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 II > Part 13
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Mr. Hambleton was a member of the leading social and business clubs in and around Baltimore, but preferred his home to club life. His residence, near Lutherville, Balti- more county, was one of the handsomest in the State. It was called "Hambledune," after an old home of the Hambletons in Scotland. After relinquishing business cares, he devoted himself to crops and poultry, being a connoisseur in the latter, having some of the finest chickens in the section. Descended from one of the most influential families of Baltimore, his social position was among the highest, where his many genial traits of character made him ever welcome. It is impossible to estimate the value of such men as Mr. Hambleton was to a city, at least during their lifetime. His influence was felt all through the commercial and industrial life, extending to the whole social economy. Every man, from the toiling laborer to the merchant prince, received benefits from him.
Mr. Hambleton married (first) in 1852, Arabella Stans- bury, born November 10, 1829, died August 25, 1893, daugh- ter of Major Dixon and Sophia (Levy) Stansbury, grand- daughter of Captain Edmund and Belinda (Slade) Stansbury, great-granddaughter of Dixon and Penelope (Body) Stans- bury, great-great-granddaughter of Thomas and Jane (Dixon) Stansbury, great-great-great-granddaughter of Tobias and Sarah (Raven) Stansborough, and great-great-great-great- granddaughter of Detmar Sternberg, who came to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1658. Major Dixon Stansbury, United States Army, born about 1783, died in 1841; his wife, who died in 1830, was a daughter of Sampson Levy. Captain Edmund Stansbury, born October 6, 1746, died in 1801 ; his wife was a daughter of William Slade, of Baltimore county, who died in 1785 and married, August 13, 1741, Elizabeth Dulaney. Dixon Stansbury, born December 6, 1720, died in 1805; married, January 4, 1740-41, Penelope, born November 27, 1724,
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daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth Body, the former of whom died in 1742. Tobias Stansborough was born in 1652, died in 1709; was a resident of Baltimore county, Maryland; was in active service against Indians, as ranger, under Captain John Oldton, in 1695. Mr. Hambleton had three children by his first marriage: Sarah, died in early life; Frank Sherwood, see forward; Thomas Edward, died at about age of eighteen of typhoid; graduate of Virginia Military Institute. Mr. Hambleton married (second) Mrs. Theodosia L. Talcott, widow of Major Charles Talcott, of Washington.
Mr. Hambleton died September 21, 1906. His funeral took place from Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he was a member, and the services were conducted by Rev. W. H. H. Powers, rector of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, of Towson, where Mr. Hambleton attended. In- terment was in Greenmount Cemetery.
(VIII) General Frank Sherwood Hambleton, son of Thomas Edward (2) and Arabella (Stansbury) Hambleton, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, March 27, 1855, died at Bad-Nauheim, Germany, August 17, 1908, whither he had gone for the benefit of his health. He was educated in private schools of Baltimore, and at Virginia Military Institute, where he was graduated in the same class with United States Senator Culbertson, of Texas. During his early life, his health not being very robust, his father purchased for him a cattle ranch in Wyoming, in 1880, on which he resided for five years, roughing it in true cowboy fashion, but at the same time mak- ing of it a lucrative investment, the result of incessant and arduous labor coupled with wise forethought and prudent judgment. His reminsicences of ranch life were varied and interesting, and his kindness of heart was displayed in the fact that when cattle were shipped on trains for the Chicago market, he himself accompanied them on the train and at- tended to their various needs, thereby knowing that they were
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properly cared for. In 1885 he devoted his attention to an entirely different line of work, engaging in the banking busi- ness, entering the banking house of John A. Hambleton & Company, at the same time that John R. Nelson became a member of the firm. The house was then composed of his father, Thomas Edward Hambleton, his uncle, John A. Ham- bleton, John R. Nelson and Gustavus Ober. He was never an aggressive banker, but was always a keen observer, making many profitable ventures for the house in mining properties, one of these being the Ohio River & Western Coal Company. There was no better known financier in Baltimore and in fact throughout the South than General Hambleton, who, although aristocratic in his sentiments, always took a deep interest in those matters tending to promote the welfare and happiness of the people, to elevate their tastes and improve their habits.
General Hambleton was a man of deeply embedded con- victions as to right and duty, was very charitable in a quiet way, disliking ostentation in his giving, a man of broad view, large faith and a great heart, and the memory of his upright life remains as a blessed benediction to those who were his associates. Evenness and poise were among his characteristics, and he was a dependable man in any relation and in any emergency. He was a man ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that comes of conscious personal ability, right conceptions of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities. He was a member of the Maryland, Baltimore, Country, Bach- elors' Cotillion and Merchants' clubs, also the Green Spring Valley Hunt Club and the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Maryland. He was a member of the Baltimore and New York Stock Exchanges. Governor Warfield appointed Mr. Hambleton on his staff with rank of brigadier-general.
General Hambleton married Anna B. Crawford, of Bal- timore, daughter of William H. Crawford, who was presi- dent of the Third National Bank.
Col. William H. Watson
COLONEL WILLIAM H. WATSON
ON September 24, 1846, the American troops, under Gen- eral Taylor, captured the city of Monterey, Mexico, after five days of fighting with the Mexicans for its possession. A New Orleans newspaper of that period in describing the battle said in part :
Colonel Watson, the commander of the Baltimore Battalion, in the attack on Monterey, and who was killed fighting at the head of his command, was the son of our respected fellow citizen, Major Thomas A. Watson. Colonel Watson was a gentleman of great popularity in Baltimore, and pre- sided at several sessions as Speaker of the House of Representatives of Mary- land. He was quite a young man, and made fair to attain a high distinction as a military man. He came of good stock, his father being a veteran of North Point, of the Florida and Texas campaigns, in all of which he dis- played the greatest bravery and patriotism. His son prepared to follow his example, had at great sacrifice gone more than two thousand miles to meet the enemies of his country, and fell nobly, justifying the proud hopes of his friends and the anxious teaching of his patriot father.
There gloriously ended the life of a man just in the prime of his intellectual strength and vigor; a life which had been one of distinguished success as lawyer, statesman and soldier.
Colonel William H. Watson was born about the year 1805, only son of Thomas A. and Rebecca Watson. He com- pleted his classical education in the best institutions of his day; then chose the profession of law as the activity he would pursue. He studied under an uncle, William H. Freeman, then an eminent member of the Baltimore bar, read the prescribed term, and on January 14, 1829, was admitted to the bar of Baltimore county, Maryland. He began practice in Baltimore, and at once made manifest the strength of his mental powers, although he did not devote himself to his prac- tice with the energy so observable in later years. But he quickly gained public favor, and even in his earlier years it HD .- 33
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was evident that he was destined to rise to fame in his profes- sion, and as a citizen. He practiced in the various city, State and Federal courts of the district, meeting with considerable success, and in a few years was well known in Baltimore as one of the rising young men of the city. He early displayed a deep interest in public affairs, became a leader of the political thought of the Second Ward, of this city, and was chosen to represent that ward in the first branch of the City Council. In that body he was distinguished by his devotion to the in- terests of his constituents, and by the ability displayed as a legislator in securing the passage of bills in which he was interested. Colonel Watson continued to grow in popular esteem, and, in 1838, was elected a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and in that body, as in the Council, his quality placed him among the leaders. In 1843, he had the honor of presiding over the deliberation of the House, as speaker, a position to which he was chosen by his contem- poraries for his peculiar fitness and ability, although much younger in years than other aspirants to that high honor. He did not disappoint his friends, but filled the responsible posi- tion of speaker with an earnestness and ability most creditable to himself and gratifying to his constituents.
