USA > Maryland > Portrait and biographical record of the Sixth congressional district, Maryland V. 1 > Part 13
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In 1872 Mr. Hebb was elected by the Republi- can state convention at Baltimore as delegate to the presidential nominating convention, where he cast his vote for General Ulysses S. Grant for a second term. In 1878 he was elected tax col- lector by the city council of Cumberland and was successively appointed the three following years, retiring from this position only when his party
lost control of the municipal government. In 1884 he was elected mayor of his native city by five hundred and thirty-eight majority, which was considered by everyone as a great compli- ment, as at the preceding municipal election the Democratic candidate had a majority of two hun- dred and sixty-eight and the city was Democratic by a majority running from three hundred and fifty to four hundred. Under the pressure of friends he was induced to run again in 1891, to
majority of one hundred and fifty-two on the Democratic side. In 1892 he was again nomi- nated against his wishes and at first declined to run, but finally consented and laid down as his - platform for the support of the voters the "record of his former term as mayor," promising to con- duct the affairs of the city, so far as they lay within his power, on a business basis, while in the main favoring his own party in the distribu- tion of the offices, yet eschewing politics in the government of the city. This time he was vic- torious, elected by a majority of three hundred and ninety-seven. His messages show the deep interest he took in city affairs, as they went into every subject in detail and showed great care in preparation. Many public improvements were made under his two administrations, yet the ex- penses of those years never exceeded the levies for the same. The public press of that day and the citizens generally attest to the able manner in which he served his constituents.
In October, 1887, Mr. Hebb accepted the posi- tion of cashier and paymaster of the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railroad and subsequently also discharged the duties of purchasing agent for that company, while the road was being ex- tended through West Virginia to Belington, and since the removal of the offices to Elkins, W. Va., he has continued as paymaster, still residing in Cumberland. During the period of his service with the company he has disbursed millions of dollars without the loss of a single dollar, which shows the zeal, ability and fidelity with which he has discharged his trust. From carly child- hood he has attended the Episcopal Sunday- school and for years he has been a consistent
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member of the church at Cumberland. For twenty-four years he has filled the office of super- intendent of Rose Hill Cemetery, owned and controlled by the vestry of Emmanuel Parish; for twenty years he lias been vestryman of tlie church; warden for fifteen years and register for thirty-five years.
We gather from the people among whom Mr. Hebb lives that the community has been benefited by his life, which has been spent uninterruptedly in the one locality. Few of the residents of Cum- berland have been identified with its history and growth for a longer period than has he. For up- wards of a half a century his figure has been seen almost daily on the streets of the city. In per- sonal appearance he is a man of strong physique, having a robust and vigorous constitution. He can say, as few can, that since infancy he has not been sick in bed a single day.
In the improvements made in the city Mr. Hebb has left the impress of his character. The good of the people has ever been uppermost in his mind. He is regarded and respected as a man of the highest moral attributes, and enjoys an enviable reputation for moral worth and integ- rity. In disposition he is mild and possesses the faculty of making friends readily. He is rather reserved in manner and of a retiring disposition, yet his friendship once secured is lasting.
In Emmanuel Church November 18, 1856, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hebb and Miss Mary Duncan Stull, daughter of the late Otho Holland Williams Stull and Letitia Sprigg (Hall) Stull, the latter being a sister of Dr. Thomas B. Hall, of Hagerstown. Mr. Stull was the son of John and Mercy (Williams) Stull and the latter was a sister of Gen. Otho Holland Will- iams and a daughter of Joseph and Prudence Williams, who came to this country from Wales about 1745. General Williams served through the entire period of the Revolution, in which he earned the title of brigadier-general. Williams- port, Washington County, Md., was laid out and founded by him. Colonel Stull was a member of one of the most prominent families in the state and was noted for liis integrity and force of chiar- acter. He resided in Hagerstown until 1840,
when he was appointed secretary of the territory of Iowa and removed there with his family, remaining until 1850. He then returned to Maryland and settled in Cumberland, where his remaining years were spent. He was an ardent advocate of the principles of the Whig party and an outspoken Union man during the late war.
