Mapping Jefferson in Annapolis

George Washington wasn’t the only founding father who famously visited the Maryland State House. In previous blog posts, we have talked about Thomas Jefferson, his visit to the dome with James Madison, and his involvement in planning the resignation ceremony. Just in time Jefferson’s 272nd birthday on April 13, Maryland’s retired state archivist, Dr. Ed Papenfuse, has now given some insight into Jefferson’s entire time in Annapolis, in his blog, Reflections by a Maryland Archivist.

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson shortly after being appointed as a minister to France, by Mather Brown, 1786. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

If you’re like us and need your fix on colonial Annapolis history while we wait for the Old Senate Chamber to open, or even are just hoping for a little bit of history on your downtown walking tour this spring, we highly recommend this read on Jefferson’s appearance in Maryland history, and the buildings that remain today. You can check it out here!

231 Years Ago: A Rush to Ratify the Treaty of Paris

Most students of American history know the story of the signing of the Treaty of Paris at the end of the American Revolution. However, few are aware of the tensions felt by Congress to ratify the treaty in time and the final dramatic race to return the ratified copy to the peace commissioners by the agreed-upon deadline.

In Paris on September 3, 1783, peace commissioners John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Laurens had at last concluded negotiations with the British delegation. However, the treaty could not be considered a legal, active document until it was ratified by both Congress and King George III within the next six months. Copies of the treaty were immediately sent to both England and America, and Congress, at the time meeting in Princeton, sent messages to all thirteen states to reconvene in Annapolis for the purpose of the document’s immediate ratification.

American painter, and mentor to Charles Willson Peale, Benjamin West captured one of the most well-known images of the Treaty of Paris negotiations. The image depicts American peace commissioners, John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and Franklin's secretary, William Temple Franklin. Unable to secure sittings with the British delegation, this painting was famously not completed. American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain by Benjamin West, 1783. Image courtesy of Winterthur Museum and Gardens, 1957.856.

Lafayette Becomes “Quite the Thing” in Annapolis

As recent visitors to the State House may have noticed, the Old Senate Chamber restoration impacts much more than just the closing of one room! Many paintings in the state art collection are currently undergoing conservation as part of the restoration, including several portraits of Maryland governors, which have recently been removed from the Archives Room. Walls in the State House rarely remain bare for long though, and we are pleased to use this opportunity to introduce a new exhibit to the Archives Room, featuring an eighteenth-century character with surprisingly strong connections to Annapolis! The Marquis de Lafayette, who first landed in the colonies on June 13, 1777, 237 years ago this month, visited the Maryland State House several times over the course of his long and heroic life.

Marquis de Lafayette by Robert Templeton after Charles Willson Peale, 1975. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1034.

William Buckland's Annapolis

For those of you who are desperate for a sneak preview of the Old Senate Chamber, you may be surprised to find that hints are all around you! Our architectural historians have conducted months of research on interiors in many colonial structures in the Annapolis area, and the architects who created them.

One man in particular had a long-standing association with the Old Senate Chamber that merited attention. We encourage anyone who is paying a visit to Maryland’s capital this holiday weekend to keep a special eye out for the works of Virginia and Maryland architect, William Buckland.

Portrait of William Buckland by Charles Willson Peale, 1774 and 1789, completed thirteen years after Buckland's death. Before Buckland is the floor plan to his masterpiece, Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis. Image courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery.

“The Sound of Fiddles,” Balls on State Circle

The ball for Washington, while most well-known, was far from the only celebration in Annapolis. In fact, contemporary accounts say there was a public ball at least twice a month during the city’s social season in the winter. Congressional delegates and passers-through to Annapolis in the eighteenth-century expressed delight at the entertainments of the city.

Annapolis in 1750 by Francis Blackwell Mayer, 1876, shows a romanticized depiction of a social scene between two prominent Maryland families - the Calverts and the Carrolls. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 4680-10-0064.

