USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 62
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 62
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GARRISON, STEPHEN, was born, December 10, 1837, in Newburg, New York. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers fought on the American side in the war of the Revolution. His father, Isaac Garrison, who was a farmer near Newburg, died when Stephen was about four years of age. When only about eight years of age the subject of this sketch began work in the cotton factory of William Townsend, where he remained for nine years. Ile then became for three years apprentice in the looking-glass and picture-frame business with Robert Marcher near Newburg, with whom he continued as a journeyman until the death of Mr. Marcher in 1865. In the meantime he served two and a half years as a volunteer in the United States Army during the civil war, entering the service in 1863, and continuing therein until he was honorably discharged at the close of the war. During the whole period of his service he was a member of the Fourth Regiment of New York Mounted Ritles, commanded by Colonel Cesnola. He participated in several great battles, including those of the Wilderness, Gettysburg, Winchester, and Five Forks, and escaped without any very serious wounds. After the death of Mr. Marcher, in 1865, he went to Philadelphia, and for about three years assisted his brother David Garrison. In 1869 he removed to Baltimore, and in connection with Henry R. llall began the picture-frame and cabinet-moulding business. In two years this firm was dissolved, and a partnership formed with his brother, George W. Garrison, and Lewis Eckhardt, the firm subsequently being changed to " Garrison Brothers." In 1875 Mr. Garrison formed a partnership with Win. Henry Shryock, which continued four years, and since January, 1879, he has carried on
business alone. In 1858 he married Sarah Odel, of New York, and has three children, one son and two daughters. Mr. Garrison's industry, perseverance, and integrity have gained him many friends, and laid the foundation of a large business and a prosperous career.
ROBBINS, HENRY RUSSELL, JR., was born in Balti- more, April 23, 1848. Ile received his principal education at the public schools of that city, and 6 at the age of seventeen years entered the service of the United States Navy as Paymaster's Clerk on the steamer Shawmut, which position he occupied for two years, and then returned to his native city, where he estab- lished himself in the stove business. In 1871 he became engaged as fireman on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, « and soon rose to the position of engineer on the same road. Shortly after his promotion he was tendered the position of engineer in the mills of the Baltimore Pearl Hominy Company. He subsequently became shipping clerk in the same establishment. In 1876 he represented the above company at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, having charge of its extensive exhibit there, and largely adding to the trade of the company whilst in Philadelphia through his diligence, energy, and business tact. In 1877 he returned to Baltimore and entered upon the duties of bookkeeper and assistant superintendent in the Pearl llominy Company, which position he now occupies. Mr. Robbins's father, Henry Russell Robbins, Sr., is a native of Hartford, Connecticut, but has been for many years a resident of Baltimore, where he was for some time engaged in the stove business under the firm of Robbins & Bibb. Ile has occupied many important public positions ; was the originator and one of the proprietors of Read's Express Company, and is the inventor of several very useful and important patents. He retired from active business some years since. The latter's father was Frederick Robbins, a native of Hartford; Connecticut, but who removed to Petersburg, Virginia, in early manhood, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and remained until his death in 1850. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Levi Robbins, was a very wealthy and influential citizen of Hartford, Connecticut, and held important positions of honor and trust. The pioneer of the Robbins family in this country was John Robbins, a native of England, who settled in Connecticut in 1638, and purchased extensive lands from the Lord Proprietary. Ile was regarded in his day as the richest man in Connecticut, The mother of Henry Russell Robbins, Jr., was Mary E. S. Owens, daughter of William Owens, a long-established and exten- sive merchant of Baltimore, who died in 1840, and sister of the late William HI. Owens, a prominent merchant of Baltimore, a member for several terms of the City Conn- cil, Director in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and an
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active and influential member of the Corn and Flour Ex- change of Baltimore. Ifer grandfather was Isaac Owens, of Anne Arundel County, and her maternal grandmother was Achsah Stevens, of Baltimore County. Mr. Robbins is the great-grandson, on the maternal side, of Caleb Owings, of Baltimore County, who served as aide-de-camp on the staff of General Washington. The Owings were of Welsh origin, and settled in the county of Baltimore before Bal- timoretown was laid out, securing extensive lands under the Royal l'atents. In 1870 Mr. Robbins married Miss Ida MacNeal, daughter of the late Andrew L. MacNeal, a prominent builder of Baltimore, by whom he has three children.
