USA > Maryland > Portrait and biographical record of the Sixth congressional district, Maryland V. 1 > Part 14
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The fourth of these brothers was Pierre Amable
came to America about 1785 from the village of d'Ocqueville, in the province of Lower Siene, Normandy, France. Here he married for liis second wife a widow, Mrs. Dorcas Fletchall, who was the daughter of William Veirs and a descend- ant of a family that has been in Montgomery County two hundred years or more, the first rep- resentatives having come here before the county was organized. By intermarriage with other families, the Veirs family to-day has large con- nections throughout Maryland, also in Missouri and Kentucky (especially in Hardin County, Ky. ). The marriage of Mr. Bouic and Mrs. Fletchall resulted in the birth of three children, namely: Mary A., who died, unmarried, in Missouri; William Veirs; and Rosetta Vauclin, who married Edward Gott, then a resident of Montgomery County, and removed with him to Jefferson County, Mo., where they remained until death. Of their twelve children all are dead but two.
Judge William Veirs Bouic was born near Poolesville, Montgomery County, Md., May 12, 1816. He was five years of age when he was left fatherless and became a ward of his future father-in-law, Samuel Clark Veirs, then a promi- nent citizen of Rockville. His education was obtained principally in Rockville Academy. At the age of seventeen he entered the mercantile business at Colesville, this county, as clerk for Mr. Dawes. Subsequently he went to Washing- ton, where he was employed as clerk. On his return to Rockville he entered upon the study of law in the office of the late Jolin. Brewer, then an influential member of the bar.
Admitted to practice about 1840, Judge Bouic removed to Jefferson County, Mo., and there entered upon the prosecution of his profession. About 1843 he returned to his old home and mar- ried Mary Ann Matilda Veirs, eldest daughter of Samuel Clark Veirs, whose mother was Juliana Diffenderfer, sister of Michael Diffenderfer, a prominent physician in Baltimore for many years. The Diffenderfer family came to this country from Strassburg, Germany, and by intermarriage with other families has increased greatly in numbers and influence, having among its members some
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of the most prominent people of Baltimore. Sam- uel Clark Veirs was a successful farmer and miller of Montgomery County, and for many years served as chief judge of the orphans' court of the county. He was justly proud of his life of honor and integrity. He was prominent in the Baptist Church and assisted in building up that denomination in the community.
After his marriage Judge Bouic engaged in practice in Rockville and also carried on a farm, giving to both occupations the most zealous atten- tion. A man of intense energy, untiring industry and great discrimination as to mien and affairs, he rapidly rose to prominence at the bar, and among his fellow-citizens, all of whom admired his ability and trusted his honesty of purpose and soundness of judgment. In his friendships he was warm-hearted and in his devotion to duty stanch. One of his most prominent character- istics was tact. He was regarded as a most effi- cient stump speaker and eloquent orator. Into public affairs he infused much of his own energy and life. All matters pertaining to the welfare of the community in which he lived received his warm sympathy and support, and the county had no one more interested in its welfare than he.
In early life Judge Bouic identified himself with the Democratic party, then in minority. Owing to his energy and strenuous efforts he changed the county, in 1850, from six hundred Whig majority to a Democratic county, and to this party the county adhered under his leader- ship and guidance up to the time of his death, except one year during the war, when the polls . On the 4th of May, 1896, he departed this life, were controlled by Federal bayonets. In 1863, not- withstanding that the voters had to pass through a company of Federal soldiers to reach the polls, they followed him, after listening to a vigorous speech from him, as he marched with uplifted Democratic ticket in his hand and all deposited their votes, thus redeeming the county from the rule of the opposition party. Continuously for twenty years he served as state's attorney, at the end of which time he was elected judge, and this office lie filled for fifteen years. He owned and superintended about one thousand acres of land, which was said to be the best equipped farms in
the county. Just prior to the war he was captain of a militia company, but owing to the fact that the state did not secede from the Union, he did not enter active service. A few years preceding the war he entered into a discussion with Abra- ham Lincoln in Montgomery County, and it was generally conceded that he well sustained his side of the question. Among his intimate friends he numbered the late Francis P. Blair, Sr., and Montgomery Blair, a member of Lincoln's cabinet.
In 1860 Judge Bouic secured the charter for the town of Rockville. From that time until 1870 he served as president of the board of con- missioners. Besides contributing to the growth of the place by buildings of his own and the im- provement of his property, he was indefatigable in improving streets and planting shade trees in streets and parks. To his energy is due much of the improvements in the town. He was the prime mover in the organization of the Mont- gomery County Agricultural Society, the oldest organization of the kind in the state. In religion he was a faithful member of the Baptist Church, to which he was a very liberal contributor. In1 fact, it was due to his efforts, seconding those of his father-in-law, Samuel Clark Veirs, that the denomination was established in this part of the country. For a long time he was a trustee in the Rockville Academy, and he also served as a director in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Com- pany. In 1882 he broke down from nervous prostration and lost nearly all of his old-time vigor, retiring from business of all description. at the age of eighty years. His wife had passed away October 1, 1888. They were the parents of six children, of whom the eldest, Mary A., died in infancy. The second, William Veirs, Jr., is the subject of this sketch. Next in order of birth was Ella Clark, now the widow of Dr. Nathan Smith White; she resides in Adams- town, Frederick County, Md. Mary Anna mar- ried Rev. George William Beall, a minister in the Baptist Church and a son of General Beall, of Westmoreland County, Va .; she and her hus- band reside at Heatlisville, Northumberland County, Va. Rosetta Vauclin married Charles
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Wesley Prettyman, an attorney-at-law of Rock- ville, and the son of Elijah B. Prettyman, state superintendent of schools, residing in Baltimore. The youngest of the family is Eulalie Louise.
When a boy our subject attended a private school taught by the wife of the clerk of the cir- cuit court. After three years there, at the age of ten, he entered Rockville Academy, where he was a student for seven years. At the age of seven- teen he entered Columbian University, then lo- cated on College Hill, Fourteenth street, Wash- ington, and under the presidency of the late George W. Sampson, formerly of Massachusetts. There he remained from 1863 to 1868. Among the professors with whom he studied was the in- structor in Latin, William L. Wilson, late of President Cleveland's cabinet. In 1868 he gradu- ated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Three years later the institution conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. He holds membership in Sigma Chi and Enosinian Literary Society, of that university, and is now vice-president of the alumni association of the sante institution.
After graduating Mr. Bouic entered upon the study of law under the instruction of his father, and in June, 1870, he was admitted to the bar of the circuit court of Montgomery County. On the 5th of August, of the same year, he formed a partnership with his father's former partner, Thomas Anderson, with whom he has been asso- ciated continuously to the present. The firm has been among the leading ones here and has become known throughout this part of the state for success- ful practice at the bar. He is a member of the bar of the supreme court, District of Columbia, also of the United States Circuit Court, for the dis- trict of Maryland, the bar of Washington, Fred- erick, Howard and Anne Arundel Counties, and of the court of appeals, state of Maryland. In 1896 he was one of the original incorporators of the State Bar Association, at which time he was elected a vice-president. From the time he was admitted to the bar to the present time lie has de- voted liis energies to the prosecution of his pro- fession and has met with great success, not only in the successful termination of cases, but finan- cially as well.
Mr. Bonic is one of the most active Democrats in the county and has always been an ardent and consistent supporter of Democratic principles. He was president of the congressional convention of the sixth district that nominated Hon. William M. Mckaig for congress, and was urged to accept that nomination himself but declined. He was also president of the convention that nominated Chief Judge James McSherry. In 1892 he was a presidential elector for the state of Maryland and during that campaign he canvassed not only all the meeting places in his own county, but numer- ous places throughout the state and in Baltimore and Washington. It was largely due to his ability as a campaign worker that the unusual majority of eight hundred and sixteen was polled in the county. As a result three of the enthusiastic Democrats of the county organized a cavalry troop of eight hundred and sixteen to take part iu the inaugural ceremony in March, 1893, and he was unanimously elected marshal of the troop, which he led on the day of inauguration. Owing to the dissensions that arose in 1895-96 his party urgently insisted upon his acceptance of the nomination for the state senate in 1897, which after great reluctance he finally accepted, atid was the only Democrat elected on the legis- lative ticket in Montgomery County. In the session of 1898 he represented the county, mak- ing a record creditable to himself, his friends and the people of the county. He offered the joint resolution in that session, expressing the con- ficence of the people of Maryland in the president of the United States, at the time of the crisis with Spain, and commending General Fitzhugh Lee for his courage and ability as a consul-general. Upon call of the roll this received the unanimous vote of the members of the senate and only one dissenting vote in the house of delegates. The terin of service in the senate covers four years, so he will therefore be a member of the session of 1900.
