USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, volume I > Part 14
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199
HARRY FRIEDENWALD
Doctor Friedenwald is one of those always interesting instances where a man, successful in his chosen profession, was led to the choice of that line of work by admiration of his father and his father's work in the profession in which the son chose to follow him.
In 1890 Doctor Harry Friedenwald was appointed lecturer, in 1894 associate professor, and in 1902 professor of Ophthalmology and Otology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore.
In addition to the positions named in the first sentence of this article, Doctor Friedenwald has also served as trustee of the poor for the city of Baltimore, 1895-1896. He is a member of the Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, and was vice-president of that faculty 1901- 1902; he is a member of the American Medical Association, of the American Ophthalmological Society, of the Ophthalmological Society of Germany, of the American Otological Society, of the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, and of the Ameri- can Association for the Advancement of Science. He has published numerous articles upon the methods of that branch of practice in which he has specialized. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa ; he is also a member of the Johns Hopkins and University Clubs.
On June 30, 1892, Doctor Friedenwald married Miss Bertha Stein, daughter of Samuel Stein, of Baltimore. They have two chil- dren. Doctor Friedenwald is identified with the Jewish church. He is a trustee of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York (since 1902) and governor of the Dropsie College for Hebrew in Philadelphia. Since 1904, Doctor Friedenwald has been president of the Federation of American Zionists.
While he is loosely connected with the Republican party, he is not strictly identified with it, but believes in the right and duty of inde- pendent voting on local and state issues.
Doctor Friedenwald answers the question, "What has been, and what now is, the sport, amusement, form of exercise, or mode of relaxation which you enjoy and find helpful ?" by the answer, " Al- most none." It is especially interesting to note the very brief and some- what exceptional suggestion which he offers to young Americans as " to the principles, methods and habits which will contribute most to the strengthening of sound ideals in American life, and will most help young people to attain true success in life." Doctor Friedenwald's answer is, " The proper celebration of all national holidays, and read- ing the lives and words of our great men."
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WILLIAM HENRY FORSYTHE, JR.
T HE common opinion in our countryas to the Forsythe family is that it is of Scottish origin. This is in the main true, as the family is an ancient one in Scotland, and has given a name to a parish in that country. Undoubtedly a majority of the early emi- grants of the name to our country were of Scotch extraction. It is also true that there is a French family of this name bearing the name of De Forsyth de Fronsac. There appears to have been some connec- tion between Matthew Forsayth (as it is sometimes spelled in the old records) in Chester, New Hampshire, 1742, and Matthew Forsayth, of Fredericksburg, Maryland, 1774, and apparently these Forsayths belonged to the French family.
The family has never been as numerous in our country as some others. In 1790 there were forty-five families in the United States, of whom four were in Maryland. It is worthy of note that there were ten different spellings of the name among these forty-five families.
The Forsyths contributed to the last century one of the great statesmen of our country in the person of John Forsyth, a native of Virginia, who moved to Augusta, Georgia, represented that state in the lower House of Congress, was a foreign minister, United States Sena- tor, and Secretary of State under two presidents, Jackson and Van Buren.
Among the rising men of Maryland at the present moment is Judge William Henry Forsythe, Jr., of Ellicott City. Judge Forsythe was born near Sykesville in Howard county, on May 16, 1874. His parents were William Henry and Arabella Crawford (Welling) For- sythe. Both the Forsythes and Wellings are among the old families of Howard county and connected with many of the prominent families of Maryland. Judge Forsythe's father is a farmer, a prominent citizen who has served as county commissioner of Howard county, and is a member of the directory of the Springfield State Hospital. He was also a member of Company A of the First Maryland Cavalry in the Civil war, serving from 1862 to 1864. Among Judge Forsythe's an-
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westors may be noted Lieutenant Joseph Cross, a naval officer with a splendid record, and William Winchester, of Revolutionary fame.
