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M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02243 6437
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/menofmarkinmary102meek
840
Men of Mark in Maryland
Johnson's Makers of America Series Biographies of Leading Men of the State
V. 2
VOLUME II
With an Introductory Chapter on The Growth of Maryland
By LYNN R. MEEKINS, A.M. -
Illustrated with Many Full Page Engravings
B. F. JOHNSON, Inc. Baltimore, Washington and Richmond
1910
-
1
1744286
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES VOLUME I
Page
Page
Warfield, Edwin 27
Hemmeter, John C. 179
Ainslie, Peter
31
Henderson, James B 185
Alvey, Richard H. 34
Hoffman, Richard C. 189
Avirett, John W
38
Hood, John M 192
Baker, Bernard N
45
Hook, Jacob W 201
205
Baldwin, Summerfield 53
Bennett, Benjamin F 59
Hunt, German H. 219
Janney, Stuart S. 223
Brown, Arthur G. 66
Bryan, William S., Sr. 70
Bryan, William S., Jr 75
Keedy, Martin L 230
Carothers, Daniel D 79
Keyser, William
234
Carroll, David H. 83
Collins, William S6
Culbreth, David M. R 93
Doll, Melville E. 96
Drum, Richard C
99
Morgan, Francis O
260
Elderdice, Hugh L 102
Mullan, Dennis W. 263
Newcomer, Benjamin F 266
Newcomer, Waldo.
274
Foard, Norval E 113
Franklin, Walter S 121
Pearce, James A., Sr
281
Frick, Frank. 124
Fuchs, Carl G. O. 131
Funk, Jacob J. 135
Prettyman, Elijah B
291
Purnell, Clayton 293
Ritchie, Albert C. 298
Rodgers, Frederick
303
Rohrback, Jacob
306
Schley, Winfield S. 310
Schultz, Edward T
317
Seth, Joseph B.
320
Hagner, Alexander B 164
Skinner, Harry G 327
Smith, Robert H
330
Snowden, Wilton
334
Harris, William H.
175
Porter, William F
2S6
Gail, George W., Sr. 139
Gail, George W., Jr 140
Gary, Edward S.
146
Gibbons, James Cardinal 149
Gildersleeve, Basil L 153
Gilman, Daniel C 156
Gilpin, Henry B. 160
Oswald, George B 278
Pearce, James A., Jr
284
Fearhake, Adolphus
106
Fell, Thomas 108
Levering, Eugene 246
McCosker, Thomas 252
Miller, Theodore K 256
209
Baldwin, Charles W 48
Howard, William L
Hubbard, Wilbur W
Huckel, Oliver 212
Bonaparte, Charles J. 63
Brewington, Marion B
64
Jefferys, Edward M
224
Jones, Spencer C. 226 -
Latrobe, Ferdinand C.
241
A 496
Hall, Clayton C.
171
4
INDEX
Page
Page
Spence, William W
336
Tyler, Joseph H. 380
Stanley, Charles H
340
Van Siekle, James H
387
Stephens, Martin B
344
Vernon, George W. F. 391
Stone, John Theodore
351
Wheeler, James R. 394
Stone, John Timothy
354
Wheelwright, Jere H. 398
Stump, Herman. 359
Wight, Charles S. 402
Talbot, Hattersly W 365
White, Francis A.
406
Thomas, Douglas H
368
White, Warren C.
410
Tilghman, Oswald
375
Wyatt, James B. N.
412
Toadvin, Edward S
378
1
.
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES VOLUME II
Page
Page
Abell Family 417
Hayne, Daniel H. 226
Ammidon, Daniel C
127
Hendrick, Calvin W 389
Ammidon. John P 123
Hering, Joshua W 208
Ashby. Thomas .1 .. 101
Hill. Thomas 219
Bevan, Charles F
191
Hinkley, John. 165
Bigelow, William P
189
Hopkinson. B. Merrill R 334
Black. H. Crawford. .33
Jolinston, Christopher
70
Bloede, Victor G
232
Jones, J. Wynne €6
Kelly, Howard A
72
Bonsal, Leigh. 239
Bosley, William H 149
Kinsolving, Arthur B 269
Clark, Ernest J
251
Knott. A. Leo 403
Cordell, Eugene F
246
Knox, James H. M., Jr 283
Coupland, Roberts S
153
Leary, Peter, Jr 35
Levering, Joshua 46
Long, Charles Chaillé. 81
Dickey, William A 303
Dunbar, William H 272
Duvall, Richard M. 102
McLane, Allan 13S
Marburg, Theodore 237
Mish, Frank W 922
Moffat, James E 215
Morrison, George C 243
Murray, Oscar G 375
Friendenwald, Harry 198
Paekard, Morrill N 255
Penrose, Clement A 112
Platt, Walter B 292
Gary, James A. 135
Poe, Edgar Allan 177
Poe, John P' 172
Randolph, Robert Lee 184
Reese, David M 306
Riggs, Clinton L 57
Rollins, Thornton 110
Rosenau, William
Rowland, Samuel C 29£
Schroeder, Ernest C 323
Hallwig, Paul. 337
McConachie, Alexander D 86
MeCreary, George W 92
Eccleston, J. Houston
130
Edmonds, Richard II. 27
Edmunds, James R 263
Farrow, J. Miles 158
Forsythe, William II., Jr. 200
Gill, Robert Lee 258
Gillett, George M 278
Goddard, Henry P 205
Gordon, Douglas H 61
Gottlieb, Frederick H 162
Greiner, John E. 40
Griffin, Edward H 285
Haines, Oakley P 168
Stirling, Yates.
142
Bond, Duke. 327
Kerr, Robert P 276
Dame, William M 94
Davis, Jesse A. 195
Frost, William A. Crawford 120
Garnett, James M. 63
6
INDEX
Page
Page
Stockbridge, Henry
299
Whitelock, George 370
Streett, David
314
Williams, John W. 357
Thom, DeCourcy W 361
Williams, Robert L. 383
Thomas, John B
325
Williams, Thomas J. C. 318
Thompson, Henry F
348
Winslow, Randolph 350
Turnbull, Edwin L.
310
Witzenbacher, William J 289
Turnbull, Lawrence
53
Woods, Hiram 355
Waters. Francis E
341
Yellott, John I 397
.
8
FOREWORD
The man who first established the silk industry at Lyons was worth more to France than Richelieu. Krupp was worth more to Ger- many than. Bismarek.
And so we have come to the twentieth century, and men are at last beginning to realize the value of the every-day men who are striv- ing not for reputation nor glory, but are doing the day's work accord- ing to their abilities, and who, after twenty or thirty, or forty years' labor, often discover to their own amazement that they have really contributed something to the betterment of conditions, and to the advancement of civilization.
The purpose of Men of Mark is to put in enduring form the lives of some of these useful men of our own day.
In working out this idea, the publisher has, after large experience, abandoned the old, stereotyped form of using an editor who would do it all and has adopted the plan of calling on many capable men who are in position to give a specially fit appreciation of certain individuals. For these biographies are intended to be in the nature of an apprecia- tion of good work done in some line of human endeavor.
The small man cannot be made great by post-mortem bouquets, but the really useful man should have some measure of appreciation shown him in life.
For usefulness is the only correct yardstick with which to measure worth and greatness.
Napoleon, the great military genius, was a scourge to humanity, but Napoleon, the codifier of the law and the builder of roads, was a benefactor to France.
Napoleon, the destructive, was an enemy of mankind, while Na- poleon, the constructive, has left in the French system of roads a monu- ment more enduring than brass. The Men of Mark Series (of which some forty volumes have been published altogether in the different states) is therefore an appreciation of useful men and deals with men not because they are powerful, or famous, or learned, or rich, or brave, or wise, but solely because they have been or are useful, and because the commonwealth is stronger and better by reason of the fact that these men are, or have been.
Had some one done this work in the generations of our fathers and grandfathers it would be easier for us now, but certainly our work will make it easier for those who come after us.
In the preparation of this work in Maryland, the publisher de-
3
9
FOREWORD
sires to make special acknowledgment to Miss Caroline P. Remington, Judge J. T. C. Williams, Doctor Christopher Johnston, Mr. Meredith Janvier, Major Charles Clark, Doctor Oliver Huckel, Mr. Lynn R. Meekins, all of Baltimore, and Mr. Bernard Suttler, of Atlanta, Georgia.
The men whose sketches appear in this and other volumes of the Men of Mark Series were invited to furnish the necessary dates so that the sketches might be written. For these bare facts they are re- -ponsible, and for the balance of the matter and the statements made in regard to the men the editorial writers are responsible. In some itinces they gleaned from various sources facts concerning a man's business career which had long since passed out of his memory. By diligent search among old records they found many side-lights of family history which add greatly to the interest and value of the sketches. The publishers are greatly indebted to the skilled editorial writers who have in a happy, helpful way presented the main facts that enabled us to show in the sketch just what the subject has always stood for, the position he occupies in the business and professional world. One of the editorial writers in the Manufacturers' Record, in examin- ing a number of volumes of the Men of Mark Series, says: " In re- 'viewing the results of the work so far accomplished, no hesitaney is made in saying that the publishers have reached the purposes and aims of the high standard on which these biographies were planned, and there is every reason to believe that in future years they will be looked upon as authoritative and referential biographical publications of those who have influenced our state and national affairs, political, com- mercial and educational, especially during the past fifty years. Such works as these, which only could have been conceived in a broad, bene- ficial and patriotic spirit, deserve the merit and approval of every American citizen who glories in the achievements of our leading men and desires to have their deeds and accomplishments cherished and chronicled for the benefit of future generations so that they may read and be inspired with the lofty aims of ideal Americanism."
The editors and publishers have endeavored to avoid the stereo- typed cyclopedie form indulged in by publishers who have issued many of the big publications during the past half-century. They are en- deavoring to make this series a real, live force in helping and develop- ing young men, encouraging them to aim in their business or profes- sional life at the very highest ideals. A careful perusal of the book
10
FOREWORD
will enable you readily to judge about to what extent we have succeeded along these lines.
The excellent portraits which accompany many of these biog- raphies are the very best product of the engraver's art. Not only will they endure for centuries, but they give to readers a better idea of the men than would be otherwise possible. Think of what a tremendous blank there would be in our conceptions of Washington, or Jefferson, or Lee, if we did not have the splendid portraits which fortunately exist.
THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND IN POPULATION, TRADE, INDUSTRY AND WEALTH
BY
LYNN R. MEEKINS, A.M.
B Y THE charter of Maryland, published and confirmed June 20, 1632, Cecilius Calvert, baron of Baltimore, received the new province, " with the fishings of every kind of fish, as well as of whales, sturgeons, or other royal fish in the sea, bays, straits or rivers, within the premises, and the fish there taken ; and, moreover, all veins, mines and quarries, as well opened as hidden, already found or that shall be found within the region, islands or limits aforesaid, of gold, silver, gems and precious stones, and any other whatsoever, whether they be of stones or metals, or of any other thing or matter what- soever."
For this King Charles I was to receive a price, which is expressed in the following interesting terms:
" YIELDING therefor unto us, our heirs, and successors, TWO IN- DIAN ARROWS of those parts, to be delivered at the said Castle of Wind- sor, every year, on Tuesday in Easter week; and also the fifth part of all gold and silver ore, which shali happen from time to time to be found within the said limits."
Gold and silver were the magie words of the times, and every part of the New World was supposed to possess both in exhaustless abund- ance. But it happened that the province of Maryland never yielded silver, and the first gold in Maryland was discovered in 1849, more than two centuries after the charter was granted. As it was, the gold has amounted to little. The specimen found in 1849 was from near Sandy Springs, Montgomery county, and was exhibited to the Ameri- can Philosophical Society in that year. The oldest mine was opened in 1867. Some rich specimens were obtained, but they were so un- evenly distributed that the mining has never been profitable. Accord- ing to the Maryland Geological Survey, the annual output of gold from
12
THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND
the small mines in Montgomery county has not exceeded twenty-five hundred dollars annually. As it cost, Calvert about two hundred thou- sand dollars to send the Ark and the Dove across the ocean, it is plain that any expectations of gold and silver, even though the gold had been promptly found, would have been vain. The king received the two Indian arrows at Windsor Castle, but they were all the return from his gift to Calvert.
There is no record to show much digging for metals by the men who landed on Maryland soil on March 25, 1634, after a long and tedious voyage, under the command of Leonard Calvert, on the Ark, of three hundred tons, and the Dove, of fifty tons. They were only too glad to reach solid ground, and only too eager to begin the founding of good habitations in the strange land. Thus the gold diggers became home makers. They bought a village and clearing from the Indians, and acted in a manner quite different from other settlers on this and other continents.
