USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, Volume III > Part 7
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He holds membership in the Baptist Church; in the American Association of Workers for the Blind; American Association of Instructors of the Deaf, and the Maryland Association of Workers for the Blind.
As a college boy, he played foot ball and base ball. He is yet very fond of fishing; and in his taste for indoor exercises, he prefers
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bowling. He has encouraged the introduction of athletics among the blind, and was instrumental in organizing the American Ath- letic Association of Schools for the Blind. Politically, he is identi- fied with the Democratic party ; but he exercises the privilege of vot- ing for the best men regardless of the party, especially in local affairs. He is a member of the Sigma Nu college fraternity, and helped to reorganize the Iota Chapter in Howard College, and the Alumni Chapter of Baltimore.
Yet a young man who has made a pronounced success in life, not especially along material lines, but in those higher things which mean most for the country's welfare, he is a thoughtful student of conditions and of men. Asked to give suggestions to young Ameri- cans starting in life, he makes a brief summary which is worth study- ing. He puts the church first. Evidently he thinks it well for a young man to anchor himself from the start. Studiousness comes high up upon his list; and for the rest, we quote his own words: "Do the next thing." "Avoid the use of liquor and tobacco, at least until matu- rity." "Be willing to do any kind of work that is honorable." "Be courteous and careful as to the feelings of others."
ALEXANDER HUGH McCORMICK
R EAR ADMIRAL ALEXANDER HUGH McCORMICK, of Annapolis, United States Navy, retired, is a citizen of Maryland, of Scotch-Irish descent. The name appears in Scotland under the form of McCormack, and in Ireland under the form of McCormick.
Admiral McCormick was born in the District of Columbia on the 9th day of May, 1842. His father, Alexander McCormick, was a lawyer of strong character, who served as assistant private secre- tary to President Fillmore. His mother was Eliza Van Horn. So Admiral McCormick unites strains of Scotch-Irish and Dutch blood in his person. On the paternal side of the family, his earliest known ancestor in this country was his grandfather, who came from Ire- land in 1790 and settled in Frederick, Maryland. His maternal great grandfather, Joshua Beall, came from Scotland, and settled near Beltsville, Maryland. In the maternal line, one of his great- grandfathers was a colonel of the Maryland troops in the Revolu- tionary War, and his maternal grandfather, William Van Horn, represented the fifth Maryland district in the Federal Congress.
Admiral McCormick's early years were spent in the country, and in those youthful years he was very partial to both hunting and reading, his favorite reading being along historical lines. His mother died when he was an infant, and he thus missed what is usually the best influence in a boy's life. From the preparatory school and acad- emy at Bladensburg, Maryland, he entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1859. In 1861 he was graduated from the Naval Academy, and began active life as an officer of the navy in the same year. He entered the navy during the greatest war in his- tory, and from 1861 to 1865 was in active service on the Atlantic coast. In 1866 he was made an instructor of mathematics at the Naval Academy-a very high compliment to so young an officer. He served in that capacity for three years, when he was detailed to the Lancaster, and served on the Brazil station from 1869 to 1872. Eighteen hundred and seventy-two found him again in the Naval
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Academy, as head of the Department of Navigation. He served in that capacity three years. In 1875 he was detailed to the Pensacola on the Pacific station, and in 1876 was promoted commander. From 1877 to 1881, he was assistant to the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, and from 1881 to 1885 he commanded the Essex in a cruise around the world. He was then made inspector of ordnance at the navy yard at Washington, and served four years, until 1889, when he was transferred in the same capacity to New York, and served there until 1892. In 1892 he was promoted captain and placed in command of the Lancaster on the Asiatic station, where he remained until 1894, when he was made captain of the Norfolk navy yard. He held the captaincy of the Norfolk navy yard until January, 1898, when he was detailed to the command of the famous battleship Oregon, which he held from January to March, 1898. He was then compelled to go on sick leave, on account of continued ill health, which kept him out of the active campaign of that year, and he thus missed being in command of the Oregon during that splendid run from the Pacific coast to Cuba. He was able to take up active duty in Octo- ber, 1898, and was made commandant of the navy yard at Wash- ington, which post he filled until March, 1900. In the meanwhile, in 1899, he had been promoted rear admiral, and on the 26th of March, 1900, was retired at his own request from active service, after forty years of service.
Admiral McCormick published in 1880 an ordnance gunnery drill book, this representing his only excursion into the literary field, and that being something pertaining particularly to his own profes- sion, of which he is such a distinguished officer.
He has never been particularly active in club life, but holds membership in the United States Naval Academy Club. Since 1879 he has been a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. His favorite forms of recreation are walking in the country, and whist. Like all of our naval and army officers, he has never been an active politician, but has cast his vote uniformly for the candidates of the Democratic party. He offers as a suggestion to young men, this thought: "Be in earnest in what you undertake, and believe that persistence, with fair ability, is worth more than brilliant intellect without it."
On February 9, 1864, he was married to Isabella Howard, a family name which suggests one of the oldest families in England,
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and one of the most distinguished in America. They have had seven children, four of whom are now living.
Admiral McCormick's career is in respect to its chief features like that of other naval officers. He has been peculiarly distinguished, however, by the great amount of time he has given to the instruction of younger officers and to work in the navy yards of the country; though he has seen a fair share of service afloat and four years of war. The distinguishing feature of his work has been its thoroughness, which has characterized everything he has undertaken, and thus made him a rear admiral at an age when a majority of naval officers are captains. He is now enjoying his well earned leisure, after a generation of faithful public service.
Very truly yours Roulette
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JOSEPH CLINTON ROULETTE
born in Sharpsburg, Maryland, on June 22, 1852; son of William and Margaret A. (Miller) Roulette. His father was a farmer, served two terms as county commissioner, and was much beloved by the people of his district, where he was a recognized leader and the friend of every one. The family in Maryland was founded by the great- grandfather of Mr. Roulette, who, on coming from France, located at the Antietam Iron Works, a community along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, between Sharpsburg and Harper's Ferry. This was more than one hundred and fifty years ago. The first, immi- grant engaged in the iron and coke business, and his son John fol- lowed in his footsteps. John married; had one son William, and died when William was four years old!, and William was reared by his aunts. When he grew up, he adopted the occupation of a farmer, and his farm included the central part of the battlefield of Antietam. Through the whole of that terrible battle-the hardest fought of the Civil War-he remained in his house, though his wife and children had been sent away. His house was used during the battle by the Confederate sharp-shooters, who when they finally retired, respected his request not to burn the house, -- as was done with that of Mr. Mumma, the only other high-placed farm house on the battlefield. The corner of their property is now occupied by the observatory built by the Federal Government. This farm was originally granted to the noted Thomas Cresap by the Land office of Maryland in 1748, and came through different purchasers to William Roulette in 1858.
Joseph Clinton Roulette was a healthy boy, fond of swimming and outdoor sports; and as he grew into manhood took part in country tournaments and other pleasures of his neighbourhood. Heremained on the farm until he was twenty-one years old, and he looks back on that farm training as the most valuable of his life, because it taught him regular habits, regular hours, and gave him wholesome work in the open air. He was fortunate in his mother, a woman of most lov- able character, and exceedingly charitable. She exerted a most power- ful influence, not only upon her immediate family, but also upon the neighbors, and no needy soul ever went away empty from her door. The lad attended the ordinary country schools, and when he was seventeen years old his father gave him a fine colt. He raised the colt and kept it until he arrived at the age of twenty-one, when he sold it, took the money and went to Locustdale Academy, near Cul- peper, Virginia, where he spent a five months' term upon the pro-
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ceeds of the sale. His reading in youth and through life has been distinctly of the practical sort. He has always been partial to the "Scientific American" and similar publications. Anything bearing upon the science of business has for him an attraction.
