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 107

Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1344

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 107

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and drawing in the evening schools in Bos- ton, as principal, and also in Massachusetts in the Massachusetts State Normal Art School. In this latter trust he had charge of the technical department, and subse- quently became the principal of that institu- tion, an office which he held for two years. He then accepted a directorship, as princi- pal of the Maryland Institute Schools of Art and Design. That was in 1883. These schools he reorganized and brought to their present state of proficiency. The number of students in these schools, when Professor Fuchs assumed charge, did not exceed 500. Two years ago the roster showed the 1,000 mark. When he started the Institute Schools the Faculty consisted of eleven teachers, whereas they now number twenty- six. The pupils at these schools embrace residents of many Southern and Western States.

Professor Fuchs is a factor in other spheres of usefulness than those above noted. He is a member of the Board of Managers of Germania Society of Mary- land. He is also a member of the General Orphan Society of Baltimore, and is presi- dent of the German Technical Society of Baltimore. He is, as well, a member of the Executive Committee of the Society for the History of the Germans of Maryland.

Professor Fuchs is Past Master of Fidelity Lodge of Masons. He married, while in Annapolis, Miss Tuck, a cousin of the late Judge Wm. H. Tuck. In club circles, Pro- fessor Fuchs holds membership in the Ger- mania, and in the Harmonie Musical So- ciety.

Through such men, truly, it may be af- firmed, are our great municipalities devel- oped and expanded.

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

ENOCH PRATT .- The late Enoch Pratt, with whose life work this article will be con- cerned, was unquestionably one of the most conspicuous individuals of this or any other American municipality. His achievements were notable in number, and their fruitage redounded to the com- mon good. Mr. Pratt was born in North Middleborough, Plymouth county, Mass., September 10, 1808, and was the son of Isaac Pratt and Naomi Keith. His ancestor, Phineas Pratt, who arrived at Plymouth, Mass., in the ship "Ann," in 1623, and died at Charleston April 9, 1680, at the age of eighty-seven years, was cotemporary with the Pilgrim fathers, and was one of those who fled from persecu- tion in the old world to enjoy political and religious liberty in the new land.

On the maternal side he was descended from Rev. James Keith, who came to Mas- sachusetts from Scotland in 1662, and set- tled at Bridgewater. Enoch Pratt left school at the age of fifteen and served an apprenticeship of six years as clerk in a Boston store, where his business faculties were early developed, and he exhibited those qualities of clear judgment and tireless application that ever afterwards, to the date of his death, made him the leading financier and capitalist of this, the city of his adop- tion. Mr. Pratt removed to Baltimore in '31, and engaged in business here as a com- mission merchant. He founded the very successful wholesale iron house of E. Pratt & Bro. Mr. Pratt was for many years prior to his death the president of the National Farmers' and Planters' Bank, of this city. He was also vice-president of the Philadel- phia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, and a director of the Savings

Bank of Baltimore, one of the most impress- ive and opulent financial institutions south of Philadelphia. Mr. Pratt filled very many offices in connection with reformatory and charitable institutions, a bare summarized list of which would swell these pages be- yond all measure. He was, in short, such a conspicuous and potential factor in this community that the perpetuation of his name and deeds is a pleasant task to com- pilers of a history. His active and intimate identification with individuals, corporations and charitable institutions shed a lustre upon his name which centuries cannot efface. His benefactions and bequests are emphasized in enduring and be- neficent works, which survive him. Had he achieved nothing beyond the splen- did Pratt Free Libraries of this city, his memory must have been perpetually held in love by the citizens who are thus given free access to books. His will, when opened for probate, however, gave yet another evidence of the far-reaching philanthropy of the tes- tator. The ratification of the will, by the State General Assembly in 1898, marks the culmination of the life work of Mr. Pratt. By the terms of that will a vast sum was set aside for the scientific treatment of the in- sane and the enabling clause, or title, to the Shepard Asylum was thus conjoined to Mr. Pratt's name. Did space permit the public acts of our subject could be almost indefi- nitely enumerated, and all of them designed for the amelioration of others. Full of years and honors and beloved after his demise, as he had been for decades previously, Mr. Pratt rounded out a well-spent life, and "sleeps with his fathers," the sleep of those who made the world better for having lived in it. His widow, who was Maria Louisa

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Hydz prior to her marriage to Mr. Pratt in 1839, still survives him. Mrs. Pratt's pa- ternal ancestors were among the earliest set- tlers of Massachusetts, while on the mother's side she is descended from a Ger- man family who located in Baltimore more than 150 years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were childless.

MR. JOSEPH M. CUSHING, the subject of this sketch, needs but a slight introduction to the present generation of Baltimoreans.

His father, Joseph M. Cushing, was born in New Hampshire, but came to Baltimore in 1808, with his parents, being then but six years old. The paternal grandfather of our subject was named Joseph and came of stur- dy Scotch ancestry.

Mr. Joseph M. Cushing was born in Bal- timore, December 15, 1835, and was edu- cated at Harvard, from which he graduated in 1855. His father was a graduate of Yale, in the class of 1829. The business of which Mr. Joseph M. Cushing is the present head and owner was founded here by his pater- nal grandfather in 1810, and his son, the father of our subject, entered the business as a partner at once after his graduation. On the maternal side, Mr. Cushing's mother was a Miss Ann Mackenzie, a daughter of the celebrated Dr. Colin Mackenzie, of Bal- timore. Upon the completion of his colle- giate course at Harvard, Mr. Cushing at once embarked upon his active life-work, becoming a partner in his father's business in 1857, to the control of which he succeed- ed, as before noted. He is a recognized and potential factor in various spheres here, all tending to identify him with the material growth and advancement of this great me- tropolis. Some of his connections are es-

pecially worthy of note in this article. He is vice-president, for example, of the "Charity Organization Society," the scope and usefulness of which is far-reaching and helpful. This society is undenominational. He is also the president of the Maryland Institute, one of the landmarks of progress- ive ideas and methods, in many lines, in his city. He is a member, as well, of the State Board of Education, and its acting presi- dent pro tem. in the absence of the Gov- ernor. He is chairman, too, of the "Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Normal School for the Education of Colored Teachers." Mr. Cushing enjoys a large acquaintance- ship in other spheres than those above enumerated. In club circles he is a member of the Maryland Club, the Athenaeum, the University, the Germania, the Mer- chants', the Harvard, and an honorary member, as well, of the Phi Beta Kappa of the Johns Hopkins University. He is also a member of the Historical Society. Mr. Cushing is a recognzed factor in financial circles, probably due, in part, to an inherit- ed trait of his father in that direction. His father was one of the founders, in 1818, of the Baltimore Savings Bank, and became its president in 1825, and so remained until his death. His son, our subject, is a direc- tor in the same institution, regarded as the largest financial institution south of Phila- delphia. Mr. Cushing, busy man as he is, and ever has been, has nevertheless always been appreciated as a safe counsellor and zealous worker in political affairs as well. As a member of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1864 he was assigned to the position of chairman of the Committee on Educa- tion of that body. As chairman of the Ex- ecutive Committee of the Republican party

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

at the second election of President Lincoln, hehadas co-laborers on that committee such men as Henry Winter Davis and Archibald Stirling, Jr., whilst Hon. J. Morrison Har- ris was also an advisor, being then in Con- gress.

From the foregoing data, brief as it neces- sarily is, it will be seen that Mr. Cushing has richly earned the perpetuation his achievements merit in finding mention in a history like this.

LAURENCE SANGSTER GWYNN was born in Freeport, Gloucester county, Va., Octo- ber 25, 1863. He is a son of John T. and Mary (Thurston) Gwynn; his father is de- scended from an old Welsh line, while his mother is of English ancestry. His father came from Virginia, where he had never been engaged in business, just after the war, in consequence of loss of property, etc. He was lieutenant in the Twenty-second Vir- ginia Regiment, Captain Fitzhugh's com- pany, C. S. A., and acting captain when Captain Fitzhugh was killed; he was at Bull Run, Malvern Hills and Seven Pines, being wounded at both last named battles; he was taken prisoner and paroled.