In early life Mrs. Hebb united with the Epis- copal Church. and of that denomination slie continued to be a member until death. Slie was of a sympathetic, kindly and generous disposition and her deeds of charity were countless. In her life she was a model of those noble qualities that characterize Christian womanhood. After thirty- eight years of happy wedded life she passed to the world beyond, the last of her immediate fani - ily, having seen laid to rest her father, mother and eleven brothers and sisters. She died in the hope and conviction that she would receive the reward promised for a well-spent Christian life. In Emmanuel Protestant Episcopal Church, in the south nave near the place where she sat and wor- shipped regularly at services for thirty years, there is facing the east, an ornate and beautiful memorial window representing the Virgin Mary standing in the attitude of prayer. Below the figure is tlie following inscription: "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord." On the base are the words: "To the glory of God and in loving memory of Mary Duncan Stull; entered into rest eternal July 27, 1895."
Mr. Hebb is also the last survivor of his im- mediate family, having buried his father, mother and two brothers. He is the only one living of his co-delegates from Allegany County who served with him in the legislature or in the con - stitutional convention of 1864. Of those living at the time of his admission to the bar of Alle- gany County in 1853, he is the sole survivor, save Jacob Brown, of Cumberland. Of those who ran on the judicial ticket with him he alone survives and of those who were on the opposing ticket Hon. R. H. Alvey alone survives.
In presenting the record of this useful and well-spent life it is with the hope that it may be read with profit by many of the younger genera- tion and be to them an incentive for good. Such
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a life of integrity and usefulness, both in private affairs and in official capacities, is an example that may well be emulated.
G EORGE C. PEARSON is the secretary, treasurer and examiner for the board of school commissioners of Washington Coun- ty. He is the right man in the right place. for he thoroughly understands the great responsi- bility that has been reposed in him, is a man of wide experience in educational fields, is scholarly in his attainments and is an excellent judge of the capabilities of candidates for positions in our schools. While conservative upon many old and tried methods of teaching, he is not averse to new and approved systems, in harmony with the spirit of progress. Such he tests and weighs carefully in his own mind and with such evi- dence as he can obtain before he advocates their adoption by the board.
Undoubtedly Mr. Pearson has inherited much of his talent in the direction of educating the young from his father, George, who was a man of great ability and whose record in this field of endeavor has rarely been surpassed. He was born August 13, 1809, and died June 18, 1897, after an exceedingly busy and useful life. He was a tutor for many years, preparing young men for college, and assisting them during their course in the higher instructions of learning and also often had in charge those who were fitting themselves for teachers. He attended Lafayette College at the time that Dr. George Junkins was president of the same and from 1837 to 1883, a period of forty-six years, he occupied the posi- tion of principal of the Smithsburg public schools. No one can estimate the lasting influence for good which his life had over the minds of the thous. ands of pupils who knew and loved him, and still speak in glowing tribute to his goodness and nobleness of character, which was constantly manifested toward them. His methods were many years in advance of his time and age and
were evolved from his own wide experience and bright and well-stored mind. In the Reformed Church he was much loved, represented the body in various conventions and assemblies of the same, and for a long time he was an elder and treasurer in the congregation with which he was identified. The highest good of humanity was the thing dearest to his heart and this motive was the ruling star of his life. From 1861 to 1862 he was a member of the state legislature, then for a few years he acted in the office of justice of the peace and was the assistant postmaster in Smithsburg during the incumbency of Mrs. Daniel Beard. Before he entered upon his later career as a teacher he was a civil engineer, and was one of the corps who constructed the Western Maryland Railway. In 1883, soon after the death of his wife, Ellenor S., in 1883, he retired to private life, living thenceforth quietly in his comfortable home in Smithsburg. She was born in what was then Allegany County, Md., July 19, 1812, and was married about 1842 to Mr. Pearson. Her father, William W. Hoye, was a surveyor and ex- tensive land owner, his property amounting to over seven thousand acres.
George C. Pearson, born in Carroll County, Md., August 13, 1851, is the second of three children, the eldest of whom died in infancy and the youngest, Anna, in 1854. He prepared for the sophomore class of Franklin and Marshall Col- lege under his father's able guidance and was en- rolled in 1875, with Charles A. Little and A. C. Kimler, as a student in that well-known institu- tion. After his graduation in 1878 he became principal of the Hancock schools, then held a similar position at Sharpsburg, and later suc- ceeded his father in the Smithsburg school as principal. At the expiration of two years there he was called to take charge of the county high school in Hagerstown, and taught here to the en- tire satisfaction of all concerned nine years. He was then elected to his present position, and entered upon his new duties May 16, 1894. He has a host of friends both here and wherever he has lived, and his pleasant, genial manners make others seek his companionship and presence. For some time he has been president of the Coun-
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ty Peach-Growers' Association and also secretary of the South Mountain Peach-Growers' Associa- tion, and is esteemed to be a very efficient officer. He usually votes the Prohibition ticket, but keeps strictly out of politics. For the past ten years he has been the treasurer of the Reformed Church of Cavetown, Md., and has also served the congregation as deacon.
AIRFAX SCHLEY, M. D., one of Freder- ick's most eminent citizens, was born in this city October 11, 1823. He is a son of Henry Schley, who was born in Frederick in 1793 and died here in 1871. In early life he was en- gaged in business in Baltimore with his uncles, Henry Schroeder and Jacob Schley. In 1814 he entered the Federal service as adjutant of a Mary- land regiment, of which Colonel Cramer was the commander, and participated in the battles of Bladensburg and North Point. Upon the termi- nation of the campaign he established his home in Frederick, and during many subsequent years occupied various places of important public trust, notably as clerk of Frederick County and as cashier of the Frederick County Bank. His wife, who died in 1869, was Sarah Maria, daughter of Dr. Edward Worrel, of Kent County, Md., where the Worrels have been prominent citizens for a full century.
The three surviving sons of Henry Schley are. Col. John Edward Schley, of West Virginia; Charles Schiley, of Milwaukee (who married a sister of Bradley T. Jolinson); and Fairfax Schley, of this sketch. The last-named has al- ways made his home in Frederick. He attended the local schools and Frederick College, where he completed the classical course. Upon the foun- dation thus obtained lie so improved and ex- panded his knowledge that for years and to this time lie lias stood as a recognized authority in the fields of classics. He began the study of medicine under William Tyler, M. D., of Fred- erick, and afterward attended the University of
Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland, graduating from the latter in 1847. Frederick was his first and has been his only center of practice. He pursued professional labors until 1855, when his health failed and he was com- pelled, though reluctantly, to desist. His active temperament was not, however, disposed to let him rest, and he concluded that as he must have business, he would follow that most in sympathy with his profession. He therefore embarked in the drug trade and for twenty years, until 1876, gave it his close attention, gaining satisfactory results. In 1876 he retired in favor of his sons, Steiner and Lewis H. The latter, a youth of brilliant promise, was a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College of Pennsylvania, and a finished scholar, but lost his life in a railway collision at Point of Rocks June 12, 1877.
In 1847 Dr. Schley married Ann R., daughter of Christian Steiner, of Frederick. Of their four children all are living but Lewis H. She died in January, 1896. Both she and her husband early became members of the Reformed Church of Frederick. Although of decided political opin- ions and keenly alive to the movement of public affairs, Dr. Schley is and ever has been opposed to participation in the pursuit of office or the act- ive direction of party politics, despite the fact that he often has been urged to stand in nomina- tion. During the war he was a stanch Union man. On the formation of the Republican party he became a supporter of its principles, which lie still upholds. The satisfaction he finds in life is largely made up of the results that flow from the exercise of his philanthropy. He is con- nected in many ways with public charities, stands among the foremost as a practical worker in that field, and beyond that devotes much of his time and substance in a private way to the noble work of lielping the worthy. poor. He was for years president of the Frederick County Agricultural Society, and to his active labors and energetic agency more than to any other person is due thie great success of this organization in the last few years. With liis administration began a new era in the history of the society, which has from that time enjoyed steady progress. In the midst of
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all his business engagements he has nevertheless given time and thought to its affairs, making of it one of the most successful societies of the kind in the country. He is a director of the Central National Bank, a trustee and president of Fred- erick College, chairman of the executive com- mittee of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and vice- president of the board. In the last-named insti- tution he has felt an abiding interest that has been manifested by earnest and zealous labors in behalf of the progress and prosperity of the insti- tution and an effort to place it upon a basis that would make it a model for like institutions.