His first experience in business was as a clerk in a drug store at Boonsboro for six months. From that place he moved to Hagers- town and worked for his board one year in a drug store. The second year he received one hundred dollars for his services. The young man had by that time proved what was in him, and his employer, Mr. M. L. Byers, gave him an interest in the business. He con- tinued at that two years, and then engaged in the grocery business, in which he remained ten years. But he had larger ambitions; pre- ferred a manufacturing line, and wanted a bigger field, so finally in 1888, he made the plunge, and, entirely without experience, and with but little capital, he started upon and developed a new business, the manufacture of "ladies' Swiss-ribbed goods." That was twenty- two years ago. The little factory of twenty-two years ago, with its four work-people sounds rather small alongside of the tremendous modern and thoroughly-equipped plant with its six hundred opera- tives. While developing his business from a manufacturing point, he developed his own method of selling goods, and his entire output goes to twelve of the largest jobbers in the United States. No selling agents or sales manager is required,-the goods go direct from the factory to these big jobbers without any expense for placing them. Evidently his early desire to be a manufacturer was bottomed on the sub-conscious knowledge that he had it in him to make the venture go. Naturally such a successful business has made much money, and he is now reckoned as one of the wealthy men of his section.
He has served, and is serving in many public capacities, hav- ing been Vice-president of the Hagerstown Trust Company; presi- dent of the Civic League for beautifying and improving the city, director in the Home Builders' Association; vestryman in the St. John's Episcopal Church, and member of the city council. He has been tendered and declined the mayoralty nomination. He has had several honorable political propositions urged upon him, notably nominations for comptroller of the state, as well as for governor in 1911, and twice for congressman from the Sixth District, but has per- sistently declined to enter public life by seeking office. Some of these outside matters have given him, after much hard work, very
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keen pleasure in their successful issue. One or two cases are notable. Though not a member of the Merchants and Manufacturers Asso- ciation, he was appointed chairman of the committee constituted by that body to raise the means to build a bridge across the Poto- mac at Williamsport, Maryland, connecting Maryland and West Virginia. For one hundred and fifty years efforts had been made to build a bridge at that point, but were unsuccessful. Mr. Roulette, Hon. Thomas A. Brown and Dr. W. S. Richardson worked out the problem and secured the building of the splendid concrete and steel bridge at a cost of over eighty thousand dollars, which will during the current month declare its first year's dividend of four per cent. As a result of this effort, his friends have dubbed him "the bridge- builder."
Another important matter bearing upon the improvement of the city was to secure a new depot. This involved an enormous amount of very hard work, as there were two railroads to be dealt with who were not working in harmony in this direction. Finally the efforts of the committee appointed by the mayor, of which Mr. Roulette was chairman, prevailed, and they secured the cooperation of the Cumberland Valley and the Western Maryland railroads in the erection of two one hundred thousand dollar depots, which are joined together by passageways making of them practically a union depot. In every move for civic development, Mr. Roulette may be counted upon to the utmost of his strength and ability, and so far every effort he has made in that direction has been crowned with suc- cess.
Not content with all these activities he gave twelve years of service to the National Guard of the State of Maryland as a lieu- tenant of Company A of the First Regiment under Colonel H. Kyd Douglas, and after a faithful service Mr. Roulette was breveted cap- tain.
He is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and Conococheague Club of Hagerstown, a social organization. His political affiliation is with the Republican party, and his preferred form of recreation is automobiling.
Mr. Roulette believes that any young man of honesty, industry good morals and energy who will use ordinarily good judgment and untiring effort, can make a success of his business or professional ventures. Looking back over his own life, he acknowledges his indebt-
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JOSEPH CLINTON ROULETTE
edness, first to his parents, and later to his wife and children, for a beautiful home life, and all through life he has been strengthened, encouraged and upheld by the domestic forces which in his case have been a power for good, and good only.
On January 18, 1877, Mr. Roulette was married to Miss Katie L. Updegraff, daughter of William and Laura Updegraff of Hagers- town. Of the four children born to them, three are now living, two sons: William U. (married Miss Bessie Schindel and has four chil- dren); George E .; and one daughter, Margaret A. (married Rev. Henri L. Kieffer and has one daughter). His sons have grown up active and capable young business men. They are now partners in the firm of J. C. Roulette & Sons, and are the active managers of the business, the (R. A. Knitting Mills), the father now acting chiefly in an advisory capacity. The great factories which have been built up by Mr. Roulette, which give work to six hundred of the people of Hagerstown and Waynesboro, Pennsylvania (where they have a branch factory), are models not only of industry and efficiency, but of comfort for the working people, who have ideal surroundings and every privilege consistent with good work. Among these we desire to suggest the complete sanitary arrangements; the emergency ward for needs in accident or sudden illness; the nicely kept lunch room (in which hot coffee, etc., are furnished free); (both in charge of a competent matron); the night school in which free instructions are given the ambitious operative; and other valuable privileges, alto- gether evidencing an unusual spirit of kindliness and appreciation on the part of employers.
