USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 55
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 55
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tine Dushane to finish learning his trade. Having finished his apprenticeship, he worked for a few months as a jour- neyman, and then with several other carpenters he went to Natchez, where he assisted in the erection of a mansion for a planter. Ile returned to Baltimore in the spring of 1837 and commenced business on his own account. While engaged in building a house at Harper's Ferry for a son of Bishop Waugh, he was invited by Mr. James Murray, Engineer of the Road Department on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to act as Foreman of Bridges on that road, and to rebuild the wooden bridge at the Ferry: That was the beginning of a successful career with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. From that time he con- tinued to work on the road, and in due time, by gradual promotion,-ever proving himself a master workman,-was intrusted with responsibilities in connection with its me- chanical departments under the able engineers in charge of the work. Showing at every opportunity a great apt- ness for the higher range of his trade, and applying him- self to a deep study of the principles of mechanical en- gineering, he soon became a valuable member of the corps of brain-workers whose labors have made that great road the admiration of the country and the source of immense wealth to the city of Baltimore. Still advancing, he next became the " Master of Road ; " intrusted with the entire care and management of its tracks, buildings, bridges, and all other stationary structures. In this enlarged sphere he became an inventor, and his name grew to be known among men. Yet he continued his labors with the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad; and though often tempted to assume a still wider field for his famc, or to yield to more inviting prospects of personal rewards, he remained with the road until 1858, a period of eighteen ycars, on his sec- ond engagement. He had, however, scen it beautified and guarded against dangers incident to other structures by many of his own most excellent works before he dissolved his connection with it, But, at last, his fame having spread over other lands, he was called to perpetuate it in South America, Mexico, and Cuba, So strongly did the history of Mr. Bollman appeal to the personal pride of the three thousand employés of the company, that they resolved on presenting him with a magnificent service of plate and a massive gold watch and chain. Accordingly, within a few months after his retirement, as soon as they could be finished after the elaborate designs furnished, he was in- vited to mect his friends having the matter of presentation in charge at the Revere House in Cumberland, Maryland, on Thursday, February 10, 1859. As many of the em- ployés of the road as could be spared-to the number of about two thousand-flocked to that city. The spacious parlors of the hotel were thronged with spectators, inehuid- ing many ladies, At the appointed time, A. Diffey, Esq., Supervisor of the Eastern Division of the road, accompa- nied by Mr. Bollman and the Committee of Arrangements, took their position at the head of the table containing the
gifts, and in fitting words, in which Mr. Diffey briefly re- viewed the history of Mr. Bollman from his first act as an apprentice boy, in connection with laying the first cross- tie, until the occasion which then called them together, he presented the several articles for his acceptance as an ex- pression of the sincere regard entertained for him by the thousands of employés in the company's service, both in a professional and personal sense. Mr. Bollman followed with a reply replete with hearty encomiums on the many, who in their respective sphercs had aided in the achieve- ment of that grand enterprise. After this a sumptuous banquet was partaken of by about one hundred and forty persons. The entire expenses of the entertainment, in- cluding the passage fare of the invited guests, were de- frayed by the committee. The service of plate consisted of ten pieces, comprising a coffee urn thirty inches in height, water pitcher, coffee pot, tea pot, water pot, sugar bowl, cream pitcher, slop bowl, and two waiters. The watch was a magnificent gold chronometer, with a massive gold chain six feet long. `The whole costing three thou- sand dollars. During his connection with the road, in ad- dition to many wooden bridges, Mr. Bollman designed and superintended the construction of the following iron bridg- ing : Two at Elysville, one each at Monocacy, Marnotts- ville, North Branch, and Winchester span of the Harper's Ferry bridge, on the main stem, and the Savage and Bla- densburg bridges on the Washington Branch. Of these. the Monocacy and Winchester spans and part of the North Branch were destroyed by the Confederates during the war, and were rebuilt by the railroad company from draw- ings furnished by Mr. Bollman. He has furnished the plans and superintended the construction of nearly two hundred spans of bridges on the main stem. Benjamin 11. Latrobe, Esq., Chief Engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad, said that " Mr. Bollman has the credit of being the first successful iron bridge-builder in this country." His bridge was patented in 1852, and renewed in 1866. After his withdrawal from the service of the railroad company, Mr. Bollman formed a copartnership, in 1858, with John H. Tegmeyer and James Clark, under the firm name of W. Bollman & Company, which continued until 1863, when the firm was dissolved. Mr. Bollman has since conducted the business in his own name at Canton. In consequence of the war, the company suspended operations from 1861 to '63. During that copartnership the firm built two large iron bridges in Chili, South America. One of these con- tained four spans of one hundred and fifteen feet each, over the Angostura River; the other, pne span, over the Paine Kiver. They built several bridges in Cuba." All of the bridges over the large streams and several over the smaller, including the bridges and iron station-house at Guines, on the Havana Railroad, and the bridges for the Cienfuegos Railroad, the Cardinas Railroad, and the Hla- vana and Matanzas Railroad, were constructed by them.
