USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 64
USA > Maryland > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2 > Part 64
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advocate Mr. Greeley's cause in Pennsylvania. In that State, under the auspices of the Democratic and Liberal State Central Committee, Mr. Spates traversed broad dis- tricts of country, delivering speeches sometimes twice a day. He was thus frequently associated with men of national reputation, among whom were United States Sen. ator Tipton, of Nebraska, Hon. Gilbert C. Walker, of Virginia, and Horace Greeley. In 1873 Mr. Spates made a speech accepting the Reform nomination for the Maryland House of Delegates, which was published by the Citizens' Convention, and extensively circulated in Balti- more. He took a prominent part in the Reform move- ment of 1875, when llon. J. Morrison Harris was candi- (late for Governor, S. Teackle Wallis for Attorney-General of the State, and Henry M. Warfield for Mayor of Balti- more, and delivered numerous speeches in the city and throughout the counties. On the 4th of July of the above year he delivered an address in the Academy of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, under the auspices of Post 7, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Massa- chusetts. The subject was " The Relations of the North and South," and it was an eloquent appeal in behalf of reconciliation and peace. His address was published by the press throughout the country, everywhere meeting with the highest commendation. In 1876 he was invited by the National Republican Committee to speak in the interests of the Republican party during the memorable campaign of that year. He was at the great Republican ratification meeting in New Jersey, August 28. He spoke for two weeks in the prominent cities of Maine. From Maine he went to New York, making speeches at leading points, and thence to Ohio. He spoke with Senator Blaine and others at Cincinnati, Cleveland, and the other principal cities of that State. Ilis addresses were always well received, and Mr. llayes was so favorably impressed with his efforts as to compliment him in person, and extend to him a special invitation to his reception, prior to his leaving Columbus, Ohio, to enter upon his duties as President. In the above campaign Mr. Spates travelled over six thousand miles, and delivered hundreds of addresses. In 1877 he lectured through New England on the labor revolt of that period, speaking in Lowell, Chelsea, and other prominent points, ably defending the cause of labor. The same year he de- livered a Fourth of July address at Hampton Beach, New Ilampshire, Governor Noyes, the present United States Minister to France, being one of the speakers on that oc- casion. In 1878 he spoke for several weeks, by special invitation, in Ohio and Pennsylvania in behalf of hard money and the Republican ticket. In the above year Mr. Spates delivered a Fourth of July address to a large as- sembly at Harewood Park, Baltimore County, In January, 1879, lie was appointed Territorial Secretary and Lieuten- ant-Governor of the Territory of Wyoming. On February 24, ensuing, he entered upon the discharge of his duties at Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming.
İYI RAIL, HON, CHARLES E., President of the Farmers' and Mechanics' National Bank of Frederick, Maryland, was born in that city January 28, 1826, J. C. His father, Edward Trail, was of Scotch descent. Hle died in 1876, aged seventy eight years, His mother, Lydia C. Ramsburg, who is still living, is from a family very extensively connected, whose German ances- tors were among the original settlers in Frederick County. Ile received a classical education at Frederick College, and studied law with Joseph M. Palmer, a leading member of the Frederick bar, to which Mr. Trail was admitted in 1849. In February, 1851, Mr. Trail was united in mar- riage with Ariana, youngest daughter of Dr. John H. McElfresh, and with his bride spent the following sum- mer in making the tour of Europe. On returning home he resumed his profession, but after a year or two, his health being impaired, he devoted himself chiefly to the care of his large estates. Ile also found great enjoyment in the indulgence of his literary tastes, and his range of reading, including German and French authors in their native' tongues, was very extensive. lle was for some time a contributor to Graham's Magazine, then the leading monthly, and to The World, a literary paper of very high standing, edited by Park Benjamin, by whom his contribu - tions were much valued. Though peremptorily declining office, Mr. Trail was at this time an influential leader in the councils and conventions of the Whig party, and fre- quently entertained its most distinguished representatives. At the breaking out of the civil war he came forward promptly as a leader of the Union party in Western Maryland, and did much toward influencing public senti- ment. He wrote the first address on this subject to the people of his county ; was elected President of the Union 1.cague of Frederick County ; appointed an Aide-de-camp by Governor Bradford, and organized several companies for the field. In 1864 he was elected to the llouse of Delegates ; served as Chairman of the committees on Fed- eral Relations and on Military Affairs, and at the close of the session received the thanks of the Ilouse for the ability and fidelity with which he had discharged his im- portant duties. In the following year he was elected to the Senate for four years. . Here his most important ser- vices were as Chairman of the Committee on Education, which gave to the State its present system of public schools. He also served on the Judiciary and other com- mittees with United States Senator Vickers, Governor Bowie, Jacob Tome, and others, always commanding the respect and attention of the Senate by the soundness and correctness of his views, and by his generosity and liberal- ity towards his political opponents, who were then in the minority. With them he was always on terms of the most pleasant social intercourse, and enjoyed their respect and esteem to an unusual degree, though never yielding his convictions of right and duty. At the close of his term he positively declined a re-election. lle took a warm in-
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terest in the erection of the State Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Frederick, and was Chairman of the Building Committee. Ile is now President of the Farmers' and Mechanics' National Bank, and of the Board of Trustees of the Frederick Female Seminary, a large and prosperous institution with a liberal endowment. Colonel Trail is a large landholder, owning five or six of the most valuable and highly improved farms in the rich and fertile county of Frederick, and lying chiefly around and in close prox- imity to the city. In June, 1877, he was severely injured by a collision between two trains on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and was reported among the killed. For- tunately no permanent injury was sustained, and after some weeks of suffering he was entirely restored. Mr. Trail's library is very choice, containing many valuable illustrated books. Ile possesses a fine collection of paint- ings, and has a passion for music, in which all his children excel. 11e has three sons and four daughters.
BOX, JOHN R., Merchant, was born at Union Bridge, Carroll County, Maryland, October 17, 1817. Ilis father, George Cox, was the youngest son of Wil- liam Cox, who settled in America in 1744 at what is known as Cox's Mills, Ilarford County, Maryland. The former went to Baltimore, where he served as an ap- prentice to Alexander Talford, a drygoods merchant, and ultimately became principal business manager of Mr. Talford's establishment. Ile married Eliza Ilopkins, a Quakeress, and subsequently removed to Union Bridge, where he conducted an extensive business for many years. Ilis wife died and left one son, who died after attaining manhood. Ile married the second time Miss Sarah Roberts, a Quakeress, daughter of John Roberts, of New Market, Frederick County, Maryland. Mr. Cox's great- grandfather was a native of England. He married Mary Goldhawk, who became a distinguished minister in the Society of Friends. They were both born near London, and came to America and settled in Harford County. William Cox, the grandfather of John R. Cox, inherited the family estate known as Cox's Mills. The family was always distinguished for its hospitality, culture, and refine- ment. The subject of this sketch was the eldest son of a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, of whom one of the former and three of the latter died in early life. One of the sons, Dr. E. Gover Cox, is a prac- tieing physician in Baltimore. Another, William G. Cox, is principal of Number One Male Grammar School. The younger brother and the sister are residing at the old home farm, near Union Bridge. John R. Cox remained upon his father's farm until the sixteenth year of his age, attend- ing to general farming duties and assisting his father in his store. Ile went to school at intervals, and acquired
the rudiments of an English education, applying himself to study at such times as his other occupations would per- mit. In 1833 he entered the boarding school of the late Benjamin Hallowell at Alexandria, Virginia, where he remained until the spring of that year, when he returned home and resumed his general farm work. Ile returned to Hallowell's the ensuing autumn, where he remained until spring, and again returned to his country home. Not having a fancy for merchandising, and his health being impaired, he for several winters was employed in teach- ing country schools, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits during the intervening summers. In 1839 he was appointed teacher of the public school at Hanover, Penn- sylvania, and in addition to a change in school government introduced new methods of teaching, based upon a system of induction, by which the pupils were made to better comprehend the subjects taught. llis next engagement as a teacher was in a school near his father's farm, which he conducted for ten months. In 1842 he became a clerk in a grocery and produce store in Baltimore, and finally en- tered into business on his own account, in which he was very