USA > Maryland > Governors of Maryland : from the Revolution to the year 1908 > Part 19
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during his military service prepared himself for the bar and had been admitted to practice in the District of Colum- bia early in the forties. After his return to America, he continued with the army for two years, supervising engi- neering work in the vicinity of New Orleans and elsewhere. In the meantime, however, he was planning to make a change of profession, and in October, 1843, resigned his commission and took up his residence in Baltimore, where he began to practice law.
Mr. McLane did not conceal for long his real motive in taking up law in Maryland. In the year following his resig- nation from the army, when Henry Clay was opposing Mr. Polk for the presidential chair, he gave liberally of his time and ability to the cause of the democrats, and during the campaign made a strong impression in Maryland through both the manner of delivery and the substance of his politi- cal addresses. In the year 1845 he received the democratic nomination as one of Baltimore's representatives in the house of delegates, and was elected. When the legisla- ture convened he became a champion of Governor Pratt in his honest financial plan for Maryland's debts. He was also hearty in his advocacy of constitutional reform-a matter in which Baltimore especially was interested-and upon his legislative record generally he succeeded in obtain- ing, a year later, the democratic nomination for congress.
Thus in the very morning of his political career Mr. Mc- Lane cast off the lines of strictly local affairs and stood ready to take up his position among the legislators of the nation. In the ensuing campaign he came out boldly in support of the administration regarding Texas and Mexico, and was elected over the whig candidate. Upon his entrance into the house of representatives he continued his champion- ship of President Polk's course in connection with the repub- lic to the south of the United States. Mr. McLane was
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reëlected to congress in 1849. In 1851 he was engaged as counsel for a large mining concern which was experiencing some difficulty over its property in California, and his pro- fessional duties necessitated a trip to the Pacific Coast. The business was less easily settled than had at first been anticipated, and it was not until 1852 that the lawyer was able to return to the East. Nevertheless, he appeared as elector for Franklin Pierce in the presidential campaign of 1852 and upon the induction of the latter into the presiden- tial office the Marylander began his career as a diplomat.
China was weighed down with religious revolution, and the relations between the empire of the East and the more advanced western nations was thrown into something like chaos. As things went from bad to worse, England, France and America became greatly alarmed over the situation. President Pierce appointed Mr. McLane commissioner to China, with power of minister plenipotentiary, and accred- ited him at the same time to Japan, Siam, Korea and Cochin China. He gave him as an escort a rather formidable collec- tion of boats, and told him to go and settle the trouble with the Chinese. He was called upon to perform the difficult feat of remaining on friendly terms with the imperial gov- ernment and at the same time treating officially with the revolutionists, who were the enemies of the imperial ad- ministration; and he accomplished this feat with much credit. As soon as Mr. McLane had become convinced that his presence in the East was no longer required, he requested his government to recall him, and was relieved in the sum- mer of 1855.
Mr. McLane returned to America in time to take part in the preliminaries of the presidential campaign of 1856. He was active in organizing the convention which placed James Buchanan in nomination, and he rendered much service to the national democratic ticket. For the next
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few years legal engagements kept him from public service, but he was called upon by President Buchanan in 1859 to perform another delicate diplomatic mission for the gov- ernment. In June, 1858, friendly relations between the United States and Mexico were rudely terminated, and Envoy Forsyth was instructed by the state department to demand his passport of the Mexican government. The nations nursed a feeling of bitter hostility from that time until early in 1859, when Mr. McLane was sent as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, to seek to protect the property of American citizens and con- summate some deal whereby order might be brought out of the disturbed and anarchical state of affairs in the republic. He was honored with the rather unusual "discretionary authority to recognize the government of President Juarez, if, on his arrival in Mexico, he should find it entitled to such recognition, according to the established practice of the United States." And he did recognize the government, on April 7, 1859, and thereby threw not a little moral sup- port to the administration of Juarez, which shortly there- after became more firmly established.
