Three periods of building are represented in this view, the oldest being the Flemish bond area around the third window from the right and just right of the screened porch. The family cemetery was formerly located south of the house. Tyler Campbell photograph, 1996
John and Lois Jones, from New York and later Detroit. In 1953 Arthur and Esther Lusby purchased the farm and established a trotting track, which remains in use today. w
Excerpted from "The Seventeenth Century," a chapter in Historic Houses of Kent County written by Michael Owen Bourne. Bourne, a respected architectural historian, is Easement Administrator with the Maryland Historical Trust.
Church and was on the Board of Visitors and Governors of Washington College.
In fulfillment of James B. Ricaud's will, after the death of Mary R. Walker, his farm Stepney was to go to his granddaughter Anna Walker, who was later to marry Walter H. Beck of St. Louis, MO. Both mother and daughter, however, joined in a deed in 1909, transferring Stepney to Walter Wright for nearly $5,000 less than Judge Ricaud had paid for it in 1862.
Walter and Joanna Wright lived at Stepney until 1924 when they sold the farm to Frank H. Worrell of Swarthmore, PA, who subsequently sold it to Thomas W. Spranklin in 1928. In 1928 and 1936, the Spranklins sold off several parcels along the water.
Perhaps it was the income from the sale of the waterfront that enabled the Spranklins to undertake the most ambitious remodeling of Stepney since that of James F. Gordon in the 1850s. Their remodeling included removing the third story and replacing the whole with a bold gambrel roof giving more headroom to the third floor rooms. On the back section, the one-and-a-half story frame wing, which appears in the early photograph, was removed. The west gable of the old house was demolished and a six-foot extension was added. At the same time, its second story was reconstructed of old brick, producing a more typical antebellum appearance. A porch was built across part
of the south facade. Its new plan then consisted of a kitchen and dining room, with pantry and back stair between.
Sarah Spranklin sold the farm in 1936, three years after the death of her husband. Margaret R. Massey, a nurse for the Kent County Health Department, owned the farm for 10 years. Between 1946 and 1953, Stepney was owned by
Historic Houses available
Historic Houses of Kent County is a significant collection
of Kent County's most important historical sites. Covering the development
of Kent County from 1642-1860, the book features the grand restored homes
of Chestertown (including Washington College's Hynson-Ringgold House)
and outlying country estates that frequently are open to the public during
house and garden tours-as well as lesser known but equally significant
examples of early architecture throughout the county.
This book, exhaustively researched and authored by architectural historian Michael Owen Bourne and carefully edited by historic preservationist Eugene Hall Johnstone, records details of these important buildings that otherwise may be lost.
Copies of Historic Houses of Kent County are available at local bookstores including the Washington College Bookstore. To order, call 1-800-422-1782, ext. 7749.
