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 24
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A Republican in politics, Mr. Newbold took an active interest in city and national affairs, and as the candidate of his party, ran for Congress from the Third Maryland dis- trict. During his more active years he was a member of the leading clubs and fraternal organizations, but in his latter years he withdrew from all but the Park Place, Shawbridge Church, there continuing an active member. He was highly regarded by those who were acquainted with the strength of his ability as a business man and executive, and that respect he never forfeited.
Mr. Newbold married, in November, 1865, Eliza Boyd,
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daughter of William A. Boyd, a prominent and successful wholesale tobacco merchant in Baltimore before the Civil War. They were the parents of three sons, James Boyd New- bold, David Marion Newbold, Jr., and Eugene Saunders Newbold.
2.
CHARLES E. WAYS
T HE death of Charles E. Ways, the Nestor of American railway officials, removed from the scene of human action one of the historic landmarks of the nation. To the younger generation it seems incredible that there was living in their midst, so recently as 1914, the man who opened the first tele- graph office in the capital of our nation and who prior to that was operator at Harper's Ferry during the John Brown raid. But those were some of the interesting facts in Mr. Ways' life and he was not a boy when he linked his career with those most dramatic events. From 1855 until about six months be- fore his death he was continuously in the employ of the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad Company, rose to important position, and was one of the oldest if not the oldest railroad official in the United States in point of years of service, witnessing and aiding in the development of the Baltimore & Ohio from a short single track line to a great modern railroad system. Dur- ing his last years he received from the management, in appre- ciation of his long service, a perpetual pass made of silver in card form, designed and authorized by President Williard and Vice-President Randolph, the only one of its kind ever issued by the road. He held personal as well as business re- lations with former presidents of the Baltimore & Ohio-John W. Garrett, Samuel Spencer and John K. Cowan. The old veteran was a thorough railroad man and loved his work; in fact, when obliged to retire from active service, the great interest of his life departed, and he only survived his retire- ment six months. He was a boy of thirteen when he entered telegraph employ as a messenger boy, a year older when he came to the Baltimore & Ohio Company, a man of seventy-five when he retired as assistant general freight traffic manager. His railroad career linked him with some of the dramatic
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events of the anti-Civil War period. He was at Harper's Ferry when John Brown made his famous but insane raid into Virginia, and when troops, under Robert E. Lee, then a colonel in the United States army, stormed the old armory and captured the Abolition leader, Mr. Ways sent the mes- sage to the world announcing that event. When in 1861 it was necessary for the protection of President Lincoln on his journey from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D. C., that a telegraph office be opened in Washington, Mr. Ways was selected to open and operate it, the first in the city, his choice for the honor testifying to the confidence reposed in his ability, loyalty and faithfulness.
Charles E. Ways was born in 1839, died January 2, 1914. His parents lived in Frederick during his boyhood and there he went to school, and at the age of thirteen became messenger boy in the commercial telegraph office. He picked up a knowledge of telegraphy at the same time and when shortly afterward his parents moved to Ellicott City he was so expert that he took the place of the regular operator for a month, while he was away on a vacation, and received the regular salary. That was his first introduction to railroad telegraphic work and the beginning of his sixty years connection with the Baltimore & Ohio. Shortly after the regular operator re- turned to his duties, a vacancy occurred at Frederick Junction, and the young operator, then fifteen years of age, was offered the place. His mother objected to his leaving home on ac- count of his youth, but finally gave way, and the position was accepted. The little office and bedroom at a lonely junction told on the boy's nerves and his first night there was a sleepless one. In the morning his feelings were not soothed by learn- ing that a man had died of cholera in the bed the morning be- fore he occupied it at night. But he stuck to his post and performed his duty well, as he stuck to every post and per-
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formed every duty required of him until he laid down for final rest. From Frederick Junction he was sent to Martins- burg. In 1859 he was made payroll clerk at Cumberland; in 1861 was placed in charge and opened the first telegraph office in Washington; in 1863 was made chief telegraph op- erator of the Baltimore & Ohio, with headquarters at Balti- more; in 1867 was promoted general agent at Hagerstown; was promoted division freight agent in 1878; assistant general freight agent in 1888. He was appointed in 1897 to the posi- tion he held until his retirement six months prior to his death, assistant general freight traffic manager. This record of serv- ice brought him into intimate relation with two of the im- portant departments of the Baltimore & Ohio-telegraph and freight. Beginning at the bottom, he thoroughly mastered every detail and developed quick decision, sound judgment, wisdom, initiative and ready resource. The way of the Balti- more & Ohio official was not a smooth, easy one in the early years of his connection, but he overcame every discouraging circumstance and became one of the men whom the manage- ment of the road trusted implicitly with weighty responsi- bilities and were never at fault in so doing.
