USA > Maryland > Washington County > Hagerstown > A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown > Part 67
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The dissatisfaction with the operation of the registration law enacted under the new constitu- tion was so great that when the Democratic party began to revive in 1866, there was a call for a State convention to protest against it. The dele- gates sent by Washington County to this conven- tion were Richard H. Alvey, James Wason, Zach- ariah S. Clagett, David Cushwa, William Dodge and George Schley. As soon as the war was over, and the Union was safe, many who had abandoned the Democratic party returned to their old affiliation and for a few years after the war, Washington County was almost uniformly in the Democratic column. An election for or against a Constitutional convention was held April 13, 1867. Party lines were drawn on this issue, the Repub-
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
licans opposing the eall for a convention and the Democrats favoring it. The convention was called by a large majority, and Washington County voted for it, sending as her delegates Richard H. Alvey, Andrew K. Syester, Joseph Murray, S. S. Cunningham, William Motter and George W. Pole. In the convention Mr. Alvey took a leading part as chairman of the committee on representation and it was he who afterward drafted the jury system so long in force in the State.
The new Constitution was submitted to the people on September 18, 1867 and was ratified by a heavy majority, Washington County declaring for it by a vote of 2,658 to 2,527. It is a remark- able fact that this Constitution framed by a con- vention composed exclusively of Democrats and adopted whilst the fierce passions of Civil War were at their highest tide, is still retained and every effort to supplant it has been more vigorously opposed by the party that voted against its adop- tion.
Two months after the adoption of the Con- stitution, that is on November 5, 1867, the first State election under it took place and for the first time in a good many years a Democrat was elected Governor. Indeed, the revulsion against the party which had been supreme for some five years was so great, that at this election every official in Maryland, every Judge, every member of the Legislature and every County and City official was a Democrat. In Washington County Oden Bowie, a Democratic candidate for Governor received 3,226 votes to 2,760 for Hugh L. Bond the Republican candidate. The next year at the Presidential election the vote of the County was 3,114 for Seymour and 3,056 for Grant. Four years previously, the vote had been for Lincoln 2,984, McClellan 1,402.
In these years immediately succeeding the war many men of standing and ability who because of their sympathy with the South had been per- mitted to take no part in public affairs, again took position as leaders of the people. At the election in 1867 Richard H. Alvey was elected Chief Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, and as such was a member of the Court of Appeals; and William Motter was elected Associate Judge. Judge Alvey began then a career on the bench which was to ex- tend through thirty-seven years until he retired of his own volition from the federal bench in 1904. Judge Motter served one full term of fifteen years, until 1882, when he was succeeded by Andrew K.
Syester. A few years later Judge Motter died having earned the respect and esteem of his peo- ple as a just Judge.
In 1868 William T. Hamilton was elected to the United States Senate by a vote of 56 to 46 for Thomas Swann, 7 for William M. Merrick and 1 for Thomas G. Pratt.
Down to the Civil War William T. Hamilton, while one of the recognized leaders of the Demo- cratie party in Washington County, had confined his attention politically, almost exclusively to the County and Congressional district which he had represented several times in the House of Repre- sentatives. In 1868, he was elected to the United States Senate for the term beginning March 4, 1869. At the end of that term, he devoted himself to State and County politics, and for many years Washington County figured conspicuously in the State politics of both parties. At the election of 1867, Washington County, like the rest of the State, went Democratic. Judge Daniel Weisel was taken from the bench of the Court of Appeals by the Constitution of 1867, and Richard H. Al- vey was elected that year to the court. Judge Weisel had been a Whig and became an ardent Republican. He was born in Williamsport, Sep- tember 25, 1803, graduated at Princeton in 1824, entered the Bar in 1826, established a newspaper called the Banner in Williamsport in 1830. In 1838 he removed to Hagerstown. In 1847 Judge Pratt appointed him associate Judge to succeed Judge Thomas Buchanan, deceased. Four years later, the new Constitution legislated him out of office. In 1861 he was elected Judge of the Fourth Circuit and in 1864 was elected to the Court of Appeals. For the second time, in 1868, the adop- tion of the new Constitution vacated his seat on the bench. In that year he was the Republican candidate for Congress, but was defeated. Ile spent the remainder of his life practicing law in Hagerstown, for some time in partnership with Louis E. McComas, who had studied law in his office. He died September 25, 1880, at the age of seventy-seven years. The election in the fall of 1867-was a memorable one. Soldiers from both armies had returned to their homes and the par- ties assumed their normal proportions. The Dem- ocratic candidate for Governor, Oden Bowie, re- ceived 3,332 votes and Hugh Lennox Bond, the Republican candidate 2,913. From that time down to the present, the parties have been almost evenly divided, only now and then, for some ex-
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OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
ceptional reason, giving a large majority one way or the other. Very frequently portions of each ticket are elected and upon more than one oc- casion there have been tie votes.