Mr. McLane dealt with the Mexican government more than a year, and succeeded in gaining desirable concessions for the people of the United States. A treaty which was drawn and signed by him in behalf of the United States, met with the hearty approval of the government at Wash- ington. Before its final ratification, however, there had come about the change in the administration from Buchanan to Lincoln. Anticipating the approach of a serious rupture between north and south, and realizing the uselessness of further endeavor in Mexico at that time, Mr. McLane requested the government to relieve him of the Mexican post, and he returned to Baltimore in December, 1860.
Upon his arrival in Maryland, Mr. McLane immediately
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assumed his part in the agitation that was then distressing the nation. He was unreservedly opposed to the coercion of a state, but he was by no means a believer in the right of secession, and throughout the troubled days of 1861-65 he labored for an adjustment of the differences between the north and south. Before the iron grip of the military had been finally fastened upon Maryland the legislature appointed a commission to go to Washington and protest against the unconstitutional proceedings of the federal troops in the Old Line state. Mr. McLane was named as a member of this body, which by its report was largely influ- ential in preventing any legislative move at that time toward secession. During the years of the conflict Mr. McLane was considerably occupied by his legal duties. He entered the service of the Western Pacific Railroad Company in 1863, and this post necessitated his traveling frequently between New York, the Pacific, and Paris. After the war he con- tinued to devote his time almost exclusively to his legal practice, and it was not until 1876 that he once more assumed the position of prominence which he had held in national affairs up to the outbreak of hostilities. In 1876 he appeared in the democratic convention which nominated Samuel J. Tilden. The next year he received the democratic nomi- nation for the state senate and was elected. In 1878 he was named for congress and was chosen again to the ower branch of the national legislature. He came before the people for reelection in 1880 and was chosen for a sec- ond term, thus giving him for a second time two full terms in congress.
There were exciting days in congress when Mr. McLane represented his state for a second time, and in the midst of the excitement was generally found the Marylander, who had no superior as a ready debater or a fearless champion. The cause he represented was that of a minority which was
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capable during much of the time of doing little more than holding the republicans in check. Corruption in public office was widespread, graft was the order of things then; but through it all Congressman McLane stood up for clean politics and efficient administration of public affairs. His service in congress extended from 1879 to 1883.
In 1883 Mr. McLane was nominated by the democrats for governor and was elected in the fall. He was inaugurated governor on January 8, 1884, but within a little more than a year-which had not been eventful in Maryland affairs- he was offered the post of minister to France by President Cleveland, and surrendered the executive mansion that he might accept the foreign mission. On March 27, 1885, Governor McLane resigned the gubernatorial chair to State Senator Henry Lloyd-who, as president of the senate, was entitled to become acting governor-and went abroad. He served as minister to France throughout President Cleve- land's administration. After his successor had been named he continued to reside in the French capital, which he chose as his residence for the remaining years of his life. He died in Paris on April 16, 1898, but his remains were brought to America, and interred in the family burial lot at Green- mount Cemetery, Baltimore.
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COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY H. E. BUCHHOLZ.
HENRY LLOYD
W Tonno Whyte was elected United States sena bumediately tendered the general assembly, Hagoation as chief registrate of Mary. le dal that body might at once provide a suc. Mi Do un was dlected governor for the unex- Wlas Governi McLane, however, deter-
Jihowe were not whey in the exeru-
HENKA TTOAD. 8881-2881 1 nor was it scheduled to meet for fc bly & year. As a con- sequence there began with the resumemeal of Governor McLane practically an unfilled vacancy in the executive con, for the temporary successor provided by the con was merely a ting-governor. Thus, for instance. siat dlays the president of the governor's council exciFin event of the dekbility ce dir o il Va hid, mening katil cnather governar
to long, Tens B. vrer wani mide acting-
gorno- 4 Minhand. When Governor McLane teidel as rings magyar . Maryland, the duties of his office fell upon the Aie J Ih president of the state menate, Henry Woye, why be time acting-governor. Between the status of Mr. Loge, bomere. and that of Mr. Brice and Mr.
