USA > Maryland > Portrait and biographical record of the Sixth congressional district, Maryland V. 2 > Part 17
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Since 1870 Mr. Moody has made his home in Bloomington. On coming to this village he pur- chased a mercantile business, the management of which he has since personally superintended, with the exception of two years, 1880-81, when he was United States storekeeper at Piers Nos. 8 and 9; 31 and 32, Baltimore. In his store will be found a full line of general merchandise adapted to the wants of the people of this section and sold at prices so reasonable as to secure for him a good trade. All who enter the store are given a cordial welcome, the genial manner of the proprietor contributing not a little to his pop- ularity. The money earned in business has to a large extent been invested in real estate in Bloomington, where the family own and occupy a commodious and attractive residence, one of the finest in the town.
The Republican party has the allegiance of Mr. Moody. In 1862, on his party ticket, he was elected a member of the second branch of the city council, of Baltimore City, representing the seventeenth and eighteenth wards. After com- ing to Bloomington he became identified with local politics here. During the Urner congress-
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ional campaign, in 1878, he was acting secretary of the state central committee. In 1888 Governor Jackson appointed him magistrate at Blooming- ton, and he held the position for nearly six years, resigning in November, 1893. In 1856 he mar- ried Mary E., daughter of Michael Faucett, of Baltimore, and one son blesses their union, Charles C.
In 1863 Mr. Moody became a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which for twenty-five years he was an active member in high standing, but in 1888 he was given, at his request, a withdrawal card from his lodge and was placed upon the list of Masons-at-large. He has also been actively connected with the Odd Fellows and has served as past grand of the local lodge. He and his wife attend the Baptist Church and contribute to its maintenance.
C HARLES G. PORTER, who for the past fourteen years has been president of the Sandy Springs Savings Bank, of Montgom- ery County, is one of the representative men of his community. He was born October 9, 1819, on a farm within a mile of his present home at Ashton. He was educated in the common schools of this section and when he was, about twenty-three years old he took charge of a school in the same old log building in which he had learned the rudiments of knowledge. "He it was who laid out the village of Ashton and in 1860 erected the building in which he and Caleb Stab- ler carried on a mercantile enterprise for a short time. He took a very active part in organizing the bank, was present when the first meeting of directors of the institution was held, and from that time until he was elected president of the same, served on the board.
The parents of our subject were Edward and Elizabeth (Gassaway) Porter, natives of Howard County, Md. The former was a cooper by trade, and followed this vocation in connection with farming. Of his fourteen children eleven lived
to maturity. Only two, Charles G. and Eliza- beth G., Mrs. S. P. Thomas, of Ashton, survive. Grandfather Nathaniel Porter was a native of Maryland, and lived to a good old age, his home being in the neighborhood of Ashton.
When Mr. Porter of this sketch started on his pedagogic career he received about $100 a year, and at the time he was married he had but nineteen cents in cash. The lady of his choice was Miss Jane Thomas, daughter of Will- iam and Martha ( Patrick) Thomas. They were married October 6, 1842, and for fifty-four years pursued the journey of life together. Mrs. Por- ter was called to her reward December 8, 1896, leaving many friends to mourn her loss. She had been a true helpmate to her husband, was a faithful worker in the church, and was never so happy as when she was carrying out some labor of love and helpfulness to those less fortunately situated than herself.
After his marriage Mr. Porter settled on the farm which had belonged to his wife. It was located near Ashton, and was in a run-down con- dition, the land being considered very poor and unproductive. Under his good management and unceasing toil it became in time a valuable home- stead, and it was finally sold by him at $90 per acre. Shortly after the close of the war he built his present house on the forty-acre tract which he still owns and cultivates. In early days he was prominently connected with the building of the Washington, Colesville and Ashton pike as a director, and for twelve years as president. He then sold his stock and severed his business relations with the company. When he assumed control of the board there was a debt of several thousand dollars on the pike, and this amount he met from his own personal funds, sav- ing the road from bankruptcy, as it had been ad- vertised for sale. Hecertainly deserves great credit for the public spirit which he manifested in restor- ing the road to a safe basis, thus benefiting the country at large. For over twenty years he has been a director in the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery County, and when the telephone company was selling stock he assisted materially in that enterprise. In early life he
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CHARLES A. ECCLESTON.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
was allied with the Whig party, later espoused the cause of the Republicans, and for some time has given his ballot to the Prohibitionists. In his youth he attended the Methodist Episcopal Church, but subsequently united with the Society of Friends. His life has been an unusually busy md useful one, and his friends are numbered by the hundreds here, where he has always lived.
