USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland biographies of leading men in the state, Volume I > Part 12
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He attended private schools in Baltimore, but did not take a course of advanced technical study or of professional study. At the age of sixteen, in 1844, he became apprentice in a machine shop in Baltimore. His personal preference led to this choice of an occupa- tion for life; although it is probable that his father's profession, mechanical engineering, was not without a strong influence in shap- ing the taste and the choice of the son.
After thoroughly mastering the details of foundry work and of the machine shop in all its parts, Mr. Hunt at once went into business for himself with Mr. Robert Poole as partner.
From the management of his own important foundry and ma- chine shop business, he was led by his associations and businessinter- ests with other men, to participate in the management of many other
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industrial, manufacturing and businesss companies in Baltimore. From 1850 until 1903 -- the date of Mr. Hunt's voluntary retirement from active participation in business affairs, his name was to be found on the lists of those who have promoted the organization and assisted in the management of most of the public-spirited enterprises for the increasing prosperity and welfare of Baltimore. .
By his political preferences, Mr. Hunt was a Democrat; but he never surrendered his own personal conviction to the dictates of party managers; and as he acted with the old Whig party until 1856, so in later years he held himself responsible to his own conscience rather than to the dictates of party, and has participated more than once in independent movements for the betterment of politics and the advancement of good government in Maryland.
Mr. Hunt was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and took an active interest in its work, its worship and its charities. He was a member of the Masonic Fraternity. He was a trustee of the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, and was the president for many years; he was also a member of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association of Maryland. He was for many years president of the board of trustees of the McDonogh School. He was a director in several of the important banks of the city. He was an active and useful member of the Board of Trade, and of many other business and trade organizations.
His favorite forms of amusement and exercise were always "the society of my friends, and driving good horses." To young men who are entering upon life be offered this pointed suggestion: "Be strictly honest, pure in your morality, faithful to every trust imposed upon you, and always industrious."
Mr. Hunt died of paralysis at Chattolanee, Maryland, June 16, 1907, after a few hours illness.
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STUART SYMINGTON JANNEY
ANNEY, STUART SYMINGTON, lawyer, was born in Harford county, Maryland, October 9, 1874. He is the son of Johns Hopkins and Caroline (Symington) Janney. His father was a merchant in Baltimore city until 1873, when he retired to his farm in Harford County. Mr. Janney traces his ancestry in the United States to Thomas and Margaret Janney, who came from Cheshire, England, and settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1683.
In youth Mr. Janney lived a healthy country life in the open air. His early education was acquired at the Baltimore city college and at Marston's school. He then entered the Johns Hopkins university, whence he graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1895. He next spent a year at the university as a graduate student. From 1896 to 1898 he served as a private, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and then captain in the Cuban army during the revolution, and from June, 1898, to January, 1899, he was a captain in the 7th United States volunteer infantry. Before retiring from the army he was promoted to the rank of major in the 7th regiment. Later in the year 1899 Mr. Janney returned to Baltimore and entered upon a course of law at the University of Maryland, where he received the degree of LL.B. in 1901.
Since that time Mr. Janney has been practicing law in Baltimore city, and is a member of the faculty of the Baltimore Law School. In November, 1905, he married Frances Moale Spencer, daughter of Jervis Spencer of Baltimore county, and made his home in the Green Spring Valley where he is able to indulge his taste for fox hunting, his principal recreation.
Mr. Janney is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and the Delta Phi fraternities, and of the Maryland Club. In politics, he is a Demo- crat.
