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University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Dugan-Hollins Family Vault

 
 
Dugan-Hollins Family Vault Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
1. Dugan-Hollins Family Vault Marker
Inscription.
This burial vault holds the remains of nine members of two prominent Baltimore families whose live were intertwined through business partnerships and marriage.

Cumberland Dugan (1747-1836), the patriarch, left Ireland at age 19, settling briefly in Roxbury, Massachusetts before coming to the small but growing town of Baltimore. Through marriage and banking, Dugan forged personal and business ties with other powerful Presbyerian families, particularly the Smiths and Hollins. And, like many other wealthy men, he became a public figure and political office holder.

Dugan's daughter, Rebecca, (1788-1860), married John Smith Hollins (1787-1858), the son of Dugan's business partner who served as mayor of Baltimore from 1852-1854.

A Godefroy Design?

Did Maximilian Godefroy design this burial vault for Cumberland Dugan? Compare its doorways to those of the William and Robert Smith vault. And consider its graceful proportions. Built with local freestone, it is further distinguished by a gavetto cornice that forms the eaves of a slate hipped roof.

[painting]
Of Wealth and Means Cumberland Dugan arrived in the American colonies with considerable wealth - and an acumen for commerce and politics. A successful flour merchant who served in the Baltimore City Council and Maryland Legislature,
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Dugan also introduced the first true rowhouses along a Baltimore wharf in 1796.

Cumberland Dugan by Thomas Sully, oil on canvas, 1821
Brooklyn Museum, 21.56. Carll H. de Silver Fund

Inscriptions:

Cumberland Dugan, a native of the City of Coleraine County of Londonderry and Kingdom of Ireland And for the last 71 years a resident of America, 68 years of which in Baltimore. He departed this life 1st Nov. 1836 in the 90th Year of his Age.

Also, his Wife Margaret Dugan, Born Dec. 7, 1762, Died June 25, 1852
Hammond Dugan, Born Jany 5, 1797, Died Feby 28, 1841
Frederick James Dugan, Born March 31, 1804, Died march 24, 1858
Georgianna E. Hollins Daughter of John Smith & Rebecca Hollins.
Born Sept. 19, 1819, Died March 23, 1840
John Smith Hollins, Born Oct. 9, 1787, Died Nov. 28, 1856
C. Dugan Hollins, Born June 27, 1823, Died Dec. 23, 1858
Rebecca Hollins, Relict of John Smith Hollins Born Oct. 22, 1788, Died May 27, 1760

Rebecca Hollins, Relict of John Smith Hollins Born Oct. 22, 1788, Died May 27, 1760


[painting]
Mr. Mayor John Smith Hollins, mayor of Baltimore from 1852-1854, was the son of a British maritime banker who came to Baltimore in 1783. His mother, Jane Buchanan Smith, was Sam Smith's sister. As a merchant, Hollins invested heavily in privateers
Dugan-Hollins Family Vault Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), October 8, 2021
2. Dugan-Hollins Family Vault Marker
Unfortunately the marker has weathered significantly and is hard to read in parts.
(ships with government-issued "Letters of Marque" which allowed them to seize enemy commercial vessels). In 1814, Hollings fought against the British at the Battle of North Point as a member of the Fifth Maryland Regiment.

John Smith Hollins, oil on canvas
reproduced in Wilbur Coyle's Mayors of Baltimore (1909)
Courtesy of the Maryland State Archives.

[photograph]
Neighbors - In Life and Thereafter French architect John Abraham Chevalier designed this stylish double-house in the late 1790s for Paul Bentalou. (Bentalou's burial vault is in the catacombs.) Sam Smith's townhouse stood next door.

Around 1800, Bentalou sold the pair to Cumberland Dugan and a business partner. The Dugans moved into the house on the right. Dugan acquired the other house and presented it to his daughter - probably as a wedding present - in 1811. For the next several decades, the Dugans and the family of Rebecca and JOhn Smith Hollins lives side-by-side, a relationship that carried over into death in the family burial vault.

Photograph of the Bentalou / Dugan-Hollins Houses on Exchange Place, ca. 1900
The Maryland Historical Society
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: ArchitectureCemeteries & Burial SitesIndustry & Commerce. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1925.
 
Location.
Dugan-Hollins Family Vault image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
3. Dugan-Hollins Family Vault
Marker is to the right of the vault.
39° 17.39′ N, 76° 37.394′ W. Marker has been reported damaged. Marker is in Baltimore, Maryland. It is in University of Maryland. Marker can be reached from the intersection of West Fayette Street and North Greene Street. Marker is on the grounds of Westminster Hall and Burying Ground. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 509 W Fayette St, Baltimore MD 21201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 26 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Among Family: Poe’s Original Burial Place (a few steps from this marker); Original Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe (a few steps from this marker); Believe it or Not (a few steps from this marker); Fame, Fortune and Financial Scandal (a few steps from this marker); A Swashbuckling Merchant (a few steps from this marker); Monumental Lives (a few steps from this marker); Rev. Patrick Allison (a few steps from this marker); A Beloved General (a few steps from this marker); James McHenry (a few steps from this marker); James McHenry, M.D. (within shouting distance of this marker); A Mother’s Grief (within shouting distance of this marker); Infusing Style and Sophistication: The Influence of Maximilian Godefroy (within shouting distance of this marker); Bernard von Kapff
Dugan-Hollins Family Vault image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
4. Dugan-Hollins Family Vault
(within shouting distance of this marker); Local Hero, National Leader (within shouting distance of this marker); “…a truly affectionate wife” (within shouting distance of this marker); The Gilmors (within shouting distance of this marker); The Carriage Gates of Westminster Burying Ground (within shouting distance of this marker); An 18th-Century Burying Ground (within shouting distance of this marker); The Sleep of Young Innocents (within shouting distance of this marker); John McDonogh (within shouting distance of this marker); The McDonoghs of Baltimore (within shouting distance of this marker); Westminster Hall & Burying Ground: Where Baltimore's History Rests in Peace (within shouting distance of this marker); Westminster Church and Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); A Monument to the Memory of Edgar Allan Poe (within shouting distance of this marker); A La Memorie D’Edgar Allan Poe (within shouting distance of this marker); Poe’s Baltimore (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map
South side of the Calhoun-Buchanan vault image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck
5. South side of the Calhoun-Buchanan vault
To the left, the Dugan-Hollins vault, in the center, the Calhoun-Buchanan vault (the pyramid), the William and Robert Smith vault and on the right, the Poe family plot, with the original burial place of Edgar Allan Poe.
of all markers in Baltimore.
 
Additional commentary.
1. Dugan-Hollins Family Vault
Thank you for such an interesting entry. My husband is a direct descendant of Cumberland Dugan == his father was named after the family patriarch, and my husband is named after his son Frederick. Frederick's original portrait hangs in our home. I have visited the vault before and have wondered about how Cumberland Dugan came to be a prominent business man. I didn't realize, however, that he had been active in politics -- very fascinating! Thanks again!
    — Submitted January 27, 2009, by margaret League Dugan of Austin, Texas.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on October 8, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio. This page has been viewed 3,379 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on March 27, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.   2. submitted on October 8, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.   3, 4. submitted on March 27, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.   5. submitted on April 3, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

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Mar. 19, 2024