Mr. Roulette's public spirit does not stop with the discharge of civic duty to the town, but extends itself to the care of the people who work with him and for him, and this is perhaps the strongest side of his character. There is a trace of heredity here. Historians tell us that with the Huguenot immigration from France, the indus- trial efficiency of that country disappeared, and that the next hun- dred years down to the French Revolution was one of steady decay. It is a well known historical fact that the Huguenots of France, like the Puritans of England, or the Covenanters of Scotland, were thrifty, industrious, honorable and kindly in their dealings with those who worked for them. The factories of those days were small affairs, consisting usually of the proprietor, a few workmen, and a few appren- tices. They constituted a large, industrious and efficient family, it
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might be said. The modern factory is entirely a different matter; but in so far as the kindly oversight of his working people is con- cerned, Mr. Roulette applies the same principles which character- ized the Huguenot master workmen of the sixteenth century.
CHARLES EDWARD TRAIL
T HE Trail family has been identified with Frederick County for a century, and during the larger half of that century, Charles Edward Trail was the representative of the family. His father, Edward Trail, was descended from the Scotch family of Trail originally found in Blebo, County Fife. The first of the name to become prominent was Walter Trail, an Archbishop of St. Andrews, and it was a nephew of this Walter Trail who is credited with being the real founder of the Scotch family. In 1765, Doctor James Trail, of this family, was consecrated Bishop of Down and Connor, in Ire- land, and relatives of his accompanied him to Ireland and founded the Irish family. The coat of arms goes back to beyond 1418; for in that year Alexander Trail, on account of his marvelous escape from a shipwreck, added the crest and motto.
Edward Trail, the father of Charles E., married Lydia C. Rams- burg, of German extraction, and of this marriage Charles Edward Trail was born in the city of Frederick on January 28, 1826. His father was a successful man, accumulated a good estate, and gave to the son a good education in the local schools, which was completed in Frederick College. He then studied law under Joseph M. Palmer, one of the leaders of the bar in that day, and was admitted as a mem- ber of the Frederick bar in 1849.
About the time of his entering upon the practice of law, Mr. Trail suffered from ill health; and after a year or two at the bar he abandoned the profession and took a tour in Europe. Returning from that with health measurably restored, he definitely abandoned the law, and devoted himself to the care of his large landed estate, which comprised a number of the best farms in the county.
In 1860 he became president of the Isabella Gas Company, a company which had been operating for a dozen or more years with very modest success, and which under his capable management became a very profitable enterprise. 'He eventually became sole owner of the company.
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CHARLES EDWARD TRAIL
On the outbreak of the war between the States, Mr. Trail sided with the Union, and threw his influence into the scale in his part of the country, thus powerfully contributing to keep that section in line with the policies of the Federal government. Mr. Trail prior to the war had been a leader in the councils of the old Whig party, and like a majority of the men of that party in the border states, he gravitated into the Republican party. A skillful writer, having in his earlier life been a frequent contributor to the magazines and period- icals, he composed the first address to the people of Frederick County in support of the Union, and was elected president of the Union League of the county. He was appointed an aide on the staff of Gov- ernor Bradford, and was extremely active in aiding to organize the troops for the field. In 1863 he was elected a member of the House of Delegates, and in 1864 sent to the State Senate, in which he served until 1867; and although urged to stand for a renomination, he declined. In the House he served as chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, and on Military Affairs, and was given the thanks of that body at the end of the session for the energy and fidelity with which he had discharged his important duties. While in the Senate he served as chairman of the Committee on Education, and rendered most valuable aid in the organization of the Maryland sys- tem of public schools. He also served on the Judiciary Committee, for which he was thoroughly qualified by his legal attainments, and won a strong position in the Senate, not only by the soundness of his views, but also by his generosity and liberality toward his oppo- nents.
