Bios: Sketch of Samuel Bayard Foard from The Cecil Whig, Elkton, 1881: Cecil Co., MD Transcribed and contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Cyndie Enfinger < cyndiee@tampabay.rr.com > *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** The Cecil Whig Saturday, March 26, 1881 SAMUEL BAYARD FOARD Death of a Prominent Citizen A Sketch of the History of an Old and Representative Cecil County Family. Death is rapidly decimating the ranks of the little company, whom courtesy and the distinction of age dignify as the fathers and mothers of this community. Under the pressure of accumulated years, these human links that bind the present and the past snap unexpectedly asunder. The number of those who, by reason of strength have reached fourscore, is indeed small, while comparatively few even survive, whose lives can be measured by the Scriptural limit of threescore and ten years. The record of Samuel B. Foard’s life has just closed. To his family and to his friends alike, its termination is as unwelcome as it was unexpected. On Sunday evening, the 13th instant, Mr. Foard was attacked with what at the time seemed an ordinary case of cholera-morbus. On Monday his indisposition seemed scarcely to warrant the calling of a physician Dr. Mitchell, however, visited him on that day by request, his condition not exciting either his or the apprehension of his family. On Tuesday, suggestive symptoms of pneumonia appeared, but not of an alarming character. Scarcely twenty-four hours had elapsed, however, before that dreaded disease had fully developed its presence, and which, by Thursday, baffled human skill. On Friday evening, while the majority of the citizens of the town were ignorant even of his illness, the end came. His remains were interred by the side of those of his wife. In Forrest Church Cemetery near Middletown, Del., on Tuesday, Dr. R. C. Mackall, Arthur W. Mitchell, James T. McCullough, John Partridge, Samuel McIntire, and William C. Crow acting as pall-bearers. Samuel Bayard Foard was one of the most esteemed representatives of an old and respectable Cecil county family. He was the oldest son and the second child of a family of four, the children of Levi George Foard, of Bohemia Manor. He was born on the 29th of November, 1807, in the homestead at St. Augustine, still in the occupancy of the family of his deceased brother, the late Richard J. Foard. His only sister, Ann Maria Foard, was the first born of the children of Levi George Foard, the date of her birth being Feb. 3, 1805. She married Lambert D. Nowland, of this county, their only child, Dr. Edward L. Nowland, now being a practicing physician at Middletown, Del. Mrs. Nowland, after the decease of her husband at Chesapeake City, where he was a justice of the peace at the time of his death, removed to Elkton, where she resided with her brother Samuel until her death, July 4, 1869. The next younger brother of Samuel B. Foard, was Richard James Foard, born April 8, 1811. He married Miss Susan Jefferson, of New Castle county, Del., a most estimable lady, who still survives him at St. Augustine. Richard James Foard left a family of seven children-Samuel B. Foard; Jefferson B. Foard, now a prominent business man at Middletown, Del.; Mrs. Annie B. Bean, wife of Lucien Bean, formerly of Georgia, now of Massey’s, Kent county, Md,; Mrs. Ella A. B. Pratt, wife of Frank Pratt, of Chestertown, Md.; M. Addie Foard, Richard J. Foard, and Susan Foard. Richard J. Foard inherited the affability and genial manner of his family, and was a popular Democrat of his day. He was a cordial-hearted and bright-witted man.-Personally, he was exceedingly popular. He was honored by several public positions, having been in succession County Commissioner in 1845, judge of the Orphans’ Court in 1848, and a member of the State Legislature in 1849 and again in 1854, Hiram McCullough representing this county in the Senate in the former and John M. Miller in the latter year. He died in September, 1854. Edward Levi Foard, the third and youngest son of Levi George Foard, was born March 23, 1818. He was, as a young man, handsome in person and pleasing in his address. Like his brother Richard, he possessed the social qualifications for a successful politician. They were on opposite sides in politics, Edward L. Foard being an ardent Whig. After a memorable contest, he was elected by the Whigs to the sheriffalty of the county in 1842. He married Miss Henry, of Delaware City, to whom four children were born, all of whom are living-Ann Bayard Maxwell, wife of Captain George Maxwell, of Delaware City; Josephine, Louisa, and Richard H. Foard, the latter now resident in Elkton. Levi George Foard, the father of Samuel B. Foard, was popularly called Captain during his life-time, from the fact that he had recruited and commanded a company of cavalry on Bohemia Manor during the war of 1812-14. He was a genial man of easy business habits, and was born at the Foard homestead, the residence of his father-Richard B. Foard,-about three miles south of Elkton, on Jan. 16, 1779. He had one other brother, James Foard, and one sister, Mary Foard, the first wife of Nathan Boulden, of New Castle county, Del. Mr. Boulden survived his first wife many years, long enough at least to marry five other wives, six in all making his matrimonial complement. One helpmate, his sixth wife, at last outlived him, Mrs. Van Vranklin, wife of Dr. Van Vranklin, of Rutger’s College, New Jersey, being still living. Captain Levi G. Foard married Ann Bayard-after whose family his son, Samuel B. Foard, was named-on April 8, 1804. Mrs. Ann Bayard Foard was a daughter of a prominent citizen and extensive landholder of Bohemia Manor-Samuel Bayard, who died May 10, 1806. He was one of the numerous descendants of Colonel Augustine Herman, the original proprietor of Bohemia Manor, and whose posterity now so numerous in that, and the adjoining sections of Delaware, embrace so many perplexing degrees of family relationship. No family was ever blessed with a more devoted or exemplary mother than Ann Bayard Foard proved herself. It is no reflection upon her husband to say that she was a woman of much more force of character than he was as a man, which her devotion to their children and her Christian example amply testified. There are numbers living who pleasurably recall the beneficial influence her piety exerted in her vicinity, and the rare exhibition of Christian fortitude and resignation shown by her at her death, which occurred at St. Augustine, while under the Rectorship of the Rev. John Wiley, of St. Stephen’s Church, in Sassafras Neck. Mrs. Ann Bayard Foard had two sisters, Francina and Sara Bayard. The former married Samuel Wirt, father of Doctor John W. Wirt, of Bohemia Manor, the second husband of Mrs. Margaret Mitchell, widow of the late Rev. H. B. Mitchell, now residing in Elkton, and mother of the late lamented Henry B. Wirt. Mrs. Samuel Wirt after the death of her first husband, married-about the year 1818-Mr. Benj. Wesley Harris, a highly respected citizen of Bohemia Manor, and who for a number of years presided as one of the Judges of the Orphans’ Court of the county. The third and youngest daughter of Samuel Bayard, the maternal grandfather of Samuel B. Foard, was Sarah Bayard, who married John Thompson Wirt, of the U. S. Army, Their children were Samuel H. B. Wirt, for a number of years a merchant of this town. Ann Wirt, who married James Warner, both of whom are now living at St. Augustine, and Francina Wirt, who married Henry Kilder, a well known citizen of the Manor. Richard Bolden Foard, (the name being spelled without the letter u,) the paternal grandfather of Samuel Bayard Foard, owned and died possessed of the tract of land, near the old Universalist Church, in the Second district, of which his grandson subsequently became owner. He died in the Summer of 1806, his will being filed on September 4th of that year, in which he devised to his two sons, Levi George and James Foard, his entire estate. Levi G. Foard succeeded to its ownership, and after his death Samuel B. Foard purchased the interest of his two brothers-Richard J. and Edward Levi-in the same, the interest of his sister, Ann Maria, being bought by Robert Cochran, and the title therein conveyed to his daughter, Alice Rebecca Foard. Samuel B. Foard’s marriage to Miss Alice Rebecca Cochran, was celebrated on the 23rd day of February, 1830. She was a sister of Ex-Governor John P. Cochran, of Delaware, and a lady of unusual amiability of disposition, who, during the period of her married life, endeared herself to every one who shared her friendship. She was a devout Christian, a devoted mother and a sincere friend. After the removal of the family to Elkton, in 1851, she became a confirmed invalid, being confined constantly to her room for a long period, and until her death, which occurred on the 24th of August, 1854. Previous to his marriage, Mr. Foard, while quite a young man, engaged in mercantile pursuits in Elkton, being employed as a clerk by the late Levi H. Evans, brother of Dr. Amos A. Evans, who transacted a lucrative business in the store house, a portion of which is now occupied by John Perkins. Mr. Evans was succeeded in business, in the year 1829, by Zebulon Rudolph and William Torbert, under the firm name of Rudolph & Torbert. William Torbert continued business in the same location for a number of years, and until his retirement in 1861. Among Samuel B. Foard’s