USA > Maryland > The book of Maryland: men and institutions, a work for press reference > Part 5
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In 1896 Mr. Bland organized and became the President of the United States Fidelity & Gnaranty Company, with a capital of $250.000. The Company has now increased its resources to over $29,000,000. It was organized for the purpose of giving bonds in judicial proceedings and for public officials, such as treasurers, auditors. tax collectors, court derks, for officers and employees of banks and railroads, and all persons occupying positions of trust, covering the loss of money through dishonesty or failure to fulfill agreement. The Company also writes all casualty lines, including compensation, automobile. burglary, liability, accident and health, and plate glass. This great corporation is now represented by thousands of agents and branches throughout the I'nited States, under the direction and supervision of Its chief exeentive at his others in the company's building at Calvert and Redwood Streets, Baltimore. The I'nited States Fidelity and Guaranty Company is having erected a large auxiliary building in Baltimore, immediately adjoining Its present building on L'alvert Street. It is also having remodeled a large building recently purchased in New York City, at the corner of William and Liberty Streets, at a cost of near $1,001,000.
Mr. Bland is also interested in other institutions of Baltimore and elsewhere. He is a director of the National Bank of Commerce, Maryland Motor Car Insurance Company, Industrial Corporation of Baltimore. He is a member of the following Clubs : Maryland, Baltimore. Merchants, Rolling Road Golf Club, Baltimore Country einh. I'niversity (lub. Mr. Bland married. in 1876. Miss Maria Harden, daughter of John Summerfield Harden, a former treasurer of the Western Maryland Railroad, and his wife Emmma (Ayers) Harden. Their two living children are Mrs. W. W. Symington, wife of a vice president of Mr. Bland's company, and Richard Howard Bland, an attorney of Baltimore. Mr. Bland maintains a city residence nt 14 East Chase Street, and a country home on Rolling Road. Catonsville, Md.
Page Thirty-Four
JOSEPH IRWIN FRANCE, A.B., A.M .. M.D.
Honorable Joseph Irwin France. United States Senator for the State of Maryland, and noted physician and surgeon of Baltimore, was born on October 11. 1873: the son of Joseph Henry France, (LL.B., A. B., D.D., and Hannah Fletcher James, (A.B.). Ilis father's ancestors settled in Baltimore before the Revolution, and his mother was the daughter of Colonel William James, of Richmond, Virginia : his great-great-grandfather was Captain Thomas Boyle, of Baltimore. who commanded the warships "Comet" and "Chassner" during the War of 1812.
He graduated from Hamilton College. Clinton. New York, in 1595, and was awarded the Elihu Root Foreign Follow- ship degree in Physical Science ; was a student of Physical Science. University of Leipzig. Germany, and at Clark University. Worcester, Mass. and was head of the Department of Natural Science at Jacob Tome Institute, after which he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, graduating in 1903.
Senator France was a member of the Maryland State Senate from Cecil County, from 1906 until 1908: a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1908; and served as secretary of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland from 1916 to 1917. inclusive. He was nominated on the Republican ticket for the senatorial direct primaries, and elected to the United States Senate by direct vote over his opponent, Congressman D. J. Lewis, Democrat. for the term which expires in 1923.
Senator France was married in 1903 to Mrs. Evelyn S. Tome, daughter of Henry Clay Nesbitt, of Port Deposit. Maryland.
Business address, Washington, D. C.
Residence address, 15 West Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore.
1744316
Page Thirty.Fire
HON. O. E. WELLER.
The life history of Hon. O. E. Weller, United States Senator from Maryland, is a story of achievement which is true inspiration for the American youth. At the age of fifteen, withont a dollar, Mr. Weller. by his own efforts, began to win his way into the confidence. respect, and admiration of the people of Maryland.
Born at Reisterstown, Md., on January 23, 1862, the son of parents whose forebears had been Marylanders for over 150 years, young Weller was graduated at the age of fifteen, at the head of the first graduating class from Franklin High School. Vacations and leisure hours were spent by him at work on the farm and in the country store ; he thus laid the foundation for the name he kas since corned throughont the State-as a "worker and doer." le won a competitive appointment to the 1. S. Naval Academy. at Annapolis, and there trained for four years, graduating with honors in 1881 and receiving his diploma at the hands of President Garfield. He cruised on the U. S. Flagship Tennessee with Admiral Sims and Admiral Wilson, and In 1883 was honorably retired from the Navy.
