USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, volume I > Part 19
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associate. In 1901 he was elected superintendent and physician in charge of The Thomas Wilson Sanitarium, which position he has since held. In 1904 he was chosen professor of diseases of children at the Woman's Medical College, Baltimore. It was through the enterprise of Doctor Knox that the milk dispensaries of The Thomas Wilson Sani- tarium, now conducted by the Babies' Milk Fund Association, were established in the city of Baltimore.
In religious faith Doctor Knox adheres to the creed of his fathers for generations past, and is a Presbyterian, holding the office of trustee in the First Presbyterian church of Baltimore. He is a member of the American Medical Association. the Americn Pediatrics Society, the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions, and in No- vember, 1909, was made the first president of the American Associa- tion for Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality. In May, 1908, he was elected president of the Fifth Maryland Conference of Charities and Correction. For several years he has been manager of the Charity Organization Society, and a member of its executive committee.
Politically he is identified with the Republican party. He is a member of the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore and the Maryland Historical Society. In a social way he belongs to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the Wolf's Head Senior Society of the Yale University, the University Club, the Balti- more Club, the Baltimore Country Club, the Baltimore Athletic Club, the Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, and the Bachelors' Cotillon Club.
On April 28, 1908, Doctor Knox was married to Miss Marian Gor- don Bowdoin, daughter of the late W. Graham and Katherine Gordon Bowdoin, of Baltimore. They have a daughter, Katharine Bowdoin Knox, born April 29, 1910.
The record above given shows the effective energy and remarkable growth in a professional way of a young man not yet thirty-eight years old.
EDWARD HERRICK GRIFFIN
W HATEVER may be said of the defects of the commercial age in which we live, it must be said to its credit that we do more for the cause of education than ever before in the history of the world. It must be confessed, however, that we have not vet arrived at that point where we properly reward for their labors !!. se devoted men who give their lives and their splendid abilities to the teaching of our sons and daughters. Even in this direction men of middle age can see that there has been an improvement during the present generation, and the time cannot now be far distant when appreciation of this most valuable class of our citizenship will be in something more substantial than newspaper eulogies and post-mortem bouquets.
Prominent in the educational work of our country at present is Edward Herrick Griffin, Professor of the History of Philosophy and Dean of the College Faculty in Johns Hopkins University since May, 1889. Professor Griffin was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on November 18, 1843, son of Nathaniel Herrick and Hannah (Bulkley) Griffin. His father was a professor in Williams College for eleven years, and Librarian for that old institution for twenty years.
Doctor Griffin is of mixed English and Welsh stock. On the paternal side his American ancestry goes back to Jasper Griffin, who was born in Wales about 1648 and settled in Southold, Long Island, about 1675. Another branch of the paternal ancestry are the Herricks, who in our country date from 1629, when the family first settled in Salem, Massachusetts. On the maternal side, his ancestry traces back to Reverend Peter Bulkley, who was born at Woodhill, Bedfordshire, England, in 1583, and was the first minister of Concord, Massachusetts.
Doctor Griffin had the best of educational advantages. After preparatory training he entered Williams College, where he received his A.B. in 1862, and the degree of A.M. in 1865, in cursu. From 1862 to 1864, he was a student in Princeton Theological Seminary, and in the academic year 1864-5 he was a tutor in Williams College. IIe then entered Union Theological Seminary, where he remained one year.
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EDWARD HERRICK GRIFFIN
He began his active ministerial career as pastor of the First Congregational church of Burlington, Vermont. He held that position from 1868 to 1872, when he became Professor of Latin in Williams College, which chair he held until 1881. In 1881 he became Morris Professor of Rhetoric, and in 1886 Mark Hopkins Professor of In- tellectual and Moral Philosophy. In 1889, after seventeen years of most capable service in Williams College, he became connected with Johns Hopkins University as Dean of the College Faculty and Pro- fessor of the History of Philosophy. All men now know Johns Hop- kins as one of the great universities in our country, and the work of this modest professor has been one of the strong contributing causes to its upbuilding and its greatness.
