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A Guidebook to

HAMPTON NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

by Lynne Dakin Hastings

Edited by Margaret Worrall

Published by Historic Hampton, Inc.

in cooperation with the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

1986

Photography by Nancy and Dennis Caudill, Visus Photography, unless otherwise noted Guidebook project managed and edited by Margaret Worrall

This is the first edition of the first guidebook for Hampton National Historic Site. Copies 1-100 are signed and numbered

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission

from Hampton National Historic Site, 535 Hampton Lane, Tbwson, Maryland 21204

Printed by E. John Schmitz & Sons, Inc., Towson, Maryland 21204

Contents

Acknowledgements ................................................ v

Introduction ..................................................... 1

History ......................................................... 3

Architecture ..................................................... 25

Collections ...................................................... 37

Gardens ........................................................ 57

Outbuildings ..................................................... 63

Conclusion ...................................................... 71

Appendix 1. Ridgely/Hampton Chronology Appendix 2. Ridgely Genealogy

111

Acknowledgements

With sincere pleasure and gratitude, the author would like to thank those who have helped to make Hampton's guidebook a factual, yet readable reality. A significant amount of information about Hampton is already in print, and, after sifting through both primary and secondary documentation, the author assumes full responsibility for any inadvertent mistakes.

First to be acknowledged is Theodore R. Bechtol, Jr., the horticulturist at Hampton NHS. Ted researched and developed the chapter on the gardens, and has been an unfailing source of material regarding Hampton's natural resources, as well as a knowledgeable critic and enthusiastic supporter throughout the project.

I have benefitted most from the Ridgely family papers in the collection of the Maryland Historical Society. The Society graciously has allowed me to quote from these papers and to utilize freely the material for this guidebook. I am extremely grateful for the advice and expertise of their staff at the library and in the museum. Other vital information, essential for Ridgely family documentation, has come from the Hall of Records, Maryland State Archives.

My appreciation also goes to other scholars who have contributed to the body of knowledge available on the Ridgelys and Hampton, including Charles W. Snell, Anita E. Jones, Anne C. Edmonds, William D. Hoyt, Jr., and Charles Peterson. James T. Wollon, Jr., A.I.A., read the architecture chapter and provided many invaluable suggestions, and Michael F. TVostel, A.I.A., also supplied little-known information. Jane McGarry of Browne, Worrall and Johnson, Inc., Architects, executed the drawings of the north door and the portico windows. Margaret S. Keigler and Gail S. Smith assisted with genealogical and other necessary research.

I am also grateful to Margaret Worrall, who managed and edited the guidebook project, for making this a painless and exciting experience; to Site Manager Adam Karalius and Superintendent Karen Wade for their support and review; and to Historic Hampton, Inc., and its many committees, for raising the funds for the guidebook and a multitude of other projects, which assist the National Park Service in the preservation and interpretation of Hampton National Historic Site.

Finally, I would like to offer my special thanks to John Ridgely, III, a never-ending source of information and inspiration, a fitting patriarch in the Ridgely family tradition.

Lynne Dakin Hastings

Curator,

Hampton National Historic Site

Hampton the Seat of Gen. Chas. Ridgely, Maryland. Engraving by William Russell Birch, published in 1808. Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Birch visited Hampton in 1801 and probably sketched or painted the Mansion at that time.

Introduction

It has been truly said of Hampton that it expresses more grandeur than any other place in America." With these words, respected author Henry Winthrop Sargent took "historical notice" of Hampton in 1859. The distinguished estate situated several miles north of Baltimore, Maryland, was already more than 100 years old.

The National Park Service received Hampton Mansion and 43 adjoining acres in 1948 with additional lands and structures acquired in 1953 and 1980. As a national park, Hampton's enduring significance is keyed to two features: its architecture; and its status as an early agricultural/industrial empire and an entailed American estate, whose economic and social history remained in the hands of one family for more than 200 years.

Once dominating a vast, self-contained community, Hampton Mansion is now the centerpiece of a comparatively small historical park in the midst of 20th century intrusions. Today's sixty-acre national site encompasses the main residence, one of the largest and most ornate Georgian houses built in America, and twenty-three surviving dependencies and associated farm buildings. Surrounded by landscaped grounds and elaborate formal gardens, the Mansion contains an important collection of decorative arts, the majority of which are original to the estate.

Much more than a stately and venerable mansion, Hampton has always been a dynamic entity. The house, farm buildings, dependencies, gardens and furnishings all mirror a particular pattern of living within the context of 200 years of American history. Begun in the 18th century, the Hampton conglomerate continued to expand and evolve until the latter part of the 19th century when the way of life common to great plantations began to disintegrate. The core of the estate remained intact, however, and the aura of tradition and graciousness was maintained at Hampton throughout the Ridgely family occupancy.

The story of the Ridgelys of Hampton, told through the furnishings, family portraits and other surviving documentation, reflects a fascinating, progressive and comprehensive tale of fabulous success and prosperity, followed by failing prospects and eventual decline.

Interpreted in the setting of Hampton Mansion and its past and present environment, we invite you to share this tradition. The history of this once magnificent domain is both intriguing and noteworthy—an important monument to the exuberant American spirit.

Springfield Furnace, Pa., built 1815. Contemporary with Northampton Ironworks, latter period of operation: Courtesy Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.

History

The Beginnings 1695-1760

Hampton's history begins fifty years prior to its ownership by the Ridgely family. Unlike many 18th century American historic houses, the Mansion does not sit on land originally patented by the people who built it. Rather, it stands as a symbol of achievement for one family over several generations.

The Mansion at Hampton, constructed between 1783 and 1790, occupies a tract of land granted to Colonel Henry Darnall (c.1645-1711), who immigrated to Maryland from Hertsfordshire, England. The 1500-acre parcel, named "Northampton," was surveyed for Colonel Damall in 1695 and was only a small part of the vast acreage he owned. Darnall was related to Lord Baltimore, acting as the proprietor's primary agent in Maryland for many years.

Upon Henry Darnall's death in 1711, the "Northampton" property was inherited by his daughter, Ann Hill (1680-1749). Mrs. Hill and her sons, Henry and Clement Hill, sold the "Northampton" tract, 1500 acres "more or less" together with houses, outhouses, tobacco houses, barns, stables, gardens and orchards to COLONEL CHARLES RIDGELY on April 2, 1745, in consideration of 600 pounds sterling. COLONEL RIDGELY had begun purchasing Baltimore County lands in 1726, but it was "Northampton" that became the centerpiece of the Ridgely family patrimony.

The name "Hampton" did not originate with the Ridgelys. They also acquired "Oak-hampton" (200 acres) and "Hampton Court" (100 acres), names chosen by previous owners because of family connections or ties in England.

COLONEL CHARLES RIDGELY (c.1702-1772), called "CHARLES THE MERCHANT," was a third generation American, the son of "CHARLES RIDGELY THE PLANTER" and Deborah Dorsey. "CHARLES THE PLANTER" (?-1705) was a younger son, born to ROBERT RIDGELY and Martha _________ of St. Inigoes Creek in St. Mary's County.

ROBERT RIDGELY (P-1681), a barrister, may have emigrated from England around 1634, although few early passenger lists of ships leaving there for the province of Maryland survive. By 1666, however, he was Clerk of the Maryland Council and later, among other offices held, he was Deputy Secretary of the Province and acting Attorney General.

As he prospered, ROBERT RIDGELY acquired considerable assets. An inventory of his possessions included several buildings on the home property, plus furnishings such as eleven beds, bedsteads and accompanying furniture, a parlour clock, a collection of books, 230 pounds of pewter, some silver, and a watch.

"CHARLES THE PLANTER" is the most obscure of the Ridgely ancestors. Little is known about him except that when he died, his debts almost equalled the value of his estate.

His son, COLONEL CHARLES RIDGELY, was more successful. By 1750, he owned more than 8000 acres of land in Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, moving his interests as a plantation owner, planter and merchant toward the developing

commercial center of the state. From 1751-1754, he also served in the Maryland Legislature for Baltimore County.

C.1721, COLONEL RIDGELY married first Rachel Howard (d.1750), daughter of John Howard and Mary Warfield of Anne Arundel County. They had five children who grew to adulthood: two sons, John and Charles; and three daughters, Pleasance Goodwin, Achsah Holliday Carnan Charmier, and Rachel Lux. COLONEL RIDGELY married second Lydia Warfield Stringer by whom he had no children.

The Development of the Family Fortunes 1761-1790

In 1760, COLONEL RIDGELY gained control of 100 acres situated just north of "Northampton" for the purpose of establishing an ironworks. The Northampton Furnace and Forges were organized in 1761 and put into blast in 1762. The company was a three-way partnership between COLONEL CHARLES RIDGELY and his sons, John and Charles. The tenth ironworks established in Maryland, the Northampton Company took advantage of the easily mined deposits of iron ore in the area.

Bar and pig iron had become a staple export of the Chesapeake region with both the local government and the British Crown encouraging this industry through tax incentives and other benefits. Large quantities of wood, limestone and water power, as well as the ore itself, were essential to production. To provide the raw materials necessary to support the furnace, the Ridgelys continued to acquire large tracts of land.

To help them sustain their share of the ironworks, COLONEL RIDGELY conveyed parts of his property to his sons. In November 1760, he deeded some 2000 acres of land, including a major portion of "Northampton" and parts of "Hampton Court," "Oakhampton" and "Stone's Adventure," to his younger son, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY. CAPTAIN RIDGELY, also known as

Captain Charles Ridgely (1733-1790), by John Hesselius, c.1770. First owner, and builder of Hampton Mansion, he was also a successful sea captain, iron master, plantation owner, merchant and politician. Hampton NHS Collection.

"CHARLES THE MARINER" or "CHARLES THE BUILDER," soon undertook responsibility for managing the ironworks.

As a younger son, CAPTAIN RIDGELY (1733-1790) had gone to sea by about 1755. It is believed that he was employed first as a supercargo on one of his father's ships, in charge of the commercial aspects. He later assumed command of the ship "Baltimore Town," bound from London to Maryland and Virginia. The purpose of the voyage was typical of its time—the exchange of finished goods from England for tobacco, raw

materials such as bar iron or pig iron, and agricultural products from the colonies. Ridgely commanded several vessels over a period of years, from whence his title of "Captain" derived.

In 1760, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY married Rebecca Dorsey (1739-1812), the daughter of Caleb Dorsey and Priscilla Hill. Caleb Dorsey was a prominent and wealthy ironmaster and the owner of "Belmont" in Anne Arundel County.

By 1763, CAPTAIN RIDGELY had retired from the sea. Although he remained an active agent for British merchants in the colonies, he also pursued other commercial interests including a general merchandising business in Baltimore begun in 1765, and the operation of several mills, quarries, plantations, and at least one large orchard, in addition to his obligations to the Northampton Company.

The Revolutionary War era brought many changes to the Ridgely fortunes. In the 1760s, trade problems between British and colonial merchants escalated. Likewise, by the end of that decade, CAPTAIN RIDGELY's relations with British traders deteriorated because of conflicts regarding credit, fees and the payment of bills. British import duties and the Stamp Act led to non-importation agreements among the colonists and eventually to war.

Although British trade was cut off from 1775 until 1783, Ridgely's merchandising interests regained momentum once the War ended. After the Revolution, Baltimore, hardly more than a village when the ironworks was established, would become one of the leading economic and commercial centers in America.

In 1771, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY's brother John died. Captain Charles purchased John's one-third share in the Northampton ironworks from the estate executors. COLONEL CHARLES RIDGELY died in 1772, leaving the final one-third share to his three daughters, under the trusteeship of his son-in-law Darby Lux. CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY, however, maintained control over the entire operation.

Iron making was a difficult and labor-intensive procedure involving many levels of workers. Artisans and tradesmen worked in proximity to convict laborers and, during the War, British prisoners. Slaves conducted the heavy, simple tasks, but were also trained for the various aspects of processing the iron. Many indentured servants, including joiners, other tradesmen and laborers, bound themselves to CAPTAIN RIDGELY until their passage fee to America could be paid back. Families, even children, often worked together. Conditions were unenviable and indications of the usual diet show a rationing chiefly of corn, pork, herring and flour.

Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely (1738-1812), by John Hesselius, cJ770. Wife of Captain Charles Ridgely and first mistress of Hampton. Hampton NHS Collection.

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Colonial iron exports equalled about three-and-one-half tons in 1718. By 1761, the year the Northampton Company was established, exports had reached 2500 tons of pig iron and 600 tons of bar iron, shipped to England as ballast.

The Revolutionary War created an expanding market for iron products and the Northampton operation provided camp kettles, round shot varying in size from two pounds to eighteen pounds, and cannon, also in various sizes. The Northampton ironworks produced guns "allowed, by the best judges, to be equal in quality to any yet made on the continent, and as the best workmen are now employed, and ready at the Furnace, they shall be as neat," according to an advertisement in the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, July 1781.

In 1782, pig iron brought seventeen pounds per ton, a considerable jump from the five dollars per ton indicated in Ridgely papers dated 1766. The large profits from the military contracts enabled CAPTAIN RIDGELY to buy up confiscated British lands, including part ownership of the former Nottingham Company ironworks, and Principio Company lands. During the 1780s, the Captain also bought up other iron concerns in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY's participation in the Revolutionary War was mainly political and industrial, although he did send out some of his schooners as privateers. After the War, the demand for iron products slowed and prices declined, but CAPTAIN RIDGELY's iron concerns continued to prosper. From 1783 until the time of his death, his activities centered around his life as an ironmaster and his role as a local politician.

CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY's various economic activities and expanding wealth were natural incentives to political activitism. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates as a representative of Baltimore County almost continuously from his first election in 1773 until his death. Supporting a democratic, pro-debtor, and Anti-Federalist stance on behalf of his constituents in the commercially developing Northern Chesapeake area, CAPTAIN RIDGELY's position was not only very popular in his district, but was personally rewarding to his business interests. A forerunner of the "Jeffersonian Democrat," Ridgely espoused the cause of the common man, was in favor of cheap paper currency, promoted an expanded franchise of voters, and wanted a weak central government where taxation and government spending were rigidly controlled. He was considered politically shrewd and the acknowledged political boss of Baltimore County.

As a member of the radical minority party, CAPTAIN RIDGELY did not participate in the major statewide decisions made by Maryland's leading conservatives such as Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Nevertheless, he was appointed to the Committee of Correspondence of 1774, a series of Provincial Conventions, the Baltimore Committee of Observation for the Council of Safety, the State Constitutional Convention of 1776, and the Constitutional Convention of 1788.

Although the expansion of the family capital was paramount, not all the Ridgely money-making pursuits were strictly mercantile. They began racing and breeding horses at an early period. COLONEL CHARLES RIDGELY was a leader in establishing a Baltimore County Jockey Club, and surviving accounts show CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY's horse breeding activities to have been a profitable occupation. Reputed to be of fiery temperament, CAPTAIN RIDGELY also enjoyed amateur boxing and wrestling. His father is recorded as having been a judge at fighting events.

