The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-01-25
THE DrArn or rx-ooy. rnos.s
One oil Maryland's Favorite sons Killed on n
Railroad Track.

BALTIMORE, Jan. A-On Saturday nfter-
noon the engineer Of the Western EXPRESS train
on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad discovered
on the seventeen-mile grade near Oakland, Md,
the body OF q man lying between the two tracks
II was soon Identified a. that Of ex.Gov Frank
thomas. IL was not mutilatcd, and the only
mark " violence was a brulse on the head. The
Governor had last been seen am ong his work
men, who were preparing shelter for some
sheep he had recently brought from Peru The
day was foRgy one. and II Is supposed that the
Governor. in stepping from one track to the
other t. escape coming traiu. was struck 10y
locomotive coming In tho opposite direction.
Gov. Thomas wa- In his 9Th year. having been
born on the Ri of February. l7pa, I'm Frederick
county. Md. lie graduated at 81. johns College.
Annapolis. and at the age ~ q was admitted to
the tar. Tie was "A man Of nne personal appear
ancc. pleasing manners, "A cultivated mind and
"A splendid voice. lie represented his district In
the STATE LEGISLATURE from iss2 TO iS,,, and also
IN ltGN, whtn he was chosen Sne ker of the
House. In 1850 he WIS President Of tho Chesa-
pc.kc and OHIO Canal; from 1871 to 1871 he was
III Congress-, and again from 1881 to 1883. In 1871
he was elected Governor of MARYLAND aud In
lsN ne was delegate to the state Constitutional
Convention.
just after rhomass election as Governor. he
had an unfortunate dificulty with his wife,
which eliminated In a divorce. Previous to the
election he fought n duel with william Price.
now dead. but once United states District At
t1rney. The meeting took place near Berkeley
springs. not far from Hagerstown. Neither waa
hurt. and In after years they became fast friends
When the LAKE cNil war broke out GOV.
Thomas. then In his sixty-nrst year, delivered
speech IN the Front Street Theatre, Baltimore.
which inspired the Union sentiment OF tho
- ite. was echoed over the length and breadth
OF the land, and did much toward strengthen-
ing trc trio. ic feeling Of the county. la that
speech he said that, although a MarNlandet. and
the son ~ Shareholder, serving In the position
OF the chief Magistrate OF the state, he has al
ways ayerred tnat he would use his influence to
exclude slavery from any new state.
The GoyernOr WIS great hdmirer Of Abraham
Lincoln, and when the President pressed upon
the BORDER state Congress sulen the question OF
gradual nnd compensated emancipation, he
gave IL strong support.
lie voted Tor the Thirteenth Amendment in
the Thirty eighth Congress, and In the lhirty-
ninth for the Fourteenth Amendment, the civil
Rights bill, the Reconstruction melsures. The
inpeachmcnt OF Andrew Johnson. and In fact
favored all tho Republican measures growing
out OF the late war.
When he retired from tho Fortieth Congress
he was appointed Minister to Peru. and this was
the only diplomatic position he ever held. ON
returning to baltimore lust summer he told bis
friends that he had left the field Of politics for
ever. and tnat he would spend the rest Of his
ife in peace and tranquility In hts mountain
home.