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diff --git a/27716.txt b/27716.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..738a319 --- /dev/null +++ b/27716.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10938 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Portrait of Old George Town, by Grace Dunlop Ecker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Portrait of Old George Town + +Author: Grace Dunlop Ecker + +Release Date: January 6, 2009 [EBook #27716] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PORTRAIT OF OLD GEORGE TOWN *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Louise Pattison and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: MAP _of_ GEORGE TOWN] + + + + + _A PORTRAIT_ + + _OF_ + + _OLD GEORGE TOWN_ + + + + +[Illustration: EARLY GEORGE TOWN] + + + + + A Portrait of + Old George Town + + BY + + GRACE DUNLOP ECKER + + [Illustration] + + _1951_ + + THE DIETZ PRESS, INCORPORATED + + _Richmond, Virginia_ + + + COPYRIGHT, 1951 + BY + GRACE G. D. PETER + + SECOND EDITION + Revised and Enlarged + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + DEDICATED + TO THE MEMORY OF + MY FATHER AND MOTHER + GEORGE THOMAS AND EMILY REDIN DUNLOP + AND + MY AUNT, ELLEN DUNLOP + ALL THREE OF WHOM LIVED LONG, USEFUL + AND UNSELFISH LIVES + IN GEORGETOWN + + + + +GEORGE TOWN GHOSTS + +_By_ WILLIAM TIPTON TABLOTT + + _The ghosts of Georgetown when they meet + In haunted house or moonlit street + With pride recall the functions gay + When down the Philadelphia way + The Federal City overnight + Moved to its bare and swampy site, + For Georgetown then a busy mart, + A growing seaport from the start, + Where a whole-hearted spirit reigned, + Threw wide its doors, and entertained + With wines and viands of the best-- + The Federal City was its guest._ + + _In memory of the good old days, + Whose ways to them were modern ways, + Congenial ghosts across Rock Creek, + With formal bows and steps antique, + Rehearse a spectral minuet + Where once in bright assemblies met-- + Beruffled belles looked love to beaus + In powdered wigs and faultless hose; + Or merchant ghosts survey the skies + And venture guesses weatherwise + Regarding winds that will prevail + To speed their ships about to sail._ + + _Still in the shaded hillside streets + A trace of old-time welcome greets + The passer-by who has a flare + For scenes of old. No longer there + A buoyant Georgetown stands alone, + The Federal City having grown + Until their boundaries overlap; + So that, deleted from the map, + Though once the Federal City's host, + Georgetown itself is now a ghost._ + + + + +_Foreword_ + + +It is not at all in my mind to write a history of Georgetown. Several +have been written, but I do want, very, very much, to paint a portrait +of this dear old town of my birth where my parents, my grandparents, +great-grandfathers and one great-great-grandfather lived, and which I +love so dearly. + +A portrait, partly of its physical features, its streets, its houses and +gardens, some of which still exist in their pristine glory but, alas, +many of which have gone the way of so-called progress. In place of the +dignified houses of yore, of real architectural beauty, stand rows of +cheap dwellings or stores, erected mostly in the seventies and eighties +when architecture was at its worst. In 1895 it was that the old names of +the streets were taken away and from then on we've been just an adjunct +of Washington. + +Not only of its physical side do I wish to tell, but I want to paint a +picture of the kind of people who lived here, from the beginning up +through the gay nineties--nearly one hundred and fifty years. Of the +kind of things they did, their work, their play, their thoughts and +their beliefs, for the character of the town, like human beings, was +formed largely by their beliefs, and these old Scotsmen--for they were +greatly in the majority--laid a great deal of stress on their +Presbyterian form of Christianity. Witness the oath that had to be taken +by the Flour Inspector on February 24, 1772: "I, Thomas Brannan, do +declare that I do believe that there is not any trnsubstantiation in +the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper or in the elements of bread and +wine, at or after the consecration thereof by any person whatsoever." + +And yet, with this strong prejudice, they cooperated and lived on +friendly terms with the Roman Catholics who, very soon after the taking +of this particular oath, founded their college and established their +convent for teaching young girls. + +Dr. Balch counselled well when he besought his people: "Let us resolve +to be social rather than fashionable, and generous instead of +extravagant." + +All down through the years and to this day I think that has been the +hall-mark of the real Georgetonian. A great deal of fashion has come to +Georgetown, as in the early days of the bringing of the government when +Washington City was a waste and almost entirely one big mud puddle, and +the foreign ministers and many high in our government sought the comfort +and dignity of this town, which was then far from young. + +Again in later years there has been an exodus across Rock Creek of men +and women high in the government; in the diplomatic corps; in industry; +in literature and the arts; lured hither by the quiet dignity of the +old-time atmosphere. + +There are today living in Georgetown descendants of nearly every one of +the original makers of the town, and all through these years the old +friendships still persist and flourish. + + * * * * * + +It is impossible for me to express my thanks to all the people who have +helped me and made it possible to write this book. I want to mention +Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor; Miss Williams of the Peabody Room of the +Georgetown Branch of the Public Library; Miss McPherson and Mr. John +Beverley Riggs of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress; +Mr. Meredith Colket and Mr. O. W. Holmes of the National Archives; Dr. +H. Paul Caemmerer, Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts; Miss +Pennybaker, of the Real Estate and Columbia Title Insurance Company; the +Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and Mr. C. C. Wall, Superintendent of +Mount Vernon. Also the various people who did the typing and helped +secure the photographs. + +And last but not least the friends of the old regime who have given to +me freely of the history and traditions of their ancestors. They are too +many to name, but to each one I owe a real debt of gratitude. Especially +to one, my life-long friend, am I indebted. Without her unceasing +interest and encouragement this Portrait might never have been done. + +GRACE GLASGOW DUNLOP ECKER. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + _Page_ + + DEDICATION v + + GEORGE TOWN GHOSTS vii + + FOREWORD ix + + _Chapter_ + + I. BEGINNINGS OF A TOWN 3 + + II. THE ORIGINAL TOWN AND ITS PEOPLE 13 + + III. THE TAVERNS, SHOPS, AND SCHOOLS 24 + + IV. THE STREETS OF GEORGE TOWN AND SOME OF THE + HAPPENINGS 40 + + V. WASHINGTON AND L'ENFANT IN GEORGE TOWN 51 + + VI. BELOW BRIDGE STREET 65 + + VII. ALONG BRIDGE (M) STREET 80 + + VIII. HIGH STREET, PROSPECT AVENUE, THE COLLEGE, THE + CONVENT, AND THE THRELKELDS 104 + + IX. ALONG FIRST STREET (N) FROM COX'S ROW TO HIGH + STREET (WISCONSIN AVE.) 125 + + X. GAY (N) STREET--EAST TO ROCK CREEK 135 + + XI. THE THREE PHILANTHROPISTS 161 + + XII. THE SEMINARY, WASHINGTON (30TH) STREET AND + DUMBARTON AVENUE 179 + + XIII. THIRD STREET, BEALL (O) STREET, WEST (P) STREET 208 + + XIV. STODDERT (Q) STREET 224 + + XV. TUDOR PLACE AND CONGRESS (31ST) STREET 261 + + XVI. EVERMAY, THE HEIGHTS AND OAK HILL 281 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 311 + + INDEX 313 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Early George Town _Frontispiece_ + + PAGE + + Rev. James McVean 6 + + Henry Foxall 73 + + Home of Henry Foxall 75 + + Old Presbyterian Church 84 + + General James Maccubbin Lingan } + } + Benjamin Stoddert } 88 + } + Uriah Forrest } + + William Marbury 94 + + Philip Barton Key } + } 96 + Mrs. Philip Barton Key (Elizabeth Plater) } + + Home of Francis Scott Key 100 + + Francis Scott Key 102 + + Benjamin Stoddert's House 110 + + Home of Dr. Charles Worthington 114 + + John Threlkeld 122 + + Colonel John Cox 124 + + Old Dr. Riley's House 139 + + 3017 N Street. The House that Thomas Beall Built 145 + + John Laird } + } 147 + James Dunlop, Senior } + + Major George Peter } + } + Judge James Dunlop } 152 + } + William Redin } + + Edward Magruder Linthicum 162 + + William Wilson Corcoran 164 + + George Peabody 175 + + Miss Lydia English 184 + + Dr. Grafton Tyler 188 + + Home of Judge Henry Henley Chapman 193 + + Old McKenney House 195 + + St. John's Church 198 + + Bodisco House 203 + + Christ Church 211 + + Washington Bowie 223 + + The Sevier House (Built by Washington Bowie) 225 + + The George T. Dunlop House 228 + + Home of Francis Dodge 231 + + Francis Dodge, Senior 233 + + The Sons of Francis Dodge, 1878 238 + + William A. Gordon 249 + + Dumbarton House 255 + + Tudor Place 260 + + Thomas Peter 262 + + Mrs. Thomas Peter (Martha Parke Custis) 264 + + Lloyd Beall 278 + + The Old Mackall House 285 + + Home of Brooke Williams 290 + + Madame Bodisco 294 + + Mount Hope. The William Robinson House 296 + + The Oaks (Now Dumbarton Oaks) } + } 300 + Montrose } + + William Hammond Dorsey 302 + + + + +_A PORTRAIT_ + +_OF_ + +_OLD GEORGE TOWN_ + + + + +Chapter I + +_Beginnings of a Town_ + + +There are many Georgetowns up and down the Atlantic seaboard in the +original thirteen colonies, and even one in Kentucky, much like the +Jamestowns and Charlestowns and Williamsburgs named for the sovereign of +the time, but this George Town of which I write was in Maryland on the +Potomac River, and because it was situated at the head of tidewater of +that great river, it became important on account of the great amount of +tobacco grown in that area and brought to this point to be carried +across the seas. + +The earliest knowledge we have of this region, which has become The +Capital City of the great United States of America, concerns the Indians +who were living here when the white explorers came. + +The first of these we know of was the redoubtable Captain John Smith, +who, in 1608, came up the Potomac River and made a map of his travels. +He tells us in his _Historie of Virginie_ of "the mildness of the aire, +the fertilitie of the soil, and the situation of the rivers to the +nature and use of man as no place more convenient for pleasure, profit +and man's sustenance." He was referring to the confluence of the Potomac +with its Eastern Branch and the then good-sized Rock Creek. + +In 1634 another Englishman, Henry Fleete, sailed up the river as far as +the Little Falls, trading furs with the Indians. Thus he wrote of the +site of George Town: + + "Monday, the 25th of June, we set sail for the Town of Tohoga, + where we came to anchor two leagues short of the falls: this place + is without question the most pleasant in all this country and most + convenient for habitation; the air temperate in summer and not + violent in winter. The river aboundeth in all manner of fish, and + for deer, buffalos, bears and turkeys, the woods do swarm with them + and the soil is exceedingly fertile." + +Henry Fleete remained with the Indians about twelve years, whether of +his own free will or as a captive is not quite certain, but evidently +this writing of his was to good purpose, for, in the next decade, small +parties of Scots and Irish began settling on the Potomac at the mouth of +Rock Creek. + +The Indians whom these white men found here belonged to the Algonquin +Nation, which included many tribes. Thomas Jefferson says there were +probably forty of these tribes between the Atlantic Ocean and the +Potomac River. The tribe living within the limits of the present +District of Columbia was the Nacotchankes or Anacostians, as the British +called them, hence, the name given to the Eastern branch of the Potomac, +where the largest village was situated, near what is now called Benning. +West of Rock Creek was the village of Tohoga, on the site of what became +George Town. + +The Indian families lived on cultivated farms of a few acres, each +strung out along the river. From it came a large part of their food, +and, of course, it was their best mode of communication by canoe. + +The most interesting activity of these Indians was the manufacture of +all manner of tools from the stones which they found in the surrounding +hills. These cobblestones had been washed down by the river ages before. +In later years they paved the streets of Georgetown, but these Indians +used them to form arrow-darts, knives, spear points, scrapers, and +drills of all sizes. Traces of these quarries were found as late as +1900; the largest of them seems to have been on Piney Branch, where it +is crossed by 16th Street. It is now obliterated. + +There was, also, in this region, soapstone, and from it and from clay, +the Indians made pots and vessels for household use. + +Scientists think that other tribes came from far away to barter their +goods for these implements, and so, over three hundred years ago, this +place was a sort of metropolis for the Indians. + +It was, of course, by way of the river that the settlers came to this +region after the grant of the Colony of Maryland to Lord Baltimore as +Lord Proprietor. This colony of Maryland differed from the other +colonies in the fact that all the land was the property of Lord +Baltimore, to give or sell as he pleased. Another difference was the +establishment of the Manorial System, by which the owner of one thousand +acres or more became Lord of his Manor. (It was almost like the Feudal +System.) + +In 1703 a grant of 795 acres was made to Ninian Beall, beginning thus: + + "Charles, Absolute Lord and Proprietor of the Province of + Maryland.... + + Know yee that for and in consideration that Ninian Beall of Prince + Georges County had due unto him 795 acres of land within our + Province.... + +[Illustration: REV. JAMES McVEAN (See Chapter XI)] + + We do therefore grant unto him the said Ninian Beall all that tract + or parcell of land called Rock of Dunbarton, lying in the said + County, beginning at the Southwest corner Tree, of a tract of land + taken for Robert Mason standing by Potomack River side at the mouth + of Rock Creek.... + + To have and to hold the same unto him the said Ninian Beall, his + heirs and assignees forever to be holden of us and our heirs as of + our manor of Calverton in free and Common Soccage by fealty only + for all manner of services yielding and paying therefor yearly unto + us and our heirs at our receipt at the City of St. Maries at the + two most usual feasts in the year--at the feast of Annunciacion + of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Michael the Archangell by even + and equal porcions the rent of one pound eleven shillings and nine + pence half penny sterling silver or gold.... + + Given under our Greater Seal of Armes, this eighteenth day of + November, one thousand seven hundred and three, witness our trusty + and well beloved Colonel Henry Darnell, keeper of our said Greater + Seale in our said Province of Maryland." + +Colonel Ninian Beall lived a long and interesting life. He had been born +in Largo, Fifes Shire, Scotland, in 1625. There he had been an officer +in the Scottish-English Army, which fought for the Stuarts' Army against +Cromwell; he was made a prisoner at the battle of Dunbar, September 3, +1650, and sentenced to five years servitude in the Barbadoes, West +Indies. Many gentlemen were so sentenced as political prisoners and sent +out as industrial servants at that time. He was eventually sent to +Maryland, where, after completing his term of servitude, he proved his +right to 50 acres of land and received many hundreds more for bringing +out immigrants and settling there. + +He held many notable and honorable offices in the colony, and, in 1699, +the General Assembly passed an Act of Gratitude for the distinguished +Indian services of Colonel Ninian Beall. + +As he was Commander in Chief of the Provincial Forces in Maryland, he +probably visited the garrison at the Falls and so knew this region long +before he was granted this tract of the Rock of Dunbarton. He previously +had procured 225 acres on the east side of Rock Creek just opposite, +called Beall's Levels. + +Ninian Beall died in 1717 at his home, Fifer Largo, near Upper Marlboro, +Maryland. From a description of him in the Records of the Columbia +Historical Society: + + ... "He had a complexion characteristic of his nationality, with an + unusually heavy growth of long red hair, and was over six feet in + height, powerful in brawn and muscle and phenomenal in physical + endurance." + +He had twelve children, six sons and six daughters. In his will is +recorded: + + "I do give and bequeath unto my son George, my plantation and tract + of land called the Rock of Dunbarton, lying and being at Rock + Creek, containing four hundred and eight acres, with all the stock + thereon, both cattle and hogs, them and their increase, unto my + said son, George, and unto his heirs forever. + + "I do also give and bequeath, unto my said son, George Beall, his + choice of one of my feather beds, bolster and pillow and other + furniture thereunto belonging, with two cows and calves and half my + sheep from off this plantation I now live on, unto him and his + heirs forever." + +This son, George, was the eighth child of Ninian Beall. He had a son, +Thomas, who always styled himself Thomas Beall of George; of him we +shall hear more later on. The family was not limited to these, for many +other Bealls, men and women, appear in the annals of George Town. + +George Gordon, the other of the two original proprietors of the lands +which became George Town, was also a Scotsman and had a share in a +manufacture at Leith, near Edinburgh, so it is evident that, when he +came to this country, he had means which he invested in Prince Georges +County and Frederick County, Maryland. He held the office of Sheriff of +Frederick County and was a judge of the first County Court. + +A deed to Gordon from James Smith, "planter," is dated November 13, +1734. In it, George Gordon is described as "merchant." The tract +conveyed was one hundred acres, known as "Knaves' Disappointment," a +part of three hundred acres called his Rock Creek Plantation. The +consideration was one hundred pounds sterling or about five hundred +dollars. + +It is thought that the original Inspection House of George Gordon was +built of logs not far from the mouth of Rock Creek, fronting on the +Potomac, somewhere between 1734 and 1748. The main inspection house was +built later on "the warehouse lot," an acre close to the southwest +intersection of Falls and Water Streets (M Street and Wisconsin Avenue). +He resided nearby at the site of 3206 M. Street. Later on, in 1745, +George Gordon bought an estate for a permanent home; it is thought to +have been near Holy Rood Cemetery or near the Industrial Home School on +Wisconsin Avenue. After the death of his wife, George Gordon left his +Rock Creek Plantation, and went to live at "Woodyard" with Stephen West. + +The will of George Gordon is dated May 10, 1766. At the time of his +death he had a son, John, and a daughter, who had married Tobias Belt. +To his son, John, "mariner," who was in the East India service, he +devised the dwelling house at Rock Creek Plantation on Goose Creek and +the waterside lot in Georgetown numbered 75. + +In those days tobacco was, of course, the big crop, and an English +writer called it "the meat, drink, clothing, and money of the +colonists." Regulations were very strict in regard to the exportation of +tobacco. + +Inspection houses for tobacco such as that of George Gordon were also +called Rolling Houses, from the fact that the hogsheads of tobacco had a +hole bored in each head and an axle run through from one end to another. +To this axle a shaft was attached, and drawn by a horse or an ox, so +rolled along over the rough roads of that time to their destinations. +Here was the one place in Frederick County for inspection; here was a +natural site for a town, and so came the demand for one. + +On June 8, 1751 the Assembly of the Province of Maryland appointed +commissioners to lay out a town here in the county of Frederick, which +had been formed in 1748 from Prince Georges County. The first appointed +were: Captain Henry Wright Crabb, Masters John Needham, James Perrie, +Samuel Magruder III, Josiah Beall, David Lynn. Appointed as their +successors from time to time as vacancies occurred, were: Andrew Heugh, +1754; Robert Peter, 1757; John Murdock, 1766; Thomas Richardson, 1772; +William Deakins, Jr., 1772; Bernard O'Neill, 1782; Thomas Beall, of +George, 1782; Benj. Stoddert, Samuel Davidson, 1785; John Peter, 1789, +and Adam Steuart. The last named gave up his American citizenship and +went to Europe to live, as he was not in sympathy with the Revolution. +His land was confiscated by the State of Maryland. The Surveyors and +Clerks of the Commissioners were: + + Alexander Beall, 1751-1757; Josiah Beall, 1757-1774; Robert + Ferguson, 1774, and Daniel Reintzel, 1774-1782. + +Meetings were held in private houses through all the years until 1789, +when, at last, George Town was incorporated. + +To return to the year 1752, when the first survey of ground for the town +was made, among the tracts surveyed were the following with their names: + + Conjurer's Disappointment (Deakins) + Frogland (Thomas Beatty) + Knave's Disappointment (George Gordon) + Discovery (Robert Peter) + Resurvey on Salop (John Threlkeld) + Pretty Prospect (Benjamin Stoddert) + Beall's Levels and Rock of Dumbarton (George Beall) + +The survey was completed on February 28, 1752 and Beall's and Gordon's +land found "most convenient." Each gentleman was offered two town lots +besides the price of condemnation. George Gordon chose numbers 48 and +52. George Beall had refused to recognize the proceedings of the +commissioners in any way, so he was notified that "if he did not make +his choice of lots within 10 days from February 28th, he could only +blame himself for the consequences." After reflecting for a week he sent +the following answer: + + If I must part with my property by force, I had better save a + little than be totally demolished. Rather than none, I accept these + lots, numbers 72 and 79, said to be Mr. Henderson's and Mr. + Edmonston's. But I do hereby protest and declare that my acceptance + of the said lots, which is by force, shall not debar me from + future redress from the Commissions or others, if I can have the + rights of a British subject. God save the King. + + GEORGE BEALL. + + March 7, 1752. + +Can't you see how difficult it was for the old gentleman (he must then, +by the records, have been about sixty years of age or more) to cooperate +with the changes that were coming to ruin, as he thought, his +comfortable and profitable plantation life? + +Two hundred and eighty pounds were paid for the sixty acres of the +original town. The southern boundary was the river, the western about +where the college now stands, the eastern a few feet west of the present +30th Street, and the northern boundary was a few feet south of the +present N Street. The only boundary stone still existing is the one that +was No. 2 in the survey, the northeastern corner of the town, and is now +in the garden of number 3014 N. Street. There were eighty lots in the +original town. + +The name has been variously attributed to George II, the King then +reigning; to the two Georges from whom the land was taken, and to George +Washington, which last is, of course, absurd, as he was then a young man +of twenty, engaged in surveying the properties of Lord Fairfax. + + + + +Chapter II + +_The Original Town and Its People_ + + +George Town flourished and became more and more a busy port. Its +population in 1800 was 2,993; by 1810 it was 4,948. Its wharves were +thronged with vessels sailing across the seas laden with the "precious +weed" and with wheat brought in from plantations for the "flouring +mills" in great Conestoga wagons painted red and blue drawn by six-horse +teams adorned with gay harness and jingling bells. Also, there was a +thriving coastwise trade, up to old Salem and Newburyport where the +clipper ships were built, and down to the West Indies. These ships +brought back sugar, molasses, and rum, and from the old country came +clothing, and furniture, and all sorts of luxuries, for the thriving +merchants were building comfortable homes and furnishing them in +elegance and taste. + +General Edward Braddock, after a brilliant military career under Prince +William of Orange, in Holland, had been made a major-general and put in +charge of troops in Virginia against the French. He landed his troops in +Alexandria, marched them up to where the ferry crossed to George Town, +where they divided, part going through Virginia, and he, with the +remainder, crossing the Potomac to George Town from whence he continued +on his fateful march to Fort Duquesne, where he met his terrible defeat +and lost his life. + +He had come from Perthshire in old Scotland, so, of course, had received +a warm welcome in this Scottish town. And thus he had written back to +England to George Anne Bellamy, the gifted actress, in 1755: "For never +have I attended a more complete banquet or met better dressed or better +mannered people than I met on my arrival in George Town, which is named +after our gracious Majesty." If only he had mentioned in whose house the +banquet was or the names of some of these agreeable people he met! + +James Truslow Adams, in his fascinating book, _The Epic of America_, +speaks over and over again of the culture of the pre-Revolutionary towns +along the Atlantic seaboard, and what a high point it had reached. No +better example could be found than this old town with its families who +had come from well-to-do circumstances, not, as was the case with so +many settlers of the new country, in order to escape trouble. They came +mostly from Scotland; witness the names as time goes on. Indeed, to such +an extent, that the little settlement had first of all been called New +Scotland. + +One of the very first to establish himself in the business of exporting +tobacco, was Robert Peter, who is often spoken of in old records as +"George Town's pioneer business man," and also as "The merchant prince +and land owner." As a young man of about twenty he had come from +Crossbasket near Glasgow, first to Bladensburg and thence to George +Town, and in 1752 established himself in business, and in 1790 became +its first mayor. He represented the firm of John Glassford & Company of +North Britain, Glasgow, well known both in England and in Scotland. So +much of the tobacco trade flowed into the Scottish city that the wealthy +merchants there who dealt in it were known as the "Virginia Dons," and +to this day there is in the old port of Glasgow a Virginia Street. + +James Dunlop, a cousin of Robert Peter, also had come from his home +Garnkirke, near Glasgow, first to New York, then to George Town about +1783 and established himself in this same lucrative exporting business. +He did a great deal of business in Dumfries, Virginia, near +Fredericksburg. + +These old letters give a picture of the times: + + George Town, December 15th, 1788. + + Gentlemen: + + Your favors of the 11th July duly received by Mr. Dunlop with the + black cloth, which I am afraid I shall soon have occasion for, my + old friend Mr. Heugh being now in a very dangerous way indeed, etc. + + GEORGE WALKER. + +Andrew Heugh had been one of the Commissioners in the laying off of +George Town. He owned one of the very first lots on the water front and +High Street. + +Here is another one of these letters: + + George Town, August 8, 1788. + + Gentlemen: + + The quantity of tobacco planted this year in the neighborhood of + this place is vastly larger than ever was known. John Campbell and + J. Dunlop are very backward in buying with all cash, but as Colonel + Deakins is again in cash the price still keeps at a guinea ... from + these causes I would not be forward in recommending speculation in + the weed, especially as those of good information are holding off. + + GEORGE WALKER. + +No less a person than General Washington himself wrote in 1791 that +George Town ranked as the greatest tobacco market in Maryland, if not in +the Union. + +Duc de la Rochefoucault Liancourt, traveling in the United States in +1795-'97, says that in 1791 tobacco exports from George Town were +$314,864.00. They went even higher in 1792 and 1793, but in 1794 and the +following years decreased considerably, which was attributed to two +causes: a falling off in tobacco growing, and a diversion of the capital +of the merchants to speculation in lots in the Federal City. + +A prominent firm in this same business of exporting tobacco was that of +Forrest, Stoddert, and Murdock, formed in 1783. Uriah Forrest was born +in St. Mary's County, Maryland, in 1756. He served with distinction in +the Revolution, was wounded in the Battle of Germantown and lost a leg +at the Battle of Brandywine. + +He was a delegate in the Continental Congress and served in the third +Congress from March 4, 1793 to November 8, 1794, when he resigned. He +was commissioned major-general in the Maryland Militia in 1795. + +After the war he went to London on business for the Government at his +own expense, but returned to enter business with his old friend, +Benjamin Stoddert. + +Born in Charles County, Maryland, in 1751, Stoddert was of Scottish +ancestry, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert who, while with the +Maryland contingent, was killed in Braddock's defeat. Benjamin Stoddert +had joined the Continental Army as a captain of cavalry and was in +active service until the Battle of Brandywine where, after holding the +rank of major, he was so severely wounded as to unfit him for active +service. He had seriously considered settling in either Baltimore or +Alexandria, urged by friends in each of these cities, but decided that +George Town was a better venture. + +Colonel John Murdock was already living in George Town where his father, +William Murdock, was in business. + +Francis Lowndes also had a large warehouse, and John Laird was +prosperous in this business, and as time went on, meant a great deal to +Georgetown. Colonel Deakins, Jr., was prominent, for on his tomb was +inscribed: "George Town, by the blow, has lost her most illustrious +patron." He was only fifty-six when he died in 1798. In his youth, he +had done surveying with George Washington. + +Henry Threlkeld was born in Cumberland County, England, in 1716, came to +America and bought an estate of 1,000 acres known as Berleith, bordering +on the Potomac. It ran northward, and the present sites of Georgetown +College and Convent are on part of this land. He seems to have continued +to farm his estate, and died in 1781. His only child, John, became very +prominent in all of the affairs of the town. + +Joseph Carlton, also in the tobacco business, who died in March, 1812, +when only fifty-eight years old, had held the office of postmaster in +1799. + +General James Maccubbin Lingan, a tobacco shipper, who was the first +collector of the port ... "1790 and before," had had a very remarkable +career in the Revolution. + +Colonel Charles Beatty owned a ferry which did a thriving business +between the Virginia shore and the foot of Frederick Street at Water +Street. + +Ebenezer Dodge had come from Salem, Massachusetts, and built up a +successful coastwise trade with the East Indies, his younger brother, +Francis, coming in 1798, of whom I shall have a great deal to say in +another chapter. + +Peter Casanave was much in evidence in business deals. + +John M. Gannt was a prominent merchant; also, William King, whose name +is still known in business here. + +Among the lawyers were Philip Barton Key and Joseph Earle. + +Doctor Magruder is spoken of over and over again. He seems to have been +"the doctor" at that time. Doctor Weems also had a good practice. + +From _The Virginia Gazette_ of January 14, 1775, is taken this note in +regard to a project much in the minds of the business men of George Town +at that time: + + At a meeting of the Trustees for opening the navigation of the + Potomack River held in George Town December 1, 1774, Thomas + Johnson, Jr., Attorney at Law, Wm. Deakins, Adam Steuart, Thomas + Johns, Thomas Richardson, merchants of George Town, appointed to + hire slaves for cutting canals around the Falls of the River, etc. + +Of course, George Town, like every other town in the country at that +time, was peopled largely by negroes. Some owners hired out the ones +they themselves did not need, either for work of this kind or for +domestic service. A delightful story is told of how one of the +shipowners sent a "likely" young negress back to Scotland on one of his +vessels, as a present to his mother. Many weeks later when the vessel +returned, on it was Chloe with a note thanking "my dear son" for his +gift, but saying, "I have had her scrubbed and scrubbed, but as it is +impossible to remove the dirt and stain, I am returning her." + +In 1788 Thomas Corcoran, who that year came to George Town from +Baltimore, intended to go on to Richmond, but instead stayed and +established a business in leather, says: "There were then in harbor ten +square-rigged vessels, two of them being ships and a small brig from +Amsterdam taking in tobacco from a warehouse on Rock Creek." The mouth +of the creek at that time was a bay, wide and deep, and as late as 1751 +the tide ebbed and flowed as far up as the present P Street bridge. + +Near there stood the paper mill built about 1800 by Gustavus Scott and +Nicholas Lingan, and described in an old advertisement as being 120 feet +long, three stories high, the first story built of stone. Just beyond +was Parrott's Mill, called the George Town Wool and Cotton Manufactory. +Parrott also had a Rope Walk on the northern outskirts of the Town. A +little farther north of Parrott's Mill at the bend of Rock Creek was +Lyon's Mill, said to have been built in 1780. + +Naturally all through these years during and after the Revolution there +was a great deal of unrest, and trade was much affected. + +The following is a copy of an authentic letter from the celebrated Dr. +Franklin to a friend in England on the subject of the first campaign +made by the British forces in America and, although not written from +Georgetown, it shows the state of mind of many people. + + Dear Sir. I am to set out tomorrow for the camp and having heard of + this opportunity can only write a line to say that I am well and + hardy. + + Tell our good friend--who sometimes has his doubts and despondencies + about our firmness that America is determined and unanimous, a very + few tories and place men excepted, who will probably soon export + themselves. + + Britain, at the expense of 3 millions has killed 150 yankees this + campaign which is 20,000 pounds a head, and at Bunker's Hill she + gained one mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our + taking post on plowed hill. During the same time 60,000 children had + been born in America. + +Also this letter, which James Dunlop received in New York shortly before +coming to Georgetown, gives, I think, a very vivid picture of both +political and economic thinking of the time: + + Glasgow + + January 31, 1783 + + Mr. James Dunlop, Merchant, New York, c/o the Pacquet. + + Dear Sir: + + This comes by the pacquet which will bring you the Preliminary + Articles of Peace which were signed at Paris on 20th and we had the + account here on the 27th at 8 in the morning which was very quick. + We have not yet seen the Articles, but we have reason to believe + upon the whole it is as reasonable as could well be expected unless + we had made another campaign in the West Indies with the Troops from + America and our present great superiority at sea. We had reason to + expect everything would have gone to our liking, and considering the + great quantity of West Indies and American produce now on hand + perhaps you will think we, as well as our neighbours, would had no + objections to another Campaign. + + I have seen all your late letters, am sensible the news of Peace + after the purchase you have lately made, will give you much + uneasiness but the company are sensible you did it with a good + intention and except the idea of peace, your reasons for the + purchase were very good, however we thought that General Carletons + declaration to you that Negotiations for Peace were open and that in + the first place Britain declared the Independence of America, would + have alarmed you or at least prevented you from exceeding the + Company's limits so very much especially for so large a quantity. I + suppose what made you so very sanguine that we should have another + Campaign was the Rockingham party going out and Lord Shelbourne + coming and on his first appearance declaring against American + indenpendence, which speech deceived many here as well as with you. I + am happy to inform you the Ruby arrived four days ago which brought + us the 100 Hhds Tobacco without a farthing of Insurance which is + very luckie and will help to make the loss on the tobacco fall + season. We have not yet heard any account of the Favorite. We have + done 16 on the Tobacco on her and don't intend to do any more. + + If this Tobacco turned out good in quality and no great quantity + comes home for six months I still flatter myself there will be no + great loss upon the Sales. There has been no sale of any kind these + five weeks past nor will not be till some time after we see the + Articles of Peace which we now expect in three or four days, as they + were to be laid before Parliment two days ago. I suppose in a short + time after the receipt of this you will be going to visit our old + friends in Virginia. It is very probable I may have the pleasure of + seeing you there in a few months and as America has gotten her + wishes I hope she will once more be a happy Country and we shall + enjoy the blessings of Peace with our old Acquaintance and Brethern + and I hope it will cement the friendship between the Mother and the + Daughter to the mutual advantage of both Countrys. + + I had the pleasure of seeing your Sisters all week--several nights + at Mr. William Dunlop's. + + Wishing you all the happiness and with compliments to all + acquaintance I am, Dear Sir, + + Your most humble servant + + JAMES ANDERSON + +Also in a letter from a young British Officer (also a Scotsman) who was +a military prisoner in a camp at Lancaster, Pennsylvania who was trying +to get to Petersburg, Virginia to see his father who was there on +business from Glasgow, there is this addition. + + P.S. I have this moment received a letter from Phila. informing me + of a passport being procured for my going to Virginia. I shall set + off immediately. Adieu. + +Can't you picture his excitement after many trials to at last get in +touch with his father! + +On March 18, 1783 Archibald Govan sends two letters enclosed to a friend +in New York to forward to Virginia "by the safest, spediest conveyance. +There is probally now a post direct from New York through the +Continent." + +In these days ships approached George Town by way of the Western +Channel, as it was called, on the far side of Analostan Island, where +the depth of the water was from twenty-seven to thirty-three feet--deep +enough to admit the passage of an "Indiaman." + +George Washington Parke Custis, the owner of Arlington, was much +disturbed when a causeway was built across from the island to the +Virginia shore, and prophesied the filling of the channel and the end of +George Town as a port. + +So up the creek to these mills for their produce, and up the great river +to its wharves, piled high with hogsheads of tobacco came these ships +and many more of which we have not the names: + +The _Potomack Planter_, Captain James Buchanan, for London. + +The brig _Brothers_. + +The schooner _Betsey_, bringing rum, coffee, and chocolate. + +The ships _Ritson_ and _Felicity_. + +The sloops, _Lydia_ and _Betsey_, plying between George Town and New +York. These ships from the North were laden with whale oil to be used +for the lamps which, in 1810, were placed on the streets to "enable the +citizens to go safely to and from evening service." + +The _Columbia_ from Martinique, and the ship _Lydia_, Lemuel Toby, +master, for London, which on September 6, 1792 had this advertisement +in _The George Town Weekly Ledger_: + + Will sail in twelve or fifteen days: such as may be desirous of + taking passage in said ship may depend on being genteelly + accommodated. For further particulars apply to Col. Wm. Deakins, or + the Captain on Board. + +Out beyond the northern limits of the Town, just opposite where Mount +Alto Hospital now stands, high on a hill which has been dug away, stood +in those days a tremendous oak tree which was used by the pilots coming +up the river to guide them on their way. For a hundred years it stood, +known as Sailors' Oak, but like so many other things, has had to go in +the interest of Progress. + + + + +Chapter III + +_The Taverns, Shops, and Schools_ + + +With ships arriving and departing and the land travel passing from North +to South and back again, besides the country gentlemen coming to town to +sell their crops and tend to other business, there was need for many +taverns, and plenty of them there were in George Town. + +According to Mr. O. W. Holmes of the National Archives who has recently +written a fine article on the Colonial Taverns of Georgetown for the +Columbia Historical Society, which he read before the Society on January +16, 1951, the earliest tavern of which there is record was kept by +Joseph Belt who was granted a license by the newly created Frederick +County Court in August, 1751 "to keep a Public House of Entertainment at +the Mouth of Rock Creek." + +Previously Thomas Odell had petitioned for such a "Lyssance" in 1747 to +Prince George's County for one year--but we hear no more of him so are +not certain that he continued in business. But Joseph Belt did and in +the _Maryland Gazette_ (Annapolis) for March 19, 1752, is this +announcement: + + Notice is hereby given that the Land appointed by Act of Assembly to + be laid out into a town, by the name of Georgetown, adjacent to the + warehouse at the Mouth of Rock Creek, in Frederick County, is + accordingly laid out, and the lots will be sold the 4th Monday in + March, being the 23 of the month at the House of Joseph Belt, living + in the said Town in ten of the Clock before noon. + + Per order of the Commissioner + Alexander Beall, Cl. + +In 1760 Mr. Belt bought two of the most desirable lots in town at the +southeast corner of Water Street (Wisconsin Ave.) and Bridge (M) and +apparently built on the southernmost one of them a tavern where real +estate sales took place frequently--and again in the _Maryland Gazette_ +for September 19, 1771, is this insertion: + + Frederick County, Sept. 8, 1771 + + The Subscriber continues to keep a House of Entertainment in George + Town, at the Kings Arms, and as he is provided with Good + Entertainment, Stabling, and Provender for Horses, would be obliged + to all Gentlemen travelling and others for their customs and they + may depend on kind usage, by their Most Humble Servant, + + JOSEPH BELT + +So it is quite possible that it was still here and that General +Braddock's soldiers attracted by the name and sign stopped to slake +their thirst before continuing their long march to the West. + +This Joseph Belt appears to have been the nephew of Col. Joseph Belt, +the original patentee of Chevy Chase. He was a highly respectable man +and well thought of. + +Another tavern of that period was kept by John Orme who in his petition +for a license promised as did others of that period "to keep Tavern in +George Town, to keep good Rules and Orders and not suffer the loose and +disorderly persons to Tipple, Game, or Commit other disorders or +irregularities within his aforesaid House." + +In the _Maryland Gazette_ in September in 1760 is a notice of horse +races to be held at George Town, the horses "to be Entered the Day +before Running, with Messrs. Joseph Belt and John Orme in George Town." + +The same notice again in 1761. I wonder where the races took place. John +Orme was the son of the Rev. John Orme, a Presbyterian minister who +served as pastor at Upper Marlboro from 1720 until he died in 1758. + +His tavern was apparently on the northeast corner of the present M +Street and Wisconsin Avenue, where the Farmers and Mechanics Branch of +Riggs Bank now stands. + +In the _Maryland Gazette_ of September 29, 1768, Thomas Belt offers for +sale "At the house of Mr. John Orme, in George Town ... part of a Tract +of Land, called Chevy Chace, containing 200 and 300 acres about 5 miles +from said Town." + +After the death of John Orme in 1772 his widow inserted a notice in the +paper--and added, "N. B. The Executrix will continue to keep Tavern for +ready money only. Lucy Orme." + +But they were not left in straightened circumstances, and the three Orme +daughters married very well. + +There is mention of a Cornelius Davies and also of John Wise keeping +tavern for short periods. This may have been the same John Wise who +later opened a tavern in Alexandria which became the well-known Gadsby's +Tavern. + +Also there was Christian Boncer, during the Revolution who like John +Orme, before him, was likewise running a ferry over the Potomac. + +And then in October, 1779, John Beall is referred to as occupying the +home where Joseph Belt formerly kept tavern. + +In November 1782, Mr. Beall announced that he was moving "into the large +Stone House near the Square, the best calculated house in town for +entertaining Gentlemen, Travellers, and Others." + +And then Mr. Ignatius Simpson moved into the "House formerly occupied by +Mr. John Beall," and the next year, 1783, the Commissioners record +meeting at the "House of Mr. Ignatius Simpson." And in 1784 Mr. Simpson +had no license issued and the Commissioners met "at the House of Mr. +John Suter." It would seem that this same house had been a tavern ever +since Joseph Belt built a house there. + +From then on Suter's Tavern became the best-known meeting place in town +and even the birthplace of the District of Columbia for there was signed +the agreement with the proprietors of the land for the Federal City. + +Christian Hines says in his little book _Early Recollections of +Washington_ that Suter's Tavern was a one-story frame and stood on High +Street, between Bridge and Water Streets, a little east of the canal +bridge. Christian Hines as a youth of fifteen was an apprentice living +with the Green family