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 114

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 114

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The Pennsylvania Morris family of Revo- lutionary fame descended from said An- thony Morris. Their family tree, for 300 years back, is now in possession of Mr. I. Freeman Rasin, the subject of this sketch.

He married, March 4, 1862, Julia Ann, daughter of Capt. John Claypoole, a de- scendant of James Claypoole, who was a man of note at the time of the founding of Philadelphia, Pa., 1683. He was the author of a number of works of high repute, and was the admired friend of William Penn, long before he came to America. James was the son of Adam Claypoole, who was seated at the Manor of Narborough, North- ampton county, England, in 1610. He was the owner of Waldram Parks and Gray Inn estates in that county. He was an uncle of Lord John Claypoole, who married Eliza- beth, the favorite daughter of Oliver Crom- well. Adam Claypoole married Dorotha, daughter of Robert Wingfield and Elizabeth Cecil, sister of William Cecil, Lord Bur- leigh, and Prime Minister of England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The Clay- poole arms were granted to James Clay- poole, of Waldram Parks, Northampton, England, by Robert Cook Clarenciux, King of Arms, June 17, 1588. On the maternal side, Mrs. Julia A. Rasin is descended from Edward Browne, of Kent county, an old English family that came here prior to 1700, possessed of large landed estate and high social position. The following table shows the royal descent of Mrs. Julia Ann Clay- poole Rasin, of Baltimore, Md .:

Edward I, King of England-Princess Elea- nor, of Castile.

Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet-Humph- rey de Bohun, Earl of Heweford.

Wm. de Bohun, Earl of Northampton --- Elizabeth de Badelesmenre.

Elizabeth de Bohun-Sir Richard Fitz Alan, K. G. Earl of Arundel.

Elizabeth Fitz Alan-Sir Robert Gonshill, of Hault Hucknall.

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Elizabeth Gonshill-Sir Robert Wingfield, Knight of Letheringham.

Sir Henry Wingfield, Knight of Oxford- Elizabeth Rook.

Sir Robert Wingfield of Oxford and Upton -Margaret Quarles.

Sir Robert Wingfield of Upton-Elizabeth Cecil.

Dorothy Wingfield-Adam Claypoole, Esq., of Latham.

Sir Jno. Claypoole, Knt. Bart. of Latham- Marie Angell.

James Claypoole, of Philadelphia, Pa .- Helen Merces.

Nathaniel Claypoole, of Philadelphia, Pa .- -Elizabeth.

James Claypoole, of Philadelphia, Pa .- Mary Hood.

James Claypoole-Mary Kemp. James Claypoole-Elizabeth Morrison. John Claypoole-Martha Ann Browne.

Julia Ann Claypoole Rasin-Isaac Freeman Rasin, Baltimore Md.

(From a "collection of genealogies of American families, whose lineages are traced to the legitimate issue of Kings." By Chas. H. Browning, member American His- torical Association, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the American Authors' Guild, &c., &c.)

The education of Mr. I. Freeman Rasin was by private tutors, and completed at Washington College. He began merchan- dising on his own account in 1862 in Balti- more, continuing it until his election as Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in Bal- timore in 1867, for a term of six years. He was re-elected in 1873 for another term. Again re-elected in 1879 for another term, and declined the fourth nomination in 1885.

He was appointed by President Cleveland

in 1886 as Naval Officer of the Port of Balti- more, and was elected in 1892 to the Na- tional Convention in Chicago as delegate at large for Maryland, and supported Presi- dent Cleveland. He was appointed by the Board of Public Works, State Insurance Commissioner, which he held for three years, resigning the same. He is a director in the Rasin Fertilizing Company, but has ever been averse to too many business offi- cial entanglements of such character.

As a politician Mr. Rasin has wielded an influence in the State second to no other citizen. Though he never obtrudes himself upon the notice of the public, he is an ener- getic worker, a man of quick perception, clear views of men and things, positive opinions, of rare executive ability and true to the last to his word, promises and friends. His influence is recognized and appreciated. In connection with his brother he owns one of the finest estates on the Eastern Shore, "Old Fields Point," heretofore alluded to. It is on the Sassafras river in Kent county, a tract that has been in the family for more than 200 years.

Mr. Rasin's children are John Freeman, born 28th October, 1869: Gertrude Browne, born March 22, 1876; Julia Angela, born September 18, 1877; Helen Ringgold, born August 17, 1879; Carroll Wilson, born 11th June, 1881, and Alice Regina, 5th July, 1883. Helen Ringgold Rasin married, November 17, 1897, Hugo Albert Rennert, Professor of Romanic Languages, University of Pennsylvania.