Young Forsythe, as a boy, was possessed of a good physique, grew up in the country with healthy, outdoor tastes, with a partiality for reading and studying. Both of his parents were people of strong char- acter, and to each of them he is indebted for some good qualities. He had good educational advantages. After study in primary schools he entered the Western Maryland College and was graduated on June 21, 1894, with the degree of A.B. In 1895 and 1896 he attended Johns Hopkins University. He then entered the University of Maryland in the Law Department, and was graduated on May 30, 1897, with the degree of LL.B. On June 16, 1897, the Western Maryland College conferred upon him the degree of M.A.
Though always considering Howard county as his home, and re- taining his citizenship there, he entered upon the practice of law in Baltimore City in connection with the prominent firm of Brown & Brune. The young lawyer, by his industry and ability, speedily won recognition, and in 1901 the people of Howard county elected him a member of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly of Mary- land. He served only one term in that capacity, but his service during that term was of such a character as to attract attention and to make for himself the reputation of a strong and capable legislator. He was the father of a bill to create a board of pardons and of another for the taxation of franchises; yet another bill of his was to create a state in- spector of baled hay. Still another was to place the convicts upon the county roads, thereby enabling the people to secure a system of good roads at small cost. Other measures, both of general and local impor- tance, were fathered by him, and his support of the measures which he introduced and his action upon measures introduced by others marked him as a man much above the average. His committee assignments were of an important character. He was chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, member of the Committee on Judiciary, on Amendments to the Constitution, and Insurance and Loans.
It is rather curious at this day to note that his bill taxing fran- chises and his bill providing for convict labor on public highways were both killed in view of the fact that in other states of the Union similar measures are working out such beneficent results. In the state of Georgia both of these ideas have been concreted into law after a des- perate fight, and both are working admirably, while the franchise tax
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in New York state is bringing to the state a revenue of millions each year without in any way working hardship upon anybody. The young legislator, despite these failures, made such an impression that both his Democratic friends and Republican opponents in Maryland recog- nized that he was a man to be reckoned with. It was not surprising, therefore, that on December 23, 1907, Governor Warfield appointed him associate judge of the fifth judicial circuit of Maryland. He was then not thirty-four years old and was the youngest man upon the bench in the state of Maryland. On November 2, 1909, he was elected by the people to the same position, after being unanimously nominated by the Democratic convention. This nomination and election was merely a recognition of the fact that he had measured up to the full standard as a judge, and that the people could rest satisfied that the interests of justice were safe in his hands. It is worthy of notice that the first case heard by him after going upon the bench, which was an important one, argued by a long array of able lawyers, was appealed to the court of appeals. The court of appeals sustained the decision of the new and untried judge at every point, in itself a distinguished honor, when one considers the great mass of legal talent that was ar- rayed against the decision.
Judge Forsythe was one of the incorporators of the Sykesville National Bank and has served as a director since its organization. He is a member of the Maryland society of the Sons of the American Revo- lution, of the Maryland Historical Society and the Masonic Fraternity. A Democrat both by inheritance and conviction, he is a strong and able defender of the principles and policies of that party, though natu- rally since going upon the bench he has not been found in the front ranks of the active fighters as in former years.
He is partial to all forms of outdoor sports, and has given con- siderable attention to athletics. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Protestant church. Looking back over the past fifteen years, Judge Forsythe is disposed, in considering the influences which have most governed him, to give first credit to the home influence, followed by private study, and lastly by contact with his fellow men, which has both spurred on his ambition and sharpened his intellect.
On November 23, 1903, he married Miss Mell Adella Osborne. Yet in his early prime, only thirty-six years of age, he has established the reputation of an able lawyer, a good student, a conscientious judge and a strong legislator. Better than all this even, he has made charac- ter as a good citizen of approved integrity.
