1772-1799
RETURN
TO STATE HOUSE CHRONOLOGY HOME
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1772
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Drawings by Joseph
Horatio Anderson, used by the State House building contractor, Charles
Wallace, an Annapolis merchant. From the John Work Garrett collection of
the Johns Hopkins University
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Bricks in basement made by the
Mount Savage Brick Works. (MSA S 1259-131-1340)
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1773
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Proceedings and Acts of the
General Assembly, 1773 Session. (Archives of Maryland Volume 63-64)
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1774
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1775
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Timeline of the State House
Lightning Rod.
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7 September 1775 - "On Saturday
night last we had a most violent storm from the north-east, which for several
hours blew a mere hurricane, with heavy rain; the water rose three feet
perpendicular above the common tide; a great quantity of the copper on
the state-house was torn up, and the market-house blown down; the damage
sustained in different parts of the province, we are told, is very considerable."
(Maryland Gazette, September 7, 1775)
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September 1775 - "The September
Storm of 1775 blew off the roof, the building unavoidably lay open near
the whole Winter, in consequence of which, the work of the upper Rooms
which was entirely finished, was Totally destroyed.-- At another time lightning
very much damaged the Dome, repairing of which cost much expense &
loss of Time." (Charles Wallace to Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, ca. November
1784, 1-105) When the lightning struck is not clear, but the next sentence
describes events in 1777 which suggests that the lightning may have struck
sometime between September of 1775 and 1777 when the British fleet appeared
in the Bay.
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1776
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1777
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Proceedings of the House of
Delegates, 1777 Session.
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DATE?? - House resolution authorizes
Charles Wallace to spend 500 pounds to erect galleries in the stadt-house,
agreeable to a plan laid before the house. (94)
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1778
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1779
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1780
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1781
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1782
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Proceedings of the House of
Delegates, 1782 Session. (Archives of Maryland)
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1783
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1784
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Votes and Proceedings of the
General Assembly, 1784 Session. (MSA SC 2734-2, f. 85)
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Survey of water-damaged timbers
of the first State House dome. "It was originally constructed contrary
to all rules of architecture; it ought to have been built double instead
of single, and a staircase between the two domes, leading up to the lanthorn.
The water should have been carried off by eaves, instead of being drawn
to the center of the building, to two small conductors, which are liable
to be choked by ice, and overflowed by rains. That it was next to impossible,
under present construction, that it could have been made tight"
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1785
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24 February 1785 - Intendent
of Revenue Daniel of St Thomas Jenifer places notice in the Maryland Gazette
for carpenters work to be made to the dome and the roof under the execution
of Joseph Clark. From the Maryland
Gazette, 10 March 1785. (MSA SC 2731)
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1786
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Proceedings
of the House of Delegates, 1786 Session.
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29 November 1786 - Committee
ordered to report on the state of the stadt house, governor's house and
public necessary, report on what sums of money have been expended, and
what further sums may be necessary to finish and complete the same.
(13)
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12 January 1787 - Resolution
to empower Anne Arundle county orphans court to make the same allowance
to Thomas Candield as maimed and disabled soldiers are allowed, while he
continues unable to support himself by labor. Includes explanation
of Canfield's injury suffered while repairing the State House roof.
(75-76)
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17 January 1787 - Report of
committee on public buildings. Bill to "provide a remedy for creditors
and others against this state," passed and sent to Senate. (93)
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Timeline of the State House
Lightning Rod.
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10 March 1786 - [The General
Assembly gave its implicit approval to commencing work on Joseph Clark's
dome (4-1768-92) which was 'to be 'sixty foot Higer' then the old one.
(1-108; 4-1768-93)
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1787
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1 November 1787 - "About six
o'clock, on Tuesday morning last, the stadt-House was discovered to be
on fire, occasioned by the fire left in the chimney, which by some means
communicated with the floor, through that into the cellar to a quantity
of shavings, but by timely and vigorous exertions it was happily extinguished
without much damage." From the
Maryland Gazette 1 November 1787. (MSA SC 2731)
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1788
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Drawings by Charles Willson
Peale (1741-1827):
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Stadt House Dome, with specifications
(MSA SC 1051-1) |
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Stadt House Front Elevation
(MSA SC 1051-2) |
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"John Shaw was paid December
7, 1788 'for finishing the [octagonal] privey house." Treasurer of the
Western Shore, Ledger E." (Radoff, The State
House at Annapolis, 31)
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Timeline of the State House
Lightning Rod.
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August 1787-5 June 1788 - Simon
Retalick, ironmaster, is engaged in ironwork on the State House. While
there is no account extant for the lightning rod, there are sufficient
accounting entries for Retalick to encompass his forging and installing
the rod. From one surviving account, it is clear that Retalick
worked for 32 days beginning in July 1787 and ending on or about August
25, 1787 on "iron work" for the windows of the State House. Similar sums
are paid him in January and June of 1788. Assuming the windows were secured
while the dome, cupola, and acorn were under construction, it would seem
likely that Retalick completed the lightning rod by the time of the January
entry in the accounts, or by June at the latest.
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9 June 1788 - "begun a Drawing
of the Stadt-House from the entrance of Cornhill Street for the Circle
before Breakfast, before 11 O Clock I made another outline of the Stadt-House
from the NN/E back view" (Charles Willson Peale's diary, 4-2600-499) [see
original drawings, MSA; Dome completed and lightning rod installed by this
time as shown in Peale's drawing]
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25 June 1788 - Peale received
final payment for his head size portrait of Joseph Clark from whom, on
June 20, he had bought two pairs of spectacles. (4-2600-503, 505)
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14 July 1788 - "Went with my
Brother to his Ex:y doctor Franklins, my Intention was to enquire his opinion
abut the effecacy of the Rods on the Stadt House at Annapolis, the Doctr
was Ill & could not be seen -- then Visit Mr. Patterson & David
Rittenhouse on same enquiry abut lighning rods. Mr. Rittenhouse being of
oppinion that if the points are good and near anough the Building and part
going into the ground so deep as to get into soft earth no danger is to
be apprehended, but if the end could be put in water of a Well it would
be best. Afternoon I wrote to Mr. Richmond Coll. Ramsey & Nicholas
Brewer..." (From the Lilian B. MIller
ed., The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and his Family, 513-514,
MSA S 1259-131-645))
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23 July 1788 - "Wednesday ...
[Mount Vernon] the most violent storm ever known commenced at 1700 and
continued for 9 hours.' (George Washington, Diary, in Ludlum, p. 31, 1-109).
"The Maryland Gazette at Annapolis noted the greatest tide in memory with
northeast winds which gradually veered to southeast, but no abrupt shift
to southerly took place, to put the Maryland capital east of the track
of the center. At Baltimore a violent storm from the east-northeast raged
for 12 hours ...." (Ludlum, p. 31, 1-109)
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1789
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Engraving
attributed to Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827),
published in the February 1789 issue of the Columbian Magazine. In
addition to the new State House with its recently completed dome, on the
far left is the home of John Shaw. To the right of the State House
are the Old Council Chamber and Ball Room Built in 1718, the octagonal
outdoor privey, known as the "temple", constructed in the 1780's and the
Treasury Building built in 1729. From the Bond Collection, Maryland
State Archives (MdHR G 194-3, MSA SC 194-3) |
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Notes
by Dr. E.C. Papenfuse, State Archivist:-
"Construction of the present state house was initiated in 1772. The
structure is crowded into the southwest quadrant of the circle and the
earliest surviving elevation of the capitol, the print published in the
Columbian Magazine in 1789 (Figure
1) shows the center of the site occupied by a structure known as the
"Council Chambers". The condition of the grounds in 1789 can only be described
as rudimentary. The print depicts a site which has some grass, no
trees or shrubs, and a great deal of erosion. The evidence suggests
grading of the site was not completed initial 1804, some ten years after
the completion of the structure." (MSA S 1259-121-1706)
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Timeline
of the State House Lightning Rod.
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12 November
1789 - "The power of metallic rods to extract and conduct lightning into
the earth, with safety to the buildings on which they are affixed, is now
generally known. These rods, as they are commonly made in the country,
are not of sufficient bignes to conduct such charges of electric fire as
are sometimes made from the clouds, and in such cases may attract the danger
without a power to conduct it off. Every fact of this kind ought to be
communicated for the public information. thursday the 16th instant an electric
rod in this town [in Hartford, Connecticut] was struck by lightning from
the clouds. One of the pointers was melted -- a great blaze of fire for
several instants appeared to involve the top of the rod - the rod thro'
its whole length to the earth, emitted an immense number of large sparks
- part of the lightning descended by two chimnies, one contiguous to the
rod, and the other thirty feet distance. This rod weighs more than one
hundred pounds, and in diameter is an inch and one third, nearly a size
larger than is commonly used. The expansive blaze which for a very short
space surrounded the top of the rod arose from its incapacity instantly
to receive and conduct so great a charge- the emission of sparks and the
descent of lightning by the chimnies are evidence of the same fact. A small
rod which attracts the lightning and is insufficient to conduct it into
the earth may in some instances increase the danger. An inch and half diameter
is the smallest size which ought to be used." From
the Maryland Gazette, 12 November 1789. (MSA SC 2731)
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1790
Journal and Correspondence of
the State Council. (Archives of Maryland, Volume 72)
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1791
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1792
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Journal and Proceedings of the
State Council. (Archives of Maryland, Volume 72)
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Carpenter's Contract with the
State of Maryland for repairs on the State House. (MSA SC 770-1)
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Plasterer's Contract with the
State of Maryland for repairs on the State House. (MSA SC 770-2)
Original from the John Work Garrett Collection.
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1793
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1794
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21 August
1794 - "King William School, which stood at the south side of the State
House was sold at public auction and removed before 'the first day of November
1794. Maryland Gazette, 21 August
1794. (MSA SC 2731)
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John Shaw,
having undertaken the role of superintendent, determined that the State
House required some repairs and additions, including "A Brick Wall to Enclose
the State house Such as the Drawing with 4 Setts of Stone Steps Say The
Iron Railing on the wall & Iron Gates And 525 feet of Stone copeing".
This is the first mention of the unfinished condition of the brick wall.
(Radoff, The State House at Annapolis, 26-27)
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1795
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1796
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Proceedings of the General Assembly,
1796 Session. (Archives of Maryland, Volume 105)
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"The
conference chamber or Armory, built in 1718, on the north side of the State
House, was torn down by [John] shaw by order of the Assembly in December
1796 (paid Shaw 2 pounds for eight days labor tearing down the Old Armory,
Sharf
Papers, Maryland Historical Society)" (Radoff', The State House
at Annapolis, 31)
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Shaw made
a road to the cellar door. (Radoff, The State House at Annapolis,
30)
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1797
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1798
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1799
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Images:
1772-1799
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