The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2, Part 70

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802

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vice. Shortly after his promotion Captain Bowie was obliged to resign his commission on account of a disease he had contracted peculiar to that ciimate. In 1847, when only twenty-one years of age, he was elected to the House of Delegates, and such was his popularity that he was re- turned for several terms. In 1860 he was elected Presi- dent of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, a position requiring executive talent of the highest order. In that responsible office, which he still fills, he has won a national reputation as one of the ablest business men of the country. In 1864 he was a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor, with the venerable Judge Chambers for Governor, but the ticket was defeated. In 1867 he represented Prince George's County in the State Senate, serving till the Constitutional Convention of that year. In November, 1867, he was elected Governor, but in consequence of the provision of the new Constitution allowing Governor Swann to serve out the full term of four years for which he had been elected, Governor Bowie did not enter upon the executive duties until January, 1869. In October, 1873, Governor Bowie was elected President of the Baltimore City Pas- senger Railway Company, his predecessor, Henry Tyson, having accepted the Vice-Presidency of the Erie Rail- road. Here Governor Bowie's executive abilities have been exhibited in the wise and successful management of that corporation, by which the arrearages on the City Park Tax Fund of over one hundred thousand dollars have been paid, and the value of the stock raised from fifteen to thirty-five per cent. The company is now in a most flourishing condition. Governor Bowie is a gentleman of comprehensive views and excellent judgment, accomplish- ing all he undertakes with facility'and ease. This is seen in the fact that while he is the executive head of two great corporations, which he manages with consummate skill and success, he still finds time for healthful recreation and to indulge his taste for fine horses and his fondness for the sports of the turf. Since its organization he has been President of the Maryland Jockey Club. Governor Bowie has always been identified with the Democratic party in polities, and is a member of the Episcopal Church. He married Miss Alice Carter, a descendant on her mother's side of Lord Baltimore. They have seven children living.

SILES, HON. WILLIAM FELL, Ex-Judge of the United States District Court of Maryland, was born in Harford County, Maryland, April 8, 1807. He received his education at the private academy of David W. Boyseau, a celebrated teacher of his day, and the Bel Air Academy, then in charge of Rev. George Morrison. In 1826 he commenced the study of law under the instructions of the late Judge John Purviance. In 1829 he was admitted tothe bar and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1837 he was elected to the Maryland

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Legislature as a Democrat from Baltimore city; and in 1840 was re-elected. May 25, 1846, he delivered the ad- dress at the dedication of the Odd Fellows' Hall in Wash- ington ; and in 185s an address before the Maryland In stitute on the " Hungarian Revolution." hi May, 1856, he was selected to make the address of welcome to Prest dent Buchanan on the occasion of his publie reception in Baltimore. On the deccase of Judge Glenn Mr. Giles was appointed by President Pierce United States District Judge for Maryland. After his elevation to the bench Judge Giles serupulously refrained from taking any active part in politics. For more than thirty years he was an officer of the Maryland State Colonization Society; and for twenty years one of the Commissioners of the State for removing such of the free people of color to Liberia as chose to go there. Ile was for many years an Elder of the Presby- terian Church. He has been twice married ; first, in 1831, to Miss Sarah Wilson, of Baltimore, a sister of Mrs. J. Harmon Brown. His second wife was Miss Catharine Donaldson, daughter of Dr. William Donaldson. Judge Giles died March 21, 1879, leaving four children, three sons and a daughter. Ile was a man of distinguished ability and lofty character.

t UME, THOMAS LEVI, was born in Culpepper 1º County, Virginia, October 24, 1838. He was the second of twelve children, all of whom were living up to 1860. His father, Charles Hume, re- moved from Virginia to Washington during Polk's administration, and resided in that city until his death in 1862. Ilis mother, Virginia ( Rawlings) Hume, was a first cousin of the late distinguished General Rawlings, Secre- tary of War under President Grant's first administration. Both his paternal aud maternal ancestors came from Eng- land. Shortly after the removal of Thomas's parents to Washington he was placed in the Preparatory Department of Columbia College, District of Columbia, then presided over by Zalmon Richards, Ile attended the college until 1854, when he left to take a position with Jesse Wilson, a grocer. Thomas was now sixteen years of age, and since that time he has had the making of his fortune in his own hands. After two years spent with Jesse Wilson he was given a clerkship in the large grocery house of Edward Hall. While holding this position he was noted for punc- tuality, striet devotion to rules of business, manliness, and integrity. In 1860 he had entire control of Hall's busi- ness, and in 1864 he became a partner with Mr. Hall, the firm thereby becoming llall & Hume, and so continued until 1866, when, by the death of Mr. Hall, the entire management of the large business passed into the hands of Mr. Hume, Mr. Hall's widow retaining her interest in the firm, which was purchased in 1872, and the house still con- tinued as Ilall & llume, though Mr. Hume had entire