MR. PHILIP A. MCLAUGHLIN, only son of Thos. Jefferson Mclaughlin, was born in Baltimore, December 17, 1828. His father, a native of Harford county, Md.,

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

was born in 1800, and died in Baltimore, December 31, 1859.

The subject of this sketch enjoyed but limited educational advantages when a boy. Until the age of fifteen he attended public and private schools, and the three succes- sive years he gained what educational bene- fits he could from attending night schools. None but the elementary branches were taught in these schools, but Mr. McLaugh- lin learned them thoroughly, as his success- ful life will show.

When fifteen years of age he was appren- ticed to the carpenter trade, in which ca- pacity he served until attaining his majority. The following year he secured employment with the B. &. O. R. R. Co., in the bridge and building department, and during his service with them assisted in the construc- tion of the depot at Washington; the large shops at Mt. Clare, and also those at Mar- tinsburg, W. Va. At this time he was taken ill and returning to Baltimore suffered a long siege of pneumonia.

Deciding to abandon his trade, Mr. Mc- Laughlin secured employment with the Adams Express Company, under Mr. Sam- uel Shoemaker. His services began as messenger in 1852, and during the fifteen years of his connection with the company, he rose from the ranks and at the time of his resignation was filling the responsible posi- tion of assistant superintendent. It was his experience in this situation and the execu- tive ability he there displayed that laid the foundation for his future success.

In 1867, when the P. W. & B. R. R. Co. found its yards and warehouses so congested with undeliverable freight, that they decided to adopt the system of the express company and lay down the freight at the consignee's

door, in casting about for some one to manage so great an undertaking, Mr. Mc- Laughlin was selected as the one best able in the city to manage the business. In com- pany with Mr. John H. Geigan, Mr. Mc- Laughlin undertook to keep the yards and warehouses clear of freight, which was man- aged to complete satisfaction up to 1892, Mr. Geigan dying in 1890.

In 1892 a corporation was formed to man- age the business, with a capital stock of $80,000, of which Mr. Mclaughlin holds the control. Commencing with twelve wagons and thirty head of stock, the busi- ness has increased until now it requires over sixty trucks and wagons, and more than one hundred horses to move the immense amount of freight they are called upon to handle. Their reliability and carefulness have secured for them the moving of heavy machinery required by the traction com- panies in their engine rooms and power houses, and the immense presses of the various metropolitan newspapers in Balti- more. At the time the cable roads were built, they transported the immense cables used as motive power, some of them weigh- ing nearly forty tons.

From small beginnings this company en- ploys over one hundred men, with a pay- roll amounting to over $1,000 per week. Mr. McLaughlin does not mingle in the turmoil of politics, preferring to give his entire attention to the business of which he is the executive. As a voter he is en- tirely independent of party ties, casting his vote for the man whom he deems most worthy of the place. He also holds aloof from any lodge affiliations, and has no de- sire to become a member of any of the clubs.

Mr. McLaughlin looks ten years younger

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

than he really is, an evidence of a temperate, well-spent life.

SIGNOR HAZAZER .- Among the citizens who have contributed largely to Baltimore's advancement and prominence as a great metropolis, few can felicitate themselves more upon their individual efforts to that end than the subject of this sketch, Signor Hazazer. The Signor needs but slight in- troduction to most Baltimoreans, particu- larly to that large and ever increasing num- ber who enjoy music, dancing and the ele- vating branches taught by the Signor.

His early training, ancestral characteris- tics and an inborn fondness for his art- all these make instructive reading. Signor Hazazer is of Spanish ancestry, but was born in Philadelphia, Pa., fifty-six years ago, his parents having settled there. His father's immense estate had been confiscated on account of political differences prior to this epoch. The Signor has been a veritable "globe-trotter," but settled, prior to the war, for a time in St. Paul, Minn. There, as everywhere, he made friends, and in the foremost ranks of the citizens. In St. Paul his maritime and terpsichorean pursuits clung to him amidst the turmoils of those years. Just at this period the Signor en- joyed the personal friendship of Gov. Alex. Ramsey, of Minnesota, and the latter meet- ing him on the street one day, remarked:

"I hear, Signor, that you have not only been instructing some of our city people in dancing, but that you have also included therein drills in naval tactics. Why don't you accept a commission, Signor, in our navy, and carry them with you, these rare gifts of your's?" The Signor knew naught

of the red tape necessary to secure such an end, and so admitted.

