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 80

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 80

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Charles Goldsborough Kerr received his initial schooling under private tutors and at Easton Academy, and subsequently at- tended private institutions in New Haven, Conn., and Washington, D. C. He was graduated from Harvard Law School in 1852, came to Baltimore the following year and entered the law office of Messrs. Brown & Brunne, with whom he remained until his admission to the bar in June, 1855. After several years spent in the practice of law, Mr. Kerr and Mr. Thomas W. Hall in 1858 founded a newspaper known as the Daily Exchange, publication of which was abandoned in 1861, when Mr. Kerr re- sumed the practice of his profession, in which he has ever since been engaged. In 1879 he was elected State's Attorney for the

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

city of Baltimore, an office which he held for four consecutive terms-sixteen years. He has been a member of both branches of City Council and was a Democratic elector in the Tilden-Hendricks campaign. He has been an active member of St. Andrew's So- ciety and its attorney for many years, and served for a time as its second vice-presi- dent. He was married April 25, 1867, to Ella, youngest daughter of the late Hon. Reverdy Johnson. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr have four children, Misses Mary Bowie and Ella Johnson Kerr, Charles G. Kerr, engaged in mercantile pursuits in Baltimore, and Re- verdy Johnson Kerr, law student. The family reside at 1513 Park avenue and are members of St. Paul's P. E. Church.

WILLIAM J. H. WATTERS, second mem- ber of the firm of Armstrong, Cator & Co., was born in Dorchester county, Md., July . 15, 1834. He is a son of the late Dr. Stephen J. and Mary (Cator) Watters, na- tives of Maryland, and descendants of Eng- lish settlers of the State. Dr. Stephen J. Watters was a practicing physician in Dor- chester county up to the time of his decease in 1840, traveling professionally a circuit of forty miles.

William J. H. Watters attended the pub- lic schools of Baltimore until he was thir- teen years of age, when he entered the em- ploy of Thomas Armstrong, who, in 1816. founded the wholesale millinery establish- ment now known as Armstrong, Cator & Co., Baltimore, the oldest house of its kind with the largest jobbing business in the United States. Mr. Watters began his busi- ness career as errand boy in the house of which he is now next to the senior member. He was successively stock clerk, house

salesman, traveling salesman, and since 1865 a member of the firm.

Mr. Watters has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Commercial and Farmers' National Bank of Baltimore since 1876.

He was married July 9, 1872, to Louisa, daughter of the late J. C. Nicodemus, of Smith & Nicodemus, for many years lead- ing wholesale provision dealers of Balti- more. Mr. and Mrs. Watters have five children, Robinson Cator Watters, an en- ploye of Armstrong, Cator & Co .; Miss Mary L. Watters, and Masters Benjamin C., W. J. H., Jr., and T. C. Sydenham Wat- ters. The family reside at 1021 North Charles street, and attend Christ's Protest- ant Episcopal Church.

WILLIAM WALLACE TAYLOR, President of the National Union Bank of Maryland, was born in Baltimore, June 29, 1821. He is a son of the late Robert A. and Mary Ann (Schroeder) Taylor, natives of Baltimore, the former of English, the latter of German descent. The first of the Taylors to come to America settled in Pennsylvania in colo- nial days. Of his descendants, William Wallace Taylor, grandfather of the immedi- ate subject of this sketch, was born in Adams county, Pa., December 16, 1769, married Maria Mckesson June 12, 1792. In 1789 he was engaged in the mercantile business in Fairfield, Adams county, Pa., and upon his locating in Baltimore about 1794 was engaged in trade with the West. From this business he retired in July, 1821, being succeeded therein by the firm of Taylor & Landstreet, the senior member of which was his son, Robert A. Taylor. William Wallace Taylor, Sr., was

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for some years prior to his decease (1832) President of the Commercial and Farmers' (now Commercial and Farmers' National) Bank of Baltimore. Robert A. Taylor was one of the directors of the Baltimore branch of the old United States Bank and after its failure was one of the incorporators and for a number of years in the directory of the Merchants' Bank of Baltimore. In 1825 he entered the wholesale package dry goods business in which he was succeeded in 1850 by his son, William Wallace Taylor, the business being continued thereafter under the firm name of Taylor & Gardner until 1865, when the firm was dissolved and the business discontinued. Mr. W. H. Taylor's maternal grandfather, Henry Hermann Schroeder, came to Baltimore October 13, 1783, from Hamburg, where his father was a bishop. In his early manhood Henry Hermann Schroeder was engaged in a banking house in Vienna. Upon locating in Baltimore, he engaged in the importing trade as a member of the firm of Schley & Schroeder. He was one of the incorpora- tors (1804) of the Union (now National Union) Bank of Maryland. William Wal- lace Taylor, Jr., received his initial school- ing under the private tutorship of Charles Dexter Cleveland (afterwards and at the time of his decease President of Dickinson College). He then entered Mount Hope College, from which institution he gradu- ated in 1839. The following two years he spent in travel abroad. He then entered into business with his father, whom he suc- ceeded as already explained, and whom he also succeeded as Director of the Merchants' Bank of Baltimore in 1850. Retiring from the latter directory he became President of the Union Bank of Maryland, in 1861,

which position he has ever since held. He is President of Baltimore and Frederick- town Turnpike Road Company; President of the Boonsboro Turnpike Road Com- pany; Director of the Central Savings Bank; Director of Baltimore Fire Insurance Com- pany ; Director of Parkersburg Branch, Bal- timore and Ohio Railroad; Director West Virginia, Central and Pittsburg Railroad; Director Carrollton Hotel Company; mem- ber of the Board of Managers of the Mary- land School for Deaf and Dumb, Frederick City, Trustee of the Wyman Byrd Memorial Fund; Trustee of the Hannah More Acad- emy, Reisterstown, Md., and Secretary since 1875 of the Baltimore Clearing House As- sociation, of which the Union Bank has been the depository for forty years. Mr. Taylor's services have been frequently sought for positions of trust under munici- pal and State governments, but pressure of private and corporation interests compelled his declination of such honors. He was married February 4, 1847, to Catharine Att- gusta, daughter of the late Hugh and Au- gusta (McEvers) Birckhead, the former a son of Solomon Birckhead, one of the incor- porators of the Union Bank of Maryland, and the latter a daughter of Julian LeRoy McEvers and Elizabeth Leroy. They were married February 5, 1793. Augusta Mc- Evers was a niece of Chancellor Living- stonc, of New York. Mrs. Taylor died in March, 1881, leaving three children, Robert A. Taylor, now a lumber merchant of Bal- timore, and Misses Catharine Augusta and Mary McEvers Taylor. The summer house of the family is "Craigie Burn," near Ca- tonsville, and the winter residence at 7 Mt. Vernon Place. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was first

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

connected with St. Paul's, and subsequently a member of the building commitee of Grace Church, of which he is vestryman and senior warden. He has been chairman of cach committee authorized to select can- didates for the rectorship of Grace Church.

JOHN NELSON STEELE, a member of the law firm of Steele, Semmes, Carey & Bond, was born on April 1, 1853, at Hagerstown, Md. He is a son of the late I. Nevett Steele, whose personal history is given in this volume. John Nelson Steele, at the age of seven, was sent to the school of the late Rogers Birnie in Carroll county, Md., where he remained for four years. He tlien attended private school in Baltimore City until the fall of 1869, when he went to the University of Virginia. He graduated in its law department in 1873, and returned to Baltimore, Md., but being under the age required admission to the bar, he took the law course at the University of Maryland and graduated in the following year. He was associated with his father until the lat- ter retired from active practice in 1889. He then, with Mr. John E. Semmes and Mr. Francis E. Carey, formed the law firm of Steele, Semmes & Carey, with which Mr. Nicholas P. Bond became associated in 1897. Mr. Steele had never held public of- fice until he was recently appointed a mem- `ber of the Park Board of Baltimore City. He was married March 1, 1880, to Mary Alricks Pegram, daughter of William M. Pegram and Margaret Alricks, of Balti- more. Mrs. Steele is descended on the pa- ternal side from Edward Pegram, who came to Virginia in 1699 as "Queen's En- gineer and Surveyor to the Crown" and who settled on a tract of land, ten miles

square, granted him by Queen Anne, and situated in Dinwiddie county about eighteen miles from Petersburg, and on the mater- nal side, Peter Alricks, who came to this country in 1657 and was for many years "Director and Commandant" of the Am- sterdam colony on the Delaware river. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have two children, John Nelson and Mary Margaret Steele, and are members of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

PETER SAHM, Justice of the Peace, was born January 27, 1834, in Eschenan, Ba- varia, of which place his parents and ances- tors as far as their genealogy is traceable were natives. He was brought to the United States on the death of his father, in 1836, by his grandparents, who located at Frederick, Md., where they continued to reside throughout their lives, the grand- father, Peter Sahm, dying at the age of eighty-six; his wife dying at the age of eighty. Peter Sahm received such educa- tion as the public schools of Frederick of that day afforded, and then clerked for some years in a general store of that place, saving enough money during that period to em- bark in the same line of business for himself and was so engaged from 1856 to 1867. Al- though doing a large business he was not financially successful, this unfortunate state of affairs being due to his strong Southern sympathy during the late war, which led him to a ready acceptance for goods of a vast deal of Confederate scrip which he still holds in lieu of his more substantial posses- sions. Following his mercantile pursuits he was for six years Deputy Register of Wills at Frederick, and was his party's nominee at the close of this service for the office of

Pagrave - WweIK Seached New York.

