Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe

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

Latrobe was born in Baltimore, the grandson of the American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. He was educated at the College of St. James in Washington County, Maryland. After serving as clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore, 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 in 1867, serving until 1872, and was Speaker of the House in 1870.

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.

Latrobe was the son-in-law of Thomas Swann, who was formerly Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland.

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)