just across the street from this building, and +although he wrote his Recollections when he was an old man, it is a +well-known fact that old people remember happenings of their youth +better than those of last month or last week. + +It was a rather small building, a story and a half high, according to an +old print, and had a large Inn Yard at the side and back for the +accommodation of the coaches, wagons and steeds of its patrons. + +John Suter was a Scotsman who had been living out in Montgomery County +but apparently from 1784 until his death in 1794 his tavern was a very +busy place. Here it was that General Washington stayed when he was +passing through. + +This notice shows John Suter's standing in the community: + + Georgetown, August 21, 1790 + + All persons having claims against the Estate of John Cornne, + deceased, are desired to bring them in legally attested. Those + indebted to make speedy payment to + + John Suter, Administrator + +From the _Times and Potowmack Packet_: + + Meeting at Mr. Suter's Tavern in George Town, 14 December, 1790, for + erecting a New Warehouse contiguous to the Old Inspection on Col. + Normand Bruce's property in George Town. + + Edward Burgess + Bernard O'Neill + + For Sale. On Monday the 3d of January next will be offered for sale + at the House of Mr. John Suter in George Town that Lot or _Acre of + Ground_ whereon the _Old_ Warehouse formerly stood.... A good title + will be given agreeably to the last Will and Testament of Thomas + Hamilton deceased of Prince Georges County. + + December 11, 1790 Andrew Hamilton + +Then there is this little item from the same paper: + + The subscriber has for sale, by the Box, a small supply of fresh + Lisbon LEMONS, imported in the Potomack Planter. + + Capt. James Buchanan + George Town Sept. 7, 1790 John Suter + +Fresh fruit was evidently an event. + +After Mr. John Suter's death, his son John Suter, Jr., took over the +tavern and ran it until he moved to the Union Tavern. + +It had been built in 1796 at a cost of $16,000, according to a newspaper +of the day advertising it for sale: "It is a handsome substantial brick +building of three stories, fronting 60 ft. on the most public street in +town (Bridge Street), and running back 63 ft. on a wide and commodious +street (Washington). The house is admirably calculated for a tavern." +The advertisement tells the number and size of the rooms, cellars, +passages and cross passages, and ends thus: "There are stables +sufficient for the accommodation of 50 horses with commodious sheds for +carriages ... and not twenty yards from the kitchen is a copious and +never failing spring of most excellent running water." The main building +differed but little from others, but north of this and running north +upon Washington Street to the next street, was a wing, one or two +stories high, and one room deep, the doors opening into a covered +corridor supported by brick arches, beyond which was a large courtyard +paved with stone. The rooms along this corridor were occupied entirely +by gentlemen, many being planters from the lower river counties of +Virginia and Maryland. They came up on the old _Salem_, which made +weekly trips and stopped at all the river landings. On the opposite side +of the courtyard was a large building in which was a fine ballroom known +as Pompean Hall. This room must have been used for the following event: + + Birthnight Ball. The Ladies and Gentlemen of George Town and its + vicinity are informed that there will be a Ball at the Union Tavern + on Friday the 22nd instant (Feb. 22, 1799), in honor of + Lieutenant-General George Washington. At request of the Managers. + John Suter, Jr. + +In addition to this very historic ball, the George Town Assemblies used +to be held here. Mrs. William Thornton has recorded in her diary that on +Monday, January 1st, 1810: + + A very crowded assembly at the presidents. We staid about two hours. + President and Lady went to Georgetown Assembly. Chariot broke at + night. + +These august guests at the assembly were, of course, James Madison and +the charming Dolly. + +When Mr. Suter opened the Union Tavern in March, 1799, Francis Kearns +put this notice in the paper: + + Sign of the Ship. The subscriber begs leave to inform his friends + and the public that he has rented the tavern formerly occupied by + Mr. Suter, called The Fountain Inn, where he has all kinds of + liquors accounted necessary for travellers. Add to this a well of + water not to be surpassed in Town. I am determined to spare no pains + to render this situation agreeable and flatter myself from a desire + to please that I shall meet with encouragement. I also will + accomodate 6 or 8 gentlemen boarders on reasonable terms. A livery + stable will be kept for a few horses. + + June 31, 1800 Francis Kearns + +Francis Kearns having taken over the Union Tavern from John Suter, Jr. + +Again, in 1802 this building changed hands, for in _The Washington +Federalist_ is the announcement of reopening, and assurance of best +liquors, and begins: "Anchor Tavern and Oyster House (late the Fountain +Inn), George Pitt, Proprietor of former Eagle Tavern." + +Then there was the City Tavern, kept by Charles McLaughlin. Benjamin +Lacy rented two brick houses from Charles Beatty on Water Street and +called his The Sailors' Tavern. John Tennally had a tavern (from him +came the name of Tennally Town). Joseph Semmes's Tavern at the Sign of +the Indian King, was very well known. It seems to have moved several +times. In advertisements for houses for rent or for sale, they seemed +always to be next door to or across the street from Semmes's Tavern or +Dr. Magruder's. + +From _The Museum_, January 1, 1802: + + The Subscriber begs leave to inform his friends and the public that + he has removed from his late dwelling in the main street to that + large and commodious three story new BRICK BUILDING, Sign of the + Indian King, adjoining the Bank of Columbia, which he has fitted up + at considerable expense for the accomodation of travellers. He + embraces this opportunity of returning his grateful thanks to those + gentlemen who have heretofore favored him with their custom and + hopes by a faithful discharge of his duty to merit the countenance + and support of the public. + + George Town, Joseph Semmes + +_The Museum_, 28th of January, 1802: + + To be sold at Union Tavern, The BRICK HOUSE formerly occupied as a + Tavern by Mr. Semmes. + + Philip Barton Key + William Thornton + +Do you suppose that Mr. Semmes had his tavern in this place for only one +month? + +Jane White advertises that she intends to continue her "house of +entertainment" (Mrs. White's Tavern) on a more enlarged plan, asks for +settlement of debts. Nov. 27, 1790. + +George Stevens announces he has removed to the place lately occupied by +Mr. William King, Merchant, of this place (the house where Col. William +Deakins has lived for many years past). + +There are still, to this day, William Kings in business in Georgetown. + +Mr. George Stevens also advertises: + + Any gentleman wanting to buy Ginseng may by giving a few days notice + find a supply from said Stevens from One to Five Thousand weight. + +And this from the _Times and Potowmack Packet_, April 21, 1790: + + Charles Fierer & Co. + + Gentlemen may have their Coats of Arms or other devices cut on Glass + and fancy pieces executed by sending their orders. + +Also these items: + + Doctors Beatty and Martin have just received from Philadelphia and + Baltimore: Opium, Mercury, Jolap, Ipecacoanha, Nitre, Glanker Salts, + Gum Kino, Columbo root, assorted vials, carts, etc. Red and other + Bark. + + Dr. Magruder has lately received an elegant supply of most + fashionable paper hangings--and his usual Assortment of Drugs and + Medicines. + +He catered to various tastes of his patrons: + + Dr. Cozens has just opened a general assortment of Drugs and + Medicines in the house formerly occupied by Mr. Andrew McDonald in + Water Street, opposite to Mr. James King's Wharf, which he means to + sell at a moderate price. He likewise offers his services to the + public as a practitioner of physic, surgery and midwifery. Mrs. + Cozens also informs the ladies that she practices Midwifery and from + her experience and universal success she flatters herself she shall + give satisfaction to all those who favor her with their commands. + + Mr. Gardette, Dentist, respectfully informs the public that he is + arrived in George Town, where he proposes staying two weeks or + thereabouts. He has taken lodgings at Mr. Semmes' Tavern. + +Another poor soul who was in trouble inserted this advertisement: + + It is terrible to my feelings, but I am compelled to give notice + that I intend petitioning the next General Assembly for an act of + Insolvency in my favor. + +A few months later he advertised thus: + + Having taken the house in this place lately occupied by Mr. James + Clagett, between the College and the River, a pleasant and healthy + situation, I will take four or five boys as boarders at the usual + rates, paid quarterly. + +So let us hope he got "on his feet" again. + +John Stevens, merchant, advertised himself thusly: + + My weights are good, my measures just, + My friends I am too poor to trust. July 15, 1780. + +Apparently they had plenty of newspapers. In 1789 _The Times and +Potowmack Packet_; in 1790 _The Weekly Ledger_ (an appropriate name for +this town of counting houses); in 1796 _The Sentinel of Liberty_, a more +high-flown name; in 1801, _The Museum_, and a great many more as time +went on. + +The first bank was the old Bank of Columbia, organized in 1793. Then, +there was the Union Bank. I have seen a great many of its checks, +smaller than the ones of today and very simply printed. + +Business notes in those days were written on any scrap of paper, +apparently. Many that I have seen had torn edges, but always the writing +was regular and even, if sometimes hard to read. Very often it looked +like copperplate engraving. The English pound was used as late as 1796. + +Plenty of schools there seem to have been. One famous man (he was +William Wirt, the author of _The British Spy_ and Attorney-General of +the United States for twelve years under James Monroe and John Quincy +Adams) was sent to George Town for his early training, and has written +thus: "In 1779 I was sent to George Town, eight miles from Bladensburg +to school, a classical academy kept by Mr. Rogers. I was placed at +boarding with the family of Mr. Schoofield, a member of the Society of +Friends.... I passed one winter in George Town and remember seeing a +long line of wagons cross the river on the ice, attached to troops going +South." + +Thomas Kirk, an Irish gentleman, kept a school first on Washington +(30th) Street, later at High (Wisconsin Avenue) and Cherry Streets. +Reverend Addison Belt, of Princeton, had a school on Gay (N) Street, +between Congress (31st) and Washington (30th) Streets. Christian Hines +says: "In 1798 I went to school to a man named Richmond who kept school +in a small brick house attached to the house of Reverend David Wiley, +graduate of Nassau Hall, who had come in 1802 from Northumberland on the +Susquehanna. He was a better mathematical than classical teacher. He was +mayor, librarian, merchant, teacher, preacher and keeper of the post +office at the same time." + +Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Wiley advertised their "Boarding School for Young +Ladies at George Town in the Vicinity of Washington." In the same year +E. Phillips had "A School for Young Ladies on the north side of Bridge +Street, nearly opposite the Printing Office." There were several +teachers of French who advertised in the paper; Monsieur A. L. +Jancerez, Monsieur Caille, "a French gentleman wishes to teach drawing, +etc." To supply all these schools was "John March, Stationer and +Bookseller, next door to Mr. Semmes's Tavern." + +And you see they could buy pretty baubles and delectable foods, for +Dinsmore and Francis advertise their "New Grocery, Wine and Liquor +Store, nearly opposite Burnet and Rigden's, Watchmakers and Jewelers." +Another well-known merchant said his new line of spring clothing had +just arrived. And John Dabney "had received and had for sale at his +cabinet and chair factory a large quantity of Windsor chairs." West +along Bridge Street, before 1790, William Eaton had "mahogany ware, +chairs and tables, beds, etc., finished and unfinished." Another +cabinet-maker was Mr. Schultz. James Welsh, cabinet-maker from London, +opened a shop in 1790 and advertised for an apprentice. And there was a +well-known silversmith, for S. Kirk and Sons, of Baltimore, have +identified a tea service as having been made by Charles C. Burnett, who +worked as early as 1793. Another silversmith who had a shop on Bridge +(M) Street in 1833 was R. H. L. Villard. + + Glass Store. The subscribers have opened and have for sale at their + house next door to Captain Richard Johns a complete assortment of + Window and Hollow Glass Ware, manufactured in this State and equal + in quality and cheaper than that imported from Europe. + + Charles Frierer and Co., 1790 + +Thomas Beatty and Company called their store "The Sign of the Golden +Fan." + + Manufactory of Tobacco. Henry Brand & Co. Respectfully inform the + Public that they have removed from New York to this Town. + + George Town Academy. Madame de la Marche has for sale waters for + sore eyes and various salves. + +There were public pumps here and there for common use, but many +householders had springs or cisterns. + +In 1803 the first fire engine was purchased. Every house owner was +obliged to have as many leather fire buckets kept in the house as there +were stories to his home, to contain not less than two and a half +gallons of water each. The little oval metal placques one sees now and +then affixed to houses in Georgetown were, in those days, put only on +the houses of the members of the volunteer companies to denote that +"here lives a fireman." Later, in 1817, _The Vigilant_, a new fire +engine, was bought. Its house is still on High Street, just below +Bridge. Set in the wall down near the pavement is a stone with this +inscription: + + BUSH + THE OLD FIRE DOG + DIED OF POISON + JULY 5TH, 1869 + R. I. P. + +Someone who remembers him tells me that he was a collie, and that he +went to every fire along with the engine. I think the men whose +companion he was, and who evidently loved him when they inscribed the +"R. I. P.," must have believed, as I do, that like the Jim in the poem +of that name by Nancy Byrd Turner, he would meet them joyously "on the +other side." + +Of course, the fire engines in those days--1817, I mean--were drawn by +hand, and the old bucket-passing system was in vogue. + +Farther uptown, on the corner of Gay and Market Streets, was the home +of The Potomac Fire Engine Company. There was great jealousy between the +two. While the fire was raging, both worked together beautifully, but as +soon as it was over, there was usually a fight. + +South of the canal on High Street stood the Debtors' Prison. This was +the only prison in the lower part of Montgomery County, although the +county court was held at Rockville, and there the cases were tried. At +one time the town clerk of George Town got tangled up in his money +matters and was placed in this prison where he languished until his +friends made good his debts. A report was made to the Town Council that +he could not perform his duties because he was in jail! Nothing now +remains but a part of the old stone wall. + +Here is a description of some of the houses offered for sale: + + Together or separate, 2 handsome dwelling houses, situated in George + Town on Potomack, they contain 5 rooms with fire place, four bed + chambers, two closets, and have two handsome piazzas. A kitchen near + the house, a bake house, two rooms for domestics, a stable, coach + house, a beautiful (falling) garden, ornamented with terraces, well + grassed, a large fish pond, a well and a spring of water, 150 young + fruit trees, the whole finished and done in the neatest manner under + a handsome and excellent enclosure containing three lots and a half, + extending 170 ft. on Fayette Street and 192 on Third Street. Apply + to John Threlkeld. + +Here is one of the business places advertised: + + The warehouse and wharf on Water Street, lately occupied by the + Naval Agent (this was in 1802). There are four floors in this house, + with a room on the second and third with a fire place in each, one + intended for a compting room and the other for a lodging room. + + W. S. Chandler. + +Evidently a clerk had to sleep on the premises as guard. + +There were architects and builders to put up these fine and commodious +houses, for these advertisements appear: + + William Lovering, Architect and General Builder--Begs leave to + inform his friends and the public, that he has removed from the City + of Washington to Gay Street, the next street above the Union Tavern + in George Town, where he palns to estimate all manner of buildings, + either with materials and labor, or labor only. Specimens of + buildings suitable for the obtuse or acute angles of the streets in + the City of Washington may be seen at his home. May 1, 1800. + + Henry Carlile, Architect, Carpenter and Joiner. Respectfully informs + his friends and the Public in general, that he proposes to undertake + all kinds of buildings, as formerly he hath done in Europe and this + country; on the lowest terms, with or without material, as he has + learned the theory under the first architects in Europe, also + practice in first buildings there, and hath finished elegant + buildings in Europe, with and without materials, and in this country + hath always had the good fortune of having the patronage and + friendship of his employees, and hopes by attention to please and to + execute, that he will meet with the encouragement of a generous + public. He also begs leave to return his sincere thanks to his + worthy employers in this Town and Country, for the encouragement he + hath met with since coming to this Town, and assures them nothing + shall be wanting on his part to merit a continuance of their favors. + + George Town, September 8, 1790. + + Wm. Pancost--Architect and Carpenter, can by the asistance of David + Willers, pump maker, late from Philadelphia, serve the public by + supplying them with pumps, cove logs or girders, for any purpose on + the shortest notice. + + George Town, near the Lower Ware Houses, Jan. 29, 1799. + +Then in 1800, James Hoban, who was the architect and builder of the +President's House, put this in a paper: + + $2.00 per day will be given for good carpenters and joiners, at the + President's House and in proportion for those less skilful, to be + paid daily or weekly, as may be required. + +Imagine! Now when the White House is being rebuilt hiring "good +carpenters and joiners for $2.00 per day!" + + + + +Chapter IV + +_The Streets of George Town and Some of the Happenings_ + + +The houses had no numbers, but the streets had descriptive names. Along +the river, Wapping, changing to The Keys and East to West Landing where +all the busy loading and unloading of vessels took place. Just above +there running west off Water Street for a short distance was Cherry Lane +(now Grace Street). What a pretty name! Once a fashionable neighborhood, +later on a slum. + +Running north and south there was first Fishing Lane which became East +Lane and finally settled down to Congress Street and is now +Twenty-first. + +Then the Main Street up from the ferry, called Water Street until it got +to Bridge running east and west where was the Square, also called the +Center of the Town. Then Water Street became High and Bridge continued +on its way as the Falls Street--both names typical, as one was climbing +a hill and the other was the road to The Little Falls. Duck Lane became +Market (33rd) Street; Bridge (M) Street; Frederick (34th) Street, for it +was the road out to Frederick Town, forty miles away; Potomac Street, +for the river; Fayette Street, certainly named in honor of the Marquis, +but in that age of young democracy, de la was dropped from de la +Fayette. Then there was Montgomery (28th) Street, Greene (29th) Street, +and Washington (30th) Street, all named for Generals of the Revolution. +Running the other way were Gay, Dunbarton, Beall, West, Stoddert, this, +for a long time was known as Back Street. West of High Street (Wisconsin +Avenue) the streets became First, Second, Third, etc. Twenty-seventh +Street, after being New Street for one block and Mill Street for +another, finally was named for President Monroe. Madison had a street +named for him too, but it was so far out, about 9th, in the far western +corner, that it never amounted to much. + +But the street that intrigues me most is Gay. There were two of them for +a while, the one that is now N, and another, way up near the college, +which was renamed in honor of General Lingan, after his tragic death. +Who was Gay Street named for? It wasn't a local celebrity, for Baltimore +also had a Gay Street, still has, way down in its old section. There was +somebody the people of that generation admired and wished to +commemorate. + +Could it possibly have been the English poet, John Gay, (1685-1732) +whose best known piece "The Beggar's Opera" was said to have made "The +Rich gay and Gay rich"? He was buried in Westminster Abbey. His epitaph +was by Alexander Pope, followed by Gay's own mocking couplet, "Life is a +jest, and all things show it. I thought so once and now I know it." + +The Beggar's Opera for a time drove Italian Opera off the English stage +(1728) by its caricature of Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of George +II. These people were British subjects, you know, when these streets +were named. + +Somewhere in these quaint little streets in the early days before 1800, +in one of these little brick houses, two stories with dormer windows, +which the architects nowadays call the George Town Type, lived a couple +named McDonald who had marital difficulties, for in an old newspaper is +this advertisement: + + Whereas my wife, Mary McDonald, has left me without any just cause + or impediment. She is about fifty years of age, lame in her right + leg and snivels a little. It is supposed she went off with one + Robert Joiner, an ill-looking fellow. If she returns to the arms of + her disconsolate husband, she shall be received and no questions + asked. + +There was another advertisement: + + Alexander McDonald, taylor, removed from Bridge Street to High + Street, two or three gentlemen can be accomodated with board and + lodging. + +I wonder if Robert Joiner, with whom Mary eloped, was one of those two +or three gentlemen, and what fascination she had that was strong enough +to overcome all those physical disabilities her "disconsolate husband" +enumerated! + +A man in Boston wanted a wife, and had his advertisement copied from +_The Boston Sentinel_ into a George Town newspaper: + + Wanted--A wife: Enquire of the Printer. April 23, 1801. Be pleased + to inform applicants, that the advertiser wishes the lady to be + neither too old nor too young. Taking 25 for a central point, she + must not be more than 7 years distant either way. If of a sulky or + fretful disposition; if sluttish, lazy, proud, ostentatious or + deceitful, or of an ill state of health, she must have a pretty + large share of property to recommend her. If on the contrary, she be + of a cheerful, contented temper; of affable manners and benevolent + to the poor; if in the habit of being attentive to her household + when business commands attention, and gay and careless when pleasure + is the pursuit; and of sound health and good constitution (for such + only can produce strong and vigorous children), she need not + possess a cent. If well-read, so much the better, provided she is + not too fond of her book to neglect overseeing her affairs and + suffering the hole in her stocking to go unmended. She must not be a + pedant or a scold but must know enough of books to distinguish + between a volume of history and a novel; and have sufficient spirit + to prevent being imposed upon. Communication addressed to A. B. and + left at the composing room, if originating in honorable intentions + will be attended to with secrecy, honor and punctuality, and should + the interview succeed, the advertiser will faithfully describe his + situation and prospects. + +Was this paragon discovered in old George Town and taken to Boston for +keeps? No one knows. + +But this might easily have been so, as witness these advertisements of +the plays being shown in George Town in 1790, for on July 21 this +appears: "The Theatre of this Town was opened by Mr. McGrath's Company +of Comedians, with the celebrated comedy The Miser. This Company is by +far the best that ever visited this town." Then on August 12 there was +"The Beggars Opera and A Comedy of two acts, Barnaby Brittle or a Wife +at her Wits End. Also in August Mr. McGrath's Company of Comedians gave +The Tragedy of Douglas and Garrick's Comedy of Two Acts called The Lying +Valet." + + The curtain will rise at 7 o'clock Tickets at three quarters of a + dollar each to be had at Mr. Suter's and Mrs. White's Taverns and at + this Printing Office. + +Another evening will be presented the "Tragedy of Jane Shore. Between +the play and the farce a humorous dissertation of Jealousy to be +delivered by Mr. McGrath to which will be added a farce called Cross +Purposes, or Which is the Man. The doors to be opened at half past five +and the curtain to rise at half past six." + +For attendance at these performances and other social events, the ladies +and gentlemen of George Town were naturally interested in this +advertisement in the paper: + + BY FASHIONS WE LIVE + + JOHN JONES + + Hair dresser for Ladies and Gentlemen. Begs leave to inform Ladies + and Gentlemen of George Town and its vicinage that he intends + carrying on his profession in all its different branches and + fashions; he also carries on the Cushion, Perriwig, Curls, Braids, + false curls and Gentlemen's Bandoe making. The highest price given + for human hair. + +George Town, at this time, was even favored by the presence of one of +the greatest portrait painters of his time, Gilbert Stuart. About 1803 +he spent two years here. He painted Jefferson and the men who followed +him in the Presidency up through John Quincy Adams. He had, of course, +previously been much at Mount Vernon while doing his famous portraits of +General Washington. It is said that Washington was the only person in +whose presence Stuart was ever embarrassed. + +There were drawing teachers and dancing masters. "Mr. Carle, dancing +master, may be spoke with on school days at Mrs. White's Tavern." +"Dancing School of J. B. Duclaviacq at his dancing room back of Mr. +Turner's Counting House." + +Perhaps it was one of these two which advertised, "A night +Dancing-School for the Reception of Gentlemen who are not at leisure to +attend in the Day-time; will be kept the evenings of the School days; +The Price to each Scholar will be Four dollars. A subscription is lodged +with Mr. Peter Casanave." + +Gaming at cards at private balls and parties and toddy at dinner date +back to the earliest knowledge of society in this vicinity. Card +playing, horse-racing and other sports were fashionable and popular and +had not abated in 1800 when the Government came. + +In chronicles of Sir Augustus Foster, the British Minister in 1805 he +notes the balls in Georgetown "Cards for everybody, loo for the +girls--brag for the men." + +But all was not play, for in the _Times_ and _Potowmack Packet_ is this +newsnote: + + On the 13th inst. a daughter of Mr. Aaron Haynes of this town, a + young miss in the tenth year of her age, spun 50 knots of good linen + yarn, from sun-rise to sunset. An example of industry, highly + honorable to herself and well worthy of imitation. + +And speaking of youth here is an interesting item: + + This day were baptized three male children (the uncommon gift of + Providence at one birth) by the names of George Washington, John + Adams, Benjamin Franklin. + +Then this sad and interesting advertisement: + + With regret and shame the subscriber finds himself under the + necessity of advertising his wife. Although it is practised by some + white people, yet he, though black, blushes at the thought of + declaring to the world that his wife has run away. But disagreeable + as it is, he does by these presents make known that Lucy, his wife, + has eloped from his bed and board and forbids all persons harbouring + or trusting her, as he will pay no debts of her contracting after + this date. + + Prince Hull. + +On June 30, 1790 there was this announcement in the newspaper: + + The gentlemen who have subscribed to celebrate the Anniversary of + American Independency will be pleased to attend at Mrs. White's + Tavern at Four O' clock tomorrow afternoon to choose Managers to + regulate the proceedings of that day. + +Scheme of a Lottery: + + To raise the sum of One Thousand Five Hundred and Nine Dollars for + the purpose of finishing the Church between George Town and + Bladensburgh, called Rock Creek Church. + + All prizes not demanded in six months after the drawing, will be + deemed generous contributions. + + 3000 Tickets at Two dollars each. + + As the above is laudable it is expected that it will meet with + approbation and support of the public. As soon as the tickets are + sold the drawing will commence at Mr. John Suter's at George Town + and the Prizes paid immediately thereafter on application to Thomas + Beall Treasurer, in specie. + + MANAGERS + + Col. Wm. Deakins Robert Peter + Benj. Stoddert John Peter + Brooke Beall Bernard O'Neil + John Threlkeld Anthony Hollmead + Thomas Cramphin Col. George Beall + Thomas Beall of George + Treasurer + + _The Times and Potowmack Packet._ November 25, 1789. + +Five years before in September 1784 in the _Maryland Gazette_ there was +an advertisement for the George Town Academy lottery: + + Scheme of a lottery for raising $1,400 to be applied to the + purchasing a house for the use of the George Town Academy. + + The right education of youth is an object of such vast importance of + freedom and happiness that there needs no strength of reasoning to + recommend the above scheme which is meant to promote it to the + patronage and encouragement of a liberal public. + + Tickets may be had from Messrs. Robert Peter, William Deakins, Jr., + Bernard O'Neill, Henry Townsend, John P. Boucher, Benj. Stoddert, + Robt. Philips, Sam'l Davidson, Brooke Beall, and Dr. Walter Smith at + George Town; + + Wm. D. Beall at Bladensburg, Henry Lyles, Alexandria; Thomas + Clagett, at Piscataway, Abraham Faw and Patrick Sim Smith, + Frederick-town, and David Stewart and Cumberland Dugan and Mr. + Henderson at Baltimore. + + David Crawford, Upper Marlboro; Alexander Clagett, Hager's Town. + + The drawing will commence at George Town as soon as the tickets are + all sold. + + Managers are Robt. Peter + Benj. Stoddert + Wm. Deakins, Jr. + + Who will faithfully execute the trust reposed in them. + +Henry Stouffer advertised in 1789 his Stage to Annapolis, three times a +week which took six or seven hours at the farthest. And in the same +paper the Annapolis Packet run by Edward Thomas (of course by water) +goes twice a week charging 7 shillings, 6 pence. + +In the _Impartial Observer and Washington Advertiser_ of June 26, 1795: + + George Town, Washington and Alexandria Packet--James Bull Master. + + Will leave George Town every morning at seven o'clock and call at + this place (City of Washington) on her way to Alexandria. Leave + Alexandria every evening at 4 and call on way to George Town. 17 + cents from George Town to Greenleaf Point, 33 to Alexandria. + Passages engaged at Mr. Suter's or Mr. Semmes' Tavern in George + Town; at Mr. Ward's, Greenleaf Point, and Mr. Thomas Porter's Store, + Alexandria. + + Ferry boats must not have pendent or any other colour flying or ring + a bell on board so as to affrighten the horses and thereby endanger + the lives of the passengers. Penalty of $20. + +_Sentinel of Liberty_, June 27, 1800: + + The Stages will leave Light-Lane Number 3 adjoining the Fountain Inn + every day (Monday excepted.) + + Returning, leave Mr. Heiskell's, Alexandria, at 3 o'clock. Mr. + Semmes' at George Town at 5. + +There were also stages going out to Rockville and to Frederick. + +In later years there was a conveyance running to Rockville spoken of as +"The Hack." + +The license tax list discriminated in license value of one-horse chaise +and two-wheel coach. + +This thriving town had of course to be regulated and governed, and there +are copies in existence of the ordinances and by-laws for making it safe +and agreeable. One passed on the 20th November 1791, related to "the +going at large of geese and swine" and makes it "lawful to kill any such +and give notice to the Mayor or one of the Aldermen, the offender to be +sent to the public market house where the owner may claim within four +hours, or if no claim in four hours, the finder take and apply to proper +use. All goats running at large shall be forfeited to who ever shall +take them up." + +Also on August 4, 1795 an ordinance relating to garbage, glass bottles, +or oyster shells in quantity 30 shillings fine. We are still having +trouble keeping Georgetown neat and clean. + +And they had trouble about speeding then as now, for there was passed an +ordinance August 4, 1795 "that any person who shall by galloping, or +otherwise force at an improper speed any Horse, Mare, or Gelding, shall +if a free man, forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of 15 +shillings current money; if an apprentice, servant or a slave the +master or the mistress shall forfeit and pay the sum of 7 shillings and +sixpence." + +And in 1807 they passed an ordinance to "more effectually diminish the +number of dogs in Gerogetown as they have become a public nuisance; on +the first dog of the male kind owned by any one person, $1; on the +second, $2; and on all over two, owned by the same person, $5; and on +the first of the female kind, $2; on the second, $4; and on all dogs of +the female kind over and above two, owned by the same person, $10." + +Then they passed an ordinance, "that after the first day of May next no +slave shall be permitted to sell any article whatever (other than fruit) +on the Sabboth." + +In 1811 the Mayor was ordered to appoint and hire eight men of good +character to keep a night watch at the rate of $150 per annum, one of +them to act as Captain at the rate of $250. + +They probably officiated at these events. + + Ordinance passed 10th October 1796. + + Whereas many respectable inhabitants of Georgetown have complained + that they suffer great inconvenience from the vast concourse of idle + white and black persons that frequently assemble together for the + purpose of fighting cocks, at which time they drink to access, + become riotous, and disturb the quiet and repose of the good + citizens, be it ordained by Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common + Council that any white person or persons or free negro or negroes + who shall presume to fight any game cocks or dunghill fouls within + the jurisdiction of the corporation for any wagers or for diversion + shall for every offense pay $5. Also if having assembled in a + disorderly manner for the purpose of fighting cocks, if they refuse + to disperse, constables shall take such negro or negroes (being + slaves) and give him, her, or them, due correction upon the bare + back in some public part of Georgetown not exceeding 39 strikes. + +An ordinance for regulating and licensing hackney carriages, billiard +tables, theatrical and other public amusements. + +Another says, + + ... any person or persons who shall keep or maintain the common + gaming house or open or set up any public gaming table shall forfeit + and pay $20 current money. + + Provided always, that licensed billiard tables are not intended + hereby to be prohibited or herein included. + +Passed 4th October 1803. + +The fire engines and fire buckets heretofore bought by the subscription +of sundry inhabitants of the town have been offered for the use of the +town. + +In 1801 the corporation of Georgetown was concerning itself a good deal +with the paving of the streets. + +John Mason, Jesse Baley and Wm. H. Dorsey were a committee to report +permanent systems for improving the streets and alleys, whether by +paving or otherwise. + +They determined to commence the work at the intersection of Washington +(30th) and Bridge (M) Streets and carry the pavement up along the north +side of Bridge Street to the intersection of High and Water Streets and +thence, after paving with round stone the Center Square to continue it +afterwards along the south of Fall Street ... to remove the earth and +pave 5 ft. wide against the curb stone, where individuals would not +pave, from Washington to High Street and to graduate and pave the Center +Square. + +There was a good deal more work of that kind to be done at that time and +John Peter was appointed permanent superintendent. + + + + +Chapter V + +_Washington and L'Enfant in George Town_ + + +Such was the town through which General George Washington passed in +April 1789, on his way from Mount Vernon to his inauguration in New York +as first President of the government which was trying out an experiment +new to the world. + +In the _Times and Potowmack Packet_, on April 23, is this insertion: + + George Town. Last Thursday passed through this town on his way to + New York the most illustrious, the President of the United States of + America, with Charles Thompson, Esq. Secretary, to Congress. His + Excellency arrived at about 2 O'Clock on the bank of the Patowmack, + escorted by a respectable corps of gentlemen from Alexandria where + the George Town ferry boats, properly equipped, received his + Excellency and suit, safely landed them, under the acclamation of a + large crowd of their grateful fellow citizens--who beheld his + Fabius, in the evening of his day, bid adieu to the peaceful retreat + of Mount Vernon, in order to save his country once more from + confusion and anarchy. From this place his Excellency was escorted + by corps of gentlemen commanded by Col. Wm. Deakins, Junr., to Mr. + Spurrier's Tavern, where the escort from Baltimore take charge of + him. + +Colonel Deakins was Justice of the Peace, a very high office in those +days, (there was no mayor) besides being a large landowner and +shipowner. + +Among the prominent men who probably formed this escort were many of +Washington's former officers of the Revolutionary Army, for when he +came to George Town he was amongst old friends: Colonel Forrest, Major +Stoddert, General James Maccubbin Lingan, General Otho Williams, William +Beatty (who had distinguished himself in the army and had attained the +rank of Colonel), Thomas Richardson who, although a Quaker, was Captain +of a company and won high repute; William Murdock, who had been a +Colonel of militia raised for the defense of the Province of Maryland in +1776, and Lloyd Beall, who had been adjutant of the Staff of Alexander +Hamilton, and General John Mason. + +I quote freely from Dr. H. Paul Caemmerer's very interesting _Biography +of Pierre Charles L'Enfant_. "Among the numerous problems of the first +Congress in 1789, was the question of establishment of a seat of +government or a National Capital. During the period of the Continental +Congress and the subsequent period of the Congress of the Confederation, +from 1774 to 1789, Congress had met in eight different town and +cities--Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, +Trenton, and New York City, part of the time pursued by the enemy and +part of the time attacked by disgruntled soldiers. It was found +difficult for Members of Congress to find adequate quarters, and it was +always a problem to move records and files. Thus it developed that +Congress wanted a home of its own. The Constitution of the United States +provided for a Federal District ten miles square (Art. 1, Sec. 8, Par. +17)." + +"On September 11, 1789, while yet the idea of locating a Capital City +was still unsettled, L'Enfant wrote to President Washington asking to be +employed to design the Capital of 'this vast empire.'" + +"It might be inferred from this letter that L'Enfant knew more about the +controversy in the Halls of Congress on the subject of location of the +Seat of Government than we know today. It was at its height, that we +know. The question of size of the Federal District had been settled by +the Constitution--it was to be ten miles square. Now the question of +location predominated--the question of 'exclusive jurisdiction' to be +exercised by Congress had been generally conceded. + +The discussion was finally limited to two sites: first, a location on +the banks of the Potomac at least as far South as Georgetown, Maryland, +which was favored particularly by the Southern members of Congress as +being the geographical center of the United States; second, a site on +the Delaware River near the falls above Trenton, which Pennsylvania, +Delaware, and the other States nearby favored. But on the whole it was +deemed very important during the First Congress to give the National +Capital a central location along the Atlantic coast. Southern members +led by Richard Bland Lee and James Madison, of Virginia, argued for +consideration for the question by Congress before adjournment, and +recommended the Potomac River site near Georgetown." + +"The burning question before Congress at the time was a bill for funding +of the public debt and the assumption of debts incurred by the States +during the Revolutionary War, amounting to about $20,000,000. Alexander +Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury had recommended the +funding of both forms of indebtedness in obligations of the United +States. His aim was to restore the value of the worthless continental +dollar (a pound of tea sold for $90; a pair of shoes for $100; a barrel +of flour for $1,500 in paper money) but it was pointed out that the +assumption of State debts by the Government would result in most +benefits to the Northern States where there was most of the trade, while +mostly agriculture was in the South.... Thus we come to the famous +compromise proposed by Hamilton about the middle of June, 1790, when in +consideration of locating the capital on the banks of the Potomac he +hoped to secure enough votes to secure the enactment of the funding +bill." + +"Thus by the Act of July 16, 1790, it was definitely decided that the +seat of government should be on the banks of the Potomac." + +"Thereupon arose the question of design for the Federal City. Pursuant +to the application received, President Washington chose Pierre Charles +L'Enfant, 'the artist of the American Revolution,' for this work. No +better choice could have been made. L'Enfant applied his ability to the +task with enthusiasm; the approbation of 'his General' gave him supreme +satisfaction." + +"In accordance with directions from President Washington, Major L'Enfant +proceeded to Georgetown for the purpose of making a sketch of the area +proposed for the Federal City that would enable him to fix locations on +the spot for public buildings. He arrived on March 9, 1791. L'Enfant +carried with him a letter of instructions from Secretary of State +Jefferson as follows: + + 'Sir: You are desired to proceed to Georgetown where you will find + Mr. Ellicott employed in making a survey and Map of the Federal + Territory. The special object of asking your aid is to have a + drawing of the particular grounds most likely to be approved for the + site of the Federal town and buildings. You will therefore be + pleased to begin on the Eastern branch and proceed from thence + upwards, laying down the hills, valleys, morasses and waters between + that and the Potomac, The Tyber, and the road leading from + Georgetown to the Eastern branch and connecting the whole with + certain fixed points on the map Mr. Ellicott is preparing. Some idea + of the height of the lands above the base on which they stand would + be desirable. For necessary assistance and expense be pleased to + apply to the Mayor of Georgetown who is written to on the subject. I + will beg the favor of you to mark to me your progress about twice a + week, say every Wednesday and Saturday evening, that I may be able + in proper time to draw your attention to some other objects which I + have not at this moment sufficient information to define.'" + +"_The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_ of March 18, 1791, +reported Major L'Enfant's arrival in Georgetown as follows: + + 'GEORGETOWN (Patowmac) March 12. + + Wednesday (March 9) evening arrived in this town Major Longfont, a + French gentleman employed by the President of the United States to + survey the lands contiguous to Georgetown, where the Federal City is + to be put. His skill in matters of this kind is justly extolled by + all disposed to give merit its proper tribute of praise. He is + earnest in the business and hopes to be able to lay a plan of that + parcel of land before the President on his arrival in this town.' + +"L'Enfant reported to Secretary of State Jefferson, promptly: + + 'Friday March 11, 1791 + + Sir: I have the honor of informing you of my arrival at this place + where I could not possibly reach before Wednesday last and very late + in the evening, after having traveled part of the way on foot and + part on horseback leaving the broken stage behind. + + 'On arriving I made it my first care to wait on the Mayor of the + town in conformity with the direction which you gave me. He appeared + to be much surprised and he assured me he had received no previous + notice of my coming nor any injunction relating to the business I + was sent upon. However next day--yesterday morning--he made me a + kind offer of his assistance in procuring for me three or four men + to attend me in the surveying and this being the only thing I was in + need of, every matter has been soon arranged. I am only at present + to regret that a heavy rain and thick mist which has been incessant + ever since my arrival here, does put an insuperable obstacle to my + wish of proceeding immediately to the survey. Should the weather + continue bad, as there is every appearance it will, I shall be much + at a lost how to make a plan of the ground you have pointed out to + me and have it ready for the President at the time he is expected at + this place.'" + +"In the meantime President Washington had begun his triumphal tour +through the South. In Maryland he was escorted by his Excellency +Governor Howard and the Honorable Mr. Kilty: Washington's Diary for +March 28-30, 1791, reports: + + 'Monday 28th: Left Bladensburgh at half after six, and breakfasted + at George Town about 8:--where, having