http://nc-chap.org/30thestrand
Slator Clay, Ann Curtis Clay, William and Sarah McCullough, Julia Jefferson delivering food and letters to Fort Delaware, Bill Quillen
If the buildings in New Castle's Historic District could talk, their stories would regale today's visitors with the comings and goings of the colorful residents who populated the old town. One location, 30 The Strand, now known as the McCullough House, housed eight families, who lived there an average of 35 years and opened the home to impressive visitors, including Thomas Jefferson, now-President Joe Biden and current Delaware Governor John Carney (who married 30 The Strand Resident Tracey Quillen).
One resident, Slator Clay, a sailor turned tavern owner (see photo above), and his wife, Ann Curtis Clay, lived at 30 The Strand from 1740 to 1789 with their brood of 11 children, welcoming guests to their inn. Visitors included Royal Govs. John and Richard Penn and Thomas Jefferson, then a Continental Congress delegate. The family and guests occupied what is now the front of the house, labeled "1a" in the photo.
The house was much smaller then than it is today. It's hard to imagine how everyone crammed into the building!
After Ann Clay's death in 1789, her son-in-law William Lees (no photo available) lived at 30 The Strand (shown circled in a 1797 sketch).
He and his business partner, Thomas Bond, ran a store across the street at 25 The Strand facing the river.
It offered a wide range of dry goods as well as sugar, coffee
and a few hogsheads of St. Croix rum.
In the painting the building had a sign "Shipping Supplies Livestock" on the front.
"Ivory Soap" is now painted on the Packet Alley side.
Packet Alley was where packet boats docked
(various-sized vessels carrying cargo including perhaps passengers).
The next owner was English immigrant Capt. James McCullough who had an event-filled but not easy life. His story is retold in a book of reminiscences by his daughter Sarah (pictured above) and in the autobiography of grandson Charles Heber Clark. McCullough married Mary McCullough (a cousin), a farm girl from Bloomfield near the current Delaware Memorial Bridge. He had 5 children while he split his time between home and the sea. He was captured by the British during the war of 1812 and taken briefly to Canada. He settled down at 30 The Strand, then purchased the store and buildings across the street. The fire of 1824 destroyed all his properties. He promptly built sections 1a, 1b and 1c of the house you see now but never recovered financially. After his death, the house went to son William (shown above) who though "beloved by everybody", "failed to succeed in every business he overtook".
Twelve-year-old Sarah McCullough witnessed the blaze, which destroyed her family's house as well as their store across the street. Her once well-to-do lifestyle (she attended New Castle Academy and took needlework lessons at 2 The Strand) was never the same as the family faced financial hardships. Her book of reminiscenses mentions not only the fire but that their relatives included two privateers!
Captain McCullough's grandson Charles Heber Clark was a humorist who wrote under the pen name Max Adeler. His Out Of the Hurly-Burly is set in New Castle. Like Washington Irving's "A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to ..." it is not to be taken literally. But, it is clear that Clark loved New Castle where he lived and not the Wilmington to which he apparently commuted. Clark provides details of Captain McCullough's character and details about his children including Sarah and William.
30 The Strand was sold at sheriff's sale in 1847 to local real estate investor Howell Terry. According to Cooper's History of New Castle, it was bought by Alfred Nowland, a wealthy merchant from Cecil County. After selling it to Maria Guthrie in 1858 he moved into the Van Leuvenigh house. Maria, her son Samuel, and his nephew Samuel Cleaver occupied the house for the next 45 years! They probably added section 2 and probably sheds in what are now sections 3 and 4.
Next, Julia Jefferson Dungan and her daughter Anne lived at 30 The Strand from 1903 to 1965. Julia (see photo of reenactor above) was a Southern sympathizer and an "Angel of Mercy" who brought food and comfort to Southern prisoners held captive at Fort Delaware during the Civil War. Her story is told now at the fort by reenactors. Letters she received from prisoners are saved at the Delaware Historical Society.
