Charles Carnan Ridgely (1760-1829) Benjamin Chew Sr. (1722-1810) Second master of Hampton, governor of Maryland from 1816-1819, and one of the wealthiest men in Maryland. At the height his career, he Of the Revolutionary Generation, Benjamin Chew was well known in the colonies as a owned over 25,000 acres of land and prominent Philadelphia lawyer. He served over 300 enslaved workers. Under his as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of tenure, Hampton was heavily involved Philadelphia from 1774-1777. In addition, in agriculture and the production of he maintained a close, lifelong friendship iron. Upon his death, his will freed with George Washington and served as a some of his enslaved workers and pro- pro bono legal consultant at the Constitu- vided for the eventual freedom of all tional Convention in 1787. He was respon- others through gradual manumission. sible for building Cliveden. However, the transfer of most of his enslaved workers to his children ensured the perpetuation of the institu- tion at Epsom ad elsewhere up until the Epsom Mansion, ca. 1843. Baltimore County. Home of Henry Banning Chew and Harriet Ridgely Chew. Civil War.

Henry Banning Chew (1800-1866) Harriet Ridgly (1802-1835) Henry Banning Chew spent most of his adult life as the master of Epsom. Most Harriet Ridgely was the youngest daughter of Charles Priscilla Dorsey (1762- of what we know about the property from this period comes to us from his meticu- Carnan Ridgely and Priscilla Dorsey Ridgely. She married 1814) Priscilla Dorsey was lous record-keeping. He was born in Henry Banning Chew in 1822. Like her mother, she was an the daughter of Caleb and Philadelphia and educated at the Uni- ardent Methodist. She Priscilla Dorsey of versity of Pennsylvania. By the age of was also a harsh critic “Belmont.” She married nineteen, he was engaged in a mercan- of slavery and urged Charles Carnan Ridgely in tile venture shipping goods between her father and husband 1782. She had 14 children Philadelphia and the Caribbean. Fol- to free their slaves. with him, 11 of whom sur- lowing ill-fortune in trade, and a mar- During her marriage, vived to adulthood. She riage to Harriet Ridgely, he moved to Harriet gave birth to Benjamin Chew Jr. (1758-1844) Katherine Banning Chew instilled her deep piety and Epsom Farm where he began his career eight children (only Methodist beliefs in her Like his father, Benjamin Chew Jr. was a (1770-1855) Was the wife of Benja- as a gentleman farmer. three of whom lived daughters. successful Philadelphia lawyer, and a min Chew Jr. and mother of Henry past the age of twenty) Chew operated the farm with moderate member of the city’s elite. His major con- Banning Chew. When her husband and suffered frequent success for just over thirty years. Dur- tribution to the family was converting died in 1844, a bitter and divisive fami- illness. She died tragi- ing that period, he played a prominent Cliveden into a full-time operational farm ly quarrel erupted over his estate, pit- cally in childbirth at the role in the Towson Town area. He and and engaging in land speculation on the ting Katherine and her son Ben age of thirty-two. his second wife, Elizabeth Ann Ralston Pennsylvania frontier. He was a gentle- against the other Chew children. In Chew(1793-1862), provided land for and man farmer who kept a labor force of her old age, Katherine fought inces- helped build Towson Town’s first house hired and enslaved workers. He was also santly over money with her son, Hen- of worship, Epsom Chapel. He also built No Known Image Available a major confidant to his son Henry, and ry, often signing her letters with the several houses in Towson town, in an provided advice on and support for the guilt laden message: “Your still affec- area that became known as Chewsville and was active in local politics. He returned operations of Epsom Farm. tionate, ‘though deeply afflicted moth- to his native Philadelphia in 1862 following the death of his second wife, alarmed and disgusted with Maryland politics during the Civil War. He died at Cliveden in 1866. Samuel Chew (1832-1887) Charles Ridgely Chew (1827-1876) Highly regarded by those who knew him, Samuel Was the eldest surviving child of Henry and Harriet. was well educated and a successful lawyer. As a As he grew older, he began to share the responsibilities young adult he spent much of his time at the family of running Epsom with home, Cliveden. After Hampton, Towson, Maryland. Ridgely Family Seat. his father. He was never marriage, he settled This immense 24,000 square foot Georgian mansion, located adjacent to Ep- inclined towards aca- there and became its som Farm, was one of the largest and most ornate in America at the time of demic pursuits and took master following the its completion in 1790. It became the seat of seven generations of the the greatest interest in death of his father. Ridgely Family. Harriet Ridgely Chew was born there and following her agriculture. He raised Samuel was responsi- marriage to Henry Chew, she and her family were frequent guests. Several his own family at ble for rejuvenating Chew children, as well as Harriet, were buried in the Ridgely family vault at Epsom and after his the family’s fortune Hampton. Epsom Farm originated in the eighteenth century as a parcel of father’s death, became through a marriage the vast Ridgely landholdings, and for many years, shared a border with the master of the estate with Mary Brown, Cliveden, Germantown, Pennsylvania. Chew Family Seat Hampton estate. himself. He rose to daughter of the This elegant Georgian-style mansion was built as a summer retreat prominence in the wealthy Philadelphia for the Chew family in 1763. It would later become the primary Towson community industrialist, David “Hampton Vault”, Henry Chew, ancestral home of the Chews. The bloodiest fighting of the battle and organized a pro- Benjamin Chew (1830-1885) Sands Brown. Memorial Journal, Chew Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylva- of Germantown took place in and around Cliveden in 1777. Benja- Union militia group known as the Towsontown Guard. Little is known about the lifelong bachelor, Benja- min Chew Jr. converted the estate into a full-time operational farm His military career was cut short after accidentally min, other than his sense of humor. He was popu- nia. after the death of his father, Benjamin Chew Sr. Later, his grandson shooting himself in the foot shortly after the start of larly known in his community as a profuse teller Samuel Chew occupied the estate. The mansion was designated a the Civil War. His offspring continued the family line of tall tales and anecdotes. In 1858, his family National Historic Landmark in 1966 and is now owned and operat- in Baltimore County. gave him his own 280 acre farm in eastern Balti- ed as a museum by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. more County known as Birchland.