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 9
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ficences. For his splendid work for the Catholic University of America, and for his other activities in behalf of the cause of Catholicism, Mr. Jenkins and his wife were ennobled by Pope Pius X, in 'May, 1905, and created Duke and Duchess of the Holy Roman Empire. When interviewed by a re- porter concerning the honor, Mr. Jenkins said: "All you can say for me is that I am an American citizen, and will never be anything else."
Michael Jenkins, youngest child of Charles Courtney and Louisa (Carrell) Jenkins, was born in Baltimore, Mary- land, December 27, 1842, died there September 7, 1915. He prepared in Baltimore schools, then entered Mount St. Mary's College, whence he was graduated, class of 1862. In 1865, he succeeded with his brother to the leather busi- ness established by his father, and as a member of the firm, Jenkins Brothers, began his business career. As his father withdrew from his other enterprises, he succeeded him, and upon the death of B. F. Newcomer, succeeded to the presi- dency of the Merchants' and Miners' Transportation Com- pany. That office he held from 1896 until 1907, when he resigned, but retained his interest in the company, and its management, as chairman of the board of directors.
Mr. Jenkins became also heavily interested in railroad enterprises, especially in the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, and its subsidiaries; controlled with his brother, George C., and Joseph W. Jenkins, and Alexander Brown, the United Railways of Baltimore; the Baltimore Electric Company; was one of the largest individual stockholders of the United Railways; of the Merchants' and Miners' Transportation Company; of the Atlantic Coast Line Company; the Louis- ville and Nashville Railroad Company; was a large holder of the securities of the Consolidation Coal Company; the Consolidated Gas, Electric and Power Company; the North- MD .- 8
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ern Central Railroad Company; and interested in many en- terprises in Baltimore, and elsewhere. He was officially con- nected with the Atlantic Coast Line from early manhood, and was always consulted by Henry Waters, its official head, upon any matter of policy or expansion. He and Mr. Waters were close personal friends, as well as business friends, and it was in this spirit of warm personal regard that they consulted, not as two business men planning from a selfish standpoint.
Mr. Jenkins became president of the Atlantic Coast Line Company of Connecticut, which was the holding company for the stock of the railroad company, the Atlantic Coast Line, of which he was a director. He was also vice-presi- dent of the Northern Central Railway, and a director of the Metropolitan Savings Bank. He rarely missed a meeting of the board of directors of the railroad company, or of the holding company; was exceedingly alert as to the physical condition of the property, it being his custom to make tours of inspection over the lines with the other officials at least once, and frequently twice each year. In the local enterprises in which he was interested, he never sought official representa- tion, his brother, George C. Jenkins, who was also connected in practically all the enterprises named, being particularly in charge of such affairs. An exception was the Safe Deposit and Trust Company, of which Michael Jenkins was presi- dent. He grew to the position of one of Baltimore's foremost citizens, his influence great, probably greater and broader than any other citizen enjoyed. This influence was not gained by his wealth, but because of his personality, his keenness of financial judgment, his understanding of the human side of investment, and his absolute willingness to give every party to a transaction his just due. He was of Baltimore, he believed in Baltimore, and was one of the not numerous body of men who appreciated the value of industrial development to the extent of standing sponsor financially.
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Mr. Jenkins was never a public character; was a Demo- crat, rarely missed voting, but never took active part in poli- tics. He was deeply interested in bringing the National Democratic Convention to Baltimore in 1912; contributed largely to the movement to obtain that convention; escorted his friend, Cardinal Gibbons, to the armory to deliver the opening prayer, and was constant in his attendance upon the sessions. He was not a clubman in the accepted sense, but held membership in many clubs, including the Maryland, Merchants, Elk Ridge, Green Spring Valley, Baltimore Uni- versity, Baltimore Country, and the Bachelors' Cotillion.
