Charles Edward Trail (January 28, 1825 – May 8, 1909) was a prominent

Frederick County, Maryland Frederick County is located in Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick, Maryland, Frederick. The county is part of the Washington metropolitan area, ...

, landowner, businessman and a member of the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...

, an officer in the 1st Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade as well as a member of the city council of

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

Early life

Charles Edward Trail was born on January 28, 1825, in

, to Edward Traill (sic, 1798 – 1876) and Lydia Ramsburg (1802 – 18?) in Frederick, Maryland. He had Scotch-Irish ancestry. The

1850 census The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons ...

records show that Trail was a young lawyer living with his parents in Frederick town. Trail received a classical education at Frederick College,and was admitted to the bar in 1849.

Career

In 1852, Trail was one of the founding incorporators for the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick Maryland. In the 1860 census, Trail was listed again as a lawyer but with property valued at $115,000, $US, a wife (Ariana), four children. The separate 1860 Slave census shows Trail with three slaves. That same year, Trail was elected president of the Isabella gas works company in Frederick, eventually becoming the sole stock holder. In August 1862, Trail was appointed lieutenant-colonel, 1st Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade. Seven companies of which were mustered into service and encamped in August near the turnpike, about a mile and a half north of Frederick. On October 15, 1869, President U.S. Grant and his party (including General Sherman) stayed in Frederick in 1869 while visiting the Antietam battleground. General Sherman stayed with Trail during the visit. Trail was a Republican. He served in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

, representing Frederick County, from 1863 to 1864. He served as a member of the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

, representing Frederick County, from 1865 to 1867. In 1870, he was president of the board of aldermen for the City of Frederick, a post he held for three years. That same year he was elected a director of the

Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Company The Frederick and Pennsylvania Line railroad ran from Frederick, Maryland to the Pennsylvania-Maryland State line, or Mason–Dixon line near Kingsdale, Pennsylvania consisting of of center-line track and of total track including sidings. Chart ...

and then President of the railroad in 1878. In 1878, Trail became president of the Farmers' and Mechanics' bank of Frederick County. The bank had been raided by Confederate troops during the Civil War and lost . In 1881, Trail was made a director for the Mutual Insurance company of Frederick County.

Personal life

In 1851, Trail married Ariana McElfresh, the daughter of one of the wealthiest landowners in Frederick, John H. McElfresh (1796 – 1841). Ariana's mother was the former Theresa Mantz. Her father was born near New Market, Frederick County, Maryland, the son of Henry and Ariana (Hammond) McElfresh and attended Frederick College; University of Maryland Medical School, 1817 as well as studying Medicine under Dr. L. T. Hammond, of Anne Arundel County, 1813 and then law under John Nelson of Frederick; admitted to the bar, 1825. They had four children, author Florence Trail, Ariana Teresa, Charles Bayard and Anna M. His wife died in 1892. On June 12, 1877, Trail was injured in a Baltimore & Ohio railroad train wreck at Point of Rocks by a train bound to Washington and Mt. Vernon. Five persons were killed outright, and a large number seriously injured when two passenger coaches filled with excursionists to Washington and Mt. Vernon were telescoped. Trail was rescued from the smashup by John C. Hardt & William S. Bennett. Trail died on May 8, 1909, at his home in Frederick, Maryland. His funeral was held on May 11 and he was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick. One of his great-grandsons was three-term

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Charles "Mac" Mathias of Maryland.

References

External links

Charles E. Trail Main Biography Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trail, Charles Edward 1826 births 1909 deaths Politicians from Frederick, Maryland Maryland lawyers Republican Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Republican Party Maryland state senators American railroad pioneers Survivors of railway accidents or incidents U.S. state legislators who owned slaves Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Frederick, Maryland) 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly