USA > Maryland > Men of mark in Maryland biographies of leading men in the state, Volume I > Part 3
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Governor Warfield is a man of fine presence, courteous and polished in manners, and with gift of eloquence. He is easily ap- proached by those who have business to transact with him and is accurate and careful in small things as well as in great. "If I did not succeed in my first efforts I tried again. 'Try, try again' is a good motto" he says, and he adds "True success is to be gained by grit, reverence for religion and the Sabbath day, love of country, clean, decent politics, fidelity to duty, home life, simple ideas and tastes and respect for parents."
PETER AINSLIE
A INSLIE, PETER, clergyman, was born at Dunnsville, Essex county, Virginia, June 3, 1867. He is the son of Peter and Rebecca Etta (Sizer) Ainslie. His father, a man of great earnestness and deep convictions, was a minister, and served a church in Little Rock, Arkansas, for a considerable period. Subsequently he removed to Richmond, Virginia, where he spent fifty years as editor of the "Christian Examiner." Mr. Ainslie's grandfather, Reverend Peter Ainslie, came from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1815, lived for a while in Baltimore, and later removed to Virginia. The Ainslie Clan is well-known in Scotland, and their coat of arms is still preserved in Melrose Abbey. The Sizer family came from England before the Revolutionary war, and some of them served in the Continental army.
When a boy, Mr. Ainslie lived in the country, and part of the time in a village, where he greatly enjoyed reading, the companion- ship of flowers, and other surroundings not to be found in large cities. When twelve years of age he was taken ill of typhoid fever, and after- ward was very delicate for many years. He says, "from a little boy I was trained to think of fitting myself for the ministry, and I preached to the chickens and the pigs and the trees. While learning to read and write, I worked a little on a farm and for six months sold books, but most of the time was in school." The books which he has found most helpful to him are, "histories and spiritual literature." "I read little or no fiction," he says, " but all kinds of histories. By ten years of age I had read and re-read all of J. T. Headley's works. Later I read Tennyson, Shakespeare, and the other great English poets, and ancient and modern histories before I entered college." His early education was obtained not without difficulty, on account of ill health. He studied at a public school at Dunnsville, and then, in Isso, entered Kentucky university, leaving there at the end of three sessions, owing to poor health. He had finished much of the work of the senior year, but for months was almost an invalid and was under a physician's treatment. He was unable to return to the university
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to obtain a degree, and, in 1889, began active work as a supply of the First Christian Church, at Newport News, Virginia. He chose the ministry as a profession, owing to his parents' wishes and his own personal preference. "I never knew the time," he says, "that I did not want to be a minister, and I became a Christian when I was only ten years old." In speaking of the most powerful influences in his life, he asserts that the one which was strongest, first, last and all the time, was that of his home. He says, "My Christian parents made a beautiful home," and the general influences emanating from them were potent factors in forming his character. For eighteen months he served the church in Newport News, and in 1891 he accepted a call to the Christian Church on Calhoun street, Baltimore, where he remained for thirteen years. In 1905 he was called to the charge of the Christian temple on Fulton Avenue, Baltimore. In connection with the work of the Temple is the Temple Seminary (which was opened some years ago), with a three years' course in the study of the Scriptures. Students attend the classes, or take the course by corre- spondence, on the completion of which they are granted a diploma. This is followed by a four years' course of reading, when an additional seal is affixed to the diploma. Mr. Ainslie was, from 1894 to 1900, editor of the "Christian Tribune," a sixteen page weekly, published in Baltimore. It consolidated with "The Christian Century," and he is now on the staff of that paper. In 1899, he established the Chris- tian Tribune Home for working girls, on Fayette street, Baltimore, and is now president of that institution, which is entirely undenomina- tional in its work, and provides a home for poor, worthy, country girls.
From his pen have come the following books: "Plain Talks to Young Men," 1897; "The Signs of His Coming," 1900; " Religion in Daily Doings," 1903. He is now engaged upon a three-volume work on the Scriptures: Volume I, "Studies in the Old Testament;" Vol- ume II, "Studies in the Gospels and the Acts;" Volume III, "Studies in the Epistles and the Apocrypha." Of these the first volume has been printed, the second is to appear this fall (1907), and the third in the spring of 190S.
For three years he has been chaplain of the St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore-an organization of Scotchmen of all creeds. He is also a director in the American Missionary Society and the Foreign Chris- tian Missionary Society. In politics he is an Independent, but usually votes with the Prohibition party. He says that he was a Democrat
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PETER AINSLIE
first, then an Independent, and in 1900 he voted the Democratic ticket again on account of the Imperialistic issue. He expresses the follow- ing thought for the American youth: "Have convictions, live for a purpose, be a helper in the world, always be cheerful, see the best in men and movements, never fear for the impossible, but undertake hard things, and accomplish the end desired, whether it costs sacrifice or not to accomplish it."
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RICHARD HENRY ALVEY
A LVEY, RICHARD HENRY, jurist, was born in St. Mary's county, Maryland, March 26, 1826, son of George N. and Harriet (Weeklin) Alvey, and descendant of John Alvey, a Revolutionary patriot who bravely fought in the Maryland line. He studied in the schools of St. Mary's, making good use of his oppor- tunities and being accounted a good scholar; so that when but eighteen years of age he was appointed clerk of Charles county court, continuing to serve from 1844 to 1850.
Meanwhile, he had studied law, and been admitted to practice at the Hagerstown bar. He had also come to an active part in politics, both local and national; was presidential elector on the Pierce and King ticket in 1852, and member of the Maryland con- stitutional convention in 1867.
The law continued to be his profession, however, and in course of time he was honored with important judicial appointments. He was elected member of the Court of Appeals of the State of Mary- land in November, 1867, and reclected in 1SS2. He became by appointment the chief justice of that court, which position he held from 1883 to 1893, when he was promoted by appointment to be chief justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. holding the same until his resignation on account of failing health, near the close of 1904, and always meeting the demands of his important office with an ability and impartiality that commanded universal respect and confidence.
In January, 1896, he was also called by President Cleveland to act as a member of the Venezuelan Boundary Commission. In 1902 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Princeton university; and in 1904 St. John's university, Maryland, gave him the same honorary degree.
During the period of his service as chief justice of the district. Court of Appeals he likewise discharged the duties of Chancellor of the institution in Washington chartered as "The National Univer- sity," though consisting for the time being of law, medical, and
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RICHARD HENRY ALVEY
dental schools only, and he gave lectures therein upon some branches of the law.
He was married in 1856 to Mary Wharton, who died in 1860, and afterward to Julia Hays, daughter of Joseph C. Hays, of Wash- ington county, Maryland.
On September 14, 1906, Judge Alvey died at his home in Hagers- town, Maryland.
JOHN WILLIAMS AVIRETT
A VIRETT, JOHN WILLIAMS, editor, was born at Golds- borough, Wayne county, North Carolina, July .23, 1863, and has lived in Cumberland, Md., since March 12, 1SS4. He is the son of James Battle and Mary L. D. (Williams) Avirett, daughter of the late Philip Williams, of Winchester, Virginia, the foremost lawyer of the Valley. His father, a man devoted to the South, is a minister in the Episcopal church, and was chaplain under Stonewall Jackson and General Turner Ashby in the Confederate army, burying Generals Ashby, Richard and Turner and being with Jackson in his last moments. Mr. Avirett traces his ancestry to John Alfred Avirett on his father's side, a Huguenot from Provence, France, who settled on New River, Onslow county, North Carolina. His grandfather Avirett gave all he possessed to the Confederacy, and was one of the most trusted of President Davis' advisers. He died in 1870, in Winchester, Virginia. On his mother's side were Pierre Williams, who sat as judge in the Court of the Queen's Bench, in England; John Dunbar, M.D., of Dumbarton, Scotland, who, coming to America, settled in Baltimore; and his grandfather, Philip Williams, who lived in Winchester, Virginia, was a distinguished lawyer and prominent member of the Episcopal church.
In his boyhood, Mr. Avirett lived in the country, where he took keen interest in horses, guns, and dogs. He did some work on a farm, hauling his products to the Washington market, and in the meanwhile prepared for the navy, working in the Washington yards and the preparatory school at Annapolis, but, on account of imperfect eyesight, was disqualified from pursuing that course of life. The influence of his mother's character for good upon his life was strong. In reading he made a special study of mechanics, and also enjoyed the works of Cooper, Macaulay and Scott. His education was acquired in the Shenandoah Valley academy, at Winchester Vir- ginia, at the Emerson institute, where he was a schoolmate of the Blaines, Blairs and Lees, in Washington, District of Columbia, and finally at Annapolis, but he gave up his college life for the navy.
