taney_committee

The committee appointed in 1867 oversee the construction of a statue of Roger B. Taney consisted of:

G. Frederick Maddox (1826-1871) Senator from St. Mary's County. Attorney in Leonardtown. Democrat. Introduced the bill to commission the statue.

Charles E. Trail (1826-1909) Senator from Frederick County. One of the most influential and respected leaders in Frederick County. Active in Republican and Unionist political affairs; president of Frederick County Union League. Served in the House of Delegates, 1863; Senate 1864-1867. Businessman and lawyer.

Hugh McAleer (c. 1815-1892) Prominent buisnessman from Frederick. Irish immigrant.

Severn Teakle Wallis (1816-1894) Among the preeminent attorneys and political figures in Maryland. Renowned orator. Served in the House of Delegates in 1861. Arrested in September, 1861, as a Secessionist leader.

James T. Earle (1814-1882) President pro tempore of the Senate in 1867. Planter from Queen Anne's County. The first to suggest in debate that the memorial to Taney be placed in or around the State House. Democrat.

Henry Williams (1840-1916) Delegate from Calvert County in his second term. Williams later served in the Senate in 1872 and 1874. Considered a staunch Democrat, active in the Baltimore City Democratic Party during the 1890s and 1900s.

George M. Gill (1803-1887) Baltimore City lawyer and politician. Close political associations with secessionist leaders, including George William Brown. Represented John Merryman in his habeas corpus case. The Baltimore Sun called him "a warm Southern sympathizer during the war."

Grayson Eichelberger (1821-1870) was named to the committee in the original text of the bill, but was removed by an amendment in the Senate. He was a Frederick County lawyer, and served in the Senate from 1861-1864. He was also briefly Secretary of State in 1861 under Gov. Hicks. Eichelberger, in the words of one biographer, was "a man of strong Union principles, [who] did much to foster such sentiments in his own section of the county prior to and during the war."