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 3
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His early education was in the schools of Baltimore and this was supplemented by a course in Lafayette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania. He was a student there in 1834 and 1835, but he did not graduate. He is recorded as a non- graduate of the class of 1.838. In 1865 he received the honor- ary degree of Master of Arts from the college, and in 1866 he was a member of the board of examiners of the Pardee Scientific Department of Lafayette College. He pre- sented a valuable papyrus-scroll to the college library. From college he entered his father's business, and became a partner in the firm at the age of nineteen. From the first he showed himself to be a man of prodigious energy and of live interest in vital things. He had the faculty of applied intelli- gence, and he inherited from his father an abundance of rug- ged determination. He had great natural ability for banking, and gradually the entire management of the bank's affairs de- volved upon him and his brother. Under their enterprise and vigilance the business was rapidly extended, and it be- came the American agency of George Peabody & Company, of London, and of other large and well-known firms of Europe, and attained rank as one of the most influential insti- tutions of the United States.
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From his early youth, Mr. Garrett had seen opportuni- ties in the development of transportation, and as far as lay in his power had made a personal study of conditions; he realized that with a great continent and a growing population the question would become one of the most tremendous and far-reaching the nation had to solve. He particularly con- sidered Baltimore, and argued that with its geographical loca- tion it should be a leader in railway traffic. After mature deliberation he began to buy shares in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and this was the beginning of a connection that was to endure throughout his life. The Baltimore & Ohio had many difficulties to contend with, not least of which was the competition of the Chesapeake & Ohio canal. Obstacles had to be overcome, extensions made, improvements inaugurated, and most of this had to be pioneer work. There were few precedents worth bothering about or worth following. Even before his election as a director, in October, 1857, Mr. Garrett had been considering original lines of thought and policy, and when he spoke those in control of the road listened. At that time politics controlled the company, and in his first speech as a director, Mr. Garrett was so radical and definite and the impression he created was so deep, that the political power in the management of the road was at once curtailed and the benefits were welcomed by those interested in the true welfare and progress of the company. Johns Hopkins, the famous merchant and philanthropist, was so taken with Mr. Garrett's plan that upon his motion Mr. Garrett was made president. This was November 17, 1858, and president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, John Work Garrett remained until his death, twenty-six years later.
He went into the presidency of the company in a year of financial difficulties, but he lost no time in introducing economies and business methods, with the result that his first
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annual report showed a gain in net earnings. From that year the success of the road continued. It had, of course, its periods of stress, and when Mr. Garrett was dead, the finance com- mittee of the company placed on record this fact: "More than once did John W. Garrett come to the rescue of the Baltimore & Ohio Company with his whole private fortune, and but for his courage and public spirit, its safety and the success it has attained could not have been." This is the literal truth, and it shows how Mr. Garrett made the welfare of the road his own life, living it day by day, and raising it from a weakly managed affair, controlled by party politics, to a great independent system that for years was the training school for the best railroad and transportation men of the world. Another fact shows the quality of Mr. Garrett's devotion. When he became president his salary was four thousand dol- lars a year. The success and prosperity of the road becoming assured, as the result of his executive ability, the board of directors unanimously voted to increase this salary to ten thousand dollars. Mr. Garrett declined the increase, as also the offers of two other railway corporations, one of which meant an annual salary of thirty thousand dollars and the second of fifty thousand dollars. His aim always was to dedi- cate every possible resource to the advancement and efficiency of the road, and in his refusal to accept larger compensation for himself was shown the rare unselfishness that makes the leader and the builder.