He holds membership in the Kappa Alpha college fraternity, the American Psychological Association, the American Philosophical Association, the University Club of Baltimore, and other social and learned organizations. In 1900 he affiliated with the Presbyterian church, and was made an elder in the First Presbyterian church of Baltimore, where he became teacher of a Bible class. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on him in 1880 by Amherst College, and that of LL.D. by Princeton University in 1888, and by Williams Col- lege in 1905.
On May 22, 1872, Doctor Griffin married Miss Rebekah Wheeler, of Burlington, Vermont, daughter of Reverend John Wheeler, D.D., many years President of the University of Vermont. Of this marriage there are two sons, both of whom are graduates of Johns Hopkins University.
Doctor Griffin is something more than a learned man. As Dean of the Faculty it has been a pleasure as well as a duty to lend a helping hand to the student body in every way possible and he enjoys a well- deserved popularity among the young men. In addition to these quali- fications he is especially happy as a public speaker, and is in much demand on public occasions, where he never fails to leave a pleasant impression. He is a strong man, without being rude, a wise man with- out conceit, a learned man without bigotry, and has won credit in every position which he has been called upon to fill.
Solomon Bulkley Griffin, a younger brother of Doctor Griffin, has been for more than thirty years managing editor of the Springfield Republican, one of the most famous of American newspapers.
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2.87
WILLIAM JOHN WITZENBACHER
W M. J. WITZENBACHER, lawyer, was born in Hagerstown, Washington county, Maryland, in 1862, the son of William and Catherine Witzerbacher. His parents were natives of the Odenwald region in the Grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, Ger- many. In their native country several of the family held public posi- tions, including clerks of courts, tax collectors and municipal officials.
William John Witzenbacher fitted for college at Hagerstown, at- tending public and subscription schools and the Washington county High school, enjoying excellent health and showing an inclination for books and outdoor life. When young, he was interested in mathe- matics, metaphysics, history and political economy. He acquired mod- ern languages : German, French, Spanish and Italian, in order to get at their literature and the thoughts of those nations, and made it a point to read only the productions of a single language for two or three years continuously, so as to be thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the nation selected.
He entered Johns Hopkins University, and was graduated thence with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1883. He then took up the study of law, from his own choice, in which his parents' wishes con- curred. He attended some lectures at the University of Maryland, but did not graduate, completing his legal education by private reading. He was admitted to the bar in 1886. During the three years which he devoted to reading law, he was also an instructor at the MeDonogh School in Baltimore county.
In politics, he affiliates with the Democratic party, and in religion with the Reformed church in the United States. His favorite relaxa- tion is walking over the country, and he has visited on foot almost every corner in Washington county. He believes that walking is " the em- ployment of a natural use of the body and affords opportunity to be- come acquainted with the resources of the country and the people who produce its wealth." He is fond of music, and spends considerable time in the study of the masterpieces of the great composers, whose complete works he has in his library.
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WILLIAM JOHN WITZENBACHER
On being admitted to the bar he settled down to practice his pr,- fession at Hagerstown. He was city attorney from March, 1890, to March, 1895, and state's attorney for the county for a brief period during the latter year. From December, 1899, to December, 1901, h- served as attorney to the Washington county commissioners, and from June, 1901, to February, 1903, as attorney to the county supervisors of election. On February 9, 1903, he was appointed by the governor associate judge of the fourth judicial circuit, and held that office until November 25, 1903.
For many years, the Washington county jail had been condemned. by the enlightened public opinion of the county, as an unfit place in- the confinement of criminals. The county became possessed at this | time of a large sum of money from the sale of its stock in the Wester :: Maryland Railroad Company, and, largely through sentiment create. by Judge Witzenbacher's charges to the grand juries, it was induced to expend part of the fund in the construction of a modern and prop- erly equipped prison. As judge, the question of crossing the Chesa- peake and Ohio Canal by the Western Maryland Railroad came before him. The interests in charge of the canal opposed this crossing, but Judge Witzenbacher gave leave for the railroad to cross, filing an opin- ion which was styled " a clear and forcible statement of the case and a convincing argument based thereupon." The decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. On his retirement from the bench the Washing- ton county bar passed resolutions expressing appreciation of his " fair- ness, fidelity, industry, and ability," in his efforts "in rehabilitating the law library of this county," and of his " zealous and patient labors in recasting the rules of this court."
In 1895 an agreement was made by a company with the munici- pality of Hagerstown relative to electric lighting for ten years. The service was unsatisfactory to many citizens, and a sentiment grew for a municipal lighting plant. Mr. Witzenbacher denounced the contract with the company as illegal and ultra vires, and prepared an amend- ment to the charter of Hagerstown, requiring the immediate erection of such a plant, notwithstanding the existence of the contract. The question was submitted to popular vote, and the erection of a municipal plant determined upon by a decisive majority. A test case as to the legality of the contract was brought in the courts, and Mr. Witzen- bacher's position was affirmed by the Court of Appeals.
Reviewing his career, Judge Witzenbacher writes: "I was
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WILLIAM JOHN WITZENHACHER
brought up by parents punctiliously honest and having the very strict- est regard for a sincere performance of every obligation, cither great or small. I was always taught to do my best in everything, to employ only open and direct methods, to cultivate simplicity and truthfulness and accept results without elation, if successful; without depression, if unsuccessful. To work was inculcated as a sacred obligation, and to work in the fulfilment of duty as a pleasure and an end in itself. I believe that the maintenance of sound principles, with sincerity and courage, unswervingly practiced, et ail times and in all places, will most certainly bring about success in life. A steadfast devotion to a good end will never fail."
WALTER B. PLATT
D OCTOR WALTER B. PLATT, physician, was born at Water- bury, New Haven county, Connecticut, December 20, 1853. He is the son of Gideon Lucian and Caroline (Tudor) Platt. His father, a physician and surgeon, and president of the Connecticut Medical Association, was a man of great energy, rectitude, self-contre! and kindness. Richard Platt, the founder of the Platt family, came from Hertfordshire. England, in 1638, and settled in Milford, Conner- ticut. Other ancestors of note were: Thomas Buckingham, who emi- grated from England, in 1638, to New Haven, Connecticut; Owen Tudor, who went to Massachusetts from Wales between 1620 and 1636; Deacon William Gaylord, who emigrated from England in 1630; Jo- seph Loomis, who came from England in 1638; Elder William Brew- ster (pastor of the Pilgrims on the " Mayflower ") in 1620; Doctor Elihu Tudor, surgeon (1733 to 1826), who was with the British army at the capture of Quebec and Havana. When Doctor Platt was a boy, he lived in a small town, where, he says, " among other duties he was made to take entire care of a horse for a time." This discipline he thinks was most valuable. He early showed a love for chemistry, zool- ogy and botany, and in reading found most helpful works in natural science, such as Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and Sir John Lubbock. Doctor Platt received his early education in the public schools and at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts. He then entered Yale University, and received the degree of Ph.D. in 1874. From that date until 1879 he studied at the Harvard Medical School, graduating with the degree of M.D. in the latter year. Doctor Platt pursued post- graduate courses in medicine at the Universities of Berlin, Vienna and Heidelberg. He is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in England, and was made a fellow, by examination, of that college in 1883. It was through personal preference that he chose the profession of a physician, and began his praetice in Baltimore in 1881, which he has since continued with excellent success to the present time.
Doctor Platt was, in 1872, collector in natural history in the Yel- lowstone expedition of the United States Geological Survey. In 1878
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WALTER B. PLATT
'e was assistant to the superintendent at the Boston City Hospital and afterward house surgeon. From 1884 to 1889 he was surgeon to the Bayview Hospital, and during the same years was demonstrator of sur- pory at the University of Maryland. Since his appointment in 1886, Le has been superintendent and surgeon of the Robert Garrett Hospital for Children. In 1884 he published a translation with notes, of Ultz- man's " Pyuria." He is a member of the Delta Psi fraternity, the I'niversity Club, the Reform League, the Civil Service Reform Club, the American Economic Association, the American Association for the A.Ivanee of Science, the National Economie League, and of numerous ; ofessional societies, the Colonial Wars Society, and local organiza- : ns. In politics Doctor Platt is identified with the Republican party, though he twice voted for Cleveland. He is a vestryman in St. John's Episcopal church, Kingsville, which office he has held since 1903. For tercise and recreation he turns to camping, riding, rowing and travel- ng by sea to tropical countries. He says, " I am a strong believer in moderate indulgence in athletic exercises, but opposed to violent com- petitive games. I think their influence is not physically good on those who take part in them."