It is also a remarkable fact that certain dis- tricts have for more than a century given major- ities for the same party. Those portions of the County that gave majorities for Jefferson in 1800, gave majorities for Jackson in 1828 and in 1832 and for Cleveland in 1884, in 1888 and 1892. Sharpsburg was a federal stronghold in 1800, a Whig stronghold in 1832, and is a Republican stronghold now. The same is true of Pleasant Valley. Funkstown, Williamsport and Hagers- town, were always, except on rare occasions, Dem- ocratic.
As has been already said, the Democratic party in Washington County in 1867 elcted every one of its candidates. To the bench, under the new Constitution as has already been stated, there were elected for the Fourth Circuit, composed of the three Western counties, Richard Henry Alvey, Chief Judge and member of the Court of Appeals, William Motter of Washington County and Thom- as Perry, of Allegany County, associates. James H. Grove was elected to the State Senate; and to the House of Delegates, Andrew K. Syester, James Coudy, F. Dorsey Herbert, Elias E. Rohrer and David Seibert. These men participated in the election of Mr. Hamilton to the Federal Senate. William McK. Keppler was elected clerk of the Circuit Court and Matthew S. Barber was Regis- ter of Wills. Henry H. Keedy was elected State's Attorney. He had come to the Bar in 1865 and when elected had only been practicing two years. Nevertheless he made a great reputa- tion as an able, earnest and efficient official. At the end of his term, he was nominated for re- election but was defeated by John C. Zeller, Re- publican. Mr. Zeller died in 1873, and then the Court appointed Mr. Keedy to fill his unexpired term.
At the next election, that for President in 1868, Horatio Seymour, carried Washington Coun- ty over Grant by a vote of 3,114 to 3,056. Pat- rick Hamill, of Garrett County was elected to Congress. During the administration of Governor Oden Bowie, there arose the division of the Demo- cratic party of Washington County into two fac- tions, the "Hamilton faction" and the "canal fac- tion." Governor Bowie had secured the election of Mr. James C. Clark to the Presidency of the
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. At the same time, Mr. Arthur P. Gorman, of Howard County, then a member of the Legislature, was appointed Di- rector. In the autumn of 1871, William Pinkney Whyte came forward as a candidate for Governor. Governor Bowie desired re-nomination, and Mr. Clark, President of the Canal was of course on the side of Governor Bowie. He conducted a cam- paign for him at the Democratic primaries in the counties through which the canal passes. The canal was in those days, and for many years after wards, a potent political machine. In country districts it is not usual, except in times of great excitement, for any large numbers to attend the primaries. It is therefore possible for a few men, working in each election district with a common purpose and under a good organization, to control County conventions. The Canal Company usu- ally employed as its superintendents and bosses, men of force and influence. It also employed a considerable number of men as laborers and lock- keepers, and the company could also control the votes of storekeepers along the canal, as well as of the boatmen. All this power was in the hands of the President of the canal.
Mr. William T. Hamilton was in the United States Senate, and he would come up for re-elec- tion at the session of 1874. He espoused the cause of Mr. Whyte, against the advice, it has been said, of Mr. A. P. Gorman who was then Mr. Hamilton's political friend. Nevertheless, Mr. Hamilton favored the nomination of Mr. Whyte, and made the fight for him at the primary elec- tions, while Mr. Clark supported Governor Bowie. The contest centered around the nomination for the State Senate, this being important because the Senator elected that year would be in the leg- islature in 1874, when the federal Senator would be elected. Mr. Hamilton's candidate for the State Senate was Zachariah S. Clagett, a promi- nent member of the Bar; Mr. Clark's candidate was Major Henry Kyd Douglas, a young and gal- lant Confederate soldier who had served on Stone- wall Jackson's staff. Mr. Hamilton won. Mr. Clagett was nominated for the Senate, and subse- quently elected, and the County cast her vote at the State convention for the nomination of Mr. Whyte for Governor. This, Mr. Hamilton had occasion later to regret. Linked with the politi- cal fortunes of Mr. Whyte in that campaign was Andrew K. Syester, of Washington County, who was nominated for Attorney-General of Maryland
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
and along with the rest of the State Democratie ticket, was elected by a great majority.