It was for his philanthropies that he was best known to the community at large. He was deeply interested in edu- cational affairs generally, especially friendly toward Peabody Institute, and the Maryland Institute. He was a trustee of Peabody, and, with Andrew Carnegie, gave the present lot and building now occupied by the institute. When the big fire in Baltimore left the Maryland Institute homeless, Andrew Carnegie promised to give $263,000 toward the erec- tion of a new building, provided Baltimore would give the site. The lot adjoining Corpus Christi Church, erected by the family of Thomas Courtney Jenkins, was chosen as a suitable location. This vacant lot had been bought by Michael Jenkins with the sole purpose of protecting the surroundings of the church, and when he was approached by the commit- tee, and asked to sell, he told them he would donate the valu- able lot, provided a suitable building was erected, one that would harmonize architecturally with the church. His offer was accepted, and when Mr. Carnegie was notified that the lot was secured he wrote : "I congratulate the Maryland Institute upon receiving such a splendid gift, and I also con- gratulate Baltimore upon having such a citizen as Mr. Jenkins."
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A member of the Roman Catholic church, as were his parents, he gave to that church the devotion of a lifetime. He was one of the founders of the Catholic University of America, was its treasurer and member of the board of trustees, and one of the largest subscribers to its building fund. As trustee, he worked in association with Cardinal Gibbons, and was largely instrumental in clearing up the affairs of the uni- versity after the Wagaman difficulties of 1904. He was also a trustee of the Baltimore Cathedral, and with his brothers and sisters caused Corpus Christi Church-Jenkins Memorial Church-to be erected as a memorial to their parents, an edifice regarded as the most beautiful church building in Baltimore. It was for such activity as a layman that the title previously referred to was conferred by Pope Pius X, in May, 1905. Mr. Jenkins' charities were bestowed from a high sense of religious obligation. He regarded himself, not as the absolute owner, but as the steward of those goods which were placed in his hands, and he experienced the truth, that the greatest happiness in life is the contributing to the happi- ness of others, and to bring relief to the suffering, to bring sunshine to hearts heretofore dark and desolate.
Mr. Jenkins married, October 2, 1866, Mary Isabel Plowden Jenkins, born October 4, 1844; died in 1911; daugh- ter of Austin Jenkins, of Baltimore, born May 10, 1806; died May 30, 1888. Austin Jenkins married, October 27, 1840, Margaret A. Jenkins, born December 15, 1816; died April 22, 1901, daughter of Judge John J. Jenkins, of Charles county, Maryland, and his wife, Mary (Plowden) Jenkins, of St. Mary county, Maryland, to whom he was married, February 22, 1822. The married life of Mr. Jenkins was most attractive, and in his home the domestic and religious virtues were cultivated in a marked degree. Mr. Jenkins often said that he regarded his wife under three aspects, as
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wife, as sweetheart, and as a companion. When she died in 1911, he received a blow from which he never recovered. So deep was his sorrow for her death that he never afterwards entered the city house, in which she died, nor even the coun- try house, in which they spent the summers.
One of the last charitable acts of his life was the donation of a check, sent to the Pope through Cardinal Gibbons, that his Holiness was to use for the relief of war sufferers. The reply with an acknowledgement came but a few hours prior to his death.
1
WILLIAM REED
THE name of Reed, in various forms, is in use among many nations, the spelling being varied in many cases to suit individual taste. The mode of spelling in use by the Puritan ancestors was usually Reade, but in some cases Reede, and one of them called it Rede. The mode of spelling the name in this country has gradually assumed one of the three following forms: Read, Reed and Reid, and different mem- bers of the same family use all these methods. It was formerly combined with other words to form names with new signi- fication as Ethelred, or Reed the Good; Conrad, or Reed the Powerful; Elred, or Reed the Elder; Alfred, or Reed the Shrewd; and it was found that when William the Conqueror took possession of the English throne in 1066, the legal heir to the throne was brother-in-law to the King of Scotland. It is to be seen from the earliest records of the Reed family that they were, as a rule, large in stature and of unusual strength, and these physical characteristics still distinguish the majority of the family at the present day. In 1400 the name Thomas Reed, of Redesdale, occurs in the county rec- ords, and in 1427 his name appears in the jury about Elsden Church. In 1400, Sir Huphrey Lisle Kent gave to William Reed, of Thoroughhend, the hamlet called Bromhope, in Redesdale, in exchange for lands in Rutland and Redsmith, and not long after the reign of Elizabeth, John Reede of the family is styled "chief" of his name. He kept up the habits of his family, and cultivated the martial spirit for which they had become justly celebrated.
