Lance Humphries
Appendix Check List of The Morris Suite

This appendix suggests the kinds of materials that are currently available to document the appearance of the buildings depicted on the Morris suite. Since the construction and destruction dates of many of these structures have not been determined, that information is not provided here. Some dates, however, given in the references are cited. In each entry, the name of the building is followed by the number and identification provided on the Howard list, the owners’ names, and their life dates when known.

Known affiliations with either the Baltimore Dancing Assembly or the Library Company of Baltimore are provided. Members of the Baltimore Dancing Assembly are documented through sources cited in the text, and their earliest known date of membership is given. Some members cannot be documented before 1817, but were undoubtedly members much earlier. Because the legal managers were men and so few sources pertaining to the organization survive, the presence of any particular women cannot currently be established. Stockholders of the Library Company are documented in the Accounts Ledgers 1799–1834, Library Company of Baltimore Papers, ms. 80, box 14, MdHS, where yearly accounts were kept beginning in 1799. All stockholders as of this date continued to be stockholders through the first decade of the nineteenth century, with the exception of Jeremiah Yellott, who died in 1805 but whose wife, Mary, continued his subscription. Nearly all of the stockholders in the Library Company were men.

Members involved with the Charity School of the Benevolent Society are documented in the list of subscribers in An Address to the Members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the City and County of Baltimore (Baltimore, Md.: Joseph Robinson, 1811). This publication included lists of donors and annual subscribers with the numbers of years they had subscribed, suggesting the year of first membership listed below. Religious affiliations are provided when known, and may not reflect the religions of both husband and wife.

Where possible, selected references to substantive histories or published images of the buildings are included. All of the photographs in the appendix are by Gavin Ashworth.


Chairs

BELVIDERE
1 Belvidere Col. Howard
John Eager Howard (1752–1827)
Margaret Chew Howard (1760–1824)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1817; Library Company stockholder, 1799;
Benevolent Society (John Eager Howard, donor, Margaret Howard, annual subscriber, ca. 1800); Episcopalian

Several drawings and photographs document the appearance of Belvidere before it was torn down. These, in addition to the image on the 1801 Warner & Hanna map, are similar to the house depicted on the Morris suite.

References: Mills Lane, Architecture of the Old South: Maryland (New York: Abbeville Press, 1991), p. 94 (photograph).


BOLTON
2 Bolton G. Grundy
George Grundy (1755–1825)
Mary Carr Grundy (1763–1797)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1817; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (George Grundy, donor, and annual subscriber, ca. 1799, and trustee as of 1811; daughter Mary Grundy [1788–1818], manager as of 1811); Episcopalian

Three paintings by Francis Guy and the 1801 Warner & Hanna map document the appearance of this house. Late nineteenth-century photographs (MdHS) show the house modified by the addition of an attic story.

References: Stiles Tuttle Colwill, Francis Guy 1760–1820 (Baltimore, Md.: Maryland Historical Society, 1981), pp. 63–65 (illustration of three Francis Guy landscapes depicting Bolton).


GRACE HILL
(corrected traditional, although apparently incorrect, identification)
3 Rose Hill W. Gibson
Hugh McCurdy (ca. 1765–1805)
Grace Allison McCurdy (1775–1822)
Library Company (not a stockholder, but given permission to use someone else's share circa 1803); Presbyterian

As discussed in the text, number 3 on the Howard list identifies William Gibson as the owner of Rose Hill, a house that did not look like that represented on the chair bearing the number 3. The traditional assumption has been that numbers 3 and 4 are reversed. While this may be so, the house represented on the chair bearing the number 3 does not match an insurance description of McCurdy's country house (see text). No images are known to document the appearance of this house.


ROSE HILL
(corrected traditional identification)
4 McCurdy
William Gibson (1753–1832)
Sarah Morris Gibson
Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (William Gibson, donor and annual subscriber, ca. 1799); Episcopalian

As discussed in the entry for Grace Hill, the identities of these two buildings were probably reversed on the Howard list. In addition to the image of Gibson's property on the 1801 Warner & Hanna map, Rose Hill is depicted in the background of two paintings of Bolton by Francis Guy.