control. In 1874 he associated with himself James K. Cleary ; and in January, 1878, Henry F. Davis purchased an interest in the business, and the firm became known as Imme, Davis & Co., and so continued until January, 1879, when Mr. Davis's interest was bought, and the fum is now known under the title of Hume, Cleary & Co. Mr. Hmmne was married April 30, 1866, to Miss Nannie G., only child of Adolphins II. Pickrell, Esq., a wealthy and influential citizen of Georgetown, District of Columbia. He has always been a member of the Episcopal Church, though his parents were of Baptist stock. At present he is a ves- tryman of the Ascension Church, and contributed gener- ously to aid Bishop Pinkney in its erection. Until re- cently Mr. Hume was a Director of the Second National Bank (Washington ) ; his duties being onerous, necessitated his resignation. He is one of the Fire Commissioners of the District of Columbia, also a Trustee of the new Episcopal school for young ladies, about to be built at Rock Creek Church grounds. He belongs to the Order of Knights Templar, and is a member of Commandery No. 1. In 1862 Mr. Hlume's father died, and upon him devolved the sup- port of his mother and seven children. With character- istic filial and brotherly affection he performed what he , considered his duty, and he did it eminently well, giving to each of his brothers and sisters a good education, and rendering them every assistance in his power. Besides his city residence in Washington Mr. Hume owns a beautiful country place called " Tunlaw." Here during the summer months he spends his time with his devoted and accom- plished wife and .children, dispensing a generous hospi- tality to his friends, and helping those who need aid, for his kindness is without limit. On his farm he has some of the finest Jersey cattle in the United States. Mr. Hume is a cultivated, well-bred man, of fine personal appearance, six feet in stature, has black hair, hazel eyes, and wears a dark- brown mustache, dresses elegantly but neatly, and has an abundance of this world's goods, which he uses to the best possible advantage. Ile is emphatically a self-made man. Ilis popularity, his integrity, his devotion to principle, need no comment from his biographers.

STEVENSON, JOHN M., M.D., was born in Balti- more November 30, 1840. His father was James M. Stevenson, M.D., who for forty years has been a prosperous physician in Baltimore, and his grandfather was John Stevenson, a native of Ireland, who came to America in 1815 and settled in Kentucky, where he purchased extensive tracts of land on the Ohio River, about seventy miles from Cincinnati. He died an octo- genarian in 1857. The latter's father was Henry Steven- son, a native of Scotland. Dr. John Stevenson, the uncle of Dr. John M. Stevenson, was a very prominent physician of Baltimore, where he practiced for fifty years, and

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his unele, Henry Stevenson, was an extensive grain mer- chant of that city. Dr. John Metzer Stevenson, the sub- ject of this sketch, was placed at the age of nine years at the Wilbraham Academy, near Springfield, Massachusetts, .' and graduated therefrom in the fourteenth year of his age, when he was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy. At the expiration of a year, not fancying a seafaring life, he resigned from the navy and entered the Medical School of Yale College, where he remained two years, and then returned to his native city. After a residence of two years in Illinois he commenced the study of medicine in his father's office and that of Professor Nathan R. Smith, and graduated from the Maryland University in the spring of 1861. Soon afterward he was appointed Surgeon in the United States Army, and assigned to Annapolis. Three months thereafter Governor Bradford appointed him Sur- geon of the Third Maryland Infantry, in which position he served for two years, participating in all the engage- ments of the Valley of Virginia, of Maryland, and at Get- tysburg, where he received a serious wound, which inca- pacitated him for duty four weeks. After convalescing he was placed in charge of McKim Ilospital, near Baltimore, where he remained until January, 1864. He was then as- signed to the Third Maryland Cavalry, which was ordered to New Orleans by steamship. The small-pox appeared in the vessel, but by proper preventive and quarantine precautions he prevented its introduction into that city through the medium of those over whom he had profes- sional charge.' The doctor participated in the various en- gagements in the Mississippi region, and was at the capture of Fort Gaines, Spanish Fort, and the city of Mobile. At the conclusion of the war he returned to Baltimore and renewed the private practice of his profession, in which he continued successfully until his death. Ile was a mem- ber of the Medico-Chirurgieal Association of Maryland, and the medical societies of Baltimore, before which he read several valuable papers on professional subjects. Ile was a Knight Templar in the Order of Masons, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. November 1, 1867, he married Miss Lizzie Rider, daughter of Edward Rider, an English gentleman who came to America about ISIS, and settled in Baltimore County on the line of the North- ern Central Railroad, where he. purchased extensive tracts of land. Dr. Stevenson died in the spring of 1879, leaving two sons, Allen and Burton Stevenson