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HENRY PERKINS GODDARD
H ENRY P. GODDARD, one of the veterans of the life insur- ance business in Baltimore, was born in Salem, New London county, Connecticut, on July 25, 1842, son of Levi Hart and Y ry (Perkins) Goddard. His father was by profession a lawyer, a on of amiable disposition, courteous manners, and served as city k and register for Norwich, Connecticut, in which town Henry P. lard was reared. Calvin Goddard, his grandfather, was quite a iAble man in his day. He was born in Massachusetts in 1768, was "a Inated from Dartmouth college in 1786, admitted to the bar in 1290, began practice at Plainfield, Connecticut, was state representa- tive from 1791 to 1806, three years of that time being speaker of the House, served as a Representative from Connecticut in the seventh and righth Congresses of the United States, moved to Norwich in 1807, member of the Executive Council from 1808 to 1815, presidential elec- tor on the De Witt Clinton ticket in 1812, delegate to the Hartford convention in 1814, judge of the superior court 1815 to 1818, and mayor of Norwich for seventeen years.
The Goddard family in America dates back to Edward Goddard, who came to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1665. The family is an ancient one in England and occupied honorable positions, as shown by its possession of coat armor. In England there appear to have been three forms of the name, all with a common origin. The oldest form appears to have been Godherd, succeeded by Godard, and that in turn by the present form.
In his youth Henry P. Goddard was of rather delicate physique, fond of nature and of pronounced literary taste. His education was obtained in the schools of Norwich, and at the age of seventeen he be- zan working as reporter on a Norwich daily newspaper, of which later he became night editor. He found this work interesting, but too wear- ing for his constitution, and he changed over to the life insurance busi- nos, with which he has been identified for nearly forty years.
In his youth he was fond of Shakespeare, Macaulay and Abbott's historical works. History, biography and poetry have always been his
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favorite literature, and he has, during his life, been a very close student of Shakespeare. He recognizes now that the strongest influence in his life was the home training, and next in importance to that he places that exerted by Professor Elbridge Smith, of the Norwich Free Academy. His first strong impulse in life to strive earnestly for some measure of success was gained by a knowledge of the career of his uncle, Donald G. Mitchell, who, under the pen name of Ik Marvel, won what proved to be one of the most enduring literary reputations of our country.
Mr. Goddard was a gallant soldier in our great and unfortuna' Civil war. In 1862 he entered the Federal army as a volunteer. H was promoted to sergeant-major, second lieutenant and first lieutenant and rounded out his services finally as captain of the Fourteenth Cot .. necticut Infantry.
While as a newspaper man he wrote much, and has since ma : various contributions of a fugitive character to the literature of th .. country, his most serious work in this direction was a memoir of Luther Martin, published by the Maryland Historical Society in 1884, and a History of the Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment during the Civil war, published in 1870.
Politically, Mr. Goddard classes himself as a Republican, but admits that he was a mugwump to the extent of voting three times for Cleveland. To put it seriously, while his inclinations are towards the Republican party, he has in him that same touch of independence which characterized his Puritan ancestry.
His religious affiliation is with the Episcopal church. He holds membership in the Loyal Legion, the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Maryland Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, the University, Country and Churchman's Clubs of Baltimore.
His business career is one of remarkable continuity and steadfast- ness in a country where we are noted more for change than any other one thing. In 1870 he entered the service of that reliable old com- pany, the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, New Jersey. His first work with the company was as a partner in the Con- necticut state agency. In 1880 he became the sole agent for Connecti- cut, and in 1882 was transferred to Baltimore, where he had sole charge of the state agency until 1903, when he took in as a partner Mr. Charles T. Thurman, of Tennessee, to whom he sold out in 1904, and retired from large activities, confining himself to occasional work in connec-
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tion with the company that he had served for thirty-four years. At the time of his retirement he was the oldest state agent in point of service. During his period of activity he served as secretary, vice-president and president of the Baltimore Life Underwriters' Association, and has tven a prominent member of the National Association. At the time of his retirement, a prominent insurance journal, of Baltimore, made the statement that " it knew of no member of the profession who had more indelibly left his imprint on the business as well as in the literature of American life insurance." In 1908 Captain Goddard connected him- .. If with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Hart- r.l. Connecticut, as one of its Maryland representatives, a position he ·ill retains.
