| Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe | |
| Order: | 26th |
| Office: | Mayor of Baltimore |
| Term Start: | 1891 |
| Term End: | 1895 |
| Predecessor: | Robert C. Davidson |
| Successor: | Alcaeus Hooper |
| Term Start2: | 1887 |
| Term End2: | 1889 |
| Predecessor2: | James Hodges |
| Successor2: | Robert C. Davidson |
| Term Start3: | 1883 |
| Term End3: | 1885 |
| Predecessor3: | William Pinkney Whyte |
| Successor3: | James Hodges |
| Term Start4: | 1878 |
| Term End4: | 1881 |
| Predecessor4: | George Proctor Kane |
| Successor4: | William Pinkney Whyte |
| Term Start5: | 1875 |
| Term End5: | 1877 |
| Predecessor5: | Joshua Van Sant |
| Successor5: | George Proctor Kane |
| Office6: | Member of the Maryland House of Delegates |
| Term Start6: | 1900 |
| Term End6: | 1901 |
| Alongside6: | Francis P. Curtis, William Duncan, Aloysius Leo Knott, Martin Lehmayer, John L. Sanford |
| Term Start7: | 1868 |
| Term End7: | 1872 |
| Alongside7: | George Colton, George A. Kirk, James L. McLane, John F. Wiley, Greenbury Wilson, G. Morris Bond, Michael A. Mullin, James Pentland, H. Tillard Smith |
| Birth Date: | 14 October 1833 |
| Birth Place: | Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Green Mount Cemetery Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | College of St. James |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 4 |
| Father: | John H. B. Latrobe |
| Relations: |
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| Signature: | Signature of Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (1833–1911).png |
Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (October 14, 1833 – January 13, 1911) was a seven-term Mayor of Baltimore, member of the Maryland House of Delegates and attorney during the 19th century.
Latrobe was born on October 14, 1833, at a house on South Gay Street in Baltimore. He was the son of patent lawyer and Latrobe stove ("Baltimore Heater") inventor John H. B. Latrobe and Virginia Charlotte Claiborne, and the grandson of the American architect and engineer Benjamin Henry Latrobe. In his mother's line, he was the grandson of General Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne and the great-nephew of William C. C. Claiborne, Governor of Mississippi, the Louisiana Territory, and the State of Louisiana. He was named after his grandfather, Ferdinand Claiborne.[1]
Latrobe was educated at the College of St. James in Washington County, Maryland. Latrobe worked as a clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore and as counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1858. He then studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar in Maryland in 1859.[1]
In 1860, Latrobe was appointed judge-advocate-general by then Governor of Maryland, Thomas H. Hicks and assisted in reorganizing the Maryland state militia under the Act of 1868, which he authored.
He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1867, serving from 1868 to 1872 representing Baltimore's 2nd district, and was Speaker of the House in 1870. While serving in the House he held the position of Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.[1] [2] In 1871, Latrobe became counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He would serve again as counsel for the railroad in 1885 and 1887 between his periods of political office.[1]
In 1875, he was elected Mayor of Baltimore and served until 1877. The same year, Latrobe and then Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll, were present throughout strikes and outbreaks of violence during the Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 that erupted in as part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.[3]
He served out the unexpired term of George Proctor Kane. He was reelected in 1879 and served two more terms until 1881. In 1883 he was again elected mayor, serving until 1885.[1] 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 was elected again to the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Baltimore's 2nd district, from 1900 to 1901. He served as speaker of the House of Delegates in 1901.[1] [2]
Latrobe served as president of the Consolidated Gas Company from 1901 to 1910.[1]
A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago ranked Latrobe as the twenty-seventh-best American big-city mayor to have served between the years 1820 and 1993.[4]
In 1861, Latrobe married Louisa Sherlock Swann, daughter of Thomas Swann, who was formerly Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland. They had one son, Swann. The child died before reaching manhood.[1] His wife she died in 1865. Latrobe married Ellen Penrose Swann, the widow of Thomas Swann, Jr., in 1880 and together they had three children: Ferdinande Charlotte (b. 1881), Ellen Virginia (b. 1883), and Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, Jr. (1889–1944).
Latrobe died on January 13, 1911, at his home at 904 North Charles Street in Baltimore. He had a Masonic funeral that was commanded by Grand Master Thomas J. Shryock. He was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.[5]