One home that no longer stands in Milford but still exists in Sussex County is the Ratcliff-Sipple home. In 1986, a crew of workmen began the task of jacking up and moving the old cypress shingled home which had elements of a federal period dwelling in order to move it to Shipcarpenter Square in Lewes. The home stood at 212 South Washington Street.
The home, originally known as the Charles Lacy home, was and still is an example of Early American architecture worthy of preservation. Led by Jack Vessels and Dave Dunbar, Lewes restoration experts with Lewes Restoration Inc., the home was moved from its foundation to Lewes where it now stands with Mount Pleasant, built in 1725, which was the ancestral home of Curtis and Mary Brickloe who lived in Milford Neck along with a replica of the Mispillion Lighthouse created from the original lighthouse which was moved in the early 2000s.
The home and corner lot had longed been the property of Rachel B. Sipple Draper, the daughter of an early Milford merchant and landowner, Samuel Ratcliff. Her first husband, Walker Sipple, died in 1825 and the property was sold to Louder Layton, owner of Causey Mansion at the time. In 1849, Louder Layton’s will left the property to his daughter, Jane Agnes Masten, who sold the property back to Rachel after the death of her second husband, John R. Draper, in 1848.
Rachel and Walker had two children, Sarah Ratcliff Sipple and Rachel A. Sipple. Rachel died in 1849 at the age of 27. The Ratcliff family did not cease to exist when Rachel died in 1877. Her brother, John C. Ratcliff, loved in Milford and managed properties and affairs of his father, Samuel. John’s son, John, became a noted builder and lived at 303 South Walnut Street.
Rachel’s daughter, Sarah, married John A. Hazzard and moved to Milton She died in 1911 at the age of 97. Her son, Captain David Hazzard died in Milton in 1901 at the age of 60 but was predeceased by her second son, Sgt. William Walker Hazzard who died on duty with the 7th Calvary in Kansas in 1867.
In 1896, the home was purchased by Col. Robert H. Williams, who served as president of the First National Bank of Milford. At this point, Rachel had died and the home was owned by Hiram McColley, who inherited from Rev. Trusten P. McColley as well as Annie P. Williams, the widow of Robert’s brother, Raynear III.. Robert and Mary Elizabeth raised two sons , Raynear IV along with Foster Causey, known as Causey,  and a daughter, Elizabeth, in the home.
Elizabeth Williams died in 1900 after a brief illness at the age of 53.
On March 17, 1917, Robert took a fall on the street in Milford at the age of 72. He fractured his hip and was sent to a Philadelphia hospital. His injuries, according to news reports, were serious.
On September 1, 1917, Reynear IV died. There is no information as to how he died at the young age of 36, but his family entered an extended period of mourning, according to Milford historian Dave Kenton. Robert never recovered from the loss of his son. Causey Williams passed away in 1932 at the age of 56 after a long illness.
Their daughter, Elizabeth, married Ruby Ross Vale, local principal at the Milford Classical Academy. Ruby left the position to enter law school at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After graduating, he began working at a Philadelphia law firm. He also authored a textbook on corporation law practices and was well known nationally in legal circles. While he was working in Philadelphia, the couple resided with the Williams family in Milford. After his retirement, the Vales built a large Italianate home on the rear lot behind the Ratcliff-Sipple home where City Hall now stands.
The Vale’s had two children, Mary Elizabeth, who also died young in 1917, and Grace Ruby Vale who married Frederic Asche. She moved to Texas as her husband was a representative with Standard Oil.
After the Vale’s built their large home, they had the Ratcliff-Sipple home moved to 212 South Washington Street.
The Lacy-Sipple home now stands at 29 Shipcarpenter Square and has been completely restored inside and out.
