A Chronology

1664

The basis for the history of “Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness” really starts in 1664, when Henry Darnall, I (aka Colonel Henry Darnall) immigrates to the colony of Maryland. As a cousin of the third Lord Baltimore by marriage, he “was granted several hundred acres of land in what was then Calvert County, now Prince George’s County. During Darnall’s first decade in the colony, he became very wealthy and acquired additional land and slaves. He married Eleanor Hatton Brooke Darnall (1642-1725), after the death of her first husband in 1676, and the couple had six children, including Henry Darnall II (1682-1759). Due to his wealth and status, he was able to attain numerous political appointments in the Maryland government, including: Chancellor of Maryland (1683-1689); His Lordship’s Agent and Receiver General (1684-1711); Rent Roll Keeper 1689-1699). Darnall also served briefly as Deputy Governor and as a colonel in the militia. During the Maryland Protestant Revolution of 1689, Darnall was stripped of some of his titles and accused of treason against the monarchy, largely due to his Roman Catholic religious beliefs.” The Maryland Protestant Revolution of 1689 (also known as Coode’s Rebellion) followed closely on the heels of the 1699 Glorious Revolution in England. It began a movement by the Protestant majority in Maryland to throw the minority Catholic ruling class out of power and make it illegal for Catholics to worship in public or to hold public office.

1703

Colonel Henry Darnall receives the patent for a 7,000-acre land grant from his relative by marriage Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore. The 7,000-acre tract of land is named "His Lordship’s Kindness" in recognition of Lord Baltimore’s generosity. Darnall, who lived at the nearby "Woodyard” was a very wealthy gentleman. At the time of his death, his total land holdings in Prince George’s County covered approximately 10% (27,000 acres) of the present area of the county.

1711

Col. Henry Darnall dies and wills most of his real estate to his son, Henry Darnall, II. By the 1720’s the latter was experiencing serious financial difficulties, and in the period from 1727 to 1730 he liquidated much of his property (eventually 6,700 acres of His Lordship’s Kindness, which Darnall disposed of, returned to the possession of the Calverts).

1729

Henry Darnall, II deeds a number of tracts, totaling around 1,500 acres, to his son, Henry Darnall III. Included in the transaction are 300 acres of His Lordship’s Kindness containing the existing dwelling house of Henry, III - the first mansion house on the current property.

1735

On August 2nd, a deed of trust is executed between Henry Darnall, III and George Talbot, the 14th Earl of Shrewsbury, and John Talbot covering His Lordship’s Kindness and its house. The deed is made in consequence of Darnall’s prior marriage to Anne Talbot, the niece and ward of the Earl to guarantee her dower right in the estate should her husband predecease her, and to assure its descendancy, after her death, to the couple’s eldest surviving son. The exact date of the marriage is still unknown. Many members of the Talbot family were Catholic; in fact, several of the Earls of Shrewsbury were Catholic priests, including the 13th Earl of Shrewsbury, Gilbert Talbot (1672-1743).

1735

It is worth noting that Archbishop John Carroll, who became the first bishop and archbishop in the United States was born in this year in nearby Upper Marlboro, Maryland. His mother Eleanor Darnall Carroll was the sister of Henry Darnall, III, and Eleanor was also the mother of John’s older brother Daniel Carroll, a signer of both the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.

1740

Henry Darnall III’s plantation and mansion are being referred to as "Poplar Hill" by this tim

e.
1744

Henry Darnall, III is appointed Attorney-General of Maryland after publicly renouncing his Catholicism. It would soon become apparent that while publicly swearing allegiance to the King and Church of England, Darnall continued to privately practice Catholicism

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1744 to 1756

During much of Henry Darnall, III’s tenure as attorney general of the Maryland colony the members of the Lower House of the Assembly were in an uproar over what they maintained to be his "closet" Catholicism. His accusers cited Darnall’s sending of his children to Catholic schools in Europe and rumors of his allowing Catholic Mass to be said in his house as evidence for their charges. Eventually Lord Baltimore and the Governor Horatio Sharpe were intensely pressured by the colonial Maryland Assembly to get rid of the "closet" Catholic Henry Darnall, III that the Governor asked him to resign as attorney general. However, Darnall resisted until he was able to secure for himself the less visible but lucrative customs post of Naval Officer of the Patuxent. He was sworn in as Naval Officer of the Patuxent in 1755 and then resigned as Attorney General of Maryland in 1756.