A scion of this house was George Compton Reed, of Heathpool and Northumberland, and by his will he be- queathed money to the poor of Kirk-Newton parish. George Compton Reed succeeded his cousin as ninth baronet. Wil-
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liam Reed, grandson of Edward Reed, of Berkshire, obtained from Henry VIII, Barton Court, which was part of the property of the abbey of Abingdon in 1536. He was buried in St. Helen's Church, of which he was a great benefactor. Thomas Reed, son of the preceding, married Ann Hoo, of the Hoo, County Hertford. They had a son Thomas, who married Mary Stonehouse, of Little Peckham. Their son, also named Thomas, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and married Mary, daughter of Sir John Brocket, in Hertford- shire. They had five children: Thomas, John, James, and two daughters. The sons were all knighted.
Thomas Reed, son of Thomas and Mary (Brocket) Reed, married Mary Cornwall, daughter of Thomas Cornwall, Lord of Stropshire, and they had children: Compton, who as the eldest son, secured the honor of knighthood; Edward, whose daughter, Elizabeth, married, February 12, 1635, John Win- throp, Jr., first Governor of Connecticut; Thomas and John, who came to this country in 1630; William, who came to America in the ship "Defense," in 1635, and settled in Wo- burn, Massachusetts. He is said to be the ancestor of the Reeds of Maine, and many others. Thomas settled in Salem, Massachusetts. He was a very prominent man in the colony, held the rank of colonel as early as 1643, and had several sons born in this country. He returned to England, was a colonel in the British army at the time of the restoration of Charles II, died, in England, in 1663, and his son, Abraham Palmer, settled his estate in America.
John Reed, fourth son of Thomas and Mary (Cornwall) Reed, was commonly called Major John Reed. He came to America, in 1630, with his brother Thomas. The land granted to him at Salem was forfeited for not being occupied. He was a resident of New London in 1650, removed to the Barbadoes, and had extensive mercantile interests in that place, which,
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after his death, was carried on by his son, Joseph. He had three sons: John, Joseph and Thomas.
Joseph Reed, son of John Reed, after accumulating con- siderable capital in the West India trade, decided to settle his sons upon what was then western land, and as early as 1700 was located with his sons at what is now Trenton, New Jersey. In 1734 a post office was established at his residence in Trenton, and his son, Andrew Reed, was made postmaster. He had other sons, John, Andrew, William, and probably Thomas. Andrew Reed was long an active and prominent citizen of Trenton. Besides being postmaster, he was chosen, September 1, 1744, commissioner of the loan office; in 1746, was made one of the burgesses of the newly created borough of Trenton, and its treasurer, and March 28, 1749, was com- missioned one of the judges of the courts of Hunterdon county. He was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and in addi- tion was considerably interested in the iron industry, in association with others. In 1743 Andrew Reed, and Joseph Peace, advertised for the recovery of a servant lad, twenty years old, who had run away. In 1748 the iron works near Bordentown was advertised for sale. This was an extensive plant for that day, located on Black Creek, about half a mile from "Burden's Town." The creek was navigable for boats up to the works, and these works included three fires, with hammers, anvils, bellows and all appliances, also a dwelling- house and two dwellings for workmen, stables, storehouses and various conveniences. The land covered twenty acres, or thereabouts, lying on both sides of the creek, with a small orchard of some forty well-grown apple trees. The owners, beside Mr. Reed, were Joseph Yard, David Davis and Francis Bowes, the latter, Mr. Reed's father-in-law, who was then residing in Philadelphia. This sale seems to have been accomplished, for in 1749 Andrew Reed
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removed to Philadelphia, accompanied by his neighbor, John Pettit, and there they engaged in general merchandising under the style of Reed & Pettit, with a store on Front street. Reed & Pettit were among the prominent underwriters of Philadelphia, for we find the firm subscribing to marine policies in considerable amounts as early as July, 1759, as shown by Walter Shee's books, and as late as November, 1762, we find them in Kidd's and Bradford's books. In 1749 Mr. Reed was manager of a lottery "set up" in Philadelphia for the benefit of the New Jersey College-the Princeton Univer- sity of the present day. Andrew Reed is said to have resided in Philadelphia ten years, at the end of which period he removed back to Trenton, and later to Amwell township, Hunterdon county, where he died, December 16, 1759. He was thrice married (first) to Sarah Pearson; (second) to Theodosia Bowes; and (third) to Louise de Normandie, and was the father of ten children: Two by first wife: Elizabeth Reed, born 1736; married, 1767, Rev. Joseph Montgomery, and died two years later, in 1769; Sarah, married, April 5, 1758, Charles Pettit, son of John Pettit. Six by second wife : Bowes, married (first) Margaret Johnson, who died, Decem- ber 6, 1786; (second) Caroline Moore, who died, November 6, 1789; Joseph, mentioned below; and Ann, Mary, Thomas and Francis, these last dying in infancy, or in early childhood. There were two children by the third wife: John and An- drew, the latter died in infancy, and the former in 1807, in Cecil county, Maryland.