Andrew Kershner Syester was one of the ablest and most brilliant trial lawyers the State has produced, and was for many years the leader of the Bar of Washington County while it was al- most the ablest Bar in Maryland. He was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, March 11, 1827, His father was Daniel Syester, also a native of that County. His mother, Sarah Moudy, was a native of Washington County. A. K. Syester graduated at Franklin and Marshall College in 1849, and the next year settled in Hagerstown. In 1852 he entered the Bar; in 1853, he was elected to the House of Delegates, and the next year was elected State's Attorney. In 1859 lie was candidate for the Court of Appeals but was de- feated by Judge James L. Bartol by the narrow majority of seven votes. In 1854, Mr. Syester was a candidate for Congress against Frank Thoni- as and was again defeated. It is said, however, that in all his numerous candidacies his own County never failed to give him a majority. He was a man of marvelous personal magnetism and popularity. He was a member of the Constitu- tional convention of 1867, and the next year was elected to the Legislature.
Before his election at Attorney General, Mr. Svester had established his reputation as a great criminal lawyer. One of the noted eases in which he was engaged was his successful defense of Mrs. Mary E. Rowland, charged with the murder of her husband. The couple lived a few miles south of Hagerstown, near Chapel Woods on the Sharps- burg road. Isaac Rowland was brutally murdered and the people of the County were so largely of the opinion that his wife had killed him, that it was considered impossible to get an unprejudiced jury for the trial, and the case was moved to Al- legany County, where the woman was acquitted. While Attorney General, Mr. Syester was engaged in some famous cases, the most important of which was the trial of Mrs. Mary E. Wharton, in- dicted in Baltimore for poisoning Gen. Ketchum, of the United States Army. Ile also assisted Mr. John C. Zeller in the prosecution of Joseph Davis for the murder of his employer, named Lynn. This case was removed from Carroll County. Da- vis was convicted and hung. The trial took place in Junior IIall, Hagerstown, in 1873.
Mr. Syester was elected Associate Judge for the Fourth Circuit in November 1882 to succeed
Judge William Motter whose term of 15 years ended then. Judge Syester's opponent on the Republican ticket was his cousin, Edward Stake, whom he defeated by a half-dozen votes. Judge Syester died in 1891.
Judge Thomas Perry died in 1871, and his successor had to be chosen in November of that year. Judge Motter was a resident of Washington County, and the Constitution provides that no two of the Associate Judges shall at the time of their eleetion or during the term for which they may have been elected. reside in the same County. It was therefore necessary that Judge Perry's success- or should reside in either Allegany or Garrett Coun- ty. Col. George Schley, of Washington County, was satisfied that if he went to Allegany County before the election to reside, he would be eligible. In this opinion he was fortified by the concurrence of his distinguished relative, William Schley, of Baltimore. He removed to Cumberland and was nominated for the bench, the delegates from Alle- gany County voting for him. But the people of that County were greatly offended by the nomi- nation of a Washington County man, the Chief Judge and one Associate being already in this County. George A. Pearre, a republican, was nominated on a so-called "non-partisan" ticket and was elected by a great majority. He died in 1883, before the expiration of his term.
Col. George Schley was for fifty years an im- posing member of the Bar of Hagerstown. IIe was a man of fine presence, of graceful manners, and of great literary attainments. He was never an office-holder, and only on the occasion referred to when he ran for Judge did he seek office. In 1867, he could have had the nomination for As- sociate Judge, and the nomination would have been followed by election, but he declined it. Col. Schley was the eldest son of Frederick A. Schley, a distinguished lawyer of Frederick and Eliza A. (McCannon) Schley. He was born in 1814 in Frederick; educated at Yale and the Univer- sity of Virginia; admitted to the Bar in 1836, elected to the Legislature in Frederick County in 1838. In 1839 he settled in Hagerstown; was a member of the Constitutional convention in 1850. and of the State Senate in 1854 and 1856. In. 1862 he was nominated for Congress by the Dem- oerats, but declined the nomination. In 1839, he married Miss Sophia Hall, daughter of Thomas Buchanan Ilall, and granddaughter of Mrs. Mary Pottinger, sister of Judge Buchanan.