appointed the Commissioners + under the Residence Law to meet me, I found Mr. Johnson one of them + (and who is Chief Justice of the State) in waiting--and soon after + came in David Stuart, and Danl. Carroll Esqrs. the other two. A few + miles out of Town I was met by the principal Citizens of the place + and escorted in by them; and dined at Suter's tavern (where I also + lodged) at a public dinner given by the Mayor and + Corporation--previous to which I examined the Surveys of Mr. + Ellicott who had been sent on to lay out the district of ten miles + square for the federal seat; and also works of Majr. L'Enfant who + had been engaged to examine and make a draught of the grds. in the + vicinity of George Town and Carrollsburg on the Eastern Branch + making arrangements for examining the ground myself tomorrow with + the Commissioners.' + + 'Tuesday, 29th + + 'In thick mist, and under strong appearance of a settled rain (which + however did not happen) I set out about 7 o'clock, for the purpose + above mentioned, but from the unfavorableness of the day, I derived + no great satisfaction from the review. + + 'Finding the interests of the Landholders about George Town and + those about the Carrollsburgh much at variance and that their fears + and jealousies of each were counteracting the public purposes and + might prove injurious to its best interests, whilst if properly + managed they might be made to subserve it, I requested them to meet + me at six o'clock this afternoon at my lodgings, which they + accordingly did.... + + 'Dined at Colo. Forrest's today with the Commissioners and others.' + [Whose residence was at 3348 M Street.] + + 'Wednesday, 30th. + + 'The parties to whom I addressed myself yesterday evening, having + taken the matter into consideration, saw the propriety of my + observations; and that whilst they were contending for the shadow + they might loose the substance; and therefore mutually agreed and + entered into articles to surrender for public purposes, one half of + the land they severally possessed within the bounds which were + designated as necessary for the City to stand with some other + stipulations, which were inserted in the instrument which they + respectively subscribed. + + 'This business being thus happily finished and some directions given + to the Commissioners, the Surveyor and Engineer with respect to the + mode of laying out the district--Surveying the grounds for the City + and forming them into lots--I left Georgetown, dined in Alexandria + and reached Mount Vernon in the evening.'" + +The "others," with whom he dined, were evidently the proprietors of the +land, sixteen, who next day signed before witnesses the agreement drawn +up that day. It is too long to quote in its entirety, but in effect +these were the conditions: "that in consideration of the good benefits +they were to derive from having the Federal City laid off upon their +lands the President may retain any number of squares he may think proper +for public improvements or uses at the rate of L25 ($66.66 in Penn. +currency) per acre. For the streets they should receive no compensation. +Each proprietor was to retain full possession of his land till it should +be sold into lots." The men who signed, in order of signing, were: +Robert Peter, David Burnes, James M. Lingan, Uriah Forrest, Benjamin +Stoddert, Notley Young, Daniel Carroll, of Duddington; Overton Carr, +Thomas Beall, of George; Charles Beatty, Anthony Holmead, William Young, +Edward Peirce, Abraham Young, James Peirce, and William Prout. At a +later date the following men joined in the agreement and are often +counted among the original property holders: Robert Morris, Samuel +Blodget, William Bailey, Samuel Davidson, William Deakins, Jr., James +Greenleaf, Thomas Johnson, Robert Lingan, Dominick Lynch, John +Nicholson, John H. Stone, Comfort Sands, Benjamin Oden, John P. Van +Ness, George Walker, and the legal guardians of Elizabeth Wheeler. + +It was in this little town that the President issued his proclamation +concerning the permanent seat of government of the United States. It +reads thus: + + Done at George Town, aforesaid, the 30th day of March in the year of + our Lord, 1791 and in the Independence of the United States the + fifteenth. + + By the President, + GEORGE WASHINGTON. + THOMAS JEFFERSON. + +Having satisfactorily accomplished this business, General Washington +proceeded to Mount Vernon, whence he wrote on April 3, 1791, to the +Commissioners to proceed at once with the Attorney-General in regard to +deeds so that the sale of lots and public buildings might commence as +soon as possible. He quotes a letter from Mr. Jefferson: + + ... that on the 27th of March a bill had been introduced in the + House of Representatives for granting a sum of money for building a + Federal Hall, a house for the President, etc. + +At a meeting of the Commissioners on September 9, 1791, in reply to a +letter from Major L'Enfant a letter was written saying: + + ... that the title of the map he was making was to be, "A Map of the + City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia," and that the + streets were to be named alphabetically one way and numerically the + other, etc. + + (Signed by) + THOMAS JOHNSON, + DAVID STUART, + DANIEL CARROLL. + +L'Enfant aimed to make an original plan for the Federal City, adapted to +the topography, but he endeavored to secure ideas from plans of great +cities of Europe that might be found possible of adaptation so he wrote +to Jefferson who sent his notable reply and plans of a number of cities +that he had secured evidently while our minister to France. + +"June 30th Washington noted, 'The business which brot. me to Georgetown +being finished and the Comrs. instructed with respect to the mode of +carrying the plan into effect, I set off this morning a littel after 4 +o'clock, in the prosecution of my journey towards Philadelphia....'" + +"Thereupon the building site for the city took on intense activity." + +Pierre Charles L'Enfant was the son of Pierre L'Enfant, an artist who +painted battle scenes and also designed tapestries for the Gobelin +Works. L'Enfant himself was an artist and it was his artistic +temperament which caused him trouble. At the age of 22 he had come to +America to volunteer his services in the war against England. He became +an officer of engineers, and also helped Gen. von Steuben drill the Army +at Valley Forge, and worked on fortifications. After the war he was a +practicing architect in New York City for several years but when he +heard of the Federal City to be created he longed to be the author of +its plan and as I have said wrote to Washington asking for the job. + +But it was his desire for perfection which eventually was his undoing. +There was delay in submitting the Plan to President Washington, and also +he refused to take orders from any one except Washington, whereas he was +told to take them from the three Commissioners of the District of +Columbia: Thomas Johnson, David Stuart, and Daniel Carroll. Dr. David +Stuart had become the second husband of Mrs. John Parke Custis, +daughter-in-law of Mrs. Washington. Things went from bad to worse when +the nephew of Daniel Carroll the Commissioner, Daniel Carroll of +Duddington, started to build a house which abutted into a street laid +out on the Plan and Major L'Enfant had it demolished. Also there was +delay in getting the Map engraved. + +Major L'Enfant lived at Suter's Tavern during the months he was working +in George Town. But where he actually did his work of drawing his famous +Map, where Andrew Ellicott had his office as surveyor, and where the +three Commissioners met for their business has never been settled. + +The tradition is that their office was The Little Old Stone House, now +3049 M Street, and known for many years as "General Washington's +Headquarters." As General Washington never had need for military +headquarters here, for there was no fighting nearby, this tradition has +persisted that this was the office of the Commissioners. + +On December 13th President Washington sent a letter to L'Enfant advising +him that he must work under orders from the Commissioners. + +"Then before leaving for Philadelphia to superintend the engraving of +his "Plan" personally, L'Enfant wrote to the Commissioners asking for +supplies for the winter work, as follows: + + 'Georgetown Dec. 25, 1791. + + 'Gentlemen: Mr. Roberdeau, on whose activity and zeal I rely in the + execution of what is necessary to accomplish this winter, will + communicate to you a statement of the business I committed to this + care and I have to request you will make provision for the supply of + 25 hands in the quarries and 50 in the city which in all will be 75 + men kept in employment besides their respective overseers. + + 'There is an immediate necessity for a number of wheel-barrows and + above 100 will be wanted early in the spring. Therefore I beg you + will devise the mode of obtaining that number before the 15th of + March next--These wheel-barrows ought to be made light and should be + only roughly finished, though substantial, ...' + +Next we find that L'Enfant addressed a long and comprehensive Report to +President Washington 'for renewing the work at the Federal City' in the +approaching season and giving an estimate of expenditures for one year +in the amount of $1,200,000." + +"We have here to do with the idealism of L'Enfant that contemplated +quite a completely built city before it was occupied and operated as a +'Seat of Government.' Unfortunately, L'Enfant did not realize the +poverty of the Treasury; and the state of mind of national legislators, +particularly of the North, who preferred to stay in Philadelphia to +moving 'to the Indian Place' on the banks of the Potomac." + +"It is generally thought that the trouble concerning the Daniel Carroll +of Duddington House was the reason for L'Enfant's resignation from the +Washington work in March, 1792, and the reason for the letter from +Secretary of State Jefferson terminating his services that month. But a +close analysis of L'Enfant's experiences reveals that this was simply a +'serious incident' in a chain of troubles to follow. This brings to +light the names of L'Enfant's assistants Roberdeau and Baraof. There +were also Benjamin Banneker; and Alexander Ralston." + +"L'Enfant remained silent so far as arguments with President Washington +and the Plan was concerned, until 1800 after 'his General' had died. In +the meantime the L'Enfant Plan was engraved, the question of +compensation to L'Enfant came up and he was reimbursed in part." But the +question of payment to Major L'Enfant was never settled. + +After leaving Georgetown he worked on a Plan for the city of Patterson, +New Jersey, built a magnificent house for Robert Morris in Philadelphia +which was never finished, and also Oeller's Hotel where the +Philadelphia Assemblies were held. + +From 1800 to 1810 he spent most of his time and efforts trying to secure +payment for his services in laying out the Plan of the Capital City of +Washington. On July 7, 1812 Secretary of War Eustis appointed him +Professor of Engineering in the Military Academy at West Point but he +declined saying that he had not "the rigidity of manner, the tongue nor +the patience, nor indeed any inclination peculiar to instructors." + +In 1814 he was consulted in regard to the fortification of Fort +Washington opposite Mount Vernon and did some work there. + +After the war was over he continued to live there at Warburton Manor +with Thomas A. Digges until 1824 when he went to live with a nephew +William Dudley Digges at Green Hill nearby, where he died, June 14, +1825, and was buried on the estate. + +In 1909 the U. S. Government at last honored him by burying him in the +National Cemetery at Arlington, in front of the house, overlooking the +city of his dream. + +At twelve o'clock October 12, 1792, the corner-stone of the President's +House was laid, but there is no record of any ceremony. There is, +however, a long account in the newspapers of the laying of the +corner-stone of the Capitol, which was personally performed by George +Washington in his capacity as a Mason, on September 18, 1792, "amid a +brilliant crowd of spectators of both sexes." Right at the head of the +procession, immediately following "the Surveying Department of the City +of Washington," is noted "The Mayor and Corporation of George Town." +John Threlkeld was Mayor that year, and certainly that "brilliant +crowd" must have been largely composed of Georgetonians for the dwellers +in the City of Washington at that time were few and far between. Witness +General Washington's letter on the 17th of May, 1795, to Alexander +White, one of the Commissioners: "I shall intimate that a residence in +the City if a house is to be had, will be more promotive of its welfare +than your abode in George Town." He was nursing along his namesake in +every possible way. On February 8, 1798, he notes in his diary: "Visited +Public Buildings in the morning." The day before, the 7th, he speaks of +going to a meeting of the Potomac Company, dining with Colonel +Fitzgerald, and lodging with Thomas Peter at Number 2618 K Street. This +was only natural, as Mrs. Peter was, of course, his step-granddaughter. +On that same trip he met the Commissioners again, this time at Union +Tavern, and dined there. On August 5th his diary says: "Went to George +Town to a general meeting of the Potomac Company. Dined at the Union +Tavern and lodged at Mr. Law's." Thomas Law, an Englishman, had married +Eliza Custis, Mrs. Washington's eldest grandchild, and had a home on +Capitol Hill. + +On August 11th he again spent the night at Thomas Peter's home, and that +was the last night he ever spent in the city named in his honor. He was +never to live to see the government established in the city over which +he had worked so hard, and in which he had such absolute implicit faith. + +"A century hence," he wrote, "if this country keeps united, it will +produce a city, though not so large as London, yet of a magnitude +inferior to few other in Europe." + + + + +Chapter VI + +_Below Bridge Street_ + + +Nearly all of the business, and most of the social life, up until 1800 +took place below Bridge (M) Street. The island in the river below George +Town, which was called, variously, Analostan, Mason's Island, My Lord's +Island, and Barbadoes, was almost a part of George Town in those days. +It belonged to the great plantation of George Mason, of Gunston, the +brilliant statesman and author of the Bill of Rights. + +His son, General Mason, had there an estate where he entertained in fine +style. Louis Philippe of France, while a visitor in George Town, was +feted there and said he had never seen a more elegant entertainment. +Twenty-three kinds of fish were caught in the river in those days, +besides terrapin and snapping turtles, so perhaps they helped to +embellish the occasion. + +The island was rich in forest trees, foliage, flowering and aromatic +shrubs, orchards of cherry, apple, and peach trees. Cotton was grown +there which was the color of nankeen; it was spun, woven, and used in +its natural color, without being dyed. Also, there was grown a variety +of maize of deep purple color, used as a dye. + +John Mason had also a town house which we shall mention later. He, like +most of the men in this community, was engaged in the business of +shipping tobacco. The majority of his trade seems to have been with +France, from letters of his father to him, in which the great George +offered to help out his son in his shipments by letting him have some of +the hogsheads he had on hand. + +John Mason had been a general in the Revolution, and was at the head of +the militia here, and also owned a ferry operating to the Virginia shore +from the foot of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue). The ferry was worked by +a great iron chain. + +In 1835 Analostan Island was purchased by William A. Bradley, nephew of +the Abraham Bradley who came to Washington with the Government in 1800 +as Assistant Postmaster General. For many years it was a wilderness, +with only traces showing of its once famous house, but not long ago it +was purchased by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association. + +Robert Peter's house stood on High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), about +where Grace Church now stands. He owned the whole block between Congress +(31st) Street and High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), up to Bridge (M) +Street. It was called Peter's Square. At the age of forty, after he had +lived nearly fifteen years in George Town, he married Elizabeth Scott, +the daughter of George Scott, High Sheriff of Prince George County. They +had eight children. + +Their eldest son, Thomas, was married in 1795 to Martha Parke Custis, +the second granddaughter of Mrs. Washington. The bride was sixteen, the +groom twenty-seven. The wedding took place at Hope Park near Fairfax +Court House, where Martha's mother, the former Eleanor Calvert (Mrs. +John Parke Custis), had been living since she became the wife of David +Stuart, one of the Commissioners laying out the City of Washington. +Soon after their marriage, Mr. Peter gave to Thomas and his wife one of +the six houses he had built for his sons on lots across Rock Creek in +the new city. The one he gave them was 2618 K Street, and is still +standing. It was there that General Washington stayed with the young +couple so often. Martha was very lovely in appearance, and very devoted +to her step-grandfather, and he, apparently, to her. + +Robert Peter's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married in 1787 to her +cousin, James Dunlop. Mr. Peter's mother had been Jean Dunlop of +Garnkirke. To this couple, the father also gave a house situated not far +from his own, a block away, up High Street (Wisconsin Avenue). There +they reared a large family. + +No more interesting figure looms out of the mists of early George Town +than the Reverend Stephen Bloomer Balch, the founder and first pastor of +the Presbyterian Church. But, far more than that, he seems to have been +pastor, "Parson," as he was affectionately called, for the entire +community. It was in his church edifice that each denomination met until +they procured their own. + +Born on his parents' place in the Susquehanna region, graduated from +Princeton in the same class with Aaron Burr, Dr. Balch went to Lower +Marlboro, Calvert County, Maryland, to take charge of a classical +academy in October, 1775. For two years he taught, drilled the students +in military training, and studied theology on the side. His books were +borrowed from the Reverend Thomas Clagett, who afterwards became the +first Episcopal Bishop of Maryland, and now lies buried in the +Washington Cathedral, not very far from his pupil in Oak Hill Cemetery. + +Not very long after Dr. Balch was licensed as a preacher, he came to +George Town, about 1778, the only place of worship at that time being +the Lutherans' small building, where their new church now stands on the +corner of the present Q Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The lot was given +in 1769 by Colonel Charles Beatty. Dr. Balch preached there on Thursday +night and again on Sunday. He did not remain at that time, but, a year +or so later, asked to come back, and at first used a little frame house +on the north side of Bridge (M) Street, which was occupied on week days +by a school. Just about this time he was made principal of the Columbian +Academy, and the next year he married Elizabeth Beall, the daughter of +George Beall. I wonder if he had, by any chance, met her on his first +visit, and the memory of her bright eyes had followed him on his +journeys down into the Carolines and lured him back. + +At the wedding of Dr. and Mrs. Balch in 1782, tea was served in cups not +much larger than thimbles. The ladies of George Town would not drink tea +at all during the Revolution, and it was still not plentiful. + +He was of a susceptible nature, for, after his wife's death in 1827, he +was married the next year, when he was eighty-two, to another Elizabeth, +one of the King family. She lived only eighteen days, and a little more +than a year later, he again embarked on the sea of matrimony, this time +with a widow, Mrs. Jane Parrott. By his first wife he had eleven +children, the usual number in those days. + +In 1783, one year after his first marriage, he built his home on Duck +Lane (33rd Street), which he called "Mamre," from the Old Testament. +After Abraham and Lot had separated, Abraham giving Lot the first choice +of location, "the Lord told Abraham to look over the whole land which He +would give to him and his seed forever, and Abraham moved his tent and +dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, and built there an altar unto the Lord." + +In 1799, when a street was graded through, it completely ruined his +property and he was obliged to take refuge with neighbors. One of his +neighbors was James Calder, who was a trustee of his church, and Mr. +Crookshanks lived near by. Dr. Balch had an island on the river called +"Patmos." This time he went to the New Testament and named it for Saint +John's abode, where he wrote the Book of Revelations. This island +supplied wood for his fires. He had, also, a little way out of town, a +farm of ten acres. + +One Fourth of July, his son, Thomas, aged eight, as he tells us in his +_Reminiscences_, wanted to deliver an oration which he had prepared--in +Scotch Row, near by his home. All of his comrades had gone to see +Captain Doughty's Company on parade with the fife-and-drum corps. But +the little boy was not to be deterred. He went up on Bridge (M) Street, +hunting an audience and a distinguished one he brought back with him. If +small in number, it made up in quality, for he had General John Mason +and Monsieur Pichon, a "bland and elegant" Frenchman sent by Napoleon to +receive the $15,000,000 for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Mr. +Pichon was a Huguenot from the city of Lyons and lived, while here, near +the Bank of Columbia. This son followed in his father's footsteps as a +minister and did not have to go out always for his audience. + +A short while after the death of General Washington, Dr. Balch gave +notice that he was going to speak on the life and services of the great +statesman. He preached in the open air to more than a thousand people. + +The last years of Dr. Balch's life were spent at number 3302 Gay (N) +Street, where a bad fire destroyed many valuable papers and the records +of his church. He wrote to a friend: "Only the Parrott (his wife) +remains!" Apparently, he never lost his sense of humor. Perhaps it was +that which helped to make him so universally beloved. + +Dr. Balch died on the 7th of September, 1833. Every house in town was +hung in black, all the stores and banks were closed and the bells tolled +as his body was carried to the church. + +One block westward of Dr. Balch's original house lived another man, very +influential in the religious life of the town in addition to his large +business activities. Henry Foxall, a native of Monmouthshire, England, +was born in 1760. He went to Dublin, where he was put in charge of +extensive iron works and where he became a Methodist. On coming to this +country, he first settled in Philadelphia, where, in 1794, he was a +partner in the Eagle Iron Works of Robert Morris, the great financier +and signer of the Declaration of Independence. + +When Thomas Jefferson became President, he thought it advisable to have +at the seat of government an ordnance plant, so Morris recommended +Foxall, who came here in 1799 for that purpose. He built his foundry on +the western outskirts of George Town, just behind Georgetown College. +He built also a large brick house, two stories, with dormer windows on +Frederick (34th) Street, between Water (K) and Bridge (M) Streets. It +was quite a pretentious house for that time, with its high ceilings, +elaborately decorated cornices of minute workmanship, and mantels of +carved wood. It had ample grounds, and in front stood two tall and +graceful Lombardy poplars. He had also a summer home, a little farther +out and higher up, called "Spring Hill," from whence he had a fine view +of the Potomac and the Virginia hills. + +A warm friendship sprang up between him and Thomas Jefferson, as they +had many tastes in common. Both were performers on the violin and used +to accompany each other, and both were fond of tinkering. Jefferson, you +remember, was of a very inventive turn of mind. During this time he +thought of an air-tight stove and got Mr. Foxall to make some according +to his ideas, but they did not work out to please him. + +Thomas Jefferson lived for a while in George Town on the little street +bearing his name, between Washington (30th) and Congress (31st) Streets, +running south below Bridge (M) Street, in a house demolished a few years +ago. It stood immediately south of the Canal on the east side, and was +in appearance much like the home of Francis Scott Key. It must have been +during the time he was Secretary of State in John Adams's administration +that he occupied this house. + +Mr. Jefferson was never happy living in a town. I found this interesting +little tidbit about him in the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_: "For eight +years he tabulated with painful accuracy the earliest and latest +appearance of 37 vegetables in the Washington market, and after his +return from France for 23 years he received from his old friend, the +superintendent of the JARDIN DES PLANTES, a box of seeds which he +distributed to public and private gardens throughout the United States." +So I think we might easily call him the founder of the Garden Clubs of +America, certainly of the Georgetown Garden Club. + +Mr. Foxall was a convert to Wesleyanism, and a lay minister. He was in +the habit of entertaining the members of the Methodist Conference at +this home, and was once good-humoredly twitted by one of them in regard +to his inconsistent roles of "proclaimer of the gospel of peace and +forger of weapons of war." To this he replied: "If I do make guns to +destroy men's bodies, I build churches to save their souls." + +At this foundry (then the only one south of Philadelphia), cannon were +cast for the American troops during the War of 1812. The artillery and +indeed all the military arms of this country were then very imperfect. +Foxall was the only founder in America who understood the proper mode of +manufacture. Here began the first manufacture of bored cannon in this +country, being vastly superior to the old ordnance. The abandonment and +recasting of the old-style guns speedily followed. + +Commodore Perry would have no others on the little fleet he built at +Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. The battle of Lake Erie was deferred until +Foxall could fill an order from the government for guns, and transport +them over the mountains on carts drawn by ten or twelve yoke of oxen to +the scene of the engagement. From the deck of his flagship _The +Lawrence_, manned by these guns from George Town, Perry sent his famous +message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours!" + +[Illustration: HENRY FOXALL] + +In 1814, when the British entered Washington and burned the Capitol and +the White House, this foundry, upon which the country depended so +largely for its supplies, was in imminent danger, and its owner vowed +that, if God would spare it, he would build a church to His glory. The +enemy had their face set in its direction when a sudden and violent +storm turned them from their course. An old letter, written by George +Bleig, afterwards Chaplain-General of the British Army, says: "On the +25th a hurricane fell on the city which unroofed houses and upset our +three-pound guns. It upset me also. It fairly lifted me out of the +saddle, and the horse which I had been riding, I never saw again." + +True to his vow, Henry Foxall built the Foundry Methodist Church at the +northeast corner of 14th and G Streets. It was sold some years later and +the Colorado office building erected there. With the proceeds the very +handsome grey stone church was built on 16th Street above Scott Circle. +The trustees of the Foundry Church were Isaac Owens, Leonard Mackall, +John Eliason, William Doughty, Joel Brown, John Lutz, and Samuel +McKenney. + +Methodism at that time was in a struggling condition. The first visit by +a Methodist preacher had been one by the tireless Francis Asbury. He was +an old friend of Foxall, had visited him often in Philadelphia, and +preached in George Town December 9, 1772. But it was twenty years before +regular services were held, and then only by a preacher who came up from +Alexandria. It was not until after the arrival of Henry Foxall that any +Methodist preacher was stationed in the District. William Watters was so +appointed in 1802. + +[Illustration: HOME OF HENRY FOXALL] + +Mr. Foxall was instrumental in the erection of no less than four +churches, the old church at George Town on Rock Creek, one at the Navy +Yard known as Ebenezer, a colored chapel, and later, the Foundry Church. +In 1814 was organized the first Bible society in the District of +Columbia. Among its founders were Henry Foxall and Francis Scott Key, +near neighbors. + +Mr. Foxall was three times married, his first wife was Ann Harward, whom +he married in England in 1780; his second was Margaret Smith, married in +Philadelphia in 1799; his third, Catherine, whom he married in 1816 in +England, while on a visit home. He had only two children and they were +by his first marriage--a son who died when twenty-five years old and +daughter, Mary Ann, who became the wife of Samuel McKenney, and for whom +he built a lovely home. + +In the summer of 1823 he went to England for a visit, and there in +December of that same year he died, quite suddenly, in great peace. "He +served well his country, his generation, and his God." + +Mr. Foxall was said by one of his old employees to have been honest and +just in his dealings, and although he did a large business, employing +many people, he owed no man a dollar. He was prompt in paying off his +workmen, usually making coin payments. He was a conscientious, earnest +Christian, a real enthusiast in his religion. During his term of office +as mayor in 1819 and 1820, the ordinances for the town which provided +against profaning the Sabbath, were strictly enforced. + +The old Sunday Laws (so-called Blue Laws), which George Town inherited +from Maryland, were decidedly severe, and it took a man of Mr. Foxall's +force of character to enforce them. A few of the offenses against which +he waged relentless war may be mentioned. Five dollars was the penalty +for gaming, hunting, and fishing on the Sabbath. No trading was allowed +on the Lord's Day, except the selling of "fresh fish, milk, and other +perishable goods." Cock-fighting and drinking, when indulged in by free +men, were punished by a fine of $5.00, but when a slave was the +offender, he received thirty-nine stripes on the bare back in a public +place. + +The old gentleman was fond of buying slaves whom he would set free after +teaching them a trade. Long years after, one of his old slaves boasted +of having driven the Marquis de Lafayette to visit his old mistress, +Mrs. Catherine Foxall, on his visit in 1824. + +When the Potomac Canal was taken over and reorganized as the Chesapeake +and Ohio Canal, a great celebration was made of the event. + +On Friday, July 4, 1828, President John Quincy Adams, accompanied by +heads of Federal Government Departments, members of the Diplomatic +Corps, the president and directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal +Company and authorities of the three cities of the then District of +Columbia: Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, assembled early at the +Union Hotel. The procession formed and, to the music of the United +States Marine Band, marched to the High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) wharf, +where, on board the steamboat _Surprise_ and other boats, they moved up +the Potomac, until they reached the termination of the old Potomac +Canal, landed, and marched a few hundred yards to canal boats prepared +to receive them. They glided along until they reached the point of +destination where the old powder magazine stood. On landing, they formed +a large circle. The president of the C. & O. Company addressed President +Adams in a brief speech and handed him a spade. After making the speech, +he attempted to run the spade into the ground, but struck a root. He +tried it again, when a wag in the crowd cried out he had come across a +"hickory root," (allusion to Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," and their +political campaign). + +He then threw down the spade, ripped off his coat, and went to work in +earnest. People on the hills around raised loud cheers until their Chief +Executive overcame the difficulty. + +On July 4, 1831, water was let in the canal from the first feeder to the +Columbia Foundry. The loan of $1,500,000 was obtained in Holland through +Richard Rush on the credit of the citizens of Washington, Alexandria, +and Georgetown. + +It is said that, with the probable exception of General Washington, he +took more interest in the affairs of the District of Columbia than any +other president. He was largely identified with its material prosperity; +he owned and operated a flouring mill on Rock Creek, but the project he +was most zealously interested in was the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Of +course, Mr. Adams had been here some during his father's presidency, +though he was a man in his thirties then and was much abroad on +diplomatic missions. He was also Secretary of State in Monroe's +administration, and after his own term of office as President, served as +a representative in Congress until his death. + +A flouring mill which stood at the point where the canal of the old +Potomac Company entered the river, was owned by the Edes family. The +fish caught there were much larger than those caught elsewhere. + +On the bank of the canal opposite the mill, lived Bull Frizzle, noted +for his enormous strength. One time, after there was an accident at the +Little Falls (Chain) Bridge, he crawled under a large beam and prized it +up by the strength of his back, saving the life of the man pinned +underneath. + + + + +Chapter VII + +_Along Bridge (M) Street_ + + +The bridge over Rock Creek at Bridge (M) Street, was built in 1788, and +one night when a storm of wind and rain was raging, gave way while a +stage-coach was passing over it. The coach was precipitated into the +water but only the driver and the horses were drowned. Ever afterwards +it was said that on stormy nights the ghost of the driver haunted the +spot. + +Peter Casanave had a stone house near the bridge and close by was the +house of the French's. Mrs. French had been Arianna Scott, sister of +Mrs. Robert Peter. The house, which is still remembered by many old +residents, was a fine, large brick mansion of the prevailing type at +that time. + +It was surrounded by trees--some of them being cherries--and a garden. +One large room was hung with very unusual paper representing scenes of +Indian life. It is still remembered by a gentleman who lived there when +he was quite young, who says he remembers passing when the house was +being demolished and again admired the very handsome and remarkable +paper. At that time the place was entered by a gate from the +Pennsylvania Avenue side, and then there was a flight of steps to reach +M Street on the other side. + +Mrs. French evidently owned several houses nearby, for she advertised: + + For sale or rent: + + The house opposite the Bank of Columbia lately occupied by Mrs. + Suter, and the house lately occupied by John M. Gantt, Esqur., + adjoining Dr. Weem's house are for sale or rent. The house opposite + the bank is very eligibly situated for a commercial character having + an excellent storeroom and counting room with every convenient + compartment for a private family. The house adjoining Dr. Weems' can + accomodate very comfortably a small family and from its situation + will soon be very valuable. The terms of sale or rent may be known + on application to Dr. Weems. + + 9th January 1799 A. FRENCH. + +Also, Mrs. Pick had a millinery store just about here. + +On the corner of Bridge (M) and Greene (29th) Streets, was where David +Reintzel lived, who was mayor several times. + +A block or two further west, on the north side of the street, stood the +very modest home of Jacob Schoofield, the Quaker with whom William Wirt +was put to board when he was sent in 1779 to George Town to attend +school. He speaks of how Mrs. Schoofield comforted him the first night +he was there, a home-sick little boy, by telling him the story, from the +Bible, of Joseph being sold by his brother and carried off into Egypt. +He said "I remember, also, to have seen a gentleman, Mr. Peter, I think, +going out gunning for canvas-backs, then called white-backs, which I +have seen whitening the Potomac and which, when they arose, as they +sometimes did for half a mile together, produced a sound like thunder." + +Just a few doors from this house was the famous Union Tavern, of which I +have already said so much. The building was standing until a few years +ago when it was replaced by a filling station. When it became +Crawford's Hotel after John Suter, Jr., gave it up, again William Wirt +comes into the picture: + + Here I am at Crawford's. I am surrounded by a vast crowd of + legislators and gentlemen assembled for the races, which are to + commence tomorrow. The races amidst the ruins and desolation of + Washington. + +These gentlemen used to ride to and from the capitol in a large +stage-coach with seats on top called the "Royal George." + +Among the other notable guests of the old hostelry were Louis Philippe, +Jerome Bonaparte, Talleyrand, ex-Bishop of Autun when he was driven from +France, John Adams, when as President in the early summer of 1800, he +came down to look over his new field; Anthony Merry, Minister from +England to the United States; Washington Irving, Count Volney, Humbolt, +the geographer; Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat; Lorenzo +Dow, the eccentric preacher; several young naval officers from the +Tripolitan War; and John Randolph of Roanoke. I wonder if it was from +this old tavern that that brilliant but erratic statesman went out +across the Chain Bridge to fight his duel with Henry Clay? It is +recorded by a marker, just at the end of the bridge on the Virginia +side, and reads thus: "Near here Henry Clay and John Randolph of Roanoke +fought a duel April 8, 1826. Randolph had called Clay a 'Blackleg' in a +speech. Both men were unhurt, but Randolph's coat was pierced by a +bullet." + +John Randolph spent the night before the duel in quoting poetry and +playing whist while his will was being amended. + +John Randolph must have liked George Town, for years afterwards when he +lay very ill in his boarding place on Capitol Hill, he insisted on his +body servant, Juba, getting him some water from George Town, no other +would do. He called it "The water of Chios." + +Joseph Crawford, the proprietor of this hotel, was the principal manager +in the unloading of the records and furniture belonging to the +government when the ships bringing it from Philadelphia docked at Lear's +Wharf. Abraham Bradley, who, as Assistant Postmaster General, had charge +of the removal of that department, and Joseph Nourse, who was Registrar +of the Treasury, may also have stopped at Crawford's until settled in +their homes. + +Just opposite on the southeast corner of Bridge (M) and Washington +(30th) Streets stood, until 1878, the Presbyterian Church, whose +founder, Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch, was its pastor for fifty-two years. +When it was first built in 1782, it was only about thirty feet square. +In 1793 it was enlarged by extending the north front. In 1801-'02, it +was further enlarged by extending it on the west side. For this purpose +Thomas Jefferson helped by subscribing $75.00. In 1806 the trustees of +the congregation were incorporated by Congress. They were: Stephen B. +Balch, William Whann, James Melvin, John Maffitt, John Peter, Joshua +Dawson, James Calder, George Thompson, Richard Elliott, David Wiley, and +Andrew Ross. The first and only elder for some time was James Orme, son +of Reverend John Orme, of Upper Marlborough. In 1821 a new building was +erected. When Dr. Balch died in 1833, he was buried there, but when the +congregation moved in 1878 and the church was torn down, his remains +were taken to Oak Hill, where, with the original gravestone, they lie +not far from the chapel and just north of the grave of John Howard +Payne. + +[Illustration: OLD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH] + +On the northwest corner of Bridge (M) and Washington (30th) Streets +lived a Mr. Lee; probably Thomas Sim Lee, whose home was the gathering +place for the Federalists. Just beyond here, still on the north side +where the two lovely old carved doorways remain unchanged, are the +houses once owned by Henry Addison, who served as mayor of the Town from +1845 to 1857 and again from 1861 to 1867. He was a hardware merchant, +and in 1827 it was for him that the first steam fire engine was named. + +Mr. Hill lived in one of these houses and next door on the east lived +Mr. Vanderwerken. He owned the line of omnibuses that ran along Bridge +(M) Street and over to the city before there were street cars. The +omnibuses bore the names of prominent people. + +There was a pump in the back yard on the line between these two houses. +On each side of the fence was a handle on the pump so that it could be +worked by both families. The water flowed smoothly until something +caused a fuss between the two men, and one day, when Mr. Hill, who was a +very large man, protruded over the fence, Mr. Vanderwerken got out his +shotgun and peppered his shoulder! + +Across the street at number 3012 lived John Abbott, who came from +Philadelphia with the transfer of the government in 1800. + +At number 3016 lived John Mountz who was Clerk of the Corporation for +sixty-seven years, from the time of its beginning in 1789 up to 1856. + +Across the street again is the quaint little Stone House which has +caused so much discussion. For many years tradition had said it was +there that Major L'Enfant had his headquarters while he was mapping the +new capital city. Then, someone said it had never been proved. So now we +are waiting for proof. From its looks it was most certainly standing in +those early days. If only it could speak and tell its own history! + +We do know it was bought as lot 3 in June, 1762, by John Boone for one +pound, ten shillings. Two years later, as he had not improved it, it was +bought by Christopher Leyhman for the same amount, and presumably, a +house was built about that time. Apparently, by inheritance, it came to +Rachel Furvey (formerly Rachel Leyhman), and in June, 1767, by deed, it +became the property of Cassandra Chew, who made it over to her two +daughters, Harriot, who married Richard Bruce, and Mary, who first +married Richard Smith, and later, Mr. Bromley. Mary's daughter, Barbara +Smith, married John Suter, Jr., and they lived in this house. This is +supposed to have something to do with the claim that has been made that +this building on lot 3 was Suter's Tavern. + +Almost next door on the west Mr. Claggett had a house. Again, across the +street, on the southeast corner, is the building which, until recent +years, housed the Farmers and Mechanics Bank. It was founded in 1814. +When the Mexican War came, this bank enabled the government to pay the +war debt. It has now been absorbed by the Riggs National Bank and moved +further up the street. Before the building of the bank, John Peter, a +nephew of Robert Peter, had a house on that corner. His house was a +simple frame one, and back of it he had rabbit warrens and pigeon +houses. He used to go often in the evenings the short distance to his +uncle Robert's house for a game of whist, of which the old gentleman was +very fond. + +Just above Bridge (M) Street on Congress (31st) Street stands the +Georgetown post office, an imposing granite building. It is also the +custom house of the District of Columbia. + +Near the corner of Congress (31st) Street lived W. King, and at number +3119 was the house Thomas Corcoran built. He had come from Limerick, +Ireland, to Baltimore in 1783 and entered business with his uncle, +William Wilson, there. Soon after his marriage to Hannah Lemon, of +Baltimore County, he came to George Town, intending to go on to +Richmond, but being so impressed with the thriving little town, he +decided to settle here. He first rented a house on Congress (31st) +Street below Bridge (M) from Robert Peter, and started a business in +leather. In 1791 he built this three-story house and there lived for +many years. He was mayor five different terms from 1805, and also +magistrate and postmaster for fifteen years until his death in 1830. It +was in this house that a meeting was held in 1817 to found Christ +Church. + +The Union Bank was on the north side of this block. + +On the southwest corner of Bridge (M) and High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) +is the site of Gordon's Inspection House, and just west of here in 1791 +were three large tobacco sheds covering three acres. Here was the +"Warehouse Lot," used by circuses when they came to town. + +Close by was the big warehouse of John Laird. It was after his death in +1833 that the trade in tobacco began to decline. + +[Illustration: GENERAL JAMES MACCUBBIN LINGAN] + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN STODDERT] + +[Illustration: URIAH FORREST] + +From 1792 to 1795, number 3221 was the home of Dr. William Thornton, the +architect of the Capitol; the Octagon House, built by John Tayloe; of +Tudor Place, and also of Woodlawn. He was later the first Superintendent +of Patents from 1802 until 1807. + +The old market stands where there always has been a market. Its upper +stories used to be where the meetings of the Corporation of George Town +were held. + +At number 3300 was the home of Paymaster David Whann. + +Midway between Market (33rd) and Frederick (34th) Streets, on the north +side of Bridge (M) Street, General James Maccubbin Lingan had a large +piece of property. I wonder if this advertisement inserted in a +newspaper on April 22, 1801, describes this very place: + + The subscriber offers for sale the houses and lots where he now + resides. The improvements are a commodious dwelling house, office, + kitchen, wash house, meat house, carriage house, a stable for five + horses, likewise a large and well cultivated garden and clover lot. + He will also sell the upper wharf and warehouses, all of which have + been lately built and well situated for receiving produce that may + come down the river. + + J. M. LINGAN. + +General Lingan was of noted Scotch ancestry, the second child of Dr. +Lingan. He was born in 1751, in Frederick County, Maryland. On his +mother's side he was related to the Maccubbins, and to the Carrolls of +Maryland. He came to George Town as quite a young man and went directly +into the tobacco warehouse of a relative. In 1776 he was commissioned a +lieutenant in the army. After the victory of the Battle of Long Island, +he was captured at Fort Washington on November 16, 1776, his breast +being pierced by a bayonet at that time. He was sent as a prisoner +aboard the _Jersey_--the "Hell," as she was called. The conditions on +board were terrific, and many of the prisoners died. When the coffin was +brought for the body of one of his friends, it was found to be too +short--the guards started to decapitate the body to make it fit. Young +Lingan stood over the body and said he would kill them with his bare +hands. So they brought a larger coffin. + +While he was still a prisoner there, his cousin, Admiral Sir Samuel +Hood, of His "Satanic" Majesty's Navy, as Lingan called it, visited him +and offered him L2,000 (pounds) and high rank in the British Army if he +would return to his former allegiance. Lingan's answer was, "I'll rot +here first!" And he almost did! He was cooped up in a space so short +that he could not lie full length, so low that he could not stand erect. +It was many months after his release before his cramped and agonized +muscles allowed him to sleep except in an armchair. + +The reasons for wishing to obtain his defection were, first, the pride, +and perhaps, affection of his connections in England. Lord North, +himself, was one of these, and his cousin, Zachariah Hood was _persona +gratia_ at the Court of St. James. Also, the affiliations and +connections of his family in Maryland made his defection greatly to be +desired. One of his sisters had married Thomas Plater, the son of +Governor George Plater of Sotterley, and he was also related to the +prominent Carroll family. + +At the conclusion of the war, General Lingan returned to George Town and +farmed two estates he owned, both named after battles in which he had +participated--Harlem and Middlebrook. He also was appointed collector +of the port by General Washington himself. He was one of the original +members of the Order of the Cincinnati. + +In later years he moved over to the city, his house then being in the +neighborhood of Nineteenth, M and N Streets. He had a wife and children, +many friends, and all was going well with him until the election year of +1812. General Lingan was a Federalist in politics. The party organ was +_The Federal Republican_, published in Baltimore and edited by Alexander +Contee Hanson, whose wife was a near relative of Nicholas Lingan, the +brother of James. + +War with England was declared on Friday, the 19th of June, 1812, and +next day an editorial appeared in _The Federal Republican_, which was +like a match set to a powder train. On Sunday, public meetings were held +advocating the suppression of the paper, and on Monday, three or four +hundred men and boys assembled at the office of the paper at Gay and +Second Streets, in Baltimore, and destroyed the furniture and the house. + +The staff then removed to Georgetown where, although it was threatened +from both Baltimore and Washington, it continued to publish the paper +until July 26th, when Mr. Hanson went back to Baltimore to a small house +on South Charles Street, accompanied by General Lingan, John Howard +Payne, General Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee, and others. On the +following day the paper was issued from that office, though it had been +printed in Georgetown. It contained an attack on the State authorities +for the outrage of June 22nd. This time the mob that gathered brought +arms and ammunition. The twenty-seven gentlemen assembled in the office +were also armed, "to defend the rights of person, and property, and the +liberty of the press." At first only stones were used by the assailants, +answered by volleys of blank cartridges. After scenes almost fantastic +in fury, the gentlemen were finally overcome and marched to gaol for +safety. But after dark another mob gathered round the gaol, and +overcoming the guard, broke in. Mr. Gwynn pushed his way through a group +of fifty men to General Lingan who was being knocked down by clubs, then +jerked up to be knocked down again, while the outside ring of men +bellowed, "Tory! Tory!" The only word General Lingan spoke to the mob +was, when tearing open his shirt, he displayed the mark of the Hessian +bayonet, still purple, and exclaimed, "Does this look as if I was a +traitor?" Just then a stone struck the scar and he fell. As the last +breath left his body, he murmured to a friend near by, "I am a dying +man--save yourself." + +On this side of Bridge (M) Street, adjoining what was then Bank Street +stood the Bank of Columbia, when it moved from a few blocks east. From +old pictures, it looks much more like a stately home than a bank, and +part of it was used as his home by William Whann, the cashier. Set far +back on the hill, with columns on its facade and a Greek pediment, it +was very handsome. Its first president was Samuel Blodgett; its second, +General John Mason of Analostan Island. Across the street he had his +town house. + +To this bank one day late in 1814, while he was Secretary of State, came +James Monroe, on horseback, and asking for William Whann, told him that +the government was entirely out of funds, and wanted a loan with which +to dispatch General Andrew Jackson to New Orleans. Mr. Monroe pledged +his own private fortune that the debt would be paid, and the money was +turned over to him. The government at that time was not strong enough +to levy heavier taxes for the conduct of the war with England, which was +very unpopular in the New England States. + +The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815--two weeks after +peace had come--for a Treaty of Peace had been signed on Christmas Eve, +and the great loss of life on the English side might have been avoided. + +Just beyond here on the corner, Mr. Thompson had a residence, and still +a little further lived Mr. Warren. Just opposite, at number 3350, is one +of the oldest houses in Georgetown and one of the most notable, for here +Colonel Uriah Forrest was living in 1791 when on March 29th he gave that +memorable dinner, referred to by General Washington, when the +arrangements were made for the purchase of land on which to build the +new City of Washington. + +What a scene that must have been! One can imagine the turtle soup, the +fish and terrapin caught fresh from the river, wild ducks and ham with +shoulders of mutton and all the vegetables and hot breads and other +delectable foods for which Maryland is famous--for Uriah Forrest, +himself a Marylander, had a Maryland wife, Rebecca Plater, the daughter +of Governor Plater, whose home was Sotterley, in Saint Mary's County. + +In 1792 Colonel Forrest was mayor of George Town. Not long after this, +Colonel Forrest purchased a large tract of land lying north of the town +and there he built a country home which he called Rosedale, and to which +he eventually retired for his permanent home. His descendants, the +Greens, lived on at Rosedale until not so very many years ago. One of +them, Mr. George Green, sold to President Cleveland, in his first +administration, a stone cottage on the Rosedale estate which the +President remodeled and made his summer home. It was called Red Top, +from its turreted red roof, but its real name was Oak View. From it, the +suburb, Cleveland Park, derives its name. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM MARBURY] + +Mr. Cleveland, in his second administration, used Woodley for his summer +home. It had been a part of the Rosedale tract, and the house was built +by Philip Barton Key, a brother-in-law of Colonel Forrest, for he also +had married a Miss Plater. + +Mr. Key moved out of town and resided at Woodley, where he dispensed +lavish hospitality until his death in 1817. Thomas Plater also had moved +out from George Town and lived near by. He was the executor for Philip +Barton Key. After Mr. Key's death, his widow went back into town and +took up her residence on the corner of Gay (N) and Congress (31st) +Streets. + +After Colonel Forrest left the house on Bridge (M) Street, it was bought +by William Marbury, who had come to Georgetown from Annapolis. He was a +justice of the peace, a very responsible and honorable office in those +days. It was in connection with his reappointment to the office that the +controversy arose which resulted in the famous law case of MARBURY +_versus_ MADISON, as James Madison, in his capacity as Secretary of +State to Thomas Jefferson, was the Madison involved. The prominence of +the case was because it was the first of those great opinions handed +down by Chief Justice John Marshall in which he decided that the Supreme +Court has the power to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional. + +[Illustration: PHILIP BARTON KEY] + +[Illustration: MRS. PHILIP BARTON KEY (ELIZABETH PLATER)] + +In 1814 Mr. Marbury became the first president of the Farmers and +Mechanics Bank when it was organized; its cashier being Clement Smith, +who, after the presidency of Thomas B. Beall, from 1817-1821, became the +third president, and the only one in the history of that institution to +be promoted to that office. Not many years ago, Mr. Marbury's picture, +in his old-fashioned costume, was printed on the bank checks to impress +the public with the antiquity of the institution. + +He was a very imposing looking gentleman, as was his son, John Marbury, +who was eight years old when the family moved to Georgetown. Some years +ago, one of his great-grandsons heard the family talking about +"Grandfather's Bourbon nose." A little later he was found standing, +gazing intently at the portrait of the old gentleman, and when asked, +"Why such sudden interest?" he replied, "Where is the 'burb' on his +nose?" + +John Marbury married and lived for some years on Gay (N) Street, near +Market (33rd) Street. After his father's death, he moved to the old +house on Bridge (M) Street in order to keep his mother company. He had a +very large family, seven sons and six daughters. All of the daughters +attended Miss English's Seminary, walking to and from school all winter +wearing low-necked and short-sleeved dresses, covered only by a little +cape. Not a case of poverty, I assure you, but of fashion! I was told +this not long ago by a descendant, and of how they used to have to melt +their gum shoes to get them on in cold weather. I think the names of a +trio of their friends very amusing--Jerry Berry, Hetty Getty, and Jimmy +Finney. + +The house had a large garden in the rear and spacious rooms where they +entertained a great deal. Not long ago, I saw a fascinating drawing of +a party in Georgetown in the fifties. It represented four musicians +intent upon playing a bass viol, a cello, a violin, and a flute; a few +of the company standing near by with curls and puffed coiffures, and +among them a tiny man, side-whiskered, so short that he barely reached +the shoulders of the ladies. He must, of course, have been Prince +Iturbide. There was never anyone quite like him. He was a Mexican, here +in the diplomatic service, and had married Miss Alice Green, a +granddaughter of Uriah Forrest. + +At a party one evening at the Marbury's, a dispute arose between him and +Baron Bodisco, the Russian Minister, who was also a resident of +Georgetown. It ended in the prince calling the baron a liar, whereby the +baron immediately knocked Prince Iturbide down. The little prince sprang +onto a sofa and bounced up and down, shouting over and over again, "He +knocked an Iturbide down; he knocked an Iturbide down!" as if he +expected Mr. Marbury to straightway haul the baron off to be beheaded, +at least. It was the last party given at the old house for many a day, +as Mr. Marbury considered that they had been disgraced by their guests. + +Years after, when Madame Iturbide was left a widow in Mexico, the +Emperor Maximilian wished to adopt her son, to which she gave her +consent, but finding later that it meant complete separation from him, +she kidnapped him and escaped to America. + +For two whole days after the Battle of Bull Run, the "Damn Yankees," as +the Marburys called them, poured over the nearby bridge from Virginia at +a dog-trot and dropped from exhaustion on the steps of this house and +the pavement. Mr. Marbury ordered all of the shutters to be kept tightly +closed during that dreadful time. + +A little granddaughter of his, living there, went one day with a friend +of hers to place flowers on the grave of a child of Jefferson Davis in +Oak Hill Cemetery. They were arrested, and when it was discovered who +she was, soldiers were sent to search the house. Mrs. Marbury had some +letters from her nephews in the Confederate Army, and she hurriedly +sewed them up in a chair, for she said the boys might be killed and she +hated to destroy their letters. Many, many years after, on a summer day +in the garret of an old house, not far from Leesburg, Virginia, three of +Mrs. Marbury's great-grandchildren ripped them out of their long hiding +place. + +Just a few doors west of this interesting old house stood another, +somewhat smaller, which, until a few years ago, was in its original +state of preservation. Now it has gone! It was the home of the author of +our National Anthem. Here Francis Scott Key lived for twenty years. Here +his eleven children were born, while he served three terms as District +Attorney and engaged in the private practice of law. + +Everyone knows the story of how, hearing of the arrest of a friend, Dr. +William Beanes, by the British, in the War of 1812, Mr. Key made the +trip to Baltimore to see what he could do to help the old gentleman, who +had done some very rash talking down in Prince Georges County. Mr. Key +was a connection of Mrs. Beanes', who was a member of the Plater family. + +Mr. Key went on board the British man-of-war, under the command of +Admiral Cockburn, called _The Red Devil of the Chesapeake_, lying +opposite Fort McHenry, but was told by the captain that he would have to +spend the night on board as a bombardment was about to take place. +Imagine his sensations all through the night--no wonder that he burst +forth into such a poem of love for his flag when he came on deck in the +early morning and saw it "still there!" + +[Illustration: HOME OF FRANCIS SCOTT KEY] + +Poetry was only a side issue with Mr. Key. I have often thought how +interesting it is that a man may work all the days of his life at his +profession or vocation, and some avocation, like verse-making, may carry +his name down to posterity; like Izaak Walton, who had an insurance +business in London, but is remembered now only as a fisherman. + +Don't you imagine Mr. Key would have been amazed if he could have had a +vision of the years to come, when on parade grounds all over this great +land at sunset, every day, troops stand immovable at attention while the +emblem of their country is being lowered for the night, and the strains +of the music of his poem thrill all who hear it? "The Star-Spangled +Banner" was first read by Mr. Key at a meeting of the George Town Glee +Club. + +[Illustration: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY] + +Francis Scott Key was a nephew of Philip Barton Key, and a vestryman, +like his uncle, of Saint John's Church. He was a fine, humanitarian +gentleman. In a recent book, called _Father Takes Us to Washington_, he +is accused of having treated his dozen slaves in a terrible manner. His +great-grandson has just come out with a refutation of such treatment and +said that Mr. Key freed all of his slaves before his death in 1843 and +that he was one of the founders of the American Colonization Society, +which had for its purpose the freedom of the Negroes and their +colonization on the West Coast of Africa. Of course, it was in James +Monroe's administration that Liberia was founded and its capital named +Monrovia. + +In later life, Francis Scott Key moved to Frederick, Maryland, where he +lies buried. The beautiful new bridge, only a stone's throw from his +home, bears his name. It replaces the aqueduct bridge which was built +about 1880, and before that, there was a bridge which carried the canal +across the river to continue on its way to Alexandria. I cannot remember +it, but I have been told that, looking across from the Virginia side, it +was a very picturesque sight with its long arches reaching above the +bridge, carrying its dripping load beneath, and standing against the +western sky, the towers of Georgetown College. + + + + +Chapter VIII + +_High Street, Prospect Avenue, the College, the Convent, and the +Threlkelds_ + + +Up the hill from Bridge (M) Street on the east side of High Street +(Wisconsin Avenue), a door or two above where the Farmers and Mechanics +Branch of Riggs Bank now stands, was a fine old house where the Potomac +Fire Insurance Company had its first home. But long before that, it was +the home of Mrs. Caperton, whose son, Hugh Caperton, became a well-known +lawyer here. + +At the present 1239 Wisconsin Avenue, where Becker's Paint Store has +been for a good many years, was the house which Robert Peter gave to his +eldest daughter, Elizabeth, when, at the age of sixteen, she married her +cousin, James Dunlop, in 1787. This old letter gives some news about the +wedding. + +It is addressed to: John Davidson, Esq., Merchant, Annapolis: + + George Town August 17th, 1787 + + Dear Sir: + + Without any ceremony or preamble I have undertaken to enclose you + the measure for a pair of Stays, not that I suppose that you are to + make them, but that you may undertake to engage Mrs. Davidson's + interest to undertake the direction of them. + + They are for a daughter of mine who is tollerably nice, and she will + not consent to trust the business entirely to the Staymaker, nor, + it seems, to any other Lady in Annapolis but Mrs. Davidson, so that + you see what a deal of trouble I have brought her into, by having + often observed in my daughter's hearing how that Mrs. Davidson + seemed to me to be in all things about her Family, in short the Girl + has taken it into her head that she is old enough to become a wife, + and does not only beg of Mrs. Davidson to direct as to her Stays, + but wishes she would take the trouble of procuring some Paterns of + silks fit and suitable for what they call a Wedding Gown, with the + prices paid or annexed to the Patterns, and when the choice is made + I suppose the next favor will be of Mrs. Davidson to direct as to + the making of it. Mrs. Davidson must take the cause of all this + trouble to herself, for if she did not merit the charge she would + not have had the trouble. I am just now interrupted by receiving a + further commission, to wit for a crepe cushion made by the best and + most fashionable Barber in Annapolis, and a lock of the color wanted + is enclosed. I want everything good and fashionable, but you know we + old Fellows like everything as cheap as they can be got to have them + good. I leave everything to yours and Mrs. Davidson's good + management, but, at the same time, it would appear as if there was + some expedition. The samples and prices of the silk I will be + obliged by your sending by post, the Stays and Cushion perhaps you + may be able to forward by Miss Patty Lingan who will be coming down + in nine or ten days, as I am informed. I am just now tortured with + black guard consignment business and therefore I conclude by + remaining Your Very Humble Servant, + + ROBERT PETER. + +They were married in October and had eight children, all but one of whom +lived to maturity. + +In 1792, five years after their marriage, James Dunlop bought an estate +of 700 acres known as "Hayes," seven miles out in Montgomery County; +this later became their permanent residence. It had been built in 1762 +by the Reverend Alexander Williamson, rector of Rock Creek Church (now +St. Paul's), until he resigned in 1776, being a Tory. In history, he is +called the "Sporting Parson" because of his love for fox-hunting and +cock-fighting. + +The back lawn of this house was the bowling green and the old balls are +still in the attic there. Also, there is still there an old rose bush +bearing small white roses, which was planted by Elizabeth Peter Dunlop. +This was my summer home when I was a girl and is now in possession of my +eldest brother. + +Just above number 1239 is the crook in High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) +and, until a few years ago, I never knew why it was that way: actually, +it follows the line of the grant of the Rock of Dumbarton, which was +surveyed that way. The reason the streets on the west side of High +Street (Wisconsin Avenue) don't match those on the east side is because +they were laid out by different owners. + +Just about here is the Aged Woman's Home, standing high above the +street. It was founded in 1868 with a gift of $15,000 from Mr. W. W. +Corcoran. It houses fourteen women. In all these years there have been +only three Presidents of the Board: Mrs. Beverley Kennon, Miss Emily +Nourse, and the present one, Mrs. Louis Freeman. The back part of the +house is what is left of the home of John Lutz, who had a good deal of +land around his house when he built it nearly two hundred years ago. + +In days gone by, the Aged Woman's Home was partly supported by +contributions collected by women who were members of the Benevolent +Society, who went from door to door with a book in which amounts to be +given were subscribed. + +On the southeast corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Gay (N) +Street, just above here has been conducted, since 1861, the grocery +business of H. W. Fisher and Son, first was the grandfather, known as +Henry, whom I remember, with a long grey beard; then his son of the same +name, known as Wellen, and now his son, Henry. I am told by an old +resident that the first telephone in Georgetown was in the Fisher's +store, as it is known, and that when people wanted to phone, they went +there and used it. + +I was fed from Fisher's all my young life, and I imagine my father was +one of their best customers, as he had eleven children and multitudes of +relatives in Maryland and Virginia, who came to stay whenever they +wished to visit Washington City. So you can rather imagine the +consternation of the elder Mr. Fisher when, one hot afternoon, as he was +clearing out his crate of tomatoes just before closing time and, as was +the custom in those long ago days, picked up a large, over-ripe one and +threw it out, as he supposed into the gutter, that, instead, it landed +on the stiff "boiled shirt" bosom of Mr. George T. Dunlop! I never knew +of this occurrence until I was told of it many years after by Mr. Wellen +Fisher, who said his father always said it never made any difference to +Mr. Dunlop. + +On the other side of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), coming up from +Bridge (M) Street, on the corner was the hardware store of Edward M. +Linthicum; later Henry Addison had a dry goods store there. + +A little farther up, in the nineties, was Joe Schladt's, the saloon of +the Town. We all knew about it, but, of course, no lady ever entered it. +There were, however, three or four very well-known gentlemen who entered +it very frequently, and had a good deal of difficulty reaching their +homes every evening. + +Then we come to 1254 Wisconsin Avenue, Stohlman's, which, ever since +1820, has dispensed a very different form of refreshment--ice cream. +First it was Arnold's Bakery, then, in 1845, the business was sold to +Mr. and Mrs. May; then, in 1865, to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Stohlman, she +being the niece of Mrs. May; then to J. William Stohlman, father of the +present owner by the same name, and they are still serving the "elite of +Georgetown" not only with ice cream, but other dainties. Back in my +girlhood it was "quite the thing" to go down to Stohlman's and have a +saucer of ice cream in the back parlor at one of the little +marble-topped tables. + +Right next door is Forrest Hall. Here, at one corner of the property, +was one of the original stones marking the northern border of Georgetown +when it was surveyed, No. 46. On this lot stood the Union Bank and then, +in 1855, Bladen Forrest, (not a descendant of Colonel Uriah Forrest), +built this large and very good-looking building. + +The enlisted men of the battalion of the Second U. S. Infantry were +quartered in Forrest Hall for a time at the beginning of the Civil War. +Later it was used as a hospital for Union soldiers. After that, the +Georgetown Assemblies were held there for several years, and various +other affairs. I remember a fete called a "Chocolatere" when I was a +little girl, and going to it with my mother, and seeing three pretty +girls dressed in Japanese costume singing "Three Little Girls from +School Are We." I think that was not so very long after the _Mikado_ +made its debut. + +On the northwest corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Prospect +Street, the building which has an interesting cornice and roof is where +W. W. Corcoran started his career, in the dry goods business. + +Just beyond was a market; I think it was called a "Farmers' and +Butchers' Market," an offshoot of the old Market on Bridge (M) Street. I +remember going there when I was a little girl with my mother, and her +buying vegetables from a Dutch woman, Mrs. Hight. I have always +remembered her rosy, smiling face, and her stall of gay, vari-colored +vegetables. She had a farm out on the Rockville Pike, and I think of it +sometimes when I pass. + +High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) nowadays has become the center of antique +shops, there are many of them, also now there are dress shops and +accessories of all kinds. + +Then we go along Prospect Street, which was named for the tract of land +belonging to Benjamin Stoddert, called "Pretty Prospect." + +On the corners of Potomac Street are two quaint, little houses. On the +southeast corner of Frederick (34th) and Prospect Streets stands an +apartment house, which, before a false front was added a few years ago +when it was converted, was the dignified brick house where Benjamin +Stoddert lived and entertained in most hospitable style. + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN STODDERT'S HOUSE] + +He named his home "Halcyon House," and what a suitable and lovely name +for one in his business, and one who had settled here after his service +in the Revolution. For the halcyon was a fabled bird, whose nest floated +upon the sea. It had the power of charming winds and waves, hence, +"halcyon days" are days of tranquillity and peace. He had married +Rebecca Loundes, the daughter of Christopher Loundes, of Bladensburg. +They had several children. Mrs. Stoddert writes thusly of them on a +day when they must have been particularly trying: + + I wonder that you can be so anxious to see my children, for a parcel + of rude, disagreeable brats as ever was born, except the two + youngest. + +She writes another letter on the 15th of December, 1799, in which she is +evidently condoling with someone, and says she "hopes Nancy was not +disappointed at having a fine girl;" she is sure of "Richard's feelings +on the subject, for the men always are, if they would but own it, after +having one daughter, all but sons are unwelcome." She goes on to say, +"But they may comfort themselves, but I will be security that the next +one will be a son." + +What marvelous necromancy this lady must have possessed--in her own +opinion--worth a gold mine if it could really be true! + +From his southern dormer windows, tradition says, Major Stoddert used to +watch with his telescope for the coming of some of those ships that he +and Colonel Forrest and Colonel Murdock sent out across the ocean. + +On May 17, 1798, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy, being the first +to hold that position, and so remained until March 1, 1807. + +On May 29, 1800, he wrote thusly from Philadelphia (where he was engaged +by his cabinet duties), to his near neighbor, John Templeman, on the +corner just one block west of him, the old house which stood for so +many, many years unoccupied: + + Dear Sir: + + The Pres. will be at Washington by the time you receive this, or a + day or two after. He proposes to stay but a little while. I wish he + would remain longer. This and other good things will depend on the + manner of employing his time. I request, therefore, that setting + Bashfulness at defiance, you will urge the Pres. to go to the balls, + to ride with you in your coach, and to get Mr. Scott at least to go + with you. Let the Pres. be pleased with the attention and with the + country. + + I am resp. yrs., + + BEN STODDERT. + + Barring accidents, I expect to be in Geo. Town the 14th of June. + +After Benjamin Stoddert's death, this house was given by William Whann +as a wedding present to his only child, Anna Maria, on her marriage to +Benjamin Mackall, the son of Leonard Mackall. Their son, General William +W. Mackall, was a graduate of West Point in the class with General +Grant. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and later in the +Confederate Army. Shortly after the close of the Civil War, General +Grant gave a reception at the White House to the Aztec Society, composed +of officers who served in the War with Mexico and their descendants. +General Mackall went to it clad in his grey uniform and was most +cordially received by his old comrades. + +Still later than the Mackalls, this house was occupied by Mr. Martineau, +Minister from the Netherlands, and then by the Pairo family. + +To return to Mr. Templeman's house which he built about 1788. He was +president of the Bank of Columbia; also an owner of ships, and, as a +side issue, had: + + For Sale--At John Templeman's Store. + Whisky, Firkin Butter, Linseed Oil, and Flour. + George Town June 20, 1800. + +Those ships which carried tobacco across 3,000 miles of ocean didn't +fill their holds with bricks as ballast on the way back, as we used to +be told; there were too many better things needed here. And there was +plenty of clay right here to burn brick. Even in the early days of +Jamestown there were brick factories of which there are records and +"English Brick" meant made by specifications of English brick. + +The Templeman family lived here for three generations until the Civil +War. Then it belonged to Franklin Steele, whose three daughters were +Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Arthur Addison, and Mrs. Edward Macaulay. + +"Old Mrs. Morris," as she was called, lived there many years alone and +was always complaining to my father that the new building of the Capital +Traction Company was undermining her house and was knocking it down. It +still stands firm. It was finally "done over" a few years ago, and +eventually bought by James E. Forrestal, when he became Secretary of the +Navy, and was still his home when he resigned as our first Secretary of +Defense, and then ended his life tragically May 12, 1949, by leaping +from a window of the Naval Hospital at Bethesda. + +The house was leased for two or three years to the Government and called +"Prospect House." It was used by the State Department as a "guest +house," where such honored persons as the Shah of Iran, Monsieur Vincent +Auriol, President of France, and several Presidents of Latin American +countries, and other officials, stayed. The State Department often used +it for dinner parties. Its garden which used to be terraced down to the +river, and quaint little gazebo are still lovely. It has recently been +purchased by Representative Thurmond Chatham of North Carolina. + +[Illustration: HOME OF DR. CHARLES WORTHINGTON] + +Just across from Mr. Templeman's house on the northeast corner is one of +the loveliest houses left in Georgetown. It stood for many years +unchanged and unoccupied until a few years ago, when it was bought by +Sir Wilmott Lewis, the representative in Washington for a long time of +the _London Times_. + +It was built by John Thomson Mason, (not General John Mason, whose home +was on Bridge Street). It was acquired in 1810 by Dr. Charles +Worthington, who came to George Town in 1783 from Sumner Hill in Anne +Arundel County. He previously owned a house on the southwest corner of +Bridge (M) and Market (33rd) Streets, and, later on, bought this house. +He called his home "Quality Hill." His family lived there for many years +until about 1856, when they moved up to the Heights and bought a house +on Road Street. The family of James Kearney lived there then, until +about twenty years ago. Dr. Worthington was one of the original members +of Saint John's Church and first president of the District of Columbia +Medical Society. + +Dr. Charles Worthington was an austere man, very dignified and serious. +To his latest day, he dressed in the old style; his hair in queue, knee +breeches, long stockings, and buckles on his shoes. He drove a +coach-and-four when going to his country place out on the Seventh Street +Road near Brightwood. He was a man of great ability and zeal. He lived +to be 76 years old, having practiced medicine 55 years. His son, +Nicholas, followed in his profession. + +Another block westward on this street stood Prospect Cottage, a charming +little home where Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth lived in the sixties and +wrote her many novels--one for every year of her life. This house was +for a time the home of the League of American Pen Women. + +Just about a block northward stands Holy Trinity Catholic Church, +referred to sometimes in old newspapers as The Roman Church. The present +large edifice, facing on Lingan (36th) Street, was first built in 1849, +but the original church is the small building at the back of it, high up +from First (N) Street. The earliest marriage recorded there is April 6, +1795; the first baptism, May 14, 1795, signed by Reverend Francis Neale, +S. J., who was the first pastor. But the lot had been purchased some +years before by Bishop Carroll. + +The building was erected by Alexander Doyle, putting in his own means in +addition to contributions from others. This church was virtually owned +by the college and was used for the college commencements until 1832. + +Georgetown College, now a university, stands like a fortress at the +western boundary of the town. Its lovely chimes float out over the town +at every quarter of the hour. Only one of the original buildings in old, +red brick still stands behind the grey stone modern halls. The north +building was put up first, and by 1797, students began to lodge in it. +There were 57 boarders at that time. The college was opened in 1789--its +founder being John Carroll, a member of the famous Maryland family, who +was consecrated Bishop at Lulworth Castle in England, but returned +immediately to this country. There is a fine seated statue of him just +in front of the main building. In 1806 it passed under the control of +the Jesuits, and in 1815, it was raised to the rank of a university. The +observatory of Georgetown, founded by Reverend James Curley in 1842, is +one of the oldest in this country. + +In 1830 Jonathan Elliot wrote of the college: + + On entering the College, every pupil shall pay ten dollars. He shall + bring a mattress, a pillow, two pillow cases, two pairs of sheets, + four blankets and a counterpane, or pay $6.00 per annum for the use + of bed and bedding. He must also bring with him one suit of clothes, + as a uniform--which is in winter a blue cloth coat and pantaloons + with a black velvet waistcoat; in summer white pantaloons with a + black silk waistcoat are used. He must likewise bring with him two + suits for daily wear, for which no particular color is prescribed; + six shirts, six pairs of stockings, six pocket handkerchiefs, three + pairs of shoes, a hat and a cloak or great coat, also a silver + spoon. These articles if not brought by the student will be + furnished by the College and included in the first bill. + + The pension for board, washing, mending and mending materials, use + of books (philosophical and mathematical excepted), pens, ink, and + writing paper, slates and pencil, is $150. Medical aid and medicine, + unless parents choose to run the risk of a doctor's bill in case of + sickness, $3.00 per annum. All charges must be paid half-yearly in + advance. + + With regard to pocket money it is desired that all students should + be placed on an equality and that it should not exceed 12-1/2 cents + per week; and whatever is allowed must be deposited in the hands of + the directors of the College. Half-boarders are received on the + usual terms, viz. $5 entrance and $65 for board per annum. + + Day scholars $5 for fuel and servants, as no charge is made for + tuition. The College has been established 45 years and not a single + death has taken place among the students. + +This was in spite of the fact that the young men, winter and summer, +washed at the pump! + +Early in 1861 several volunteer regiments, including the 69th New York +and the 79th Pennsylvania Regiments, arrived in Georgetown. The 69th +was mustered into service in the grounds of Georgetown College, where it +was afterwards quartered. The 79th Pennsylvania Regiment was clad in +their distinctive Scottish kilts, plaids, and striped stockings, and had +a band of pipers at their head. + +The Georgetown College students showed where their sympathies were by an +ostentatious display of a badge fastened upon the lapel of the +coat--tri-color for the Union, and blue for disunion. + +Just west of the college used to be a pond which was a very popular +resort for skaters in the winter season. + +Not far away is another well-known Catholic institution, for the +education of the other sex--the oldest Visitation Convent in the +country--having on its list of alumnae many well-known names. + +When Father Neale came from Philadelphia to George Town in 1798 to +become president of the college, he found living on Fayette (35th) +Street, near by, three ladies belonging to the Order of Poor Clares. +This order was founded in Assisi long ago by Sister Clare, a devoted +friend of Saint Francis of Assisi, and is similar to the Franciscans. +The three ladies were members of the French nobility who had been driven +from their convent in France during the Revolution in 1793 and, coming +to this country, had set up a little convent not far from the college. +They attempted to keep a school as a means of support, but had a very +difficult time. Once, it is told, they were reduced to such poverty that +they had to sell a parrot, which they had as a pet, in order to save +themselves from starvation. These women, barefooted, according to the +rule of their order, came of noble blood and had been born to luxury. +One of them was Mary de la Marche, who advertised in the newspaper +salves and eyewashes for sale. + +In 1799 Father Neale sent back to Philadelphia for three devoted +religious friends from Ireland, who wished to found a convent. They were +Alice Tabor, Maria McDermott, and Louise Sharpe. For a few months they +boarded with the Poor Clares, but a little later Father Neale bought a +house and lot nearby and installed them in it. They became known as The +Pious Ladies. On May 18, 1801, Mary de la Marche advertised the two +houses of the Poor Clares for sale, but apparently they did not sell +them at that time, for, in 1804, after the death of the Abbess, Madame +de la Rochefoucault, who succeeded her, sold the convent to Bishop +Neale, and the remaining ladies returned to France. + +The Pious Ladies slowly increased in numbers, keeping their school and +struggling against poverty, all the time endeavoring to become +established as members of the Visitation Order. At last their hope and +ambition came to pass, and, in 1816, they were regularly established as +the Georgetown Visitation Convent. + +Across the street from the Convent grounds, a lovely big meadow until it +was partly taken over in World War II for a housing project, are the +Volta Bureau for the Deaf and two interesting houses. + +Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor, the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell, has very +kindly given me this wonderful letter about them: + + My grandfather, Alexander Melville Bell, lived on the corner of 35th + Street and Volta Place in the house since occupied by Mr. Walter + Lippman, (but not at present). + + Following my father's removal to Washington in about 1879, his + father and mother changed their residence from Brantford, Ontario, + to Georgetown. With them were their three nieces, the Misses + Symonds, who were my father's double cousins. At the back of the + 35th Street property was an old stable which my father converted + into a laboratory, and he carried on experiments there almost until + the time of his death. He would come out nearly every afternoon to + his laboratory and visit with his parents before returning home in + the evening. + + It was also our custom to have dinner with my grandfather and + grandmother on Sundays. They were very jolly times and my + grandfather always had a jar of candy for the grandchildren and + games which we could all play. He was very popular with all the + young people, being jolly, and looked a little like the usual idea + of Santa Claus, with his gray beard and hair. + + Shortly after my grandfather came to live in Georgetown, his + brother, Mr. David Charles Bell and Mrs. Bell, followed him from + Brantford to Washington and bought the house next door. With them at + that time, keeping house for them, was Miss Aileen Bell. She was + noted in the family as having turned down Bernard Shaw's offer of + marriage in her young days, Bernard Shaw having been a great friend + of her brother, Mr. Chichester Bell, and having visited with the + family when they lived in Dublin, Ireland. Mr. David Bell had in his + young days moved to Dublin to carry on the career of his father, + Alexander Bell, as a teacher of elocution. His wife had a school for + young ladies. Another son of the family was Mr. Charles J. Bell, + later president of the American Security and Trust Company, who + later married my mother's sister, Roberta Hubbard, and came to + reside in Washington. + + Mr. David Charles Bell was a very handsome man, but very irascible, + and the young people were quite afraid of him. He and his brother + had numerous vehement arguments as to whether Shakespeare or Bacon + wrote Shakespeare's plays. My grandmother was eleven or twelve years + older than her husband, so my grandfather did most of the marketing, + and I understand it used to be quite a sight on Saturday morning to + see the two old gentlemen, Mr. David and Mr. Melville Bell, going to + market with baskets over their arms. Notwithstanding all their + arguments, they were very devoted to each other. + + Miss Aileen Bell was very musical and was one of the founders of the + Friday Morning Music Club and other musical clubs. She was the + organist and choir leader in Christ Church, Georgetown. She was + always very punctilious in her attendance and I remember her talking + about her church. + + Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bell and their family also used to come out on + Sundays to see their parents, but they usually came to supper. The + family as a whole were very devoted. Mr. Chichester Bell, you may + recall, was the co-inventor with my father and Mr. Tainter of the + phonograph. The wax records that are used today are their invention + and their company, the Columbia Phonograph Company, operated under + their patents. + + After my grandfather's death, the house came into my father's + possession, and he gave it to the American Association to Promote + the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, now called the Volta Speech + Association. It was used for a time as the home of the + Superintendent. My father still continued to use his laboratory. + Some years later, when the Association needed money, it was sold and + the proceeds used to carry on the work of the Association. My father + was very much interested in the work of the Volta Bureau and one + winter, when my mother was away, he lived at the Volta Bureau, + compiling some of his scientific data. He had a way when he became + absorbed in work of forgetting to eat or sleep, and the person that + brought his dinner tray would often find his luncheon tray + untouched. + +[Illustration: JOHN THRELKELD] + +Just north of the convent grounds is the site of the estate of Berleith, +which had been built by Henry Threlkeld. He had, in 1751, married Mrs. +Mary Hopkins, a daughter of Dr. Gustavus Brown of Maryland, and widow of +Reverend Matthew Hopkins. Henry Threlkeld died in 1781, his widow in +1801. Their one child, John, was married in 1787 to Elizabeth Ridgely, +of Maryland. Two years before his marriage he visited England, one +object of his trip being to secure a legacy which he converted into gold +and brought back with him. He landed in England at Dover, which he +described as being "about the size of George Town," the voyage having +taken nearly two months--from October 6th to December 3rd. In his +journal he wrote of having gone to the House of Commons to hear "Mr. +Pitt open the budgett, Mr. Fox followed, and then Mr. Sheridan replied +to Mr. Pitt." + +Of John Threlkeld, an old paper states that "he was well and very widely +known as a fine scholar and a man of great benevolence." He was mayor of +George Town in 1793 and a personal friend of Thomas Jefferson. He was +remembered as a handsome figure on horseback, even in his late years, +and his love of following the hounds is a family tradition. The comments +made by him in this connection during his stay in England are +interesting. After describing the journey by coach past fine estates +with "one-half the fields as green as spring with grass," he added, "and +but one horse have I seen in the course of thirty miles at pasture, and +here I must take notice of their boasting in America of their hunters +leaping the five-bar gates." He goes on to explain how the measurements +were taken, and concludes, "but still their horses vastly surpass ours." + +John and Elizabeth Threlkeld had four children, but the only son died in +infancy, so the name disappeared, and the family is represented only by +the descendants of their daughter, Jane, who married John Cox. + +[Illustration: COLONEL JOHN COX] + + + + +Chapter IX + +_Along First Street (N) from Cox's Row to High Street (Wisconsin Ave.)