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Since the dissolution of the firm, Mr. Bollman designed and constructed for the Hlavana Railroad an iron trestle- work, which was composed of hollow wrought-iron col- mans, with cast-iron bases and caps; being the first of the kind made after that manner. The wrought-iron columns used were seven inches diameter, five-eighths inch thick, which cost ten dollars per lineal foot. They were made ex- pressly for the purpose by Morris, Tasker & Co., of Phila- delphia. No wrought-iron segment columns were then known. Afterward Mr. Bollman gave his views to Mr. Reeves of the Phoenix Iron Works of Philadelphia, from which that gentleman invented the wrought-iron segment column, now forming an important feature in wrought- iron viaduct and truss-bridge construction. Mr. Reeves, alluding to this important improvement, stated that if " Mr. Bollman was not the father of the invention, he might be considered the grandfather." In 1863 or '64 he designed the Pivot Drawbridge at Clinton, Iowa, over the Mississippi River, built by the Detroit Bridge and Iron Works Company. It was at that time the longest pivot iron bridge on record, being over three hundred and sixty feet long. About the same time he built a bridge for the Vera Cruz and Jucaro Railroad in Mexico, the span being one hundred and fifteen feet. It was the first iron bridge in that country. The present Harper's Ferry iron bridge is a marvel of skill and beauty. It was built under Mr. Bollman's supervison in 1864. It contains in all eight spans and is over one thousand feet long. The track en- ters the bridge on span number eight on the Maryland side, with a curve to the left of three hundred feet radius, and terminates on next span (number seveny, and from there the track is straight on numbers five, four, and three spans, to what is called the wide span, or number two. On the east end of the wide span a three hundred feet radius curve commences, curving to the right, passing over the entire length, and entering what is called the Virginia curve span, number one, forming one of the arms of the letter Y. The left arm has the Winchester track, connecting at the east end of the wide span, pass- ing over the entire length, and entering what is known as the Winchester span. On the wide span there are two railroad tracks, with a county road crossing the curved track, which made it difficult to construct. To accommodate this travel, the west end of wide span, num- ber two, is made seventy-five feet wide, and the cast end thirty-five feet wide. It is the only bridge of the kind in its construction and formation known, being the wonder and admiration of both American and European engineers, and will long stand to attest the inventor's superior skill and knowledge of the equilibrium of forces. Mr. Bollman. also built, in 1867 and 1868, two large bridges over the Cape Fear River for the Wilmington Rail- way Bridge Company of North Carolina, containing about two and a quarter miles of wooden trestle-work between the two bridges. That on the northeast of Cape Fear
contains four spans : two of one hundred and forty-six and a half feet each, one of one hundred and sixty-four feet, and one pivot draw span of one hundred and fifty feet. The northwest bridge contains one span of two hundred and seventeen feet, with a pivot draw span of one hundred and fifty feet. These bridges are built on cast-iron cylin- ders six and eight feet in diameter, the draws resting on cast-iron cylinders fourteen feet in diameter, the largest then known. The cylinders were sunk by the pneumatic process from sixty-five to eighty feet in depth, and in water from twenty to fifty-three feet deep. The cylinders sunk eighty fect was the greatest depth known to be made by the pneumatic process at the time of this construction. The process of sinking was watched day and night by Mr. Bollman with a father's care, as he found at the depth of seventy feet the pressure of air used in the cylinder com- mence to tax the constitution of the men, and great watch- fulness and care were necessary. And it is said that the ten cylinders were sunk and filled with masonry without the loss of life or injury to a single man employed on the works. This contract amounted to about four hundred and eighty thousand dollars, and was completed in eighteen months. These, together with the iron dome on the Balti- more City Hall, will long stand as monuments of the in- ventive skill and mechanical genius of Wendel Bollman. He has also constructed scores of smaller bridges through- out the country. Early and late Mr. Bollman devotes much time to studies in engineering. His collection of works on that particular branch is very complete, He is emphatically the workingmen's friend, and has been liberal towards them. He is never more happy than when he has a weekly pay roll of one thousand or fifteen hundred dol- lars. He is not a member of any church, but has a pew in Dr. Barclay's English Lutheran Church. He is gener- ous in his contributions to all religions denominations and benevolent associations. Ile has never had time to accept of any political or public position, saye that he served for a time as a member of the Water Works Board, and President of the Western Maryland Railroad Company. lle was active some years ago in the Reform movement in Baltimore ; but he has always rather avoided than courted public notoriety. lle has only consented to the publica- tion of this sketch with the hope that the record of success attendant upon his perseverance and integrity may be an incentive to young men starting out in life to fix their aims high, and then resolve to reach them, not by intrigue and chicanery, or political demagoguism, but " by patient con- tinuance in well-doing." Early in life, just after complet- ing his apprenticeship, Mr. Bollman married Ann Catharine Smith, a most. estimable lady; she died in 1869. They had ten children, three only of whom are living : his son, John W., a dranghtsman and constructing engineer at the factory, who married Mary 11. De Mangin ; Jacob M., Superintendent at the works, who married Louisa C. Brunt ; and Annie M. flis youngest daughter, Mary
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Elizabeth, deceased, married E. D. Miller, who has charge of the financial department, Thomas Smith Bollman was born December 2, 1852, and died March 10, 1874. lle attracted the attention of the leading engineers in this conty by his superior ability and knowledge in civil engi neering, and had he lived would no doubt have made for himself a lasting reputation. He more particularly in- herited his father's ability and ingenuity in civil and con- structing engineering. The other children died in early life.
CRUTCHFIELD, ANDREW F., Editor and one of the Proprietors of the Baltimorean, was born in Rich- mond, Virginia, March 13, 1824, His father was Ralph Crutchfield, a native of Hanover County, Vir- ginia, but for the greater portion of his life a citizen and prominent merchant of Richmond; and his mother was Mary Ann Williams, a native of New Kent County, Virginia, Andrew's youth was spent in his native city, where he received an excellent education. Ile pursued his studies in Walford's Academy for five years, after which he determined to learn the printing trade. His first en- gagement was in the office of the Richmond Christian Ad- vocate, where, under the late Dr. William A. Smith, Metho- dist minister, he rapidly acquired a knowledge of "the art preservative of all arts." At the expiration of three years after the commencement of his apprenticeship Dr. Smith was transferred to the Presidency of Randolph Macon College, and the Rev. Dr. Leroy M, Lee, of the Vir- ginia Methodist Conference, succeeded him as editor of the Advocate. Under this gentleman, who is still living (at an advanced age), Mr. Crutchfield finished his appren- ticeship. Ilaving mastered his trade he worked as a com- positor for a few years, devoting his spare hours to the re- porting of meetings and the furnishing of matter to the local columns of the Richmond daily papers. Ile also acted as correspondent for prominent journals published outside of Richmond and Virginia. In the spring of 1852 Mr. Crutchfield was tendered the general management of a penny paper, the Petersburg Express, the publication of which commenced April 24 of that year under the pro- prietorship of Messrs, Paul & Ellyson, of Petersburg, Virginia. The Petersburg community was a small one, not exceeding 25,000 inhabitants, of whom one-third were blacks and unlettered. For this reason, and the fact that the Richmond Daily Dispatch, as also the Baltimore Daily Sun, both at that time penny papers, were delivered in Petersburg each day, the former at an early hour and the latter in the afternoon, many misgivings were expressed as to the success of a penny paper in that locality. Just one month after the first number had been issued Messrs, Paul & Ellyson announced their intention to discontinue the publication of the Express, Mr. Crutchfield believed that nothing was required to insure its success except pluck and
energy, and effected a negotiation by which the Express passed into the hands of himself and two gentlemen, who were also practical printers, Under the firm name of A. F. Crutchfield & Co., the publication of the Express was continued, and in a few years became a source of profit. It's circulation reached laige portions of South Side, Virginia, as well as northern and central portions of the Carolinas, enjoying in these States great popularity. From 1852 to 1866 Mr. Crutchfield continued at the head of the Express, when his impaired health, caused by fourteen years of in- cessant toil, induced him to dispose of his interest therein, and remove to the city of Baltimore. There, after a con- nection in the night editorial department of the Daily Sun of over one year, and as Managing Editor of the Sunday Telegram for three years, he conceived the idea of pub- lishing a first-class weekly journal, Forming a partner- ship with Mr. J. C. Haas, a practical printer, Mr. Crutch- field made all the necessary preparations, selected a name, and on Saturday, June 8, 1872, issued the first number of the Baltimorean. This enterprise rapidly won its way to public favor, and is now in the enjoyment of a large circu- lation and profitable advertising patronage. A feature of the paper is a first-class portrait every week of some promi- nent individual, accompanied by a biographical sketch, As its name implies it is largely devoted to the interests of Baltimore, and the extensive country with which that city enjoys social and business relations. It is edited with rare ability, and its correspondence and miscellany are varied and interesting. Its columns are never polluted by any matter that would bring a blush to the cheek of modesty, or invoke the reproval of the purest minds. In his efforts to produce a model jonrnal Mr. Crutchfield is ably seconded by his experienced and accomplished partner, Mr. Haas. Mr. Crutchfield was united in marriage, March 3, 1847, with Miss Sallie Louisa Davies, of Richmond, a daughter of the late Rees Davies, a famous civil engineer and constructor of his day. He has five children living, four sons and one daughter. The three eldest sons are all connected with the press, and the youngest of these is regarded as among the most skilled engravers of personal portraits in the country. The columns of the Baltimorean have been repeatedly adorned with his work. Mr. Crutchfield is thoroughly wedded to the profession of journalism, and although some of his newspaper enterprises have been started under very adverse circumstances, he has invariably achieved success. He is a useful, enterprising, and pub- lic-spirited citizen, whose excellencies of character com- mand universal respect.
ATKINSON, ARCHIBALD, JR., M.I., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, was born February 23, 1832, near Smithfield, on the James River, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. His father was an eminent lawyer, and represented the Second Con-
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gressional District of Virginia in the United States Con- gress from 1844 to 1848. Dr. Atkinson received his edu- cation at the University of Virginia, and graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1854. After receiving his diploma he went abroad and enjoyed the advantages of the clinics of the most famous hospitals of Paris for eighteen months, and a six months' residence in the Rotunda Lying-in Hospital of Dublin, Ireland. Returning to America in 1856 he located in Bal- timore, where he practiced his profession until the outbreak of the late civil war, when he returned to his native State and was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the Wise Legion in West Virginia, and assigned to the charge of the Lewis- burg Hospital. In 1862 Dr. Atkinson was selected as the Surgeon of the Tenth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, belong- ing to General J. E. B. Stuart's command, and in the autumn of 1863 was assigned to the Thirty-first Virginia Regiment of Infantry. Subsequently he was appointed Brigade-Surgeon in General John Pegram's Brigade, Early's Division, Second Army Corps, of the Army of Northern Virginia. At the termination of the war he established himself in the practice of his profession in his native town of Smithfield, Virginia, continuing there until the spring of 1873, when he removed to Baltimore and located on North Charles Street. In the fall of 1875 Dr. Atkinson was elected to the chair of Materia Medica and Thera- peutics in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Bal- timore, a position which he has filled with rare ability and eminent success as an imparter of medical knowledge. His maternal ancestors were the Powells and Chiltons of Loudon County, Virginia, whose progenitors originally came from Scotland and Wales. His ancestors on the paternal side were English. He has a brother, Dr. Robert Chilton Atkinson, who is practicing medicine at St. Louis, Missouri. On November 2, 1858, Dr. Atkinson married Mary Elizabeth Thomas, of Smithfield, Virginia, daughter of Samuel Thomas, whose wife was Frances Harrison Woodley, daughter of Major Woodley, of Smithfield. The issue of the marriage is two children, Mary Chilton and Louis Woodley Atkinson, both of whom are living. In religion Dr. Atkinson is inclined to the tenets of the Pres- byterian Church, and his political sentiments are of the Jeffersonian State rights Democratic stamp. As a citizen, scholar, physician, or preceptor, none stand higher than he in the community where he is so steadily and success- fully practicing his profession.
20 REWER, GEORGE GASTON, Lawyer, was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1801. Ilis father, John Brewer, was also a lawyer, and was for about twenty years Commissioner of the Land Office. The first ancestor of the Brewer family who emigrated to America came over with Lord Baltimore, and being the
first to disembark, a large tract of land was given him on South River. The village of Brewertown was at one time very flourishing. Mr. Brewer graduated at St. John's Col- lege, and became a chancery lawyer of much repute. At the early age of twenty-one he succeeded his father as Commissioner of the Land Office, which he held till the adoption of the Constitution of 1850. The Democrats succeeded to power under that Constitution, and, being a Whig, Mr. Brewer lost his position. He was three times married. Ile died June 10, 1861. His brother, Nicholas Brewer, was a lawyer in Annapolis, and for a number of years was Adjutant-General of the State under Governor Bradford. Ile died in 1875.
