USA > Maryland > Baltimore County > Baltimore City > History of Baltimore, Maryland, from its founding as a town to the current year, 1729-1898, including its early settlement and development; a description of its historic and interesting localities; political, military, civil, and religious statistcs; biographies of representative citizens, etc., etc > Part 103
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Since his retirement from the bench Judge Gilmor has given most of his atten- tion to practice in the courts of equity.
The family of which the Judge is a worthy representative was established in Baltimore some time prior to the War of Independ- ence. Robert Gilmor & Sons were among the most enterprising and successful ship- ping merchants and owners. They amassed a comfortable fortune and it was one of
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their ships that carried the Stars and Stripes for the first time into St. Petersburg and other ports of the world.
Judge Gilmor is the father of a large fam- ily. He was twice married; his first wife being Miss Hodges, and his second wife Miss Josephine Albert, both of Baltimore.
Robert Gilmor, the father of the Judge, was a native of Baltimore, graduated at Har- vard in 1828 in the class with Oliver Wendel Holmes, Robert C. Winthrop, Professor Pierce and George S. Hilliard. He was im- mediately after graduating appointed at- tache to Ambassador William C. Reeves of the Embassy to France Claims, and lived several years abroad. His wife was Miss Ellen Ward, daughter of Judge Ward, of Baltimore.
William Gilmor, a brother of Judge Rob- ert Gilmor, has for many years held a prom- inent position as one of the ablest and most active railroad men in the State.
MR. NICHOLAS P. BOND, a member of one of the leading law firms of the city of Baltimore, was born in that city, September 27, 1856. His earlier education was in the hands of private tutors and when of suitable age he entered the famous old Phillips Academy at Exeter, N. H., and on completing the course there matriculated at Harvard, where he graduated in 1878. Returning home he began the study of law in the office of Mr. George H. Chandler and was admitted to the bar of Harford county, April 15, 1880, although not yet of age, for the purpose of trying several cases for Mr. Chandler, who was at that time ill and un- able to attend court. Mr. Bond was ad- mitted to the Court of Appeals October 6, 1880. Shortly after admission to the bar,
Mr. Bond formed a co-partnership with Mr. Robert D. Mason, and later Mr. Howard Munnikhuysen was taken into the firm which lasted until the death of Mr. Morri- son. Later Mr. Edward Duffy became a partner of the firm of Munnikhuysen, Bond & Duffy, which lasted until the death of Mr. Munnikhuysen. Since the Ist of January, 1897, Mr. Bond has been a member of the firm of Steele, Semmes, Carey & Bond. Mr. Bond is a son of Judge Hugh Lennox Bond, deceased, a sketch of whom appears in this work.
The first American ancestor of the family was William Bond, who came in early colo- nial days from Cornwall, England, settling in the colony of Maryland. Here he estab- lished a fine country place, giving it the name of "Kalmia." He imported the bricks for the mansion house from England. It was probably the first brick building in the colony.
Mr. Bond married a daughter of Dr. Thomas F. Murdoch, of Baltimore. (The family of Mrs. Murdoch are natives of Mas- sachusetts. Her colonial ancestors took a leading part in the Revolutionary War.) Mr. Bond is a Republican in politics, and while taking an active interest in all political questions has never accepted any office in the gift of the people. He is a member of the Maryland, the Merchants', and the Country Clubs, the latter formerly known as the Patapsco Hunting Club. Mr. Bond is a man of strong executive ability, devoted to the active prosecution of his chosen pro- fession.
Mrs. Murdoch's maiden name was Win- chester. Her maternal grandfather was Archibald Campbell, a prominent merchant
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of Baltimore, who came to Maryland from Scotland shortly after the Revolution.
MR. JOHN E. SEMMES (Steele, Semmes, Carey & Bond), Attorney-at-Law, Equita- ble Building, and City Solicitor of Balti- more.
Mr. John E. Semmes, a native of Cum- berland, Md., was born July 1, 1851. His father, Samuel M. Semmes, a native of Charles county, moved to Cumberland in early life where he practiced law until his death.