The genealogy of the Schley family shows that the great-great-grandfather of the doctor, Thomas Schley, came from the Palatinate in Germany about 1740, and in 1745 erected the first house upon the site of Frederick City. One of his sons, Jacob, was a captain in the Revolution; and one of his grandsons, William, was a member of con- gress, governor of Georgia and the man in whose honor Schley County was named. John, his brother, was a judge on the supreme bench of Georgia, and another brother likewise rose to eminent judicial honor.
Apart from his ancient lineage, a member of the second family resident in Frederick County, Dr. Schley can also refer with commendable pride to the fact that among his relations are many distinguished personages on the eastern shore. His maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Hanson, of Kent County, was closely related to that dis- tinguislied patriot, Jolin Hanson, who as presi- dent of the continental congress of 1781, deliv- ered the address of congratulation to Washing- ton after the surrender of Cornwallis. Alexan- der C. Hanson, son of John Hanson, as clian- cellor and judge of Maryland, presided at the trial of the Tories in Frederick in August, 1781, the same being convicted and executed in fulfill- ment of the judge's sentence. Of the jurors at this trial two, Thomas and Capt. George Jacob Schley, were ancestors of the doctor.
The Hansons, Wicks, Comegys, Pearces and other distinguished families of the Eastern Shore are relatives of the Schiley family. Dr. Edward Worrel, who married Elizabeth Hanson, received
his medical instruction under Drs. Rust and Shippen, of Philadelphia, and became a success- ful physician. His biographer, Dr. Peregrine Wroth, in concluding liis obituary memoir, says: "In all the phases of his character he had few equals and no superiors." Dr. Worrel and his wife, with many of their descendants, are interred in the family burial ground at the beautiful estate of Fairy Meadow, in the vicinity of Chestertown. In recognition of the prominence and patriotism of John Hanson the state legislature has declared that one of the two statues to be placed in stat- uary hall in the Capitol at Washington shall be his.
Dr. Schley is a near relative of that distin- guished naval hero, Commodore W. S. Scliley, their fathers having been brothers.
ON. DAVID W. SLOAN. This distin- guished citizen of Cumberland, Allegany County, was elevated to the bench in 1895, having previously served most efficiently as state's attorney here for three terms and having proven his genius as a leading member of the legal profession during his practice of over twenty years' duration. As associate judge of the fourthi judicial circuit of Maryland he has ample scope for his undoubted talents, but a more ambitious future is already spoken of in connection with his name. He had the great honor of being one of the three delegates from this state to the an- nual convention of the American Bar Associa- tion in Cleveland, Ohio, in the summer of 1897, and has attended the Republican state convention each year for the fifteen years preceding his elec- tion to the bencli.
Judge D. W. Sloan was born at Boston Mines, near Frostburg, Allegany County, Md., Septent- ber 26, 1850, and was reared in this county. His father, Alexander Sloan, was a mining superin- tendent and was stationed at various places in tlie mining regions of this section of the state during his active business life. He was a native of Scot-
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land and came to America about 1841. He went to Europe in 1874 in quest of health, but to no avail, as his death occurred just three weeks after his return home, on September 6, 1874, when he was in his fifty-fifth year. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Percy, was likewise born in Scotland, but came to Allegany County with her parents in girlhood. Her father, David Percy, and his two brothers, James and Douglas, were pioneers in coal operations in this portion of the state and owned the old Jackson Mine at Lonaconing, now in the possession of the Aineri- can Coal Company. Mrs. Sarah Sloan died in January, 1894, aged sixty-seven years, and the judge is now the only member of his parents' large family left in this county. The brothers and sisters are as follows: Agnes, Mrs. Wheel- and, resides in North Baltimore, Ohio; Duncan J. is a merchant in the same town; George is a physician of Roslyn, Wash .; Margaret R. lives in North Baltimore, Ohio; Mathew H. is a glass manufacturer of Dunkirk, Ind .; Helen P., de- ceased, was the wife of the late Henry W. Schaidt, formerly the manager of the daily News, of Cumberland; Saralı M. lives in North Balti- more, Ohio; Alexander D. is a druggist of North Yakima, Waslı .; Edmund Rathbun is a glass manufacturer of Dunkirk, Ind .; and Jean Mc- Farland makes her home in North Baltimore, Ohio.
The preliminary education of Judge Sloan was obtained in the public schools of this county and subsequently he entered the Allegany County Academy of Cumberland. In 1868 he became a student in Washington and Jefferson College of Washington, Pa., and continued there until 1870, when he entered the sophomore class at Prince- ton, graduating from that renowned institution of learning in 1873. Returning home he went into the law office of Gov. Lloyd Lowndes and pur- sued legal studies under his guidance for a time. In the spring of 1874 his father's failing health obliged him to drop his own interests for the time being and take charge of the senior's extensive business affairs. In the fall of 1874 the young mian entered the law department of the Univer- sity of Maryland, in Baltimore, and graduated
with the class of 1876. Upon his return to Cum- berland be bad an office with liis former pre- ceptor, Governor Lowndes, though they were not partners, and there he remained until he was raised to the bench. In 1879 he was elected state's attorney and, after serving four years, was succeeded by B. A. Richmond. He was again elected to that position in 1887 and re-elected in :8gr. He had just completed his third term when he was elected judge, in 1895. He is a charter member of the Maryland State Bar Asso- ciation, which was organized at the Blue Moun- tain House, in 1896, and is also identified witlı the American Bar Association.
In the winter of 1877 Judge Sloan first con- ceived of the idea of organizing the members of the legal profession in Cumberland, and this was nitimately done, the incorporated name being the Bar Association of Allegany County. The prime object of the society was to provide a compre- hensive and practical law library for reference. The originators of the plan were Lawyers Sloan, Richmond, Brace, Boyd and Price, and the con- stitution and by-laws of the association were modeled after those of the state association. It was chartered in 1877 and three years later re- newed interest in it sprang up and has continued to the present time. Among the many valuable works of reference contained in the library are the reports of the following states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylva- nia, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Vermont and Mary- land. There are also American Decisions, Ami- erican Reports, American State Reports, English Common Law Reports, Federal Reports, United States Superior Court Reports, and American and English Encyclopedias of Pleading and Practice, and numerous other valuable miscella- neous works on legal points. With the excep- tion of the year 1879 Judge Sloan has been the secretary of the organization from its inception to the present. He has been very actively inter- ested in the material and industrial growth of Cumberland, and has fostered many infant enter- prises by his influence and means. His fairness and impartiality as a judge are matters of public
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comment, and his scholarship and superior ability .... Tranquille Bouic, our subject's ancestor, who are unquestioned. In the local fraternities he is very popular and is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of Antioch Commandery of Cumberland; belongs to the Order of Elks; the Royal Arca- num; the Heptasophs; the Knights of Honor, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has been a leader in Republican politics in this state, having been for years one of the county central committee and a member of the state central committee.
November 14, 1882, Judge Sloan married Miss Mary L. Good at the home of her parents in Kirkwood, Mo. She was reared to womanhood in Wheeling, W. Va., and is a lady of rare social qualities and intellectual attainments. The judge and wife have four children, Margaret Maitland, Frances S., David W., Jr., and Alexander. Mrs. Sloan is a member of the Episcopal Church, her husband being a member of and trustee in the Presbyterian Church.
ON. WILLIAM VEIRS BOUIC, JR., of Rockville, Montgomery County, was born at Meadow Hall, two miles east of this city, July 20, 1846. He is a descendant of French an- cestry. The genealogical records show that a family of four brothers and two sisters lived in France near the latter part of the eighteenth cent- ury. One of these was Louis Dominique Bouic, a Catholic bishop of the cathedral of Rouen, France; another was Charles, who moved to Genoa, Italy, and died there without children; a .third brotlier, Robert, settled in Williamsburg, N. Y., and left a daughter, Mary, wife of Mr. Pierce, who resided in that place for many years. The two sisters married brothers, one of them being Dr. Albert Manoury, a prominent physi- cian of Rouen. The son of one of these sisters, Prof. Gustave Manoury, is a priest and instructor in an ecclesiastical seminary at Yvetot, France, his home being near the city of Calais.
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