successful. In 1854 he was elected a member of the Baltimore City Council. Partly through his instrumental- ity the " Water Works," then the monopoly of a corpora- tion, passed into the control of the city. Ile was a strong advocate of the five million dollar loan to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the passage of which measure he was greatly instrumental in effecting. The resolution of in- quiry into the practicability and expediency of a paid fire department he prepared and urged the adoption of. Dur- ing the session of the Council the Susquehanna Railroad and other roads were consolidated, and extended to Sun- bury, l'ennsylvania, under the name of the Northern Cen- tral Railway. In 1864 he was returned to the City Coun- cil, and was made Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. Whilst thus acting he announced his theory in relation to "taxes, the expenses of the city, and how to regulate them," which excited much favorable comment. Hle claims that if his views had been heeded, the taxpayers would have been saved many millions of dollars. In 1866 Mr. Cox was elected by the City Council Finance Com- missioner of Baltimore city, his colleague being Evan T. Ellicott, who was succeeded at his death by Robert M. Proud. The contract for the construction of the Western Maryland Railroad had been awarded, and the work was progressing. Mr. Cox had his doubts of the correctness of the estimates, and proposed to have the work re- measured by competent engineers. The Mayor and Mr. Proud united with him in the proposition, and Mr. Martin, by the approbation of the railroad directors, was selected for that purpose. The result was the saving of many thousand dollars to the city. His party urged his accept- ance of a nomination for the Mayoralty, which he posi- tively declined. He was nominated by successive con- ventions of the Republican party for the State Senate and
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Congress, without being consulted. Mr. Cox has always been an earnest and efficient worker in benevolent enter- prises. For a number of years he was an active member of the Poor Association of Baltimore, and took a promi- nent part in the organization of the Inebriate Asylum. lle was one of the incorporators, and was elected President of the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children, which was incorporated by the General Assembly of Maryland in 1870. Under his administration the in- stitution has proved a great success. Mr. Cox took an active part in the organization of the free summer excur- sions for poor children, and has served on the most impor- tant committees connected therewith. At different times, for more than ten years, through the public press and otherwise, he has called the attention of the Board of Publie School Commissioners to the importance of teaching the female pupils the art of sewing. Among the prominent positions held by him are those of Trustee of the Balti- more City Almshouse, and Director in the American Fire Insurance Company. He is also a Director in the Howard Bank of Baltimore. Whilst Trustee of the Alms- house, he advocated the retention of the farm attached thereto, as a valuable and profitable adjunct of the institu. tion. llis views were in opposition to those of the major- ity of the Board of Trustees, and were at variance with the public sentiment on the subject. They, however, pre- vailed, and the beneficial results that ensued by retaining and working the farm showed the wisdom of his judgment and his practical knowledge of farming. Mr. and Mrs. Cox were among the earliest suggesters and promoters of the Kindergarten system of education in Baltimore. They established a school on Eutaw Street, assisted by Eli M. Lamb, Mrs. Cox's brother, which was kept up about two years. Mr. Cox has contributed numerous articles to the newspapers on subjects of public interest, and has delivered several interesting addresses, notably his addresses before the Ciceronian Lyceum of Baltimore in January, 1849, on " Usefulness," which was treated in so able a manner as to cause its publication in full in the press of Baltimore, and his address in the City Council on the occasion of the assassination of President Lincoln. While at Hanover, Pennsylvania, he contributed to the Herald, then a leading journal of that place, a series of essays pertaining to the moral and intellectual welfare of the community, which were widely read and commended. He also wrote two interesting articles, one in the Baltimore Herald, a monthly paper, and one in the Baltimore Morning Herald, on the subject of " Inebriety," as to whether it is a disease, and suggesting as a remedy the confinement of inebriates, and allowing them to have no drink except alcoholic and spirituous liquors, at the same time having all the food which they eat saturated with liquor, and the very air they breathe impregnated with it. In August, 1869, Mr. Cox married Miss Mary M. Lamb, eldest daughter of John E .. Lamb. He has three children living, George Emmerson,
Iletty Lamb, and John Roberts Cox. As were his ances- tors, so also is Mr. Cox, an earnest and efficient member of the Society of Friends.
