Ferdinand C. Latrobe papers

Overview

Administrative/Biographical Note

Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe was born to John H. B. Latrobe, a well-known lawyer from Baltimore and Virginia Charlotte Claiborne on October 14, 1833 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the grandson of the famous architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Ferdinand received his education in public schools in Baltimore and at St. James College, an Episcopal private school founded in 1842, in Washington County, Maryland. At twenty-five, Latrobe, became counsel for the B&O Railroad. Two years later, he was admitted to the Maryland bar and married Louisa Sherlock Swann, the daughter of Thomas Swann and their son, Thomas Swann Latrobe, was born in 1863. Latrobe’s first wife died in 1865 and Latrobe married Ellen Primrose in 1880. They had three children: Charlotte Virginia born in 1881, Ellen Virginia born in 1883, and Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, Jr., born in 1889. Latrobe’s first son from his earlier marriage died in 1894. In 1868 Latrobe was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and was Chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee. He authored the Act of 1868 which reorganized eleven regiments of the Maryland Militia. After serving for several years in the Maryland House, Latrobe was elected Mayor of Baltimore for the first time in 1875. Over the next twenty years, Ferdinand Latrobe served as Mayor of Baltimore seven times. Latrobe served on the board of Maryland State Aid and Board of Charities, the Board of Park Commissioners, and was a member of several arts and music organizations in Baltimore. Latrobe was an avid hunter and spent much of his leisure time at The Crimea, the country estate of Thomas DeKay Winans. Latrobe was also an enthusiastic breeder of Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. October 14, 1833 Born in Baltimore to John H.B. Latrobe and second wife Virginia Charlotte Claiborne. First son of seven children. Attended public schools in Baltimore. Attended St. James College of Washington County, Md. 1858 Became counsel of the B. & O. Railroad Company. (Wilbur Coyle, The Mayors of Baltimore) 1860 Admitted to the Maryland bar, married daughter of Thomas Swann, a Miss Louisa Sherlock Swann, and appointed judge-advocate general. 1863 Son Thomas Swann Latrobe born. 1865 Wife Louisa dies. 1868 Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, Chairman of Ways and Means Committee, authored Act of 1868 and reorganized eleven regiments of the militia. 1870 Elected to Maryland House of Delegates, Speaker of the House. 1875 1877 1878 1881 Mayor of Baltimore 1880 Married Miss Ellen Penrose. 1881 Daughter Charlotte Virginia born. 1883 Daughter Ellen Virginia Latrobe born. 1883 1885 1887 1889 Mayor of Baltimore 1889 Son Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, Jr. born. 1890 Elected to the Maryland legislature. 1891 Speaker of the House during extra legislative session. 1891 1895 Mayor of Baltimore 1894 Son Thomas Swann Latrobe dies at Sheppard Asylum. January 13, 1911 Died at home in Baltimore.