More recently, the late Bill and Marcia Quillen lived on The Strand and loved it. His many appointments included Delaware Secretary of State, Delaware Supreme Court judge and Chancellor. One daughter, Tracey Quillen Carney, is now first lady of Delaware. His other daughter Carol has been president of Davidson College for ten years. As young girls they left an imaginative note behind in the attic suggesting it was an underground railroad site. Although 30 The Strand appears small from the street, only 18 feet wide, it is about 85 feet deep, long enough to house political gatherings for up to 100 people. Their guests included then Senator Biden and Governors DuPont and Carper. Tracey was on Joe Biden's staff for 15 years.
The owners of 30 The Strand since 2004 are Jim and Rita Meek. Rita was a pediatric hematologist/ oncologist and former medical director at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for children. She was featured on the cover of Delaware Today's "TOP DOC" issue in 1998. Jim was a biochemist doing drug research at the NIH, Dupont Central Research and Astra Zeneca. His activities in New Castle included creating the historical nc-chap.org web site, serving as a Trustee of New Castle Common and creating the Hermitage Natural Area. Their improvements to the house included adding central air conditioning, rebuilding the kitchen and giving it a view over the Read House garden, a new full bathroom on the first floor and making four of the 8 1/2 fireplaces workable (2 gas, 2 wood) including one in the master bedroom.
About 90 percent of the houses in New Castle's historic district are more than 100 years old. Think of the stories they could tell! And while the old stories live on, new ones are being added. 30 The Strand is waiting for its next chapter this summer when Rita and I put the house up for sale and move to Oregon to be near our children and grandchildren. Leaving friends and 30 The Strand and New Castle will be difficult for us.
New Castle has a population that includes people who have lived here for a few years or for many generations. We and many others moved here because of the charm of the town. Areas with a large percentage of historic homes are likely to be charming because of the closeness of the houses, the interesting differences in them and the easy walkability around town to a bank, library, post office, four restaurants, a drugstore at least four museums and shops. And because neighbors are friendly. The houses tend to be well maintained because owners choose to come here and assume stewardship of an old house. All of this benefits from a history and mentality of preservation both in the owners and the local officials. Charming is not often an adjective applied to brand new suburban communities with large lots, little neighbor interaction and no past.
Tales From 30 The Strand
Slator Clay, Ann Curtis Clay, William and Sarah McCullough, Julia Jefferson delivering food and letters to Fort Delaware, Bill Quillen
If the buildings in New Castle's Historic District could talk, their stories would regale today's visitors with the comings and goings of the colorful residents who populated the old town. One location, 30 The Strand, now known as the McCullough House, housed eight families, who lived there an average of 35 years and opened the home to impressive visitors, including Thomas Jefferson, now-President Joe Biden and current Delaware Governor John Carney (who married 30 The Strand Resident Tracey Quillen).
One resident, Slator Clay, a sailor turned tavern owner (see photo above), and his wife, Ann Curtis Clay, lived at 30 The Strand from 1740 to 1789 with their brood of 11 children, welcoming guests to their inn. Visitors included Royal Govs. John and Richard Penn and Thomas Jefferson, then a Continental Congress delegate. The family and guests occupied what is now the front of the house, labeled "1a" in the photo.
The house was much smaller then than it is today. It's hard to imagine how everyone crammed into the building!
After Ann Clay's death in 1789, her son-in-law William Lees (no photo available) lived at 30 The Strand (shown circled in a 1797 sketch).
He and his business partner, Thomas Bond, ran a store across the street at 25 The Strand facing the river.
It offered a wide range of dry goods as well as sugar, coffee
and a few hogsheads of St. Croix rum.
In the painting the building had a sign "Shipping Supplies Livestock" on the front.
"Ivory Soap" is now painted on the Packet Alley side.
Packet Alley was where packet boats docked
(various-sized vessels carrying cargo including perhaps passengers).
The next owner was English immigrant Capt. James McCullough who had an event-filled but not easy life. His story is retold in a book of reminiscences by his daughter Sarah (pictured above) and in the autobiography of grandson Charles Heber Clark. McCullough married Mary McCullough (a cousin), a farm girl from Bloomfield near the current Delaware Memorial Bridge. He had 5 children while he split his time between home and the sea. He was captured by the British during the war of 1812 and taken briefly to Canada. He settled down at 30 The Strand, then purchased the store and buildings across the street. The fire of 1824 destroyed all his properties. He promptly built sections 1a, 1b and 1c of the house you see now but never recovered financially. After his death, the house went to son William (shown above) who though "beloved by everybody", "failed to succeed in every business he overtook".