BARRIS, HON. J. MORRISON, Lawyer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Colonel David Harris, was also a Baltimorean by birth, and C when a very young man joined the volunteers who went West to put down the famous whiskey rebellion. He was later engaged in a large Western business on Howard Street, Baltimore. When the war of 1812 broke out and the safety of Baltimore was endangered he was by com- mon consent placed in command of the First Regiment of Volunteer Artillerists, in raising which he had been very active. His regiment was provided with a fine park of artillery, and did gallant service in the defence of the city. Three of his companies were on duty at Fort Me- Henry during the bombardment, while a fourth company participated in the battle of North Point. Colonel Harris, with the remaining six companies of his regiment, in con- nection with a corps under Commodore Rogers and Cap- tain Stiles, held the lines thrown up for the immediate de- fence of the city, on what was known as Londenslager's Hill, and now in part occupied as Patterson's Park. Some of the most esteemed and honored of the old citizens of Baltimore were among the officers and aids of this then celebrated regiment. Colonel Harris was the First Vice- President of the Association of the Old Defenders of Bal- timore. Ilis death occurred at the age of seventy-five at the residence of his son, the Rev. John M. Harris, near Charlestown, Virginia. Mr. J. Morrison Harris, the sub- ject of this sketch, received a thorough education, not only in the classical languages but especially in mathematics and general literature, at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, . but in consequence of an affection of his eyes, which for some time threatened the loss of sight, he was obliged to leave the institution before graduation. On his return to Baltimore Mr. Harris was appointed to a clerkship in one of the banks. In this position he attracted the attention of many, whose friendship he secured and still retains, by his frank address and business capacity. In connection with Charles Bradenbaugh, his accomplished friend, he founded the Mercantile Library Association of Baltimore while in the service of the bank, and in association with others established the yearly series of lectures under the auspices of the Association, which was inaugurated by a most remarkable discourse from John Quincy Adams. While in the bank Mr. Harris's talents won for him the regard of many of the best lawyers of the Baltimore bar, and among them the late David Stewart, who persuaded him to commence the study of law in his office, then one of the most popular and busiest in the city. There he completed the course and was admitted to the bar. Soon after entering upon practice failing health induced him to
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go abroad for a year, which he spent in visiting England, France, Germany, and Italy. In France and Italy his early love of literature and art so thoroughly revived that on his return to the United States be employed much of the leisure of the last year in preparing a series of articles for the magazines and popular lectures, which brought him prominently to public notice by their eloquence. Political attention was soon drawn to Mr. Ilarris, and he was nomi- nated as Whig candidate, with John Pendleton Kennedy, for the Legislature of Maryland. He was one of the Presidential electors in the " Taylor Campaign," and aided by his numerous speeches in carrying Maryland for the hero of Buena Vista. In 1854 he accepted the nomination from the American party in the then Third Congressional District of Maryland, in which he lived, and was elected to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He wasre-elected to the Thirty- fifth and to the Thirty-sixth congresses. His election to the second of these congresses was contested by William P. Preston, whose claim was not recognized by the House of Representatives, and to the third by Hon. William Pinkney Whyte. In the contest with this gentleman the reso- lution reported by the majority of the committee proposing to send back the election to the people of the district for a new poll, was rejected by a majority of nine in a House having a Democratic majority of eighteen. In both these cases Mr. Ilarris, of course, remained the sitting member from his district. During his six years' service in Congress Mr. Harris was on the committees of the District of Columbia and of Naval Affairs, both of high local and national importance. As member of the Naval Committee he succeeded in having passed as a substitute for the bill reported by the majority of that committee an act increas- ing the pay of the navy. He was also successful in procuring large appropriations in the interests of Baltimore ; among which was one for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the improvement of its river and harbor. This appro- priation was vetoed by President Buchanan, but Mr. Harris succeeded in procuring the passage of the bill over the President's veto. He also succeeded in securing an ap- propriation of two hundred thousand dollars for the pur- chase of ground and erection of the United States Court- house in Baltimore. He was further able to arrange the long-standing claims of the State of Maryland against the Government of the United States. In the excitement of 1860 Mr. Harris was recognized in the House of Repre- sentatives as one of its most ardently conservative mem- bers in all the fruitless efforts that were made to arrange the difficulties which ended in secession and war. Ile took the strongest grounds against secession, and his ap- peals touched the hearts of many a Northern as well as Southern extremist. But, unfortunately, men, circum- stances, and passion ruled the hour; and when the time came for nominations to be made for the Thirty-seventh Congress he was tendered a renomination upon condition that he would " sustain all the measures of Mr. Lincoln's .
