USA > Maryland > Genealogical and memorial encyclopedia of the state of Maryland, a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume I > Part 1
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Richard A. Spencer
GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF THE
STATE OF MARYLAND
A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation
Under the Editorial Supervision of
RICHARD HENRY SPENCER, LL.B.
Corresponding Secretary of The Maryland Historical Society; Author of "Carlyle Family"; "Thomas Family of Talbot County, Maryland, and Allied Families," etc., etc.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
1919
TO NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 202942A ACTOR. LENOX AND -
DEN FOUNDATIONS R 1925 L
PREFACE
FACH State should have, if possible, its own distinctive Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia, which should include the names of prominent citizens of the State, both liv- ing and dead, embracing genealogical and biographical sketches, not only of those well known in the church, at the bar, and other professions, but also of those who have been foremost in contributing to the commercial and industrial progress and welfare of the State. It is with this view that the Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia of Maryland has been undertaken.
It is almost impossible not to have a laudable desire to know something of the departed, and curiosity about our pro- genitors seems quite natural. If they were honored in any way above their fellows, it was because they were entitled to some distinction for having led honorable and useful lives, and had left their impress upon the history of their times.
There is inspiration in a rounded, well-spent life, there- fore their lives are more interesting and instructive to us because they had accomplished something in the drama of life.
An able writer has well said: "To gather up the Mem- orials of those who have gone before us, to reconstruct their living portraits from historical fragments so widely scattered, is a work of time, of patience and unremitting toil; but, once completed, the ancestral line, reaching down the vista of the past, will stand out clearly before us, the images of our fathers will tenderly live in our minds, and we shall reverently cherish their memories, as will likewise the generations to come." "y For as Edmund Burke emphatically exclaimed, "Those who do not treasure up the memory of their ancestors do not de- serve to be remembered by posterity." By a higher authority
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PREFACE
we are commanded to honor our forefathers, that our days may be long.
The cultivation of family history, therefore, is one of the essentials to the welfare of society. The history of a State is best told in a record of the lives of its people.
The genealogical and biographical sketches, it is hoped, will prove of interest and value, not only to members of the various families, but to the general reader as well. The aim of the work has been to give the genealogies of the subjects, so far as they could be obtained, their births, marriages and deaths, and full and accurate information as to their lives, from original sources or from the immediate family, whose family name represented either direct descent from the early settlers of Maryland, from Revolutionary ancestors, or marked success through intelligent and honest labor for the benefit of his State, whose influence and example are worthy of the greatest emulation. The story of their lives might perish, if not preserved by some method of research, as has been adopted by the publishers of this work. No similar work of this scope, concerning Maryland families, has ever been published. It contains ancestral lines never before printed, and a faithful chronicle of people who have made Maryland in part what it is. It gives, in a lucid and dignified manner, all the im- portant facts regarding the ancestry, personal careers and matrimonial alliances of those who, in each succeeding genera- tion, have been accorded leading positions in the social, pro- fessional and business life of the State.
"Than Maryland, no other State or region offers so pe- culiarly interesting a field for such research. Its sons, 'native here and to the manner born,' and of splendid ancestry, have attained distinction in every field of human endeavor."
The early settlers of the Province of Maryland brought with them some of the best traits and traditions of those who
PREFACE
were accustomed to English country life, many of them being of ancient lineage, scions of the Landed Gentry, and some even of Knightly Families, and now, after a lapse of two hundred and 'fifty years, not a few of the landed estates are in the possession of the descendants of the original proprietors.
Much valuable information has been obtained from orig- inal sources; and, in the case of recent lives, important aid has been given by the friends and relatives of the subjects.
As portraiture is the demand of the times and contributes so much to the interest of biography, it has been made a feature of the work to have every sketch, as far as possible, embellished with a portrait.
It has been the aim and desire of the Editor and Pub- lishers to render the Encyclopedia a comprehensive and authentic historical memorial.