Mr. Porter attributes his good health and long life (he is now nearly seventy-nine) to certain facts. First, he has been a hard worker on the firm from his youth up. Very recently, when the thermometer stood in the nineties, he worked for a week in the harvest field, mowing and fork- ing hay, without feeling any bad effects there- from. Second, he has never taken a drink of intoxicating liquor up to this time and has never made use of a penny's worth of tobacco. To these, in part, he attributes his success in life, but above all, to the good management and wise vunsel of his beloved wife, for whom he formed .in attachment at eight years of age while going to school at the log house before named.
) HARLES A. ECCLESTON, a rising at- torney of Washington, D. C., resides in Wheaton (formerly Berry ) District, Mont- gomery County, upon the farm where he was born in 1868. His father, whose name was the same as his own, was born in England, a de- scendant of a prominent landed family of that country. When a young man he came to the I'nited States and at the outbreak of the Civil war he entered the army, being commissioned captain and later colonel, and taking part in the principal battles of the war. He was present at Seven Pines, Antietam, South Mountain and the storming of Maryland Heights. After the close of the war he was with General Newton in the engineering department as colonel of the same and assisted in the blasting of Hell Gate, New York, remaining with the general until his death, which occurred in 1874 in Europe, where he had
gone on account of ill health. He established one of the first postoffices in his part of Mont- gomery County and named it Wheaton, in honor of his intimate friend and associate in army life, Gen. Frank Wheaton. From this the thirteenth election district of the county takes the name of Wheaton.
In 1863 Mr. Eccleston married Miss Martha Brown, daughter of Robert Brown, one of the leading farmers of his day and the owner of two thousand acres in Montgomery County. Among his possessions was all the land from Seventh Street pike to Rock Creek, including the present home of our subject and his mother, which is a valuable estate, with an elegant residence set back from the pike about a quarter of a mile and surrounded by many large and beautiful trees. Robert Brown, who was a native of Montgomery County, took an influential part in Democratic councils and participated in the War of ISI2. Mrs. Eccleston has two sons and one daughter: Charles A .; George Malcolm, who is studying law and also assists in carrying on the home- stead; and Elizabeth M., an accomplished and talented young lady.
The home farm where the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days is called Balamona, hav- ing been so named by the original owners, the Carroll family, after one of their places in Ireland. It is an exceptionally fine farm, occupying a high and dry location and situated within a very short distance of Washington, which enhances its value. On this place Mr. Eccleston passed his youthful years. When he was five years of age his father died. He attended the parochial schools near his home and also spent seven years in George- town College, leaving, however, before his grad- uation. His first business position was in the real-estate office of Thomas J. Fisher & Co., one of the largest firms of the kind in Washington, and with them he was employed for six years.
After graduating and taking a post-graduate course in the law department of Georgetown Mr. Eccleston opened a law office in Washington. This he still conducts, although he spends a part of his time on the home farm. In the fall of 1897 he received the nomination on the Democratic
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ticket for the state legislature, but on account of the Gorman "fight" was defeated, though by only twenty votes. Afterward he went abroad, having a desire to visit the places famous in his- tory. He sailed on the steamer Paris, and trav- eled through the old world, visiting, among other places, the old home of his father and meeting many of his relatives. After a pleasant and profitable tour he returned, crossing on the steamer Campania. He is a member of the Catholic Church. Both in Washington and in his home neighborhood he is respected as an able attorney and progressive citizen.
