American writer and critic H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) called his native Maryland "the most average of states," but J. Thomas Scharf would have profoundly disagreed. From the first to the last of his career Scharf wrote about Maryland--the subject he knew and liked the best. In addition, he wrote histories of other localities and states and an account of the Confederate States Navy. Scharf developed a formulaic and detailed approach to preparing his comprehensive histories, making use of newspaper files as well as a variety of documents and records.

Born in Baltimore on 1 May 1843, the son of bookkeeper and lumber company owner Thomas G. Scharf and his wife Anna Maria McNulty Scharf, John Thomas Scharf attended parochial schools in St. Peter's parish and Calvert Hall, a private academy. In 1859 Scharf began working for his father, but the Civil War cut short his business career. Scharf enlisted in the...