Portrait and biographical record of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Part 96

Author: Chapman Publishing Company
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: New York, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 906

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(Signed) MICHAEL EARLE.

By the second marriage of James Earle a son, Joseph, was born some time after the death of the father. Richard Tilghman Earle settled on the estate that his son, the late Judge Earle, called Needwood, and there he died in 1788. His marriage in the year 1755, united him with Anne, daughter of Samuel Chamberlain, of Tal- bot County. Ten children were born of their union, four sons and six daughters, whose mother died in August, 1786. Judge Richard Tilghman Earle, who was one of this family, was born June 23, 1767, and received his education in Wash- ington College, Chestertown, winning the honors of the class. In May, 1787, he entered the law office of Thomas B. Hand, of Chestertown, and for three years his attention was very closely devoted to legal study. He was admitted to the bar in 1789. For twenty-five years he served as chief judge of the second judicial district of Mary- land, but at last ill health obliged him to resign. He married Mary Tilghman, daughter of Judge James Tilghman, his predecessor on the bench. She died in 1836, after thirty-five years of married life, their union having been solemnized Decem- ber 4, 1801. They were the parents of fourteen children, three of whom died in infancy. The others were Elizabeth Anne, born October 14, 1802; Mary Maria, October 9, 1804; Susan Frisby,

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March 5, 1808; Richard Tilghman, born April II, 1810, and died August 14, 1814; Henrietta Maria, born August 16, 1812; James Tilghman, Decem- ber 22, 1814; Richard Tilghman, born December 22, 1816; Samuel Thomas, July 2, 1818; Sarah Catherine, born June 30, 1820, died September 28, 1822; George, born September 10, 1821; John C., May 10, 1824; and Sarah Catherine, August 11, 1827.

Of this family Richard was twice married, his first wife being Catherine Spencer, and his sec- ond, her sister, Elizabeth Spencer. Prospered in his undertakings, he accumulated a fortune of about $60,000. Personally he was large-hearted and generous, a man who won and retained inany warm friends. James first married Ann Johns, and for his second wife chose Catherine Tilgh- man, who bore him two children; their daughter, Ann Johns, married William Babcock, a lawyer employed in the patent office at Washington. For his third wife he married Mary F. Wright, daughter of Clinton Wright. He died in 1882, leaving two sons, James T. and Richard T., both now in school in Baltimore. George was assist- ant to Postmaster-General John A. J. Creswell under the administration of President Grant, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1867 and clerk of the court of appeals of Maryland. He went west and bought large tracts of land in Washington, where he engaged in mining, mean- time, however, continuing his law practice. At present he resides in Washington, D. C., practi- cally retired, though still looking after Mrs. Cres- well's estate and having other important inter- ests to superintend.

Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the family, married P. H. Feddeman. She had three daugh- ters and two sons, the latter being P. Henry, who resided in New York for years, and Richard Tilghman Feddeman, a farmer and loan agent, whose first wife was a Mrs. Clayton and his second Deborah, daughter of Gustavus Wright. Mary, second daughter of Judge Earle, married Philip Davidson, and died leaving two sons, Richard T. and George, and two daughters, Catherine and Susan. Susan, the third daughter of Judge Earle, · died unmarried. Henrietta Maria became the

wife of Dr. David Stewart, for a long time a lead- ing druggist in Baltimore and at one time the state chemist; she died leaving a daughter, Hen- rietta Maria, who married Thomas Dilworth, of Port Penn, Del. Sarah Catherine, Judge Earle's youngest daughter, was married to Dr. Joseph Chamberlain, of Easton, where they now reside. Dr. John C. Earle, the youngest son, graduated from Newark (Del.) College, and at one time engaged in practice in Centreville, but now resides in Easton; he married Clara, daughter of Col. Nicholas Goldsboro, living near Oxford Neck.

EREGRINE TILGHMAN FORMAN. In common with the other county seats of the Eastern Shore, Centreville contains its com- plement of successful business men, to whose intelligent management of their personal interests and hearty co-operation in public matters is due much of the local prosperity. To this class belongs the subject of this sketch, who is a well-known dealer in hardware and agricultural implements. He cannot strictly be denominated self-made, as that term is usually employed to distinguish between wealth and want, for the Forman family have always enjoyed the golden medium between riches and poverty. However, he deserves the credit for his present standing in business circles. If he has had opportunity he created it; if he has had success, he earned it. His energetic appli- cation and force of will have been the levers which have moved adverse circumstances and shaped his destiny.

The record of the Forman family appears in the sketch of our subject's brother, E. M., presented on another page of this volume. Peregrine T. Forman was born on Recovery, the farm of his grandfather, Peregrine Tilghman, located in the third district of Queen Anne's County, February 13, 1853. He was educated in the local schools and by diligent application laid the foundation of his present large stock of information. At the age of twenty he secured employment with Will- iam McKenney, with whom he remained for

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eleven years, and when that gentleman sold out in 1883 he embarked in the hardware business on Commerce street. For three years the firm title was Chambers, Forman & Co., and upon the dissolution of the partnership he continued in business in a store adjoining his brother's drug store. He carries in stock a full line of hardware and agricultural implements, and is numbered among the progressive men of his town. His success is especially noteworthy, in consideration of the fact that he started out penniless, with the necessity of providing for his widowed mother and the other children. In 1883 he married Florence Elma, daughter of Joseph O. and Flor- ence M. Rasin, and a native of Centreville, where she died in 1884.

LANE FINLEY, M. D., of Church Hill, Queen Anne's County, is a member of one of the influential families of the Eastern Shore, and is himself an able representative of its intelligence and culture. He is a great-grand- son of James Finley, a talented man and by pro- fession a lawyer, but for many years before his death not engaged in practice, instead devoting himself to the management of his large planta- tion. Through energy and business judgment he accumulated a fortune in land and slaves and left his family in comfortable circumstances.

Washington Finley, M. D., our subject's fa- ther, was born in the second district of Queen Anne's County, and received an excellent educa- tion in West Nottingham Acadamy and at Bel Air, Harford County. In youth he was engaged as an instructor in languages in Bel Air Col- lege, but afterwards he began to study medicine in the office of Dr. Goldsborough in Centreville, later entering the medical department of the University of Maryland, from which he was graduated in 1835. For the ensuing ten years he practiced his profession, after which he gave his attention wholly to the management of his large real-estate interests. In 1852 he was elected to the house of delegates and served for one term,

his election being upon the Democratic ticket. During Buchanan's administration he was sur- veyor of the port of Baltimore. For three suc- cessive terms of four years each he was chief judge of the orphans' court. In 1859 he was his party's candidate for the gubernatorial chair. He died August 3, 1896, and was buried in Church Hill Cemetery. Of a large family born of his union with Sallie A. Harrison, only our subject and State Senator W. P. Finley survive. These two inherited the bulk of the fortune, which included eleven hundred acres of land in the county and real estate in Church Hill.

Born on the old homestead in the second dis- trict of Queen Anne's County, December 25, 1860, our subject was given the best educational advantages the country afforded. He was a student in West Nottingham Academy and spent two years in Princeton, after which he entered the University of Maryland, continuing there until his graduation with the class of 1884. Since the completion of his education he has engaged in professional practice in Church Hill. In his political belief he strongly favors the principles of the Democratic party. In 1885 he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret P. Grason, and four children blessed their union, but three are deceased, Margaret, Helen R. and Sterett G. Richard Harrison alone survives.

AMUEL THOMAS EARLE, son of Judge Richard T. and Mary (Tilghman) Earle, spent his early years upon a farm and at- tended school in Bel Air. Since 1836 he has resided at his present place of residence, known as Melfield, which he inherited from his father. The first public office for which he was a candi- date was that of county commissioner, but he failed to receive the election. Afterward he was chosen judge of the orphans' court, in which capacity he served for twenty-four years, when he resigned, not wishing to hold the office longer. Outside of his professional work his principal enjoyment has been in hunting. He has been

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an ardent sportsman and an unerring shot, but of late the infirmities of age have prevented him from indulging in this sport.

The first wife of Judge Earle was Mary U., daughter of William Brundige, of Baltimore, Md., a merchant of that city. The union re- sulted in the birth of seven children who attained years of maturity. James T. went south during the war and joined the First Maryland Cavalry in the Confederate army, but died during his period of service. William Brundige Earle re- sides at Winton, where his father was born; he married Louisa Stubbs, of Norfolk, Va., and has three children, Fannie; William B., a clerk in Centreville; and Swepson, who is in Baltimore. Richard Tilghman, third son of the judge, is a widower residing upon a farm near his father. Dr. Samuel T., a graduate of the Agricultural College, is now a professor in the University of Maryland and a leading surgeon of Baltimore; his first wife was Isabella Ringold, the mother of the two daughters Isabella and Rosetta. His second wife was Dinette Tyler. Mary, daughter of Judge Earle, married P. Henry Feddeman, late of Centreville, now deceased; they had three chil- dren, Ellen Douglas, Samuel Earle and Henry. Catherine is the wife of E. M. Forman. Another daugliter, Rosetta, died at twenty-two years of age. The second wife of Judge Earle was Rosetta M. Brundige, sister of his first wife.

C C OL. WILLIAM J. VANNORT. Few of the men residing on the Eastern Shore have D been more prominently identified with the public affairs of Maryland than has Colonel Vannort, of Chestertown. It has been said that the history of a state is best told in the lives of its people, and certainly from the biographical record of his eventful career much can be gleaned concerning the history of the state. He has identified himself with its progressive movements and especially in the councils of the Republican party has been influential and active. In 1890 he was his party's nominee for the office of gov-

ernor, being the only man on the Republican ticket ever nominated by acclamation for gov- ernor, and while he was not successful in winning the election, he polled a very large vote, receiving the support of many Democrats and Prohibitionists as well as those of his own party.

The record of one so prominent will be perused with interest, both by the old, whose admiration it may arouse, and by the young, whose emulation it deserves. First, it may be appropriate to men- tion something concerning the family history. The colonel's father, William, was born in New Jersey and through his mother was connected with the family of which Gen. Winfield Scott was a member. About 1827 he came to Chester- town, where he followed the trade of a carriage maker. In 1844 he went to Philadelphia, where he was similarly employed on Cherry street. Returning to Kent County about 1849, he em- barked in the mercantile and lumber business at Turner's Creek, afterward engaged in farming for ten years, and then became interested in the mercantile and lumber business in Chestertown. In 1865 he retired from business and afterward gave his attention to the oversight of his various 'interests, leading a quiet life from that time until his death in 1883. He married Catherine D. Adams, who was born in Mercer County, N. J., and died in Chestertown in April, 1888. In religious connections both were identified with the Methodist Protestant Church.

In the family of William Vannort there were five sons and one daughter, of whom one son died at eight years, and Augustus died in Hanesville, Kent County, where he engaged in the mercantile business. Samuel, a farmer by occupation, represented his district in the state legislature for one term. Ezra Adams, who was a physician in the Union army during the war, afterward practiced his profession in Hanesville. Mary A. H. is the wife of J. H. Simpers, a merchant of Chestertown.

Chestertown, where he now resides, was the birthplace of Colonel Vannort, and July 9, 1835, the date of his birth. His education was obtained in the public schools here and in Philadelphia and in Washington College. The first business

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in which he engaged was that of merchandising, which he followed at Rising Sun. In 1860, however, he returned to Chestertown, where he was actively engaged in business at the outbreak of the Civil war. He at once assisted in raising a company to join the Union army, his men being consolidated with Company H, Second Maryland Infantry, of which he was commissioned second lieutenant. With his regiment he went to Virginia, and began the series of marches and battles that resulted in final victory to the Union. He was at Antietam and also took part in the engagements in the Shenandoah Valley. At Snicker's Ford he was wounded in the right lung and left leg; in this engagement, which was fought in 1864, he marched to the field of battle with forty-seven men, all but seventeen of whom were left on the field at the close of the fight. He then came home and went to Annapolis, where he remained about three weeks. Being unfit for service he was ordered to Camp Berry, to forward troops to the front. He re-inforced General Sherman on his march to the sea at Honey Hill and was at Hilton Head when Fort Sumter fell. In 1865 he had charge of the steamship America, which was used to convey troops to the front. The boat was captured by the Confederates, but afterward retaken by the Union forces. From Major Rollins he received the highest praise for his efficiency and fidelity.

