More than any other property in the Ag Reserve, Darnall Place closely resembles centuries old farmsteads in Europe or the British Isles. As noted on the National Register of Historic Places entry for the home, “the structures individually and the farmstead as a whole retain enough significant design and integrity to convey the feeling of a small farmer’s life in the late 18th and early 19th century. The complex is of particular interest for the construction techniques in stone, the survival of a large number of early outbuildings, and its unusual rather English flavor.”
The earliest written record of the property traces to a 1755 patent for Daniel Veirs. It’s believed that the stone structures on the farm, which are still standing, were built by Daniel at some point in the 1750s or 1760s. In 1767 the property was sold to Mary Dyson and by 1776 we know from census records that Mary was living on the farm with her son Maddox, Maddox’s wife and four children, one enslaved woman (I believe her name was Prilly), and an indenture. During the Dyson’s ownership of the property, the Revolutionary War took place. Maddox did sign Maryland’s Pledge of Fidelity, declaring allegiance to the new government (the penalties for not signing were severe). We also know that George Washington passed through the Dyson land in 1885, writing in his diary that the land was “remarkably fine and very level.”
In 1808, 43 year old Thomas Darnall bought the property and moved onto the farm with his wife Henrietta. We know that Thomas and Henrietta had at least eight children living in the home with them and when Thomas died in 1830 there were 15 enslaved persons working his land. Thomas is buried next to his wife and two grandchildren on the property. His tombstone reads “Those who knew him well, knew his worth.”
Samuel Dyson purchased the farm in 1857 and lived here throughout the Civil War until the 1920s. While I was unable to uncover specific stories, there was apparently a lot of Union troop movements on and around the property.
