Belair Mansion

Infobox nrhp
name = Belair Mansion
nrhp_type =

---

imagesize=260px
caption = Front of Belair Mansion, August 2007
lat_degrees = 38
built = c. 1745
lat_minutes = 57
lat_seconds = 57
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 76
long_minutes = 44
long_seconds = 48
long_direction = W
location = 12207 Tulip Grove Drive in Bowie, Maryland, USA
nearest_city = Bowie, Maryland
area = Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Politics/Government, Social History
built = circa 1745
architect = Benjamin Tasker, Sr. (original)cite web
title = National Register Information System: Impromptu Web Query
work =
publisher = National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places
date =
url = http://www.nr.nps.gov/iwisapi/explorer.dll?IWS_SCHEMA=NRIS97&IWS_LOGIN=1&IWS_REPORT=100000001
format = database
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-10]
Delano & Aldrich (1914 expansion)cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
title = A Chronicle of Belair
publisher =Bowie Heritage Committee
date = 1984
location =Bowie, Maryland
pages = pages 74-76
id =
LCCN = 85165028]
architecture = Georgian plantation home
designated =
added = 1977-09-16
established =
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum =77001520
mpsub =
governing_body =The Belair Mansion, was built in Collington, Maryland circa 1745 as the Georgian plantation home of the Provincial Governor of Maryland, Samuel Ogle. Later home to another Maryland governor, the mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Belair is recognized as the only great colonial estate where breeding of race horses was conducted during three centuries. Citation
last = Fiehler
first = Leonard E
author-link =
last2 = Baltz
first2 = Shirley
author2-link =
title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Belair Mansion
place = Washington, D.C
publisher = United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service
year = 1976
volume =
edition =
url = http://www.mdihp.net/cfm/dsp_display.cfm?previous_

doi =
id =
isbn = ] The estate significantly influenced the development of thoroughbred horse racing in the new world,Baltz, 1984, 14-19] having one of only two stables to raise two Triple Crown champions.cite book
last = Duke
first = Jacqueline
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century
publisher = The Blood-Horse, Inc.
date = 1999
location = Lexington, Kentucky
pages = 105
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=1tRoGw3-upEC
doi =
id =
isbn = 1581500246] The mansion and its nearby stables both serve as museums, operated by the City of Bowie.

History

Early History

The original estate was convert|500|acre|km2 called "Catton" and was patented from the first proprietors of the Maryland Colony, the Calvert family, on August 26, 1681 by Robert Carvile of St. Mary's City, Maryland. [cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Belair From the Beginning
publisher = City of Bowie Museums
date = 2005
location = Bowie, Maryland
pages = 1
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ] Carvile sold the land in 1698 for £100 to Henry Ridgely. In 1700, Ridgely purchased an additional convert|100|acre|km2 adjacent to "Catton" called "Enfield Chase". Upon Ridgely's death in 1699, his third wife, now twice widowed, Mary Ridgely (nee Duvall, nee Stanton)cite book
last=Warfield
first=Joshua Dorsey
title=The Founders of Anne Arundel And Howard Counties, Maryland
publisher=Kohn & Pollock
date=July 1905
location=Baltimore, Maryland
page=106
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vgINAAAAYAAJ
isbn= 0806379715] was executrix of the will and inherited the properties. Mary had previously inherited Middle Plantation in Davidsonville, Maryland when her first husband, Mareen Duvall died in 1699.Baltz, 1984, 1-8]

Reverend Jacob Henderson, became rector of Queen Anne's Parish in 1712 and married Mary Duvall that same year.cite book
last =Sprague
first =William Buell
title =Annals of the American Pulpit; or Commemorative Notices of Distinguished American Clergymen of Various Denominations From the Early Settlement of the Country to the Close of the Year Eighteen Hundred and Fifty Five, Volume V.
publisher =Robert Carter & Brothers
date =1859
location =New York
pages =pages 34-38
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=UwJ9aVWh92kC&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=st+anne's+annapolis+boucher&source=web&ots=PdYNXsyA3p&sig=55DQKbnSQntlP-9aT6wb5pfrdys#PPA34,M1
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

In 1718, Henderson believed that Benjamin Cheney and Joseph Cheney had "committed some tresspass" so on January 20, 1718, Henderson petitioned the Maryland Land office to resurvey the boundaries of his properties. As a result, in 1721, a new deed was issued to a much larger convert|1410|acre|km2 and the property was renamed "Belair" (sometimes written as Bel Air).