RICHARD HENRY SPENCER.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE .- This work is paged continuously through the volumes, and the Index will be found at the close of Volume II.
The narratives contained herein have been submitted to the persons in interest, for verification and revision.
RT NEW YORK a LIBRARY
1
AND
Charles Carroll Sulten
CHARLES CARROLL FULTON
WITH the passing of Charles Carroll Fulton, a life of rare fullness and activity closed and journalism was bereft of one of its most shining lights. His life began in 1816, but two years after the roar of British and American cannon fired with deadly intent had ceased to echo across the harbor of the city he grew to love so well, and the smoke from those guns had barely cleared away, revealing the fact that the "star spangled banner in triumph did wave." It closed in 1883, his dying vision resting on a nation great and prosperous, hardly yet done with recounting the glories of the greatest of national or international expositions which celebrated its one hundredth birthday, held in the city which gave him birth. Those two cities, Philadelphia and Balti- more, witnessed the beginning and the ending of the life and illustrious career of one of the remarkable men of a remark- able period in the nation's history, and of one of the com- manding figures in American journalism, Charles Carroll Fulton, a printer and newspaper man from boyhood, and editor of the "Baltimore American," from 1853 until his death in 1883.
And what a wonderful period in American history he lived in, and aided to make glorious! His active life wit- nessed Texas achieving independence from Mexican rule, and he followed with anxious breath the fortunes of an elder brother, George Washington Fulton, who fought with the Texans. And he saw Texas after achieving that independence voluntarily surrender it to enter the sisterhood of states and merge her "Lone Star" with the galaxy of stars which form the starry emblem. He saw the war with Mexico and the great territorial expansion which followed it; the discovery of gold in California, the invention of the telegraph and its
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
application to the gathering of news from all parts of the world. He saw the death of the old Whig party and the blasting of the ambitions of his chief, Henry Clay; the birth of the Republican party and the rise of the great Lincoln, whom he also followed. He saw the North and the South locked for four years in deadly armed conflict, and he saw them again united in bonds which shall never be broken; and in all these historical events he bore a part, not a passive, but an active part. He saw his adopted city expand to com- mercial greatness and in that, too, he bore his part. As news editor of the "Baltimore Sun" (1842-1853) he won his first enduring fame as journalist, and as half owner, then as sole owner and editor of the "Baltimore American," he added to the lustre of that name which shall never fade in journalism.
Yet, though he lived for so many years at the head of a great journal and although his name was familiar to hundreds of thousands, his circle of intimate and personal friends was not large. His journalistic and domestic life absorbed his time and his thoughts, he cared but little for social or political honors, and thus was seen but little in public. Yet in all parts of Maryland and the neighboring States, lifelong readers of the "American" came to regard him with almost affectionate reverence as a guide and a friend. With tall, erect form, determined, pale, thoughtful counte- nance, full, white beard and firm set brow betokening the energy and force of his character, his was a figure that might well arrest attention; yet comparatively few of those who leaned upon his advice knew his person. But the glance of his eye was very kindly and genial, his smile most win- ning. All who came in contact with him respected him; all who knew him loved him.
Mr. Fulton was of Scotch ancestry paternally, his father, George Fulton, coming from the banks of the River
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
Tweed, to settle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He obtained a position in Bioren's book store, then a Philadelphia literary center, but later he became a dry goods merchant. He married Ann' Ware, of the well-known Ware family of the State of Delaware, who was early orphaned. She became a ward of the famous Benjamin Chew, whose Germantown resi- dence figured so prominently during the battle fought Octo- ber 4, 1777. She became a very warm friend of her guar- dian's daughter, Harriet Chew, who, in 1779, married Charles Carroll, "of Carrollton." When the third son of George and Ann (Ware) Fulton was born, the mother, in memory of her younger days, chose for her son the name of the husband of her girlhood friend, thus the name, Charles Carroll Fulton.