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OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
In consequence of the election of the Hon. William Pinkney Whyte to the office of Governor, Mr. Clark resigned the presidency of the canal, and Mr. A. P. Gorman was appointed, and held the office through many years. In all these years he and Mr. Hamilton headed opposing factions in the Democratic party of Maryland and at times the strife between their respective partisans was extremely bitter. At the session of 1874, when Mr. Hamilton's successor in the Senate was to be elected, Mr. Gorman favored Governor Whyte, and he was elected-Mr. Hamilton's term in the Sen- ate ended March 4, 1875. Immediately there- after, he turned his attention to State politics and determined to make a contest for the Gover- norship.
The absence of any serious opposition to the Democratic party in the city of Baltimore and in the Legislature had produced the inevitable result of unrestrained power, and abuses had grown up which needed reforming. Mr. Hamilton stood for reform, and especially for a better administra- tion of State finances. When the primaries came on it was supposd that Mr. Hamilton had won But at the State convention the Hon. John Lee Carroll, of Howard County, got the nomination by a narrow margin. That convention of 1875 was one of the most notable in the history of Mary- land politics. It lasted all day and nearly all night; the supporters of Hamilton when they found that one or two of the delegates, upon whom they had counted, had left them, refused " to permit a vote to be taken. Some of the ablest and most eloquent men in the State were on the floor, contending for the nomination of Mr. Ham- ilton. Among them were Josiah H. Gordon, of Cumberland, John Ritchie of Frederick, George Freaner and Henry H. Keedy, of Hagerstown. But Mr. Carroll had a majority of the votes, and oratory did not avail to change the result. Wash- ington County that fall, from being a Democratic or a very close County, gave the Republican candi- date for Governor over a thousand majority, and elected every Republican candidate on the local ticket. The Republicans carried most of the counties and their strength in the legislature be- came formidable.
All this time the Hagerstown Mail, edited by Edwin Bell and T. J. C. Williams, was sup- porting the reforms in the State Government advocated by Mr. Hamilton, and its articles were copied. generally by the press of the State. Mr.
Hamilton was also in every way contending for better methods, until finally the Democratic party in the State demanded his nomination, and wlicn the convention met in 1879, all opposition to hun disappeared and he was nominated by the unan- imous vote of the convention. The Republicans nominated against him one of the strongest men in their party, Mr. James A. Gary, afterwards Postmaster General of the United States. But Mr. Hamilton was elected in November by a ma- jority of 22,208. This election gratified the am- bition to be Governor of his native State whichi he had long cherished, and it was his sincere de- sire to use the high office for the benefit of the whole people.
But he discovered soon after his inauguration that his hands were in a measure tied, and that he would not be able to accomplish all that he desired. For this condition there were several reasons. Mr. Hamilton's position at the time of the State con- vention was commanding, and he could have de- manded the nomination of a candidate for Comp- troller of the Treasury who would co-operate with him as a member of the Board of Public Works. Instead of doing this, he assented to the nomina- tion of Mr. Thomas J. Keating of Queen Annes' County, a gentleman who was not in accord with hini; and the Legislature elected Mr. Barnes Compton Treasurer. The Treasurer and Comp- troller voted together, and thwarted the Governor's expectation to name as president of the canal one of his political friends. Mr. Robert Bridges, of Hancock, was the man he had expected to name. Instead of that, Mr. Keating and Mr. Compton voted together to retain Mr. Gorman.
Early in the session of 1880, the first session of Governor Hamilton's administration, the Gov- crnor and Senate were at variance. The Gover- nor was brusque in his manner, and lacked tact in dealing with men. He had no toleration for those who did not measure up to his standard of civic virtue and he made no secret of his opinions. When the time came to make the civil appoint- ments, the Senate rejected them as fast as he made them. In consequence of this, many of his appointees did not reflect credit on the adminis- tration. Before all this happened, Mr. Gorman had been elected to the United States Senate. In this election Mr. Hamilton took no hand. As between Mr. Whyte and Mr. Gorman he had no choice.