The Building of Hampton 1783-179O

With a combination of business acumen, forceful personality and a continuing personal involvement in all aspects of his business enterprises, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY parlayed a modest inheritance into a large, self-made fortune and agricultural/industrial/commercial conglomerate. By the time of his death, he owned more than 24,000 acres of land. His expanding affluence and position allowed him to emulate the life of the "country gentleman" represented by the early aristocratic Maryland families, if not in a life of ease, certainly in the symbols of his accomplishment.

CAPTAIN RIDGELY's most enduring testimony to his own performance was the construction of "Hampton Hall," the nucleus of his empire. The culminating expression of his acquired wealth, his "house in the forrest" was begun in August of 1783.

Like many Marylanders of his generation, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY enjoyed building residences. He had a house constructed in Baltimore Town and another on Patapsco Neck. He also owned several additional properties, including "Sportsman's Hall," where he and his wife lived when they were first married.

An ambitious undertaking, the five-part Georgian style "Hampton Hall" became one of the most extraordinary country residences in America. CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY supervised every phase of construction, and just as closely scrutinized its cost For example, he allowed the cupola, or "doom" as he referred to it, to be constructed in 1787 only so long as the price did not exceed the original estimate agreed upon in 1783.

The work on the Mansion progressed for seven years with labor by slaves, indentured servants and free craftsmen. The family, who had other houses at North Point and in town, may have spent some time in the Lower House or farmhouse at Hampton to oversee the construction and to be close to the ironworks.

In a journal, Rebecca Ridgely, the Captain's wife, indicates that she moved to the "Large new dwelling" in December of 1788, although existing records document that the interior of the house was not finished until 1790. Perhaps the family used one wing or only a portion of the main block prior to completion.

One traditional story relates that when Hampton was ready to receive guests, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY held a spirited party for his friends with wine, songs and card games. At the same time, Rebecca Ridgely held a prayer meeting in another part of the house. Rebecca, an ardent convert to Methodism in the 1770s, stated that she was "Born again a Child of God." The Ridgelys contributed handsomely to the Methodist cause and in 1776 provided, rent free, a house and farm on the Hampton estate for the "first preacher of Methodism in America," the Reverend Robert Strawbridge.

Tragically, CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY died in 1790 at the age of 56, not living long enough to enjoy fully the ultimate fruits of his labor. In his will he requested that a family burial ground be established at his dwelling place and that he be buried there. CAPTAIN RIDGELY's nephew, CHARLES CARNAN, organized an elaborate funeral, hoping "to see the largest number there, that ever was at any Funeral in the County," and arranged for the family cemetery at Hampton.

Because he and his wife Rebecca had no children, CAPTAIN RIDGELY's will, dated April 7, 1786, stipulated:

I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Rebecca Ridgely during her natural life the dwelling house wherein I now reside together with Eight Acres of Land

thereto Adjoining for a Garden with as many of the outhouses as she may think necessary for her Convenience or if she should prefer the new house I am now building I leave it at her option to Choose the same and I so also direct that Charles Ridgely Caman my nephew and his heirs do and shall provide for my said dear wife a stable sufficient to contain Six horses and the keep in constant Repair, etc.

Rebecca Ridgely decided not to remain in the large new house, and on January 17, 1791, she reached an agreement with Charles Carnan which exchanged Hampton Hall and all her interests therein for 244- V4 acres at "Dimite's Delight," a carriage house and stable, a house on Howard's Hill, and other provisions. The house Rebecca went to live in became known as "Auburn." Although it burned on November 6, 1849, and was rebuilt in altered form, Auburn still stands today on the Towson State University campus.

Charles Carnan Ridgely at Hampton 1790-1829

Upon the death of CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY in 1790, four nephews were included as principal heirs: Charles Ridgely Goodwin, son of William; Charles Ridgely Goodwin, son of Lyde; Charles Ridgely Sterett, son of John; and CHARLES RIDGELY CARNAN, son of John. The condition of inheritance was that each of the above change his surname to Ridgely. CHARLES CARNAN received approximately 12,000 acres of land, his uncle's two-thirds interest in the Northampton Company (including all land and stock), and one-eighth of the furnace and forges formerly belonging to the Nottingham Company. By direction of the will, no inventory of CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY's estate was made. Consequently, the content and disposition of personal effects is uncertain.

Born December 6, 1760, CHARLES RIDGELY CARNAN was the son of CAPTAIN RIDGELY's sister Achsah and her second husband, John Carnan (d.1762). CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY and his wife Rebecca took great interest in CHARLES CARNAN's upbringing and apparently supervised his education and development. They also contributed to the raising of the other nephews.

Governor Charles Ridgely of Maryland, by Thomas Sully, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Ridgely. Dated 1820. Otherwise known as "General" Charles Caman Ridgely. he was the second master of Hampton.

In 1782, CHARLES CARNAN married Priscilla Dorsey (1762-1814), daughter of Caleb and Priscilla Dorsey and youngest sister of Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely, the Captain's wife. Groomed to inherit a major portion of the Captain's enterprises, business accounts in both names were established by 1785, and the younger couple spent a significant part of each year with the Ridgelys. It is believed that when the Captain and Rebecca moved into Hampton Hall in 1788, Charles and Priscilla Carnan moved with them. Their second son, John Carnan, was the first child born at Hampton Hall, January 9, 1790.

After the Builder's death, CHARLES CARNAN consolidated the Ridgely fortune for himself and his heirs. By an Act of the Maryland Legislature in 1790, CHARLES RIDGELY CARNAN became CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY, carrying forth the wishes of his uncle to perpetuate the Ridgely family name. Although "CHARLES THE BUILDER" left his wife life interest in some of the estate and personal property, the will specified that CHARLES CARNAN would inherit at her death with a courtesy entail to his eldest son.

CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY was appointed a major in Colonel Johnson Imans' Baltimore militia regiment in 1794 and a_brigadier general in the state militia by 1796^ For the rest of his life, he was referred to as "General Ridgely." A director of the National Bank of Baltimore and the National Union Bank of Baltimore, he was also elected to the board of the Baltimore College of Medicine and was an incorporator of the Baltimore Orphan Asylum. In addition, the GENERAL was instrumental in the establishment of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Surprisingly, in light of his uncle's staunch political views, CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY became a leading Federalist. The philosophy of a strong central government which encouraged industry and promoted the interests of merchants and large property owners was obviously more suited to his princely lifestyle.

GENERAL RIDGELY was elected to the Maryland Legislature (1790-1795), the State Senate (1796-1800), and served as Governor of Maryland for three consecutive terms. In the first election of 1815, he was elected by a vote of 47 to 45; in the second (1816) 62 to 17; and in the third election (1817), he was unopposed. Three terms were the maximum permitted by the state constitution at that time. (Unfortunately, CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY's wife, Priscilla Dorsey, died in 1814 and did not live to see her husband become Governor of Maryland.)

Priscilla Dorsey Ridgely (1762-1814), copy of a portrait by Rembrandt Peale, c.1800. Wife of Charles Carnan Ridgely, sister of Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely, and second mistress of Hampton. The \ original portrait hangs at Government House in \ Annapolis, Maryland.

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During GOVERNOR RIDGELY's term of office, the Legislature established a fund to start free schools; ceded Fort McHenry and Fort Washington to the federal government; incorporated the Washington and Baltimore Canal Company; and established the Patapsco Company to build another canal. The State experienced a period of tremendous growth and resource development; internal improvements such as roads and bridges were provided for; and manufacturing companies, insurance companies and other businesses were begun. Road improvements especially would have been most desirable to GOVERNOR RIDGELY. A historian and guest at Hampton in 1797 stated that the roads through the forest to Hampton were so bad "that it is a day's work in winter for a team."

In 1819, CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY returned to private life. Influenced by his uncle, the Builder, he fashioned Hampton into a showplace. During his tenure, lands which had been willed to other heirs were bought back and new tracts were added. By 1812, all other interests in the Nottingham Company lands had been bought up by CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY and more of the Principio lands and lands adjoining the Northampton furnace were purchased as well. By the 1820s, all of the final one-third interest in the Northampton Company had been acquired by the GENERAL. Coal was discovered and mined on the estate, and marble from the Ridgely quarries was used for the Washington Monument in Baltimore. The fortune of the Ridgelys had grown with that of the city. From a population of about 200 persons in 1750, Baltimore's citizenry numbered more than 80,000 by 1830.

The Ridgely plantations were equally busy. Tobacco production had given way to corn, wheat and other grains, and beef cattle became an important product for local markets. GENERAL RIDGELY also was elected president of the Maryland Agricultural Society.

His concern for the land extended not only to profitable agricultural production but to landscape gardening as well. It was CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY who completed the original plans for the formal gardens at Hampton, including the falling terraces of formal parterres and the landscaping of the north and south lawns, and initiated the planting of specimen trees and the construction of specialized garden structures. His gardeners were some of the highest paid employees on the estates and included such well known nurserymen as William Booth and Samuel Feast.

Carrying on in the tradition of his uncle and grandfather, thoroughbred horses, both for racing and breeding, were of great interest to CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY. By 1805, he had constructed a stone racing stable near the Mansion and built a racing course on the Hampton estate. According to the Jockey Club of New York, GENERAL RIDGELY, who had some of the finest stables in America, was one of two men in the country (the other was John Tayloe, III, of Virginia) responsible for Washington and Baltimore's position as the center of American racing in the early 19th century.

Among GENERAL RIDGELY's many outstanding thoroughbreds were Tuckahoe, Grey Medley and Post Boy. An 1809 wager indicating GENERAL RIDGELY bet $10,000 that Post Boy could beat Potomac in a match race at the Washington City Jockey Club survives in the Hampton archives. A large silver racing trophy with gilt lining, made by Samuel Williamson of Philadelphia and engraved with the image of Post Boy and his jockey, was owned by GENERAL RIDGELY and is presently on exhibit at Hampton.

Richard Parkinson, author of A Tbur in America, published in London in 1805, wrote of his visit to Hampton:

The General's lands are very well cultivated... his cattle, sheep, horses, etc., of a superior sort, and in much finer condition than many I saw in America. He is very famous for race horses and usually keeps three or four such horses in training, and what enables him to do this is that he owns very extensive iron works, or otherwise he could not. He is a very gentell man and is said to keep the best table in America. I continued in friendship with him until the time of my leaving the country, and as he had a house in Baltimore where he spent his winters, I often experienced his great hospitality.

Like his uncle, CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY did not live at Hampton exclusively. Although it appears that at one time he and his wife may have leased their houses in Annapolis and Baltimore for the winter season, in 1807 GENERAL RIDGELY purchased a townhouse on North Gay Street in Baltimore for $10,000. The 1829 records of the estate sale at 8 North Gay Street indicate that the GENERAL'S townhouse was large and well appointed. Following his retirement as Governor, Ridgely divided his time between this house and Hampton. He was still acquiring some furnishings as late as 1828, when he attended John Eager Howard's estate sale and purchased several costly items. The GOVERNOR left the Gay Street townhouse to his eldest daughter, Rebecca.

Also included in the terms of CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY's will, dated April 28, 1828, was a provision to free most of his slaves. By these terms, all males age 28 to 45 and all females between 25 and 45 were free persons at his death. Those under 28 and 25 respectively were to be freed when they attained these minimum ages. All older slaves were to be held in trusteeship by his executors, who were not allowed to sell them, but instead to permit the slaves "as far as practicable to enjoy the rewards and benefit of their own labour their condition as much as may be ameliorated, consist therewith that they be kindly treated and provided for comfortably during their old age at the general charge of my estate...." The GENERAL'S will listed more than 300 slaves on the estate at the time of his death.

The "Post Boy Cup," by Samuel Williamson of Philadelphia, c.1809. Made for Charles Caman Ridgely, this important silver racing trophy commemorates one of General Ridgely's finest thoroughbreds.

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With an emphasis on elegance, CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY even employed a French cook who travelled back and forth between Annapolis, Baltimore and Hampton. Henry Thompson recorded in his diary in 1812, when he went to Hampton to dine, "Fifty one People sat down to Dinner in the Hall and had plenty of room." Charles Carroll mentions attending a party for which 300 invitations were issued.

In Heinrich Buchholz's Governors of Maryland from the Revolution to 1908, he sums up CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY's last years at Hampton: "At the close of his administration Mr. Ridgely retired to Hampton where he devoted himself to the task of looking after his property. At home he represented the typical aristocrat of his day. He had the fortune that enabled him to live like a prince, and he also had the inclination."

The GENERAL and his wife had at least 14 children, 11 of whom reached adulthood: three sons and eight daughters. CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY attempted to secure dynastic marriages with other prominent Maryland families for each of these children. Two daughters and one son married the children of James Carroll of Mount Clare; two daughters married two sons of John Eager Howard; another child married a Chew of Philadelphia; another a Dorsey; and another daughter married the son of Alexander Contee Hanson.

Their eldest son, Charles Carnan Ridgely, Jr., was born in 1783 and married Maria Campbell in 1809. Charles, Jr., was killed in a riding accident in 1819. His infant son, born posthumously, lived only three months. Thirty-six years old at the time of his death, Charles, Jr., had been carefully raised to assume the responsibilities of the estate. However, his brother, JOHN CARNAN RIDGELY, became the new heir.

John and Eliza Ridgely at Hampton 1829-1867

JOHN CARNAN RIDGELY (1790-1867), the second son of CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY and Priscilla Dorsey, was of a very different character than his great uncle or his father. Raised as a younger son, JOHN'S life was not marked by the ambition and prominence of Hampton's first two masters.

In 1812, JOHN married Prudence Gough Carroll, daughter of James Maccubbin Carroll (Mount Clare) and Sophia Gough (Perry Hall). They had six children, none of whom survived infancy. Prudence died in 1822, three years after ,the death of JOHN'S older brother.

On January 8,1828, JOHN remarried. For his second wife, he chose Eliza Eichelberger Ridgely (1803-1867), the only child of Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely, a wealthy Baltimore merchant, and Eliza

John Carnan Ridgely (1790-1867) by Thomas Sully, 1841. The second son of Charles Caman and Priscilla Ridgely, and third master of Hampton. Hampton NHS Collection.

Eichelberger. Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely (1770-1829) was descended from Colonel Henry Ridgely who immigrated to Maryland in 1659. No common descent for the two Ridgely families, prior to the marriage of JOHN and Eliza, has been established.

Eliza Eichelberger Ridgely was a wealthy woman. Her mother died at the time of Eliza's birth and Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely never remarried. Eliza was raised by her father and her maternal grandmother, Eliza (Mrs. Martin) Eichelberger. Following Eliza Ridgely's marriage and the death of Nicholas Ridgely, Mrs. Eichelberger spent part of each year with the Ridgelys of Hampton and lived long enough to see her great-great grandchildren.

Eliza Ridgely attended boarding school at Miss Lyman's Institution in Philadelphia to become "a lady of learning as well as accomplishments." She took instruction in natural history, philosophy, botany, Les Belles Lettres, English grammar, Italian, drawing and music.

While in Philadelphia, Eliza's father, Nicholas, commissioned her portrait, painted by Thomas Sully in 1818. Mr. Sully also painted her father's portrait in 1820. Her husband, JOHN RIDGELY, and his father, CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY, also had their portraits painted by Sully, in 1841 and 1820 respectively.

