Here’s a Document Signed by 19th Century Maryland Abolitionist Statesman, and Candidate for President of the United States in the 1840s

FRANCIS THOMAS

(1799-1876)

·       26th GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND 1842-1844,

·       CIVIL WAR UNCONDITIONAL UNIONIST CONGRESSMAN FROM MARYLAND 1861-1869,

·       STAUNCH ANTI-SLAVERY ABOLITIONIST DECRYING SLAVERY AS "ALTOGETHER UNWORTHY OF ENLIGHTENED STATESMEN, AND SHOULD BE BY ALL PATRIOTS REPUDIATED,"

·       AUTHOR OF THE MARYLAND CONSTITUTION OF 1864 WHICH EMANCIPATED 90,000 SLAVES IN MARYLAND,

·       US JACKSONIAN CONGRESSMAN 1831-1841,

·       LEADING CANDIDATE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1840s

·       U.S. DIPLOMAT – MINISTER TO PERU APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT ULYSSES S. GRANT 1872-1875.

During the Civil War, Thomas actively supported the Union cause, raised a volunteer brigade of 3,000 men, but he refused a command. Post-war, he was also a Delegate to the Loyalist Convention of 1866, and subsequently opposed President Andrew Johnson.

HERE'S A RARE OFFICIAL DOCUMENT SIGNED BY THOMAS AS GOVERNOR OF MD, DATED FEB. 20th, 1844, APPOINTING MICHAEL McCARTNEY, JACOB WEAVER AND PERRY G. THOMAS, AS DISTRICT JUSTICES OF THE MIDDLETOWN ELECTION DISTRICT COURT IN FREDERICK COUNTY.

 THE DOCUMENT IS ALSO SIGNED BY

THEODORICK BLAND

(1776-1846)

·       AMERICAN LAWYER, STATESMAN AND FEDERAL JUDGE IN MARYLAND,

·       CHANCELLOR OF MARYLAND 1824-1846, APPOINTED BY GOVERNOR STEVENS,

·       JUDGE OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND 1819-1824,

ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES IN 1809 WHERE HE HELPED TO WRITE A NEW CRIMINAL CODE FOR THE STATE, and

·       WAR OF 1812 SECRETARY OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE'S “COMMITTEE OF SAFETY,” AND ACTIVELY DEFENDED THE CITY AT THE TIME OF BRITISH INVASION.

AND THE VERSO BEARS AN AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY

HENRY SCHLEY

(1793 - 1871)

·       WAR OF 1812 ADJUTANT OF A MARYLAND INFANTRY REGIMENT COMMANDED BY LT. COLONEL JACOB CRAMER, PARTICIPATING IN THE BATTLES OF BLADENSBURG AND NORTH POINT,

·       POST-WAR FOUNDER OF THE “WARREN GREENS” RIFLE COMPANY IN FREDERICK, MD,

·       CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FREDERICK COUNTY, MD 1835-1845

·       BANKER - CASHIER OF THE FREDERICK COUNTY NATIONAL BANK 1845-ca.1866, and

·       VICE-PRESIDENT OF “THE UNITED BROTHERS OF THE WAR OF 1812” IN FREDERICK COUNTY, HOLDING OFFICE DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE HONORABLE FRANCIS THOMAS

Francis Thomas (February 3, 1799 – January 22, 1876) was a Maryland politician who served as Governor of Maryland from 1842-1844. He also served as a United States Representative from Maryland, representing at separate times the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh districts.

Early life and career

Thomas was born in Frederick County, Maryland, close to South Mountain, known as "Merryland tract", and attended St. John's College of Annapolis, Maryland. He later studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1820, commencing practice in Frankville, Maryland. He entered politics after becoming a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1822, 1827, and 1829, and served the last year as Speaker of the House.

Thomas was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses and as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1831 until March 3, 1841). In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary (Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses), and as a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs (Twenty-sixth Congress). He also served as president of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company in 1839 and 1840.

Governor of Maryland

In 1841, Thomas was elected Governor of Maryland, defeating challenger William Cost Johnson by a narrow margin of 600 votes. During his tenure as governor, he is perhaps best known for his highly publicized and violent divorce with his wife, Sally Campbell Preston McDowell. Until that event, he had been a leading candidate for Democratic nomination for President of the United States, but the divorce seriously disrupted his chances in succeeding in the nomination, and thus he did not pursue it.

As Governor, Thomas inherited a major state deficit that he would not resolve in his tenure. He proposed a direct tax upon the people, which was widely unpopular, and did not raise adequate funds to allow repudiation of the debt. He was also a staunch opponent of slavery, decrying it as "altogether unworthy of enlightened statesmen, and should be by all patriots repudiated". He served as Governor from 1842 until 1844, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1844.

Return to Congress and later life

After his term as Governor, Thomas served as a member of the Maryland State Constitutional convention in 1850. He was again elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress as a Unionist, as an Unconditional Unionist to the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses, and as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress, serving from March 4, 1861 until March 3, 1869. He served as a delegate to the National Union Convention at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1866, and as collector of internal revenue for Maryland from 1870 until 1872.

Thomas was selected to serve as the United States Minister to Peru, and did so from March 25, 1872 to July 9, 1875. Afterwards, he retired from public and professional life and devoted his time to agricultural pursuits.

While overseeing improvements on his estate near Frankville, Maryland, Thomas was killed instantly when he was struck by a locomotive. He is interred in a vault in Rose Hill Cemetery of Cumberland, Maryland, above which reads: "The author of the measure which gave to Maryland the Constitution of 1864 and thereby gave freedom to 90,000 human beings". The statement is believed to have been written by Thomas before his death, and refers to the Maryland Constitution of 1864, which emancipated the slaves in Maryland. He died in 1876 after being hit by a locomotive in Frankville, Maryland. He is buried at St Mark's Episcopal Church Cemetery in Petersville, Maryland.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE HONORABLE THEODORICK BLAND

Theodorick Bland (December 6, 1776 – November 16, 1846) was an American attorney and statesman who was Chancellor of Maryland from 1824 to 1846 and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Education and early career

Born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, Bland was admitted to the bar in 1797. He was in private practice of law in Danville Virginia, then in Tennessee and Kentucky, and finally in Baltimore, Maryland. Around 1800, he settled in Baltimore after reportedly after "becoming dissatisfied with life on the frontier." He was elected a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1809 where he helped to write a new criminal code for the state. He was secretary of the Committee of Public Safety for Baltimore, beginning in 1812. On October 10, 1812, Bland was appointed to succeed Thomas Jones an associate judge for the 6th Judicial District of Maryland, which included Baltimore and Harford Counties, and served in that capacity until 1817. During the War of 1812, he was Secretary of the city's Committee of Safety, and was active in defense of the city at the time of British invasion.

South American Commission service

Along with Caesar Augustus Rodney and John Graham, Bland was selected by President James Monroe in November 1817 for a special diplomatic mission to South America, the South American Commission of 1817–1818. He was endorsed for the slot by the secretary to the commission, Henry Marie Brackenridge, Bland suggested to Monroe that at least part of the Commission be authorized to visit Chile and authorization for this was given by United States Secretary of State John Quincy Adams two-weeks before setting sail.  Under the command of Commodore Arthur Sinclair, the USS Congress sailed on December 4, 1817, and arrived at Rio de Janeiro on January 29, 1818. In Montevideo, Bland introduced botanist William Baldwin, who accompanied the commission as the ship's surgeon, to exiled Chilean general José Miguel Carrera. In April, Bland left Buenos Aires and went overland to Mendoza, Argentina then across the Uspallata Pass to Santiago, Chile. Meanwhile, the rest of the group departed the Isla Margarita on June 25, 1818, and returned to Norfolk, Virginia on July 8. A week later, Bland left Valparaíso and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 29, 1818. The findings of the commissioners differed widely so much that they offered independent statements rather than one joint statement. Regarding the Government of Buenos Ayres, Secretary of State Adams summarized in his memoirs that "Bland holds them in abhorrence and contempt." Unlike the reports of the others who commented nearly only on political, military, and commercial matters, Bland's were longer and provided more discussion on geography and agriculture. He was impressed by the agricultural possibilities of Chile. The protagonists of the South American trip were all given "positions of trust" after their return.