When he first arrived in Annapolis as the Surveyor of Customs, under the protection of the Royal Governor, Robert Eden, William Eddis couldn’t help but describe the balls with some awe. “During the winter,” he remarked, “there are assemblies every fortnight; the room for dancing is large; the construction elegant; and the whole illuminated to great advantage. At each extremity are apartments for the card tables, where select companies enjoy the circulation of the party-coloured gentry, without having their attention diverted by the sound of fiddles, and the evolutions of youthful performers."[1]

African Americans in the State House

Frustratingly for everyone, the eighteenth-century lives of freed and enslaved African Americans are largely undocumented. However, occasionally, clues to these experiences appear in unexpected places. A search through eighteenth-century payment records for the Old Senate Chamber, for instance, can reveal some unexpected details about Maryland’s early workforce.

On March 15, 1784, the State of Maryland documented a payment for 9 shillings and 6 pence to a “Negro Cardy” for sweeping the chimney in the Court House.[1] To date, this is the earliest record of a free or enslaved African American working in the State House or on its grounds. Between 1784 and 1785, Cardy received at least three more documented payments from the state for chimney sweeping in the Court House and State House.

The earliest known payment record to a free or enslaved African American for work on State House grounds. Cardy's name appears on the fifth line from the top. Maryland State Archives, MSA S1005-97, p.37.

The Kennedys in Annapolis

One of the reasons the Maryland State House is such a unique historic site is that it has actually remained an active legislative building all the way through the present day. Because of this, the State House has inevitably been witness to several key moments in history which include not only the founding of the nation, but also our more recent past.

Just over fifty years ago, John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, visited the State House twice during John F. Kennedy’s campaign for the presidency in the 1960 election.

Photograph of John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Trooper Kaplan outside the State House, 13 May 1960. Maryland State Archives, J. Millard Tawes Collection, MSA SC 5297-1-1.

The Mysterious Life of John Shaw

On March 5, 1829, both the Maryland Gazette and the Maryland Republican ran an identical article of remarkable length for an obituary of that day. The obituary described the deceased, an Annapolis cabinetmaker called John Shaw, in glowing terms: “He was not afraid to die! … He was a good man, who lived sincerely beloved by his family, and deservedly esteemed by his fellow-citizens; and has, we trust, passed from this world of care, to partake of the joys promised to the righteous.”[1]

Doubtless, followers of this blog have noticed the recurrence of John Shaw’s name in various capacities throughout the construction and operation of the eighteenth-century Maryland State House. Today, the cabinetmaker has played a critical role in research for the renovation of the Old Senate Chamber. Recent research into John Shaw’s life has uncovered new and exciting details, perhaps sometimes raising more questions than answers. All the same, in gaining a better grasp on the biographical details of Shaw, we are better able to understand how and when he would have furnished the Old Senate Chamber.

Signature of John Shaw on a receipt for candles to illuminate the State House for Washington's ball, December 1783. Maryland State Archives, Scharf Collection, MSA S 1005-83-117.

In this entry, we will focus specifically on recent research that uncovered details on his early life, fostering the man who would become one of the greatest contributors to the interior appearance of the Maryland State House.

The Treaty of Paris is Ratified

Washington’s resignation was far from the only significant event to occur while Congress was in session in the Old Senate Chamber. On January 14, 1784, the Treaty of Paris was ratified, officially ending the American Revolution and making the Maryland State House the first official peacetime capitol of the United States.

An excerpt from the Treaty of Paris, 1783. Image courtesy of International Treaties and Related Records, General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11, National Archives.

Negotiations for peace began as early as April 1782, but it wasn't until September 3, 1783 that British and American delegates signed the final draft in France. In order for the treaty to officially take effect, it had to be ratified by Congress within six months. Congress immediately called its delegates to meet in Annapolis that November to approve the treaty.