ERMON G. WEIMER, a citizen of Cum- berland, has been examiner for the schools of Allegany County for the past fourteen years, having been appointed to this responsible position in 1884. He has given his entire life to educational work, and is an able and efficient teacher, one who thoroughly understands the needs of the rising generation in the field of knowledge. Moreover, he is a keen judge of human nature, and his wide experience enables him to decide very accurately as to the qualifica- tions of candidates for the responsible task of teaching. His whole mind and heart are in edu- cational work, and he believes that there can be no nobler or more effective power for good than education, influencing, as it does, future genera- tions and aiding in the development of our country.
H. G. Weimer was born in Somerset County, Pa., in 1839. His boyhood days were quietly spent upon his father's farm. He attended the district schools until he had mastered the ele- mentary branches. Afterward he entered the state normal school at Millersville, Pa., where he remained for several years. A portion of this time he spent in teaching. He was engaged as principal of the graded school in Berlin, Pa., serving in that capacity for nearly two years. In 1866 he came to Cumberland, where he was
principal of the Centre street public school. From 1866 to 1869 he held a similar position in the Bedford Union Schools of Bedford, Pa. He returned to Cumberland in 1879, and took charge of the Union street public school, continuing in that capacity until 1884, when he was chosen examiner for the schools. He has served as chair- man of the executive committee, vice-president and president of the Maryland State Teachers' Association, served two years as president of the State School Commissions and Examiners' meet- ings.
Fraternally he is a member of Potomac Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and he has served as past master; also belongs to Salem Chapter No. I, R. A. M., of Cumberland. In the Odd Fellows' order, he is identified with Chosen Friends Lodge No. 202, of Bedford, Pa., in which he is past grand. He is also connected with the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Honor. He takes great pleasure in the study of literature, and few private libra- ries in this section of the state eclipse his in excel- lence and variety, comprising, as it does, the works of the best novelists and modern writers, scientific men, etc.
IRAM M. FRAZEE is the owner and manager of the largest mercantile establish- ment in Selbysport, Garrett County. Under the firm name of the Yough Store Company, a large business is carried on and a full line of gen- eral dry goods and other supplies kept in stock. Mr. Frazee is a very progressive citizen, always giving his assistance to all worthy industries and institutions by which the community will be permanently benefited. He has made invest- ments in numerous local concerns and has aided deserving enterprises.
Mr. Frazee was born in this vicinity February 16, 1839, and is a son of Isaac and Christiana (Wolf) Frazee. His father, who was born here in 1803, devoted his active life to agriculture and was one of the successful farmers of his day,
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owning large tracts of land. In the ranks of the Whig party he was influential locally. He died in 1881, aged seventy-nine years. Seven of his nine children grew to mature years, namely: Eliza- beth, wife of George F. Lowdermilk; Melinda, the widow of H. B. Demmit; Hiram M .; William Henry; Martha, now deceased; Sarah J., wife of Prof. A. W. DeWitt, and George W. The mother died in 1872, at the age of sixty-seven.
The grandfather of our subject, Jeremiah Frazee, succeeded to the old Frazee homestead, originally owned by Elisha Frazee, his father, who came to Selbysport from New Jersey. Elisha had two sons, Jeremiah and Jonathan, and from them have descended all who bear the name of Frazee in this county. Jeremiah became rich and prominent, and died in 1850, aged eighty- four years. Our subject has spent his entire life in the neighborhood where he now lives. In boyhood he attended the local schools. From his youth he has been more or less closely asso- ciated with agricultural pursuits and is now the owner of several hundred acres of fine farm land. Besides attending to his large general store, he owns a steam sawmill, with which he cuts about seven thousand feet of timber per day for railroad purposes and other lumber. In 1872 he was made a member of the first board of commission- ers of Garrett County. He has always been stanch in his allegiance to the Republican party. The cause of temperance finds in him a sincere friend, and he is a member of the Order of Good Templars. For many years he has been identi- fied with the Methodist Episcopal Church and has acted as steward, trustee, class-leader and superintendent of the Sunday-school.
