Robert Goldsborough Keene

In the record (8)

1. 1892 · 1892-03-14

   A Washington real-estate broker takes control of the Sinepuxent Beach Company, and the whole Atlantic Hotel with it.

   The Democratic Messenger of March 19, 1892: "The Synepuxent Beach Company Monday elected the following officers: President, R. G. Keene; vice president, Harvey L. Page; secretary and treasurer, Thomas E. Waggaman; assistant secretary W. J. Warrington. Mr. Waggaman, who is a Washington real estate broker, has bought a controlling interest. The Atlantic Hotel has been purchased by a Washington syndicate that will remodel and improve the building. The treasurer reported a balance of $23,000 after paying [dividends] last October. A party of twenty-five interested in the beach will visit Ocean City Sunday, leaving Baltimore Saturday and returning Monday." Robert Goldsborough Keene, one of the four incorporators of December 1890, replaced Dr. J. Pembroke Thom as president. A week later the paper watched the new money arrive: "A special train passed through Berlin Saturday night en route for Ocean City with a large party of capitalists and mechanics from Washington who propose to develop this favorite summer resort. A material change may be expected in its appearance ere the season opens." — 1892 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [corrected]: THE CONFLICT IS RESOLVED AND THE FLAG SHOULD COME OFF. The Washington real-estate man who took control of the Sinepuxent Beach Company in March 1892 was JOHN FLOYD WAGGAMAN of 700 14th St. N.W., not his brother Thomas E. Waggaman of 917 F St. N.W. The evidence, in order of weight: (1) The Snow Hill paper corrects itself twice within four months. Its own Ocean City column of 25 June 1892 has “John F. Waggaman, of Washington” arriving by special train with the B&O officers; its own Real Estate Transfers column of 9 July 1892 records “John F. Waggaman from Atlantic Hotel Company of Ocean City, Md.… Consideration $15,000” and “The Sinepuxent Beach Company, from John F. Waggaman and wife… Consideration $15,000”, and in the same column “John F. Waggaman from Wm. S. Johnson and wife a tract of land… called the ‘Isle of Wight,’ containing 400 acres.” (2) The Washington Evening Star of 22 December 1892 lists the company’s directors for the coming year and the Waggaman on the board is “J. F. Waggaman”; the Star of 8 February 1895 gives the full board with “John F. Waggaman”. (3) The Star of 21 August 1895, reporting John S. Larcombe’s stockholder suit, narrates the founding: “Some time in 1891… a majority of the stock was to be put into a pool… to be voted by Page and John F. Waggaman, as trustees… In the spring of 1892, Mr. Larcombe says, he received a paper…” That places John F. as the controlling Washington principal at the exact moment the Messenger wrote Thomas E. (4) Across the entire Evening Star run, ‘Sinepuxent’ and ‘Waggaman’ co-occur on only seven pages, the earliest in 1895, and every one names John F. There is no source anywhere putting Thomas E. Waggaman with the company other than that single Messenger paragraph. (5) The two men were different people and were brothers, both sons of John Henry Waggaman: Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia for 1893 (compiled late 1892), printed p. 933, lists “WAGGAMAN JOHN F, real estate, 700 14th nw, h Woodley pk” and “WAGGAMAN THOMAS E, real estate broker, loans and auctioneer, 917 F nw, h 3300 O nw” — separate offices and separate firms in every year checked (1875, 1893, 1894, 1898). The brotherhood is stated in the Star of 7 July 1910, p. 1, on Thomas E.’s estate settlement: “John F. Waggaman, brother of the deceased.” AND THE ERROR IS EXPLICABLE, which is worth printing rather than hiding: the Messenger’s descriptor — ‘a Washington real estate broker’ — is verbatim THOMAS E.’s directory line (‘real estate broker, loans and auctioneer’), while John F. is listed simply as ‘real estate’. A Snow Hill compositor working from a Baltimore wire item, with two Waggaman brothers both in Washington real estate, reached for the better-known name. SEPARATELY, the illegible dividend figure is legible in the portal’s scan of the same page: “The treasurer reported a balance of $23,000 after paying 10 per cent dividends last October.” And the company styles itself ‘of Baltimore City’ in every 1892 Worcester County deed abstract and in the Evening Star’s December report, against the ‘Washington syndicate’ framing.