HENRY LLOYD 1885-1888
XL HENRY LLOYD
When Governor Whyte was elected United States sena- tor in 1874, he immediately tendered the general assembly, then in session, his resignation as chief magistrate of Mary- land in order that that body might at once provide a suc- cessor, and Mr. Groome was elected governor for the unex- pired term. When Governor McLane, however, deter- mined in 1885 to relinquish his office to accept the post of United States minister to France, conditions were not favorable for so prompt a filling of the vacancy in the execu- tive mansion. At the time of Mr. McLane's appointment as minister to France the legislature was not in session, nor was it scheduled to meet for nearly a year. As a con- sequence there began with the retirement of Governor McLane practically an unfilled vacancy in the executive mansion, for the temporary successor provided by the con- stitution was merely acting-governor. Thus, for instance, in early state days the president of the governor's council became acting-executive in event of the disability or dis- qualification of his chief, serving until another governor was duly elected. When George Plater died in 1792, James Brice became acting-governor, and again when Robert Wright resigned in 1809, James Butcher was made acting- governor; yet neither is entitled to inclusion among the governors of Maryland. When Governor McLane retired as chief magistrate of Maryland, the duties of his office fell upon the shoulders of the president of the state senate, Henry Lloyd, who became acting-governor. Between the status of Mr. Lloyd, however, and that of Mr. Brice and Mr.
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Butcher there was this difference: the earlier constitution directed the acting-governor immediately to issue a call for the legislature to meet in extra session and elect a new governor, while the later constitutional provision entitled the acting-governor to serve as such until the legislature, if not in session, should regularly assemble for its next session.
With the retirement, therefore, of Governor McLane in 1885 Mr. Lloyd became acting-executive and thus entered the class to which belong Brice and Butcher in Maryland history; but when the legislature met early in 1886 it added its confirmation to a selection which had been in a measure the result of chance and elected Mr. Lloyd governor for the remaining portion of Mr. McLane's unexpired term, which was to extend to January 1I, 1888. It would be difficult to find two men more unlike than Mr. McLane and his suc- cessor. The former-the native son of another state- seemed ever on the alert for some public service which should carry him into foreign fields, while Governor Lloyd is the typical Eastern Shoreman, believing that the strip of land stretching between the Atlantic and the Chesa- peake is the only bit of country which the destructive floods of Noah's days never reached; that he inhabits the exclusive remnant of Eden undefiled. Again, Mr. McLane was a born combatant and the scent of battle was as a sweet fragrance in his nostrils, while his successor is a peace- loving man, who bears rather the olive branch than the ultimatum and who apparently rejoices most in triumphs won far from the scene of conflict.
Henry Lloyd was born at Hambrooke, near Cambridge, on February 21, 1852. His father, Daniel Lloyd, was a son of the second Governor Edward Lloyd and a native of Talbot, but removed to Dorchester county. On his paternal side Henry Lloyd is descended from the Edward
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Lloyd who settled in Maryland in 1649, and from whom sprang two namesakes who served as chief magistrates of Maryland-one in 1709 and the other in 1809. On his maternal side, too, Mr. Lloyd inherited the blood of a Maryland governor, his mother, Mrs. Kitty Henry Lloyd, having been a granddaughter of Governor John Henry. Mr. Henry Lloyd acquired at the schools of Cambridge his elementary training, and later entered the Cambridge Acad- emy, from which he was graduated at the age of nineteen. He then took up the profession of pedagogue and joined the faculty of his alma mater-a connection which remained intact for some years after he had entered upon the practice of law. Under the guidance of his uncle, Congressman Daniel M. Henry, and that of Judge Charles F. Goldsbor- ough, another relative, Mr. Lloyd upon the close of his student days took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in April, 1873, although the volume of his legal business did not necessitate an immediate relinquishment of his post as instructor in the academy.
