Charles Benedict Calvert
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| Charles Benedict Calvert | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 6th district |
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| In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 |
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| Preceded by | George Wurtz Hughes |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 23, 1808 Riversdale, Maryland |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Riverdale Park, Maryland |
| Spouse(s) | Charlotte Augusta Norris (1816–1876) |
| Occupation | Banking |
Charles Benedict Calvert (August 23, 1808 – May 12, 1864) was an American politician who was a U.S. Representative from the sixth district of Maryland, serving one term from 1861–1863. He was an early backer of the inventors of the telegraph, and in 1856 he founded the Maryland Agricultural College, the first agricultural research college in America, now known as the University of Maryland. He was a direct descendant of the Lords Baltimore, proprietary governors of the Province of Maryland from 1631 until 1776.
Contents
Early life
Calvert was born on August 23, 1808 at his family's estate at Riversdale, Maryland. His mother was Rosalie Eugenia Stier (1778–1821), the daughter of a wealthy Belgian aristocrat, Baron Henri Joseph Stier (1743–1821) and his wife Marie Louise Peeters. The Stiers had fled to America in the early Nineteenth Century as Napoleon's armies occupied their home town of Antwerp. Calvert's father, the wealthy planter George Calvert (1768–1838), was the son of the Loyalist politician Benedict Swingate Calvert (c.1730–1788) - a natural son of the penultimate Proprietary Governor of Maryland, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore - and his wife Elizabeth Calvert (1731 – 1788).
Education
Calvert completed his preparatory studies at Bladensburg Academy of Maryland. Later, he received a certificate of completion from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1827, even though he attended the university spuriously, and engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock breeding.
Science and agriculture
Calvert was a strong backer of the inventors of the telegraph, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail. On April 9, 1844, Morse and Vail successfully tested their device by transmitting a message from the nation's capital to the Calvert home, Riversdale.[1] This test came 45 days before the more celebrated event when Morse sent the message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington to Baltimore, along telegraph lines that ran above the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line near Riversdale.
Calvert became president of the Prince George's County, Maryland Agricultural Society and the Maryland State Agricultural Society, and served as vice president of the United States Pomological Society.[2] He founded the first agricultural research college in America (later known as the Maryland Agricultural College at College Park, and presently known as the University of Maryland, College Park) which was chartered in 1856. Calvert was also one of the early advocates for the establishment of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Politics
Calvert served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1839, 1843, and 1844.[3] In 1860, Calvert was elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-seventh Congress, serving from March 4, 1861 until March 3, 1863, but was not a candidate for renomination in 1862. He resumed agricultural pursuits until his death at Riversdale, and is interred in Calvert Cemetery.
Marriage and children
Charles Calvert married Charlotte Augusta Norris (1816–1876) in Baltimore on June 6, 1839. They had six children:[4]
- Ella Calvert (1840–1902). Ella married Duncan George Campbell on September 3, 1861.
- George Henry Calvert II (1841–1919), married Frances Seybolt on December 26, 1872.
- Charles Baltimore Calvert (1843–1906), married Eleanor Mackubin (1840–1932) in Baltimore on June 14, 1866.
- William Norris Calvert (1845–1889), married Laura Mathilda Hunt (1855–1921) on March 12, 1888.
- Eugene Stier Calvert (1846–1894)
- Jules van Havre Calvert (1848–1849), died in infancy.
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />- Charles Benedict Calvert at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2009-03-31
External links
- Calvert Family Tree Retrieved Jul 10 2013
- The Calverts and Stiers of Riversdale Retrieved November 2010
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of the Maryland Agricultural College 1860 (acting) |
Succeeded by John Work Scott |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 6th congressional district March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 |
Succeeded by seat abolished |
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Retrieved November 2010
- ↑ Daily National Republican. "Respect to the Memory of the Late Hon. Charles B. Calvert." May 18, 1864: 1 (Second Edition).
- ↑ United States. Congress. Office of the Historian. Biographical Directory of the United States 1774 - Present. Office of the Historian. http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp (accessed December 7, 2012).
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Pages using duplicate arguments in template calls
- Pages with reference errors
- 1808 births
- 1864 deaths
- Members of the Maryland House of Delegates
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
- American people of Belgian descent
- University of Maryland, College Park benefactors
- Presidents of the University of Maryland, College Park
- People of Maryland in the American Civil War
- People from Riverdale Park, Maryland
- University of Virginia alumni
- Calvert family
- Maryland Unionists
- Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives
