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 19
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At the fall election in 1877, Dr. Thom was chosen coun- cilman; in 1884 was elected member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and later was chosen speaker of that body; in 1897, he was defeated for State Senator from the second dis- trict, that being the only time the verdict of the polls was adverse to his candidacy. While in the Legislature he intro- duced a bill to create a State hospital or asylum for the feeble- minded children of that State. That bill failed passage, but in the next session the bill was presented by the doctor's son, Pembroke Lea Thom, who had succeeded his father, and was enacted. The governor of the State appointed Dr. Thom a member of its board of management, and that body elected him president. Under his administration land was bought near Owings Mills, suitable buildings were erected, and the hospital brought to a successful plane of efficiency. This insti- tution was very dear to his heart, and to it he gave freely and constantly of his time and his means. He donated one of the cottages erected as part of the hospital equipment and, much against his wishes, the board of trustees named it "Pembroke
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Cottage," and another, donated by the family, "Thom Cottage."
For almost twenty years Dr. Thom was a vestryman of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, contributing largely of his time, talents and experience to the work of the church and its philanthropies. He was a member of the new church building committee. For several years prior to his death he was a member of Emanuel Protestant Episcopal Church, and was very devoted to its services and interests. For many years he was a member of the Diocesan Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maryland, a zealous worker and regular attendant upon all its sessions. He long served Spring Grove Asylum as trustee, and for four years was president of the board. He founded, in association with Dr. William T. How- ard and Dr. H. P. C. Wilson, the first institution of its kind in Maryland, The Hospital for Women of Maryland, which filled the urgent need for such a hospital until the Johns Hopkins Hospital added a woman's hospital.
Dr. Thom married (first), October 11, 1857, Ella Lea Wright, born May 2, 1837, died January 25, 1861. They were the parents of two sons: [. William H. DeCourcy Wright, born in Baltimore, October 14, 1858, married (first), October 29, 1885, Mary Pleasants Gordon, born July 25, 1864, died May 3, 1892, by whom he had two children: Anne Gordon and Mary Gordon. He married (second), June 14, 1910, Mary Washington Stewart, widow of John Stewart, and daughter of H. Irvine and Mary Washington Keyser, of Bal- timore. Children: Elizabeth Keyser, born September 30, 1912, William Henry DeCourcy Wright, July 5, 1915. 2. Pembroke Lea, born January 11, 1861. Dr. Thom married (second), in Leamington Cathedral, England, Catherine G. Reynolds, of Kentucky. They were the parents of two sons: Hunt R. Mayo and J. Pembroke, Jr.
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This compilation of the personal history and genealogical lines of Dr. J. Pembroke Thom necessarily deals with the leading features of a long and useful life. The regard in which he was held in the city was thus expressed editorially by the "Baltimore Sun" on the day of his death :
Dr. J. Pembroke Thom, though a native of Virginia, has been so long a resident of Baltimore, that he was thoroughly identified in every way with the State of his adoption. Like many others whom Virginia sent us, Dr. Thom proved a valuable and enterprising citizen, and made a prominent place for himself in professional, political and social circles. He came of strong and spiritual Virginia stock with whom honor, courage, and duty were the highest motives of life, and never lowered or sullied the noble standard of personal integrity and manhood which came to him as a State and family heritage. Born when "Knighthood was in flower" in the South, and where the grand old title-Gentleman-was considered the highest of distinctions, he never forgot the ideas or traditions of his youth, but carried with him to the closing years of his century the courtly bearing and the lofty and gallant spirit that characterized the gentleman of the old regime. Dr. Thom was one of the last surviving representatives of a class of citizens who applied the principles of chivalry to modern democratic life, and who, in public affairs, like the old Guard at Waterloo, would rather die than surrender political principle or compromise moral conviction. The type seems passing away in public life, and the country is the poorer for it. We could exchange with benefit much of what is called the progress and development of the past two or three decades for public of the moral caliber of a day that is dead.
