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 118
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In financial circles in which he moves, Mr. Goldsborough's counsels are in request, a statement accentuated by a glance at the trusts imposed upon him. Among these may be cited his directorship in the National Union Bank, which he has held for many years. In 1865 he married Miss Galt, a daughter of James Galt, of Fluvanna coun- ty, Va., an opulent planter and owner of four thousand acres of the finest farming land in the United States. The children are
five boys and two girls, named respectively: Charles, William Fitzhugh, Robert G., Francis C., Lilvurn C. One daughter is the wife of Mr. Francis H. Purnell, clerk of Worcester county, Md. The other is Ellen Lloyd, unmarried.
From the above facts it may be truthfully said that Mr. Goldsborough has contrib- uted, and largely, too, to the material ad- vancement, progress and general welfare of this city. His time, talents and means have all been employed here, and the results have been seen and felt accordingly.
J. PEMBROKE THOM, M. D., was born in Culpeper county, Va., at "Berry Hill," his father's large estate, on March 13, 1828.
On the paternal side Doctor Thom was the son of Col. John Thom, a Virginian by birth, and an officer in.the War of 1812. He also served his State as a State Senator, and was for many years a high sheriff, serving several successive terms. That office was, at that period, one of much dignity and re- quired a familiar and thorough knowledge of law and jurisprudence. Colonel Thom was a lawyer and therefore measured up to these requirements of the situation. His early training had been under the tutorship of the Rev. William Woodville, of St. Mark's parish, a custom then much in vogue being the education and instruction of Virginia gentry by clergymen. Colonel Thom was the eldest of several brothers and brought into his equipment for his after life service another quality. To perfect his early scholastic training then, he taught his own brothers, thus qualifying himself in part for the exacting duties of his subsequent judi- cial career. He inherited the ancestral manor from his father, and was a man of
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large means, even for those days. He lived to the ripe old age of 84, and the world is always made better by the lives of just such men.
The Thoms are of Scotch descent, and the progenitor of the Virginian branch of the family was Alexander Thom, the father of Col. John Thom, and the paternal grand- father, of course, of our subject. After the battle of Culleden, Alex. Thom, who was engaged therein, made his escape with some others and came to Virginia, settling in Westmoreland county, but subsequently moved to Culpeper county, as we have seen. There he married Elizabeth Triplett, a daughter of John Triplett, a name rich in associations of high character and patriot- ism throughout American history of that early period. Alex. Thom was a soldier in Scotland, as has been said, and a man of affairs. He was one of the gentry there and here and no higher tribute can well be be- stowed than that of "a gentleman."
Doctor Thom's mother was a Miss Abby D'Hart Mayo, a daughter of Col. William Mayo, of "Powhaton Seat," Va. Her mo- ther was a Miss Portress, of Virginia. This historic country seat has been in the Mayo family for many generations.
The early education of the subject of this article was conducted under the personal supervision of his father. He subsequently attended the "Old Field Schools," of his father's neighborhood. These were not anal- ogous to the free school systems of this period, but were institutions of high grade and exacting pay for the tuition imparted. He soon afterwards entered the academy in Fredericksburg, Va., conducted under Thos. H. Hanson, Esq. Leaving this acad- emy, Doctor Thom entered the United
States Army as a lieutenant of the Eleventh Regiment of Infantry and saw much service in it in Mexico at the battles of National Bridge, Chihuahua, and other points. After leaving the army he studied medicine with his brother, Dr. William Alex. Thom, of Eastrella, Northampton county, Va., and subsequently at the University of Virginia, and thence perfected this branch of his edu- cation by graduating from the Jefferson University of Philadelphia, Pa., as an M. D. What may be regarded as the pivotal or turning point in his career occurred at this epoch. An opportunity was presented just then for a competitive contest, before the Naval Board, for an examination of candi- dates seeking the post of Surgeon in the Navy. High as the prima facie evidence was of owning a diploma from the Jefferson University, the Naval Board demanded of the applicants still other examinations at their hands. Doctor Thom passed as "No. 2" in his large class of competitors, and was immediately assigned to sea service in the good ship "Savannah," a staunch United States frigate, as assistant surgeon, for a period of more than three years. He re- signed from the Navy and married Miss Ella Lee Wright, of Baltimore. She died just prior to the breaking out of the Civil War, leaving two children, De Couisey W. Thom and Pembroke Lee Thom, both of whom are still living. The Doctor espoused the cause of the Confederacy, and entered that service as captain of a battalion of reg- ulars. He was wounded a number of times, and a bullet struck him immediately over the heart at the battle of Kernstown. The bullet hit his Bible in his breast pocket, thus saving his life. The Doctor cherishes that Bible to this day as a precious souvenir of
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this miraculous escape from death. He reeled, staggered and fell from the shock, however, and was subsequently determined by a board of examiners to be unable to dis- charge the duties of full service. He was for this reason assigned to the superintend- ence of transfer of troops from Richmond down the Peninsula. His health not mater- ially improving, he ran the blockade from Charleston to Bermuda, eluding the Fed- eral gunboats by only a few rods, after hav- ing crossed the lines of boundary. After a somewhat protracted sojourn in Bermuda in fruitless quest of health, he finally rejoin- ed his family for a brief period in Canada, the meeting taking place at Niagara Falls. Thence he went to England and the Conti- nent for health, and remained abroad till 1866. Three years prior to that date, or in 1863, he married his second and present wife, who was a Miss Catherine G. Rey- nolds, of Kentucky. They were married at Leamington in England. With compara- tively restored health he returned to Balti- more in 1866, purchasing the residence which he has ever since occupied.
In politics Doctor Thom has always been a party man, but not a partisan. No party whip nor dicta of party boss has ever been able to swerve him from the individuality and uprightness which have been such con- spicuous traits in the man. He once con- sented to serve for one term in the first branch and one term in the second branch of the Baltimore City Council. In 1884 he again consented to an election to the Gen- eral Assembly, when he was recognized as the most available man for Speaker of the House of Delegates. He declined a re-nom- ination, however, and was succeeded by his son, Mr. Pembroke Lee Thom. Doctor
Thom was president of the first Cleveland. Club ever established in the United States. After the membership had mounted beyond one thousand he ceased to publish the names. Being upon a footing of warm per- sonal status with President Cleveland, Sec- retary Manning, and most of the Maryland delegation in both branches of Congress, this Cleveland Club matter quite naturally brought him into official recognition. He was accordingly "slated" for the collector- ship of the Port of Baltimore, a position sought for him by his friends. As will be gathered from a perusal of the facts here noted, Doctor Thom has been from the first more wedded to private and humanitarian pursuits than to official and political affairs. The collectorship, therefore, fell through. And now we come to another phase of char- acter, accentuating the true status of such men as deserve perpetuation in civic mem- ory.
"I regard myself and such means as I have, as a stewardship," once remarked our subject. It will be pertinent to note results or fruitage bearing upon and emphasizing this expression, "By their fruits ye shall know them." For a number of years Doc- tor Thom gave his time, talents and means as president to the furtherance of the lines of action incident to the management and conduct of the Spring Grove Asylum, one of the admirable institutions of our State. Doctor Thom served as president of this institution for many years, resigning upon the successive Gubernatorial changes, only to be reappointed. Our subject also was one of the founders and establishers of that most praiseworthy institution known as the Hospital for Women in this city. He re- signed its presidency, finally, after many
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years of active connection. The institution was the initial one of its character in Mary- land and forestalled the demand, always urgent, of a subsequent institution, the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Both are regu- larly filled, and thus will be seen the intui- tive perception of the humane trend which marks our subject.
In church affiliations Doctor Thom is a Protestant Episcopalian, a vestryman in- deed of over a quarter of a century's stand- ing. In that time he has been president of the board of church trustees of Christ's P. E. Church Orphan Asylum and allied insti- tutions. He is also a member of many years' standing of the Diocesan Convention of the P. E. Church of Maryland, and has been a zealous and regular attendant upon its vari- ous sessions. He was a member of the building committee of Christ's P. E. Church, and did heroic work in that field, contributing his means, talents and ripe ex- perience and connections to the consumma- tion, i. e., the completion of the church. For twenty years or more Doctor Thom has been an ardent advocate before the General Assembly for suitable appropriations for the lunatics in our institutions. The Maryland Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded, under its stewards, attests the ser- vices of men who aided in its foundation by the names given to its various buildings. These are called "Gundry," "Pembroke" and "Thom" respectively.
