Mary (Ogle) Ridout (1746 - 1808)

Born 3 Mar 1746 in Mayfair, London, England

Ancestors

Wife of John Ridout — married 1764 in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County MD

Descendants

Died 14 Aug 1808 at age 62 in Whitehall, Anne Arundel County MD

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Biography

Mary "Molly" Ogle (b. 03 Mar 1746 London, England - d. 14 Aug 1808), was the second daughter of Samuel Ogle,^[1] and Ann Tasker. She was baptized at St. James's Church in Westminster, London, on April 1, 1746. Her brother Benjamin, served as governor of Maryland between 1798 and 1801.^[2]

In 1764 she was married to John Ridout in Annapolis, Maryland. They resided at his new home on 23 Duke of Gloucester Street. They had four children: Samuel (1765-1840); Anne Ogle (1766-1821), Horatio (1769-1834); Meliora (1780-1781).

Mary died at Whitehall Plantation in Anne Arundel co., Maryland on 14 August 1808. ^[3]

Notes

*They lived in the family home at King George Street and Maryland Avenue.

"Molly Ogle, b. 1746 England," in Spotlight on Molly Ridout. marylandstatehouse.blogspot.com

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.

... Molly Ridout's friends included Sir Robert Eden, the last royal governor of Maryland, Henry Harford (illegit. son of Frederick Calvert, the last Lord Baltimore), and the Weems family. Interestingly, the Ridouts also appeared to have forged a friendship with George Washington before the American Revolution, who dined at Ridout House in 1771.

Ridout House, 120 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, Maryland.

The Ridouts stayed politically and militarily uninvolved throughout the American Revolution. However, by the end of the Revolution, Molly Ridout did express her opinions on the new nation to her mother, declaring,

"Indeed My dear Madam you are exceedingly mistaken with regard to America. It is not at all disagreeable and as to our little town I believe I may...say you would like it as well as ever you did tho there are not so many people in it as when you left."

On December 23, 1783, Molly Ridout ascended the stairs to the visitors' gallery of the Old Senate Chamber ... to watch Washington resign his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. On January 16, 1784, Molly wrote in a letter to her mother, Anne Tasker Ogle, who was then residing in England, that:

"the General seemed so much affected himself that everybody felt for him, he addressed Congress in a short Speech but very affecting many tears were shed...I think the World never produced a greater man & very few so good."

Molly's letter is the only known first-person account of Washington's resignation written by a woman, and the only description authored by a member of the audience.^[4]

In 1784, Anne Tasker Ogle returned from England with Molly's son, Samuel, who would later become Mayor of Annapolis, serving in 1802 and 1805. After the Revolution, John Ridout held no public offices in the new government and largely spent his time at Whitehall, where he and Molly resided until their deaths in 1796 and 1808, respectively. Molly, John, and Molly's mother, Anne, are all buried at Whitehall.

Sources

1. ↑ Samuel Ogle (c.1694-1752), Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1074.
2. ↑ Benjamin Ogle (1749-1809), Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1071.
3. ↑ "Spotlight on Molly Ridout" See Below.
4. ↑ Excerpt of Molly Ridout's letter to her mother, Anne Tasker Ogle, 16 January 1784. Maryland State Archives, Mrs. James N. Galloway and Mrs. Frederick G. Richards Collection, 1784, MSA SC 358-1-2.

Molly Ogle's Two Suitors

See Also...

• Baltimore Sun, Baltimore MD. 11 June 1933. P8 FF. The Early Governors of Maryland: Horatio Sharpe.
• 1770 Will of Ann Tasker Ogle names her granddaughter Mary Ridout.
• Annapolis Maryland Families, McIntire. Vol. 1. p. 585. 1980.
• Ridout House and Ridout Row. Jean Russo. Maryland.com.
• Wikipedia: Whitehall (Annapolis, Maryland)