_ + + +On the northeast corner of First Street (N) and Frederick (34th) Street +stands the row of houses which John Cox built. Colonel Cox was for many +years most prominent in all the affairs of Georgetown, serving as its +Mayor longer than any other one man from 1823 to 1845--22 years. John +Cox was of English descent. He was born in 1775 during the Revolution, +was the youngest of four children, and being left an orphan as a small +child, was raised by an uncle who was a banker in Baltimore. He later +lived for a while in Philadelphia, and from there came to Georgetown. He +first married Matilda Smith, a sister of Clement Smith, well known as +the first cashier of the Farmers' & Mechanics Bank, later its president. +They had three children, one of whom was named Clement. By his second +marriage to Jane Threlkeld he had seven children. + +In the War of 1812 he served as a Colonel. He was a large property owner +in Georgetown, besides being a well-to-do merchant. He built the row of +houses on First (N) Street, called by his name and lived for a while in +the house on the corner. That must have been during the period of his +first marriage, for after Jane Threlkeld became his wife they built a +lovely house on part of the Berleith estate, next door to the old +Threlkeld which had been burned, and called it The Cedars. It stood +where the Western High School now stands, and it is difficult to +realize now that there, in my memory, was a home surrounded by a mass of +trees and vines and was most delightfully private and charming. It was a +quaint and lovely old cream-colored mansion, a portico on its north +front, two long piazzas as usual, along the south side of the house. In +later years I myself went there to the private school kept by the Misses +Earle, whose father, George Earle purchased the place. + +Colonel Cox was celebrated as a dandy. "He would saunter down town in +silk stockings and pumps, not getting a spot upon himself, while other +men would be up to their ankles in mud, for in those days there were no +pavements." Stepping-stones were placed at the corners of the streets +standing rather high above the roadway to facilitate the pedestrians. + +Colonel Cox had moved up to The Cedars when, as mayor in 1824, it fell +to his lot to act as host for Georgetown to the Marquis de Lafayette, +when he made his famous visit. + +A new arrival was imminent in the Cox family, so it was not advisable to +have the party, which he wished to give, at his home. Consequently, he +used one of these houses which was vacant at that time, number 3337; had +it furnished from top to bottom, his eldest daughter, Sally, acting in +her mother's place as hostess for the distinguished party invited to +meet the hero of the hour. + +It is said that one young lady in her enthusiasm fell upon her knees +before the Marquis and impressed a kiss upon his hands. There was a +fashion in those days of decorating the floor by painting a pattern +around the edges with colored chalks--garlands of roses entwined with +the flags of the two countries. A marvelous supper was served; it is +said it included 600 reed birds. It is to be hoped it also included +other things more substantial than this high-sounding but sparsely +covered game. + +The coach of Colonel Cox was at the disposal of the honored guest during +the period of his stay. When he made his formal entry into the District +of Columbia, having come by way of Baltimore, he was escorted by a troop +of cavalry from Montgomery County commanded by my grandfather, Captain +Henry Dunlop, a Georgetonian, then farming the family plantation, Hayes, +seven miles north of town. + +Tradition says that number 3337 had a tunnel leading to the river. Some +such large opening was discovered when the owner excavated recently to +make a pool in the garden. In 1860 this house was the home of William A. +Gordon, for many years chief of the quartermaster's department. It was +from here that his eldest son of the same name left to enter the +Confederate Army. William A. Gordon, senior, born in Baltimore, had gone +to the Military Academy at West Point, and while there a terrible cry +arose about the poor quality of food furnished for the cadets. Mr. +Gordon was one of the three young men selected by the corps to go to +Washington to interview the President on the subject. The answer he gave +them was that he would see that conditions at the Academy were remedied, +but his advice to them was to send in their resignations immediately, as +there would be no career there for them after this. + +From about 1865 to 1892 Mr. and Mrs. William Laird, Jr., made this +house their home. Mr. Laird was for forty years cashier of the Farmers' +and Mechanics' Bank, and was greatly respected. When he resigned he was +presented by the officials with a very handsome silver punch bowl, ladle +and tray and a large silver loving cup. He died suddenly a month or two +after giving up his business and his widow did not survive him long. +Mrs. Laird was Anna Key Ridgely, a charming person. They had no +children, nor had his brother, who never married, so this name, long so +honored here, has disappeared from Georgetown. + +To return to the corner house. It was for several years the home of +Commodore Charles Morris, one of the eminent officers of the early U. S. +Navy. He made a remarkable record in the War with Tripoli, his earliest +achievement being on the occasion of the recapture and destruction of +the frigate _Philadelphia_ in the harbor of Tripoli in 1804. Midshipman +Morris, then nineteen years old, volunteered for the service and was the +first to stand on the deck of the _Philadelphia_ and commence the work +of destruction. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he held the rank of +lieutenant--and became executive officer of the _Constitution_, Captain +Isaac Hull being in command. + +On the 17th of July, 1812, a very calm day, the frigate met a fleet of +British vessels, and the enemy thought they had an easy prize, but by a +combination of towing and kedging by means of the _Constitution's_ boats +and anchors, an extraordinary escape was made which, as Captain Hull +stated at the time, was conceived by Lieutenant Morris. Its successful +execution commanded the admiration of his countrymen and won the +applause even of the British officers. + +Commodore Morris was chosen to escort Lafayette back to France on the U. +S. S. _Brandywine_, and while on a visit to the general his portrait was +painted by Amy Shaffer and sent back to Mrs. Morris as a gift from the +Marquis. + +In 1842 the property was bought by James Keith who was a great friend of +General Washington, Mr. Keith's daughter married Mr. Forrest, and their +son French Forrest was an officer in the United States Navy, but like +many others in this part of the world, went into the Southern Navy +during the Civil War. At the time of his funeral W. W. Corcoran, who was +a very intimate friend, was a pall-bearer. In those days it was the +style for the mourners to wear a long streamer of crepe around their +hats and hanging down a foot or two. Little Douglas Forrest, the son of +the deceased, began to cry, saying he "wanted some funeral on his hat." +Mr. Corcoran took him in hand and insisted that he should have his wish +and be arrayed like the other mourners. + +In the other houses of that row lived, at number 3335, just before the +Civil War, a family named Semmes from New Orleans who had several +daughters considered very beautiful. Cora Semmes became the wife of +Colonel Joseph Ives, a brilliant young engineer officer of the United +States Army, who, although of Northern birth, espoused the Southern +cause. He was put on General Lee's staff, and later transferred to be +aide-de-camp to Jefferson Davis where, in Richmond he and his wife +became prominent and useful in entertaining distinguished foreigners, as +she was noted for her charm as well as her beauty. + +In number 3333 Judge Robert Ould resided. His father had been one of +the founders of the Lancastrian School. Mattie Ould, whose name still is +a synonym for grace, beauty and wit, spent her childhood here. After the +Oulds went to Richmond this house was for a time the home of Henry +Addison, while he was mayor. Later on the Cropleys lived in it. + +William Hunter lived for a great many years in number 3331, when he was +Assistant Secretary of State. Women of my generation still remember him +for his love of little children and his gifts to them of toys and +goodies. + +Across on the southeast corner of First (N) Street and Frederick (34th) +Street at 3340 is the house which Harry Hopkins, the great friend of +Franklin D. Roosevelt, bought and moved to with his new wife and his +daughter Diana, when they left the White House where they had been +living for a year or more. This was his home at the time of his death. + +On this street used to live the Marburys before they moved to The +Heights, and also the Wheatleys of whom there were several households in +Georgetown in the latter part of the last century. + +A block eastward on the same side of the street is another row of +charming old houses, built about 1800 by Colonel James Smith, "lately +returned from the Revolutionary War." In the one on the corner of First +(N) and Potomac Streets used to live Mrs. Gannt and her daughter Clare +and Mrs. Gannt's sister Mrs. Smith. I think they were descendants of the +builder of the row. Their old home was for a time occupied by Mr. and +Mrs. Blair Thaw, the former a poet, the latter an artist. + +Third from the corner at 3259, in the middle of the 19th century lived +Dr. Lewis Ritchie who had an extensive practice. I think he was the son +of Dr. Joshua Ritchie. This house was the home of Hon. and Mrs. Lewis A. +Douglas when he was the sole representative in Congress from Arizona. +Later he was Director of the Budget and within recent years Ambassador +to the Court of St. James. This house is now the home of Mrs. McCook +Knox who is very well known in connection with the study of Early +American Portraits and has been connected with the Frick Art Reference +Library of New York since its inception. In the front room of the attic +of 3259 were doors of rough hewn wood with old iron bolts leading into +rooms of the two adjoining houses. The story is that in the War of 1812 +this row of houses used to be watched. A soldier would be stationed on +the corner, but the "questionable person" never emerged, he could escape +through the attic rooms and come out at the end of the row. + +No. 3257 is now the home of Hon. and Mrs. Richard B. Wigglesworth of +Massachusetts. + +The old home of the Shoemaker family was at 3261. While he was Assistant +Secretary of War it was the home of Hon. and Mrs. F. Trubee Davison and +is now the home of Hon. and Mrs. James J. Wadsworth of New York. + +All of this part of Georgetown west of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) +used to be called Holy Hill, because of the great number of Irish who +dwelt in the neighborhood. On Saint Patrick's Day there were parades and +fights, and all kinds of excitement. + +There were also a good many respectable colored Catholics, and near +here, on Potomac Street, dwelt a family of Coakleys. Magdalen Coakley +thought she was the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary. She got herself +up to look like the Virgin, in sweeping white robes and a sky-blue veil +and cloak. She was not a very dark negress and had a fine countenance +and striking figure. She used to go about the streets blessing little +children and wanting to baptize them, followed, of course, by a string +of boys making fun of her. She would go up to Trinity Church and stand +by the door; but once she wanted to help the priest give Communion, so +they had to forbid her coming. Of course the poor soul thought she was +being persecuted, but she took it in a Christian manner and prayed all +the harder, on the street and everywhere. She lived to be an old woman +still wearing her picturesque costume. + +Her sister, Frances, was nurse for three generations for the Hein family +whose home was at number 3249 N Street, now entirely changed by its +modernized roof and steps. + +Samuel Hein had emigrated from Koenigsberg, Germany, as a young man, and +had become an American citizen. He was fifty-six years in the Coast and +Geodetic Survey, retiring as its disbursing officer. He was an ardent +Union man, and during the four years of the Civil War kept the Stars and +Stripes flying from one of his windows. All through the two terrible +days after the Battle of Bull Run, when the Northern troops were +streaming through Georgetown, Mr. Hein maintained a soup kitchen for the +soldiers in his back yard. His wife was the daughter of John Simpson who +lived on the corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and West (P) +Streets. Her brother, James Alexander Simpson, was a rather well-known +portrait painter. They were quite a musical and artistic family. + +One son Charles Hein was an artist and had his studio in a little frame +house still standing on 31st (Congress) behind another house, opposite +the post office. There he took pupils. He was very picturesque in +appearance, tall and dark, wore a drooping mustache, low collar with +flowing black cravat and wide-brimmed black hat and cape. + +Another son Col. O. L. Hein in an interesting book called _Memories of +Long Ago_ tells this story: + + One day in the spring of 1861, as I was passing the residence of the + pastor of St. John's Church, The Rev. Mr. Tillinghast, quite near + our house, I was attracted by the sight of a dashing young Cavalry + officer, who was showing off the paces of his handsome black charger + to the Minister. I lingered nearby, greatly enjoying the equestrian + performance, and upon its conclusion I was informed by the + clergyman, that the name of the young officer was William Orton + Williams, and that he was the military secretary of Lt. General + Winfield Scott. + + In the following year I was shocked to read in a local newspaper the + account of the trial and conviction of Williams and his cousin, Lt. + W. G. Peter (resident of Georgetown) as spies under the assumed + names of General W. C. Auton and Major Dunlop, of the Union Army, by + a drumhead Court Martial, and their conviction and execution by + hanging. In recent years I was informed by my wife's mother, Mrs. + Ross, that she remembered Williams quite well, and that he was + engaged to Miss Anne Lee, the daughter of General R. E. Lee; but + that she died, on the outbreak of the Civil War. Mrs. Ross was a + cousin of General Lee, and a freqeunt visitor at Arlington before + the secession of Virginia. + + Williams was of distinguished ancestry, the son of Capt. William G. + Williams, a graduate of West Point of the class of 1822, who was + mortally wounded at the Battle of Monterey, Mexico, while serving on + the staff of General Zachary Taylor, and his mother, America Peter + was the daughter of Thomas Peter, a prominent citizen of + Georgetown, whose wife Martha Parke Custis was the granddaughter of + Mrs. George Washington and an aunt of Mary Custis the wife of + General R. E. Lee. + +Just next door to this house is the site where, even before 1780, stood +the Columbian Academy of which Mr. Rogers was the principal and of which +Dr. Balch became the head in 1781. It was a large, two-story frame +building, having a high entrance porch, where hung the bell. It stood on +a hill which commanded a fine view of the river from the study rooms +upstairs. Adjacent to the schoolroom was a large garden in the middle +of which was a jessamine arbor. Two of General Washington's nephews were +students of the school and lived with the principal. + +Here was housed the Columbian Library which was opened in 1803. In later +years the present building was erected but having a very different +appearance. Here lived Hugh Caperton a well known lawyer. + +I myself lived here as a very small child when I was two or three years +old and one of my very first memories is being dared by my brothers and +sisters to jump off the stone wall fronting the street, about four feet +high. I felt as if I had to jump from the Washington Monument, but I did +it, with no ill effects. + +It was after that the home, for many years, of the Barbers. Old Mrs. +Barber moved there with her grandchildren when she sold her home where +the United States Naval Observatory now stands. She was the daughter of +Major Adlum whose home was The Vineyard where the Bureau of Standards is +now. His place was well named for he was a great horticulturist, the +first to domesticate the Catawba grape. It grew wild in North Carolina. + + + + +Chapter X + +_Gay (N) Street--East to Rock Creek_ + + +Across High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) along Gay (N) Street on the +northwest corner of Congress (31st) is the Baptist Church which has just +celebrated its 75th anniversary. It was originally a small frame +building, up on a bank. The present building was erected in 1890. + +On the southwest corner of Gay (N) and Congress (31st) Streets stood, +not so very many years ago, an attractive old white house with long +porches, tiers of them, across the back overlooking a garden. I think +the present building is what it was converted into in the period that +did the best to rob Georgetown of all its charm. + +Here, in 1795, Dr. James Heighe Blake built his home. He was a very +eminent citizen, a member of the first vestry of Saint John's Church, +one of the very first to advocate schools of the Lancastrian system and +a reformatory, and the very first person to suggest a health officer for +the City of Washington. He moved over to the city and became its third +mayor from 1813 to 1817. His daughter, Glorvina, married William A. +Gordon, senior, of whom I have already spoken. + +Here, at one time, lived Judge Walter Cox, grandson of Colonel John Cox. +His wife was a daughter of Judge Dunlop. Still later, the school of Miss +Jennie and Miss Lucy Stephenson was here, which was well attended in the +seventies and eighties. In the spring of 1875, a romantic elopement +took place. A young girl of sixteen, an orphan, who was said to be "an +heiress," went off to Baltimore very early one morning with the son of a +minister who taught Latin in the school. + +When the pupils came that morning, they sensed the excitement and +gathered in groups in the gallery. Eventually, the news leaked out and +the chief topic was that the young lady took no baggage, not even a +nightgown, in her flight. + +Just below here, on Congress (31st) Street, in the latter part of the +last century lived a lady much beloved by rich and poor. She was the +first person to conceive the idea of a diet kitchen for the needy. She +had not much of this world's goods, so she went daily to the different +butchers who gave her scraps of meat which she cooked, and had +continually on hand jars of "beef tea." All the doctors knew where to +apply when they had patients who were in need of it. She was the widow +of Captain Charles Carroll Simms, an officer of the old navy who went +with the Confederacy, and at the famous battle in Hampton Roads, was +second in command of the _Merrimac_, and in command after the chief +officer was killed. She was Elizabeth Nourse, daughter of Major Charles +Joseph Nourse, of The Highlands. + +Next door, below Mrs. Simms' house, stands the Methodist Protestant +Church which not long ago celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. The +lot for it was purchased in April, 1829, but the founders for a year or +two previous to that had been worshipping in the Presbyterian Church +building, Saint John's or the Lancastrian schoolroom. It is now a +Christian Science Church. + +Across the street from the church, next door to the Post Office, the +tall brick house is where a family lived which in the nineties was a +mystery to Georgetown--the Oueston family--father, mother, and daughter. +No one knew what was the father's business, and no one ever saw the +mother out, but it was rumored that she came from South America, was of +royal blood, and had a throne on which she sat, dressed accordingly. The +daughter was known then, and for many years afterwards, as "the girl of +a thousand curls." She was tall and slender, and her magnificent suit of +dark hair was a mass of curls, making her head look like "a bushel +basket." She wore ankle-length dresses of a style totally different from +what every other girl wore: white stockings, when all of us wore black, +and black slippers, laced up with narrow black ribbons. + +And then up to the northeast corner of Gay (N) and Congress (31st) +Streets, to the tall yellow house, now an apartment house. For many +years it was at the home of the Snyders. Dr. John M. Snyder died at the +age of 36, in the enjoyment of a fine reputation in his profession, of +an unusual accident. + +The story is told by Dr. Samuel Busey, in his _Personal Reminiscences_: + + Dr. Snyder had bought a farm called "Greenwood" a little way out of + town toward Tenallytown, and one afternoon at Dr. Busey's home, + "Belvoir," now the Beauvoir School, was telling Dr. Busey how he was + enjoying pruning the old oak trees on his place of dead wood. Dr. + Busey warned him that he was engaging in a dangerous amusement and + related the story of how a hired man of his, doing such a job, had + had a bad fall, but, fortunately, without injury. + + Two or three days later, Dr. Busey was summoned to "Greenwood," + where he found Dr. Snyder dying from just such an accident. The + branch of the tree he had been sawing off was hanging by a + splintered sliver, too weak to support its weight and, in swinging + to the ground, had knocked away the ladder on which Dr. Snyder was + standing. + +His wife was Sophy Tayloe, a member of the well-known family of the +Octagon House in Washington, and beautiful old Mount Airy in Virginia. +As a widow in her old age, she had a steady admirer, a general, who came +every afternoon at the same time in his Victoria, and took her to drive. +I can see her now, a small, slight figure in her cape, and little black +bonnet tied under her chin, and holding one of those quaint little +ruffled sunshades to keep the sun out of her eyes. + +She had one daughter, Miss Annie, who had the loveliest rosy cheeks (no +rouge in those days), who never married. One son, Bladen, was an artist, +and he used to be a familiar sight with his camp-stool and easel on the +streets, painting. + +Georgetown was not so "arty" in Bladen Snyder's day, unfortunately, so +he was considered very "odd." + +The other son, Dr. Arthur Snyder, was a fine surgeon, and an ardent +horseman. + +Not long ago I was being shown photographs of belles and beaux of the +eighties and nineties in Georgetown. Among them were several pictures of +the crews of the Columbia Boat Club, and one of the "four" was young Dr. +Snyder, whose home this was. + +There were two boat clubs in those days which were great rivals. The +Columbia was at the foot of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and the +Potomac was at the foot of Congress (31st) Street. I have more +recollections of the latter, especially the dances held there on +summer evenings, and the porch overhanging the river, with the moonlight +on the water. + +[Illustration: OLD DR. RILEY'S HOUSE] + +We used to have tug parties, starting from there, going several miles +down the Potomac and back, eating our supper on board and singing "My +Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," and "On the Road to Mandalay," which at +that time was quite new. + +Across the street, at number 3038, is the house that I have always heard +called "old Dr. Riley's." It was sold on the 24th of March, 1812, by +James S. Marshall to William S. Nicholls and Romulus Riggs. Mr. Riggs +owned the house until 1835. He was born near Brookeville in Montgomery +County, Maryland. He was married in 1810. Somewhere between 1812 and +1835 he went to live in Philadelphia where he was a prosperous merchant +and influential citizen. I think it probable he lived in this house +during some of that time and sold it to Dr. Joshua Riley. + +Dr. Riley had several students of medicine whom he taught. Among them +was Dr. Armistead Peter, Alec Williams, "the handsomest man in town," +and the two nephews of Baron Bodisco, who also spent much time here. His +office, a quaint little one-story brick building, on part of his lot, +was torn down a few years ago, to the great sorrow of us old-timers, for +Georgetown had lost one of its most distinctive antiques. + +Dr. Riley practiced medicine for 51 years and died beloved in the +community at large as well as by his patients. He had a good word and +pleasant salutation for everybody. He was a man of marked personal +appearance, tall, slim, gaunt, awkward in manner, with a quick emphatic +style of speech. + +Dr. Riley had married a daughter of Colonel Fowler, who lived on West +(P) Street, and on the 10th of June, 1851, his wife's niece, Juliet +Murray was married in this dear old house to John Marbury, Jr. Dr. +Riley's daughter, Miss Marianna, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Riley, +occupied this house for many years until her death, when it was sold for +almost "a song." Since then it has been resold several times. + +Across the street, at number 3043, now the home of Vice-Admiral Laurence +Du Bose, was the home of another well-known admiral, Theodore Wilkinson, +when he returned from the Pacific. He and his wife started off on a +motor trip. At Norfolk, Virginia, as they were landing from a ferry, his +car got out of control; he signaled to his wife to jump and her life was +saved, but he and the car ran off into deep water and he was drowned. + +The cream-colored brick house with wings out on each side, now number +3033 N Street, is one of the very oldest houses in Georgetown. It was +the home of Colonel George Beall, son of Ninian Beall, and bequeathed by +him at his death in 1780 to his daughters, Elizabeth and Ann, the same +Elizabeth who became the wife of Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch shortly after +her father's death. + +Adjoining the house on the east was the garden. All the land between +this house and the one at 3017, built by George Beall's son, Thomas +Beall of George, as he always styled himself, was made his two +"Additions to Georgetown," was part of this estate. Many years +afterwards, the little summer house and the fruit trees were still +there. And, as was the custom in those long-ago days, here was the +family burying-ground. I know people who remember it. Among the +gravestones removed to the old Presbyterian burying-ground were two +which bore these inscriptions: "Here lieth Colonel George Beall, who +departed this life March 15, 1780, aged 85." And the other, "Here lieth +the body of Elizabeth Beall, who departed this life October 2, 1748, +aged about 49 years." She was Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of Colonel +Thomas Brooke and Barbara Dent. + +In 1809 these two sisters sold this house to John Peter, and the next +year he sold it to Mrs. Robert Peter, who was then a widow. She came +here to live with her younger daughter, Margaret, who had become the +wife of Thomas Dick, of Bladensburg. Here Mrs. Peter lived until her +death in 1821, at the age of seventy-eight. Mrs. Dick's husband had died +while on a trip to the West Indies and had been buried at sea. She lived +on here the rest of her life with her only child, Robert, and he lived +there many years and died there--an old bachelor. He was buried in Oak +Hill on Christmas Eve, 1870. During these years there was a much-beloved +old cook, Aunt Hannah, who was famous for her gingerbread and cookies. I +have seen her photograph "all dressed up to have her picture took." + +Robert Dick had a big black dog who always came to the gate to greet the +newsboy and took the paper in his mouth to his master. + +After Robert Dick's death, Thomas Cox bought the place and it was the +home of his family for a good many years. The eastern wing was put on at +that time and used as a conservatory. Since then the house has changed +hands many, many times, and the western wing been added. + +The two houses at numbers 3025 and 3027 were built in the seventies by +Oscar Stevens for his family and that of his brother-in-law, Dr. John S. +Billings. Their wives were sisters, and very dependent upon each other. +Dr. Billings was a pioneer in the introduction of indirect heating in +buildings, and became an authority on that subject, and on ventilation. +His textbooks on the subject were used in the Massachusetts Institute of +Technology, and when Johns Hopkins Hospital was built, he was consulted. +Because he had made such a fine record in creating the Army Medical +Library, he was asked to come to New York and create the new Public +Library there from the Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, which were +consolidated. + +Across the street, at number 3032, where now is a large, modern brick +house, there used to be, before I can remember, a quaint, frame +structure. It was supposed to be one of the first houses built on the +grant of the Rock of Dumbarton, and was intended for the "overlooker" of +that part of the grant. It was a very plain but comfortable house, and +was the home in the early part of the century of Hezekiah Miller who, +like many of the gentry in those days, was in charge of government work. +His department dealt with the Indians, and he had the distribution of +money and supplies to certain tribes to whom he went from time to time, +and also looked after them when they came to Washington. They always +called him "Father Miller." Mr. Miller's wife was Miss Middleton, from +Brooke Court Manor, in Maryland. Hezekiah Miller was a devout member of +Christ Church. His daughter became the wife of the Reverend George +Leakin, an Episcopal clergyman of Baltimore. She was to have been a +bridesmaid at the wedding of Harriet Williams and Baron Bodisco, but was +prevented by the sudden death of her brother by drowning. He was one of +twins, born just at the time of General Lafayette's arrival on his visit +in 1824, who were named Washington and Lafayette at the request of the +townspeople. It was the latter young man who drowned, at the age of +twenty-five. + +Number 3028 was the home, for a long, long time of the Reads, three +sisters. One married Dr. Post, who was a missionary to Syria, but Miss +Jane and Miss Isabella lived here many years after. The house next door +still has its old-time doorway, but, unfortunately, one owner in the +eighties spoiled its quaintness by adding a corner tower. It was here, I +think, that Dr. William Barton Rogers, first President of the +Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lived at one time. + +The two big houses, numbers 3014 and 3017, standing opposite each other +on this block are very closely connected in their history. The early +part is all tied up together. Although number 3017 has been somewhat +changed in appearance, it is still, I imagine, a good deal like it was +when Thomas Beall built it in 1794. Of course, the street has been cut +down and left it higher up than it originally was, and also the old +bricks have been covered with paint, and now a modern addition has +hidden its lovely little wing. + +[Illustration: 3017 N STREET. THE HOUSE THAT THOMAS BEALL BUILT] + +The building of this house was evidently quite an event in those days, +for in old advertisements of the sale of houses, many of them are +"Between the Union Tavern and Thomas Beall's house on Gay Street." John +Laird had a frame house on the lot, immediately across the street, now +number 3014, but he was becoming exceedingly prosperous and wanted a +handsome house. He married first, Lucinda Dick, sister of Thomas Dick, +of Bladensburg, and, after her death, her elder sister, Mary. While he +was building his brick house at number 3014, he rented and occupied +Thomas Beall's house. No reason is given as to why Mr. Beall was not +occupying it himself. + +About 1800 Mr. Laird moved into his own new mansion. At that time only +the central part of the large building was there. Several wings have +been added and the little portico at the front door. John Laird's eldest +daughter, Barbara, married James Dunlop, Junior, the eldest son of James +Dunlop; and his only son, William Laird, married two of James Dunlop's +daughters at Hayes, first Helen, by whom he had three children, William +Laird, Jr., James Dunlop Laird, who went to California in 1848 and never +married, and Helen Laird, who also never married. After the death of his +first wife, William Laird, Sr., married his sister-in-law, Arianna +French Dunlop. She was very lame, and the marriage took place only a +short time before her death. + +The miniatures reproduced of John Laird and James Dunlop represent them +both in scarlet coats, with lace ruffles and powdered hair. + +John Laird was always very much interested in the Presbyterian Church +and its affairs, and his descendants have remained so. + +He came to this country at the age of seventeen and was active in +Georgetown from its early days, and it is a pity that none of his +children had a son to carry on his name. + +[Illustration: JOHN LAIRD] + +[Illustration: JAMES DUNLOP, SENIOR] + +His son, William Laird, Jr., who had children, but no grandchildren, was +clerk of the town for a great many years, longer than any other man. He +is said to have had no superior as an accountant in this country. + +After John Laird's death in 1833, his house became the property of his +daughter, Margaret. She never married, and lived there for a great many +years with her aunt, Miss Elizabeth Dick. They were always known as +"Miss Peggy" Laird and "Miss Betsy" Dick. My mother, as a little girl, +remembered them. They used to sit by the front windows a great deal, and +the turban which Miss Betsy wore on her head was, of course, very +intriguing to a young girl in 1850. They were both almost always dressed +in Scotch gingham of such fine quality that it seemed like silk. They +were both ardent supporters of the Presbyterian Church and workers for +the Orphan Asylum. Miss Betsy Dick died first, of course. Thomas Bloomer +Balch dedicated to her one of the lectures he gave in Georgetown in the +fifties called "Reminiscences of George Town." + +When Miss Peggy Laird died, she left the house to her sister, Barbara, +Mrs. James Dunlop. They had been living on the southeast corner of Gay +(N) and Greene (29th) Streets. From that time on, number 3014 was always +known as the Dunlop house. + +Judge Dunlop was always very prominent. As a young man he was secretary +of the Corporation of Georgetown, which fact is recorded on the keystone +of the little bridge on High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) over the canal. +He was for some time a law partner of Francis Scott Key, and later was +appointed Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the District of +Columbia. He was holding this office at the outbreak of the Civil War +and, being a Southerner in his sympathies, was, very naturally, removed +from office by President Lincoln. An interesting thing is that about +1915 this place was bought from the heirs of Judge Dunlop's son by +Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Lincoln. + +An anecdote is told of a dinner party long ago where Judge Dunlop was a +guest, when one of the other guests was making puns on the names of all +those present. Judge Dunlop said, "You will not be able to make one on +my name." Quick as a flash came back the rejoinder, "Just lop off the +last syllable and it is dun." + +Judge Dunlop and all of his brothers, except one, were graduates of +Princeton College, he being valedictorian of his class. A portrait of +him hangs in the courthouse in Washington. His son, William Laird +Dunlop, lived for many years as a bachelor in the old house before his +marriage to his cousin, Miss Sallie Peter, in Rockville. An interesting +story is told of their neighbor, Dr. Tyler, coming home one evening and +saying to his wife, "I'll have to go over and see what is the matter at +Mr. Dunlop's; the house is lit up from top to bottom." When he returned, +he was laughing heartily. "It's only that Mr. Dunlop is going to be +married and is inspecting the house thoroughly." The bride he brought +there was a very lovely person and very much beloved. + +William Laird Dunlop always kept up his custom of keeping his own cow +and killing his own hogs in the fall. The little square, brick building +covered with vines between the house and the stable was the meat house. +It is in the garden of this house that the only remaining stone marker +used in laying off the original George Town stands, protruding about +eighteen inches from the ground. + +Now to return to number 3017 across the street. In 1811 this house was +bought from Thomas Beall by Major George Peter. He was the youngest son +of Robert Peter. He was born in George Town on the 28th of September, +1779. When only fifteen years old he joined the Maryland troops against +the Whisky Insurrectionists (1794), but his parents sent a messenger to +camp and General Washington, hearing of the matter, ordered him home. +His youthful ardor was gratified five years later in July, 1799, by his +appointment as second lieutenant of the Ninth Infantry, United States +Army, by President Adams, and he enjoyed the distinction of receiving +his commission from the hands of General Washington at Mount Vernon. +While in command at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, during the administration +of President Jefferson, he organized the first light-horse battery +formed in the United States service, and he always referred to his +"Flying Artillery" with a special pride, in that he was specially +selected by President Jefferson for that purpose. + +In April, 1805, Lieutenant Peter accompanied General Wilkinson to the +West and took part in the organization of the Territorial Government of +Missouri. Arriving at St. Louis on the Fourth of July, he established +the first cantonment on the banks of the Missouri at Bellefontaine and +fired the first salute on the return of Lewis and Clarke from their +expedition to the Pacific. He also served under General Wilkinson during +Governor Claiborne's administration before Louisiana was admitted to the +Union and he was present as a witness at the trial of Aaron Burr. + +At the beginning of the War of 1812, President Madison tendered him a +brigadier-generalship, which the condition of private affairs compelled +him to decline, but in 1813 he volunteered his services and commanded a +battalion of "Flying Artillery." + +Among the privates in this battalion were George Peabody and Francis +Scott Key, besides others who afterwards became distinguished citizens. +In writing of this battalion, W. W. Corcoran says the list of its +membership represented the wealth, worth, and talent of the town at that +time. + +In 1815, he was elected to Congress from the Sixth District of Maryland, +but his seat was contested on the ground that he was not a resident of +the Congressional District. At that time he was a resident of Georgetown +and a member of the Town Council, but had large farms in Maryland. The +House of Representatives, however, decided in his favor, and admitted +him to take his seat. He was the first Democrat ever elected to Congress +from the Sixth District of Maryland and was re-elected in 1817, and +again in 1828. He served several terms in the State Legislature and in +1855 was elected by the Democratic Party a Commissioner of Public Works +for the State of Maryland. + +He was a man six feet in height, straight as an arrow, and of splendid +physique. + +He was married three times. His first wife was Ann Plater, daughter of +Governor Plater of Maryland; his second, Agnes Freeland, and his third, +Sarah Norfleet Freeland of Petersburg, Virginia. + +Major Peter was one of the largest landowners and farmers in Montgomery +County and carried on those farms up to the date of his death, which +occurred at Montanvert, near Darnestown, June 22, 1861. He was nearly +eighty-two. + +[Illustration: MAJOR GEORGE PETER] + +[Illustration: JUDGE JAMES DUNLOP] + +[Illustration: WILLIAM REDIN] + +His three sons by his third marriage were: George, who became an eminent +lawyer in Rockville; Alexander, who lived and farmed near Darnestown; +Armistead, who practised medicine many years in Georgetown; and Walter +Gibson Peter, who met the heroic and tragic death I have already spoken +of. Dr. Peter had been sent to Georgetown to live with his aunt, Mrs. +Dick, to receive his medical education under Dr. Riley. + +In 1827 George Peter sold this house, 3017 N Street, to John Laird, +evidently for his son, William, who made it his home until 1834, when it +was bought by Miss Elizabeth Dick, but she apparently changed her mind +and decided to live with her niece, for she sold it the same year to +William Redin. + +Mr. Redin was an Englishman from Lincolnshire, who had come to America +about 1817. He was an attorney, and I have heard very old people refer +to him as "Lawyer Redin," and speak of the green baize bag which he +always carried back and forth to his office, the forerunner of the +present-day brief case, and I know an old lady who can remember him in +his pew in Christ Church. He had five daughters and one son. The young +man, Richard Wright Redin, soon after his graduation from Princeton, +fell a victim to cholera, that terrible disease brought to George Town +in its ships. It also carried off a young sister, Fanny, who was a +little beauty, and only about eighteen. + +Mr. Redin was a friend of Henry Foxall, and named his youngest daughter +Catherine Foxall. + +During the Civil War, Mr. Redin was a Union sympathizer, and when +President Lincoln removed Judge Dunlop from the bench, he offered the +Justiceship to Mr. Redin, but he refused to take the office of his old +friend and neighbor across the street. In 1863, he was made the first +Auditor of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. + +One of his married daughters was living, during the Civil War, not far +from Culpeper, Virginia, almost on the battlefield. She died when only +thirty-seven, from the fact that no medicines could be gotten for her; +nor could a minister be found to bury her, so her eldest daughter, +seventeen, read the burial service over her mother. + +There were seven of these motherless children left--the eldest three all +very pretty girls. It was quite impossible for them to remain in their +home, so their grandfather got permission for them to come to +Washington. They came, wearing sunbonnets, and traveling all day long in +a box-car from Culpeper to Alexandria, a distance of only fifty miles. +There they had to spend the night at a hotel until they could pass +through the lines. The Union officer in charge of them slept outside +their door that night. + +Not very long after their arrival, Martha Kennon, of Tudor Place, came +to see the eldest girl. They had been at school together a few years +before, at Miss Harrover's. She suggested that they should go "over to +the city" together. On the way down to Bridge (M) Street to take the +omnibus, they found they had no small change to pay their fare, so +Martha said: "Never mind, I have a cousin in a store near here. He will +change our money or lend us some." They went to him and she introduced +my father to my mother! + +This was the old Vanderwerken omnibus that ran along Bridge (M) Street +and Pennsylvania Avenue, which became the Capital Traction Company, and +now the Capital Transit Company. + +I have often heard my mother tell of how the Southern girls would not +walk under the Stars and Stripes hanging out from the hospital in the +Seminary. They would cross to the other side of the street, and when the +Union officers passed, they held aside their skirts. She has also +described to me how the city was hung with black when Abraham Lincoln +was killed. + +Mr. Redin bequeathed his house to his only unmarried daughter, +Catherine. She married later, and sold the house in 1873 and regretted +it bitterly, to such an extent that she went into melancholia and +committed suicide by taking poison. For a while it was Miss Lipscomb's +School for Young Ladies, then it was bought by John D. Smoot, and his +family lived there many years. + +In 1915 Colonel W. E. P. French purchased the property. He leased it +during the World War I to Honorable Newton D. Baker, then Secretary of +War. At that time Georgetown had hardly begun to be fashionable again, +and on first coming to Washington and hunting for a house, Mrs. Baker +told a friend she was discouraged trying to find one with a yard where +her three children could play, and that she thought they would have to +go to Fort Myer. The friend answered in a tone of deep commiseration, +"Too bad! You will have to pass through Georgetown!" + +Another anecdote of somewhat the same tone was told me by an old lady +who has lived all her life in one of the loveliest old Georgetown +houses. Many years ago, while the street cars were still drawn by +horses, she was in a car sitting opposite two women, one of whom was +pointing out the sights to the other. They passed Dupont Circle, where +she showed the Leiter house, etc., and as they crossed P Street Bridge, +she said, "Now we are coming into Georgetown where nobody lives but +colored people and a few white people who can't get away." + +On the next block east is a little house, entirely changed now, which +used to be very quaint in its appearance when it was covered with white +plaster and approached by a sort of causeway from the sidewalk. It had +belonged to Henry Foxall, though, of course, he never lived there. + +On the southwest corner of Gay (N) and Greene (29th) Streets stands the +house that was originally the property of John Davidson. Then Mrs. +Williamson, a daughter of old Dr. Balch made her home here, followed by +her daughter, Mrs. Hasle. Next door, on the west, lived the son, Joseph +Williamson, whose wife was Marian Woods. Then the Howell family lived +there, and from them, Colonel Harrison Howell Dodge, who was +superintendent of Mount Vernon for over forty years, got his name. Later +the house was rented to Mr. and Mrs. John Worthington, whose daughter, +Lilah, married Mr. Henry Philip in April, 1865. She went to live at 3406 +R Street. + +A few years ago a gentleman who was an artist bought the house and +changed the windows on the first floor front--to give more light for his +studio, I was told. + +The picturesque house on the northeast corner is always called "Admiral +Weaver's house." The back portion is very old, and "they say" there is a +ghost somewhere about. In the spring the hedge of Japanese quince here +is a thing of beauty with its flaming color. + +On the next block eastward at number 2812 is the house with a very +beautiful doorway and a very interesting association. It was built in +1779, and was at one time the home of Judge Morsell, but it was called +the Decatur house. There is the Decatur house on Lafayette Square in +Washington, but we know that Admiral Decatur's widow left it after he +was killed in the duel with Commodore James Barron, near Bladensburg, on +March 22, 1820, and came to live in Georgetown. Tradition has persisted +that this was the house she lived in. These parts of two letters written +by Mrs. Basil Hall, in 1827, are from a volume called _The Aristocratic +Journey_, being her letters home to her sister in Edinburgh: + + January 4: ... I had a note to-night from a lady whom I had + considerable curiosity to see, Mrs. Decatur, the widow of Commodore + Decatur. I brought a letter to her from Mrs. MacTavish at Baltimore + and sent it yesterday along with our cards. In this note she + acknowledged the receipt of it, but excuses herself from calling + upon me, "as peculiar circumstances attending a domestic affliction + she has suffered makes it impossible for her to come to Washington." + She asked us to spend the evening of the tenth with her, or any + other evening that suits us better, a very kind note, in short, and + we have promised to go on the eleventh. I knew that she would not + return my visit before I came. The reason of this peculiarity is + that her husband was killed in a duel, and she fears if she were to + go into company either morning or evening she might meet his second, + who she considers as having been very much to blame, or his + antagonist. Now all this is very natural, and I only object to it + because somehow she appears to have made her reasons too much the + subject of conversation, which is very unlike real feeling. She sees + a great deal of company at home. Her note smells so detestably of + musk that it quite perfumes the room and was like to make me sick, + so we had sealed it up in an envelope, but it shall go along with + the next of the scraps. + + January 6: We have had today weather much more like June than + January, most extraordinary for this climate, where at this season + there is generally severe frost and snow. I went out with a cloak on + but speedily returned and exchanged that for a silk handkerchief + tied round my throat, which was as much as I could bear. Yesterday, + the fifth, we walked off by eleven o'clock to visit Mrs. Decatur, + who lives at Georgetown, which is separated from Washington only by + a little creek, across which there is a shabby enough tumble-down + looking wooden bridge. There is so thick a fog that we could not see + three yards before us, "quite English weather," as our friends here + tell us, but not disagreeable to my mind as it was very mild. At the + door of Mrs. Decatur's house we met General Van Rensselear, "the + Patroon," who with his wife and daughter is now here. He went in + with us and introduced us to the lady of the mansion, who we found + dressed in very becoming weeds, and she gave us an extremely cordial + reception. She is a pretty, pleasing-looking person and very + animated, with no appearance of woe except the outward sign of cap + and gown. We sat some time with her and walked home.... + +If only Mrs. Hall had been able to say where the house was to which they +walked from across Rock Creek on that balmy day in January! + +These other letters which follow are written to a young man then +beginning to make his way in the world, who certainly was possessed of a +most attractive personality, and it is not surprising that the widow +might have been rather "setting her cap" for him. + + My dear Mr. Corcoran: + + If you should find yourself destitute of amusement this evening, + while the belles are at church, I beg you to come and listen to some + of my lamentations. + + Yours sincerely, S. DECATUR. + + My dear Mr. Corcoran: + + I am happy to say that I can take you under my wing today, on the + way to heaven, and I pray you to call for me at ten o'clock. + + Yours sincerely, S. DECATUR. + + Union Hotel, Monday morning. + + My dear Mr. Corcoran: + + The Iturbides have deferred their visit until Wednesday evening and + I hope you will be able to come and meet them, with your sister and + Colonel Thomas. + + Yours sincerely, S. DECATUR. + + If you have a moment to spare this evening I pray you to come and + tell me how your brother's family are after this dreadful alarm.[A] + +[Footnote A: The destruction of Mr. J. Corcoran's dwelling by fire.] + +As we know, it was of no avail, for he seems to have remained "fancy +free" until he met and married Louise Morris. + +About 1828 Mrs. Decatur became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church +through her close acquaintance with the Carroll family, it is thought. +The latter part of her life was spent in a frame house on the brow of a +hill about one hundred yards from Georgetown College, which she rented +from Miss Hobbs. Here she died about 1860. + +Among the souvenirs of the college is the portrait of Commodore Decatur +by Gilbert Stuart, his ivory chess-board and men, and his jeweled +toothpick box. The grave of Mrs. Decatur was discovered some time ago in +the cemetery of Georgetown College. It had been overgrown and neglected +and forgotten. + +So had this part of Georgetown, until Admiral and Mrs. Spencer Wood +bought 2808 and brought it back to its pristine glory. This house was +built by John Stoddert Haw, nephew of Benjamin Stoddert, one of the +founders of Christ Church, of which many of his descendants are still +pillars. When the Woods lived here, there was at the back of the house a +very lovely, unusual green garden, which gave a feeling of restfulness +not always produced by a riot of glorious colors, opening off a paved +area under a wide porch, like so many houses used to have. + +The old house at 2806 is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Walker. He is +the curator of the National Gallery of Art. Thomas Beall of George sold +the land to John M. Gannt in 1804, who may have built this lovely house. +It was purchased by Elisha Williams in 1810; also owned by Thomas +Robertson and Thomas Clarke in the first decade of the nineteenth +century. In the 1920's it was the home of Mrs. Hare Lippincott. + +Across the street, at number 2723, a good many years ago, was where +Thomas Harrison and his sister lived for a long time. Miss Virginia kept +a little school for several years and her brother was a translator at +the Naval Observatory until he was well up in his eighties. When he was +over ninety he used to go out calling on Sunday afternoons, as spry as +could be, and with his cheeks as rosy as pippins. They were a couple +much beloved and typical of old-time days. + + + + +Chapter XI + +_The Three Philanthropists_ + + +George Town produced three eminent philanthropists: one whose +benefactions were solely to Georgetown; a second, who became the +greatest benefactor the City of Washington has ever had, and inaugurated +the tremendous gifts to schools and colleges that have since become the +fashion among men of great wealth; the third started his gifts at home, +then crossed the ocean and made enormous contributions to the largest +city in the world. + +The first one, Edward Magruder Linthicum, had a hardware store on the +northwest corner of High (Wisconsin) Avenue and Bridge (M) Street, the +business hub then, as now, of Georgetown. He was a trustee of the +Methodist Church and member of the Town Council. + +He built the home at number 3019 P Street, which has such a beautiful +doorway, and lived there until in 1846 he moved up on the Heights to The +Oaks, for which he paid $11,000. William A. Gordon, in his book _Old +Houses in Georgetown Heights_, says of him: + + Mr. Linthicum was a prominent and prosperous merchant of the highest + type, a man of great civic activities, and deeply interested in + everything which tended to beautify the community. In his will by a + legacy of $50,000 he provided for the endowment of a school for the + free education of white boys of Georgetown in useful learning and in + the spirit and practice of Christian virtue being, as he expressed + it, convinced that knowledge and piety constitute the only assurance + of happiness and healthful progress to the human race and devoutly + recognizing the solemn duty to society which develops in its + members, and entertaining a serious desire to contribute in some + manner to the permanent welfare of the community, amongst whom my + life has been spent. + + As a commentary on the length to which partisan feeling went in the + years succeeding the War Between the States, it may be stated that + efforts to have the Linthicum Institute incorporated by Congress + were prevented by Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts, for + the reason that the benefits were confined to white youths. + +[Illustration: EDWARD MAGRUDER LINTHICUM] + +The Linthicum Institute began its career in the lower floor of one side +of the Curtis school building on P Street, opposite Saint John's Church. +The name in large gold letters used to be there. The present building +was erected about 1890 on the south side of O Street near 31st, the +school occupying the lower floor, and Linthicum Hall, considered by the +belles of the nineties to have the "best floor 'par excellence' for +dancing anywhere," being the upper portion. I have been told it was the +first night school in the District of Columbia. + +Mr. Linthicum was a very imposing looking gentleman, was married, but +had no children. He and his wife adopted a daughter, Kate, who became +Mrs. Dent, and I think it was in honor of her or her son that the little +street called Dent Place, just below R and between 30th and 31st Streets +was named when that part of Georgetown, then nicknamed "Cooke Park" was +developed. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM WILSON CORCORAN] + +William Wilson Corcoran, the third son of Thomas Corcoran, was born in +George Town on December 27, 1798, in his father's home on Bridge (M) +Street. He attended Mr. Kirk's school, later Reverend Addison Belt's, +in between, having been for a while a day scholar at Georgetown College. + +Contrary to his father's wishes for him to complete a classical +education, at the age of seventeen he went into a dry goods store +belonging to his brothers, James and Thomas. Two years later they +established him in a small store of his own on the northwest corner of +High (Wisconsin Avenue) and First (N) Streets. Again, two years later +they all purchased a two-story brick house on the corner of Bridge (M) +and Congress (31st) Streets and commenced a wholesale auction and +commission business. + +In the depression of 1823, when very many firms went to the wall, they +too had to give up and settled with all their creditors for fifty cents +on the dollar. + +I think the aftermath of this story (which is the reason I have given it +in detail) is most encouraging to this generation, struggling in the +grip of the present depression, for the young man of twenty-five, after +giving up four or five years to taking care of the business of his +father, who was growing old, finally became connected with the Bank of +Columbia, and in 1837 began a brokerage business in Washington in a +little store 10 x 16 feet on Pennsylvania Avenue near 15th Street. He +was so successful that he eventually took into partnership George W. +Riggs, also of Georgetown, and changed the name to Corcoran and Riggs. +In 1845 this firm purchased the old United States Bank on the corner of +15th Street and New York Avenue. And so the Riggs National Bank, today +one of the strongest banks in the United States, was born. A little +later George W. Riggs retired and Elisha, his brother, was made a junior +partner. + +In 1847 Mr. Corcoran sent to all people to whom he had been able to pay +only 50% in his failure of 1823, the full amount due them, with +interest, amounting to about forty-six thousand dollars, to their great +surprise, as evidenced by letters I have read from them to him. Of all +his great benefactions, this seems to me to have been the very finest +thing he ever did. + +He must have been a man of very remarkable personality, witness his +going to Europe, the first of the very, very many trips he made in his +life, on one day's notice, and against much discouragement, persuading +Thomas Baring of the great London banking firm of Baring Brothers, to +assist him in a sale of five millions of government bonds. At that time +the firm of Corcoran and Riggs took, on its own account, nearly all the +loans made by the United States. + +On his return to New York he was greeted by everyone with enthusiasm, as +this was the first sale of American securities abroad since 1837--eleven +years. + +In April, 1854, Mr. Corcoran withdrew from the firm, thinking he had +made enough money, and spent the rest of his long life of ninety +years--forty-five years more--spending his money in a manner unknown +before that time. + +Apropos of his money-making faculty, I have often been told by my aunt +how her father, Henry Dunlop, when a boy, was walking along the street +with young Corcoran, just his own age, when Henry, whose family was +rather well-off in those days, seeing a penny lying on the pavement, +kicked it ahead of him in his stride, as boys will do, but young +Corcoran, stooping down, put it in his pocket saying, "Henry, you will +never be a rich man." That prophecy came true, for Henry spent his life +in farming, and you know what that means! + +Among Mr. Corcoran's very first benefactions were gifts to the town of +his birth. First of all a fund of $10,000 to be spent for firewood, +etc., for the poor. It was left to the town authorities, but was +administered by the Benevolent Society. + +In 1849 he gave beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery, lying along the northern +limit of the town. To me no other cemetery that I have ever seen in this +country or abroad has the same natural beauty of slopes and trees--in +the spring bedecked like a bride in flowering white shrubs; in the fall +its towering oak trees aflame with shades of crimson. + +I suppose what impressed on him the need of a cemetery for Georgetown so +deeply was the death of his beloved wife in 1840. It had been a very +romantic marriage. She was Louise Morris, the daughter of Commodore +Charles Morris. Mr. Corcoran met his wife when she was sixteen and he +was thirty-six. On the 23rd of December, 1835, they eloped, accompanied +by Mr. Corcoran's sister-in-law, Mrs. James Corcoran, who later became +the second wife of John Marbury, senior, and to the day of her death was +greatly beloved by Mr. Corcoran. When she was lying in her coffin on +14th Street, he came there and although somewhat lamed by paralysis and +nearly ninety years of age, he insisted upon climbing the long flight of +stairs to the room where she lay, saying over and over as he toiled up +the many steps: "I must see Harriet once more!" I suppose in his mind he +was living over the great event in his life when she helped to secure +for him the only love of his life. And so pitifully short a time he had +her, for only five years afterwards, when she was twenty-one, she died +of tuberculosis. In those short years she had had three children, +Harriet Louise, Louise Morris, and Charles Morris. Of these the middle +child, Louise, was the only one to grow up. + +Although Commodore Morris had greatly disapproved of his daughter's +marriage, which was very natural as at that time he was one of the most +eminent officers of the United States Navy, and Mr. Corcoran had not +then entered on the career which eventually made him the most +distinguished private citizen of the capital of the nation, he grew to +greatly admire and respect his son-in-law. For there are preserved in _A +Grandfather's Legacy_, a collection of letters received by Mr. Corcoran, +and compiled by him before his death, several letters from Charles +Morris, showing the deepest trust and affection. + +I suppose there was never a daughter more beloved and petted than Louise +Morris Corcoran. Her father seemed to expend on her all the affection of +his great big heart, and she seems to have been a very lovely character. +When she was about ten years old she fell overboard from a vessel and +was only saved from drowning by the quickness and skill of Gurdon B. +Smith. Among these letters are several in regard to this incident, for +Mr. Corcoran, in his gratitude for this merciful deliverance, sent +through an agent, $1,000 to Mr. Smith, an artisan, who was very grateful +and considered he had received a fortune. But, not satisfied with that, +Mr. Corcoran secured an appointment as lighthouse keeper for Mr. Smith +at a point not far from his home, a life position with a good salary, +but Mr. Smith refused it as he seemed perfectly satisfied with his +circumstances. + +Mr. Corcoran's money doubled and trebled and quadrupled, and the +following letter shows how his judgment was sought on political as well +as financial questions: + + My dear Sir: + + I wish you would come to my house about 8 this evening and tell me, + in five words, what are the best reasons to be given to friends of + the administration for not passing the sub-treasury bill at present. + + Yours, + D. WEBSTER. + +He had a close friendship with Edward Everett, senator from +Massachusetts, who was frequently his guest. He and ex-President +Fillmore traveled abroad together. The letters he received from many of +the great of the earth make very interesting reading. By the middle of +the nineteenth century this Georgetown boy of rather modest parentage +was living in a very fine house in Washington, in great elegance, +entertaining everyone of any importance who came to the capital. There +is on record now a letter from a gentleman in England, bringing to his +attention the coming of the new Minister and his wife from Great +Britain, Lord and Lady Napier. Although, as he had said "he knows he +will receive a great deal of attention, yet he wishes Mr. Corcoran, +particularly to honor them." He was consulted by presidents for his +opinion on financial matters. Baron Humboldt, the great German +geographer, kept up a correspondence with him to the day of his death. + +After a brilliant girlhood, Louise Corcoran had married the Honorable +George Eustis of New Orleans, representative in Congress. When the Civil +War came and shattered all existing social ties, Mr. Eustis, of course, +took the Southern side, as did Mr. Corcoran. Mr. Eustis, who had been +appointed Confederate Secretary of Legation at the same time that the +Honorable John Slidell was appointed Minister to France, after being +held a prisoner in Maine, went over to France, where he was joined by +his wife. Neither ever returned to this country. They made their home +there, their three children were born there, they died there, were +finally brought back and buried in Oak Hill under the beautiful little +Doric temple Mr. Corcoran had erected for his first Louise. + +Those three grandchildren then became his pride and joy. But more and +more he absorbed himself in his benefactions. It is impossible to tell +all of them. Beginning with his gift of Oak Hill to Georgetown in 1849, +in 1850 a loan to the Roman Catholic Church there which, like all of his +loans, he eventually turned into gifts; in 1851 he gave an organ to the +Lunatic Asylum in Staunton, Virginia, saying he knew of nothing better +than to give music to those whose souls were so troubled. About this +time he gave the lot for the Washington City Orphan Asylum, and a little +later the one for the Y. M. C. A. For many years he had been collecting +painting and sculpture, both on his trips to Europe and from the various +persons who wrote to him soliciting his patronage. These were at first +kept in his own house, but then he decided to build a gallery and give +them to the City of Washington, so he erected the building on +Pennsylvania Avenue at the corner of 17th Street, directly opposite the +State, War and Navy Building. It was just nearing completion when the +Civil War began and was taken over by the United States Government as an +annex to the War Department, so that it was not until 1869 that it was +opened as the Corcoran Gallery of Art. In 1897 the collection was moved +to the beautiful new building lower down on 17th Street and was formally +opened on February 22nd by a brilliant reception at which were President +and Mrs. Cleveland and all of their Cabinet. + +Above the doorway of the old building, in the stone, is still seen a +carved medallion with W. W. C. intertwined. + +Just about that time, also, Mr. Corcoran began to build another of his +beneficent gifts to the city. His beloved daughter had died, and the +city and the country was filled with ladies who had been made penniless +by the cruel fratricidal war. In 1871 he turned over to the trustees the +Louise Home on Massachusetts Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets, as a +home for gentlewomen, the only requirements being enough money to +furnish their own clothes and their burial expenses, even lots in Oak +Hill were reserved for them after the Louise Home failed to suffice. It +was very natural that for a long time its clientele was largely made up +of Southerners, as there were very, very many more of them impoverished +at that time, and also Mr. Corcoran was himself in sympathy with the +Confederates. It is said he saved his house from confiscation by renting +it to the French Minister. + +Many, very many, were the letters he received thanking him for the help +he had sent to widows and orphans of soldiers of the South. He founded +homes of that kind in Charleston, South Carolina, and in other places, +besides rendering assistance most tactfully in many private cases. Many +of these letters are very touching in their gratitude. + +His friendship for James Mason, of the Mason and Slidell affair, was +close, as was his very real association with General Robert E. Lee, +witnessed by letters from General Lee during his life in Lexington, +Virginia, after the war, and from Dr. William Pendleton, General Lee's +rector there, and from Mrs. Lee in regard to General Lee's death. + +He and General Lee spent several summers at the "Old White," as the +Greenbriar White Sulphur Springs was then affectionately known. As the +years rolled on, Anthony Hyde, a Georgetown man, was kept busy +administering the benefactions of his employer. He has told how during a +trip through the South after the war, with Mr. Corcoran (he was his +secretary), he had difficulty in keeping Mr. Corcoran's gifts within +bounds. I was told not long ago by a man in the employ of Oak Hill, how +an old street-car conductor had described to him the sight of Mr. +Corcoran going to his office, and on the sidewalk in front of it each +morning was a line to which he always dispensed "green money," as the +old man called it. + +The business of his life then was judiciously giving away his money. +Here are some of the ways he did it: colleges had always appealed to +him, and he was for many years Rector of Columbian University in +Washington, now renamed George Washington, and gave freely to it. His +name is now borne by one of their largest and best buildings, Corcoran +Hall. He gave to the Maryland Agricultural College, to the College of +William and Mary in Virginia, loaned money to the Virginia Military +Institute and when the bonds came due, tore them up--a little way he +had. To Washington and Lee University, also in Lexington, he gave +$20,000 besides the library purchased from the widow of Nathaniel +Howard, thus, it helped in the getting as well as in the giving. + +His portrait hangs in the little chapel in Lexington where lies the body +of his friend, Robert Edward Lee. To the University of Virginia he gave +$100,000 which endowed two chairs, also giving $5,000 to resuscitate the +library which had suffered during the war and the period following, from +being unable to procure any new books. + +He was one of the first people to subscribe to the fund being raised by +certain ladies to purchase Mount Vernon, after the Washington family +found themselves unable to keep it up and offered it to the United +States Government, which refused to buy and preserve it. + +The Episcopal Church of the Ascension on the corner of 12th Street and +Massachusetts Avenue was built almost entirely with his money. William +Pinckney, its rector when it was begun, was very devoted to Mr. +Corcoran. He afterwards became Bishop of Maryland. It worried him +exceedingly that Mr. Corcoran had never become a confirmed member and +communicant of the church. Many are the long and eloquent letters he +wrote to him on the subject. Finally, in his old age, the old gentleman +did come forward and be confirmed. The friendship between these two +seems to have been very sweet. The Bishop was a simple soul, a great +lover of flowers and birds. He was always sending gifts of grapes to his +wealthy friend, from Bladensburg. He now rests not far from his friend +in Oak Hill. The inscription on his stone, which is surmounted by his +statue reads thus: + + WILLIAM PINCKNEY, D. D., L L. D. + + APRIL 17, 1820 + JULY 4, 1883 + + Guileless and fearless. + +All through his life Mr. Corcoran was a very sociable person. He always +loved to play whist and in the last years of his life his nephews and +nieces and great-nephews and great-nieces used to go often to play with +him and pass the long evenings. A friend of mine remembers being taken +as a little girl, with her grandmother, to call on him. She was +fascinated by the room where he sat, which had medallions of children's +heads, set at intervals into the paneling of the walls. She said he told +her they were his grandchildren. She loved looking at them and was +distressed when told to go out in the garden to play. + +That garden to the house where he lived for many years and where he +died, stood on H Street at the corner of Connecticut Avenue. Daniel +Webster had lived there before him. The flowering trees in the spring +hung over the high brick wall on the Connecticut Avenue side and +gladdened the hearts of all who saw them. It was a sad day for +Washington, historically, when that whole square was reconstructed. If +only one could endow old houses! + +At last, on the 24th of February, 1888, W. W. Corcoran, as he was always +known, was laid to rest in his own beautiful Oak Hill. I remember as a +little girl standing at the window of my home facing 31st Street and +hearing the bell of near-by Christ Church toll ninety strokes as +carriage after carriage passed slowly up the hill. My brother and I +counted them, and there were ninety-nine. + +George Peabody, the third of my trio of philanthropists who got their +start in Georgetown, was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, on February 18, +1795. He was descended from an old yeoman family of Hertfordshire, +England, named Pabody or Pebody. At eleven years he was an apprentice in +a grocery store, and at fifteen, by his father's death, he was left an +orphan and was cheerfully helping to support his mother and sisters. He +soon after left Danvers and became an assistant to his uncle in his +business in Georgetown. When he was seventeen he served as a volunteer +in the War of 1812 in the artillery company of Major George Peter +against the British, which is interesting, as in later life he was +offered a baronetcy by Queen Victoria, which he refused. + +[Illustration: GEORGE PEABODY] + +After the war, when he was about nineteen, he became a partner with +Elisha Riggs in a dry goods store in Georgetown and through his energy +and skill the business increased tremendously. They moved to Baltimore, +and when his partner retired, about 1830, he found himself, according to +_The Encyclopaedia Britannica_, at the head of one of the largest +mercantile concerns in the world. About seven years afterwards he +established himself in London as a merchant and money-broker at Wonford +Court in the city, and in 1843 he withdrew from the American business. + +He was never married. He was a very intimate friend of Mr. Corcoran's, +and in several letters to him speaks jokingly of himself as a confirmed +old bachelor, and in one flouts the idea that he is attentive to a +certain lady, saying that he never but once seriously thought of +marriage. + +Of course, he and Mr. Corcoran were near the same age and were both +making their way as young men here in Georgetown at the same time, and +it is very interesting to follow, from many letters, how their +friendship continued through all their lives. + +Mr. Peabody made frequent visits to his homeland, and used often to +visit Mr. Corcoran at his home in Washington, and to spend the summers +with him at the White Sulphur Springs. + +When hearing of the beginning of the great gifts of his friend on this +side of the water, he wrote in October, 1851: + + However liberal I may be over here, I can not keep pace with your + noble acts of charity at home; but one of these days I mean to come + out, and then if my feelings regarding money don't change and I have + plenty, I shall become a strong competitor of yours in benevolence. + +He certainly made good his words. In London he entertained in princely +style. The following letter is one of the many telling of his parties +there: + + London, May 16, 1853. + + My dear Corcoran: + + On the 18th I am to give a grand banquet to the American Minister + and about sixty-five English and eighty-five American ladies and + gentlemen, and have invited about fifty more for the evening. Mr. + Van Buren will be of the party and I hope to make it the best dinner + party I have ever given, as I have the Star and Garter, Richmond, + and the proprietor has no limit. I enclose you the programme of + music during and after dinner. + + I have taken the house--Star and Garter--for a Fourth of July dinner + to gentlemen only, and expect about 150. I hear from Mr. Ingersoll + that your friend, Mr. Buchanan, will leave in June. Now, although I + only know Mr. Buchanan from his high character and what you say of + him, particularly as he is unmarried, and I would like to invite the + party for the fourth of July to meet "the American Minister, Mr. + Ingersoll, and the new Minister, Mr. Buchanan." Will you confer with + Mr. Buchanan on receipt of this and try to get me permission to give + the invitations as I propose? If Mr. Buchanan leaves 13th or 16th + June, he will arrive in ample time. + + Very truly, + + GEORGE PEABODY. + +In 1867 he gave $15,000 to found the Peabody Library in Georgetown. A +large donation was given by him to the second Grinnell Arctic +Expedition. The museum in Salem, Massachusetts, called by his name, is a +fascinating collection of historic relics. To his birthplace he gave +50,000 pounds ($250,000) for educational purposes; for the Peabody +Institute in Baltimore 200,000 pounds ($1,000,000.00); to the trustees +of the Peabody Educational Fund to promote education in the Southern +States (part went to Washington and Lee University in Lexington). A dear +old cousin of mine has told me of his visit to the White Sulphur to +confer with Mr. Corcoran and Mr. Peabody on this subject. The thing he +is remembered for in London is the erection of a huge block of model +houses for working people at a cost of 500,000 pounds ($2,500,000). I +suppose it was then that Queen Victoria wished to do him honor. + +His true nature remained untainted by success, and Gladstone said of +him: "He taught the world how a man may be master of his fortune, and +not its slave." + +In 1867 the Congress of the United States awarded him a special vote of +thanks, and two years later, when he died in London on the 4th of +November 1869, his body was brought home to America on a British +warship, to be buried in Danvers, the town of his birth, now renamed +Peabody in his honor. + + + + +Chapter XII + +_The Seminary, Washington (30th) Street and Dumbarton Avenue_ + + +Nowadays, all to the east of here bordering on Rock Creek has been made +into a park and playground, and some attractive houses built overlooking +them. + +On the southeast corner of Montgomery (28th) Street and Dumbarton +Avenue, the large brick building now used as a colored Temple of Islam +was where Henry Addison, who had been mayor, was living when he died in +1870. + +This house later was the home of General Christopher Colon Augur. One +night he came out on his porch to remonstrate with a crowd of negroes +gathered on this corner and making a disturbance. He was promptly shot +by one of them. + +Just east of here on Dumbarton Avenue at number 2720 is the home of the +Alsop brothers, the well-known columnists, and a new Roman Catholic +Church has been built for the colored people. There are six colored +churches in the region hereabouts: This Catholic one, three Baptist +churches, and two Methodists. Mount Zion Methodist on Greene (29th) +Street is over a hundred years old. In the nineties, there were two men +in the choir there, one an exceptional organist and the other, who had a +very fine bass voice; he later went to Paris. + +From this point to Rock Creek is the district that was known as Herring +Hill, a synonym in the minds of old residents for the negro district. It +got its name from the fact that in the spring great quantities of +herring came up this far into the creek from the river, and were caught +in large numbers. + +I think this account, by Mr. William A. Gordon, of some of the customs +of the negroes in the years gone by is very attractive and interesting: + + Christmas was the great time for the negroes. Ordinarily, they were + not allowed in the streets after the town bell rang at nine o'clock + at night, but at Christmas this restriction was removed, and as + midnight approached, bands of them would go through the streets + singing hymns and carols before the houses of their white friends. + The next morning the leader of the band called at the house and + received a token of appreciation in the way of small coin. + + On May Day there was a parade of the negro drivers; many drove + carts, drays and wagons, for on that day they had holiday, and + paraded with wagons and horses adorned with ribbons, flowers and + bright papers, the drivers wearing long white aprons, and headed by + a band. They would then go to the woods and feast, dance and sing. + +At the southeast corner of Dumbarton Avenue and Greene (29th) Street, +the four little yellow houses made into one make the home of Drew +Pearson, the widely-known columnist and commentator--co-author with +Robert S. Allen of the original "Washington Merry-Go-Round." + +A block west, on the southeast corner of Washington (30th) Street is a +fine old house where Mrs. James Cassin lived as a wealthy widow during +the 1850's. She was Tabitha Ann Deakins, of that old family so prominent +in the making of the town. + +James Cassin had come from Ireland to the City of Baltimore when he was +about twenty years of age, on account of religious troubles, the motive +which sent so many emigrants to the new country. He then moved over to +this thriving seaport, married and settled, leaving his wife a very +young widow with three sons. One of them, John, went far from home to +live, and his mother's letters to him contain a great deal of +interesting gossip. In one she tells that Margaret McVean has gone to +Baltimore to buy her wedding dress, and, horror of horrors, has allowed +the groom, Dr. Louis Mackall, to accompany her. Of course a chaperone +was in the party, but what an indelicate thing for the groom to know +anything about the wedding clothes! She ends with, "What are the young +people coming to?" How often have we heard those same words in recent +years. Of course in those days, a bride went into deep retirement for a +week before the fateful day, not going out into the street at all, and +as for seeing the groom on the day until she met him at the altar, that +was simply unthinkable! + +Margaret McVean was the daughter of the Reverend James McVean, who was +born near Johnstown, New York, in 1796. He was a graduate of Union +College in 1813, and of Princeton in 1819. It was said that he spoke +seven languages with fluency and that the chair of Greek at Princeton +was always open to him. He came to Georgetown about 1820 and married +Jane Maffitt Whann in 1828. For twenty years he was the principal of a +classical seminary for boys in Georgetown, the same one founded by Dr. +David Wiley. There a large number of young men were prepared for +college, who afterwards attained distinction in various professions or +government positions of trust and honor. He was for twenty-five years +superintendent of the Presbyterian Sabbath School. He died July 8, 1847, +and as a testimonial of respect, the Board of Common Council and +Aldermen, of which he was a member, suspended business for eight days, +and crepe was worn on the arm for thirty days. + +Another of these letters of Mrs. Cassin's tells that her son, William +Deakins Cassin, has just become engaged to "that harumscarum Mittie +Tyler." She fears for their future. Mittie (Mary) Tyler was the daughter +of dear old Dr. Tyler across the street. + +The mother-in-law's fears certainly did not materialize, for Mrs. +Cassin, junior, lived a long and honored life. I remember her faintly +when she was about eighty years old, with hair parted in the middle and +combed down over each ear as "coal black as a raven's wing," as the old +saying goes. + +They all seemed to marry their neighbors in those days, for Sue, another +daughter of Dr. Tyler's married Granville Hyde across the street. + +The Hyde's house was next door to the Cassin's on the south. One can see +that it is quite old, and it seems that it was built about 1798 by +Charles Beatty, one of our old friends of the early days of George Town. +He ran one of the ferries across the river to the Virginia shore. About +1806 he had sold the house to Nicholas Hedges; then it went to James +Belt in 1822, and to Joshua Stuart in 1832. Later, it was bought by Mr. +Thomas Hyde, one of the early merchants of Georgetown. His son, Anthony +continued to live there and was for many years secretary to Mr. W. W. +Corcoran. Anthony Hyde was very musical and was part of the orchestra +which furnished the music in Christ Church before it had an organ. Here +grew up Mr. Thomas Hyde, who was very prominent in Riggs Bank and an +early president of the Chevy Chase Club. He was a very distinguished +looking man to the day of his death. + +On the northeast corner of Washington (30th) and Gay (N) Streets is +where tradition says Ninian Beall built his hunting cabin when he landed +here. That could be borne out by the fact that a very fine spring of +water was on that property. Many, many years later the family of Judge +Dunlop at 3014 N Street used to send for pitchers of water from that +spring, as they had an inherited right to do so. + +The long, red building there, now the Colonial Apartments, is still +spoken of as The Seminary. It was there that Miss Lydia English +conducted her fashionable school for young ladies for many years before +the Civil War. This was the school to which Andrew Johnson, while +senator from Tennessee, sent his daughter. Years after, when he was +being criticized for his defense of Roman Catholics, his enemies brought +against him the fact that he had sent his daughter to a "convent" in +Georgetown. They had confused the Visitation Convent with Miss English's +Seminary. It is said that the roster of the patrons of this school in +those _ante-bellum_ days included the names of the most famous men in +the country. + +Among those names was that of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, +nicknamed "Old Bullion," on account of his opposition to paper currency. +He was one of the supporters of President Andrew Jackson in his war on +the United States Bank. One of the pupils at the Seminary was his +daughter, Jessie Benton, who afterwards became the wife of General C. +Fremont, known as "The Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains." + +[Illustration: MISS LYDIA ENGLISH] + +Miss English had large means of her own, which enabled her to keep her +school going in spite of "ups and downs." But, when in need of advice, +she would always turn to her near neighbor, James Cassin. + +At one time she had nine teachers besides herself. In 1835 she had 130 +pupils. It is said she was a stern headmistress, but she stood for all +that was fine, and meant a great deal to Georgetown. + +There is a story told of old "Aunt Abby," whose business it was to sit +behind the parlor door whenever the young ladies had gentlemen callers, +and how reassuring was the sound of her deep snores. Another story goes +that the young bloods of Georgetown used to gather on the opposite +corner where there was a pump and pretend to be getting a drink of +water, while they were really serenading the hidden charmers, and that +sometimes billet-doux and sweetmeats were drawn up in baskets +unbeknownst to the "powers that were." + +In 1859, Miss Harrover took over the school. The catalogue for that year +calls it the Georgetown Female Seminary, and in the front is printed the +following letter from Miss English: + + To my former Pupils and their Parents, and to other Friends: + + At the request of Miss Harrover, who, for two years past, has + satisfactorily conducted the Institution, over which I so long + presided, and the care of which I relinquished, only because the + condition of my health and hearing made it imperatively necessary. I + would state, that my interest in its prosperity is undiminished, + that I earnestly desire to see it flourish, and that as far as I + have it in my power, it is my wish to extend its usefulness. + + In renting the Seminary, I retain my own suite of apartments, and + have never withdrawn my residence from it. So far as I have + influence, and opportunities, I endeavor to promote the improvement + and comfort of the inmates of this establishment. I can not but feel + a special interest in the children and other relatives of those who + in former years were under my care and instruction, and it affords + me much pleasure to see them pursuing their education within the + same establishment. I shall rejoice to see the number of these, in + the coming year greatly increased. + + With kind greetings, and best wishes, I remain, + + Yours respectfully, + + June 20, 1859. L. S. ENGLISH. + +Among the names of the pupils I find that of my mother, and many more +familiar to me all of my life. + +When the first battle of Bull Run was fought, with such disastrous +results to the Union Army, this building was immediately taken over by +the United States government as a hospital, and Dr. Armistead Peter, +although a Southern sympathizer, was drafted to be in charge of it. An +old lady has told me how she was brought by her nurse on that Monday in +July, the day after the battle, to watch the unloading of the wagons +full of maimed and bleeding soldiers. + +The row of frame houses across the street, on N Street, was built at +that time as barracks for the non-commissioned officers on duty at the +hospital. + +Apparently, after the war, Miss Harrover never resumed her school, as, +in 1870, it was being used as an apartment house. I rather think it must +be the oldest apartment house in the District. + +The part of the building on the corner was torn down several years ago +and the Edes Home built. It is a home for Georgetown widows. As the +money for it was left by Miss Margaret Edes, who was certainly never a +widow, and the wording of her will said "for the indigent widows of +Georgetown," many people think it was a mistake and was meant to read +"the indigent women of Georgetown." + +Just across the street from the Seminary stands the house which was "Old +Dr. Tyler's" home. First of all, it was the home of George W. Riggs; +after that, for many, many years, that of Dr. Grafton Tyler, the beloved +physician. He was a native of southern Maryland, and a cousin of +President Tyler. + +During his long life Dr. Tyler enjoyed many honors of high professional +distinction and was the intimate friend and companion of distinguished +statesmen, jurists, and scholars. + +In those days doctors took families at "so much" a year, including the +slaves. Not long ago I heard this story about the dear old doctor. For +years and years he had attended a family where there was an addition +almost annually, and he had never sent a bill. Finally, when they were +all nearly grown, the father inherited a nice little sum of money. Not +long afterwards Dr. Tyler was called in for a slight illness. When the +first of the year came round Dr. Tyler sent a bill. The morning after +its receipt the father burst into the doctor's office in a rage, "What +did he mean by sending him a bill? Tut, tut!" And there the matter +ended. + +[Illustration: DR. GRAFTON TYLER] + +For a great many years Dr. Tyler was the physician for Georgetown +College. It is still a tradition in the family about the turkeys and +the very delicious raisin bread that came every Christmas from the +priests. + +His son, Dr. Walter Bowie Tyler, followed him, but not for long, as he +had consumption, as tuberculosis was called in those days. He was asked +to be pall-bearer at the funeral of a young lady who, as a dying +request, asked to be carried up to Oak Hill because she had a horror of +being put in a hearse. Dr. Tyler struggled along for two or three blocks +when my father, who was very fond of him, stepped in, pushed him aside +and finished the journey. + +On the block above, on Washington (30th) Street, in a white, frame house +on the west side of the street, lived Captain de la Roche, who was the +architect of Oak Hill Cemetery and of Saint John's Church where he was a +vestryman when it was remodeled in 1840. Apropos of that, several years +ago while I was living away from Georgetown for a short period of years, +on one of my return visits, I was standing on the corner of Dumbarton +Avenue and 31st Street waiting for a street-car. The wait was long and I +looked about me up and down the streets, to the westward, above the tree +tops was an object totally strange to my Georgetown eyes, a church +steeple of the somewhat Bulfinch type. I reasoned that it could not be +anything but the steeple of Saint John's, but I knew I had never seen it +look like that--it had always resembled a large pepper pot more than +anything else. Upon inquiry, I found that not long before the vestry of +Saint John's had found that some repairs were necessary on the tower, so +one of their number, a civil engineer, ascended with an architect and +while hunting around, they discovered part of the original tower still +there, inclosed in the more modern square building. It was torn away +and the old church now bears part of its original headdress. Only the +lower story of the tower remains as the smaller ones which used to +surmount it had, of course, been lost. + +Captain and Mrs. de la Roche had three daughters; two of them had +married officers in the United States Army. When the Civil War came +their sympathies were with the South. One husband promptly resigned and +went with the Confederates. The other would not resign but his wife, +being a very resourceful person, kept after him, not being able to stand +having a husband in the hated Yankee army, until, during a temporary +illness, she got him discharged as not fit for marching. + +Captain de la Roche having died, his widow was forced to take boarders +at her table, and several of the Union officers availed themselves of +the bountiful Southern fare. After a while the youngest daughter, who +was a red-hot rebel, found herself deeply in love with a young Yankee +doctor. I wonder if he was on duty at the hospital in the Seminary down +the street? An engagement followed and the marriage was imminent, but +she could not bring herself to confess to her friends that she was about +to become the wife of one of the despised soldiers. Finally her mother +told her she must at least tell Mrs. Cassin, their neighbor on the +corner, who was very devoted to her. So she summoned all her courage and +marched down the street. After a great deal of humming and hawing, she +finally got out the news and asked Mrs. Cassin to come to the quiet +wedding at the home next day, but said, "Please don't tell Mittie until +it is over." + +Around the corner from Washington (30th) Street, at 3018 Dumbarton +Avenue, is the house that Mr. George Green built for his large family, +when he sold his place, "Forrest Hill," which was part of Rosedale, to +President Cleveland for his summer home. This is now the home of Justice +Frankfurter. + +Going westward along Dumbarton Avenue on the northern side of the +street, now high up above it, stands the house where lived Jeremiah +Williams, a prominent merchant, whose daughter married Paymaster Boggs. +It is still sometimes called The Old Boggs Place. + +The great bank of earth there shows what a deep cut had to be made when +the street was leveled in the days when Alexander Shepherd, as Governor +of the District, performed the office of surgeon on the streets of the +city. He made of it a wonderful job, but was roundly hated by many of +the property owners whom he left sitting way up in the air, or +contrariwise, down in a hole. + +The house is now divided into two houses--the one on the east, 3035, is +the home of that fine commentator, Richard Harkness. + +Across the street at 3040 is where Dr. and Mrs. Louis Mackall, Senior, +lived and their daughter, Miss Sally Somervell Mackall who wrote her +book about Georgetown called _Early Days of Washington_. + +Before them the Edes family had lived there. The story is told of Miss +Margaret, she who left the money for the Edes Home, one night, when she +went up to her chamber, as they were called in those days, that she saw +a man's boots protruding from under the bed. Instead of losing her head, +she began whistling a little tune as she walked about the room, pulled +out the bureau drawers as if looking for something, then went out of the +room, closed the door and softly locked it, sent for the police and +captured the burglar. + +On the northwest corner of Dumbarton Avenue and Congress (31st) Street +was the home of Judge Henry Henley Chapman, who came to Georgetown from +Annapolis in the early twenties. He married Miss Mary Davidson, daughter +of Colonel John Davidson whose brother Samuel was the owner of Evermay. +Two of Judge Chapman's daughters married Francis Dodge, junior; first +Jane, then Frances Isabella. His son, Edward, lived on in the home until +his death when Mrs. Frances Isabella Dodge took it, had it remodeled +somewhat, and entertained there a great deal. After her death it was +bought by her stepson, of course also her nephew, Henry Henley Dodge, +and I myself remember going to lovely parties given by his children in +the big, old rooms. + +The house was pulled down about 1900 and a row of brick houses built in +its place. It was a handsome house, facing on Dumbarton Avenue, painted +a greenish tan, with long porches running along the back building +overlooking the yard which extended back to Christ Church. In this yard +were two very handsome trees, one a horse chestnut and one a magnolia. +It was enclosed by an iron fence, one of the kind despised and pulled +down in the nineties, and now being eagerly sought and replaced in doing +over old houses. + +[Illustration: HOME OF JUDGE HENRY HENLEY CHAPMAN] + +There is a delicious story of how, in the long ago, when all five of the +daughters were still at home, a wandering cow got in at the gate, and at +four o'clock in the morning (I hope it was the summer time) Aunt Peggy +Davidson roused all the girls to go out and get the beast out of the +garden. An old colored man was passing, delivering milk, and was heard +to exclaim, "Good Gawd, Mis' Chapman's yard is full of ghoses!" + +Immediately across from this house stood, and still stands, the old +Berry house. It, too, shows how it was hoisted above the street when its +level was changed. It was built by Philip Taylor Berry in the early +1800's and no other family had ever lived there until his last daughters +died, ripe in years. + +There were four of them, all old maids (Georgetown had five or six +houses of four old maids in my childhood). These were in two sets, but +the two older ones far outlived the two younger, who were always very +retiring and delicate. When the last two were up in their nineties, +being bed-ridden, one on one floor, the other on another, each with a +nurse, they used to send messages to each other and exchange the novels +which they read over and over again. At last, one night in the winter, +the old house caught on fire and when the firemen got there it was so +far under way that both old ladies had to be carried down ladders to the +street, quite a perilous trip, which they both survived, however, and +lived for several years thereafter. + +The two older sisters were descendants of John Stoddert Haw; the two +younger, of Samuel McKenney and thereby, of course, of Henry Foxall. One +of them, I heard all of my childhood was very, very pretty, but, +although they were both great friends of my mother, I never saw her +face, for she never went out of doors without a heavy, blue barege veil. +It is said her eyes were weak but there was, too, a romantic story of +her having been "disappointed in love," as they said in those days. + +[Illustration: OLD MCKENNEY HOUSE] + +A little farther west on Dumbarton Avenue on the north side of the +street, above its stone wall topped with a white picket fence, is the +old McKenney house. This is the house that Henry Foxall gave to his only +daughter, Mary Ann, when she became the bride of Samuel McKenney in +1800. Until a few years ago, there lived here her granddaughter, Mrs. +McCartney and her children and grandchildren, the fifth generation to +live in the old house. + +It was such a dear, sweet old house and the garden, too. At the marriage +of the daughter of Mrs. McCartney, the lace wedding veil was the same +that was worn long ago by Mary Ann Foxall, whose namesake she was. + +The old house was full of treasures and curios, an exquisite little +white marble clock which once upon a time ticked off the hours for Marie +Antoinette, that beautiful and tragic queen. It was presented to Henry +Foxall by his friend and partner, Robert Morris, who had gotten it from +Gouveneur Morris, he having bought it in Paris. Also there was lots of +lovely old Spode china, and there is a story told of how Aunt Montie was +found one day feeding the cats from the priceless dishes. When +reprimanded, she explained she didn't want to use any of the "nice new +china." + +In 1840 a maiden lady from Philadelphia came one day to have lunch, or +midday dinner as I imagine it was in those days, and was planning to +take the stage-coach for her return journey soon after the meal. She had +been telling stories to the children and when the time for her departure +neared, little Henrietta McKenney burst into tears; she didn't want such +a delightful story-teller to go. Mrs. McKenney urged her to stay, so +she agreed to stay for a day or two, at the end of that time, for a week +or so. The time passed and she stayed on. Her visit lasted forty years, +and was ended only by her call to another world. She had asked soon +after her settlement into the home life for some duties so she took over +the charge of the linen of the household and the making of the desserts. +She had one fetich, the candles must be extinguished at ten o'clock. She +had her way, even if guests were present--they were put out. She went to +bed--they were relit. One night after her death, a young son of the +house, about thirteen or so, was put to sleep in her room; at ten +o'clock the candle just went out. Every night it happened; they hunted +for drafts. No drafts could be located; the candles just always ceased +to burn when the clocks reached the hour of ten. + +In this block about 1820 Mrs. Mary Billings, an Englishwoman, opened a +school where she started to teach both colored and white children +together, but a great deal of prejudice arising on the subject, she +devoted herself entirely to the colored race and continued to do so for +a number of years until she moved over to the city. Later, Mr. Street's +school for boys stood here. It was just opposite the old McKenney house +with a yard running down almost to High Street. + +The Methodist Episcopal Church on this block was formerly located on +Montgomery (28th) Street. It had its beginning there in 1800. The church +on the present site, which has a modern facade, was used as a Federal +hospital during the Civil War, Dr. Peter being in charge of it as well +as the Seminary. + +[Illustration: ST. JOHN'S CHURCH] + +On the other side of High Street stands St. John's Episcopal Church, the +lot for which was given in 1796 by the Deakins' family. Reverend Walter +Addison of Prince Georges County, Maryland, had visited George Town in +1794 and 1795 and held occasional services, so a movement was started to +build a church. Among the subscribers were Thomas Jefferson and Dr. +Balch. The first rector was Reverend Mr. Sayrs of Port Tobacco in 1804. +Five years later he died and was immortalized in an epitaph in the +church, written by Francis Scott Key: + + JOB: J. SAYRS + + HU: EEL + + RECTOR PRIMUS + + HIC + + (QUO CHRISTI SERVUS FIDELITES MINUS TRAVIT) + + SEP: JAO + + OB: 6 JAN. A. D. MDCCIX + + AET XXXV + + HERE ONCE STOOD FORTH A MAN, WHO FROM THE WORLD + THOUGH BRIGHT ITS ASPECT TO THE YOUTHFUL EYE, + TURNED WITH AFFECTION ARDENT TO HIS GOD, + AND LIV'D AND DIED AN HUMBLE MINISTER + OF HIS BENIGNANT PURPOSES TO MAN. + + HERE LIES HE NOW--YET GRIEVE NOT THEN FOR HIM + READER! HE TRUSTED IN THAT LOVE WHERE NONE + HAVE VAINLY TRUSTED--RATHER LET + HIS MARBLE SPEAK TO THEE, AND SHOULDST THOU FEEL, + THE RISING OF A NEW AND SOLEMN THOUGHT + WAK'D BY THIS SACRED PLACE AND SAD MEMORIAL + O LISTEN TO ITS IMPULSE! 'TIS DIVINE-- + AND IT SHALL GUIDE THEE TO A LIFE OF JOY, + A DEATH OF HOPE AND ENDLESS BLISS THEREAFTER. + +In 1807 the vestry included Charles Worthington, Washington Bowie, +Thomas Corcoran, John Mason, Thomas Plater, Benjamin Mackall, Philip +Barton Key, and William Stewart. A little later, in 1811, an old writer +says: "At that time the church was thronged to an over flow with all who +were most elevated in station and in wealth from the Capital; the pews +in the gallery were rented at high rates and to persons of great +respectability. The street before the church was filled with glittering +vehicles and liveried servants." + +In 1831 the vestry failed to elect a rector as successor to Reverend Mr. +James. For seven years, the church was closed, worse than closed, for it +fell into disrepair to such an extent that the birds and the bats made +their nests in it, so that it was called "The Swallow Barn." A sculptor +rented it for his studio, which scandalized many of its old-time +worshippers who hated to think of the statues of heathen gods and +goddesses in the temple of the Lord. At last, in 1838, a vestry was +elected, and from that time, St. John's has always flourished. + +In its chancel are paintings of the four evangelists done by the +Reverend Mr. Oertel. He was also a wood-carver and a musician, and was +from Nuremberg in Germany which, I suppose, explains why he was always +called Master by his wife. They lived for a good while on Gay (N) +Street. Mr. Corcoran bought several of his pictures for his gallery. His +best known work was called "Rock of Ages," and represented a female +figure with long hair and floating white garments clinging to an +enormous cross. This picture was often used on Easter cards. + +Several years ago a large boulder was placed on the bank of the +churchyard, bearing this inscription: + + COLONEL NINIAN BEALL + + BORN SCOTLAND 1625 DIED MARYLAND 1717 + + PATENTEE OF ROCK OF DUMBARTON + + MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES + + COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF PROVINCIAL FORCES + OF MARYLAND + IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF HIS SERVICES + "UPON ALL INCURSIONS AND DISTURBANCES + OF NEIGHBORING INDIANS" + THE MARYLAND ASSEMBLY OF 1699 PASSED + "AN ACT OF GRATUITY" + THIS MEMORIAL ERECTED BY THE SOCIETY OF + COLONIAL WARS IN THE DISTRICT + OF COLUMBIA, 1910 + +Just behind the church and adjoining it on little Potomac Street, is a +house where, fifty years ago, used to live two old maid sisters who were +absolute hermits. Their food was drawn up in a basket which they let +down to an old family retainer containing the money with which to do +their purchasing. Whenever the organ was played in St. John's, they used +to take a hammer and beat upon the wall as long as the music continued. + +The large yellow house at the southwest corner of Market (33rd) and +Second (O) Streets is where Thomas E. Waggaman lived in the nineties. He +built an addition on the west as an art gallery for his collection of +pictures. It is now a separate house. Here, some years ago, lived Jouett +Shouse at the time he formed his Liberty League. Recently, Colonel and +Mrs. Alf Heiberg made it their home. They placed an eagle over the door +and called it "Federal House." + +Right across the street stood a dear old house some years ago. It was +white, with double piazzas all the way across the front. The yard was +enclosed by a paling fence and from the gate a double border of box led +to the door. It was the home of Dr. Hezekiah Magruder. + +About 1833 the family of Admiral James Hogan Sands lived there. William +Franklin Sands, author of _Undiplomatic Memories_ was one of his sons. +The old house was torn down about 1890. + +Across the street, at number 3318, is the home of Mr. and Mrs. David E. +Finley. He is the Director of the National Gallery of Art. + +Number 3322 is the interesting old house where, in the forties and +fifties lived Baron Bodisco, Minister from Russia to the United States. +He had a very romantic marriage of which I shall tell later. Just before +the marriage he purchased this house from Sally Van Devanter, who had +inherited it in 1840 from her husband, Christopher Van Devanter, +apparently, the builder of the house. Baron Bodisco, the same day he +bought it, gave it to his fiancee, Harriet Beall Williams. Whether it +was a wedding gift or whether, as a foreign envoy, he could not hold +property, I do not know. She kept the property for twenty years until +her remarriage to Captain Douglas Scott, when it was bought by Abraham +H. Herr. During the Civil War, it was headquarters for the officers of +the Second U. S. Regiment, whose enlisted men were quartered in Forrest +Hall. + +[Illustration: BODISCO HOUSE] + +But to return to the period when it was owned and occupied by the Van +Devanter family. During these years, they apparently had a most +interesting guest, Mrs. Henry Lee, the widow of "Light Horse Harry," and +the mother of Robert E. Lee. In Dr. Douglas Freeman's book _R. E. Lee_, +he quotes two letters from Mrs. Lee written not long before her death +from "Georgetown." She did not specify where she was, but Mrs. Beverley +Kennon, many years afterwards, said that this was the house in which she +resided. + +Also, the Van Devanter family, a few years ago, found among old books +two books with inscriptions of names of the Lee family, evidently left +there during this time. + +Here, at a ball one night, a young man who was making his entrance into +Washington society under the care of a senator had the following +experience. (The account is taken from _Harper's Magazine_): + + This was my first entrance into fashionable life at one of Madame + Bodisco's birthnight balls. I was under the care of Senator ----. As + we entered the house, two tall specimens of humanity, dressed very + much like militia generals, in scarlet coats trimmed with gold lace + and white trousers, met us at the door. Thinking them distinguished + people, I bowed low and solemnly. They stared and bowed. "Go on," + said the Senator, "don't be so polite to those fellows, they are + servants; give them your cloak." I hurried in pulling off my cloak + as I went. Just within the first door of the drawing room stood a + fat, oily little gentleman, bowing also, but not so magnificently + gotten up as my first acquaintances. Certain of my game now, I, in + superb style, threw over him my cloak and hurried on. Senator ---- + pulled me back, and to the astonished little fellow now struggling + from under my broadcloth, I was presented. I had nearly smothered + the Russian Minister who, however, laughed merrily at the mistake. + He hardly knew what I would accomplish next, and left me as soon as + he possibly could, to my fate. I wandered about rather disconsolate. + The lights, music, dancing, fun and laughter, were all novelties and + charming for a while, but I knew no one after an hour's looking on, + hunted up the Senator and begged him to introduce me to some of the + young ladies. He hesitated a moment, and then consented, and I was + led up to and presented to a magnificent creature I had long looked + upon with silent admiration. Miss Gennie Williams, who was seated in + an easy, nonchalant manner, conversing with a circle of gentlemen, + and favored me with a gracious nod. As I stood wondering whether + this was the end of my introduction, a mustached dandy came between + us and said, "Miss Williams, permit me to relate the joke of the + season." To my horror he began the story of the cloak. My first + impulse was to knock him down, my second to run away; on my third I + acted. Interrupting the recital I said: "Begging your pardon, sir, + but Miss Williams, I am the only person who can do justice to that + joke," and continuing, I related it without in any way sparing + myself. She laughed heartily, as did the circle, and rising from her + chair, took my arm, saying kindly that I must be cared for or I + would murder some one. With a grace and kindness I shall never + forget, she placed me at my ease. + +Next door to this house, at one time, lived Hamilton Bronaugh. + +Just across the street, the big red brick Victorian house is where James +Roosevelt and his family were living in his father's first +administration. + +Around the corner on Frederick (34th) Street, the house which has a +walled garden on the corner was the home of John G. Winant, when he was +here before going as Ambassador to the Court of St. James. + +A block or two north of here, at 1524 Market (33rd) Street, was the old +Yellow Tavern, much used by those going to and fro to Rockville and +Frederick Town. + +On Fourth Street (Volta Place), where the playground is now, was where +the old Presbyterian burying-ground used to be, which was the principal +graveyard until Oak Hill was given to the town in 1849. Among the +tombstones moved from there, when it was given up, were those of James +Gillespie, member of Congress from North Carolina, who was the first +member of that body to die after the removal of the seat of government, +and John Barnes, who had been collector of the port, and who, in his +will, left money for a poorhouse for Georgetown. He died in 1826 at the +age of ninety-six. + +On Sixth Street (Dent Place), between Market (33rd) and Frederick (34th) +Streets, was the house which Francis Deakins sold on February 8, 1800 to +Old Yarrow, as he was called, one of the most mysterious and interesting +characters of the early days. It is not known whether he was an East +Indian or a Guinea negro, but he was a Mohammedan. He conducted a trade +in hacking with a small cart, and his ambition in life was to own a +hundred dollars. Twice he saved it and each time ill fortune overtook +him. The first time he gave it to an old groceryman he knew to keep for +him. The old man died suddenly and Yarrow had nothing to prove that he +had had his money. So the next time he picked a young man to keep it for +him. Then this one absconded. Some of the gentlemen of the town became +so interested that they took up a collection and started an account for +him in the Bank of Columbia. He must have been quite a figure in his +day, for his portrait was painted by James Alexander Simpson, and is now +owned by Mr. E. M. Talcott, who inherited it from Normanstone. + +Quite a number of attractive houses have been built in this neighborhood +in the last few years and a good many "done over," all of them, +fortunately, in the style suitable for Georgetown. + +They are very largely owned and occupied by people connected with the +Government, many of them in the State Department. In one of these +houses, a few years ago, lived the writer, Michael Strange, who had been +the wife of John Barrymore. + + + + +Chapter XIII + +_Third Street, Beall (O) Street, West (P) Street_ + + +On the southeast corner of Third (P) Street and Frederick (34th) Street, +the attractive, low, white frame house is where Doris Fleeson lives, who +writes such interesting articles for _The Evening Star_. + +At 3327 is a fine tall old brick house painted yellow, which has for +many years, until very recently, been the home of Hon. and Mrs. +Balthasar Meyer. On the second story it has a lovely long music room +used for dancing and by Sylvia Meyer, their daughter, the talented +harpist of the National Symphony Orchestra. + +Some of the Key family lived here years ago, I suppose, of course, +relatives or descendants of those two famous lawyers here, Philip Barton +Key and his nephew, Francis Scott Key. And nearby lived another _real_ +Marylander named Mary Ritchie. + +And speaking of names, the strangest woman's name turned up in the title +of 3321, which in 1818 was owned by Harry McCleery. He had five +daughters and in his will left $3,000.00 to each of four of them; among +these, one named Zerniah. To Clarissa, the fifth, he left the house he +lived in (this house) and the stone houses on the corner adjoining, with +all thereto belonging to be held in trust for her by her two brothers. I +wonder if Clarissa was an invalid or if it was the law that, at that +time, a woman could not hold property! + +This house later on in the eighties and for twenty years or more was the +home of the Humes. Mr. Thomas L. Hume and his wife, Annie Graham +Pickrell left a large family of children when they died early. + +Mr. Hume also owned a place a little way out of town. One day when +General Grant, who was a friend of his, was there Mr. Hume said he +couldn't think of a name for the place. General Grant looked around and +noticing the walnut trees said, "Why not turn walnut around and call it +"Tunlaw"?" And so Tunlaw Road came into being, back behind Mt. Alto +Hospital. + +Just to the east of 3321 P Street was the old Lutheran burying-ground. +About the time of the Civil War it seems to have been abandoned and the +records lost. And near here stands the Lutheran Church, the fourth +building on this site, for this church dates back to 1769, when it was a +little log building. According to tradition, Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch +preached his first sermon here when he came to be Pastor of the +Presbyterians. A prized possession of this church is a very old German +Bible printed in Tuebingen in 1730. Another treasured possession is the +bell, over a hundred years old, which, at one time, was purchased by a +congregation in West Virginia, but after twenty-five years, was +reclaimed and brought back by a faithful church Councilman and housed +under a small stone structure of its own. It is believed to have been +cast in Europe. + +Crossing High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and cutting down to Beall (O) +Street, one comes to what used to be Hazel's stable--his initials, "W. +C. H." are in the bricks up in the peak at the top of the building. Here +the doctors kept their carriages, here "hacks" were hired when needed +for parties or funerals, and here was kept for a month or so every fall +and spring my little bay mare, _Lady Leeton_, and the red-wheeled +runabout which was brought in from Hayes for my use. + +I can see Mr. Hazel now in his buggy, he weighed about three hundred +pounds and his side of the buggy almost touched the ground as he drove +about town. + +At 3131, at the home of his daughter, is where General Adolphus Greeley +was living several years ago when a very interesting event took place +one spring afternoon, in 1935. I was walking down 31st Street when I +heard the strains of "The Star-Spangled Banner." I wondered if I was +hearing a radio but when I reached the corner of O Street I noticed a +policeman and an Army sergeant chatting in the middle of the street and +coming up O Street was Justice of the Supreme Court, Owen J. Roberts, +bareheaded, with a lady, to whom he said, "They are probably saying, +'Some old geezer named Greeley'!" So I glanced west down O Street and +there, drawn up along the southern sidewalk, was a company of U. S. +Cavalry, red and white guidon of Company F from Fort Myer. Then I +realized that it was the day of days for General Greeley. At last, on +his ninety-first birthday, he was being decorated with the Congressional +Medal of Honor. It had been many a year since his fateful expedition to +the Arctic in search for the North Pole. + +Just across the street from here now lives Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and +a little farther on, the old house up on a low terrace is where the +Lancastrian School was opened in November 1811 under Robert Ould. In a +few weeks there were 340 boys and girls under tuition, and in 1812 an +appropriation was asked for an addition to accommodate 250 more +scholars. + +[Illustration: CHRIST CHURCH] + +The Lancastrian School was sustained by private contributions and +municipal aid for thirty-two years. The name came from Joseph Lancaster, +a Quaker, who started this system in England of coeducational schools, +free to those who could not pay. Lancaster had a school of one thousand +pupils in Southwark, but disagreements arising with some of the +authorities, he emigrated to America in 1818. He died in New York in +1838. + +About 1840, Samuel McKenney, whose house adjoined this property on the +south, bought it and gave it to his daughter who had gone to southern +Maryland to live, and so she came back to Georgetown. Her descendants, +the Osbournes, lived there until just a few years ago when the "cult" +for old houses in Georgetown began. When a garden was made there +recently, some of the old foundations of the schoolroom were uncovered. + +Almost next door is the Linthicum Institute, which still conducts its +night school for white boys, and above it is the hall where the old +Georgetown Assemblies are still held. Here also Mrs. Shippen has her +Dancing Classes, and here now my grandchildren are learning where I had +my first lessons in the same art. The old hall looks just as it did in +my day. + +Then at 3018 is Christ Church Rectory, where I happened to be born; it +was not the rectory then. + +Christ Church, as you recall, was founded in 1817 in Thomas Corcoran's +house. The illustration shows the first church building of the three +which have stood on this spot. It was begun May 6, 1818, and the first +service held at sunrise on Christmas Day that same year, the rector +being the Reverend Ruel Keith, who was Professor of Theology at the +College of William and Mary, and later, in 1823, with Dr. Wilmer, +founder of the Theological Seminary, near Alexandria. + +Among the founders of Christ Church were Thomas Corcoran, William +Morton, Clement Smith, Francis Scott Key, John Stoddert Haw, John Myers, +Ulysses Ward, James A. Magruder, Thomas Henderson, and John Pickrell. +The present building of Christ Church was erected about 1885. The +windows which were made especially for it in Munich, Germany, are very +beautiful. The big one in the north end was put there by W. W. Corcoran +in memory of his father, Thomas Corcoran. + +I have heard from the daughter of one of the belles of the fifties, +whose family were Christ Church people, that in those days the beaux +might join a lady after church and escort her home, but under no +circumstances did they entertain callers on Sunday. All of the food for +Sunday use was prepared on Saturday. + +It was during the fifties that Dr. William Norwood was the rector of +Christ Church. He was a Virginian and very outspoken in the expression +of his political views in that day of heated opinions. So violent was +the feeling that, although he had a brilliant mind and a saintly +character, he was obliged to resign. He returned to his native State and +was for many years the revered rector of St. Paul's, Richmond. I +remember hearing that as a young man he had a classmate at college, +Clement Moore, who one night came into his room, saying, "Norwood, I'd +like to read you something I've written to see what you think of it." He +sat down and read to him "The Night Before Christmas," that beloved old +poem without which Christmas hardly seems like Christmas to me, even +now. + +Dr. Norwood was followed several years later by Reverend Albert Rhett +Stuart, under whose leadership the present church was built. I remember +the big basket which was carried around by a fine-looking, tall colored +woman with articles for sale for the benefit of the Ladies' Aid Society +of Christ Church. + +The interesting white house over on the northeast corner was at one time +the home of the Godeys, then of the Curtis family. When they lived +there, "music filled the air," for a son and a chum of his used to sit +out on the long, side gallery and play for hours on the violin and +'cello. It was for several years the home of Justice and Mrs. Owen J. +Roberts. + +Only two houses on this block are of any age. The little white cottage +near the corner of Washington (30th) Street was the home of three Miss +Tenneys and their sister, Mrs. Brown, who had a school for small boys +and girls. Then the garden ran to the corner. The father of these ladies +and of William H. Tenney had come to Georgetown from Newburyport, +Massachusetts, in the early part of 1800. + +Just across from it, the large yellow mansion was the home of Commodore +Cassin, built by him, I think, in the early 1800's. In 1893 Mr. and Mrs. +Beverley Randolph Mason, of Virginia, opened here their school, Gunston +Hall, named, of course, for Mr. Mason's ancestral home, which continued +in Washington as a flourishing boarding school for girls for fifty +years. After that, this building housed the Epiphany School, an +Episcopal institution. + +The property along 30th Street here was all owned at one time by the +Matthews family. Henry Cooksey Matthews came to Georgetown some years +before 1820. He had been born in 1797 on the farm near Dentsville, in +Charles County, Maryland, where his forbears had lived for four +generations. He married his cousin, Lucinda Stoddert Haw, whose home, +you remember, was on Gay (N) Street, and they built the large house on +the southeast corner of Washington (30th) and West (P) Streets. + +Mr. Matthews and his wife were devoted members of Christ Church and +named their son for one of its rectors, the Reverend Charles McIlvaine, +who later became Bishop of Ohio. Mr. Matthews used to play the flute in +the orchestra in Christ Church. + +Mr. Charles M. Matthews also married his cousin, who was a daughter of +Thomas Corcoran, junior, and niece of W. W. Corcoran. Mr. Matthews, +until his death, managed the estate of Mr. Corcoran. He built his home +on the southern part of his father's lot at the northeast corner of +Washington (30th) and Beall (O) Streets. + +Back in the eighties Miss Charlotte and Miss Margaret Lee came from +Virginia and opened The West Washington School for Girls, sponsored by +several of the gentlemen of Georgetown, in the old home of Henry C. +Matthews. There, in the last year of its existence, I learned the +beginnings of the three R's. + +Nearby, at number 3014 P Street, in the fifties and sixties, William R. +Abbott conducted a well-known school for boys. At that time it was only +a one-story building. Mr. Abbott was the son of John Abbott, whose home +was on Bridge (M) Street. The Abbotts lived in the house on the west +next door to the school. In later years it was occupied by the Lyons, +Hartleys, and Parris families. + +In one of these houses was the school for boys founded by Dr. David +Wiley and continued for twenty more years by Dr. James McVean. + +There is a fine row of houses just beyond here where have lived, at +various times, the Magruders, the Kenyons, the Yarnalls, and, long ago, +in the early 1800's, Colonel Fowler, who came from Baltimore and whose +wife was a sister of Dr. Riley's wife, made his home at number 3030 West +(P) Street. + +For many years this house was used as the rectory of Christ Church. +There lived Dr. Norwood and his large family of daughters, all of whom +left their impression on the City of Richmond in after years. Also, Dr. +Walter Williams, and Dr. Albert Rhett Stuart, of South Carolina, who was +for twenty-five years rector of Christ Church. + +The end house was the Morton's home for a great many years. Four +unmarried sisters lived there long, long after their parents had gone. +But parental influence was strong in those days, for one of them in her +late seventies was still "engaged" to the love of her youth, disapproved +of by her father. Once a week she met him and had lunch with him down +town. He came sometimes to Sunday dinners, swathed in his long, black +cape. + +During the fall great droves of cattle and flocks of sheep from western +Virginia were driven through the streets and gathered at Drovers' Rest, +two miles west of town. Some days many thousands filled West (P) Street +from morn to eve, and, occasionally, a wild steer ran amuck and then +there was great excitement. Also, large flocks of turkeys, hundreds of +them, were driven up from lower Maryland and passed through the streets +to pens on the outskirts of town, where one could go and pick out his +own bird. + +Across the street at number 3019 is the house Mr. Linthicum built in +1826. Thomas Corcoran, junior, made it his home from then until 1856, +when it was bought by John T. Cochrane for his sister, Mrs. James A. +Magruder, who brought up there her three nieces and one nephew. Two of +the nieces, Miss Mary Zeller and Mrs. Whelan, lived on there all their +lives. Miss Mary used to tell me many tales of old-time days and ways. +The old house remained entirely unchanged until about twelve years ago, +when it was bought and done over inside. It had a lovely stairway and +dignified, square rooms. + +The row of three quaint little brick houses here seem to be an unknown +quantity to even some of the oldest inhabitants and nearest neighbors. +In number 3021, long ago, lived Horatio Berry, the brother of Philip +Taylor Berry. In number 3025, the quaint locks on the doors all have on +them a small, round brass seal, bearing the coat-of-arms of Great +Britain, the lion and the unicorn rampant, also the name "Carpenter & +Co.", and in the cellar are crossbeams hewn by hand. + +Next we come to a pair of cottages, changed from their pristine +loveliness--now the "Mary Margaret Home," for old ladies. The one at +3033 P Street in my girlhood was the home of Mrs. James D. Patton, the +former Jennie Coyle. She gave me piano lessons for four years, but she +gave me much more! She formed a group of girls into a King's Daughters' +Circle, "The Patient Workers," which met at her house on Saturday +mornings when we sewed and made articles which we sold at a Fair in the +Spring. The proceeds were divided between the Children's Country Home +and the Children's Hospital. There is still a brass plate in the +hospital bearing the name, "The Patient Workers" for a bed we named. + +The two big houses on the northeast corner of West (P) Street and +Congress (31st) Street were built by Joseph H. Libbey, a well-to-do +lumber merchant. They continued to be in his family for a long time. The +one on the east now is the Catholic Home for Aged Ladies. In front of it +is the largest and most beautiful elm tree in Georgetown. The two houses +at 1516 and 1518 Congress (31st) Street, Mr. Libbey built about 1850 as +wedding gifts for his two daughters, Martha, Mrs. Benjamin Miller, +becoming the owner of number 1516. It is still owned by her descendants. +Number 1518 has changed hands several times. It was where Richard V. +Oulahan, the well-known newspaper correspondent, lived until his death +several years ago. At that time it was said of him: "He gathered news +like a gentleman and wrote it like a scholar." + +Back in the eighties, a party was given at number 1518 one night for the +young niece of two maiden ladies whose home it then was. The guests were +about sixteen and seventeen years old, and the boys had all just arrived +at the age where their most treasured possessions were their brand new +derby hats. When the party broke up and the guests trooped upstairs to +get their wraps, the young gentlemen found, on entering their dressing +room, that on one of the beds reposed the crowns of all their derbies, +while on the other, neatly laid out, were all the brims. The culprit was +never caught. Only the other day one of the long-ago guests was told by +the offender that he had been the originator of the diabolic idea. + +If you look west along the next block of West (P) Street, you notice how +different are the north and south sides. Along the south side are houses +of an absolutely different period. All those on the north side were +built in the seventies or later, including the Presbyterian Church, +except the one on the corner of Congress (31st) Street, which was the +residence of General Otho Holland Williams, a Revolutionary officer, who +was in the same company with General Lingan. His house has, of course, +been completely changed and made into two houses. It was never +beautiful, but it was a dignified old mansion, with high steps leading +up to a quaint doorway. + +Across Congress (31st) Street, at number 3108 West (P) Street, the house +with the high steps going up sideways was built by Judge Morsell about +1800. For a while, the Barnards lived there. Then the Marquis de +Podestad, Minister from Spain to this country, made it his residence. +After the Civil War, General George C. Thomas resided there. Next door +is where the Shoemakers have lived for many years. + +The house with the nice, old hipped roof was at one time owned by a +Captain Brown. In the eighties and nineties the Misses Dorsey of +Virginia had here a school for girls called "Olney Institute." +Afterwards, Reverend Parke P. Flournoy, once a chaplain in the +Confederate Army, lived here up into his nineties with his family. + +Still a little farther on, and incorporated with the old Tenney house, +now owned by Mrs. Stephen Bonsal, is where Miss Jennie Gardiner had a +school for little children about the same time as the Dorseys' school. +For some time before the Civil War it was the home of the Reverend Mr. +Simpson, whose wife was Miss Stephenson from near Winchester. Her +father, whose home was Kenilworth, near there, made her a present of the +house. Following the Civil War, it was for a long time the home of +William H. Tenney, who had a prosperous flour mill. + +Just across the street from it, the imposing looking yellow house with +the mansard roof is the one that Elinor Glyn bought and "did over," and +then never lived in, as she decided to go back to England to her mother, +who was in delicate health. Later it was the residence of Mrs. Isabella +Greenway, Representative in Congress from Arizona. + +A block from here just above Q Street on what is now dignified by the +name of 32nd, but will always remain to old Georgetonians, Valley +Street, lived a very interesting character, still remembered by some +people in Georgetown as "The crazy man of Valley Street." + +Among other shabby houses, one which was quite different in appearance +and stood a little back from the street, with a tree in its tiny patch +of a yard, was where he lived. It looked as if it had a story--and it +had. It was told me not long ago by an old friend. I call him a friend, +for whenever I went to the institution where he was a doorkeeper, I went +back in memory to the years when he was our postman. In those days your +postman was your friend. You thought over what your Christmas gift to +him would be as much as a member of your family. Not like it is +nowadays, when he drops your letters through a slit in the door. You +don't know his name, you don't know what he looks like, you don't even +know whether he is white or colored. + +This is the story of "the crazy man of Valley Street." During the Civil +War, Captain Chandler was in command of a United States vessel cruising +in the Chesapeake Bay searching ships carrying contraband. He was +accused of making a traitorous remark and dismissed from the service. +His family was living at the Union Hotel, but they left and went to New +York to live. He took his savings and built for himself the little house +on Valley Street. Its interior was made to resemble exactly the cabin of +a ship. + +My friend told me that his first encounter with the old gentleman was +one Monday morning about nine-thirty when, having been changed to this +new route, he stopped to open the gate to deliver a letter. It was +locked. He knocked. At last a window was thrown up and the old man's +head emerged. He said the captain looked very much like the pictures of +General Robert E. Lee. + +Seeing it was the postman with a letter, he said he would open the gate, +so he pulled a rope--and presto! open it flew. He said he never opened +it until ten o'clock in the morning and wanted to know if his mail could +be delivered after that, which the carrier obligingly offered to do, by +changing his route somewhat. + +After that, for years, Mr. Postman was a friend to the old man, though +he never really entered the house. Each month a check for twenty dollars +would come from a nephew in Chicago, which the postman would take to Mr. +Berry with a note from the captain, asking to have it cashed, and +specifying the number of dollar bills, fifty-cent pieces, quarters, +dimes, nickels, and pennies. A little colored boy who lived nearby was +commissioned occasionally to purchase necessary food, but the old man +himself never went out except after dark. + +Finally, one day when the little boy came to do the errands, he could +get no answer to his knock, so he got a man to lift him up where he +could peer over the high board fence at the side and look into an open +window. Through it he saw the old gentleman, sprawled out in a big +chair, immovable. They broke into the house and found that he was +paralyzed. He could not speak, but shook his head when they said they +wanted to call help from the police. He was laid on a mattress on the +floor, and before long, all his troubles were over. + +His nephew came from Chicago, bought a lot in Rock Creek Cemetery and +had the old gentleman decently buried. But not long after, his son in +New York, reading of it in the paper, came down and had his father +reinterred in the family lot in Oak Hill. So, in death, the old +gentleman was accorded the honor of two funerals. + +[Illustration: _Courtesy Frick Art Reference Library_. + +WASHINGTON BOWIE] + + + + +Chapter XIV + +_Stoddert (Q) Street_ + + +Coming east from Valley (32nd) Street is the lovely old house which the +Seviers bought in 1890. It has never had a name. It was built by +Washington Bowie, another of the shipping barons. His wife was Margaret +Johns before becoming Mrs. Bowie. This whole block was his estate and +was entered in his day through the double iron gates on West (P) Street. +The carriages passed up and around a circle of box to the path, bordered +with box leading to the porch with its lovely doorway. The doors opening +into the hall that runs right through are of solid mahogany with big old +brass locks. In the dining room is an especially beautiful white wood +mantel, carved with a scene of sheep and shepherds. The tradition is +that L'Enfant planned the garden, and also left his spectacles lying on +the piano. + +In 1805 the place was bought by William Nicolls of Maryland, whose wife +was Margaret Smith, a descendant of Captain John Smith. They had two +daughters, Roberta, who married William Frederick Hanewinckel of +Richmond, and Jennie, who married Colonel Hollingsworth. The +Hanewinckels used to come back to the old home sometimes in the summer, +even to the grandchildren, and the descendants still love the old place +and consider it their ancestral home, for they had it longer than any +other family. Colonel Hollingsworth was the superintendent of Mount +Vernon before Colonel Dodge. I remember Colonel Hollingsworth well, a +tall, fine-looking old gentleman, with a long, white beard. Of course, +in those days we went to Mount Vernon by way of the river, on the +steamer _W. W. Corcoran_. It is still, I think, by far the most pleasant +way to approach the dignified old mansion, and Captain Hollingsworth +would often be on the boat and talk with us. I've never forgotten the +dear old-fashioned nosegay he picked and gave me from Mrs. Washington's +garden. Mrs. Hollingsworth was a tiny little old lady. I can see her now +with her snow-white hair and her big, black bonnet. Poor soul, it was a +terrible trial to her when the place had to be sold after her husband's +death. + +[Illustration: THE SEVIER HOUSE (BUILT BY WASHINGTON BOWIE)] + +It was put up for auction in 1890, and Mr. and Mrs. John Sevier, who +happened to be visiting Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dodge in Georgetown at that +time, though they spent a great deal of their time in Paris, heard of +the sale and bought the