After completing his term as Speaker of the House of Delegates, Mr. Watson retired from political office, applied himself to the practice of his profession exclusively, and rap- idly was advancing to eminence when he responded to his country's call and entered the army forming for the invasion of Mexico. He had naturally a taste for military life, and was at that time captain of the "Independent Blues," a vol- unteer organization of the city. He had shown the ability to command men, and when a call was made by the President of the United States upon Maryland to furnish her proportion of men, Captain Watson, who had already volunteered, was
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commissioned by the Governor of Maryland as Lieutenant- Colonel of the Maryland Battalion. After the battalion had been sworn into the service of the United States, Colonel Wat- son lead them to Washington, and in company with the vol- unteers from the District of Columbia, they embarked on the steamer, "Massachusetts," and sailed for Vera Cruz. He joined the army under General Taylor, and under that com- mander displayed a courage no danger could daunt, and par- ticipated in the battles fought, and victories won, until Mon- terey, where, at the head of his battalion, in almost the hour of assured victory, he fell mortally wounded. The following incident taken from a letter from an army man to a friend in Baltimore illustrates his quality on the battle-field: "When our color sergeant was wounded one of the company picked up the flag and said, 'Colonel! I had better fall back or the flag will draw their fire.' 'No!' said he, 'bring on the Stars and Stripes,' then waved his sword and rushed forward."
When the news of Colonel Watson's death reached Balti- more, both the city and county courts adjourned, no business being transacted other than the drawing up of resolutions befitting the sad occasion, and expressing the feelings of the courts. After the resolution had been read and adopted in the city court, George R. Richardson, Attorney-General of the State, addressed that body in eulogy of Colonel Watson. In the county court the following resolutions were read and adopted :
Resolved, that while we participate in the joy that gladdens every heart, at the brilliant and triumphant successes of our country's soldiers, in the desperate battles which won the surrender of Monterey, to their courage and gallantry, we have heard with deep and unaffected sorrow, that Baltimore has again to mourn another gallant son in the death of Colonel William H. Watson, who with his brave companions in arms, volunteered at the first call of his country, and nobly fell while leading his battalion to victory.
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Resolved, that while we deplore the loss of a youthful warrior, whose patriotism, courage and untiring energy, gave the brightest promise to his country, we most deeply mourn the death of one, who, as a member of this bar, was respected by all for his professional bearing, and loved by those who best knew him for the warmth and steadfastness of his friendships.
Resolved, that we sympathize with his afflicted family in the sorrow of their bereavement, and request the chairman of this meeting to offer them our sincerest condolence.
Resolved, that as a tribute to the memory of our departed brother and friend, we will wear suitable badges of mourning for the remainder of the present term.
Resolved, that the proceedings of this meeting be entered upon the min- utes of Baltimore county court, with the consent of the Judges, and be pub- lished in the several newspapers of the city.
The resolutions were read, and the Hon. Reverdy John- son arose and seconded the motion to adopt them with the following remarks :
I have, Mr. Chairman, but a melancholy pleasure in the privilege afforded me, of seconding the resolutions of your committee. With our deceased brother my relations were most intimate. They have long since ceased to be merely professional, if, indeed, they were ever merely so. They soon ripened into the closer and dearer ties of private friendship, and from first to last were not only unbroken, but strengthened. To me, therefore, his death has been a blow as heavy as has been felt out of his own household. But I am not without consolation-they, too, when they come to recover from the agony of the first shock, will not be without consolation. He has met death while gallantly maintaining his country's honor. No man need covet a greater glory. No man, if he does covet it, can earn greater glory.
A citizen soldier, volunteering at the very first tidings of war his ser- vices to his government-leaving wife and children in the discharge of that enlarged duty which embraces all others-duty to country-with daring in- trepidity rushing into the first struggle of arms, but under the restraint of disciplined skill, and dying almost in the hour of victory at the head of the brave men under his command, can never go unwept or unhonored. Such a death carries with it its own reward, such a death creates an inheritance of which friends and family may well be proud. The blood of the father so shed, saves, if there is nothing else to save, the widow and orphan from
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distress. This is our and their price-this is our and their consolation. He has, to be sure, gone from us in the very prime of manhood and usefulness, but yet he has not gone prematurely. The last end that can happen to any man never comes too soon if he falls in the support of the laws and liberty of his country. There are other considerations too, not to be forgotten in this our moment of grief. The example of Colonel Watson and the gallant citizen soldiers in the battles of Monterey; their prompt response to their country's call; their noble daring; their matchless courage; their strict dis- cipline, gives the world assurance that as we are the happiest, and happiest because the freest people on earth, so are we, when our country needs our valor, among the bravest and best soldiers who ever trod the battlefield. As long as these are the fruits of our freedom we never need fear that will fail us-we never need apprehend danger from any foreign foe.
It is, I know, in general, idle to look far into the futurity and speculate upon the fate of nations, but if the generations which are to follow us are as true to freedom and our institutions as the citizens of the union are now, they are destined to increase in power, and to diffuse social and political happiness till time shall be no more.
In the Councils of the State where he was several times called to repre- sent this city, no man could have been more faithful or diligent, and such was the estimation of his talents and standing by his associates, that he was soon selected to preside as Speaker over the deliberations of our House of delegates, and by common consent, as I have every opportunity of knowing, was admitted to have discharged the duties of the station with unsurpassed ability. But his natural bent was a military life. As a captain of volunteers, of this city, he ever enjoyed the love and confidence of his men, and the respect and admiration of the city. It was in this, his favorite pursuit, his life has been offered up, a willing sacrifice to his country's honor. His name he bequeathes to us. To those who knew and loved him as I did (and there are thousands of such) it is a rich possession ; a courteous, professional brother ; a sincere, ardent and constant friend-a devoted husband and parent-a gallant and skillful soldier; an ardent patriot, thy name we are proud of, and will ever cherish with the fondest regard. Watson and Ringold are amongst the dead, but their memories will live as long as memory shall have a place in this, our noble State.
Col. Watson early became impressed with the fraternal excellence of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
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became a member of Gratitude Lodge, of Baltimore. He filled all official chairs of the lodge, and as Noble Grand became a member of the Grand Lodge, of Maryland, to which he was officially attached at the time of his death. The ex- citement and danger of the fireman's life appealed to him, and among the firemen of Baltimore no man was more fearless in the discharge of his duty, nor more prompt in answering alarms. He was a member, and President, of Columbian Hose Company, and for many years he was representative of the company in the City Fire Department, serving for a long time as secretary. In his private life he was most ex- emplary. Of frank and ardent temperament, candid and generous to a fault, urbane, courteous and friendly, firm in his friendships, Col. Watson endeared himself to all, and was truly mourned by an entire city and State.
Col. Watson married at about the time he was admitted to the bar, 1829, Sarah A. Taylor, daughter of Captain Lemuel Taylor, of Baltimore, a beautiful and highly accomplished lady, who bore him three children: William H., Jr., died in West Point; Anna Freeman, married James H. Martin, of New York, and Monterey, wife of Dr. James D. Iglehart, of Baltimore.
Col. Watson was deeply attached to his home and to his family, his devotions as husband, and father, being a perfect cap stone to his many virtues as citizen, friend, soldier.
ALOYSIUS LEO KNOTT
A' LOYSIUS LEO KNOTT, who was prominently identi- fied with the public affairs of Maryland for many years, and whose ability as a lawyer and orator was well established, was a descendant of James Knott, who immigrated to Virginia from Yorkshire, England, in 1617, and settled in Accomac county, removing in 1643 to Maryland.
Zachary Knott, grandfather of A. Leo Knott, was born in St. Mary's county, removed to Montgomery county in 1771, and was extensively engaged in tobacco planting. Ed- ward Knott, son of the preceding and father of A. Leo Knott, was born in Montgomery county, and served as a lieutenant during the War of 1812. For many years he was successfully engaged as a farmer and planter, and later removed to the city of Baltimore. He married Elizabeth Sprigg, daughter of Allan and Eleanor (Neale) Sweeney, of Chaptico, St. Mary's county, and grandaughter of Allan Sweeney, an officer who allied himself with the fortunes of the Pretender, fought bravely at Culloden, and after that disastrous engagement escaped to America. Through his connection with the Ger- ards, Neales, Darnells, Digges, Sewells, Spaldings, and other Catholic families of the early colony of Maryland, Mr. Knott is descended from the first colonists of Maryland, the Pilgrims of the "Ark" and the "Dove," men who, in the words of Ban- croft, "were the first in the annals of mankind to make relig- ious freedom the basis of the state." The Gerards, Neales, Digges, Darnells and Sewells filled important positions in the early Colonial government of the Calverts.
