USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, Volume IV > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
1
FRANK HUGHES
N EW JERSEY is counted an old country in America. Settled nearly three hundred years ago, one of the original thirteen colonies, it is very natural for the people of the new States to look upon New Jersey as a very old section of the country, practi- cally finished as to its development. In these latter days, however, we are waking up to the fact that, while New England and the Middle States are not serious competitors with the newer States of the West and South as to ordinary field crops, they have developed along lines of perhaps equal importance with the agricultural interests; have enjoyed a prosperity unknown in the older days of agricultural supremacy, and have entered upon a new period of growth and de- velopment which afford great opportunities to men of courage and enterprise. Some farsighted men saw this before the rest of us could grasp it.
One of these farsighted men, a native of Maryland, now domi- ciled in "New Jersey, is Frank Hughes, of Passaic, who was born in "Baltimore, November 28, 1860. Mr. Hughes is a thorough business man, a developer-and his life reads like a business epic. He is a son of John Hughes, a native of Belfast, Ireland, who came from that country in 1853, with other members of his family, settling first at North East, Maryland, and soon thereafter in Baltimore. He married Mary A. Dawson, who was a cousin of Johns Hopkins, the Baltimore capitalist who founded the University and Hospital- his grandmother having been Roberta Hopkins, who married Robert Dawson. Mr. Hughes' mother was also a grand-niece of General James Sewell, a notable. soldier and politicial leader of the earlier part of the last century (whose name is commemorated in Sewell's Point) who was in command of Fort McHenry for a time during the War of 1812, when'its defense led to that inspiring poem "The Star Spangled Banner," and who was later a candidate for governor of Maryland. His country seat, "Holly Hall" in Cecil County, is well preserved and is ove of the historic homes of that section. John Hughes, father of our subject, though coming from the Scotch-Irish
39 W
40
FRANK HUGHES
section of Ireland, and born at Bambridge, a suburb of Belfast, was probably of Welsh descent. The reasons for this belief are found in the fact that at least two Hughes families of Welsh origin migrated to Ireland. The family was almost unknown in Scotland; and Wales being just across the Channel from Ireland, Hughes not being an original Irish name, it is therefore reasonable that the Irish Hughes are of Welsh stock. A peculiar feature of some of these Hughes families is their long line of descent, which has been established by authentic documents -- the parent Hughes family of Wales showing a line of twenty-eight generations from Rhodri Mawr, who was king of all Wales in 843.
After John Hughes settled in Baltimore, he became a merchant and engaged in the salt and provision trade .. The break-up of business occasioned during the Civil War by Butler's occupation of Baltimore, compelled him to leave Baltimore, and he settled in New York, where he became a shipping merchant and a trader on the Produce Exchange. His early training in life had been in the linen business in Belfast, and in company with his brother, George Hughes, he founded the firm of George Hughes and Company, linen merchants, located at 198 and 200 Church Street, New York, and which was accounted as the largest house in the linen trade in our country. . But the celebrated privateer Alabama destroyed his ships, and in 1868, he found himself compelled to abandon his mercantile business. He then moved to Plainfield, New Jersey, becoming a dealer in real estate, and purchased a large tract of land at Athenia, two miles from Passaic, which he improved at an expense of over two hundred thou- sand dollars. This venture, coupled with endorsements on his brother's paper for large amounts, followed by the panic of 1873, wrecked him financially. As a result of these reverses, in 1876. the family returned to the farm on Chesapeake Bay, which had been formerly their summer home.
