USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland biographies of leading men in the state, Volume I > Part 16
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"While a young man should not seek office. nor, except in rare cases, accept it too early in his career, he should study public ques- tions closely, and take an active interest in public affairs, especially those relating to his own neighborhood, joining every movement tending to make that a better place in which to live. With due respect for authority, let him stand for his own and the rights of others under the law, and while he should try to have opinions, let him delay the expression of them at least long enough to obtain the
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facts. While he may find it more pleasant and infinitely more popu- lar to drift with the current of thought and events, he should try to be strong enough to swim against the stream, and brave enough to strive alone, should his convictions require the sacrifice."
ALBERT CABELL RITCHIE
R ITCHIE, ALBERT CABELL, lawyer, of the firm of Ritchie & Janney, of Baltimore, was born in Richmond, Virginia, on the 29th of August, 1876. His father, Judge Albert Ritchie, was at one time City Solicitor of Baltimore, later City Coun- sellor of Baltimore, and from 1891 until his death in 1903 was a Judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City. His mother was Mrs. Elizabeth Cabell, daughter of Dr. Robert G. Cabell, of Richmond, Virginia.
Albert C. Ritchie's boyhood was passed in Baltimore, where he was prepared for college, and took the undergraduate course at Johns Hopkins University, receiving the degree of A.B. in 1896. He then spent two years in study at the Law School of the University of Mary- land, and was graduated with the degree of LL.B., in 1898.
He at once began the practice of law in the offices of Steele, Semmes and Carey, in Baltimore. He served as assistant to the City Solicitor, from 1898 to 1900. He was appointed Assistant City Solici- tor in March, 1903; and he was reappointed Assistant City Solicitor for four years in July 1, 1903, and again in October 1, 1907.
In November, 1903, he formed a partnership for the practice of law with Stuart S. Janney, of Baltimore, under the firm name of Ritchie and Janney. Their offices are 745-751 Calvert Building, Baltimore.
Mr. Ritchie has written a legal text-book upon the Law of Munici- pal Condemnation in Maryland, published in June, 1904.
By political preference he is connected with the Democratic party. He is identified with the Protestant Episcopal Church. On May 18, 1907, he was married to Miss Elizabeth C. Baker, daughter of Mr. Bernard N. Baker, of Baltimore.
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Albert C. Ritel.
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Tell Rodgers ReactSEUSet
FREDERICK RODGERS
A WARRIOR'S worth cannot be reliably computed until after he has been in battle. He may have acquired all the tech- nical and theoretical training which the nation's school for soldiers and sailors can impart; but his ability to put the knowledge acquired into practice during times of peace cannot be accepted as a criterion for the rating of his worth in war. This is but natural, as the qualities which are worth most when a warrior is under fire may not be revealed under any other circumstances. Therefore, a nation feels a certain confidence in an old fighter, who has been baptized with fire; while it awaits with much apprehension an account of the conduct of an officer to whom actual war is a thing altogether new.
No more advantageous equipment could be given a naval officer than that immediately after the close of his schooling, he be given an opportunity to get into his nostrils a whiff of the powder of actual conflict.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, the students of the Naval Academy at Annapolis were called from their class-rooms and put on board fighting ships. These students in many instances soon developed into the ablest seamen of the nation; and among this class was Admiral Rodgers who, at the age of eighteen, closed his school books, forsook the Naval Academy, and began by practical and exacting experience to put into use what he had been taught at the school for midshipmen.
Frederick Rodgers was born at Sion Hill, near Havre de Grace, Harford county, on October 3, 1842. He is the son of Robert Smith and Sarah (Perry) Rodgers; the former a farmer who filled the posi- tion of collector of the port of Havre de Grace and served as colonel of the 2d Eastern Shore regiment of Maryland Volunteers during the Civil War. The grandfather of Admiral Rodgers, Commodore John Rodgers, commanded the frigate President during the war of 1812-14, and at the time of the Battle of North Point was in charge of a detach- ment of United States sailors who had been detailed for the defence of Baltimore. For his services on this occasion he was presented with a
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review. Admiral Rodgers served as captain of the Navy Yard in New York, in 1895 and throughout 1896, and subsequently was given command of the new battleship Massachusetts. He was president of the Board of Inspection and Survey at Washington, D. C., in 1898,- and during the Spanish-American War was in command of the United States monitor Puritan.