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JOHN WILLIAMS AVIRETT
He began active life as engineer for Crosby S. Noyes, editor of the Washington "Evening Star," on his farm in Montgomery county. In 1884 Mr. Avirett went to Cumberland as a shipping clerk for the R. D. Johnson Milling Company, which position he held until pro- moted to the offices of secretary and treasurer of the same company, which he held for many years, resigning to become manager of the Millville Milling Company, of Jefferson county, West Virginia, owned by the late Governor Lowndes. These mills he modernized and made successful. He served on the governor's staff, with the rank of colonel, for many years during the terms of Lloyd, Jackson and Brown.
Mr. Avirett is editor of the "Evening Times," the "Allega- nian," and other papers, which he has owned since 1884. From 1900 . to the present time he has been State Game Warden of Maryland, having been reappointed by Governor Warfield for four years, from 1904. He says that. "devoted to mechanics I sought the navy. Failing in that, I responded to a natural desire for influential work, adopted journalism as a profession, and for twenty years have fol- lowed it." For sixteen years he has been connected with the National Guard. He was the first newspaper man to reach Johnstown at the time of the Flood, and was involved in the Homestead troubles with Hugh O'Donnel. During the Coxey army episode he shadowed Brown and Coxey from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, to Washington, reporting their movements to the marshal of the District.
Mr. Avirett has endeavored to increase the fish and game supply of the state by cooperating with the United States Fish Commissioner and the Game Protective Associations, and he has established a Maryland Department of Game and Fish Protection, with offices at . Cumberland and Baltimore, and an assistant warden, besides having numerous deputies throughout the state. In this work Governors Smith and Warfield have been deeply interested. In accepting his resignation, in April, 1905, which was tendered owing to ill-health, Governor Warfield said; "I regret that your health is such as to pre- vent you continuing your public duties, and I wish, in accepting your resignation. to assure you of my personal regard and high esteem for you.
"You have placed your branch of the State Government upon a very high plane of efficiency, and the work you have initiated will lead, I am sure to good results."
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JOHN WILLIAMS AVIRETT
He is a member of the Elks; the Eagles; the Royal Arcanum; the Heptasophs; the Mystic Chain; and a number of life and acci- dent insurance companies. In politics he is a Democrat and he was a faithful lieutenant of Senator Gorman. In religious faith he is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is greatly interested in the Western Maryland Hospital, which he has done much to establish and maintain. His wife has been vice-president of the hospital for fifteen years. For exercise he turns to hunting, riding, and salt water sports, or work. On October 29, 1890, he was married to Sarah Donnell Roemer, of Wheeling, West Virginia, a gifted musician. They have had three children, two of whom are living, a son and a daughter. Mr. Avirett's advice to young men is: "Take care of your health, and do things promptly. Get in touch with the people, and do all you can to help them. Be true to your friends, grateful for favors, always mindful of the day of small things, and remember that upon concent ation depends success."
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BERNARD NADAL BAKER
W HEN the American people were shocked and dismayed by the exposure, in 1906, of extravagant and dishonest misman- agement in many of the largest insurance companies, lead- ing business and professional men of the country realized that there was urgent need of doing something immediately to reassure the masses. In consequence there were organized several committees of dis- interested men, who were holders of large insurance policies, and who undertook to look out for the rights of the small policy-holders and to represent them without expense in a matter that was of deep concern to all. As a means of bringing home to these small investors the reliability of such protective organizations, there were mentioned for membership on the several committees men, whose very names, it was thought, would put at rest the public mind.
Among the proposed committeemen, one who was first and, per- haps, oftenest mentioned for a chairmanship was Mr. Baker of Balti- more. Those who have come to know Mr. Baker look upon him as somewhat removed from the typical financier. He has always stood so firmly for the people-the common people, rather than the elect few-that the population as a whole accepts him as its special guardian against the evil designs of unscrupulous financiers and soulless corporations. This particular phase of Mr. Baker's atti- tude toward the masses has been revealed in every public transaction in which he and the people have had a common interest.