The maternal ancestors of Dr. Thom-Mayo, Tabb, Bland, and others-are herein outlined. His mother, Abby de Hart (Mayo) Thom, was a lineal descendant of Joseph Mayo, who was born July 17, 1656, died October 8, 1691, married Elizabeth, daughter of George Hooper. Colonel William Mayo, son of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Hooper) Mayo, was baptized October 4, 1684, and died November 1, 1744. Colonel William Mayo surveyed the Barbadoes from 1717 to 1721, the account of the survey and the map he made yet MD .- 38
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preserved in King George's Library at the University of Dub- lin, Ireland. He also ran the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina in 1728. In 1730, he was a major in the Virginia forces; in 1737, he laid out the city of Richmond; and in 1740, was a colonel in the Virginia forces. He married Anne Perrott, daughter of John Perrott, born in 1645, and Anne, born in 1666.
John Mayo, son of Colonel William and Anne (Per- rott) Mayo, was born in 1734, and died June 17, 1784. He married Mary Tabb, born July 8, 1733, died September, 1792, daughter of William Tabb, born February 25, 1702, and Susanna (Gould) Tabb, born February 23, 1717. John Mayo appears as a burgess from 1768 to 1771 ; was a member of the Virginia Convention from 1775 to 1776, and a member of the Cumberland County Committee in 1775.
Colonel William Mayo, son of John and Mary (Tabb) Mayo, was born September 26, 1757, and died August, 1837. He married, December 24, 1778, Elizabeth Bland Poythress, born in 1759, died August 6, 1806. Their daughter, Abby de Hart Mayo, who died December 30, 1830, married Colonel John Watson Triplett Thom.
(The Tabb Line).
Mary (Tabb) Mayo, wife of John Mayo, was a great- great-granddaughter of Humphrey and Joanna Tabb, the former's death date prior to 1659. Their son, Thomas Tabb, died before 1687. His wife was Martha (surname unknown). Their son, John Tabb, was baptized November 12, 1676. He married Martha Hand. Their son, William Tabb, was born February 25, 1702. He married Susanna Gould, born Feb- ruary 23, 1717. Their daughter, Mary Tabb, was born July 8, 1733, and died September, 1792. She married John Mayo.
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(The Bland Line).
John Bland, born in 1573, died in 1632, married Susan Duclere, born in 1590, and died in 1664.
Theodorick Bland, son of John and Susan (Duclere) Bland, was baptized January 16, 1629, and died April 23, 1671. He married Anne Bennett, who died in November, 1687. He was the first of a family famous in the annals of Virginia, speaker in the House of Burgesses in 1659 and 1660, and member of the Virginia Council in 1664.
Richard Bland, son of Theodorick and Anne (Bennett) Bland, was born August 11, 1665, and died April 11, 1720. He married, February 11, 1701, Elizabeth Randolph, who died January 30, 1720, daughter of Colonel William Ran- dolph and Mary Isham, and granddaughter of Richard Ran- dolph and Captain Henry Isham. Richard Bland was county commissioner in 1699, burgess in 1702, and visitor to William and Mary College in 1716.
Colonel Richard Bland, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Randolph) Bland, was born May 6, 1710, and died October 26, 1776. He married, March 21, 1729, Anne Poythress, born December 13, 1712, and died April 9, 1758, daughter of Colonel Peter Poythress, of Flowerdieu Hundred. Colonel Richard Bland was called the "Cato of the Revolution." He was contemporary with the great George Mason, and would have been a signer of the Declaration of Independence but for his refusal, because of ill health, to become again a mem- ber of the Continental Congress. He first came into public view in Virginia as a commissioner of the military forces in 1737; from 1742 to 1775, he was a member of the House of Burgesses; in 1774, 1775 and 1776, he was a member of the Committee of Safety ; was elected a delegate to the First Con- tinental Congress in which he served and which laid the foundation for the Declaration of Independence, but his health
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was then declining so that he could not accept service in the succeeding Congress. Thomas Jefferson said of Colonel Bland: "He was the wisest man on the Bland side of the James River." His political pamphlets are to be found in any authoritative summary of the sources of American history, that one on the Stamp Act is especially noteworthy. It was published in 1765. His patriotism was as stern as that of George Mason who changed the motto on his coat-of-arms from Pro patria semper to Pro republica semper.
Elizabeth Bland, daughter of Colonel Richard and Anne (Poythress) Bland, was born March 17, 1732-33. She mar- ried Colonel Peter Poythress, born in 1733. Their daughter, Elizabeth Bland Poythress, was born in 1759, and died August 6, 1806. She married Colonel William Mayo.
(The Wright Line).
Mrs. Ella Lea (Wright) Thom was a descendant of one of Maryland's ancient and honorable families, her American ancestors being :
Captain Nathaniel Wright, born about 1657, died in 1710. He was appointed commissioner to help lay out the boundaries of Queen Anne's county, Maryland ; commissioner to help found the parishes of the Protestant Episcopal church on the eastern shore; county judge; captain of militia, and vestryman of what is now, partly, old Wye Church. He married Sarah
Solomon Wright, son of Captain Nathaniel and Sarah Wright, died in 1729. He married Mary Coursey (De Courcy), daughter of John and Mary Turbutt Coursey (De Courcy), and granddaughter of Colonel Henry Coursey (De Courcy) and his wife, Elizabeth Carpenter.
Judge Solomon Wright, son of Solomon and Mary Coursey (De Courcy) Wright, was born in 1717, and died
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in 1792. He was burgess in Maryland from 1771 to 1774; member of Maryland conventions of 1774 and 1775; chairman of the committee of Queen Anne's county in 1775 and 1776; signer of the Association of the Freemen of Maryland, July 26, 1775-The Maryland Declaration of Independence; judge of the first Maryland Court of Appeals in 1778, where he served until his death in 1792; and special judge to try treasons on the eastern shore during the Revolutionary War. He married, September 20, 1750, Mary Tidmarsh, daughter of William Tidmarsh and Martha (Crew) Tidmarsh, and granddaughter of William Crew and his wife, Mary Unick.
Robert Wright, son of Judge Solomon and Mary (Tid- marsh) Wright, was born November 20, 1752, and died Sep- tember 7, 1826. In the short campaign against Lord Drum- mond's legion of Tories in Virginia, he served in Captain Kent's Company of Queen Anne's "minute men," and later as a captain in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the State Senate; three times gov- ernor of Maryland, 1806, 1807 and 1808; United States Sena- tor from 1801 to 1806, when he resigned to become governor of the State; representative in the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and seventeenth congresses; district judge, and the author of the Constitution of the American Colonization So- ciety. A summing up will show more than thirty years of public service to the credit of Robert Wright, who was a little past seventy-three years of age, when he died.
Robert Wright married Sarah Coursey (De Courcy), daughter of Colonel William and Rachel (Clayton) Coursey (De Courcy), granddaughter of Henry Coursey (De Courcy), and great-granddaughter of Colonel Henry Coursey (De Courcy), who came to Maryland in 1649.
William Henry De Courcy Wright, son of Robert and Sarah Coursey (De Courcy) Wright, was born December 9,
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1795, at "Blakeford," Queen Anne's county, Maryland, and died March 25, 1864. He was United States Consul at Rio de Janeiro, in 1825, and Charge d'Affaires ad interim to Brazil on two occasions, aggregating over two years, one of which was during the Brazilian-Uruguayan War. He married Eliza Lea Warner, born October 1, 1800, and died May 25, 1864. Their daughter Ella Lea Wright, born May 2, 1837, died January 25, 1861. She married Dr. Joseph Pembroke Thom.