"Never mind that," remarked Governor Ramsey, "I'll get you a commission any way." And so he did, Secretary of the Navy Hon. Gideon Welles sending on one very shortly after the interview mentioned. Signor Hazazer thereupon enlisted in the navy, serving for seven years under Ad- miral Farragut, when he actually confronted "gunpowder flashed in malice."

In 1880, after various tours and vicissi- tudes, he made Baltimore his permanent home, bringing here a high character, a rich, ripe knowledge of his arts, and bounded to the front at once, remaining there ever since. Persons of all stages and grades, lovers of refined arts taught by the Signor, have continuously been his friends and patrons. The Signor is, however, a strict disciplinarian, and an unrelenting foe to all lax conduct wherever it shows its ugly head. He is merciless under such circum- stances, paying no sort of regard to the purse or alleged social status of offenders. Small wonder, then, that his friends every- where have always been legion. As a so- ciety man, the Signor is at the top of the ladder in the Masonic fraternity, and the Shrine habitually use his spacious hall for their numerous banquets, etc.

This hall, by the way, is one of the features of Baltimore's development. It has a seat- ing capacity of 1,500, and the acoustic prop- erties are unsurpassed. The house was once used as St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, having been refitted by its present owner, Signor Hazazer. As "Niblo's Garden" in New York City was an integral part of the hotel where it was located, so is this hall,

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once devoted to other purposes, named after the Signor. The Signor has prospered on merit, and has long been ranked among the opulent Baltimoreans. He is married, his wife being formerly a Miss Hunt, of Philadelphia. Two sons and one daugh- ter have been born to them. In church matters he is an Episcopalian. He is a Democrat in politics, but not a partisan. As a citizen and a gentleman, he is one of the best.

MR. WM. GRAHAM BOWDOIN was born in Baltimore county, July 28, 1842. His father, Geo. E. Bowdoin, was a Virginia planter of Northampton county, before he moved to Baltimore. On the maternal side Mr. Bowdoin's ancestral line came from the Graham family, of Baltimore, his mother, Mary Ann, being a daughter of Capt. William Graham. The Bowdoin family are, as the name signifies, Huguenots by extraction, the progenitors of the American branch having emigrated from Rochelle, France.

The subject of this sketch was fitted for his collegiate course at private schools, after which he took a course at the University of Virginia. At once thereafter he com- menced the active business career which he has ever since pursued.

He entered the banking house of Alex- ander Brown & Sons, in Baltimore, in 1861. Eleven years later, or in January, 1872, he was admitted into partnership in the firm, Mr. Geo. S. Brown, since deceased, being then the executive head of the concern. Another partner at that time was Mr. Wm. N. Graham, since likewise deceased.

In April, 1878, Mr. Bowdoin was married to Miss Katharine Gordon Price, a daugh-

ter of James E. Price, an opulent and highly respected citizen of Wilmington, Del. Two daughters and one son are the fruits of this marriage.

The arduous and exacting duties attached to the affairs of his firm have not deterred Mr. Bowdoin from assuming other respon- sibilities. He is a director in the Mer- chants' National Bank, the Eutaw Savings Bank, and is treasurer of the Annapolis, Washington & Baltimore Railroad Com- pany. He is a vestryman of St. Paul's P. E. Church, and one of the trustees in church charities-one of the organizations of the Diocese of Maryland.

Even a casual perusal of the above facts will attest the assertion that Mr. W. Graham Bowdoin is an active and potential factor in Baltimore's commercial and other strides to prosperity and general development as a great metropolis. Mr. Alexander Brown and Mr. Bowdoin now constitute the firm of Alexander Brown & Sons. This con- cern is the parent house of Brown Bros. & Co., of Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and of Brown, Shipley & Co., London, with all of whom they are still most intimately connected in business transactions. In all financial matters of great moment this firm has ever been a factor in this city's transac- tions.

Mr. Bowdoin never consented to hold political positions.

ALBERTUS FINLEY HORNER is a son of Franklin Finley Horner, who was a native of Baltimore. He was also one of the first and foremost wholesale merchants of his period here. At the commencement of the Civil War he, like most others having busi- ness relations with the South, found him-

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

self hard pressed for ready money. This fact did not deter him, however, from seli- ing his extensive stock of goods and settling as he did with his Northern and all other creditors dollar for dollar.

His father was William Horner and was one of three men who came from Ireland to America about 1735, after having fled from Scotland on account of church troubles incident to the rise and growth of the noted Covenanters of Scotland.