AGRUDER, CALEB CLARKE, Attorney-at-law, was born in Prince George's County, Maryland, July, 1810. His father was Thomas Magruder, a farmer of the same county. Ile died in 1830. Caleb's mother was Miss Mary, daughter of Caleb Clarke, an English merchant, who settled in Prince George's County before the Revolutionary war, and was killed by Indians during that period. Joshua Clarke, who died in 1826 whilst Chancellor of the State of Mississippi, and S. M. Clarke, who was a member of Congress from New York, and died in 1850, were uncles of the subject of this sketch. Another uncle, Archibald S. Clarke, settled in Pennsylvania, where he became an extensive agricul- turist, and died in 1848, leaving a large fortune. Mr. Ma- gruder's father was an only son, and married in early life, about 1798. The Magruders are'of Scotch descent. Caleb's rudimentary education was received at the public scoools of his district. Ilis classical studies were commenced under the direction of Michael Malony, a fine classical scholar of high repute. IIe subsequently received instructions under Mr. William White, a man of rare attainments. Ile was sent to the Catholic Seminary of Washington, D. C., then connected with the Georgetown College, and having about two hundred students. There he took the honors of the classical course and graduated, receiving his diploma from Georgetown College in 1834. He studied law with Judge Gabriel Duvall, then one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and completed his studies under the direction of the late Judge John Glenn, of Baltimore. He was admitted to the Baltimore bar in 1832, and immediately returned to his native county, where he entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he has continued to the present time. Mr. Magru- der has always eschewed politics and devoted himself en- tirely to his profession, in which he has attained high dis- tinction. In 1852 he purchased " Mattaponi " and " Brook- field," the two including about eight hundred acres of land in a high state of cultivation. On this valuable estate he spends a portion of the year. Mr. Magruder has mar- ried three times : first, Miss Mary S., daughter of Tobias Belt, a farmer of Prince George's County, who died many
years since. Her brother is lion. James B. Belt, the present Chief Judge of the Orphans' Court of Prince George's County. His second marriage was to Miss Sallie B., daughter of the late Colonel Henry Warren, of above county ; and his third wife was Eleanor C., daughter of Thomas' Turner, of Frederick City. Three children of the first marriage are living : Mary Augusta, wife of Peter Il. Hooe, of Washington, D. C .; Caleb C., attorney-at- law and farmer ; and Edwin Walton Magruder, farmer.
CHAURNETT, PROFESSOR ELIJAH, was born, February Grata 19, 1840, at Marlton, Burlington County, New Jersey. His father, John P. Burnett, who is a native of Newtown, Maryland, descended from English and French, and his mother, Elizabeth Mat- lack, from English and Welsh ancestors, the latter being distinguished for their mechanical and engineering skill. His parents are still living at Camden, New Jersey. After attending the best schools of his native county Elijah as- sumed, at the age of sixteen years, charge of a district school near Pemberton, New Jersey. When twenty-two years old he occupied the post of Principal of the High School at Mount Holly, New Jersey, which contained five hun- dred pupils, and employed nine assistant teachers. During a successful period of two years in the above capacity he became interested in the special branches taught in busi- ness colleges, and believing that they offered a more en- larged and satisfactory field of usefulness than the one he was then occupying, he went to Baltimore in 1864 and engaged as Professor of Penmanship, Bookkeeping, and Mathematics in the Business College of Messrs. Bryant, Stratton, Bannister & Sadler. For fourteen years Pro- fessor Burnett was a successful instructor in his special branches in that institution, and the high esteem in which he is held by both teachers and pupils is evidenced by numerous flattering testimonials which he has received from them. He possesses eminent qualifications as an educator, and is very conscientious in the discharge of duty. Ile dissolved his connection with the Bryant, Stratton & Sadler College May 1, 1878, and formed a copartnership with A. H. Eaton, a member of the Baltimore bar, who was for ten years Principal of Eaton's Business Colleges in St. John's, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, the firm establishing the Business College of Eaton & Bur- nett, at the northeast corner of Baltimore and Charles streets, Baltimore, Professor Burnett's departments therein 'being Business and Ornamental Penmanship, Bookkeep- ing and Arithmetic, Commercial Correspondence, Busi- ness Forms, and Partnership Settlements. The Professor was awarded the highest medal for superior penmanship and pen drawing at the Maryland Institute Exhibition of 1878. In August, 1866, he married Miss Ella A. Iletzell, a most estimable lady of Philadelphia, by whom he has had two children, one of whom, a daughter, is living.
