Brome-Howard Plantation House

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: St. Mary's City, Maryland

Contents 1 Links to Sites with more information 2 Detailed Accounts 2.1 Ownership of St. Mary's Manor Through Time 2.2 1994 the Brome-Howard House Moves to St. Mary's City 2.3 Architectural Survey 3 Sources

Links to Sites with more information

https://d.lib.msu.edu/etd/2711 "All of us would walk together" : the transition from slavery to freedom at St. Mary's City, Maryland

• Detailed historical-architectural study of the manor home and plantation.

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http://stmalib.archivalweb.com/proxy.php/1956-11-15_007.pdf?t=pdf&i=1229605

Detailed Accounts

Ownership of St. Mary's Manor Through Time

Ownership of St. Mary's Manor -- the Brome-Howard Plantation -- can be traced as follows: ^[2]

• 1723 John Hicks arrives in Maryland.
• 1753 John Hicks dies. William Hicks inherits the property.
• 1774 William Hicks sells the property to John Mackall, Sr.
• 1813 John Mackall, Sr. dies. John Mackall, Jr. inherits the property.
• 1815 John Mackall, Jr. dies. His sister, Margaret Mackall Brome, inherits the property.
• 1816 Margaret Mackall Brome dies. Her husband, James Mackall Brome, inherits the property.
• 1823 James Mackall Brome dies. His widow inherits the property.
• 1840 Dr. John Mackall Brome comes of age and inherits the property.
• 1887 Dr. John Mackall Brome dies. His son, James Thomas Brome, inherits the property.
• 1910 James Thomas Brome dies. His daughters, Susette and Jeanette, inherit the property.
• 1949 Susette Brome Bennett dies. Her share of the property goes to Jeanette Brome Howard.
• 1967 Jeanette Brome Howard dies. The property is inherited by her children, Thomas B. and J. Spence Howard, Jr.
• 1980 The state of Maryland acquires the property for Historic St. Mary's City.

===1969 Howard Family sells house to state.

Spence Howard Jr. -- lived in house until it was sold 1969. If age 80 in 1994, born 1915.

Scot Stiles Howard married to Spence's brother.

1994 the Brome-Howard House Moves to St. Mary's City

David Montgomery. The Un-Sandwiching of History Washington Post, January 12, 1994. Accessed 28 June, 2023.

And so it was that a house from 19th century Maryland, weighing about 100 tons, came to be rolling down Route 5 in historic St. Mary's City yesterday, riding heavily on a flatbed contraption invented by a man named Wild Bill.

The Brome-Howard plantation house, built about 1840, was being moved more than a mile from its original site to a new foundation on a bluff overlooking the St. Mary's River.

The plantation had been constructed over the center of what had been the first capital of Maryland. Beneath the house were the remains of the 1635 home of Leonard Calvert, the first governor of Maryland.

Moving one piece of history from atop another piece of history, and then getting it past the obstacles of the modern world -- such as power lines -- took the ingenuity of four brothers named Matyiko, who run a Sharptown, Md., house-moving outfit, and their consultant, William "Wild Bill" Patram.

"The ground was more or less sacred," Patram said. "So everything had to be done different."

As the three-story house was moved slowly down the highway, roadside trees had to be trimmed and speed limit signs removed. Almost 100 people temporarily lost electricity as the local utility company removed wires at four locations.

Then, when the house turned onto a soybean field for the final leg of its journey, it looked like Dorothy's house coming in for a landing on a Kansas plain.

The project required more than two years to plan and $220,000 in state construction funds. An additional $300,000 was spent to renovate the plantation house before moving it, and $154,000 more is available to establish it in its new location.

St. Mary's City, a national historic landmark, is a state-operated exhibition and archaeological park about 80 miles south of the District. Moving 19th century vestiges from the site is a key part of the park's mission to preserve and interpret the remains of the 17th-century capital for modern visitors, Joseph Anderson, acting director, said yesterday.

