Charles Goldsborough

In the record (4)

1. 1893 · 1893-08-18

   Vice-President Adlai E. Stevenson comes to Ocean City as a guest of the Sinepuxent Beach Company, and the train from Claiborne beats every record on the line.

   On the afternoon of Friday, August 18, 1893 a chartered steamer, the Governor Thomas, cast off from the foot of South Street, Baltimore at 3:40 with a party of Washingtonians and Baltimoreans "brought to Ocean City as the guests of the Sinepuxent Beach Company." On board were Vice-President Adlai E. Stevenson; United States Senators J. S. C. Blackburn of Kentucky and Charles H. Gibson of Maryland; Charles Goldsborough, president of the Sinepuxent Beach Company; Robert Goldsborough Keene; George M. Upshur, ex-Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates; W. Sidney Wilson, mayor of Ocean City; the bankers John Gill and Edwin Warfield; and James Bates, a director of the Beach Company. Governor Frank Brown joined them at the beach. "It was a flying train that came from Claiborne to Ocean City and the time made beat all previous records. The distance is eighty-seven miles, which was covered in a trifle over one hundred minutes," with stops only at Easton and one other point. Stevenson was met by crowds of ladies, escorted to the Atlantic Hotel by R. Goldsborough Keene and into the supper-room by Mayor Wilson, who introduced him to Mrs. Wilson "as the mayoress." On Saturday the 19th the party was shown over the Beach Company's property, took a dip in the ocean and watched a shooting tournament; the special train back to Washington on Sunday night ran the 87 miles in 100 minutes again. Senator Blackburn had spent the whole summer in Worcester County and owned land in Ocean City, "and that gives him the right to vote and hold municipal office. Some of his friends have started a boom for him for mayor of Ocean City in opposition to W. Sidney Wilson."

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyBaltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic RailwayAdlai E. StevensonFrank BrownWilliam Sydney WilsonCharles Hopper GibsonRobert Goldsborough Keene

   Source · checked 2026-08-06

2. 1895 · 1895-03-23

   Having refused to sell, the beach company doubles its own stock and lets a five-mile railway the length of Ocean City on Baltimore Avenue — by steam, because the directors found steam cheaper than electricity.

   The Messenger of 2 March 1895 reported the Sinepuxent Beach Company 'receiving bids for the construction of the railroad which is to traverse the length of Ocean City, north and south, along Baltimore avenue,' five miles long, its northern terminus on the beach opposite Isle of Wight Bay and its southern terminus 'a beautiful high bluff' where a spacious pavilion for picnic parties was intended. On 23 March the paper printed the decisions: the additional stock unsubscribed at the end of the subscription period would go into the company's treasury; the proceeds were to improve the Ocean City property, 'the most important of these improvements' being the five-mile Baltimore Avenue railway; a committee of John F. Waggaman, Robert G. Keene and Charles Goldsborough was appointed to contract for the work; and 'the road will be operated by steam as the directors concluded this to be cheaper than electricity.' It was to be finished by 15 June, when the resort opened. James Bates and W. J. Warrington of Berlin were named a committee to provide a new steam laundry and an ice-making machine, and 'additional dynamos for supplying electricity to light the town' were to be provided. On 6 April the paper ran the story again under the heading 'STILL BOOMING — Steam Railway, Electric Light Plant and Ice Factory,' with the stockholders 'rapidly subscribing the additional $60,000 of the capital stock.'

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyJohn F. WaggamanRobert Goldsborough Keene

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

3. 1895 · 1895-05-18

   In May the Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic Railway completes negotiations to buy the Sinepuxent Beach Company outright — the beach and the railroad in one hand.