Following her return to Baltimore as an "accomplished" young lady, Eliza is described by her contemporaries as "beautiful," "charming," and "fascinating." She was a favorite of the Marquis de Lafayette, to whom she was introduced during his trip to Baltimore in 1824. It is said that she played the harp for him and he was captivated. They maintained a lively correspondence thereafter, and in later years, JOHN and Eliza Ridgely visited at "La Grange," Lafayette's French estate.

With the death of CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY, the great period of the Hampton "empire" had vanished. The estate was divided among the GENERAL'S many children and grandchildren. JOHN RIDGELY received only the Mansion and approximately 4000 surrounding acres. A courtesy entail, devised in the will of CAPTAIN CHARLES RIDGELY, kept the core estate intact.

JOHN and Eliza Ridgely had five children, two of whom survived to adulthood. Their daughter Eliza (1828-1894) recorded life at Hampton during the sec- Marble statue ofEUzaRidgely white Buckler and ond quarter of the 19th century. Two of her son William Buckler, by P. Romanelti, cJ868.

her surviving diaries from the 1840s reveal a busy family life divided between Hampton and the Ridgelys' house in town. The children's education by private tutor and local schools is discussed, as are the highlights of weekends and Christmas visits to the country, the summer removals to Hampton, and the illnesses of babies Julia Maria and Nicholas who died.

Eliza, Jr., known to her family as "Didy," married John Campbell White in 1849. The Whites had two sons: Henry, later ambassador to Italy and France; and Julian. John Campbell White died in 1853 and "Didy" married Thomas Buckler, a Baltimore physician, in 1865.. They had one son, William H. Buckler, whose likeness was sculpted for two statues which adorn the Mansion today. Later memoirs, written by Henry White, also detail life at Hampton before 1867, relating family trips to Europe and to White Sulphur Springs, where the Ridgelys owned a cottage.

Until the time of the War Between the States, the fortunes of the Hampton estate continued to prosper. Income from inheritances and from the estate itself permitted continual innovations such as plumbing, gas light, "central" heating, marble steps for the north portico, and additional stables. Outbuildings were renovated or rebuilt.

An avid traveller, Eliza developed cosmopolitan tastes, importing furnishings and works of art to complement the many pieces of furniture and silver that she purchased locally in Baltimore. Many of the fine furnishings on exhibit today reflect the choice of Eliza Ridgely. She also spent a great deal of her time and money on the gardens, altering them to the prevailing fashion.

South Facade of Hampton Mansion, 1838. Watercolor by Robert Carey Long. Present whereabouts unknown.

The hospitality and entertainment at Hampton retained its traditional reputation. In 1832, the Baltimore American recorded a party at the Mansion:

Within the doors I found true hospitality where I am informed it has long presided; never however more happily than now lam inclined to believe... good judgement and taste seem to have provided most amply: for neither the head nor ear could devise nor desire any change... There was on this occasion assembled in the spacious apartment of this palace, a constellation of grace, wit and beauty not to be excelled... The entertainments were all social and intellectual; presenting a fine opportunity to grow in knowledge and grace.. .The repast was such as refinement alone could prepare, consisting of the richest viands... the happy pair, who provided (this bountiful feast) and who presided with unusual felicity at this regal, no republican feast... (are) among the most hospitable, amiable, and refined...

The Civil War brought many changes, however. The wealth and lifestyle at Hampton depended on slave labor. While the majority of Hampton slaves were dispersed by the will of CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY, JOHN RIDGELY inherited slaves from his first father-in-law and his first wife's estate as well as from the estate of Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely. JOHN and Eliza also purchased additional slaves. Receipts for slaves' clothing and a Christmas list for gifts to the slave children help to document the character of the labor force in this period.

After 1864, the Ridgelys were obliged to hire servants to operate the estate and the townhouse. According to the memoirs of Henry White, his grandmother Eliza Ridgely never accustomed herself to the changes, living in fear of a slave revolt during the War and not satisfied with the output of the servants following the War.

Although he never held public office, JOHN RIDGELY was in some measure a local benefactor, donating funds for the construction of a new Episcopal church in Tbwson, c.1860, and providing land for the construction of an almshouse. JOHN, the first child born at Hampton and the first master to grow up there, died on July 17,1867, at 77 years of age Eliza died of a stroke in December of the same year.

Charles Ridgely, Fourth Master, 1867-1872

The second child born to JOHN and Eliza Ridgely was CHARLES (1830-

Charles Ridgely (1830-1872), byRobertson, c.1860. The son of John and Eliza Ridgely, he was the fourth master of Hampton. Hampton NHS Collection.

1872). Following his early education at Mr. McNally's school in Baltimore, CHARLES went to Paris from December of 1847 until July of 1848. He was then sent to Harvard University to complete his education. Among other subjects, he took French, German, chemistry, fencing, billiards and dancing. His sister "Didy" later claimed that his premier accomplishment at Harvard was learning to smoke.

In 1851, CHARLES returned to Hampton and married his first cousin, Margaretta Sophia Howard, daughter of James and Sophia Ridgely Howard. CHARLES soon began to assume responsibility for managing the estate for his father and stayed chiefly at Hampton until after the Civil War.

Margaretta, who had grown up as a childhood playmate of the Ridgely children, was affectionately known to her family as "Dumps." "Didy" and "Dumps" remained close friends as well as sisters-in-law throughout their lives.

At the outset of the War Between the States, in January 1861, a meeting was held at the Odd Fellows Hall in Towson-town to form a cavalry of "state's rights gentlemen" for the defense of home and state. Within a week, the group established the Baltimore County Horse Guards, formally organized under Maryland's militia laws. CHARLES RIDGELY was elected Captain and chief officer of the Company. The group met weekly and conducted regular drills.

In April 1861, following problems with Union troops passing through Baltimore on their way to Washington on the 19th, the Baltimore County Horse Guard Company was sent to Whetstone Point outside Fort McHenry on April 20 to guard against confrontations between the military and the citizens of Baltimore.

The following morning, April 21, the Baltimore County Horse Guards, under the command of Captain Ridgely, were sent to Towsontown with orders to patrol the York Road to Cockeysville. On April 22, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Union troops back to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Ridgely received an order from Major General George Stewart, commander of militia forces and later a Confederate general, to follow and observe retreating Pennsylvania troops to the state line, and also to destroy all bridges. Captain Ridgely appointed Lieutenant John Merryman of "Hayfields" and other members of the Horse Guards to carry out that order.

On May 25,1861, Lieutenant Merryman was arrested and taken to Fort McHenry. His arrest and subsequent disposition was the subject of Roger Brooke Taney's landmark

Margaretta Sophia Howard Ridgely (1824-1904), by Pollock, 1870. The granddaughter of John Eager Howard and Charles Carnan Ridgely, she was the wife of Charles Ridgely and the fourth mistress of Hampton from 1867 until her death in 1904. Hampton NHS Collection.

U.S. Supreme Court opinion ex parte Merryman, dealing with the writ of habeas corpus. CHARLES RIDGELY was never arrested.

In his memoirs, Henry White states that General John Dix of New York, in command of the U.S. troops in Baltimore and a personal friend of JOHN RIDGELY, told JOHN RIDGELY that a warrant had been issued for CHARLES' arrest JOHN RIDGELY assured General Dix that CHARLES was not a conspirator against the United States and that he would remain quietly at Hampton for the balance of the hostilities. The charges were never pursued, and CHARLES did stay at Hampton managing the estate until his father's death in 1867. The Baltimore County Horse Guard Company was disbanded in 1861.

Although the Hampton Ridgelys did not actively participate in the War after this time, Henry White records that "My grandfather (JOHN RIDGELY) always professed to be a 'Union Man;' but it was not long before I noticed feelings of marked satisfaction whenever the Southerners won a victory."

CHARLES and Margaretta had seven children between 1851 and 1869; four sons and three daughters. Only one of their daughters married. After 1867, he and his wife spent much of their time abroad, but CHARLES maintained an active correspondence with his estate manager and gardeners during his trips, always concerned with the interests of his estate. He died of malarial fever at the age of 42, March 29,1872, in Rome, Italy.

Captain John (1851-1938) and Helen West Stewart Ridgely (1854-1929), seated on a rustic garden settee in the Hampton gardens, c.1905, were the fifth master and mistress of Hampton. Hampton NHS Collection.

John Ridgely, Fifth Master, 1872-1938

The oldest son of CHARLES and Margaretta Sophia Howard Ridgely, JOHN, born in 1851, was given the usual advantages of Baltimore's upper class. He was sent to Europe

in December 1865 with his cousins to continue his education in Paris until the winter of 1867-68 when he returned briefly to Hampton. He completed his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, in England.

In August 1872, following the death of his father, the Baltimore County Circuit Court, in conformance with the will of CHARLES RIDGELY, awarded JOHN the Hampton estate with approximately 1000 acres. This constituted the "Home Farm." The remainder of the estate was divided among the heirs with JOHN receiving an additional portion. However, by the terms of the will, JOHN'S mother, Margaretta, continued to manage the Hampton estate for many years and the expenditures took place in her name. Work continued which maintained and upgraded the "Home Farm," including major rehabilitations c.1880.

Horses remained important at Hampton. Hunters and carriage horses were bred and raised, in addition to work horses necessary to the farm. Hampton hosted the famous steeplechase race, the Maryland Hunt Cup, four times between 1895 and 1920.

JOHN RIDGELY married Helen West Stewart (1854-1929) in 1873, after they had met in Europe. Helen was the daughter of John Stewart and Leonice Josephine Moulton (daughter of Joseph Moulton, Daniel Webster's law partner) of Baltimore. JOHN and Helen had six children who survived to adulthood: three sons and three daughters. Only one daughter married. The family resided at Hampton with JOHN'S mother, Margaretta, and his sisters and brothers, although JOHN and Helen also owned a house in town until shortly before World War I.

The fortunes of Hampton began to ebb during the tenure of JOHN RIDGELY, always called CAPTAIN JOHN. The financial reverses which led to the decay of the estate first became evident in the latter part of the 19th century. A "gentleman farmer/' JOHN's wife Helen recalls in her diary that he spent his days "saunter(ing) around with his hands in his pockets leaving work to overseer and men."

With a dwindling estate and a decline in profits from farming, JOHN was required to assume more responsibility for managing Hampton by the end of the 19th century. A lack of business interests or outside occupations on the part of the master limited financial resources. The changing economic climate also contributed to the family's problems. CAPTAIN JOHN'S mother Margaretta died in 1904 and once again the estate's assets were reduced by division among the heirs. By 1905, Hampton's lavish and elegant lifestyle had diminished and, although the estate was cared for, little change or improvement took place.

Fortunately, Helen Ridgely was a resourceful partner. She was the successful author of two books, Historic Graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia and The Old Brick Churches of Maryland; a skillful artist who painted watercolors

Daughters of the house testing the success of the yearly apple crop; sipping Hampton cider directly from the barrel c.1900. Hampton NHS Collection.

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and sketched with charcoal, pencil, and pen and ink; an excellent hostess; and equally at home on the farm.

Helen's diary chronicles collecting eggs from the chicken house in the morning and dressing to catch the train to Washington for tea at the White House in the afternoon. She reorganized the gardens to cut back on maintenance and raised prize-winning chickens. She cherished the traditions at Hampton and refused to allow electricity to be installed. However, it was Helen who drove an automobile, a modern convenience her husband disdained. CAPTAIN JOHN RIDGELY preferred to walk to and from Towson, usually with his brother Otho.

Helen Ridgely was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to assist with the Jamestown Exposition and was a friend of the Theodore Roosevelts. She also kept her own apartment in Baltimore, even after the townhouse was sold, for retreat when her asthma was at its worst. At her death, an era characterized by a succession of three remarkable mistresses of Hampton came to an end. Each of these women, Eliza, Margaretta and Helen, made an important and lasting contribution to the estate, its success and its survival.

The Final Ridgely Years 1929-1948

Helen West Stewart Ridgely died in 1929. Almost immediately, CAPTAIN JOHN had electricity installed in the Mansion, using profits from the sale of the famous Ridgely wine cellar to J. P. Morgan during Prohibition.

JOHN RIDGELY, JR., (1882-1959), CAPTAIN JOHN and Helen Ridgely's eldest son, married Louise Roman Humrichhouse in 1907. They built a large residence at 503 Hampton Lane and raised three children there: John Ridgely, III, James Walker Humrichhouse Ridgely and Louise Ridgely. Mrs. John Ridgely, Jr., died in 1934, only five years after the death of Helen Ridgely. Shortly thereafter, JOHN RIDGELY, JR., sold the house at 503 and moved to Hampton. He and CAPTAIN JOHN had a bachelor establishment, run with the assistance of Lena Devlin, the long time housekeeper.

JOHN RIDGELY, JR., established the I lampton Development Company in 1929 and began constructing and selling houses on the Hampton lands. This development continued over a long period, ultimately encompassing the "Hampton" community surrounding the park.

In 1936, John Ridgely, III, and his wife, i-ii- u-1 u / A -moc\ j John Ridgely, Jr. (1882-1959) and wife Louise Lillian Ketchum (married 1935), moved Humrichouse, 1907, standing on the Great Terrace to Hampton. The young Mrs. Ridgely with the original Orangery in the background.

undertook the arduous responsibilities of mistress of the house for three generations of John Ridgelys, all living together in the Mansion. Her duties consisted of such things as household management, preservation of the gardens, and the maintenance of dairy records. Groceries continued to be delivered from Baltimore, including a freezer of ice cream each week for Sunday dinner.

Hampton remained a very busy place. Some farming activities were still conducted and the stables still housed horses. CAPTAIN JOHN RIDGELY's sisters, Eliza, Julianna and Margaretta, spent each summer at Hampton, along with Otho Ridgely, David Stewart and his wife, and other family. Louise Ridgely had her "coming out" party at Hampton in 1938, an entertainment in keeping with traditional Ridgely hospitality.

CAPTAIN JOHN, titular master of Hampton for 66 years, died in 1938. The central core of the estate was once again inherited by the eldest son, JOHN RIDGELY, JR., although land was provided for younger sons, daughters and grandchildren.

In 1939, JOHN RIDGELY, JR., married Jane Rodney. John Ridgely, III, and his wife moved to the Lower House or farmhouse, the first Ridgelys to occupy it for several generations. Plumbing, electricity and other "conveniences" had been installed earlier in the 20th century. John Ridgely, III, and his wife left the farmhouse in 1942, when Mr. Ridgely served overseas in the Army Air Corps and Mrs. Ridgely was commissioned a lieutenant, serving as a nurse.

Following World War II, Mr. and Mrs. John Ridgely, III, returned to Hampton, where pivotal changes had been taking place. Upkeep of the Mansion, its remaining acres, farm and outbuildings had become increasingly difficult. JOHN RIDGELY, JR., was worried that Hampton would be lost to the encroaching suburbs and eventually be destroyed.

During the summer of 1945, David Finley, director of the National Gallery of Art and former advisor to Andrew Mellon, went to Hampton looking for a painting for the National Gallery's collection which would be a significant representation of the work of Thomas Sully. He had been told about the magnificent portrait of Eliza Ridgely, 'The Lady with a Harp," painted in 1818. Following negotiations with JOHN RIDGELY, JR., the portrait of Eliza and a three-quarter length portrait of CHARLES CARNAN RIDGELY, also painted by Sully, were purchased for the National Gallery.

Returning to Washington, D.C., Mr. Finley, who had been very impressed with Hampton and Mr. Ridgely's concerns for its preservation, discussed its possible acquisition with several influential people including Fiske Kimball, a member of the National Park Service Advisory Board; Mrs. Ailsa Mellon Bruce (Andrew Mellon's daughter) and Donald Shepard of the

John Ridgely, Jr. (1882-1959). The eldest surviving son of John and Helen W.S. Ridgely, and sixth and last master of Hampton. Hampton NHS Collection.

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Avalon Foundation (a Mellon family foundation); and Ronald Lee, chief historian of the National Park Service.

After a lengthy period of review by the National Park Service, an agreement was reached with JOHN RIDGELY, JR., to sell the Mansion, some of its furnishings, and 43.29 acres for a price well below fair market value. Hampton's preservation became a reality. This would be the first instance in which the National Park Service considered acquisition of a historic property based on its "outstanding merit as an architectural monument," rather than for historic connections such as a famous event or person association.

The final agreement stipulated that the Avalon Foundation would provide $90,000 to purchase the property and some of the furnishings and to make some essential repairs to the Mansion. The house itself and surrounding acres with outbuildings sold for $43,000, with furnishings at $15,000 and repairs estimated at $25,000. The check was presented to the Secretary of the Interior on April 25, 1947.

Because of post-war budget problems, the National Park Service agreed to accept Hampton as a donation from the Avalon Foundation provided a custodian could be found to manage the site on behalf of the Department of the Interior. The National Park Service undertook negotiations in Baltimore with the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities and its President, Robert Garrett. A cooperating agreement was developed, and was approved by President Harry Truman on October 6, 1947. The Secretary of the Interior officially designated Hampton a National Historic Site on June 22, 1948.

Hampton National Historic Site 1948-

JOHN RIDGELY, JR., and his wife moved to the Lower House which they enlarged by adding a four room wing with basement and bath.

Following restoration work on the Mansion and its furnishings, undertaken by the National Park Service in cooperation with the S.P.M.A. and the Avalon Foundation which donated an additional $40,000 for repairs and $18,000 for landscape preservation, the site opened to the public on May 2, 1949.

Hampton was not only preserved; it set a precedent for National Park Service acquisitions and became the impetus for the formation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, organized by some of the same people who established a cooperative effort between government and private philanthrophy in the saving of Hampton. During the first organizational meeting of this group, held at the National Gallery of Art, David Finley suggested that the participants each visit the gallery where the portrait of Eliza Ridgely hangs and express their appreciation to "The Lady with a Harp" for starting it all.

The Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities served as the custodian of Hampton National Historic Site for more than 30 years. During this period, in 1953, the two racing stables and an additional 1.9 acres were acquired for the site, and the S.P.M.A. received the Hampton cemetery from the Ridgely family.

JOHN RIDGELY, JR., died in 1959. By his will, his widow was given life tenancy rights to the Lower House and its furnishings.

On October 1,1979, the National Park Service assumed full administrative responsibility for Hampton National Historic Site. A cooperating association, Historic Hampton,

Dedication of Hampton National Historic Site, April 30,1950. Left to right: David Finley, Director of the National Gallery of Art; William Preston Lane, Governor of Maryland; Robert Garrett, President of the Society for the Preservation of Mary land Antiquities; and Newton B. Drury, Director of the National Park Service. Hampton NHS collection.

Ceremony transferring the Hampton farm property to the U.S. Department of Interior, 1980. Left to right: Clarence Long, U.S. Congressman, James Coleman, Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, NPS; John Ridgely, HI; Mrs. John (Lillian) Ridgely, III. Hampton NHS collection.

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Inc., was established by several members of the former Hampton Committee of the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities. Today Historic Hampton, Inc., manages the Hampton Gift Shop and assists the National Park Service with its interpretive and preservation goals.

The 14.02 acre farm property was purchased for $480,000 by the U.S. government on March 20, 1980, from John Ridgely, III, and other heirs of JOHN RIDGELY, JR., following the death of Jane Rodney Ridgely.

The history of Hampton continues to be recorded, although its character has altered dramatically. The once 24,000+ acre estate has dwindled to 60 acres and the daily activities of a lively family have given way to the footsteps of thousands. Formerly the showplace for an aspiring family, Hampton is now a National Park, preserved not merely for historical connections but as an outstanding example of 18th century American architecture.

North elevation of Hampton

Historical American Buildings Survey

North elevation of Hampton Mansion, Historic American Buildings Survey.

Architecture

The country-people soon saw with amazement what was to them a palace rising in the wilderness. .. .They called it "Ridgely's Folly."... it had too many "newfangled notions" about it. Marble mantels, folding doors, sofas, mahogany sideboards, and chinaware, were almost unknown immediately after the Revolution. Yet Hampton must be adorned with all these.... the captain would have carpets, and stoves, and carriages....

J. C. Carpenter, May 8, 1875 Appleton's Journal

The mansion house, originally called Hampton Hall, was built between 1783 and 1790 by Captain Charles Ridgely. Considered by contemporaries to be a very ambitious undertaking, the resulting edifice was one of the largest and most ornate country residences of its time in America.

Although the Mansion was constructed after the Revolutionary War, the design reflects a style of American architecture which developed in the 1750s. Defined as "Georgian," this style characterizes a period of history between 1714, when George I ascended the throne of Great Britain, through George II and George III to the death of George IV in 1830. More specifically, this term denotes a type of architecture common in America c.1700-1800, represented by a "formal arrangement of parts employing a symmetrical composition enriched by classical detail." Hampton's Georgian design follows the traditional symmetrical or balanced five-part plan: a main house or "block," two flanking wings, and "hyphens" or enclosed passages which connect the wings to the central structure.

An 18th century house plan which included a ceremonial center hall with extended wings was very popular in both America and England for residences at great estates where "show" was considered indispensable. Captain Ridgely's vast fortune was a new one and he was anxious to epitomize this concept. Hampton Hall would serve as the heart of an important agricultural and industrial complex and therefore, it was imperative that the house reflect the owner's wealth and stature.

Because there is no recorded architect for the Mansion at Hampton, it is thought that, for the most part, Captain Ridgely designed the house himself based on houses he had visited in England, Philadelphia, Annapolis and Virginia. As befitted a gentleman of his era, he also may have had architectural books in his library.

In addition, Jehu Howell, who worked for Ridgely on several housing projects and was the master carpenter at Hampton, was listed as "a very ingenious Architect, of Baltimore County" at his death in 1787. Howell surely assisted and probably guided the Captain in his design. Unfortunately, Howell died before the Mansion was completed, which may be the reason for some unfinished details in the building. Furthermore, the economic climate of the late 1780s had deteriorated causing a general depression, and it is possible that Captain Ridgely felt this financial pinch.

Although a set of original plans or drawings has never been located, a remarkable collection of primary documentation survives which records the construction of Hampton

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in thorough detail. Copious accounts for each phase including costs, materials, description of work and, in many cases, the names of the workmen, indicate the progress and the character of the building. Contemporary ledger books also contain entries for room and board, supplies ordered for individual needs, and fascinating references to shoes made, clothing ordered, and liquor consumed.

In August 1783, Captain Ridgely contracted with the carpentry firm of Jehu Howell and William Richardson as follows: "Howell and Richardson old Accts for work in (Patapsco) Neck settled but my work on my house now bildg in the forrest (Hampton) is to be (built) at the same prices Except % to be Deducted for Board and in the Neck their (sic) was % Deducted for Board." The cellars and stone work were begun in 1783 and by November 1784, the central block of the main house and the two wings were under construction and their roofs were being put on. Later entries describe the cupola, constructed in 1787 at a cost of 180 pounds for the carpentry work; sixteen scrolls for the sides of the dormer windows; pedestals for urns; urns to ornament the roof line; and "venision" (Venetian or Palladian) windows.

Exterior

The vigorous exterior design selected by Charles Ridgely conforms to the Georgian formula for classical detail and balanced effect: rigid symmetry, five-part composition, axial entrances, geometric proportions, pedimented gable ends and sash windows.

Andrea Palladio, a 16th century Italian architect and author of / Quattro Libri dell 'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture) influenced architecture for more than 200 years. The 18th century translations of his works and the Palladio-designed buildings studied in Italy by Thomas Jefferson and other travellers created a particular style in England and America, often called Palladian. These classically inspired Palladian ideas are evident at Hampton, although the lack of a formally-trained architect can be seen in the somewhat heavy and non-academic treatment of the design.

The external appearance of the house is generally more suited to a public building or a monument than to an American residence of the period, and the Mansion would have looked even more imposing and magnificent when first completed in 1790, stark and unadorned at the top of the hill. Visitors of 1790 would have seen it without the large specimen trees which were planted in the mid-19th century and without the encroaching suburbs of today.

The exterior of the Mansion is constructed of common rough gneiss schist stone quarried in the area. The stone walls are covered with stucco: a mixture of sand, lime, animal hair and water. The use of stucco was characteristic of Palladio's designs, but an unusual approach locally. Most great Georgian houses in Maryland have brick exteriors.

The color of the Mansion, pinkish terracotta, is not paint, but a reflection of the local iron bearing sand used to mix the stucco. The gray base, which shows indications of white paint lines, was colored by grinding charcoal into the stucco mixture. Originally, the white lines were used over the entire exterior to make the Mansion appear to be built of ashlar or precisely cut stones. "Rustication," a decorative treatment using raised wooden blocks shaped to look like cut stone, was also applied.

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The stuccoed and "rusticated" exterior was a sophisticated selection by Ridgely. It utilized texture, color and the detailed demarcation to simulate the construction features of a European country house.

Although the house was reroofed with slate later in the 19th century, the original roof was covered with "fish scale" shaped wood shingles. In addition, the roof is crowned by a series of wooden urns of classical form, which define the projecting pediments and outside comers of the main block and cupola base.

The cupola, or "doom" as Captain Ridgely called it, is of massive proportions and gives Hampton its special distinction. It also provides a sizeable chamber with an excellent view of Hampton lands in all directions. The cupola's large sash windows are the key to an ingenious and notably successful ventilation system. When the windows in the octagonal cupola are raised, the cupola draws the hot air in the house up and out of the lower stories.

The eight dormers on the roof of the main block are highlighted by decorative scrollwork and elegant "Gothick" muntins in the arched windows. "Muntins" are pieces of wood which support the individual panes or 'lights" of glass in the window. Elaborate fake windows with moulded wooden frames and painted glazing are applied on the chimneys to create a "trompe 1'oeil" (trick to the eye) effect. Rustication can be seen in the pediments, at the base of the cupola, and on the inside walls of the chimneys.

The north and south entrances, which directly oppose each other across the center of the house, are known as "axial" entrances because they intersect the primary axis of the house. There is no front or back door as we term them today. To the north, the carriage entrance opens to the heart-shaped carriage drive, and to the south the garden entrance gives access to the formal gardens.

Both entrances are protected by partially enclosed central pavilions or porticoes which are highlighted by bold pilasters or columns supporting intricate pediments containing Venetian windows. With a central, arched window and a narrow flatheaded window to either side, these openings appear to be framed in stone, another example of rustication. The side walls of the porticoes are also stuccoed stone and contain sash windows at both first and second story levels, cross-ventilating the porticoes for use in the summer. The second story porticoes were made practical with the inclusion of railings in Gothick Chippendale style.

The portico steps on both the north and south sides were originally sandstone with iron railings. In 1867, the Ridgelys replaced the north steps with marble ones with turned balusters and railings, designed by E. G. Lind. As a complement, the plain wood floor of the north portico was covered with black and white marble tiles.

Louvered doors originally supplemented the solid wood exterior doors at the north and south entrances, both in the main block and in the hyphens and wings, permitting cross-ventilation throughout the house during the warm season while still allowing the family their privacy.

The doors are the standard panelled type typical of the 18th and early 19th century. The portico doors are surrounded by elegant classical ornamentation in the Doric order. The doors to the hyphens, on the other hand, are perfectly plain with only a row of fixed lights, or transom, above.

RAKING CORNICE

CORNICE

FREIZE

ELEVATION • NORTH PORTICO • HAMPTON MANSION

Architectural details of the North Portico door and windows. Courtesy ofBrowne, Worratt & Johnson, Inc., Architects.

The exterior window treatment of the first two stories is quite simple with the exception of those in the porticoes. The portico windows are detailed with complete entablatures, or architectural treatments, including important classical elements: architraves, friezes and cornices. The windows were protected in some areas by louvered shutters on the exterior, and all windows on the first and second story have recessed interior shutters which fold out for additional protection and to control light and heat in the house.

All windows and doors have wooden or iron bars on the interior for securing the house at night or while the family was away.

interior

The house was built on a massive scale with large public rooms in the first story of the main block. Captain Charles Ridgely evidently intended to do a lot of entertaining and he wanted to do it in impressive style. Designed for these social activities, the first story includes a large central receiving area and a pair of rooms on each side.

Unlike many five-part Georgian houses, Hampton's main staircase is not located in the central hall but is placed on the east side between two smaller parlours, out of the way of the reception area.

The staircase was originally highlighted by a large moulded archway supported by engaged fluted columns which connected the stairs to the central receiving area. The arch was filled in with plaster walls and a doorway before 1800 to provide a practical solution for conserving heat in a very large house with only fireplaces and woodburning stoves. When not used for entertaining, the central and west side of the house could be isolated from the two smaller east side parlours and the bedchambers above, which were the family living quarters.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN Scale: Vi6"Bl'-0"

Present Floor Plan, First Story, Hampton Mansion.

Each of the four principal parlours in the first story has a decorative overmantel with moulded picture reserve. An early account indicates that "landskips" or landscapes were painted in one or more of these overmantels. The decorative detail is most elaborate in the Great Hall, the Drawing Room and the Dining Room, as one might expect.

Although "random width" floors today are considered "antique," the wealthiest home owners of this earlier period wanted carefully matched floor boards and Captain Ridgely had the financial resources to install them. The pine wood flooring on the first level is very precisely cut and placed. Not as much attention was paid to the floors on the second and third levels, although they too are finely constructed.

Walls and ceilings throughout are plastered with carved or moulded wood cornices, chairrails, wainscoting and baseboards. Ceiling height is 13'8" for the first and second stories.

The initial painting of the interior did not begin until April 1791. Richard Jones of Fells Point and two assistants worked for eight weeks to complete the job, which cost almost 72 pounds, including the paint. The first colors used were yellow, blue, purple brown, vermillion, "Litherage of Gold," "Prussian Bleu," "Verdigrease Green," "Patent Yellow," umber, stone ocher, red lead, lamp black, and white lead.

Great Hall

The first story is dominated by a central or "Great" hall, measuring 51 by 21 feet. Like most ornamentation throughout the house, its classical details conform to the Roman Doric order. A versatile room used for parties, balls, receptions and large dinners, the Great Hall spans the depth of the house, opening to the heart-shaped carriage drive on the north and to the gardens on the south. Such a design created a primary axis which, if drawn on paper, runs through the center of the gardens, down the central Great Hall, across the north lawn, bisects the farm property, and culminates at the site of the ironworks to the north at Loch Raven. Space in the Great Hall could be expanded by the use of the porticoes in warmer months.

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The larger parlours on the west side of the Great Hall include the formal Drawing Room to the north and the Music Room on the south side. The visitor enters the house today through the west hyphen, walking up a small set of stairs and through a doorway into the Music Room. This door, which connected the west side of the main block to the offices in the hyphen during the Builder's period, was important. It isolated Captain Ridgely's family life from the business interests of the estate. It is believed that originally the Music Room may have also served as the library, a useful annex for Mr. Ridgely during his business day.

Later generations of Ridgelys used the Music Room extensively, one mistress going so far as to make it a supplemental greenhouse because of its southern exposure. One of the children of John and Eliza Ridgely writes in her diary that the family said prayers together in the Music Room and that she often sat there in the morning waiting for the carriage to take her to school in Baltimore.

Drawing Room

The Drawing Room was the most formal room in the house. Here the Ridgelys entertained dignitaries and honored guests. The architecture is particularly significant for its marked symmetry and proportion. For example, the window openings are carefully balanced with false windows (framed recesses which are plastered) opposing them. The overmantel, with raised panel frieze surmounted by rectangular picture reserve and moulded pediment, is balanced by the related doorway treatment.

The orientation of this room was probably deliberate. Located on the northwest side of the house, the hyphen and west wing block out much of the available light source. Since little time was spent here when the family was not entertaining formally, sunlight and warmth were not as important in this room as they would be in the Dining Room and in the Music Room/Library and Parlour, which were frequently used by the family.

Dining Room

To the east of the Great Hall are two smaller parlours, one for family use and one for dining. The Ridgelys appear to have incorporated a dining room from the earliest period of occupancy. However, when large groups were entertained, they dined in the Great Hall, as was the earlier practice in many English country houses.

The original Dining Room was on the southeast side of the main block where you see it today. This room was changed in the early 19th century when an east side window was lowered to create a door, disturbing the symmetry flanking the fireplace and overmantel. The alteration took place when the pantry hyphen was widened to create more work/ storage space. The change also allowed direct access to the Dining Room by means of a small staircase from the pantries as well as from the second story.

The cupboard and corner closet are both original to this room. The cupboard is very shallow and probably was used to store drinking glasses and other small items. The corner closet is unusual and contains shelves as well as pegs for hanging.

The Dining Room has been restored to the period c.1810-1830, displaying the correct colors used during Hampton's second period of decoration. The woodwork is painted

blue like the original paint of Prussian blue pigment, white lead and linseed oil, and glazed with two coats of varnish to create a glossy surface which would reflect the light as well as last longer and be easier to clean.

The dentils and fireplace surround are picked out in an ochre color and the chairrail and doors are grained to simulate mahogany. The graining of the doors is highly figured with imitation string inlay. This graining was copied from surviving graining at Hampton with the colors matched to small original chips viewed under a powerful stereomicroscope, as were the paint colors. Graining during this period was more fanciful than that of the later 19th century and was intended to delight the eye. Like the "fancy" furniture of the time, such decoration was generally a prerogative of the wealthy, very fashionable and "modem" in taste.

Parlour

The Parlour at Hampton was utilized in much the same way we use our family room today. It was reserved for less formal entertaining of family and friends and would have been considered "cozier" than the Drawing Room. Immediately to the left as one enters the Great Hall on the north side, the Parlour was easily accessible from the upstairs or from the kitchen and east hyphen entries.

In the second quarter of the 19th century, the Dining Room and Parlour were reversed. As customs changed and the family spent more time together, it was important to maximize the light and warmth available in such a room. Therefore, the southeast chamber became the family parlour. The view of the garden from the south windows also added to the room's appeal.

The Dining Room, once transferred to the north side, is remembered by surviving family members as a very cold room. It is said that the only person who was warm was the person at the head of the table, the master of the house. He sat with his back close to the fire while the children, who (when they were present) sat at the foot of the table, became extremely cold in the winter months. This was more of a problem for later generations of Ridgelys, who spent most of the year at Hampton.

First Story Stairhall

The stairhall in the first story provided direct access to the east hyphen, the kitchen wing and to the upper stories. Because parts of the second story were also used for reception areas, the staircase is generous in size and detail, designed for use by guests as well as family and servants.

The turned balusters of the staircase are walnut, and are dovetailed into the stair treads. The handrail and the scrollwork on the strings, as well as the newel posts and turned drops, are also walnut. The turned drops as details are specifically mentioned in carpentry bills submitted to Charles Ridgely during the Mansion's construction.

Seen through the glass barrier door to the east hyphen are a set of brass and iron servant bells. A bell system was installed when the Mansion was constructed, and the system was repaired and renovated several times in the 19th century. Each room had a bell pull, and each bell had a special sound so that the servants would know in which room they were needed, an important communications device in a house the size of Hampton.

Present Floor Plan, Second Story, Hampton Mansion.

Second Story Hall

Containing the finest architectural detail inside the Mansion, the second story hall is entered at the top of the stairs through engaged fluted columns supporting an entablature of the Doric order embellished with triglyphs and metopes in the frieze. Each of the ten doors is crowned with a broken pediment. Four storage closets are built into the hall with wooden pegs at hanging level. These closets were used originally to store the cloaks of guests, while later generations of Ridgelys stored out-of-season clothing in them. Today the closets have been adapted for exhibition space.

Second Story Rooms

The second story originally contained six large, principal bedchambers. Because it was the warmest and sunniest room, the southwest chamber was reserved for the master and mistress.

The central chambers of the second story each have double doors which open onto the upper porticoes. When not needed as bedchambers, they were used as reception rooms. These two chambers have no fireplaces, but after about 1850, heat was supplied through ducts from the basement furnace.

The southeast bedchamber was reduced in the 19th century to provide a small passage to the backstairs. The smaller bedchamber was then used as a nursery and later divided to create space for a bathroom.

The height of the overmantels in the northwest and southwest bedchambers and their elaborate architectural detail give them great elegance. The overmantels of the two east bedchambers are short, with pediments immediately above the shelves and little decorative treatment.

A Different Perspective.. .The West Hyphen looking towards the Music Room, c.1920. Now the visitor's entrance, the WestHyphen, when used as a sitting room, combined furnishings representative of several generations ofRidgely family occupancy. The stacks of books to the left and right of the stairs include bound volumes of the London Times Illustrated. These provided hours of educational amusement for the Ridgely children. Hampton NHS collection.

Later, the west wing accommodated a part-time schoolhouse, and Hampton's first bathrooms were installed here by the 1850s. The bathrooms had bathing tubs, water-closets and sinks, all with running water supplied by a cistern and pump on the west side of the Mansion. A cistern on the east side supplied water to the kitchen. In addition, there were wooden pipes for running water which supplied spring water to the Mansion and gardens. These pipes were first laid in the 1790s and later replaced with lead pipes in 1855.

Cellars

The stone cellars under the main block of the Mansion were used for storage and later for the furnaces. There was a wine cellar, lard cellar, carpet cellar, apple cellar and a gen-

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eral purpose cellar. Most prominent was the wine cellar with an outstanding collection. During Prohibition, the Ridgelys sold a large part of the contents of the wine cellar to J. P. Morgan, using the proceeds to pay for electricity and new plumbing in the Mansion.

Heating Systems

The Ridgelys considered Hampton their country estate and maintained at least one additional residence in Baltimore or Annapolis until the 20th century. They spent much of the "season" or winter in town, socializing, conducting business and politics, and staying warmer in the closer confines of a city house. By the second quarter of the 19th century, however, the family did spend at least part of the winter at Hampton, including Christmas.

The first heating sources in the Mansion were fireplaces, part of the original construction. Wood stoves—the earlier ones of the Franklin type, the later ones closed—were added to increase the heat output, and eventually, some of the fireplaces were converted to burn coal.

In the mid-19th century, a gravity air furnace was installed in the cellar with ducts to registers in the floorboards of the first story. In the second story, ducts also carried hot air to the two central bedchambers. Stoves continued to be used to supplement the early central system.

About 1910, radiator heat was installed in the Mansion, and this heating system, although upgraded with thermostats and a new furnace, is still used today.

Hampton's baronial scale and grandiose design provided a spacious and comfortable setting for both gracious entertaining and a close-knit family life for seven generations of the Ridgely family.

Large silver urn with Ridgely family crest in the Rococo revival style. This um was made in Baltimore, c.1828, and is attributed to Samuel Kirk. It is marked only with the assay office stamp and the year symbol "C". A compatible repousse tea set is also on exhibit in the Mansion.

Collections

Focusing on those items owned and used by the Ridgely family during their 160 years of occupancy, the historic collections at Hampton National Historic Site represent each generation, concentrating on the period between 1810 and 1870. In the normal course of living, many Hampton furnishings have been dispersed. Some were scattered through inheritance and, in the 20th century, many were sold by the fifth and sixth masters of Hampton to provide funds to maintain the diminishing estate. The ultimate goal of the National Park Service is to furnish the Mansion to reflect the different generations of Ridgelys who lived there. The nine period rooms on exhibit will eventually relate almost two centuries of the social and aesthetic history of a prominent Maryland family.

In addition, one room at the Lower House will be furnished to illustrate the objects owned and used by a Ridgely overseer, and one room of the Log Slave Quarters will exhibit an interior setting typical of the slaves' subsistence environment. In this manner, visitors will be able to compare the status and living conditions of three distinct social classes at Hampton.

The Mansion

Music Room

The Music Room is furnished to represent Ridgely occupancy during the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th century. At that time, furnishings included pieces dating from 1815 to 1870, but were chiefly Victorian (1840-1870), a period named for Victoria, Queen of England from 1837 until 1901. Although based on earlier periods, the distinctive styles that developed in this era were characterized by exaggeration in both form and ornamentation.

In the "Music Saloon" during the latter part of the 19th century, walnut graining was prevalent on the woodwork and doors, and the walls were

This walnut highback hall chair, upholstered in dark green leatherette, is one of a set of twelve made in Baltimore for the Ridgelys, c.1860. The set was custom-ordered with the Ridgely coat-of-arms carved in the crest rail.

painted, not wallpapered. The graining was executed by James Malbon in 1854 for $30.00.

Heavily carved and gilded wooden cornices, decorated with the family crest, hung over each window, and a massive mirror with an elaborate gilt frame that matched the cornices covered the south wall between the windows.

The mahogany library-bookcase, which still dominates the north wall, was made in Baltimore, c.1815. Its workmanship is attributed to the shop of William Camp (working 1801-1822), a preeminent Baltimore cabinetmaker. The books inside the library-bookcase are all part of the extensive Ridgely library developed over several generations. Many of the books exhibited in the Music Room belonged to Charles Carnan Ridgely, who purchased the bookcase.

The marble top center table, four sidechairs, couches and loveseat, as well as the ornate short-legged sidechair, were all made in Baltimore in the Rococo Revival style, c.1845. The center table was an important piece of furniture in the 19th century as a gathering place for the family or the focal point of the room. On the table is a silver tea set with Ridgely family crest made by Samuel Kirk of Baltimore, c.1835.

The piano, also in the Rococo Revival style, c.1855, was made by Steinway of New York. These large square instruments were extremely fashionable at mid-century, and several prominent Baltimore manufacturers, including Knabe, competed with New York companies to make them. The heavy rosewood case has a cast iron interior frame supported by detachable legs locked into place by metal fittings.

The double-movement painted and gilded harp belonged to Eliza Ridgely (1803-1867). Her father, Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely, ordered this harp from London in 1817 at a cost of almost $600. Made by Sebastian Erard, "Maker to H.R.H. the Princess Charlotte of Wales, his most Christian Majesty the King of France, and to his I.M. the Emperor of all the Russias," the harp, when shipped from England, was accompanied by a leather cover, Roman strings and silver strings. A painted and gilded music stand, which belonged to Eliza but was made in Baltimore, is also part of the collections. The music stool seen near the harp was made in New York but is not of Ridgely provenance (i.e., it was not owned by the Ridgelys.)

The Turkey carpet, one of several ordered by John and Eliza Ridgely, is a remnant of a much larger carpet that was once used in the Great Hall but was cut up in the 20th century to create several smaller carpets. Late 19th century

Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely (1774-1829), by Rembrandt Peak, c.1797. A prominent Baltimore merchant and businessman, and father of Eliza Ridgely, the third mistress of Hampton. Nicholas Ridgely and his daughter were not related to the Ridgelys of Hampton before her marriage. Hampton NHS Collection.

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photographs alternately show a room-sized floral carpet with strips of straw matting on top, or a Turkey carpet similar to the one in present use.

On the east wall, the circular convex girandole mirrors with candle arms date to the early 19th century. These mirrors were highly decorative as well as functional, reflecting both objects and light in perspective. Although they may have been used originally in the Great Hall, Drawing Room, or Dining Room, late 19th century photographs show the mirrors in their present location.

The later Rococo Revival mirror with stag's head crest which hangs on the south wall is a smaller contemporary example of a much larger one which originally hung in this space

Other than firelight and the natural light available during the day through the windows, lighting during the 19th century was expensive and time consuming. Although the Ridgelys owned a variety of oil and fluid lamps, candles were the primary means of lighting at Hampton until about 1850, especially in ceiling fixtures and wall sconces.

Because the Ridgelys were very wealthy, however, they were able to afford the latest in lighting innovations. In the mid-19th century, John and Eliza had a gashouse constructed at Hampton with pipes installed to conduct the gas into the house. The Music Room's porcelain and gilt chandelier with the Chinese export vase center, made in France in the second quarter of the 19th century, was adapted for gas lighting as were each of the other candle-holding ceiling fixtures in the Mansion.

Gas light, in addition to oil lamps and candles, continued to be used until 1929, when electricity was finally installed. However, according to family tradition, the Ridgelys utilized oil lamps or chamber candlesticks for going up to bed at night until they left Hampton in 1948. These candlesticks and lamps were kept on a table in the first story stairhall, and a servant spent every morning collecting the used equipment for cleaning, trimming the wicks and changing the fluid.

The pair of girandole lights with hanging cut-glass prisms on either side of the mantelpiece in the Music Room were also originally illuminated by gas, but have been wired for electricity since 1929.

The porcelain mantel clock and vases are French, 19th century. The two pairs of large porcelain vases, also 19th century, are Chinese export. The vases are purely decorative, often used by the family for flowers or cut greens.

Portraits in this room are of family members and include a fascinating rendition by John Carlin of four grandsons of John and Eliza Ridgely fishing in a pond, c.1860. The pond was located where Goucher College is today, with Hampton Mansion looming in the background. The figures include John Ridgely (later fifth master of Hampton), Charles Ridgely, Henry White and Julian White. It is interesting to many of today's children that John Ridgely is the only boy wearing long pants. The other younger boys are still in dresses.

Over the mantel is a copy of Thomas Sully's three-quarter length portrait of Charles Caman Ridgely, painted in 1820. The original is presently in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Important small portraits of the Ridgelys were also displayed in the Music Room where you see them today. Exhibited as a group are four watercolors on ivory of John and Eliza Ridgely, their daughter Eliza, and Mrs. Martin Eichelberger, the grandmother of Eliza, Sr., all painted by George Lethbridge Saunders (1807-1863). Another watercolor on paper of Charles Ridgely, John and Eliza's son, hangs nearby. This small portrait was also executed by Saunders, an English painter travelling in America, c.1843.

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The four seaside landscapes in ornate gilded frames are part of a group of paintings purchased by the family while touring Europe in the 19th century. A large landscape by Charles Volkmar (1809-1880), who painted in Baltimore, is seen in early photographs either over the library-bookcase or over the west door.

The Drawing Room, in 1948. Photograph by A. Aubrey Bodine. Hampton NHS Collection.

Drawing Room

The Drawing Room was the most formal room in the Mansion and the furnishings here reflected the wealth and status of the family. It is presently furnished to the 1830s, during the third period of ownership.

Presumably Charles Ridgely the Builder and his wife, Rebecca, did not live in the Mansion long enough to completely furnish it, although surviving bills and receipts do indicate quality items, many of which were imported from England. Since the Builder left instructions in his will that no inventory of his estate should be taken, little evidence survives to document the interior appearance of the Mansion during his occupancy.

Charles Carnan Ridgely, the Builder's heir, was one of the wealthiest men in the state and the Mansion was opulently furnished during his residency. Following his death in 1829, many of his furnishings were sold at auction or divided among his children. The Governor's estate sale was listed at 8 North Gay Street, his townhouse address, and although items from Hampton may have been included, paintings, silver and other objects from this period remain in the collections at Hampton today.

John and Eliza Ridgely, the next generation to live at Hampton (1829-1867), made many "modern" improvements during their 38-year ownership of the estate. Eliza, the

This gilded and patinated candelabrum is one of a pair, made in France in the early 19th century and purchased by the Ridgelys for Hampton. Hampton NHS collection. Photograph by Richard L. Goodbar.

In addition to the suite of painted furniture, there are two side or pier tables in the recesses of the south wall. These are also attributed to the Finlay shop as are the two window settees or couches, c.1825, although the couches are not Ridgely family pieces.

The small Chinese export black and gold gaming table, c.1840, is another Ridgely family piece. Its top is reversible with a chess board on the under side. Below is a built-in backgammon board. The surface of the gaming table is lacquer work veneer, comparable to papier-mache, and a popular decorative treatment of the period.

The fluted gilt pier mirrors, still in their original location, would have handsomely reflected the light from the gilded and patinated candelabra on the pier tables. These candelabra with classical motifs were made in France, c.1820, and were imported by the Ridgely family, as was the set of four Italian gouache (opaque watercolor) paintings in gilt frames. Two of these gouaches are of Neopolitan street scenes and two illustrate the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, a popular classical revival theme.

The carved and gilded pairs of wall brackets, made in America in the 19th century, are also Ridgely furnishings.

The high style gilt and cut-glass chandelier in the Drawing Room is an early 19th century English fixture, purchased by the Ridgelys. Similar in design to one illustrated in Thomas Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, published in London in 1807, it was converted to a gas burning fixture c.1850 and to electricity c.1929.

The "Large double branch Lamp with Gilt Bracket" on the pier table was used by Colonel John Eager Howard in his drawing room at "Belvidere." The lamp was purchased with a pair of matching single ones by Charles Caman Ridgely in 1828. The lamps would have cast a magnificent glow by reflecting light off the many angles of their cut glass surfaces. They were referred to as Argand lamps, which provided a brighter, relatively smokeless light enclosed within a glass chimney. The principle, involving fluid drawn to a wick by gravity and air combustion drawn from inside and outside the tubular wick for burning, was developed by Aime Argand in 1783, historically, the first significant lighting improvement over candles or crusie lamps. There are many lamps of this type in the Ridgely collections.

The classical marble busts of Nerva, Emperor of Rome, 96-98 A.D., and Sophocles, Greek dramatist of the 5th century, B.C., are not original to Hampton. However, they are typical of the types of decoration recommended as fashionable during the Empire period.

The portrait over the mantel is of Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely, father of Eliza Ridgely, and is attributed to Rembrandt Peale, c.1797.

The painted furniture in the Drawing Room was initially upholstered in red damask with matching curtains. The yellow silk seen today was not selected by the Ridgely family and will someday be replaced. The windows in the 19th century also contained painted window shades opulently decorated with fanciful birds and flowers.

The floor of the Drawing Room was always carpeted, which is why the wooden floorboards are in excellent condition. The carpet in this room was a room size English Brussels carpet, one of the most fashionable types of 19th century floorcoverings. Later 19th century photographs show the original Drawing Room carpet replaced by a Victorian Brussels, which was heavily decorated with large floral repeats.

Page one, Inventory, Charles Ridgely (of Hampton), 1829. Although it is not known whether the items indicated are from Hampton or Charles Caman Ridgely's townhouse on Gay Street, the textiles listed provide evidence for materials, colors, and styles preferred by Governor Ridgely. Hall of Records, Maryland State Archives.

the original. The walls at this time were papered, probably with a decorative French wallpaper readily available in Baltimore by 1815.

The window treatments are based on pattern books of the era and a photograph of this room in the early 20th century which shows an obsolete set of gilded curtain poles and pole ends still in place on the architectural frieze, although no longer in use. The pole ends, in the form of leaves, have been copied from the photograph and a surviving fragment in the collections.

The fabric selected for the curtains and the draperies, in imitation of blue and yellow silk satin of the period, is based on an entry in Charles Caman Kidgely's inventory for three pairs of blue silk curtains with yellow and blue silk draperies. Paper window shades were also included on that inventory.

The carpet for this room would have been a Brussels type coupled with a protective carpeting under the table of oil cloth (painted canvas) or green baize. Oilcloth floor-coverings were ordered by Charles Caman Ridgely in large quantity beginning in 1793, and other painted floorcloths were indicated in Ridgely inventories as late as 1872. This type of floor covering was considered extremely fashionable and could cost as much as woven carpeting. Canvas was painted to simulate marble or woven carpet patterns, and several layers of varnish were then applied to the surface, making the carpets durable and easy to clean.

The furniture in this room is generally of Ridgely provenance with the exception of the set of mahogany dining tables, c. 1815, which closely correspond, however, to an entry for "1 Set Claw foot dining tables," valued at $60, on Charles Caman Ridgely's inventory. Also on the inventory is '1 Mahogany Claw foot breakfast table" which may be the breakfast table descended in the Ridgely family, now present in the Dining Room.

The mahogany dining room side chairs are from at least two sets made in Baltimore, c.1815, for Charles Carnan Ridgely. The primary set of twelve is unique, with fine leaf carving on the crest rail, carved rosettes in the scrolled terminals and leaf carved bannisters, clearly the work of master carvers. The bell-shaped seats were stuffed and upholstered in black leather half over the seat rail, later replaced with black oil-cloth. The upholstery was tacked with brass nails. The front legs are heavily reeded above a turned collar and outwardly flaring shaped foot.

The secondary set of chairs closely resembles the first set in form, but the execution

Side chair, Baltimore, c.1815. This dining room chair, mahogany with replacement oil cloth upholstery, is one of a set of twelve purchased by Charles Caman Ridgely for use at Hampton.

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is much simpler and more typical of Baltimore sets of Empire chairs which survive in other collections. This set of six has a reeded crest rail and bannisters with no refined carving.

On the sideboard were mahogany knife cases which held flatware. Some of the early Ridgely silver had ivory handles, stained green to simulate jade. Three Ridgely knife cases, in the style illustrated by George Hepplewhite, survive in private collections.

The Maryland mahogany sideboard, c.1820, by family tradition first belonged to Colonel John Eager Howard. It was brought to Hampton, c.1850, through a Howard/Ridgely intermarriage. The lion's head hardware on this piece, although not original, illustrates the Howard family crest. The center compartment and long narrow drawers of the sideboard are fitted for wine bottles.

Additional storage for wine bottles was provided by the cellarette, or 'little cellar/' which would be rolled on its casters to the head of the table during dinner. This outstanding Baltimore example, c.1820, may have been made in the shop of William Camp for Charles Caman Ridgely. Its veneered mahogany surface decorates the classical temple form supported by turned columns with carved capitals. The base is supported by lion's paw feet.

The Ridgely wine cellar was renowned with, traditionally, more wine bottles at the table than there were men sitting around it. A large part of the contents of the wine cellar was sold to J.R Morgan, the noted financier, during Prohibition.

Portraits in this room include one of Charles Ridgely, Jr. (1783-1819), eldest son of Charles Carnan Ridgely, attributed to John Wesley Jarvis and presently hanging over the mantel. Portraits by John Hesselius of Captain Charles Ridgely and his wife Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely (1783-1812) also hang in this room.

The dining table is now usually set for the second dessert course of fruits, nuts and wine. The table displays silver, glass and porcelain of Ridgely provenance. Services exhibited at Hampton include an armorial set with deep red borders and the Ridgely coat of arms centered on each piece, which was made in Paris and decorated by Feuillet, c. 1825. A set of English Chamberlain Worcester and a set of Spode, c.1805, in a bamboo pattern complement several French sets also purchased in the early 19th century. Every day tableware included a large set of blue and white Canton and Nanking. Later Ridgely Chinese export ware was composed of Black Butterfly, Rose Medallion and other famille rose pieces.

The glassware is principally English or Irish and includes an important pair of cut-glass ice pails on stands and a selection of "Best cut glass Jellys" from a group of 34 listed on the 1829 inventory. An 18th century English candelabrum or 'lustre," originally one of a pair, has been attributed to Matthew Boulton.

Silver objects include a rare pair of bottle coasters made by Baltimoreans Thomas and A. E. Warner, c.1810; salvers or footed trays by Robinson of London which originally belonged to the Builder's father, Colonel Charles Ridgely and his wife Rachel Howard; and a set of silver fruit knives. The original set of fruit knives was made in London by Hester Bateman in the late 18th century and was augmented by several duplicates made by A. E. Warner in the 19th century.

Candlesticks used in the Dining Room at Hampton include a rare set of four neoclassical columnar sticks by Warner, which alternates on exhibit with a set of four English Sheffield candlesticks with oval bases.

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On the sideboard is an ornate coffee or hot water urn made in Baltimore c.1828. Considered an important example of early Baltimore repousse, this urn closely resembles the form of English Rococo examples made in the 1760s.

The Dining Room's elaborate display of silver, porcelain, glass, and mahogany furniture, with additional reflections from the glossy painted surfaces and sophisticated wallpaper, would have created an impressive effect, perhaps contributing to an early 19th century British author's comment that General Ridgely was "said to keep the best table in America."

Great Hall

The Great Hall was used for parties, balls, receptions and special dinners. The use of "fancy" or painted furniture, considered modern and of high style in the early 19th century, was most appropriate for this room. Charles Carnan Ridgely, like many of his peers, had several sets of painted furniture in varying colors.

The important set of Baltimore painted furniture, c.1810, contained in the Great Hall was originally purchased by Colonel John Eager Howard for his home "Belvidere." Upon Colonel Howard's death in 1828, the set was purchased by Charles Carnan Ridgely at

The Great Hall, 1908, photographed by J. H. Post. Hampton NHS Collection.

auction for $51. At that time, the set included "15 Yellow & Gilt cane bottom arm chairs with cushions, 2 sofas & 3 window seats to match & 2 different coloured covers for all." Decorated with botanical illustrations, each crest rail panel, seat rail panel and front stretcher panel is unique. Both Colonel Howard and General Ridgely were interested in horticulture and developed exceptional gardens. The survival of this magnificent set is all the more significant because of its dual provenance.

The reproduced seat cushions for this painted furniture are covered in red moreen to match the curtain and drapery treatment in the Great Hall. The window treatments are based on an entry in Charles Carnan Ridgely's inventory for five pairs of red moreen window curtains with cornices and pins. The fifth pair may have been for the stair hall. The Greek key border braid or tape on the curtains is based on related examples of the period and complements the crown moldings in the Great Hall.

The gilt cornices are reproduced from a surviving carved and gilded original in the Hampton collections, and the stag's head pins or tiebacks are 19th century examples of the Ridgely family crest.

Before 1830, painted floorcloths were used in the Great Hall. A1793 order from London for Charles Carnan Ridgely lists several floorcloths, including one 53 feet by 20 feet, 9 inches, without seam, in the Norfolk pattern.

Also exhibited in this room are two mahogany serving tables or side tables. These two single tables were probably each one of a pair used at Hampton. The Baltimore mahogany veneered and inlaid sideboard on display is not part of the Ridgely family collections, but is a typical form for use in this room.

The porcelains, as well as the stained glass windows in the fanlights over the portico doors, are mid-19th century.

During the Victorian period, stained glass windows, which are preserved in storage, were installed in the Great Hall. They were ordered from the Messrs. Gerbhandt in 1856 and replaced the large sash windows. Another stained glass window depicting the Ridgely coat-of-arms had been placed in the stair landing window in 1845.

The Great Hall ceiling was ornately stencilled and paintings covered the walls, along with sconces and wall brackets. Tapestries were hung over the doors to prevent drafts and animal skin rugs were scattered on the floor when the Turkey carpet was not in use. As one might imagine, the Great Hall was dark and ornate in the latter 19th century.

Present day lighting includes two elegant cut-glass chandeliers made in England, c. 1800. A gift from Ailsa Mellon Bruce, they were purchased in London at an estate sale and presented to Hampton when it was opened as an historic site. Prior to this, however, a large multi-tiered glass and bronze gilt gasolier hung in the center of the Great Hall. This

Painted armchair, Baltimore, c. 1810. This armchair is part of a large set of painted furniture made for John Eager Howard of "Belvidere". The set, each piece individually decorated with different botanical specimens, was purchased at Howard's estate sale by Charles Carnan Ridgely in 1828.

gasolier, c.1850, supported hundreds of cut-glass prisms and was the centerpiece of the room.

The other focal point of this room was Thomas Sully's portrait of "A Lady With a Harp": Eliza Ridgely. This portrait, the greatest and best known of the Hampton collection, was commissioned by Nicholas Greenbury Ridgely in 1818 when his daughter was only 15 years old and painted in Philadelphia where Eliza was in boarding school. Sully executed the portrait in only three weeks, and it was immediately sent to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for exhibition. In October of 1818, the painting was delivered to Baltimore by Rembrandt Peale, who mounted it on a stretcher and framed it for his friend Sully. The portrait cost $500 with an additional $55.25 for the framing. The harp in the portrait was a studio prop and does not duplicate Eliza's actual instrument on exhibit in the Music Room.

The original "A Lady With a Harp" by Thomas Sully was purchased from John Ridgely, Jr., at Hampton in 1945, and is now on exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. A copy of the original hangs at Hampton in the same place of honor occupied by the Sully likeness for over 100 years.

Other important paintings in this room include the original Thomas Sully portrait of John Ridgely, 1841, and the late 18th century portrait of Colonel John Eager Howard, attributed to Charles Willson Peale. The very large Italian painting depicting ruins was another of the group purchased by the family in Europe in the 19th century.

First Story Stairhall

Furnishings in the Stairhall were modest and may have included a couple of tables, several chairs and a tall case clock.

The Baltimore mahogany tall case clock, c. 1810, in the Stairhall today is original to Hampton and was purchased by Charles Caman Ridgely. It was returned to the collection by Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical magnate, who was a Ridgely descendant.