The code which has governed him during his own business life has · n personal economy, a careful study of human nature, confidence in 's friends and wariness with strangers. His advice to the young man vinning life is to always be honest, energetic and courteous, to serve God and keep his commandments, and remember that all men are our brothers.
Captain Goddard has been twice married : First in 1875 to Louise Marston, of Hartford. She died without issue, and on February 21, 1882, he married Miss Lida W. Acheson, and of this marriage there is one son.
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208
JOSHUA WEBSTER HERING
D OCTOR JOSHUA WEBSTER HERING, of Westminster, banker, physician, medical professor, state official, legislator. a tower of strength to the educational and religious interests of the state, easily one of the most versatile and useful men in the state. was born near Johnsville, Frederick county, on March 8, 1833, the son of Daniel S. and Margaret (Orr) Hering. His father was a farmer and miller, and served as state flour inspector in Baltimore City from 1856 to 1858. Daniel S. Hering was a man of strong common sense, firm in his convictions, industrious and frugal. His father came from Basle, in Switzerland, about 1190, and settled in Frederick county.
J. W. Hering was not very robust, but always healthy, as a boy. He enjoyed childish sports, but always found his greatest interest in books, especially historical and biographical works. He did light work on the farm when not in school, to and from which he walked three miles every day. In his fifteenth year, he left his father's home to enter a country store at Johnsville. Here he remained from December 13, 1847, until April 7, 1851, when he came to Westminster, which town since that time has been his home. There he entered into the same kind of business in the house of Jacob Reese & Son, and continued in it until April, 1853, when he began the study of medicine in the office of Doctor William A. Mathias. The public school at Johnsville, under the direction of "an exceptionally capable teacher of the English branches," gave him his preliminary training, and his professional course was pursued at the Medical Department of the University of Maryland, which he entered in 1853, and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine two years later. While a medical student. he was a pupil in the office of Professor George W. Miltenberger. In recent years he has been honored by the degree of A.M., which was given him by Western Maryland College, in 1885, and by that of LL.D., which was given him by St. John's College, Annapolis, in 1900.
Doctor Hering's " association with persons who had achieved some distinction in life " was the source of his first strong impulse to strive for success, and private study and contact with men in active life he
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JOSHUA WEBSTER HERING
enumerates as among the chief causes of his success. From 1855 to November, 1867, he was actively engaged in the practice of medicine at Westminster, and then, while he was considering retiring from prac- tice and removing to Virginia on account of impaired health, he was offered the cashiership of the Union National Bank. Accepting this position, which he still holds, his activities were transferred from medi- cine to banking, except as his services have been called upon as a con- sulting physician. Doctor Hering's reputation as a financier was es- tablished by his skilful management of the bank. In 1898 he read an address before the State Bankers' Association, and, at the same meet- ing, he was elected as the president of the organization and, conse- quently, presided over its convention in 1899. His probity and up- rightness have caused important fiduciary trusts, in the settlement of estates and otherwise, to be placed in his hands.
