USA > Delaware > Colonial mansions of Maryland and Delaware > Part 4
USA > Maryland > Colonial mansions of Maryland and Delaware > Part 4
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The history of Annapolis goes back to the year 1649, when it was settled by Puritan refugees from Virginia, who found under Lord Baltimore the liberty of worship which they could not secure elsewhere. In 1683 it was erected into a town, in 1694 became the capital of the colony, and between 1750 and the out-
* J. B. Lippincott Company, publishers, Philadelphia.
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break of the Revolution saw its most brilliant days. Though founded by Puritans, so rapidly did it change its character that, in 1749, we find an old record de- scribing it in the following terms :
The outlook of the city was fair and promising, its mer- chants had secured the chief trade of the province; ships from all seas came to its harbour ; its endowed school ( King William's) educated its citizens for important positions ; its thought made the mind of the province. The gayety of its inhabitants, and their love of refined pleasure had developed the race-course, the theatre, the ball-room; their love of learning, the Gazette and King William's school ; creations and enterprises that made the province famous in after years as the centre of the social pleasures, of the culture and of the refinement of the American colonies.
It is in the letters of William Eddis, published by him in London in 1792, under the patronage of "many influential personages," that we can best visit Annapolis, however. This prolific correspondent was one of the commissioners of the loan office of Maryland by pro- prietary appointment, and whatever he saw he seems to have recorded and sent " home " in his voluminous outpourings to relatives and friends in England. He describes his impressions on landing at Annapolis, his presence at balls, his opinions on prominent men. Like Pepys, nothing human seems to have been too trivial for him to set down.
He goes to the Governor's ball in February, 1770, shortly after his arrival in Annapolis, and is much im-
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pressed. The ladies' manners and converse also strike him, as do the winter sports of the little city:
On Saturday last, our little city appeared in all its splen- dour. It was the anniversary of the proprietary's birth. The Governor gave a grand entertainment on the occasion to a numerous party ; the company brought with them every dis- position to render each other happy, and the festivity con- cluded with cards and dancing, which engaged the attention of their respective votaries till an early hour.
I am persuaded there is not a town in England of the same size as Annapolis, which can boast of a greater number of fashionable and handsome women; and, were I not satisfied to the contrary, I should suppose that the majority of our belles possessed every advantage of a long and familiar inter- course with the manners and habits of your great metropolis.
During the winter there are assemblies every fortnight, the room for dancing is large, the construction elegant, and the whole illuminated to great advantage. At each extremity are apartments for the card tables, where select companies enjoy the circulation of the parti-colored gentry, without having their attention diverted by the sound of fiddles and the evolu- tions of youthful performers.
About Christmas an intense frost set in, which has con- tinued till a few days since, with unremitting severity. Our principal rivers, for several weeks, have been passable for carriages heavily laden ; and in particular situations, innumer- able skaters have exhibited on the glassy surface their feats of dexterity.
January 18, 1771 .- In a former letter, I attempted to con- vey some idea of the truly picturesque and beautiful situation of our little capital. Several of the most opulent families have here established their residence ; and hospitality is characteristic of the inhabitants. Party prejudices have little influence on social intercourse; the grave and ancient enjoy the blessings
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of a respectable society, while the young and gay have various amusements to engage their hours of relaxation, and to promote that mutual connection so essential to their future happiness.
You will know that I have ever been strongly attached to the rational entertainments resulting from theatrical exhibi- tions. When I bade farewell to England, I little expected that my passion for the drama could have been gratified, in any tolerable degree, at a distance so remote from the great mart of genius; and I brought with me strong prepossessions in behalf of favorite performers, whose merits were fully estab- lished by the universal sanction of intelligent judges. My pleasure and my surprise were therefore excited in proportion, on finding performers in this country equal, at least, to those who sustain the best of the first characters in your most celebrated provincial theatres.
He finds that the " phantom " of pleasure is pursued with avidity:
November 2, 1771 .- In this remote region, my dear friend, the phantom pleasure is pursued with as much avidity as on your side of the Atlantic, and certainly with as much gratifica- tion, except by the injudicious herd who form ideas of happiness from comparison alone.