References: Stiles Tuttle Colwill, Francis Guy 1760–1820 (Baltimore, Md.: Maryland Historical Society, 1981), pp. 63, 65 (illustrations of two Francis Guy landscapes of Bolton).


BEECH HILL
5 Beech Hill Robt. Gilmor
Robert Gilmor (1748–1822)
Louisa Airey Gilmor (1745–1827)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1798; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (Robert Gilmor, donor, Mrs. Robert Gilmor, annual subscriber, ca. 1799); Presbyterian

The depiction of the Gilmor property on the 1801 Warner & Hanna map is not like that found on the Morris suite. The map image shows only a single block with no wings. However, later images of Beech Hill, including a drawing, engraving, and a photograph (MdHS) indicate that it evolved into a five-part house. By the 1830s, classically inspired details had replaced the Chinese lattice on the porches, visible in the image on the Morris suite.

References: Laura Rice, Maryland, History in Prints 1743–1900 (Baltimore, Md.: Maryland Historical Society, 2002), p. 103 (engraving of Beech Hill).


WILLOW BROOK
6 Willow Brook Donnell's
John Donnell (1754–1827)
Ann Teackle Smith Donnell (1781–1858)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1817; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Episcopalian

No photographs depicting the facade of this building are known, although there are mid twentieth-century photographs of the rear (MdHS). The only known early image of Willow Brook appears in the background of a landscape by Francis Guy. A nineteenth-century engraving of Union Square shows the facade with the wings raised to two stories.

References: Edith Rossiter Bevan, "Willow Brook, Country Seat of John Donnell,” Maryland Historical Magazine 44, no. 1 (March 1949): 33–41. William Voss Elder, III, The Oval Room from Willow Brook (Baltimore, Md.: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1966). Stiles Tuttle Colwill, Francis Guy 1760–1820 (Baltimore, Md.: Maryland Historical Society, 1981), p. 52 (View of the Bay From Near Mr. Gilmor's).


CHARITY SCHOOL
7 Charity School—St. Paul's, on Madison Street.

The only known image of this building appears on an 1869 bird's eye view map of Baltimore. The overall form of the structure appears to be similar to that of the building depicted on the Morris suite.

References: Mary H. Bready, Through All Our Days: A History of St. Paul's School for Girls (Hunt Valley, Md.: Braun-Brumfield Inc., Sheridan Group, 1999), endpapers reproduce a detail of E. Sachse & Co.'s Bird's Eye View of the City of Baltimore.


MOUNT DEPOSIT
8 Mount Deposit D. Harris
David Harris (ca. 1752–1809)
1) Sarah Crockett Harris (d. 1785)
2) Frances Holton Chase Harris (1745–1815)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1798; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (Mrs. David Harris, donor); Presbyterian

Francis Guy painted a view of this house.

References: Stiles Tuttle Colwill, Francis Guy 1760–1820 (Baltimore, Md.: Maryland Historical Society, 1981), p. 59 (illustration of Francis Guy landscape depicting Mount Deposit).


OAKLEY
(traditional identification)
9 L. Pierce
Levi Pierce (ca. 1769–1821)
Mary Elizabeth Williamson Pierce
Library Company stockholder, 1814; Presbyterian

No known images document the appearance of this house. The Howard list does not identify the house owned by "L. Pierce,” who may have been Levi Pierce. When Levi died he owned a property called Oakley. Whether he lived in this dwelling at the time the Morris suite was made is not known.


WOODVILLE
10 Woodville Capt. Yellott
Jeremiah Yellott (ca. 1750–1805)
Mary Hollingsworth Yellott (1760–1811)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1798; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (Jeremiah Yellott, donor, and left bequest in his will); Episcopalian

This house is depicted on the 1801 Warner & Hanna map, at the time owned by its builder Charles Ghequire. In form it is similar to the building identified as Woodville on the Morris suite.