In 1901, Admiral Rodgers was ordered to command the Philippine Squadron in the Asiatic Station, with the United States armored cruiser New York as his flagship, and in 1902, he was made com- mander-in-chief of the United States naval forces of the Asiatic Station. April 1st, 1903, he was ordered to the command of the Navy Yard and Station at New York. He was retired on October 3, 1904 in accordance with the law regulating retirements, after having completed over 47 years of active service; but was continued on duty by the order of the Navy Department, his present post being that of President of a Board in connection with the improvement of the Navy Yards.
Admiral Rodgers was married to Sarah M. Fall, February 2 1882. They have had two children, one of whom is living. Admiral Rodgers is a member of the Metropolitan and Chevy Chase clubs of Washington, D. C .; the University and New York Yacht clubs of New York; the military Order of the Loyal Legion; the Society of the War of 1812, Naval Orders; and the George Washington Post, Grand Army of the Republic. '
تحامل
JACOB ROHRBACK
R OHRBACK, JACOB, lawyer, was born in Frederick city, on August 23, 1863. He is the son of Martin Newcomer and Ellen Catherine (Brunner) Rohrback. His father was a groceryman, noted for his "firmness and strength of character." Mrs. Rohrback's influence was strong for good on the moral character of her son. His grandfather, Major Jacob Rohrback of Sharpsburg, Washington county, assisted in the defence of Baltimore in 1814 and was married to Mary Smith from Pennsylvania.
Mr. Rohrback was "always strong, healthy, and robust as a youth" and delighted in reading and the "usual youthful sports." He writes: "As my profession is the law, legal books have always been most helpful to me. Besides these I have always believed my Latin and Greek studies have assisted greatly in my professional work." He attended the public schools at Frederick and Frederick college, the old county academy, and then entered Mt. St. Mary's college at Emmittsburg, Frederick county, where he graduated, after five years of study, in 1882, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. By the same college the degree; of A.M. was given to him in 1SS4. After graduating from college, he became a student of law at the University of Maryland, which conferred on him the degree of Bache- lor of Laws in 1885. Mr. Rohrback then settled in Frederick city as an attorney at law, in which profession he has built up an excellent practice. He entered this profession from his own preference, aided greatly by the advice and wishes of his father. The influence of his home and church life have been determining factors in Mr. Rohr- back's career. He is a prominent member of the Evangelical Reformed Church
On March 1, 1892, he was married to Ida Rebecca Ramsburg of Frederick. They have no children. Mr. Rohrback has always been a Democrat in politics and, as nominee of that party, was elected a member of the house of delegates in 1887 and of the senate in 1899. He is past junior grand warden of the grand lodge of Maryland A. F. and A. Masons. He is also a member of Enoch
Yours truly ; Lacal Rohrback,
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Royal Arch Chapter No. 21, Enoch Council No. 10, Royal and Select Masters and Jacques de Molay Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar. In 1905 he was appointed by Governor Warfield, a member of the Maryland State Commission to the Jamestown Exposition, and since then has been an active member of that body.
His favorite relaxation from professional work is found in "read- ing and participation in church, lodge, or other work of special or local interest." His life has shown him that the best advice which can be given toward the attainment of true success is that one should "wisely and conscientiously improve the present and then those affairs in life which we call failures may prove ultimately but to be soul lessons for us and uplifts to higher and nobler things." True success follows only "industry and honesty, the love of God, and devotion to home life, the cultivation of the friendship and influence of those who stand for all that is noble, good and elevating in all the affairs of life."
WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY
W INFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY was born at Richfields, near the town of Frederick, Maryland, on October 9, 1839. His grandfather, John Thomas Schley, had emigrated to America from Germany in 1739. The Admiral's father, also John Thomas Schley, was successively lawyer, merchant, and farmer. He was possessed of sufficient means to give his son a thorough education, and the boy was never confronted with the necessity of performing manual labor for a livelihood. The most marked characteristics of the father-high morality, respect for the law, and an enthusiastic love of country-were inherited by the son. Nature had endowed the youth with a good constitution, and his devotion to all out-of- door sports resulted in his taking such exercise as gave him a finely developed physique.
