Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 1764-1820

Benjamin Henry Latrobe was born on May 1, 1764, in Fulneck, near Leeds, in England to Benjamin Latrobe and Anna Antes. He trained as an engineer under John Smeaton, who was, at the time, England’s most renowned engineer and the designer of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and then as an architect under S.R. Cockerwall, one of England’s elite architects. It was during his Grand Tour, however, that he became fascinated with classical architecture. After the death of his wife in childbirth and the death of his mother, Latrobe relocated to the United States in 1795, where he had inherited land in Pennsylvania from his mother. He was the architect for the Bank of Pennsylvania and because of this was credited with being the first architect to bring the Greek Revival style to the U.S. Because of a shared love of Greek Classical architecture, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Latrobe as the Surveyor of Public Buildings of the United States in 1806 with his main responsibility to complete the U.S. Capitol in Washington. He also designed the Baltimore Roman Catholic Cathedral. These are considered two of the greatest pieces of influential architecture in the United States. Latrobe married Mary Elizabeth Hazlehurst of Philadelphia in 1800 and they had several children together. Latrobe died of yellow fever in New Orleans, where he had gone to build the city’s water system, on September 3, 1820. In the documents, he is mentioned in a legal case with Littleton D. Teackle.