USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, Volume IV > Part 7
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Mr. Knapp shows an unusual combination. Few inventors are strong financiers, but he combines these qualities, and his financial ability has been recognized by his election as a director of the Baltimore Trust Company and other large financial institutions. His life has been spent along useful lines. He has been largely ab- sorbed in finding better ways to do things, and has therefore con- tributed much to the general mechanical improvement which has been so notable a feature of the last thirty years. His position in his chosen field is second to that of no other man.
Reference has been made to the English Knapps, and the records show this to have been a very ancient family in the County of Devon-the name.having probably been derived from the Anglo- Saxon Cnapa. This is borne out by the appearance in one of the ancient rolls some seven or eight centuries ago of the name of De La Cnapp. Long centuries ago these English Knapps won the right to use coat armor.
THOMAS MORRIS CHANEY
T HE family name of Chaney appears to have been French or Flemish, the Flemish forms being Chenee and Chiny; Nor- man, Quesnay; the old French forms, Chesnais and Chesnee. In England the name first appears on the Roll of Battle Abbey among the followers of William The Conqueror, where it appears as Cheyne and Cheyni. Robert de Chesney was Bishop of Lincoln in 1147. Richard Cheyney was Bishop of Lincoln in 1652. William de Chesne appears on the Roll in the time of King John, 1208. The next English evolution of the name seems to have been Cheney, which is the common form in England; and from that into Chaney, which appears to be an Americanism.
Of this ancient stock comes Doctor Thomas Morris Chaney, of Chaney, Calvert County, who was born in Richmond, Virginia, September 28, 1841; son of Reverend James T. and Martha (Sunder- land) Chaney. His father combined the vocation of minister with farming, and after settling in Maryland, served as judge of the orphans' court of Calvert County. He was a man of sincerity of character and much tenacity of purpose. On both sides of the family Doctor Chaney's people came from England, Thomas Chaney being the English immigrant on the paternal side; and Cosmo Sunderland being the immigrant on the maternal side.
Doctor Chaney was a healthy and active country boy; fond of games; and when not at school was required to take part in the farm · work in the tobacco and wheat fields, always having the special charge of feeding the stock. He recalls that his mother's influence was strong on his intellectual, as well as his inoral life. She required him to memorize selections in prose and poetry; and even to the present time he says that in his lonely rides he often recalls these old bits of literature with much pleasure. He attended private schools and the West River Classical Institute. From these he went to Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from which he was g1. Juated in 1862 with the degree of A.B., and in 1871, Dickinson College conferred upon him the degree of A.M. In 1862 he took
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.. up school teaching, feeling that his father had done enough for him, and from the proceeds of his school teaching he paid his way through the medical department of the University of Maryland, which he entered in 1864, and was graduated in 1866 with his doctor's degree. He recalls that while teaching he was impressed by the success in his studies of one pupil who had the ability to concentrate his attention in spite of any surroundings, and just at this juncture he read the life of Benjamin Franklin, and with the reading of that book and the object lesson before his eyes be became convinced that any one with fair preparation, could achieve some success in life by application and concentration. The life of Franklin had a marked influence upon him-it set his taste for biography, and he regards the reading of biography as one of the strongest influences of his life. In later life, he has had much help from the writings of Orison Swett Marden.
Before settling down to the active practice, Doctor Chaney was attached to the United States army for three years, one year as a medical cadet, and two years as assistant surgeon. Since 1868, he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
On November 19, 1873, Doctor Chaney was married to Miss Emma Chaney. Of the eight children born to them, seven are living.
He has been active in other directions than his medical work. A member of the Methodist Church, he has given much, work to the cause of religion, especially the Sunday School department, and is now president of the County Sunday School Association. Strongly opposed to the liquor traffic, he is also president of the County Anti-Saloon League, His political affiliation through life has been with the Republican party. He has the distinction of being the . first health officer of Calvert County, appointed in 1898, and held the position for three years. He then moved to Baltimore to obtain better educational advantages for some of his children, and on his return was again made health officer of the county, which position he still holds. Like everyone should do, he magnifies his work- he sees the importance of these health officers; and his work has not only been `commended by the local physicians, but by Doctor Fulton, secretary of the State board of health in his reports to the governor. H would like to see health officers paid such salaries as would justify their giving their entire time to this public work.