Much has been printed about the character of these first Mary- landers. It would seem both wise and just to judge them by the facts. For twenty-eight years after the first settlement there was no prison in the province. Recent examinations of records have shown that most of them could affix their signatures, and that they were of good social status. The first years of the province were practically unstained by blood. Back of the whole project was Calvert's noble purpose. Guid- ing it for many years was the manly and strong-minded quality which made the new colony unique. The real ambition of the settler was to found a home. And thus we find the home settlement running like a golden thread through the web of Maryland history, giving this state a distinction recognized all over the world in the exceptional fame given to the hospitality of its people. Neither cruel conquest nor merciless commercialism was behind Calvert's enterprise. The New World offered an escape from the tyranny, prejudices and troubles of the Old. The brave men sprang to their opportunity with courage. After the house of the immigrant had been built to shelter him from the heat of summer and the cold of winter, he felt the need of enlarging and assur- ing his food supply. He found prompt harvests in the rich soil. There were beasts to yield skins for clothing; and the surplus of these he began to exchange, and thus to build up commerce. The early settlers traded with the Indians for land upon which to erect their houses, and they did not prey upon the ignorance or helplessness of the natives, but
13
THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND
treated them fairly. They were English gentlemen and their servants. But it is well to explain that there were grades of service, and that these so-called servants were not necessarily menials.
After the colony had been firmly planted upon the principles ad- vocated by Calvert, there came a period of expansion and absorption of immigrants from other countries than England. Lord Baltimore of- fered liberal inducements to settlers, especially those who would bring laborers with them. Religious refugees sought Calvert's province. Many redemptioners or indented servants were brought to Maryland. In a measure. the so-called conviet settlers must be classed as refugees, since many, if not most, of those transported to Maryland were men who would never have committed an offense against society or just political institutions, and to whom the term " convict " was wrongly applied. Take, for example, the rebels of Scotland, who were sent over in the middle of the eighteenth century. They were political offenders, and they were readily absorbed by the population of the province. Maryland profited well from the influx of German immigrants, par- ticularly in the years 1752 to 1755, when the so-called Palatines came to the colony after having resided a time in Holland ; and other Ger- mans later migrated to Maryland from Pennsylvania. Many natives of Ireland were brought into the province, and they added spirit and zest to the population. The sect known as Labadists brought a type of Dutch who had undergone a training under French influence. Fur- thermore, there were Swedes, Quakers, and the representatives of othe- nationalities and seets who all contributed to the making of Maryland.
No state was ever more fortunate in the character and variety of its settlers ; and in order to emphasize this point it is necessary to say a word about the redemptioners, or so-called indented servants, because they undoubtedly constituted a considerable part of the progenitors of the present-day Marylander. The indented servant was in many cases the man who was dissatisfied with conditions in his native land, who was ambitious to start afresh in a new country and who was unable to defray the expense of making the sea journey. Moreover there was no certainty that should he reach America he would find immediate em- ployment. The proprietary lord of the province offered large tracts of land in proportion to the number of adult redemptioners or other ser- vants that any settler might bring. Consequently, the poor man who wanted to start in the New World and the rich prospective colonist who
14
THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND
wanted to accept Calvert's offer were naturally drawn to each other. The indented servant worked for his passage a specific number of years, and then he was free to start on his own account. And from these earnest, hard-working settlers came some of the most industrious and most desirable citizens of the colony.
So Maryland was fortunate in the more humble conditions and factors of its new growth; and it was doubly fortunate in the fact that the main element of its development was the man of money and educa- tion, who had the ideas and the means to do good work along high lines. These wealthy colonists came to Maryland and took up vast tracts of land. They had themselves and their large retinues to support. They faced the problem of making the land yield the crops or of letting it lie idle while they spent their capital in feeding those dependent upon them. The dream of gold and silver quickly passed. The soil must yield the wealth, and there was need of a crop that would bring a price in other markets, so that it could secure those things needful, and thus produce commerce for the colonists and the colony.
Tobacco was the crop selected; and for almost two centuries the wealth and prosperity of Maryland revolved around this industry. The soil was fertile and tobacco thrived. The demand was large and the product could be used in exchange, even as money. All the early de- velopment of the state was in the tide-water sections. The estates of the wealthy colonists were upon the rivers, and it was easy to get the tobacco on board ships for European ports. In 1747 fifty thousand hogsheads were exported. The average exportation was about thirty thousand. With tobacco was corn. The Pilgrims at St. Mary's saved enough from the first crop of Indian corn to begin trade with that staple; and as they extended the yield, this trade increased. So from the earliest period tobacco and corn were the staples of Maryland commerce.