Both George and Ann (Ware) Fulton died in 1826, leaving five sons: George Washington, William Ware, Charles Carroll, Edington and Alexander, the eldest four- teen and the youngest six years of age. The family fortunes had gone awry during the last years of George Fulton's life, and the sole inheritance of those boys was energy and brains. Their early lives were closely bound together, all being taken into the home of their nearest relative, their mother's sister, Mrs. Eliza Freeman, who taught a private school. Under her kindly care and tuition the boys acquired the good foun- dation of an English education, but the time soon came when they must go out into the world and build their own for- tunes. The eldest, George Washington, went to Texas, then a province of Mexico, took part with the Texans in achieving their independence, later settling and becoming one of the cattle barons of the State. He married a daughter of Henry Smith, provisional governor of Texas in 1835, while the struggle with Mexico was in progress.
The other four boys all chose the printer's trade and
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
became apprentices in the office of the "Philadelphia Gazette," later the "North American." The "Gazette" was then published by William Fry; the editor, Robert Walsh, a Baltimorean by birth, one of the most prominent editors of his day and a shining literary light. The "Gazette" offices were located on Second street, below Chestnut, and there the four brothers learned their trades, and although a hard school, it was a good one, and they acquired complete knowledge of the printing business from its very foundation. Their lives flowed in this similar channel for several years, when they separated, each going his own way.
Charles Carroll Fulton was born in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, September 20, 1816, died in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, June 7, 1883. His parents died when he was ten years of age, and from that age until nearing his majority, his experiences were those of his brothers, as outlined in the foregoing paragraphs. He absorbed all the printer's lore the Fry offices in Philadelphia could afford him, then in 1836 started out on an independent career as an expert journeyman printer. His first venture was in New York City, where, for a few months, he was employed in a printing office. In the same year, 1836, he came to Baltimore, was soon after- ward married, and began working as a journeyman printer in the offices of John Toy, then the leading printer of the city. He continued with Mr. Toy for several years, care- fully husbanding his resources and providing for the time he was determined should come when he would own his own printing establishment.
His next move was to the National Capital, where he was employed on that famous newspaper of the period, "The Washington Intelligencer," then the foremost journalistic agency in the country for moulding and directing political thought. The office of the paper was a headquarters for the
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
politicians of that era, the proprietors, Messrs. Gates and Seaton, enjoying confidential relations with Clay, Webster, Benton, Calhoun and other statesmen whose genius illum- inated the struggle in Congress which was the forerunner of the Civil War. In such an atmosphere Mr. Fulton could not avoid the study of men and manners; it was favorable to the cultivation of thought upon the serious issues then begin-' ning to divide the nation, and amid such surroundings his political views were developed and confirmed with regard to the value of the Union, the sacrifices that should be made to perpetuate it, the moral wrong and economic blunder embraced in slavery and slave-labor. Inclined to the tenets of the Whig party in his budding manhood, his convictions were fixed in the midst of his Washington associations.
There then came to him the chance for independent pub- lishing for which he had so long been waiting and preparing. "The Advocate," a paper published at Georgetown, D. C., was offered for sale, and the price being within the means at his command he purchased it, and for five years was its editor and proprietor, bringing it up to a respectable standing and carrying its circulation into Washington and the adjacent country. The National Capital being so near at hand, his political connections remained unbroken, and in his columns he was a sturdy champion of the Whig cause, being thor- oughly imbued with the teachings of Henry Clay and having the highest admiration for that eminent man. For five years he edited and published the "Georgetown Advocate," devel- oping with the years and really "finding himself." With the consciousness of intellectual power, the heritage of his Scotch father and American mother, and with the experiences that convinced him journalism was his true sphere, came the con- viction that he must seek a wider field of action. With that conviction quickly came decision, the "Advocate" was sold and Baltimore determined upon as his new location.