ELISHA RIGGS
E LISHA RIGGS, seventh child and fourth son of Samuel and Amelia (Dorsey) Riggs, was born June 13, 1779, near Brookeville, Montgomery county, Maryland, died Au- gust 3, 1853, in New York City, and was there buried in vault No. 35, Marble Cemetery.
After a period of educational preparation, Elisha Riggs located in Georgetown, District of Columbia, and there com- menced his career in the employ of a local merchant. He became one of the foremost merchants and financiers of his time, and to him the late George Peabody, multi-millionaire and famous philanthropist, was indebted for "the beginnings" of his successful business career, for Peabody had entered the employ of Elisha Riggs as an "office boy," and was subse- quently taken into partnership by his employer. The business activities of Elisha Riggs may be comprised under two heads, namely : as merchant and as financier. Under the latter head, the most important features were his aiding and establishing the well-known banking-house of Corcoran & Riggs; his con- nection with the old Collins Line of steamships, and his par- ticipation in the underwriting and guaranteeing of the Mexi- can War Loans of 1847 and 1848.
Mr. Riggs, in early life, took an interest in military affairs, and the office records show that on April 23, 1812, he obtained a commission as ensign in the company of Cap- tain Thomas Owings, Thirty-second Regiment of Militia, in Anne Arundel county, Maryland. The conclusion of our two years' war with England, in 1814, marks the entry of Elisha Riggs into that broad field of business enterprise which was destined to establish his ample fortune, and to secure for him a permanent place among American men of affairs.
For some time prior to this period, Mr. Riggs had been
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conducting a dry goods business in Georgetown, District of Columbia, with George Peabody as an assistant. Peabody was born in 1795, and was thus Elisha Riggs' junior by sixteen years. Nevertheless, a strong personal attachment and mutual esteem developed between employer and employee, which proved to be life-long in its duration. On July 1, 1815, Mr. Riggs took Peabody into partnership, it being understood that this arrangement should continue for a term of five years, under the firm name of Riggs & Peabody, dry goods mer- chants. The business was conducted in Georgetown, District of Columbia, and in Baltimore, Maryland, where it was estab- lished in 1816, being located on Baltimore street, near Han- over street. Young Peabody proved himself worthy of the confidence which the senior member of the firm had placed in his uprightness, ability and diligence, and at the expiration of the five years' verbal compact, articles of agreement in writing were executed, under date of July 29, 1820, between Elisha Riggs and George Peabody, which, happily, have been pre- served. As this paper has some historic interest, a few extracts therefrom may be in order. It recites, as follows :
This agreement, made this 29th day of July, 1820, between Elisha Riggs of the one part, and George Peabody of the other part, both of the City of Baltimore, Maryland-Whereas, a copartnership has existed since Ist. Jan- uary, 1815, between the parties hereto in the trade and business of merchants, which has been carried on in Georgetown, D. C., and Baltimore, aforesaid. under the firm of Riggs and Peabody, the capital whereof was furnished and put in solely by the said Elisha Riggs, there being a verbal agreement to divide profits, two-thirds to be credited to Elisha Riggs and one-third to George Peabody, and losses to be borne and paid in proportion, etc. And, Whereas, the said parties intend to continue the said business for a term of two years accounting from January Ist last passed (at which time the said copartnership, according to the original understanding between them, ex- pired), the said parties agree to continue as merchants at Baltimore for two years from January ist last past, etc.
