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 23

Author: Spencer, Richard Henry, b. 1833; American Historical Society
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: New York, The American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 508


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 23


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Bartram North, of Washington, D. C. 10. Thomas Bird Coleman, born September 7, 1831, died April, 1912; married, October 11, 1865, Adeline Wray. 1I. Jane, born September 10, 1833, died August 9, 1834. I2. Herman, of further mention.


Herman Stump, twelfth child of John Wilson and Sarah (Biays) Stump, was born at "Oakington," Harford county, Maryland, August 8, 1835, died at his estate, "Waverly," near Belair, in his native county, January 9, 1917. He was edu- cated in the classics under private tutors and at Delaware College, chose law as his profession, and after preparation under the preceptorship of his cousin, Hon. Henry W. Archer, of Belair, he was admitted to the bar. From 1856, the date of his admission, until 1902, the date of his retirement, Colonel Stump was actively engaged in the practice of his profession, practicing not only in Harford courts but in the courts of adjoining counties and in all State and Federal courts of the district. Learned in the law and skillful in its application, he was connected with some of the celebrated cases of his period and in many noted criminal cases, notably that of Mrs. E. G. Wharton for the poisoning of General Ketchum, and that of Elizabeth Cairnes for the shooting of Nicholas McComas. He conducted a large practice and ranked with the ablest pro- fessional men of his day.


Southern born, and of Southern family, his sympathies during the War between the States were naturally with his Southern brethren, but he took no active part in opposition to the Government. He had decided military tastes, had been for many years prominent in the State militia and held the rank of colonel. Near Belair, the county seat of Har- ford county, he purchased a large estate which he named "Waverly," and there, even while weighted with professional and official cares, he devoted himself with deep interest to its


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management and cultivation. He loved the great out-of-doors, and "Waverly" was his greatest joy, with its fertile acres and rural beauty.


In 1878 Colonel Stump was elected State Senator; pre- sided over the Democratic State Convention of 1879, which nominated William T. Hamilton for Governor; was chosen president of the Senate in 1880, and was elected to represent his district in the Fifty-first Congress, as a Democrat. He was re-elected to the Fifty-second Congress, and at the expiration of his term was appointed by President Cleveland, Commis- sioner General of Immigration, a newly-created department of the government, of which Colonel Stump was the first chief. Colonel Stump was largely instrumental in framing the Im- migration and the Chinese Exclusion laws, and was twice sent to Italy on special missions by the United States Government in regard to Italian immigration; and was present at the nup- tials of the present King of Italy. At the expiration of his term he resumed the practice of law at Belair, continuing until 1902, when he retired and spent the last fifteen years of his life in the congenial life of a country gentleman.


But Colonel Stump did not live for his own pleasure and aggrandizement. On the contrary, his sympathy was bound- less and his interest deep in all community affairs. For many years he was president of the board of visitors at Rosewood Training School for Feeble Minded Children, located at Owing's Mills, Baltimore county, and lived to see this great institution grow from thirty inmates to more than seven hun- dred children, and with purse, voice and influence supported all good causes. He was the oldest member and a Past Mas- ter of Mount Ararat Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Belair, and when he was laid at rest his brethren of the lodge were in charge of the services and performed over his grave the beautiful burial rites of the order. He was a man of


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average height, but of large and powerful body. He was most hospitable, and both before and after marriage a most gracious hospitality distinguished him. He was an official of the Harford County Agricultural Society, and a communicant of the Episcopal church.


Colonel Stump married, late in life, Mary Fernandez de Velasco, of New York, a descendant of Admiral de Velasco, who for his courage and bravery was created Duke of Frias by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, a half-sister of John Haldane Flagler, of New York, and through her mother a cousin of Lord Haldane, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (1913). They had no children. Of the large family of children which came to his parents he was the last sur- vivor, with the exception of his sister Sarah, wife of James Murray, of London, England. Mrs. Stump survives her hus- band, as does a nephew, Bertram N. Stump, United States Commissioner of Immigration at Baltimore.