Throughout the daylong move, characters from the past and the present kept crossing paths.

Jim Matyiko described the eerie feeling of coming across handprints of long-dead craftsmen on bricks from the Brome-Howard house's four chimneys.

Watching the entire proceeding intently was Spence Howard Jr. and his sister-in-law, Scot Stiles Howard. Both have lived in the old plantation house, which was in the Howard family until it was sold to the state about 25 years ago.

"We have wonderful memories of the times there," Scot Howard said.

Leonard Calvert built his home a year after he led English settlers ashore in 1634. Calvert's home was right at the crossroads of town. The city thrived politically and economically until the late 1600s, when the capital was shifted to Annapolis.

The Brome family built their wooden Greek revival home and several outbuildings in 1840 and operated an 1,800-acre tobacco plantation. They owned 59 slaves during the Civil War.

Yesterday, it was all being uprooted, a particularly delicate task, given what was underneath.

State archaeologists forbade digging on the site, so the Matyikos and Wild Bill had to change their techniques.

When they move houses, they typically dig trenches under the structure, insert steel girders and then hoist the house. This time, to protect the ground, they deployed 19 hydraulic jacks around the house and raised it before sliding the girders underneath.

A grid of these girders formed a long flatbed supporting the house. The flatbed rested on four dollies with eight airplane tires apiece, which Patram steered with a remote hydraulic device he invented.

"Take it easy now, nice and easy," John Matyiko said repeatedly into his walkie-talkie throughout the slow move.

"Steady, steady," Patram shouted just as often.

And on the centuries rolled.

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Architectural Survey

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SM-33 Brome-Howard House st. Mary's City St. Mary's County, Maryland ca. 1840 The domestic complex at the Brome-Howard property includes a large Greek Revival-influenced house and a series of related outbuildings, located within a landscaped setting on the bank of the st. Mary's River. The house comprises a 2~-story, three-bay, side-passage double pile plan main block with a two-part service wing projecting from the southeast gable; the house appears to have achieved this "telescope" configuration in a single building campaign. Two pyramid-roofed frame outbuildings, a dairy and a meathouse, are located a short distance from the southeast gable end of the service wing. These outbuildings are oriented so that their northeast facades describe a continuous line with that of the service wing. Some fifty yards southeast of the house and outbuildings stands a 1~-story frame double slave quarter. All the above-described buildings appear contemporaneous with one another, with a construction date of ca. 1840. A frame carriage house located northeast of the house was built somewhat later in the nineteenth century. The domestic complex is set at the end of a long, tree-lined drive; the southwest elevation of the house faces the St. Mary's River from atop a high bluff. The setting remains essentially unchanged from the period of construction, and retains significant nineteenth-century landscape features. The 19th-century domestic complex on the Brome-Howard property is significant as a well-preserved representative example of the type of domestic buildings and structures associated with a substantial tobacco plantation in the Western Shore region of Maryland during the period preceding the Civil War. The property derives additional significance from its retention of significant 19th-century landscape features, including a consciously symmetrical layout of areas devoted to agricultural and domestic uses; a formal driveway bordered by historic plantings; and evidence of terracing on the river side of the main house. -- SM-33 Brome-Howard House St. Mary's City St. Mary's County, Maryland MARYLAND COMPREHENSIVE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN DATA Geoqrap

