CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Benjamin H. Latrobe, Father of John H. B. CHAPTER II. From 1803 to 1818-Date of Mr. Latrobe's CHAPTER III. Life at West Point 1818-1821... CHAPTER VI. American Colonization... 139 CHAPTER VII. Mr. Latrobe as a Lawyer-Friends and Acquaintances Baltimore in 1824.. 172 CHAPTER VIII. Courtship and Marriage of Mr. Latrobe and 227 238 CHAPTER IX. Description of Montpelier-University of Virginia-Monticello and the White Sulphur Springs, as Mr. Latrobe saw them in 1832.... CHAPTER X. Mr. Latrobe's Marriage to Miss ClaiborneShort Account of her Family-The "Claiborne Rebellion." 260 CHAPTER XI. Life after Second Marriage-Acquaintances and Clients-Friendship with Charles Harper and his Estrangement due to His Marriage The Settlement of the Controversy over the Will and Codicil of Charles Carroll of Carrollton.... ... 284 CHAPTER XII. Trip to New Orleans by Sea and Return by Land, 1834-Raiders and Natchez Trip-New Orleans and the Quadroon Ball-Trip in 1835 to New Orleans and Return with Wife to White Sulphur Springs.. CHAPTER XIII. History of Mr. Latrobe's great Client, The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and its Conflict with the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company for the Valley of the Potomac. 302 320 CHAPTER XIV. Acquaintances formed by Mr. Latrobe after 1830 and Students who Studied in His Office-Directors of the Union Bank and Counsel-Bank Riots, 1835...... 364 CHAPTER XV. The Maryland Institute The Maryland Historical Society-Latrobe Justice's Practice-MasonryJ. P. Kennedy-Painter-Greenmount-Mr. Latrobe's Poetic Talent.... CHAPTER XVI. The Fireplace Heater-Experiences in Politics— CHAPTER XVII. Trip to Europe in 1857-Counsel for the tract with Choctaws and Chickasaws, 1868.... Latrobe Genealogy.. Topical Index. 412 442 469 529 548 575 581 597 ILLUSTRATIONS Color Plates are indicated by an asterisk *PORTRAIT OF JOHN H. B. LATROBE. Painted by Thomas Sully. Frontispiece CAPITAL OF CORINTHIAN COLUMN. Showing Ears of Corn, 12 Designed by B. H. Latrobe for the Capitol in Washington 10 CAPITAL OF CORINTHIAN COLUMN. Showing Native Tobacco Plant Leaves, designed by B. H. Latrobe for the Capitol THOMAS JEFFERSON. Drawn by B. H. Latrobe.... *MONTICELLO. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.... 14 48 A SILHOUETTE OF JOHN H. B. LATROBE AND PENCIL SKETCH 96 124 GOLD MEDAL WON BY JOHN H. B. LATROBE. In Competition 126 164 MRS. WARING AS MARGARET. In "A New Way to Pay Old 186 THE ELDER BOOTH AS SIR GILES OVERREACH. Drawn by 188 *LOUISVILLE (UPPER LANDING), 1832. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.... 204 *LANDING AT THREE RIVERS, 1830. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.... 236 *WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, 1832. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe...... 242 *LAWN OF THE WHITE SULPHUR, WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, 1832. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.... 248 *BALTIMORE COTTAGES, WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe...... 254 *DINING ROOM, STAGE OFFICE, ETC., AT THE WHITE SULPHUR, 1832. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.... *JOHN H. B. LATROBE WITH THE CLAIBORNE FAMILY AT BOTETOURT SPRINGS, VIRGINIA. By himself... WESTERN BLOCK HOUSE, FORT ARMSTRONG ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Drawn by John H. B. Latrobe.... FORT SNELLING, ST. PETER'S, ON THE MISSISSIPPI. Drawn by John H. B. Latrobe. 258 ... 262 270 274 *PORTRAIT OF MRS. JOHN H. B. LATROBE. Painted by Thomas Sully...... ... 280 *CINCINNATI (LOOKING UP THE OHIO), 1832. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe... 302 *NEAR THE WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe...... 308 340 ... 426 *FALLS OF THE KENAWHA. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.... 318 JOHN H. B. LATROBE AT THE AGE OF 76..... LADY'S HAND AND ARM. Drawn by John H. B. Latrobe in his 15th year... *ILLUSTRATION FOR THE NOVEL "HORSE SHOE ROBINSON," BY JOHN P. KENNEDY. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe..... 436 HEATER INVENTED BY JOHN H. B. LATROBE. Known as the Latrobe Stove.............. 442 COAT OF ARMS OF THE LATROBES. 448 THE WALHALLA ON THE DANUBE. Drawn by John H. B. 458 OUTLINE OF THE HORIZON AT ROME. Drawn by John H. B. Latrobe..... 468 *PASS OF JAMES RIVER, 2 MILES BELOW BALCONY FALLS. *FALLS OF THE OHIO. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe.. 514 WASSILY AND PIOTTER. Servants of John H. B. Latrobe.... 526 RECEIPT GIVEN TO JOHN H. B. LATROBE. As one of the Subscribers to the first Telegraph Company ever Organized.. 548 *MEMPHIS, MISSISSIPPI, 1832. Painted by John H. B. Latrobe. 560 JOHN H. B. LATROBE AND HIS TIMES 1803-1891 CHAPTER I BENJAMIN H. LATROBE, FATHER OF JOHN H. B. LATROBE ARRIVES IN THIS COUNTRY, 1796-DIFFERENCE IN TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION, DUE TO STEAM AND ELECTRICITY-THE CIVILIZATION OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY OWES ITS GREAT ADVANCEMENT TO THIS-THE ELDER LATROBE ARCHITECT OF CAPITOL-SOCIAL LIFE IN WASHINGTON-FIRST TRIP BY STEAMBOAT DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1812, MADE BY NICHOLAS J. ROOSEVELT AND LYDIA LATROBE, HIS WIFE, THE SISTER OF JOHN H. B. LATROBE FULTON'S CLAIM AS INVENTOR OF STEAMBOAT John H. B. Latrobe was the eldest son of his father's second marriage. He was born in Philadelphia on the 4th of May 1803, and died on the 11th of September 1891, at the age of eighty-eight. His father, Benjamin H. Latrobe, was born in England in 1764. His first wife was Lydia Sellen, whom he married in 1790. She died in 1793, leaving two children, Henry S. and Lydia; and two years later Mr. Latrobe sailed for America, embarking on Christmas Day, 1795. He reached Norfolk on the 17th of March 1796, almost four months from the date of his leaving England. In those days the world moved slowly. No change had been made in methods of transportation and communication prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It took as long to travel from Paris to London in 1810, as it did in the time of Julius Caesar. The nineteenth century |