Fortunately Mr. Ways was induced to write a very com- plete account of his early experiences and so valuable is the story from both a historical and human interest view that it is here reproduced in part :
I was operator at Martinsburg, West Virginia, at the time John Brown captured the Government armory at Harper's Ferry. Having nothing to do after the wires were cut I went with the Martinsburg militia to the scene of action. The second day after the arrival there, I was instructed to open an office, which I did in a one-story brick building located alongside the Winchester Branch track and directly facing the engine house, or fort as it was called, in which Brown and his men were barricaded.
My selection of a location for the instrument table was in the middle of the room, and the door being open all the time, I had a full view of the
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Brown fort, and it appears he had a full view of me and my instruments, for it was not more than twenty mnutes after I had gotten to work before two Sharp's rifle balls in quick succession passed within six inches of my head and buried themselves in the wall back of me. I can recall very vividly the whistle of the balls as they passed my head, and it did not take me very long to move my instruments to a safe place. Brown had portholes on all sides of the building and his men shot anything that came in sight.
It was this recklessness that caused the death of old Mr. Beckham, the agent at Harper's Ferry at that time. He walked out of his office up the plat- form and put his head out to look at the fort when a Sharp's rifle ball put an end to his life in a moment. He was a well beloved old gentleman and his death caused much greater ill-feeling toward Brown and his men. From a point on the platform near where Mr. Beckham was killed I witnessed the storming of the fort by the United States troops commanded by General Robert E. Lee, then a colonel, and the capture of Brown after he and his men had fired half a dozen volleys through the doors of the fort into the troops, only one of them was killed, as I recall it, though I saw several fall wounded and carried away. The old man looked the picture of misery as he was dragged out to a spot under the Star-Spangled Banner which floated from a pole in the middle of the armory yard.
I witnessed a curious incident in connection with the John Brown raid. He had imprisoned some of the citizens of Harper's Ferry in the western part of the engine house, and among them was "Daddy Malloy," a simple- minded native of Harper's Ferry, who had been run over by trains and had fallen off the bridge wall into the Potomac without being hurt, besides hav- ing other narrow escapes at various times. He saw an opportunity to get out of one of the windows and escape, which he took advantage of. That side of the engine house was in full view of the steep road or street that led up to Bolivar, and the side of the road toward the engine house was lined with armed militia and citizens, all looking toward the engine house. All of them saw Malloy getting out of the window and mistaking him for one of Brown's men, probably three hundred shots were fired at him without one of them taking effect. This would seem to verify the saying that it takes half a ton of lead to kill one soldier in battle.
I opened the first telegraph office at Washington, D. C., which was for the protection of Mr. Lincoln's train when he was brought to Washington to be inaugurated. My instruments were set up in a watchman's house about one hundred yards outside the shed of the old depot. This was one of the
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precautions taken by the Baltimore & Ohio Company to insure safety to the train on account of the rumors that it would be attacked.
When the Civil War broke out I was at Harper's Ferry and witnessed the massing of the Confederate soldiers getting ready to march up the valley. When the Confederate flag was hoisted, to the tune of "Dixie" on the same Hagpole from which had waved the Star-Spangled Banner at John Brown's capture, the enthusiasm was beyond description. After the Confederates abandoned the armory building and moved up the Valley, the United States troops occupied the place for a time, but later abandoned it and blew up all the armory buildings.
Having had notice of this movement I was detailed to go with the gen- eral supervisor of trains to open an office in his car at Sandy Hook, if neces- sary. He went over to Harper's Ferry and left me alone in the car. At about eight o'clock at night I was startled by a terrific noise of explosions like thousands of cartridges, and looking in the direction of Harper's Ferry I saw the light from the burning buildings. Just then a man whom I did not know opened the door and calling me by name, said: "If you attempt to cut the wires here you will be killed." With the delivery of that pleasant message he disappeared. Perhaps it is because I did not have to cut the wires that I am enabled to write this.
While at Martinsburg, West Virginia, during the Civil War, the rail- road officials had advance notice from Winchester of Banks' retreat from the Valley and instructions were given to remove all the engines and equip- ment to Cumberland. One engine was held on the track in front of my office for the master mechanic, supervisor of engines and myself to go on as soon as everything had been started away, which had been accomplished just as the troops began coming into town. I notified Camden Station and the other offices, disconnecting my instruments; carrying them away with me, and started the engine for Hancock, where we were to cross the Potomac river, the engine going to Cumberland. We went from Hancock to Hagers- town in a wagon, and the same night went to Williamsport and saw Banks' army retreating across the Potomac river into Maryland.
Mr. Ways was president of the Baltimore & Ohio Relief Association ; a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Royal Arcanum and the Maryland Club, being one of the oldest members of the last named. He was a man of warm human sympathies and the number of his friends was "legion."
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He married Elizabeth Virginia, daughter of Dr. Fred- erick Byer, of Leitersburg, who bore him two sons and a daughter: Thomas F. Ways; Max Ways, well known as one of the Democratic leaders in Baltimore; and Margaret E. Ways.
JULIEN P. FRIEZ
PROBABLY no single word so well classifies Mr. Friez as
the title "Scientist," but that word indicates only the scope of his wondrous life of activity. He was a skilled worker in metals; an inventor; a maker of fine instruments used in telegraphy and meteorology; maker of the first telegraph key and sounder used by the Western Electric Company; spun the first watch case made in this country ; made the first musical telephone while associated with Professor Gray; aided in perfecting the Mergenthaler typesetting machine, and devoted the last sixteen years of his life wholly to the science of meteorology, perfecting during that period countless numbers of recording instruments, the appliances and apparatus made at his Belfort plant, now being in use by the United States government, municipal governments, colleges and universi- ties all over this and every country of the world. He was not a scientist of the type which investigates only, but his studies seemed but the preliminary work to the perfecting of scientific instruments or apparatus. He was of that exceptional type of scientist who, after investigation, research and study of a sub- ject, could discern just what instruments would be necessary to give practical value to his discoveries, then evolve the instru- ment from his inventive brain, then produce it in metal worked by his own hands or under his supervision. So as scientist, inventor and mechanician his work was so interwoven that while his fame might safely rest upon either title, in combina- tion they form a record of achievement marvelous in scope and value.
Julien P. Friez was born at Grandvillars, near Belfort, France, August 16, 1851, and died at his home, "Belfort," Central avenue and Baltimore street, Baltimore, Maryland, March 9, 1916. He was the son of Joseph Friez, born De- cember 13, 1818, died February 21, 1891, and his wife, Mar- guerite (Roy) Friez, daughter of Francis Roy, of the house-
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hold of Louis XVI., of France, and a grandson of Jean Jacques and Marie (Moine) Friez. Joseph Friez (father) was for many years a manager in a manufacturing establishment at Grandvillars, or near there.
Julien P. Friez obtained his early education under the private teaching of Professor Rose, in the village of Geromany, France. At an early age he came to the United States, locat- ing in New York State, entered the New York University, pursuing courses there until graduation. For a time thereafter he taught French, during his residence in New York State, and when about sixteen years of age went west, locating in Ottawa, Illinois, the residence of some of his relatives. In 1868 he became an apprentice under Robert Henning, a machinist and maker of telegraph instruments, located in Ottawa. There he acquired his expert mechanical skill, and developed the inventive genius hitherto laying dormant. He became foreman of the Henning factory, and was one of the pioneers in the work of perfecting the telegraph. This estab- lishment was the first in the west to become interested in the development of the telegraph, and during his apprenticeship Mr. Friez aided in completing the first telegraph line in the west, a line about ten miles in length, connecting the factory and shops with the residence of Mr. Henning. During his four years residence in Ottawa, Mr. Friez met the early telegraph workers, and later came in direct association with Professors Morse, Knox and Shane. At Ottawa he made the first telegraph key and sounder for the Western Electric Company, that corporation having taken over the Henning plant.
From Ottawa, Illinois, Mr. Friez removed to Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, where he began the manufacture of tele- graph instruments, but the great panic following the failure of Jay Cooke, the Philadelphia financier, so completely para- lyzed the business interests of that city that he soon closed his
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shops and removed to Baltimore, Maryland, that city hence- forth to be the scene of his life work. During the time spent in Philadelphia, he was employed in a watch case factory and he devised means by which cases could be "spun" instead of being stamped, and for this achievement was presented with a watch. In Baltimore he soon became associated with A. Hall & Company, manufacturers of electric clocks, in the capacity of manager, and while serving in that capacity made the acquaintance of Mr. Mergenthaler, who was employed in the same shop. One of the clocks installed by this company, under Mr. Friez's management, is still marking the hours in the city hall, another in the Rennert hotel. Mr. Friez was next connected in an official capacity under the Brush Electric Company, and later was superintendent of the Baltimore works of the Mergenthaler Manufacturing Company, and was of especial aid in inventing and perfecting that wonderful piece of machinery which revolutionized the printing business of the world-the linotype. He was also associated with Pro- fessor Gray at one time, and built for him the first musical telephone, and with Professor Henry A. Rowland in instru- ment manufacture, Professor Rowland bearing testimony to the high quality of his partner's scientific attainment. About 1876, Mr. Friez established the business that was to win for him world-wide fame, a business which was not to pass away with him, but is still conducted by the founder's sons, Julien M. and Lucien L. Friez, whose natural ability was carefully developed and trained by their father.
His first plant was located on West German street, but prior to this he worked at his home, in the evenings, develop- ing and improving, also manufacturing meteorological instru- ments, all this work being done by Mr. Friez with a foot lathe. In 1896, he removed to the present site of the Belfort Observa- tory, Baltimore street and Central avenue. He became known as one of the foremost manufacturers of meteorological instru-
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ments and apparatus in the world, and volumes could be filled with descriptions of his life's work. He perfected and completed the first heliograph, a great improvement over the cumbersome English instrument. He also invented the quad- ruple register, which records on a single sheet the velocity and direction of the wind, the sunshine and the rainfall for each minute of the day. Another of his chief inventions was the soil thermograph, by which the temperature beneath the earth's surface can be obtained; another, the Friez water-stage register, which records the stages or levels of the water in rivers and reservoirs, and the movements of the tides. He built instruments of the most delicate nature for scientists in every field, but the public knew of his work more through the perfecting of the Rowland Multiplex Telegraph, the linotype, the making of the dies and punches for the old Balti- more Oriole souvenir pins, and for his imposing residence, "Belfort," a great old-style mansion, spacious and comfort- able, surrounded by terraces, arbors and flower-beds, where hundreds of varieties of flowers, shrubs and trees flourish in succession throughout the year, the grounds presenting a most beautiful spectacle during the summer months. The name he gave his home and observatory, "Belfort," was in remembrance of his native Belfort, in France, the Chateau of Belfort, the scene of some of the deadly conflicts of the present European war, overlooking the place of his birth, and during the Franco- Prussian war, of 1870, Belfort was the only French fort which did not surrender.
During the years 1900-16, Mr. Friez personally devoted himself to meteorology, a science in which he was a pioneer. The value of the work of those years cannot be computed for the records he made are preserved and the instruments he in- vented and perfected to aid the work of the meteorologist are almost without number. He established his observatory at "Belfort" and made his retreat so difficult of entrance to
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strangers that it was surrounded by a certain air of mystery. There Mr. Friez pursued his study, investigation and inven- tion, his only diversion outside the laboratory being an occa- sional fishing trip and the beautifying of his grounds with all varieties of roses, shrubbery and trees. Rather a remarkable fact was that although a Frenchman, nearly all of his friends were Germans or of German descent, and he was connected with the leading German singing societies of this city and others he resided in, being at one time an active member of the Germania Maennerchor, of Baltimore. His manufac- turing business was conducted under the corporate name of Julien P. Friez & Sons, and The Belfort Meteorological Ob- servatory.
Mr. Friez was the friend of young men seeking to make their way in the scientific world, and in all parts of the coun- try there are heads of departments of large manufacturing companies, men who served an apprenticeship under his guid- ance. When a young man completed his course and passed from under his control, Mr. Friez presented him with a gold watch, this applying even to his own sons, the youngest of them being the last to receive this reward. His sons, Julien M. and Lucien L., received their reward in 1913-14, the last to receive instruction under their father. This instruction fitted the sons, even at an early age, to successfully conduct the wonderful business so well established. In 1913, Mr. Friez, in company with his youngest son, Lucien L., toured the cities and countries in which he had studied and labored, he describ- ing and illustrating his entire life for the benefit of the son.
Mr. Friez married Cordelia Schimff, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Three sons were born to them: Frederick J., a resident of Atlantic City, New Jersey ; Julien M. and Lucien L., successors to the business of Julien P. Friez & Sons; and three daughters: Sister M. Pierre, a Sister of Mercy; Alice J., wife of M. J. Jennings; and Louise M., wife of Burns Hyland.
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