Mr. Semmes' education was first in the hands of private tutors. Rev. John W. Nott, a relative of Judge Nott, of the Court of Claims, occupied the position of private tutor in his father's family for many years. Later he became a pupil of Chestnut Hill School, conducted by Rev. Frederick Gib- son, who married a sister of Mr. Semmes, whom he met while on a visit to his pupil's country home near Cumberland. For two years Mr. Semmes conducted a farm near the city of his birth. Leaving the farm Mr. Semmes matriculated in the Uni- versity of Virginia, graduating as an an- alytical chemist, and shortly after entered the service of the United States Navy as clerk and secretary to his maternal uncle, Commodore John Guest, and remained abroad with the European squadron some eighteen months. Returning from abroad to Baltimore Mr. Semmes entered the Law School of the University of Maryland, grad- uating in 1874, and shortly afterwards be- came associated with the late Hon. John H. B. Latrobe; a warm friendship sprang up between them, almost as strong as the love of father and son. This association lasted until the return of John H. B. Latrobe, Jr.,
from Samoa. Mr. Semmes then entered into a partnership with Mr. George Savage, which lasted two years. For a few years Mr. Semmes had an office alone; in 1888 he became a member of the firm of Steele, Semmes & Carey, to which the name of Mr. Nicholas P. Bond has been added since January 1, 1897.
Samuel Middleton Semmes, father of our subject, was a native of Maryland, and only brother of Admiral Raphael Semmes, of the Confederate Navy, famous as commander of the celebrated "Alabama," which came near causing hostilities with Great Britain. Mr. Samuel Middleton Semmes was prominent as a lawyer in western Maryland. He married Miss Eleanora Guest, whose brother, Commodore Guest, was in the ser- vice of the United States, and with whom Mr. Semmes, of this sketch, cruised in Euro- pean waters. He had the distinction of hav- ing an uncle eminent in naval circles on each side during the late war.
The family in America is descended from Joseph Semmes, who emigrated from Poundsford, England, to Maryland, about 1688. The family spring, at an earlier date, from Normandy, from which place several of the name offered their services because of the name to Admiral Semmes while the "Alabama" was lying at Cherbourg before the fight with the "Kearsage," believing themselves kin and desiring to take part in the fight. Of course because of neutrality laws their offers had to be declined. Others of the family fought in Spain under the Iron Duke, where they remained after peace was declared and married Spanish women.
Mr. Semmes married Miss Frances Hay- ward, a native of Baltimore, daughter of Ne- hemiah Peabody Hayward, whose birth oc-
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curred in the Granite State. His wife was Miss Carnan, a descendant of Capt. Robert North Carnan, whose ancestors, together with the Norths, were prominent in the early history of Baltimore. A portion of the lot upon which the Equitable Building now stands came into the possession of Robert North in 1750.
Mr. and Mrs. Semmes are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Semmes is a Democrat, adhering to all of the fundamental principles of the party as enunciated by Jefferson, Jackson, and a host of lesser lights, the oldest American political organization. Socially he is a member of the Maryland Club.
MR. HENRY C. KENNARD, a native of Kent county, Md., was born April 2, 1842. He early attended the Harmony School, which at that time was of the grade of an academy, and later matriculated at Wash- ington College, near Chestertown, gradu- ating in August, 1861. After graduation Mr. Kennard spent a year on the farm, when he accepted a professorship in his Alma Mater where he remained from September, 1862, until November of the following year, at which time he resigned to accept a similar position in the Maryland Agricultural Col- lege near Washington. Resigning in De- cember, 1864, Mr. Kennard embarked in Christmas week of that year for Europe, where he spent a year in travel on the con- tinent. On his return he became a student in the Law School of the University of Vir- ginia. The following year he entered the office of Mr. S. Teackle Wallis, in Baltimore City, and after a sufficient course of reading, was admitted to the bar in December, 1867. From the time of his admission to the bar,
Mr. Kennard was associated with Mr. Wal- lis until the death of the latter, since which time Mr. Kennard has been in practice alone. Mr. Kennard is one of thirteen chil- dren born to Dr. Thomas C. Kennard and wife, who was Miss Jane Hanson, of Kent county.
Dr. Thos. C. Kennard was for years the leading physician of Kent county, and amassed a comfortable fortune, consisting in part of three fine farms aggregating near- ly a thousand acres. The home estate was known as "Elmwood." His father, Isaac Kennard, was one of the early dwellers in Harford county.
Mr. Kennard married Miss Willie S. Wal- ters, daughter of Mr. Thomas Littleton Walters, who with his wife, Mary A. Dir- ickson, came from Somerset county, Md. In politics Mr. Kennard is an independent Democrat. Socially he is a member of the fraternity Signa Alpha Epsilon, the Mt. Vernon Literary Society of his Alma Mater, and of the Jefferson Literary Society of the University of Virginia. The family of which Mr. Kennard is a member has be- come widely scattered. A brother, John Hanson Kennard, became a member of the Louisiana bar, and was elevated to the Su- preme bench of the State. Dr. Thomas Kennard became one of the leading practi- tioners of his profession in St. Louis, and was for many years president of the St. Louis Medical Society, the leading medical organization in the Mississippi Valley. James Alfred Kennard, a younger brother, fighting under Kirby Smith, was amongst the earliest to fall in the beginning of the first battle of Bull Run, and was probably the first man from Maryland to fall in the great struggle. He has three sons, Henry
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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
W. Kennard, William Hanson Kennard, and James Alfred Kennard, now living.
MR. THOMAS HUGHES was born at Wheeling, W. Va., August 25, 1851. After attending private schools at his native place until prepared for higher education, he en- tered the Virginia Military Institute, which he attended during the war, the youngest by two years of any of the students of that famous old educational institution. The students formed part of the military force of the South during the long struggle, and were frequently called out in defense of Richmond. Being the youngest of the stu- dents, Mr. Hughes was left with others on guard at the institute, while the older ones went to the front just prior to the evacuation of Richmond. After the close of the war Mr. Hughes was a student at the Richmond College for a time, and later at the Balti- more City College where he graduated in 1871, first in his class, notwithstanding his having taken the four years' course in two. In 1873 he graduated at the Law School of the University of Virginia, having com- pleted the course in one year, receiving his degree of B. L. Immediately on his ad- mission to the bar Mr. Hughes opened an office in Baltimore and has since practiced his profession without the help of a partner. His practice is general, except that he will not accept retainers in criminal cases; chan- cery receiving probably more of his atten- tion than any other branch.
Mr. Hughes is a son of Dr. Alfred Hughes, whose wife was Miss Mary Kirby Adrain, of Baltimore, a daughter of Mr. Washington Adrain. Doctor Hughes died January 25, 1880, at the age of 56. The Doctor's great-grandfather, Felix Hughes,
was one of the earliest settlers in what is now western Pennsylvania, then a part of Virginia. He emigrated from Loudoun county, Va., together with his own large family and that of the Swans and Hillers, making a large colony. They settled about a hundred miles east of Fort Duquesne, where Mr. Hughes built and maintained a block house for the protection of the fami- lies of the settlement from Indian incursions during the Revolutionary War. These facts are mentioned more at length in Flint's Mirror of Border Life and History of Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania. When the country was set off to Pennsylvania, and Jefferson county in which they lived was organized, Mr. Hughes was their first commissioner. Later his grandson Thomas, after serving in the War of 1812, removed to Wheeling, Va., and established a line of steamers be- tween Pittsburgh and New Orleans, by which he amassed a very comfortable for- tune. He was a man of fine executive abil- ity and spotless integrity, and held a promi- nent place in public affairs in whatever com- munity his lot was cast. For thirty-two years he was treasurer of Wheeling-an un- precedented term for so responsible a posi- tion. He reached an advanced age and died mourned by the entire community.
The original American ancestor of the family was Thomas Hughes, who settled in Loudoun county, Va., in 1739, coming from County Donegal, Ireland. In one of his an- nual tours abroad Mr. Hughes visited the old family seat, and by inquiry at Inver, the place of sailing, found, through the aid of a village priest, some of the kindred of the name whose fathers had remained on the "old sod."
Mr. Hughes was married to Miss Helen
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Roberta, daughter of Capt. Robert D. Thor- burn, who, prior to the war, was an officer in the United States Navy, from which he resigned to cast his lot with the South after the firing on Fort Sumter. Another of his daughters married Captain Morris, second in command on the "Monitor" in her mem- orable encounter with the "Merrimac," and after Captain Worden's injuries, in full com- mand. Captain Thorburn died in 1886 at the advanced age of 82.
Mrs. Hughes' grandfather, Capt. Miles King, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. He was prominent in business and political circles in Norfolk, which city he served as mayor for many years.
Mr. Hughes with his family is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Balti- more. In politics he is an old line Demo- crat, believing in gold as the standard money of the world. He is Past Master of Concordia Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Balti- more; one of the original members of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, whose committee on admission he served a term as chairman; he is also a member of the American Bar Association and of the Mary- land Historical Society. His office is at 301 St. Paul street.