In the meantime Frank Hughes had been growing up. He was a studious boy, of slight physique; and the life on a farm did not ap- peal to him. The Pennsylvania Railroad ran through the farm. The lad became interested in the block system of telegraphy and decided to study telegraphy, because it seemed to offer an oppor- tunity. In 1882, he went to Philadelphia; took a brief course in a technical school, working and paying his way, and secured a position as operator on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad,
41
FRANK HUGHES
locating at Clifton, near Passaic. This was the locality in which his father had lost his money. The young man became impressed that there was a field for real estate developement in that section. Pas- saic was then a little town of sixty-five hundred people. That Mr. Hughes was farsighted is shown by the result. He decided to enter : the real estate field in Passaic, and about March 1, 1886, he opened a small office on Bloomfield Avenue and made his modest announce- ment in the Daily News. He had already located the Clifton Rubber Company-a successful deal-and this encouraged him in his efforts. But, even with this encouragment, the field looked rather bare. Old and experienced men had apparently covered the territory thor- oughly. Not deterred by these facts, without capital and with the strong competition of established men, Mr. Hughes entered the field and fought his way upward and forward, until in the twenty- five years which have since elapsed, he has wrought himself for- ward to be the leader in his county in his line of business, and probably has achieved greater results than any other man in the State. It is not too much to say that he has done more to- wards the upbuilding of Passaic than any other man; and since he opened his little office on Bloomfield Avenue, he has seen the town grow to a city of sixty thousand, and to that result has contributed most largely nearly all of Passaic's large mills being brought there by him.
He was wise enough in his earlier years to go into other fields. In 1889 and 1890 he was employed by the boards of trade in several large towns in the Indiana natural gas fields, and spent a part of his time in those years, aiding in the development of that section. His business operations have carried him as far afield as California, and he has figured in many of the larger deals in New York City, includ- ing the recent sale of Madison Square Garden, which marked an epoch in New York real estate. He ranks with the leading real estate brokers.
He is one of those men who inspire confidence and has been able to bring to his help the capital needed to carry out his broad and. progressive ideas, amal he organized the following companies to develop Passaic properties: The Passaic Park Company; Passaic Bridge Land Company; Hillside Land Company; Main Avenue Improvement Company; Minerva Land Company; Passaic City Land Company; Passaic Homestead Company; Crescent Real Estate Company;
42
FRANK HUGHES
J. L. Hutchinson Land Company; Cooley Land Company; The Lujanovits Land Company; Henle Land Company; the Park Heights Land and Water Company; Clifton Development Company, and Lakeview Heights Association. In addition to that, he was one of the leaders in the organization of the Hobart Trust Company, of which he is vice-president; and is also interested in several other banks and trust companies in New York and Passaic. He is still president or treasurer of most of these companies. In addition to these, he is president of the Dundee Textile Company, one of Passaic's largest manufacturing concerns, and the Passaic Investment Company. He is also treasurer of the Montross Bond and Realty Company; the West 77th Street Company, and the Fifty-Eighth Street and Seventh Avenue Company of New York City. . He has been a president of the board of trade; member of the board of governors of the Pas- saic General Hospital, and a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association; member of the Maryland Society and City Lunch Club of New York City, besides two or three yacht clubs.
...
An interesting story is that in connection with his present office building. There was in the heart of the city a little triangular piece of land, directly in front of the city hall, and in full view of the railroad station. Originally bought by John M. Howe in 1852, when Passaic was, a country village, it passed into the hands of Henry Frain in 1872, for a consideration of twelve hundred and fifty dollars. "He sold it in the boom days of 1875, for eighty-five hundred dollars; and in December, 1876, had to take it back for six thousand dollars. It proved a bone of contention for many years. Occupied by an unsightly little wooden shack, which was used as a beer saloon, it was an eyesore to the people of the city. Several times the city tried to buy it for public purposes, but could not agree as to the price with the owner. Finally, after five years of effort, Mr. Hughes bought it in December, 1893, and offered it to the city for twenty-five hundred dollars less than he paid. After nearly a year of talk, the council rejected this offer. Mr. Hughes then built upon it his present unique office building, which is used for the carrying on of his real estate, loan and insurance business.
What has been written here will clearly convey to the mind of the reader the fact that Frank Hughes is one of the most valuable citizens of Passaic in relation to its material development. But this is only one side of the man's life. He has never taken an active
43
FRANK HUGHES
part in politics in the usual meaning of political activity, but has taken a keen interest. Originally a Democrat, he became a convert to the Republican theory of protection, and in 1887 aligned himself with the Republican party, with which he has since voted. His reading through life has taken a wide range. Partial to the history of our own country and to ancient history, he has also been a liberal reader of general literature-but above all other books he places the Bible, and it is not surprising therefore to find him in active affiliation with the Reformed Church in America.
