Isaac Nevett Steele

Isaac Nevett Steele (April 25, 1809 – April 11, 1891) was an American diplomat and lawyer who was "universally recognized for years as the leader of the Maryland Bar." and sister Mary Nevett Steele, who married John Campbell Henry (the eldest son and heir of Gov. John Henry); Ann Billings (née Steele) Upshur; James Billings Steele; Henry Maynadier Steele; Catharine Sarah Maria (née Steele) Ray; Sarah Maynadier Steele. He remained in his post after Taylor's unexpected death seven months later in July 1850 when Millard Fillmore became president, and served until October 18, 1853, and López had several prominent Southern supporters. López made several generous offers to American military leaders to support him, but Taylor and his Secretary of State, John M. Clayton, viewed the enterprise as illegal, issuing a blockade, and later, authorized the arrest of López and his associates for breach of the Neutrality Act, although they were eventually acquitted by friendly Southern juries.

Reportedly, Steele narrowly escaped death when a band of robbers broke into the United States legation at Caracas in an attempt to steal the money of diplomatic representatives held for safe-keeping by the chargé d'Affaires. While in Venezuela, he was able to secure settlement of several American's substantial claims which "had been so long postponed as to be regarded as hopeless."

Later career Upon his return to the United States in 1853, he resumed his legal practice and was involved in nearly all of the most prominent cases before the Maryland courts with his name appearing "more frequently in the pages of Maryland reports than any other lawyer of his time." Steele was noted for "the clearness of his statements, the strength and force of his logic and his power as a cross-examiner" and appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States. in Washington, D.C. She was a daughter of the late Frances (née Burrows) Nelson and John Nelson, a former U.S. Representative who served as the Chargé d'Affaires to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies under Andrew Jackson and U.S. Attorney General under John Tyler. Her paternal grandfather was Revolutionary War Brig. Gen. and U.S. Rep. Roger Nelson and her maternal grandfather was William Ward Burrows, the second Commandant of the Marine Corps. Together, Isaac and Rosa were the parents of five sons and three daughters, including: Mary Steele (1852–1931). John Nelson Steele (1853–1933), a lawyer with the firm of Steele, Semmes & Carey who later became general counsel of the Guggenheim Bros.' American Smelting & Refining company. He married Mary Alricks in 1880. a prominent attorney who was a J.P. Morgan & Co. partner for 39 years. He married Ann "Nannie" Gordon French (1866–1932), a descendant of Revolutionary War general Hugh Mercer, and the daughter of Seth Barton French, a former Confederate soldier who became a cotton broker and banker after the War. Rosa Nelson Steele (1861–1941). Kate Steele (1862–1944). Samuel Tagart Steele (1863–1942), also a lawyer with Steele, Semmes & Carey, who married Mary Thompson. Henry Maynadier Steele (1865–1909), a civil engineer who specialized in railroads. He married Margaret Hollins McKim (1869–1939) in 1894.

Descendants Through his son Charles, he was the grandfather of three granddaughters: Eleanor Herndon Steele (1893–1977), who married four times, and with her fourth husband established the charitable Steele-Reese Foundation; Nancy Gordon Steele (1894–1955), who married renowned polo-player Devereux Milburn; and Kathryn Nevitt Steele (1896–1981), who married Francis Skiddy von Stade Sr., also a star polo player. His great-great-granddaughter is Frederica Von Stade, the opera singer. His great-great-grandson is John Steele Gordon, the historian.

Honors and legacy

In 1872, he was awarded an honorary LL.D. from his alma mater, St. John's College. In 1895, Steele was posthumously described thusly:

Steele was "one of the brightest, keenest, analytical legal minds that ever graced and adorned the bar of Maryland or any State, or shed lustre upon any court anywhere. As a counsellor, adviser, or practitioner of the law, he stood without a superior, and when he died he left behind a reputation for eloquence, soundness in the law, fidelity to every interest intrusted to him, that has never been surpassed. His countenance, his manner, his walk and conversation bespoke not only the student learned in all the principles and abstruse points of his profession, but also showed the man who loved it, and believing in it honored it at all times and under all circumstances."