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1 1 USHIANE, JOHN A., Manufacturer of and Wholesale Dealer in Paper, was born in Baltimore, January 4, 1834. Ilis father, John Dushane, was a native of New Castle, Delaware, who settled in Baltimore in 18o3. Ile was a carpenter by trade, and was one of the most prominent builders of his day. When the British menaced Baltimore in 1814, he volunteered in defence of his adopted city. He was a Director in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and also in the Savings Bank of Baltimore. Among the prominent buildings erected by Mr. Dushane may be mentioned the Maryland Tobacco Warehouses. Ilis brother, Valentine Dushane, built the Eutaw House. The mother of John Dushane was a Miss Sutton, of Dela- ware, of the family who are largely identified with the canal interests of that State. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Miss Harriet Wilson, daughter of Joseph Wilson, of Calvert County, Maryland. She was of Eng- lish descent, her ancestry settling in Maryland in the early Colonial days. John A. Dushane was the youngest of seven children. The others were Harriet ; Margaret, who married Jeremiah Wheelwright ; Juliet, who married Na- than E. Berry; Virginia, who married Dr. Philip H. Aus- tin; Lucy ; and Elizabeth, who married N. F. Blacklock. After receiving a good primary education John A. Du- shane entered the MeNally's Private Academy in Balti- more, which he attended for five years. At the age of tif- teen years he entered as a clerk the boot and shoe estab- lishment of J. Wheelwright. At the expiration of two years he entered in the same capacity the paper establish- ment of Wheelwright, Mudge & Company, Baltimore. After remaining seven years with that house, during which he attained the position of managing salesman, he entered into the same business on his own account, and in 1858 established his present wholesale paper house at No. 40 South Charles Street. In January, 1874, he associated with him Mr. Thomas H. Folson, under the firm name of John A. Dushane & Co., which partnership has continued until the present time. In May, 1869, the firm purchased the "Antietam " mill for the manufacture of book paper, which has a capacity of sixty-five hundred pounds per day. Sub- sequently the " Funkstown " mill for the manufacture of rag print, having a capacity of five thousand pounds per day, and the " Woodbine " mill, with a capacity of mak- ing seventy-five hundred pounds of straw wrapping-paper a day, were purchased. The latter mill is owned exclu- sively by J. A. Dushane, and the two former by Stone- braker & Dushane. The " Caledonia" straw wrapping mill, with a capacity of three thousand pounds, and the " Eagle " straw print, having a capacity of five thousand pounds daily, are owned by J. A. Dushane and P. H. Glad- felter. The " Ivy" mills, for manilla-paper, have a ca- pacity of four thousand pounds per day, and are owned by John A. Dushane & Co. The total capacity of the mills is thirty-two thousand five hundred pounds a day, and the number of employés therein about two hundred and fifty.
The firm supplies about thirty newspapers, and furnishes all grades of paper stock. Mr. Dushane possesses great business sagacity and energy, and his house has passed unscathed through periods of the greatest financial dis- tress. Ile has been a member of the Masonic fraternity ubout twenty years. His wife was Miss E. M. Duke, daughter of Dr. James Duke, of Calvert County. Ile has five children, Marion Howard, Harriet Wilson, Ann Duke, Isabella Sutton, and Alexandra Dushane.
COOPER, HON. JOHN H., Senator, and President of the Board of Pilots of Baltimore, was born in East Baltimore, November 4, 1827. His father, Burnette Cooper, who was a pilot, was a native of St. Mary's County, and died in 1835. His mother, whose maiden name was Anne C. Sable, is also deceased. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers in Maryland. After at- tendance at the public schools of Baltimore young Cooper at the age of fifteen years went to Cape Henry, and served as an apprentice for six years in learning the occupation of a pilot. His term of service was spent on one of his father's pilot-boats, between Capes Hatteras and Henry. Ile subsequently pursued the vocation of a pilot for about ten years, and then cruised for about a year off the coast of Florida, having before leaving the Chesapeake sold his pilot-boats and their appurtenances. His return from Florida was hastened by an attack of yellow fever. In 1860 he was elected by the Board of Maryland Pilots as President thereof, which office he continues to hold. Ile occupied the position of Port Warden of Baltimore for one year (1869) under Mayor Banks. In 1870 he was elected to Congress, and re-elected in 1872, and again in 1874. In 1875 he was elected to the State Senate of Maryland for four years. In 1870 Mr. Cooper married Miss L. J. Baker, of Baltimore, and has three sons living. Mr. Cooper's po- litical sentiments are in accord with the Democratic-Con- servative party. He is liberal in his religious views, hav- ing no denominational bias. His personal popularity is very great, and in both the public and private relations of life he has commanded unqualified confidence and esteem.