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

register, for which he was defeated by a small majority. He was elected a member of the Board of Aldermen of Frederick in 1874, and served for one year; and the fol- lowing year was nominated for Judge of the Orphans' Court, but was defeated. Follow- ing this he served as Justice of the Peace of Frederick for two years. In 1883 he re- moved to Hagerstown, Md., where he was engaged for two years in the wholesale and retail confectionery business. He then received an appointment as deputy keeper of the Maryland Penitentiary, serving in that capacity for three years. From 1888 to 1894 he was manufacturer's agent for fine confectionery for a New York firm. In May, 1896, he was appointed by Governor Lowndes to his present position of justice of the peace at Baltimore. He was married March 25, 1858, to Mary A. B., daughter of the late Samuel Maught, a farmer and miller of Frederick county, Md. One son born of this marriage, Robert A. T. Sahm, is a clerk in the General Auditor's of- fice of the B. & O. Railroad Company. He married Miss Eva Smith, by whom he has one child, Mary Elizabeth. Esquire Sahm is a Mason, and resides at 806 N. Stricker street.

ROBERT HENRY SMITH, Attorney-at- Law, was born in Lower Chanceford town- ship, York county, Pa., December 1, 1845. He is a son of the late Robert and Sarah Ross (Manifold) Smith, natives of York county, Pa., and descendants of early settlers of that section, of Scotch-Irish de- scent. Robert H. Smith attended the public schools and academy of his native county, then entering Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., from which institution he was gradu-

ated with the class of '67. After teaching school in York county for one year, he came to Baltimore and read law under Sebastian Brown, was admitted to practice June 28, 1870, and immediately thereafter formed a partnership with his preceptor with whom he was engaged in the practice of law under the firm name of Brown & Smith, until Jan- uary I, 1880, since which time he has had no partnership association; has offices now in the Equitable Building and makes a spe- cialty of admiralty practice. Mr. Smith is a staunch Republican and has been actively identified with his party's interests and work in Baltimore for a quarter of a cen- tury. He was Republican nominee for State's Attorney in 1883, for Chief Judge of the Supreme Bench in 18 , and for Con- gress in 1894. He was one of the original commissioners for the building of the new court house, President of the Board of Su- pervisors of Elections till May 1, 1897, at which time he resigned; one of the Board · and Secretary of the Trustees of McDon- ough Institute, and a Director of the Third National Bank of Baltimore. He was mar- ried April 23, 1873, to Helen A., daughter of the late Col. Samuel M. Alford, of New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one child, Helen Alford Smith, a student at Mt. Ver- non School; reside at 1230 N. Calvert street and are members of Second Presbyterian Church, of which Sunday-school Mr. Smith has been superintendent for nearly thirty years.

WILLIAM STROBEL THOMAS, Attorney- at-Law, was born in Baltimore January 31, 1869. He is a son of the late John L. and Azalia (Hussey) Thomas, natives of Balti- more, the former of German-French, the

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

latter of English-German descent. John P. Strobel, maternal grandfather of W. S. Thomas, was one of Baltimore's "Old De- fenders" in 1814. The late John L. Thomas was a distinguished member of the bar of Baltimore, representing numerous corpor- ate interests. He was Republican in poli- tics and was returned to Congress two terms from the Second District. He served as Collector of the Port of Baltimore under Presidents Grant and Hayes; was State's Attorney for one term and City Counsellor for two terms. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1862 and a delegate or delegate-at-large to every Na- tional Convention of his party for many years. He was an eloquent and ready speaker and particularly felicitous in his post-prandial addresses. He died October 15, 1893; his widow survives and resides in Baltimore. William S. Thomas was edu- cated in public and private schools and the City College of Baltimore; read law under his father's preceptorship while attending the law department of Maryland University ; was graduated from that institution in 1890, and has since been engaged in the general practice of his profession in Baltimore. He is general counsel for Free Summer Excur- sions. The family reside at 1316 Linden avenue, and are members of the Methodist Church.

HIRAM WOODS was born in Saco, Me., January 29, 1826. His parents were Hiram and Eliza (Chase) Woods, the former a na- tive of Massachusetts and lineally de- scended from Miles Standish, the latter a native of Maine and also descended from early English settlers of New England. The subject of this sketch came to Baltimore in

December, 1842, and took a clerkship in the shipping firm of Kirkland, Chase & Co. In 1849 he established himself in the gro- cery business in partnership association with the late Abraham B. Patterson and John C. Bridges, under the firm name of A. B. Patterson & Co .; upon the withdrawal of the senior member of the firm it was sub- sequently known as Woods, Bridges & Co. In 1852 Mr. Woods withdrew from the gro- cery firm to engage in the sugar refining business with the late Charles M. Dough- erty. Accessions to the firm of John Eger- ton and John L. Weeks resulted in the adoption of the firm name of Egerton, Dougherty & Co., and upon the withdrawal of Messrs. Egerton and Dougherty and the admission of the late Joseph A. Barker, was thereafter known as Woods, Weeks & Co., until 1876, when the business was closed up and the partnership association ceased. In 1879 Mr. Woods entered into a real estate brokerage and agency business in which he has ever since been engaged with present offices No. 18 E. Lexington street. He is also agent for the Guaranty Company of North America. Mr. Woods was one of the directors of the Mechanics' Bank, Baltimore Marine Insurance Company, Maryland Life Insurance Company and Home Fire Insur- ance Company. He was one of the incor- porators of the Maryland Industrial School for Girls (now Female House of Refuge), has been one of its board of managers since its incorporation in 1866 and president of the board since 1893. Through Mr. Woods' efforts, in large measure, the funds were se- cured for the erection of the Baltimore Su- gar Refinery at Curtis Bay, of which he be- came secretary and business manager. The refinery was destroyed by fire, rebuilt and

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HISTORY OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

passed into the hands of the now famous American Sugar Trust Company. He is President Female House of Refuge, Direc- tor Roland Park Company, Home Fire In- surance Company, Manager Maryland State Bible Society, Maryland Tract So- ciety, Manual Labor Society, and Sabbath Association. He is one of the Direc- tors of the Maryland Tract Society and also of the Maryland Bible Society. He united with the Seventh Baptist Church under the late Rev. Richard Fuller, D. D., in 1847, gave to the congregation the ground upon which the Eutaw Place Baptist Church edifice is built, has been one of the deacons of that congregation since 1872, is one of its board of trustees and was superintendent of its Sunday-school for ten years. He was married June 29, 1852, to Helen, daughter of the late Daniel Chase, of Baltimore. The surviving children born of this marriage are Dr. Hiram Woods, Jr., of Baltimore; Rev. Frank C. Woods, of Up- land, Pa .; Elizabeth F., wife of R. H. Wood- ward, of Roland Park, Baltimore, Md .; Catherine H., wife of D. Dorsey Guy, assist- ant city editor Baltimore Sun, and Misses Helen C., Lucy C., and Ethel Standish Woods. The family reside at 1210 Eutaw Place.

WILLIAM HENRY BALDWIN, JR., was born in Anne Arundel county, Md., April 15, 1821. He is a son of the late Judge Wm. H. and Maria (Woodward) Baldwin, natives of Anne Arundel county, and descendants respectively of early Welsh and English settlers of the colony. Henry Baldwin, Judge Baldwin's father, was a lieu- tenant in the patriot army during the Rev- olutionary War. Judge Wm. H. Baldwin

was, as a boy in the United States Navy, participating as a midshipman on the Pea- cock in the War of 1812. In later life he ·was a planter in Anne Arundel county and was for several years Judge of the Orphans' Court of that county. He died April 6, 1882, having survived his wife thirteen years. William H. Baldwin, Jr., received such schooling as was afforded by the country schools of his native county, and at the age of fourteen came to Baltimore to enter the employ of Jones & Woodward, leading wholesale dry goods merchants. The firm was succeeded by that of William Wood- ward & Co., Mr. Baldwin continuing with the firm and being admitted to the partner- ship with a small interest in 1844. Subse- quently his pecuniary interest in the busi- ness was largely extended and the firm name was changed to Woodward, Baldwin & Co., Mr. Baldwin being its second mem- ber. Mr. William Woodward died in May, 1896, leaving Mr. Baldwin the senior sur- viving member of the firm which continued business under the name of Woodward, Baldwin & Co. Mr. Baldwin was one of the founders of the Maryland Savings Bank and its president since its incorporation, and is one of the Board of Directors of the Eutaw Savings Bank, Maryland Trust Company, Merchants' National Bank and American Fire Insurance Company. He is President of the new Mercantile Library Association, and was for a number of years a member of the Board of Directors of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of Balti- more. He was married in 1859 to Mary P .. daughter of the late Samuel Rodman, of Rhode Island. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin have four children, Frank Gambrill Baldwin, with the firm of Woodward, Baldwin & Co., at

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Baltimore; Carroll Baldwin, with the New York Branch of the same firm, and Misses Maria Woodward and Sallie Rodman Bald- win. The family reside at 717 Park avenue and are members of Grace P. E. Church, of which Mr. Baldwin is a vestryman.

EPAPHRODITUS SWINNEY, Attorney-at- Law, was born in Baltimore, April 2, 1834. He is a son of the late Joseph and Emma Matilda (Smith) Swinney, the former a na- tive of Virginia of Scotch-Irish descent, the latter of Maryland birth and English an- cestry and both descendants of early settlers of Virginia. Joseph Swinney, great-grand- father of the immediate subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; his son Epaphroditus served in the Indian War early in the century ; the latter's son Joseph was an agriculturist in early manhood but latterly a merchant in Balti- more, where he died in 1871, his wife sur- viving him five years. Epaphroditus Swin- ney was educated in private schools and by private tutors of Baltimore. His first pro- fessional predilection was for the study of medicine which he pursued until a strong distaste for the work of the dissecting table led him to abandon it and take up the study of law under the preceptorship of Judge Wm. S. Bryan. He was admitted to practice by the Superior Court of Baltimore, Judge William Frick, presiding, June 2, 1854, and has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession in Baltimore with present offices at 217 Courtland street. He served for several years as major of the First Rifle Regiment of Maryland, his last commission as such officer being signed by Governor

Hicks and bearing date of February 20, 1861. The regiment was disbanded at the breaking out of the Civil War. It saw ser- vice in quelling riotous disturbances on the B. & O. Railroad at Hilchester and in the John Brown raid at Harpers' Ferry. Mr. Swinney was the people's candidate for State's Attorney in 1859, and the Greenback Labor party's candidate for Attorney Gen- eral of Maryland in 1879. He was for a number of years active in the local work of the Sons of Temperance and Good Tem- plars. He resides at 1729 Fairmount ave- nue and is a member of Madison Square M. E. Church.

CHARLES HENRY MYERS, Chief of Bu- reau of Industrial Statistics of Maryland, was born November 3, 1851, in Harford county, Md. He is a son of the late Christian H. and Mary Ann D. (Meyers) Myers, natives of Maryland, and descend- ants of early German settlers, of the colo- nies. Mr. Myers' maternal grandfather par- ticipated in the battle of North Point. The late Christian H. Myers was supervisor of tracks for the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road from 1833 to 1846, and in that ca- pacity superintended the laying of the first rails of that road between Baltimore and Washington. From 1848 to 1854 he was employed in a similar capacity on the Phila- delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail- road. An interesting fact in this connec- tion was that of laying tracks on the ice- bound Susquehanna during the winter of 1852, over which trains were operated for several months. In 1854 Mr. Myers re- moved to Baltimore and was in Govern-

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ment employ as Superintenlent of Public Works up to 1859. He then resumed con- nection with the Baltimore and Ohio as Superintendent of Construction, and con- tinued in that employ until his retirement from business in 1876. He died in June, 1888; his wife survived until the following March. Their son, Charles H. Myers, at- tended the public schools and City College of Baltimore, and supplemented this with a special course in mathematics under private tutors. From 1868 to 1873 he was time- keeper under his father in the B. & O. ser- vice. He then served an apprenticeship at granite cutting and continued to work at his trade until 1882, when he established him- self in the stone business, in which he was engaged until 1886. He was foreman in various stone-cutting establishments from the latter date until 1891, when he accepted the superintendency of the Gettysburg Granite Company's Works. In 1895 he was appointed superintendent of Bridges of Baltimore, and in that capacity built the Ramsey street, North avenue and Colum- bia bridges, and superintended the ma- sonry on the Boulevard Railroad. In Feb- ruary, 1896, he was appointed by Governor Lowndes to his present position, Chief of Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Maryland. Mr. Myers was for several years President and Secretary of the Federation of Labor. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was married in December, 1876, to Emma C., daughter of the late Otto Pietsch, for many years a leading musician of Baltimore and the founder of the Haydn Musical Association. Mrs. and Mrs. Myers have three children, Otto P. Myers, a stu- dent at Baltimore City College, and Iola and Edna Myers. The family reside at

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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