USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, Volume III > Part 21
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political affiliations, be is not a hidebound partisan, and is an active member of the Reform League. As a member of the Reform League, he served as one of the watchers at the polls in the critical election of 1895, when the reform movement in Maryland triumphed over the machine. He is a strong believer in government by commission for cities and states and in the initiative and referendum. He belongs to the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity, and is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
He was married on February 15, 1893, to Miss Emma D. Blumner, daughter of George and Dorothy Blumner, of Baltimore. Of his marriage six children were born, all of whom are living. After fifteen years of happy married life, his wife passed away on January 25, 1908 of an attack of typhoid fever. On November 22, 1909, he married Miss Paula Carl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Carl of Jamaica Plain, Boston, Mass.
Though his tastes run distinctly in the direction of domestic life, Doctor Dohme is too prominent in the life of the city to escape a certain connection with social affairs, and he holds membership in the University, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore Country and Baltimore Athletic Clubs.
He has a delightful home at Chestnut Wood, in Roland Park, one of the most beautiful suburbs of the city. He finds recreation in horseback riding, bowling, motoring, golf, swimming and tennis. During his university life he was a constant attendant in the gym- nasium. Since his business life began he has followed a systematic course of healthful exercise. Thus he rides horseback for four mornings in the week, at six o'clock. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, he plays golf. In the winter about three evenings in each week he bowls for an hour or two. He has thus kept himself in prime physical condition.
Doctor Dohme takes a keen interest in everything that affects the general welfare, but like the wise man that he is, realizes that the strength of our country lies in a clean, healthful family life. His views are so clearcut and so well expressed, that this brief sketch of a useful man can be concluded in no better way than by quoting his own remarks in connection with the request for his advice to young men starting life. He says: "Cultivate the cordial friendship of young men of character and family in early life, and try to deserve to retain it through life. A man with many friends of the right kind
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is almost always an all-around success. If you have a family, help them to accomplish this successfully, and next to a good education and a Christian home, it is their best asset in life. Fathers should make companions of their children through life, show them the lower side of life and warn them of its temptations, that they may weather its storms successfully. Make their homes attractive and happy. Young men should not be satisfied with less than the top rung of the ladder in their profession. Contact with the leaders in any line helps wonderfully, and no man ever truly succeeded who did not work hard and was not scrupulously honest and sincere."
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JOHN BANISTER TABB
I HE late Father John Banister Tabb, poet and Roman Catholic Priest, was born on the family homestead known as "The Forest," in Amelia County, Virginia, on March 22, 1845, son of Thomas Yelverton and Marianna Bertrand (Archer) Tabb. He was a grandson of Yelverton and Mary (Peachey) Tabb, and of John Randall and Frances (Cook) Archer, and great grandson on both sides of Thomas Tabb, of Clay Hill, who moved from Gloucester County to Amelia County, Virginia.
Father Tabb was educated by private tutors until 1861, when he became a clerk to Captain John E. Wilkinson, of the Confederate States Navy, and went abroad for the Robert E. Lee, which had been purchased by the Confederacy to carry medicines and other supplies from Bermuda and Nassau to Wilmington, North Carolina. While sailing from Bermuda in the Siren in 1864, the machinery gave out, and the vessel was picked up by the Keystone State, and Tabb was confined until February, 1865, in Point Lookout prison.
Later he went to Baltimore, Maryland, to study music, and from a musical student became a teacher of English in the St. Paul's Parish School until 1869, and then went to Racine College, Michigan, in the same capacity, where he remained until 1872.
In September, 1872, he entered the communion of the Roman Catholic Church, and became a theological student in St. Charles College at Ellicott City, Maryland, from 1872 to 1874. In 1875 he became an instructor in English in St. Charles College. He occupied the same position from 1878 to 1882, was ordained a priest of the church in 1884, and in 1886 resumed his teaching in St. Charles Col- lege, where the remaining years of his life were spent.
