Henry Stump

Who was Henry Stump?

Henry Stump served as Judge of the Criminal Court, 5th Judicial Circuit in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, from 1851 to 1860, one of the most lawless and politically violent decades in Baltimore history. He presided over the infamous trial of Plug-Ugly Henry Gambrill for the murder of a Baltimore police officer. In 1860, the Maryland General Assembly removed Stump from office for "misbehavior," the only jurist in Maryland history to be removed from the bench. Stump was also an eyewitness to the April 19, 1861 riots in Baltimore that marked the first bloodshed in the American Civil War.

Stump was the brother of John Stump of Cecil County, Maryland, brother-in-law of Mary Alicia Stump and uncle of Henry Arthur Stump. The latter served as Judge to the Baltimore City Supreme Bench from 1910 to 1934. Henry Stump's Baltimore office was located at 57 West Fayette Street and his residence at Barnum's Hotel. According to the American Almanac, he earned a salary of $2,000 per year. Stump died on October 29, 1865 at his brother's Cecil County home.