Twelve-year-old Sarah McCullough witnessed the blaze, which destroyed her family's house as well as their store across the street. Her once well-to-do lifestyle (she attended New Castle Academy and took needlework lessons at 2 The Strand) was never the same as the family faced financial hardships. Her book of reminiscenses mentions not only the fire but that their relatives included two privateers!
Captain McCullough's grandson Charles Heber Clark was a humorist who wrote under the pen name Max Adeler. His Out Of the Hurly-Burly is set in New Castle. Like Washington Irving's "A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to ..." it is not to be taken literally. But, it is clear that Clark loved New Castle where he lived and not the Wilmington to which he apparently commuted. Clark provides details of Captain McCullough's character and details about his children including Sarah and William.
30 The Strand was sold at sheriff's sale in 1847 to local real estate investor Howell Terry. According to Cooper's History of New Castle, it was bought by Alfred Nowland, a wealthy merchant from Cecil County. After selling it to Maria Guthrie in 1858 he moved into the Van Leuvenigh house. Maria, her son Samuel, and his nephew Samuel Cleaver occupied the house for the next 45 years! They probably added section 2 and probably sheds in what are now sections 3 and 4.
Next, Julia Jefferson Dungan and her daughter Anne lived at 30 The Strand from 1903 to 1965. Julia (see photo of reenactor above) was a Southern sympathizer and an "Angel of Mercy" who brought food and comfort to Southern prisoners held captive at Fort Delaware during the Civil War. Her story is told now at the fort by reenactors. Letters she received from prisoners are saved at the Delaware Historical Society.
More recently, the late Bill and Marcia Quillen lived on The Strand and loved it. His many appointments included Delaware Secretary of State, Delaware Supreme Court judge and Chancellor. One daughter, Tracey Quillen Carney, is now first lady of Delaware. His other daughter Carol has been president of Davidson College for ten years. As young girls they left an imaginative note behind in the attic suggesting it was an underground railroad site. Although 30 The Strand appears small from the street, only 18 feet wide, it is about 85 feet deep, long enough to house political gatherings for up to 100 people. Their guests included then Senator Biden and Governors DuPont and Carper. Tracey was on Joe Biden's staff for 15 years.
The owners of 30 The Strand since 2004 are Jim and Rita Meek. Rita was a pediatric hematologist/ oncologist and former medical director at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for children. She was featured on the cover of Delaware Today's "TOP DOC" issue in 1998. Jim was a biochemist doing drug research at the NIH, Dupont Central Research and Astra Zeneca. His activities in New Castle included creating the historical nc-chap.org web site, serving as a Trustee of New Castle Common and creating the Hermitage Natural Area. Their improvements to the house included adding central air conditioning, rebuilding the kitchen and giving it a view over the Read House garden, a new full bathroom on the first floor and making four of the 8 1/2 fireplaces workable (2 gas, 2 wood) including one in the master bedroom.
About 90 percent of the houses in New Castle's historic district are more than 100 years old. Think of the stories they could tell! And while the old stories live on, new ones are being added. 30 The Strand is waiting for its next chapter this summer when Rita and I put the house up for sale and move to Oregon to be near our children and grandchildren. Leaving friends and 30 The Strand and New Castle will be difficult for us.
New Castle has a population that includes people who have lived here for a few years or for many generations. We and many others moved here because of the charm of the town. Areas with a large percentage of historic homes are likely to be charming because of the closeness of the houses, the interesting differences in them and the easy walkability around town to a bank, library, post office, four restaurants, a drugstore at least four museums and shops. And because neighbors are friendly. The houses tend to be well maintained because owners choose to come here and assume stewardship of an old house. All of this benefits from a history and mentality of preservation both in the owners and the local officials. Charming is not often an adjective applied to brand new suburban communities with large lots, little neighbor interaction and no past.
Jim Meek & Suzanne Loudermilk
2022
2022