ; entered the French Army as a private in 1800, and soon afterward joined the naval ser-
1
560
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
vice in the Mediterranean; served in the expedition to San Domingo in 1801, bokdling the rank of Lieutenant ; subse- quently, as commander of a French squadron, secured the liberation of several hundred French and Genoese pris- oners who had been captured by the Dey of Algiers. After attaining the rank of Rear-Admiral, he was trans- ferred to the land service, and served as General of a brigade against the Prussians in 1806. The following year he was crowned King of Westphalia. He commanded a corps of Germans in the campaign against Austria in 1812; lost his throne in 1813; after which he left France to reside in Switzerland. He was afterward made a peer by Napoleon. After Napoleon's abdication, he spent many years in cxile, dwelling most of the time in Florence. In 1848, having returned to Paris, he was appointed Governor of the Invalides, and in 1850 became a Marshal of France. The life of Jerome Bonaparte is especially in- teresting to Americans on account of his marriage, Decem- ber 24, 1803, to MISS ELIZABETH PATTERSON, daughter of William Patterson, at that time a prominent and wealthy citizen of Baltimore. It is one of the most romantic and interesting incidents in connection with the history of that city. During Jerome Bonaparte's visit to the United States in 1803, on his return to France from San Domingo, he met and was introduced to Miss Patterson. She was then in her eighteenth year, and distinguished as a lady of remarkable personal beauty. An attachment sprung up between them, which resulted in their marriage. The marriage ceremony was performed by Archbishop Carroll, the first archbishop of the United States, and cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, distinguished as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. A marriage contract was drawn by Alexander J. Dallas, subsequently Secretary of the Treasury, which was witnessed by several prominent officials, including the French Consul and the Mayor of Baltimore. Alter a year's residence in this country, the distinguished couple embarked for Europe in the spring of 1805, and on their arrival at Lisbon, learned that Napoleon was so displeased with their marriage, on account of his consent not having been obtained and his desire for his brother to marry a European princess, that he had issued an order prohibiting Madame Bonaparte to land in France. Jerome Bonaparte left the vessel at Lisbon to see the Emperor and importune him to recog- nize the marriage, which Napoleon in his usual despotic manner refused to do, and with threats of imprisonment compelled Jerome to comply with his wishes in the matter. Madame Bonaparte took command of the vessel, which had been chartered by Jerome for their trip, and ordered the captain to sail for the Texel, and after another ineffec- tual attempt to land, and being held as a prisoner for four- teen days, she ordered the vessel to sail for England, where she remained a short time at Camberwell, near London, and where her only child, Jerome Napoleon, was born. On account of hostilities then prevailing between
England and France, her arrival in England created con- siderable excitement, and the mob, not knowing the his- tory of her case, was not disposed to permit her to land, but Pitt, knowing of her cruel treatment by Napoleon, gave orders that she should be received with the highest honor and distinction. She finally returned to the United States, and Baltimore thereafter became the home of Madame Bonaparte and her son. Notwithstanding fre- quent importunities on the part of Jerome, Napoleon re- fused to recognize the marriage. Failing in his efforts to induce Pope Pius VII to annul the marriage, he finally obtained a decree from the municipal authorities of Paris declaring it null and void. Although Jerome's conduct in the matter shows that he was strongly attached to Madame Bonaparte, his failure to secure the recognition of the marriage by the Emperor, and the influence brought to bear to induce him to yield to the will of Napoleon, finally caused him to marry, in 1807, Frederica Catharine, daughter of the King of Würtemberg. Madame Bona- parte never saw her husband after their separation in 1805, except, casually, many years afterward, while visiting an art gallery in Florence, Italy ; but they did not speak to each other. After the marriage of Jerome to the daughter of the King of Würtemberg, Madame Bonaparte pursued a firm and dignified course in her endeavor to vindicate her rights, which commanded the respect of the imperial family and gave the world evidence of her nobility and purity of character. Jerome, after his marriage, offered her the principality of Smalcald, with forty thousand dollars a year, an offer she promptly declined, with the reply, that " though Westphalia might be a considerable kingdom, it was not large enough to hold two queens." Napoleon appreciated the answer, and intimated through the French minister at Washington his desire to serve her. She asked to be made a Duchess of France, which he promised to do later, and she received twenty thousand dollars cash, and an annuity of twelve thousand dollars, which was paid until Napoleon's abdication. The question involving the rank of her family was subsequently brought before the French courts, and the cause argued by such eminent counsel as Benyer, the great French advocate, but decided adversely. After the fall of the Emperor Napoleon and the dethronement of Jerome, Madame Bonaparte thought it possible that her husband might, in the event of his coming to this country, set up a claim to her property, and as in those days a woman's right to hold property was not so well protected as now, she applied to the Legislature of Maryland for a divorce, which was granted. Since that time she used only the name of Patterson, and all her business was transacted under the name of Elizabeth Patterson. She possessed extraordinary business sagacity, and was so successful in the management of her estate, that at the time of her death her wealth was estimated at more than a million dollars. She died in the city of Baltimore, Fri- day, April 4, 1879, in the ninety-fifth year of her age, and
561
BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.
her remains were interred in Greenmount Cemetery. Up to within a short time before her death she was in the full possession of her faculties; her mind was bright and vig- orous, and she exhibited remarkable vivacity and cheer- fulness. She was a lady of very superior culture, winning manners, and brilliant conversational powers. Her personal beauty won the admiration of Talleyrand, Wellington, and Madame De Stael, and the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos paid tribute in his " Memoirs " to her " talent, piquant charm, and untarnished name." " If she were a Queen," said Talleyrand, " with what grace would she reign !" Gortschakoff, then a diplomat debutant, said that had she been " near the throne the allies would have found it even more difficult to dispose of Napoleon." " With her airy manner, beauty, and wit," said Lady Mor- gan, whose close friend and correspondent Madame Bona- parte was, " she would have made an excellent princess, American as she was. One wonders that Napoleon could have been blind to her capabilities, he whose motto was, ' The tools to him who can use them.' " At the announce- ment of her death, the New York Times, commenting on her remarkable career, said, " When Europe and America rang with her name, Jefferson was President of the United States and Napoleon was First Consul of France, yet her personal history is so romantic, so strange and solitary, so unlike the history of any other woman that ever lived, that it comes down to us from that remote period with the fresh interest of a current event. Her story lives because it ap- peals to the heart. A woman whose wrongs are written not only in the state papers and official dispatches, but upon the hearts of the sympathizing people of many nations, cannot be forgotten while she lives, and memory must long treasure her name after she dies." Amid all the trials and vicissitudes of her long and eventful career, she exhibited a remarkably buoyant disposition, and maintained a high moral character and a blameless reputation. Notwith- standing the cruel treatment Madame Bonaparte received at the hands of the imperial family, she spoke of Jerome in the highest terms, and excused his conduct on the ground that he was perfectly powerless in the hands of Napoleon to accomplish anything in her behalf. Vet, while the muse of history will record the fact that Jerome Bonaparte chstinguished himself, both as a naval and mili- tary officer, and fought by the side of Napoleon at Ligny and Waterloo, displaying great bravery and capacity, it will not omit the affecting story of Madame Bonaparte's life, nor justify the ignoble conduct of him who deserted her for princely honors and advancement.
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.