COULD, ALEXANDER, was born in Balcorn, Parish of Logey, County Clackmannanshire, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1780. His father, John Gould, native of the same place, married in early life Ellen Drys- dale, daughter of Alexander Drysdale, a wealthy tal- low chandler, and emigrated to America with his family, consisting of James and the subject of this sketch and four daughters, one of whom was born on the passage. Ile settled in Baltimoretown in 1784, some distance beyond what is now known as Federal Ilill and Sandy Bottom, in the extreme southern section of the town. The. land upon which he located was purchased from John Moale. It fronted on what was known as Ferry Point Road, then a vast common, and extended nearly to the Spring Gardens. John Gould was a dealer in live stock, and was very suc- cessful as such on account of his strict integrity and fair dealing. IIe subsequently embarked in the butchering business, associating with him therein his son Alexander. The firm enjoyed a very extensive and lucrative trade. IIis father dying, Alexander succeeded him in the business, which continued to increase and prosper. In 1805 he purchased five additional acres of land lying nearer to Baltimore than where he then resided. lIe removed thither and erected a substantial dwelling. His business soon surpassed any other of a similar kind in Baltimore. In 1811 he made another purchase of adjacent land, em- bracing thirty-five acres, of S. II. Key, of St. Mary's County, the father of the author of the " Star-spangled Banner." In 1825 he added still further to his property by purchasing one hundred and twenty acres from William Norman, which were located on the east side of Ferry Point Road and immediately opposite the Key purchase. These several purchases, with others of a smaller character, constituted Alexander Gould the largest landed proprietor in the southern section of the city. It being ascertained tlit large bodies of the finest brick-clay underlaid portions of his lands, he soon received numerous applications from brick manufacturers for the privilege of opening yards upon royalties. The first leases were to Messrs. John and
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William Reese, Alexander Russell, Henry W. Wilson, Samuel Harman, and others, on a royalty of fifty cents per thousand brick, the manufacturers being obligated to make a certain number every year. The results of the arrange- ment were the yielding of a very heavy revenue to Mr. Gould, the employment of a great number of industrions workmen, and the dispelling of malaria through the in- strumentality of the huge volumes of smoke issuing from the almost constantly burning kilns. In 1849 the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad Company began to consider by what means they could facilitate or accommodate their aug- menting coal trade by reaching tide-water. In order to accomplish this object they found it necessary to construct a branch road from their main stem through the vacant property lying in the southern and southwestern section of Baltimore. This would give them a terminus to tide- water at Locust Point. After determining upon that road it was essential to secure the right of way from the owners of the property through which the branch road would have to be constructed. Mr. Gould was the only one who responded favorably to the application of the railroad company, and accorded it the right of way without any compensation, believing that though it would not directly benefit his property it would be the means of inducing a large trade to Baltimore, give employment to a great number of mechanics and workingmen, and necessarily cause them to locate in that section. The Locust Point branch having been completed, and the facilities thus af- forded the company materially increasing its business, it realized the fact that the tracks laid by it were inadequate to said business, and in 1853 it made a second application for more land. As in the former case Mr. Gould was the only one who granted the right of way. Ile deeded to the company seventeen feet of ground on each side of their road, making, with the first grant of sixty-six feet, a total of one hundred feet. This belt of land he styled Ohio Avenne. During the war of 1812 Alexander Gould was a member of the Washington Blues military company, Captain George H. Stuart ; and his residence, which was not far from the Old Gun Battery, was the quarters of a large number of American officers, including the late Generals Winder and George H. Stuart. Mr. Gould, early in life, identified himself with the Episcopal Church, and worshipped in St. Peter's Church, on Sharp Street, then under the pastoral charge of Rev. J. P. K. Ilenshaw, who was afterwards Bishop of Rhode Island. Principally through Mr. Gould's liberality a mission chapel of the church was erected on William Street; and a flourishing Sunday-school was established through the exertions of himself and others, among whom may be mentioned Ex- Mayor Jacob Small and the now venerable William Wood, ward. On account of the infirmities of age Mr. Gould withdrew from St. Peter's because of its great distance from his residence, and attached himself to the Lee Street Church, The congregation becoming too large for this
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