ELIPHALET PARSONS


A T the age of eighty-two the life of Eliphalet Parsons, one of the sterling educators of the city of Baltimore, Mary- land, closed. For fifty-eight of these years he had given him- self to the cause of education, and no man can repute the value of his life. He taught in the public schools, conducted private schools, and finally, in 1913, retired, being then principal of one of the public schools of Baltimore. He was of distin- guished American, English, and Scotch ancestry, his father of ancient English family, and in America tracing to the eminent Jonathan Edwards. On the maternal side, Mar, he traced descent from the Scottish Earls of Mar. The Parsons family in England was numbered with the gentry; two country seats are yet occupied by descendants in which the ancestors of the American family lived, one built in 1500, the other, one hun- dred years later. In America the family has ever been noted for its eminent divines, jurists and educators, many of the name having added greatly to the sum of human learning. Elipha- let Parsons was a son of Jonathan and Mary Ann (Mar) Parsons, the names Eliphalet and Jonathan having been handed down for many generations since the marriage of a Parsons to a daughter of Jonathan Edwards.


Eliphalet Parsons was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and in his early life received but an ordinary edu- cation. He was, however, a student all his life, and an omni- verous reader. When a youth he read all the classics of the best English authors, and all his life he accumulated knowl- edge even as he was constantly imparting it. He also special- ized in and became most proficient in mathematics, later teach- ing that branch as well as English literature. Though almost entirely self-educated he acquired deep knowledge, and must always be considered as a very learned man. An excellent


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memory, coupled with learning, finally fitted him for the study of pedagogy, and until the years grew too heavy he con- tinued at his post of duty. Many men of prominence belong- ing to the past and to the present generation, not only in his own but in all parts of the country, sat under his instruction, and carried out into the world his teachings and example. He began teaching at an early age, and was principal of grammar school No. 15, in Baltimore. In 1859 he became owner and principal of St. Timothy's Military Academy, at Catonsville, Maryland, succeeding Dr. Van Bokelen, in the famous old school. He continued owner and head of St. Timothy's sev- eral years, then, in 1869, returned to Baltimore, where he established another private school, which he conducted until 1872. He then bought from Professor Eli Lamb, Milton Academy, in Baltimore county. He maintained that school in successful operation as a boarding school until 1885, when he eliminated the boarding department, removed the school to Baltimore, where it was continued as a private school for day scholars. It was not long after his return to Baltimore that he gave up Milton Academy and again accepted a position in the public schools as principal of one of the city schools, and so continued until reaching the age of seventy-nine years.


So highly was Professor Parsons esteemed by the Balti- more Board of Education that at one time, desiring to express that esteem, the board elected him professor of mathematics in the City College of Baltimore, but with that modesty which always distinguished him, he did not accept the chair, but stepped aside in favor of a younger man. That was but one of the generous acts of his career, his noble character con- stantly inspiring him to similar kindly deeds. He was gener- ous to a fault and there was never a suspicion of an ulterior motive, for he was always actuated by the highest motives throughout his long and useful life.


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Professor Parsons was of deeply religious nature, a herit- age from several noted divines of the earlier generations, paternal and maternal. He was a lover of the Bible, and knew its contents as few men do. He had an apt quotation for all occasions and in his religious faith followed the teach- ings of John Wesley, as expressed in the doctrines of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. He was a licensed local preacher, and for the greater part of his life an active, devout member of the Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of Balti- more. As an educator, he believed in and enforced strict discipline, but he always strove to be absolutely fair in his judgments and in his punishments. So well did his pupils understand that desire that he was not only respected but beloved by them. In his political action he long was a sup- porter of the Democratic party, but later became a Prohibi- tionist. In 1913 he retired to a well-earned rest, and three years later passed peacefully away.


Eliphalet Parsons married Susanna A. Warner, who died October 22, 1896, daughter of Asa Warner, of Baltimore. Professor and Mrs. Parsons were the parents of five sons and two daughters: Virginia Stone, of Baltimore; Alfred Van- divir, a physician of the District of Columbia; Sue Farwell, married Professor C. W. E. Miller, Greek Professor of Johns Hopkins University ; Eliphalet, of New York City; Benjamin Whitely, of Baltimore; William Essex, of Philadelphia; and Luther M., a practicing dental surgeon, of Baltimore.


