USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 47
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 47
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land and at Eastville, Virginia, from whence it removed to Baltimore, and after Banks's defeat in the Valley of Vir- ginia moved on to Harper's Ferry, and from thence to Winchester, Front Royal, Warrenton, and Little Wash. ington, Rappahannock County. After the repair of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the command was de- tailed to guard this road from Catlett's Station to Culpep- per Court-house, with headquarters at Rappahannock Station. After the battle of Cedar Mountain it was assigned the duty of guarding the supply-train, and on the night of August 22, 1862, Colonel Leonard, being sick with an attack of bilious fever and confined to his room in a house near the station, was captured in Stewart's cav- alry raid, and carried to Libby Prison, Richmond. He was exchanged the following October, and in December of that year he resigned the command of the Legion, and returned to his home. But the ardor of his feelings and his earnest interest in the cause never abated. In Jan- uary, 1864, he was appointed Provost-Marshal of the First District of Maryland, comprising the eight Eastern Shore counties of the State, As a member of the National Con- vention which met in Baltimore in 1864 and renominated Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency, Colonel Leonard was an original Johnson man, believing that his nomina- tion as Vice-President would still the clamor of section- alism then made against the Republican party. After the assassination of President Lincoln, Colonel Leonard sus- tained Johnson's policy, which brought him into affiliation with the Democratic party of the State, by whom he was nominated and elected State Comptroller in 1866. The State Constitutional Convention of 1867 vacated all offices, and required new elections, when Colonel Leonard was again elected Comptroller by the same party, and filled the office until 1870. Ile had urged upon the State Con- vention of 1864 the wisdom of organizing a new county from portions of Worcester and Somerset, but the project failed before that body. In 1867, however, he, with others, re- newed their efforts, and secured the formation of the county of Wicomico. He married, m 1838, Elizabeth S., daughter of Ebenezer Leonard. She died in 1872, and he was married again in 1874 to Miss Isabella Staples White, daughter of James White, Esq., of Salisbury, Maryland. By his last marriage he has two children.
CTON, IION. SAMUEL GRAHAM, Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, was born in Au- gusta, Maine, August 3, 1829, the eldest son f Nathanich and Jane (McDevit) Acton. His parents came to America from Ireland about the year 1828. They removed to Philadelphia in 1844, and his father died in that city in 1859. Ilis mother is still living. Mr Acton served an apprenticeship in gas-fitting and brass- finishing in Philadelphia, after which he removed to Bal- timore, and was one of the first, outside of the gas com-
panies, to establish that business. He continued in this about four years, removing to Anne Arundel County in 1857, when he established the summer resort at Brooklyn known as the Action Park House. On the breaking out of the war he went South, and was employed in obtaining ordnance Stores outside of the Confederacy. These he was always successful in conveying to their destination, but was several times arrested on his return trips, and was imprisoned ninc, three, and five months respectively. He was released the last time by General Wool just before the close of hostilities. From that time till April, 1877, he continued his business at Brooklyn. In politics he has always been a Democrat, and for many years has been actively identified with that party in his county. He was Constable and afterwards Deputy Sheriff, which office he has held for over fifteen years. In 1877 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates for two years. Ile was married in 1852 to Miss Ann Elizabeth, daughter of Sum- ner Prentiss, of Massachusetts. She died in January, 1877, leaving him six children. Mr. Acton was brought up in the Episcopal Church. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the George Washington Lodge, and also of the Susquehanna Tribe of the Approved Order of Red Men.
PERRY, JOHN B. N., was born in Baltimore, July 14, 1842. His father was John Hezekiah Berry, a native of Georgetown, D. C. Ile received his principal cducation at Georgetown College, gradu- ating therefrom in the same class with Mr. John T. Crow, the supervising editor of the Baltimore Sun. His early proclivities were towards the printing art and jour- nalism, and at the age of eighteen years he became con- nected with the Ohio Statesman, Columbus, Ohio, which was then under the management of Colonel, afterwards Governor Medairy. Associated with him on that journal was the poet, Dr. John Lofland, who was well known under his sobriquet of the " Milford Bard." After sever- ing his connection with the Ohio Statesman, Mr. Berry went to Baltimore, where he became engaged on the old Balti- more Republican, subsequently the Republican and Argus. Leaving the field of journalism, he embarked in the whole- sale grocery business, which he steadily pursued for over six years. He then entered extensively into stock opera- tions, his transactions being mostly in the securities dealt in at the New York Stock Board. He was regarded as one of the boldest operators of his day, making sales or pur- chases on a scale, and with a quickness, activity, and shrewdness of calculation, that gained for him marked dis- tinetion in the stock and financial mart. He died in 1864, leaving behind him a bright record for business, prompt- ness, truth, and integrity. Ilis wife was Miss Louisa V., daughter of Nathaniel West, a planter of Northampton County, Virginia. In the war of 1812 the latter had a
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number of vessels seized whilst attempting to run the British blockade in the Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Berry's mother, grandmother of the subject of this sketch, was a sister of Commodore . Barron, United States Navy, who fought the famous duel with Commodore Stephen De. catur, of the same service, March 22, 1820. The Berrys are of the numerous and respected families of that name in Prince George's County, Maryland, and are of Eng- lish descent. After attending various private schools up to the age of thirteen years, John B. N. Berry entered Loyola College, in which he pursued his studies for five years, when he engaged as a clerk in the entensive guano and grain exporting house of P'. Malcolm & Co., Baltimore. With the above firm, which was succeeded by that of Wil- liam Creighton & Son, young Berry remained three years. On the breaking out of the American civil war, he, like thousands of other young Marylanders whose affinities were with the South, proceeded to join the Confederate service. He went to Norfolk, Virginia, and offered his services as a private in Colonel Lamb's battalion, then stationed at Sewell's Point, near the above city. On account of his physical incapacity, attributable to an attack of aeute rheu- matism, he was not accepted for military duty. Owing to the extremely critical condition of his health he was compelled to return home, and was sent by Colonel Taze- well Taylor, of the Confederate Army, under flag of truce to Fortress Monroe, which was then under the command of General Benjamin F. Butler, to whom he delivered a large number of unsealed letters from Baltimoreans in and around Norfolk. Upon his return to Baltimore he entered in a clerical capacity the Auditor's Department of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where he remained two years, when he was arrested by Provost- Marshal Fish for receiving letters from inside the Confederate lines, and incarcerated in the Gilmor House prison, from whence he was ultimately released through the influence and personal intervention of the late Colonel Brantz Mayer. In 1864 (the year of his father's death) Mr. Berry, then twenty-two years of age, established himself in the gen- eral commission business. In 1869 his warehouse was destroyed by fue ; but undaunted by the disaster, he im- mediately proceeded to the erection of a larger and finer one for the conducting of his increasing business, the new structure being among the first warehouses of any magnitude built on Charles Street south of Pratt. Mr. Berry made a specialty of domestic dried fruits and nuts. Ile was successful in building up a very large trade, ex- tending to the most distant points of the West. le car- ried on the above business for ten years. During this period he became one of the original incorporators of the Potomac Fire Insurance Company of Baltimore, the Presi- dent thereof being Isaac W. Jewett, brother of the Presi- dent of the Erie Railroad. In 1873 he published in the Baltimore Gazette a very able article entitled " The Finan- cial Situation," in which he logically demonstrated the
means whereby specie payment could be safely resumed. The incorporation of the same views as expressed by him in a financial article of the New York Herald of a subse. quent date, was a high compliment to Mr. Beny's ability to write on the money question. In 1874, regarding the business outlook rather gloomy, Mr. Berry retired from the commission business. During the latter year he intro- duced the manufacture of a new article in this country, known as the " Portland " cement. Notwithstanding the active business life Mr. Berry has led, he has found time to gratify his literary tastes by contributing to the public press numerous articles on financial, commercial, and mis- cellaneous subjects. In 1864 he married Miss Rosalie E., daughter of the late Washington Berry, an extensive planter of Prince George's County, but who was sub- sequently for several years a resident of the District of Columbia. The latter's wife was Miss Williams, grand- daughter of General Otho Holland Williams, of the Revo- lutionary Army, who was born in the above county in 1748, and died in 1794. Mr. Berry has six children, three sons and three daughters. His father dying just as the subject of this sketch was merging into manhood, the latter was thus early thrown upon his own resources. Mr. Berry has always avoided politics, and has never solicited or accepted official station, prefering to devote himself to his private interests, to books and literature, and the happi- ness of his domestic circle.