On December 4, 1889, Doctor Platt was married to Mary Perine. They have four children. He offers this suggestion to the youth begin- ning life's activities : " Associate early with men of high ideals and successful achievement. Take regular, moderate physical exercise. Get your education at the best schools and universities. Concentrate professional energy. Keep up general culture through life. Resolve to entertain no ideals or beliefs except such as are sound and ultimately useful to mankind."
294
SAMUEL C. ROWLAND
S ( AMUEL C. ROWLAND, vice-president of the Baltimore Trus: Company, was born in Port Deposit, Cecil county, Maryland, or January 9, 1858, son of James Harvey and Elizabeth .1. (Webb) Rowland. Mr. Rowland is of mixed English and Scotch at :- cestry. His father, James H. Rowland, was a successful lumber mer- chant and financier, a man of strong character and generous disposition.
The first ancestor of our subject in America, John Rowland, can .. from Wales in 1640 and settled first near Philadelphia, moving to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. On the other hand, the Webbs were long centuries ago Scotch, but became scattered over England, numer- ously represented in that country, and the first American ancestor of Mr. Rowland on the Webb side of the family was Richard Webb, who came from Gloucester, England, in 1732. They also settled in Penn- sylvania, and we find that James Webb, born in England, 1708, and therefore a man grown when the family came to America, was a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania Assembly almost continuously from 1747 to 1775, in the last-named year serving as a member of the Committee on Public Safety. His public service covered a period of thirty years, and he belonged to that strong band of patriots in Pennsylvania of which Benjamin Franklin was the leader.
Prominent in this branch of the Rowland family may be men- tioned Samuel, grandfather of our subjeet, born in 1780, near Port Deposit, who lived until 1864. He rose to be one of the most successful merchants of his time, being principally engaged in the lumber busi- ness, made a large fortune and was one of the strongest financiers of his generation, a man of much public spirit and of fine Christian character.
Samuel C. Rowland started in life with the advantage of a strong ancestry on both sides, and whatever may be said to the contrary, this is a most valuable asset. Most of his youth was spent in the country. He was a healthy boy, fond of outdoor sports, and was fortunate in both parents, his mother exercising an especially strong and healthful influence in shaping his life along correct moral lines. His educational
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Juicenly Yours Danie Command.
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SAMUEL C. ROWLAND
advantages were good. He attended the West Nottingham Academy, and then for three years was a student in La Fayette College, gradua- ting in 1879.
Heredity appears to have cropped out in his choice of business, for leaving college he entered the lumber business at Port Deposit, in which both his father and grandfather had been engaged. His busi- ness life, both as a merchant and as a financier, has been steadily suc- cessful. After many years in the lumber business and as bank presi- dent in Port Deposit, he moved ten years or more ago to Baltimore C'ity, where he has been chairman of the executive committee of the International Trust Company. one of the leading financial institutions of that city, and now holds the position of vice-president of the Balti- more Trust Company.
He holds membership in the Maryland. the Baltimore, the Balti- more Country, the Elkridge Kennel. the Merchants' and the Bache- lors' Cotillon Clubs, and is an honorary member of Troop "A," Mary- land National Guards.
Mr. Rowland is a nephew by marriage of Jacob Tome, who founded and endowed the Jacob Tome Institute at Port Deposit. Mr. Rowland thus became one of the original incorporators of this fine in- stitution, and is now one of its trustees and member of the finance com- mittee. In addition to the interests already mentioned he is connected as a stockholder or in an official capacity with many large corporations ; thus he is a director in the Georgia and Florida Railroad and the Co- lumbia and Port Deposit Railway. He is president of the National Bank of Port Deposit and of the Bowman Lumber Company, of West Virginia. He is vice-president of the Rowland Land Company, of West Virginia, a large holder of timber and coal lands. He is a direc- tor in the National Exchange Bank of Baltimore, the Big Coal Com- pany, of West Virginia, and the American Lumber Company, which, with its principal office in Baltimore, operates through several states. The Big Coal Company confines itself to a strictly mining business and is developing the lands of the Rowland Land Company. From this it will be seen that Mr. Rowland is active in the world of finance, of trans- portation and of industrial development.