June 4, 1862, Mr. Frazee married Rebecca A. Poland, daughter of Alexander and Sarah ( Totton ) Poland. Their three children are: Tallahassee, wife of Charles Williams; Franklin and William W. Mrs. Frazee was an only child. Her father was an extensive land owner and farmer, and for years was a local leader of the Democratic party. He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. R. A. Frazee, in Selbysport, in 1885, when about seventy-four years of age. His father, John Poland, of Allegany County, was from one of the
pioneer families of that section. Sarah Totton was a daughter of James and Rebecca ( Peters) Totton, of whose nine children, Mrs. Orpah Dawson alone survives. James Totton, it is sup- posed, was born near Brownsville, Pa., and his wife's father, Henry Peters, was a native of New Jersey. The Peters family removed to Allegany County about 1779, settling near Western Port, but later lived in the vicinity of George's Creek, Allegany County, Md.
J OHN T. MITCHELL is one of the leading members of the Garrett County bar and has made his home in this section for the past twenty years. He has been engaged in the general practice of law in Oakland since he was"ad- mitted to the bar and is well and favorably known among our citizens and in the profession. In the Democratic party he is quite prominent and his name has frequently been brought before the public as a candidate for positions of responsi- bility and trust. In 1884 he was elected county surveyor; for several years he was the auditor of the circuit court; has been supervisor of elections and was one of the trustees of the public schools for some years. In these various posts of honor he served his fellow-citizens to their entire satis- faction and thereby gained the respect and high praise of everyone concerned.
Alfred S. Mitchell, the father of our subject, is still active and in the enjoyment of excellent health, though he has attained the ripe age of seventy-five years. He has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits since the Civil war and has long been one of the prosperous farmers of Somerset County, Pa., of which section he is a native. For several years he was occupied in surveying and in his early manhood he was a suc- cessful teacher. He owns a valuable homestead, to the cultivation of which he has given his at- tention for over thirty years, and in addition to this, he possesses other land in that locality. For over forty years he has been clerk of the town
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of Addison, near his home, and since he reached his majority he has been a stanch and loyal worker in the interests of the Democracy. He married Julia A. Liston, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Keller) Liston and nine children were born to them. Three of the number are de- ceased, and those who survive are Felicia A., wife of John Myers: John T .; Wallace W .; Edwin L .; Jessie J. and Laura A. The mother is now in her sixty-ninth year.
John A. Mitchell, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Somerset County, Pa., and became an extensive land owner in Addison Township, where his whole career was enacted. He was very active as a business man and as a public spirited citizen, being respected by all who knew him or had dealings with him. Much of the land formerly in his possession is still in the hands of his descendants. His death occurred when he was in his sixty-fourth year. He was the fourth son of James and Rebecca (Jennings) Mitchell. James Mitchell, father of the above, married Elizabeth McElheney, who, like himself, was a native of the north of Ireland. He became a resident of Pennsylvania prior to the war of the Revolution, settling in that portion of the state which, in March, 1771, was organized into Bedford County. Some time afterwards he re- moved with his family to Addison Township, Somerset County, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring March 15, 1793. James, his son, served in the struggle of the colo- nies for independence and freedom, as a member of a company commanded by Captain Mann, and sub- sequently he was an influential member of the Pennsylvania legislature.
The gentleman whose name stands at the be- ginning of this sketch is a native of Somerset County, Pa., born September 21, 1852. His boy- hood was spent in a quiet manner on the old home farm, his education being acquired in the district schools of the neighborhood. After he had com- pleted his elementary studies he went to Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Va., and to Mount Union College in Ohio. Then, for a number of years he engaged in teaching in his native county and in Illinois. In 1878 he came to this county
and taught in the public schools for a few terms. Having concluded to enter the legal profession he commenced the study of law under the super- vision of Col. J. W. Veitch, of this city, and in due course of time was admitted to the local bar, in 1882. He is now a member of the Garrett County Bar Association, and has a large and paying practice.
In 1882 Mr. Mitchell married Miss Kansas, daughter of our well-known citizen, Patrick Hamill. The six children who grace this mar- riage are named as follows: Mary A., Paul E., Rose E., Henry Stanley, Anna Lucile and Clara. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years the former has served the congregation here as a trustee and steward. He is a man of sterling integrity and uprightness of character and no one in Oakland is more esteemed and respected.
& HARLES A. BENDER, of Grantsville, was born near this place in 1872 and has been a resident of this vicinity all of his life. For a short time he carried on a mercantile business at Tub, Somerset County, Pa., and in 1897 opened a general store at Grantsville, the follow- ing year taking into partnership his brother, Jacob J., under the firm name of C. A. Bender & Bro. In the spring of 1898 he purchased the old Farmers' Hotel, one of the landmarks on the National pike, and now carries on the hotel in addition to the store. He married in 1897, tak- ing as his wife Miss Emma Yutzy, of Pennsyl- vania.
The brother of our subject, who is also his partner in business, was for some time engaged in carpentering and Building, but gave up that work on entering the mercantile business with his brother. In 1898 he married Miss Carrie Fogle, daughter of Adam Fogle, of Pennsylvania. Like his brother he is an enterprising young man and stands well in the business community.
John Bender, Sr., our subject's father, was
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GEORGE WILLIAM SMITH.
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born in Germany and came to this country at twenty-one years of age, settling upon a farm in Somerset County, Pa., near the Maryland state line. There he made his home for a number of years. After his marriage he settled on a farm near Grantsville and, in addition to being one of the leading agriculturists of that section, he also carried on a brewery in Grantsville for twenty- four years and a distillery five miles from the town for a number of years. He is the proprie .. tor of a patent medicine known as Bender's tonic elixir vitae, to be used for stomach complaint and as a general stimulant. The manufacture of this medicine he has carried on quite extensively.
While he has been in the main quite success- ful, yet he has also had his share of losses and Ie- verses. Now at the age of sixty-nine years, he is making his home with his children. He was the son of a German, who came to America when advanced in years and died in Somerset County.
The mother of our subject, Elizabeth, was a daughter of Jacob Otto .. At the time of her death she was forty-one years of age. In the family there were nine children, named as follows: Bar- bara, who is the wife of Eli Lohr; Jacob J., our subject's partner; Rev. Daniel H., who is a minister in the Mennonite Church; George L., engaged in the publishing business in Indiana; Frederick W., a merchant engaged in business in Pennsylvania; John H., a farmer living in Som- erset County; Charles A., of this sketch; Samuel O., who lives in Grantsville; and Christian, also a resident of Grantsville and a teacher by occu- pation.
G FORGE WILLIAM SMITH, president of the Frederick & Middletown Railway, and for years one of the leading spirits in that splendid enterprise, is an esteemed citizen of Frederick. In numerous public industries in this locality he has taken an active part, using not only his influence but his means to further anything that he believed would accrue to the lasting benefit of the city. He was one of the
organizers of the Maryland State Grange and is now a director in the Citizens' National Bank. He has his business office in the Citizens' National Bank building and is kept occupied in looking after his various investments and property interests.
The eidest son of George Smith, our subject was born on the parental homestead, three miles west of Frederick City, in April, 1832. In the usual manner of country boys he passed his early years, gaining such education as was afforded by private schools. Later, however, it was his privilege to attend Frederick College, and Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, where he pursued the higher branches. Returning home, he resumed the agricultural duties with which he had been familar since his childhood, and from that time forward he gave his chief attention to the management of the different farms which came into his possession. The place on which he made his home for the longest period is a beauti- ful country estate situated about two and a-half miles from this city. As an agriculturist he has been a distinct success, and by his well-directed efforts he has accumulated a goodly fortune. He owns several hundred acres of the finest farming land in this county, it being divided into a number of farms. Among the many enterprises with which he is connected, in addition to those already named, are the Maryland Hedge and Wire Com- pany, of which he has been the president and general manager since it was organized, and the Hygeia Ice Company, which has added greatly to the comfort of our citizens.
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