Rosalie Steir Calvert

This 1804 portrait by Gilbert Stuart of Rosalie Steir Calvert and her daughter Caroline Maria hangs in the Maryland Historical Society Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Rosalie Calvert wrote to her father, H. J. Steir in may of 1805, "We had our portraits painted by Stuart this past summer, but my good health has so improved my looks that though when painted my portrait was as exact a resemblance as possible, everyone now tells me it doesn't do me justice."

"Rosalie Stier Calvert (February 16, 1778 – March 13, 1821) was a plantation owner and correspondent in nineteenth century Maryland. A collection of her letters, titled Mistress of Riversdale, The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert, was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in 1991. The letters range in date from 1795 to 1821, and illuminate the life of Calvert's plantation household, including the events leading up to and during the War of 1812." -- Wikipedia

Caroline Maria Calvert, who was 4 years old in 1804, grew up to marry Thomas Willing Morris in 1828. She died in Baltimore in 1842. 

This Gerry Embleton picture from a historical marker at Riversdale shows Rosalie Calvert watching British rockets during the Battle of Bladensburg.

"From her home on August 24, 1814, Rosalie Stier Calvert saw rocket fire as the Battle of Bladensburg raged two miles away. Soon she would learn of the British victory and know from the reddened skies over Washington that the enemy had reached the city.

Her husband George and their field-hands helped to bury the dead after battle. Mr. Calvert visited injured British officers recuperating in Bladensburg." -- Signs of War, Historical Marker.

Rosalie Calvert's Tomb can be found in the Calvert Family Cemetery in Riverdale.

 

"Here rests the body of
Rosalie Eugenia Calvert
Wife of George Calvert and Daughter of
Henry J. Stier Esquire of Antwerp
who died March 13, 1821 Aged 43
May she be numbered among the children
of God, and her lot be among the Saints
_____ . _____
We see the hand, we worship and adore
And justify the all disposing power."

In this panel by Giovanni Andrei, Rosalie Calvert is welcomed to heaven by her four dead children (Marie Louise, 1804-1809; Henry, 1810-1820; Maria Louise, 1812-1813; Amelia, 1816-1820).