Our races, which are just concluded, continued four days, and afforded excellent amusement to those who are attached to the pleasures of the turf; and, surprising as it may appear, I assure you there are few meetings in England better attended, or where more capital horses are exhibited.
Nothing could excel the charming serenity of the weather during these races, in consequence of which there was a pro- digious concourse of spectators, and considerable sums were depending on the contest of each day. On the first, a purse of one hundred guineas was run for, free only for the members of the club; and on the three following days subscription
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purses of fifty pounds each. Assemblies, and theatrical repre- sentations, were the amusements of the evening, at which the company exhibited a fashionable and brilliant appearance.
December 24, 1771 .- Whatever you have heard relative to the rigid puritanical principles and economical habits of our American brethren is by no means true when applied to the inhabitants of the southern provinces. Liberality of senti- ment and genuine hospitality are everywhere prevalent; and I am persuaded they too frequently mistake profuseness for generosity, and impair their wealth and their fortunes, by splendour of appearance and magnificence of entertainment.
The quick importation of fashions from the mother country is really astonishing. I am almost inclined to believe that a new fashion is adopted earlier by the polished and affluent Americans than by many opulent persons in the great metropo- lis ; nor are opportunities wanting to display superior elegance. We have varied amusements and numerous parties, which afford to the young, the gay, and the ambitious, an extensive field to contend in the race of vain and idle competition. In short, very little difference is, in reality, observable in the manners of the wealthy colonist and the wealthy Briton.
It is but just to confess that the American ladies possess a natural ease and elegance in the whole of their deportment; and that, while they assiduously cultivate external accomplish- ments, they are still anxiously attentive to the more important embellishments of the mind. In conversation they are generally animated and entertaining, and deliver their sentiments with affability and propriety. In a word, there are, throughout these colonies, very many lovely women, who have never been beyond the bounds of their respective provinces, and yet, I am persuaded, might appear to great advantage in the most brilliant circles of gaiety and fashion.
One of the frequent visitors to Annapolis during its days of gaiety before the Revolution was General
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Washington, then in the service of Virginia. In one of Eddis' later letters, written during the turmoil of the first days of the Revolution, he speaks of his appoint- ment as commander-in-chief of the army of the colonies by the Continental Congress, with whom, he goes on to say :
" beneath the hospitable roof of our worthy Governor, I have so frequently shared the hour of social and sentimental dis- course. Little did I then conceive that he was destined to be called forth by the united voice of America, from the private occupation of domestic tranquillity, to direct hostile operations against the measures of the British Government. Reserved in conversation, but liberal in opinion, his actions have, hitherto, been directed by calmness and moderation."
A sidelight on the polite life of Annapolis before the Revolution may be found in the advertising columns of the Maryland Gazette published by Jonas Green, Esq. Here, for instance, is one who offers himself as a servant. His qualifications are that he " can wait at table, curry horses, clean knives, boots and shoes, lay a table, shave, and dress wigs, carry a lantern and talk French." He is " as honest as the times will admit, and as sober as can be."
Richard Wagstaffe,-
peruke and lady's tate-maker, wishes to announce that he will soon settle in Annapolis and follow the said business, and will sell his goods at reasonable rates. He also intends to teach read- ing, writing and accounts ; and will take in youth to board and
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educate at twenty-three pounds per year. N.B .- He has a few perukes ready made which he will dispose of very cheap, such as Ramillies, Albemarles and Bols, etc.
The profession of clock-mender seems to have been one without many professors, as the following advertise- ment will signify :
Whereas John Powell was advertised last week in this paper as a runaway, but only being gone into the country a cider drinking, and being returned again to his master's ser- vice, these are therefore to acquaint all gentlemen and others, who have any watches or clocks to repair, that they may have them done in the best manner at reasonable rates.