In 1873 Mr. Bouic was appointed one of the commissioners of Rockville, in which capacity he served continuously for seventeen years. When in 1888 the charter was changed lie was elected the first mayor of Rockville. To the work
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already done by his father he added with judg- ment and discretion, so that the town was changed in appearance from a rustic village to a thrifty and business-like town. When he was elected there were only dirt roads and walks, and there were no lights. He inaugurated a sys- tematic scheme of paving roads, building side- walks, and providing liglits, also caused to be planted numerous shade trees, now the chief ornaments of the place. Owing principally to these improvements, the town lias grown from a population of between five and six hundred to eighteen or nineteen hundred. Actuated by the same desire to build up his county-town, he labored to secure the passage of a bill, in the last assembly, authorizing the county commissioners to grade and build a national pike from Washing- ton to Rockville. The bill was passed, and with the building of this beautiful boulevard, not only the intervening territory, but the town of Rock- ville as well, will become one of the most desir- able residence spots in the state. In 1892 he was chosen as presidential elector and in the electoral college that met at Annapolis, in January, 1893, he nominated Grover Cleveland for president.
For many years Mr. Bouic was secretary and treasurer of the agricultural society, also trustee of the Rockville Academy, and secretary of the Library Association of Rockville. For many years he was an active member of the Knights of Pytliias. He is the owner of several buildings in the town, Owing to his being executor of his fatlier's will, and as representative of his mother's heirs, he lias charge of all their large property, · consisting of many buildings in town, also the home farm, Meadow Hall, consisting of about four hundred acres of land. Since 1870 he has been one of the local counsel of the Baltimore & Ohio road,
July 6, 1870, Mr. Bouic married Alice A. Almoney, sister of Andrew B. Almoney, assistant cashier of the Hagerstown Bank, and Albert J. Almoney, editor and publisher of the Montgomery Advocate, and chairman of the Democratic central committee for Montgomery County. The chil- dren born of this union are: Louis Aubrey, born May 11, 1871, died February 14, 1872; Henri
Vauclin, born November 23, 1872, now one of the assistants to the United States sub-treasurer at Baltimore; William Garner, born July 28, 1875, now a member of the bar of Rockville; Isabelle, Charles Norman and Albert Manoury. In 1897 Mr. Bouic built liis elegant residence, Bouicilla, on one and one-half acres of land,. adorned with old oak trees and a fine lawn; and on this beautiful spot the family have a happy and delightful home.
OL. EDWARD M. MOBLEY. This hon- ored citizen of Hagerstown, Washington County, now living retired at the home of one of liis sons, at No. 525 Northi Locust street, is a veteran of the Civil war. His service in the Army of the Potomac was marked by great bravery as an officer. After the war lie was the collector of state and county taxes for 1866 and 1867, after which he served in the capacity of assessor and deputy internal reve- nue collector of the government during a pericd of sixteen years. He was born in Frederick, Md., January 30, 1825, hie being a son of Eli and Sopliia Mobley, both likewise natives of this state. The father was born October 17, 1800, and died in August, 1885. For many years he carried on a carriage manufactory in this city, and was favorably known to the business men of this portion of the state, Po- litically lie was a Democrat up to 1857, but afterwards became a Republican, He was a member of the Lutheran Church and was always active in all good works. In the War of 1812 he accompanied the troops as a drummer-boy, in the company commanded by Capt. George W. Ent, of Frederick City, and cheered on the soldiers by his stirring martial music during the bombardment of Fort McHenry. His wife, wlio was born in 1806, departed this life in February, 1863. Her father, Jesse Maberry, of Frederick County, was the proprietor and manager of a hotel for many years and was widely known
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throughout that section of the country. Five engagement with the Confederates, at Laurel children graced the union of Eli Mobley and wife, viz .: Edward; Mary, who married F. A. Heard, a merchant of Hagerstown; Laura A., wife of William Updegraff, of this place; Lavinia, wife of L. M. Byers, a retired druggist of this city; and Walter A., who died at the age of fifty-three years in Hagerstown.