After passing through the primary schools at Harmony Grove and Frederick, to which latter town Admiral Schley's father moved in 1848, the youth attended Frederick Academy and St. John's Academy, both at Frederick. He then entered the United States Naval Acad- emy at Annapolis, September 20, 1856, from which he was grad- uated four years later. His first active duty in his profession as naval officer was on board the frigate Niagara, which cruised to India, China, and Japan in 1860-61, primarily for the purpose of carrying back to their native land the ambassadors who had been sent to the United States from Japan in 1859.
With this brief experience in practical navy work, Admiral Schley entered upon very active duty in the conflict which began shortly thereafter between the United States and the section which was comprised in the so-called Confederacy. He was advanced to the grade of master on August 31, 1861, and served on the frigate Potomac. Less than a year later, July 16, 1862, Schley was commis- sioned Lieutenant, and in that position he saw duty on the Winona, Monongahela, and Richmond in the Mississippi river campaign and the engagements in the vicinity of Port Hudson, from March 16 to July 9. 1863. During this time, in common with many minor officials who
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Rear admiral U.S.h
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have since attained prominence in the navy, he was under Admiral Farragut, from whom he gained much by force of example. During the years 1864-66, Schley served as executive officer on the gunboat W'ateree in the Pacific. In 1865 he put down an insurrection of Chinese coolies in the Chincha Islands. . Upon the occasion of a revolution at La Union, San Salvador, he landed one hundred men and protected the interests of citizens of the United States.
After having seen active sea service for more than six years, Schley was given a land assignment. On July 25, 1866, he was pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant commander; and he served as instruc- tor at the United States Naval Academy from 1866 to 1869. The period from 1869 to 1872 found him on duty as executive officer of the U. S. S. Benicia, on the Asiatic station; and in this period during the trouble between the United States and the Hermit Kingdom, he took an active part as adjutant of the land forces in the capture of the forts on Kang Hoa Island on the Salee River in Korea.
Schley was then reassigned to the Naval Academy, and for the four years from 1872 to 1876, he was head of the department of modern languages in the Naval Academy. On June 10, 1874, he was promoted to the rank of commander. The conclusion of his stay at the Naval Academy in 1876 was followed by another three- years period of sea service; and while on the Essex, on the Brazil sta- tion, Commander Schley rescued from the Island of Tristan d'Acunha an American crew which had been shipwrecked there. From 1880 to 1883, he served as lighthouse inspector with headquarters in Boston.
One of the most notable achievements of the Admiral's career occurred in 1SS4, when he commanded an expedition which sailed to the Arctic Ocean and rescued from certain death Lieut. Adolphus W. Greeley and six companions, at Cape Sabine, Grinnell Land. The undertaking was from the outset a most hazardous and difficult one. Two previous expeditions, well equipped in every way, had been turned back by the ice pack, impelled to abandon the quest. Schley's entire conduct of the enterprise was thoroughly character- istic of the man. His preparations were in themselves such as to insure success, for they were marked by great thoroughness and minute attention to detail. To perfection of system, essential in its way, Schley added tenacity of purpose. When the ice pack began to close in and threatened to become as formidable an obstacle as it had proved in the case of the two previous expeditions, Schley
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held on, announcing that this obstruction only afforded addition: reason why the search should be prosecuted with vigor. And tl.i proved to be the case; for when Lieutenant Greeley and his com .- panions were found, their condition as the result of starvation, w ... such that they could not possibly have lived more than two days longer.
For his work of rescue Commander Schley received from the Maryland Legislature a vote of thanks and a gold chronometer watch. and from the Massachusetts Humane Society a gold medal. On his return from the Arctic regions he prepared a report of the expedition which was published in 1887 by the Federal government as a quarto, volume of 75 pages. A more popular account, entitled "The Rescue of Greeley," was written by Schley in collaboration with Prof. J. R. Soley, and published by Charles Scribner's Sons.
Schley was made chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruit - ing of the Navy Department at Washington in 1885; and on March 31. 1888, he was promoted to the rank of captain. When the cruiser Baltimore was placed in commission, Captain Schley took command of her, and held that position from 1889 to 1892. From May S to 14, 1890, the Baltimore lay in the harbor of the city from which it took its name and a most cordial reception was given Schley and all his men. During the period of Schley's command of the Baltimore occurred another incident which tried his mettle: The Baltimore was cruising in South American waters at the time of a revolution in Chile when much ill feeling was shown by the natives toward the United States. While the vessel was in the harbor of Valparaiso, a number of the crew who had gone ashore were attacked by a mob which killed several of their number and seriously wounded many others. After this affront, feeling ran high on both sides; and, had it not been for Captain Schley's firmness and cool-headed judgment. the consequences might have been seriously detrimental to the relations between the two nations. The American officer however, handled the difficulty so skilfully that within a few months the Chil- ean Government apologized for the insult and paid an indemnity of $75,000.
In August, 1891, Captain Schley carried the body of John Erics- son, the inventor, to Sweden, and was presented with a gold medal by the King of that country. On his return to the United States, he served as lighthouse inspector, 1893-95; as commander of the cruiser
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New York, 1895-97; and as chairman of the lighthouse board at Washington, 1897-98. On February 6, 1898, Schley was promoted to the rank of commodore; and with the call to arms for the conflict with Spain, he was selected to command the flying squadron, formed to protect the Atlantic seaboard, with the armored cruiser Brooklyn detailed as his flagship.
With the vessels of this fleet he was present during the blockade of Santiago and at the battle which destroyed Cervera's squadron off that port on July 3, 189S.
In his report of this engagement Schley said: "The Brooklyn was exposed for some twenty minutes to the fire of the four Spanish ships until the other vessels of the squadron could get up into good range. I cannot speak with too much praise of the conduct of the officers and crews of the vessels engaged; their spirit and enthusiasm were such as I have rarely seen in action."
On August 10, 1898, he was promoted by the President to the rank of rear admiral, "for eminent and conspicuous conduct in battle," and on August 19, of this same year, he was selected as one of the commissioners to direct the evacuation of Porto Rico. Honors were showered upon Admiral Schley as a result of the part he played in the Battle of Santiago. Receptions and banquets were held in his honor in most of the principal cities, and he received numerous handsome tokens of esteem, including a jeweled medal from the Maryland Legislature, a gold and jeweled sword from the people of Pennsyl- vania, and a silver loving cup from the people of Atlanta, Georgia.
Admiral Schley was, on April 14, 1899, assigned to duty on the naval examining board, and on April 27 of the same year he was transferred to the naval retiring board as senior member. He rounded out his forty-seven years of service under the flag in all parts of the world, in war and in peace, by a final interval of duty as com- mander of the South Atlantic Squadron, to which he was assigned on November 18, 1899, continuing in this capacity until his retirement, on October 9, 1901, upon attaining the age-limit fixed by law.
On September 10, 1863, Winfield Scott Schley was married to Anne Rebecca Franklin, daughter of George E. and Maria C. Frank- lin, of Annapolis, Md. To them three children have been born, two sons and a daughter.
On June 22, 1899, Admiral Schley received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Georgetown University. He is a member of the Royal
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Arcanum of the United States; the Masonic fraternity; the United Service Club of New York; the New York Yacht Club; the Seawanaka Corinthian Yacht Club, of New York, and the Metropolitan Club of Washington. He is not identified with any political party, and has not held public office outside of his profession. In 1904 he wrote his memoirs, which were published under the title of "Forty-five Years Under the Flag."
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EDWARD THOMAS SCHULTZ
S SCHULTZ, EDWARD THOMAS, was born in Frederick city, Maryland, August 23, 1827, the son of Henry and Amelia (Davis) Schultz. His father, who followed the trade of coachmaker, was a grandson of Martin Schultz, who with his brother John came from Alsace sometime prior to 1734, and settled on lands purchased from the Penns on Kreutz Creek, six miles northeast of York, Pennsylvania. In Glossbrenner's history of York and Lan- caster counties it is stated that in 1735 John and Martin Schultz erected the first stone houses on the west side of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. One of these houses is still standing at Hellem, and is in a good state of preservation. Mr. Schultz's maternal grand- father, Thomas Davis, came from Wales and settled at Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Young Schultz spent bis boyhood in his native town, passing as much time as he could in the country. In early years the boy found considerable amusement in working about his father's shop. Owing to the moderate means of the Schultzes, he was not able to finish a college course. He studied at the primary schools of Frederick, and later entered the English and mathematical departments of Frederick College; but at the age of eighteen he brought his school days to a close and- began his business life.