Mr. Weller passed a Civil Service examination. again at the head of the list : entered the Postothee Department. Washington, where for four years he served the Government in an executive position. At the same time he studied law. winning his B. L. in two years, his master's degree in one year, and a gold medal as honor man of his class, of which he was elected president. le resigned his Government position and became a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. He later engaged in business, covering a wide field of financial, manufacturing, and other enterprises, and was uniformly successful.
After travels embracing most countries of the world, he turned in 1903 to publie service, taking an active part In loen1, Congressional and State campaigns. Chosen by Governor Goldsborough (Republicano). the Democratic Legisla- tures of 1913 to 1914 entrusted Chairman Weller of the State Roads Commission with the expenditure of $16,000.000. and all know his success in building the Maryland State Roads System. Nominated in 1915 for Governor, though defeated, ho polled more votes than ever before received by anyone, with the exception of Fis opponent for Governor. und President Wilson. Since, he has yearly become more prominent In State and National politics, and a leader of his party In the State. Ilis nomination by acclamation for the I'nited States Senate on May 25. 1920, and his che- tion by a great plurality to the l'uited States Senate on November 2. 1920. Is recognition by his constituents of the service he has rendered and will render his State and country.
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Page Thirty-Sis
JACOB EPSTEIN.
Jacob Epstein, founder and practically proprietor of the American Wholesale Corporation (Baltimore Bargain House), Baltimore, was born December 28, 1864. in Tanrogen, Russia. He came to Baltimore at the age of seventeen years, and in 1881 he started a wholesale notion business on Barre Street, the dimensions of the store being 18 by 30 feet. The business grew rapidly, necessitating the addition of numerous buildings. The American Wholesale Corpora- tion, product of the brain and labors of Mr. Epstein, now covers almost the entire block of Baltimore Street, Howard Street and Liberty Street, running through to Fayette Street, and also the entire block of Scott, Wicomico. Cross and Stockholm Streets. His enterprises also occupy part of the buildings located at Baltimore and Eutaw Streets, running through to Redwood Street, for his clothing factory, and a large part of the building located at Eagle and Payson Streets for his shirt and overall factory, in addition to which he operates several other cloak and suit factories. The varied enterprises now occupies a total of about 1.175,000 square feet, or twenty-seven acres of floor space. The sales of the American Wholesale Corporation in 1919 were $35.846,711.91. Thongh known as a catalogne house, the best portion of the trade is that of thousands of merchants who come to Baltimore to purchase goods from the Corporation. To his motto. "More goods for same money-same goods for less money." Mr. Epstein ascribes his great success in creating the huge concern of which he is the head. The American Wholesale Corporation payroll is among the largest in the city, and Mr. Epstein states that much of his success is due to "employing better men and payIng better wages than other houses do."
Mr. Epstein is a director of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore Steam Packet Company. City-Wide Congress. Continental Trust Company. Endowood Sanatorium. Industrial corporation of Baltimore City. Merchants' & Mann- facturers' Association. National Exchange Bank, Clothiers' Board of Trade, and on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Owners of Railroad Securities. le is also interested in numerous benevolent aud charitable Institutions, in the furtherance of which he devotes much time as a Board member and gives unlimited financial assist- ance. Jle Is a lover of art and music, and has been a factor in making Baltimore an art and music-loving city.
Mr. and Mrs. Epstein, with their son-in-law. Mr. A. Ray Katz, and wife, reside in the beautiful home at the entrance of Druid Hill Park, Baltimore. He has another daughter who is the wife of Mr. Sidney Lansburgh, who is associated with Mr. Epstein In the supervision of the nffairs of the American Wholesale Corporation.
Page Thirty-Seren
HOLDEN A. EVANS.
Holden A. Evans, President of the Baltimore Dry Docks & Shipbuilding Company, Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the best known of that group of men who have been instrumental in the upbuild- ing of many of the greatest industrial enterprises of the country. A business executive of the most efficient type, he possesses in addition an unsurpassed knowledge of both the construction and opera- tion of modern vessels which has enabled him to create and perfect the great shipbuilding organiza- tion the name and reputation of which is known throughout the world.