Samuel Ogle, son of Samuel Ogle of Northumberland was appointed by Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore to be Governor of Maryland in Annapolis in 1732. As part of his remuneration, Ogle was given £3,000 to build a residence but Ogle, who was then a bachelor, was in no hurry to build a residence.Warfield, 208-210]

Ogle family ownership begins

Henderson sold the land along with two other parcels known as "Woodcock's Range" and "Enfield Chase" to two partners, Ogle, and Benjamin Tasker, Sr. on March 30, 1737 for the sum of £500.cite journal
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = This indenture made this 30th day of March
journal = Provincial Court Land Records, 1731-1737
volume = 698
issue =
pages = 490-495
publisher = Archives of Maryland
location =
date = 1737-03-30
url = http://aomol.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000698/html/am698--490.html
accessdate =2008-08-26]

In August, that same year, Ogle bought Tasker's half of the property.Baltz, 1984, 9] In 1739, the 47-year-old Ogle married his former partner's 18-year-old daughter, Anne Tasker.Citation
last = Deubler
first = Cindy
author-link =
title = Belair Museums stand in path of "Progress"
journal = Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred
pages = 22-27
date = 2002-05
year = 2002
url = ]

Construction to Revolution

In 1740, Ogle was dispatched to England following England's declaration of war against Spain and left Tasker with power of attorney and "the task of supervising the construction of a new house at Belair." In 1747, Ogle returned to Maryland with his new bride to occupy his new home which was "the grandest in the region" visible from much of the surrounding area and "affording it's owners a magnificent, all-encompassing view of their plantation." Ogle brought with him, two famous English horses and the first English-bred Thoroughbreds imported into Maryland, Queen Mab and Spark, both gifts of Lord Baltimore, establishing the Belair Stud.

The Ogle family maintained two residences upon return, one in town at the intersection of King George Street and College Avenue in Annapolis (now referred to as "Ogle Hall", which houses the US Naval Academy's Alumni Hall) and Belair, the Governor's country seat.Upon his death in 1752, Samuel Ogle left the following to his 3 year old son Benjamin Ogle:quotation
His "house and land in Prince Georges County.... together with my stock of whit kind soever and horses (except the English horses and their breed which I desire may be sold) and every implement and utensil to or used on my said plantation". [Baltz, 1984, 19-22]

Samuel Ogle had also named Tasker to be his son's guardian and manage the estate. At the age of 10, Benjamin Ogle was sent to England for formal education and returned 11 years later in 1770 to find Tasker's daughters and their husbands living in the estate. Ogle sued to have ownership and occupy the mansion. The court ruled in his favor in 1774 and he took possession of the estate. [Baltz, 1984, 39-41]

Benjamin Ogle became a friend of George Washington whose presidential records show he dined at Belair on October 1, 1773 and that Washington frequently sought Ogle's counsel. [Warfield, 248-250]

Post Revolution to Civil War

Benjamin Ogle operated Belair and gained prominence as a gentleman. He was elected Governor of Maryland in 1798. [cite web| title =Historical List, Governors of Maryland | publisher=Maryland State Archives| url =http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/speccol/sc2600/sc2685/html/govintro.html | accessdate = 2007-06-25] That same year the Direct Federal Tax assessment listed Belair as containing:quotation
"a mansion with a greenhouse, 24 by 15 feet, adjoining the convert|40|ft|m|sing=on square kitchen-office, a convert|12|ft|m|sing=on square poultry house, a single-story dwelling, 2 by 16 feet, a meat house and a stable, all built of brick. Additional outbuildings included a frame stable, a deer house, tobacco houses and several houses for Negroes. It was by far the most valuable and best equipped plantation of that section of Prince George's County. [Baltz, 1984, 50] He continued to prosper until his death in 1809 when the property was inherited by his son, Benjamin Ogle II. Ogle II operated the estate and stud farm until his death in 1844 when his two sons, George Cooke Ogle and Richard Lowndes Ogle divided the estate into two parcels. George took the parcel with the mansion and Richard moved to a house on his parcel known as "Bladen" (which was torn down in the 1960s to make way for the Kenilworth Elementary School).Baltz, 1984, 64] When George took possession of the deed to Belair, it carried an interesting restriction: George's youngest sister, Rosalie Ogle, must be able to remain in her room in the mansion as long as she remained single. She chose a large room of 17 by 20 feet on the upper floor.Baltz, 1984, 68]

