#36 - Ryves Holt Update

 This week I want to update the Ryves Holt House Page. You can find it here, it is a spot on the blog to see what my most recent synthesis of the house is. As I read more sources, hunt down maps, and find old photographs, my thoughts about the early history of the Ryves Holt House will naturally change and shift to accommodate the new data. This is normal, dear reader. As any scientist will tell you (anyone else a fan of Bill Nye?), you need to change your hypothesis to fit new facts; this is also how a good historian should work. The more data I gather will give me a better picture of what was going on at the Whorekill in the late 17th century. What follows will be a brief recap of my introduction to the RHH for any new readers, then I will move onto my current thoughts. Onwards.

I first saw the Ryves Holt House in the summer of 2019. I was visiting friends who have a summer house in the town of Lewes, DE. The red is immediately eye-catching, you see it from the edge of the tiny early 20th century downtown of Lewes, just past the church cemetary. As you can see in the photo, it’s a little cock-eyed, the constant guardian between downtown and neighborhood.The houses around the RHH are mostly mid to late 19th century and decidedly more traditionally beautiful. You have Carpenter Gothic, Second Empire, and a few Georgians. The nextdoor church is Episcopal from the mid 1850s and Gothic Revival. So, the RHH is quite obviously unique on its street. I was immediately enamoured with the building. 

As I wandered around the building (thankfully my friend kept a firm grip on my collar lest I step out into traffic or crash into a fence), I noticed an obvious series of additions to the rear. It became clear quickly that this building had a long, intricate, and interesting story. The next step, of course, was to go inside. The Lewes Historical Society and the NPS work together to open the RHH’s three main rooms for tours and nerds like me. The lovely docent informed me that the house dated from 1665, making it the oldest house in the oldest town in the oldest state. ….Ambitious statement, but sure, that could be true. She also showed me the first floor, the obvious left portion constructed in the early 19th century with a later 20th century kitchen on the back. The oldest portion of the building (the right side) is currently a room with a fireplace, a separate stair hall, a small entry foyer, and a back room. The latter would have been added in the early/mid 18th century. Interestingly, the original front door was not in the center. It was on the street corner (extreme right), while the fireplace would have been where the front door currently is; it would have been moved sometime before the 19th century left section was added to make the fireplace centered on the common wall. This broke with what I thought to be common for very early colonial buildings. 

I knew right then and there I wanted to research the house and figure out its story. This is what I know and what I think I know right now:

The Ryves Holt House was, according to dendrochronological testing, built in 1665, although some sources claim it was built between 1685 and 1710. The results of the dendrochronological testing confirm that the oldest found timbers in the Ryves Holt House completed the growth season in 1665 and had little evidence of decay after cutting. This means it is likely that the timbers were used soon after being cut down, but not necessarily that the house was built in 1665. It must have then been built after the failed 1630s colony of Swanendael and the 1663 Plockhoy settlement, but most likely before the Lord Baltimore Raids. It is important, too, to note the locations of both Swanendael and the Plockhoy settlement are disputed. Some readings suggest remnants of a fort found in archaeological work in the 1950s and 60s is from a fort built by the Dutch in 1659. This fort is near the Ryves Holt House and could be evidence for a settlement in the 1660s, perhaps including the RHH. If the early date of 1665 is true, the house would have probably originally been built by Dutch settlers, but perhaps lived in by English colonists after the Raids; it is unlikely to be Swedish in origin as their colony was isolated further up the bay at modern day Wilmington. There was a census taken in 1671 of the Whorekill showing that about 50 people lived in the area. It is unclear if this would be enough people to have some sort of village center, although clearly there was something near modern day Lewes. The Lord Baltimore Raids occurred between 1671 and 1673. Depositions at the time claim the town was burned to the ground, only a barn was left standing. If this is true, then the RHH must date to after the Raids, perhaps as part of the rebuilding efforts after the destruction of the budding town. During this time, during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the area of Lewes/Whorekill was passed back and forth between the Dutch and English. Ultimately, the area fell under the control of the Duke of York in 1674. Although in 1681 William Penn took control. The RHH was operated as an inn by Phillip Russell, a cup-bearer of William Penn, who was licensed for the tavern on September 28, 1685, but if the house was built in 1665, nothing so far can account for the intervening twenty years. Russell at some point sold the house to William Godwin who in turn sold it to Ryves Holt. Ryves Holt lived in the house until his death in the 1760s. His wife and daughter continued to live in the house, eventually handed down to his step-great-grandson, Jacob Jones. Jones served in the War of 1812 and lived in the RHH at least until he left for war. Sometime before 1800, the original front door was moved from the right side of the front façade to the center to balance the addition to the left; at this time, the fireplace was also moved from the current front door area several feet back to center it along the wall of the new addition. Ultimately, after the 1980s, the house passed to the local Episcopal Church where it is now part of the First State National Historical Park and operated by the Lewes Historical Society.