   A special to the Philadelphia Times from Baltimore, reprinted by the Democratic Messenger on 18 May 1895 under 'Railroad Improvements,' reports that 'the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway, in which John E. Searles and other New York and Philadelphia capitalists are interested, has completed negotiations for the purchase of the property of the Sinepuxent Beach Company, at Ocean City, Md.' The property is described as the five-mile stretch of ocean beach separated from the Worcester mainland by Sinepuxent Bay, on which Ocean City stands. Charles Goldsborough is named as the company's president; the account notes that the capital stock of $60,000 'was recently doubled' and that plans had been prepared for a railway from a point opposite the Isle of Wight on the north to a picturesque bluff five miles south, with pavilions and amusement grounds, which it was expected would connect with the B.C.&A.'s tracks — and that it was overtures to the railway about building that road which began the negotiations. Three months after refusing a syndicate's $72,000, the company sold to the railroad the syndicate was reorganising. — 1896 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [corrected]: The May 1895 report that the B.C.&A. 'has completed negotiations for the purchase of the property of the Sinepuxent Beach Company' did not describe a completed sale, and the campaign should stop reading it as one. Twelve months later the Ocean City election dispatch of 4 May 1896 states the opposite in terms: 'It has been known for some time past that the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway Company have wanted to get control of Ocean City, but were unable to complete the deal, as certain influences which had charge of the property were not in accord with the proposed sale, and it was largely for this purpose that the fight to-day was so hot.' Mr. Searles, now named as president of the B.C.&A., 'is eager to get control of the beach.' Seven months after that, in December 1896, the Beach Company was still the owner when it admitted insolvency, and the paper could still only report that 'the B. C. & A. Ry. Co. will buy the property.' The 1895 item should be re-cast as a reported agreement that failed to close, not a change of ownership — which also means the 1895 pass's premise that 'the railroad bought the beach' is unsupported, and everything downstream of it needs re-reading.

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyBaltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic Railway

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

4. 1896 · 1896-05-04

   Ocean City elects George M. Upshur of Baltimore mayor, with the first full council slate on record.

   A dispatch datelined "Ocean City, Md., May 4" and carried by the Snow Hill Democratic Messenger of May 9 under the head "OCEAN CITY ELECTION — Lot Owners from Far and Near Vote" reports that at "the biennial election for municipal offices for Ocean City today the following ticket was elected: Mayor — George M. Upshur, of Baltimore; City Council — Charles Goldsborough, of Baltimore, David J. Adkins, of Berlin, Worcester county, and Albert C. Carey, of Ocean City." Two tickets were in the field "and the contest was hot throughout": the opposition was "led by Messrs. Edward Hobbs, Daniel Trimper and others, while Messrs. John Waggaman and others looked after the interest of the candidates on the successful ticket." The polls opened at 11 and closed at 2, and "during this time every voter that could be reached was secured for one side or the other." The paper describes the fight as "between what is known as the people of the south e[nd]" and the other interest, and gives the reason it mattered: "the members of the Sinepuxent Beach Company were particularly active. It has been known for some time past that the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway Company have wanted to get control of Ocean City, but were unable to complete the deal, as certain influences which had charge of the property were not in accord with the proposed sale." The item predicts "a consolidation of the two interests." This is the first Ocean City election in which this campaign has recovered the mayor AND all three councilmen — the standing gap named at the top of the 1894 pass's still-open list. Three of the four winners were non-residents voting under the charter's real-estate franchise; only Albert C. Carey lived in the town. — 1896 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [confirmed]: Confirmed, and the reason for the contest is now in the record. The same dispatch continues past the result: the campaign 'was a fight between what is known as the people of the south end of Ocean City against the members of the Sinepuxent Beach Company'; the opposition ticket 'was led by Messrs. Edward Hobbs, Daniel Trimper and others,' the winners' interest by 'Messrs. John Waggaman and others'; the polls opened at eleven and closed at two; the Beach Company's directors were 'particularly active' because the B.C.&A. was trying to buy the beach and could not close the deal. The Washington stockholders who held the majority of the company's stock came down in force and 'seemed to enjoy the privilege of casting ballots in a free country,' being disfranchised at home; A. Marcus, secretary of the Northern Pacific Railroad, voted and left on a special train for New York.

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyBaltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic RailwayDavid J. AdkinsWilliam Sydney Wilson

   Source · checked 2026-08-06