MR. H. D. LONEY, a well known prac- titioner at the bar of the city of Balti- more, is a native of this city. His early edu- cation was secured in private schools, prin- cipally those of Rev. William N. Pendleton, who during the war served on the staff of General Lee, and Mr. Topping. Matricu- lating at Princeton, Mr. Loney graduated from that University in 1854. After reading law for a time in the offices of Mr. Hugh Davey Evans and Mr. S. Teackle Wallis,
Mr. Loney was admitted to the bar of Balti- more in 1857. Beginning practice alone, Mr. Loney later associated himself with Mr. R. Stockett Matthews, but since 1877 he has practiced alone.
Mr. Loney's father, a well known mer- chant of Baltimore, was also a native of the city. His wife was Miss Rebecca Tryer, of Lancaster, Pa. The grandfather, Amos Loney, was a native of Baltimore county. His great-grandfather, Thomas Dunnell, served with distinction as Adjutant General during the Revolutionary War.
Mr. Loney married Miss Anna McEvers Van Ness, daughter of Col. Eugene Van Ness of the United States Army. Mr. Loney is an attendant upon the Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Democrat of the sound money wing of the party, believ- ing in establishing our currency on the highest standard of the civilized countries of the world. He is a member of the Elk- ridge Club and the Merchants' Club of Bal- timore.
MR. JOHN T. MASON, R., is a descendant of one of the oldest and most distinguished families of the Old Dominion. The immi- grant ancestor, Col. George Mason, was a large landed proprietor at Stratford-upon- Avon, England, where he was head of one of the leading families, and is reputed by some to have held a seat in Parliament. He took an active part in the political disturb- ances between King Charles and his sub- jects, and after the battle of Worcester in which he commanded he was compelled to flee the country. Escaping with his brother William he made his way to Virginia about 1650, forfeiting all his possessions in the mother country. Here he was joined by
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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
others of his compeers who had espoused the losing side in that contest, and set about retrieving in the new world the fortune he had lost in the old. He acquired large tracts of land in the colony of Virginia, leaving his descendants amongst the wealthiest of the new colony. The most distinguished of his descendants was his grandson George Mason of Gunston Hall, one of the most prominent figures of Virginia, and the west- ern world, during the stormy period pre- ceding and during the Revolutionary War. Born in 1726, he lived to see the new gov- ernment which he was so prominently in- strumental in organizing, firmly established on its foundations, passing away during Washington's first administration, in 1792. He refused a seat in the Senate of the First Congress.
Thomson Mason, a younger brother of George Mason, was but little if any less dis- tinguished than the famous sage of Gunston Hall. He was educated for the bar at the Temple, London, in 1774. In 1778 he be- came first president of the College of Vir- ginia and in collaboration with his distin- guished brother, revised the laws of the State of Virginia.
Col. Stevens Thomson Mason, son of the above, was an officer in the Revolutionary War in command of Virginia troops. He bore a conspicuous part in the councils of the nation, having served in the Virginia Convention in 1778, and in the Senate from 1794 until his death in 1803. He was noted for his eloquence. He was later succeeded in the Senate by his son Armistead Thom- son Mason. His birth occurred in 1787, in Loudoun county, Va. He was colonel of the Horse Guards during the War of 1812. He served as brigadier general in the Vir-
ginia militia; represented his county in the State Legislature, and finally his State in the National Senate, and while in that body, through a political altercation, fought a duel with his cousin John Mason McCarthy and was killed February 5, 1819.
Capt. Stevens Thomson Mason, son of Col. Armistead Mason, was a distinguished member of the Virginia bar, and like his ancestors who had been officers in every war of the country, answered his country's call when trouble began on the Mexican border. He was killed leading troops at the bloody battle of Cerro Gordo.
The mother of our subject was a daughter of John Thomson Mason, and granddaugh- ter of Capt. Stevens Thomson Mason. On the death of the only son of John Thomson Mason, Stevens Thomson Mason second, and his two sons, the grandfather requested that the name of our subject be changed to Mason, that his race and name should not be obliterated, and the request was granted.
The father of our subject was Mr. Isaac S. Rowland. He served as captain during the Mexican War, fitting out a company at his own expense. From exposure.during the campaign, he died soon after the close of the war. His father, Maj. Thomas Row- land, was a native of Uniontown, Pa., and of Welsh origin. For many years he served as postmaster at Detroit, where he was in com- mand of part of the force for the defense of the city. When Hull so ignominiously sur- rendered, Major Rowland was at some dis- tance from the city. A detachment being sent to apprise him of the surrender, and to bring his command in as prisoners of war, were surprised by his refusing to be handed over by his superior officer, and having somewhat the larger force, he captured the
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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
captors and marched them down to the forts in Ohio, and never did surrender during the war.