HIAISTY, EDWARD J., M.D., was born near Balti- more, December 22, 1813. Ilis father, Edward Chaisty, a native of Ireland, settled in Baltimore in 1811, where his mother, also a native of that country, had preceded him a few years. They married in Bal- timore in 1811. Mr. Chaisty was a man of heroic fortitude, sparkling humor, spotless integrity, and possessed of natural

powers of oratory. His mother was a lady of remarkable beauty, of poetic taste, and kind in her maternal relations. In the war of 1812 Mr. Chaisty furnished the material from which the cannon was cast for the defence of his adopted country. Ile aided in the construction of the " Six Gun Battery," that rendered such signal service in saving Baltimore in 1814. After an academic preparation the subject of this sketch entered St. Mary's College in 1827, from which he graduated with high honors in 1832. lle remained three years in that institution after graduating in the capacity of Preceptor in English and Latin Litera- ture, Geography, and the higher branches of Mathematics. At the expiration of the above time he commenced the study of medicine. Ile matriculated at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1835, and graduated therefrom in the spring of 1837, having been for a portion of his student life a pupil in the office of Professor Nathan R. Smith. Shortly after receiving his diploma he was ap- pointed by the Faculty of the University Demonstrator of Anatomy therein. During the two years he held that po- sition Dr, Chaisty published a revised edition of a standard work on dissection, with many valuable alterations and amendments, that were highly approved as beneficial to the medical student, and which received from the medical jour- nals of the country the most laudatory commendations. Upon retiring from the position of Demonstrator Dr. Chaisty entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he has been actively and successfully engaged to the present time. To Dr. Chaisty belongs the honor of the first successful operation in this country for the removal of ovarian tumor. In 1842 he was selected by the alumni of the University of Maryland to deliver an address before its association. Ilis theme was " The Merit and Dignity of the Medical Profession," and the discourse was regarded as a masterly, chaste, and classical production. The doctor has always taken an carnest and active part in all movements for the relief of Irishmen who have been driven to our shores by want or political oppression, and also in behalf of the greit repeal movements in Ireland from 1840 to 1846. In 1854 he was elected to the command of the Union Guards, and a few years later he was selected as the leader of the Shields Guards. In 1847 Dr. Chaisty was appointed by Mayor Jacob G. Davies Health Commissioner of Balti- more, which position he held under that gentleman's administration and also under that of his successor, Mayor Elijah Stansbury. In 1867 he was elected by the Demo- cratic party to represent the city of Baltimore in the Legis- lature of Maryland ; in 1871 and in 1875 the same honor was conferred upon him. During the terms for which he served in the Legislature he was on some of the most im- portant committees, such as " Federal Relations," " Edu- cation," " Claims," " Printing," " Library," etc., faithfully and ably discharging his duties as a representative. Dr. Chaisty's wife was Miss Anne McEnery, a native of Lim- eriek, Ireland. He has had four children, one only of

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whom survives, Colonel Edward J. Chaisty, who occupies an important official position in one of the Baltimore courts. Few men surpass Dr. Chaisty in scholarly attain- inents, patriotic devotion, integrity, professional skill, and benevolence.

