USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume I > Part 44
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the purpose of the Resolution is to present to the consideration of Congress the propriety of fixing the site of such a school at Annapolis.
He then supported the claims of Annapolis by referring to the beauty and healthfulness of the situation, and its proximity to the seat of government. Whether anything he may have said determined the selection of the site, it is impossible to say, but similar arguments re- sulted, as all know, in the locating the school, some years later, at the
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place suggested. It would seem that for the remainder of this term and for the succeeding, the part taken by Mr. Kerr in the debates was small. He, however, served on one of the most important of the stand- ing committees, that of "Rules and Order." But in the XXIInd Congress he took a more prominent part. He was made chairman of the Committee on Territories, and as such in June, 1832, delivered an extended speech in favor of the establishment of the territory of Wiscon- sin. Previously, in January, he had spoken upon the new apportion- ment bill, favoring a large house of Representatives, and small con- gressional districts, as a protection against the control of cliques, coteries and caucuses. In February of the same year he advocated with fervor the bill appropriating money to the widow of Com. Decatur, and the officers and the crew of the "Intrepid," in consideration of the gallant feat of destroying the ship Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, after she had been captured while aground by the Barbary pirates, in 1803. He gained most credit, however, for two extended speeches which he made in April and May, 1832, upon a question of "Privilege," occasioned by the violent assault of Mr. Samuel Houston, then notorious but after- wards famous, upon Mr. Stanberry, a member of Congress, for words used by this gentleman in debate, reflecting upon the integrity of Mr. Houston. This discussion excited great interest throughout the coun- try at the time, and occupied the House for many days. Mr. Kerr took the high ground that no member of the House should be held ac- countable for what was said on the floor, except to the House itself, and insisted that Mr. Houston, not then a member, should be punished for his violation of this privilege. After an exciting debate, Mr. Houston was called to the bar of the House and censured by the Speaker, a most inadequate punishment for an act of great atrocity. In the speeches made by Mr. Kerr on this occasion he showed a very intimate acquaint- ance with the rules, orders and precedents of legislative assemblies: his previous service upon a committee of the House, whose duties related to this subject, having enabled him to perfect himself in a knowledge of parliamentary law and practice. On the great questions of the customs, of finance, and of internal improvements, which arose before the conclusion of Mr. Kerr's third term, he appears not to have spoken, but he was known to have favored the American system of pro- tective duties, the recharter of the United States Bank, and the appro- priation of the public funds to the construction of ways of inter-State commerce. Although a strenuous opponent of Gen. Jackson in most of the measures of his administration, he gave a hearty approval to his
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celebrated proclamation against those deluded persons who under the leadership of Mr. Calhoun were attempting the nullification of the laws in the State of North Carolina. Entering the Senate in 1841 as a pronounced Clay Whig, he gave the measures of that party the weight of his votes and his advocacy. When Mr. Kerr entered the Senate, the administration of Mr. Van Buren was drawing to a close. He participated in the hopeful exultation of the Whigs upon their entry into power, and he also shared with them the chagrin and indigna- tion which followed the desertion by Mr. Tyler of the party that had elected him to the vice-presidency and secured his elevation to the presidency of the nation. During his term of service he continued to follow the leadership of Mr. Clay whose political wisdom he never misdoubted, and from whose fascinations he never escaped. He favored with his voice and vote these leading measures of his party, the char- tering of a national bank, the establishment of a protective tariff, and the formation of a general bankrupt law. But soon after taking his seat in the Senate his health began to fail, so that he was unable to assume as prominent part in the debates as his abilities justified his taking; but his position, though not conspicuous, was eminently respectable, and his voice when heard did not fall upon inattentive ears. In a eulo- gium pronounced after his death it was said without any exaggeration of praise, "He was but among his equals when in the highest legislative body of the nation." There is authority for saying that Mr. Kerr could have been re-elected to the Senate, as his party was in the ascendency in the legislature, but he declined the honor and as before stated Mr. James Alfred Pearce was chosen his successor.
A space has been given in this memoir of Mr. Kerr to his career as a public man out of proportion to the time and attention bestowed upon him on politics. He, in truth, was not adapted by tastes, character, manners or ability for the work of the partisan. Perhaps he was not qualified to be a great statesman: certainly his pride would not allow him to be a small or pretended one. It is doubtful whether politics in any other than its higher and better sense ever deeply interested him. It cannot be said that he contemned political honors, but evidently he was more avid of professional distinction. The greater part of his life was given up to this profession, and in its study and practice he derived a satisfaction never equalled by any success he may have won as a candidate for popular favor in the political arena. His ambition was to be an able and accomplished lawyer, and in this his ambition was in a good and substantial measure attained. It is not pretended
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that Mr. Kerr ranked with the great lights of legal lore, or that he shone at the bar as brightly as the great meteors of forensic eloquence. He was confessedly at the head of the profession in this and the adjoin- ing counties, and in the State at large he had few superiors. He was a safe counsellor, and an ardent if not an eloquent advocate. He possessed the best order of genius-the genuis of industry. He was most laborious in the preparation of his cases. He never left to accident or emer- gencies what could be accomplished by deliberation and forethought. It is known that many of his arguments were written out in full, and perhaps delivered in the very words, certainly in the very form, in which they had been committed to paper. His opinions were held in repute by the courts which were able to appreciate the extent of the research upon which they were founded, and they were of weight before the juries because of the high character of the person presenting them. He is represented as having been quite an effective speaker, whether on the hustings, in the legislature, or in the courts. His oratory has been characterized by one who knew him, and is capable of appreciating its distinctive qualities, as vehement. His vocabulary was rich; his utterance fluent; his manner earnest and ful of action. He was much given to quotation, in which his acquaintance with the best litera- ture of his native language, as well as with the Greek and Latin classics, enabled him to indulge. But his favorite author from which to cull these flowers was the great dramatist. The point in which his oratory was most liable to unfavorable criticism was in his tendency to discur- siveness by which the minds of his auditors were apt to be confused by thoughts and images which, if not entirely irrelevant, did not add anything to the distinctness of the impression sought to be made or weight to the argument meant to be enforced. But in justice to him it must be said this was not attributable to exility but to exuberance of resources.
One trait of Mr. Kerr deserves mention in this connection, his unvary- ing courtesy in court. Not only was this shown to the bench, the bar, and the panel, by all of whom could this courtesy be, as it were, exacted, but to the witnesses upon the stand who are too often the helpless victims of coarseness or brutality, and even to the parties to proceedings who are commonly considered the proper quarries for every kite of a lawyer. This courtesy of manner in the courts was but a part of his habitual demeanor towards all with whom he was thrown in social or business life. His politeness was not that which is prompted by vanity or policy, but proceeds from a proper self-respect, and due regard for
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the rights and feelings of others. That this trait of Mr. Kerr was such as to distinguish him from most others, it may be mentioned that John Randolph, of Roanoke, that political and social cynic whom few could please and none could satisfy, said in debate:
I have been informed by a gentleman, who is not only so by the courtesy of this house, but is in fact, a gentleman, &c.
In this he referred to Mr. Kerr.
Mr. Kerr found time amidst the exactions of a busy life to gratify his taste for polite letters. His academic education had nurtured in his mind what indeed was native to the soil, a love of literature; and his distinguished uncle, a man of broad culture, by his example and encouragement strengthened his fondness for books. At a time when libraries were scarce and books were costly, he had free access to the extensive and valuable collection of Mr. Bozman- a collection which subsequently, by bequest, came into his possession.4 It is not known that Mr. Kerr published anything of permanent value, unless certain state papers be so regarded. An occasional contribution to the news- papers of the county indicate the possession of literary facility, which might have developed into literary power, had it been cultivated. In the year 1834 he presented to the State that portion of the history of Mary- land which had been left in manuscript by Mr. Bozman in a state of completeness. This was accepted, and Mr. Kerr was selected by the Legislature to superintend the publication of the whole work. This task he successfully and acceptably performed, and in 1837 there appeared the two volumes of that exceedingly valuable history of which the intro- duction only had been published by the author in 1811.