He was educated in the public schools of Baltimore, after which he engaged in book- keeping; about fifteen years ago he entered the service of the B. & O. R. R. Co., where he is now. He was for some time clerk in a broker's office and then went with Geo C. Frick & Co., dry-goods, for three years; then with Tabb Bros. & Dimmock one year. After this he made a voyage around the world, and when he returned went into the shoe business for five or six years. He was a member of the Fifth Regiment, Company H, Captain Albers, for five years, and is

now of the Fifth Maryland Veteran Corps, also a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M. and Forresters. He married, June 15, 1891, Miss Sue Sedgwick, daughter of Benjamin J. Sedgwick, of Calvert county, Md. They have one child, Laurence S., Jr., born July 31, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Gwynn are mem- bers of Holy Trinity P. E. Church. Mr. Gwynn has three sisters: Grace, Mrs. Dr. J. H. Branham; Lucy, Mrs. Dr. John W. Branham; Fannie, Mrs. Dr. J. H. Hannor, of Middle River, Md .; also four brothers, Dr. Matthew Kemp, Charles, Hugh and John.

GEORGE GRAHAM BILLMIRE was born October 24, 1870. He is a son of William H. O. and Eliza (West) Billmire, of Ger- man and English descent respectively. His father was born in Virginia, but left that State when quite young to go into business at Cumberland, Md., with his father, George's grandfather, who conducted large mills at that place. Their property, how- ever, having been confiscated during the war by the Confederates, Mr. Billmire came to Baltimore, where George was. born. George went through the public schools of Baltimore and finished his education with a business course at Bryant and Stratton's Business College; afterwards he engaged in the manufacture of cigars. In 1887 he enlisted in Company F, Fifth Regiment, M. N. G., as a private under Capt. Frank Sup- plee; he afterwards became senior corporal of his company. Resigning after six years' service he again enlisted for one year, in 1894, to accompany the regiment to Frost- burg, Md., where it took so prominent a part in the quelling of the labor riots. On July 11, 1893, Mr. Billmire was married to

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Miss Charlotte R. Maris, youngest daugh- ter of Lewis R. and Frances (De La Chelle) Maris; as a result of this union they have one son, William Ernest, born November 25, 1895. Mrs. Billmire, on her mother's side, comes from an ancient French family; her grandfather, Archelle de la Chelle, was a soldier of Waterloo and one of the earliest linguists, writers and educators of the present century in Baltimore. He was the first teacher of the French language in the Baltimore City College. Mr. Billmire is a member of the Improved Order of Hep- tasophs, Zeta Conclave, and of the Jr. O. U.A.M. He is a member of the Fulton Av- enue M. E. Church, his wife a member of St. Mark's P. E. Church. Mr. Billmire is a man of sterling business qualifications and undoubtedly will attain the success in life he is entitled to. In politics he is a Repub- lican.

MR. HENRY A. PARR, an account of whose career, ancestry and life work will be found below, is a Baltimorean by nativity. He was carefully educated at St. James' College, Hagerstown, Md. His father, I. [. Parr, enjoyed such a merited measure of ublic confidence and esteem from his fel- lov citizens that a glance at our subject's pernal line is a fit setting to this article. Te oldest established house, identified with thgrain trade in Baltimore is that of I. M. Pa. The business was originally estab- lisld by William McDonald & Son, about 179 For one year afterwards it was knon as George W. Richardson & Co. up t the death of Mr. Richardson, and then ecame McConkey & Parr. These two ptners had been clerks in the old firm of Wiam McDonald & Son. They were

thus its legitimate successors. The firm name was changed in 1871 to its present style and has continued so ever since. Their business of handling grain on commission, as receivers, as extensive exporters, cannot properly belong in this mention save as a reference and indication of events which will be noted as a sequence. One branch of the great interests centered in and forming an integral factor in the whole, and adding as it does so materially to the general welfare deserves, however, a passing notice. The Baltimore Elevator Company, of which Mr. I. M. Parr is the president, has since 1876 leased the elevators of the Northern Cen- tral Railway at Canton, who have handled all the grain received at that point by the P. R. R. Co. Mr. I. M. Parr, the founder of this firm, and father of our subject, of course, was a native Baltimorean, having been born here on September 27, 1822. He was edu- cated at the Baltimore College, graduating in 1837 and began business as we have seen in 1838, and succeeded to the manage- ment as noted in 1846. He filled many po- sitions of trust and great responsibility, among them being the presidency of the Corn and Flour Exchange and also of the Board of Trade.

Mr. Henry A. Parr, the present executive head of the firm, traveled extensively abroad after having completed his collegi- ate course. Upon his return he at once en- tered into active business life as a partner with his father. This was in 1871. Busy man as he is and ever has been, Mr. Parr's counsels have been in demand in other spheres than those purely commercial. He is interested in numerous prominent finan- cial and manufacturing enterprises in this and other cities and countries.