Though a priest of the church, his active work was spent in the school room. A sweet-spirited man of poetical temperament, he naturally turned to authorship. A finished teacher of English, he became the author of a work known as "Rulesof English Grammar." Aside from this, all of his writings were of a poetical character. His poems were printed in many periodicals and collected into several
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volumes. In 1893 appeared "An. Octave to Mary;" in 1895, a work entitled "Poems;" in 1887, another entitled "Lyrics;" in 1892, hi- work entitled "Child Verse; Poems Grave and Gay;" in 1900 ap- peared "Two Lyrics," and in 1902 appeared "Later Lyrics."
Mr. William Archer in bis "Poets of the Younger Generation," speaks of Father Tabb as "a clearcut, cameo-like poetic individuality," calls him "an epigramist rather than a lyrist," and adds: "His exquisitely measured speech neither makes its own music noz asks to be upborne on the wings of melody. The mainsprings of hi- inspiration are three: Nature (and in especial birds and flowers). devotional sentiment, sincere though fanciful; personal sentiment ; which finds discreet, unimpassioned, one might say attenuated utter- ance. He owes some of his happiest inspirations to a blending of devotional feeling with a tender worship of the minor miracles of nature." Mr. Archer speaks of Father Tabb's remarkable gift of compassion, and remarks that "though there is nothing cloistral in his spirit, which has a wide enough outlook on nature and man, yet the patient minuteness of his work is not without a monkish quality."
The words of the critic may be true from an artistic standpoint. Of that the layman cannot always judge. But the layman, on the other hand, knows what touches his own heart, and judged by that standard Father Tabb was a poet of no small merit. His kindly spirit, acted upon by a strongly devotional nature, enabled him to form sentiments which reached the hearts of men; and after all is said, that is the highest test of merit.
Father Tabb died on November 19, 1909.
Jours Ref etfully Orlando Harrison
ORLANDO HARRISON
S OME wise philosopher said he was a public benefactor who made two blades of grass to grow where one grew before. This has been accepted as a truism, because it represents a great idea-meaning not literally, of course, what it says, but that he is a benefactor who increases the productiveness of the country. When we find, therefore, a man who by his labors has built up a business which contributes to the beauty and the productiveness of thousands of homes each year, certainly that man can claim to be in a very large measure a public benefactor. Such a man is Orlando Harrison, of the great nursery firm of J. G. Harrison and Sons, at Berlin, Md.
Mr. Harrison was born in Roxana, Delaware, on January 27, 1867. His parents were Joseph G. and Katherine (Collins) Har- rison. The father and son were among the early nurserymen of the Eastern Shore, starting by planting less than one acre in nursery stock, and the business which they founded now covers an estateof over four thousand acres of land, of which two thousand acres is cultivated, and which constitutes one of the largest nursery plants in all America. These nurseries now embrace over six million peach trees, five million apple trees, ten million strawberry plants, one-half million California privet plants, one-half million evergreens, one-fourth million pear trees, and thousands of other plants. They can well claim to have one of the largest establishments on the continent.
Joseph G. Harrison was a man of prominence in his community, and served as Sheriff of Worcester county. In addition to his nursery business, he was a fruit grower for the market.
This family is descended from Thomas Harrison, who settled at Selbyville, Del., in 1767. Harrison is an old English name, and the family has made a great record in our country having contributed one signer to the Declaration of Independence and two Presidents to the United States.
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Orlando Harrison was reared in the country, and may besaid to have literally grown up in the business which has been his life work. He early developed a taste for it, and early formed the determination to be a great fruit grower and nurseryman. He obtained his school- ing at the local public schools at Roxana, Delaware, and the Berlin High School, then went to work on his father's farm. He has never been a reader of books in a large way. He has carefully read horti- cultural papers and literature bearing upon hiswork. But by hard, practical work; by constant and intelligent experiment; by consult- ing the experience of others, Mr. Harrison has succeeded in a most phenomenal way. The Easterm Shore of Maryland is peculiarly adapted to the growing of fruit trees, vegetables and shade trees. The soil and climate are favorable beyond that of most of our country, and Mr. Harrison has taken advantage of this to create a business which now employs two hundred and fifty men and women, scores of horses and mules, covering two thousand acres of land, and buds every summer millions of fruit trees. Not content with this great success in the line of growing fruit trees, he has turned his attention to the growing of ornamental trees, shrubs and plants, and has achieved a similar measure of success in that direction.
His code of life has been strict attention to business, honest treatment of everybody, promptness in business dealings, courtesy to all, a rigid integrity, and that measure of carefulness which leads him never to commit himself to anything beyond his ability to carry out. The experimental work of the Harrison Nurseries is quite as valuable as that of an ordinary State Experiment farm. The closest attention is paid to the habits of scores of varieties of trees. Many new varieties are introduced, but only after long experiment and thorough testing, so that when recommended to the patrons of the nursery they may be assured that they have got something of value. In addition to this, they give the results of their experiments and their knowledge to the public. What they learn in their business is not hidden, but is judiciously given out for the benefit of all.
Mr. Harrison's work has led to his recognition in many ways. He has served ten years as Mayor of his town, and during his admin- istration there has been installed a water and electric light plant, now in successful operation. For two years (in 1906-1907) he was a Democratic member of the Legislature, and during his term intro- duced and secured the passage of a bill appropriating $4000 annually
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for experimental horticulture, $2000 annually for the Maryland State Horticultural Society, and $500 annually for the Peninsula Horti- cultural Society. He has served as president of the Exchange and Savings Bank of Berlin; president of the Peninsular Produce Exchange of Pocomoke; president of the American Nurserymen's Association; president of the Peninsular Horticultural Society, and director in the Berlin Building and Loan Association. Some of these positions he is now holding, and in some of them he has completed his terms of office. He has held many honorary appointments from Demo- cratic governors of the State, included among them being Commis- sioner to the St. Louis Exposition and a Commissioner on the Deep Waterways Commission. He holds membership in the American Nurserymen's Association, the Maryland State Horticultural Society, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the American Florists' Association. He served as a member of the committee which received and escorted William J. Bryan on his trip through Mary- land.
He finds his recreation in trips to the orchards of nurserymen. In 1908 he spent some time in Europe, and visited all the leading orchards and nurseries in England, France, Switzerland, Holland and Germany. In addition to this he has been a great traveler over the United States.
Mr. Harrison says that he received his first inspiration to do the large things he has done in Maryland, by a trip to the West. He appreciated that in Maryland there was an opportunity to do as good work, and a better basis on which to work than there was in the West and so he went home fired with an ambition to do big things.
He published in 1909 two booklets, beautifully illustrated, that are of incalculable value to home owners. One of these is "How to Grow Fruit," and the other is "How to Plant about the Country . Home." The student of these two booklets can either make a beauti- ful home or a profitable orchard, as he may elect, or both.
Mr. Harrison's religious affiliation is with the Methodist Church.
He was married on January 15, 1893, to Miss Ada H. Long. Six children have been born to them-four boys and two girls. The four boys are now living.
His exhortation to the youth of the country is: "Be temperate, cat regularly and sleep regularly, be honest, be active, do not fear work, select what you prefer and go after it, the outdoor life is best. Get after it right, and you will succeed."
CHARLES CARROLL WILLSON
O HARLES CARROLL WILLSON, of Queenstown, one of the leading farmers of his section of Maryland, belongs to an old Maryland family, the members of which seem to have divided themselves chiefly between the occupation of farming and the profession of medicine. The family is of Scotch origin; and from the best information available was founded by John Willson, a surgeon, who came from Scotland to Maryland in the seventeenth century. Doctor Thomas Willson son of the immigrant had a son, Thomas Bennett Willson, who married Miss Maria Smythe. Thomas Bennett Willson was a doctor. Thomas Bennett Willson had a son, Thomas Willson, also a doctor. Doctor Thomas Willson had a son, Richard Bennett Willson, also a doctor; and in the present genera- tion, Doctor Thomas Bennett Willson son of Richard Bennett Will- son, is a practicing physician on the Eastern Shore.
Mr. Charles Carroll Willson is a member of this family, being a son of Doctor Thomas Smythe Willson, who married Ellen E. Browne. Doctor Thomas S. Willson was a son of Doctor Thomas Willson, who married Anna Maria Smythe. Doctor Thomas Willson was a son of Thomas Bennett Willson, who married Mary Teresa Hall. Doctor Thomas Bennett Willson was a son of Doctor Thomas Willson, who married Margaret Smith, and was the son of the immi- grant. Doctor Thomas Bennett Willson's wife, Mary Teresa Hall, was descended from Richard Bennett, one of the early colonial governors of Maryland. Mr. Charles Carroll Willson's mother, Ellen E. Browne, was descended from Charles Browne who came from Lancashire, Scotland, and settled in Queen Anne's County in 1720. He married Priscilla Brooke, great-great-granddaughter of Robert Brooke, who came from England to Maryland in 1650 and was Governor of Maryland in 1652.
Mr. Willson was born in Queen Anne's County January 3, 1849. His father was a practicing physician, living in the country, and the lad grew up with the tastes of a country boy-a healthy youngster, fond of dogs, horses, and also of reading. The farm was a large one, and he had the duty of oversight thrust upon him. Very partial
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to reading, he was especially addicted to works on agriculture, but had the family tastes and wanted to be a doctor. His first educa- tional training was received in a private school. He then entered Villanova College in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1868. His father's health was in a failing condi- tion at that time, and the following year he took charge of "War- rington," his father's home place, and gave up once for all, his desire to be a physician. Whatever the medical profession has lost, the farming interests of the State have gained, because he has been a most excellent and successful farmer, now operating one of the largest and most prosperous farms in his section of the State.
On June 3, 1874, Mr. Willson was married to Miss Nettie L. Darnall. Mrs. Willson is a descendant of Colonel Henry Darnall of "The Woodyard," Prince George's County, who came to Mary- land with Lord Baltimore at the very foundation of the colony.
In political life, Mr. Willson classes himself as a Democrat; though he has never hesitated to vote for a Republican when he thought that party's nominee was superior to the nominee of his own. He has been active in movements for the betterment of the farming class; having been organizer of the Farmers' Union, and vice-presi- dent for Maryland, in addition to which he is a member of the Ameri- can Society of Equity, another strong farmers' organization. In religious affiliation, he is a roman Catholic, and a trustee of St. Peter's Church. In recreation, he adheres to the tastes of his boyhood, and loves hunting, shooting, fishing, riding, driving and boating. In his younger days, he was devoted to athletics, being the fastest runner and the highest jumper at college.
For young men beginning life, Mr. Willson's idea of a good foundation is honesty. He puts that down as a cardinal doctrine. He believes that one should be honest, not because it is the best policy, but because it is the best principle, and as opposed to dis- honesty. From his standpoint, there is no middle ground-one is honest or dishonest. That covers in its full scope everything else. Men sometimes fail in their endeavors. As he sees it, when such misfortunes happen, it is the duty of the courageous man to "try and try again."
Though compelled to abandon the career of his preference when a young man, he has mde a success of the career which fell to his lot and which came to him in the line of duty, and is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his section.
CLOTWORTHY BIRNIE
A MERICA is the melting-pot of the nations. In other countries, men of varying racial strains will live side by side through generations, each preserving their distinctive nationalities and racial peculiarities. In America we take them; put them in the melting-pot, and turn them out Americans. What we now call the American people is really a composite stock made up from a dozen racial strains, which accounts for the remarkable versatility, adap- tability, inventiveness, energy, and general ability of the people.
The subject of this sketch, Doctor Clotworthy Birnie of Taney- town, is an example of the composite American citizen, having in his veins Scotch, Irish and Dutch blood. Doctor Birnie was born in Carroll County, Maryland, on January 13, 1843; son of Rogers and Amelia Knode (Harry) Birnie. His father was principal of the Glenburn Academy for boys, and combined with his school teaching the occupation of farmer. He was an honorable, cultivated Christian gentleman; the son of Clotworthy Birnie II., the founder of the family in America, who came from County Antrim, Ireland, and settled in Carroll County in 1810. There appears also in Doctor Birnie's ancestral line Doctor Upton Scott, a prominent physician and citizen of Maryland, who came from County Antrim and settled in Annapolis in 1753. On the maternal side, his mother was a combination of Scotch and Dutch blood, her Dutch progenitor having migrated from Holland in 1760 and settled in Hagerstown.