But against all the obstacles presented to him,
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Governor Hamilton strove bravely to reform abuses and to establish the debt paying policy en- joined in the Constitution. While he did not meet with immediate success, there can be no doubt that the State has never ceased to profit by the Ham- ilton administration. The sinking funds were finally cared for, and before many years, in con- sequence of this, as well as of the increased public revenues, the public debt almost disappeared. The messages sent by Governor Hamilton to the legis- lature were filled with wise recommendations. Of one of these documents, that sent to the session of 1882, John K. Cowen, a competent judge, de- clared that it was the ablest message ever sent to the Legislature of any State in the Union, by any Governor.
After the conclusion of his term as Governor, Mr. Hamilton returned to his ordinary avocations in Hagerstown. Now and then he tried a case in court. As a jury lawyyer, Maryland has sel- dom produced his superior. He understood the men in the jury-box and knew just what argu- ments would appeal to them. The same qualities made him a most effective political speaker. Ilis addresses from the stump were full of homely truths, expressed in homely language, which went straight home to the understanding and compre- hension of his audience. In his speeches he sel- dom told anecdotes, but all through them there was intense earnestness, which commanded atten- tion relieved now and then by an apparently un- conscious humor which produced uncontrolled laughter among the audience, while the gravity of the speaker's face was unchanged.
Mr. Hamilton acquired large tracts of the most fertile land in Washington County. Ile bought the Stafford estate of about 600 acres, near Clearspring, and several fine farms adjacent to Hagerstown. In the cultivation and improvement of these he took delight, and made them model farms. After returning from Annapolis, he built the Hotel Hamilton, replacing old and unsightly buildings which disfigured the most conspicuous lot in Hagerstown, by this elegant Hotel which has never ceased to contribute to the prosperity of the town. This was only one of the public affairs that engaged the attention of this remarkable man. He was appealed to for aid and advice as no other citizen was. He was President or director in a dozen corporations, all of which had been organ- ized to a certain extent to promote the public in- terests. Ile succeeded J. Dixon Roman as Pros-
ident of the Hagerstown Bank, and to a large ex- tent directed its policies up to the time of his deatlı. He took the lead in securing a new char- ter for Hagerstown in 1884, under which, and by reason of which, Hagerstown has been one of the best governed towns in the country down to the present time. He was president of the first board of Street Commissioners, the active governing body, under this charter, and gave his personal services in supervising the great street improve- ments of that time. He initiated and urged the establishment of the Washington County Water Company, of which he was president and which supplied Hagerstown with pure water. He also aided in substituting electrie lights for the dim oil lamps which had done service in the streets for nearly half a century.
While the recognized leader of the Democratic party, Mr. Hamilton did not always find it an easy task to control the County conventions. As he advanced in years, young men who did not know him grew up, and did not come under his influence. Many active political workers wearied of being in opposition to the party State leaders, who dispensed honors and offices. And so, now and then, a County convention was in the hands of his political opponents of the canal party. At the election of 1875, when the County gave so heavy a majority for the' Republican ticket, one Democrat, Lewis Cass Smith, was elected to the House of Delegates. Mr. Smith was made speak- er and became so prominent in State affairs that he was subsequently appointed President of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, upon the resigna- tion of Mr. Gorman. Mr. Smith, while personally friendly with Mr. Hamilton was not in political accord with him. Another of the leaders of the section of the party antagonistic to Mr. Hamilton's control, was Mr. Peter A. Witmer, a man of good ability, of pleasing manners, and of great popu- larity. For many years, from 1868 to 1892, he was superintendent of the public schools of the County ; for a considerable time, a member of the State Board of Education; and for a quarter of a century secretary of the Hagerstown Fair. In 1881 he went into the newspaper business as joint proprietor of the Hagerstown Daily News, with John U. Adams. The political strife between Mr. Witmer and Mr. Hamilton became very sharp. Mr. Hamilton died October 26, 1888. William Thomas Hamilton was born in Hagerstown Sep- tember 8, 1820. He was a son of Henry Hamil-
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