On his return from the army Colonel Vannort engaged in business for a short time. From 1871 to 1880 he resided on the farm, and in the latter year removed to the residence which he had in the meantime built in Chestertown. December 27, 1870, he married Mrs. Avis E. Bartholow née Denning, who was born in Baltimore. He is president of the Kent County Agricultural Association, in the work of which he maintains a deep interest. With the Grand Army, too, he is actively connected. In politics he is a pro- nounced Republican, a strong advocate of protec- tion of home industries and the maintenance of the sound-money standard. In 1895 he was chairman of the Maryland delegation to Cleveland. In 1896 he was a delegate to the national conven- tion at St. Louis, also delegate-at-large to the

National League Club convention at Milwaukee, and at this writing he is the Maryland national committeeman of the National League, chief of the staff of the Maryland division under Dr. William S. Booze, chief marshal at the inaugural, and was one of Maryland's commissioners to the exposition at Nashville, Tenn.

The principles for which Colonel Vannort has stood throughout his entire life have been those which he believed best calculated to promote the prosperity of the nation and the happiness of the people. Tenacious in his beliefs, he holds firmly to the doctrines of the party that he has supported from youth. This he does because, in his opinion, free trade is detrimental to our country's interests and especially injurious in its effects upon the laboring classes. He is a patriot from principle and favors any measure that will advance our government.

ILLIAM C. MITCHELL is one of the well-known residents of Salisbury district, Wicomico County, being treasurer of the Salisbury Canning Company and owner of White- field, a farm of three hundred acres. In 1892 he was elected tax collector and served for two years; in 1896 he was re-elected to the position of which he is the present incumbent. He believes thoroughly in the principles of the Demo- cratic party and has always supported the regular ticket at local, state and national elections.

On the farm where he now resides, the subject of this sketch was born May 28, 1859. His father, George T., was the son of Isaac Mitchell, whose ancestors came to this country from Ire- land. George T., who was born near Salisbury, engaged in farm pursuits and also followed the mason's trade until his death, which occurred in 1877. In religious belief he was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. At his death he left a small estate, which doubtless would have been much larger had he not been a man of generous disposition and great liberality. His wife, Susan, daughter of John Reddish, was born

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in Salisbury district and died here in 1896. Their family consisted of six children, all but one of whom are still living. Elizabeth, the oldest of the family, is unmarried. Mary A. is the wife of Thomas W. Waller, county commissioner of Wicomico County and a resident of Salisbury; John S. resides in Baltimore; and George E. is a mercliant in Salisbury.

When a boy our subject attended the grammar and light schools at Salisbury. His studies there inculcated within him a love for learning, and he has since continued to read closely and thor- oughly the current newspapers and the best litera- ture of the age. In 1879 he began to teach school in Salisbury district and continued to fol- low the occupation for twelve years, until he fell heir to tlie estate, Whitefield, where he now re- sides. November 24, 1885, he married Caroline Hastings, daughter of E. S. Hastings, of Salis- bury district. They have four children: Olive, Thurman, Victor and Horace.

ILLIAM E. BROWN, who is engaged in business in Denton, was born near Bridge- ville, Sussex County, Del., December 4, 1863, and is a son of Daniel and Ann (Smith) Brown, also natives of that county. His pater- nal grandfather, Henry Brown, was a farmer, as was the maternal grandfather, William Smith, the latter being the grandson of an Englishman who cante to this country prior to the Revolution- ary war. The mother of our subject, who died March 7, 1890, had a number of brothers: Henry, a farmer of Maryland; David, who engaged in agricultural pursuits in Delaware; Daniel, a sol- dier in the United States army, in service in tlie west; and Lacy, a farmer by occupation. Our subject's father, who was born in 1815, in early life engaged in business as a tanner and hatter, but later became interested in farming; he still resides in the county where he was born.

The parental family consisted of eight children, three of whom are deceased, two dying in child- hood; Maggie E., who married H. B. Tuthill,

station agent at Cambridge, Md., died March 7, 1894; Mary W. is the widow of L. Q. Smith and resides in Philadelphia; James H., who formerly resided in Ohio and the state of Washington, is now a builder and contractor in Caroline County ; Martlia is the wife of J. M. Walters, a farmer residing near Seaford, Del .; Albretta married J. W. Clark, Jr., of Denton.