It is not within the limits of this article to detail the many and remarkable operations in which Mr. Garrett was engaged during his connection with the Baltimore & Ohio; they belong more appropriately to railroad history, but it may be said that for more than a quarter of a century he was one of the ablest and best-known Americans, constantly in the public eye because of his activities in the business world. During
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the Civil War the Baltimore & Ohio was one of the important means of transportation for troops and supplies. The traffic was enormous, and the construction corps, which was kept constantly employed to make repairs in those troublous days, accomplished wonders. A deputation of Baltimoreans, who did not like Mr. Garrett's politics, went to Washington and requested President Lincoln to remove Mr. Garrett from the management of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The sharp reply of the President was: "When any or all of you have done half as much to aid this Government as John W. Garrett has done, I may consider your request." Mr. Garrett was a close friend of President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, and was as much part of President Lincoln's Cabinet as any man in it. He was often called to its meetings when questions of great moment were discussed.
Under Mr. Garrett's management the stock of the Balti- more & Ohio rose to high values, and the company was enabled to invest its surplus in branches, steamship lines and real estate. Mr. Garrett gave considerable attention to the related enter- prises which interested his road. Mainly through his advo- cacy a line of steamships was established between Baltimore and Europe. He was one of the leading spirits in the con- struction of the dry docks, warehouses and grain elevators at Locust Point. During his presidency the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph was established, and it was afterwards allied with the Bankers' and Merchants' and the Postal Telegraph Com- panies. He was also associated with John W. Mackay and James Gordon Bennett in the laying of the new Atlantic cable to Europe. Under his administration there was negotiated in 1884 the loan which enabled the Baltimore & Ohio to extend its main line to Philadelphia, and then by the Phila- delphia & Reading to reach New York City. To the end he was busy with plans and purposes for the advancement of the Baltimore & Ohio.
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Mr. Garrett was a statesman who never held political office. He helped ably and constantly in the management of the Democratic party, but he would take no office, even though the governorship of the State was offered to him. For many years he was connected with the Associate Reformed Church, presiding over its trustees. He was a close personal friend of Johns Hopkins, who appointed him one of the trustees of the Johns Hopkins University. He was a friend of George Pea- body, and was an officer of the Peabody Institute. In many ways he contributed to the improvement and adornment of Baltimore, and did much to increase its attractiveness. He was a patron of the fine arts, and his home held foreign and American pictures that were valuable and widely representa- tive of the best schools. He was one of the organizers of the Employees Relief Association of the Baltimore & Ohio, and its development and usefulness were due in large measure to his initiative and support. With a keen interest in horticul- ture and agriculture, he paid especial attention to the importa- tion and improvement of famous breeds of horses and cattle. He presided at the meeting for raising funds for the erection of a new building for the Young Men's Christian Association, and his address became the keynote of the campaign that ended successfully. These are a few of the many good causes which he served and to which he liberally contributed.
Mr. Garrett married Rachel Ann Harrison, born January 17, 1823, who died at Montebello, the family seat in Balti- more county, November 15, 1883, as the result of injuries received by being thrown from a carriage. She was the daugh- ter of Thomas Harrison, a prominent merchant of Baltimore in the days before the Civil War. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett were : Robert, Thomas Harrison, Mary E., and Henry S .. Sketches of Robert and Thomas Harrison appear in other pages of this work. Miss Mary Garrett enjoys nat- KD .- 24
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ional esteem for her work in charity and education. Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore is a lasting monument to her phil- anthropy, and her contributions to Johns Hopkins Hospital, by which the admission of women was secured, and to other institutions, have won for her warm praise.
Mr. Garrett lived a fine life and lived it well, and he was happiest when he was busiest. In appearance he was handsome, impressive and vigorous. Self-command and poise were among his characteristics. In any relation and in any emergency he was prompt and dependable. He had confi- dence and courage and he was always ready to meet any ob- ligation. He had the clear conception of things and the right regard for what was best in the exercise of human activities. With all the elements of a strong character he took up the exacting responsibilities left by a remarkable father, and by his prudence, foresight and industry largely increased them in value and kept them intact for the benefit of the family. Thus, in all his relations-business, public and personal-he measured up to the stature of a great executive, a splendid citizen and a noble father.
GEORGE BROWN
G' EORGE BROWN, of the second generation of the dis- tinguished family whose name is identified with the greatest of American banking houses, was the second son of Alexander Brown, the founder of the business which still bears his name, being known to-day, as it was a century ago, as the firm of Alexander Brown & Sons.
George Brown, second of the four sons of Alexander and Grace (Davison) Brown, was born in 1787, in Ballymena, Ireland, and was fifteen years old when he came to the United States. During the lifetime of his father he was associated with him in the management of the Baltimore house, and was always a devoted son as well as a most efficient partner. Upon the death of his father, George Brown became the head of the house, and for a quarter of a century upheld its high standard of financial honor. As a business man he was dis- tinguished by prudence, by sterling integrity, by quickness of perception, and by indefatigable application. When, in 1927, the Mechanics' Bank was reduced almost to insolvency by bad management, he consented to become its president, and in a short time raised it to a state of great prosperity. He was the founder and for some time the president of the Merchants' Bank, and he was one of the moving spirits that inaugurated the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
As a citizen, his conduct was marked by a high degree of public spirit and benevolence. The House of Refuge was a special object of his care, and the monument to his memory erected there by the liberality of the late Benjamin Deford worthily attests his generosity and valuable services to that institution. He was the first president of that excellent charity known as the Baltimore Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor, and as long as he lived he took
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a warm interest in the Peabody Institute, of which he was one of the original trustees. Although his modest and retiring disposition always made him shrink from public view, when summoned to the front by the call of duty, he never failed to respond. When on the verge of his fiftieth year, and a mer- chant and banker of the highest standing, he faithfully served, first as a private soldier and after, as first lieutenant, in a volun- teer cavalry company which was raised after the great riot of 1835, by a number of our best citizens, with the laudable object of preserving the peace of the city.
Mr. Brown married Isabella McLanahan, of Pennsyl- vania. Mrs. Brown was a woman whose name was associated in the public mind with all that is true and elevated in religion and lovely in woman. Her husband, true to a principle which had actuated him during life, that his charities should be distributed as unostentatiously as possible, made no provision for them in his will beyond making her the almoner of his bounty. Well and faithfully, as many can testify, has she executed the responsible and difficult trust. She caused to be erected the beautiful Presbyterian church, known as the Brown Memorial Church, "in memoriam" of her husband, as expressed on a marble tablet in the rear of the pulpit. It is an appropriate monument to him who regarded religion as pre-eminent above all other things, and loved his church with all the ardor of his noble nature. In numberless ways Mrs. Brown executed the trust committed to her by her husband, fulfilling his most cherished wishes.
Mr. Brown died August 26, 1859, at his home in Balti- more, possessed, it is believed, of the largest fortune ever held, up to that time, by a citizen of Maryland. This great wealth he held as a trust, and the world can testify that he was a most faithful steward. Foremost in all great and good enterprises, comprehensive in his views of business, he was one of the most
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valuable citizens Baltimore ever had. He was characterized by deep domestic affections and by sincere benevolence. The tenor of his life and work is beautifully expressed in a sen- tence inscribed on the monument erected to his memory at the House of Refuge :
In spirit eminently charitable ; cautious in judgment, in action prudent ; wise in council, and an earnest helper in all good works.
WALTER BOOTH BROOKS
W ALTER BOOTH BROOKS, who died January, 1896,
in Baltimore, Maryland, is a notable example of the fact that a number of the best traits are inheritable, and in addition to those he possessed by this right are many others which are equally as good. He rose far above the standard in business matters, and in the affairs of state his advice was sought. The business operations with which he was con- nected for so many years were of a most extensive and varied character, and assisted greatly in making Baltimore the great commercial center it is at the present time.