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EDWARD MILLER JEFFERYS
J EFFERYS, EDWARD MILLER, clergyman, was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, on May 4, 1865. He is the son of Charles Peter Beauchamp and Elizabeth Miller Jefferys. His father, a man devoted to duty and a lover of art, was a civil engineer. Mr. Jefferys traces his ancestry to the Baron Von Kisselman, who came from Germany to Philadelphia before 1753; Jacob Van Reed, who emigrated to Germantown, Pennsylvania, from Holland in 1725; William Miller, who came to Philadelphia from Scotland in 1760; Edward Miller, a distinguished civil engineer; the Hon. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Jefferys, Governor of Nevis, British West Indies, and to William Miller, commissioner of revenue under Adams and Jef- ferson. In youth, Mr. Jefferys had good physical health, living both in the city and in the country, where he displayed much interest in outdoor sports. His mother's training had a forceful and beneficent influence upon his life. The books which he found most helpful were works of a biographical and historical nature, both ecclesiastical and profane. He received his early education at the Rugby academy in Philadelphia and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated with the degree of B.A., in 1886. Mr. Jefferys then entered the Berkeley Divinity School at Middletown, Connecticut, and was graduated from that seat of learning in 1889. In 1890, the - University of Pennsylvania conferred upon him the degree of B.D.
He began active life as curate of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia in 1889, and the following year left there to become the assistant rector of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church in Detroit, Michigan. He remained in this office until 1893. The subsequent year he spent in travel abroad, and upon his return to America in 1894 was given the rectorship of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church at Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In 1902, Mr. Jef- ferys became rector of Emmanuel Parish, Cumberland, and in 1904, archdeacon of Cumberland-an archdeaconry comprising the counties of Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick. These offices he resigned on March 1, 1905, and became rector of St. Peter's Church,
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Philadelphia, on the same date. On May 9, 1907, he was elected a member of the standing committee of the diocese of Pennsylvania. In politics he is "Republican in national questions, Independent in state and municipal issues." For exercise and enjoyment he turns to boating and golf. When a student at the University of Pennsyl- vania, he was a member of the football team.
On April 24, 1895, Mr. Jefferys married Amy E. Faulconer of Detroit, a niece of Admiral Chatfield of the British Navy and a grand- daughter of the late Hon. H. H. Emmons. They have three children, all sons.
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SPENCER CONE JONES.
ONES, SPENCER C., banker and lawyer, was born at Rockville, Montgomery county, Maryland, July 3, 1836, the son of Rev- erend Joseph H. Jones, a Baptist clergyman, and Elizabeth (Clagett) Jones. Reverend Mr. Jones, who was in the active minis- try for fifty-two years, resided at Rockville from 1821 to 1844, and at Frederick from 1844 to 1867. He then returned to Montgomery county and died there in 1871. He was the son of Charles Jones, who came from Drogheda, Ireland, to America in 1793 and settled in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1795, he married Prudence Hawkins, of Providence, Rhode Island. Mrs. Joseph H. Jones was a daughter of Joseph Clagett of Montgomery county, and the line goes back through Henry and two Thomases to Thomas Clagett, who emigrated from England to St. Leonard's Creek, in Calvert county.
Spencer C. Jones was educated at the Rockville academy, at the Frederick public schools, and at Frederick college, the old county academy. He then read law with William J. Ross, of Frederick, and was admitted to the bar of Frederick county. During the War between the States he enlisted in Company D, 1st Maryland cavalry, Confederate States army, and served as a private to the close of the contest. He then went to Texas and taught school near Huntsville for two years. Returning to Maryland in 1868, he began the prac- tice of law at Rockville, where he has resided to the present time.
On December 21, 1871, he was married to Ellen, daughter of John and Elizabeth S. Brewer. Mrs. Jones died on July 21, 1876, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth, who is married to Thomas R. Falvy of New Orleans. In Rockville, Mr. Jones soon built up a large prac- tice, and in 1871 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the office of state's attorney for Montgomery county. In 1875 he was reelected, and in 1879, he was elected clerk of the State Court of Appeals. A second term in this position was given him by the vote of the people of the State in 1885, and in 1892 he was chosen by the legislature as state treasurer. To this position he was reelected in 1894, and was renominated in 1896, but failed of election, as there
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was a Republican majority in the general assembly. Mr. Jones was twice elected mayor of Rockville, in 1898 and 1900. He resigned this office, on being elected a member of the state senate, in 1901. During the session of 1902, he was chairman of the finance commit- tee, and during that of 1904, he was president of the senate. His unfailing courtesy, business like manner, and firm decision of charac- ter made him an excellent presiding officer. For several years he has been one of the leaders of his party in the state, and his name has been frequently mentioned for the gubernatorial nomination. From the organization of the Montgomery County National Bank, May 21, 1884, to the present time, Mr. Jones has been one of its directors, and he has been its president since January, 1892.
