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 68
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94
415
OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
ton of Boonsboro, in which town, under the tuition of Mr. James Brown, former Surveyor of this County, the foundation of his education was laid. His mother died when he was six years of age, and his father-Henry Hamilton-some two years thereafter. He was adopted by his maternal uncles. His education was continued at the Ha- gerstown Academy and completed at Jefferson Col- lege, Cannonsburg, Pa. Upon his return to. Ha- gerstown, he studied law under John Thompson Mason, and was admitted to the Bar of Washing- ton County, in 1845. In 1846, he was nominated upon the Democratic ticket and elected to the House of Delegates-the ticket, in a close and hard-fought contest, having been divided, with Wm. Beverly Clarke, a Whig, elected to the Sen- ate. The prominent measure of that session of the Legislature, was the payment of the interest upon the debt of the State, recommended by Gov. Pratt, which received the support of Mr. Hamil- ton. In 1847, he was again nominated upon the Democratic ticket, for the same position, and was defeated by Robert Fowler. In 1848, he was placed upon the Cass electoral ticket. In 1849 he received from the Democratic party his first nomination for Congress, and was elected in a close and very animated contest over Gen. Thos. J. McKaig. The absorbing issue of the day, in the district, was the Tariff. Mr. Hamilton advo- cated the Democratic principle of duties for reve- nue, in joint discussion with his able competitor throughout the district, and in the mining and manufacturing districts of Allegany County, pro- claimed and maintained the Democratic creed, and was elected by a close vote.
During his first term in Congress, Mr. Ham- ilton gave a steady support to the compromise measure of 1850, introduced by Mr. Clay. In 1851, he was re-elected to Congress over J. Philip Roman. In 1853, Mr. Hamilton was, for the third time, unanimously nominated by the Democ- racy and again elected over the Hon. Francis Thomas, who ran as an independent candidate against him. This was one amongst the most ani- mated and exciting contests ever had in the dis- trict, involving joint discussion between the can- didates in every county, and resulting in a major- ity of upwards of one thousand for Mr. Hamilton, over his eloquent and veteran competitor. In Congress he gave a consistent support to the ad- ministration of President Pierce, and, during the last term of his service, was Chairman of the
Committee on the District of Columbia, and as such Chairman he took a leading part in the work by which the city of Washington is now supplied with water from the Great Falls of the Potomac.
In 1855, Mr. Hamilton was once more induc- ed to bear the standard of Democracy, and bat- tling for the principles of his party, was defeated by the Know Nothings.
During his Congressional career, Mr. Hamil- ton had associated with him in the practice of the law, the Hon. R. H. Alvey. After his retirement from Congress he applied himself to his profession, in the prosecution of which he was signally suc- cessful and very soon became one of the leading members of the Bar of Western Maryland.
In January, 1868, he was elected a Senator of the United States to succeed Wm. Pinkney Whyte, who had been appointed to fill the unex- pired term of Reverdy Johnson. In the Senate he quickly displayed the force of character which ever won for him the respect of even those who might be most earnestly opposed to him. One of a very small minority, he stood with his few party associates firmly against the unnecessary perpet- uation of war animosities. He earnestly spoke and constantly voted for reduction of taxation, and urged the return to the simple and economic meth- ods that prevailed before war had made waste and prodigality familiar to government and people. Ile spoke and voted against the increase of sal- aries of public officers, and after the passage of the "Salary Grab" law he refused to draw from the Treasury the amount appropriated to him by the law which he opposed. His speeches on the State of Louisiana, on the Navy and on the Tariff embody in eloquent and forcible language his views on the subjects above referred to.
In 1879 he was elected Governor of Maryland, having been unanimously nominated in response to a universal demand of the people. He institut- ed many reforms in the State government and sug- gested others since adopted which have promoted the welfare of the State and its people, whom he tried his best to faithfully serve.
His retirement from the Gubernatorial chair in January, 1884, was the end of his long and use- ful public life, although he continued to take a deep interest in State and National affairs, and still contributed with earnestness his influence towards securing, in the State and in the General Government the adoption of those principles and
416
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
methods which he believed would best promote good government and the people's welfare. With the same vigor that he devoted to his official duties as a publie man, he threw himself into every en- terprise that could improve the condition of his native town and ('ounty.
