Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery

Ferdinand C. Latrobe papers- Biographical Note

Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe was born to John H. B. Latrobe, a well-known lawyer from Baltimore and Virginia Charlotte Claiborne on October 14, 1833 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the grandson of the famous architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Ferdinand received his education in public schools in Baltimore and at St. James College, an Episcopal private school founded in 1842, in Washington County, Maryland. At twenty-five, Latrobe, became counsel for the B&O Railroad. Two years later, he was admitted to the Maryland bar and married Louisa Sherlock Swann, the daughter of Thomas Swann and their son, Thomas Swann Latrobe, was born in 1863. Latrobe's first wife died in 1865 and Latrobe married Ellen Primrose in 1880. They had three children: Charlotte Virginia born in 1881, Ellen Virginia born in 1883, and Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe, Jr., born in 1889. Latrobe's first son from his earlier marriage died in 1894. In 1868 Latrobe was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and was Chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee. He authored the Act of 1868 which reorganized eleven regiments of the Maryland Militia. After serving for several years in the Maryland House, Latrobe was elected Mayor of Baltimore for the first time in 1875. Over the next twenty years, Ferdinand Latrobe served as Mayor of Baltimore seven times. Latrobe served on the board of Maryland State Aid and Board of Charities, the Board of Park Commissioners, and was a member of several arts and music organizations in Baltimore. Latrobe was an avid hunter and spent much of his leisure time at The Crimea, the country estate of Thomas DeKay Winans. Latrobe was also an enthusiastic breeder of Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.

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