Civil War and the end of Ogle Ownership

As Belair was a slave-operated plantation, the ratification of the Maryland Constitution of 1864 which emancipated the slaves in the state effectively ended its operation as a plantation.Baltz, 1984, 65-68] In 1867, Dr. George C. Ogle reported to the Maryland State Commissioner of Slave Statistics that he had freed 41 slaves, 24 of them 18 years or younger. [Baltz, 2005, p. 104] Belair, like other plantations, was "possessed of huge tracts of land but suddenly without the built-in workforce to make them productive, they were often unable to meet mortgage debts or to pay taxes." By 1870, the house had fallen into bad repair and George Ogle was in debt of $7,400 to his brother-in-law William Henry Tayloe of Virginia as well as several lesser debts to others including $2,400 to the estate of Maria Jackson, being executed by James Mullikin. In 1871 Ogle defaulted on the latter debt, Mullikin filed suit and the court ruled the Belair be sold to satisfy the debt. The property was described in the auction notices as:quotation
"550 acres, more or less, and in one of the finest farms in Prince George's County. It lies along the line of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad about one-quarter of a mile from Collington, where there will be a Depot on said road. The improvements are a large, two story brick dwelling house, 3 tobacco houses, corn house, granary, stables, servants' house, etc. The soil is well adapted to the growth of tobacco, corn, wheat, etc. Wood and water abundant."

The property was sold to the executors of the estate of the mortgage holder, William Henry Tayloe on May 16, 1871. The winning bidders were Thomas Munford and Henry A. Tayloe who paid $5,100 but the contingency remained on the deed and Rosalie Ogle remained in the house. When tenant farmers moved in the mansion alongside Rosalie, she took them to court stating that she could not live in a house with people so far below her station. In 1877, she was awarded a cash settlement, and the last of the Ogle family retreated to Baltimore.Baltz, 1984, 70-73]

In 1877, Munford and Tayloe sold the property for $17,000 to Edward T. Rutter. Belair subsequently changed hands numerous times while it continued to fall further into disrepair. The property was divided into smaller parcels, some of which were then recombined. By 1896, ownership of most of the land had passed to Benjamin N. Hardisty.

Woodward Era

James T. Woodward

In 1898, Hardesty's land was surveyed to be convert|371.4|acre|km2 including the mansion and the stables and was purchased for $10 and undisclosed sum by wealthy banker James T. Woodward. James maintained residences in New York, Rhode Island as well as at Belair. During this time, he developed a very close relationship with Saint John's College in Annapolis and was elected to its board of visitors. Woodward invested significantly in both repairing Belair and expanding St. John's during this time. He died in 1910 having never married.

William Woodward, Sr.

His nephew, wealthy lawyer and banker, William Woodward, Sr. inherited the estate in 1910 and expanded the building in 1914 to a five part house by the additions of two wings and hyphens. The expansion became a noted work of the architects Delano & Aldrich.cite book
last=Pennoyer
first=Peter
coauthors=Walker, Anne
editor=
others=
title=The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich
origyear=2003
isbn=978-0393730876
pages= 186
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PfsvwzwaQqUC] During this period, William opportunistically bought up adjacent tracts of land including purchases from the Magruder family [cite book
last =Hammond
first =John Martin
title =Colonial Mansions of Maryland and Delaware
publisher =J.B. Lippincott Company
date =1914
location =Philadelphia & London
pages =Pages 199-204
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=I00AAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA199,M1
doi =
id =
isbn =1406759473 ] and the nearby Fairview Plantation of Oden Bowie and began developing the Belair Stud.

In 1918, he entered his first two-year olds into competition, and in 1923 Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons arrived at Belair as trainer who eventually brought the Belair Stud two Triple Crown champions, a feat matched by only one other stable. Woodward died in 1953, leaving the estate to his son William Woodward, Jr. [Baltz, 1984, 81-84]

William Woodward, Jr.

Woodward Jr. was quite the playboy became an avid horse racing enthusiast. After his father's death, he took over operation of Belair for a brief period before he was fatally shot in his Oyster Bay, New York estate by his wife in 1955.Baltz,84-89]

Levitt Development

By the time of Woodward Jr's death, the estate had grown back to convert|2280|acre|km2 and was purchased at auction by Levitt and Sons in August 1957 for $1,750,000. Levitt used the building and the stables as corporate offices as they developed their suburban housing development, "Belair at Bowie." In 1964, Levitt sold the mansion and 5.5894 acres of land including the Ogle cemetery to the City of Bowie for the price of $1 to be used as City Hall. It continued in operation as Bowie's City Hall and a police station until 1978 when City Hall was moved to a new location.