Joseph Reed, son of Andrew and Theodosia ( Bowes) was one of the most conspicuous figures of the Revolutionary period. He was born August 27, 1741, in Trenton, New Jersey, and received his early education at the old Philadel- phia Academy, which institution, in due course of time, be- came the University of Pennsylvania. At the age of ten years
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he returned with his family to New Jersey, and was graduated from Princeton College, then the College of New Jersey, in 1757, at the age of sixteen years. Subsequently entering the office of Richard Stockton, the leading lawyer of New Jersey -afterwards one of the "Signers"-Mr. Reed prepared him- self for the legal profession, and was admitted to the bar of that province, in 1763. Determining to acquire the best professional equipment obtainable, he went to London, entered himself at the Middle Temple, took a two years' course, and returned to America, in 1766. The period of his residence in England was one of great importance so far as concerned the relations between Great Britain and her colonies, involv- ing, as it did, the stamp act agitation, and the discussion and consideration of the crown's colonial policy; and the young lawyer had ample opportunity to hear the exciting debates in parliament and catch the spirit of the day, as it swayed and swept the British capital, now for, and now against, the em- ployment of coercive measures in the treatment of the sons of England across the seas.
Almost immediately after the return of Mr. Reed to America, and his arrival in Philadelphia, the annual com- mencement was held at the institution which he had attended in 1751, now become the College of Philadelphia. The Sargent medal was offered for the best essay on "The Recip- rocal Advantages of a Perpetual Union Between Great Britain and Her Colonies." Mr. Reed, as a former student at the institution, determined to compete, though he had but a brief time at his disposal. The papers submitted were opened and read, May 8, 1766. While the young Jerseyman was not accorded the first honor-which went to Dr. John Margan, afterward a distinguished surgeon in the Continental Army -nor the second, which went to Stephen Watts-he won third place in the competition. Mr. Reed was at this time
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twenty-five years of age. The treatise written by him evi- denced his interest in a subject which, a few years later, when it became a paramount issue between Great Britain and her offspring, engrossed his best thoughts and highest energies. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession with characteristic zeal, first, for two or three years, in Trenton, New Jersey, his native city, and then after his marriage, in Philadelphia. So rapid and pronounced was his progress that not many years elapsed before he had become the leader of the local bar. Writing, February 29, 1772, to her brother in England, his wife said :
Of the four greatest lawyers in the city, three have resigned from practice. Mr. Galloway being a good deal advanced in life, and having a very large fortune, cares very little about it. Mr: Dickinson also married a wife worth £30,000, is improving and building on his estate, and Mr. Wain, whom you may remember in the Temple with Mr. Reed, is on a sudden turned Quaker preacher. He had a very great business-they say nearly £2,000 a year, but he has resigned on principle, as he says no good man can practice law.
Writing in his diary, two years later-August 28, 1774 -upon his first visit to Philadelphia, as a delegate to the Continental Congress, John Adams said : "Jo Reed is at the head of his profession in Philadelphia; Fish is next. Wain and Dickinson have retired."
But, successful and distinguished as Mr. Reed became at the bar, the events which were about to happen, in the city of his adoption, were of such a character as to require his best abilities in a different direction, and the last decade of his short, but brilliant life, a period of great strenuosity for him, was almost entirely given over to public affairs. When the tension between Great Britain and the colonies reached a critical stage, and hostilities seemed imminent, Mr. Reed's sympathies and influence were all cast into the scale in favor of the American Revolutionary program, though almost
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without exception the other great lawyers, then at the local bar, pursued a contrary course. When John Adams arrived in Philadelphia at the close of August, 1774, to attend the first Continental Congress, he found Joseph Reed one of the leaders among the thinking men of the day, and took occasion to seek the Quaker City attorney's society as frequently as possible. He makes mention of Mr. Reed in his diary upon the very day of his arrival in the city-August 29, 1774-and there are frequent references to him in the subsequent pages. A few days thereafter he wrote: "This Mr. Reed is a very sensible and accomplished lawyer, and of an amiable dispo- sition, soft, tender, friendly; he is a friend of this country and to liberty. Mr. Reed was so kind as to wait on us to Mr. Sproat's meeting where we heard Mr. Spence."