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He believes if that could be done, the dangers of infectious and contagious diseases would be so greatly lessened as to be but : negligible factor. He holds membership in the Phi Kappa Pri college fraternity; Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland: American Medical Association, and the Alumni Association of the University of Maryland. In 1906, he served as vice-president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty. In 1908, he was president of the Alumni Association School of Medicine of the University of Maryland. He is now president of the County Medical Society. For change and relaxation, he turns to fruit culture and to raising a few good horses, being very partial to horseback riding, which he has found helpful to him in a physical way.
Speaking of his own life, he says he "could have done more by greater industry and without any disadvantage to my health. Could have done more in my profession by concentrating my attention upon one special line." He also says that he has been too timid in undertaking work that appeared difficult and in which he has seen some others fail. He now believes that it is better to try, even when there is a considerable chance of failure, than not to try. Failure shows our weakness and should be profitable. It should not discourage us, nor should we be ashamed of it. Il these views, Doctor Chaney is concentrating the wisdom of ages.
For young people starting out in the world, he regards good health as of first importance; and to maintain this good health he believes that total abstinence from intoxicating liquors and a moral life are essential; that connection with the church, Christian associations, and membership in an athletic club, all have power in preventing bad habits, as association with persons to be met with in these organizations inspire ideals that are helpful to those who would attain success.
Doctor Chaney has spent forty years as a country physician. That statement, without any enlargement, is a sufficient certificate of the usefulness of his life.
THOMAS GEORGE HANLEY
T HOMAS G. HANLEY, head of the substantial firm of Thomas G. Hanley and Son who operate the Berlin Roller Mills and are dealers in pine, cypress and oak lumber, was born in Bradford, Ontario, Canada, April 6, 1848; son of James and Olive (Rogers) Hanley.
There are some features of Mr. Hanley's family that are worthy of consideration in this day of race suicide. He has a family of nine children-six sons and three daughters. His father, James Hanley, was a son of William Hanley, who was born in Cornwall, England, and married Ann Gooch Sturbridge, December 13, 1813. They had ten children: John, William, Thomas, James, Kittie, Ann, Reuben, Samuel, Joseph, and one other. Of these children, John and William became members of the Canadian House of Parliament. His uncle, Thomas, for whom Mr. Hanley was named, is now living at the age of ninety-two. His father, James, died in 1891, at the age of seventy.
William Hanley and his wife settled in Canada, where their children were reared and where James Hanley, his son, married Olive Rogers, who, though born in Canada, was a daughter of Isaac Rogers, who was born near Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Elizabeth Rogers, was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Isaac and Elizabeth Rogers. were the parents of fifteen children. Isaac Rogers was a man of extraordinary energy, great force of char- acter, and much business ability-all of which he needed with a family of fifteen children. One of the sons of Isaac Rogers, George Rogers, became a member of the Canadian House of Parliment. So in Mr. Hanley's immediate family there have been three members of Parliament.
Thomas G. Hanley's family moved from Canada to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in his boyhood, and at the age of eleven and a half years young Hanley left home and since that time has made his own way in the world. At fourteen years of age, he settled in Har- rington, Delaware. His school training was of the scantiest sort,
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and his education has been obtained in the hard school of practical life. In his early manhood, he was a butcher for three years; and then engaged in the lumber business. This has been his principal interest for thirty years. Mr. Hanley has made a success of his business operations. He is the owner of two thousand acres of land, of which five hundred is embraced in an excellent stock farm, and one thousand is in splendid timber. He planned and built from his own designs his residence and all the buildings upon his farms, using his own lumber. In addition to operating his mills, he is a dealer in pire, cypress and oak lumber, and is a stockholder in the Calvin B. Taylor Banking Company of Berlin.
