USA > Delaware > Colonial mansions of Maryland and Delaware > Part 5
USA > Maryland > Colonial mansions of Maryland and Delaware > Part 5
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The issue of John Ridout and Mary Ogle, his wife, were two sons and a daughter: Samuel, Horatio, and Anne Tasker (Ridout).
Samuel, the eldest son, was educated abroad, and on his return entered Mr. Stone's office in Annapolis for the study of law. He married, in 1790, Mary Grafton Addison, a descendant of Col. John Addison, brother of the famous William Addison, and died, in 1840, in the old house on Duke of Gloucester Street where he was born. His grandson, Dr. William Grafton Ridout, is the present holder of the old mansion. Dr. Ridout's family consists of his son, Dr. John Ridout, and a daughter, Mrs. Ligon, of Howard County, Maryland.
Horatio Ridout, John Ridout's second son, married Rachel Goldsborough, and lived at Whitehall.
SCOTT HOUSE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND SCOTT-KEY-BIRNEY-CLAUDE-SISTERS OF MERCY -SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME
HE most beautiful hallway among all of the exquisite colonial man- sions in Annapolis, Maryland, is to be found in the Scott House, on Shipwright Street, now the home of the Sisters of Nôtre Dame. It is a square hallway about thirty feet each way, with stairs on the right de- scending away from the door. Immediately facing the entrance is an arch beneath which a small hall leads to the back door. Flanking the front door on each side are sunny windows. All of the woodwork of the hall and the stair is wonderfully carved in a design whose grace, precision, and charm have been commented upon and admired by many artists.
The house is two and a half stories in height and is a square, single structure without wings. The grounds around it have been excellently maintained and in the rear is a garden which is worked by the Sisters of Nôtre Dame. The front door is very simple in construction and chaste in design and resembles greatly the main doorway of Montpelier, the old Snowden homestead in Prince George's County.
Inside the house the rooms on the first floor are ar-
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THE SCOTT HOUSE c. 1765
SCOTT HOUSE
ranged symmetrically with regard to the hallway-two on each side-and the disposition of the rooms on the floor above is very similar. In the rear room on the second floor to the right, Governor Eden, the last proprietary executive of Maryland, died, on his visit to Annapolis immediately after the termination of the Revolutionary War. This room is now used as a chapel by the Sisters and is rarely shown to visitors.
The Scott House was built by Upton Scott, physi- cian to Governor Horatio Sharpe, of Maryland, about 1760, upon his marriage to the heiress, Elizabeth Ross, daughter of John Ross, of Frederick County. He accompanied the beloved bachelor governor of Mary- land to this country, in 1753, and had, as his companions and as fellow-venturers with Sharpe, John Ridout, founder of the Ridout family in Maryland, and Daniel Wostenholme, progenitor of another distinguished line in the state.
Doctor Upton Scott was born in the year 1722 at Temple Patrick, County Antrim, Ireland, and received his early education at Dublin University. After graduation he served as a surgeon under General, then Colonel, Wolfe in Scotland. During this campaign he met and formed a friendship for the future governor of Maryland. In order to accompany Sharpe to the New World, he gave up his commission, bearing with him to America, as a token of remembrance from
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General Wolfe, a pair of pistols now in the possession of Major Rogers Birnie, of the Ordnance, U. S. A.
When Governor Sharpe died in 1789, he appointed Scott one of the trustees of his will, with Benjamin Ogle as his associate.
The father of Elizabeth Ross, Doctor Scott's bride, was the Register of the Land Office of Maryland and was the builder of Belvoir, the beautiful old homestead at the head of the Severn River, not far from Annapolis, which has been long associated with the name of Worth- ington. Elizabeth's sister was Ann Arnold Ross Key, grandmother of Francis Scott Key.
So famous did Doctor Scott become as a physician that he was frequently sent for on consultation from the other colonies of America and it is said that when General Wolfe lay dying at Quebec he expressed a wish to have his old comrade prescribe for him. He lived to a green old age, dying when he had rounded out ninety years of life. He was buried at Cemetery Creek, Annapolis, where his tombstone may still be seen. The inscription on his grave is simple and reads:
Dr. Upton Scott, died 1814, aged 92 years. Native of Antrim, Ireland, and for 60 years a distinguished and re- spected inhabitant of this city.
His wife's tomb is near and the inscription reads :,
In memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Scott, beloved and respected by all who knew her, died 1819, 80 years.
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ENTRANCE HALL OF SCOTT HOUSE
SCOTT HOUSE
After the death of its first master and mistress, the old homestead was held by the Keys and Birneys, their nearest of kin and heirs, and shortly passed into the hands of Mr. Dennis Claude, from whom it was pur- chased by the Sisters of Mercy about the middle of the last century and from whom, in turn, it shortly went to. the Sisters of Notre Dame, who have been settled in it for nearly fifty years.
During its occupancy by its first mistress the old homestead often held a figure destined to fame. This was the boy, Francis Scott Key, whose great-aunt Mrs. Upton Scott was. He spent much of his boyhood in Annapolis and lived a great deal of that time with Mrs. Scott. A descendant of Francis Scott Key of Annapo- lis, to-day, is Mrs. Habersham, of Charles Street, whose daughter is Miss Ellen Key Habersham. In her house is to be found some of the furniture which graced the Scott House many years ago, and which was inherited by Francis Scott Key upon the death of his great-aunt.
BORDLEY, OR RANDALL, HOUSE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND BORDLEY-RANDALL
O visitor to Annapolis fails to make mental note of the Randall House hidden away in its little court; and a beautiful picture it forms to carry away in the camera of the mind from the ancient city to be developed in some drowsy hour when one goes wandering through the realm of recollec- tion. A description of it has been written by the late T. Henry Randall, an architect, and may be given in his words:
Looking to the north from the State House and hidden among locusts, poplars and magnolia trees, we see the Randall House, erected about 1730 by Thos. Bordley. It stands in the midst of a charmingly old-fashioned garden, with lawns in front and diverging walks behind, lined with flower beds and high box borders and possessing, in its great stretch of front, some of the most striking characteristics of an Annapolis home, besides the peculiarity of being in the centre of its own grounds and not on the street. That part of the main house beyond the sitting-room has been added within the present generation (to take the place of a frame addition that was removed), but it so thoroughly carries out the characteristics of the plans of its day in its arrangement that no one would suspect that this later portion was not of the same date as the rest.
The front hall, as in the case of two other examples (the Ridout and the Brice houses), is not on a centre with the axis of the house, and the staircase rises directly from the entrance
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with a most charming rail, wainscot and balusters in French walnut or mahogany. The library is in the wing connecting with the parlor and is placed a few feet below its level, forming a most interesting and attractive room. It opens upon the garden, on one side, and upon the conservatory, on the other, and its ceiling follows the lines of the roof above, giving unusual height and a charming effect.
On the front of this house, and running its full length, once stood a row of columns supporting the projecting eaves and resting upon a long porch that has long ago disappeared and with it a charming façade, such as one always associates with the houses much further south than Maryland.
Contrary to Mr. Randall's notes, however, the old homestead was not built by Thomas Bordley but by Stephen Bordley, his son, as is very clearly shown by an examination of the records of the Bordley family. Thomas Bordley, the first of his name in Maryland, and of ancient English family, came to Maryland in 1694 and died in 1726, four years before the date of erection of the home. He came to Annapolis unknown and without means, and by his own sturdy qualities raised himself to a position of affluence in that busy little city. He was a busy man and with little leisure. It was his son, Stephen, the merry bachelor, of whom tradition is busy, who built the mansion now known as the Randall House and who had the time to devote to the building of the homestead.