The rosewood barometer, made in Baltimore, belonged to John and Eliza Ridgely. Weather gauging instruments would have been very important to the plantation economy at Hampton, and each succeeding master would have owned a barometer and a thermometer. Telescopes were also popular with the family and there are two London-made telescopes in the Ridgely collections today.

Venetian stair carpeting, a brightly striped wool floor covering held in place by brass stair rods, is listed in Charles Carnan Ridgely's 1829 estate inventory and may have been used in this area.

Second Story Stairhall

Furnishings in the Second Story Stairhall were also modest, although in the latter part of the 19th century the room began to fill up. In 20th century photographs, there were couches as well as tables and chairs in this area.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, however, the hall was most probably lined with chairs for additional seating when required. A pier table or storage chest might have been placed against the west wall and a mirror was most likely used at the west end of the hall to provide more light for this dim area.

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The Ridgelys owned at least two tall case clocks and one may have been placed in this hallway. The tall case clock on exhibit is not of Ridgely provenance, but is a Baltimore clock, c.1820, with works by John Lynch, who was also a Baltimore silversmith working 1786-1848. This clock is very unusual and, although the cabinetwork is not entirely successful in terms of proportions or technique, the painted dial commemorates a patriotic motif: the battle of the Hornet vs. the Peacock during the War of 1812.

Paint analysis has not yet been conducted in this room, although the significant architectural features of the area make it a promising project for the future.

Other Rooms

The Southeast Bedchamber, later a nursery and bath, and the two portico rooms are not furnished for exhibition. Plans are underway, however, to open the North Portico Room for an exhibit on the farm property and the South Portico Room for an exhibit related to the gardens. Additional furnishings and decorative objects may also be displayed in these rooms.

Master Bedchamber

The Master Bedchamber at Hampton is being furnished to the early period of Ridgely occupancy from 1790 when the Mansion was completed until about 1814, the year Priscilla Dorsey Ridgely, second mistress of Hampton, died.

The furnishings are based in part on Charles Carnan Ridgely's inventory, and to complement the documented paint colors for the 1790-1814 period which included blue woodwork and a poly-chromed overmantel. Window treatments and bed hangings will be selected using a "blue and flowered" fabric, one of those listed on the inventory. Hangings were commonly used on the high post beds of the period, which were constructed so that they could be covered with a canopy and draped. This enclosure provided people with warmth in the winter, some protection from insects in the summer, and

a measure of privacy in an era of large Night table, Maryland, c.1800, owned by Charles families and many servants. Bed cover- Carnan Ridgely. The design for this night table . . , , i u • j was probably derived from Plate 82 of George ings are rotated on a seasonal basis and Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-Maker and Uphol-each bedchamber will display quilts and sterer's Guide, 1794.

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coverlets of Ridgely family provenance. The carpet for the Master Bedchamber should be a Brussels or Scotch ingrain, based on documentation.

Furniture on the second story, for the most part, is not of Ridgely provenance, although at least one piece in each chamber was used at Hampton. Several other objects here, however, are similar to the ones listed in bills or receipts, or in family inventories.

The late 18th century mahogany high post bed is English, as is the beautifully veneered and inlaid dressing table. A Hampton dressing table of this type is still owned by a family member.

The rare Federal period night table, which belonged to Charles Carnan Ridgely, is one of two in the Hampton collections. The appearance of these night tables is deceptive: the tops lift and the doors swing inward to reveal a commode. These sophisticated examples of a necessary convenience are closely related to a plate in George Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, published in 1794.

The wardrobe, an essential furnishing for homes of this period (which did not have closets in the bedchambers) is another elegant example of the Federal era. This mahogany and satinwood "wing" wardrobe was made in Baltimore between 1800 and 1820, probably in the shop of William Camp. Its decorative impact is made through the geometric contrast of color and shapes. The center section contains drawers which slide out for easy access.

Upholstered easy chairs, now called wing chairs, were a form usually reserved for use in bedchambers. Designed for comfort and to protect the sitter from draughts, this particular example, American, c.1800, was originally a commode chair, with a chamber pot under the seat. It is upholstered in wool moreen, in the manner prescribed in period drawing books.

The side chair at the desk has an important history. It is one of a set of chairs attributed to Thomas Affleck which was made for the Chew family of "Cliveden" in Philadelphia. The Chews, Ridgelys and Howards intermarried in several generations, and one of the Chews inherited this chair which found its way to Hampton. The Ridgelys altered the chair in the 19th century to make a rocker, but the chair has been restored to its original appearance. The remaining chairs from the set are exhibited at Cliveden.

The painting over the mantel is a copy of a portrait of Priscilla Dorsey Ridgely (1762-1814), painted by Rembrandt Peale. The original was donated by the Ridgelys for use at the Governor's Mansion in Annapolis.

Northwest Bedchamber

This room, known by later members of the family as the "white curtain room," was one of the principal guest bedchambers. In the latter part of the 19th century, the window treatments here were heavy white wool curtains with deep red fringe, hung under elaborate leaf carved and gilded cornices.

Retaining its original room size, the carpet in this chamber is a significant survival of Hampton provenance, one of several Turkey carpets ordered by John and Eliza Ridgely.

Although they were going out of fashion by the second quarter of the 1800s, high post beds were prevalent at Hampton during the entire period of Ridgely occupancy. In later photographs, however, they were not draped with hangings. The mahogany high post beds in this bedchamber are of Ridgely provenance.

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The mahogany "wing" wardrobe, c.1815, which has an uncertain Ridgely provenance, might also be attributed to William Camp of Baltimore. Eliza Ridgely, before her marriage, purchased an expensive mahogany wardrobe from an auction of Camp's effects. However, there is no proof that this is that wardrobe.

The mahogany Grecian couch, Baltimore c. 1820, was a popular bedchamber form for socializing, napping and lounging. This sofa also has a Ridgely history; by family tradition it was given to the Governor's daughter Priscilla when she married Stephenson White in 1820.

The Grecian armchair exhibited at the desk-bookcase was made in Baltimore, c.1815. It is original to Hampton and according to the Ridgelys was used by Lafayette when he visited the Mansion.

The portrait over the mantel of Margaretta Sophia Howard Ridgely (1824-1904) is by Pollock, 1870.

Paint research has not been undertaken in this bedchamber at the present time.

Northeast Bedchamber

Although this room contains children's items, the young Ridgely children actually occupied the third story. Evenutally this room will be furnished as a mid-19th century guest bedchamber. The room contains important remnants of 19th century stencil work on the walls, and the National Park Service hopes to be able to restore this stencilling when the room is refurnished.

Presently, the centerpiece of this chamber is the turned curly maple high post bed made by John Needles of Baltimore for the Ridgely family, c.1830. Other pieces of figured maple furniture in this room, including the chest of drawers, the wardrobe, the youth bed and the washstand, were also made by John Needles for his own family. These items, donated to the Baltimore Museum of Art by the Needles family, have been placed on permanent loan to Hampton.

The cast iron stove, made in New York in the 19th century, is one of several used throughout the house. Earlier stoves used at Hampton may have been made at the Ridgely ironworks.

The carpet on exhibit is another of the Tbrkey carpets purchased by John and Eliza. Carved walnut cornices with the Ridgely family crest adorned this room in the later 19th century.

Paint analysis has not been conducted in this room to date.

The furniture and decorative arts acquired by the Ridgelys accommodated a country house lifestyle of both indoor and outdoor pursuits, reflecting elegance on a grand scale combined with conveniences for everyday activities.

Early neo-dassic style teapot and stand, c.1780, by Joseph Tby ofAbingdon, Maryland. This teapot and stand are engraved "PD" for Priscilla Dorsey (1762-1814), wife of Charles Carnan Kidgely, second master of Hampton. Another very similar teapot and stand made for Priscilla's sister, Rebecca Dorsey Kidgely, is now in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. The Women's Committee of Historic Hampton, Inc. Photograph by Richard L. Goodbar.

Silver tea caddy, Baltimore, c.1795. This tea caddy, marked by William Ball, is engraved with the Kidgely shield within an oval reserve, typical of many pieces made for Charles Caman Ridgely, second master of Hampton. Hampton NHS collection. Photograph by Richard L. Goodbar.

This French porcelain vegetable dish, with cover, was made in Paris, c.1825, and decorated with the Ridgely family crest by Feuillet. Hampton NHS collection. Photograph by Richard L. Coodbar.

English covered sauce boat, Spode, early 19th century. One of several large dinner services owned by Charles Carnan Ridgely. Hampton NHS collection. Photograph by Richard L. Goodbar.

Laurence Hall Fowler's "The Garden Plan of Hampton, Baltimore County, Maryland," 1902. From Great Georgian Houses of America, vol. 1 (1933).

Gardens

Landscape gardening remained a keystone of Ridgely activity at Hampton throughout the family's occupancy. Because Hampton was cut from the wilderness, clearance of the land took precedence during the early development of the grounds. Yet even before the construction of the Mansion, Captain Charles Ridgely operated a large agricultural plantation, including by 1773 an orchard of at least 722 apple trees.

During the period that the Mansion was being built from 1783 to 1790, numerous gardeners were employed. Some specimen trees, usually native material, were planted, but it was not until the late 1790s that Hampton's falling garden of descending terraces was constructed.

The Cedar of Lebanon which ornaments the south lawn was imported as a small seedling and planted by Eliza Ridgely, c.1840. It is now one of the largest in America.

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Information concerning the early development of the gardens is incomplete and no known original plans survive. However, it is known that artist-enamel painter, William Russell Birch of Philadelphia, played a role in the conception of the formal gardens, writing c.1802, ".. .during my second visit to General Ridgely at Hampton, after my introduction to him by my friend Judge Sm'l Chase; the Genls attention to me was very polite and marked with every appearance, of respect. I stoppe(d) several days with him, the situation at Hampton is beautiful and richly deserved the adoption of art in its improvement. I made several designs for that purpose which was approved." Whether Birch's designs were ever instituted is not known.

By 1800, the construction of the parterres, or formal geometric gardens, was begun under the supervision of William Booth. Booth was well thought of among American botanists, florists and seedsmen, and had been hired to lay out some of the finest gardens around Baltimore. This terraced style of landscape design was typical throughout Maryland and Virginia in the late 18th century. Alden Hopkins, former resident landscape architect for Colonial Williamsburg, has stated that the construction of the "falls" or terraces at Hampton involved moving greater volumes of earth than any other early American "falling" garden.

The Great Terrace, or South Lawn, is adjacent to the Mansion and measures 250 x 150 feet. This area was also termed a "bowling green."

Below the Great Terrace are the precisely designed descending terraces. Expressing the crowning glory of the Hampton gardens, a pair of parterres graces each of the three terraces. The first garden terrace drops away from the Great Terrace and is actually 18 feet lower in elevation. The second terrace is 6 feet below the first and the third terrace is 4 feet lower than the second. The terraces are connected by grassed ramps, demonstrating an informality that is unlike the European practice of marble steps. The kitchen garden containing vegetables, herbs and possibly extra stock for the formal gardens, was located below the third terrace, arranged in the same formal patterns or "constraints" carried down from above.

When viewed from the cupola of the house, the terracing creates an optical fantasy, leveling the parterres to continuous patterned garden. This proportioning indicates considerable sophistication as well as knowledge of garden design and engineering.

While many prominent Americans were laying out gardens in the naturalistic style based on the English landscape park, Charles Carnan Ridgely chose to follow the much earlier formal geometric plan once favored by the European and English aristocracy. The Ridgelys' deliberate selection of the earlier formal style was an attempt to emulate the stability, culture and refinement of their ancestors' life in Europe. The naturalistic style was used in developing Hampton's landscape to the north.

Between 1798 and 1801, Charles Carnan Ridgely had an irrigation system constructed by digging trenches and laying wooden pipes. Water was first brought to the Mansion by 3,910.5 feet of piping. Next, 6,680 feet of pipe were installed to convey water from the springs to the garden and meadows.

With Governor Ridgely's death in 1829, his son John inherited the Hampton estate and made many "modernizations" in the gardens. John's wife Eliza, who was independently wealthy and took a devoted interest in the gardens, was unsparing in her expenditures to improve them.

As early as 1830, Eliza converted one of the boxwood parterres to beds of colorful coleus

such as she had seen in Europe. A 21-acre orchard containing apple and peach varieties was planted flanking the formal gardens, and several new structures were erected to benefit the area, including two greenhouses and a small cottage to house garden workers. The gardener's house was also enlarged.

The garden received early acclaim in an article appearing in the Baltimore American, 1832: "In the rear thereof, you are delighted in beholding a rich profusion, and balmy fragrance of numerous plants and flowers, adorned with orange trees, and an extensive and highly cultivated garden."

Eliza adopted many of the landscaping principles professed by 19th century America's foremost landscape gardener, Andrew Jackson Downing, whose books she purchased for her library. She also planted exotic and native evergreens such as the picturesque Eastern Hemlock on the South Lawn. One specimen tree believed to be of national standing is the impressive Cedar-of-Lebanon in the center of the South Lawn. According to family tradition, this now magnificent example was brought back from the Middle East in a shoe box, c.1840.

In 1852 a professional gardener was hired for two years to continue the modernization of the Hampton gardens. Victorians felt that art and nature were closely intertwined. Through the manipulation of a variety of plant forms and colors, they could express design ideas relevant to the architecture, fine arts and decorative arts of the period.

By mid-century, the parterre gardens had been redesigned and the marble vases were added. The classically-influenced ornaments are well placed for emphasis and serve to link the architecture of the Mansion to the landscape.

At this time, Hampton reached its horticultural peak, as shown in numerous leading publications of the day. An article entitled "Jottings Among the Gardens," that appeared in The American Farmer, 1854, relates:

Prominent among the improvers of our neighborhood stands the honored name of Mrs. Ridgely of Hampton. This lady, lam told, is an accomplished florist, and enters with zeal and taste on the culture of the flowering treasures of her extensive gardens. Many elegant improvements were lately made to the garden at Hampton... the new vinery, and mode of growing the grape vine, as practiced by Mrs. Ridgely's very efficient gardener, James Galbraith.. .There has also been erected a new propagating house... heated by hot water on the tank system. This house is certainly one of the most perfect in its construction, for the uses and purposes designed that I have ever seen. The whole place is copiously supplied with water conducted from a spring by over 3,000 feet of lead pipe, to a reservoir at the Mansion, from where it radiates to different sections of the gardens, where hydrants are placed, and by a hose the entire garden can be watered at pleasure. The petunias, verbena, geraniums and other summer flowering plants, looked as though they lacked no moisture there.

The Ridgelys' enthusiasm and knowledge of plants and gardening is also shown in an excerpt from The Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste, published in June 1857. 'The owners are fully impressed with the beauty of trees; some very fine specimens are around the Mansion, and progress is marked by conversation in which the relative success of importing from France or England is knowingly discussed."

By 1875, America had developed its own unique style of landscape design. But many

Parterres I, HI, and V, Hampton Gardens, 1902. Note the high level of maintenance in Parterre I, the only parterre which retains its original geometric configuration. In 1902, the boxwood surroundedbeds of mixed geraniums. Parterre HI contained roses. Hampton NHS collection.

This view of Parterres II, IV, and VI was photographed c.1890. It indicates the altered form, first developed at Hampton by Eliza Ridgely, using Victorian bedding plants instead of boxwood. Planted here are annuals such as attemantheras and coleus. Hampton NHS collection.

visitors to Hampton wrote of the great age of plant material and the "old-fashioned" garden, accounting for a scene more English than American.