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The earnings of the firm, amounting to $70,709.24, in mer- chandise, cash, bank stock, and outstanding debts, together with $3,000.00 of the sum standing to the credit of Elisha Riggs on the firm's books, were to remain and constitute the . capital. It was further stipulated that Elisha Riggs and George Peabody should not draw on their own accounts in excess of $3,000.00 and $1,500.00 per annum, respectively. Mr. Peabody, the junior partner, traveled in the interests of the firm, his journeys on horseback taking him through West- ern New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. In 1821 the business had prospered to such an extent that branch offices were opened in Philadelphia and New York City. In 1822 the firm name was changed to Riggs, Peabody & Com- pany, the principal office of the business being located at what was then known as No. 208 West Baltimore street. Mr. Riggs' residence was on the west side of Hanover street, south of Conway street. In 1829 the firm of Riggs, Peabody & Com- pany was dissolved, Elisha Riggs retiring from the business, and removing to New York City, where he had his office and business on Hanover Place, and his residence at No. 5 Bowling Green, the latter estate being a part of the present site of the United States Custom House.
Mr. Peabody went to England, and in 1837 established the firm of George Peabody & Company, merchants and money brokers, in Wamford Court, London. An intimate and pleas- ant business connection of many years was thus severed, but their personal relations continued despite the wide stretch of sea lying between them; and Mr. Riggs still maintained im- portant relations with Mr. Peabody in matters of international finance. It was Elisha Riggs and George Peabody who were largely concerned in restoring the credit of the State of Mary- land abroad after the financial depression of 1841-42, by dis- posing of a Maryland bond issue of $8,000,000.00. Mean-
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while, the Baltimore house continued to do business under the name of Peabody, Riggs & Company, removing its location about 1840 to No. 7 German street, west of Charles street, and taking in Samuel Riggs as a partner in the concern.
Prior to his removal to New York City, Elisha Riggs aided in the establishment of the banking house of Corcoran & Riggs, in the city of Washington, D. C. This institution was organ- ized by William Wilson Corcoran and George Washington Riggs (son of Elisha Riggs). Elisha Riggs was the financial backer of his son in this enterprise, and aided him in an advisory capacity. In 1846 a disagreement arose between Mr. Corcoran and George W. Riggs with respect to the advisa- bility of the bank's participation in the Mexican War Loan bidding, Mr. Corcoran being favorable to the scheme, and Mr. Riggs positively refusing to sanction it, upon the ground that he was opposed to embarking in stock operations on "bor- rowed" money, and because, as he expressed it, "our situation here induces many people to put confidence in us such as would not be placed if it were known that we speculated largely. I think it wrong for persons who do a banking or collecting business to operate in stocks unless possessed of money to carry on such operations without taking from the regular business."
George W. Riggs retired from the bank temporarily, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Elisha Riggs, Jr. Subse- quently, Mr. Corcoran retired, and Elisha, Jr., and George W. Riggs took over the entire business as Riggs & Company, of Washington, D. C., with a branch office at No. 56 Wall street, New York City, and conducted the business until the death, in 1881, of George W. Riggs.
Riggs & Company, however, continued to operate suc- cessfully until July, 1896, when the concern was dissolved, with good-will worth well into the millions. The members of
----
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the firm at that time were Messrs. E. Francis Riggs, Charles C. Glover, Thomas Hyde and James M. Johnson, who on July 1, 1896, organized the present Riggs National Bank, of Washington, with a capital of $500,000.00. A few years later they doubled the capital to $1,000,000.00, and took in certain controlling shareholders of the National City Bank of New York. The Riggs National Bank is located at the corner of Fifteenth Street and New York Avenue, Washington, D. C., on the site of the original offices of Corcoran & Riggs, and Riggs & Company.
In 1849 the Collins Line of steamships, plying between New York and Liverpool, was inaugurated by Edward K. Collins, a native of Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Elisha Riggs became financially interested in this line. The com- pany's fleet consisted of five steamships, the "Atlantic," "Pa- cific," "Arctic," "Baltic," and "Adriatic." On April 27, 1849, the first steamer, the "Atlantic," departed from New York, carrying both freight and passengers. The "Arctic" and "Pa- cific" of this line are memorable in the history of marine disas- ters. In 1854 the "Arctic" was lost off Cape Race, Newfound- land, and 322 of the passengers perished. In May, 1856, the "Pacific" left Liverpool with a full passenger list, and was never heard from. The company was obliged to cease opera- tion in January, 1858, owing to the action of the United States Government in terminating, without reasonable notice, the mail subsidies or contracts made with Mr. Collins for carry- ing the European mails, and involving a subsidy of $385,000.00 a year, obtained in 1847, and another $858,000.00 a year, made in 1852. The United States mail was thereupon carried across the Atlantic by vessels sailing under a foreign flag.