The character of Mr. Kerr as revealed in private life is said to have been most amiable. His manners were easy and refined, his conver- sation chaste and agreeable, his disposition even and cheerful and his feelings genial and kindly. Exceedingly sensitive to the slightest imputation he lived without just reproach. His home" he made always pleasing to its constant inmates, and welcome to a large circle of friends
4 This library after the death of Mr. John Leeds Kerr, fell to his son Mr. John Bozman Kerr, and after his demise was sold by his brother Mr. Charles Golds- borough Kerr in settlement of the settlement of the estate, in the city of Baltimore in the year 1878.
5 Mr. Kerr lived in the brick house at the corner of Goldsborough and Aurora streets. His widow sold it to Dr. C. C. Cox, who sold it to John A. W. Powell. His heirs sold it to Dr. S. A. Harrison in 1887, who devised it to his daughter, Mrs. Oswald Tilghman.
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who were glad to share its elegant hospitality. He was liberal in his charities to the poor and indulgent in his treatment of his dependents. In short, he is still remembered as having been an affectionate husband and father, a kind master and patron, a constant friend, a pleasant companion, a polished gentleman.
Born into, he was for life a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for many years he was a vestryman of Saint Peter's Parish. Mr. Kerr participated in those benevolent enterprises which were under- taken from time to time in this country for the moral and intellectual improvement of the people. He took an active interest in African Colonization-the nearest approach that could then be made to emanci- pation-being the middle and safe course which conscientious men were then fain to take between the terrible Scylla of immediate abolition, and implacable Charybdis of indefinite perpetuation of slavery.
He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, by which body he was held in high esteem as was evinced after his death when a euologium upon him was pronounced in Cambridge by the Rev. William Brown, a fellow craft, in which the distinguished services, the mental abilities and the masonic virtues, which are the virtues of the good citizen and upright man, of Mr. Kerr were commemorated with no inconsiderable eloquence.
He was one of the original corporators of the Farmers Bank of Md., of which the Easton National Bank is the successor in this county.
The personal appearance of Mr. Kerr was agreeable and attractive. He was of medium height, well proportioned and well developed, though not portly; of ruddy complexion, and light brown hair. His counte- nance was expressive of intelligence and refined feeling. He was quick in his movements, but without embarrassment. At a time when more attention was paid by gentlemen to their dress than now, he was remark- able for the neatness of his attire. He was exact and nice in his habits, fastidious in his tastes, and given to no sensual indulgences or excesses.
Mr. Kerr was twice married, and left a large fami y of children. His first wife was Sarah Hollyday, the daughter of Sam'l Chamberlaine, of Bonfield, Talbot county. By this lady were born to him John Boz- man, a lawyer and diplomatist; Samuel Chamberlaine, a respected minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church; David, more than once a member of the Legislature of Maryland, now a resident of Virginia; Sophia, the wife of George Leigh, Esq., of St. Mary's county; Henrietta Maria, wife of Gen'l Tench Tilghman, late of this county; and Rachel Ann, wife of John H. Done, Esq., at one time superintendent of the
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Illinois Central Railroad. His second wife was Elizabeth Greenbury, the daughter of Gov. Charles Goldsborough, of Shoal Creek, Dorchester. By this lady were born to him Chas. Goldsborough, who has most credit- ably occupied several civil stations, and is now State's Attorney for the city of Baltimore; Edward Leeds, a citizen of Baltimore city; and Elizabeth Goldsborough. Many of these have children who are or will be proud to trace their descent to so reputable an ancestor as Mr. John Leeds Kerr.
After a protracted illness Mr. Kerr died at his residence in Easton, February 21st, 1844, in his 64th year. He was buried at Belleville, in Oxford Neck, the seat of his maternal ancestors, and there a stone is erected to his memory. After his death resolutions expressive of the appreciation in which he was held were passed by members of the bar in this and the adjoining counties, and as before mentioned a formal eulogium was pronounced in the town of Cambridge. The public press throughout the State of both political organizations, paid merited tributes to his worth, but the papers of his own county, where he had passed a long life and where he was best known, in an especially lauda- tory manner gave expression to the estimation in which he was held by this people.
ROBERT HENRY GOLDSBOROUGH THE CHESTERFIELD OF MARYLAND
1779-1836.
