Edwin Warfield

Edwin Warfield
45th Governor of Maryland
In office 1904–1908
Preceded by	John Walter Smith
Succeeded by	Austin Lane Crothers
Personal details
Born	May 7, 1848 Howard County, Maryland
Died	March 31, 1920(1920-03-31) (aged 71) Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Emma Nicodemus
Children	Edwin Jr., Carrie, Louise, and Emma
Religion	Presbyterian

Edwin Warfield (May 7, 1848 – March 31, 1920), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 45th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1904 to 1908.^[1]

Early life

Edwin Warfield was born to Albert G. Warfield and Margaret Gassaway Warfield at the "Oakdale" plantation in Howard County, Maryland. He received early education at the public schools of Howard County and at St. Timothy's Hall in Catonsville, Maryland. After the abolition of slavery in the United States, Warfield had to return home frequently to help run his family's estate. He also spent time as a teacher in the county schools, and, in his spare time, studied for admission to the bar. Warfield founded The Daily Record as a court and commercial paper in 1888. By his father he was a 3rd cousin to the Duchess of Windsor (née Bessie Wallis Warfield), wife of the abdicated king of the United Kingdom, Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor.^[2]

Political career

In 1874, Warfield was appointed to the office of Register of Wills for Howard County to fill a vacancy. He was elected to a full six-year term the following year, and served until 1881. He was appointed to the Maryland State Senate following the resignation of Arthur Pue Gorman to accept a higher office, was re-elected in 1883, and served as President of the Maryland State Senate during the 1886 session.

While in the Senate, Warfield began his own law practice in Ellicott City, Maryland, and purchased the "Ellicott City Times", where he served as editor from 1882 to 1886. He also founded a bank in the town, where he worked until 1890.

During the 1884 Presidential election, Warfield made significant contributions to the campaign of President Grover Cleveland in Maryland. Following the election of Cleveland, he appointed Warfield to serve as Surveyor of the Port of Baltimore beginning April 5, 1885. Warfield served in that position until May 1, 1890, after the Republicans returned to power. In 1890, Warfield married Emma Nicodemus, with whom he had three daughters and one son.

In 1890, after his removal from Surveyor, Warfield founded the Fidelity and Deposit Company, located later by 1894 in a landmark granite skyscraper at North Charles and West Lexington Streets in Baltimore where he served as president until his death. (It was one of the major, older, tall buildings that were spared razing in the re-development of the central downtown business district in the 1960s known as "Charles Center" and the building still exists today (2013). He was chosen as a delegate to the 1896 Democratic National Convention, but otherwise remained out of politics for nearly a decade.

In September 1903, because of his political and historical interests, he served as the main speaker and orator for the ceremonies dedicating the Lt. Col. William H. Watson (1808-1846) Monument, sponsored by the Maryland Association of Veterans of the Mexican War (1846-1848). He commanded the Battalion of Baltimore and the District of Columbia Volunteers in the American Army and died at the Storming of Monterrey in September 22, 1846. The 10-foot high bronze statue by local artist Edward Berge,(1876-1924), featured a granite pedestal and flanked by two captured Mexican Army mortars and was originally located in front of the new Maryland Institute, College of Art building later constructed across the street (just recently moved from its 1851 landmark structure atop old "Centre Market" at Market Place, alongside Jones Falls, which later was destroyed by the Great Baltimore Fire of February 7–8, 1904). The Monument was first sited at West Mount Royal Avenue and West Lanvale Street in the Bolton Hill/Reservoir Hill neighborhoods and was covered in the same U.S. flag that shrouded the body of the commander when it left Mexico. It was unveiled by his sole surviving child, a daughter - Monterey Watson Iglehart. The Watson Monument was moved later in 1930, several blocks to the northwest to West North Avenue and Mount Royal Terrace near the old entrance gateway to Druid Hill Park in 1930, because of a re-routing extension of North Howard Street proposed at its former site. (By the late 1960s, the pastoral second site was marred by the placement of an entrance ramp, alongside the old Park Gateway Pillars and the Watson Monument for the passing Jones Falls Expressway, Interstate 83)

Governor of Maryland

Warfield leading the 3rd Brigade in the inaugural parade of President Theodore Roosevelt, photographed by William H. Rau on March 4, 1905

Warfield chose to run for Governor of Maryland in 1899, but lost the Democratic nomination after he was opposed by influential Maryland politicians, including Arthur Pue Gorman. However, even though it was apparent the party bosses did not hold him in favor, he again sought the nomination in 1903. He was successfully nominated by the party, and defeated his Republican opponent, Stevenson A. Williams, by over 12,600 votes. He was inaugurated on January 13, 1904.

The most significant event of his tenure as Governor came when Arthur Pue Gorman, who had opposed Warfield's election, proposed the Gorman Amendment to the Maryland Constitution, which would have effectively disenfranchised all black voters in the state. The bill easily passed the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, but Warfield refused to sign the bill into law. While Warfield was in favor of some of the bill's provisions, such as denying the vote to the less-educated black voters of the state, he feared it would eventually lead to greater levels of disenfranchisement which could threaten all voters in the state. The bill was put before the public, and was defeated by 30,000 votes, a defeat to the party in which Warfield played a major role in. Warfield's actions in this affair further alienated him from the Democratic machine in Maryland, which was openly hostile towards him by the time he left office.

As governor, Warfield also favored the establishment of direct-voting for U.S. Senators. He argued this before the General Assembly in 1906, believing the power should be in the hands of the people. The direct election of senators eventually became national law with the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Other accomplishments as Governor included the authorization and approval in 1904 of an official state Flag of Maryland, (by using the design and colors on the shield of the Calvert family's coat-of-arms with a red-and-white cross with bottony (trefoil) of the Crosslands and the black-and-gold chevrons of the Calverts, each in two alternating quarters, like the shield. During the previous Civil War, the severely divided Border State used the two elements of the Maryland shield to represent their side of the War, (Unionists wore black/gold chevrons and Confederate Marylanders wore badges with red/white crosses on their uniforms. The return of a quartered flag and seal and shield represented a re-uniting of the "Old Line State" and was fostered by the newly re-organized militia as the Maryland National Guard flying the new/old Maryland flag. Another historical "final act" was the process to discover the where-abouts in Paris, France and have the return of the body of American Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones to the crypt under the newly constructed chapel at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the remodeling of the Maryland State House and the Old Senate Chamber to match its appearance when George Washington resigned his position in the Continental Army at the State House in December 1784. Warfield left office in January 1908.

Later life and legacy

After his tenure as Governor, Warfield returned to his previous activities. He became president of the Fidelity Trust Company, in addition to retaining his presidency at the Fidelity and Deposit Company. He also served as President of the Maryland Historical Society.

Warfield's health began to deteriorate in late 1919, and he was confined to his home in Baltimore during the last few months of his life. He died there, and was interred in his family burial ground at "Cherry Grove" in Howard County.

Warfield was eulogized by the Baltimore Sun not as a man who made definitive accomplishments, but for standing up to the Democratic machine and supporting the public interest, and for transforming the office of the Governor into an institution responsible to the public, not the party.

In Columbia, Maryland, Governor Warfield is remembered as one of the few persons to have a street named for him in the city. In the Columbia Town Center neighborhood, Governor Warfield Parkway runs along the west side of The Mall in Columbia for less than a mile between Little Patuxent Parkway. In 1914, a dredge named the Gov. Warfield helped to dig the Cape Cod Canal.

References

• Frank F. White, Jr., The Governors of Maryland 1777–1970 (Annapolis: The Hall of Records Commission, 1970), pp. 233–236.
• Maryland State Archives: Governor Edwin Warfield