HA-398

Benjamin Silver House (Moxley House)

Architectural Survey File

This is the architectural survey file for this MIHP record. The survey file is organized reverse-

chronological (that is, with the latest material on top). It contains all MIHP inventory forms, National

Register nomination forms, determinations of eligibility (DOE) forms, and accompanying documentation

such as photographs and maps.

Users should be aware that additional undigitized material about this property may be found in on-site

architectural reports, copies of HABS/HAER or other documentation, drawings, and the “vertical files” at

the MHT Library in Crownsville. The vertical files may include newspaper clippings, field notes, draft

versions of forms and architectural reports, photographs, maps, and drawings. Researchers who need a

thorough understanding of this property should plan to visit the MHT Library as part of their research

project; look at the MHT web site (mht.maryland.gov) for details about how to make an appointment.

All material is property of the Maryland Historical Trust.

Last Updated: 02-18-2004

HA-398

Benjamin Silver House 3646 Harmony Church Road DRrlin~ton vicinity Private

1856

The Benjamin Silver House is the main building in the Silver farm complex, ~n important example of agricultural life and economy in Harford Countydlring the second hRlf o~ the 19th century. This complex is virtually complete as it existed in the late 19th century. Benjamin Silver, Jr. was one of the original five trustees of the Deer Creek Harmony ?resbyterian Church and remained a prominent citizen of the Darlington area throughout his life.

NOT TO BE RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT OWNER'S CONSENT

MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST ·:A-398 ~Ll-~I ·" 13:J3;•'.:.c;~c4

INVENTORY FORM FOR STATE HISTORIC SITES SURVEY

6NAME HISTORIC

Benjamin Silver ~ouse AND/OR COMMON

Moxley House

flLOCATION STREET & NUMBER

3646 Hannony Church Road CITY. rowN

Darlington X VICINITY OF

STATE

Mar land

DcLAss1F1cA TION

CATEGORY

_DISTRICT

-XBUILDING(S)

_STRUCTURE

___ SITE

_OBJECT

OWNERSHIP

_PUBLIC

X.PRIVATE

_BOTH

PUBLIC ACQUISITION

_IN PROCESS

_BEING CONSIDERED

~ Not applicable

&DOWNER OF PROPERTY "'AME

Howard N. Mo::-:l~~t_ ah_ __ STREET & NUMBER

----~46 Harmony Church "Road Ci TY, TO\.'\'~

STATUS

~OCCUPIED _UNOCCUPIED

_WORK IN PROGRESS

ACCESSIBLE _YES· RESTRICTED

_YES UNRESTRICTED

.>;_NO

p.c;rli ngton -X. VICINITY OF

llLOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE. REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC Harford County Courthouse 57REET & NUMBER

40 So. Main St. CITY. TOWN

Bel Air

£I REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

1st COUNTY

Harford

PRESENT USE

_AGRICULTURE

_COMMERCIAL

_MUSEUM

_PARK

_EDUCATIONAL LPRIVATE RESIDENCE

_ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS

_GOVERNMENT _SCIENTIFIC

_INDUSTR:A~

_MIU<l\RY

Telephone rr.

_ TRANSPORTATiOfl<

_OTHER

S"'."ATE' Zlp code Im 21034

Liber if: 805 Folio #: 398

STATE

MD

Maryland Historical ~rust Historic Sites Inventory DATE

c. 1970 _FEDERAL X...sTATE _COUNTY __ LOCAL

DEPOSITORY FOR

SURVEY RECORDS Maryland Historical Trust • . CITY. TOWN STATE

MD

II DESCRIPTION

__&xcELLENT

_GOOD

_FAIR

CONDITION

_DETER !ORATED

_ RUINS

_UNEXPOSED

CHECK ONE

_UNALTERED

ULTERED

CHECK ONE

~ORIGrNAL SITE

_MOVED DATE ___ _

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The Benjamin Silver Rouse is a 2* story stone house dating from 1856 with late 19th and ~0th century additions, which is loc8ted on the north side of Harmony Church Road about bne-half mile west of Darlington Road (MD 161) in Harfor~ County, Maryland. The house is on a slight rise facing southwest.

~he main section has five bays on its southwest or principal elevation. ".'he center entry has a one story shed porch ,,,'ith four Tuscan columns. The gable ends of the house are two bays wide with brick arched semi~circular windows near the F,able peak. On the southeast gable above the fan window is a:r:. inset stone with carved initials and date: "B S 185611 • Interior end brick chimneys break the slate roof. Two slate-sided pedimented dormers face southwest.

At the northeast corner, a stone ell adjoins the main section. A one story shed addition, apparently frame covered in aluminum siding, has been built in the angle between the ell and main section. The south gable end has a small shed entry porch with square piers.

The fenestration is six over six-light sliding sash. I'he main doorway has recessed paneled jambs and a six-light rectangular transom.

· The major outbuildings of the Silver farm are described in indiv±dual inventory forms HA-399 - 4o6. An unnumbered snall log structure, possibly a s:::iringhouse, is located west of the house at the fence separating the ho~tse lawn from the adjacent field. The V-notched structure has a low gable roof and gable Ends covered with tongue~ruid-groove vertical siding. Modern roofing material covers the roof. A snall door is located in the south gable end and snall square windows open on both sides of the building.

A second unnumbered outbuilding is the Benjamin si:ver ~en9.llt House at 3700 Harmony Church ~oad, just southeast of the barn. This is a 1Y2-story house with five bays and a center entrance on its main or south elevation and an open porch on the east end of the house under the extended slate gable roof. The porch has two recessed paneled posts. A shed addition extends from the north elevation. A brick exterior chimney rises on the east gable end of the house. The six-over-six light windows h'°:ve plain surrounds. The exterior is covered in alurninQ~ siding, but was probably originally clapboard. The foundation is stone. The tenant house anpears on the 1878 Martenet map of Harford County and probably was built about 1856 along with the main )ilver house.

CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

II SIGNIFICANCE

PERIOD AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW

'REHISTORIC _ARCHEuLUGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _RELIGION

400-1499 -ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC _CONSERVATION _LAW _SCIENCE

__ 1500-1599 -AGRICULTURE _ECONOMICS _UT!:AATURE __ SCULPTURE

_1600-1699 JCARCHITECTURE _EDUCATION _MILITARY _so:1AL1 HUMANITARIA!';

- 1 700-1 799 _ART _ENGINEERING _MUSIC _T'"iEATER

K_ 1800- 1 899 _COMMERCE _EXPLORATIO~iiSETTLEMENT _PHI LOSO PHY _TRANSPORTATION

_1900- _COMMur.:c ... T!ONS _INDUSTRY __ POLITICS1GOVERNMENT X--OTHER ISPEC>FY'

Local history

SPECIFIC DATES BUILDER/ARCHITECT

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

"""he Benjamin Silver House is the main building in the Silver farm complex, an important exa.~ple of agricultural life and economy in Harford County during the second half of the 19th century. This complex is virtually com­plete as it existed in the late 19th century.

HISTORY AND SUPPORT

Benjamin 3ilver (1810-1894) was one of the nine children of Benjamin Silver, Sr., a prominent 18th century citizen of the Darlington area. Benjamin Jr. was well-known in his own right, being one of the original five trustees of the Deer Creek Harmony Presbyterian Church, appointed in 1837.

The Benjamin Silver House was one of several Silver houses in the area. Benj::unin Jr. and three of his brothers married four sisters and all settled within a few miles of each other. Benjamin Jr. was ap:;Jarently a "gentleman farmer'' as were most of the Silvers and their neighbors. He was a graduate of Yale and was a Southern syT!lpathizer in the Civil '.Jar.

CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Geneaolorry o::" !illiam H. Silver of John and F,dith Stokes 3ilver, vertical

file at Harford County Library, Bel Air .Martenet's Map of Harford County, 1878

CONTINUE ON SE~ARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

lliJGEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY--------

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE COUNTY

STATE COUNTY

mFORM PREPARED BY NAl·.'E; TITLE

Janet L. D~vis, Historic Sites Surveyor ·JRGAN'ZATiON

Harford County Dent. of Planning and Zoning J-ATE

September 1982

45 So. Main St. (301) 838-6000, ext. 207 Ci TY OR TOWN

Bel 1~ir

-------------- ST 4 TE

MD 21014

The ~~ary land Historic Sites Inventory was officially created by an Act of the Maryland Legislature, to be found in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Article 41, Section 181 KA, 19 7 4 Suppler~ent.

The Survey and Inventory are being prepared for information and record purposes only and do not constitute any infringe­ment of individual property rights.

RETURN TO: Maryland Historical Trust The Shaw House, 21 State Circle Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (301) 267-1438

P!I• 1108

HA-398

Benjamin Silver House

ADDITION:

Northwest of the house is a small terraced "allee" of alternating fruit trees and boxwood leading north to a grove of large boxwoods enclosing an overgrown flagstoned space. The date of this landscaping is unknown. The large boxwoods may be 19th century plantings, but the fruit trees appear to be early 20th century and the smaller boxwoods to be very recent.

HA-399

Benjamin Silver Barn

ADDITION: The slate roof has a section of smaller slabs at the center, indi­cating a possible cupola which no longer exists. The interior structure is mortise and tenon with hand-hewn timbers.

HA-401

Benjamin Silver Servants Quarters

ADDITION: The first floor interior has exposed joists and rafters with some retaining strips of bark. There is no evidence that this was ever a finished interior suitable for habitation. It has many nails and hooks on both the rafters and joists, most of which are now used to hold tools, horseshoes, etc. Part of the room is occupied by a modern, concrete block-enclosed furnace linked to a brick chimney in the east wall. An open stair on the south wall leads to the second floor, which was used by the present owner as a children's playroom. If this was originally the slave quarters and later servants' quarters, it has been greatly altered during the 20th century.

Janet Davis August 1983

Form 10-300 (Dec. 1968)

N. R. FIELD SH~ ~ST-AT-E:_d._A_3=..._.L..__2_, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 4'iO t'°'S:

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE \4J07"

MU. f11SIORICAL lRUSl BOX 1704

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

ANNAPOLIS, MD. 21404 (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) ENTRY NUMBER DATE

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I. NAME COMMON:

2.

STATE

3. CLASSIFICATION

District

Site

CATEGORY (Check One)

Object Both

PRESENT USE (Check One or /Hore as Appropriate)

Aw·...1..L.:~Q._---

CODE

OWNFRSHIP

Public Acquisition:

In Process D Being Considered

Unoccupied

Preservation work

in progress

ACCESSIBLE ! TO THE PUBLIC

~ Yes:

D <Restricted::) D Unrestricted :JI

~No:

Agriculturol '" Government :J Park ~

Ll ~vate Residenc~~ n Reliig10us ;:::]

Transportation

Other (Speci ly)

~ Comments

Commercial D Industrial

Educational L:1 Military

Entertainment I· Museum Scientific

4. OWNER OF PROPERTY OWNERS NAME:

STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN: STATE:~ CODE

S. LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION ----------------------------4 COURTHOUSE. REGISTRY OFCEEtti< OF THE CIRCUIT COURT STREET AND NUMBER:

HARFORD COUNTY COURTHOUSE 40 S. MAIN ST. STATE CODE I

BEL AIR MARYLAND

APPROXIMATE ACREAGE 01=' NOMINATED PROPERTY:

6. Rf:PRESENJATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE OF SURVEY:

DATE OF SU~VEY: F edera I State ~ County D Local IDEPOS!TORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS:

I STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN: ST A TE: CODE

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INTEGRITY (Check One) I

Altered 0 C::::--Unaltered r:::i) DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (If known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

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PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate)

Pre-Columbian C 16th Century [J 18th r- -· -- D ~th Century "[)) 15th Century D 17th Century =i

SPECIFIC DATEIS) (If Applicable and Known)

AREAS OF S!GNI FICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

Aboriginal

Prehistoric D Historic D

Agriculture =i Art -L

Commerce L1 Communications ::::::J Conservation []

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

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Education

Engineering

Industry

Invention

Landscape

Architecture

Literature

Military

Music

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Political

Religion/Phi-

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(Include Personages, Dates, Events, Etc.)

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9. MAJOR BfBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES 0

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES

DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY

R 0 F LESS THA.N C?N!='.'. ACRE

CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds

NW 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . NE 0 . 0 . SE 0 . 0 . SW 9 . 0 .

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE: CODE COUNTY CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY, CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE

1l. FORM PREPARED BY NAME AND TITLE:

JEAN s. r:: ·1.; i i"4 ;j ORGANIZATION

MARYLAND !DATE

HISTOR:c.~L TRU.3 '. STREET AND NUMBER:

50 STATE C1RCLE CITY OR TOWN:

ANNAPOLIS STATE CODE

MARYLAND 12. STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFfCATION NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na-

tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law I herebv certify that this property is included in the

89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion National Register.

in the National Register and certify that it has been

evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set

forth by the National Park Service. The recommended Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation

level of significance of this nomination is:

National ~

State c Local D ~

Date

Name ATTEST:

Title

Keeper of The National Register

Date Date

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805/398

576/172

357/294

292/258

261/354

213/558

211 /59

100/288

37/271

BENJAMIN SILVER HOUSE

HA-398-406

CHAIN OF TITLE (PARTIAL)

24 February 1969

1 August 1961

25 May 1951

8 December 1945

14 August 1940

1 March 1930

1 October 1928

27 September 1900

24 June 1851

Grantor: Laura M. Wilson, Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr., and First National Bank of Maryland, executors of the estate of Laurence B. Meacham

Grantee: Howard N. & Dolores W. Moxley Acreage: 171.01 Amount : $180,000

Grantor: Ella Marie Kelley, widow Grantee: Laurence B. Meacham Acreage: 169. 07

Grantor: J. Rush and Mary T. Baldwin Grantee: Augustine B. and Ella Marie Kelley Acreage: 167, parts of "Green Spring Forest",

"Green Spring Forest Resurveyed", "Mary's Lot", "Mary's Lot Resurveyed", "Peter's Resting Place".

Grantor: Michael L. and Anne W. Eggar Grantee: J. Rush and Mary T. Baldwin Acreage: 167

Grantor: John F. & Elizabeth H. Meigs Grantee: Michael L. and Anne W. Eggar

Grantor: Granville S. Mink, widower, and Paul Mink, unmarried

Grantee: John F. and Elizabeth H. Meigs Acreage: 167

Grantor: John Z. Bayless, trustee for Emily Silver Bayless, infant heir of Mary W. Silver

Grantee: Granville S. Mink, Paul Mink, Earl T. Adams

Grantor: Isabella P. and Griffin T. Milton, et al., heirs of Benjamin Silver

Grantee: Mary Warnock Silver Amount : $6,629.53

Grantor: Charity Silver et al. Grantee: Benjamin Silver Acreage: 129 Amount : $5,532.73

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Benjamin Silver House Glenville vicinity Harford County Photo: Janet Davis September 1982 South elevation 1/3

HA-3'.)8

Benjamin Silver House HA-398 Glenville vicinity Harford County Photo: Janet Davis September 1982 Log structure, east elevation 2/3

Benjamin Silver House HA-398 Glenville vicinity Harford County Photo: Janet Davis September 1982 Tenant house, south elevation 3/3