It is not intended to pronounce a mere eulogium upon this distin- guished personage, for the plainest and fullest relation of his career will be the highest and fairest praise. But of him it may be truthfully said that in all the relations of life he bore himself so admirably, and that his services to his community with which he was identified by interest and affection and indeed to the country at large, for which he had a comprehensive love, were so valuable and so ably performed that he has placed those who have come after him, particularly every citizen of Talbot County, under the double obligation to keep alive his memory and imitate his example. He was a pure statesman and typical Eastern Shore gentleman.
Robert Henry Goldsborough, the subject of this memoir, was the son of Judge Robert Goldsborough of this county, and Mary Emerson Trippe, the daughter of Henry Trippe, Esquire, of Dorchester County, Md. He was born at Myrtle-Grove, the seat of his father, January
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4, 1779. He was fourth in descent from Nicholas Goldsborough, the emigrant and propositus of the family in Maryland who, removing from Dorsetshire in England, settled in 1670 on Kent Island, where he died about 1671. He seems to have come from a strong stock for the family has multiplied largely and spread widely, and it has given to the state a number of most capable men in the various spheres of life and in all periods of our history. Of these Robert Henry Goldsborough was the very flower. The intervals of leisure which the life of a country gentleman afforded were by Mr. Goldsborough given up to an indul- gence in those pleasures of society for which his cultivated mind, his vivacity of spirits and his elegance of manner especially fitted him. Moving in a social circle of the very first respectability and for a rural community of unusual refinement, he was the leader in and the life of every scene of festive enjoyment. His politeness was proverbial in his day and it is a part of the social traditions of the county down to the present. He has been called the Chesterfield of Maryland, and to this distinction he is justly entitled if by it is meant courtliness of manners founded upon a generous sensibility for the feelings of others.
He was educated at St. John's College, Annapolis, taking his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1796, though then but little more than sixteen years of age. He received no professional education but engaged early in agricultural pursuits which he followed during the remainder of his life. His earlier years of manhood were given up largely to social enjoyments and the usual pleasures of the country gentleman of fortune. These, though never entirely abandoned, were of but secondary interest when compared with the excitements of politics into which he entered with great zeal. His political opinions were those of the Federalists and whether they were inherited or deliberately formed, they were persistently maintained through his whole life. In 1803, he enjoyed (or suffered) his first candidacy, standing for a seat in the House of Delegates and being defeated. He was more successful in 1804 when he was chosen, notwithstanding the remaining portion of the delegation were Republicans and Democrats. In 1805 he was again defeated. In 1808 he was a candidate for Congress but, though carrying his own county, he was defeated in his district. In the same year he was an independent candidate for a seat in the Electoral College for the choosing a President of the United States, favoring Mr. Monroe for that high position.
In 1807 when war with Great Britain was threatening, he raised a troop of horse in the county of which he was elected the captain.
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In 1809, being a candidate for a seat in the House of Delegates, he was defeated. After war had broken out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, although he had been a most strenuous opponent of it, he took an active part in defending the county from the incursions of the enemy occupying the Chesapeake, and was personally present in command of his troop at the affair of St. Michael's in 1813.
In 1813 he was appointed by Gov. Levin Winder, United States Senator, to succeed Genl. Philip Reid and this appointment was ratified by the Legislature at its next meeting. His term of service expired March 4th, 1819, when he was succeeded by the Hon. Edward Lloyd of Talbot. His career in the Senate was most creditable. In a house which has never been tolerant of weakness he could always gain a hear- ing, and in a body embracing some of the best minds the country has produced it was allowed that he held a most respectable rank. For some years after his retirement from the Senate he held no political position, but in 1825 he was elected to the House of Delegates from his county and was in the following year made one of the Board of Public Works for the Eastern Shore. In 1827 he was appointed one of a commission to confer with the authorities of the neighboring States with reference to the recovery of fugitive slaves. In 1832 he was upon the National Republican, or Clay ticket, as Presidential elector of the 4th District of Maryland and was elected.