On January 16, 1872, Mr. Hanley was :narried to Miss Martha Harrington, of Harrington, Delaware. They have nine children. Walter Elmer Hanley is now superintendent of the post office at Jacksonville, Florida, on a very handsome salary. He is the eldest. In their order the others are: Clarence White, Theron Ball, Thomas Rinaldo, Annie, Huntington Harrington, Bessie, William, and Mary Hanley. The sixth child, H. H., is with the Franklin National Bank of Philadelphia.
Outside of his business, Mr. Hanley has no affiliation with any interests of any kind except the Democratic party; and though he has never been an office seeker, he is an ardent politician in a way, and classes himself as a "dyed in the wool" Democrat.
Mrs. Hanley's parents were Benjamin and Rhoda (Harrington) Harrington. Her mother's maiden name was Harrington, but she was no blood relative of her husband. Mrs. Hanley's grandfather died in 1875. Had he lived until February 22, 1876, he would have been one hundred years old, and he had planned to attend the Centennial Expo- sition at Philadelphia.
Mr. Hanley himself comes of old British stock, the counties of Cornwall and Devon having been the last refuge of the old British stock when the country was first overrun by the Romans, and later by the Saxons. Burke gives the coat of arms of the Hanleys of Cornwall and Devon as follows: "On a blue ground, three goats in silver attired in .gold."
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RICHARD GARDINER CHANEY
R ICHARD G. CHANEY, now and for many years past promi- nent in the business life of Annapolis, is a native of Maryland, born at Tulip Hill on the West River, a son of Mareen Duvall and Emily Maria (Gardiner) Chaney.
Mr. Chaney's father was by occupation a farmer, an intelligent man keenly interested in history, and with a wonderful memory for ·historical events; he served his neighborhood as justice of the peace, and for a time was superintendent of the State House in Annapolis. One of his great-grand-fathers was Elijah Chaney, who came from England about the Revolutionary period and settled in Anne Arundel County. Three brothers came from England, Richard, Elijah and Elisha and settled at South River, Anne Arundel County. It is probable that this Elijah Chaney was related to Richard Chaney who was granted a landed estate on South River in 1660. Another great- grand-father of Mr. Chaney was Judge Gabriel Duvall, who was a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States at the time when Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was at the head of that court.
The Duvall family is one of the ancient Huguenot families of Maryland, which has furnished some notable citizens to the country. The old records show that, in addition to the Duvalls, these Chaneys have intermarried with the Warfields and other prominent families; and Mr. Chaney could, if he so desired, trace up a remote connection with the Taft family, of which President Taft is a member, and with the old Martin family of Virginia.
Mr. Chaney was a healthy and energetic boy, with a strong partiality for live stock, and the fondness of a healthy country boy for a fine horse. His father was a wise man, and saw to it that he had regular hours of work on the farm, and thus reared him in habits of industry. His mother was everything that a good mother should be, and the boy's environment was of a most favorable character. He attended the country school, and as a youth engaged in farming on his own account. In 1889, he moved to Annapolis and engaged in the liver: business. Prior to that, on February 24, 1SS6, Mr. Chaney had been married to Miss Sarah Frances Anderson, and to
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them have been born four children, all of whom are living. His eldest son, Dr. R. Gardiner Chaney, now a young man of twenty- three, was graduated from the College of Dental Surgery, in Balti- more, in May, 1911, and has established himself in Annapolis for the practice of his profession, with a very promising future.
Mr. Chaney engaged in business, in Annapolis, with a small capital, the ambition to acquire a competency, habits of industry and personal integrity-combined with which, he possessed a large measure of perseverance, and to this he attributes the substantial measure of business success which he has won. He has become, in his com- munity, not only a man of substantial means, but he is recognized as a public-spirited citizen who can be depended on to render useful ser- vice to the community when needed, irrespective of any direct per- sonal advantage to himself. In 1909, he became a member of the city council, which is the only public office he has filled.
