Steven Steiner

Stephen Steiner was born in Frederick in 1767 to John and Catherine Elizabeth Ramsburg Steiner and was the middle of 11 children. He died in September 1829.

· As a young teenager during the Revolutionary War, he was too young to enlist but served as a guard for prisoners at the Hessian Barracks.

· During the War of 1812, he served as a captain of an infantry company and led troops from Frederick toward Annapolis, Bladensburg, and the Battle of North Point near Baltimore.

· He was an organizing director of the Frederick County Bank (also described in the materials as the Frederick County National Bank).

· He served in city government, including as a Ward One councilman and Tax Commissioner.

· He served as Justice of the Levy Court.

· He served as a commissioner hearing appeals and property transfers and administered estates.

· He gathered subscribers for a petition to the Maryland General Assembly seeking a bridge over the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry.

· He helped develop the west end of West Patrick Street in Bentztown; the hill on Jefferson Street became known as "Steiner's Hill."

· He was involved in an unsuccessful effort to establish a public water company in 1825.

Steiner was an architect, builder, contractor, and land developer in Frederick. His best-known surviving work, besides his home, is the Trinity Chapel steeple on West Church Street.

In 1807, the German Reformed Church congregation contracted with Steiner to erect a wooden spire on its 1763 stone church. The 150-foot spire incorporated the city's clock, which predated the spire by 17 years. The original spire remains and is described in the source materials as the oldest of Frederick's famous clustered spires still in use.

Stephen married Barbara Ramsburg in 1795. They had three children: Charlotte (1797–1824), George (1799–1818), and Daniel (1801–1850). Barbara died in 1820.

In 1821, Stephen married Elizabeth Byerly Bausman, a widow with two daughters, Elizabeth (Eliza) and Sophia. Stephen and Elizabeth had one son, Frederick Byerly Steiner (1822–1896). Stephen died without a will, leaving his widow Elizabeth and two sons, Daniel and Frederick. The Equity Court appointed a trustee and Stephen's assets were sold at public auction; Elizabeth purchased the house from the estate.