Walter Booth Brooks was born in Baltimore, May 27, 1823, and died at his home, "Cloverdale," Eutaw Place, Bal- timore, January 17, 1896. He was named for General Walter Booth, who had been his father's intimate friend and earliest business partner, and was educated in a private school in Con- necticut. He was very young when he took his first step in business life, commencing in the wholesale dry goods house of his father, and when he attained his majority, in 1844, he was admitted to a partnership in the firm at the same time as Derick Fahnestock, who was his lifelong friend. For the six years following, the business was conducted under the style of C. Brooks, Son & Company, later this became Brooks, Fahnestock & Company, the large warehouse of the firm being for many years on Baltimore street between Howard and Eutaw streets. Mr. Brooks was clear-headed, energetic and enterprising, and when the outbreak of the Civil War put a stop to their trade with the South for the time being, the firm determined to open a branch business in a westerly direction. Accordingly Walter B. Brooks was sent to Zanesville, Ohio, there to establish the proposed branch concern, and personally look after the conduct of affairs, while Mr. Fahnestock was
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to remain in Baltimore and attend to the interests at that end and in Pennsylvania. In 1865 Mr. Brooks withdrew entirely from the business in Baltimore, became entirely identified with the branch he had established in Zanesville, which was known as W. B. Brooks & Company, and remained in Zanesville until 1867. The business prospered under his capable management, and he proved beyond a doubt that he had inherited the busi- ness qualities and executive ability of his father in no small degree. He then returned to Baltimore, and for a number of years after his return was principally engaged as assignee for a number of business firms whose affairs had become hope- lessly involved, and which he succeeded in winding up in a satisfactory manner. Among these business firms were the dry goods house of Howard Cole & Company, and Kirkland, Chase & Company, who were importers of coffees and sugars. Both of these had been very expensive failures, involving large interests and immense sums of money, and the ability which Mr. Brooks displayed in unraveling the tangled state in which he found matters, drew upon him the attention of the promi- nent men of the business world. Subsequently Mr. Brooks turned his attention to real estate matters, foreseeing that the growth of the city was a matter of but a few short years, and in this idea he was not mistaken, as events proved. He became associated with the Canton Company, to the presidency of which he was elected in 1877, to succeed Charles J. Boker, and he was identified with this enterprise for many years. The real estate transactions of this firm were frequently of enor- mous proportions, and they were located in the eastern suburb of Baltimore, where they owned large tracts of land. The ready understanding and sound judgment of Mr. Brooks speedily made themselves manifest in this enterprise, and under his management the affairs of the concern, which had not been very flourishing at the time he took hold of matters,
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changed in a very short time. When Mr. Brooks assumed the management, the shares of the company were selling at a very low price, and the company heavily in debt. At the time of his death he had paid all indebtedness and the stock was on a substantial basis and selling at a high price. He loved work for work's sake and found pleasure in facing difficult financial problems, and overcoming them. He was connected with a number of other financial and commercial enterprises, among them being the following: Director and stockholder in the Western National Bank, the Eutaw Savings Bank, Safe De- posit and Trust Company, Consolidated Gas Company, How- ard Fire Insurance Company, and the Central Ohio Railroad Company. For some years he had also been interested in the Central Passenger Railroad of Baltimore.
When he was engaged with business matters, his entire attention was given to the matter in hand, but he entertained the fixed idea that it is not at all necessary for a business man to exclude himself from social intercourse, and he lived according to this principle. He was of a genial, whole-souled disposition, and was one of the incorporators of the Merchants' Club in 1880, was chosen president when the club was reor- ganized in 1885, and it was there that his fine spirit was seen to the best advantage. His quiet courtesy and tactful affability smoothed the rough places on the road of life of the club as soon as he assumed the management, which was at a time when the affairs of the club were in such sad financial condi- tion that it was about to be sold at auction. Mr. Brooks changed all this entirely, and by the system he introduced placed the club on a paying basis, and it is now the gathering place for about six hundred merchants and the most desirable locality for entertaining their visiting business friends. While Mr. Brooks had always taken a serious and decided interest in the political affairs of his city, State and country, he had
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never solicited public office and was not anxious to serve in any. In 1887, however, while he was absent from the city, . he was made the Republican nominee for the office of Gov- ernor of Maryland, and when he was informed of this honor, he declined to return to the city for the time being, and it was a considerable length of time before he would allow himself to become convinced that it was for the best interests of the State that he should accept the nomination of his party, and in this manner, with the assistance of the Independent Demo- crats, who had offered their support when they became acquainted with the name of the Republican candidate, help to break up the Democratic "ring." The election was a hotly contested one, but the influence of the Democrats was too great, and Governor Jackson was elected. As trustee of the Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church for many years, Mr. Brooks was a liberal subscriber to the institution, and equally liberal in connection with the numerous charities which it supervised.