Two sons, H. R. Mayo and J. Pembroke Thom are the issue of Doctor Thom's sec- ond marriage, making four sons by both marriages, all surviving.
By such men as our subject are our great metropolitan centers developed, expanded and made notable.
HON. FERDINAND C. LATROBE is so well and favorably known, especially in Balti- more, that a mere compilation of facts re- lating to his ancestral line, and his career, will prove instructive. He comes of a fam- ily highly distinguished in Maryland his- tory. The son of that eminent lawyer and scholar, John H. B. Latrobe, and nephew of the famous engineer B. H. Latrobe, who carried the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad over the Alleghany mountains, he was born in Baltimore, October 14, 1833, and was educated at the College of St. James, Wash- ington county, Md. He studied law with his father, and after being admitted to the bar, in 1858, became assistant counsel of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and has participated in most of the import- ant suits to which the corporation has been a party in the Maryland Court of Appeals. His early manifested inclination for public life was gratified by an election to the House of Delegates of the General Assembly of 1868, when he was acting chairman during the entire session of the Ways and Means Committee. He was thoroughly a working member, and the author of various import- ant measures, among which was the mili- tary law. Gov. Thomas Swann appointed him Judge Advocate General, and he and Adjt. Gen. John S. Berry were main- ly instrumental in organizing eleven fine regiments of militia. He was re-elected to the General Assembly, and was elected Speaker of the House of Delegates, where he made an honorable record as presiding officer. He took the stump for Greeley and Brown in 1872, and the next year was a can- didate for the Democratic nomination for mayor of Baltimore, but was defeated by Joshua Vansant. In 1875 he was again a
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candidate, receiving the nomination, and was elected in October of that year. His administration was characterized by a num- ber of reforms in the municipal government, especially the abolishment of the extrava- gant Port Wardens' Department and the city yard, and the substitution of the Harbor Board, consisting of seven gentlemen, who serve without pay, and have charge of all matters appertaining to the harbor. In con- nection with the officials of the National Government, they have secured a depth of twenty-five feet, or more, in the channels, so that the largest class of steamships can now enter the port. The improvements of Jones's Falls; the replacement of the cobble stones by Belgian block pavements; the institution of an admirable system of fire alarm tele- graph; a reduction of the annual municipal expenses $400,000; and of the tax rate of assessed property; the refunding of the $5,- 000,000 of six per cent. debt at five per cent., and the exemption of the plant and machin- ery of manufacturers from city taxation- are achievements connected with Mayor Latrobe's administration. In 1877 he was a candidate for re-nomination, and was de- feated by the late Col. George P. Kane, but upon Colonel Kane's death, in 1878, Mr. Latrobe was elected to fill out the unexpired term, and was re-nominated and re-elected in 1879. In 1881 he withdrew from the con- test for the re-nomination, which was con- ferred upon Hon. William Pinkney Whyte. To summarize the official mayoralty status of General Latrobe, it may be sufficient to state that he has served seven times as mayor of this great municipality, an event, or series of events and trusts, without a pre- cedent, it is believed, in any other American city. General Latrobe's talents are of a
character too useful to the public to be con- fined to the limited sphere of individual sta- tion, and it is safe to say that Baltimore has never had an executive who has kept a bet- ter official record, or who has earned a bet- ter right to the public gratitude and recol- lection. The wise and conservative policy which he inaugurated, and the practical benefits and reforms which have been ac- complished during his administrations will make themselves felt for many years to come, and will doubtless lead the way by their example to the still further improve- ment of the public service. General La- trobe is a pleasing orator; a well read law- yer, and a financier of uncommon ability. For a long term of years he was counsel for the late Thos. Winans & Co., and when Mr. Winans died he was chosen attorney for the executors of that immense estate.
He was married in 1860 to a daughter of Hon. Thomas Swann, who died in 1865, leaving one son; and in 1880 he was married to the widow of Thomas Swann, Jr.