ERING, JOSHUA WEBSTER, M.D., Banker, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, March 8, 1833. Ile is the son of Daniel S. Hering, who was a thrifty farmer in that section of the State. Ilis carly educational advantages were such as could be obtained at the public schools in the vicinity, except that for several consecutive years he was under the tuition of a most accomplished teacher of the English branches, with whom he made rapid progress in his studies. After leav- ing school he entered a store in his father's neighborhood, and remained there until 1851, when he removed to West- minster, Maryland, and continued in the mercantile busi- ness with another firm until April, 1853, when, in accord- ance with a long-cherished desire, he entered upon the study of medicine. He became the office student of Dr. William A. Mathias, of Westminster, and subsequently of Dr. G. W. Miltenberger, of Baltimore. As a student he was assiduous and attentive, taking his degree at the Uni- versity of Maryland, with a most honorable record, in March, 1855. He at once opened an office in Westmin- ster, and rapidly rose to an influential position in his pro- fession. His success was substantial, and in a few years Ire was in possession of a large and lucrative practice. lle was appointed Visiting Physician to the Carroll County Almshouse and Jail, which position he held for seven years. In 1860 he formed a copartnership with his former
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preceptor, Dr. Mathias, which continned until the death of his partner in 1864. He then associated with him, Dr. James HI. Billingslea, a young man of much promise, who had just graduated. This gentleman having proven him- self a most congenial associate, the partnership with him continued until November, 1867, when from partial failure of health, and apprehension of a more serious decline, he yielded the active practice of his profession. It was then his purpose to remove to Virginia, where he might pass a more quiet life, when in the most unexpected manner the cashiership of the Union National Bank of Westminster, formerly the Bank of Westminster, one of the oldest and most substantial institutions of the kind in the State, was unanimously tendered him. This position he accepted, and occupies at this time (1879). The institution has greatly prospered under his management; having passed through the severest monetary crisis which the country has ever known, maintaining during this trying period its high character for financial soundness and ability. Dr. Ilering has always taken a lively interest in matters affecting the general welfare of the community, and has especially de- voted himself as a matter of public benefit to the establish- ment of the Western Maryland College, at Westminster, being one of the original trustees, and has also served from the beginning as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board, and for ten years has been its Treasurer. The latter position entailed a vast amount of labor and responsi- bility, inasmuch as the institution during these years passed through financial embarrassments of the gravest character, at the same time performing an educational work which gave to it a position among the first literary institutions of the State. The doctor is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and has frequently appeared in its an- nual and general conferences, Ile was a member of the General Convention which met in the city of Baltimore in May, 1877, and which formed the union between the Northern and Southern sections of that Church. He has never aspired to political position, but has always mani- fested a deep interest in the politics of his county and State, and has uniformly adhered to the principles of the Democratic party. Dr. Hering was married to Miss Margaret Henrietta Trumbo, daughter of Lewis Trumbo, Esq., of Westminster, October 18, 1855, and has four children : Joseph Trumbo, Florence Gertrude, Charles Edgar, and Grace Etta.
JOHNSON, REV. HENRY EDWARD, was born in the County of Cork, Ireland, March 27, 1838. His family emigrated to the United States in 1841 and settled near Richmond, Virginia, His mother taught school, and was the only instructor her son ever had. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church South when nineteen years of age. After filling several appointments in the bounds of the Virginia Annual Con-
ference, he was transferred to the Baltimore Annual Con- ference of that Church. Shortly after his transfer he founded the Mount Lebanon Independent Methodist Church, and through his exertions was erected for it a handsome edifice at the corner of John and Bond streets. At this time ( 1878) he is the Pastor of Chatsworth In- dependent Methodist Church, Baltimore, and is one of the editors of the Independent Visitor.
