Holly Hall, one of four buildings in Elkton listed on the National Register of Historic Properties, was recently purchased by the Town of Elkton. It was built by James Sewall around 1810, according to the Maryland Historical Trust.
It was erected on land confiscated from Robert Alexander, a Tory sympathizer during the American Revolution. About two-thirds of Alexander’s land was taken by the Maryland Commission on Confiscated Property when he departed with the British.
When it was sold by the Commission at a public auction, Tobias Rudulph bought a vast amount of the acreage. In his will of 1787, Rudulph bequeathed the tract south of the Big Elk Creek to his daughter, Ann Marie, who married James Sewell in 1809.
Sewell, a banker and clerk of the court, also commanded a battalion defending Elkton during the War of 1812. He built Holly Hall around 1810, based on published drawings of early architects such as Asher Benajum and Robert Morris.
After Sewell died in 1842, James M. Wilmer acquired the mansion for $23,750. In 1860, the house and land were sold to James E. Barrow, a prosperous Kent County lawyer, for $18,000 (Maryland Historical Trust). Kevin Hemstock, the former editor of the Kent County News, wrote that his legal specialty was estates. “Ads in the Chestertown Telegraph show he also acted as an agent in slave sales. He personally owned a number of slaves, who worked the farms he held in Kent and Cecil counties.”
Around 1889, William Singerly, the publisher of the Philadelphia Record, purchased it for $7,000. It next came to George Ash, who operated a dairy farm there.
In 1923, it was sold to the Order of the Society of the Divine Savior. The Catholic order acquired it to support the Foreign Missions in China. The Salvatorian Mission House operated a dairy farm on the property. In 1962, the church sold the property, and it was subsequently subdivided.
Sources:
Elkton Mansion Once Owned by Kent Lawyer, by Kevin Hemstock, Kent County News.
Maryland Historical Trust National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (see comments for links)