Roast Platter, Howard County

From the USS Maryland Silver Service

Maker: Samuel Kirk & Sons (1815-1979)
Object: Roast Platter, Howard County
Date: 1906
Medium: Sterling Silver
Dimensions: Overall width, 23 1/8"; Overall height, 16 1/2"
Accession number(s): MSA SC 1545-0933

Howard County is represented by this large roast platter. Howard District was created from Anne Arundel County in 1838, and it was officially formed as a county in 1851. The county was named for John Eager Howard, a Revolutionary War officer, Maryland governor, and statesman.

The Great Seal and the cruiser are surrounded by clusters of wheat, leaves, flowers, and fruits. The scenes on this piece were selected to represent the early history of the county.

Scenes across the top (left to right):

Brothers John and Andrew Ellicott selected, in 1771, a wheat mill-site at a point where the Patapsco River had cut a narrow winding valley between steep hills. After damming the river and building a mill race, they erected the first flour mill in Maryland. By the 1790s, their mill was successful and had expanded to include two broad highways from “Ellicott’s Mills”. In 1830, Ellicott's Mills was made the terminus of the initial 13 miles of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The original mill burned in 1809.

The scene on the roast platter is reproduced from an 1854 print by E. Sachse & Co., Baltimore.

Although the homes of the Ellicott’s Mill founders Andrew and John Ellicot are gone, the homes of Andrew’s three sons, Jonathan, George, and John remain. The brothers took over management of the mill and their homes were located across the street. The two older brothers, Jonathan and George, built homes in 1782 and 1789, respectively, and the smaller home of John, built later, was set back from the other two. In the scene shown on the roast platter, the homes, from left to right, are those of Jonathan, John, and George.

When the Thomas Viaduct was completed in 1835 it was the first multispan masonry railroad bridge in the country. It crosses the Patapsco River from Elkridge to Relay and has an overall length of 614 feet and a height of about 60 feet. Today, it is the world's largest multiple arched stone railroad bridge with an arc.The viaduct was named for Philip E. Thomas, the first president of the B&O Railroad, though while it was under construction it was more commonly known as “Latrobe’s Folly”. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

The Thomas Viaduct can be easily seen along trails in Patapsco Valley State Park. It is still traversed by railroad trains today.

Five miles outside of Ellicott City sits Doughoregan Manor House. It was built in 1727 for Charles Carroll II (1702-1782) of Annapolis and named after an ancestral Carroll estate in Ireland. The manor is distinguished by its 300-foot facade and attached Catholic chapel for private worship. Originally built as a Georgian brick house, it was enlarged and remodeled in the Greek Revival style in the 1830s. The house is still owned by the Carroll family and is a private residence.

Much of the Carroll’s wealth was accumulated by enslaved labor on their land. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, who lived in the Manor from 1766 to 1832, held over 300 people in bongage.

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