Eben Faxon

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Eben Faxon
General Information
Birth
May 26, 1826
West Hartford, Connecticut
Death
March 8, 1868
Baltimore, Maryland
Spouse
Ambrosia M. Jenkins

Biography

Ebenezer Faxon was born on May 26, 1826 in West Hartford, Connecticut. He was the eighth child (and seventh son) of Elizabeth (Olcott) and Elihu Faxon, and was named after his grandfather. He was in the eighth generation of descendants of Thomas Faxon of Braintree, Massachusetts.

He married Ambrosia M. Jenkins on July 21, 1853 in the Baltimore Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was the daughter of Mary and Lewis A. Jenkins of Baltimore and St. Mary’s County, members of a prominent Roman Catholic southern Maryland family.

We do not know when nor why Faxon moved to Baltimore. At the time of his death, they resided at 187 Howard Street (now 610 N. Howard Street) where he died on March 8, 1868. His funeral was from his residence with a requiem in the Cathedral. He was buried in the old Cathedral Cemetery and reburied in New Cathedral Cemetery (J-4) in 1886 after the old cemetery was closed; graves were being moved and the land would soon be sold.

Mrs. Brosie Faxon died April 13, 1910 at her residence 1319 N. Calvert Street and a requiem followed in the Cathedral with Cardinal Gibbons in the sanctuary. She was buried with her husband in New Cathedral Cemetery (J-4).

Eben Faxon is one of our most obscure architects, with six known building designs to his credit, two being exceptionally important, far beyond what's expected from an architect now so obscure. He rebuilt the main building (the “Wren” Building) of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia after a disastrous fire in 1858, as well as the west portico of Latrobe’s Baltimore Cathedral, now the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, following his appointment in 1860. He was working on a new jail for the District of Columbia at the time of his death; he also designed two Roman Catholic churches in Baltimore and a house in Charles County. These are his known works.

For at least the last three years of his life, he was in partnership with John Ellicott as “Faxon & Ellicott Architects, Civil and Mechanical Engineers and Dealers in Real Estate, 26 N. Charles Street” (now 114 N. Charles Street). Earlier, he may have been in brief partnerships with R. Snowdon Andrews, and one Agnew, a name we have not found in any other architectural context.

By James T. Wollon Jr., AIA with research by John McGrain, Pamela Scott and James Wollon

Projects

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Listing

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