He has given his political allegiance throughout life, to the Dem- ocratic party-and in Maryland, where the political battles are waged most fiercely, to say that one is a Democrat or a Republican means that, when the political conflicts come on, he is on the firing line. In fraternal circles, Mr. Chaney is a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias and other similar organizations. His religious affiliation is with the Protestant Episcopal church-his membership being in St. Anne's Parish.
The Chaney family name presents a rather interesting study- the spelling Chaney is purely American, and does not appear at all on the old British records, where the common spellings are: Cheney, Cheyney and Cheyne. The name came into England with the Nor- man conquest, and is of Norman-French origin, derived either from Chenee or Chiny, which are Flemish names, or Quesnay, which is . Norman. The French from of the name is Chesnais, Chesnee, pro- nounced exactly as the English name is pronounced. In the roll of Battle Abbey, supposedly made up of the followers of William the Conqueror, it appears under the forms of Cheyne, Cheines and Cheyni. A member of this family was Bishop of Lincoln in 1147; another one appears as one of the names on the old rolls of land-owners in 1208; another was Bishop of Lincoln in 1562. A curious form of this name appears in Chesney; one of the tribe evidently strayed over the line to Scotland, and promptly became a Mac, from which we get the Americanized family, MacChesney.
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There is a very interesting legend in connection with the Cheney family-according to the tradition, Sir John Cheney, of Sherland, an able soldier serving under Henry of Richmond, on the battle-field of Bosworth encountered King Richard III, by whom he was stricken senseless, had the crest of his helmet struck off and his head laid bare; recovering from the stunning effects of the blow, and seeing near him the hide of an ox, with a part of the skull and horns, he cut these off, covered his bare head with them and rushed back into the battle. As the story goes, this attracted the attention of Henry whe, on being proclaimed king, assigned to Cheney for his crest, the bull's horns, which his descendants still bear. Whether this particular story be true or not, certain it is that Sir John Cheney was a main instrument in bringing about the successful issue of Henry's cause, and was by him created Baron Cheney and made a Knight of the Garter-also, the bull's horn: crest still remains-so evidently the story has some foundation. The family has always stood high in England; and in the colonial period of America was founded in Massachusetts by John and William, and in Maryland by Richard. From these three, nearly all of the American Chaneys are descended.
The spelling has been changed, in our country, from Cheney to Chaney, so as to correspond with the pronunciation.
In an old fifteenth century roll of arms appears a description and a rude cut of the arms of Sir John Chayne, as follows: Azure, six lioncels silver and a quarter ermine.
In old Thomas Wall's Book of Crests, published in 1530, appears under the heading of "Men made Knights by Henry VII" the fol- lowing: Cheyny of Kent beryth to his crest two bulles hornes silver roted gold mantelyd geules doubled silver his bage a half a rose geules the sonne beames commyng owt of hit gold. Quaint English that!
THOMAS ALEXANDER SMITH
1 HOMAS A. SMITH of Ridgely, Caroline County, farmer, capitalist and Congressman, was born near Greenwood, Kent County, Delaware, on September 3, 1850; son of Sylvester and Sarah Elizabeth (Guillett) Smith. The elder Smith was a farmer; a man of independence, honesty, energy and firmness. He was both progressive, and aggressive, and served as a county com- missioner and president of the town commissioners of Ridgely.
Mr. Smith's ancestral line is made up of English and Scotch people. Among them figures such men as the Saulsburys, the Todds and Hardestys, who have served the State as lawyers, physicians, clergymen and public men. Mr. Smith's mother died when he was but two years of age. His boyhood was spent in the country, a rugged and healthy lad, who worked hard on the farm. Of this period he says that "it kept me out of mischief, formed habits of industry and perseverance and developed muscle." He delighted in boyhood sports and amusements. Three months in the year were given to the public schools, and he says himself that a life of labor gave him but little time for reading, besides which his inclina- tions did not lead that way. However, after going through the local schools, he spent one year in the high school, of Denton.