His first commercial position was that of a clerk in a business house in Frederick city. In 1856, he entered business on his own account in Baltimore; and in 18S2, he transferred this business- that of the manufacture of carpets and carpet yarns-to his sons. He was married on November 18, 1852, to Susan Rebecca Martin, by whom he has had eight children. Mrs. Schultz's paternal grand- father John David Martine was a native of France and came over with Lafayette and participated with that distinguished soldier in a number of engagements during the Revolutionary War. At the close of the war he was employed by Washington at Mount Vernon. He subsequently moved to Baltimore and engaged in landscape gardening and in that capacity planned the fine terrace at Hampden the home of the Ridgeleys.
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EDWARD THOMAS SCHULTZ
Mr. Schultz entered the Masonic fraternity in May of the year 1854, and from that time he has taken a deep interest in the history of the organization. He was particularly impressed with the quaint regulations, usuages, customs and traditions of the fraternity; and of these he made a study. His labors in this particular resulted in his appointment, in 1876, as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence of his grand chapter, the duties of which office are to review the transactions of the other grand chapters, to commend such legislation and action as the chairman may deem worthy of com- mendation, and to criticise legislation which he may regard as con- trary to the regulations, usages and customs of the fraternity. For these special services, Mr. Schultz's research work had made him especially competent. In 1887, he was appointed to the correspond- ing chairmanship in the Grand Lodge, and this afforded him a much larger field for the employment of his peculiar abilities, as the Mary- land Grand Lodge is in correspondence with more than sixty like bodies.
Since the dates specified he has annually prepared reports to both Grand Lodges, and is regarded as among the ablest writers in this field. When he lost his eyesight in 1897, Mr. Schultz asked to be relieved of the duties devolving upon him, but his resignation was refused, and both bodies unanimously elected him chairman of the committees for life, giving him the services of a reader and amanuensis. In 1865, Mr. Schultz attended the meetings of the General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons and the Grand Encampment Knights Templar of the United States; and since that time he has attended nearly every triennial meeting of these bodies until his eyesight failed.
As a Mason Mr. Schultz has been master of the lodge; high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter; commander of the Commandery of Knights Templar; grand senior warden of the Grand Lodge of Mary- land; deputy grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Maryland; grand commander of the Knights Templar of Maryland; grand commander of the Grand Consistory of Maryland of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; and, from 1874 to 1877, he held the position of grand captain-general of the Grand Encamp- ment of the United States. Mr. Schultz was also an Odd Fellow in former years.
Though he is the author of a valuable contribution to local his- tory-"First Settlements of the Germans in Maryland"-his chici
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literary work has been done along Masonic lines, and it is as the his- torian of Masonry in the State that he will best be remembered. In 1SS1, a history of Concordia Lodge No. 13 appeared from his pen; and in 1889 he followed this with an elaborate "General History of Free Masonry in Maryland," in four volumes, aggregating two thou- sand eight hundred pages. In 1891 he published a "History of Maryland Commandery, Knights Templar, No. 1" and in 1893 a revised edition of his history of Concordia Lodge. He has also pre- pared papers for the Masonic publications on: "Which is the Oldest Commandery of Knights Templar in the United States?" "Washing- ton as a Free Mason," etc. He was chosen to deliver the Centennial addresses before the Maryland Commandery in 1890, before the Con- cordia Lodge in 1893, and before the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Maryland in 1897. Mr. Schultz is also a member of the Grand Chapter of the Red Cross of Constantine of the United States and is also a member of the Correspondence Circle of the Lodge Qua- tuor Coronati of London.
JOSEPH BRUFF SETH
S ETH, JOSEPH BRUFF. In the East, along the Atlantic sea- board, there is found a certain respect for those who can trace farthest back their ancestry in America. This pride in family is not encountered in the thickly settled urban section where the population is constantly changing, as frequently as it is in the more sparsely settled agricultural districts, where the population is sta- tionary, and the son occupies the same house in which his father lived and in which, it may be, several generations of ancestors before him have had their abode.
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