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
On arriving in Baltimore he sought employment in the composing room of the "Baltimore Sun," a successful news- paper founded in 1837 by Swan, Abell & Simmons, Mr. Abell being in charge of the paper. Mr. Fulton was not long allowed to remain in the composing room, however, his ex- perience and demonstrated capacity for a higher department causing Mr. Abell to press him into service as a reporter. This was altogether to Mr. Fulton's liking, and although the reporter's art or profession was then in its infancy, the "local column" of the "Sun" soon took shape and substance. In this, and as one of the earliest legitimate reporters, he found congenial occupation, his ready pen, tireless energy in the collection of news, and his perseverance marking him in the eyes of his chief for further promotion. After further demon- stration of his readiness to avail himself of opportunities to embrace new features not hitherto considered within the scope of a reporter's duty and his perfect adaptability to newspaper work, Mr. Abell in 1842 promoted him to the desk of news editor. He administrated the affairs of this responsible desk for nearly eleven years, 1842-1853, a period which in the interest it possesses for the historian is surpassed by no decade lying between the last war with Great Britain and the civil conflict. Within this time occurred the war with Mexico and the annexation of Texas, the invention of the electric telegraph, the struggle for and against the extension of slavery into the territories and new states, the decline of the Whig party and the rise of the Republican party, the short-lived predominence of the Know-Nothing party, the discovery of gold in California, a comparatively vast extension of the rail- road system, and improvement of steam transportation upon the ocean and inland waters. There was also the Seminole War in Florida, and the contest over the tariff, which was settled in 1842 by the passage of a protective act. It was a
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
time when the nation was growing like a lusty young giant.
While the slavery question kept the political temper at fever heat, a spirit of adventure was prompting the people to enterprise. ' The newspapers kept pace with, or rather led the popular movement. It was Mr. Fulton's duty to co-ope- rate with his employers in maintaining for the "Sun" that place in the front rank which it had already won. In 1838, Mr. Abell had achieved some notable victories in procuring news by employing horsemen to carry intelligence between breaks in railway communication, and later the plan was further elaborated. In this way the "Sun" was the first paper in the country, outside of Washington, to print the messages of Presidents Van Buren and Harrison on the days they were delivered, and from this there came the famous "pony express." Although the system was to some extent in use prior to Mr. Fulton's administration of the "Sun," it re- mained for him to have a part in its enlargement into that comprehensiveness which made it forever memorable in the chronicles of journalism. Mr. Fulton was one of the first to recognize that the telegraph was to be the prime auxiliary of the newspaper, and he helped to bring it into requisition as frequently and to the full extent that circumstance would permit. He suggested its use for bringing reports of the proceedings of Congress, this first being done during the session of 1844-1845.
Henry J. Rogers, the able assistant of Professor Morse and superintendent of the Baltimore office, had facilitated the work by the invention of a cipher code, and with the economy of time this secured, it was possible to obtain a fair account of congressional debate and action. Mr. Fulton was the interpreter of the cipher as it was received at the Baltimore end of the wire and made up the reports for the printers. On May 24, 1846, the message of President Polk
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
was transmitted to Baltimore and published in full the next day. While continuing to hold the position of news editor of the "Sun," Mr. Fulton gave part of his time and effort to the organization of telegraph reporting, generally his plans being so acceptable that he gradually enlisted into the organ- ization all the leading papers of the cities reached by the wires. The telegraph and newspaper offices became news exchanges, and the next step, a natural consequence of what had so far been accomplished, was that journalistic combina- tion which, under the name of the Associated Press, has reached every source of information in all continents and subjected them to its ends. Mr. Fulton was the first agent of the Associated Press in Baltimore, handling its interests, at the same time that he was Mr. Abell's chief sub- odinate in the "Sun" office. But the double work became too arduous for him, and he brought into the agency of the Associated Press his youngest brother, Alexander, Fulton. This arrangement lasted until 1853, in which year he severed his connection with the "Sun," and purchased an interest in "The American," a step which to him was the consummation of his most sanguine hopes.
The old firm of Dobbin, Murphy & Bose, which had for half a century published the "Baltimore American," was dissolved on the 30th of June, 1853, Mr. Dobbin purchasing the interest of Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Fulton that of Mr. Bose. For the following eleven years the "American" was owned and published by Messrs. Dobbin and Fulton. With the infusion of new blood in the management of the "Amer- ican," a commendable spirit of enterprise was adopted in the gathering of news from distant points, in giving a faith- ful record of local events, and in bold and fearless editorials during the most exciting times. The political agitation that sought to sever the Union in 1861 did not cause the "Amer-
*
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
ican" to swerve from its love for the old flag. It circulated among the commercial classes, who had the largest interests at stake, and the most to lose by the disruption of the Union. The public sentiment was at times opposed to its teaching, and through the whole of the revolutionary period the "Amer- ican" was able to give a calm, steadfast and effectual support to the Union and the National government. Many of its old friends dropped away and powerful interests were arrayed against its editor, but the paper was too deeply rooted in the great commercial heart of the Monumental City to be seriously crippled. Charles Carroll Fulton was, in those troublous times, the pilot who kept the "American" out of the current of public opinion when it set too strongly toward the breakers of disunion. Mr. Robert A. Dobbin died in September, 1862, leaving his interests in the "American" to his son, Joseph Dobbin, from whom Mr. Fulton purchased it. By that time social order had resumed its sway in the city, and the turbulent elements had been subdued. The "American" had become a power in the State, and a widely- read journal throughout the section that remained faithful to the flag. It became the recognized leader of the loyal public opinion of Maryland. Its "special correspondence" during the war was extensively copied, and the signature of "C. C. F." was a warranty that the writer gave expression to what he knew, and described what he saw.
Mr. Fulton was with the Army of the Potomac during two of its most important campaigns, and the readers of the "American" got the benefit of his candor, his accurate habits of observation, and his indomitable enterprise in gathering news and dispatching his letter while the incidents were fresh, so that they were frequently far in advance of all his com- petitors. His dispatches very often distanced the official reports of the War Department, and gave the first tidings
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
of vital events to the government. Mr. Fulton accompanied the first iron-clad expedition against Fort Sumter and was on board the United States steamer "Bibb" when the attack was made. His controversy with the commander of the expedi- tion and the Navy Department is part of the history of the war. His opinions regarding the premature withdrawal of the fleet were subsequently confirmed from southern sources. Mr. Fulton, amid all the excitement of that period, was remarkably successful in raising funds for the purpose of sending supplies of every kind to the Union prisoners at Richmond, who were reported to be starving and suffering from the want of clothing and other necessaries. The fol- lowing resolution passed by the Maryland House of Delegates is evidence that his efforts were appreciated :
By the House of Delegates-
Resolved, That the thanks of the House be, and are hereby tendered to Charles Carroll Fulton of the City of Baltimore for his exertions for the relief of the soldiers of the Union now held by the so-called Con- federate authorities ; and especially for the aid afforded by him to the officers and enlisted men of the regiments of this State in Libby Prison, and Belle Isle, Richmond.
THOMAS H. KERN, Speaker of the House of Delegates. ALBERT V. R. COLE, Chief Clerk of the House of Delegates.
Mr. Fulton did not confine his efforts to alleviating the miseries of the boys in blue in southern prisons, but in many cases the sons of Baltimoreans, who had donned the gray, were indebted to him for attentions while lying in northern prisons. Mr. Fulton's son (later associated in proprietorship of the "American") was an engineer aboard the "Hartford," Ad- miral Farragut's flag ship, and acted as correspondent, giving graphic descriptions of the great naval engagements in which the illustrious commander conquered.
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GENEALOGICAL AND MEMORIAL
The senior editor was present at the hoisting of the old flag over the ruins of Fort Sumter, when the country was in full time of rejoicing over the close of the war, unconscious of the impending calamity of President Lincoln's assassina- tion. The setting sun that gilded the restored flag on the ruins rose the next morning on a nation mourning the martyr- dom of its chief.
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