There are many letters preserved of this Stephen Bordley, and some of them have been published in the very interesting "Notes on the Bordley Family " pre-
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pared by Mrs. Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, of Philadel- phia, Pa., edited by her niece Elizabeth Mifflin, and published some years ago. A pleasant picture is drawn by Mrs. Gibson of the builder of the mansion:
This worthy old bachelor, for such he remained, was a great favourite amongst the ladies of the first circle of Annapolis where his society and conversation were much sought after- they smiled at his primitive and precise politeness, but justly admired his wit, good sense and good humour. . . He resided in the old family house, on taking possession of which he sent to England for complete sets of household furniture, plate and so forth. Its noblest furniture, however, was an extensive law and miscellaneous library, amply stocked with the best editions of well-selected works, in various languages, to which he was constantly adding-and reading as he added; his opinions, showing a good critical taste of the different authors and subjects of the day, are largely expressed in some of his familiar letters; he seems always to have read to some good purpose, and neither law nor politics could conquer his favourite pursuit of general knowledge. As a lawyer he stood high and though surrounded in that day by able competitors, his practice was very extensive. . . . There seemed nothing wanting to his happiness but a wife! Like many of his brotherhood, he was an admirer of the fair sex and fond of being rallied for his admiration of handsome individuals among them, though we believe he was only once in sober earnest on this subject. He acquired some quaint old bachelor peculiarities.
Writing to England to his Aunts Mary and Eliza- beth Bordley, Stephen Bordley gives us an entertaining picture of his family and the home life in this charming old mansion about the year 1737:
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BORDLEY, OR RANDALL, HOUSE
I have two own Brothers and one Sister; the eldest is my Brother Will, who has now been of age some time and is very capable of doing for himself in that kind of life which, in my opinion, is by far the most happy; I mean that of a Planter, it affording a good income and being destitute of the noise and bustle and stir which attends those who are obliged to lead their lives amongst great numbers of people; and where livelihood, of course, depends upon the smiles of those who . . . are often inclined to frown; whilst the honest peaceable labour and industry of the other procure him a sweet and pleasant and independent repose, affording him not only a certain means of living, but likewise of living well. My Brother Johnny is now about 16 and still at school here, intending for the same kind of employment with his Brother Will. My Sister Bett is between 19 and 20 and is one for whose sake alone I could choose to live, and should have but little inclination to continue here after the happening of anything to deprive me of her ; or to lessen that affection which I now bear her, and which I think I ought, so long as she continues to do nothing whereby she may forfeit it. She is still single and in my opinion, since she has a fortune independent of any one, she will be best off while she continues so; tho' I would not be understood as if I was against her marrying, if she were so inclined ; but only to let you see that I think there are so few men who may be trusted with the happiness of a woman of education or delicacy, that the hazard is not worth running; and of this she herself is sensible; indeed there are very few to whom I could trust her. I am, likewise, still single; and at present continue so, as well to avoid the noise and uneasiness of a large family and the continual labour and fatigue of providing fortunes to be left them at my death, as the lessening of my power of doing for my dear Bett anything that may contribute towards mak- ing her happy.
From Stephen Bordley, the Bordley or Randall
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House descended to his " Sister Bett " upon his death in 1764. Elizabeth Bordley died in 1789 and at her death left the mansion to her half-brother-the only surviving member of her generation-John Beale Bordley of The Vineyard, Wye Island, Talbot County, Maryland. Not long after the latter's death in 1804, the house was sold to John Randall, Esq., the first of his name in Annapolis, and with his family it has been associated ever since that time.
Concerning this founder of a distinguished line of sons of Maryland, J. D. Warfield, the historian of Anne Arundel and Howard counties, has to say:
He was the youngest son of Thomas Randall who came from England in the early part of the century, settled in Westmore- land County, Virginia, and married Jane Davis. . . . John put himself under the tutelage of Mr. Buckley of Fredericksburg, an architect and builder who designed and constructed many of the most celebrated public buildings in Maryland and Virginia.
He settled in Annapolis after the Revolution, married Deborah Knapp, of that city, and died in 1826 survived by his widow and thirteen children, of whom Alexander Randall was the inheritor of the homestead. Upon the death of the latter in 1881, the property was divided among his children, and the house is now part of the estate of the late John Wirt Randall, of Annapo- lis, who died in August, 1912, after a long and dis- tinguished life of public service. His widow is the mistress of the mansion.
WHITEHALL SANDY POINT, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MARYLAND SHARPE-RIDOUT-STORY
0 considerations of economy of money or space hampered the building of Whitehall, the colonial home of Governor Horatio Sharpe, on Sandy Point, about nine miles out of Annapolis. Its builder was not bound by the limits of a city lot or of a narrow purse. His eye was ever towards comfort, beauty and utility. So, to-day, the old home in its royal isolation is a beautiful exponent of the highest culture of the days before the Revolution.