Bernard Nadal Baker was born in Baltimore, May 11, 1854, the fourth son of Charles Joseph and Elizabeth (Bosserman) Baker. His great-grandfather, William Baker, who married Ann Burniston, came to Baltimore about the middle of the eighteenth century, and soon gained prominence as a merchant of wealth and influence. He was born near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1746, and after the death of his parents in an Indian massacre was adopted by a lady named Baker, who gave him her name. This family moved to Philadelphia to avoid hostile Indians, and from the Quaker City, Mr. Baker came to
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BERNARD NADAL BAKER
Maryland. The son of William Baker, William Baker, Jr., estab- lished, more than one hundred and twenty-five years ago, the manu- facture of glass in Baltimore. This was one of the first glass manu- factories in the United States, and for it many of the mechanics had to be imported.
This industry prospered, and was the means of bringing a large fortune to Charles J. Baker, the son, who was a man of strong determi- nation. He was associated with the municipal government during the troublous times of the Know Nothing agitation, and as president of the Second Branch of the City Council in 1360, and later as one of the Finance Commissioners of Baltimore city, he assisted materially in the administration of the city affairs. He was also engaged in banking and journalism, and was president of the Canton Company of Baltimore. Although possessed of considerable fortune, Mr. Baker was a strict disciplinarian, and taught his sons to be self-reliant. Hence Bernard N. Baker started upon his business life with no finan- cial assistance from his father. His ancestors had enjoyed ample means, and were of a sturdy stock, who believed in plain living and high thinking. He spent his youth in the country, a lover of sports and of active outdoor life. His education was begun in St. Timothy's school, near Baltimore. He spent several years in the study of chemistry and mineralogy under Professor Genth, in Philadelphia, after which in 1872 and 1873 he was a special student at the Sheffield scientific school of Yale college.
Returning to Baltimore Mr. Baker was for a time secretary and manager of the Chemical Company of Canton. Later, he established the Baker, Whitely Coal Company, and the Baltimore Storage and Lighterage Company, both of Baltimore. He began his business with a few lighters, and expanded it gradually into a steamship company, owning or running seventeen Atlantic steamships. In the days prior to the Civil War Baltimore had had a great name for its shipping; the Baltimore clippers being the fastest sailing ships that left any port of the United States, or indeed of the world. Mr. Baker conceived the idea of establishing an American steamship company, which should again give Baltimore and the United States a portion of its lost prestige and should build up the foreign mercantile shipping of the United States. This company, which was known as the Atlantic Transport Company, had great success, due in a large measure to Mr. Baker's indefatigable energy, tact and ability. It was merged
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BERNARD NADAL BAKER
in the International Mercantile Marine Company a few years since. During his presidency of the Atlantic Transport Company, he loaned a ship to transport grain to the starving Russians. He also made two munificent gifts, viz., the hospital ship Missouri to the United States Government during the Spanish War, and the ship Maine to the British Government during the Boer War. These vessels were maintained largely at his private expense, and were the only hospital ships ever fitted out. He was elected in January, 1905, president of the Baltimore Trust and Guarantee Company
Mr. Baker has taken no active interest in politics. His sym- pathies have always been exceedingly broad, and his power of adap- tability very great, so that whether the society be fashionable or plain, old or young, he is always able to adapt himself to his surround- ings and give pleasure to those with whom he comes in contact. Biog- raphies of noted men have been of great interest to him, and contact with the many successful men he has met has exerted a strong influence upon his life. He is a member of the American Geographical Society, of the Delta Psi Fraternity, the City Club of London, the Union Club of New York and the Maryland and University Clubs of Baltimore. He is also a member of the Art Commission of Baltimore city, and is a Trustee of Johns Hopkins university.
In December, 1877, Mr. Baker married Elizabeth Elton Livezey. They have two daughters. His home is in Baltimore county, near Catonsville. He is affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal church; is fond of country life; and his favorite recreations are hunting and fishing. He is a strong and determined man, of large heart and of indefatigable energy. Working on new lines, and often using new methods, he has been able to obtain noteworthy results.
