
Eutaw Manor: An Estate for a ‘Gentleman Farmer’A Revolutionary War patriot, a War of 1812 hero, and a renowned chef all lived at Eutaw Manor.
In 1779, a Revolutionary War patriot and wealthy merchant, William Smith, purchased the grist mill (where grains were ground into flour), large manor house, and surrounding farm at Herring Run. The manor house once stood in this area of the park; it no longer exists today. Smith renamed the estate, formerly known as Broads Promise, Eutaw in honor of Smith’s son-in-law General Otho Holland Williams’ strategic success against the British at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina. The country retreat enhanced Smith’s reputation as a “gentleman farmer.”
At the time of the American Revolution, Smith served on the Committee of Correspondence and was elected to the Second Continental Congress. In 1789, he won a seat in the first United States Congress. Smith transferred ownership of Eutaw to his daughter Janet, who married another Revolutionary officer and physician, Josias Hall.
Living among the Halls at Eutaw Manor were an enslaved couple, Henrietta and Horatio Gittings, and their children who served as their maids, cooks, butlers, and drivers. One of their children was Emeline Jones, who became one of the most renowned chefs in the United States. Hall’s will provided for freeing Emeline Gittings (later Jones) and 14 more people he enslaved after a certain period of time. The process was known as “term slavery,” which was often granted in Maryland in the early 1800s.
Their son, Benedict William Hall, a War of 1812 hero, was next to inherit Eutaw and became one of the wealthiest residents of Baltimore. He expanded the Eutaw estate to include Herring Run tavern, the Columbia Cotton Mill, and tenant housing for the workers of the mill. All told, three generations of Smith’s descendants lived at Eutaw Manor House until it burned to the ground from a fire that started the evening of October 25,1865.
William Carvel Hall was the last of William Smith’s descendants to own most of the land of Eutaw. The estate was then divided and subdivided by family members. The City of Baltimore eventually bought the land from family members in 1908 to become Herring Run Park.
Sources:
Rubin, Anne Sarah, “Slave Streets/ Free Streets: Mapping Early Baltimore Working Class,” Baltimore City History Society talk (April 20,2023).
The Herring Run Archaeology Project, Emeline Jones (August 25, 2017)
In 1779, a Revolutionary War patriot and wealthy merchant, William Smith, purchased the grist mill (where grains were ground into flour), large manor house, and surrounding farm at Herring Run. The manor house once stood in this area of the park; it no longer exists today. Smith renamed the estate, formerly known as Broads Promise, Eutaw in honor of Smith’s son-in-law General Otho Holland Williams’ strategic success against the British at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina. The country retreat enhanced Smith’s reputation as a “gentleman farmer.”
At the time of the American Revolution, Smith served on the Committee of Correspondence and was elected to the Second Continental Congress. In 1789, he won a seat in the first United States Congress. Smith transferred ownership of Eutaw to his daughter Janet, who married another Revolutionary officer and physician, Josias Hall.
Living among the Halls at Eutaw Manor were an enslaved couple, Henrietta and Horatio Gittings, and their children who served as their maids, cooks, butlers, and drivers. One of their children was Emeline Jones, who became one of the most renowned chefs in the United States. Hall’s will provided for freeing Emeline Gittings (later Jones) and 14 more people he enslaved after a certain period of time. The process was known as “term slavery,” which was often granted in Maryland in the early 1800s.
Their son, Benedict William Hall, a War of 1812 hero, was next to inherit Eutaw and became one of the wealthiest residents of Baltimore. He expanded the Eutaw estate to include Herring Run tavern, the Columbia Cotton Mill, and tenant housing for the workers of the mill. All told, three generations of Smith’s descendants lived at Eutaw Manor House until it burned to the ground from a fire that started the evening of October 25,1865.
William Carvel Hall was the last of William Smith’s descendants to own most of the land of Eutaw. The estate was then divided and subdivided by family members. The City of Baltimore eventually bought the land from family members in 1908 to become Herring Run Park.
Sources:
Rubin, Anne Sarah, “Slave Streets/ Free Streets: Mapping Early Baltimore Working Class,” Baltimore City History Society talk (April 20,2023).
The Herring Run Archaeology Project, Emeline Jones (August 25, 2017)
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