Representative Frank Thomas Shaw

Frank Thomas Shaw (October 7, 1841 – February 24, 1923) was an American physician and Democratic politician who represented Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1885 to 1889. A member of the Democratic Party, he served two consecutive terms in Congress during a significant period in American political and economic history, participating in the legislative process and representing the interests of his Maryland constituents.

Shaw was born in Woodsboro, Frederick County, Maryland, on October 7, 1841. He attended the common schools of the area, receiving a basic education typical of rural Maryland in the mid-nineteenth century. Showing an early interest in the professions, he pursued medical studies and enrolled in the medical department of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He completed his professional training there and graduated in 1864, in the closing years of the Civil War.

After earning his medical degree, Shaw began the practice of medicine in Uniontown, Carroll County, Maryland. He maintained his medical practice in Uniontown from 1864 until November 1873. During this period he became well known in the community, and his professional standing and local reputation helped lay the groundwork for his later entry into public office. His transition from medicine to politics reflected a broader pattern of nineteenth-century professionals moving into county and state government.

Shaw’s formal political career began at the county level. In 1873 he was elected clerk of the circuit court for Carroll County, Maryland, a key administrative and record-keeping position in the local judicial system. He was reelected to this office in 1879, demonstrating sustained support from county voters, and he served continuously as clerk from 1873 until 1885. He resigned the clerkship in 1885 upon his election to the national legislature, by which time he had accumulated more than a decade of experience in public administration and local government affairs.

Elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses, Shaw served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1889. Representing Maryland during a period marked by debates over tariffs, federal expenditures, and civil service reform, he contributed to the legislative process over two full terms in office. During the Fiftieth Congress he held the influential position of chairman of the Committee on Accounts, which oversaw the financial and administrative operations of the House of Representatives. Despite his committee leadership and two-term tenure, he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1888 and thus left Congress at the conclusion of his second term.

Following his congressional service, Shaw remained active in Maryland politics and state administration. He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1890, extending his public service from the federal to the state legislative arena. That same year he was appointed State tax commissioner, a position he held from 1890 to 1894, in which he was responsible for overseeing aspects of Maryland’s tax assessment and revenue systems. His experience in fiscal and administrative matters led to a federal appointment when President Grover Cleveland named him collector of customs for the Port of Baltimore. Shaw served as collector from May 5, 1894, to May 24, 1898, administering customs laws and supervising the collection of duties at one of the principal ports on the East Coast.

In his later years, Shaw continued to lend his experience to local government. From 1915 to 1921 he served as adviser to the clerk of the circuit court, returning in an advisory capacity to the office in Carroll County where he had first established his political career. He resided in Westminster, Maryland, during this period and remained a respected figure in the community. Frank Thomas Shaw died in Westminster on February 24, 1923. He was interred in Westminster Cemetery, closing a long life marked by service as a physician, county official, state legislator, federal representative, and customs administrator.