Full of honors; ripe in experience gained in the benefits conferred upon the body poli- tic; enjoying his earned laurels, General La- trobe is an example of men who are poten- tial factors in the development of our great American municipalities.
MR. JOHN A. WHITRIDGE, Banker, Bank President and gentleman of affairs, comes of English descent on both sides. Before entering into the details of his career, how- ever, a glance at the paternal head of the family will be eminently proper.
His father, John Whitridge, M. D., was born in Tiverton, R. I., March 23, 1783. He was the third son of a family of nine chil- dren who reached adult life. His ancestors,
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as before stated, were of direct English de- scent on both sides. Their history is trace- able for several generations, and the Ameri- can branch is believed to have come from England with Governor Winthrop in 1630. The paternal grandfather was Thomas Whitridge, of Rochester, Mass. His wife was Hannah Haskell. His grandfather on the maternal side was John Cushing, of Scituate, Mass., a colonel in the Army of the Revolution, a son of Judge John Cush- ing, and brother of Judge William Cushing, Chief Justice of Massachusetts and for many years Associate Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States. He was appointed by President Washington, and was the immediate predecessor of Judge Story. His grandmother, on the maternal side, was Deborah Barker, a sister of Gen. Joshua Barker. His father, Dr. William Whitridge, was born in Rochester, Mass., 1748. He was educated for a physician ac- cording to the custom of those days, under the immediate directions of the celebrated Doctor Perry, of New Bedford, Mass. There were then no courses of medical lec- tures of which he could avail himself. Har- vard University, in 1823, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He became a ripe scholar in theologi- cal, scientific and linguistic lines, and died at the ripe old age of 84, at Tiverton, in 1831. His widow, Mary Cushing Whit- ridge, survived him fourteen years, and died in 1846, aged 87.
Dr. John Whitridge, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, entered Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., about 1812, where he took the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He subsequently, or in 1819, graduated in med- icine from Harvard University, and decided
soon after to locate in the South. As a total stranger, therefore, he settled in Baltimore in the following year, 1820. For fifty-three years (until 1873) he was accordingly ac- tively engaged in practice here, devoting himself solely to the care of his patients, and positively declining all outside positions of trust and emolument that would in any measure interfere with his duty to those who had entrusted their lives and health to his care.
His eldest brother, Dr. William Cushing Whitridge, settled in New Bedford, Mass., where he practiced his profession until his death. He was the father of the late Hora- tio L. Whitridge, a highly esteemed mer- chant of Baltimore. His second brother, Dr. Joshua Barker Whitridge, after resign- ing his position as surgeon in the army, set- tled in 1815 in Charleston, S. C., where he died during the late war. His younger bro- ther, Thomas Whitridge, is a well known merchant of the city of Baltimore, exten- sively engaged in the China and Rio trade. Doctor Whitridge was a vestryman of Christ P. E. Church. In politics he was a Whig, and during the Civil War a Union man. He died 23d of July, 1878, at Tiver- ton, R. I., full of honors and years. He mar- ried Catherine Cocks Morris, of New York, a sister of Gen. William Morris, one of the most prominent lawyers of that city. Six children were born to Doctor Whitridge and his wife .. Dr. William Whitridge is one of them. One of the daughters married Dr. Philip C. Williams, and another Maj. Douglas H. Thomas, the widely known president of the Merchants' National Bank of this city.
Mr. John A. Whitridge, another son, and the subject of this sketch, thus comes of
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distinguished lineage. "As the twig is bent, etc." may be traceable in his life work. By instinct, choice and natural fitness, there- fore, we find him engaged all along in the custody and management of financial inter- ests. . The steps from stock brokerage to private banking, culminating in his present status, i. e., president of the National Farm- ers' and Planters' Bank, accentuate the re- sourcefulness as well as the popular appre- ciation in which Mr. Whitridge's attain- ments are held by those who have known him best and longest.
Such men as this one are integral factors in helping the development of a great mu- nicipality like Baltimore. For that reason they are perpetuated by insertion in a work of this character.