RANE, WILLIAM, a well-known Merchant in Balti- more for thirty-two years, was born in Newark, New Jersey, May 6, 1790. His parents were Rufus Giove and Charity (Campbell) Crane. Ile was a direct descendant of at least three of the small band who came from Connecticut in 1666, and began the settlement of Newark. One of these was Jasper Crane, who was the first magistrate of the town, and another was Captain Robert Treat, who went back to Connecticut and became Governor of that colony. Captain Treat distinguished himself in the Indian wars ; and presided in that celebrated
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assembly, in which the lights being suddenly blown out the charter of the colony was spirited away and hidden in the Charter Oak, frustrating the scheme of Edmond An- dros and King James Il to take it from them. Mary Trent, the daughter of Captain Tieat, married Azariah, the son of Jasper Crane. She inherited her father's land in New Jersey, and on this land the father of William Crane lived in early life. But during the Revolutionary war, while Rufus Crane was fighting for his country, his house in Newark was burned down by the " Tories," and he was afterwards unsuccessful in business. He died when his son William was a boy, and left his family unprovided for. William Crane at the age of ten years went to work on a farm, and from that time depended for support on his own exertions. Ilis educational advantages were therefore very limited, yet he improved every opportunity of acquir- ing useful knowledge. From his enthusiastic love of read- ing, aided by a remarkable memory, he gained much and varied information, and was fortunate in possessing friends who perceiving his natural intelligence lent him books and directed his reading. When he became of age friends supplied him with goods to take to Richmond, Virginia, and sell on their account. He was successful, and fixed his residence in that city in 1822. He was afterwards known in Richmond as a merchant in hides and leather. In 1834 he removed to Baltimore, where he ever afterwards resided. He was a successful merchant and an honorcd citizen. One of the steamships plying between Baltimore and Boston bears his name. He was actively engaged in many benevolent societies, and was always working for what he believed to be the good of humanity at home and abroad. lle was Vice-President of the African Coloniza- tion Society, of which Henry Clay was President. During the civil war Mr. Crane was a Union man, but that did not prevent him from performing many kind and generous acts then and afterwards to those who differed from him. He united with the Baptist Church in his native town when eighteen years of age, and always remained in that denomi- nation, but formed many warm friendships and fellowships in other branches of the Christian Church. He was very liberal, giving freely of his time and money to benevolent and religious work, which was to him the most absorbing of his life. Ile was for many years a devoted friend of the late Rev. Dr. R. Fuller, his pastor, and also of the Rev. George F. Adams, pastor of the Calvert Street Bap- tist Church, which was organized through the interest and liberality of Mr. Crane. It is now known as the Iligh Street Baptist Church. Ilis appreciation of the press as a power for good led him to institute measures which resulted in the establishment of one of the largest weekly religious newspapers in the country, The Religious Herald, of Rich- mond, Virginia, a Baptist journal, having an extensive eir- culation, especially throughout the South. Mr. Crane was twice married : first to a daughter of Mr. Samuel Dorsett, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, who,left him a widower in
1830; and the second time to a daughter of Dr. John Moneure Daniel, of Stafford County, Virginia, who sur- vives him. He died suddenly September 28, 1866, pass- ing away as he bad often expressed a desire to do, gently and peacefully, without apparent pain or sign of struggle. The surviving children of Mr. Crane by his first wife are : Rev. W. Carey Crane, D.D., President of Baylor Univer- sity, a Baptist institution of Independence, Texas; A. Fuller Crane, Sr., who has held many positions of honor and trust in mercantile, commercial, and religious and benevolent institutions of the city; and Miss Elizabeth Crane, of Baltimore. By his second wife the following are the children living at this time (1879) : Miss Lydia, a lady of some literary attainments ; Miss Fanny G .; James C., who with a grandson of William (John D. Crane) are the successors in the well-known hide and leather firm of William Crane & Sons, Baltimore ; William Ward Crane, also a writer of some micrit ; and Miss Josephine S. Crane. Prominent among the deceased children of Mr. Crane were : A. Judson Crane, attorney, of Richmond, Virginia ; Mrs. Francis Burns, Jr. ; Mrs. A. Seemuller, an authoress ; and George D. Crane, a prominent politician in California.