Of late years Whitehall was in rather a dilapidated condition, but since its purchase for a summer home by Mrs. W. G. Story, of Washington City, it has been restored in the smallest detail to its original condition, and is one of the finest examples of the best class of colonial homes.
The road to Whitehall from Annapolis leads through a beautiful rolling country with many streams and little bays. It carries you through scenes associated with events in the earliest days of the province of Maryland. There is the little hamlet of Saint Margaret's, where one of the earliest parishes of Maryland was established. The very names on the little tin letter-boxes are historic -Duvall, Ridout, Dorsey-they each have their
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significance to the lover of things colonial in Maryland. At last you come to a sharp turning. There is a long, straight lane at right angles to the road along which you have been driving, at the far end of which, about a mile away, you can discern a white object. This lane leads to Whitehall and the white object in view is the old-time bar fence encircling this approach to the grounds.
The original tract on which Whitehall stands con- tained one thousand acres. The house is not now lord of so much ground. It dominates only the extreme point of the peninsula on which it stands-about sixty acres. The home lot is enclosed in a high old-time bar fence, kept so white with whitewash that it glimmers in the dark. On one side of the house is Meredith Cove; on the other, White Hall Creek. The house itself faces the junction of these two bodies of water where they form a bay, having a most beautiful vista, between the lines of the garden laid out by Governor Sharpe almost a century and a half ago. "Meredith Cove " and " White Hall Creek,"-the names do not sound impos- ing, but in reality the cove and creek to which they are attached are rather large bodies of water. They are directly tributary to the Chesapeake, just beyond their juncture, and give an easy and direct access to or from Annapolis.
The house is built in the familiar Georgian model of simple main structure with wings, and its greatest charm
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WHITEHALL, FROM THE GARDEN
WHITEHALL
is to be looked for in the elaboration of each of its separate parts. It is large in dimension, but is so beauti- fully proportioned and so well situated on its little rolling crest of land that its size does not at once im- press the visitor. Perhaps the greatest compliment that could be paid it is to say that it seems a natural part of the land on which it stands.
The wings of the house have been set back so that they are in line with the front of the house. They are square and one story in height. The ends of the main body are of semi-octagonal shape, so that there are no abrupt lines. A series of round bull's-eyes painted white give the back of the house a strange, exotic appearance, and contrast very markedly with the frail, slender, straight lines of the doorway and right-angled steps leading down in the enclosure here. The front door is marked by four huge columns of stone painted white, extending from the ground to the second floor, and supporting a heavy Grecian canopy.
Back of the house is the old garden where Governor Sharpe had the plants and flowers which he loved. He was a most enthusiastic gardener, and his letters to friends in England contain frequent requests for slips and cuttings of bushes and shrubs from the Mother Country. The garden is as beautiful to-day, owing to careful cultivation by its present-day mistress, as it was when the bachelor Governor of Maryland held domain, and it is the first sight which greets the visitor who
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approaches the house by land. It is bounded by a white bar fence of the style used in all parts of the grounds and which makes a semicircle around the garden with the back of the house as the base of the segment of the circle. From the garden, lead the Willow Walk, the Locust Walk, and the Crepe Myrtle Walk, each of which carries one through a shaded and beautiful path to the water front.
In the old days, it was a frequent amusement for parties of young people to come from Annapolis by boat to the home of the bachelor governor and hold im- promptu dances. The story has been repeated that at Whitehall, Mary Ridout, sister of Governor Sharpe's secretary, John Ridout, danced with George Washing- ton-then a colonel in the provincial militia-while Benjamin Franklin played the tune on the musical glasses. The outhouses, among which may be numbered the homes of the slaves, are continued in a straight line with the house, and are set off in square lots of ground with white fences. The view of the old home from the water, with its commanding white pillars, its quaint and leisurely wings and white outhouses, is charming. The bricks of the house are set in the familiar Flemish bond, and it is said that they were manufactured in Governor Sharpe's own brickyards established on his property for the benefit of himself and his friends. There are no remains of this yard to be seen now, but the story has a ring of probability. The bricks, themselves, have a
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ENTRANCE TO PARLOUR, WHITEHALL
WHITEHALL
rather rough-cast appearance, and are distinctly smaller than those in other homes of the same period, which, reliable traditions assert, were brought from England. Taken in its entirety, the old home, with its white fences and neat enclosures, its old gardens and general inde- finable air of serenity, well-being, and good content, is very charming.
