Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/663

Rh the architect of the Roman Catholic cathedral and the custom-house. Thomas Jefferson appointed him surveyor of the public buildings in 1803, to follow Thornton, Hatfield, and Hoban, as archi- tect of the Capitol, and he perfected Dr. Will- iam Thornton's designs, and altered those for the interior construction of the south wing, with the approval of the presi- dent. Of this the corridors and committee - rooms, the stairs, and the lobby with its panelled dome escaped the flames when the Capitol was burned by the British in 1814, and still remain. In the recon- struction of the north wing Mr. La- trobe planned a vestibule in which are six columns, each of which is composed of Indian corn - stalks bound together, the joints forming a spiral effect, while the capitals are modelled from the ears of the corn. This forms a unique order of architecture, which he regarded as purely American. Jefferson has been considered by many to be the designer of these pillars, but that Latrobe was their originator is proved bv his letter to Jefferson, dated 28 Aug., 1809, in which he says : " These capitals during the summer session obtained more applause from the members of congress than all the works of magnitude or difficulty that surround them. They christened them ' the corn-cob capi- tals ' — whether for the sake of alliteration I cannot tell, but certainly not very appropriately." See illustration. He also designed the tobacco-plant capitals of the columns in the circular colonnade in the north wing, and left drawings of a capital whose ornamentation is designed from the cotton- Elant. He was the first to utilize the Breccia mar- ie of the Potomac in the columns of the house of representatives and the senate chamber. His sug- gestion as to the use of natural products as a feature of architecture was followed by his successors. Mr. Latrobe was also engaged as engineer in construct- ing the original plan of the Chesapeake and Dela- ware canal, residing alternately in New Castle and Wilmington until 1808, when he removed to Wash- ington with his family. In 1812 he became inter- ested with Fulton in the introduction of steamboats on the western waters, and built the " Buffalo " at Pittsburg, the fourth steamer that descended Ohio river. After the burning of the Capitol, Mr. La- trobe was called to rebuild it. He resigned this post in 1817, and was succeeded by Charles Bull- finch, who executed Mr. Lat robe's designs in chang- ing the oblong hall of the old Capitol into a semi- circle. At the time of his death he was engaged in erecting works to supply New Orleans with water.— His son, John Hazlehiirst Boneval, lawyer, b. in Philadelphia. Pa., 4 May, 1803 ; d. in Baltimore Md., 11 Sept., 1891, was appointed a cadet in the U. S. military academy in 1818. but resigned before graduation. He' then studied law with Robert O. Harper, was admitted to the bar in 1825, and has been in active practice for sixtv years. In 1828 he was engaged by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company to secure the right of way for the road, and was for years engaged as counsel for the company. He was the founder of the Maryland institute, and after its destruc- tion by fire in 1835 assisted in its reorganization. He was identified with the American coloniza- tion society since 1824, and for many years was its president, and prepared the first map of Liberia, and united with Gen. Harper (who named the ter- ritory Liberia) in giving the other names on the map by which the places are now known. He originated and devoted himself to the interests of the colony of Maryland in Liberia, founded by the Maryland state colonization society at Cape' Pal- mass to which the state of Maryland contributed $275,000, and which continued, under a charter, ordinance, and instructions prepared by Mr. La- trobe, an independent and prosperous government of colored people for more than twentv years, until it united itself to the elder government'of Liberia proper. It was his conspicuous agencv that led to his election, on the death of Mr. Clay, to be president of the national society in 1853. ' He was also the president of the Maryland historical so- ciety at the time of his death. He was invited by the king of the Belgians to be present, as his guest, at the first meeting of the Association for the exploration of Africa, and was the president of the American branch. He was the inventor of the " Latrobe stove," called sometimes the " Baltimore heater," or the " parlor heater," of which in 1878 there were 30,000 in use in Baltimore alone, and which has since come into general use in the United States. In 1849 he was ap- pointed a member of the board of visitors to West Point, and was chosen president. Mr. Latrobe was the au- thor of various papers that he read before the Maryland historical so- ciety, which have been published by that body, and he delivered an address on " The Capitol and Washington at the Beginning of the Present Centurv," in Washing- ton. 16 Nov., 1881 (Baltimore. *1881). He published "Biographv of Charles Carroll of Carrollton" (Philadelphia. 1824): "Justices' Practice" (Baltimore, 1825: 7th ed., 1880): "Scott's Infantry and Rifle Tactics." condensed (1828); "Picture of Baltimore" (1832): "History of Mason and Dixon's Line " (Philadelphia, 1854) ; " Personal Recol- lections of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad " (Baltimore, 1858) ; " Hints for Six Months in Europe " (Philadelphia. 1869) ; " Odds and Ends," a volume of poems (printed privately. Baltimore, 1876) ; " History of Maryland in Liberia " (Baltimore. 1885) ; " Reminiscences of West Point in 1818 to 1822 " (1887) : besides a series of children's books (1826) and four novelettes. — Another son, Benjamin Henry, civil engineer, b. 19 Dec, 1807: d. in Baltimore, 19 Oct.. 1878. was graduated at St. Mary's college, Baltimore, in 1825. studied law, and was admitted to the bar, practising in connection with his brother, John, in Baltimore. He then entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company, and finally became its chief engineer, building the road from Harper's Ferry, across the Alleghanies. to Wheeling. He also built other roads, was consulting engineer of the Hoosac tunnel, and one of the advisory board to whom John A. Roebling submitted the plan of the Brooklyn bridge. — John's son, Ferdinand Claiborne, lawyer, b. in Baltimore. Md., 14 Oct.. 1833, was educated at the College of St. James, in Washington county. Md. After serving as clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore, he studied law