In January, 1835, he was chosen by the Legislature to fill the unexpired term of the Hon. Ezekial F. Chambers in the United States Senate, Mr. Chambers having been appointed Chief Judge of the 2nd Judicial District of Maryland. He was in the occupancy of this distinguished position at the date of his death in 1836. During his short service in the Senate he more than sustained the reputation he had previously acquired in the same body as an able debater and an enlighted states- man.
In 1817 for the purpose of promoting his own political views and per- sonal aspirations he was instrumental in establishing the Easton Gazette, a paper which still retains a vigorous and useful life. He not only contributed largely of his private means but was for years a constant contributor to its columns. He was as vigorous and ready a writer as he was an effective and fluent speaker.
It is a matter of tradition that Mr. Goldsborough was always listened to in the Senate when he rose to speak, with a deference which pro- ceeded from an appreciation of his character and with an interest that indicated the estimate that was placed upon his abilities. The
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elegance of his address conciliated those whom he would convince, and if it did not add to the weight of his argumentation it rendered that more plausible and insinuating. His courtesy to his opponents, a marked feature of his speeches, disarmed their hostility and thus his cause was well night half won before he had put forth his strength for his assault. The manner of his speaking before popular assemblies, of which more is known in this community than of his senatorial oratory, though doubtless the criticism will apply to the last as well as to the first, is said by those who remember it with distinctness to have been deliber- ate, temperate, without the extravagances of rhetorical flourish or bodily gesticulation. He was extremely fluent of speech, his words being well chosen and aptly applied. One who had many opportunities of hearing him has characterized his speeches as a happy mingling of lucid statement, logical argument, and pleasing declamation, delivered with a natural grace that was inimitable. He was never tedious, possessing the rare ability of being able to end his harangues before the interest of his auditors had abated and before his own powers exhibited signs of flagging. If the reports of his speeches in the Senate were full and accurate, as they confessedly are not, they would furnish a very inade- quate idea of his oratory, of which the charm if not the strength consisted in the manner of their delivery.
Mr. Goldsborough was a man of great public spirit taking an active part in most of those great enterprises which were projected for the advancement of his native State. He was a friend to internal improve- ments to protection of domestic manufactures, to banking institutions, to popular education, to associations for benevolent or religious pur- poses, among which may be ranked the Masonic fraternity.
Brother Goldsborough was made a Mason in St. Thomas' Lodge, No. 37, Easton, about the year 1800. In 1807 this Lodge became dor- mant, but was revived again in 1823 as Coats' Lodge No. 76, Brother Goldsborough being one of the charter members. After the constitu- tion of the Lodge and the installation of the officers, St. John's Day, Dec. 27th, 1823, he delivered an address on the "Principles and Prac- tice of Masonry," before the brethren and "a large assemblage of ladies and gentlemen." On St. John's Day, June 24, 1826, he delivered an oration upon the advantages of the Masonic Institution, and in vindica- tion of the Order from many unfounded cavils and objections that have been raised against it. He was elected Master in 1824 and served a number of terms in this position. Notwithstanding the inconveniences of travelling to Baltimore in those days he was a regular attendant
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at the sessions of the Grand Lodge, taking a prominent and active part in its transactions. As early as 1804 and again in 1806 he was elected Junior Grand Warden. In 1824 he was elected Senior Grand Warden and was continuously re-elected to the same position for five terms. In social life he was the delight of every circle that was favored with his presence. His house was the very home of hospitality as it was the nursery of all the domestic virtues. Mr. Goldsborough died after a brief illness at his home, Myrtle-Grove, October 5, 1836, leaving a large family, many of whom illustrate the graces of his life. His descendants cherish the memory of his virtues as a most precious heritage. He was buried at "Ashby," the original seat of the family in Talbot county, in the burial ground of his ancestry of several generations. Here filial affection has placed a simple stone over his remains with no other in - scription than his name and the dates of his birth and death. Though without epitaph of praise his memory is not likely to perish from the minds of the people of this country as long as gentle manners shall be admired and civic virtue shall be honored. After his death he was the subject of much eulogy. The newspapers of the county published tributes to his merits and his virtues. These couched in the common phrases of obituaries were eloquent only by their sincerity and truth. The Easton Gazette in its issue of October 8 said:
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