There is a pathetic story of the interior of the house. On entering, the visitor is at once struck by the superb and abundant wood-carving to be seen wherever this form of decoration might be used. You are to know that it was all done by a young redemptioner sent to the colonies, who had aroused Governor Sharpe's pity on account of his youth, and who had been taken into that gentleman's household service. He showed great aptitude in wood-carving, and was offered his freedom by the governor if he would decorate Whitehall. This he set out to do, and laboured long and patiently until the whole house was filled with these marvels of minute scrolls of wood of the most perfect design and good taste. He never told anyone where he learned his art, or anything about his past. When freedom was within his reach, and his task was wholly completed, he was stricken by a sudden illness and died. The New World offered him little but adversity, yet the influence of his perfect work will probably last longer than the memory of his noble patron.
One cannot enter Whitehall without being impressed
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with the thought of its builder. The stories of his liberalities come to mind. You recall how he is said to have built a cotton mill on his property and have im- ported wool from flocks of sheep in old England that cloth might be woven for the comfort of his negro servants. You remember passages of sage philosophy in his voluminous correspondence with his master, Lord Baltimore. The house speaks of good cheer. Here was one who had solved the art of the secret of living, indeed! In the dining-room is his portrait painted in the style of Godfrey Kneller-probably by one of his pupils. It shows a beak-nosed man in cavalier costume. He wears a laced waistcoat which comes nearly to the knee, and the pockets and sleeve flaps are large and ridiculous. Around his slender hands hang lace ruffles.
The interior of the house is but one room deep in the central portion, though the wings contain rather more space from front to back. The main hallway, which is also a state reception room, is carried on up through the second floor and is a high, square apart- ment whose lofty ceiling is curved above the cornice. Here the most elaborate ornamentation of the whole house is to be found. In each of the four corners above the cornice in the curved ceiling are set large Satyric faces carved in black mahogany, an ideal detail for a bachelor's home. In the middle of the ceiling is a golden eagle which holds up the slender chain support- ing the chandelier.
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INTERIOR CARVING, ENTRANCE TO WHITEHALL
WHITEHALL
To the right of this hall, as you enter from the front, is the dining-room; to the left is the parlour.
How Whitehall was regarded by a contemporary of Governor Sharpe is shown in one of the letters of William Eddis, the voluminous chronicler of pre-revo- lutionary Annapolis who, under date of October 1, 1769, writes a friend in England :
In the vicinity of Annapolis are many pleasant villas, whose proprietors are eminent for their hospitality. Colonel Sharpe, the late governor, possesses a most delightful retirement, about seven miles distant ; his house is on a large scale, the design is excellent, and the apartments well fitted up, and perfectly con- venient. The adjacent grounds are so judiciously disposed, that utility and taste are everywhere happily united; and when the worthy owner has completed his extensive plan, Whitehall will be one of the most desirable situations in this, or in any of the neighbouring provinces.
Colonel Sharpe has resided many years in this country, where he has established a reputation which reflects the highest honour on his public capacity, and on his private virtues. This gentleman does not seem to entertain any idea of returning to his native land, but appears inclined to spend the residue of his days, within the limits of a province, which he has so long governed with honour to himself, satisfaction to the people, and fidelity to his sovereign.
Lord Baltimore wrote to Sharpe in reference to Whitehall:
Captain Love having hinted to me of your desire of some English Hares he informs me you have a villa and grounds to keep them in. It gives me pleasure your being in such a situa-
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tion, the recess of Happiness. I have ordered Hares to be got at Woodcote. The Steward has ketched four Brace. I shall have them augmented to more if I can and send them by Captain Love.
As to the hares, Sharpe wrote some months afterwards:
I am very much obliged to you for the Present of English hares and Dogs you were so kind as to send me by Captain Love, who I daresay took all possible care of them. Unluckily all the Hares, except a Leash, died at sea, and one of them, also, the day after they were brought hither. I am much afraid the surviving Brace which I have turned out at my farm are infected with the same disorder.
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