Colonel Trail was always a man of much dignity, of courtly manners, and much personal charm. Had he cared to remain in politics, he could easily have been one of the foremost public men of his State; but his tastes did not lie in that direction, and his service was given only under the pressure of what seemed to be a stern neces- sity. After retiring to private life, seeing the necessity for a reform in the municipal administration of Frederick he originated, in 1870, a movement to reform the administration, and as president of the board of aldermen for three years contributed most valuable service. During that period, the present fine city hall was erected, Colonel Trail being chairman of the building committee. He served as a member of the board of trustees of the State School for the Deaf, located at Frederick, and took a profound interest in this worthy
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institution, and as chairman of the building committee discharged his duties much to the satisfaction of the board of trustees and the General Assembly. His interest in every form of education has always been keen, and he therefore freely contributed service as president of the board of trustees of the Frederick Female Semi- nary.
In 1870 he was actively interested in the construction of the Frederick and Pennslyvania Railroad, and after serving for several years as a director was in 1878 made president of the line. In 1877 he was disabled for many months as the result of injuries received in a dreadful railroad wreck, but finally recovered fully, and in 1878 became president of the Farmers and Mechanics' National Bank, as successor to Ezra Houck. This old bank dates from 1817, when it was first organized as a branch of the Westminster Bank; then in 1828 became an independent State bank, and in 1865 became a national bank. It has withstood the financial shocks of ninety-three years, during which it has had but six presidents. Mr. Ezra Houck, who was succeeded by Colonel Trail, had been connected with the bank for forty years. Colonel Trail retired from the presidency in 1893, and in 1905, was followed in that position by his son, Honor- able Charles B. Trail, who for years was connected with the United States foreign service. Colonel Trail also gave valuable service to the Frederick Mutual Fire Insurance Company, as its president, in which position he served until his death in 1910.
He gave much time through life to the superintendence of his fine farms near Frederick, all of which are highly improved, and this farm superintendence, together with the hours spent in his excellent library, constituted his chief recreations. His religious affiliation was with the Episcopal Church. His residence, a handsome one built in 1855, was so far in advance of the architecture then prevailing, that it has served a most useful purpose in elevating the standard of taste in that section.
In 1851, Colonel Trail married Ariana, youngest daughter of Dr. John H. McElfresh, one of the prominent citizens of that section, and his young wife accompanied him on his tour over Europe dur- ing that year and the next. He had three sons and four daughters. Florence Trail, a daughter, enjoys considerable reputation as an author; and his eldest son, Charles B. Trail, after a long public ser- vice in the Diplomatic and consular department of the United States
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government, has now succeeded his father in the presidency of the Farmers' and Mechanics' National Bank.
Colonel Trail's unusually long life was spent in one town, and in his sixty years of active labor he never failed his fellow citizens in any emergency when he was needed. This is a record in which his descendants take justifiable pride.
Colonel Trail died May 8, 1910.
CHARLES BAYARD TRAIL
C HARLES BAYARD TRAIL, of Frederick, lawyer, diplomat and banker, comes of an old Scotch family which has been identified with Western Maryland for a number of genera- tions. He was born in Frederick on February 2, 1857, son of Charles E. and Arianna (McElfresh) Trail. His descent is Scotch on both sides. He has in his veins, however, a strain of German blood, as his father's mother, Lydia C. Ramsburg, belonged to the Germans who originally settled Frederick and its vicinity about 1735. The Trail family was settled at Blebo, in County Fife, Scotland, many centuries ago, and the present Scotch family of that name is said to derive its descent from a nephew of Walter Trail, Archbishop of St. Andrews. The McElfresh family, to which Mr. Trail's mother belonged, is an old Scotch family, which has been settled in West- ern Maryland for more than one hundred and fifty years; for the old records of Frederick County show marriages of members of the fam- ily prior to the Revolution, and at least one during the Revolution, when John McElfresh married Rachel Dorsey, on May 4, 1778. Colonel Charles Edward Trail, father of Charles Bayard Trail, was born in 1826, and for a generation was one of the leading men of Maryland.
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