He affiliates with the Baptist church, and is a Mason and Knight of Pythias, in both of which societies he has occupied the higher offices. Mr. Jones is vice-president of the Board of Visitors of the State School for the Deaf, at Frederick.
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MARTIN LUTHER KEEDY
T HERE is no more valuable asset to the political leader than the ability to sacrifice personal interests when the welfare of his party is concerned.
This truth is emphasized in the public career of Judge Martin L. Keedy. In his own county he served his party in a number of posi- tions with credit to the Republican organization and with honor to himself. In time he acquired a strong hold upon the voters of his own political faith in his neighborhood. He had, both in office and as a laborer in the ranks, accomplished much for the transient successes and the permanent strengthening of his party. By his services he had won the right to be accorded certain recognition in the way of nomina- tion for higher office than that which he held, and by his ability he augmented his claim upon the Republicans. At a time, however, when it seemed that Judge Keedy had within his grasp the means of attaining a nomination for a high office, another candidate appeared and secured the nomination and election. His party did not forget his earlier services. It subsequently nominated him for a more impor- tant office, and elected him. The strength of Judge Keedy as a Republican leader is and always has been in his strictly moral view of politics.
Martin Luther Keedy was born at Eakle's Mills, Washington county, on January 5, 1858, the son of Joseph E. and Sophia C. (Clopper) Keedy. - His father was a farmer, and the boy, passing his early years on the home farm, acquired habits of industry which accustomed him to hard work and endurance. He received his elementary education in the public schools of Washington county and when he had been prepared for matriculation at college left home and went to Salem, Virginia, to pursue his studies at Roanoke College. This was in 1874, and four years later he was graduated from Roanoke College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1SS3, Judge Keedy received from the same institution the Master's degree.
After completing his college work, he became for a time a teacher. He was connected with the public schools of Washington county, Md., for four years, during which time he devoted all his spare hours to reading law in the office of his uncle, the late H. H. Keedy. In the
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fall of 1882, he entered the Law Department of the University of Mich- igan, at Ann Arbor, where he continued until January 17, 1883, when he was examined in open court at the university town and was admitted to the Michigan bar. He did not pursue his law studies for a degree at the University of Michigan, but returned to Maryland and was admitted to the Washington county bar on March 17, 1883.
Shortly afterward, in the autumn of 1883, Judge Keedy made his political debut as the Republican nominee for the office of State's Attorney of Washington county. He was elected and served a full term of four years; but was defeated in November, 1887, when he was candidate for reelection. Two years later he was elected a member of the House of Delegates, and during the next session of the Legisla- ture was his party's leader in the lower house of the general assembly. In 1891, Judge Keedy was the Republican candidate for State senator but was defeated.
He was nominated for mayor of Hagerstown in March, 1894, and was elected. At theexpiration of his term of two years he was reelected for another term. In 1894 he was prominently mentioned as his party's candidate for congress, and he had at his command a very large and influential following. At this time, however, George L. Wellington put in his appearance and frustrated the plans of Judge Keedy's supporters. Mr. Keedy took the disappointment with good grace and labored for the success of this opponent in his own party. Although for a time thereafter he was not favored with any office from his organization, in 1903 he was nominated for the more important office of associate judge of the fourth judicial circuit of Maryland, a post which carries with it a term of fifteen years. Mr. Keedy was elected to this office, which he continues to hold. Judge Keedy was married on January 7, 1885, to Nellie C. Stitt, daughter of the Rev. J. B. Stitt, by whom he has had two children.