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

He is a director in the Farmers' and Mer- chants' National Bank of Baltimore and is president of the Oakland Manufacturing Company. He is likewise president of the Lubroleine Oil Company, and president of the Pikesville, Reisterstown and Emory Grove Electric Railroad. His identification with and control of the electric city lines of passenger railways in Richmond, Va., is also another significant "straw," so to ex- press the matter, emphasizing the status of the man in his varied fields of activity. In association with Mr. John K. Cowen, presi- dent of the B. & O. R. R. Co., and other Baltimoreans, Mr. Parr has large interests in the extensive and newly developed man- ganese mines on the Isthmus of Panama.

Perhaps no other sphere of his activity so well accentuates Mr. Parr's resourceful- ness as the political arena. Again and again he has thrown his energy, integrity and personal resources and time into this field. The space at command permits refer- ence to but one incident in this connection. In the campaign of 1897 Mr. Parr rounded out and completed his fight for himself, his party and his country on the Sound Money platform. This stand, against many life- long friends who favored the "Silver Heresy" caused not a few ruptures. One of these was the severance of life-long affili- ations politically with the senior United States Senator from Maryland. Like his father, Mr. Parr cannot be severed from any course he believes to be right. Of a modest, retiring disposition, the subject of this article enjoys the esteem and confidence of hosts of friends in the various fields of his activity and social environments.

By such men, therefore, as the above are our great metropolitan centres developed.

The perpetuation of such careers is one of the agreeable features attendant upon the. compilation of a work of this character.

Mr. Parr is a member of all leading social clubs of this city, many of Philadelphia and New York as well. Five children, all boys, are the result of his marriage.

EMANUEL HECHT, Importer of Mattings, 310 W. Lexington street, Baltimore, is a son of Samuel, Jr., and Bettie (Wolfsheimer) Hecht, and was born in Baltimore, Octo- ber 24, 1856. His parents are Germans, his father having settled in Baltimore in 1843, his mother in 1850; they were married in Baltimore, where they still live, his father being a merchant. They have had nine chil- dren, seven of whom are living: Meyer C., Hannah, Tillie, Albert S., Alexander, Moses and Emanuel Hecht, the subject of this sketch. All reside in Baltimore. Mr. Hecht was educated in the public schools of Bal- timore and is a graduate of the Bryant and Stratton Business College. He began the world as a clerk in a store when thirteer years of age, after which he went into hi father's store first as clerk and salesma and subsequently as partner, doing bu- ness under the firm name of Samuel Hect, Jr., matting importers, in which businessie is at present. He is likewise largely in:r- ested in other branches of trade withhis brothers and other parties. He standsvell in business circles. He was married in Ich- mond, Va., November 26, 1885, to Miss Mamie Sycle, of that city, and a dathter of Isaac Sycle; both her parents ar Ger- mans ; her mother is deceased, but he ather still resides in Richmond. Mr. an Mrs. Hecht have six children, Edna, Iartin, Sadie, Howard, Hortense and Jun. In politics he is a Republican. Hend his

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

family are of the Hebrew faith and reside at 1617 Eutaw Place.

NICHOLAS M. RITTENHOUSE, proprietor of the Baltimore Terra Cotta Works, foot of Cross street, comes from old and distin- guished Pennsylvania stock, whose ances- tors came from Germany and settled in that State in 1674, his father being a miller. Both his parents are deceased. They had eight children, Mr. Rittenhouse being the only one living; he is fifty-three years old, hav- ing been born in Philadelphia county, Pa., April 4, 1844. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of Philadelphia county and Phil- adelphia. He was seventeen years of age when the Civil War commenced. He enlisted in the Second Pennsylvania Cav- alry, Colonel Brinton commanding, and served in the United States Army until the close of the war, having been in some of the most noted battles and wounded three times. After being mustered out of the service he returned to Philadelphia and learned teleg- raphy; was a telegraph operator in that city until 1874, when he came to Baltimore to reside, succeeding his uncle in the terra cotta business, in which he is now engaged. Mr. Rittenhouse was married in Philadel- phia in 1869 to Miss Emma G., daughter of John Omensetter and Mary Simpson; both her parents were born in Pennsylvania, of German parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Ritten- . house have had eight children, four of whom are living: David Martin, John Edgar, Anna Margaret and Carrie E. Rittenhouse, all of whom reside in Baltimore with their father except David M., who is married and lives with his family in Baltimore county. The family are Baptists. Mr. Rittenhouse is a Mason; in politics a Republican and was elected by that party to the Second Branch

