Ratcliffe Manor

The house's design is typical of the Maryland manor houses of the time, consisting of a main section with a wing. The middle of the main building has a simple portico and doorway.[15] The jerkin-head roof on the main building has four end chimneys.[1] The two–and–a–half-story home was made from Flemish bond red brick, and is the highlight of a plantation that at one time consisted of over 1,000 acres (400 ha).[1] The land approach side of the home is on the northeast side of the structure. This side, which can be considered the front of the main portion of the house, is a symmetrical five-bay elevation with two twelve–over–twelve sash windows adjacent to each side of the door. The second floor has five evenly–spaced twelve-over-eight sash windows. The roof on the front side has three gable roof dormers with round arch sash windows.[1]

Like the front, the rear (southwest) facade of the main building is a balanced five-bay elevation with center entrance, sash windows, and dormers. The rear facade faces the Tred Avon River approach to the house. From the front facade, the exterior wall on the left side of the building has a corner door that leads to the study, and at the opposite corner is a bulkhead entrance to the cellar.[1] The wing is to the right when facing the front of the house. It was originally a one–and–a–half-story three-bay room that included the kitchen. The kitchen was severely damaged by fire in the first half of the 20th century, and reconstruction work was altered in 1953 when the wing was remodeled. The wing was extended further west with a kitchen addition that was made to have the exterior appearance of a "subsidiary outbuilding".[1] A large glassed-in porch was also added in the 20th century, and its entrance is via the wing's south wall.[1]

The long land approach to the house is lined with flowers and trees.[16] The garden, located between the back of the house and the Tred Avon River, has been sophisticated enough that is has been, on multiple occasions, part of the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage tour.[17][Note 5] The garden is thought to have been laid out around the same time as the manor house was constructed. It is probable that family members studied Philip Miller's Gardeners Dictionary. Hollyday's mother–in–law, Henrietta Maria Tilghman Robins, quoted Miller in letters written to English naturalist Peter Collinson, who was a friend of her husband George Robins.[21]

Two corners of the living room of Ratcliffe Manor circa 1914

A 1992 Maryland Historical Trust report states that the house has "approximately 75% of its original mid-eighteenth century woodwork."[1] The interior of the main building of the house has three rooms on the front (land) side of the house, and two rooms on the back side that overlook the garden and river.[1] The most extravagant room is the parlor, which is located in the back of the house. The parlor's walls consist of raised panel woodwork, and are among the best in Georgian style craftsmanship still found in Talbot County. The room's windows face the Tred Avon River, and the fireplace and surroundings are a fine example of 18th century ornamentation.[1] During the 1700s, the general interior scheme of five rooms on the main floor with the best room in the back of the house, and similar variations, became so common among upscale homes across the bay in Annapolis that it has been called the "Annapolis Plan".[22]

A 1914 description of the house does not use the term "parlor" for either of the two rooms on the river side of the house. Instead, it mentions dining and living rooms. The living room is described as opening upon the terraced garden.[15] An office (or library) is located in the front of the house, and all downstairs rooms are paneled in hardwood. The wing of the house contained the kitchen, pantry, and servant's rooms.[15] The inside of the one–and–a–half-story wing was redone during the 20th century, and a glassed-in porch was added.[1]

Just inside the front entrance interior is a walnut dog-leg stairway with balusters that leads to the second floor.[1] This floor consists of four rooms that connect to the hallway. All four have fireplaces. Originally these rooms were bedrooms, but the northeast "bedroom" has been converted to a bathroom. Another bathroom has been added between the two bedrooms on the south side. Some of these rooms feature chair rails, baseboard moldings, and window seats. A stairway to the attic, consisting of two flights of steps, is located in the northwest corner.[1] The attic section of the house was finished around 1800. It contains three bedrooms that open to a center hallway. The attic rooms have six-panel doors, but these rooms are otherwise plainly finished.[1]

Maryland State Roads Commission sign for the "Mannour of Ratcliffe"

At the time of the land grants in colonial Maryland, an English manor was defined as "a piece of landed property with tenants over whom the landlord exercised rights of jurisdiction in a private court".[23] The manor typically had a manor house, and now the term "manor" is also defined as "a residence".[23] In colonial Maryland, there were 62 true manors (using the property definition) granted to private citizens between August 1634 and April 1684.[24] Among the 62 manors is Ratcliffe Manor, originally called the Mannour of Ratcliffe on the patent. Ratcliffe Manor was first surveyed for 800 acres (320 ha) on August 5, 1659, and a patent was issued on January 17, 1659/60.[24][Note 6] The land was granted by Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert) to Captain Robert Morris of London.[25]

Morris had been sailing to Maryland since at least June 1653. He was from the Ratcliffe area of London, England, which was the home of a shipyard.[26] He is apparently not related to Robert Morris of Liverpool, who lived in Oxford, Maryland, in the first half of the 18th century—and Robert Morris of Liverpool is the father of the Robert Morris that is considered a founding father of the United States.[28][25][26] Captain Morris and his wife Martha sold the Ratcliffe property to London physician James Wasse on August 12, 1674.[Note 7] The land was resurveyed in 1675 after an issue with the certificate, and regranted on May 22, 1676—as 920 acres (370 ha).[24] Wasse sold the property to Thomas Bartlett around 1692, and the property later became divided among the Bartlett children.[3][Note 8]

The builder of Ratcliffe Manor, Henry Hollyday, son of James Hollyday and Sarah Covington Lloyd Hollyday, was born at the Wye Plantation in 1725.[7] His older brother, James Hollyday Jr, was born at the Wye Plantation in 1722.[32] These births happened prior to the construction of the Lloyd family's large plantation mansion known as Wye House, which was built in the 1780s.[33] Henry Hollyday's mother had been married to Edward Lloyd II, who was a former governor of the Province of Maryland. Lloyd died in 1719, leaving a widow and four children who were all minors. The widow, Sarah Covington Lloyd, remarried a lawyer and planter named James Hollyday in 1721.[34] Between 1720 and 1747, James Hollyday was "a vital figure in the development" of the Maryland colony, and held numerous public offices.[35] The couple lived for about ten years at Wye Plantation, which is located in Talbot County, Maryland. After that period of time, one of the Lloyd children reached the age of 21 and could inherit the Wye estate. James Hollyday and family moved to nearby Queen Anne's County.[34]

In the early 1730s, James and Sarah Hollyday built a new home they called Readbourne, which is located in Queen Anne's County on the Chester River.[36] Mrs. Hollyday supervised the construction of this home.[37][Note 9] James Hollyday died in 1747, and was buried at the Readbourne burial ground.[37] His wife, Sarah, died in 1755 while visiting her daughter in London.[39] James Hollyday Jr became a lawyer and politician, and remained at Readbourne until he died in 1786.[35] He never married, and left his property to his brother with an agreement that it would pass to his brother's oldest son, James Hollyday III.[40][41] This eldest son represented Queen Anne's County in the Maryland convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1788.[42]

View of the Tred Avon River in 2023 from Easton Point, not far from former Ratcliffe Manor property on right

During the 1740s and 1750s, Henry Hollyday held several political offices in Talbot and Queen Anne's counties.[43] In 1748, he married Anna Maria Robins, who was the daughter of George Robins of Peach Blossom in Talbot County.[Note 10] Anna received land, via the will of her father, that included land called Ratcliffe Manor. Portions of the land had been purchased by George Robins from Thomas Bartlett.[7] The Hollydays lived in Queen Ann's County until October 1751, when Henry's term as High sheriff expired. They moved to Mrs. Hollyday's Talbot County property where Henry could begin his new duties as Deputy Commissary General. In 1752, Hollyday purchased adjacent land known as Cool Spring Cove from Samuel Bartlett, and this is the location of the Ratcliffe Manor house Hollyday built for his wife.[7] Of the original Ratcliffe Manor estate owned by Captain Robert Morris, Hollyday had pieced together 629 acres (255 ha).[3] Henry and wife Anna had ten children between 1750 and 1774, including three sons that survived to maturity.[44] During the smallpox epidemic of 1777, Hollyday converted one of his tobacco barns into a smallpox hospital.[45]

Henry lived in the Ratcliffe Manor house for nearly three decades, and died in 1789.[41] Upon his death, eldest son James III officially inherited most of the Readbourne property, including the manor house. Son Thomas received in trust 300 acres (120 ha) at the southern end of the Readbourne property, which was known as Brimmington.[41] Henry's will originally left the Ratcliffe plantation to his wife (Anna Maria Robins Hollyday), with son Thomas inheriting the property after his mother's death. An amendment to the will replaced Thomas with another son, Henry (a.k.a. Henry Hollyday II), because of Thomas' conduct.[46][Note 11]

Henry II, who graduated from Princeton, would live at Ratcliffe for the rest of his life.[48] He married Ann Carmichael on October 11, 1798.[49] His mother Anna Maria Robins Hollyday died in 1806.[50] Henry Hollyday II and his wife Ann had eleven children. He practiced law and continued the plantation. From 1816 to 1821 he was a representative in the Maryland state senate. By 1832 he ranked ninth in Talbot County's taxpayer assessments, and owned 58 slaves.[49][Note 12] His land holdings included property in Queen Anne's County in addition to Talbot County. He died in 1850. The Ratcliffe Manor estate was divided among three surviving sons, while land in Queen Anne's County was divided among his daughters.[49]

Fort Stoakes Sign from marina on Tred Avon River indirectly across from Ratcliffe Manor Fear of war with the British caused Henry Hollyday II to be involved with the Eastern Shore Militia as early as 1799.[50] During the War of 1812, residents of Easton worried that the British would invade their town via the Third Haven River (now known as the Tred Avon River).[54][Note 13] A false alarm involving domestic cargo vessels added to their anxiety.[56] Citizens of the town hastily constructed an earthworks named Fort Stoakes. The fort was named after James Stoakes because most of the construction work was conducted by workers from Mr. Stoakes' nearby shipyard.[56] The fort, occasionally spelled "Stokes" instead of "Stoakes", was located on Ratcliffe Manor property on the Tred Avon River and housed a six-gun (a.k.a. cannons or artillery pieces) battery.[57][58] Easton was never attacked.[58] The British attacked further west in Talbot County near the shipbuilding town of Saint Michaels, and the two small skirmishes became known as the Battle of St. Michaels and the Second Battle of St. Michaels.[59] Today (2023), the site of the fort is located on private property. However, a Fort Stoakes marker provided by the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail is located across the river at a marina on Easton Point.[60]

Map of Hollyday farm and Easton in 1858

Henry II's eldest son Richard Carmichael Hollyday graduated from Princeton in 1827. He studied law in Easton before practicing in Cumberland and Elkton, Maryland. He returned to Talbot County when his father died in 1850.[61] Richard selected the portion of his father's land that contained the Ratcliffe Manor house. His brother, Thomas Robins Hollyday, took a portion of land west of the manor house that was originally part of "Tilghman's Fortune". Thomas named his land "Lee Haven" in honor of his fiancée. The third brother, William Murray Hollyday, took land on the east side of the manor house, originally part of "Turkey Point", and named it "Glenwood".[62]

Richard Hollyday married Marietta Fauntleroy Powell in 1858 and had three children.[61] Their son Richard Carmichael Hollyday II joined the United States Navy and rose to the rank of rear admiral.[63] The elder Richard Hollyday was Secretary of State of Maryland under six governors. He resigned from that position in 1884 because of bad health.[61] Upon his death in 1885, his widow Marietta Fauntleroy Powell Hollyday remained living in the property.[1] She married United States Senator Charles Hopper Gibson in 1889, and the couple lived in Ratcliffe Manor.[64][1] Mrs. Gibson published a cookbook in 1894 that included a recipe for "Ratcliffe Manor Sausage" on page 38.[65] The Senator died in 1900, and the family had begun trying to sell the house as early as October 1899.[66][67] By that time, Thomas Robins Hollyday and William Murray Hollyday were dead too.[67] Hollyday ownership of Ratcliffe Manor ended in 1903, when the property was sold to John M. Elliott.[68]

When John M. Elliott purchased Ratcliffe Manor property in 1903, he promptly resold most of the property to Andrew A. Hathaway of Wisconsin.[68] The property was converted to a dairy farm.[1] Hathaway became involved with the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club.[69] His two sons, Malcom and Stephen, built two landing strips in a cow pasture near their home in 1928—the county's first airstrip.[70] Their Tred Avon Flying Service was one of Talbot County's early commercial aviation companies.[71] In 1936, the property was sold to John W. McCoy, and consisted of over 300 acres (120 ha) and several miles of waterfront.[72] The dairy operation continued, and the manor house was photographed by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).[73][Note 14] McCoy was an executive director of the DuPont Corporation.[75]

Diplomat Gerard C. "Gerry" Smith, who was an avid sailor, purchased Ratcliffe Manor in 1945.[76] Smith served in the administrations of four U.S. presidents, and he was an expert in arms control. He was involved with the establishment of the Moscow–Washington hotline during the Kennedy Administration.[77] Smith and his wife restored the interior of the home, and they converted the old kitchen into a dining room.[29] Dairy operations were discontinued after about one year, and Smith purchased an additional home in New York City. Assisting the Smith family in maintaining the Ratcliffe Manor house was the Ayers family, descendants of slaves that lived in another house on the property.[78] The Ayers family managed the Ratcliffe Manor house for multiple generations, making their tenure at Ratcliffe Manor longer than that of the Smith family.[78] Smith died in 1994, while his wife Bernice died in 1987.[77]