Always profoundly interested in agriculture, his taste for farm- ing has remained with him through life and has governed his busi- ness pursuits. In reviewing his career, he is impressed that the "observation and association with men of affairs and an absorbing ambition to learn more and be more useful" were the first incentives which impelled him to strive for success. The home influences were also cast in the same direction. Just before attaining manhood, he began to realize the value of private study, and in January, 1872 the boy who did not like to read began his own work as a school teacher in Delaware. As evidence of the fact that he had made good use of his opportunities, upon examination by the county superintendent of educatie- , he received a first-grade certificate. 1873 found him teach- ing in Maryland, and 1874 in Michigan. In 1875 he returned from the West and settled in Ridgely and was appointed in 1876 agent of
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the Pennsylvania Railroad at Ridgely. This position he held for more than thirty-four years. From 1889 to 1903, a period of fourteen years, he served as one of the school commissioners of the county.
On September 10, 1878, Mr. Smith was married to Adah Clayton Frazer, daughter of James H. Frazer, of Detroit, Michigan, and to them have been born four children, of whom three are living. One daughter, Alice Anita, is now Mrs. Doctor W. M. Carmine. The other children are: Miss Elsie Silvester Smith and Thomas A. Smith, Junior.
Mrs. Smith's paternal grandfather was one of the famous "Green Mountain Boys" of the Revolution, whose deeds have been celebrated · both in history and in fiction. Her mother was Alice Van Arsdale Clayton, a member of the o'd Clayton family of New York State.
A man of Mr. Smith's energy and capacity could not be chained - down merely to the duties of railroad agent in a small town; and so by the time that he had fairly jostled into his place as agent, he was operating farms, and for twenty years of that period was very success- ful in the conduct of grain and fruit farms, making much money out of these enterprises.
An active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was for many years a trustee, and for a number of years Sunday school superintendent. In 1902 he was made a town commissioner of Ridgely, of which town he drafted the charter, and in that same year upon the organization of the Bank of Ridgely he was made its presi- dent. Prior to that, beginning with 1894, he was sent to the State Senate as a Democrat and served four years. In 1900, he was made chief of the State bureau of statistics and information, and elected vice-president of the National Association of heads of the State labor bureaus. While serving as statistician, he framed and was largely instrumental in the enactment of a law for a State free em- ployment agency, of a State conciliation, arbitration and publicity law, and of a State factory inspection, or "Sweat Shop" law, which . places the manufacture of clothing and other articles under good sanitary conditions. In 1897, he had been an unsuccessful candi- date of his party for comptroller of the State. He served as State statistician four years, and in 1904 was nominated by his party as thein candidate to represent the First Congressional District in the Fifty-nin'a" Congress. On November 8, 1904, he was elected by a plurality of five hundred and ten votes.
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Mr. Smith is now State land commissioner. He is president of the United Craftsmen, a fraternity with its head office at Baltimore, which seems destined to grow into considerable proportions. He is a stockholder and director in the Peninsula Electric Light and Power Company, and is always ready to do his share in the promotion of anything that will contribute to the moral or material betterment of his section.
He is affiliated with all the Masonic bodies.
Mr. Smith says of his recreations that they are "such as interest my wife and children and those that contribute to the happiness of the young people of the town and community." He believes that one should "endeavor to define well the line of demarcation between reckless expansion and wise business enterprise." As a working code of life, he lays down the following: "Truthfulness, honesty of purpose, industry, and energy are among the great foundation principles of a successful and useful life. The ideal should always be the top of the ladder in the occupation or profession chosen, embracing every honest and legitimate opportunity leading thereto, regardless of the sometimes apparent smallness of the means. Tall oaks from little acorns grow. Success is the result of effort. Be polite and courteous to everyone. Seek the society of those whose intellect and morals are elevating. Seek the favor and follow in the footsteps of the Almighty Creator, remembering that the 'Lord helps them who help themselves. '"'
The most striking feature of Mr. Smith's career has been the many channels into which his activities have extended and the good results which have followed from these multifarious labors. He must be a very dynamo of energy. Another thing that attracts attention in connection with his career is the fact that it has been worked out in what is practically a country village, and living in the extreme corner of the State in a very small town, he has achieved a State-wide reputation as a man of ability, character and usefulness.
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