On February 9, 1847, the United States Treasury De- partment advertised that sealed proposals would be received for a loan of $18,000,000, under the act of January 28th of
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that year, authorizing the issue of Treasury notes, etc., to be issued payable two years after the date of advertisement, with interest at six per cent per annum. This was known as the second Mexican War Loan. The firm of Corcoran & Riggs was the only bidder for the entire lump sum, although there were numerous bidders in lesser amounts. The bid of Cor- coran & Riggs was accepted by the Government, and the firm subscribed the entire second loan, largely upon the guarantee of Elisha Riggs. In the following year a new loan was adver- tised for $16,000,000.00 and Corcoran & Riggs, for themselves and Baring Brothers & Company, of London, and others, bid for the entire amount, of which $14,065,550.00 were allotted to them.
Concerning the personal character of Elisha Riggs we may speak briefly. The average biographer is usually a firm believer in the old aphorism-de mortuis nil nisi bonum- and is frequently tempted to bestow upon his chosen hero the daub of fulsome praise. We shall, therefore, confine this part of our subject to the estimation of Elisha Riggs, as derived from the impressions of his contemporaries.
As a merchant he was distinguished for his uniform courtesy and his love of fair dealing. He was a power in Wall street, and, at times, a bulwark of strength to the Gov- ernment in its financial operations. He was a well-known figure in the world of finance, and men confidently followed his leadership. His kindness of heart was proverbial; and, although he had attained to great opulence, his manner of life was simple, and his social intercourse democratic. In brief : Elisha Riggs, the man, was genial, generous, hospitable, courteous, honorable, and just.
In the succeeding pages, the family of Elisha Riggs is traced from John Riggs, his grandfather, down through his grandson, Clinton Levering Riggs, of Baltimore, Maryland.
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(Riggs Family of Maryland).
John Riggs, grandfather of Elisha Riggs, was born in 1687, and died August 17, 1762, on his estate in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, known as "Rich Neck," adjoining to his other plantation called "Riggs' Hills."
The first reference to John Riggs in the Maryland records occurs in the will of John Marriott, of Anne Arundel county, dated August 20, 1716, wherein fifty acres, being part of a tract of land called "Sheppard's Forest," belonging to the said Marriott, are bequeathed to John Riggs. On November 6, 1723, John Riggs, of Anne Arundel county, received a war- rant for one hundred acres of land, and on December 7, fol- lowing, he received another warrant for an additional one hun- dred acres. A certificate of survey was issued on December 8, 1723, to "Mr. John Riggs, of Anne Arundel county, Gent.," embracing the aforesaid two hundred acres under the name of "Riggs' Hills," and describing the tract as lying in the said county, adjoining to a tract of land called "Rich Neck," on the northernmost branch of the Patuxent river. This tract was patented on August 30, 1725. "John Riggs, the older, of Anne Arundel county, planter," purchased on September 11, 1751, from Beale Bordley, of Annapolis, for £200 sterling, a tract of one thousand acres of land in Frederick county, Mary- land, called "Bordley's Chance," alias "Bordley's Choice," near Brookeville, Montgomery county, Maryland. These several tracts, "Riggs' Hills," "Rich Neck," and "Bordley's Choice," were owned by John Riggs until his death, which occurred August 17, 1762, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. He died on the "Rich Neck" estate, of which he purchased one hundred and forty-two acres from Charles Hammond, on July 6, 1725. John Riggs, with Joseph Hall, held pew No. 16, in Queen Caroline Parish Church.
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