USA > Maryland > Portrait and biographical record of the Sixth congressional district, Maryland V. 2 > Part 44
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Albert B. Castle was born in Buckeystown Dis- S. D. Martin was reared in Hagerstown, and after leaving school learned the printer's trade, which he followed about three years or until the breaking out of the war. He was one of the very first to respond to the President's call for troops, as he enlisted April 28, 1861. He was stationed in western Maryland until he re-enlisted for three years or during the war, at Harrisburg, Pa., trict, Frederick County, in 1847. His boyhood was quietly passed upon his father's farm, his education being gained in the common schools of Feagaville. From early years he has been a practical agriculturist, understanding thoroughly how a farm should be managed, and his home- stead bears evidence of his care and attention to every detail of work. He has never been an July 28, 1861. He became a member of Com-
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pany A, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery. He participated in the seven days' fight in front of Richmond, second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, the sixty days' siege of Peters- burg, and numerous other important encounters with the Confederates. He then crossed the James River and helped in taking the line of works at Fort Harrison, and in the following winter was in the fight at Seven Pines, remaining in the works until Richmond capitulated. He was a member of the first battery that entered the city, right upon the heels of the skirmish line. He then spent three months on detail duty in gather- ing the arms and munitions of war to ship to Boston. He was in Richmond at the time of the grand review of the Army of the Potomac, and had the satisfaction of being one of the escorts of President Lincoln from the boat to the house of Jefferson Davis, and later shook hands with the great and noble man, and had an interesting conversation with him. Mr. Martin seemed to lead a charmed life, for though he was often in the thickest of the conflict, he was never wounded in the long four years and three months of his service. He had enlisted as a private and was gradually promoted, until about three months after his second enlistment he was made first lieutenant of Company A, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, the same one in which he had enlisted, and with which he continued through- out the rest of the war.
Upon entering into a peaceful business career Mr. Martin concluded that he would open a stove and tinware store in Williamsport, Md., and two years later he sold out and went to Lancaster County, Pa., there carrying on a general mer- chandising three years. At the end of this period he returned to Williamsport, and once more be- came a merchant of that place. Three years afterwards, in March, 1873, he came to Hagers- town, and has since resided here. He has thus been in business, as at present, for a quarter of a century here and has been prospered. Last year, 1897, his sales amounted to over $14,000. He is genial and courteous, readily making friends, and his upright, manly course in life has won for him the approval and confidence of all.
He was United States gauger in the internal revenue department for two years, and has been judge of the orphans' court since February, 1897. For the past thirty years he has been a member of the Masonic order; is quartermaster of the local post in the Grand Army of the Republic; and is connected with the Royal Arcanum, and is past officer in the Mystic Circle. In politics he is a Republican. December 12, 1866, he married Susan, daughter of Jacob Price, of Franklin County, Pa. Their only child, Clifford P., is carrying on a grocery in the western end of this town, and is also clerking in his father's establishment. He married Mollie Wise, of this city, and has two children, Edna and Catherine. Mrs. Clifford Martin is a daughter of Richard Wise, a well-known citizen of this place.
EV. FRANCIS A. B. WÜNNENBERG, pastor of St. Peter's Catholic Church in
2 Oakland, Garrett County, is a young man of undoubted ability and zeal in the work to which he has dedicated his life and powers. He assumed this charge in the autumn of 1897, and though but a few months have since elapsed he has endeared himself greatly to the people among whom he labors. Unsparing of himself, he strives in every possible manner to uplift and elevate their souls, while giving them that help- ful sympathy in their trials and sorrows that they need. He realizes to the fullest extent the. re- sponsibilities that rest upon his shoulders and possesses the requisite strength of character and courage to meet all difficulties in his pathway.
