US Congressman, Civil War Union Army Officer. An 1847 graduate of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he was admitted to the Maryland State Bar Association in 1851. He soon entered politics, and was elected to the Maryland State Senate, serving from 1856 to 1859 (and serving a year as Senate President), before being elected as a member of the American Party to represent Maryland's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He assumed his seat in March 1859, and a year after the Civil War began he recruited a regiment that was mustered in as the 7th Maryland Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned as it's Colonel and commander on September 12, 1862. He led the unit for the next year, as it mostly performed garrison, picket, and guard duty in Maryland and West Virginia. During the May and June 1863 they operated against Confederate cavalry forces in Maryland that were screening the advance of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia as it headed towards the climatic Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. A week after that battle the 7th Maryland's brigade was formally attached to the Army of the Potomac and joined in the pursuit of General Lee's army after their defeat at Gettysburg. He commanded it in the Fall 1863 Mine Run Campaign, and was nearly injured by a Confederate musket call that went through his coat at a heavy skirmish at Haymarket, Virginia. While commanding his troops in the field he was re-elected to Congress as a member of the Unconditional Unionist Party, and he resigned his Colonel's commission on November 6, 1863 to resume active participation in the House of Representatives. He then served until July 1865, resigning to accept the position of collector of customers the port of for Baltimore, Maryland, having voted for the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in January that abolished slavery. He served until 1869 as customs collector, then returned to his law practice. In 1882 he was again appointed as Port of Baltimore customs collector, serving his second term until 1886. He passed away in 1893 in Bel Air, Maryland.
US Congressman, Civil War Union Army Officer. An 1847 graduate of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he was admitted to the Maryland State Bar Association in 1851. He soon entered politics, and was elected to the Maryland State Senate, serving from 1856 to 1859 (and serving a year as Senate President), before being elected as a member of the American Party to represent Maryland's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He assumed his seat in March 1859, and a year after the Civil War began he recruited a regiment that was mustered in as the 7th Maryland Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned as it's Colonel and commander on September 12, 1862. He led the unit for the next year, as it mostly performed garrison, picket, and guard duty in Maryland and West Virginia. During the May and June 1863 they operated against Confederate cavalry forces in Maryland that were screening the advance of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia as it headed towards the climatic Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. A week after that battle the 7th Maryland's brigade was formally attached to the Army of the Potomac and joined in the pursuit of General Lee's army after their defeat at Gettysburg. He commanded it in the Fall 1863 Mine Run Campaign, and was nearly injured by a Confederate musket call that went through his coat at a heavy skirmish at Haymarket, Virginia. While commanding his troops in the field he was re-elected to Congress as a member of the Unconditional Unionist Party, and he resigned his Colonel's commission on November 6, 1863 to resume active participation in the House of Representatives. He then served until July 1865, resigning to accept the position of collector of customers the port of for Baltimore, Maryland, having voted for the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in January that abolished slavery. He served until 1869 as customs collector, then returned to his law practice. In 1882 he was again appointed as Port of Baltimore customs collector, serving his second term until 1886. He passed away in 1893 in Bel Air, Maryland.
Bio by: RPD2
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