1761

Henry Darnall, III is accused of embezzling nearly 1,000 pounds in his position as Naval Officer. He, along with his principal heir, Henry Darnall, IV mortgage Poplar Hill to Charles Carroll of Annapolis (one of the sureties for the performance bond given when he assumed office) before fleeing the colony for Europe to avoid being placed on trial. Henry Darnall, IV is reported to have been executed in Canada for also having committed some crime. Henry IV’s wife, Rachel Brooke Darnall, and their daughter, Mary (known as Molly Darnall), went to live in the home of Charles Carroll of Annapolis. Rachel was Mrs. Carroll’s faithful attendant in her last illness and Molly Darnall later became the wife of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mary (Molly) Darnall became the wife of Charles Carroll of Carrollton in 1768. Robert Darnall, another son of Henry III, became a resident of Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore. There he married a very well-to-do widow, Sarah Ryder Nevett Fishwick, who had inherited wealth from two previous husbands, a brother, and her father.

1773

Robert Darnall, a friend, relative and former classmate of Charles Carroll of Carrollton at St. Omer’s Catholic College in continental Europe, purchases Poplar Hill from the latter’s father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis, for 1,500 pounds. At the time, the original mansion house (built for his father Henry Darnall, III in the 1720’s) is described as being in dilapidated condition.

1784 to 1786

In 1784 Robert Darnall pays David Guisheard of Baltimore for plaster to work in Darnall’s house. For years it had been thought that the original mansion of Robert’s father, Henry Darnall, III, survived as the present house, and Guisheard’s plaster work was believed to represent repairs or modifications to the original "Poplar Hill." However, in 1991 dendrochronological testing was done, and it proved incontrovertibly that the present mansion was built by Robert Darnall and completed in 1786 (to replace the earlier residence built for his father, Henry Darnall, III). Two noteworthy architects were involved in designing and/or overseeing the construction of the second Poplar Hill Mansion. They were James Hogan and Leonard Harbaugh. Hogan would later compete unsuccessfully for the design of the White House; while Harbaugh later competed unsuccessfully for the design of the U.S. Capitol.

1803

Robert Darnall dies without heirs and wills Poplar Hill to his nephew, Robert Sewall, a prominent resident and businessman of the City of Washington. Sewall also maintained a residence on Capitol Hill, which, like Poplar Hill, he and his descendants lived in and owned until the 1920’s. His Capitol Hill home still stands today and is known as the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum. It has been the headquarters of the National Woman's Party since 1929 and also serves as a museum of the U.S. women’s suffrage and equal-rights movements.

Robert Sewall had married Mary (better known as “Polly”) Brent in 1789. Polly’s genealogical connections include her uncles, John Carroll, the first bishop and archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and his brother Daniel Carroll, a signer of the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a first cousin, once removed. Further back in history, we find Polly’s 4th great aunt, "Mistress" Margaret Brent (1601-1671), regarded as the "first American feminist.”

1821

Robert Sewall dies leaving his estate to his son, Robert Darnall Sewall, at one time a member of the Prince George’s County Levy Court, the governing body of the county.

1853

Robert Darnall Sewall dies without heirs leaving his estate to two minor nieces, Susan and Ellen Daingerfield of Alexandria, Virginia. The two sisters and their father and guardian Henry Daingerfield move from Alexandria to live at Poplar Hill. Henry Daingerfield was a very wealthy merchant and planter as well as a close friend of Robert E. Lee.

1865

On October 17th, Susan Daingerfield marries Virginian John Strode Barbour, an executive of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and later a U.S. Senator. They lived most of the time in Washington (their home still stands on Maryland Avenue, known today as the Sewall-Belmont House), and Poplar Hill was their country home. Susan’s sister, Ellen, never married and retained her ownership rights in Poplar Hill.