Scope & Content

The collection of Ferdinand Latrobe contains papers, letters, documents, diaries, and account books. The earliest document is an essay written by Latrobe in 1833 and the latest is a diary he kept up until his death in 1911. The bulk of the collection covers the later quarter of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The content ranges from political letters to personal diaries. There is also a substantial amount of documents relating to the B & O Railroad Company. The collection is arranged into three series. Series One contains papers and documents. Series Two contains diaries and journals. Series Three contains documents relating to the B&O Railroad Company. Series I: Papers and Documents Series One contains the personal papers of Latrobe including essays, correspondence, legal documents, memorabilia, press clippings, and speeches. There are ten subseries in Series One and approximately 300 pages of documents. Some of the correspondence includes prominent Baltimorean figures. There are letters from Enoch Pratt, Joshua Van Sant, Baltimore mayor from 1871-1875, and Ira Ramsen, President of Johns Hopkins University form 1901-1913. There is a telegram from Vice President of the B & O Railroad, John King, Jr. to Mayor Latrobe in 1877 sent during the Camden Station railroad riot. There are many letters from Baltimore citizens in the subseries “Letters of Congratulations” and “Political” correspondence. Of special interest in Series One are letters from Chun Shen Yin, dating from 1878 to 1879, which Latrobe labeled as from the “Chinese Delegation.” It is unclear how Latrobe met the men from the Chinese delegation but it is clear that they kept up a correspondence while the Chinese legation was in America. There are six letters from Chun Shen Yin, one from 1878 and the rest from September and October of 1879. The letters have been transcribed by the processor and are available; some of the words in the letters are illegible and if using the transcription it would be wise to check against the originals. The Baltimore Sun ran an article about the two men from the Chinese legation in September of 1879 which is referenced in one of the letters. An electronic copy of this article is available in the “Cross References” section. In the “Personal Miscellaneous” section is a Civil War document which we know very little about. This document is the only one of its kind within the collection. There are no other papers relating to the Civil War. The document is three pages. The paper is what appears to be albumen paper or a paper photograph. Henry Pollock, the photographer was familiar with both types of photography and practiced them at his studio in Baltimore. The first page is a cover letter. It reads: “This is the replicate paper signed at the Appomattox CH the two others being retained by Lt. Genl. Grant and Genl. Lee. John Gibbon, Maj. Genl. (Vols) Baltimore Md May 10th 1865.” At the bottom of the page is signed “Pollock, Photo., Balto.” The second and third pages are the actual photo paper/albumen print of the document, the Articles of Agreement relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. The document is in two pages, the first page ending with the third article and the phrase, “allowed to accompany the officers to be…” The third page begins with “turned over at the end of the trip.” The document appears to have all of the signatures as on the original. The original document is at the National Archives website: by searching in ARC for the term “Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.” Subseries Nine is the largest subseries within Series I: Papers and Documents and contains typed, hand-written, and rough draft copies of speeches that Latrobe gave over the course of his career in politics. This subseries is split in two sub-subseries due to the size of the speeches. Speeches written on longer paper are arranged together to better conserve space. As the speeches were not in any particular order when they arrived, they have been arranged according to their size and subject. Subseries Ten contains printed speeches and is arranged chronologically. Series II: Journals and Diaries Series Two is divided into two subseries: 1. Diaries and 2. Account/Memo Books. The diaries and account books of Ferdinand C. Latrobe span decades. Latrobe kept a diary for every year dating from 1888 to 1911 the year of his death. The 1911 diary ends abruptly on January 11, two days before his death. One diary is by an unknown writer and is dated 1922. The diaries reference many important events in Latrobe’s life and career. They are not explicit in detail concerning political opinions or events neither are they revealing when it comes to Latrobe’s personal life. Latrobe documented the weather daily and each entry begins with a description of the weather for the day. Many entries are concerned with Latrobe’s hunting activity and visits. There are two places which Latrobe mentions very often, Crimea and the Island. Crimea was Thomas Dekay Winans country home in West Baltimore in Leakin Park. The Island may refer to the Carroll Island Gun Club, which Latrobe was a member of. The account books date from the mid 1860s and go to 1905. The 1900 Maryland Congressional List book contains printed lists of Maryland Senate and House of Delegates, pasted into the book. Some names are underlined in red ink. This book also contains addresses, notes, and two calling cards: Jacob Knipp and Joseph Pearson Farley, a retired Civil War General. The1893-1894 notebook contains memos, notes to self, accounts, expenses, addresses, and daily appointments. It also contains two sketches/cartoons of men holding whips. The 1889 notebook contains an entry for “Prohibiting all vehicles from standing on Lombard Street, Charles, Hanover, Lexington Market.” The notebooks from the 1860s contain a section on Maryland population growth contains figures dating from 18th century and projected into 20th century, including slave and free black population figures. Series III: B&O Railroad Documents Series Three contains documents relating to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. The first subseries contains one letter from John H.B. Latrobe. It is labeled “Letter of PE Thomas, after the decision in MD Court of Appeals regards the RR Company” and is dated, January 5, 1830. It is not known who labeled the letter. The bulk of this series contains documents pertaining to a dispute between railroad locomotive engineers, Ross Winans and the B&O Railroad, master machinist, Henry Tyson from 1856-1857. This subseries contains pamphlet documents, correspondence, rough drafts, and copies. It is arranged by similar subject, paper, and corresponding numbering on pages when applicable. It is unclear how Latrobe came to have these documents. Latrobe was counsel for the B&O RR, beginning in 1858, and may have inherited the papers with the position or he may have been given the papers by his father who also served as counsel for the B&O RR. The dispute between Ross Winans and Henry Tyson is well-documented in The story of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 1827-1927, by Edward Hungerford, published in 1928. The majority of the documents may be drafts of statements issued to Latrobe by Ross Winans or to whoever was the legal counsel for the B&O at the time. These documents describe a pamphlet written by Tyson which alleges that the camel back engines caused accidents in which a few men were killed. It seems that the pamphlet alleged that the engines and cars were unsafe and a new design should be implemented. The dispute is generally recognized to have led to Ross Winans giving up his career in railroad locomotive engineering, as he closed his shop shortly afterwards. These documents could be of great interest to historians of the railroad industry.