No major changes in the landscape design were made during the final quarter of the 19th century, although several specimen trees were removed because of overcrowding, while new specimens were planted throughout the grounds. Many garden structures were rehabilitated, and there were at least six other specialized houses in addition to the Orangery used primarily for growing cut flowers and bedding plants: a greenhouse, stove house, fernery, grapery, rosehouse and forcing house.

In the summer of 1880, Margaretta Ridgely's head gardener, Mr. Massey, reported using 10,000 coleus, 4,000 geraniums and 2,000 alternantheras, with uncounted numbers of verbena, salvia, lantana and annuals. This totalled an estimated 20,000 bedding plants. 4,000 roses were also planted, not to mention a terraced vegetable garden to the east of the formal gardens which fed an average of 40 people.

To enjoy the beauty of these gardens, the family used a large quantity of porch, lawn and garden furniture. In 1881,65 chairs and 32 benches were given a fresh coat of paint and varnish. Much of this furniture was painted vermillion (red) and straw, as were the panelled boxes which held the lemon and orange trees.

Today Hampton is noted for its collection of mature specimen trees. This collection was already celebrated by 1889 when W.F. Massey wrote ".. .one of the oldest and finest specimens of Magnolia x soulangiana in America stands on the grounds of Hampton. Five years ago the stem below the branches measured nearly eight feet in circumference." Today this tree still prospers and is now thirteen feet in circumference. It is believed to be the largest of its kind in America.

By 1900, Mowing Margaretta Ridgely's active management of the gardens, another prominent mistress of Hampton assumed responsibility for preserving the family's traditional interest in horticulture.

In 1902, Helen Stewart Ridgely revised the formal garden designs, apparently unchanged since 1850, so that the grass walks could be mowed by horse-drawn mowers rather than by hand. This and other cost saving innovations were instituted, and the elaborate gardens were preserved for years to come. Eventually, however, all but the Parterre I were returned to grass as the economic decline at Hampton forced the Ridgelys to cut back on gardens and grounds maintenance.

The landscape and horticultural considerations at Hampton have had an interlocking cultural history with the Mansion and its occupants for 200 years. The formal gardens, specimen trees, orchards and kitchen gardens as well as the supporting structures have played a major role in the evolution of the Hampton estate.

This photograph of John Ridgely, Jr., and others sledding down the central ramp of the parterre gardens was taken c.1905. Dressed in suits and bowlers, the gentlemen appear to have "formally" accepted the challenge of this exciting sled run. Hampton NHS Collection.

'For further information, please see the separate brochure and map on Hampton's grounds and gardens.

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Outbuildings

Hampton was never merely a house, nor are the Mansion, its collections, and the surrounding gardens the sole survivors of its illustrious past. Hampton was the true dichotomy of elegant estate and working plantation bound together as an interdependent unit. Although the Ridgelys owned several other houses and spent part of each year in Annapolis or Baltimore, Hampton was the family's principal estate and family seat.

Today 23 historic outbuildings remain on the site, remnants of this close-knit community. Among the surviving structures are those adjacent to the Mansion, several garden support structures, stables, and a group of farm buildings. In addition, one building, the Orangerie, has been reconstructed, and the foundations of several other buildings are being protected. The Ridgely family cemetery, located on the southeast side of the estate, was provided for in the will of Charles Ridgely the Builder, and six generations of Hampton's masters and their families are buried there.

The surviving outbuildings, often called dependencies, offer only a glimpse of Hampton's once village-like aspect during its most flourishing period. Each of the dependencies, and those no longer extant such as a blacksmith's shop, carpenter's shop, bath house and wash house, served essential functions within the total operation. The success of the estate and plantation depended on the interrelationship of the main house and its subordinate structures.

An important document in relating the history of the outbuildings is a map of the Hampton property executed by Joshua Barney in 1843 for John Ridgely. This map shows many structures which are no longer present and others which were replaced with modem buildings in the ensuing 100 years. The locations of over 35 buildings in the immediate environs are identified.

The Mansion Perimeter

Many of the dependencies were not only practical but architecturally decorative as well. Primary among these was the Orangery. (The French spelling "Orangerie" is adopted for referring to the reconstructed building after 1976.)

Orangeries, although not labelled as such, date to the Roman Empire when sheets of mica were used for glazing. By the 14th century, heated buildings could provide an artificial environment for growing exotic plants. This was the forerunner

The Orangerie was reconstructed in 1976 on the foundations of the original classical revival structure, which burned in the 20th century.

of the greenhouse or "hothouse." In fact, the Orangery at Hampton was called a greenhouse until the latter part of the 19th century.

Hampton's classically-inspired Orangerie is a reconstruction of the c.1820 Greek revival structure which burned in 1928, leaving only the north and west brick walls. The specialized structure was built to house citrus and other tender fruits which could not survive a Maryland winter out-of-doors. Rarely seen in early America, only one original orangery is known to exist today.

Lemons and oranges, cultivated in the Mediterranean by the first century A.D., were initially brought to America by the Spanish, who introduced them to the Indians of Florida in the 15th century. During the mid-19th century, the Orangery at Hampton housed one of the finest citrus collections in the United States. The Ridgelys encircled the Great Terrace with over 40 lemon and orange trees, potted in tubs and panelled boxes. These plants were transferred to the Orangery during the winter months. Additionally, grapes were grown on the interior walls in espaliered fashion.

The Orangery was heated by solar energy through the full-length windows on the south and east sides, and by a hypocaust, a type of wood-burning furnace, in the west-side shed. The hypocaust provided heat through flues which ran under the floor, radiating heat around the perimeter of the room and up the chimney.

Ice House This structure is considered contemporary with the Mansion at Hampton and was used to store ice for use in the summer months.

On the north side of the Mansion is an ice house with a domed brick ceiling, field-stone side walls and an underground vaulted passageway. The central cylindrical chamber is almost 34 feet deep. Here the Ridgelys stored ice, which had been cut from nearby ponds in the winter and packed in straw, for use in the summer. Construction of the ice house was contemporary with the building of the Mansion.

The eastern perimeter of the Mansion was flanked by several dependencies. Those which exist today include a late-18th century shed and privy, and a 19th century privy. The locations of the privies, which had multiple seating, were changed as necessary, although they were constructed with clean-out traps in the rear.

Also present on the eastern perimeter are a 20th century garage and a late-18th century smokehouse. Meat houses, a fish house (perhaps with a holding pond), a cider

cellar and other food storage buildings were once additional extensions of the estate as indicated on building inventories. These dependencies would have been imperative for early food preservation, to feed the large number of people the estate supported and entertained.

With gas that was manufactured on the estate, the Ridgelys utilized gas lighting in the Mansion for more than 60 years. The gas house and a holding tank, formerly located northeast of the Mansion, no longer exist.

Cisterns were located on both the east and west sides of the Mansion. After the east side cistern ceased to function, a tank was installed on the east wall of the house near the roof. Water was conveyed into the Mansion by way of a pump in the

small building on the east terrace, from a spring some distance to the north. Although altered, this structure remains today.

An octagonal frame structure was built immediately to the east of the Mansion during the 19th century to accommodate some of the house servants. This building, which did

This octagonal two-story frame structure was located on the east terrace and was living quarters for several house servants. The building burned c.1946. A herb garden is planted on the foundations.

View of the Ridgely femily burial vault located on the Hampton estate, at the time of Captain John Ridgely's death, 1938.

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not have plumbing or electricity, burned about 1946. An herb garden is now planted in its foundation.

The Cemetery

The first master of Hampton, Captain Charles Ridgely, stipulated in his will that a family burial ground should be constructed: "I direct that my Body be decently interred at the discretion of my executors hereafter named at my present dwelling Plantation where I direct that a vault be made and that Charles Ridgely Caman do pay Moses Dillon for doing the same." The vault and burial ground, with a brick wall and iron gates, is located at the southeast corner of the park. Each generation of master and mistress, and many of their children and spouses, is buried there. The Ridgely family cemetery is not open to the public at the present time.

Garden Support Structures

At one time, many buildings were utilized in the horticultural operations at Hampton. These included the gardener's house, a maintenance building with quarters, and two large greenhouses. These buildings still stand. Buildings which have disappeared, such as the fernery, grapery, rosehouse and propagating houses, were similarly important in maintaining the gardens and grounds.

The gardener's house was built sometime before 1843 with additions added c.1855. This building has been altered extensively and is presently a private residence for park

Stable I, built c.1805 to house the famous Ridgely thoroughbred horses, was originally stuccoed like the Mansion.

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staff. The first greenhouse may have been erected early in the 19th century, but was later Victorianized with decorative metalwork removed during restoration. The second greenhouse was constructed in the mid-19th century. The garden maintenance building, which housed the horse-drawn mower and other garden equipment, also contained housing for one or more of the gardener's assistants. It was built in the latter part of the 19th century.

The Stables

Hampton was renowned for its racing and breeding of thoroughbred horses. A stone stable for these horses, built c.1805, stands just northeast of the Mansion. This building once had fine wooden stalls for the horses, and its exterior was stuccoed to resemble the Mansion itself. The stucco was removed in the 20th century and has not been restored. A second stable, built next to the earlier stable in 1857, is constructed of cut stone and was never intended to be stuccoed.

Across the lane to the east of the stables, a large carriage house once stood. While this carriage house no longer exists, two of the Ridgely vehicles which were housed there are now on exhibit in one of the stables, along with pieces of harness.

The Farm Property

The agricultural establishment at Hampton reached its zenith in land under cultivation and in pasture during the occupancy of Charles Carnan Ridgely, 1790-1829. The scope of the farm operation decreased over the subsequent years, but agriculture was pursued as a necessary supplement to other family vocations well into the 20th century.

There are, at the present time, more than 14 acres of land across Hampton Lane which reflect remnants of the estate's farm operation. Included in this area are two 18th century buildings plus several mid-19th century structures which do not appear on the 1843 Barney map. This portion of the park is not open to the public.

The Lower House or Farmhouse, lived in at various periods by the Ridgelys, their overseers, or tenants, contains elements c.1730. It was enlarged several times and altered to its present appearance in 1948.

The Hampton Farm Dairy remained in operation until the mid 20th century. Photo c.1930, Hampton NHS collection.

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The frame house with gambrel roof, known at various times as the Farmhouse, the Overseer's House or the Lower House, was the focal point of the Hampton farm. A central portion was constructed in the first half of the 18th century and altered later in the 18th century and again in the 19th. A final addition was completed when Mr. and Mrs. John Ridgely, Jr., moved from the Mansion to the Lower House in 1948. Earlier Ridgelys may have used the Lower House as a temporary residence while the Mansion was under construction, although they owned other more substantial houses at that time.

Slaves and servants performed an essential function in plantation culture Most of their quarters were at some distance from the Mansion, including some located near the ironworks, the mills and the quarries. Not as distant, at the farm property, two early log quarters were torn down and enlarged and rebuilt in stone, c.1850. At about the same time, a third quarters building, which remains as a log structure, was rebuilt from two earlier structures. During this mid-19th century period, other buildings such as the Mule Bam, Com House and Granary were also rebuilt, with the decorative addition of scrolled and pierced fascia boards.

The distinctive dairy-springhouse is believed to be contemporary with the Mansion. A spring emerges under the gothic stone arch and flows into the building in directed channels. This water kept the milk, cream and other dairy products cool. The dairy was modified somewhat in the 19th century and continued in operation well into the 20th century.

An early and extremely large stone cow barn was located near the present Long House Granary. This barn was demolished about 1965.

The Ridgelys made a fortune by combining their pursuits of agriculture, industry and commerce. This success allowed the family to maintain a way of life realized by few Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries. Their lavish and comfortable mode of living was made possible by a large work force, operating throughout the many outbuildings and dependencies. Only by relating the activities of these areas and the servants and craftspeople who facilitated the life of ease within the Mansion can we hope to gain a realistic image of Hampton's past.

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Louise H. Ridgely and John Ridgely, III, c.1912. Hampton NHS Collection.

Conclusion

Hampton is only one of many great historic houses in America. However, its special combination of grand and distinctive architecture, impressive formal gardens and landscaped grounds, representative dependencies, and a significant decorative arts collection which echoes the social and economic mores of one family, has unique appeal.

The physical and aesthetic remnants of this early estate reveal an exciting and intriguing American adventure. A fairy tale success story, the first generations of American Ridgelys, using energy, tenacity and ingenuity, realized their greatest ambitions, which culminated in the construction and enjoyment of Hampton Mansion, the centerpiece of their American dream.

This family's success, with its encumbent traditions, was relished by Ridgely descendants for several generations. An additional dimension, the story of those who worked for the Ridgelys, from artisans and cooks to overseers and slaves, is interwoven into the estate's fabric.

The preservation of Hampton and the conservation and interpretation of its cultural resources offer a dynamic challenge to the National Park Service and to its cooperating volunteers and volunteer groups under the direction of Historic Hampton, Inc. The site provides each of us with an opportunity to re-examine a revealing portion of America's past. Its worth can be clearly demonstrated: the social and economic implications of this monumental family home, in the center of a self-made agricultural, industrial and commercial empire, are illustrative of our cultural heritage.

The full potential of Hampton as a National Historic Site has not yet been realized. We hope that you will return to Hampton again and again to explore its emerging story with us.

Helen Ridgely, daughter of Captain John and Helm West Stewart Ridgely, in the Music Room at Hampton, cJ887. This great-granddaughter of "The Lady With a Harp" posed with Eliza Ridgely's double-movement harp, ordered from London in 1817. Hampton NHS collection.

An informal family group on Hampton's South lawn, c.1891. Hampton NHS collection.

From left to right: John Ridgely, Jr., sixth master of Hampton; David Stewart Ridgely; and, Julian Ridgely, c.1891. Hampton NHS collection.

Detail of crest rail, "Hampton Chair", c.1800. The "Hampton Chair" is part of a set of English neo-dassic style armchairs, decorated in Baltimore for Charles Carnan Ridgely. This painting of Hampton, recently discovered under a layer of late 19th century upholstery, is believed to be the earliest view of the Mansion extant. Hampton NHS collection. Photograph by Richard L. Goodbar.

Appendix 2

Appendix 1

Dates

Ownership of The "Hampton" Estate

1745-1760 Colonel Charles Ridgely

purchased land from Ann Darnall Hill

1760-1790 Captain Charles Ridgely 1st Master of Hampton Mansion constructed 1783-1790

1790-1829 Charles Caman Ridgely 2nd Master of Hampton also called General Ridgely or Governor Ridgely

1829-1867 John Ridgely 3rd Master of Hampton 1867-1872 Charles Ridgely 4th Master of Hampton

1872-1938 Captain John Ridgely 5th Master of Hampton shared management of estate with his mother Margaretta Sophia Howard Ridgely until 1904

1938-1948 John Ridgely, Jr. 6th Master of Hampton

Farm property 1948-1983

1948-1959 John Ridgely, 6th Master of Hampton known as John Ridgely, Jr.

1959-1980 John Ridgely, III, and other heirs

1980-present National Park Service, as complement to original 1948 acquisition of mansion and surrounding acres.