Perhaps no such unique souvenir of colonial days exists as the records of the " Tuesday Club," of Annapo- lis, preserved in the rooms of the Maryland Historical Society of Baltimore. These cover a period of years. The club was an organization of the wits and influential men of the city. Formed with no other purpose than that of good fellowship, it met every Tuesday in regular alternation at the homes of the members, who in turn provided the refreshments, which consisted of a " gam- mon of bacon, or any one other dish of vituals and no more," and such drinkables as might be proved necessary. Offensive topics of conversation were dealt with by the " gelastic " method, that is, every man present except the one (or ones) talking burst into a hearty fit of laughter, which they kept up until a new theme of dis-
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course was brought up. Politics was absolutely barred, as a subject of talk, from the gatherings. The first toast, it was ordered, should be " The Ladies," after that " The King," and then " The Deluge." From the records of the club, let us glance at " the humble petition and remonstrance of sundry of the single females of Annapolis " to the "Honorable President," then Charles Cole. This showeth that-
Whereas, it has been observed by sundry persons as well as your petitioners, that a singular and surprising success has all along attended such happy females as your honor has been pleased to pitch upon as the toasts of the honorable chair, every one of whom in a short time after having been adopted by your honor has successfully and happily been provided with a much more eligible estate, your petitioners, therefore, earnestly pray that your honor, instead of con- ferring your favors in so partial a manner, would, in com- miseration of our desperate situation, include us all in the circle of favor that the benign influence of your honor's marti- ferous notice may henceforth shine upon us all.
The Honorable President declared that he would grant this petition as far as lay in his power.
Jonas Green, the venerable publisher of the Mary- land Gazette, seems to have found himself in ill-favor at one session of the club, for we find that,-
after reading the sentence, during which Jonas Green, Esq., stood up, His Lordship knocked upon the table with a little mallet after the manner of Sir Hugh McCarty, Esq., Lord President of the Monday Club of New York, and this signal
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being given, the Sargeant-at-Arms took Jonas Green, Esq., into custody, and he was confined for a full half hour, a languishing prisoner in one corner of the room, being deprived of all comfort and assistance from the sparkling and enliven- ing board, a woeful and lamentable spectacle, and a warning to all loyal members to be upon their good behaviour.
The entry was made that William Thornton, be- cause of his wonderful talent for singing, was created by unanimous vote, " Proto-Musicus," and that "it is ordained that, as often as he votes in club, he is to sing his vote in a musical manner, else it is to go for nothing."
Alas, this gay life had to end! With the outbreak of the Revolution the cavalier days of the " Athens of America " left, to return no more, some of the actors on its little stage taking part in the great conflict just opening, others going " home " to the mother country; and from this time on the little city's importance as the social capital of the country dwindled. It was an aristo- crat in tradition and did not survive the inauguration of the great experiment in democracy. Thus passed the glory of the Brice mansion and its neighbors.
RIDOUT HOUSE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND RIDOUT
HE Ridout House, Annapolis, is situated on Duke of Gloucester Street, not far from the water front. It is a two-story building without wings, and is chiefly re- markable architecturally for the very beautiful garden doorway which graces the rear of the structure. It was built in 1763 by John Ridout, Secretary to Governor Sharpe, for his bride, Mary Ogle, whom he married in 1765.
The garden doorway consists of a large portico at the head of a long flight of steps leading from the garden. Above it is a fine Palladian window, whose apex breaks the cornice of the house. The garden, itself, is a beautiful spot to-day, though not so lovely as when the house was new. It consists of a series of terraces to the water-front street of Annapolis, and in other days led direct to the water itself.
The interior of the house contains much fine carving. As you enter the reception hall through the simple Georgian front door, the stairway is to the left; to the right is the dining-room. In the rear of the first floor are two rooms, a study and a parlour, to the latter of which the garden doorway gives entrance.
The house contains a rich store of old furniture and
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colonial souvenirs. On the heavy old sideboard in the dining-room are two mahogany knife-boxes and a spoon urn of mahogany made in the same style as the knife- boxes. In the hall is the table at which the owner of the house so often dined, and a harpsichord that was sent, in 1764, as a wedding present from Lady Essex in England to her cousin, Mary Ogle, in the New World. The work table of Mary Ogle's mother is still to be seen in a sunny window of the library, overlooking the terraced garden in which she spent so much of her time.
There is no more romantic story in the annals of old Annapolis than that of the rise to fortune in the New World of young John Ridout, Governor Sharpe's secretary and bosom friend. He is first to be seen in Annapolis when Horatio Sharpe arrived early on the morning of Thursday, August 16, 1753, to take up his duties as proprietary governor in the Province of Mary- land. Accompanying Sharpe, also, was Dr. Upton Scott, builder of the Scott House of Annapolis, and founder of another family in Maryland which has been conspicuous in public and private life.
John Ridout was at this time twenty-one years of age. He was a grave, sober, older-than-his-years young man, who had spent the preceding six years of his life at the University of Oxford, England, and had taken high honors as a Greek and Latin student. We have the following record of the Ridout family in Lady
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Edgar's (herself a Ridout connection) invaluable work, " A Colonial Governor in Maryland: "
The Ridouts (spelt also Rideout), of Sherborne, were de- scendants of Thomas Ridout of Henstridge, Somerset. The family came originally from France from the neighborhood of Fontainebleau and settled in England about the middle of the sixteenth century.
In Hutchins' "Visitation of the Somerset," now in the College of Arms, London, mention is made of the granting of a coat-of-arms, in 1551, to Thomas Ridout of Henstridge. These arms bear a striking resemblance to those borne by the de Ridouts de Sance (see Hozier's Armorial General of the French Nobility), near Fontainebleau.
In the will of Walter Ridout, of Langlin, Dorset, a de- scendant of Thomas, dated 1582, among other legacies he bequeaths a large sum of money to the church at Fontainebleau. Christopher Ridout, son of Thomas, was baptized at Henstridge, Somerset, 24th November, 1664, and settled in Sherborne, Dor- set. His eldest son, George, born at Sherborne in 1702, was the father of the John Ridout who came to America with Horatio Sharpe.
Another descendant of Thomas, of Henstridge, settled in Bristol, and mention is made in Hutchins' of the marriage in 1674, of Susannah, daughter of John Ridout, of Bristol, to Thomas Strangways, of Melbury, Dorsetshire. Their grand- daughter, Elizabeth, married Stephen Fox, who was created Earl of Ilchester.
Young Ridout entered immediately upon his duties, and with such devotion and intelligence that he soon became his master's mainstay. In 1757, he was sent on a mission to the Cherokee Indians in western Maryland
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in company with Mr. Daniel Westenholme, one of the most important men of the province, and with a wagon- load of presents, to secure their alliance with the English as opposed to the French in the French and Indian wars then raging. This was a very important undertaking, and the fact that young Ridout was despatched upon it four years after his arrival in the province shows how rapid was his rise to favour with Governor Sharpe.
Three years after this he was made a member of the Governor's Council, and this so incited the jealousy of certain individuals of the province that they wrote a long letter of expostulation to Secretary Calvert. Governor Sharpe defended his protégé in the following reply :
I am confident there is not a gentleman in the Province, acquainted with Mr. Ridout, who does not condemn the author for expressing himself after that manner. He is, I am satis- fied, well esteemed by most of the Principal people in the Province that know him, particularly the gentlemen of the Council. Who, pray, are said to be those persons of Rank, Fortune, and Superior Capacity whose long course of im- portant services have gone unrewarded? If there are any, either in or out of the Council, who have devoted as much time to the business of his Lordship and the Government as Mr. Ridout hath already done, who are better acquainted with the Constitution or political history of the Province, and have so much inclination to serve his Lordship, the Letter writer would have done well to point them out.
In this letter, too, is the first mention of Ridout's
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proposed marriage to Mary Ogle, daughter of former Governor Samuel Ogle and Anne Tasker, whose father, Benjamin Tasker, was one of the most notable figures in the early history of Maryland. An alliance with her family would make Ridout's position in the New World absolutely unassailable. Sharpe continues indignantly :
Even his not having been born in Maryland was mentioned as what ought to have been an insuperable objection to his promotion ; and as he had no family connection or large estate here it was insinuated that he had no inducement to consult and promote the welfare of the Province. As Mr. Ridout is with my consent and approbation, as well as with that of Mr. Tasker, her grandfather and guardian, about to make an alliance with the eldest daughter and eldest child of the late Governor Ogle, those who may have hitherto considered him an alien, and not interested in the Prosperity of the Province, will not long have an opportunity of mentioning his want of connections here as either a fault or a misfortune.