He is a member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church of Hagerstown. He is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Before he went on the bench he was one of the most prominent lawyers of Western Maryland. As a public speaker, or as an advocate at the bar, he is forcible, logical and entertaining. He possesses a well cultivated and balanced mind, and, though most of his life a politician-in as far as a laborer for any party is such-he has always been opposed to what is known as bossism in politics, and has been in favor of the people nominating the candidates for whom they vote.
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WILLIAM KEYSER
K EYSER, WILLIAM, manufacturer, was born in Baltimore, on November 23, 1835, the son of Samuel Stouffer and Eliza- beth (Wyman) Keyser. His father was engaged in the business of importing iron, to which business Mr. Keyser and his younger brother Irvine, later succeeded. He was educated in the private schools of Baltimore and at St. Timothy's School at Catons- ville. His father's health having become impaired, causing him to partially give up business activities, in April, 1852, he entered the counting room and took a leading part in the business. In 1857, his father retired, leaving the business entirely in his son's hands. About 1857, Mr. Keyser was appointed receiver of the Laurel Cotton Mill, which position he filled so successfully that the mill recovered its financial standing. About the same time, he took up the affairs of a large shipbuilding firm, which had contracted to build the sloop Dakota for the United States Navy and completed the vessel satis- factorily to the Federal Government. In 1865, Mr. Keyser took an interest in the Abbott Iron Company, operating a large rolling mill in Canton, a suburb of Baltimore, which employed 1000 men and was connected with this company for several years, being chairman of its executive committee. Shortly afterwards, he took hold of the manage- ment of the Baltimore Copper Company and was so successful that he was made its president and directed the work of the company for some years. About this time, he became interested in the establish- ment of a line of steamships, being the first regular transatlantic line from Baltimore. This line proved a failure but fifteen years later he took an active part in the establishment of the Johnston Line. In 1870, he was elected president of the Northwestern Virginia Rail- road better known as the Parkersburg Branch and his success here led to his election as second vice-president of the Baltimore and Ohio; which position he refused in 1870 but accepted in 1871. He early had estab- lished friendly business relations with John W. Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and Johns Hopkins, one of the leading financiers of Baltimore, and this relationship con- tinued during their lives. From May, 1871, to July, 1SS1, he was second vice-president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
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and took a leading part in completing its road to Chicago. In the great railroad strike of 1877, he was largely instrumental in settling the difficulties between the road and its men, by moving from place to place and conferring with the men, which his friendly personal relations with them enabled him to do. He often appeared before * the State Legislature and City Council, when legislation was needed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the town of Keyser, West Virginia, perpetuates the memory of his connection with the road. When Mr. Garrett retired from the presidency, Mr. Keyser also retired from his office and took an extended tour in Europe. Shortly after the close of the Civil War, Mr. Keyser was appointed one of the trustees of the McDonogh Fund and took an active interest in the school maintained by that fund. In 1870, he was appointed a director of the Western Maryland Railroad and for some time was chairman of the finance committee. He was also interested in the Hannah More Academy at Reisterstown and gave largely to it. In 1883, he took up the reorganization of the copper industry at Canton and, in 1886, he organized the Baltimore Copper Smelting and Rolling Com- pany, of which he became the first president, an office he continued to hold until his death. At one time, he was president of the Old Dominion Copper Company successfully operating mines and smelters in Arizona and he was actively interested in the Anaconda Copper Company of Montana and many local and western business ventures. The product of the great Anaconda Mine in Montana is treated in the large works at Canton, which employs over 800 men. Mr. Keyser was a careful and successful investor and was a large real estate owner. After the great fire of February 7, 1904, he at once planned to rebuild the structures he owned which had burned and served as general chairman of the Emergency Committee appointed by the Mayor, being indefatigable in his efforts that the work of that Committee might be successful, taking at all times a cheerful and optimistic view of the outcome. He was a consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal Church and served it as deputy to the annual conventions of the diocese of Maryland and to the General Convention of the Church. In politics, he was an independent Democrat. He was a prominent figure in local politics for many years, although never a candidate for office. Hehad a high ideal of the duties of citizenship and stood unflinchingly against corruption and narrow partisanship. In 1882, he was one of the leaders of the new judge movement. In 1SS3 he was chairman of the
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Democratic City Committee. In 1885, he joined with other Independ- ents in the organization of the Reforro League, of which he was presi- dent at the time of his death. In 1895, he was chairman of the Execu- tive Committee of the Reform League and directed the earnest struggle made by the League for the success of the Republican State and City tickets. He waged a long and relentless fight against the Democratic organization. He did not appear frequently upon the stump; but was a forcible and trenchant political writer, and frequently visited Annapolis during the sessions of the State Legislature in support of good measures and in opposition to those detrimental to the public welfare. Mr. Keyser was a most helpful friend to the Johns Hopkins University, giving liberally to its needs. When in 1902 his cousin, Mr. William Wyman, offered to give to the university sixty acres of the Homewood tract in the northern suburbs of the city, he supple- mented the gift by purchasing the adjoining sixty acres for $225,000 and presenting it also.