DOUGLAS ELDRED YOUNG


A GIRL of twenty had been crucified in Belgium by the Germans. "As a result," wrote Douglas Eldred Young in a letter to his parents, "I am now gunner number one hun- dred and eighty-five thousand and eighty-five." Thus simply and without ostentation, did a noble soul express the motive which impelled him to risk his life in the cause of justice and humanity. Human rights had been violated, the most sacred institutes of peaceable and liberty-loving, though alien, nations were being trampled on, the spirit of a long dormant bar- barism was aroused, stalking ruthlessly through the land, lay- ing it waste with sword and flame and inflicting untold wrongs and miseries upon innocent peoples. This was enough. It did not matter to Douglas E. Young that his own kindred and his own people had not suffered, for in him the spirit of chivalry still lived, and wrought with a strength which recog- nized no limitation of frontier or continent.


No words of eulogy need here be spoken of that noble band from many a distant nation which pressed forward to aid the gallant armies of France and England in their hour of need. Future historians will write their names in characters which shall live forever in the hearts of men, and with them shall live the name of Douglas Eldred Young.


Douglas Eldred Young was the son of Walter Douglas Young and Alice Gertrude Eldred Young. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 14, 1895, and was of the ninth American generation of an old and honorable family, a geneo- logical sketch of which is appended. Graduating from the public schools of Baltimore, he entered the Polytechnic Insti- tute of that city in 1913, and would have completed his course there in 1917 had he not given his life in the great cause.


Douglas was a lover of all manly sports, fond of adven-


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ture and romance and possessed of a tireless energy which led him into many useful activities and made him a moving spirit and a leader among his associates. He was a member of the Maryland Naval Militia, the Cadet Corps of the Polytechnic Institute, Assistant Master of the Roland Park Boy Scouts, and a communicant of St. David's Protestant Episcopal Church of Roland Park, the suburb in which his family home was located. In 1915 he was commissioned as a State Forest Warden and for more than a year before his departure for Europe he was in the service of the Maryland State Board of Forestry.


Through all his useful activities, his chivalrous spirit chafed his country's delay in entering the great struggle, and, when it seemed that there was no immediate prospect of his being able to fight under his own flag, he determined to enlist in the English army. Accordingly, he sailed for Europe in September, 1916. The voyage was made on a ship laden with horses for the Allies and it was as one of the men engaged in the care of these animals that he worked his way to England. The night of his arrival in England he witnessed a Zeppelin air raid and saw one of those engines of destruction brought to earth. The next day he enlisted in the Royal Field Artil- lery, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and after a brief course of train- ing was sent to the front. Later he was transferred to Com- pany D, of the York and Lancaster Fourth Regiment, and with this organization he served until he met his death.


In April, 1917, his parents received letters from him which were written from a hospital "Somewhere in France," but later he was again with his regiment "advancing toward Monchy" from the Scarp. On Tuesday, April 10, 1917, in passing near Roeux on the second day of battle, and while pressing forward in advance of his companions at a point of great danger, he was struck by a machine gun bullet and ex- pired instantly.


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Accompanying the official notification of his death sent to his parents, was a note from the Secretary of State for War, signed by Lord Derby, conveying, at the command of the King, "The true sympathy of His Majesty and the Queen in your sorrow." Letters received from the captain, chaplain and sergeant of his company all commented on his manly and soldierly qualities and gave the details of the ending of this brave young life.


Together with one of the sergeants of his company, who fell in battle with him, he was buried on the field near by, his grave charted and marked with the honors of war.


So closed, at the age of twenty-one, the life of a brave soldier. As a tribute to his memory the flag on the headquar- ters of the Roland Park Civic League was lowered to half mast and so remained for a period of ten days. He leaves behind him many friends who mourn his loss, but who will ever honor and revere his name as one who made the supreme sacrifice for a high ideal.


Rev. Christopher Yonges was born in England about 1545, graduated Bachelor of Arts, Oxford, 1563, Master of Arts, 1566; died in Southwold, England, June 14, 1626, and two days later was buried in the chancel of the church of which he was Vicar. In the chancel floor is set a brass tablet bearing this inscription :


Here Lyeth interred Y body of Mr. Christopher Yonges, who Deptd this life ye 14 days of June. Anno Domini 1626.


A good man full of faythe was he Here preacher of God's Word, And manie by his Ministrie Were added to the Lord.


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He married late in life his wife, Margaret. They were the parents of four sons and four daughters, the line of descent being through the eldest son, John.


Rev. John Youngs was born in England about 1598, and it is believed was educated at Oxford. He married, in 1622, in the church at Southwold, England, of which his father was Vicar, and there his two eldest sons, John and Thomas, were born. His first wife was Joan Herington, who died about 1630. He married (second) Joan Harris, a widow. He was the first settler of Southold, Long Island. He was held in the highest esteem and was greatly beloved. As he owned the works of Rev. William Perkins, an able exponent of the Cal- vanistic doctrine, no doubt that was his own religious convic- tion. His third wife, whom he probably married in Salem, Massachusetts, about 1639, was Mary Warren Gardner, a widow, daughter of Thomas Warren, of Southwold, England. They were the parents of two sons: Benjamin, of further men- tion, and Christopher.


Benjamin Youngs, believed to have been born in South- old, Long Island, about 1640, died there in 1697. He seems to have lived in the old homestead with his parents, and to have inherited through the will of his mother in 1678. From 1674 to 1683 he was town clerk, and from 1674 to 1687 was recorder. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and sons, John; Benjamin, of further mention; and Christian. John in- herited the homestead.


Lieutenant Benjamin (2) Youngs was born in Southold, Long Island, January 13, 1678, died at Aquebogue, Long Island, December 17, 1768. At the age of sixteen he began learning the weaver's trade and followed it all his active years. He was a lieutenant of Militia, Company No. 3, in 1715, his cousin, also Benjamin Youngs, being captain of the company. He married, December 28, 1703, Mercy Landon,


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who died June 16, 1782, aged seventy-nine. They were the parents of eight sons and daughters, the line of descent being through the fourth son, Seth.


Seth Youngs, born in Southold, Long Island, February 20, 1711, died in Torrington, Connecticut, July 6, 1761. Soon after his marriage, in 1734, he moved to Hartford, Connecti- cut, thence, in 1743, to Windsor, and later to Torrington. He married, March 19, 1734, at Southold, Long Island, Hannah Lawrence, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, died in Tor- rington, November 1, 1761, leaving a large family of small children, she only surviving her husband four months. The line of descent is through their thirteenth child, Calvin.


Calvin Youngs, born in Windsor, Vermont, June 18, 1757, died in Vernon, New York, August 6, 1806. He was a silver- smith by trade and during the Revolution served in Captain Bancker's company, Second Regiment, Albany county, New York, Militia. In 1797 he resided in Northampton, New York, and held office as commissioner of highways, going thence to Vernon. His Bible (published in 1803) contained the record of the family back to Rev. Christopher Yonges, Vicar of Southwold, England. He married, March 7, 1779, Eva Van Epps, born in 1754, died September 13, 1817. Their first seven children were daughters, their eldest son, Abram Van Epps, continuing the line. His only other son, Calvin, died in childhood.


Major Abram Van Epps Young was born in Vernon, New York, October 21, 1794, died September 24, 1832, in Au- burn, New York. He was an influential citizen of Auburn, a vestryman of the Episcopal church, and major of a cavalry regiment. He married, December 22, 1821, Lydia Hutchin- son Whipple, born September 16, 1802, died July 9, 1878. daughter of Elisha Whipple, of Fleming, New York. They were the parents of two sons and three daughters, Margaret. MD. - 42


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Mary and Elizabeth; Colonel Van Epps, an officer of the Union Army, later State Senator from the Sheboygan Dis- trict, Wisconsin; and Calvin, of further mention.


Calvin Young was born in Auburn, New York, January 31, 1830, died October 13, 1902, Auburn, New York. He was a mechanical engineer, an inventor of many important devices, such as the first steam operated fire engine, axle machine parts of the self-binding harvester, including its knot- ter, corn harvesting machinery, etc. He was selected as engi- neer to operate the first railroad engine running between Au- burn and Syracuse, New York. He married, November 13, 1852, Maria Louise Howe, born April 23, 1832, died October 13, 1903. Children : Robert Fulton Young, a coal merchant, of Auburn, New York, and Walter Douglas, of further mention.


