Samuel Taylor Suit
Samuel Taylor “ST” Suit (1832–1888)
Making His Way at an Early Age. ST Suit was born in Bladensburg, Prince George's County, Maryland. At 14 years old he left school to work as an errand boy in a dry goods store in Washington, D.C. He and his father (an innkeeper) are said to have clashed over the refusal of the elder to pay for his son's further education, leading him to head West at an early age. He initially lived in Keokuk, Iowa, for a time before beginning his whiskey-making career at a distillery in Louisville, Kentucky. Somewhere along the line he picked up the honorary title of Kentucky “Colonel,” but later would join the Union Army.
What’s in a Name. During his life, Suit was eventually known as a “Friend of Presidents”, a “Kentucky Colonel,” the founder of a town that still bears his name, a titan of industry, three times a husband, and a castle-builder. All of this was owed to his whiskey endeavors.
Business Acumen. Apparently, he had what it took to make and sell whiskey. Even at this early age he showed extraordinary business abilities. By 1869 he had established his own distillery in Louisville. He stayed in that city for a decade and eventually owned the largest whiskey warehouse there. He returned East, first to New York. There he became involved in securities markets, eventually obtaining a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Later he moved back to Maryland. There he bought 300 acres of land just outside the borders of Washington, D.C. and called it "Suitland."
Deceitful… or just “stretching the point”. Suit resumed distillery operations in Maryland. His company grew and prospered, eventually gaining nationwide sales. He sold his whiskey in brown stoneware jugs. For years, the wording on the jugs read: “Whiskey in this jug was distilled in 1869,” indicating an aged product. However, he later revised the message to read: “Little Brown Jug...whiskey in this jug was made in 1869 and jugged by me, 1880.”
Man of Influence. The school drop-out turned distiller was gaining notice for his wealth and power. In time, Suit owned and operated his own hotel and was acting president of the Anacostia Wharf & Docking Co., the Washington & Chesapeake Railroad, and the Washington City & Point Lookout Railroad. He built an English-style mansion in Suitland that often was a meeting place for dignitaries, including Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. Suit himself became interested in politics and served a term in the Maryland legislature.
Politician. Suit leveraged his political clout in Washington while in Congress and other centers of power. He was the driving force behind the creation of a road that connected Anacostia in the District of Columbia with Suitland, Maryland. It became Suitland Road and undoubtedly helped spur development of his town. Even so, at the end of the 1800s, Suitland had only a general store, several churches and six or seven houses, including Suit’s mansion. The town did, however, boast a post office -- more evidence of Suit’s clout with Federal officials.
Unlucky in Love. In Louisville, Suit found his first love, Sarah Ebenezer Williams. They were married when he was 25 and she was still a teenager. She bore him one child and then at the age of 20, she died. Sarah’s death affected Suit deeply and it was shortly after that event that he moved back East, initially to New York City. While there, Suit’s business acumen brought him to the attention of important people, including the president of a major New York insurance company, Arthur Wilmarth. Through him, Suit met his daughter Aurelia, a woman 11 years his junior. Suit married the wealthy Aurelia at Dr. Thompson's Church in New York in December 1859, and thereby took a giant step up the social ladder. Their marriage officially lasted 20 years and produced one son but was contentious from the beginning with long periods of separation. Eventually they divorced. In 1878, when Suit was in his mid-40s, he met and fell in love with 17-year-old Rosa Pelham, the daughter of a congressman. Because of the age difference, she initially rejected him. But five years later they encountered each other again near what is now Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. At this time the Colonel was being drawn away from Suitland and his distillery by prospects for developing business at Berkeley Springs. Suit is said to have envisioned the place as a Mid-Atlantic spa to rival Martha’s Vineyard. When Rosa mentioned that she always had wanted to live in a castle, Suit pledged to build her one if she would marry him. She accepted and three days later, they were wed in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, Suit began construction of a 13-room castle on a ridge overlooking the Berkeley Springs baths. Built to a one-half scale of Berkeley Castle in England, the project took almost five years. Not long before it was completed Suit, age 56, died, leaving Rosa a very wealthy 28-year-old widow with three children, living in a castle.
Haunted. Although Rosa had many suitors, she never married again, due to stipulation in Suit’s will that if she did, she would lose everything he had bestowed on her. That did not prevent her from spending many nights with her suitors in the castle. One night, following an argument, one of them fell or was pushed from the roof to his death. He is said to have cursed the heiress and haunted the castle ever since. Rosa eventually lost both her money and her mind. In the 1920s she was evicted from the castle, went West with a son, and died there.
Out of Business. Meanwhile, with no one to tend the whiskey business, S. T. Suit Distillery went out of business well before Prohibition; one date given for its demise is 1888. Samuel Taylor Suit himself is buried in St. Barnabas Church cemetery, Oxen Hill, Maryland. The little brown jugs that brought him fame and fortune are found in collections nationwide. And the castle, highly visible as one enters Berkeley Springs, remains a tourist attraction -- albeit presumably a haunted one -- to this day.