His political affiliations are with the Democratic party, both by inheritance and conviction. His recreations are found in horses, motor- ing and shooting. Like his fathers before him, he holds to the Presby- terian church.
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SAMUEL C. ROWLAND
On January 5, 1887, he married Miss Cornelia Talcott Ransom, daughter of Charles E. Ransom, of New York state, who married Miss Georgia Anderson, a member of an old Maryland family. They have three children.
There is a familiar tradition in our country that " it is only three generations from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves." Like a majority of popular traditions, it is untrue. It is true that here and there a de- cadent descendant of good stock will dissipate both fortune and good name, but the history of our country shows the rule to be that the descendants of strong ancestors, if not always the equal of progenitors. are yet good men and true. In many cases they have traveled much further along the line of preferment or of useful service than honore 1 ancestors ; not always because they are men of greater ability, but some- times because of greater opportunity. Mr. Rowland's case may be taken as typical. From clear back to the beginning of the family in this country, seven generations ago, they have given to the country generation after generation good men and women, not always bril- liant, but always useful and patriotic. His grandfather was the strongest man of his section in his generation. He himself, in our own day, by reason of the great changes in business conditions, has attained to even a greater eminence in business circles than his grand- father. On the other side, in the higher things of life, moral, religious and civic duties have had from him that sort of service which has made him one of the valuable men of his day, and this service has been given without reference to personal preferment or personal self-seeking. This is the best type of American citizenship, and to this class in our citizenship Mr. Rowland fairly belongs.
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HENRY STOCKBRIDGE
H ENRY STOCKBRIDGE, of Baltimore, lawyer and judge, was born in Baltimore, September 18, 1856, son of Henry and Fanny E. (Montague) Stockbridge.
On both sides of the family, Judge Stockbridge is descended from wient British families. We find in England that the name Stock- bridge was anciently written Stokebridge or Stockbreghe. They have an ancient coat of arms. and the family also gave name to the town of stockbridge, in Huntingdonshire. The Stockbridge name is appar- ently of Saxon origin. On the other side, the Montagues were origi- nally Normans, and the family has been a mighty one in Great Britain, including the dukedom of Manchester, the earldom of Sandwich and the barony of Swaythling. There have been also numerous lesser titles.
In America, the Stoekbridges go back to John, who came from England in the ship Blessing, in 1632, and settled in Seituate, Massa- chusetts. On the maternal side, they go back to Peter and Richard Montague, who came from England to Virginia, Peter coming in 1621 and Richard in 1637. This Richard removed to Boston in 1646, and finally settled in Hadley, Massachusetts, and it is from him that Mr. Stockbridge is descended. Judge Stockbridge's father, also bearing the name of Henry, was born in Hadley, Massachusetts, August 31, 1822. He graduated from Amherst College in 1845, and soon after came to Maryland, where he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He was a successful practitioner, and in 1864 was appointed a judge of the circuit court of Baltimore county during the illness of Judge Emory. In the fated year of 1861, when men were lining up for the most gigantic civil war of history, Judge Stockbridge took strong ground in favor of the Union. He was a close friend of the distinguished statesman, the Honorable Henry Winter Davis, and was chosen to deliver a eulogy on the latter, after his death in 1865. In 1862, he was appointed by Governor Bradford as one of the commis- sioners of the enrollment of the Draft. In 1864, he was elected to the legislature, in which he was a leader, and framed the law calling for a new constitutional convention. He was a member of that convention,
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temporary chairman and chairman of its judiciary committee. In those strenuous years, Judge Stockbridge was a leader, both in legal and political circles, and made a great reputation as an able lawyer and sound statesman.
The subject of the sketch, the second Henry Stockbridge, had the best educational advantages, was the possessor of good health as a boy, and a good part of his youthful life was spent at school in country and village. He attended the Over-lea School at Catonsville, the Wil- liston Seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, from which he went to the famous old Amherst College, where he was graduated in 1877, with the degree of A.B .; he then entered the Law Department of the University of Maryland, and was graduated in 1878, with the degree of LL.B., and in that same year entered upon practice in Baltimore.
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