In looking back over his life, Mr. Hughes says that to some extent he was driven by circumstances, but he believes that he always had high ambitions, which crystallized in active effort when, in 1886, the care of the family was placed upon his shoulders. As to the influences which have governed him, he rates his own private study as chief, followed by contact with his fellow men, and that by the influences of home and school.
He is partial to shooting, driving and yachting as means of recreation. He believes that any young man can improve over the life of any other man by studying his failures and striving to avoid them in his own case. A strong believer in the doctrines of the Bible, he thinks the young man entering life should make it his guide; that he should put first his duty to God, regardless of what any may say of, or to him. This will cover all of human life as re- gards the practical virtues of temperance, honesty and right living.
r. Hughes was married on May 23, 1889, to Miss Inez May Thurston. To them have been born three children, Gladys M., Frank R. and Grace L. Hughes.
T. HERBERT SHRIVER
T HE counties of Carroll, Frederick and Washington, which form the eastern extremity of what is commonly known as Western Maryland, have been for generations the nursery from which has come forth a great multitude of the best citizens, not only of Maryland, but of other States of the Union. The three counties mentioned formed a sort of apex to which converged a num- ber of racial lines. From the North and from the old country direct came the German; from Eastern and Southern Maryland came the Englishman and the Irishman; from Pennsylvania and also direct from the old country came a little sprinkle of Scotchmen and Scotch-Irishmen. Out of this crucible of the nations has come a citizenship equal to that of any section of our country. Perhaps the strongest element in this mixing-up of divers peoples was the German -in Frederick, where it was the most numerous, and in Carroll and Washington, where it was strong. One of the strongest of these . German families is that family which we now know as Shriver. This was not the original German name. In the second volume of George Norbury Mackenzie's Colonial Families, there appears a history of this family from which it is shown that the original name was Schreiber, that this family can trace its family history back to the year 1206; and that it was of noble lineage in Germany is proven by the fact that in that year Heinrich Schreiber was spoken of as a knight of noble lineage. The Maryland family derives its descent in an unbroken line from Lorenz and Margarete Schreiber, both of whom died in 1684, and were natives of Abzenborn, Electorate Palatine, Oberamt Lautern, Germany. Within the next one hun- dred years after the death of Lorenz Schreiber, the name went through a. evolution, and was Americanized into Shriver. It has been identified with Carroll County for one hundred and fifty years at least, for we know that David Shriver, senior, settled in Carroll County prior to 1769, in which year his son, David Shriver, junior. was born. The number of strong men descended from David Shriver, senior, has been so great, that it is worth while to stop for a moment
44
·
yours Truly J.It Shriver
$70€
T. HERBERT SHRIVER
and consider them. David, junior, lived until 1852; he married Eva Sherman; and in partnership with his brother, Andrew, began his business life by an improvement of the property at Union Mills. David gave up his business to become a road builder as superintend- ent of the Reistertown turnpike. He then became in 1806, superin- tendent of construction of the national road from Cumberland to Wheeling, Virginia. He was a strong man and ready to take any risks in the discharge of his duty. He made the surveys for the ex- tension of the national road from Wheeling to St. Louis, Missouri; became a commissioner of public works for the federal government; finally settled in Cumberland and served as a bank president until his death. Abraham Shriver, brother of David, junior, was a farmer, merchant and lawyer. From 1805 until 1843, he was an associate judge of the fifth judicial circuit of Maryland-nearly forty years. He was a blunt, strong man, with an inherent love of justice, and one of the founders of the Democratic party in the nation. One of his daughters married Charles A. Gambrill, founder of the great milling firm of Baltimore known as Charles A. Gambrill and Company. One of his sons was General Edward Shriver, lawyer and strong supporter of the federal government during the war, which he served with ability, and later in the public life of the State filled many im- portant public positions. Going back a little to Andrew, son of David, senior, we find that he had a son, Captain Thomas Shriver. Like other members of the family, he had strong mechanical tastes, · and was actively interested in his earlier years in milling. In 1826, he removed to Frederick and became interested in introducing water works into that city. After some other changes, he settled in Cumberland in 1834, and became interested in stage lines. He was several times mayor of Cumberland. Moving finally to New York, he founded the firm of T. Shriver and Company. He lived to the great age of ninety. Politically, he was a Whig. Andrew had another son, James. James also became a builder of public works, `his efforts being in the direction of canal building. He put in faith- ful work on the mountain section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and was serving the government in the service of the Wabash Canal in Indiana, about 1826, and died while in that service. James had a son, Samuel Shriver, who for some time was principal of the academy at Union Mills; was then a merchant, and finally entered the Pres- byterian ministry, in which the remainder of his life was spent.
48
T. HERBERT SHRIVER
+
Andrew had another son, Joseph. He assisted his brother James on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal; worked on the national road west of Cleveland, and became official chief engineer. Subsequently he was interested in the surveys of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; became interested in banking in Cumberland, in 1833, and resusci- tated a broken-down bank, which he managed with distinguished ability. Originally a Whig, in later life he became a Republican. Joseph had a son, Robert, who succeeded his father in the presidency of the bank in Cumberland, which was originally established in 1811, under the title of the Cumberland Bank; reorganized in 1833, and in 1864 became the First National. These are merely a few of the more prominent members of the Shriver family of Union Mills. In the present generation the family is represented among others, by Thomas Herbert Shriver, whose residence is at Union Mills, and whose large business interests are in Westminster.
Thomas Herbert Shriver was born in Union Mills February 19, 1846; son of William and Mary M. J. Owings Shriver. His father combined the occupations of miller and farmer; was a man of intense patriotism, and of a very high sense of honor in all the relations of life. William Shriver was born at Union Mills in 1797. He contin- ued the milling business there established by his father, and also greatly improved the homestead estate. He was one of the organizers and a director of what was known as the Reistertown turn pike, running from Baltimore to Reistertown. His brother, John Shriver, was for many years president of the Ericson Line of Steamships running between Baltimore and Philadelphia. William Shriver sur- vived, until June 11, 1879, being in his eighty-third year at the time of his death. He had the same strong qualities which characterized other members of the family alluded to in this sketch.
Thomas H. Shriver was sent to local schools; was taught by private tutors, and was preparing for a college career upon the out- break of the War between the States. On June 2S, 1863, just entering his seventeenth year, he enlisted in the Confederate army; took part in the battle of Gettysburg almost immediately after his enlistment. and participated in several cavalry engagements which occurred in the retreat of the army to Northern Virginia after the battle of Gettysburg, On account of his youth, he was detailed as a student in the .Virginia Military Institute, and became a member of that famous cadet corps which won undying glory in the last year of the
49
T. HERBERT SHRIVER
war and in the battle of New Market made a record unsurpassed by the veteran soldiers of either army.
On May 15, 1865, he surrendered; returned to Baltimore, and took up commercial life. Years later, in 1882, he received his diploma from the Virginia Military Institute conferred upon all who had participated in the battle of New Market. For several years he filled clerical positions, and was a traveling salesman. Since that time he has been a farmer, a miller and a banker, and has had a remarkably successful career in a business way. The B. F. Shriver Company, of Carroll County, canners of fruits and vegetables, ranks among the largest concerns in Maryland and indeed in the United States in that line of business. The principal owners of the business are Mr. T. H. Shriver and his brother, B. F. Shriver. In 1904, the business was incorporated, and Mr. T. H. Shriver has been president since that. time.
Politically, he has been a lifelong Democrat, and in 1908 was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In 1878-80, Mr. Shriver served as a member of the General Assembly in the lower house. In 1884, he served as a member of the State Senate. In 1888, he was appointed deputy.collector of the port of Baltimore. Lately he has been frequently mentioned as the next nomiree for governor of. Maryland of the Democratic party. He is an active member of the Knights of Columbus, and holds the position of Grand Knight of the Westminster Lodge. During the administra- tions of Governors Lloyd and Jackson he served on the Governors' . Staffs.
Mr. Shriver is an active, earnest and prominent member of the Roman Catholic Church. He has a beautiful home at Union Mills, and there Cardinal Gibbons, the Primate of the American Catholic Church, spends weeks at a time, regarding it almost as a second home.
