Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/365

 LATROBE

LATROBE

Cathedral and the custom-house of Baltimore, Md. In 1803 he was appointed by President Jefferson architect of public buildings at Wash- ington, D.C., and altered the interior construc- tion of the south wing of the capitol and recon- structed the north wing, planning a vestibule in which were placed six columns, the design coni- posed of Indian cornstalks bound together, the joints forming a spiral effect and the capitals being modelled from the ears of corn. He regarded this purely an American design. He also designed tobacco-plant capitals for the columns in the cir- cular colonnade and left dra«'ings for a capital de- signed from the cotton plant. His suggestions for the use of natural products as a feature of archi- tecture in the capital were carried out by his suc- cessors. He was also engaged as engineer in the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, residing in New Castle and Wilmington, Del., until 1808, when he removed to Washing- ton with his family. He became interested in steam navigation in 1812, and built at Pittsburg, Pa., the Buffalo, the fourth steamboat to descend the Ohio river. After the capital was burned in 1814 by the British he was engaged to rebuild it. He resigned his post in 1817, and engaged in ■erecting water-works to supply New Orleans. He was married to Mary E., daughter of Isaac Hazle- hurst, of Philadelphia, Pa. He died in New Orleans. La., Sept. 3, 1820.

LATROBE, Benjamin Henry, civil engineer, was born in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 19, 1807 ; son of Benjamin Henry and Mary E. (Hazlehurst) Latrobe. He was graduated from St. Mary's col- lege. Baltimore, Md., in 1825, was admitted to the bar. and practised in Baltimore with his brother John. He entered the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company as first assistant to Ciiief-Engineer Jonathan Knight and for twenty- two years held the position of chief engineer. He built the road from Harper's Ferry to Wheel- ing and supervised the construction of the road from Cumberland to the Ohio river. He was con- sulting engineer of the Hoo.sac tunnel and a mem- ber of the advisory board of the Brooklyn bridge. He died in Baltiniore. :\M.. Oct. 10, 187S.

LATROBE, Charles Hazlehurst, civil engi- neer, was born in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 35, 1833 ; son of Benjamin Henry and Ellen Latrobe. He was educated in St. Mary's college, Baltimore, Md., and entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company. At the outbreak of the civil war he entered the Confederate service, and at the close of the war he returned to Baltimore and made a specialty of bridge constructing. He built several bridges in Peru, including the Are- quipa viaduct, 1300 feet long and G5 feet high, and the Agua de Verrigas bridge, 575 feet long. He died in Baltimore, Md., Sept. 19, 1902.

LATROBE, Ferdinand Claiborne, lawyer, was born in Ballimore, Md., Oct. 1-4, 1833 ; son of John Hazlehurst Boneval and Charlotte Virginia La- trobe, and grandson of Benjamin Henry and Mary E. (Hazlehurst) Latrobe. He was educated at the College of St. James, Md., and was em- ployed as a clerk in a mercantile house in Balti- more. He was admitted to the bar in 18G0, and practised in Baltimore with his father. He was judge-advocate-general on the staffs of Governors Swann, Bowie, Groome, Whyte and Carroll of Maryland ; was author of the act of 1868, and assisted in reorganizing the state militia under that act. He was elected a representative in the state legislature and chairman of tb.e ways and means committee in 1808 ; a representative and speaker of the house in 1870, and a representative and chairman of the ways and means committee again in 1900. He was mayor of Baltimore for seven terms from 1875.

LATROBE, John Hazlehurst Boneval, lawyer, was born in Piiiladelphia, Pa., May 4, 1803; son of Benjamin Henry and Mary E. (Hazlehurst) Latrobe. He attended school in Washington, D.C., Georgetown college, D.C., and St. Mary's college, Baltimore. In September, 1818, he was appointed a cadet in the U.S. Military academy, and upon the death of his father in 1820 he entered upon the study of the law in the office of Gen. Rob- ert Goodloe Harper in Baltimoi'e, and practised in that city, 1825-91. He was legal counsellor for Thomas Winans in his var- ious railroad pro- jects ; was engaged by the Baltimore and Ohio railwaj' company to secure the right of way from Point of Rocks to Williamsport in 1828, and remained with the companj- as attorney and counsellor until his death. When Ross Winans built the Russian railroads and was involved in litigation, Mr. Latrobe studied the Russian lan- guage and argued the cases before the Russian courts. He was the founder of the Maryland institute, and after the destruction of its build- ing by fire in 1835 assisted in its rebuilding. He was the first man of influence to recognize the utility of the magnetic telegraph, and aided Mr. Morse in establishing the first line between Baltimore and Washington. In 1824 he became interested in the movement to colonize the slaves who acquired their freedom, and was prominent