The youngest of the family was the subject of this sketch. He received his education in country schools and Bridgeville Academy. At the age of eighteen he commenced to teach school, which occupation he followed for eleven years, being employed in country schools seven years of the time, while for one year he was principal of the schools of Selbyville, Del., and for three years principal of the Denton schools. In 1893 he em- barked in the business which he has since carried on, and is now in charge of an excellent and profitable trade. Fraternally he is identified with the Heptasophs and was secretary for three years. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and in religious belief a member of the Methodist Church. In 1887 he married Melissa E. Smoot, daughter of William Smoot, a farmer living in Caroline County. They are the parents of a daughter, Jeannette.

MERSON G. POLK, for years one of the leading business men of Pocomoke City, is now retired from many of the enterprises in which he was formerly interested. Since 1892 he has been engaged in a private banking busi- ness. His entire life has been passed in Worces- ter County, and the first fifteen years were spent upon a farm three miles from Pocomoke City. From this place he was accustomed to walk into town each morning to the public school, returning home in the afternoon. In this way his educa- tion was obtained.

At the age of fifteen Mr. Polk began to serve an apprenticeship to the tailor's trade under his brother William, in Pocomoke City. He was apprenticed for five years, then worked for his

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brother for three years, and at the expiration of that time embarked in business as a merchant tailor, being in partnership with his brother. After three years he purchased his brother's in- terest in the business, and from that time, with the exception of eighteen months, he carried on a clothing and mercantile business until 1897, when he sold out to his son.

The first marriage of Mr. Polk took place in 1861 and united him with Miss Addie O. Dry- den, by whom he had a daughter, Addie, de- ceased at seven years. In 1867 he was united in marriage with Miss Louisa W. Benson, and three children come to bless their union, namely: Annie, who married William Schoolfield and died in 1895; Emerson W., who carries on the mercantile business formerly conducted by his father; and Carrie H. In 1895 Mr. Polk married Miss L. Alma Polk. While he is not active in politics, he has firm convictions in favor of the Republican party. Since 1864 he has been an elder in the Presbyterian Church and for about the same length of time has served as treasurer. The church with which he is identified, that at Rehobeth, Somerset County, has the distinction of being the oldest of the denomination in the United States. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Heptasophs and the Ancient Order United Workmen.

HRISTOPHER G. LYNCH, who resides in Rose Cottage, and is a successful agricult- urist of the fourth district of Talbot County, was one of the soldier boys who wore the gray during the entire Civil war. He was attending Centreville Academy, in Queen Anne's County, when the first dark days of the war came upon us, and though he was only seventeen years old, he started for the front and ran the blockade, and was regularly enlisted in the Fourth Maryland, Chesapeake Battery, by the Ist of October, 1861. From that time forward he was in constant and active service, and was under the command of Stonewall Jackson in the Richmond campaign.

A few days before peace had been declared he was captured by the Federal forces, but did not have long to languish in prison, happily.

The Lynch family have been connected with the annals of this state for many decades and have been most highly respected people. James P., father of the above, was a native of Queen Anne's County and always followed farming as a means of obtaining a livelihood for himself and family. Death cut him off in his prime, in 1847, when his son, C. G., was but three years old. His faithful companion and helpmate, Sarah E., was a daughter of Christopher Goodhand, a very wealthy and prominent citizen of Queen Anne's County. Mrs. Lynch became the mother of four children, and survived her husband many years, dying in 1880.

C. G. Lynch is the sole representative of his father's family, as all his brothers and sisters have passed from earth. He was born in Queen Anne's County September 14, 1844, and as his father died when he was young, he never knew what it meant to have a kind, watchful jurisdic- tion exercised over him, as no one but a father could manifest. His widowed mother strove nobly to do whatever was in her power, and gave him good educational privileges, and no one but one of the mothers of the young soldiers of the early 60's can appreciate the intense anxiety which was her constant companion during those long, weary years when her boy was at his post of duty upon southern battlefields. After his return Mr. Lynch concluded to adopt the occu- pation of his forefathers and settle down to the routine of farm work in his native county. He continued there until 1882, when he came to his present homestead, a place of two hundred and fifty acres, owned by his brother-in-law, and situ- ated near Wye Landing. He is a member of the Episcopal Church and is a Democrat.

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Portrait and biographical record of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Part 96

Author: Chapman Publishing Company Publication date: 1898 Publisher: New York, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 906

Author: Chapman Publishing Company
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: New York, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 906