Federal judicial service

Despite rumors of privateering, Bland received a recess appointment from President Monroe to a seat to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland vacated by Judge James Houston, on November 23, 1819. Formally nominated on January 3, 1820, Bland was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 5, 1820, and received his commission the same day. Bland served for four years, and resigned on August 16, 1824, to be appointed Chancellor of Maryland.

Chancellor of Maryland

Bland said:

I determined, to make every effort to acquire a complete knowledge of the peculiar principles and practice of the Court of Chancery of Maryland to which my attention had been so rarely drawn and for which I had had, for many years in the judicial stations I previously held, so little use. Upon inquiry I soon found that anything like an accurate knowledge of those principles was only to be gathered from the records themselves, to which I therefore resorted and after a careful perusal noted the course of proceeding, and occasionally made short digests of such cases as appeared most likely to be useful thereafter. In this way I collected a considerable mass of information, which has greatly facilitated my official labors.

Shortly after his appointment, a ruling by Bland displeased a party to the suit, who persuaded the Maryland House of Delegates to attempt to abolish the office of Chancellor, and failing that, to eliminate the salary for the position. The Maryland Senate rejected initial efforts to reduce the Chancellor's salary from $3,400 to $2,200 or $2,500, but eventually passed a House bill that made no provision for the salary, in order to avoid a fiscal crisis. In the next session of the legislature, Bland presented a memorandum arguing that the actions of the legislature threatened the independence of the judiciary. This appeal succeeded, and the legislature thereafter passed a bill to permanently fix the salary of the Chancellor at the sum of $3,400, and to pay Bland in arrears at that rate.

His opinions tended to be lengthy and to summarize substantial amounts of doctrine. An example is his opinion in Gwinn vs. Payson, written while he was sitting as Judge of the Baltimore County Court. The case involved a fairly simple bill in equity to have a certain deed set aside, and the property mentioned therein sold to satisfy a mortgage held by the complainants. Bland doubted his jurisdiction over the matter due to his uncertainty as to the constitutionality of the act clothing his court with chancery powers. He delivered a 94-page opinion, including 65 pages addressing the power of the judicial branch of the government to annul a law enacted by the legislative branch on the ground if its being in conflict with the Constitution of the State. Bland found that the legislature had exceeded its power in granting original equity jurisdiction to the court, but also noted that the parties had expressed their wish to have the matter resolved by the court, and therefore granted a consent decree.

Death

Described as a "gentleman of the old school", Bland died in his bed from "a disease of the heart" in Annapolis, Maryland on November 16, 1846. He was buried at Cemetery Creek (now St. Anne's Cemetery) in Annapolis. He was memorialized at a meeting of the Bar of Baltimore, by a committee chaired by United States Chief Justice Roger B. Taney and including William Henry Norris, with addresses delivered by distinguished members including Charles F. Mayer and Reverdy Johnson.[4] It has been noted with some irony that Bland's will was the subject of litigation in Mayo vs. Bland, 4 Md. Chancery, 484.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE HONORABLE HENRY SCHLEY

Henry Schley was born in 1793.  Early in his life he was involved in business in Baltimore with his uncles, Henry Schroeder and Jacob Schley. 

In 1814, he served in the War of 1812 as adjutant of a Maryland regiment that was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Cramer.  Henry participated in the battles of Bladensburg and North Point. 

After the war, he settled in Frederick, where he formed the “Warren Greens” Rifle Company.

When his father John died in 1835, Henry succeeded him in the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court. 

In 1845, Henry Schley was appointed cashier of the Frederick County National Bank, where he served for more than 20 years. 

In 1862, he became Vice-President of the United Brothers of the War of 1812 in Frederick County. 

He married Sarah Maria Worrell in 1817, and died on April 1, 1871.

The document measures 16” x 10” is in excellent condition for its advanced age. 

A FINE RELIC OF MARYLAND POLTITICAL HISTORY.

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