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyAtlantic Hotel CompanyThomas E. WaggamanDr. J. Pembroke Thom

   Source · checked 2026-08-06

2. 1892 · 1892-07-23

   A Kentucky senator, a general's widow, a Sherman relative and a Washington architect buy Ocean City lots in one paragraph.

   The Democratic Messenger, July 23, 1892: "It is stated that Senator Joe Blackburn, Kentucky; Mrs. Belknap, widow of Gen. Grant's Secretary of War; Mrs. Ewing, a relative of Gen. Sherman and Harvey L. Page, of Washington, have purchased lots at Ocean City, and will soon begin the erection of handsome cottages." Harvey L. Page was the Sinepuxent Beach Company's vice-president, elected that March. The county's own men were buying too, in the same weekly deed column: George M. Upshur took a half interest in a house and lot for $700; Nelson B. Switzer of Baltimore took lots 7 to 12 in one block for $1,700; James Bates of Baltimore took two lots in Block 5 South for $1,100 and another parcel for $400; Samuel Maddox of Washington took lot 10 in Block 10 North for $200; Robert G. Keene — the beach company's own president — took lot No. 10 "designated on the plat of Ocean City" for $150.

   Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyHarvey L. Page

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

3. 1892 · 1892-12-21

   The Sinepuxent Beach Company re-elects in December with a new president, and Ocean City's mayor on the board.

   The Washington Evening Star, December 22, 1892: "The Sinepuxent Beach Company of Baltimore city, at its annual meeting yesterday, elected Charles Goldsborough president; Harvey L. Page of Washington, D. C., vice president; Robert Goldsborough Keene, secretary and treasurer; Wm. J. Warrington, assistant secretary. The following directors were elected for the ensuing year: Charles Goldsborough, Harvey L. Page, R. G. Keene, J. F. Waggaman, W. S. Wilson, [—] Nutt, James Bates, [—] and B. K. Plain." Nine months after the March reorganisation, Keene had moved from the presidency to secretary and treasurer — the seat Thomas E. Waggaman was reported to hold in March — and Charles Goldsborough had the chair. Two names on the board matter for the town. J. F. Waggaman is John Floyd Waggaman, the Washington principal through whose hands the Atlantic Hotel had passed in July. W. S. Wilson is W. Sydney Wilson, the man the newspapers had been calling the mayor of Ocean City all summer: the town's chief magistrate was a director of the company that owned its biggest hotel and sold its building lots, and by December he was formally re-elected to that board. James Bates of Baltimore had been buying the company's lots in Block 5 South earlier that year.

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyHarvey L. PageJohn F. WaggamanWilliam Sydney Wilson

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

4. 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 GoldsboroughCharles Hopper Gibson

   Source · checked 2026-08-06

5. 1894 · 1894-05-05

   Twelve cottages go up at Ocean City over the winter of 1893-94, in the teeth of the depression.