He was President of the Hagerstown Bank, the Washington County Water Company, the Board of Street Commissioners of Hagerstown, the Rose Hill Cemetery Company, the Hagerstown Board of Trade, and the Maryland Farmers' Asso- eiation. He was a Director in the Hagerstown Steam Engine and Machine Company, and the Mutual Insurance Company of Washington County.
Mr. Hamilton was married in 1859 to Miss Clara Jenness, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He left six children. The oldest son, Richard J. Hamilton, beeame editor of the Hagerstown Mail in 1892 and continued in that position to the present time. Governor Hamilton was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Hagerstown.
Governor Hamilton's sueeessor in the leader- ship of the Democratie party in Washington County was Buchanan Schley. This gifted man began his political career in 1879, when still young. That year he was nominated for State's Attorney for Washington County, but was defeat- ed by John F. A. Remley, the Republican eandi- date. Soon afterwards, he disputed with Gover- nor Hamilton the leadership of the County eon- ventions, and more than onee was victorious over the friends and supporters of the veteran leader. After Governor Hamilton's death and down to the present time, Mr. Schley's leadership has been almost undisputed. Only three times has Mr. Schley been an office-holder, and not often an office-seeker. He was appointed by President Cleveland Surveyor of the Port of Baltimore. In 1901 he was superintendent of the State census, and in 1902 he was elected Tax Commissioner of the State of Maryland. Mr. Schley is the young- est son of Frederick A. Schley and his second wife Miss Hall, a granddaughter of Mrs. Mary Pottin- ger, sister of Judges John and Thomas Buehanan. The sister of Buchanan Schley's mother was the wife of Col. George Schley, half brother of Buch- anan Schley.
While the Democratic party, following the early triumphs after the war, was being dis- solved into factions and weakened by division, the Republican party was becoming consolidated and
aggressive under the leadership of Louis E. Mc- Comas. The Democrats were demoralized by the nomination of Mr. Greeley in 1872, and John Ritchie, of Frederiek, who had been elected to the House of Representatives in 1870, was defeated by Lloyd Lowndes in the Greeley year. In 1874, William Walsh, Democrat, was clected over Lowndes and in 1876, Mr. McComas was the Re- publiean candidate. Mr. Walsh defeated him by about a dozen votes. The nomination of Mr. Mc- Comas for Congress, in 1876, was the beginning of a politieal eareer of extraordinary suecess.
At the time of this nomination Mr. MeComas was just thirty years of age. He was born in Washington County October 28, 1846, the son of Frederick C. and Catherine (Angle) McComas. He was a student at the College of St. James when it was discontinued during the war ; graduated at Diekinson College in 1866; studied law and was admitted to the Bar in Hagerstown in 1868. Be- fore settling down to practice he made a tour of the Western States, and then returning to Ha- gerstown entered into partnership with Judge Dan- jel Weisel. After his nomination for Congress, and his defeat, he devoted himself to the praetiee of law for the next six years. Milton G. Urner, of Frederiek, suceeeded Mr. Walsh in Congress and served two terms. In 1882 Mr. MeComas was again nominated and elected, and was re- eleeted continuously until 1890, serving in the 48th, 49th, 50th and 51st Congresses. In 1890, he was again the candidate but was defeated by William M. MeKaig, Democrat.
Mr. McComas, after the conelusion of his term, was seeretary of the National Republican Committee when President Harrison was defeat- ed for re-election. On November 17, 1892 he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia by President Harrison which offiee he held until he was elected to the
United States Senate by the Legislature of 1898. He took his seat in the Senate Mareh 4, 1899 and shortly after the conclusion of his term, in 1905, he was appointed by President Roosevelt Assoel- ate Justiee of the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a position which he ean hold for the remainder of his life if he is dis- posed to do so.
In the House of Representatives, Mr. Mc- Comas beeame a quiek and ready debater. His position as almost the only Republican Congress- man from South of Mason and Dixon's line scen)-
417
OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
ed to single him out. He enjoyed the personal friendship of many leading men of both parties, and wielded a strong influnce. In his party in the Sixth Congressional district of Maryland, his power was almost supreme for many years. Mr. McComas married Miss Leah Humriehouse, daugh- ter of Charles W. Humrichouse, of Williamsport distriet, one of the most highly respected eitizens of Washington County.