Aloysius Leo Knott was born near New Market, Fred- erick county, Maryland, May 12, 1829. At the age of eight years he was sent to St. John's Literary Institute, in Frederick City, a school which had been established by the late Rev.
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John McElroy, under the supervision of the Jesuits. Here he remained one year, at the expiration of which time he moved with his parents to Baltimore and was matriculated at St. Mary's College in that city. While in this institution he was noted for the careful attention he gave to his studies, especially the Greek and Latin classics, and was graduated from it with honor in 1847. As a first step in his working life Mr. Knott decided upon the profession of teaching, and re- ceived the position of assistant in the Cumberland Academy, a private institution of learning, and at the end of one year he was offered and accepted the position of teacher of Algebra and Greek in St. Mary's College, his alma mater. Two years were thus passed with great profit to those under his tuition, when he determined to take up the study of law and make that his life work. For two years he read law in the office and under the able preceptorship of William Schley, an eminent lawyer of that time. He then removed to Howard county, where he resided for two years, and established and for some time conducted a classical school near St. John's Church, in that county, known as the Howard Latin School.
Resuming his legal studies in 1855 in the office of William Schley, Mr. Knott was in due time admitted to the bar of Baltimore. He formed a business partnership with James H. Bevans, which continued for two years, since which time until his death Mr. Knott practiced his profession alone. He was elected in 1867 without opposition to the important and responsible position of State's Attorney for Baltimore, having been nominated for this office by the Democratic party, was nominated and re-elected for a term of four years in 1871, and for a third term in 1875. During these years he tried many cases, both of a civil and criminal nature, among them being some involving important questions of constitutional law, one of which was the question of the constitutionality of
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the laws passed by Congress to enforce the fourteenth and fif- teenth amendments, which was known as the Force Bill. The constitutionality of these laws was opposed by Mr. Knott with great vigor, and he was highly complimented on his manage- ment of these questions in a letter written to him from Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 11, 1879, by Judge Thomas M. Cooley, the eminent jurist and writer on constitutional law. Mr. Knott retired from office in 1880 and resumed his prac- tice of law, and two years later was offered the nomination for a seat on the Bench of Baltimore by the Independent party, but declined to accept it. He was always an earnest supporter of Democratic principles, but sometimes in local elections supported Independent nomination. During the reform movement in 1859 in Baltimore he was actively engaged in freeing the City and State from the malign control and gov- ernment of the Know-Nothing party. In the campaign of 1860 Mr. Knott was a prominent and influential figure. He visited Washington a number of times in order to listen to the Senate debates on the status of slavery in the territories, and was present at the debate between Judge Douglas and his famous opponents, Davis, Benjamin and Toombs.
Mr. Knott was a member of the committee of arrange- ments on the part of the Democratic City Convention at the time of the split in the Democratic party in Baltimore, and he warmly espoused the cause of Judge Douglas, believing that he was the legitimate nominee of the Democratic party, and that his election would be the only barrier against disunion and civil war. However, Mr. Lincoln was elected, and the important events of the Civil War transpired in rapid suc- cession. On the breaking out of the war, however, the feel- ings and sympathies of Mr. Knott were with his State and section, notwithstanding his disapprobation of their course, and he refused to unite with the Republican, or as it was then
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known in Maryland, the Unconditional Union party. For, whatever might be the professions put forth by the party, or whatever patriotism might inspire its members, Mr. Knott felt that sooner or later it would stand committed to a course of action toward the Southern States which would be violently unconstitutional and wholly destructive to the rights of the States which his conscience could not approve. His convic- tions became only too well justified. The military authorities had suppressed the Democratic party in Maryland, but in 1864 it was revived and reorganized in Annapolis under the leadership of Ex-Governor Thomas G. Platt, Colonel Oden Bowie, Colonel Thomas Dent, Oliver Miller, William Kim- mel, A. Leo Knott, and others.
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