MR. JAMES SLOAN, JR., President of the Farmers' and Merchants' National Bank of Baltimore, is conceded on all hands to be one of the most prominent financiers in this city and State. This is much to affirm, as this municipality can point with pardonable civic pride to not a few citizens of repute in that sphere.
Mr. Sloan is a Baltimorean, and has been recognized and honored by his fellow-citi- zens, and that too upon "his native heath," to a degree at once suggestive of merit on the one hand and public recognition on the other. The bank over which he presides is an old, opulent and solid institution, char- tered in 1808, and ever since has been in the enjoyment of an unusual share of public confidence, both at home and abroad. This latter condition may be inferred, even ac- centuated, from a passing notice of the im- pressive list of its principal correspondents.
These include in part that gigantic institu- tion, the National Park Bank, of New York City; The Western National Bank, of Phila- delphia, Pa .; The First National, of Boston; National Bank of Commerce, of St. Louis; Louisiana National Bank, of New Orleans, La .; Third National Bank, of Cincinnati; Pittsburg National Bank of Commerce; Union National, of Chicago, etc. These connections, of the closest and most inti- mate character, would of themselves be most significant indices of the standing of the institution over which Mr. Sloan wields the presidential sceptre.
He entered the service of the bank as teller; became its cashier in 1862, and was chosen its president in 1878. Mr. Sloan's counsels are in request in other spheres, however, than those enumerated. He re- signed the responsible trust of chairman of the Finance Committee of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1896, after many years incumbency. He is, likewise, a direc- tor in the Consolidation Coal Company, the treasurer of the Maryland Construc- tion Company and president of the South Baltimore Car Works, Curtis Bay, which employs five hundred men in car building. In these varied corporations it will be noticed by even a casual reader that our subject is in the list of many whose sketches have been admitted into these pages.
The selections of biographical articles here inserted are designed to include only those who have been or now are factors and promoters of this city's growth and ex- pansion. That the subject here under re- view forms no exception to this rigid rule will be apparent to even the most super- ficial reader.
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MR. DANIEL W. DWYER, 9 N. Calvert street.
Mr. Daniel W. Dwyer, a brief account of whom will be found in this article, is a na- tive of Minnesota, but a Baltimorean by choice for nearly a decade past. Like many others before him, Mr. Dwyer real- ized the fact that this municipality offered a sphere and field for brains, resourceful- ness and enterprise. He accordingly, as has been noted, brought with him here the at- tainments and equipment for prosecuting his work. Mr. Dwyer is widely recognized in this community as a wide-awake and pro- gressive man of affairs. His special sphere is that of a dealer, rather than a mere broker in realty. In that field, accordingly, he has achieved results tending to and eventuating in the growth, expansion and general de- velopment of this great metropolis. Pre- cisely, therefore, in so far as Mr. Dwyer's activities have borne such fruit exactly so far is his public career a matter of proper perpetuation, in State and city archives, a result secured by being recorded in a his- tory like this one. Mr. Dwyer has been, from the outset, identified with transactions, purchases, transfers and allied interests of city and suburban realty in and around Bal- timore. The minor features of his avoca- tion, such as placing loans, collections, etc., are only incidental "straws," so to express it, which emphasize the large field of activi- ties in which he is a conspicuous operator. No place will be made in this article for ref- erences purely personal. It may not be amiss, however, to advert to one or two heads, relatively allied to this point. Mr. Dwyer enjoys an extended acquaintance- ship in spheres other than those of a strictly business character. His friends, too, are
many, and to be found in arenas of social, financial and other walks. He is, for ex- ample, a well known club man, holding membership in that well known organiza- tion, the Baltimore Country Club, and in numerous other organizations of lesser note.
In politics Mr. Dwyer is a pronounced Republican, but never a partisan. He is a member of the Union League Club of this city and zealous in his convictions on this as also on all subjects claiming his atten- tion.
His social and business connections then, added to his many known achievements as a potential factor in the development of this municipality's growth-these are the chief facts desired to be gathered and preserved. Baltimore can point with pardonable pride to many such men in her midst, but extends a cordial welcome to others.
MR. LITTLETON T. DRYDEN, Superin- tendent of the State Bureau of Immigra- tion.
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