Major Walter Douglas Young, born in Auburn, New York, June 27, 1870, educated in the grammar schools at Auburn, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, 1892; a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity. He was constructing engineer for the General Electric Company; electrical engineer of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and president of The Electromechanical Com- pany at Baltimore. For many years he was an officer in the Infantry Signal Corps and Coast Artillery of the M. N. G. In September, 1917, was commissioned as major in the En- gineer Corps of the United States Army. Charter member of the Baltimore Country Club, member of the American Insti- tute of Electrical Engineers, American Society Mechanical Engineers, and American Electrochemical Society. He mar- ried, October 11, 1894, at Auburn, New York, Alice Gertrude Eldred, born in Berlin Heights, Ohio, September 27, 1869; educated in the grammar schools at Auburn and at The Miss Master's School, Dobbs Ferry, on the Hudson, New York. They were the parents of Douglas E., of this mention; Alice L .; Calvin; Geraldine M .; Katherine B., and Josephine B.


SULLIVAN PITTS


A NATIVE son of Baltimore and a descendant of those fine Maryland families, Pitts, Griffith, Dorsey and Sulli- van ; prominent, respected and loved for his manly attributes and ability, the business career of Sullivan Pitts was notably successful and covered a period of half a century of Balti- more's greatest development. Not a worldly man, but pre- ferring home life, his library and observatory above all, he was most kindly, gentle and high-minded, held in high esteem by his many friends and acquaintances. Said one who knew him well :


The death of Mr. Pitts has removed from our midst a remarkable and admirable personality. Only those who knew him intimately knew all his splendid attributes of mind and heart, and the scholarly attainments that went to make up his attractive and splendid character. His acute and trained intellect, his cool and analytical judgment, controlled by a gentle courtesy, marked all his intercourse with his friends and his dealings with his fellowmen.


Those of us who had known him from boyhood saw and acknowledged all these fine traits of a splendid manhood that not only endeared him to us who knew him so well, but made him a shining example to others. As his life long friends, we knew and appreciated his great ability, his mental acuteness, his fair judgment, and his kindness, gentleness, courtesy and modesty.


His home life-his family life-was such a beautiful one that it was an object lesson to all who were privileged to witness it intimately, and his whole life made an indelible impression upon those friends who were close to him and who will forever mourn his loss.


Our community has lost a most valuable member, one whose high char- acter, attainments, and personality, endeared him to us all, and made him a bright example of an able, brilliant, and lovable man and friend.


Sullivan Pitts was born in Baltimore, Maryland, January 17, 1846, died in the city of his birth, March 3, 1917, son of Thomas Griffith and Elizabeth (Sullivan) Pitts, and of old Colonial family. He began his education in a private school,


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and in such schools of the highest order he completed prepa- ratory study. He then entered St. James College, near Hag- erstown, Maryland, there completing his intellectual training. But he was ever a student, and his later years demonstrated the depths of learning on subjects not supposed to interest business men.


Mr. Pitts was greatly interested in scientific research and study, particularly so in the study of the heavenly bodies. He was not the mere amateur, but delved deep into the science, and on the roof of his residence had an observatory erected in which was installed the largest and finest telescope in the State. That telescope now, at his request, is a part of the astronomical equipment of his alma mater, St. James Col- lege. He was a member, and an ex-vice-president, of the Bal- timore Academy of Sciences, and an authority frequently con- sulted. He was also a skillful amateur photographer, his camera being a source of unending pleasure to him. He was one of the men most intimately concerned in the organization of the Fifth Regiment, Maryland National Guard, at the close of the Civil War, and was a devout churchman, a com- municant.of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church. He was a Democrat in politics, but took no active part in political life.


Mr. Pitts married, at Cambridge, Maryland, January 26, 1871, Ellen Lloyd Goldsborough, daughter of Tilghman and Mary Ellen Goldsborough. Mr. and Mrs. Pitts were parents of five children, two sons and three daughters: Sullivan Pitts, Jr .; Tilghman Goldsborough Pitts, who married Dorothy McCreary Paine, and has three children: Tilghman Golds- borough, Jr., Clinton Paine, and Alice McCreary; Elizabeth Lloyd Pitts, who died in infancy; Mary Ellen Pitts, who died in childhood, and Alice Lloyd Pitts, who married Dr. John McFarland Bergland, and has two sons, John McFarland, Jr., and Eric Lloyd.




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