The Portland daily press., 1897-12-14
GRENVlLLE LOUD.
Suicide of q We'll Known Baltimore nYer.
chant; Native of Portland

The Baltimore American of Friday con
tains an account of the suicide of Mr..
Granville Loud, of the firm of Loud,
Claridge & Co., well-known ship chand-
lers of that city Mr.. Loud had been In
low spirits for some time past, and no
doubt committed the deed in one of his
fits of melancholy. A revolver was the
weaponsand the fatal shot was fired while
he was on his bed at his own home. His
son heard the shot and Immediately went
to his room, but he was dying and life
was extinct before a physician arrived.
Mr.. Loud was born in Portland 81
years ago. He olerked with Pomeroy &
Loud, ship brokers of Portland, and at
forwards became member of the firm.
He went to Baltimore in 1859, and
clerked with, Charles M. jackson Il Co.
In 1896 the firm of Loud, Ciaridge & Co.,
was formed. For years their place OF
business was at the southeast corner OF
Gay and Pratt streets. Mr.. Joseph r.
Claridge died August 20, 1886. A widow,
a son, named Herbert, and daughter,
named Miriam, survive Mr.. Loud. He
had been Master Mason, and was at
one time librarian of the Second Presby-
terrain church on East Baltimore street.
Mr.. Loud was well known in every part
Of America and his "reminiscences OF
American shipping covered q period OF
SO years.
During the sixties and seventies, when
American casErr vaccalc IotfaG tho caoo
the firm of Loud. Claridge & Co., owned
66 ships. barks, briggs and schooners.
When American shipping was at the
height of Its glory, and as many as seven
ty deep.sea sailing vessels were in Balti-
more at one time, Loud, Claridge s. Co.,
were leading ship chambers. They sup
piled ships bound to or from Chilli, Brazil.
River Platte the West Indies and the
East Indies, when the harbor was crowd
ed with ships discharging guano, sugar
molasses, hides and coffee, and carrying
away oil, grain, lumber and provisions.
herself on her first voyage.
When American shipping was swept
from the seas in the seventies, the inter-
ests of Loud, Claridge & Co., in sailing
vessels, suffered the depression that
affected all. Nearly all the feet in which
they were'interested was gradually sold,
wrecked or burned, and the supremacy
of other nations on the seas made t
Improbable to build American vessels.
The ship ohandlery business of the firm
has always been prosperous.
Mr.. William Allen, Jr.. who was well
acquainted with Mr.. Loud, writes to the
PRESS as follows:
Mr.. Loud was we'll known to the older
residents Of Portland. In the forties he
was clerk for Messrs. Jones Il Hammond.
ship chambers The firm was composed
of Thomas R. Jones and VIM. Hammond,
and they were the leading dealers In that
line in the state at that tirne They
der the old Bethel building near the foot
Of Exchange street, for many years Mr.
Loud afterward became memb Der of the
firm. He then entered the firm of Ponce
roy u Loud and in 1852 he went to Balti-
more. From the day that he started in
business in Baltimore, down to the day
of his death, his warm greeting, his kind
assistance when needed and the glad
hand, was always extended to any per-
son that hailed from the State of Maine
Mr. Loud always retained lively inter
est in his native city and state, and his
many friends, including thousands of our
Maine boys, that went to the front dur
ing the Civil War, will recall the many
acts of kindness shown to them by him,
at a time when "a friend in need was a
friend indeed" At the time of the great
fire in PortIand in 1866, when help was
called for, he did not forget that he was
Portland boy. A ktnd-hearted, gent
al, generous, whole-souled man, he won
the affection of all that came in contact
with him. His sad ending gives shock
to all those who knew him SO we'll, and
have passed SO many pleasant hours with
him. Mr.. Loud leaves sister, who re-
sides with her uncle, Mr.. Benjamin G.
Somerby of this city. OF MIR. Loud it
truly may be said:
eff there's another world, he lives, in
bliss,
And if there's none, he made the most of
this