Stone House

History

Upon their arrival to Emmitsburg, Maryland, and while repairs were being completed on the Stone House, Mother Seton and the sisters lived in a log house situated on Saint Mary's Mountain and owned by Father John DuBois. The Stone House was the first permanent home of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Saint Joseph's Valley. Here she founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's on July 31, 1809. Property owned by Robert Fleming was purchased for the sisters by Samuel Sutherland Cooper (1769-1843), a wealthy seminarian at Saint Mary's in Baltimore. Cooper later donated two tracts of land comprising 269 acres. The first Mass was celebrated in the Stone House on August 10, 1809.

Construction

The Stone House was constructed of native stone and referred to as the "farm house" to distinguish it from the new "house in the fields" Saint Joseph's House, or the White House. It faced the south overlooking Toms Creek. The Stone House consisted of two large rooms on the first floor, a garret above, and a five-foot-deep root cellar.

Living Conditions

In the first days, 16 people lived in the house: Mother Seton; her sisters-in-law Harriet and Cecilia Seton; her daughters Anna Maria, Catherine Josephine, and Rebecca; two children and eight sisters.

Accommodations in the Stone House were tight. A large room was partitioned off to form a large parlor and two smaller rooms, one of which was unheated room and used as a chapel. The small room next to the chapel was used as a bedroom by Mother Seton and her daughters. They slept on the floor at night and during the day, their mattresses were stored in the cupboard under the stairs and the room was used for other purposes.

The students and sisters slept on the floor in the garret. Typical of the early nineteenth century, the garret was accessed from an alcove of an enclosed staircase of narrow steps pivoting 180 degrees about a single post in the northwest corner to the right of the fireplace.

The middle room served as the kitchen area during Mother Seton's time. In 1979 when the building was moved, bricks were discovered under the floor. The area of exposed brick was part of the original flooring. The stairway dates back to 1834, when the second story, the large kitchen, and the porches were added. An external stairway led from the second floor to the south porch of the addition. It is believed that the porches may have been added to aid in protecting the stucco. To the west of the house, a large (14' x 22') brick-lined feature was discovered, which appeared to be a cistern for water storage and a pump mechanism that may have been operational when this site was used for a laundry in the 1880s. It would have held about 20,000 gallons of water.

The window coverings consisted of oiled paper or shutters. Sometimes those who slept there awakened to find that snow had practically covered them. The moldings and window frames of the house date to 1809 or earlier. The floors in the original rooms have been replaced with old wood.

On the wall in the middle room hangs an illustration of the grounds as they looked in 1818. The sketch is the work of Bishop Simon Gabriel Bruté, who served at Mount Saint Mary's and as Mother Seton's spiritual director. An enlarged copy hangs in the Museum.

Heat was supplied by the fireplaces; light was furnished by candles. Water came from a nearby well, which can still be seen on the grounds of the adjacent National Emergency Training Center. The women did their laundry in Toms Creek, which soon discolored their white caps, causing the Sisters to begin wearing black caps.

The Sisters lived in the Stone House from July 31, 1809, until February of 1810, when they moved into the White House.

Restoration

Between October 16 and the 31st of 1979, the house, which weighs 328 tons, was moved from its original site overlooking Toms Creek to its present location and was later restored. In September 1981, Mr. William B. Patram, who supervised the move, received a Historical Preservation Award from the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.