At the election in 1873, two young men were nominated and elected by the Democrats who were destined to have a remarkable eareer. They were George B. Oswald, elected Clerk of the Court, and Thomas E. Hilliard, Register of Wills. Mr. Hilliard had been deputy Register under Mat- thew S. Barber, who had been elected Register in 1867, and under his predecessor William Logan, since 1863. He established his fitness for the place, and the young men of the party determined that he should have the nomination at the end of Mr. Barber's term. He was nominated and elected over George W. Walker, Republiean. George B. Oswald had been a clerk in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, but had resigned while William McK. Keppler was clerk, to become book keeper in the Hagerstown Bank. The same younger element of the party which insisted that Hilliard should be Register, insisted that Oswald should be Clerk of the Court; they had their way and he also was elected. In the length of their terms of office, these two men stand almost alone among the elected officials of the State. During their first term of six years, both Oswald and Hilliard established themselves so firmly in the confidence and affection of the people of the County, by their efficiency and courtesy, that both of them were re-elected five times, for terms aggre- gating thirty-six years each and if they are living and in the enjoyment of health at the close of their present terms in 1909, it will not occur to anyone that they should not be eleeted for another term. Their popularity had grown or been sustained to such a marked degree, that in 1903 the Republi- cans made no nominations against them.
George B. Oswald was born at the foot of South Mountain, near Smithsburg, Washington County, December 24, 1842. He was educated in the public sehools under the celebrated teacher of that section, Prof. George Pearson. After being a deputy in the office of the Clerk of the Court
for some years, he took the place of bookkeeper in the Hagerstown Bank, and held that place when elected Clerk in 1873. He was re-elected for six year terms in 1879, 1885, 1891, 1897 and 1903. The office of Clerk of the Court for Washington County is remarkable for the long terms of the incumbents. The County was erected in 1776, and the office of Clerk of the Court established then. In the 130 years of its existence, there have been only six Clerks, George B. Oswald being the sixth. The first Clerk was Eli Williams, brother of Gen. Otho Holland Williams who held the office from 1776 to 1800, when he became Judge of the Orphans' Court and his son Otho Holland Wil- liams succeeded him and was the clerk from 1800 to 1845. Isaac Nesbitt succeeded him in 1845 and continued in office until his death in 1865, when L. B. Nyman was appointed to complete the term for which Mr. Nesbitt had been elected and he served from 1865 to 1867 when the new Con- stitution cut the term short. William McK. Kep- pler was elected in 1867 and served one term of six years. Mr. Oswald succeeded him in 1873 and is still in office.
Thomas Elliott Hilliard the Register of Wills who has served so long a time in that office was born in Hagerstown, September 23rd, 1843. He is a son of Christopher Hilliard and Maria Mittag Hilliard and received his education in the publie schools. March 4, 1863 he became a clerk in the office of the Register of Wills for Washington County under William Logan, Register, and served with Mr. Logan until his tenure of office was term- inated by the Constitution of 1867. In Novem- ber, 1867, Matthew S. Barber was elected Register and Mr. Hilliard assumed the administration of the office of Deputy, continuing throughout Mr. Barber's incumbency, and in Nov. 1873, whilst serving as Deputy Register for Mr. Barber, he received the nomination on the Democratie ticket for Register, and was elected over George W. Walker. Republican. He was re-elected in 1879 over John L. Bikle; in 1885 over Amos D. Ben- nett; in 1891 over Samuel D. Martin; in 1897 over John E. Wagaman. He was also re-elected in 1903 the Republican party making no nomina- tion against him. He is now in his sixth consec- ntive term as Register, and in the forty-third year of continuous service in the office of the Register of Wills.
CHAPTER XXVIII
HE term of fifteen years for which Judges Richard H. Alvey and William Motter had been elected in 1867, ended in 1882 and at the November eleetion of that year, Judge Alvey eame up for re-election. He was opposed by William J. Read, of Allegany County, the Republican nominee but Judge Alvey was elected. Judge William Motter was not nomi- nated and his eareer on the bench ended then, and he died a few years later. He was a native of Frederick County, born in 1817, graduated at Prineeton and came to Washington County in 1845. In 1859 he was elected State's Attorney and in 1867 to the Legislature. He married a daughter of William D. Bell. Judge Motter was a man of the strietest integrity, painstaking and eonseien- tious. His decisions were seldom reversed by the Court of Appeals. His successor as Associate Judge was Andrew K. Syester.
Richard Henry Alvey whose second term as Chief Judge of his eircuit began in 1882, occupies a place in the front rank of the great Maryland jurists along with Roger Brooke Taney, William Pinkney, John Buchanan and Reverdy Johnson. In an address before the Maryland Bar Assoei- . ation in 1904, on the Chief Justiees of Maryland, Chief Justice James MeSherry said of Chief Jus- tice Alvey : "The opinions of Judge Alvey as As- sociate Judge are reported in volumes 28 to and including 60 Maryland Reports; and as Chief Judge from 60 Maryland, to and ineluding 77 Maryland. His opinions are strong, vigorous and broad. He never failed to grasp the underlying principle of a ease and never erred in its appli- eation. His work speaks for itself. His knowl-
edge of the law is profound and his eapacity for applying it remarkable. His industry was mar- velous. In a word his opinions as reported are not excelled in the judicial annals of the State or by the judgments of any other Judge where the English tongue is spoken." Before the Civil War Judge Alvey had taken a leading part in public affairs and was a leader of thought in the County. From the close of the war down to his retirement from the beneh on the last day of December 1901, a period of nearly forty years, he gave himself to the public serviee. Richard H. Alvey was the eldest son of George and Harriet Wicklin Alvey. He was born in St. Mary's County, Md., Mareh 6, 1826, attended the County sehools, taught by his father and at the age of 18 years beeame dep- uty in the office of the Clerk of the Court in Charles County, studying law while he held this offiee. In 1849 he was admitted to the Bar and early in 1850 he settled in Hagerstown whieli has ever since been his home. He began the prac- tice of his profession in Hagerstown in partner- ship with John Thompson Mason and later was in partnership with William T. Hamilton. In 1851 he was nominated by the Democratic party for the State Senate, George French being his opponent on the Whig tieket. The eampaign was animated and the election was a tie. Another eleetion was held and Mr. Freneh was elected by a majority of forty votes. In 1852 Mr. Alvey was candidate for Presidential elector and canvassed the State for Franklin Pierce. After the Presidential election of 1860 he was pronounced in his opposition to the eoereion of the South or the denial of their right to seeede. At a mass meeting in Hagerstown he
420
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
reported a series of resolutions which gave his views on the Constitutional right of the States to withdraw from the Union and those resolutions marked him as a man dangerous to the Union cause. He had a large acquaintance with army officers and Marylanders who shared his views. Many Southern sympathizers going from the North to join the Southern Army at Harper's Ferry or elsewhere passed through Hagerstown and stopped to call upon Mr. Alvey. The first Union troops that arrived in Hagerstown placed him under ar- rest. A spy visited his office with a letter pur- porting to come from a Southern official and so worded as to show that there was communication between Mr. Alvey and Southern Army officials. Mr. Alvey, although not suspeeting that his visi- tor was a spy, dismissed him without the informa- tion asked for and immediately a squad of soldiers entered and carried him off to headquarters. Sev- eral days later he was taken to Fort McHenry, then to Fort Lafayette, New York, then to Fort Warren, Boston, where he was imprisoned with S. Teackle Wallis, T. Parkin Scott, George Wil- iam Brown and other State prisoners.
After the war Mr. Alvey came to the front as a leader in the restoration of normal political conditions and the rehabilitation of the Democratic party. Under the existing law the juries were se- lected by partisan sheriff's and in cases where politics were in any way involved this sometimes amounted to a denial of justice. While Judge French was on the bench, he once or twice dis- charged an entire panel as being too intensely par- tisan. As a remedy for this condition the Legis- lature of 1866 enacted a jury law prepared by Mr. Alvey which has endured to the present time. In 1867 he was a delegate to the Constitutional convention and took a leading part in the deliber- ations. He was chairman of the committee on representation. In November 1867 he was elected Chief Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit for a term of fifteen years. This made him an Associ- ate Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. He was re-elected, as we have seen, in 1882 and the next year on December 13, 1883 upon the resignation of Chief Justice Bartol, he was desig- nated by Governor William T. Hamilton as Chief Justice of Maryland.
In 1888 when Chief Justice Waite diod, Judge Alvey was strongly recommended to Presi- dent Cleveland for his successor. It is understood that the President was much inclined to make
the appointment but finally came to the conelusion that it would be wiser to appoint a younger man and one who lived farther north. But when Con- gress created the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia the President sent for Judge Alvey and requested him to accept the place of Chief Justice of the new court and to organize it. This Judge Alvey consented to do and was ap- pointed in April 1893 and as Judge of that Court he added to his great reputation and form- ed an enduring friendship with Mr. Cleveland. On December 17, 1895, President Cleveland ap- pointed Judge Alvey a member of the commis- sion to settle the boundary line between Vene- zuela and British Guiana. On December 31, 1904 Chief Justice Alvey having served thirty-seven years on the bench and having arrived at the age of seventy-eight years, retired from active service to private life. The Bar of the District of Colum- bia appreciating his great qualities and that his mental vigor was unimpaired, saw him retire with great regret and with formal expressions of re- spect and good will. As a token of this they pre- sented to him on the day before he retired a mag- nificent silver service.
