Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (October 14, 1833 – January 13, 1911) was a seven-term

Mayor of Baltimore The mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills, ordinances, or resolutions passed by the ...

, member of the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

and attorney during the 19th century.

Early life

Latrobe was born on October 14, 1833, at a house on South Gay Street in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He was the son of patent lawyer and

Latrobe stove The Latrobe Stove, also known as a "Baltimore Heater", was a coal-fired parlor heater made of cast iron and fitted into fireplaces as an insert. It served both as a heater and a stove. They were patented in 1846 and were very popular by the 1870s. ...

("Baltimore Heater") inventor John H. B. Latrobe and Virginia Charlotte Claiborne, and the grandson of the American architect and engineer

Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...

. In his mother's line, he was the grandson of General Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne and the great-nephew of

William C. C. Claiborne William Charles Cole Claiborne ( 1773–1775 – November 23, 1817) was an American politician, best known as the first non-colonial governor of Louisiana. He also has the distinction of possibly being the youngest member of the United State ...

, Governor of Mississippi, the Louisiana Territory, and the State of Louisiana. He was named after his grandfather, Ferdinand Claiborne. Latrobe was educated at the College of St. James in

Washington County, Maryland Washington County is located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 154,705. Its county seat is Hagerstown. Washington County was the first county in the United States to be named for the ...

. Latrobe worked as a clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore and as counsel for the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

in 1858. He then studied law with his father and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Maryland in 1859.

Career

In 1860, Latrobe was appointed judge-advocate-general by then

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

, Thomas H. Hicks and assisted in reorganizing the Maryland state militia under the Act of 1868, which he authored. He was elected to the

in 1867, serving from 1868 to 1872, and was

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

in 1870. While serving in the House he held the position of Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. In 1871, Latrobe became counsel for the

. He would serve again as counsel for the railroad in 1885 and 1887 between his periods of political office.

Mayor of Baltimore

In 1875, he was elected Mayor of Baltimore and served until 1877. The same year, Latrobe and then Maryland Governor

John Lee Carroll John Lee Carroll (September 30, 1830 – February 27, 1911), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 37th Governor of Maryland from 1876 to 1880. Early life Carroll was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Col. Charles Carr ...

, were present throughout strikes and outbreaks of violence during the

Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 The Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 involved several days of work stoppage and violence in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1877. It formed a part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, during which widespread civil unrest spread nationwide following ...

that erupted in as part of the

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year. This strike finally ended 52 day ...

. He served out the unexpired term of

George Proctor Kane George Proctor Kane (August 4, 1817 – June 23, 1878) was an American politician and policeman. He is best known for his role as Marshal of Police during the Baltimore riot of 1861 and his subsequent imprisonment at Fort McHenry and Fort Warre ...

. He was reelected in 1879 and served two more terms until 1881. In 1883 he was again elected mayor, serving until 1885. During this latter term, a seven-mile tunnel was built to direct water from the

Gunpowder River The Gunpowder River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tidal inlet on the western side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the jo ...

to Baltimore. He was again elected mayor, serving from 1887 until 1889, and served a final two mayoral terms from 1891 until 1895. He was elected again to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1900. He served as speaker of the House of Delegates in 1901. Latrobe served as president of the Consolidated Gas Company from 1901 to 1910.

Personal life

In 1861, Latrobe married Louisa Sherlock Swann, daughter of

Thomas Swann Thomas Swann (February 3, 1809 – July 24, 1883) was an American lawyer and Politics of the United States, politician who also was President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as it completed track to Wheeling, West Virginia, Wheeling and gaine ...

, who was formerly Mayor of Baltimore and

. They had one son, Swann. The child died before reaching manhood. His wife she died in 1865. Latrobe married Ellen Penrose Swann, the widow of Thomas Swann, Jr., in 1880 and together they had three children: Ferdinande Charlotte (b. 1881), Ellen Virginia (b. 1883), and Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, Jr. (1889–1944). Latrobe died on January 13, 1911, at his home at 904 North Charles Street in Baltimore. He had a Masonic funeral that was commanded by Grand Master Thomas J. Shryock. He was buried at

Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as many ...

in Baltimore.

Quotes

*"We have always had the most beautiful women and the finest oysters in the world, and now we have the best baseball club." (speaking of the first, short-lived incarnation of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, in 1894)

References

*Wilson, J.G., Fiske, J., and Klos, S.L. (eds.) (1889). ''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography''. 6 vol. New York: D. Appleton & Co. *The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/latno-lavorato.html

External links

Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe papers, 1833–1922
at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Digitized copies of Latrobe's hand-written speeches
are available through the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage program {{DEFAULTSORT:Latrobe, Ferdinand Claiborne 1833 births 1911 deaths Mayors of Baltimore Speakers of the Maryland House of Delegates 19th-century American politicians Latrobe family