administration," which, because ignorant of what they might be, and holding such a pledge to be an unworthy limitation of personal and independent judgment, he de- clined to do. Mr. Harris has not been an active politician since that period. For several year, he has been con. sidered a Democrat in his district, and has voted the Democratic ticket at all elections during that time. Since the war ended he has been strictly a professional man, save only his advocacy of the recognition by the registers ap- pointed by the State of those who had been disfranchised as a consequence of the war. In 1867, in consequence of the pressure of his professional engagements, which did not at the time permit interruption, Mr. Harris declined the honor of a nomination to the proposed Constitutional Conven- tion which had been made by the Democratic Convention of Baltimore County, his name being placed at the head of the list and receiving all the votes cast in the Conven- tion. In 1875, yielding to a most urgent appeal which came to him from merchants, business men, workmen, and taxpayers of Baltimore and the State who demanded the services of a firm, able, honest man, Mr. Harris permitted his name to be used as the candidate on the Citizen's Re- form ticket for Governor. In this election Mr. Harris re- ceived a large majority over his opponent in the counties of the State, but, under circumstances locally well known, that vote was reversed in the city. Ile organized the movement that has resulted in the erection of the splendid building occupied by the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion of Baltimore, and was President of the Board of Trustees of the Building Fund. He has been for many years a member of " The Committee " of the First Presby- terian Church, and in 1854, as Chairman of the Building Committee, submitted plans for the new church on Madi- son and Park streets, and continued to act as Chairman until the completion of the work. Ile has always been a warm friend and carnest and vigorous advocate of the Baltimore system of public education ..
ORWITZ, PHINEAS J., Medical Director United States Navy, the third son of Dr. J. Horwitz, was born in Baltimore March 3, 1822. Ile stu- died medicine under Professor Nathan R. Smith, and graduated at the University of Maryland in . 1844. Ile afterwards continued his medical studies at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He entered the navy in 1847, and was immediately assigned to duty on the squadron then blockading the coast of Mexico. Soon after reporting for duty in the blockading squadron he was se- lected to take charge of the Naval Hospital at Frontera de Tobasco, and continued in that responsible position until the close of the Mexican war. On reaching home, in recognition of his efficiency in Mexico, he was detailed by the Navy Department for duty on board the frigate Con-
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stitution, then fitting out for the Mediterranean squadron. Ile was promoted Passed Assistant Surgeon in 1853. In 1854 he married Caroline, daughter of Joseph Parker Norris, Esq., of Philadelphia. Dr. Horwitz continued to be actively employed at sea until 1859, when he was ten- dered and accepted the position of Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the Navy Department. This position he held until 1865. Owing to the feeble health of the Surgeon-General, the labors of the Bureau fell almost entirely upon Dr. Horwitz, whose eminent executive ability, devotion to duty, honesty, economy, and capacity were fully displayed during the four years of the late war, which necessitated intense labor in the perform- ance of the complicated duties of his office. When the war broke out the navy consisted of some fifteen or twenty vessels, which were distributed throughout the world. At the termination of hostilities there were some seven hun- dred ships in commission, all actively engaged on duty. These had to be kept supplied with surgeons, apotheca- ries, nurses, medicines, medical stores, and all the para- phernalia that go to make up an efficient medical depart- ment. The superintendence of this work fell almost entirely upon Dr. Horwitz, and during the whole period of the war it is not known that there was a single com- plaint made against the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. On the death of his predecessor Dr. Horwitz was at once appointed Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, or, as it is now called, Surgeon-General, which placed him at the head of the medical corps of the navy, a corps numbering in its ranks some of the most eminent medical men of the country. Dr. Horwitz severed his connection with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in 1869, after a service of more than ten years at the Navy Department. In 1871 Dr. Horwitz was promoted to Medical Inspector, and in 1873 to Medical Director, which rank, the highest in the corps, he now holds. Since 1869 he has been stationed at Philadelphia. During the year 1877 Dr. Horwitz met with a severe blow in the loss of his wife, of whom it has been said : " She was per- feet." In the latter part of the same year he also lost his eldest son, Dr. Theodore Horwitz, a young man of rare qualities of both head and heart, who graduated at the Jef- ferson Medical College, Philadelphia, with the most dis- tinguished honors in a class numbering more than five Imudred students, and who also subsequently passed at the head of a competitive examination for the position of Resi- (lent Physician at the Philadelphia Almshouse, a post that is eagerly sought after by the rising young medical men of that city. At the time of his death Dr. Theo- dore Horwitz was but twenty-one years of age. " Ilad he lived," the present head of American surgery said of hin, "he would certainly have made his mark in the medical world, for so much enthusiasm, so much talent, and so much industry could not have failed to have made him a distinguished surgeon."
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