Sir Francis Horner was knighted for dis- tinguished legal acumen by his sovereign, and he is buried with the notables in West- minster Abbey.

American descendants of the Horners have always been given to mercantile pur- suits. James Wilson, Mr. Horner's grand- mother's grand uncle, was one of the sign- ers of the Declaration of Independence.

Mr. A. F. Horner's mother was Miss Catherine Jackson Kelley, a daughter of John Kelley, of Maryland. This Kelley was an opulent land holder and planter, and was a son of Wm. Kelley, who gallantly fought for his country in the troublous times of 1812.

Mr. Horner, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the Westminster Male Academy. He began his active business career on his own account at once, or in 1875. He is forty-nine years of age now. From modest initial efforts his wholesale boot and shoe trade has grown to its pres- ent enviable proportions, ramifying, as it does, vast areas in the Southern and West- ern States.

Mr. Horner is a member of Emmanuel Church (M. E.) South, being president of its Board of Trustees as well as a steward. In general charities, he is an enthusiastic

patron. He is an auxiliary member of the Salvation Army and one of the Executive Committee of the Florence Crittenten Mis- sion, that beautiful charity with branches all over the land. He is also one of the Board of Directors in the Y. M. C. A. (West branch), and as a citizen he has contributed in no small degree to the development of- this city's growth, as can be seen from the above.

MR. ALFRED POOR .- The subject of this sketch, as will be gathered by the reader, is one of the many potential factors aiding Baltimore's development and rank in the list of great American municipalities. He has contributed his "mite" of energy, ac- quaintanceship, business "snap," etc., to that end. Born in Alexandria, Va., No- vember 17, 1855, Mr. Alfred Poor began his education at private schools. His schol- astic curriculum was finished, however, un- der Mr. J. C. Kinear, principal of Pem- broke School, in this city, he being a mem- ber of the graduating class of 1873.

Mr. Poor commenced business at once, or in 1873, in the wholesale boot and shoe house of James Carey. He left that ser- vice to accept a position as book-keeper and assistant teller in the well known bank- ing house of Johnston Bros., on Baltimore street. Mr. Henry Johnston, it will be re- called, married Miss Harriet Lane, the "Mistress of the White House" under Bu- chanan. About 1881 Johnston Bros. dis- continued business on the death of Henry E. Johnston. Mr. Poor then accepted a position as traveling salesman for Long & Dugade, dealers in fertilizers. The Old Bay Line Company in 1886 secured his ser- vices, and he has ever since been identified

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

as contracting freight and passenger agent of that concern and its connections. His duties, however, are far wider in scope than this. He also contracts for such corpora- tions as the Cumberland Gap Despatch; Norfolk & Western Despatch; N. & W. R. R .; Va., Tenn. & Georgia Air Line, etc.

Mr. Poor is named from his father, who was a Baltimore miner and shipper of coal, and who was a notable figure in Baltimore mercantile circles. The father was, at one stage of his business career, in partnership with Jas. Boyce, and later of the firm of R. G. Rieman & Co. At the date of his death in 1873 he was the head of the house known here as Alfred Poor & Co. His partners at that time were Hon. Henry G. Davis, United States Senator from West Virginia, and the Senator's two brothers, T. B. and W. R. Davis, all of Piedmont, W. Va.

On his paternal side, Mr. Poor traces his ancestral lineage from his grandfather, John H. Poor, one of Baltimore's oldest and best known merchants. The maternal branch of this family included Alfred Poor's mother, who was Miss Marian N. Smith, of Loudoun county, Va., a daughter of Benj. P. Smith, a prominent merchant in his day.

Mr. Alfred Poor married Miss Isabel B. Dunnington, of Baltimore, a daughter of Wm. A. Dunnington, April 15, 1891. Mr. Dunnington was a merchant and connected with large milling interests in this city. Two children have been born to this mar- riage, named respectively Sarah Dunning- ton and Marian Mayhew Poor. Mr. Poor is an active member of the well known or- ganization the "Green Spring Valley Hunt Club." In church matters he is a member of St. Thomas' P. E. Church, of Garrison

Forest. He votes the Democratic ticket, but is not a partisan. His family hearth is his earthly haven.

MR. JAMES CLARK, President of the Dro- vers' and Mechanics' National Bank, of Bal- timore, first saw the light of day in Mary- land June 18, 1840. His father was James Clark, of Howard county. The late James Clark was a farmer. His father, in turn, was John Clark, who came to America from the North of Ireland, one of three brothers. They came over just sub- sequent to the War of the Revolution. These other two brothers were named James and David Clark, respectively. All three of them settled in Maryland, and were the founders of the carding wool business in Howard county on the manor of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. Those mills have given place in later years of advancement in machinery, etc., to grain mills. The Clarks of Howard county have descended as a majority from the two brothers, David and John.