Organized into three series: Series I. Papers and Documents, 1844-1911. Series II. Journals and Diaries, 1888-1922. Series III. B&O Railroad Documents, 1856-1857. Series I. Papers and Documents Compositions – Adult Compositions – School Correspondence (Incoming) Legal Documents Letters to the Public Memorabilia Miscellaneous, Personal Press Clippings Speeches – Drafts Speeches – Printed Series II. Journals and Diaries Diaries Account Books and Memo Books Series III. B&O Railroad Documents John H.B. Latrobe letter Ross Winans and Henry Tyson Dispute Papers

Provenance Information

MSS 2004-01; This collection was donated by Mary Jane Arnold, as a gift from her late husband, in the summer and fall of 2004. Eminent Baltimore historian Jospeh Arnold collected many items on Baltimore history. The papers of Ferdinand C. Latrobe were part of a larger collection which included books and other manuscripts.

This collection was processed under the supervision of Marcia Peri by Angelica Marini. The processing and organizing of the collection began in January 2007 and was completed in May 2007. When processing began, the only visible organization was that the papers were separate from diaries and journals. The diaries and journals were ordered chronologically. Papers and other documents were arranged by type and then by subject, alphabetical if applicable. Most of the correspondence was labeled personally by Ferdinand Latrobe, with subject headings and the collection retains those labels. Railroad documents that had no specific mention of Ferdinand Latrobe were arranged into a separate series and arranged as well as could be, as most are fragments of papers concerning a dispute in the 1850s. The finding aid was reformatted in 2008. Series I.9. Speeches was digitized by the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage program in 2010. Series II. Journals and Diaries, was rehoused into envelopes in Spring 2014.

Access & Use

No restrictions.

Reproductions allowed for research purposes. UMBC is the copyright owner; permission to reproduce is required.

Subject Headings

• Latrobe John H. B. (John Hazlehurst Boneval) 1803-1891
• Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
• Pratt Enoch 1808-1896
• Vansant Joshua 1803-1884
• Ramsen Ira
• Baltimore (Md.) Politics and government
• Maryland Politics and government
• Latrobe, Ferdinand Claiborne, 1833-1911 Archives
• Tyson Henry
• Winans Ross 1796-1877

Series Description & Container List

Expand all | Collapse all

Series I. Papers and Documents

Subseries I.A. Compositions – Adult

Subseries I.B. Compostions – School

Subseries I.C. Correspondence (Incoming)

Subseries I.D. Legal Documents

Subseries I.E. Binder 1

Subseries I.F. Memorabilia: Certificates, Stocks, Etc.

Subseries I.G. Miscellaneous, Personal

Subseries I.H. Press Clippings

Subseries I.I. Speeches

Subseries I.J. Printed Speeches

Series II. Journals and Diaries

Subseries II.A. Diaries

Subseries II.B. Account Books

Series III. Railroad Documents

Series III. A. John H.B. Latrobe Letter

Series III.B. Ross Winans and Henry Tyson Dispute Papers