The 19th-century domestic complex on the Brome-Howard property is significant as a well-preserved representative example of the type of domestic buildings and structures associated with a substantial tobacco plantation in the Western Shore region of Maryland during the period preceding the Civil War. The complex comprises a range of buildings and structures associated with domestic activities on such a plantation, including a large frame main house with outstanding Greek Revival decorative detailing; functional outbuildings including a meathouse, dairy, and carriage house; and a two-unit slave quarter. The property derives additional significance from its retention of significant 19th-century landscape features, including a consciously symmetrical layout of areas devoted to agricultural and domestic uses; a formal driveway bordered by historic plantings; and evidence of terracing on the river side of the main house. The following history of the Brome-Howard property is extracted from the Facility Program developed by Historic St. Mary's City for the proposed relocation of the house and outbuildings: The Brome-Howard House sits upon a site whose history begins before the time of recorded history. Archaeological excavations near the house have uncovered prehistoric archaeological remains dating from the Archaic (7,500 BC - 1,000 BC) through the Woodland (1,000 BC to 1634) period. Beginning in 1634, the area was intensively occupied by European settlers with the founding of the Maryland colony. The first substantial house built in the colony was constructed aqjacent to the current location of the BromeHoward House by Leonard Calvert, the Second Lord Baltimore and First Lord Proprietor of Maryland. Calvert built the home for the use of his brother Cecil. Due to continuing political intrigue in England, Cecil never came to the Maryland Colony. The house initially built by Leonard was subsequently enlarged to nearly twice 1 its original size. During the period of the English civil War I the Maryland colony was seized by Parliamentary forces under the command

of Richard Ingle (the Calvert family were considered Royalist sympathizers). Under the direction of Nathaniel Pope, the house built by Calvert was fortified as a Parliamentary stronghold. The resulting archaeological remains constitute the only English Civil War fort built in America. In 1647 Leonard Calvert reconquered the colony and died shortly thereafter. The government of the province purchased the house from the Calvert estate for use as Maryland's first State House, known as the Countrys House. The structure served double duty during this period as both a State House and as a tavern. After the construction of the brick State House in 1676, the Countrys House served only as a tavern and residence. The structure appears to have remained standing into the early 18th century after the capital had been removed from st. Mary's City to Annapolis. It eventually fell into disrepair and was torn down. Little if any activity appears to have occurred at the site in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In about 1840, John Mackall Brome built the Brome-Howard House on property he had inherited through his mother's family. John Mackall Brome was trained as a medical doctor, but seems to have focused most of his energy on the development and management of his large tobacco plantation (1800 acres in 1870) for which the Brome House was the central hub. Brome was quite the entrepreneur, with investments in railroad development, sand and gravel mining, and vacation/resort development. Additionally, Dr. Brome operated a steamship wharf on his property. Prior to the Civil War, Brome operated an extensive tobacco plantation utilizing bound African labor. An inventory of his slave holdings made in 1868 shows Brome as owning 59 slaves as of November 1864 .... After Dr. John Mackall Brome died in 1887, the property occupied by the Brome-Howard House was inherited by his son, J. Thomas Brome. Goodly portions of the rest of John M. Brome's property had to be sold to satisfy creditors. After the death of J. Thomas Brome in 1910, the property was inherited by his widow and two daughters. These daughters, Jeanette and Suzette Brome married, respectively, J. Spence Howard and James M. Bennett. Mrs. Bennett died in 1949 leaving her undivided share of her father's estate to her sister, Mrs. J. Spence Howard. At the time of Mrs. Howard's death in 1967, the property was inherited by her sons, J. Spence Howard, Jr., and Thomas Howard. In 1979 the property was sold by the Howards to the State of Maryland for use in Maryland's outdoor museum, Historic St. Mary's City. MARYLAND INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES CONTINUATION SHEET Section ~8- Page ~3- SM-33 Brome-Howard House The structures are currently vacant, but have been used periodically for meetings and to house special events sponsored by the museum. The Brome-Howard House underwent substantial rehabilitation in the mid-1980s, to prepare the building for the then-envisioned use as a public exhibit/meeting facility with staff offices on the upper floors. This program has since been abandoned, and current plans call for the relocation of the 19th-century house and outbuildings in order to facilitate interpretation of the 17th-century history of the property. - - -- ----------------- SM-33, Brome-Howard Farm St. Mary's County Page 1 (Addendum) In 1994 the Brome-Howard