1892

Senator Barbour dies and lies in state in the U.S. Capitol, attended by the Vice President and his fellow members of Congress. A newspaper account at the time reported that a Catholic funeral Mass was held for Barbour in the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol, the first time a Catholic Mass had ever been celebrated in the Capitol according to the reporter. After a funeral procession to Poplar Hill, his casket was carried into the large central hall on the first floor of Poplar Hill where it rested briefly amid the portraits of earlier owners hanging on the walls. Barbour joined his wife, Susan, who had died in 1886, in the nearby family cemetery. The couple had no surviving children, and Ellen Daingerfield became the sole owner of Poplar Hill.

1912

Ellen Daingerfield dies, and Poplar Hill, containing more than 1,000 acres, is inherited by her three nephews. Ellen was also buried in the family cemetery, and the iron fence, now surrounding it, was placed there in compliance with a provision in her will. Her will also conveyed ownership of the cemetery to the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. It is currently owned by th e Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC and is cared for by the adjoining Resurrection Cemetery.

1929

Two hundred two and a quarter (202.25) acres, on which the house is located, were sold to Rachel Cameron Hale, the wife of Chandler Hale, a diplomatic official as well as the daughter of U.S. Senator and Secretary of War James Donald Cameron. Mrs. Hale was responsible for changing the name of the estate from "Poplar Hill" to "His Lordship’s Kindness." She installed wiring and plumbing in the house and converted the chapel into a library. She changed the landscaping of the former rose garden and, after a damaging fire in the brick carriage house and stable, tore that structure down and used the salvaged bricks to build a garage with a residence apartment above for her chauffeur.

1940

The Hales sell "His Lordship’s Kindness" to Caroline E. Dunham. Mrs. Dunham operated a "tearoom" in the brick dependency known as the "slaves’ hospital" or "slaves’ infirmary." Among her patrons were the elite of the nation’s capital, including Eleanor Roosevelt and Cordell Hull. Unfortunately, World War II gas rationing, which began on the east coast of the United States on July 22, 1942, forced Mrs. Dunham to close her tearoom.

1946

Mrs. Dunham and her husband, Thomas, sell "His Lordship’s Kindness" with a total of slightly more than 230 acres to Ambassador David K.E. Bruce a world-renowned diplomat. Bruce was the ambassador to France (1949-1952), Germany (1957-1959), and the United Kingdom (1961-1969) – the only American to be all three. He was also an American envoy at the Paris peace talks with North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and served as chief U.S. liaison (1973-1974) during the negotiations to resume diplomatic relations with China. Lastly, Bruce was the U.S. ambassador to NATO from 1974 to 1976. As far as is currently known, the Bruce’s primarily used the mansion as a setting for Mrs. Bruce’s fine collection of antiques but was seldom (perhaps never) used as a residence by the couple.

1950

David and Evangeline Bruce, while in Paris, convey "His Lordship’s Kindness" to Royd and Edna Sayers, who make the house their full-time residence. Prior to that the couple had owned two historic buildings in Alexandria, Virginia – Robert E. Lee’s Boyhood Home and the “Lyceum.” Dr. Sayers’ career included service as Chief of the Division of Industrial Hygiene at the National Institute of Health and Director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

1954

On September 21st, the estate was sold to the Catholic Archdiocese of  Washington, D.C. in the name of the "New Mt. Olivet Cemetery Co., Inc." This acquisition led to the eventual development in the mid-1960’s of what is known today as Resurrection Cemetery.

1955

A little more than 137 acres along with the historic mansion are sold by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. to John and Sara Walton. The Waltons first became interested in buying the historic estate shortly after their marriage in 1938. However, each time that "His Lordship’s Kindness" came up for sale, they felt the purchase price was beyond their financial means. It was not until 1955 that their dream became a reality. Mr. Walton was a close friend of the late Archbishop/Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle, who was dinner guest at Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness on a number of occasions.

1959

In 1959, Pope John XXIII awarded the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice" papal medal to John Macardell Walton, Sr. for his charitable deeds, which included his "many efforts to help priests and religious."

1970

Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness is regarded as one of the finest examples of 18th century Georgian architecture in the United States. In recognition of this fact, the U.S. Department of the Interior honored this structure by designating it a National Historic Landmark in 1970. Even today it is one of only three historic houses in Prince George’s County to have earned this distinction.