On the death of Captain Rowland, his widow with her little family, returned to her Virginia home, where shortly after, at the request of her father, our subject took his name.
John T. Mason, R., was born in Detroit, March 9, 1844, and at the age of five came to Virginia with his mother, and here at- tended private schools mostly in the Episco- pal High School of Fairfax county, Va.
At the outbreak of the Civil War Mr. Mason offered his services to the South, and being too young to enlist, served with his cousin as marker for the Seventeenth Vir- ginia Regiment until the proper age for the navy, and while in the service of the army, participated in the first battle of Bull Run. In November, 1861, he became midshipman in the navy, and in October, 1863, joined the Confederate cruiser "Shenandoah" in Euro- pean waters. In thirteen months he cruised with the vessel over fifty thousand miles, capturing many prizes. Cruising in the northern Pacific, the "Shenandoah" knew not that the war had closed, and captured forty or fifty Yankee whalers after peace was declared. Storing her guns in her hold and fastening up the port-holes, the "Shenan- doah" was headed for Liverpool by way of Cape Horn, landing in that port in Novem- ber. From Liverpool Mr. Mason went to South America, where he was a farmer for two years, when he came home, making Baltimore his residence. He attended the University of Virginia during the sessions of 1870-71, graduating in the law depart- ment in the spring, and was admitted to the bar in September of 1871. On admission to
the bar Mr. Mason began practice in the of- fice of Mason & Rowland, his uncle and brother. After the death of his brother, Mr. Mason took his place in the firm until the death of his uncle Judge Mason in 1874, since which time Mr. Mason has been prac- ticing alone. Mr. Mason married Miss Helen Jackson, a native of Washington, daughter of Alonzo C. Jackson, of the United States Navy. Her mother was Miss Mumford, of New York. Mr. Mason is a Democrat of the sound money branch of the party.
Of the social orders, Mr. Mason holds membership in the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of the Golden Chain and the Knights of Honor. He is also enrolled in the University Club of which he is one of the original members. Mr. Mason is an at- torney of marked ability, inheriting his legal acumen from a long line of ancestors versed in the law. His practice is one of the largest and most lucrative in the city. His offices are at 200 E. Lexington street.
ISAAC LOBE STRAUS is one of the most highly respected and best known of the younger members of the bar. In point of learning and ability he is conceded an ex- ceptionally high position in his profession. Mr. Straus has acquired this distinction by constant and earnest application to the study of the law. He is above all things a thorough student of his profession. He had the great advantage of beginning his legal studies after a finished course in letters, philosophy, economics and languages at the Johns Hopkins University, of which insti- tution he is a Bachelor of Arts and a Uni- versity Scholar. After graduating with very high honors at the Johns Hopkins at
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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
the early age of eighteen years, he pursued a post-graduate course there in jurispru- dence and economics, and in the same year entered the law department of the Univer- sity of Maryland, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws of that institution in 1892. In June of that year he was admitted to the bar, and soon acquired an extensive equity and civil trial practice. Mr. Straus is espec- ially gifted and successful in the trial of cases, and is considered to be a fine jury and nisi prius advocate. His eloquence and ef- fectiveness as a public speaker have ren- dered him one of the most popular orators of the Democratic party, and he has yearly since 1891 canvassed Maryland and the neighboring States in the interest of his chosen political principles. Mr. Straus is a fine linguist, and besides being read in the classics, speaks French and German fluent- ly. He has also contributed to political and legal journals various articles upon such subjects. He is unmarried, and resides at 1706 St. Paul street, in Baltimore City. Mr. Straus is very charitable and contributes regularly to many benevolent institutions of this city.
MR. LEWIS HOCHHEIMER, a well-known attorney of the Baltimore bar, was born in the city, August 1, 1853. He attended the grammar and high schools of Baltimore and at the age of eighteen years began the study of law in the office of Maj. J. G. Fer- guson, at the same time attending lectures in the Law School of the University of Maryland, graduating in 1873, not yet hav- ing attained his majority. Mr. Hochheimer was compelled to wait a year before being licensed to practice his profession, the date of his actual admission to the bar being the
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