Holden A. Evans was born in Greenville, Ala., December 6, 1871, the son of Holden and Martha Anderson (Van Allen) Evans, both sides of the house being connected with several of the most promi- nent old Southern families and dating their ancestry from early colonial days. His preliminary education was acquired at the Alabama High School at Tuskegee, Ala., and after its completion. he entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892. He first served as a Midshipman and Ensign, and, having evinced great aptitude, was selected by the Navy Department to specialize in naval construction. From 1895 to 1897 Mr. Evans took a two years' post-graduate course in naval architecture and marine engineering at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. being awarded class prizes in both years, with certificates of merit with "great distinction."
In 1897 Holden A. Evans was appointed as Assistant Naval Constructor in the United States Navy and assigned to duty at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company. He continued on duty there until the outbreak of the war with Spain, when he was assigned to take charge of repairs to the blockading fleet, with headquarters at Key West, Florida.
Following the war, Holden A. Evans was assigned to duty with the Bureau of Construction. and later he supervised the construction of naval vessels at Crescent Bay Ship Yard at Elizabethport. N. J. He then undertook similar duties at the plant of the Gas Engine & Power Company. at Morris Heights, New York City, where he remained until August. 1899. and from that date until 1909 he was Constructor and Manager of the Mare Island Navy Yard. California. He was then assigned to special duty at yards at Seattle. Wash .. Bath. Me .. Boston, Washington and Norfolk. continuing until 1910.
In 1911 Mr. Evans resigned from the service to become Vice-President of the Seattle Construc- tion and Dry Docks Company, which he had improved to a high standard of operating efficiency. when he was elected, in 1914. Vice-President and General Manager of the Skinner Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company at Baltimore. The aggressive efforts of the newly-appointed General Manager accomplished notable results, which were recognized when later the company was absorbed by the Baltimore Dry Docks & Ship Building Company, Mr. Evans being continued as Vice-President and General Manager until September 1, 1916, when he was elected to the Presidency of the combined companies.
His comprehensive knowledge of the shipping industry, his sound judgment in the selection of associates and subordinates. and his great business ability and complete grasp of the emergency situation that arose in connection with the rapid building of the new South Plant, were main factors in the successful culmination of the work undertaken for the Government.
As the business activities of the plant returned to a more strictly commercial basis, his ability to cope with and adapt the enterprise to the new conditions confirmed the assurance that this great organization will ever continue to succeed with the guidance of its master mind, Holden A. Evans.
Mr. Evans is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Bankers Club, India House, and Whitehall Club of New York. and Army and Navy Club of Washington, the Baltimore Country Club and Maryland Club of Balti. more, and the Seaview Golf Club of Absecon, N. J.
Page Thirty-Eight
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CHARLES CHRISTOPHER HOMER, JR.
Charles Christopher Homer, Jr., was born in Baltimore, Md., October 15, 1870, son of Charles Christopher and Frances MI. (Ilolthaus) Homer and grandson of Charles Christopher Homer, who came from Germany in his youth and became a successful business man of Baltimore.
Charles C. Homer. Jr., attended private schools and was graduated at Loyola College with the degree of A. B. in 1892 and the degree of A. M. in 194, also at the college of law at the University of Maryland in 1894, with the degree of LL. B. He was then admitted to the Maryland bar, and became associated in law with Luther M. R. Reynolds and George R. Willis. In 1896, upon his election as Vice-President of the Second National Bank of Baltimore, he relin- quished his law practice. I'mon the death of his father, in 1914, he succeeded him as President of this bank. In 1915 he was elected Vice-President of the Savings Bank of Baltimore, of which he has been President since 1918. He wns formerly Vice- President, and from 1915 to 1920. President of the Baltimore Clearing House. He also succeeded his father as President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Currency Association of Maryland. thus serving until this organization ceased to exist. He is President of the Maryland State Bankers' Association, hav- ing previously served a term as Vice-President : has been a Director, Baltimore Branch, Federal Reserve Bank, from the opening of the branch bank, March 1, 1918: has served as a member of the executive committee of the American Red Cross. Baltimore Chapter ; as member executive committee Liberty Loan Committee of Maryland : is a member of the Board of Managers, Maryland Institute School of Art and Design : Trustee Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital : Presi- dent Association of Savings Banks of Baltimore, and member also American Academy of Social and Political Science. Academy of Political Science, American Asiatic Association, American Forestry Association, American Geographical Society, American Institute of Banking, Maryland Historical Society, Municipal Art Society, National Economic League, National Municipal League, and many other societies ; also member of the prominent Baltimore clubs.