1972

The Walton’s only son John M. Walton, Jr. marries Constance Faith Luckett in a Catholic nuptial Mass celebrated in the main hall of Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness by the late Monsignor Richard Hughes.

1988

The John M. and Sara R Walton Foundation, Inc. is established as a 501(c)3 corporation to provide for the perpetual preservation and educational use of "Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness.”

1988

Sara Walton, a retired teacher and noted figure in the historic preservation movement in Prince George’s County, Maryland, dies in 1988. However, her husband, John M. Walton, Sr., continues to reside at Poplar Hill until 1990. Mr. Walton began a distinguished career as an architect in the mid-1930s, retiring in the mid-1970s. He is well known throughout the Washington, D.C. area and the state of Maryland for the many homes, churches, educational buildings (including many on the College Park Campus of the University of Maryland), courthouses, and shopping facilities that he has designed.

1991

Christmas candlelight tours for the general public are held for the very first time at "His Lordship’s Kindness."

1994 to 1996

The Walton Foundation undertakes the restoration of the chapel wing of the mansion. The completion of the restoration construction is officially dedicated on May 12, 1996.

December 31, 1995

John M. Walton Sr. transfers ownership of "His Lordship’s Kindness" and the 7.6614 surrounding acres, which include five historic outbuildings as well as elaborate terraced gardens, by deed of gift to the John M. and Sara R. Walton Foundation, Inc.

April 1996

Regular tours begin at "His Lordship’s Kindness on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month.

May 4, 1996

"His Lordship’s Kindness" is open to the public on a walk-in basis for the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrima

ge.
October 26 and 27, 1996

The Walton Foundation sponsors the first "living history" event, a civil war encampment, at "His Lordship’s Kindness.

"
2000

John M. Walton, Sr. dies, and by his will conveys all of the remaining “Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness” estate (except for 4 acres) to the John M. and Sara R. Walton Foundation, Inc.

June 2009

The Walton Foundation presents a lecture series entitled “Breaking the Chains” sponsored by the Maryland Humanities Council.

June 2009

The Walton Foundation completes the restoration of the historic roof of the mansion with historically accurate Welsh slate

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September 2009

Museum staff hosts the Police District V Explorers Club who spends the day cleaning the interior of the museum, the immediate grounds around the museum, and the carriage mus

eum.
October 1, 2009

The Walton Foundation suspends walk-in tours to the public of the historic house museum because of the impact of the 2008-2009 economic downturn. Group tours (15 or more) are still available upon request.

2015-2016

The Walton Foundation by deeds of easement establishes 62.9 acres of low-lying woodlands and pastures for perpetual preservation as part of a wetland mitigation project.

2020-2021

The Walton Foundation uses a $55,000 grant from the Maryland Historical Trust to have consultants complete a detailed 164-page historic preservation plan for “Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness.

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2022-2023

With a $100,000 grant from the Maryland Historical Trust the Walton Foundation embarks on a restoration project to replace the badly deteriorated roofs on three of the historic outbuildings (brick smokehouse, frame dairy, and brick privy) at “Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness.”

Other Facts That Add to the Architectural/Historical Significance of “Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness”

• * Poplar Hill, in its design and construction, possesses features that are rare, if not unique, among surviving 18th century American homes. These include its U-shaped hipped roof, extraordinarily large and equal-in-area first and second floor halls, all original interior walls made of solid brick and ceiling heights on the second floor being equal to those on the first – 12 feet.
• * The original landscape design surrounding Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness is also of great importance. It features major original landscape terraces on both the north and south of the mansion and lesser terraces on the east and west.
• * The property includes an exceptional collection of historic outbuildings dating from the late 18th century to the antebellum period. These include a rare brick privy, a smokehouse, a wash house, a slaves’ infirmary, and a pigeon cote. The locations of other outbuildings, including slaves’ quarters, a brick carriage house and stable and an icehouse are known and are being preserved for future archaeological investigation and potential reconstruction.

The above chronology has been compiled by: John M. Walton, Jr. President
The John M. and Sara R. Walton Foundation, Inc. Email: jswaltonfndpres@aol.com