Page:Men of Mark in America vol 1.djvu/492

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CHARLES CARROLL GLOVER

GLOVER, CHARLES CARROLL, financier, president of the Riggs National Bank, of Washington, District of Cokimbia, was born on a farm, in Macon county. North Carolina, November 24, 1846. His parents were Charles and Caroline (Piercy) Glover, and his grandfather, whose name he bears, was, during his active life, a prominent citizen of Washington, and one of the large land owners of that city and its immediate vicinity. Young Glover came to Washington when about eight years of age, and the major part of his education was obtained at Rittenhouse academy, conducted by Professor O. C. Wright. When sixteen years of age, he began his career, as a clerk in a book-store; and, after three years in this kind of work, he entered the banking house of Riggs & Company, of Washington, in a clerical position. He showed unusual adaptability and capacity for both routine and constructive work, and after various promotions, he became, in 1873, a partner of this well-known banking firm. On July 1, 1896, the house passed from a private institution into a national bank, and since that date Mr. Glover has been its president. He brought to the administration of the Riggs National bank a strong individuality, rare tact, a large acquaintance with prominent public men, and a thorough knowledge of practical finance; and this personal equipment has made him a man of large successes, both in the field of private enterprise and in his larger sphere as a public-spirited citizen of the national capital.

Mr. Glover has been one of Washington's strongest partisans in the matter of civic development. He has probably been more closely identified with the development of its system of parks than has any other man. The inauguration of the plan for Rock Creek park, including the zoological gardens, and the securing of its adoption by the Congress of the United States, is due to him. So, too, the reclamation of the Potomac flats, and the consequent creation of Potomac park, comprising about four hundred acres, which has added both health and beauty to Washington. The Washington "Post" editorially paid the following tribute to Mr. Glover in this connection :

"The President has signed the bill devoting what are known as