USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland Johnson's makers of America series biographies of leading men of the state, volume I > Part 21
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Looking backward, Doctor Sireett can see that, as a boy, he liked the plain, honest, practical lives of the Quakers in his neighborhood, and that they influenced him much. He realizes that these excellent companionships belped to make him steadfast, that private study has been a constant stimulus, and that contact with men in active life " has been a light for practical living and work." It is of some inter- est to note that his determination to be a physician dates back to the very early age of five, when the old family physician was on a visit to the little boy, and his father, to please the little lad, told the doctor in his presence to make a doctor of him when he grew up. The doctor replied, " I will." He says that at that moment what was meant to please his fancy really fixed his idea!, and he never afterwards lost sight of it.
He was rather delicate in early childhood, but grew up to be a sturdy lad, fond of study, living the healthy life of a country boy on the farm, where he remained until he was twenty years old. He went to bed early and arose early. These wholesome habits gave him a sound body and simple tastes, and equipped him with a great stock of energy for the serious work of life. During his childhood and youth, his chief reading was the Bible, the Old Testament at home and the New Testament as a reader in the primitive country school. During and immediately after the Civil war, the schools were on the subscrip- tion order, and often taught by poorly qualified teachers. Books were then not so plentiful as now. He managed, however, as the years passed, to get well read in United States history, Rollin's Ancient His- tory, History of Rome and England, Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad, Marshall's Life of Washington, Shakespeare and Byron. In later life, while biography, history, ethnology and scientific works have been his preferred reading, he has read as much in other directions as time has permitted. His school instruction was completed at Bethel Academy, conducted by a Presbyterian minister. In 1874, a youth of eighteen, he became the teacher of a public school in Harford county,
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and for two years kept to the work. He then entered the Washington University Medical School in Baltimore. In 1877 this school consoli- dated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and after another year's study he received the degree of M.D. on March 6, 1878. After graduation he served as resident of the Hospital Maternité one year, and one year as resident physician of the City Hospital, retiring from which, he entered upon the practice of his profession, and in the thirty years which have since elapsed has wrought himself forward to an eminent position in the front rank of medical teachers and practitioners.
His work in the field of medical instruction has been notable. 1 :: the spring of 1885 Doctor Streett was elected Professor of the Princi- ples and Practice of Medicine and Clinical Medicine in the Baltimo !.. Medical College, one of the best-known institutions in America. and. has filled that chair with distinguished ability up to the present. In 1888 he was elected Dean of the College, and is yet (1910) filling that position. In 1889 he took postgraduate courses in Johns Hopkins University in Histology, Physiology, Bacteriology and Pathology. The fact that he has been such a willing and diligent student during his entire professional life certainly in part accounts for his eminent success. There must, of course, have been a natural aptitude for the medical profession, for learning, however great, cannot fully take the place of inborn capacity. In 1895 Loyola College honored him with the degree of Master of Arts.
On April 25, 1882, he married Miss Sadie Fusselbaugh, of Balti- more. Three children have been born to them, of whom two, a son and a daughter, are now living.
He is a Democrat in his politics by reason of his convictions, or as he puts it, " because I believe in the rights of the individual."
As a boy he enjoyed all the outdoor sports that most active boys like, such as coasting, wrestling, horseback riding and roaming the fields; and now in his later years some evidence of this original taste remains in his recreations, which take the form of travel through the woods and mountains, and of visits to battlefields.
Religiously, he attends the services of the Methodist church, in which he was reared. He is a member of the various Masonic bodies, from Blue Lodge to " the Shrine "; of the University Club. of the Flint Club, an organization of physicians, and of the Old Town Mer- chants and Manufacturers' Association. He says, " Formal socia!
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functions have always been distasteful to me, as savoring of personal display and insincerity." This shows a healthy taste, for every thoughtful man knows Doctor Strectt's statement to be correct. Doc- tor Streett has served as president of the Medical and Surgical Society of Baltimore and 'of the Baltimore Medical Association. He is a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, and has twice been elected its vice-president. He also holds membership in the American Medical Association. In 1909 he was elected vice-president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, of which he was one of the organizers, at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1890.
In 1883 and 1884 he was elected to the first branch of the City Council, and re-elected the following year, showing that the young physician, then but five years established, had already made his mark.
For many long years since 1886 he has been medical attendant of the Maryland General Hospital, which is attached to the college of which he is dean. The development of the hospital and of the college has been his work for more than twenty years, and the eminent suc- cess of these useful institutions is largely attributed to his vigor, his energy, his administrative ability and his untiring zeal, which have been largely instrumental in making the college one of the largest medical schools in the United States, and in giving both college and hospital a splendid equipment.
Doctor Streett is a believer in "the simple life." He thinks country living is good in youth, until sound bodies, good habits and strong character have been established. The fifth commandment of the Decalogue appeals to him very strongly, and he believes that a thorough appreciation of that old Mosaic law will prove a constant stimulant, a necessary moral restraint and a safeguard through life. From his standpoint, one with this ideal conception of obligation and duty, and a sane conscience, can scarcely do a moral wrong without immediate realization of it. With this ideal moral character, backed up by persistent energy and well-directed effort, success will be insured. His last thought on this subject is worthy of being inscribed in golden letters and placed before the eyes of all our people. He says, "The man is truly successful who contributes largely to the happiness and welfare of people and the nation."
The motto of the Streett coat of arms is " Non nobis solum nati " -" Not born for ourselves alone."
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THOMAS JOHN CHEW WILLIAMS
W ITHOUT in any sense reflecting upon any other class in t: community it is true that the men who do the editor :.. work upon the newspapers of our country render gre :: public service for less reward than any other class of our citizens !.: except it may be the clergy. To this most useful and not fairly ap! ciated class belongs Thomas John Chew Williams, of the Baltin Sun. Mr. Williams is a native Marylander, born in Calvert coun August 6, 1851, son of Reverend Henry and Priscilla E. (Chew) W liams. His father was an Episcopal clergyman, an eloquent preach .. . and of great piety. Among his ancestors may be noted Capt. Thomas Claggett, of the British navy, who settled in Calvert county Maryland, in 1660, and John Chew, of Somersetshire, England, wi. first came to Virginia in 1618, and moved to Maryland in 1650. M :. Williams' great-grandfather, the Right Reverend Thomas J. Clagget :. first bishop of Maryland, had the distinction of being the first bisho! consecrated on American soil. Francis Scott Key wrote in his epi- taph, " He ruled the church with firmness and faithfulness and adorno : it with his character." Two other of Mr. Williams' great-grandfather -. Samuel Chew and Edward Gantt, were members of the Federation Freemen in the Revolutionary war. With such ancestry, if we accept the doctrine of heredity, we can readily understand how Mr. Willian :- would be a devoted lover of the country. He was a strong boy, rear- : on a tobacco plantation in southern Maryland, was taught by hi- mother, who was a woman of much intellectuality, to love books, an : acquired, as a boy, a taste for historical reading, which has remaine ! with him up to the present. He is the author of a history of Wasi .- ington county, a history of Frederick county, and several books deseri?". tive of Maryland. After preliminary training in the schools of Calvert county, he entered Columbian College, Washington, District of Column- bia, but was compelled to cut his schooling short at the age of sixteen. On leaving school, he became a school teacher in Calvert county, an . then took up the study of law under his brother, Henry Williams, au ; was admitted to the bar in 1870. In 1872 he went to Hagerstown.