contemporaries was Col. G. R. Howard, who at the same time clerked for John Sharpley, a local Methodist preacher, who did business at the old brick store house, now occupied by Roger Witworth. Jonathan R. Torbert, brother of Wm. Torbert, and father of the late Gen. A. T. A. Torbert, whose recent untimely death by the sinking of the steamer Vera Cruz excited so general an expression of sympathy all over the country, also clerked for Mr. Sharpley, and was an intimate associate of Samuel B. Foard’s. As young men they were great social favorites, the recollection of many mirthful moments of their earlier lives having been frequently recalled by Mr. Foard, and recited by him to the writher. From 1830, the date of his marriage, until 1851, Mr. Foard resided upon his farm. He had, however, in the meantime been several times invested with the responsibility of public position. In 1834, he was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners, his associates being William Mackey, John R. Francis, and Johnson Simpers. He was re-elected to the same position in 1836, with Samuel Gay, Johnson Simpers, Thomas C. Crookshanks and Wm. M. Townsend. In 1838, he was elected to the House of Delegates of Maryland, under the administration of Governor Wm. Grason, with whom he was personally intimate. On the 20th of March, 1841, he was commissioned by Governor Grason, Judge of the Orphan’s court, with Joseph Coudon and Wm. M. Townsend. Some differences of opinion having arisen to disturb the perfect harmony of the court, Mr. Foard vacated this judicial position, his last sitting with his associates being on December 17, 1841. In the following Spring, William H. Gilpin, William Torbert and Benedict Craddock were commissioned their successors. In 1851, the year of his removal to Elkton, he engaged in mercantile pursuits with Edmund Brown, under the firm of Brown & Foard, in the old brick store house that then stood upon the site on Main street, on which the “Hurn” block now stands.-This partnership continued for two years. Mr. Foard afterwards engaged in the lumber and grain trade with Mr. John G. Aldridge, now of Chicago, Ill., purchasing the stock and lumber yard of the late James S. Purnell, on the lot on North street, on which now stands the residence of Wm. J. Jones, Esq., and The Cecil Whig office.-Several years later, in 1863, he engaged in the same trade with his son-in-law, H. D. M. Howard, on the lot now owned by Scott & Bro. This partnership lasted for three years. Afterwards he associated with him his son, Samuel B. Foard, Jr., succeeding the firm of Reese & Foard, in which S. B. Foard, Jr., had been a partner, and engaged as S. B. Foard & Son, in general merchandising. He relinquished this business in 1871, and was shortly afterwards appointed Notary Public, having been subsequently, in 1876, appointed Justice of the Peace, an office held by him at the time of his death, he also having been for a number of years one of the Board of Trustees of the Elkton Academy. Mr. Foard’s children were five in number. Robert Levi Foard, his eldest son, after reading law in the office of the late Col. John C. Groome, and being admitted to the Bar of Cecil county in the Autumn of 1852, removed to Columbus, Texas, where he is now engaged in the practice of his profession. Anna Rebecca Foard, his eldest daughter, and married to the Hon. John M. Miller, the present State Senator from this county, on June 9, 1853. Laura V. Foard, the wife of Charles L. Boulden, married September 29, 1858, now residing with her husband in Elkton. Lavinia M. Howard, lately deceased, wife of H. D. M. Howard; and Samuel B. Foard, Jr., all resident in Elkton. Few men of his generation started life with more flattering prospects than Samuel B. Foard, to whose memory, in addition to the duty we owe him as a public journalist, we wish to add our tribute of personal esteem and regard. Samuel B. Foard was possessed of many noble qualities of manhood. As a friend, he was unselfish, generous and sympathetic. As a parent, he was considerate, kind and indulgent. If the kindly impulses that characterized him were inconsistent with the aggressive spirit that impels men in the rivalries and competitions of business, and the greedy selfishness too generally prevalent, he holds no lower place in our esteem, as the possessor of a higher order of qualities, less appreciated possibly by the unreflective, but none the less challenging and deserving our regard. To say that he had faults is but to declare him human. Whatever they were they were not more numerous, or of higher degree, than those shared in common by his fellow men. He was or lifetime friend, and with those who shared his friendship, we now join in honoring his memory.