On November 10, 1858, he married Mary, daughter of Robert J. Brent of Baltimore, by whom he had two sons and one daughter. Mr. Keyser was very fond of travel both in this country and abroad and had visited Europe many times, going as far east as Palestine and Egypt. He was a great reader and student, learning both French and German after he was thirty years of age, and reading them for recreation to the day of his death.
Years of hard work had told heavily upon Mr. Keyser's health but his death came very suddenly on June 3, 1904, at his country place Brentwood, near Reisterstown, in Baltimore county. The trustees of the Johns Hopkins University, in taking action upon his death spoke of him as a "man whose whole public life was an inspiring example of good citizenship and civic duty. His public service in a private station offers a practical example of the fulfillment of the ideals which the University endeavors to inculcate."
The faculty of the same institution adopted resolutions, speaking of Mr. Keyser as a " man of eminent sagacity," who led a " life of high example and rare beneficence." "In business, in politics, in the cause of religion, the cause of humanity, it was always the same large nature, the same unshaken will, the same calm foresight, the same energetic utterance, the same commanding presence that made for all that was righteous, all that was generous. It is an honor to Baltimore that such a man should have unfolded so freely in this com- munity."
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FERDINAND CLAIBORNE LATROBE
M OST people in Mr. Latrobe's native city regard him first, last, and all the time as the Mayor of Baltimore only. While the men of the present generation were being drilled in the alphabet, their child-mind became accustomed to hearing the name of Mayor Latrobe. As the men of this generation grew to maturity the office and the name were still linked with surprising frequency; and when they cast their first ballots, they were afforded an opportunity of affixing more securely the old prefix to Mr. Latrobe's name. This many-times mayor practices law, and in legal circles he is known as a man of exceptional ability as a counsellor; but the masses never accepted Mr. Latrobe as a lawyer. Again, to his personal friends and intimate acquaintances he is known as genially philosophical and a deep thinker upon many subjects foreign to politics; but to the voters generally he has been known only as the Mayor of Baltimore. And it is doubtful if this view of the man, received when the present gen- eration got its first impression of Mr. Latrobe, will ever cease to be the popular view of F. C. Latrobe.
More than thirty years ago Mr. Latrobe first came before the people of Baltimore as a mayoralty candidate. He had prior to that time seen service in the General Assembly, and his record there had been such as to commend him to the people's confidence. In 1875, he was for the first time elected executive of the Monumental City, and his incumbency of the mayor's office continued, with occasional interruptions, to the eve of the twentieth century. Those years witnessed the remarkable growth of Baltimore from a pleasant but rather backward city to the metropolis of the South, and Mr. Latrobe's administration of the city's affairs was paralleled with a radical modernization of the character of the improvements which were undertaken by the municipality. According to the narrow view of the average citizen of the day when Mayor Latrobe began his enor- mous task of remaking Baltimore, the mayoralty office during his administration was marked with extravagance; but the innovations which he introduced and the gigantic undertakings to which he
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