In every relation of life, Thomas H. Shriver has lived up to the highest standard. He has won a large measure of business success; has filled honorable public positions with fidelity; has served his country in war in accordance with his convictions; has reached the age of sixty-five without the slightest reflection upon his character in any way; has won the general esteem of the people among whom his life has been spent, and where his family has been known for gen- erations. He can look forward to the declining years of life with the
.
.
50
T. HERBERT SHRIVER
consciousness that he has discharged his duty in full as God has given him power to see it.
Mr. Shriver was married on February 16, 1880, to Elizabeth R. Lawson. They have four children: Hilda, Joseph N., Robert T. and William H. Shriver.
BE JOHNSON IME WASHINGTONDC
.
=
-
WILLIAM IRVINE CROSS
W. ILLIAM IRVINE CROSS, now a leading member of the Baltimore bar, is a Baltimorean born, descended from a family which on the paternal side can trace its line as far back as the times of Edward I in England. At that time this family was settled in what is now the city of Wigan, England. English genealogists give two derivations of the name, one from the Norman St. Croix, which in 1180, appears under the form of De St. Cruce. The same name appears in England in 1199, as De Cruce, from which the evolution was into the English equivalent of Cross, dropping the French de. Other families of the name are claimed to have been of original English stock and merely adopted the cross, the symbol of the Christian faith, for the surname. The Wigan family of Crosses- who, by the way, spelled the name in those days Crosse-afterwards settled at Cross Hall, Liverpool, and yet later at Cross Hall and Shaw Hill, Chorley. In the immediate line of descent of William I. Cross, there comes into sight John Cross (I) of Liverpool, born 1559, died 1630. During his life he served as mayor of Liverpool, and it is entirely probable that the coat of arms now held by this branch of the Cross family was granted while he was mayor of that city, such being the common. custom in England. John Cross (I) was father of John Cross (II). John Cross (II) was father of John Cross (III), who appears to have been settled at Chorley, and was probably the first of the name to move from Liverpool to Chorley. Later he moved to Clones, Ireland. His wife's name was Margaret. John Cross (III) died at Clones in 1699. The next figure in the line is Richard Gross, son of John Cross (III), who was born at Clones, Ireland, and died there in 1740. His wife was named Phyllis. John Cross (IV), born 1730, son of Richard, emigrated to Maryland. He was married March 3, 1760, to Pan Young, who was born January 6, 1743. He was, therefore, thirty, and his wife seventeen, at the time of their marriage, John Cross (IV) spent many years of his life in Maryland, dying in Baltimore, September 29, 1807, and was sur- vived nearly nineteen years by his wife, who lived until March 6,
53 JU
.
54
WILLIAM IRVINE CROSS
1826. William Stewart Cross, son of John Cross and his wife, Jean Young, was born in East Nottingham, Maryland, January 18, 1780, and died in Baltimore, October 3, 1827. His wife was Jane A. Boyd, born August 24, 1782, and died August 13, 1820. William Stewart Cross and his wife are the only ones in all these generations who did not live to a ripe old age. Their son, Andrew Boyd Cross, was born in Baltimore, November 12, 1810, and died in that city November 6, 1889, lacking but six days of being seventy-nine years of age. He married, May 12, 1836, Margaret Irvine Dickey, who was born May 8, 1813, and died May 2, 1882. She lacked but six days of being sixty-nine years old. Of this marriage, William Irvine Cross was born in Baltimore, February 20, 1852.
His mother's antecedents were evidently Scotch; and Andrew Boyd Cross's middle name is also suggestive of a strain of Scotch . blood in the family prior to his time, as Boyd is distinctively a Scotch name. Andrew Boyd Cross was a Presbyterian clergyman, and as was to be expected from such a man, looked carefully after the edu- cation of his son. William I. Cross went through several other schools in Baltimore City and George G. Carey's Preparatory School; and thence to Princeton University, where he was graduated with the class of 1873, with the degree A. B. In 1876, the degree of A.M. was conferred by Princeton. Mr. Cross then entered the law depart- ment of the University of Maryland and was graduated in 1879.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.