Until he was about ten years of age the colonel attended the local schools and then he commenced learning the trade of carriage-making with his father. Subsequently he gave all of his energies to this direction until the breaking out of the late war, at which time he was a partner in the firm. In 1859 his popularity was recognized by his fellow-citizens, as was shown by his election to the office of sheriff, on the Union ticket. He served as such for two years, his duties being of an unusually trying nature, as the times were troublous, and the county in which he lived on the border line. At one time there were no less than six persons in the county jail on charges of murder, the causes which had lead up to the deed being in most instances political strife and sectional feeling. As soon as liis term of office was completed and he had arranged his affairs, the colonel was ready for more active service in the support of his beloved land.
In August of the year 1862 he raised a com- pany of men which was mustered as Company A, Seventh Maryland Infantry. He was elected captain; the regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and formed a part of the Eightlı Corps. After the battle of Antietani he was made provost-marshal, his regiment then being located at Williamsport, and in December, 1862, they were transferred to Harper's Ferry for the winter. In the spring of 1863 our subject was sent with his regiment to guard the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and keep the road open to Washington, and thus they were not engaged in the battle of Gettysburg. Subsequent to that noted conflict they followed up the enemy and were 011 guard duty at various points. In the dreadful battle of the Wilderness ninety men of the regi- ment were killed the first day, and in the next
Hill, May 8, 1864, one hundred and ten more brave men were killed or wounded. Several more or less disastrous skirmishes followed, and on May 10 Spottsylvania was fought, General Hancock commanding. The regiment was stationed near Petersburg at the time of the explosion of the mines, then being under the command of General Warren. Colonel Mobley was at the time in the Fifth Army Corps. In Janu- ary, 1864, he had been promoted to the rank of major and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel. In January, 1865, he was still in charge of the troops who were guarding the Weldon Railroad, and in the final movements of the army was sent after Lee, heading him off at Burksville Junction and Amelia Station, and forcing him into the engagement at Appomattox Courthouse. After the battle of Laurel Hill, previously mentioned, he was in command of his regiment. February 6, 1865, a fierce fight was engaged in at Dabney's Mills, and, as the Mary- land troops were in the hottest line of the con- flict, their loss was very heavy, and Col. Jolin Wilson of the First Regiment was killed. At the Grand Review in Washington, D. C., in 1865, Colonel Mobley had the honor of being in command of the regiment of battle-worn and scarred heroes whom he had led to victory upon many a southern battlefield. May 27, 1864, at the engagement of Bethesda Church, he was wounded in the leg, but courageously bound up the injured member and would not leave his command while he was needed to direct their operations. Again, upon the 18th of . the following August, at the battle of Weldon Rail- road, when the color-bearers liad been shot repeatedly, he snatched the flag from the hands of one of the prostrate heroes and was almost im- mediately lying among the fallen, with a bullet- wound in the neck. He was hastily raised and the Stars and Stripes were instantly flying as they had done and it was a matter of general rejoicing to the regiment that their colors were never captured.
The colonel married Miss Ellen C. Carver, October 27, 1843, slie being a daugliter of Daniel
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HON. JOHN J. KOONTZ.
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and Amelia Carver, of Hagerstown. Mr. Carver was due to his influence that the creditors of the was summoned to the silent land about a score of Chesapeake & Oliio Canal were made preferred creditors to the state. In the contest for United States senator hie supported Mr. Wellington. He was considered one of the most prominent and progressive Republicans in the house and liis la- bors were effective in promoting many beneficial measures. years ago, and his wife survived him but two years. Ten sons blessed the union of our subject and his estimable wife. Two of the number died in infancy, but the others are all fine business men, worthy citizens and as ardent Republicans as is their honored fatlier. Edward C., who served for three years as a private in the Union army during the Civil war, married Annie McCardell, of this city, and has one child, Berta; Albert A., unmarried, is superintendent of the city ice company ; James C. married Myra Lykens and has eight children: Edward S., Nannie, Jesse, Ella, George, Frank, Clyde and Laura; William E. married Mary Leister, and their children are Lillian and Leister; Harry H. married Jennie Hoover, since deceased, and their only child is Cecelia; L. R. is a druggist (see his sketch elsewliere in this volume); Pinkney chose for his wife a Miss Reinhardt; and Walter B. is unmarried.