   Democratic Messenger, May 5, 1894: "Ocean City has made considerable headway during the past winter. There have been 12 cottages completed, among the number a very fine one by the Hon. George W. Purnell, of the Snow Hill bar." The season's letters name more of them — R. G. Keene repainting his cottage for Charles Goldsborough's family, Randolph Mordecai building "a very pretty and roomy cottage south of the hotels" for occupancy by July 1, new cottages north of the Atlantic Hotel on the ocean front for Mrs. Prune of Baltimore and Mr. McLean of Washington, and Granville Stokes painting his new cottage. By August a Baltimore Sun correspondent counted "half a dozen or more" already projected for 1895. Eighteen months after the Panic of 1893, Ocean City was still building. — 1894 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [corrected]: Two counts survive for 1894 and they are not the same count. The county paper reports twelve, twice: 'There has been many improvements made at Ocean City since last season. Altogether there have been twelve buildings erected including several new cottages and some improvements on old buildings' (28 April 1894, p3), and 'Ocean City has made considerable headway during the past winter. There have been 12 cottages completed, among the number a very fine one by the Hon. George W. Purnell' (5 May 1894, p3). Note that the first says twelve BUILDINGS including several cottages, and the second says twelve COTTAGES — the paper contradicts itself in a week. Then on 7 July the Messenger reprinted the Baltimore American: 'SIXTY new cottages at Ocean City indicate very clearly that Maryland's great seashore resort is rushing to the front in importance and prosperity.' The twelve is a winter count from the county paper; the sixty is a Baltimore paper's summer figure and may be cumulative rather than a single season's. The disagreement is recorded rather than resolved. — 1894 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [confirmed]: Independently corroborated outside Worcester County: the Smyrna (Del.) Times of 2 May 1894, in its 'Maryland Items' column, states flatly that 'Twelve new buildings have recently been put at Ocean City, Md.' The figure is the county paper's, arrived at independently in a Delaware weekly in the same week.

   George W. Purnell

   Source · checked 2026-08-06

6. 1895

   "Still Booming" — the Sinepuxent Beach Company raises fresh capital in the depths of the depression and re-elects a board of Baltimore, Washington and Snow Hill men.

   The Sinepuxent Beach Company, incorporated in December 1890 [fact:1890-sinepuxent-beach-company-incorporated] and by now the owner of the Atlantic Hotel and most of the beach [fact:1892-sinepuxent-beach-company-buys-the-atlantic-hotel], spent 1895 trying to build its way out of the slump. The Democratic Messenger of February 16 reported the annual meeting: an electric road on the ocean front was to be begun as soon as the weather permitted and finished for the coming season, improvements were promised to the hotels the company owned, but "no additional hotel accommodations will be provided by the company for the present." The board was re-elected entire — "Chas. Goldsborough, Gen. John Gill, R. Goldsborough Keene, James Bates, John A. Hambleton, Willard Toulson, of Baltimore; John F. Waggaman, Harvey L. Page, of Washington, and W. Sidney Wilson of Snow Hill." The mayor of Ocean City sat on the board of the company that owned it. On April 6 the paper ran the story again under the headline "STILL BOOMING. Steam Railway, Electric Light Plant and Ice Factory": stockholders were "rapidly subscribing the additional [stock] of the capital stock authorized by the meeting of March 20," the proceeds "to be used in improving the property," the company having concluded "that certain improvements were absolutely necessary to insure the success of the resort."

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyJohn F. Waggaman

   Source · checked 2026-08-06

7. 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. WaggamanCharles Goldsborough

   Source · checked 2026-08-11

8. 1902 · 1902-05-17

   Ocean City building lots in the spring 1902 land records: $300 for two from the mayor-to-be, $200 for one, and $5 for another.

   From the Worcester County land records printed in the Messenger of 17 May 1902: "James E. Thomas from John F. Waggaman and wife, two lots, No. 3 and 11, at Ocean City; consideration $300." "Rosser & Castoe from Isaac Ulman and wife, a lot situated in Ocean City, known as Lot No. 83; consideration $200." "Beverdy S. Dennis from Robert G. Keene, lot situated at Ocean City and known as lot No. 40; consideration $5." On 19 April a trustee sold five parcels of the late Robert G. Keene's Ocean City property on the premises — lots on Dorchester Street a hundred feet off Atlantic Avenue, two on Wicomico Street west of Philadelphia Avenue, one at Atlantic Avenue and South First Street running back a hundred and twenty-five feet to Congress Street, and lot 7 block 1 South "on the plat of Synepuxent Beach Company of Baltimore City."

   Sinepuxent Beach CompanyJohn F. Waggaman

   Source · checked 2026-08-06