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Maryland, and started to practice law. A measure of success was coming to the young lawyer when he became interested in newspaper work by buying a half interest in the Hagerstown Mail, which he edited in partnership with Edwin Bell. It is quite evident that at this point in his career, Mr. Williams struck his true vocation. He con- tinued with the Hagerstown Mail until 1891, when he moved to Balti- more, and has since been a member of the editorial staff of the Balti- more Sun. His work in the editorial harness therefore totals up about thirty-five years. Those familiar with the conditions surrounding mod- ern newspaper work will readily understand that Mr. Williams has lived a rather strenuous thirty-five years. He has been a steadfast lover of his work, having refused various civil and political offices because they would interfere with his own proper work. Both as editor and as chief of the Sun's legislative bureau at Annapolis, he has consistently striven for good legislation and opposed bad. In the fight for ballot reform in Washington county he was a leader. As editor of the Hagerstown Mail, he exerted a strong influence and aided in bringing about better financial methods in the state government, and from 1875 down to the present has an unbroken record in favor of everything that would con- tribute to the betterment of conditions in Maryland. In his political connection, Mr. Williams has always been a Democrat, believing that the time-honored principles of that historic party would, if honestly applied to the conduct of the government, best promote the welfare of the country. He was offered a number of important official positions by Governors Smith and Warfield, but declined office until 1910, when Governor Crothers appointed him to the office of judge of the juvenile court in the city of Baltimore. But Mr. Williams has been something more than a man of one work. For thirty years he has served as a ves- tryman in the Episcopal church and as trustee or director in various state institutions, all of these being unpaid services. While, as has been said, his political convictions have kept him aligned with the Democratic party, he is independent enough to stand up against the mistakes of his party whether they be wilful or merely ignorant. As might be expected of such a man, he has clear-cut convictions, the re- sult of much observation, reading and thought. In this connection, his own words cannot be improved upon. He says, "The ideal of American life should not be mere money-getting. The man whose only ambition is to get rich is seldom a good citizen. A man can be diligent in business and still find time to perform the duties of a citi-
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zen and to take part in public affairs. If he is earnest, he can always exert an influence for good."
Mr. Williams is now one of the well-known men of Maryland, both in literary and political circles. His prominence has come to him, not as a result of any self-seeking on his part, but purely as the result of duty well done.
On June 2, 1874, he married Miss Cora Martin Maddox. Of this marriage six children have been born, five of whom are living. The oldest son, Thomas N. M. Williams, after a business career in Chicago. lives on the farm of his grandfather, Doctor Thomas Maddox, in Wash- ington county. The second son, Henry, graduated second in the cla -. of 1898 at the United States Naval Academy, went into the West In- dian campaign, in the Spanish war under Admiral Schiley, stuli- marine architecture in Paris, and is now a naval constructor in t! .. United States navy with the rank of lieutenant-commander. Th. third son, Richard Claggett, took geology as his profession, graduating at Princeton, and then at the Johns Hopkins University. The fourth son, Ferdinand, graduated at West Point in 1903, high in his class. was assigned to the engineers, and was ordered to the Philippines. After his return, with a brilliant career before him, he was accidentally killed at target practice, in June, 1906, at Fort Madison, Maryland. He left a widow, who was Miss Prioleau, of Charleston, South Carolina. A daughter was born to him after his death. The oldest daughter of Thomas J. C. and Cors M. Williams, Priscilla, is married to Lieuten- ant Edward MI. Zell, of the United States army. The youngest daugh- ter, Anne E. C., is unmarried.
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ERNEST CHARLES SCHROEDER
E RNEST CHARLES SCHROEDER, educator, was born at Bal- timore, on April 3, 1865. He is the son of Henry A. A. Schroeder and Hermione (Waudscher) Schroeder. His father, a man of ability, industry and modesty, was a lithographer, and was a member of the Artistic Committee of the Baltimore Sesqui- Centennial in 1880. He was sent to the United States from Germany to establish a branch lithographie house by his European employers. Among his ancestors are the names of several clergymen, manufac- turers, physicians and government officers of more than local reputa- tion.
Ernest Charles Schroeder spent his childhood in the city, where he showed great interest for books of any kind. The influence in his home of his mother's character for good was an important factor. The greatest help he derived in reading has come from works on biology. His early education was acquired in public and private schools in Balti- more, and at the Maryland Agricultural College. He then entered the veterinary department of Harvard University, and after three years of study there graduated in 1887 with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Active life was begun by Mr. Schroeder as an inspector with the United States Bureau of Animal Industry at Baltimore, in 1887. This course of action was controlled by personal preference and the suggestion of his parents. He classes the relative strength of in- fluences on his life in this order: (1) home; (2) private study; (3) contact with men; (4) school; (5) early companionship. In 1890, Mr. Schroeder became assistant in the pathological laboratory of the Bureau of Animal Industry and field agent for the same, which posi- tion he held until 1894. From 1894 to the present time he has been the superintendent of the United States experimental station at Wash- ington, District of Columbia, and at Bethesda. Mr. Schroeder has contributed to the reports and bulletins of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture and to various medical journals. writing descrip- tions of original investigations of contagious and infectious diseases, having spent much time and study especially in the investigation of
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tuberculosis. He is a member of several scientific associations and so- cieties, and was secretary and treasurer of the Maryland State Veter :- nary Medical Association in 1888 and 1889. In politics he is an Inde- pendent. For exercise and amusement, Mr. Schroeder turns to driving. tennis, reading, chess and whist.
