Margaret Tilghman, the daughter of Matthew Tilghman and Anne Lloyd, was born in Talbot County MD in 1742. At the age of 21, Margaret married Charles Carroll the Barrister (a distant cousin of Charles Carroll, the signer of the Declaration of Independence.) She was also the sister-in-law of Tench Tilghman, George Washington's wartime aide.
Margaret and Charles Carroll took up residence at Mount Clare in Baltimore, a Georgian style mansion that Charles began building in 1756 on property inherited from his father. He named it Mount Clare in honor of his grandmother, Mary Clare Dunn. The house was built with soft pink brick, laid in all-header bond, most of which would have been made on the plantation. A series of grass ramps led from the bowling green down shaded terraces or falls. A sweeping view spread across the lower fields to the waters of the Patapsco River, about a mile away.
While her husband was busy with affairs of state, serving in the legislature and on the Committee of Correspondence and the Council of Safety, Margaret Carroll, a skilled and avid gardener, delighted in designing the grounds of Mount Clare, which is shown in the background of the picture below. Her most famous addition was the orangery, where orange, lemon, and peach trees bloomed. She also had a "pinery" where she grew pineapples and broccoli.
Because of her expertise, George Washington consulted with Margaret for advice on what plants to grow at Mount Vernon and how to build and heat a greenhouse. Mount Vernon's greenhouse (which burned in 1835) resembled the orangery at Mount Clare. Margaret also supplied Washington with saplings from her own greenhouse and advised him on how best to grow trees. See Mount Vernon gardens on the right. 
Margaret survived her husband by more than 30 years and never remarried. She devoted herself to remodeling Mount Clare. She died in 1817 and is buried with her husband at St. Anne's Churchyard in Annapolis MD. The Carrolls had no surviving children and by the mid-nineteenth century, industrialization was encroaching on the property. In 1890, the Carroll heirs sold the house and 20 acres to the city of Baltimore as a public park. In 1903, the Olmstead brothers were hired to make improvements to the park and many of the features they designed are still visible in Carroll Park.
In 1917, the Colonial Dames assumed custodianship of the house and manage it to the present day as a museum. In 1970, Mount Clare was designated a National Historic Landmark. The house still contains much of Margaret Tilghman Carroll's furniture and designs.
See Mount Clare's website for more information. http://www.mountclare.org/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment