served in the session of 1878. His course in that body was marked by great independence, and he was ever active in promoting legislation for the betterment of his county and State. Mr. Cox served for the term of four years as cashier of customs under the first administration of President Cleveland; he was at all times active in the local affairs of his county and in 1885 was elected to the office of county commissioner. For a number of years Mr. Cox was not actively engaged in the practice of his profession, devoting himself to the care of his plantation which was one of the largest and finest in that section. He was deeply interested in the agricultural development of Southern Maryland and was a frequent contributor of valuable articles along this line.

Mr. Cox was twice married and leaves surviving him a widow, two daughters and one son, Capt. Walter Cox of the United States Army. Mr. Cox was of that type of gentleman which has long made Southern Maryland famous for its hospitality, courtesy and courage, and, while a man of strong opinions, was ever open to conviction.

He died at his home, Rich Hill, after a long and painful illness in May, 1906.

EBEN J. D. CROSS.

Eben J. D. Cross, the second son of Richard and Mary Jackson Dickey Cross, was born in Baltimore on December 28, 1838. His father's family were Scotch-Irish, his grandfather, John Cross, having come from the North of Ireland in 1740 to Cecil County, where he opened a school; his mother's family were Scotch, and settled in Philadelphia some time before the Revolutionary War. The vigorous intellect and deep religious feeling peculiar to the Scotch strain were strongly asserted in him. He was during the last twenty years of his life an elder in Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church.

In his early youth he attended an academy founded by his family. It was during this period that began the development of that side of his character which was undoubtedly the most conspicuous of all, namely, his love of culture and seemingly unlimited acquaintance with literature. As a mere boy he read everything in sight, and this habit clung to him during the rest of his life. The late John H. B. Latrobe once said, "It is useless to ask Cross if he has read any certain book, for he has read them all." To men by nature less gifted in one respect than was "Judge" Cross, such omnivorous reading might be in part unprofitable. His memory, however, was remarkable-"a memory like Macaulay's" said the late John K. Cowen, in speaking of it. He seemed never to have forgotten any book he had ever read, as regarded either general outline or minute detail. And his faculty for ready, apt and exact quotation was striking.

He entered Princeton in 1856 and was graduated with honors in 1860. Though a diligent student, distinguishing himself, as he did in mathematics, he yet took time from the close application to his books, to cultivate the human side by intimate contact with those of his college-mates less studiously inclined. He is well remembered by his classmates as somewhat of a leader in innocent and wholesome college pranks, and for a spirit of bonhommie, which, though dignified, in after life, by the seriousness that comes with man's estate, never lost its lustre or its genuine spontaneity. His love for literature led him to take an active interest in Whig Hall, one of the literary and debating societies of Princeton.

After studying law in the office of Brown and Brune, he came to the bar in 1863, and took offices with Lewis Fisher in the old Taney residence on Lexington street. At first he met with the usual experience of great time for study, which he profitably employed in the reading of law books, thus acquiring a foundation in the law which later proved to be of immense value. During this period he also collaborated with Lewis Fisher and Lewis Mayer in the preparation of the

Code of 1878. When the late John K. Cowen came to Baltimore to take charge of the legal affairs of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the two formed a partnership; and this relation, founded in the bond of Princeton fellowship and cemented by affinities of temperament and mentality, continued up to Mr. Cowen's death in 1904.

A legal instinct absorbed, so to speak, from a broad and intelligent study of the law, a knowledge of affairs and of men acquired by wide reading and close observation, a fertile and comprehensive but well-ordered imagination that could forecast contingencies in new problems, a memory for details and an accurate sense of their relative importance, contributed to the equipment which pre-eminently fitted him for the rôle of the counsellor, and one to whom could be safely entrusted the preparation of legal documents relating to important interests; whilst his diplomacy and adroitness endowed him with ability as a negotiator. He was resourceful at the trial table and thoroughly versed in points of practice; was especially adept at conducting equity litigation, and possessed a power of forceful and comprehensive presentation.

His ambitions were for others rather than for himself. The success or achievements of his friends pleased him far more than did his own, and his interest in the progress of the younger members of the bar was a delight to himself and a stimulus to them. Though associated, through his professional abilities, with many public and business affairs, his distaste or self-prominence did not permit him to be conspicuously identified with them. He was active in charitable work, but in the same unostentatious manner.

Of a retiring disposition, and known best to those nearest him, his cordiality, gracious manners and mental hospitality, nevertheless, made him always approachable to the stranger, and a most congenial companion to his friends. His captivating personality was supplemented by an unfailing spirit of mirth, a spirit so flexible that, in its manifestations, it ranged from the scintillations of wit to the absurdities of the

grotesque. He was quick to catch the humor in any situation, if humor there existed, and gave expression to it in such a quaint and original fashion that it never failed to be effective, either as a means of forcible illustration or to whatever other good purpose it might be put. His sense of dignity, however, always confined the indulgence of this gift to what was appropriate to the occasion; and the gentleness of his nature never permitted it to take the form of ridicule, His motives in all things were those which proceed from a sense of justice and a heart full of charity-those appertaining to the Christian gentleman. His acts of generosity, many in number and varied in form, are remembered best by the recipients, for his modesty shrunk from any publication of his good deeds. His affectionate disposition enlisted the love and loyalty of his friends, and his principles and conduct commanded the admiration of all who knew him.

The untiring industry and virile enthusiasm that characterized all his professional work were, in a measure, responsible for his first stroke of paralysis some five years before his death. A recovery from this enabled him soon to get back into harness and gratify his love for the law. But the hope entertained by his friends of a permanent recovery was short-lived. A second stroke disabled him from further active work, though he always cherished the hope of again returning to it, and a third resulted in his death on May 2, 1906.

He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Clara Brown, daughter of the late Chief Judge George William Brown. They had one child that died in infancy. His second wife was Miss Anne Dickey. She and two sons, Francis Ralston and Eben Jackson, survive him. His home life was ideally happy.

WILLIAM H. DEWEESE.

William H. Deweese of Denton, Caroline County, Maryland, died at Laurel, Maryland, at the sanitarium of his brother, Dr. Cornelius Deweese, on Wednesday, February 6, 1907, after a lingering illness.

Mr. Deweese was born on a farm near Burrisville in Caroline County, where he spent his early boyhood. He attended the public schools near his home and then went to the Denton Academy. In 1888 he became a student at West Chester Normal School. After completing his course at West Chester he entered the Dickinson Law School, Carlisle. Pennsylvania, graduating therefrom in June, 1893.

In April of the same year he was admitted to the bar of Caroline County and began the practice of law there. In the fall following he was appointed counsel to the board of county commissioners, and in 1895 was nominated for State's attorney on the Democratic ticket and elected, enjoying the distinction of being the youngest attorney ever elected to that office in his county. Mr. Deweese was identified with the organization of some of Denton's most important enterprises, notably, the Peoples National Bank, the Law Building, the Citizens Light and Fuel Company. He was a leading spirit in the organization of the Caroline County Bank at Greensboro, of which he became president, remaining at its head until overtaken by ill health. Probably his greatest interest, however, outside of his profession was in agricul

ture.

In December, 1893, Mr. Deweese was married to Miss Natilla Powell Owens, daughter of the late Dr. Frederick J. Owens, of Harrington, Delaware. Five children were born of this union, three of whom-Wilfred, Mary and William H.-with their mother survive.

Mr. Deweese was a favorite pupil at Carlisle of the noted teacher and author, William Trickett, then and now dean of the Dickinson Law School. The close relations which were