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Samuel Ringgold (January 15, 1770 – October 18, 1829), aDemocratic-Republican, he served in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1810 to 1821 with the exception of one two-year absence, was abrigadier general in the Maryland militia during theWar of 1812 and father of two sons with distinguished military careers,Samuel andCadwalader.^[1]

Samuel Ringgold was born inChestertown, Maryland, the second son of Thomas Ringgold V, a merchant, revolutionary andslave trader and Mary Galloway Ringgold.^[2] Ringgold's father died young.^[3] After his father's death, Ringgold's mother relocated her children, Thomas Ringgold VI,^[4] Samuel, Benjamin,Tench and Anna Maria toWashington County, Maryland, where her family owned considerable landholdings that would later become the Fountain Rock plantation.^[5][6]

In contrast to his forebears, who were known as merchants and long time denizens of Maryland'sEastern Shore, Samuel Ringgold grew up in alanded, agrarian setting in Maryland's interior, outside ofHagerstown, Maryland. At Fountain Rock, the family grew corn and wheat, eventually becoming one of the largest slave holding plantations in all of Maryland.^[7][8]

As a young man, Samuel would serve on the vestry of the localSaint John's Church.^{[citation needed]} By the time he was 25 he was elected to theMaryland House of Delegates (1795) and later served in theMaryland State Senate (1801–1806).^{[attribution needed]} Later, he became a member of theU.S. House of Representatives, representing thefourth district ofMaryland from October 15, 1810, to March 3, 1815; he previously ran for this seat while a state delegate in 1796.^[9] Ringgold's military career included serving during theWar of 1812, and serving as abrigadier general in the Marylandmilitia. He was again elected to the House of Representatives and served from March 4, 1817 to March 3, 1821.^[2]

After leaving Congress, Ringgold returned to his estate, Fountain Rock, which hosted theChapel in the Woods and now is the site ofSaint James School. Founded in 1842, today Saint James is one of the oldest Episcopal boarding schools in the United States.

Ringgold married his first wife Maria on May 3, 1792 in Philadelphia.^[2] Maria, was the daughter of Gen.John Cadwalader, who served in theContinental Army in theRevolutionary War. She died in 1811. Two years later, Samuel Ringgold married Marie Antoinette Hay, a granddaughter ofJames Monroe at theWhite House.^[10] She would become the mother to five of Ringgold's 11 children. Marie Antoinette Hay was the daughter of George Hay, U.S Attorney for the District of Virginia, who represented the Government in prosecuting Aaron Burr for treason. George Hay's second wife wasEliza Kortright Monroe, a daughter of President Monroe, and was step-mother to Marie Antoinette Hay. After Samuel Ringgold's death Marie married a Robert Mackey Tidball.^{[citation needed]}

Samuel Ringgold died inFrederick, Maryland, and is buried in Fountain Rock Cemetery, nearHagerstown, Maryland.

Ringgold had three sons who served in the military and a daughter who married an army general. The most distinguished of his sons,Samuel (1796–1846) was an officer in theU.S. Army during theMexican-American War. Also distinguished wasCadwalader Ringgold (1802–1867), a naval officer who served in the United States Exploring Expedition in command ofThe Porpoise and later headed another expedition to the Pacific Northwest. He saw service in theCivil War before retiring as a rear admiral.^{[citation needed]}

The stepson, George Hay Ringgold (1814–1864) was graduated at theUnited States Military Academy in 1833, later left the Army to become a farmer but rejoined in 1846. He was in charge of the paymasters of the Department of the Pacific from 1861 till his death inSan Francisco, California. George Hay Ringgold was buried at Calvary Cemetery, now part of Cypress Lawn inSan Mateo County, California. He was an accomplished scholar, draughtsman, and painter.^{[11][citation needed]}

A daughter, the "beautiful and accomplished" Marie Antoinette Ringgold (daughter of the second wife and named after her), married the prominent Gen.Henry Morris Naglee in San Francisco on May 26, 1865, after her brother's death.^[12]

v t e Cadwalader family tree
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John Cadwalader (1677–1734) Martha Jones (1679–1747) Thomas Cadwalader (1708–1779) Hannah Lambert Elizabeth Lloyd (1742–1776) John Cadwalader (1742–1786) Williamina Bond (1753–1837) Lambert Cadwalader (1742–1823) Mary McCall (1764–1848) Archibald McCall (1767–1843) Elizabeth Cadwalader (1774–1824) Maria Cadwalader (1776–1811) Samuel Ringgold (1770–1829) Thomas Cadwalader (1779–1841) Thomas McCall Cadwalader (1795–1873) Maria Charlotte Gouverneur (1801–1867) George Archibald McCall (1802–1868) Samuel Ringgold (1796–1846) Cadwalader Ringgold (1802–1867) John Cadwalader (1805–1879) George Cadwalader (1806–1879) John Lambert Cadwalader (1836–1914) Mary Binney Cadwalader (1829–1861) William Henry Rawle (1823–1889) Emily Cadwalader (1834–1892) Frederic Rhinelander Jones (1846–1918) Mary Cadwalader Rawle (1850–1923) Beatrix Cadwalader Jones (1872–1959) Max Farrand (1869–1945)
Notes: "Cadwalader Family Papers"(PDF).Collection 1454.Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 2007. RetrievedMarch 10, 2011.

• United States Congress."Samuel Ringgold (id: R000263)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography of (son) Samuel Ringgold (Mexican War officer)
• History of the Federal Judiciary

• 1770 births
• 1829 deaths
• Maryland state senators
• Members of the Maryland House of Delegates
• American militia generals
• Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
• 18th-century Maryland politicians
• 19th-century Maryland politicians
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• Candidates in the 1796 United States elections
• American planters
• American slave owners

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