Father Wünnenberg, as his name indicates, is of German ancestry. He was born in the city of Baltimore, Md., May 18, 1870, and spent the days of his boyhood and youth there. He was a pupil in the parochial schools up to the time that he entered Loyola College, from which well- known institution of learning he graduated in the summer of 1889. Having fully made up his mind to renounce the world and to devote his
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future life to the priesthood, he entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary in the fall of 1889, and industriously spent the next five years in mastering the tenets of the Catholic Church, the teachings of the ecclesiastics and in other scholarly research. He graduated from the col- lege in 1894 and was formally ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Gibbons in the following November. His first pastorate was an assistant priest in St. Mary's German Church in Washing- ton, D. C. At the end of a year he was sent to Hancock, Md., where for sixteen months he had charge of St. Peter's Church. He was then transferred to his present pastorate, where he is beloved by his people. He is a member of the Catholic Mutual Benevolent Legion of the church, and constantly strives to inculcate in his hearers a genuine and helpful spirit towards one another in all the walks of life.
OHN M. LOWDERMILK is one of the pros- perous farmers and upright, respected citi- zens of the Fifth District of Garrett County. He is a native of what was then known as Alle- gany County, but has since 1873 been comprised . within the boundaries of this county. With the exception of five years which he spent in Virginia in his early manhood, he has always made his home in this section and has been earnestly in- terested in the upbuilding and developing of the resources of the locality.
John P. Lowdermilk, father of our subject, was born in Cumberland, Md., in 1805, and lived there until he had arrived at man's estate. After his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Fear, daughter of George Fear, he settled upon a farm near Selbys- port, Garrett County, and there passed the re- mainder of his life. He was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade, and followed the calling more or less throughout life. He served as magistrate for a number of years and was gen- erally known as Squire Lowdermilk. He died in 1889, at the ripe age of eighty-four years.
His widow is still living, and is making her home with our subject, who is a devoted and loving son. Of her ten children, the following survive. John M., George, Thomas, James and William. The birth of John M. Lowdermilk occurred in 1842, and when he reached a suitable age he was sent to the district school, where he gained a practical knowledge of the three "Rs" and kindred studies. When he was about twenty- three years of age he commenced the carpenter's trade and worked at that calling for several years, exclusively. In 1875 he purchased part of the old Gleanings tract of land, and has re- sided here ever since. He has made a specialty of raising live-stock; has done considerable dray- ing and transferring of property from one point to another and has each year gardened good har- vests from his fertile fields. He uses his fran- chise in favor of the platform and nominees of the Republican party. Religiously he is a Methodist, and is an active worker in the church here. In 1863 he enlisted as a private in Com- pany K, Sixth Regiment of Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, and served for one year in the conflict between the north and south. He is now the senior vice-commander of Sherman Post, G. A. R. and has always had a warm place in his heart for his late comrades-in-arms.
In 1875 Mr. Lowdermilk married Miss Ella Koontz, daughter of David Koontz. Nine chil- dren came to bless their home, seven sons and two daughters, of whom six survive; namely: Mary L., Percy, Alvin, Burns, Harry and Jessie. The eldest daughter is now the wife of Thomas Bishoff.
- OLGER McKINSY, former editor of the Frederick City Daily and Weekly News, but now a member of the editorial staff of the Baltimore City Daily News, was born in Elkton, Cecil County, Md., August 29, 1866. His father. James, who was a son of a native of Scotland, was himself born in Maryland, and for many years he carried on a mercantile business in Cecil
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County, being one of the most prominent busi- ness men of Elkton. During the administration of President Lincoln he was appointed postmaster (the first to hold the office), and for a long time he served in that capacity. Originally an advo- cate of the Free Soil party, he later became a Whig, and finally, on the organization of the Republican party, became a supporter of its plat- form. In 1879 he removed with his family to Philadelphia and there continued to reside until his death, in 1894. His wife, Catherine, was a representative of one of the pioneer German fam- ilies of Maryland; she is still living in Philadel- phia, where she has an enviable reputation as the author of a number of literary works. In her family there are two sons and five daughters.
The early years of our subject's life were passed in Elkton, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where his education was begun in the public schools. After going to Philadelphia with his parents he entered the Reading Railroad office, where he remained an employe until 1884. He then went to Ocean Beach, N. Y., and became the editor of the Shore Gazette, a weekly paper. Returning to Philadelphia in the early part of 1885 he soon went from there back to his old home in Elkton and began to edit the Cecil Whig, suc- ceeding Henry R. Torbert. In 1886 he came to Frederick and assumed charge of the Frederick City Daily and Weekly News, which under his efficient oversight and capable editorial manage- ment increased in circulation and usefulness.
In April, 1898, having been for some time urged to accept a position on the editorial staff of the Baltimore City Daily News, Mr. McKinsy finally consented, and since then he has devoted his attention to the work connected with this responsible position. While editor of the Fred- erick City News, he introduced and succeeded in carrying through a great many local improve- ments that have been wonderfully helpful to the place. The influence which he wielded as the editor of a popular paper was utilized for the advancement of local enterprises, for the growth of the city and the development of its industries. Largely through his efforts the wall was removed that enclosed the courthouse, giving the building
the appearance of a prison. He succeeded in having electric lights introduced and also organ- ized the Francis Scott Key Monument Society, which has been a success, the monument having been unveiled in August, 1898, with appropriate ceremonies. He fought the "pig pen" element, agitated the paving of streets, and in many other ways was a power for the upbuilding of his town. Politically Mr. McKinsy is a firm Republican. He is identified with a number of fraternal soci- eties, and in religious belief is an Episcopalian. From his mother he inherits a talent for litera- ture, a keenness of thought and fluency of ex- pression that make his writings interesting and forceful. He is married and has two sons and three daughters.
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ON. A. FREDERICK GEORGE, fish com- missioner for the western shore of Maryland, was born in Staffordshire, England, Sun- day, January 27, 1856. He is the son of Rev. William E. and Jane E. George. His father, when a young man, took a prominent part in the great "Chartist movement" in England. In 1859 he came to the United States and settled in Barton, Allegany County, Md., and at the out- break of the Civil war, though he was still a British subject, he was among the first in the George's Creek coal regions to enlist in response to the call for volunteers. He became a member of Company A, Third Regiment, Potomac Home Brigade of Volunteers, and was made a prisoner of war at Moorefield, Va., but was soon ex- changed, and at the expiration of his term re- turned to the pursuits of civic life. In 1870 he removed to the western part of Allegany ( now Garrett) County and settled on a farm near Swanton, where he afterward engaged in agri- cultural pursuits.
At the time the family came to America the subject of this sketch was three years of age, and he was fourteen at the time of removal to Garrett County. He was educated in the public schools
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of Allegany and Garrett Counties. Always very judge. In 1897 he was a candidate for nomina- fond of reading, he possesses one of the finest tion in the state senate from Garrett County against John Shartzer, Esq., and Hon. Robert A. Ravenscroft, After one of the fiercest contests the Republicans of the county ever had, Senator Ravenscroft received the nomination upon the twenty-ninth ballot, Mr. George's friends getting most of the other places upon the ticket. libraries in the county and spends much of his leisure among his books. From early boyhood he has taken a great interest in politics. For a number of years he has been one of the Repub- lican leaders in western Maryland. He has probably attended more political conventions than any other man in Garrett County.
In 1892 he was chairman of the Garrett dele- gation to the congressional convention at Cum- berland which nominated Hon. George L. Well- ington as candidate of the sixth district of con- gress for the first time, and was at the head of the Garrett delegation in 1894 at Frederick City, at which convention Mr. George cast the vote that made Mr. Wellington the nominee, thus opening the way by which that statesman reached the United States senate. Mr. George was one of the secretaries of the judicial convention at Oak- land, which nominated Hon. David W. Sloan for judge of the fourth judicial circuit. Aschairman of his county delegation in 1896, he led a gallant but unsuccessful fight for the nomination of State Senator Robert A. Ravenscroft, of Garrett County, for congress.
In 1893 Mr. George was elected a member of the house of delegates by the Republicans of Garrett County. In the session of the following year he made a splendid record by close attention to his duties; he was one of the fourteen out of ninety-one members who were present at every session, and he worked and voted for all bills for the advancement of morality and reform .. He also worked indefatigably in the interests of the public schools.
Appointed assistant fish commissioner of the western shore in 1896, Mr. George performed these duties so efficiently that in 1898 Governor Lowndes made him commissioner. In 1897 he was a delegate to the famous Ocean City conven- tion and stood loyally by Senator Wellington in the battle waged there. During the senatorial contest of 1898 at Annapolis, he worked tirelessly for the election of Judge MeComas to the United States senate as the successor of Hon. A. P. Gorman and did some good work there for the
Mr. George is a stanch temperance advocate. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a local preacher and has been Sunday-school superintendent for fifteen years. For a number of years he has been dis- trict vice-president of the Garrett County Sunday- School Association. His home, Oak Dale, is near Swanton. In 1878 he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Brady, and they have two sons and four daughters living, and one son deceased.
1 ONTGOMERY CLAGETT, who owns and operates a farm in Potomac District, Mont- gomery County, is a native of this district and was born December 24, 1841, in a house that stood about one hundred yards from where he now lives. His father, Oratio, who was also born in this county, was deeply interested in the up- building of this section, and did much for the redemption of the land from its original state as a wilderness. While he labored tirelessly and ener- getically, his labors were not without their re- ward, for he met with success in his work of cul- tivation and improvement. Politically he was a Democrat, but politics absorbed little of his atten- tion, his time being given principally to farming and church work. He was a zealous Methodist, and with his wife, Margaret E., daughter of Thomas Scott, he started the first meetings of that denomination in this locality. For some time services were held in private houses, but he felt that a house of worship should be erected, and labored with that end in view. He was rewarded by seeing a church built and the denomination firmly established in the neighborhood. The
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Clagett family is of remote English descent, but has been identified with Montgomery County for generations.
The subject of this sketch was the fifth of eight children, of whom the others are as follows: Thomas William, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel Clagett; Darius, a farmer of this county; John Wesley, a resident of Georgetown; Margaret E., wife of John G. Stone; Luther Scott, M. D., a successful physician at Blairs- ville, Pa .; and Adelaide, wife of Nathan W. Saunders. Our subject was educated in the pub- lic schools. At the age of twenty-four he em- barked in farming for himself and has since followed this occupation. Politically a Democrat, he is interested in public matters and for four years served as tax collector. Much of his time has been devoted to church work. He is one of the prominent members of the Methodist Church, in which he has been steward and for over thirty years superintendent of the Sunday-school. In 1861 he married Eliza Lloyd Stone, daughter of Philip Stone, a man of literary attainments and considerable prominence. They are the parents of three sons: Herbert M., who is in Mexico en- gaged in mining; Philip D., M. D., a graduate of Lebanon College, Ohio, and practicing medi- cine at Waynesville, Ohio; and Carter, at home.
AMES E. DEETS, M. D., of Clarksburg, Montgomery County, was born in Jarretts- ville, Harford County, Md., December 13, 1856, and is a son of Samuel Deets, a farmer of that county. The first of the family to settle in Maryland was his great-grandfather, a native of Chester County, Pa. The grandfather, Fred- erick Deets, followed farm pursuits in Harford County, where his death occurred. By his mar- riage to Miss Poley, who was a member of a Norristown (Pa.) family, he had seven children, of whom Samuel was the fourth. The latter was born and reared in Baltimore County and when a young man removed to Harford County, where
he took up work on a farm, remaining his father's assistant until the senior died, when the son came into possession of the estate. He con- tinues to make his home in Harford County. In politics he is a Democrat, but he does not give special attention to political matters. He is a member of the Bethel Presbyterian Church and for years has been one of its trustees. His mar- riage united him with Louisa, daughter of Will- iam Cairnes and of Scotch-Irish descent. The family of which she was a member consisted of five daughters and one son.
The subject of this sketch was one of eight children, six of whom are living, namely: Mary E., who married C. C. Burton, of Howard County; William F., a farmer living near Jarretts- ville, Harford County: James E .; Hannah E., wife of William Ramphley, living near Jarretts- ville; Laura V., wife of Charles Lamb, of Upper Cross Roads; and Charles F., who is with his father. Our subject was primarily educated in the Jarrettsville schools and afterward attended Bethel Academy, then taught school for one year. With the money thus earned he continued his studies, entering the Western Maryland Col- lege. Later he taught for two years, and in the meantime studied medicine under Dr. Jarrett. His medical studies were completed in the medi- cal department of the University of Maryland, from which he graduated in 1882, with the degree of M. D. Immediately after graduating he located in Clarksburg and embarked in the gen- eral practice of his profession. Since coming to this county he has built up a large and success- ful practice, and has attained to a prominent posi- tion among the local practitioners. He erected a fine residence on his five-acre lot, which runs back into a farm of one hundred acres purchased by him in 1892 and since conducted under his personal supervision. At the time of its pur- chase there were no improvements on the land, and he has spent both time and money in bring- ing the place to its present complete state. The residence is pleasantly situated on the main road. but far enough back to avoid the dust.