Judge Alvey has been twice married. In 1856 he married Miss Mary Wharton, daughter of Dr. John O. Wharton and a grand daughter of John Thompson Mason. She died in 1860 and in 1862 he married Miss Julia I. Hays, daughter of Dr. Joseph C. Hays and a descendent of Joseph Chapline, the founder of Sharpsburg and an of- ficer in the French and Indian war as well as in the Revolutionary war.
When Judge Alvey resigned from the Mary- land Judiciary in 1893 to go on the Federal bench, Governor Brown appointed Mr. A. Hunter Boyd as his successor in May of that year. At the succeeding election in November 1893 Judge Boyd was elected Chief Judge over Mr. Benj. A. Richmond.
In 1883 Judge George \. Pearre died and Governor Hamilton appointed Mr. Josiah H. Gor- don of Cumberland to fill the vacancy until the election that fall. At the election Judge Gordon was defeated by Mr. Henry W. Hoffman of Cum- berland, who was succeeded by David W. Sloan, who died in 1902. Judge Fordinand Williams was then appointed to the bench by Governor John Walter Smith and served from August 1902 until November 1903, when Robert R. Henderson of Allegany County was elected for the full term
421
OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
of fifteen years. Judge Syester died early in 1891 and in April of that year Governor Jackson appointed as his successor, Gen. Henry Kyd Douglas. H. Kyd Douglas was for more than a generation one of the most striking personages in Washington County. He was a man of imposing presence, tall, slender, straight and with the mil- itary carriage acquired in four years service in the Civil War. His features were aquiline, his eye piercing. He was courteous and kindly in his manner and a fine public speaker. He was in active practice at the bar for thirty years and was fond of politics. But his greatest interest lay in the military affairs. Upon his experience and ob- servations in the Civil War he delivered lectures from time to time in various places. In Boston where he spoke upon "the Confederate Volunteer" he received something of an ovation, notwithstand- ing the fact that he made no apologies and spoke from the Southern point of view. He acquired also a considerable reputation as a writer of ar- ticles in the leading magazines upon the Civil War. In political life he did not succeed. He was a candidate several times but was never elect- ed. He ran for the State Senate, for Congress and for the Judgeship and each time, after re- ceiving a flattering vote he lost. The offices he held, Judge for a part of a year and Adjutant General of Maryland he got by appointment. On the bench he was dignified, industrious and fair minded. As Adjutant General he was most effi- cient. In his loyalty to the South there was no bitterness. When Gen. McClellan visited Ha- gerstown after the war to go to Antietam field, he was Col. Douglas' guest and he pronounced a eulogy over the grave of his friend, Gen. Hart- ranft, of Pennsylvania. Time and again he was called upon to make addresses before the Grand Army of the Republic and he never uttered a word of apology for having worn a gray uniform.
Henry Kyd Douglas was born in Shepherds- town, Virginia, now West Virginia, Sept. 29, 1840. His parents were the Rev. Robert Douglas and Mary, daughter of Col. John Robertson. He graduated at Franklin-Marshall College in 1859, graduated in law at Lexington in 1860 and was admitted to the bar of Jefferson County. At the very beginning of the war he enlisted as a private at Harper's Ferry in the Shepherdstown Com- pany, in the Stonewall Brigade. He was rapidly promoted becoming shortly an aide-de-camp on Gen. Stonewall Jackson's staff. After Jackson's
death he was Adjutant General to Gens. Edward Johnson, John B. Gordon, Jubal A. Early and others. He was promoted to Colonel and assign- ed to command a light brigade. He was com- mander of this brigade when it was in the assault on the salient hill of the Federal lines at Peters- burg. He was at Appomattox and continued to fight for half an hour after the surrender, not having heard of it. At Gettysburg he was se- verely wounded, and for a brief season was confin- ed in old Capitol prison. After the war Gen. Douglas practiced law two years at Winchester and in 1868 he came to Hagerstown where he remained until his death in 1903.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.