غ راق THOMAS, RICHARD L., Merchant, North East, Ce- cil County, Maryland, was born, June 30, 1809, in New Castle County, Delaware. He is the son of Samuel Thomas and his wife Hannah Evalt. She was of Scotch descent. When Richard was a small child, his father engaged as manager for General Foreman on his elegant estate, known as " Rose Hill," in Sassafras- Neck, Cecil County, where he continued to reside for some years. Young Richard's earliest recollections is as- sociated with the memorable event of the British barges, under Admiral Cockburn, passing up the Sassafras River, and burning Georgetown, on the Kent side of the river, in May, 1813. When fifteen years of age he was appren- ticed for six years to a woollen manufacturer near Stan- ton, in Delaware. He remained in that situation for three years, when his employer failed, and he was thrown on his own resources. During those three years he had the benefit of but forty days' schooling, and what educational advantages he had enjoyed were derived mainly from home and Sabbath-school instruction. During his three years' service he had gained sufficient knowledge of his trade to enable him to secure employment, and continued to work at it until 1834 in various places in Cecil County. Ile then removed to North East, where with the exception of one year (1839) he has ever since resided. Having by industry and economy accumulated some means, he in 1842 embarked in the business of merchandising, in which he has been successfully engaged ever since. Ile adopted for his motto, " Honesty in business transactions, persevering and close attention' to work, and a deter- mination to succeed by doing right." For many years Mr. Thomas has been the leading merchant of the town, and through all the periods of business depression through which the country has passed in that time he has main- tained an unshaken credit, and enjoys the confidence of his patrons and the community. Mr. Thomas has always been a Democrat in politics, and held the office of Post- master, first by appointment of President Tyler and after- wards by President Polk, for a period of four years. No more obliging or faithful officer has ever filled that position in that town. Though too busy a man to be a politieian, lie is nevertheless an active worker and an adviser with his party, and his judgment is highly respected. He has twice represented his county in the Legislature of Mary- land ; the first time in 1849, and the last in 1854. At the
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session of 1849 he took an active part in securing the pas- sage of the charter for the Cecil Bank, at Port Deposit; was an advocate for the act passed at that session for a convention for the framing of a new Constitution for the State. In iS544 he wasa zealous supporter of all measures before the Legislature looking to the promotion of the temperance reformation. As a legislator he was esteemed for his business qualifications, his integrity, and devotion to the interests of his constituents. During his apprentice- ship he became the subject of deep religious convictions, and in 1830 connected himself with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and has ever since remained an acceptable and useful private and official member of that communion ; has always been active and liberal in Church, educational, temperance, and other benevolent enterprises. In 1830 Mr. Thomas married Sarah Jane, a daughter of Charles and Mary Johnson, of Cecil County. She died in 1838, leav- ing no children. In February, 1845, Mr. Thomas married Ruth Ann, a daughter of John and Martha Jane McCracken, of North East. Mrs. Ruth Ann Thomas died in 1867, leaving children, viz., Martha Ruth, who married Philip Ricards; Sarah Rebecca, who married Dr. Theodore A. Worrell; Mary Ann, who married Thomas W. Ilarnon; Elizabeth, who married Theodore Blackwell ; Richard L., Emily, and Ida. Mr. Thomas is of active habits, vigorous constitution, and gives promise of years of usefulness yet to come.
€ ERRICK, HON. GEORGE C., Lawyer, Farmer, and Legislator, was born in Charles County, Mary- land in 1839. In 1869 he was appointed State's Attorney to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Edward W. Belt, Esq. In 1873 he was elected by the people to the same office, and in 1877 was elected to the Maryland Hlouse of Delegates. Ile is a prominent and influential member of the House, and has been an efficient worker on the Judiciary and other com- mittees.
