Ridgely family papers

The Ridgely family first came to Delaware from Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 1723, when Nicholas Ridgely (1694-1755) moved near Newcastle, Delaware. Nicholas eventually settled in Dover, Delaware, in 1736. The family became wealthy farmers with a house in Dover, a farm outside of Dover called "Eden Hill," and various other properties in Kent County. The Ridgely Family Papers is a collection of twenty-eight holograph documents tracing ownership of a tract of land in Duck Creek Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, referred to as "Hillyard's Adventure." Originally belonging to John Hillyard, the land was purchased by Nicholas Ridgely on December 5, 1734. Documents in the collection include maps of the property, descriptions of the boundaries of the tract, records of the successive owners in the Ridgely family, and the eventual sale of the land to John M. Voshell in 1848.