The Resignation: The State House Illuminated

On Christmas Day, 1783, James Tilton was a little disgruntled over his own behavior at a ball that had occurred three days prior. In a letter to fellow Delaware delegate, Gunning Bedford Jr., he bemoaned, “Such was my villainous awkwardness, that I could not venture to dance on this occasion, you must therefore annex to it a cleverer Idea, than is to be expected from such a mortified whelp as I am.”[1]

The particular ball that Tilton referred to was a rather important one, held at the State House on December 22, 1783 in honor of General Washington. After all, Washington’s public appearances in Annapolis in December 1783 were not only confined to the resignation ceremony, but also included several public celebrations held in his honor. Tilton’s letter to Bedford has since become a valuable resource in determining contemporary impressions of the resignation and the celebrations held on the eve of it.

James Tilton, a Delaware delegate in Congress, was present for the resignation. Lithography by Thomas Edwards, 1828. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.78.141.

The Resignation: Committee for Procedures

By all standards, George Washington’s resignation as commander-in-chief was a dignified yet modest affair for Congress. All the same, a certain amount of ceremony for an event as momentous as the resignation was required. Delegates Thomas Jefferson, Elbridge Gerry, and James McHenry were selected by Congress on December 20, 1783 to form the Committee for Procedures for the event.[1]

James McHenry, by Charles Balthazar Julien Feveret de Saint-Mémin, 1803. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Their report was likely prepared during the weekend before the resignation. Apart from establishing the protocol of the actual ceremony, the committee’s responsibilities may have also included writing the President of Congress’ response to Washington’s resignation speech, though James McHenry admitted to not having been involved in this task. In December 1783, McHenry was love-sick over his fiance, Margaret Caldwell, and wrote to her, “I was to assist in writing our answer to General Washington’s resignation - but I am unfit for the purpose.”[2] 

The Resignation: Washington at the City Gates

In the days leading up to the two hundred and thirtieth anniversary of Washington’s resignation as Commander-in-Chief in the Old Senate Chamber, we will review the events leading up to one of the most significant events in American history.

On the evening of Friday, December 19, 1783, Generals William Smallwood and Horatio Gates, both Revolutionary War heroes, waited alongside several prominent Marylanders on the road a few miles from Annapolis to meet and escort General Washington into the city.[1] Annapolis was to be the final stop in what had become a sort of farewell tour for Washington, who had stopped in several cities along the way. A discharge of a cannon publicly announced his arrival as Smallwood, Gates, and the others led Washington to Mann’s Tavern where he would lodge for the duration of his visit. After meeting with several leading citizens that night, Washington spent some time with the President of Congress, Thomas Mifflin, before retiring for the evening.

A twentieth-century depiction painted by Everette Molinari of Mann's Tavern, where Washington stayed during his resignation and ceremonies. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-2893.

Annapolis: A “School of Idleness"

Though Congress had opened session on November 26, 1783, very little was getting accomplished. Not enough delegates had arrived to reach even the minimum amount required to vote and pass legislature. In fact, on the day of Washington’s resignation, the Journals of Congress noted that only seven states were represented, and “most only by two delegates.”[1] Without nine states, legislation could not be passed, and with delegates arriving and leaving, the issue of representation was a reoccuring problem. In a letter to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson’s frustration was evident as even Maryland delegates at times failed to show up in their own state capitol: “We have eight states only and seven of these represented by two members... the other absent states are N. York, Maryland and Georgia. We have done nothing and can do nothing in this condition but waste our time, temper, and spirits in debating things for days or weeks and then losing them by the negative of one or two individuals.”[2]

With little business in Congress taking place, delegates occupied their time in other ways in their new city. Annapolis, in its heyday, elicited a diversity of opinions from the delegates.

Captaine Michel du Chesnoy's 1781 map of Annapolis, known as "The Frenchman's Map." Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1427-1-7.

Congress Arrives in Annapolis

On this day, two hundred and thirty years ago, Congress officially arrived in Annapolis to begin holding sessions in the Maryland State House’s Old Senate Chamber. Though it would take several more weeks for enough delegates to trickle into Annapolis to officially meet the quorum, November 26, 1783 marked the beginning of a congressional session that would witness the resignation of George Washington, the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, and the appointment of Thomas Jefferson as foreign minister. The next nine months would not only set the course for America’s future, but also mark the Maryland State House as the nation’s first peacetime capitol and the only state house to ever serve as the nation’s capitol.