Belair today

Today the mansion, located at 12207 Tulip Grove Drive in Bowie, Maryland, is owned by the City of Bowie and functions as a museum as does the nearby Belair Stable Museum. [cite web
title = Museums in the City of Bowie
url=http://www.cityofbowie.org/museum/
accessdate = 2007-06-08] Both the mansion and stables are listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architectural Details

Based on Georgian architecture stressing symmetry, the original structure has two long façades featuring a central door and balanced number of windows on each side. Four chimneys support nine fireplaces.

From the National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form:quotation
”The principal or garden façade faces south and is seven bays in length. The central bays are set in 2 ½ -story, pedimented pavilion which has a bull’s-eye window set within the pediment. The north façade has a pediment, but no projecting pavilion. All first and second floor windows have segmental arches of alternating header and stretcher brick and contain 6/6/ sash. Between the two floor levels a brick belt course with molded cap extends around all four elevations.

The north, west, and east elevations are laid in English bond while the south façade is of Flemish bond with glazed headers. The water-table is laid in English bond on all elevations. There is a heavy modillion cornice on all elevations; roof pediments at both the front and rear façades display the same treatment. The roof plan is a hip-on-hip; there is a hip roofed dormer window on both side elevations and one on each side of the pediment on the south façade.

The house is set high on a brick foundation, and the water table has a chamfered top course. The chimneys at the east and west ends are contained within the walls but project slight from the outside surface of each.

The entrance door of the south façade has a pediment supported by scroll brackets and trimmed with dentil molding and is framed by fluted pilasters. The main entrance of the north façade has a simple frame with fluted pilasters, but is sheltered by a fine pedimented portico with dentil cornice supported by tapered columns with Ionic capitals.” Citation
last = Fiehler
first = Leonard E
author-link =
last2 = Baltz
first2 = Shirley
author2-link =
title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Belair Mansion
place =Washington, D.C.
publisher = United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service
year = 1976
volume =
edition =
url = http://www.mdihp.net/cfm/dsp_display.cfm?previous_

doi =
id =
isbn = ]

Cemetery

At the edge of the mansion grounds is a small cemetery containing the grave of Benjamin Ogle II whose tombstone states that he died on April 4, 1845cite book
last = Ridgely
first = Helen West
title = Historic Graves Of Maryland And The District Of Columbia With The Inscriptions Appearing On The Tombstones In Most Of The Counties Of The State And In Washington And Georgetown
publisher =The Grafton Press
date = 1908
location = New York
pages = 77
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=81odAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage
doi =
id =
isbn =
oclc=23907948] while other sources have him dying in 1844.

Others interred:
*Ogle II's wife Anna Maria Cooke Ogle (1777-1856)
*Benjamin Ogle III (1796-1839)
*Priscilla Mackall Ogle (1825-1859)
*Anna Maria Ogle (1849-1851) [City of Bowie Museums, "Benjamin Ogle Family Cemetery": Bronze plaque affixed to the cemetery fence, undated.]

Bibliography

*cite book
last = Harrison
first = Fairfax
coauthors = Lasker, Edward; Lasker, Cynthia
title = The Belair Stud 1747-1761
publisher = Old Dominion Press
date = 1929
location = Richmond, Virginia
pages =
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ESxTGQAACAAJ
doi =
id =
isbn =
OCLC=3367781
*Citation
last = McGraw
first = Eliza
title = Keeping it Alive: Belair Stable Museum recalls the glory days of Maryland Racing
journal = The Blood-Horse
volume =
issue = 9
pages = 1338-1354
date = 2007-03-03
year = 2007
url =
doi =
id =
*Citation
last = Remly
first = Lynn L.
title = Art Among the Oats: Belair Stable Museum
journal = Equine Images
volume = 2000
issue = 81
pages = 5-56
date = Fall 2002
year = 2002
id =

Notes

reflist|3

External links

* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/NR/ National Register of Historic Places]
* [http://www.cityofbowie.org The City of Bowie, Maryland]
* [http://www.cityofbowie.org/museums/museums.asp City of Bowie: Museums]
* [http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3578 Belair Historical Marker]