Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe

Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe

Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (October 14, 1833 – January 13, 1911) served seven terms as Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, during the 19th century.

Latrobe was born in Baltimore, the son of John H.B. Latrobe and Virginia Charlotte Claiborne, and the grandson of the American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. In his mother's line, he was the grandson of Gen. Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne and the great-nephew of William C. C. Claiborne, Governor of Mississippi, the Louisiana Territory, and the State of Louisiana. He was thus part of a widespread political dynasty.

He was educated at the College of St. James in Washington County, Maryland. After serving as clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore and as counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1858, Latrobe studied law with his father, and was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1860. In 1860, he was also appointed judge-advocate-general by then Governor of Maryland, Thomas H. Hicks, and assisted in reorganizing the Maryland state militia under the Act of 1868, of which he was the author.

He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1867, serving until 1872, and was Speaker of the House in 1870. While serving in the House he held the position of Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

In 1875 he was elected Mayor of Baltimore and served until 1877. He was again elected to this office in 1878 and served two terms, to 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 to Baltimore.

He was again elected mayor, serving from 1887 until 1889, and served a final two mayoral terms from 1891 until 1895. He again served as speaker of the House of Delegates in 1901.

In 1860, Latrobe married Louisa Sherlock Swann, daughter of Thomas Swann, who was formerly Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland. They had one son, Thomas, before she died in 1865. Latrobe married Ellen Penrose, 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., (b. 1889-d. 1944).

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

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, in 1894)

External links

• Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe papers, 1833–1922 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Resources at the Maryland State Archives
• Digitized copies of Latrobe's hand-written speeches are available through the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage program