Ferdinand Claiborne Latrobe (October 14, 1833 – January 13, 1911) was a seven-term Mayor of Baltimore, member of the Maryland House of Delegates and attorney during the 19th century. Early life Latrobe was born on October 14, 1833, at a house on South Gay Street in Baltimore. He was the son of patent lawyer and Latrobe stove ("Baltimore Heater") inventor John H. B. Latrobe and Virginia Charlotte Claiborne, and the grandson of the American architect and engineer Benjamin Henry Latrobe. In his mother's line, he was the grandson of General Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne and the great-nephew of William C. C. Claiborne, Governor of Mississippi, the Louisiana Territory, and the State of Louisiana. He was named after his grandfather, Ferdinand Claiborne. Latrobe was educated at the College of St. James in Washington County, Maryland. Latrobe worked as a clerk in a mercantile house in Baltimore and as counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1858. He then studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar in Maryland in 1859. Career In 1860, Latrobe was appointed judge-advocate-general by then Governor of Maryland, Thomas H. Hicks and assisted in reorganizing the Maryland state militia under the Act of 1868, which he authored. He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1867, serving from 1868 to 1872, and was Speaker of the House in 1870. While serving in the House he held the position of Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. In 1871, Latrobe became counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He would serve again as counsel for the railroad in 1885 and 1887 between his periods of political office. Mayor of Baltimore In 1875, he was elected Mayor of Baltimore and served until 1877. The same year, Latrobe and then Maryland Governor John Lee Carroll, were present throughout strikes and outbreaks of violence during the Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 that erupted in as part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. He served out the unexpired term of George Proctor Kane. He was reelected in 1879 and served two more terms until 1881. In 1883 he was again elected mayor, serving until 1885. During this latter term, a seven-mile tunnel was built to direct water from the Gunpowder River to Baltimore. He was again elected mayor, serving from 1887 until 1889, and served a final two mayoral terms from 1891 until 1895. He was