Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (October 14, 1833 – January 13, 1911) served seven terms as Mayor of Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland during the 19th century.

Latrobe was born in Baltimore, the son of John H.B. Latrobe and Virginia Charlotte Clairborne, and the grandson of the American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. He was educated at the College of St. James in Washington County, Maryland

Washington County, Maryland

Washington County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering southern Pennsylvania to the north, northern Virginia to the south, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to the south and west. As of the 2010 Census, its population is 147,430...

. After serving as clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore and as counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 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 Governor Thomas H. Hicks, and assisted in reorganizing the Maryland militia under the Act of 1868, of which he was the author.

He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates

Maryland House of Delegates

The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

 in 1867, serving until 1872, and was Speaker of the House

Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates

The Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates presides as speaker over the House of Delegates in the state of Maryland in the United States.-List of Speakers of the House of Delegates:- References :*...

 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

Gunpowder River

The Gunpowder River is a tidal inlet on the western side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the joining of two freshwater rivers, Gunpowder Falls and Little Gunpowder Falls.-Gunpowder Falls:The Big Gunpowder, long, begins in the extreme southern part of Pennsylvania's...

 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

Thomas Swann

Thomas Swann was an American politician. Initially a Know-Nothing, and later a Democrat, he served as mayor of Baltimore , as the 33rd Governor of Maryland , and as U.S...

, who was formerly Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland

Governor of Maryland

The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

. They had one son, Thomas, before she died in 1865. Latrobe married Ellen Primrose in 1880 and together they had three children: Charlotte Virginia (b. 1881), Ellen Virginia (b. 1883), and Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, Jr., (b. 1889).

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
  Baltimore Orioles
  The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
  
  , 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