Mr. Brooks married, 1852, a daughter of Abram G. Cole, for many years a well-known dry goods merchant of Balti- more. In the course of his long life Mr. Brooks gave em- ployment to many hundreds of people, and by all of them he was regarded more in the light of a fatherly friend, to whom they might go for counsel and help when in need, rather than as a mere employer. His kindly heart was ever ready to listen to plans for the betterment of humanity in general, and his private charities, which were numerous, were bestowed in a simple, unostentatious manner which was thoroughly appre- ciated by the recipients. His death was a great loss, not alone to his immediate family and friends, but to hosts of others who had been affiliated with him in business matters.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NEWCOMER
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NEWCOMER was, during a
long and active career, one of the most enterprising men of his day, and the success which he achieved may almost be characterized as phenomenal. His greatest achievements were in large railroad affairs, and he was the principal factor in the building up of the Atlantic Coast Line System, which lay at the foundation of the development and prosperity of an immense region bordering upon the Southern Atlantic. In religion and education he had an abiding interest, and his bene- factions to churches, schools and libraries were many and liberal.
The family of Newcomer is of German-Swiss ancestry, and its history in this country begins with Wolfgang New- comer, who with his parents came from Switzerland, about 1720. Their landing was at Philadelphia, where he worked at his trade as a carpenter. He removed later to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He was the father of five daughters and three sons. Of the latter, Christian became a bishop of the United Brethren church. Henry was father of thirteen children, among whom were Samuel and Henry.
John Newcomer, son of Henry Newcomer, was born De- cember 18, 1797. He was a man of great ability and promi- nence. He was a large real estate holder in Washington county, personally superintended his farm, and operated a flour mill on Beaver Creek. He also founded the flour and grain commission firm of Newcomer & Stonebraker, in Balti- more. He was sheriff of his county in 1836, State Senator 1840-46, County Commissioner 1846, delegate to convention which framed the new State Constitution in 1850, and County Commissioner again in 1859. He was not only highly regarded for his ability, but for his sterling personal character; many
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disputes were committed to him, and his decisions were always marked by unimpeachable fairness. He died April 21, 1861. He married his cousin Catherine, born December 18, 1802, daughter of Samuel Newcomer. She was of a beautiful Chris- tian character, and to her training and example her son, Ben- jamin F. Newcomer, attributed much of the development of his own character and of those qualities which brought him success in life. She lived to see with pride the result of her love and care in the success and prominence of her son, and died February 3, 1883, in her eighty-first year.
Benjamin Franklin Newcomer, son of John and Cathe- rine Newcomer, was born at Beaver Creek, Washington county, Maryland, April 28, 1827. in a log house which long ago disappeared. In 1829 his parents removed to Hagers- town, returning in 1834 to Beaver Creek, where young New- comer entered the country school at the age of seven years. His youth was spent industriously; he worked on the farm and in the mill, in which he frequently spent the night, awak- ening to look after the machinery when it came to a stop. While his father was serving as sheriff, the young man (familiarly called Frank), traveled with him all over the county, and at times beyond its bounds, summoning jurors and witnesses, often riding in severest winter weather. It is curi- ous to note that the lad was actually sworn in as a deputy sheriff when only ten years of age. In 1837 the family again returned to Hagerstown, where Frank attended the academy one year, in 1840, intending to become a civil engineer. The following year the family returned to Beaver Creek. Frank was offered the choice of remaining at the academy or of returning to the farm. He chose the latter-a choice he after- wards spoke of as boylike and foolish, but destiny had directed his steps aright. His father, wishing to send some one to Balti- more to look after his interests in the newly established. firm
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