Caleb Dorsey, Jr.

The fifth of thirteen children born to Caleb & Elinor (Warfield) Dorsey of Hockley-in-the-Hole Plantation, Anne Arundel Co MD, Caleb was baptized 5 Mar 1713 at St Annes Parish in Anne Arundel Co MD.

He married Priscilla Hill, daughter of Henry & Mary (Denwood) Hill, on 10 Feb 1735 in Anne Arundel Co MD.

Children with Priscilla: 1) Henry Hill Dorsey (1736-bef 1772), m: Elizabeth Goodwin. 2) Rebecca Dorsey (1740-1812), m: Capt Charles Ridgely. 3) Samuel Dorsey (1741-1777), m: Margaret Sprigg. 4) Mary Dorsey (1744-1833), m: Michael Pue/Pugh. 5) Eleanor Dorsey (1749-1813); never married. 6) Margaret Hill Dorsey (1752-1797), m: William Buchanan. 7) Milcah Dorsey (b. 1754), m. William Goodwin. 8) Edward Dorsey (1758-1799), m: Elizabeth Dorsey. 9) Priscilla Hill Dorsey (1762-1814), m. Governor Charles Carnan Ridgely.

Belmont Manor Conference Center: "Caleb Dorsey built his home "Belmont" on a tract of land patented in 1695."

Note: In 1656, Dr Mordecai Moore, a prominent Maryland citizen and a founder of the Friends Society in the colony, took out a patent for land he called "Moore's Morning Choice." On part of this original land tract of 1,662 acres Belmont Manor was built by Caleb Dorsey Jr, an estate that was the home of three influential Maryland families.

Caleb Dorsey and his brother built iron forges on the creeks that ran into nearby Patapsco River. The Patapsco was deep and navigable as far up as Elk Ridge Landing, where clippers and schooners unloaded their cargoes. Because of the wealth of Maryland's shipping trade, the Dorsey forges prospered and so did Caleb's fortune. In 1738, Caleb and wife Priscilla began building a brick and stucco home on a hilltop. The home was elegant and simple, with two wings connected by enclosed corridors to the central wing. When Caleb and Priscilla Dorsey completed their new home, on either side of the front door were placed two carved plaques bearing the legend "CPD 1738."

Caleb and Priscilla were happy on their estate and their family included three sons and six daughters. The heir to the estate was son, Edward, who increased his father's wealth. Only a few of the original farm and foundry buildings built before Edward Dorsey's death still stand, one, a small stone and log structure, is close to the service wing of the house. In 1815 the house and the surrounding acreage went to Edward's daughter Priscilla.

The last of the owners was Howard Bruce, who, on his death in 1961, passed Belmont Manor to his cousin, David Bruce, former ambassador to Britain, France and Germany. In 1962, David Bruce "sold" Belmont and its 339 acres to the Smithsonian for $5.00.

"Historic Graves of Maryland and District of Columbia", NY Grafton Press, 1908, pg. 156: "At "Belmont'", another Dorsey homestead, there is also a graveyard. It contains fine old slabs of the tabular kind, but so overrun with honeysuckle and periwinkle that it has been found impossible to copy them. Here lie the remains of Caleb Dorsey, who in 1738 built "Belmont" as a home for his bride, Priscilla Hill. He was born July 18, 1710; died Jone 28, 1772. His widow died March 8, 1781, in the 63d year of her age. Beside them repose their descendants up to the fourth and fifth generation."