William Wallace Spence

William Wallace Spence (October 18, 1815 – November 3, 1915) was a Baltimore financier. He was a founding partner of Spence & Reid, which manufactured clipper ships, established an import/export firm at Pratt Street’s Old Bowley’s Wharf, and founded The Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company.

William Wallace Spence
Spence in 1914 publication
Born(1815-10-18)October 18, 1815
Edinburgh, Scotland
DiedNovember 3, 1915(1915-11-03) (aged 100)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeGreen Mount Cemetery
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Spouses
Mary Susan (or Agnes) Winkley
​
​
(died)​
    Charlotte Norris
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1863, died)​
    Children4
    Signature

    Early life

    William Wallace Spence was born on October 18, 1815, in Edinburgh to Sarah (née Dickson) and John Spence. His father was a physician. He attended high school in Edinburgh and immigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen with only one-hundred dollars in his pocket.[1][2][3]

    Career

    Spence first lived in New York City for five years and worked as a clerk there. Spence then moved to Norfolk, Virginia, and was employed as a shipping clerk at Robert Soutter & Sons. He later became a member. He came to Baltimore to enter into a business partnership with Andrew Reid, forming the corporation Spence & Reid, which manufactured clipper ships.[1][2][3] Spence was a finance commissioner with Enoch Pratt.[2] Spence also set up an import/export firm called W. W. Spence & Co. at Pratt Street’s Old Bowley’s Wharf. Later, he founded the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company and became an officer of The Eutaw Savings Bank.[3][4]

    Civic activity

    Spence was a pillar in the Baltimore community. He was the president of the Municipal Art Society,[5] active in the formation of the First Presbyterian Church,[1] and a prominent contributor to Johns Hopkins University and Hospital.[6] He is best known for erecting a thirteen-foot, iron statue of William Wallace, the Scottish martyr, in 1892 in Druid Hill Park[2][3][7] and donating a copy of Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Christus Consolator to Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1896.[8] Spence also served as president of the Presbyterian Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital.[3] In 1840, Spence served as treasurer of The Egenton Home.[2]

    Personal life

    Spence married Mary Susan Winkley (or Agnes Winkley). They had four children, including Mrs. Owen N. Butler, Mrs. John Gill and W. W. Spencer Jr. His wife predeceased him. Spence married Charlotte Morris of Baltimore in 1863. She died around 1897.[2][3]

    Spence died on November 3, 1915, at his home at 1205 St. Paul Street in Baltimore.[3] He was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore.[9]

    References
    1. "W. W. Spence Dies at 100; Baltimore Financier Celebrated Birthday on October 18; His Career". The New York Times. Baltimore (published November 4, 1915). November 3, 1915. p. 7. Retrieved June 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
    2. Distinguished Men of Baltimore and of Maryland. Baltimore American. 1914. p. 8. Retrieved December 1, 2022 – via Archive.org.
    3. "William W. Spence Dies". The Baltimore Sun. November 4, 1915. p. 14. Retrieved December 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.open access
    4. "Druid Hill Park’s Scottish Sentinel to be Rededicated: Statue of Wallace Nears Age 100" August 20, 1993 The New York Times
    5. "Society in Baltimore. The Art Loan Exhibition a Success-a Series of Matinees Francaise for the Lenten Season". The New York Times. Baltimore (published March 9, 1902). March 8, 1902. p. 10. Retrieved June 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
    6. "W.W. Spence Chair in Semitic Languages"
    7. David R. Ross, On the Trail of William Wallace (Glasgow: Bell & Bain Ltd., 1999), 136
    8. Nancy McCall, "The Statue of the Christus Consolator at The Johns Hopkins Hospital: Its acquisition and Historic Origins", The Johns Hopkins Medical Journal (151) 1982 (11-19)
    9. "W. W. Spence's Funeral Today". The Baltimore Sun. November 5, 1915. p. 8. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.open access
    • Eden Unger Bowditch and Anne Draddy, Druid Hill Park: The Heart of Historic Baltimore. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2008.
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