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Samuel Ringgold (congressman)

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Not to be confused with Samuel Ringgold Ward, abolitionist, newspaper editor and labor leader.
Samuel Ringgold
BornJanuary 15, 1770
Chestertown, Maryland
DiedOctober 18, 1829
Frederick, Maryland
Occupation(s)Politician, soldier
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Children11, including Samuel Ringgold (United States Army officer) and Cadwalader Ringgold
Parent(s)Thomas Ringgold V and Mary Galloway Ringgold
RelativesThomas Ringgold (grandfather)
Samuel Galloway III (grandfather)
Tench Ringgold (brother)

Samuel Ringgold (January 15, 1770 – October 18, 1829), a Democratic-Republican, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1810 to 1821 with the exception of one two-year absence, was a brigadier general in the Maryland militia during the War of 1812 and father of two sons with distinguished military careers, Samuel and Cadwalader.

Early life and career

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Samuel Ringgold was born in Chestertown, Maryland, the second son of Thomas Ringgold V, a merchant, revolutionary and slave trader and Mary Galloway Ringgold.[1] Ringgold's father died young.[2] After his father's death, Ringgold's mother relocated her children, Thomas Ringgold VI,[3] Samuel, Benjamin, Tench and Anna Maria to Washington County, Maryland, where her family owned considerable landholdings that would later become the Fountain Rock plantation.[4][5]

Plantation and political life

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In contrast to his forebears, who were known as merchants and long time denizens of Maryland's Eastern Shore, Samuel Ringgold grew up in a landed, agrarian setting in Maryland's interior, outside of Hagerstown, Maryland. At Fountain Rock, the family grew corn and wheat, eventually becoming one of the largest slave holding plantations in all of Maryland.[6][7]

As a young man, Samuel would serve on the vestry of the local Saint John's Church.[citation needed] By the time he was 25 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates (1795) and later served in the Maryland State Senate (1801–1806).[attribution needed] Later, he became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the fourth district of Maryland from October 15, 1810, to March 3, 1815; he previously ran for this seat while a state delegate in 1796.[8] Ringgold's military career included serving during the War of 1812, and serving as a brigadier general in the Maryland militia. He was again elected to the House of Representatives and served from March 4, 1817 to March 3, 1821.[1]

After leaving Congress, Ringgold returned to his estate, Fountain Rock, which hosted the Chapel in the Woods and now is the site of Saint James School. Founded in 1842, today Saint James is one of the oldest Episcopal boarding schools in the United States.

Personal and family life

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Ringgold married his first wife Maria on May 3, 1792 in Philadelphia.[1] Maria, was the daughter of Gen. John Cadwalader, who served in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. She died in 1811. Two years later, Samuel Ringgold married Marie Antoinette Hay, a granddaughter of James Monroe at the White House.[9] She would become the mother to five of Ringgold's 11 children. Marie Antoinette Hay was the daughter of George Hay, U.S Attorney for the District of Virginia, who represented the Government in prosecuting Aaron Burr for treason. George Hay's second wife was Eliza Kortright Monroe, a daughter of President Monroe, and was step-mother to Marie Antoinette Hay. After Samuel Ringgold's death Marie married a Robert Mackey Tidball.[citation needed]

Samuel Ringgold died in Frederick, Maryland, and is buried in Fountain Rock Cemetery, near Hagerstown, Maryland.

Children and legacy

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Ringgold had three sons who served in the military and a daughter who married an army general. The most distinguished of his sons, Samuel (1796–1846) was an officer in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War. Also distinguished was Cadwalader Ringgold (1802–1867), a naval officer who served in the United States Exploring Expedition in command of The Porpoise and later headed another expedition to the Pacific Northwest. He saw service in the Civil War before retiring as a rear admiral. [citation needed]

The stepson, George Hay Ringgold (1814–1864) was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1833, later left the Army to become a farmer but rejoined in 1846. He was in charge of the paymasters of the Department of the Pacific from 1861 till his death in San Francisco, California. George Hay Ringgold was buried at Calvary Cemetery, now part of Cypress Lawn in San Mateo County, California. He was an accomplished scholar, draughtsman, and painter.[10][citation needed]

A daughter, the "beautiful and accomplished" Marie Antoinette Ringgold (daughter of the second wife and named after her), married the prominent Gen. Henry Morris Naglee in San Francisco on May 26, 1865, after her brother's death.[11]

Family tree

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Samuel Ringgold , MSA SC 3520-1914". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  2. ^ "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0426, Page 0695 - A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 by Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  3. ^ "Founders Online: Thomas Ringgold to Thomas Jefferson, 22 May 1811". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  4. ^ "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0426, Page 0695 - A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 by Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  5. ^ "The Enslaved Household of Tench Ringgold". WHHA (en-US). Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  6. ^ Amt, Emile. Slavery at Fountain Rock and the College of St. James, Maryland: A Report. 2021.
  7. ^ Amt, Emilie (2021-02-01). "Slavery at Fountain Rock and St. James". Emilie Amt. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  8. ^ "Our Campaigns - MD District 4 Race - Oct 03, 1796". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  9. ^ "Samuel Ringgold , MSA SC 3520-1914". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
  10. ^ Houston, Alan Fraser, "Cadwalader Ringgold, U. S. Navy" an article in California History magazine, Volume 79, Issue 4, Winter 2000, page 208.
  11. ^ Houston, Alan Fraser, "Cadwalader Ringgold, U. S. Navy" an article in California History magazine, Volume 79, Issue 4, Winter 2000, page 208; for the quote about her, Fraser cites, Alta California (newspaper), April 2, 1866, page 2
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Representative of the Fourth Congressional District of Maryland
1810–1815 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Representative of the Fourth Congressional District of Maryland
1817–1821 		Succeeded by
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