In politics Dr. Deets takes much interest, vot- ing the Democratic ticket. He is a member of
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the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Mary- land. He is president of the Boyd Telephone Company, which is of great value and conven- ience to the people of this locality and which covers Montgomery, Carroll and a part of Fred- erick Counties. November 11, 1886, he married Sarah I., daughter of Rev. J. S. H. Henderson, who was pastor of the Neelsville Presbyterian Church for seventeen years prior to his death. Dr. and Mrs. Deets have two sons, Edward H. and Samuel Russell. In religious connections they are identified with the Neelsville Presbyter- ian Church, to which the doctor has given time and financial assistance and of which he has been an elder since 1883.
OHN E. SWALLOW, D. D. S., whose office is located on North Potomac street, Hagers- town, has few equals in his profession in this part of the state. He is an old resident of this city and enjoys a regular patronage from numerous leading families of the vicinity. His dental work gives satisfaction, as he is not only thorough and conscientious in regard to the least detail, but keeps posted on the latest improve- ments and discoveries in his profession. He has devised and patented several appliances useful to dentists, for he is of a practical turn of mind, and possesses considerable inventive and mechanical genius.
Dr. Swallow is a son of Joshua and Parthenia (Young) Swallow, natives respectively of Dela- ware and Pennsylvania. The father was a min- ute man in the War of 1812, being stationed at Clifton's High Roads, in his native state. In his early manhood he moved to Ohio, where he resided some time; thence went to Indiana, where he taught schools and in 1838 settled in Van Buren County, Iowa. There he taught, and car- ried on a farm at the same time until 1843, when he returned as far east as Indiana. . He settled in Fayette County, and, his sons taking upon them- selves the more arduous duties of the farm, he
passed in leisure the remainder of his days. His death took place in Brownsville, Ind., during the '50s. His wife had died a few years before, in . 1846. Of their children Alpheus J. is a car- penter in Dallas, Ill .; Agnes, widow of Jackson Morrow, lives upon a farm in the neighborhood of Crawfordsville, Ind .; Frances A., of Newton, Kan., is the widow of Jackson Honeyman.
Dr. J. E. Swallow was born in Chillicothe. Ohio, June 6, 1837, and after he had completed his education in the common schools and had managed a farm for a year or more, he decided to take up the study of dentistry, and accordingly did so in the winter of 1859, in Brownsville, Ind. For a short time he practiced in Anderson, Ind., and next went to Indianapolis. During the war he held the office of camp sutler in the state capital for three years and in 1866 he removed from that city to Hagerstown. For eleven years he made his home upon a farm three miles dis- tant, and drove to and from his office each day. Then he sold his property and has given most of his time since to his practice. From his father he doubtless inherited the love of fine horses and high-grade stock, which is one of his character- istics, and for several years he has been interested in breeding Hambletonian horses and Jersey cattle, and owns as fine a lot as may be found in the state. He has given little attention to poli- tics, merely doing his duty as a citizen and voter. He is not bound to any party, as he prefers to be entirely independent to use his ballot for the candidate or measure which he deems best for the people at large. He is the inventor of the "Swallow Adjustable Wheeled Plow," which has been a distinct success, and is used in many farm- ing communities. He has also invented several other things from the sale of which he has made more or less of an income. One of these, an im- provement on a dental machine, he sold to a Philadelphia manufacturer, and the revolving movement of a dental chair, which he originated, he offered to two firms in the Quaker city, but they regarded it as too expensive a thing to be practicable. However, it is now in general use, though it has never been patented.
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