For more than forty years the colonel has been a member of the Masonic fraternity and for over forty-five years he has been identified with the Odd Fellows' society and has held the highest positions in the respective lodges. Both he and his sons have always been closely associated with everything of a progressive nature in this com- munity and are held in the highest esteem by all.
ON. JOHN J. KOONTZ, of Hancock, Washington County, is one of the leading Republicans of his county. In 1887 he was nominated by his party and duly elected to the state legislature and served on several commit- tees during the session that followed, being the only Republican on the ways and means commit- tee. In 1895 lie was again elected to the legis- lature, and during his second term served again on the ways and means committee (being its chairman a part of the time) and was also chair- inan of the roads and highways committee. It
Born in Middletown, Frederick County, Md., October 22, 1838, Mr. Koontz is a son of George W. Koontz, who was born near Middletown and remained until death in or near that place. He devoted his life to teaching and was recognized as one of the prominent educators of Frederick County. Politically he supported Whig princi- ples, and in religion was a member of the Re- formed Church. He died in 1839, when twenty- nine years of age. By his marriage to Rebecca Long, only one child was born, John J. He re- mained in Middletown until eighteen, meantime attending public and private schools. He then came to Washington County, and for three years taught in public schools. In 1862-63 he was a deputy register of wills for Washington County, after which he clerked with a dry-goods firm for a short time. In 1865 he went to Baltimore and secured employment as bookkeeper in a whole- sale dry-goods house, where he remained for five years. In 1870 he came to Hancock, his present home.
Under the firm name of Hedding & Koontz our subject carried on a mercantile business with John M. Hedding. In 1880 he purchased liis partner's interest and continued alone until 1891, when he retired from business. He then traveled through the western states, British Co- lumbia and Mexico, spending six months in sight-seeing, and in that way gaining a thoroughi knowledge of other parts of America and the re- sources of the great .west. At the same time lie enjoyed a well-deserved vacation after years of tireless effort. In 1864 lie married Miss Dora Hugo, and they had three children, but only one is now living, Lorenzo E., of Seattle, Waslı. Mr. Koontz is a member of the Reformed Church, while his wife is a Lutheran. By Gov- ernor Brown he was appointed one of the school
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commissioners of Washington Connty, but after a contest the governor's appointments were turned down. In July, 1898, he was elected by the stockholders of the Chiesapeake & Ohio Canal Company a member of the board of directors.
M ARCUS W. ALLISON, M. D., has an office at No. 322 West Washington street, Hagerstown, and enjoys a very extensive practice in this vicinity. He has been located in this city for the past twenty-eight years and has met with success in his noble field of endeavor. He read medicine in Newark, Ohio, under Dr. Barriss, who was surgeon-general during part of the Civil war, and graduated in the class of '69 from the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio. After practicing for about a year in Terre Haute, Ind., where he was ill much of the time, lie decided to change his quarters, and came to Hagerstown, September 1, 1870, since which time he has never cared to settle elsewhere.
The doctor's parents were William L. and Ann (Hisey) Allison, natives of Maryland and Vir- ginia, respectively. The mother, a faithful mem- ber of the Christian Church, was sixty-eight years of age at the time of her death. Three of her five children still survive. Perry J., the eldest, enlisted as a private in 1861 in the Army of Northern Virginia, served until he was cap- tured at Spottsylvania Courthouse by the forces under General Grant and was a prisoner in Fort Delaware until after Lee's surrender. He is now about sixty years of age, and is a resident of Charlestown, Va. John, the second son, is de- ceased. Joseph S., who served in General Lee's army, enlisted in 1862, when under sixteen years old. Bettie E., widow of William Baker, lives in Edenburglı, Va.
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