If tradition be true, Governor Sharpe's fine scorn was an evidence of the magnanimity of his character, as he, himself, was said to be in love with the fair Mary Ogle. Whether this story be true or not, he spent his life a bachelor, and throughout the rest of his days showed a most devoted interest in the Ridouts and their children.
In 1765, John Ridout was married to Mary Ogle, and took his young bride to the beautiful old house on Duke of Gloucester Street.
Here they entertained lavishly, and brought many a
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ENTRANCE TO THE RIDOUT HOUSE
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brilliant company together within their doors. That George Washington before the Revolution was a guest of Mr. Ridout's is evidenced by extracts from his diary:
September, 1771 .- On a visit to Annapolis. September 24th .- Dined with the Governor and went to the Play and the" Ball afterwards. September 25th .- Dined at Doctor Stewart's and went to the Play and Ball afterwards. September 26th .- Dined at Mr. Ridout's and went to the Play. September 27th .- Dined at Mr. Carroll's and went to the Ball. September 28th .- Dined at Mr. Boucher's and went from there to the Play and afterwards to the Coffee House.
October 4th, 1772 .- Set off for the Annapolis Races. Dined and Lodged at Mr. Boucher's. October 5th .- Reached Annapolis. Dined at the Coffee House with the Kosky Club and lodged at the Governor's after going to the Play. October 6th .- Dined at Major Jenifer's, went to the Ball, and Supped at the Governor's. October 7th .- Dined at the Governor's and went to the Play afterwards. October 8th .- Dined at Mr. Lloyd's and went to the Play; from thence early to my Lodgings. October 9th .- Dined at Mr. Ridout's, and went to the Play and to the Governor's to supper. October 10th .- Dined with Mr. Carroll of Carrollton, and set out for Mr. Boucher's, at which place I arrived about eight o'clock. October 11th .- Got home to a late dinner; John Parke Custis came with me.
September 26th, 1773 .- I set off for the Annapolis Races. Dined at Mr. Rollin's and got into Annapolis between five and six o'clock. Spent the evening and lodged at the Governor's. September 27th .- Dined at the Governor's and went to the Play in the Evening. September 28th .- Again dined at the Governor's and went to the Play and the Ball in the Evening. September 29th .- Dined at Mr. Sprigg's and went to the Play in the Evening. September 30th .- Dined at Mr. Ridout's
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and spent the afternoon. Supped at Mr. Jenifer's and spent the Evening. October 1st .- Still at Annapolis. Dined with Mr. Ogle. Spent the Evening at the Governor's. October 2nd .- Set off on my return home. Dined at Marlborough and Lodged at home. Mr. Custis came with me.
In the troublous days which preceded the Revolu- tion, Ridout stood loyal to the crown, and threw all of his influence towards reconciliation with the mother country. That his efforts were very powerful is evi- denced by the fact that Samuel Chase, called the " torch of the Revolution," and his adherents had the greatest difficulty in obtaining the vote of the Assembly for independence.
When Sharpe went to England in 1773, he ap- pointed Ridout his agent in this country, and, when the outbreak of the Revolution came, Ridout retired to Whitehall, Sharpe's country home, closing up his town house in Annapolis. His servants were drafted for the war, and the price of provisions became exorbitant, so, with Mrs. Ridout, he took refuge in a log cabin at Tono- loway, Virginia, on the Potomac River. His son Horace was sent to a boarding school in Frederick County, three thousand pounds of the Continental currency being paid for his education. As, in 1780, Continental money had fallen in value to two cents on the dollar, this sum was not so prodigious as it first seems.
In 1789, Mr. Ridout made arrangements for a long- deferred trip to England to visit Colonel Sharpe, and
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actually made embarkation from Alexandria, but the ship sprung a leak after being out two weeks, and was obliged to return. In 1790, came the sad news of Horatio Sharpe's death at Hampstead, England, in the seventy-second year of his age. Ridout survived his friend only seven years, dying in 1797 at the age of sixty-five years. He was laid to rest at Whitehall, which, as has been told in another chapter, was left to him by the will of Governor Sharpe.
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