Mr. Homer Is Grand High Priest, Grand Chapter. Royal Arch Masons of Maryland. Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, and an active member of the Supreme Council of the 380 of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. He Is one of the best known members of the order in the I'nited States,
Polltleally he is an Independent Democrat. He was appointed in November, 1919. a member of the Civil Service Commission. Ile married August 23, 1\09. Margaretta Virginia, daughter of Milford Fiske Lackey, of Washington ; they have two children, Charles Christopher Il (born 1901), Margaretta Virginht (born 1903).
Page Forty-One
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GEORGE C. JENKINS.
When the relative merits of the great men of Maryland are under discussion in any assembly, the name of George C. Jenkins is invariably to the fore as an acknowledged leader in the financial, business, public and philanthropic activities of Baltimore and the State.
George C., son of Thomas C. and Louisa (Carrello Jenkins, was born in Baltimore on October 15, 1836. IIis educational advantages were of the best obtainable, and at the age of twenty-five he entered npen the threshold of a business career the success of which has not been surpassed by any individual in Maryland or elsewhere.
Mr. Jenkins has been a factor in the organization and direction of many of the most noted business, financial and industrial institutions of the State, and has been actively interested in at least a score of the largest corporations in Maryland and many whose scope reaches beyond the confines of Maryland. He has for many years been active as a director of the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, the Consolidation Coal Company, the United Railways & Electric Com- pany. Canton Company and numbers of other interests in Baltimore and elsewhere.
Mr. Jenkins has relinquished active participation in the affairs of a number of the great business Interests with which he has been identified for a number of years, among them the Baltimore & Ohio-Southwestern Railroad. He con- tinnes, however, a director in the Atlantic Coast Line, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. the Consolidation Coal Company, the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, the Canton Company and the United Railways of Baltimore. He had succeeded his brother, the late Michael Jenkins, as a stockholder and director in many of the above corporations.
No one individual has done more by philanthropic beguests and active social labers than has George C. Jenkins, but the public seldom learns of his activities in these directions. As an enthusiastic worker in the cause of an even greater Baltimore, Mr. Jenkins is without a peer. In affairs of national trend he has also been active, notably so during the period of the World War, when he was unceasing in his co-operation with the Government in furthering the Allied cause. He served during that period as chairman of the Knights of Columbus National War Council. the «thieleney of which organization has been nationally proclaimed by citizens and soldiers regardless of ererd. Mr. Jenkins Is probably the oldest surviving Confederate veteran of the Civil War living in the State of Maryland.
Mr. Jenkins celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday on October 15, 1920, at the side of Mrs, Jenkins in their beautiful home In the Green Spring Valley in Baltimore County. Mrs. Jenkins was Katherine Key, great-niece of Frances Scott Key, whose name will be revered till the end of time as the author of "The Star Spangled Banner." Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins celebrated their golden wedding on November 19, 1918, and now they look forward to their fifty-second wedding anniversary. Their children are Thomas C. Jenkins, and Mrs. Ral Parr, wife of Captain Ral Parr, of Baltimore.
Mr. Jenkins has been a governor of the Maryland Club of Baltimore since Its founding, and Is popular with his follow members, as he is with all who know him, for his even disposition, urbanity of manner and keen judgment.
Ils mansion in the Green Spring Valley is over the center of attraction for those of his friends who crave genuine hospitality, and that home has sheltered distinguished visitors of international fame in the years gone by.
Page Porty-Two
HERBERT APPLETON WAGNER.
Herbert Appleton Wagner, president of the Consolidated Gas. Electric Light and Power Company of Baltimore, was born in Philadelphia, Pa. February 24, 1867 : son of William and Clara W. (Appleton Wagner, of that city.
He was educated at Stevens Institute of Technology, graduating in 1887 with the mechanical and electrical engi- neering degree.
In 1887 he became connected with the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company as construction engineer : In 1889 became general superintendent and manager for the Missouri Electric Light & Power Company of St. Louis. Ile organized the Wagner Electric & Manufacturing Company in St. Louis, in 1892, and was president of same for a number of years. In 1900 he became consulting engineer for many electric light and power companies, including the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. of Boston. Mass., and the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light & Power Company of Baltimore. In 1911 Mr. Wagner was elected vice-president, and in 1915 president of the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light & Power Company of Baltimore ; and during the years 1916-1917 was also president of the National Electric Light Association. He served the Government during the recent war as a member of the National Committee on Gas and Electric Service in Washington. a part of the War Industries Board.