Doctor Birnie as a boy had fairly good health, but was not overly robust. He did light work about the farm between school sessions, and after arriving at maturity, managed the farm for a few years. His academic education was obtained chiefly at the hands of his father in the school conducted by him, helped out by a private tutor. The lad was not strong enough to go through a regular college course. He took up farming, continued his reading and history, the study of anthropology and the languages in an educational way ; and as a matter of general culture, read Scott, Carlyle, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Leckey, Religio Medici, and above all the Bible. Finally, with
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increasing strength and & strong bent for medicine, he entered the University of Pennsylvania and was graduated in 1870 with the . degree of M.D. Later he took the post-graduate course in the University of Pennsylvania. It may be mentioned here that he had some experience in teaching school during the interval between his leaving school and taking up the medical profession.
Doctor Birnie's success in his chosen profession has been as large as is possible to obtain in a country practice. He has made char- acter as a citizen, as well as a physician; has taken an active part in public life in connection with the Republican party, and was elected to the general assembly in 1896, serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. From 1897 to 1901, he served as a member of the lunacy commission. His activity has taken a wide range. Out- side of his public service, he is an elder in the Presybterian Church of Taneytown; was in 1897 a member of the general assembly of that church; in 1895 and 1896, was vice-president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland; and in 1899 and 1900, served as president of that body-a distinguised honor for any physician. In 1902, he was president of the Carroll County Medical Society; and in 1904 and 1905 counsellor of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty.
In his earlier years, he was partial to horseback riding and fox hunting.
He has served as examiner for numerous life insurance com- panies. He holds membership in the Masons, Knights of Pythias, and the Anthropological Society of Washington, American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, the National Geographic Society, the Maryland Historical Society and the American Medical Association.
Doctor Birnie has won in the world a fair measure of success- as success is usually counted. He admits that he has not attained his ideals-but also admits that he has had all the success he deserves. His fellow citizens do not think that he has had any more than he deserves, as in the community where his life has been spent his standing is of the highest, and his usefulness of the largest. For the young man starting in life, he has no nostrum to offer. The old standard virtues of honesty, industry, temperance, fearless dis- charge of duty, observance of the Golden Rule, with trust in God, will in his judgment win all the success possible to each one's indi- vidual ability.
GEORGE HARRY BIRNIE
G EORGE H. BIRNIE, cashier of the Birnie Trust Company of Taneytown, and one of the most prominent citizens of that section of Maryland, was born in Glenburn, Carroll County, on August 28, 1845; son of Rogers and Amelia Knode (Harry) Birnie. His father combined the occupations of farmer and school teacher, being principal of Glenburn Academy. Though during his life he was offered public office, he always declined. He was a man of impulsive temperament; a high sense of honor; temperate in his habits, and a sincere Christian.
The Birnie family is of Scotch-Irish origin, and was founded in Maryland by Clotworthy Birnie II, who came from County Antrim, Ireland, and settled at Glenburn farm near Taneytown in 1810. Mr. Birnie's mother was a combination of Scotch and Dutch blood, her Dutch ancestry having come from Holland in 1760 and settled in Hagerstown, Maryland. Mr. Birnie was a healthy boy, fond of mechanical toys, with mathematical tastes and a partiality for physics and astronomy. He did chores mornings and evenings about the house, and in vacation times worked on the farm. He recalls that while he had an active mind, his body was inclined to be lazy; and that his father early taught him that both mind and body should labor. The elder Birnie, himself an educated man and knowing thoroughly its value, saw to it that the son was well trained. After passing through the Glenburn Academy, he went to the University of Princeton and won his degree A.B. in 1867, and the degree of A.M. in 1870. He took up civil engineering as a profession, and entered the field at once, earning his degree as a civil engineer by hard labor in the deserts of California and Arizona and in the mountains of Washington Territory, locating the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. This was between 1870 and 1873, but as he looks back now Mr. Birnie regrets that before entering the field, he did not take a course in engineering in some first-class technicalinstitute. and he believes it absolutely essential in these days of severe competi- tion that a young man entering a profession should have a first class technical education as a foundation for his practical work.
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