Land & Ownership History

• 1727 - Benjamin Tasker gets 7,000 acres from Lord Baltimore, which is later sold to Daniel Dulaney
• 1745 - Daniel Dulaney lays out the plan for Frederick city within the land grant known as Tasker's Chance
• 1748 - Hans Peter Hoffman purchases from Daniel Dulaney land, that was later to be known as Rose Garden, along the old Georgetown Pike
• 1764 - George Hoffman inherits Rose Garden
• 1778 - Thomas Johnson purchases land and renames it Rose Hill
• 1788 - Thomas Johnson gives land to his daughter, Ann Jennings, on the eve of her wedding to John Colin Grahame
• 1789-1792 - John Colin and Ann Jennings (Johnson) Grahame Build the manor house
• 1793 - Grahame purchases Indian Fields, the 202 acres adjacent to Rose Hill
• 1800 - Thomas Johnson is living at Rose Hill
• 1833 - Colonel John McPherson, nephew-in-law, purchases Rose Hill following John Colin Grahame's death in order to help Ann Jennings (Johnson) Grahame stay on the property until her death in 1837
• 1837 - William Slater, owner
• 1843 - George Slater, owner
• 1845 - John Wilson, owner
• 1853 - David O. Thomas, owner
• 1853 - David O. Thomas, owner
• 1893 - Margaret (Thomas) Myer, owner
• 1906 - Noah Cramer, owner
• 1927 - James Cramer, owner
• 1957 - Alice (Cramer) Bowman, owner
• 1964 - 50 acre parcel sold to Frederick County for a school site

Park & Museum History

• 1968 - Frederick County Commissioners purchased remainder of Rose Hill property (43.3 acres). Funding is received from Program Open Space and Frederick city to establish Rose Hill as the 1st County Park.
• 1971 - Rose Hill Manor is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• 1972 - Rose Hill Manor Park Master Plan Committee develops and adopts a Children's Museum Program for education of elementary school-aged children. The Children's Museum Advisory Board was established and the Manor House 1st floor opened for tours.
• 1975 - Manor Gardens opens
• 1976 - Carriage Museum (Robert H. Renneberger collection) opens
• 1977 - Log Cabin exhibit opens; Farm Museum Association is established
• 1980 - Blacksmith Shop exhibit opens
• 1982 - Manor upstairs Master Bedroom and Governor's Study exhibits open
• 1984 - Master Plan Revision
• 1986 - Manor upstairs Domestic's Bedroom exhibit opens
• 1988 - All Manor upstairs, including the Children's Bedroom exhibit, opens

Thomas Johnson's Life History

• 1732 - Born in Calvert County, Maryland
• 1753 - Admittance to the Maryland Bar
• 1760 - Admittance to the Frederick County Bar
• 1762 - Delegate to the Provincial Assembly in Annapolis on the Committee for the Construction of the Maryland State House
• 1766 - Marries Ann Jennings
• 1774 - Delegate to the 1st Continental Congress
• 1775 - Nominates George Washington to become the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army
• 1776 - Becomes Commander of the Maryland Militia
• 1777 - Elected by Congress as Maryland's 1st Governor
• 1778 - Purchases 225 acres of land known as Rose Garden in Frederick and changes the name to Rose Hill
• 1779 - Purchases land north of Frederick, named Richfield, where he builds his Frederick County home
• 1780 - Becomes Member of the Maryland State Legislature
• 1785 - Becomes President of the Potowmack River Project
• 1788 - Gives Rose Hill to his daughter
• 1791 - On the Board to develop the Federal city; he was the 1 to 1st recommend that the city be called Washington
• 1791 - Becomes an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and authors the 1st opinion
• 1800 - Gives a eulogy for George Washington at the Frederick memorial service on February 22, which becomes his last act in public service
• 1800 - Listed on the 1800 census as living at Rose Hill Manor in Frederick with his daughter and her family
• 1819 - Dies at age 87 at Rose Hill and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, MD