In 1994 the Brome-Howard Farmhouse, dairy, meathouse, carriage house, and slave quarter, were all moved from their locations at the former center of St. Mary's City. The complex is currently located south of St. Mary's City and on the west side of Rose Croft Road. The building, oriented on a southeast/northwest axis, lies at the visual terminus of a 0.1 mile long farm lane. Surrounded by flat, uncultivated but cut fields, the house overlooks the St. Mary's River to the north. The Brome-Howard Farmhouse, constructed in the 1840s is a frame, 2 112 story, three bay, Greek Revival-inspired plantation dwelling with two gable end additions that create a telescoping effect. The building's walls are covered with lap siding and the roof is covered with cedar shingles. A thorough documentation of the building was conducted in 1993 by Peter Kurtz and Gabrielle Lanier prior to the 1994 move of the building. The documentation included measured drawings and extensive description and significance statements. Since the building was documented, however, several changes to the building have been made. Most notably, the house currently rests on an elevated five-to-one common bond brick foundation. The previous foundation was situated too close to the ground causing deterioration to the building's structural fabric. In order to preserve the building from moisture damage and bring the building up to modern building code, the foundation was extended to approximately 2 112 feet above ground level. This has given the building a much more prominent and imposing presence upon the surrounding landscape. The brick fireplaces of the building were also replaced. Measured drawings taken before the move in 1994 provided for a more accurate re-creation of the various fireplace details. A porch was added on the river side elevation near the juncture between the main block and the first gable end ell. The porch features seven stairs with two square newels connected by a railing supported by series of square balusters. This porch permits entry into the first gable end ell as well as the porch of the main block. On the interior, the most significant changes have been made to the kitchen ell. The kitchen was altered just after the move to facilitate catering operations. A preparation island was installed dividing the kitchen into two spaces and a closet that once hid the gable end fireplace was removed. Most of these observations are based upon analysis of the 1993 measured drawings and previously written descriptions. Differentiating changes in the building's materials and form, therefore, is difficult to completely ascertain. While the original architect and/or contractor of the Brome-Howard Farm remains uncertain, the reanalysis of several buildings in and around Leonardtown has suggested that it was the noted local architect Vincent Camalier. Oral tradition suggests that Camalier also built Buena Vista (SM-52), Union Hotel (SM-545), and White Hall (now demolished) (SM-54) in Leonardtown. Buena Vista, Brome-Howard, as well as White Hall feature the most similarities. All of these buildings feature pedimented porticos that exhibit square columns with a classical profile or entasis. The tympanums are all sheathed in flush board siding. The horizontal cornice and raking cornice on the Brome-Howard House, however, were treated with a stepped molding with Greek ovolo profile, while Buena Vista and White Hall featured cornices with a flat fasia SM-33, Brome-Howard Farm St. Mary's County Page 2 (Addendum) profile. The Union Hotel does not project a pediment, but it does feature a recessed porch with a series of similarly detailed square columns. The interior plans and decoration of Buena Vista and the Broome-Howard house are also similar. Both buildings feature side-passage plans with double parlors. The stair newels in both buildings exhibit a Classical turned newel with a mushroom cap. The scroll sawn stair brackets and the panelling on the stair of Buena Vista are absent, however, in the Brome-Howard house. Other similarities between Buena Vista and the Brome-Howard house include the door surrounds that feature "symmetrically-molded, stepped architrave trim with a narrow flat field and a beaded inner edge" as well as "bulls-eye comer blocks." While architectural similarities do not necessarily mean the buildings were erected by the same builder, comparisons between buildings provide a rich context for furthering interpretation and study of St. Mary's County's architectural landscape. Such studies can then more fully illuminate connections between the various plantation owners such as John Mackall Brome and George Combs who subscribed to a distinctive architectural style and landscape. -~--·j;.-;,,;;; MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST INVENTORY

TATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Brome/Howard House is a perfect example of a mid-nineteenth century gentleman's plantation home. Built as the manor house and office for a 3,000 acre tobacco and wheat plantation, it has been at the center of life in St. Mary's City since it was built in the 1840's. It is a simple but elegant survivor of the age of the ante-bellum Southern Maryland Tidewater aristocracy. This majestic home also happens to be situated right on top of the site of the 17th century capital of Maryland. After acquiring the property in 1980, the State of Maryland, which is developing an historic park in and around the area, began an intensive archaeological survey. The 1981 field season uncovered the best preserved 17th century town site in the United States. In addition to the Gov. Leonard Calvert house, the Council Chanber/State House of the 1660 's, and the St. Mary's Fort and Yaocomico Indian village of 1634, archaeologists have located at ~ast a dozen structures and numerous fence lines all within a few hundred yards f the Brome/Howard House. The incredibly rich archaeological remains of Lord Baltimore's capital will occupy researchers for generations to come. The equally impressive remains of aboriginal inhabitants who occupied the bluffs for 10,000 years before the European settlers arrived will also be the subject of intense investigation. Museum planners might be inclined to di

The Brome/Howard Plantation still dominates this landscape as it has for 140 years. The surviving structures (the manor house, dairy, meat house, carriage house, slave quarter, formal entrance and garden} are not spectacular, but together they provide a picture of a thriving antebellum plantation. This plantation is associated with several important southern Maryland families. John Mackall moved to the land from Calvert County in the late 18th century. The site of his house is now partially covered by MD. Route #584. One of his grandaughters, Susan Mackall (1820-1881), married Dr. John M. Brome (1818-1887) in 1840 and the present house and plantation were built between 1840 and 1842. The Brome's son, James Thomas Brome (1847-1910), married Eliza Ernaline Thomas (1857-1924) of Deep Falls, the ancestral home of a family that produced a Maryland governor. Upon the death of Eliza Thomas Brome in 1924, the house and what was left of the plantation were left without a will to two daughters, Susette Brome Bennett (1877-1949) and Jeannette E. Brome Howard (1881-1967). During the lives of the builder and his son, the Plantation encompassed 2813 acres, almost all of the peninsula associated with St. Mary's City. When James Thomas Brome died in 1910, the property was reduced to 90 acres by the sale of most of the land to the Slavonic Society of New York City of U.S.A., Inc. The purpose of this sale was to provide farm sites for Slavonic immigrants, and several of these families still reside in the St. Mary's City area. The manor house was used as a summer residence until 1946 when J. Spence Howard, Jr., moved in to begin farming the property. Upon the death of her husband, Jeannette Brome Howard lived in the house from 1950 until her death in 1967. Her two sons, Thomas Brome Howard and J. Spence Howard, Jr., inherited the remaining 90 acres and the house, and Thomas Howard took the house and 13 1/2 acres and J. Spence Howard the remaining acreage in 1970. Thomas Howard sold the house and 10.4 acres to the State of Maryland in 1980. At the time of the sale, the 1840 house was essentially unaltered and much of the Brome family furniture was still in the attic. This remarkable Mackall/Brome/Howard/Thomas family has been instrumental in not only building, developing, and preserving a slice of Southern Maryland plantation life over 150 years, but also in consciously protecting one of the most important historic sites in the United States. The St. Mary's City Commission is beginning to restore the Brome/Howard house as a 19th century historic house museum and a much needed country inn. The restored house will stand, alongside the site of Maryland's earliest house, as one of the layers of the many centuries of St. Mary's history and as a monument to the contribution of a preservation-minded family.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Maryland Historical Trust. 1840 Brome-Howard House, St. Mary's City. Architectural Survey SM33. Accessed 28 June 2023 jhd
2. ↑ The Historical Marker Database Why Is This Barn Here? Accessed 29 June 2023 jhd
3. ↑ Washington Post Unsandwiching Accessed 28 June 2023