Writing February 10, 1775, to Lord Dartmouth, secre- tary of state for the colonies, whom he had known, in London, Mr. Reed thus expressed his sentiments upon the strained rela- tions then existing between England and America: "I am very sensible that the disposition I have mentioned may by some be imputed to timidity and apprehension of division among ourselves. But this country will be deluged with blood before it will submit to any other taxation than by their own Legislature."
Mr. Reed was appointed a member of the committee of correspondence for Philadelphia, in November, 1774; was a delegate to the provincial convention of July 15, 1774; also to that of January 23, 1775, of which body he was made president; served as a member of the committee of safety, October 20, 1775, to July 22, 1776; was chosen lieutenant colonel of the Pennsylvania Associators, or militia, organized after the battle of Lexington, and July 4, 1775, was com- missioned lieutenant-colonel and military secretary to the commander-in-chief, General Washington. A year later, June
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5, 1776, he was appointed adjutant general of the Continental Army with the rank of colonel. This he resigned January 2, 1777. Having served with Washington during the move- ments about New York, including the battle of Long Island, he was solicited by his chief in 1777 to accept a commission -which Congress had offered-as brigadier-general, with command of all the American cavalry. This he declined, as he did also an appointment, March 20, 1777, as the first chief justice of Pennsylvania under the constitution of 1776, pre- ferring to remain attached to Washington's headquarters as a volunteer aide, without rank or pay. With Washington he participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth, though chosen a delegate to Congress, Septem- ber 16, 1777, and again in December, of the same year. In October, 1777, he had also been elected a member of the assembly, but declined the office, though he had previously served in that body for a short time, having been chosen in January, 1776. He was elected a member of the Supreme Executive Council, July 21, 1778, which post he accepted, and December 22, 1778, he was made president of the council, a position equivalent to the governorship of the common- wealth. This latter office he held three years. The extrav- agance attendant upon the maladministration of Benedict Arnold during his command of the American forces in Phila- delphia are well known. Upon charges brought by Presi- dent Reed, and the council, Mr. Arnold was court-martialed, and thereafter he was aggressively hostile to President Reed. Writing, February 8, 1779, to Margaret Shippen, whom he married shortly afterward, he said: "I am treated with the greatest politeness by General Washington, and the officers of the Army, who bitterly execrate Mr. Reed and the council for their villainous attempt to injure me." A notable incident in Joseph Reed's Revolutionary career, and one with which
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all students of American history are familiar, was the attempt of a representative of the British government, Commissioner George Johnstone, to bribe him with an offer of £10,000 in cash, and an appointment to any office in the Colonies within the gift of the crown. Mr. Reed's reply was: "I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it."
Leaving the presidential chair, in 1781, Joseph Reed resumed the practice of his profession. In the year following he was chosen one of the "councillors and agents" of Penn- sylvania in the dispute between this State and Connecticut, which had resulted in bloodshed not long previously. His argument before the commission lasted two days. He was later elected a delegate to Congress, but owing to ill health, never took his seat. There was a sentimental side to Joseph Reed's life which is more interesting to the reader than a portrayal of his public career. In England, when a student at the Temple, he had met and fallen in love with Esther de Berdt, daughter of Dennis de Berdt, a London merchant, a representative of an old Huguenot family which had re- moved for political and religious reasons from Ypres, Flanders, to England, in the middle of the sixteenth cen- tury. When Joseph Reed returned to America, from London, in 1766, he and Miss de Berdt-who was born in that city, October 22, 1746-were practically engaged, but the prospect for their union was altogether dubious. The de Berdts were opposed to their daughter's removal to America, while Mr. Reed could not see his way clear to locating permanently in England. Moreover, Mr. Reed's father, now well ad- vanced in years, was in no small degree dependent upon the son for support. The love letters which passed between the two, breathing of highest form of devotion and solicitude, are found in the exquisite little volume, "Life of Esther
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