DAMS, SAMUEL II., Contractor and Builder, was born, January 24. 1827, near Norfolk, Virginia. Having received an excellent education in public and private schools, he at the age of twelve years was apprenticed to Joseph Nutt, a carpenter of Cumberland, Maryland, to which place his family had re- moved after the death of his father, which occurred in 1833. Hle remained with Mr. Nutt for the term of six years, and in 1845 went to Baltimore, where he worked as a journeyman for various employers, including the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad Company at its Mount Clare works. In 1848, in the twenty-first year of his age, he commenced business on his own account. In 1851 he formed a copartnership with his brother, John F. Adams, under the firm name of $. 11. Adams & Brother. In 1854 this partnership was dissolved, each brother conducting business successfully on his individual account until 1860, when they reunited under their present firm name, .S. H1. & J. F. Adams. Whilst conducting business on his own account, Samuel, in addition to numerous other build- ings, erected St. John's Catholic Church, corner of Eager and Valley streets, and the Infant Asylum, corner of Town- send and Division streets. In conjunction with his brother he has built many elegant and valuable structures in Phila- delphia, Chicago, Washington, Richmond, and other cities. Among the first contracts of the Adams Brothers were the court-houses in Chestertown and Frederick, Maryland. They have had many large contracts with railroad com- panics. They built all the roundhouses and shops at Mount Vernon, the extensive buildings on North Centre and Monument streets, and the fine structure on Calvert and Centre streets, in which are the Baltimore offices of the Northern Central Railroad Company. They were also the builders of the roundhouses for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company at the foot of Eutaw Street and Riverside, Spring Garden, and at Keyser, formerly New Creek. They built the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad depot at Washington, District of Columbia, as also the new freight depot of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, corner of Carpenter and Broad streets, Philadelphia. They remodelled the passenger depot for the same road in that city. They have built various im- portant structures other than those mentioned, including the Mount Hope Insane Asylum, six miles from Baltimore, the Convent of Notre Dame, the Spiller Building, a row of marble-front warehouses on Charles near Fayette Street, the Carrollton flotel, the Correspondent Building, the Union Bank, in Baltimore, etc., and houses in Chicago, illi.

nois. Samuel Adams was appointed a member of the Build- ing Committee for the erection of the Baltimore City Hall. Ile has been a Director for several years in the National Union Bank of Baltimore. In political sentiment he is a Democrat, and his religious views are in accord with the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. His wife was Miss Mary A. Logue, of Baltimore. They have six chil- dren.

DAMS, JOHN F., Contractor and Builder, was born at Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, January 30, 1829. His parents were John and Ann Adams, Ilis father emigrated from Ireland in 1820, and was for many years a successful contractor and builder of public works. His mother's maiden name was Ann Kuhn. She was a native of Adams County, Pennsylvania, and of German descent. Her father, Henry Kuhn, was a miller, and a highly respected citizen of that county, who subse- quently became a prominent miller of Richmond, Virginia. After the death of Mr. Adams's father, which occurred in 1833, the family removed to Cumberland, Maryland. Mr. Adams was then four years of age. At an early age, not from necessity, but choice, he relied upon his own resources for support, and his life having therefore been one of con- stant toil and business activity, his educational advantages were very limited. For some time he worked in a brick- yard, and in his fourteenth year was engaged in running a steam-engine in the first planing-mill of Bell & Hendrick- son, at Cumberland. At sixteen he was apprenticed in the carpenter business with William McClelland, and served three and a half years. In 1849 he left Cumberland and went to Baltimore, where he worked at the carpenter trade as a journeyman until 1851, when he entered into a co- partnership with his brother, Samuel H. Adams, under the firm name of S. H. Adams and Brother. This partnership continued until 1854, when it was dissolved by mu- tual consent. Each then conducted business on his own account until 1860, when they reunited under their present firm name, S. 11. & J. F. Adams, Since unit- ing with his brother in 1860 his firm has attained a wide reputation and has been awarded contracts in various parts of the country. Numerous monuments of their supe- rior skill and workmanship are to be found in Baltimore, l'hiladelphia, Chicago, Washington, Richmond, and other cities. They have built for railroad companies some of the largest and finest passenger and freight depots and exten- sive shops and roundhouses in the country, and have erected many large and imposing business structures, mag- nificent bank and hotel buildings, conspicuous among which is the Carrollton Hotel of Baltimore, one of the finest buildings of the kind in the United States. In the preceding sketch of Mr. Samuel H. Adams, brother of the subject of this sketch, is an account of the varied

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and extensive work accomplished by this firm. Mr. John F. Adams has paid particular attention to the purchasing of material and the superintending of all work, while his brother devotes his attention to the financial and soliciting department. By such division of labor and co-operative effort they have been able to achieve the great success which has attended their business career. In politics Mr. Adams is a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Roman Catholic Church. He married Miss Virginia Ross, of Balti- more, and has five children living : Charles W., T. Ira, Mary Alice, John F., Jr., and William A. Adams.