Several years after his admission to the bar, Mr. Lloyd began his career as an officeholder ; this was in 1875 when he was appointed auditor of the court. Although this initial public post was not one of large importance, it is of interest because it indicates Mr. Lloyd's leaning toward the judiciary rather than the legislative office. It was not until 1881, or eight years after he had been authorized to practice law, that the future governor appeared as a candi- date for elective office. He aspired, however, at this time to an office of some importance, asking his fellow-countians to send him to the state senate. Mr. Lloyd, nevertheless, had not aspired too high, for he was elected a member of the upper branch of the state legislature for the sessions of 1882 and 1884. During the earlier session, although a novice at law-making, he created a good impression by his
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discretion and executive ability, and when the legislature met early in 1884 his name was mentioned for the presidency of the state senate. Another candidate for the same posi- tion was Mr. Edwin Warfield, of Howard county, who shared with Mr. Lloyd the distinction of being one of the two strongest aspirants for the chair. It is related that these two candidates met and Mr. Lloyd requested his rival from Howard county to defer for a session his ambition, reasoning that Mr. Warfield had just been elected for another full term, while he, Mr. Lloyd, was in the closing year of his term and not too sanguine of being returned. At all events, Mr. Warfield withdrew and Mr. Lloyd was chosen executive of the senate, and by virtue of his office he became shortly thereafter, upon the resignation of Gov- ernor McLane, acting governor, only to be elected gover- nor at the next subsequent meeting of the legislature.
Mr. Lloyd became acting-governor on March 27, 1885, and he continued as such for nearly a year. When the legis- lature met in January, 1886, he sent to it the customary message from the executive mansion, and in this he set forth the change that had taken place in the state adminis- tration; he pointed out to the general assembly its need of electing a successor to Governor McLane; and he also dwelt- though apparently rather because the governor's message was expected to do so than from any wish to appear desirous of influencing legislation-upon certain matters of public concern which he thought required attention. There is at least one point in this message deserving of more than passing notice. The acting governor gave his unreserved endorsement to a desired constitutional reform that had been advocated for many years before, namely; that the governor of Maryland should be accorded the power to veto a single item upon any general appropriation bill. The practice among highwaymen-legislators of tacking a
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HENRY LLOYD
dishonest appropriation to some general bill, thus making it a part of a measure that was favored by honest states- men and leaving them no choice between passing the dis- honest appropriation or destroying the good measure, met with no favor at his hand.
As soon as the legislature of 1886 had been organized, a vote was taken for a successor to Governor McLane. But two candidates were named, Mr. Robert B. Dixon, of Talbot county, and Mr. Lloyd. Of the 114 ballots cast the latter received 100 and, having been declared elected gover- nor of Maryland, he was formally inaugurated the follow- ing day, January 21, 1886. The next two years, or until Governor Lloyd was succeeded by Mr. Jackson on January II, 1888, were not momentous ones in the history of Mary- land; that is, there was a general run of prosperity; the wheels of the government moved smoothly; and the state, except in one or two isolated cases, was spared from those agitations which are apt to occur when business is depressed or the people become discontented under some unjust or burdensome tax. When Governor Lloyd was about to retire from office he very modestly declared: "While I cannot take any special credit to myself for these happy results, it is, nevertheless, gratifying to know that these circumstances exist when I surrender the trust confided to me." There is no reason for supposing that Governor Lloyd regretted the absence of momentous events which meant that in most respects his administration should assume an aspect of the commonplace in history, for, as has already been inferred, peace is preferable to the Dor- chester countian to war with its more sensational glories. But at the same time his judicious course in subsequent years while on the bench leave no room for doubting how Mr. Lloyd would have measured as governor in an emer- gency calling for courage and energy.
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GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND
.
Upon the termination of his term as governor, Mr. Lloyd resumed his legal practice in his native town of Cambridge. But in 1892 he was afforded an opportunity of entering public service again, without, however, being required to forsake the legal atmosphere that appealed to him more strongly than service in the legislative or the administra- tive departments. In that year his uncle and former pre- ceptor, Judge Charles F. Goldsborough, died and Mr. Lloyd was appointed by Governor Brown to fill temporarily the vacancy caused by his death, until the people of the dis- trict should elect another judge at a regular election. In the following fall, Judge Lloyd was named for a full term of fifteen years upon the bench of the first judicial circuit and was elected. His course during the many years of his career as a judge has been wise and impartial, and his decisions have been uniformly well rendered both as con- cerns equity and law. He has done his full share, also, in raising to its present high standard the judiciary of the state. Mr. Lloyd's services on the bench were brought to a close in 1908, when, through the workings of a newly passed retiring bill, he was relieved from active service.
With the beginning of his career as a member of the bar, Governor Lloyd entered upon his service in connection with the Masonic order. He was initiated into the frater- nal organization in 1873, and has ever since been promi- nent in its affairs, having served in 1885 and again in 1886 as senior grand warden of the lodge. During the first year of his governorship, or on October 18, 1886, Mr. Lloyd was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Stapleforte, daughter of William T. and Virginia A. Stapleforte, of Dorchester county. Since his appointment to the bench, Judge Lloyd's activity has, of course, been confined largely to the Eastern Shore. In his home county, and especially in Cambridge, he has taken a leading part in strictly local affairs,
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HENRY LLOYD
having been president of the Dorchester National Bank since it was organized in 1889. He has also taken a deep interest in the affairs of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, at Cambridge. This concern of Judge Lloyd in the local affairs of the Eastern Shore is responsible to a considerable degree for the fact that he has failed in later years to assume the position in state affairs which might be regarded as his by right of the earlier promises his public labors gave. For this reason the histories of Maryland yet to be written may slight him, since, in truth, his legislative service and his short administration were not noteworthy as regards the spectacular. The native-born historian of the Eastern Shore, however, will always write Governor Lloyd down as a worthy offspring of those early pioneers of the state who founded one of the most distinguished colonial families of Maryland; and of that family of Lloyds which has often written its name upon the pages of Maryland's history Judge Lloyd is a distinguished member.
XLI ELIHU EMORY JACKSON
Shortly after the close of the Civil War, the democratic party of Maryland was returned to power by the same movement practically which resulted in the constitution of 1867. The party's formidable strength from then on seemed to stamp out even as a remote possibility the hope of the republicans winning back the state machinery. This prompted the democratc leaders now and then to indulge in plays that were more profitable than virtuous, and so in due course the party fell into ill-favor, not only with its political opponents, but with the more righteous members of its own belief. Both the party leaders of the better sort and the party press became active toward the approach of the state convention of 1887 in a campaign to free the controlling organization in Maryland from the features which had not unjustly called forth condemnation. And in the convention of that year there is seen the beginning of an era when the individual candidate, if he carried with him enough popular favor, could demand from the organi- zation a certain amount of recognition. Although in the early part of the convention which was to name the state ticket, each section presented its particular candidate, the convention ended with all party members in perfect har- mony, and the people of Maryland were permitted to view a political meeting in which neither scheming nor trickery was the order of the day, but a sane consideration of the good of the party. The gubernatorial candidate chosen was one whose primary claim to the confidence of the people was his commercial success and his business reputation.
ELIHU EMORY JACKSON 1888-1892
KLI ELIHU EMORY JACKSON
Shortly show the close of the Civil War, the demperthe party of Nerylaoil was returned to power by the sanie movement je- wally which resulted in the constitution of 1867 The 's formidable strength from thenon seemed Of stem me soon as a remoto possibility the hope of Com republics winning back the state machinery, Thi promipred the democrate leaders now and then to indulge in plays that were moro profitable than virtuous, and go in due course the party fell into ill favor, not only with its political ofMORHOAl byHoMa UHIIdee righteous members of its own belief spam88the party leaders of the better sort and the ruty
controling ensau. Aud in the
ku beginning of an era phen To- - Me he cried with Id demend from the ergoni
FAN S A wna Samord of recognition Although in the early but of the convention which was in name the state tirdr 1 hoch section presedted its particular candidate the consus anded wx all party members in perfect bar song of Bio people of Maryland were permitted to view cùng in wisch nonter toherring nor frichery
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