of the Baltimore City Council in 1895 to rep- resent the Twenty-first and Twenty-second wards. His term expired in 1897. When residing in Philadelphia in 1868 he was sent as a delegate from Judge Kelly's District in that city to the Soldiers' Convention, which met in Chicago just previous to the Nation- al Republican Convention, which also met in Chicago, nominating General Grant for his first term as President. The first paper ever made in North America was manufac- tured by an ancestor of Mr. Ritten- house, viz: Mr. Claus Rittenhouse at his paper mill on Paper Mill Run in the town- ship of Roxborough, (now incorporated in Philadelphia) in 1690. Another of his an- cestors, David Rittenhouse, was the manu- facturer of the compass and surveying in- struments used by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in Virginia. When Ma- son and Dixon were trying to run their fa- mous line for Lord Baltimore and William Penn they were unable to run the arc of a circle twelve miles from New Castle, Del., on acount of the magnetic attraction of the instruments caused by the soil being im- pregnated with minerals; they called up David Rittenhouse to help them out of their trouble, who thereupon made an instrument to answer the purpose and succeeded in running "Mason's and Dixon's Line." This David Rittenhouse was the first director of the United States Mint at Philadelphia; also chairman of the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania during the Revolution, and Treasurer of the State both during the Rev- olution and afterwards. Mr. Nicholas M. Rittenhouse is an active and pushing busi- ness man and stands well with our people. He resides with his famly at 141 Winder- mere avenue, Waverly.

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER COALE, Rector of St. Luke's P. E. Church, Baltimore, was born in Harford county, Md., October 29, 1843. He was a son of Nathan and Martha Ann (Draper) Coale, who were Quakers and both of English descent. His father's family came with Lord Baltimore to Mary- land, and his father was a native of Harford county, Md., and was an architect. In 1844 he came to Baltimore to live. William was educated in private schools in Baltimore and at a boarding school at Milford, York Road, and from there went to Trinity Hall at Ca- tonsville for four years; at the age of nine- teen he entered St. James College at Ha- gerstown and remained there until the col- lege was suspended on account of the break- ing out of the war. He commenced his the- ological studies with Bishop Whittingham and Rev. Dr. Charles W. Rankin and Dr. S. A. Dalyrimple, finishing in about four years. He was ordained to the diaconate of Mt. Calvary Church September, 1867; to the priesthood of St. Paul's Church April, 1869. Immediately upon ordination to the diaconate he became assistant to St. Luke's Church, where he was baptized; upon ordi- nation to the priesthood became first assist- ant priest on the staff of four priests and dea- cons. In connection with work instituted a congregation for colored people, which was crowned with great success, and started mission work at Franklintown, which re- sulted in the organization of the congrega- tion of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin. In June, 1875, after a service of eight years, was called to the rectorship of St. Michael's Parish, Genesee, Livingston county, N. Y., in the Diocese of Buffalo, which he retained fifteen years. During his rectorate here he was elected to the position of Dean of Dio-

cese six times consecutively without one op- posing vote, clerical or lay, and during his period of service was never opposed. In 1888 in Diocesan Council in Geneva, N. Y., was elected delegate of the Diocese of Buf- falo to the General Council of the Ameri- can Church. He held both the position of dean and delegate until October, 1889, when he was called to the rectorship of St. Luke's Church-his old church, but owing to the strong opposition on the part of the people of St. Michael's Parish to his leaving, he did not determine to accept the charge until February, 1890, but finally did so, and en- tered upon the duties of the office on the 9th of March in the same year. He was married June 28, 1866, to Elizabeth J., youngest daughter of Col. Wm. H. Frien, who owned a place of 300 acres at Arlington, Baltimore county, Md. They have four children: William Frien, Howard Dorsey, Alexander Draper and Walter Lauderdale. Mr. Coale has one brother, Edward T. His parents died when he was twelve years old.

WILLIAM T. MALSTER, Mayor of Balti- more .- In the pages of a historical work such as this, biographical "selections," as against "collections," form a distinctive feat- ure. The selection in this instance is a con- spicuous indication of a fruitful field, inas- much as this municipality grows, and ever . has grown timber of executive and admin- istrative character.

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Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1344

Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1344