In the course of time wheat was added. As the colony and its enterprising men were endeavoring to increase their commerce they began to build ships. As early as 1675 small boats and sailing vessels were constructed on the Miles river on the Eastern Shore. The boat building of Marylanders not only aided them in transporting their tobacco crops to foreign ports, but the vessels were important factors in the development of bay and coast commerce, and they became valu- able weapons in subsequent wars. As early as 1736 there were one hundred and thirty ships engaged in Maryland's commerce.
15
THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND
Tobacco and corn fitted the needs of the home-building colonists, because through them the maintaining of the manor could be assured. In the second industry of ship building there was another phase of the same incentive that turned the colonists to the use of the most practical means at their command. Then came a third industry, the making of iron, and under ordinary circumstances that might mean a departure from the home idea, but, as a matter of fact, it, too, belonged to the general program. The first iron ore smelted was on the lower Patuxent river, about the middle of the seventeenth century, and it was used for manufacturing crude implements for domestic use, while later it was converted into instruments of warfare for the defense of the colo- nists. By 1:17 the industry was on so firm a basis that the product was being xported. Then it seemed to lag, and we find the Assembly in 1:19 passing " An Act for the encouragement of an iron manufac- ture in the Province," granting one hundred acres of land for every furnace or forge. Thirty years afterwards there were eight furnaces and nine forges in operation, and the output in 1761 reached 2500 tons of pig and 600 tons of bar iron. Other manufactures, including copper in 1742, were attempted on a small scale, but from time to time these were distinctly discouraged by Parliament, which wanted to reserve for England the making of all goods, so that it might have the full benefit of the commerce with the colonies. The earlier settlers were even dis- couraged in the manufacture of clothing; but there they achieved some success, because, while England could discourage the making of cloth- ing for export, it could not prevent such manufacture for home con- sumption. Therefore, as early as the middle of the seventeenth cen- tiry the colonists were making linsey-woolsey and osnaburgs for the laborers on the plantations-indications of that industrial spirit which in recent years has asserted itself with such splendid results.
We find a curious thing in the written history of Maryland. It is almost entirely political. Giving the record of a people devoted to the home and to work and to education, it has constantly devoted itself to legislation, war and diplomacy. An explanation is found in the char- acter of the people. They seem to be little interested in the facts of their material and commercial development. They have the liveliest satisfaction in their politics and their wars. And so it happens that Maryland has never hesitated to give up all the profits and blessings of it; peaceful days when a great conflict engaged the attention of its p :ople. In examining the figures, which we seldom see in the histories,
16
THE GROWTH OF MARYLAND
but which may be discovered in other records, we find that the state shows a development steadily ascending to the crisis of a great war. In the years preceding the Revolution Maryland was in fine condition. Its population had increased to over two hundred thousand, and it was extending its interests in every direction. But its very success made it eager for independence. It felt that freedom would give it the oppor- tunity for that destiny which lay in its soil and its people. So Mary- land cast all in the fight and contributed a magnificent share to the victory.
Then after the Revolution Maryland grew in still greater meas- ure. Its population in. 1715 was 225,000 ; in 1790 it was 319,546, and in 1800 it was 341,546, and in 1810 it was 380,546. Its commerce was spreading. Official tables show that the value of foreign and domestic exports of the United States from 1191 to 1813 was $1,343,452,000; and the leading states were: New York, $293,276,000; Massachusetts, $235,080,000; Pennsylvania, $234,658,000, and Maryland, $187,870,- 000. Maryland's tonnage then was equal to the combined tonnage of Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Then came the war of 1812, and Maryland's commerce sank to $248,434. Into this war, also, Maryland cast its all; but after the war was over its totals began to rise again-to over five millions in 1815, to over seven millions in 1816, and to almost nine millions in 1817, and so on.
It was the same story before and after the Civil war, except that Maryland's growth after the Civil war became industrial. In 1860 the state had 3083 manufacturing establishments, most of them small, and all of them representing a total of less than twenty millions of dollars. After the war the industrial growth began, and it has steadily risen until now the total capital invested in manufacturing is over two hun- dred millions, and the annual product is about three hundred millions. In Maryland is made practically everything in manufacturing. No other state of the same size has a greater variety of products, and none has contributed more important inventions and improvements to mod- ern industry. If we add to this showing the interests of transportation and communication, we find that Maryland plays a leading part in the whole scheme of modern development. Here was the first railroad, the first magnetic telegraph, the first use of gas for illuminating purposes, the first steam-propelled carriage, the first steam vessel to begin regular passenger service across the Atlantic, the first silk ribbon produced in an American mill, the first iron building, the first submarine boat, the
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