References: Edith Rossiter Bevan, "Woodville-Baltimore,” typescript,
vertical file, MdHS.


Settees

MOUNT CLARE
11 Mount Clare Mrs. Carroll
Charles Carroll, Barrister (1723–1783)
Margaret Tilghman Carroll (1742–1817)
Benevolent Society (Margaret Carroll, donor and annual subscriber, ca. 1801); Episcopalian

Mount Clare survives and is a house museum. The wings and dependencies shown on the Morris suite were replaced by dependencies of a different form.

References: Michael F. Trostel, Mount Clare: Being an Account of the Seat built by Charles Carroll, Barrister, upon his Lands at Patapsco (Baltimore, Md.: National Society of Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland, 1981).


BANKS OF THE CITY
12 Banks of the City

No known images document the appearance of this building, although the footprint of the structure on Poppleton's 1823 map of the city indicates that the structure was H-shaped in plan, which is consistent with the Morris suite image.


HOMEWOOD
13 Homewood C. Carroll
Charles Carroll, Jr. (1775–1825)
Harriet Chew Carroll (1775–1861)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1801; Library Company stockholder, 1801; Benevolent Society (Harriet Carroll, annual subscriber, ca. 1800); Catholic and Episcopalian, respectively

Homewood survives and is a house museum.

References: Building Homewood: Vision for a Villa 1802–2002 (Baltimore, Md.: Homewood House Museum, Johns Hopkins University, 2002).
 

WALTER DORSEY HOUSE 
(traditional identification)
14 Walter Dorsey
Walter Dorsey (1771–1823)
Hopewell Hebb Dorsey (ca. 1773–1853)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1798; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Episcopalian

No known images document the appearance of this house.


MONTEBELLO
15 Montebello Genl. Smith
General Samuel Smith (1752–1839)
Margaret Spear Smith (1759–1842)
Library Company stockholder, 1799; Presbyterian

The appearance of this house is well documented by a contemporary engraving and photographs taken before it was torn down (MdHS).

References: J. Gilman D. Paul, "Montebello, Home of General Samuel Smith,” Maryland Historical Magazine 42, no. 4 (December 1947): 253–60.


THE VINEYARD
(traditional identification)
16 Vineyard W. Gilmor
William Gilmor (1775–1829)
Marianne (Smith) Drysdale Gilmor (1778–1852)
Baltimore Dancing Assembly, 1817; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (William Gilmor, annual subscriber, ca. 1801); Presbyterian (?)

Photographs (MdHS) said to represent The Vineyard depict a house much larger than that represented by the image on the Morris suite. However, the back of one photograph has a plan that suggests that the house in the photograph may encapsulate a much smaller dwelling, one that in shape and size was probably similar to that on the Morris suite.


Pier Table


DRUID HILL
(new identification)
Greenwood Phil. Rogers
Colonel Nicholas Rogers (1753–1822)
Eleanor Buchanan Rogers (1757–1812)
Baltimore Assembly, 1798; Library Company stockholder, 1799; Benevolent Society (Eleanor Rogers, founder and manager as of 1811, Nicholas Rogers, donor and annual subscriber, ca. 1799, and trustee as of 1811); Episcopalian

For the re-identification of this building see the text. The appearance of Druid Hill is documented by several images, including photographs and a painting by Francis Guy (both MdHS). Other than the image of Greenwood on the 1801 Warner & Hanna map, which apparently depicts an earlier house on the site, no known view documents the appearance of the dwelling.

References: Edith Rossiter Bevan, "Druid Hill, Country Seat of the Rogers and Buchanan Families,” Maryland Historical Magazine 46,
no. 3 (September 1949): 190–99. Stiles Tuttle Colwill, Francis Guy 1760–1820 (Baltimore, Md.: Maryland Historical Society, 1981), p. 67 (illustration of Francis Guy landscape depicting Druid Hill). [Edith Rossiter Bevan?], "Greenwood,” typescript, vertical files, MdHS.

 

American Furniture 2003

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