On October 18, 1855, Doctor HIering married Margaret Henrietta Trumbo, daughter of Lewis Trumbo of Westminster, by whom he had four children, two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living. On September 27, 1883, Mrs. Hering died and, on March 7, 1888, he mar- ried again, with Catharine E. Armacost, of Carroll county. He finds his chief relaxation in walking and riding, in reading the newspapers and good light literature. Doctor Hering is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, and has held all the official positions in the Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1868, Doctor Hering was one of the charter members of the Western Maryland College, an institution located at Westminster under the care of the Methodist Protestant church, of which he is a member. From its organization until 1881, during the most trying financial period in the history of the college, Doctor Hering was treasurer of the board of trustees, and he has been president of the board since 1897. For a number of years he lectured on anatomy, physiology and hygiene at the college. He has well been styled " adviser and friend of presi- dent and faculty " and " unselfish promoter of all the interests of the school." Doctor Hering was also one of the original board of governors of the Westminster Theological Seminary, incorporated in 1882, under the auspices of the Methodist Protestant church, and has been treasurer of the board, from the beginning to the present time. His interest in institutions connected with his church was also shown in 1895, when he became one of the original board of managers of the Home for the Aged of that church, which is located at Westmin-
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ster. Of this board's executive committee, Doctor Hering has been chairman from the organization to the present time, and he has also served as treasurer of the board during the same period. Furthermore, he is a charter member of the Maryland Educational Endowment So- ciety of the Methodist Protestant church, and was for many years a member of the board of publication of the church, from which board he voluntarily retired at the general conference of 1904. The Methodist Protestant church gave Doctor Hering the highest honor in its gift, in 1892, when it eleeted him president of its general conference, held at Westminster. This honor was repeated at the general conference held at Kansas City in 1896. Doetor Hering is the only layman who has ever held this position, and the only person ever reelected to it. He has been a member of all the general conferences of the church since 1870, including the important conference of 1877, at which the North- ern and Southern sections of the church were united. In 1903, he served as chairman of the committee of fifteen to meet similar com- mittees from the Congregational and United Brethren churches for the purpose of considering the question of union between these relig- ious bodies.
In 1870, Doctor Hering was a charter member of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Carroll county, and since 1872, by annual reelcetion, he has served as president of this company. He is also a member of the board of managers of the Westminster Cemetery Com- pany and a director in the Baltimore and Reisterstown Turnpike Company.
Though always a firm believer in the Democratic party, Doctor Hering refused to stand for public office until 1895, when he was nomi- nated and elected to the State Senate from Carroll county. As a mem- ber of this body, he served on nearly all the important committees and was chairman of the Committee on Revaluation and Assessment in 1896. At that session, he was also chairman of the Conference Committee of the two Houses upon the new assessment law. Doctor Hering has always been a friend of state appropriations to institutions of higher education and, while a senator, did much to obtain grants to the West- ern Maryland College and to the Johns Hopkins University, as well as to such scientific work as is carried on by the Geological Survey. In recognition of his services as a member of the Senate, President Daniel C. Gilman wrote him on April 5, 1898, " Your knowledge of its inter- ests, your appreciation of the varied necessities of the state and your
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active participation in all important discussions entitle you to the gratitude of all our fellow citizens." In 1898, the Senate had a Repub- lican majority, and at the end of the session the president of the body, a political opponent, Honorable J. Wirt Randall, wrote Doctor Hering : " We all owe you a deep debt of gratitude for the manner in which you always kept high the tone and character of debate, for your unfailing good temper and serenity, and for the great ability with which, both in committee and on the floor of the Senate, you discharged all your duties." In November, 1899, Doctor Hering was elected comptroller of the State Treasury and was reelected to the same position in 1901. In 1903. he declined a renomination from the Democratie state con- vention, preferring to devote himself to the bank and to private busi- 1 -3. As comptroller, Doctor Hering's administration of the state's Suances was marked by fidelity, carefulness and economy. He gave close personal attention to the duties of the office and diligently hus- banded the Sinking funds. In 1907 he was recalled to the office of comptroller. The Democratic state convention, which met in Balti- more August 8 of that year, unexpectedly to him and without his soliei- tation, unanimously nominated him for comptroller, and he was elected by a majority of nearly 15,000, leading the Democratic state tieket in that gubernatorial year.
Doctor Hering is a fluent, pleasing and forcible speaker, a man of strong convictions, but one tolerant of other men's opinions. In all the varied occupations of his life he has maintained a reputation for " clean, high-minded and progressive citizenship." His life has been busy and helpful, and has been characterized by sound judgment and wise conservatism.
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