The mother of Mr. James Clark was Miss Jemima Ward, of London, England, a daughter of a cattle dealer in London. Mr. Ward came to America about 1828, bring- ing with him his two daughters, Jemima and Mary Ann. He located on a farm on Carroll's Manor in Howard District then, now known as Howard county. This his- toric manor is still called "Doughorhegan Manor." On this Manor Mr. Clark met, wooed and married Miss Ward, mother of the subject of this sketch.

Mr. James Clark attended the public schools of his county until he became quali- fied to enter the Ellicott City Academy and St. John's Church. After that he engaged,

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

for a time, in agricultural pursuits with his father. Then succeeded an experience in the grocery trade, followed by his entry in the service of Adams Express Company at Richmond, Va. In 1862 Mr. Clark went into the Confederate service.

After having seen about twelve months' service in the army, as a volunteer, the agent of the Southern Express Co. in Richmond, Va., secured Mr. Clark's transfer under or- ders to that company's offices there, and to serve in a military capacity. He remained in that service until the close of the war, I865.

He then returned to Virginia after a short sojourn at home with his parents in Maryland. He resumed business with the Southern Express Company in Richmond for two years. Then he accepted a posi- tion in the employ of the Va. & Tenn. R. R. Co., under General Mahone, continuing therein for five years as purchasing agent. He came to Baltimore in 1872 after giving up the above position, and embarked in the cattle and live-stock business at Calverton Stock Yards. At this business he con- tinued for fifteen years, and with eminently satisfactory results.

His large and diversified interests at this epoch found themselves congested to quite a degree at Lynchburg, Va. Thither, ac- cordingly, he went and became the presi- dent of the Lynchburg National Bank. This business connection he maintained for five years, or until 1892, when he was called to his present position, the presidency of the Drovers' and Mechanics' National Bank of Baltimore. This he has ever since held.

Mr. Clark is a busy citizen, too busy, in- deed to accept many of the very many prof- fered seats in other financial and commer-

cial concerns. He does retain, however, his seat as a director in the company owning Bonsack's cigarette machine, which still re- tains its supremacy in its field. The com- pany's works are at Salem, Va.

Mr. Clark is not a club man nor a poli- tician.

In 1865 he married in Lynchburg, Va., Miss E. R. Booker, who died in 1885, leav- ing six children. He married in 1887 Miss E. V. Lumpkin, a daughter of Robt. Garrett Lumpkin, of this city. They have one child. Mr. Clark's children by his first wife are Viola Lee, wife of Lawrence Naylor, a merchant of New York City; James Booker Clark, a farmer of Howard county; Garnet Y., John Lawrence, Nannie Price and Helen Clark; and by his second wife, Sue Ward Clark. The family residence is No. I18 N. Calhoun street. They attend the M. E. Church South.

G. S. GRIFFITH & Co., Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Carpets, Oil Cloths, Mat- tings, Fine Linen Shades and Upholstery Goods, 403 and 405 E. Baltimore street, is a house that has had standing and reputa- tion in Baltimore for over half a century.

The business now is owned entirely by Mr. Goldsborough S. Griffith, of Baltimore, who is one of our most public-spirited and widely-known citizens. Although at the head of a large business, he finds time to devote to various Christian and philan- thropic enterprises.

Goldsborough S. Griffith was born near Havre de Grace, Harford county, Md., No- vember 4, 1814. His father was a volun- teer in the United States Army when Gen- eral Ross, at the head of the British troops, advanced towards Washington and Balti-

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

more. The exposure of camp life seriously impaired his health and he died soon after his return home. At this time the subject of this sketch was an infant. His mother again married and removed to Baltimore with her family.

At the age of twelve years young Grif- fith secured a position in a large tobacco house, where he remained several years. He afterwards engaged in the occupation of paper hanging, entering for this purpose the largest establishment of the kind in Bal- timore. In 1836 he began business for him- self, having as partner one who was experi- enced both in paper-hanging and upholster- ing. He subsequently purchased his part- ner's interest, and until 1844 conducted the business alone, having in connection with it a wholesale and retail carpet waerhouse, which he still owns and directs. He was eminently successful in all his commercial ventures, notwithstanding a large part of his time and energy was devoted to religious and philanthropic work.

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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