Ile is a member of the following clubs and societies : Maryland Club. Elkridge Fox Hunting Club. Green Spring Valley Hunt Club. Baltimore Country Club, Baltimore Athletic Club. Baltimore Yacht Club, City Club, Merchant's ('Inb. Press Club, Advertising club of Baltimore, Maryland Academy of Sciences, Engineer's Clubs of New York and Baltimore, American Institute of Electrical Engineers. National Electric Light Association.
Mr. Wagner is a director of the Merchant's & Manufacturer's Association and the Maryland Trust Company of Baltimore, and a member of the Board of Trade.
Mr. Wagner was married to MISS Rose Margaret Keller on the 12th of January, 1920.
Residence, Chattolance. (Garrison Post Office), Maryland. Business address. Lexington Building, Baltimore.
Page Forty-Three
FREDERICK HENRY BAETIER. M. D.
Frederick flenry Baetjer, M. D., was born in Baltimore, Md., on August 7. 1874, son of Henry and Frederleka Baetjer. Dr. Baetjer received his elementary education in the public schools of Virginia. He received the A. B. degree at the Johns Hopkins University, 1897, and M. D. degree at Johns Hopkins I'niversity. 1901 : graduate student at Berlin and Vienna : Roentgenologist to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and associate professor of roentgenology. Johns Hopkins Medical School : visiting physician, Union Protestant Infirmary. Church Home and Infirmary, and the Hospital for the Women of Maryland.
Since 1901 Dr. Baetjer has been engaged in the practice of his profession. During the war with Germany he was Major, Medical Corps, United States Army, serving from May. 1917. nutit February, 1919.
Dr. Baetjer is a member of various medical societies and of the Baltimore and Bloomsbury Clubs.
On October 14. 1903, Dr. Baetjer married Mary Yarnell, daughter of Alexander G. and Eleanor E. Carey, of Balti- more, Md. Their children are Eleanor Carey Baetjer and Harold Hayward Baetjer. His residence is at Catonsville, Md .. and Dr. Baetjer maintains his offices at No. 4 East Madison Street, Baltimore.
Page Forty- Four
RICHARD H. EDMONDS.
It is probable that no other man in Baltimore has such a remarkable collection of antograph letters of appre- ciation from the great leaders in the World War as Richard 11. Edmonds, Editor of Manufacturers Record, of this city. Indeed there are probably few men in America who have such a collection. Among those from whom letters of appre- ciation were received by Mr. Edmonds of his work in behalf of the Allies and of the I'nited States in the war against Germany may be named : Marshal Foch. General Potain, the President of the French Republic, the King of Belgium. Sir Donglas Haig. Lord Northcliffe, General W. R. Robertson, David Lloyd George. Arthur J. Balfour. A. Bonar Law. Rudyard Kipling, the Lord Mayor of London, General Smutz, and other leaders in Europe, as well as many letters from President Wilson. Colonel Roosevelt. General Pershing, Admiral Sims and other leading Americans aggressively iden- tified with the great World War.
Mr. Edmonds was one of the men who at the very beginning of the war, when Germany invaded Belgium, saw its meaning, and in an editorial which was published on August G. 1914, said : "Humanity may be staggered by the horrors of Europe's war, but civilization will not be destroyed. Millions of men and billions of treasure may be lost in this devilish work ; thrones may totter, and new maps of Europe may be necessary before the end is reached : but mankind will. on the wreck of these ruins, build a better civilization-one in which the people, and not a few unscrupn- lons men who feet that they have been Divinely appointed, will rule."
Immediately upon the opening of the war in Europe the Manufacturers Record took an aggressive part in demand- ing that this country should begin a campaign of preparedness, as it was absolutely certain, according to Mr. Edmonds' forecast, that we would be forced into the war in order to save ourselves from destruction. Carrying on this campaign with ceasless vigor he wrote a large number of pamphlets which were widely distributed throughout the United States and abroad. Among the more important ones were the following: "National Insuredness Through National Prepared- ness" : "America's Relation to the World War": "Shall America Live or Perish?" "War Nagle Series": "Germany- The World's Blackest Criminal" ; "Germany The Super-Fiend": "The Most Pamning Revelation of Germany's Turpi- tude Ever Published" ; "Germany's War Plans and Her Atrocities in Belgium and France."
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