On October 1, 1889, Mr. Schroeder was married to Florence R. Brett. They have had three children, one of whom is now living.
Mr. Schroeder gives us this thought: " Failures should add to our productivity, by teaching us our limitations, and consequently how to confine our ambition and the efforts for its gratification within the circle of possibilities. Young Americans should study a good history of the United States, and read the lives of several great Americans. Nothing can more effectually stimulate true patriotism or better illus- trate the high value of industry and patience, which are the true ele- ments of success."
JOHN BENJAMIN THOMAS
A MONG the substantial business men of Baltimore, whose life, outside of business lines, has been one of marked usefulness, is John Benjamin Thomas. Mr. Thomas was born on Car- roll's Manor, Frederick county, Maryland. His parents were John Benjamin and Charlotte Thomas. His father was a prominent man, engaged in farming and real estate operations, who served as a mem- ber of the State House of Delegates, was chief of the Magistrate's Court and a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867.
Mr. Thomas' family is an old English one originally located at Wrotham, Kent county, England, from which place Robert Thomas migrated to America in 1647, settling near Annapolis, Maryland. The old pioneer settler was known in his day as Robert Thomas of Poplar Hill. One of his descendants, Benjamin Thomas, born in 1741, was Second Lieutenant in the Thirty-fourth Maryland Battalion during the Revolutionary war, and through him our subject holds membership in the patriotic society of the Sons of the Revolution.
Young Thomas grew up in the country with a sound body and had the good fortune to have not only a good father but an excellent mother who had a strong influence upon his moral and spiritual life. He was educated in the Mercersburg College at Mercersburg, Pennsyl- vania. Having decided to enter the drug business he became a student in the Maryland College of Pharmacy in Baltimore, and graduated in 1872, with the degree of Ph.G. Since his graduation his business life has been spent in the drug business, both in wholesale and retail lines. The success in his chosen pursuit has been of a substantial character. In addition to other interests, he is president of the Thomas & Thomp- son Company, which concern operates the largest retail drug business in the city.
Outside of business he has been active in various directions. He holds membership in the University Club of Baltimore and the Balti- more Country Club. He is a member of the Council of the American Pharmaceutical Association for the term running from 1909 to 1912. He is president of the General Alumni Association of the University
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JOHN BENJAMIN THOMAS
of Maryland for the term of 1909 and 1910. He is president of the Maryland Pharmaceutical Association for the term of 1909 and 1910. In addition to all these he is now serving as a trustee of the Endow- ment Fund of the University of Maryland. It will thus be seen that Mr. Thomas is giving efficient service in those directions where he can be most useful, and is not merely a business man.
His political affiliations have always been with the Democratic party. He is, however, not active in politics beyond the necessities of good citizenship. His religious affiliations are with the Protestant Episcopal church.
On January 27, 1881, he married Miss Effie Paul Harris. They have two children: Howell Harris Thomas, born December 13, 1881, now a practicing lawyer in Baltimore, and John Benjamin Thomas, Jr., Ph.D., born March 19, 1888, who is engaged in the drug business in Baltimore.
As far back as 1574 that branch of the Thomas family to which our subject belongs was granted a coat of arms in England, which is described as follows :
Per pale ar. and sa. a chev. betw. three Cornish choughs, all counter-charged, beaked and legged gu.
Crest : A Cornish chough sa., wings expanded, beaked and legged gu. betw. two spears erect or, headed ar.
Motto : " Honesty is the best policy."
DUKE BOND
D UKE BOND, of Baltimore, lawyer, was born in Saint Mary's county, Maryland, on the 29th of September, 1869. His mother was Susan Adelaide (Briscoe) Bond, daughter of Doctor Walter Hanson Stone Briscoe. His father, Thomas Holdsworth Bond, a farmer, for a term state tobacco inspector for Maryland, an · - member of the House of Delegates of Maryland, was a man of self- vilant poise and reserve.