Portrait of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of Maryland's signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Senate President in 1783. Painted by Thomas Sully, 1834, Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1114.

On October 1781, the British surrendered at Yorktown, but the struggles of establishing a strong government to run the new country were just beginning. The Continental Congress faced staggering war debts and soldiers demanding pensions that the government couldn’t afford to pay, causing civil unrest and dramatic inflation. In June 1783, riots in Philadelphia threatened the safety of the delegates, then meeting in Independence Hall, and Congress relocated to Princeton, New Jersey in the first of a series of congressional venues between 1783 and 1787.

The State House At War

The Maryland State House has been the setting for dramatic turns in the history of Maryland and the nation. Over the years, all of the nation’s wars have in some way impacted the building and the politics that take place within it. During the War of 1812, the State House dome was even used as a lookout while the British fleet raided the Chesapeake Bay. Situated at the center of Annapolis, which is home to the United States Naval Academy as well as Maryland’s capital, it would be difficult for the Maryland State House to not play a prominent role in the home front.

Photograph of procession on Maryland Avenue, with the State House in the background, dated 1859-1906. Copy by Marion E. Warren, Marion E. Warren Collection, Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1890-02-3244.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, we will take a moment to reflect on the State House and its consequential role in the Revolutionary War effort.

Molly Ridout's Letter

Out of the few written descriptions of George Washington's resignation, one of the most significant is Molly Ridout's letter to her mother. As we mentioned in last week's post, Molly's letter is the only known account written by a woman in attendance.

Molly Ridout's letter to her mother, Anne Tasker Ogle, 16 January 1784. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 358-1-2.

On January 16th, 1784, thirty-eight year old Molly Ridout wrote to her mother, Anne Tasker Ogle. Molly had the letter delivered "by a frigate that went from this

place [Annapolis] to Brest [France] this you will certainly receive as it goes by a Gentleman that carrys a Copy of the definitive Treaty [of Paris] ratified by Congress."

Spotlight on Molly Ridout

As we have mentioned in previous posts, one attendee of the resignation ceremony who will be featured in our exhibit is Mary "Molly" Ridout.

Molly was born in England in 1746, the second daughter of provincial Maryland governor, Samuel Ogle, and his wife, Anne Tasker Ogle. The Ogles were a prominent family, with influence in both England and Maryland throughout the eighteenth century. Molly's brother, Benjamin, later served as governor of Maryland between 1798 and 1801.

Molly's father, Samuel Ogle (c.1694-1752), Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1074.

Molly's brother, Benjamin Ogle (1749-1809), Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1071.

At age 18, Molly Ogle married John Ridout. An Oxford graduate, Ridout accompanied Governor Horatio Sharpe to Maryland as his personal secretary. Under Sharpe's patronage, Ridout quickly garnered several political positions including Judge of Probate (1761-1762) and naval officer of the Port of Annapolis (1762-1777). Upon Sharpe's departure from Maryland in 1773, the former governor left the couple his mansion, Whitehall, on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. This property, along with their Annapolis townhouse on Duke of Gloucester street known as Ridout House, played host to several social events attended by Maryland's high society.

Recent Press

A few weeks ago, we were excited to have the C-SPAN Cities Tour feature the Maryland State House in their coverage on Annapolis. The feature covers the importance of the Old Senate Chamber and some of the last video footage of the room before the scaffolding was assembled. The tour of the State House also includes information on the Old House of Delegates chamber, the New Annex, and the grounds. You can view the feature on the State House below.

For more information on Washington's resignation speech, the Maryland Constitution of 1864 debated in the Old House of Delegates Chamber, and historical documents related to the life of Frederick Douglass, please view the C-SPAN feature on the Maryland State Archives.