B 'RUCE, DAVID CRESAP, Collector of Internal Reve- nne for the Fourth District of Maryland, was the son of William and Phebe (Cresap) Bruce, and was born in Alleghany County, December, 1809. wyj & llis grandfather, Mr. Andrew Bruce, came to this country from Scotland some years prior to the Revolution, and settled in Frederick County, Maryland. At the com- mencement of the war he at once took part with the colo- nists, and entered the Federal Army, in which he rose to the rank of a Colonel, and was placed in command of a regi- ment. Upon the declaration of peace he purchased large tracts of wild lands in Alleghany County, west of Fort Cumberland, and in 1805 removed his family thither. Here he resided until his death in 1813. Hle left a large family of children, His eldest son, William, married In 1807 Phebe Cresap, daughter of Colonel Joseph Cresap,
who was the nephew of Captain Michael Cresap, celebrated in the history of the carly Indian encounters. Colonel Cresap resided about five miles west of Cumberland on the Potomac River. In his youth, in 1774 75, he was engaged in the military service, in what was known as Dunmore's war, in fighting the Indians on the then western frontier, and afterwards entered the Revolutionary Army as Captain of riflemen from Western Maryland. He subsequently became a Colonel, and served till the close of the war. Hle was a man remarkable in many respects. Well known and honored throughout the State, he lived to a good okul age on his large estates, and was regarded as one of the most hospitable men in Western Maryland. He several times represented his county in the Legislature, and not many years prior to his death was elected to the Senate. Of a deeply religious nature he was for over fifty years a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and oc: casionally preached in the old Methodist church erected by himself in Cresaptown, near his residence. This church still stands as a monument to his zeal and love for the Church to which he belonged. David C. Bruce lost his father when quite young, and was taken to the house of his grandfather Bruce, and placed under the care of his maiden aunts. He was partly educated by them, and was afterwards sent to the Alleghany County Academy, then in charge of Dr. Robert McKaig, with whom he re- mained three or four years. In his early manhood he removed to Ohio, where for several years he was employed on the public works as State Superintendent. Returning to his home in Maryland he was soon after engaged to take charge of the mines of the Frostburg Coal Company as General Superintendent. The duties of this position he faithfully performed for fourteen years, and during a part of that time was a Director in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. After this he removed to Baltimore, where he assumed the oversight of the business of the Frostburg Coal Company, in which he held a large interest. Shortly after the commencement of the civil war he was appointed Inspector in the Custom-house, but soon re- signed and returned to his native county, where as Super- intendent he took charge of the mines of the Consolidated Coal Company, and from that county was elected to the Legislature in 1866. After concluding his duties there he removed to his farm near Cumberland. In 1872 he was honored by the appointment, entirely unsolicited by him, as Collector of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District of Maryland, to succeed Ex-Governor Francis Thomas. This office he still holds.
1 OX, REV. SAMUEL K., D. D., Editor of the Baltimore Episcopal Methodist, and Pastor of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church South, Baltimore, 'was born in the city of Baltimore July 16, 1824. His ancestors on both sides were among the oldest settlers in the State. In his youth he enjoyed the best educational
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advantages, passing under the care of special tutors through the Yale College course, beside having three years' instruc- tion in the modern languages. After completing his aca- demic studies, he entered a business house in Baltimore, to acquaint himself thoroughly with bookkeeping and the practical details of business. At the close of six months he commenced his preparation for the ministry at the Windsor Theological Institute, under the care of Rev. Francis Waters, D.D., LL.D. After spending a year in that institution he was unexpectedly called into the active work of the ministry. In March, 1844, he was admitted into the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church, and assigned to Talbot Circuit. Subsequently, he was stationed at Wilmington, Delaware, Washington city, and Charleston, South Carolina. At the latter city he was five years in charge of the same church. While there he introduced the penny-post, or letter-carrier system, never before in use in Charleston. He also originated several associations to enable men in moderate circumstances to convert rent into capital, and become their own landlords. When about to leave the city he was presented by a num- ber of the citizens with a handsome silver service. He was then stationed in Georgetown, District of Columbia, and while in the midst of a successful pastorate was called to the charge of Madison College, Pennsylvania. After a prosperous Presidency of several years he removed to Virginia, and established the Lynchburg College, which remained in successful operation until the war in 1861. Shortly before the war he went to Alabama, and took charge of the Loundesboro Female College, which main- tained its prosperity all through the war. At the close of the war he removed to Montgomery, Alabama, where he established the Montgomery Female College, and continued in charge of it, and a part of the time of a church in the city, until his health failed In 1870 he went to Christian- burg, a town on the summit of the Alleghany Mountains, Virginia. Hle there purchased a fine college property, and re-established a female school which had about died out. It took at once a high position among the best institutions of the State, and has maintained it ever since. In 1875 he was called to the charge of St. Paul's Methodist Epis- copal Church South, Baltimore, In April, 1876, he took the editorship of the Baltimore Episcopal Methodist, one of the leading religious journals of the South, and is still conducting it.
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