Through both his father's and his mother's family, Mr. Duke Bond is connected with many of the prominent families of Maryland, .- pecially in Calvert county, and in Saint Mary's and Charles counties. On his father's side, the Brookes, Dukes, Holdsworths, Mauldins, and Somervells, as well as the Chews, the Richard Smiths and the Gantts, the Hutchins and the Wheelers, are among the family connections by marriage in Calvert county. On his mother's side, her great-grand- father, Colonel Philip Briscoe, was residing in Maryland before 1694, in which year he married Susannah Swann. Through the marriage of William Dent Briscoe with Sarah Stone, Mr. Bond is descended from Governor William Stone (1603-1660). The Boutons, the Harrisons and the Dents intermarried with the Briscoes.
Duke Bond spent his boyhood in the country, was fond of books and of horses, and enjoyed out-of-door life. To his mother and father he feels himself indebted for the strongest influence, both on his intel- lectual and his moral life. He attended the Charlotte Hall School, from which he was graduated in July, 1886. In 1889 he completed a course of study at " Sadler's Bryant and Stratton Business College." He then entered upon the study of law in the Law Department of the University of Maryland. He was graduated with the degree of LL.B., in 1892. Meanwhile, he had known something of the practical work of life. Since 1886, when he began to teach school, at the age of seven- teen, he has "earned all the money he has spent," although he says, - My father has always been willing to back me to the extent of his means." After two years of teaching, he became chief clerk of a state tobacco warehouse, filling that position from 1888 to 1890.
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DUKE BOND
In 1892 he began the practice of law at Baltimore, and since that time has been deeply interested in his profession. In 1894 he was com- mittee clerk in the state senate of Maryland. In 1896 he was made chief engrossing clerk of the state senate. In May, 1903, he was elected a member of the first branch of the city council of Baltimore, by a ma- jority of 280. After serving two years, he was reelected to the same position by a majority of 860, and at the expiration of his second term he was, in 1907, elected to the second branch of the city council of Bal- timore for a term of four years, by a majority of 3350 votes-most satisfactory endorsements of the public spirit and faithfulness which he had shown in the discharge of his duties as a member of the couneil.
In politics, Mr. Bond is a Democrat; and he has never swerved from allegiance to the measures and the nominees of his party. He is a member of the University Club of Baltimore, and of the Baltimore Country Club. Exercise and amusement he has found in tennis and golf ; although he has never been strenuously addicted to either of these games.
His religious convictions have led to his identification with the Protestant Episcopal church.
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H. CRAWFORD BLACK
W ELL up in the front rank of the business men of Baltimore of today stands H. Crawford Black, president of Black- Sheridan-Wilson Company, miners and dealers in coal. Mr. Black is a native of Maryland, born in Cumberland, the only son of H. D. and Mary (Haldeman) Black. His mother was a member of :'e well-known Haldeman family of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. His education was obtained in the Allegany County Academy. When i mere youth, he went to Mexico, and was employed in the engineering corps on the construction of the Imperial Mexico Railway under the Maximilian regime. The mere statement of this fact illustrates the adventurous spirit of Mr. Black, for Mexico of that day was truly a turbulent country. When the French troops evacuated the country and the downfall of Maximilian became imminent he returned to the United States and spent two years in Nebraska and Iowa. In 1869 he returned to Maryland and entered the coal business, with which he has been identified and which has been his chief interest up to the present time. His first work was as a mine superintendent in charge of mines in Maryland and West Virginia. In 1882 he located in Baltimore and established the firm of Black, Sheridan & Wilson, miners and shippers of coal, which was incorporated in 1889. By the time he located in Baltimore, Mr. Black had established his reputation as a thoroughly able business man, and an expert in everything pertaining to the mining and shipping of coal. His career in the twenty-eight years he las lived in Baltimore has been one of continuous success, until he is now recognized as one of the strong men of the city. His abilities have ben recognized by his appointment in the past as a director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, as a representative of the state's interest. He has also served as a director in the Western Maryland Railroad, the Valley Railroad of Virginia, the Pittsburg and West Virginia Railroad and the Consolidated Gas Company of Baltimore City. He was one of the incorporators of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, which he served as a director and vice-president. All of
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