URNS, SAMUEL, Lumber Merchant, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, March 2, 1822. His father, Francis Burns, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was brought to this country by his parents when but six years of age, landing in Philadelphia. In 1818 he removed to Baltimore, where he followed the brick business till 1860, when he retired. He had six sons and four daughters, all of whom married young. The eldest, Wil- liam F. Burns, succeeded his father in the brick business, but also retired in 1869. Ile is now President of the Peo- ple's Gas Company and of the Eutaw Savings Bank of Baltimore. At the age of fifteen Samuel Burns entered the employ of Coates & Glenn, lumber merchants, with whom he remained till the spring of 1843, when he formed a partnership with George F. Sloan in the same business. This continued till the death of the latter in 1866, when he formed a new partnership with his son on Light Street Wharf. This house was also dissolved February 18, 1878, and Mr. Burns has since conducted the business alone at 104 Light Street. He was married, November 17, 1846, to a daughter of James Wilks, then a prominent hardware merchant of Baltimore, and has five daughters : Mary K., who married Richard C. Wilson in 1870; Kate Wilks, married John D. Oakford in 1876; E. Grace, Clem K., and Jennie Burns, are the remaining children. Two broth- ers of Mr. Burns, Frank, Jr., and Findley 11. Burns, are doing an extensive business as members of the wholesale grocery firm af Wilson, Burns & Co., on the corner of Howard and Lombard streets, Baltimore,

REVELL, WILLIAM THEODORE, M.D., was born in Annapolis, Maryland, June 3, 1824. . IIe is the only son of Martin F. and Mary Elizabeth ( Wor- rell) Revell. He received his education at St. John's College, and then entered upon the study of medi- cine in the office of Dr. Edward Sparks, of Annapolis. In 1847 he graduated at the Maryland University and settled in the practice of his profession in the Third District of Anne Arundel County, continuing therein from 1847 to

1875, and enjoying during that period a large practice. In the latter year he was elected Register of Wills in Anne Arundel County for the term of six years. In political sentiment Dr. Revell is attached to the Democratic party, and his religious convictions are in accord with the Koman Catholic Church. July 28, 1853, he married Miss Rhoda Chairs, and has eight children living. His eldest son, Henry M. T. Revell, attended St. John's College, and after studying medicine in his father's office, graduated at the Maryland University in the spring of 1876.

BONES, GEORGE PERRY, M.D., was born in Somerset County (now Wicomico), October 19, 1838. Hle is the son of B. D. Jones, a farmer of Quantico District. He served in the State Assembly of Mary- land for several terms. The grandfather of Dr. Jones, Benjamin I. Jones, was of Tyaskin District. He was an officer of the war of 1812, and distinguished himself in the attack on the British at Green Hill and White Haven, on the Wicomico River. Captain Jones was a Royal Arch Mason. He died in the eighty-eighth year of his age. Dr. Jones's mother was Maria S., daughter of Thomas Jones, of Somerset County. She died in 1854. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was noted for her picty and culture. George attended school in Quantico, Wicomico County, until fourteen years of age, when he entered Washington Academy, Princess Anne County, where he remained until his twentieth year, and then com- menced the teaching of school near Salisbury, and at the same time read medicine under the direction of Dr. John M. Dashield. He matriculated at the University of Mary- land School of Medicine in 1863, and graduated therefrom in March, 1865. Ile commenced the practice of medicine in Bucktown, Dorchester County, and removed in 1869 to East New Market, where he has ever since devoted him- self to his profession. He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1866, and has filled all the chairs of the Blue Lodge. He was Master of his lodge, " Choptank," No. 38, for two terms. Ile became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1870, and has filled the office of steward therein. lle is a Director in the East New Market Navigation Company. Dr. Jones is of a generous disposition, and contributes liberally to benevolent enterprises. In Novem- ber, 1867, he married Miss Williamanna, daughter of Colo- ncl George E. Austin, of Dorchester County. Ile has four children, three sons and one daughter.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Maryland and District of Columbia Pt. 2, Part 70

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 802

Author: National Biographical Publishing Co. 4n
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Baltimore : National Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802