HOUSTON, HENRY WHITE, M.D., was born in Lewes, Delaware, October 2, 1809. His father, Liston Alexander Houston, was of Scotch-Irish ancestors, who settled near Milton, Delaware, about the middle of the seventeenth century. The pioneers of the family in this country were three brothers, who settled in the above region of country, and whose descendants are scattered through the South and West. General Samuel Ilouston, of Texas, was a member of this family, as also is Judge John Houston, of Delaware. The doctor's father conducted a mercantile business for some years in Lewes, and died about 1813. Ilis mother was Miss Mary, daughter of Shepherd Prettyman, of Sussex County, Delaware. His parents were both consistent mem- bers of the Methodist, Episcopal Church. His mother died in 1824, leaving a family of six children. After re- ceiving a proper education in Milton, Delaware, he at the age of eighteen years went to Philadelphia to learn the drug business with Thomas Oliver, with whom he con- tinued for a year and then returned to Delaware. Soon thereafter he commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. William D. Wolf, of Milton, an eminent physician. In 1830 he matriculated at the University of Maryland, and graduated therefrom in, 1832. He entered upon the practice of his profession in Lewes, where he continued for eighteen months and then removed to Fed- eralsburg, Dorchester County, Maryland, taking the office and practice of Dr. Phelps, After practicing there two years he removed to East New Market, where, in 1836, he began a practice which grew to large proportions, and
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Greenleaf Ilanson.
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March, 1844, Mr. Johnson came to Baltimore and engaged as foreman in the mill of Mr. Heury Herring, and as such remained until 1848. December 14, 1848, he married Kliza. beth, daughter of Nicholas Harrison, of Carroll County, Maryland. In the spring of 18.19 he went to New York, and immediately budt a large planing mill on the North River, between Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh streets. This being the time of the California gold fever lumber was then in great demand at large prices. Ile remained in New York two years, and during that time had a greater demand for lumber than he could supply. Having a good offer for his mill and stock, and wishing to return to Mary- land, he sold out, and removed to Somerset County, where he built three saw-mills. Ilaving purchased several ves- sels, he sent his lumber to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. In 1865, still retaining those mills and his lands in Somerset County, he took up his residence in Baltimore. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership in that city with Mr. Richard T. Waters in the lumber busi- ness. About two years thereafter the firm bought a large quantity of timber lands in Virginia, and built a mill at Freeport and two at Norfolk. They also bought a half interest in a mill at Snow Hill. For a number of years this firm did a very successful business. In 1873 the part- nership was dissolved, Mr. Johnson retaining the mills in Virginia, together with lands, steamers, and other property used in carrying on the business. Mr. Johnson then formed a partnership with his two sons, Howard N. and Greenleaf Johnson, Jr. For the past twenty- five years Mr. Jolinson has had in his employ on an average one hundred men. During the year 1877 this firm sold sixteen million and a half feet of lumber. During the year 1878 they averaged a million a month. Though a Democrat in principle, Mr. Johnson is not a partisan. He has never accepted political office. He is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Janu- ary 17, 1878, his daughter, Mrs. Smelty, died at Crescent ('ity, Florida. Her mother, overburdened with grief, very soon followed her daughter, dying March 3, 1878, in Bal- timore. Mr. Johnson is strictly speaking a self-made man. Beginning the world without any capital, by industry, pru- dence, and sagacity he gradually accumulated means, es- tablished himself in business, and is now in possession of considerable property and a handsome competence. Hle is a stanch, reliable, and public-spirited citizen.
FATBURNER, ROBERT, was born in Baltimore, Novem- ber 9, 1818, and there received his education. After leaving school he exhibited an inclination
C for a mechanical pursuit, but soon abandoned it and established himself in the fertilizing business, which he has been steadily and successfully pursuing for about forty years. During the whole of his commercial career Mr. Turner has borne an enviable reputation for integrity. In
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