CHARLES WINTERFIELD BALDWIN
C HARLES WINTERFIELD BALDWIN was born March 23, 1840, at Severn Cross Roads, Anne Arundel county. He was the seventh son and the tenth child of Judge William Henry and Jane Maria (Woodward) Baldwin. The homeplace "Bunker Hill," afforded the children the comforts of a simple country home, the boys sharing in the work of the farm and the girls assisting at the household duties; for though there were negro servants to perform the heavy work of both farm and house, the father belived in giving to his children the inestimable advantage of learning to do without luxuries, of respecting honest labor, whether of the hand or of the head, and of forming habits of industry and frugality. Among the tasks which fell to the lot of Charles Winterfield Baldwin in his early youth was a weekly ride on horseback to the old grist mill on Severn Run. The trip to the mill was made astride a bag of corn as a saddle; the homeward trip was taken after the corn had been converted into meal. Once the lad, while performing this duty, had an experience that he never forgot. On his journey to the mill, the string which bound together the mouth of the bag upon which he was perched became unfastened and before the boy had fully realized what was happening half the corn which was to have supplied the family during the approaching week was scattered in the deep ruts of a rough country road.
Charles Baldwin's amusements were those of the average country boy; riding, swimming, fishing, hunting, and playing games. Intellect- ual stimulus was not lacking; the father-broadened by his early experience as midshipman in the navy and by his contact with think- ers, both through personal intercourse and through books-and the mother-a constant reader of the Bible,-developed in their son a taste for reading books that would improve him both mentally and spirtually.
Next to the influence of the boy's parents was that of the Metho- dist Episcopal church. Near the boyhood home of Mr. Baldwin was one of the "preaching stands" of Francis Asbury, first bishop of
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CHARLES WINTERFIELD BALDWIN
American Methodism, who annually journeyed from Vermont to Georgia and westward to the frontiers in Kentucky, preaching to tens of thousands. In those days, as old store accounts, still in existence in the neighborhood, show, many families spent for whiskey, gin, and rum as much as for the necessaries of life. The Methodists . fought against this condition, and it was doubtless this condition and the fight against it which enlisted the Baldwin family on the side of prohibition.
The elementary education of Mr. Baldwin was obtained at the district school which had been organized near his home, largely through his father's influence. He prepared for college at Anne Arundel Academy, a school incorporated in 1856 by Judge Baldwin and his neighbors. The school first met in a two room log-cabin, but had as its teacher an excellent educator, the late P. M. Leakin. In latter years this institution has been placed in a position of indepen- dence through the generous endowment of several of Judge Baldwin's sons. Charles Baldwin's elder brothers, who at that time were pros- perous business men in Baltimore, sent him to Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1861 with the degree of A.B. He studied law in 1861 and 1862 with the firm of Brown and Brune. Subse- quently he entered Yale Theological School and in 1865 he spent a few months at Union Theological Seminary. He received the degree of A. M. from Yale in 1864; and the degree of Doctor of Divinity from St. John's College, Annapolis, Md., in 1898.
He had been converted in early boyhood at a revival at Sul- phur Spring meeting house, and immediately thereafter he united with the church at Severn Cross Roads. He then determined to enter the ministry, and his courses at the theological schools of Yale University and of Union Seminary were pursued to prepare him for his chosen career. He entered the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in March, 1866, and his life since then has been spent in preaching the gospel under the itinerant system of his denomination. He has served the following charges: Sev- ern circuit (1866-6S); Ryland Church, Washington, D. C. (1868-70); Hereford circuit, Baltimore county (1872-73); East Baltimore sta- tion (1873-74); Cross Street Church (1874-76); Patapsco circuit, Maryland (1876-79); Huntingdon Avenue Church (1879-82); Centre Street Church, Cumberland, (1882-85); Union Church, Washington, D. C. (1885-S7); Ryland Church, Washington, D. C. (1SS7-90);
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CHARLES WINTERFIELD BALDWIN
Wesley Church, Washington, D. C. (1890-91); as secretary of the American University, Washington, D. C. (1891-94); Wesley Church, Washington, D. C. (1894-97); as presiding elder of West Baltimore District (1897-1903); and as superintendent of the Baltimore City Missionary and Church Extension Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1903.
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