house on the spot. Mr. Sevier was a descendant +of the famous Tennesseean of that same name. Later they added the wings +extending far out on each side, which are really two charming little +houses. The old garden is still full of wonderful box, and besides, +there are lots and lots of lovely roses, the pride of their stately +mistress. + +Mrs. Sevier told me of being at a spa in Germany one summer when she was +young, with Mr. Sevier. When they asked for the first floor apartment +instead of theirs on the second, they were told by the proprietor that +it was engaged for "some Englishman; he did not know whom." It turned +out to be the then Prince of Wales, Edward VII. The prince, on seeing +her, asked to be presented. She was very beautiful then, tall and fair. +She met him three times, in the garden or at the spring. When he was +leaving, he asked to say good-bye. She, unthinkingly, stood on the step +above him, (a terrible _faux pas_, she learned afterwards), gave him +some roses, and he presented her with a bouquet surrounded by lace +paper; it was the custom, always, on leaving a place. + +When my father built his house in 1884 on the southwest corner of +Stoddert (Q) Street and Congress (31st) Street, it was in part of the +orchard of the old Bowie place. Some of the pear trees were still there. +Today there are six houses on the lot where his house stood with its big +gables and its many porches, surrounded by a fine lawn in which he took +great pride. This house caused a good deal of comment at the time of its +building from the fact that it had a bathroom on every floor, one being, +of course, a "powder room." But to have a bathroom in the basement for +the servants in those days was unheard of. It was just as good as the +others, a tin-lined tub, of course, would be horrible to the present +generation! + +The house was always brimming over with people, young and old, for +occasions both grave and gay. One very grave one happened about two +years after we moved there, and another "first" in Georgetown was +there--the first trained nurse in Georgetown. Early in the month of May +diphtheria seized the eldest daughter, then about fifteen. Two days +later, another succumbed, a beautiful little girl of five. There was no +anti-toxin in those days. In four days little Eleanor Hope was dead. Two +days later a little cousin visiting there, was taken, and two days later +still, the three remaining well children were sent out one afternoon for +a drive with Grandpa in the Dayton-wagon, an old-time version of the +present-day station wagon. We thought it was kind of strange to go to +drive in the rain, but it wasn't really raining hard, so we stopped +where the Cathedral Close is now and picked bluets and violets. When we +got home we were told we had a new little brother! Wildly excited, we +rushed upstairs and assaulted the door of mother's room. It was opened +by old Aunt Catherine, the colored mid-wife, who had been told not to +admit anyone, but mother called us and in we went. An hour or so later I +was the fourth victim of diphtheria! I still have vivid memories of it +all, and of Miss Freese, the trained nurse. + +[Illustration: _Courtesy Bolling-Fowler_. + +THE GEORGE T. DUNLOP HOUSE] + +She wore a uniform of blue and white striped cotton, long to the floor, +but, strange to say, her hair was short, unusual for those days. I can +still see the animals she cut out of paper--elephants, horses, and cows. +Dear Aunt Ellen and Auntie helped with the nursing, and father even +stayed home some days to help! + +These were some of the grave days, now to come to the gay. I remember +the big reception for father's and mother's silver wedding anniversary, +when I and my two chums, I in red, one in white, and one in a blue +dress, stood back behind this fine couple, thinking we were so +wonderful! My best friend lived right across the street, and we rigged +up a line from my window to hers on which we sent little notes by +pulling the line around. + +My two elder sisters had many beaux, and I mean, "many." I can remember +when some times twenty young gentlemen came to call on Sunday evening. +Of course, there were not many "dates" in those days, unless to go to +the theatre or a party of some kind, dancing or euchre. + +One Sunday night when the butler was off duty, my brother, home from +Princeton, answered the door bell. A gentleman entered, asking if the +ladies were at home; he handed his silk hat to John, then his cane, then +his coat, and then, he said "Now, announce me!" He was announced! As he +sat on the sofa by my cousin, a visitor from Kentucky, a real Kentucky +belle, a horrified expression came over his face. She, thinking he had +been attacked by the new disease, appendicitis, which she had heard was +very painful, asked what was the matter, to which he replied, "I have +just discovered I have on blue trousers instead of black!" He was in his +full-dress suit. + +On our side of Congress (31st) Street was one of the houses holding four +old maids, the daughters of John Davidson, one of the oldest names in +Georgetown: Miss Adeline, Miss Nannie, Miss Kate, and Miss Martha. Their +mother had died on her knees in Christ Church from a stroke. + +Across the street lived four maiden ladies by the name of Mix--one of +their brothers married a Miss Pickle! + +Of course, before Stoddert (Q) Street was cut through, the Bowie house +adjoined the property of Tudor Place, and they were on a level. I can +remember when the street was paved, and now that it is one of the +busiest boulevards of the city, it seems almost impossible to believe +that back in the nineties a houseful of charming-girls, real +old-fashioned belles, used often to "erupt" with their many beaux from +their home on the neighboring corner, at eleven o'clock some evenings, +and have a dance right in the middle of the street--two-steps and +waltzes galore! + +[Illustration: HOME OF FRANCIS DODGE] + +On the southeast corner of Congress (31st) Street and Stoddert (Q) +Street stood, until 1893 or 1894, the very interesting old house where +Francis Dodge and his large family lived for many, many years. The +illustration does not do justice to the dear old house, but I wanted to +give some idea of it as a whole, so selected this one. The long, +southern side overlooking the garden had tiers of white wooden galleries +and the face of the house under them was plastered white. In the center +of the long stretch of wall was a lovely, big doorway with a fanlight, +of course, and at the end of the porch, a smaller door which entered a +projecting wing of the house. + +The place was enclosed by a low, brick wall topped with a white picket +fence, and standing near the corner was a gorgeous horse-chestnut tree. +Whenever I see one now, I recall this particular tree with its lovely +blossoms in the spring and their delicious fragrance. A flight of wooden +steps led from a brick walk at the gate to the gallery, and another +flight from the same walk down into the garden. Under the porch was a +brick pavement where was the pump, and then there was the garden--a +wonderful old garden adorned with a maze of box which, of course, +enclosed flower-beds. + +The whole square, bounded by Congress (31st), West (P), Washington +(30th), and Stoddert (Q) Streets, belonged to this estate. It was +originally the property of Nicholas Lingan who owned the mill on Rock +Creek, and who was a brother of General Lingan. At that time, these big +places really were farms, with stables for horses, cows, pigs, and +chickens. + +[Illustration: FRANCIS DODGE, SENIOR] + +In 1810 the property was bought by Francis Dodge, who, as I have said +before, had come from Salem as a lad of sixteen to join his brother, +Ebenezer, who was established in a prosperous coastwise shipping trade, +dealing largely with the West Indies. + +One of the first experiences young Francis had, after his arrival in +1798, was one afternoon when he returned from a row up the river, and as +he was mooring his boat, he noticed an elderly gentleman hurrying down +the street and out onto the wharf. The gentleman asked if the ferry was +in yet, and when the boy turned to answer him and looked into his face, +he saw that it was General Washington. Francis replied that the ferry +had gone and, noting the terrible disappointment of the great man, +offered to row him across the river in his own little boat. The General +gladly accepted, and during the crossing asked the young man his name. +"Francis Dodge, sir," the boy replied, at which the General exclaimed, +"By any chance related to Colonel Robert Dodge, who served so gallantly +with me during the War?" "Yes, General, he was my father." "Oh, indeed!" +said he, "I am greatly pleased to know you, young man. You must come to +Mount Vernon some time to see me." + +Whether or not Francis Dodge got to Mount Vernon before the General's +death the following year, I do not know, but for over forty years his +grandson, Colonel Harrison H. Dodge, was the honored superintendent +there. + +Young Francis was taken into his brother's counting house, and a few +years later, in 1804, was sent to Portugal to investigate trade +conditions in Europe. In 1807 he married Elizabeth Thomson, a daughter +of William Thomson, of Scotland. They first resided below Bridge (M) +Street, west of High (Wisconsin Avenue), probably in Cherry Lane, where +lived also, according to tradition, Philip Barton Key, the Maffits, and +other families of distinction. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dodge had the usual large family of those days, six sons +and five daughters, and all grew to maturity. While they were still +small children, however, the British came to Washington, causing great +alarm to the citizens of George Town also. Mr. Dodge apparently sent his +family out somewhere near Rockville, for this is a letter he wrote to +his wife at that time. It gives an interesting picture of those exciting +days: + + Georgetown, Aug. 26, 1814, 12 o'clock A. M. + + Dear Wife: + + We have positive information that the British have left the City on + the Baltimore road, and passed the toll-gate last night. Some of + their pickets are still around the city. + + We believe they are either going to their shipping on Patuxent or + direct to Baltimore; or that they received information of an + intention to attempt to cut them off. At all events I am satisfied + you would be perfectly safe here, and much more comfortable than + where you are. I wish yourself, the child, Emily, Frank, and + Isabella, to come home and bring, if you can, one bed. Peggy and + Betty can come if they please. + + Not one Englishman has been in this town or within sight of Ft. + Warburton below. They have burnt all public property in the city. It + was a dreadful sight. The rope-walks in the city are destroyed. The + General Post Office and Jail stand. I hope they will not return here + again and can't think they will, they behaved well. + + The town was very quiet last night and I got a good sleep for the + first time. I hope you are well. + + Yours affectionately, + + F. DODGE. + + Aug. 27, 7 o'clock A. M. + + After preparing yesterday to send this, William came and advised to + postpone till today. You can all come now in the stage, bringing all + the books and what else you can. + + We have no news today but expect the British are near their + shipping. We have escaped wonderfully. + +The stage ran daily from George Town to Rockville. I think it was also +called "the hack," for, in old letters from my own ancestors at Hayes, +out in that direction, they write of "sending the seamstress out by the +hack." + +As the boys approached years of discretion, not having been spoiled by +sparing the rod, their father gave to each an identical circular, +setting forth what should be their "guide through life." His admonition +to "read the Bible daily and regularly," was based upon his own +remarkable habit in that respect. That he managed to read five chapters +consecutively every morning and thus encompass the whole in seven +months, is borne out by the periodic notations in his Holy Book. The +circulars read as follows: + + My practice (and my advice to all) is: if you wish to appear decent + shave every morning below ears and nose, cut your hair short all + over the head, wear white cravats, no boot-straps or pantaloon + straps. + + If you expect or desire to live in old age with few pains, and in + the meantime be clear headed and well, and thriving in your + business, rise before the sun, retire early, taking seven to nine + hours in bed. Eat regularly and moderately of plain food, plainly + cooked; no desserts except green fruit, drink no kind of liquor + except water and the like; use no tobacco in any way. + + Read five chapters in the Bible regularly through, before breakfast, + support religious societies and go to church twice every Sabbath + Day. Take moderate exercise, attend to your business and keep it + always in order and under your Government, never over-trade, hold + your word as binding as your bond, be security for no one, seldom + any good comes of it, but often miserable distress. + + Be as liberal as you can, consistently, to your kin, if in need and + worthy, perform all your duties to your family and neighbors. + + The above I practice almost to the letter. + + F. DODGE. + + P. S.--Again, say little or nothing about yourself, your family, or + your business. Talk but little--listen. + + Speak as well as you can of all, expose faults only when you believe + it well to do more good than harm, all have foibles and few are free + from faults, most, some good traits of character. + + This post script I am endeavoring to practice. + + F. DODGE, 1847. + + Act well your part, there all the honor lies, Read, heed! + + The above attended to with strict economy, industry and like, will + carry you through this life with honor and credit. + +The education of the two oldest sons, Francis, junior, and Alexander +Hamilton, seems to have been planned to fit them specially for +commercial life, to succeed their father in his well-established +business. Francis was sent to Georgetown College and Alexander to +Princeton--he graduated in 1835. Robert Perley Dodge graduated from +Princeton in two years, standing fifth in a class of seventy-six. He +then entered a school of engineering in Kentucky. In six months he +completed a major course. He rated so high that he was offered a +professorship in mathematics, but declined, and became a civil engineer. + +[Illustration: THE SONS OF FRANCIS DODGE, 1878] + +William and Allen Dodge received special practical training in +agriculture and animal industry at the Maryland Agricultural College. +Mr. Dodge bought William a farm near Hagerstown, and for Allen one +near Bladensburg, but, due to the Civil War and the abolition of slaves, +both of these highly developed ventures failed, and the farms were sold. +Charles, the youngest, attended Georgetown College, and took up +commercial and export business. In 1862 he was offered command of a +Confederate regiment but declined, being a Unionist. He accepted, +instead, the rank of major and paymaster in the Federal Army and served +throughout the war. For a time he was interested in gold mining in +Maryland, and in 1889 succeeded his brother Frank (then deceased) as +collector of customs of the District of Columbia. + +On the twelfth of June, 1849, a remarkable event took place in this old +house--a wedding ceremony at four o'clock in the morning of four of the +children of Mr. and Mrs. Dodge. Adeline was married to Charles Lanman; +Virginia to Ben Perley Poore, a well-known correspondent of _Harper's +Weekly_ in those days; Allen Dodge to Miss Mary Ellen Berry, and Charles +Dodge to Miss Eliza G. Davidson of Evermay. The weddings were celebrated +at this unusual hour so that the bridal couples could take the regular +stage leaving Georgetown for Baltimore at five o'clock. At least it was +a cool time of day for the celebration, and how beautiful it must have +been with the dew lying on the box and the roses, and the birds +twittering their sunrise notes. What a jolly time these four couples +must have had, starting off together. Let us hope their spirits were not +too much dampened by the fact that their father would not witness the +ceremony, as it was at variance with his religious scruples that it was +not conducted in a church. Reverend N. P. Tillinghast, then the rector +of St. John's Church, must have officiated, as the Dodges were always +ardent supporters of St. John's. + +The only two members of the family who did not marry were Miss Emily and +Miss Elizabeth Dodge. They were the eldest of the girls, and I imagine +that practically no one could get up the nerve to ask the old gentleman +for their hands. Major Ben Perley Poore used to say that the most +momentous hour he could remember was the one spent in Mr. Dodge's office +waiting to see him to ask for the hand of Virginia, and he had faced +guns when he said that. + +In 1851 Francis Dodge died at the age of sixty-nine. He was a very good +citizen; his judgment was sought on all matters of public interest +connected with the town, besides exercising a controlling influence over +commercial transactions. At that time tropical fruits such as oranges +and bananas were luxuries, and it is remembered that Mr. Dodge used to +send baskets of them around to his friends whenever one of his vessels +would arrive from the West Indies. + +When I was a little girl, living across the street on the opposite +corner from this house, it was always spoken of as "Miss Emily Dodge's." +I can remember her well when she would come out on the gallery and walk +up and down. She seemed never to go away from the house. She was rather +small, had snow-white hair in long curls about her face, and was usually +wrapped in a white shawl. I have been told that she was terribly afraid +of fire and burglars, so slept fully dressed. Each morning she bathed +and re-clothed herself. At night she lay down and slept as she was. At +the time I remember, Miss Emily occupied part of the big wing of the +enormous house and Allen Dodge and his wife were living in the lower +floors of the wing. His wife was quite an invalid, and I do not +recollect ever seeing her. + +The main part of the house was occupied for one winter by Dr. Stuart, +the rector of Christ Church, and his family while the new rectory at +number 1515 31st Street was being built. + +After the death of Miss Emily Dodge, the place was sold to close the +estate, and pulled down, thereby deleting from Georgetown one of its +most distinctive and charming features which today would have been +invaluable. I remember weeping bitterly when I heard it was to be torn +down; even then, a half-grown girl, I loved old houses. + +The two cottages on West (P) Street at numbers 3033 and 3035, were built +by Mr. Dodge. In the latter, until her death, lived Mrs. Charles Lanman +(Adeline Dodge). Mr. Lanman was a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts. +He was a very scholarly man, wrote _A Life of Daniel Webster_, who was +his friend, and other books, and for a long time was connected with the +Japanese Legation. + +For many years they had a young Japanese girl, Ume Tschuda, making her +home with them while she was being educated in this country. The Lanmans +had no children of their own, and looked upon her almost as an adopted +daughter. She has had a very remarkable career as head of an important +school in Japan. + +Another house built by the Dodges on their farm is the one on 30th +Street, now doubled in size and occupied by Dr. Gwynn. Here Henry H. +Dodge lived until he moved into his mother's former home, the Chapman +house, on Congress (31st) Street and Dumbarton Avenue. + +On the southeast corner of Stoddert (Q) and Washington (30th) Streets, +what is now Hammond Court, an apartment, was the house built by Francis +Dodge, junior. In the group picture shown, he and Alexander Hamilton +Dodge are the two seated in the middle of the front row. A. H. Dodge is +the only brother not adorned with a beard. Was there ever a more +wonderful display of six stalwart handsome brothers? In fact, good looks +are to this day inherent in the Dodge family. + +I have already told a good deal of the history of Francis Dodge, junior, +of his marriage to the two daughters of Judge Chapman. He had a son and +a daughter by each wife. + +In 1851, at the death of Francis Dodge, senior, his splendidly +established West Indies business continued under the management of the +eldest sons, the name being changed to F. & A. H. Dodge. On the basis of +their business alone, Georgetown was made a port of entry and a custom +house was established here. + +Each year there was a sale for buyers from large cities in the North on +the Dodges' wharf. It was quite an occasion. The counting house was +capacious, and decorated with all sorts of curios from the tropics: +sharks' jaws, flying fish, swordfish and sawfish; elaborate lunches were +served to the patrons, with cigars and drinkables; chairs and benches +were placed out on the platform overlooking the river. On summer +afternoons, this was a great meeting place for the friends of the two +Dodges. + +Many bidders assembled on these advertised dates, hauling commodities +away as purchased, some to the rail depot, some to storage, which kept +the firm officials and stewards busy. One of the faithful employees was +Richard McCraith, a newly arrived Irishman from Cork. He had that noted +propensity of his race for getting orders twisted, but his endeavors to +do right were so earnest and conscientious that his unintentional errors +of judgment were condoned. One urgent order from a patron asked for +delivery to bearer of two sacks of coarse salt. For its hauling the +bearer had a cart. "Here, Richard, go with this man to the warehouse on +High Street and see that his cart is backed up close to the door. The +salt is stored in the third floor. Load it carefully on the hand truck, +wheel it to the window and let it down 'by the fall'--do you get that +straight?" "Yis sir, yis sir!" Presently a man burst into the office, +exclaiming excitedly, "That wild Irishman of yours has raised hell up +the street. He dumped a sack of salt weighing 200 pounds from the third +story to the cart underneath, broke both wheels, and the horse has run +away with the wreck." (Enter Richard!) Said the angry boss, "Now, what +the devil have you done?" Richard: "Yis sir. Didn't you tell me to let +it down 'by the fall'? I did, sir." + +In 1867 Francis Dodge, junior, sold this fine house to Henry D. Cooke. +In 1877 he was appointed collector of customs. He was quite an old +gentleman by that time, and the glories of Georgetown's maritime trade +were beginning to be a thing of the past. In fact, with the coming of +the railroads, the huge business of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was +injured, and from then on the commercial importance of the town began to +dwindle. + +Henry D. Cooke, who purchased this house, was the brother of Jay Cooke, +and came to Washington to manage a branch of his brother's large banking +enterprise. He was an intimate friend of General Grant, and I have read +that the general was so fond of his company that he would sit in his +carriage for an hour outside Mr. Cooke's place of business, waiting for +him to go driving. + +Claude Bowers, in his most interesting book _The Tragic Era_, speaks of +a brilliant ball given the night before the "breaking of the bubble of +the Credit Mobilier" in 1873, by Henry D. Cooke. It was in this house +that the ball took place. Can't you picture the coaches as they rolled +up to the door, discharging the ladies in their crinolines, laces, +satins, and flowers, attended by the gentlemen wrapped in the long +cloaks of that period? Kate Chase Sprague was in the height of her +beauty and power at that time and was, of course, among the guests on +that fateful night. + +Mr. Cooke was the first governor of the District of Columbia when that +new form of municipal government was begun, to last through only three +terms. There were twelve children in the Cooke family then living in +this house. They were ardent members of St. John's Church--the font +there being in memory of one little son. Mr. Cooke built Grace Church, +the little gray stone church down below the canal near High Street +(Wisconsin Avenue). It was intended for the canal people of whom there +were many at that time. + +Governor Cooke bought a great deal of property and built four sets of +twin houses along the north side of Stoddert (Q) Street, which were +called, until a few years ago, Cooke Row. In Number One, near Washington +(30th) Street, lived one family of his descendants, one of whom, a young +man, played the piano very well. In Number Three, lived Mrs. Shepherd +from Philadelphia, a widow, who had one son. He was the first person I +ever knew to commit suicide. It was a terrible shock to the town when we +heard one morning that he had shot himself the night before. It was not +such a common event in the nineties as nowadays. + +In one of these houses lived Commodore Nicholson, and in another lived +Admiral Radford, whose lovely daughter, Sophy, became the bride of +Valdemar de Meisner, secretary of the Russian Legation. In Number Four, +lived Mrs. Zola Green with her daughter and her two sisters, named +Pyle--one of them was called Miss "Chit-Chat." Mr. Green, who was a +descendant of Uriah Forrest, had been given the name of Oceola after the +Indian Chief who had saved the life of his father years ago out West. + +At Number Five Cooke Row, now 3021 Q Street, lived during the nineties, +Dr. Walter Reed, of the United States Army, whose name is honored by +being given to the huge General Hospital in Washington because of his +association with the discovery of the cause of yellow fever. I recall a +most delightful party at the Reeds on St. Valentine night in 1899, given +for friends of their son. When the invitations were sent out, we were +told the name of the young man or girl to whom our valentine was to be +written. It was at the time of the tremendous blizzard of that year, and +we walked to the party between drifts of snow piled higher than our +heads. But it was anything but cold when we got inside--open fires and +jollity! Dr. Reed read aloud the poems, one by one, and we had to guess +the authors and to whom they were addressed. In the library, ensconced +in mysterious gloom, seated in a corner on the floor was a +fortune-teller. It was a perfect party! + +Next door, at Number Six Cooke Row, for a great many years, lived +William A. Gordon, junior, and his family. Mr. Gordon wrote some very +valuable brochures of historical interest about Georgetown and his +memories of it from his childhood. This house is now the home of Mrs. +Henry Latrobe Roosevelt. During World War II, this was the home of Sir +John and Lady Dill, when he was here representing Great Britain on the +Joint Chiefs of Staff. + +At Number Seven lived the Misses Trapier--four old maids again! + +J. Holdsworth Gordon, brother of William A. Gordon, built a house across +the street. For him the Gordon Junior High School has been named, he +having been for a long time on the board of education. + +Next door to him on the east, at number 3020, is an attractive old +house, and in the nineties it was filled with a family of four charming +daughters. They were related to the Carters of Virginia, and so had +given two of the most imposing names of that great family to two small +fox-terriers that they adored, "King Carter," and "Shirley Carter." The +latter had met with an accident and had to have one of his hind legs +amputated, but he got about very nimbly on his other three. They always +accompanied Colonel B. Lewis Blackford, the head of the house, on his +trips about town. One day as he was nearing home, an old lady who walked +with a cane was just about to pass him when "Shirley Carter" hopped +immediately across his path; "Get out of my way, you damn tripod!" he +said, in his exasperation, just escaping being tripped up. The old lady, +thinking the "tripod" referred to her adjunct of a cane, was quite +infuriated, even to summoning across the street a gentleman who was +passing, and to wishing him to "call the Colonel out!" + +A little further eastward along Stoddert (Q) Street, on the northeast +corner is the house Mr. Joseph Nourse built in 1868, and where his +daughter, Miss Emily Nourse, lived all her life. After her death, it was +sold and somebody put two old lamp-posts at the foot of the entrance +steps with gas flickering in them continuously--and now there is a story +around that they were "always" there, and some foolishness about the +lights "never had gone out" or "must never go out." + +Across the street, where the Stoddert Apartment now is, used to be an +old house, in appearance quite like the one of Judge Chapman's on +Dumbarton Avenue and Congress (31st) Street, except for the long, side +porches. Here lived in the seventies and eighties General Henry Hayes +Lockwood and his family. His son, James Lockwood, accompanied General +Greeley on his trip to the North Pole, and was lost there in the Arctic, +holding the record at that time of having reached farthest North. + +A block south, on the northeast corner of Greene (29th) and West (P) +Streets, is where Alexander Hamilton Dodge lived, who was a partner with +his brother, Francis, in the shipping business. He was the father of +Colonel Harrison H. Dodge. + +In the days when his children were young, he had a big Newfoundland dog +which he had raised from a puppy. One rarely sees one now, as tall and +as big as a half-grown calf, with a coat of wonderful black, curly hair. +Such pets used to be quite popular, but only once in forty years have I +run across another. The Dodge's dog was named Argus. So strong and +docile was he that two children could ride him at the same time. He +loved the children, took them to school, and gave them "lifts" over wet +or muddy ground. Do you remember "Nana," in _Peter Pan_? She was a +Newfoundland dog--just so she nursed her master's children. Returning +from escort duty in the morning, a locked container was fastened to his +collar and he would be given the word "office," which was enough. Off +he'd go, proudly bearing luncheon to his master, who, in return, would +send back to the family the daily mail (no postmen to deliver in those +days), perfectly confident of its reaching its destination safely, as +everybody knew the big dog, and also that he would resent any attempt to +stop him or take things from him. + +One day the cook complained to Mr. Dodge that somebody had evidently +been robbing the hen's nests, as she was getting fewer eggs than usual. +Mr. Dodge, going to investigate, met Argus coming down the path from the +barn wagging his tail majestically, as was his wont when approaching his +master. Mr. Dodge stopped and held out his hand, saying, "Argus, give me +that egg," whereupon the obedient dog opened his mouth and out rolled an +egg, to the great surprise of Mr. Dodge. Did he punish Argus for that? +Not at all, but he told him he was sorry he was a robber and hoped he'd +never have cause to scold him again. And he never did! + +The interesting-looking house to the east of Hamilton Dodge's, 2811 P +Street, was built in 1840. That is where the Gordon family were living +when William A. Gordon, junior, came back from the Civil War. Certainly, +that must have been a joyous occasion, and there were happy hearts +within the old walls that night. His sister Josephine (Mrs. Sowers), +Margaret Robinson (Mrs. Thomas Cox), and Elizabeth Dodge (Mrs. John +Beall), all exceedingly handsome women, were belles in their youth, +and a trio of great friends to the end of their lives. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM A. GORDON] + +The family of Admiral Sigsbee were living here when the U. S. battleship +_Maine_, of which he was the captain, was blown up in the harbor of +Havana in 1898. His wife was a daughter of Admiral Lockwood. It is now +the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Ihlder. + +At 2805 P Street lives Honorable Dean G. Acheson, now Secretary of +State. For a while, in the latter part of the last century, a quaint and +very well-known lady made this house her home--Miss Emily V. Mason, of +Virginia, from whom Mr. Corcoran received friendly and grateful letters, +thanking him for contributions to her work for "her children," as she +called them. The letters were written from Europe. She evidently had +groups of Southern children in various cities for whom she provided, +using for that purpose money made by her writings, to which she refers. +I remember how picturesque she was in appearance: a lovely face, +surrounded by long, white curls, crowned by a wide-brimmed, black bonnet +tied with a wide ribbon. She seemed to have quite a salon during her +residence here, serving tea and substantial refreshments to all her +friends who called in the afternoons. + +The iron fence around these houses is made of old musket barrels, used +during the Mexican War, and was put there by Reuben Daw, who owned a +large part of this block. + +Just across the street from Mr. Acheson used to live a lady, the widow +of Mr. Hein, the artist, who like "Anna" in the Bible spent all her days +in the "courts of the Lord," the Catholic Church. She always wore a long +black coat and a crepe veil to her heels, rode a bicycle back and forth +to church, the long veil floating out behind. One evening she was struck +by an automobile and killed instantly. The niece to whom she had left +her little house had made an arrangement with a middle-aged woman living +there that if she took care of "Aunt Martha" she could have the house +tax free all her days. Her days are still continuing--and with all the +advance in prices of houses, the niece can't do a thing about the house! + +The dear little white frame cottage just above here on Montgomery (28th) +Street, was built about 1840, and occupied by Benjamin F. Miller, who +came from Saugerties, New York, as an engineer, to construct the +Aqueduct Bridge which carried the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal across the +river to Virginia. And, on the corner of Montgomery (28th) and Stoddert +(Q) Streets is the last of the big Dodge houses on the corners of +Georgetown. It is the one built by Robert Perley Dodge in 1850. He and +his brother, Francis Dodge, junior, used practically the same plans for +their houses. Robert Dodge was a civil engineer, and, I think, had +something to do with the planning of the Aqueduct Bridge. + +At the outbreak of the Civil War, Robert Dodge became a paymaster in the +Union Army. After the war, he became identified with the government of +the District of Columbia, serving as treasurer and auditor for several +years until he died. It is said he planted the enormous maple trees that +adorn this block of 28th Street. + +During the first World War, when this house had stood a long time +untenanted and sad, it was opened up as a night club called "The +Carcassonne," and postals were sent out advertising "Coffee in the Coal +Bin." These were the days of prohibition. Somebody who lived there +played the piano, incessantly. The Ballengers had lived here; the +Powells, and Major Gilliss; and then Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick (now Mrs. +Albert Simms), lived here until she bought three houses down on 30th +Street below N Street, and made them into one very attractive house with +an unusual and lovely garden. + +Later Honorable Warren Delano Robbins, a first cousin of Franklin D. +Roosevelt and one of the ushers at his wedding, and at one time Minister +to Canada, bought this house, changed it somewhat and made it very +lovely in its new dress of yellow paint on the old plaster. + +When he went to Ottawa he leased it to Honorable Dwight F. Davis, former +Secretary of War, once Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, and +also donor of the Davis Tennis Cup. + +It has now for several years been the home of Mrs. William Corcoran +Eustis. She is the daughter of one-time Vice-President Paul Morton. + +Just across the street from here is the house that Honorable and Mrs. +Robert Woods Bliss bought when they gave their fine estate, "Dumbarton +Oaks," to Harvard University. This house was built by Mr. Thomas Hyde +and was where he and Mrs. Hyde lived till the end of their days. She was +Fannie Rittenhouse and had grown up in the old house close by, known for +a hundred years as "Bellevue," but renamed "Dumbarton House," when the +National Society of Colonial Dames of America bought it for their +Headquarters in 1928. It is one of the finest, most beautiful, and most +interesting of the old places of Georgetown. It has always been somewhat +shrouded in mystery, as to its builder and owner. We do know, of +course, that this was part of the grant of the Rock of Dumbarton to +Ninian Beall and, through his son, George, descended to Thomas, who, in +1783 made his first Addition to George Town. Thomas may have built a +small house here, but this was not the house where his father, George, +was living when his wife died and was "buried nearby"--that was on Gay +(N) Street at the house now 3033 N Street. + +In 1796 Thomas Beall of George sold this property to Peter Casanave, +who, two months later, sold it to Uriah Forrest. He kept it for a +year--never lived there--and sold it to Isaac Pollock. There was wild +speculation in real estate at that time on account of the new Federal +City being located here. After one year Pollock sold the property to +Samuel Jackson. + +It seems that it was then that Samuel Jackson started to build this +mansion, but got into financial difficulties and it was mortgaged to two +or three people and finally foreclosed. In 1804 the place was bought by +Gabriel Duval, then Comptroller of the Currency of the United States, +afterwards a Justice of the Supreme Court. + +In 1805 Joseph Nourse, Registrar of the United States Treasury, who had +been until that time living on Congress (31st) Street in George Town, +bought it and lived there until 1813. He had this position from 1789 to +1829 and was in charge of moving all the records of the Treasury +Department when the Government moved from Philadelphia to the new +capital in Washington. + +Mr. Nourse had been born in London in 1754; came to Virginia and fought +in the Revolution. He was secretary to General Charles Lee and Auditor +of the Board of War. His wife was Maria Louisa Bull of Philadelphia, +and they had two children, Charles Joseph Nourse, who became a Major in +the Army, and Anna Maria Josepha, who was a lovely girl and took part in +the prominent social affairs of the new city. She is spoken of in the +diary of Sir Augustus Foster, British Minister of that period. + +When the National Society of Colonial Dames had this house restored, a +penny bearing the date 1800 was found in one of the front walls where +such an identification was often placed, and architects think that +Samuel Jackson began to build this house, using perhaps the little house +that was on the property as a wing, and that then Joseph Nourse took it +over and was really the builder of this fine mansion. It was probably +intended for entertaining for his beloved daughter, for, after her +death, which occurred at one of the Virginia springs one summer, he sold +the place and moved out to a small frame house on a high hill +overlooking the Federal City. He called his new home "Mount Alban," +because it reminded him of the place of the same name in England. It was +there that the first British martyr, Saint Alban, was killed. Mr. Nourse +was a very religious man and used to walk about in the grove of oak +trees surrounding his house and pray that some day a House of God might +stand upon that spot; that is exactly where the Washington Cathedral is +now being erected. + +Mr. Nourse had many famous guests visit him in his modest home +there--among them: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and +John Quincy Adams. + +Mr. Nourse's son, Major Charles Joseph Nourse, married Rebecca Morris +whose father, Anthony Morris, of Philadelphia, was an intimate and +life-long friend of Dolly Madison. Major Nourse built the old stone +house out on the road to Rockville and called it "The Highlands." +Tradition says that a large box bush at "The Highlands" has grown from a +tiny sprig of box which Mrs. Madison plucked from her bouquet at the +inauguration of her husband and gave to Mr. Morris. + +[Illustration: DUMBARTON HOUSE] + +"The Highlands" was a large household, for Major and Mrs. Nourse had +eleven children, and Mr. Morris resided there also. They have been a +very remarkable family, noted for their longevity, their steadfast, +noble character, and their loyalty to the Episcopal Church. It was from +the prayers and savings of Phoebe Nourse, who died as a young girl, that +St. Alban's Church has risen on that ground which she wished to dedicate +to the glory of God. + +"The Highlands" many years later became the home of Admiral and Mrs. +Gary T. Grayson. + +But to return to the old house which blocked Stoddert (Q) Street or Back +Street, as it was sometimes called. Mr. Nourse sold this house, his +Georgetown home, in 1813 to Charles Carroll, who gave it the name of +Bellevue, and thereafter always styled himself "of Bellevue." He was a +nephew of Daniel Carroll, of Duddington. He also was a great friend of +Mrs. Madison's, and helped her in her dramatic escape from the White +House when the British were on their way to burn and plunder it. There +has always been a story that Daniel Carroll brought her over the road to +Georgetown, crossing at the P Street bridge, and that she stopped by +Bellevue. There she is supposed to have met Mr. Madison whom she had not +seen since early morning. This was the day of the Battle of Bladensburg +when confusion reigned supreme. At the meeting Mr. and Mrs. Madison +agreed on the routes and rendezvous of retreat. + +From old letters it seems that she continued on out of town to "Weston," +the estate of Walter S. Chandler, which was situated near the present +junction of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues. I can dimly remember +the quaint white, frame house and the legend of Dolly Madison being +there. She then went on to the encampment at Tenally Town, where she +slept in a tent that night under guard, and the next day crossed into +Virginia. + +Mr. Carroll and his brother had not long before become owners of the +paper mill on Rock Creek just south of Bellevue, so that must have been +his reason for making it his home. + +In 1820 he leased the place to Samuel Whitall, of Philadelphia, whose +wife was Lydia Newbold. Mr. Whitall was a distinguished-looking old +gentleman, and used to drive around in a high, two-wheeled gig, the last +of its kind in the town. + +When Charles Carroll died in 1841, the place was bought by the son of +Mr. and Mrs. Whitall. A daughter, Sarah Whitall, was born at Bellevue in +1822 and lived there for over seventy years. She married Mr. Rittenhouse +of Philadelphia. The place remained in the Rittenhouse family until +1896, when they sold it to Howard Hinckley. In the intervening years, +its appearance had been greatly changed by a coat of plaster over the +old bricks, which Mr. Hinckley removed. It was very lovely, both inside +and out, during the years that Mr. and Mrs. Hinckley made it their home. +Some very delightful parties were given there. Then candlelight was the +only illumination, and even the flowers used were redolent of colonial +days. The rooms were filled with furniture of the right type; and I +remember that the bedrooms even had the old washstands with holes in the +tops for bowls and pitchers which also were exactly "right" in their +period. + +After that, Colonel Langfitt leased the house, and a very lovely wedding +took place out of doors under an enormous tree, when his daughter +married an officer of the United States Army. + +In 1912 it was bought by John L. Newbold, a relative of the Lydia +Newbold of long ago. After a great deal of agitation on the subject of +cutting Q Street through, and putting a bridge across Rock Creek to +connect with the city, the District government in 1915 moved the old +house to its present location, for it had been sitting exactly in the +path of progress all these years, there being a George Town Ordinance +that a street could not be cut through without consent of the owner. I +only wish progress could have made a circle around the old mansion and +left it in its setting of stately, primeval trees. + +Miss Loulie Rittenhouse, who had been born and reared there, worked +untiringly for the opening of the street, the bridge, and also for +Montrose Park, with the salvation of the glorious old oak trees it +contains. + +Slowly, very, very slowly, old Bellevue was placed on huge rollers, +horses were attached to a windlass, and it almost took a microscope to +see the progress made day by day, but at last it reached its present +site, safe and sound. It was necessary to pull down and rebuild the +wings, as they had no cellars. Of course, the wall is also new. + +It was leased during World War I to various people of importance in +Washington for war work, and finally, in 1928, bought by the National +Society of Colonial Dames of America. It has been handsomely and +suitably furnished as a house of the Federal period, and is open to the +public as a museum house. A beautiful house it is; the usual wide hall +through the middle, with vistas through the two big doors, four rooms +opening off it, the two back ones being rounded out at the northern +ends. + +[Illustration: TUDOR PLACE] + + + + +Chapter XV + +_Tudor Place and Congress (31st) Street_ + + +Like the brightest jewel in its crown of old houses, Tudor Place, now +the home of Armistead Peter, junior, sits high and aloof on the heights +of Georgetown. Its southern front, shown here, is the one most familiar +to everyone, and it is the view that I looked out on every day of my +life for more than a score of years from my father's house on Stoddert +(Q) Street. + +As Mrs. Beverley Kennon, its owner during my youth, was my cousin and +had her motherless grandchildren living with her, some of my earliest +recollections are of running round and round the old circle of box in +front of the north entrance, playing "colors." I never, to this day, +smell box that I am not back at Tudor Place and see the cobwebs in the +old bushes bright with raindrops, as box, of course, is really fragrant +only after rain. Also there were lovely times in the fall when the +leaves were being raked up by old John, the colored gardener, who would +let us climb on top of the brilliant load in a wheelbarrow with a crate +on top of it. Such rides! Old John was a character (and one we loved +dearly), not much over five feet tall, with grizzled hair and goatee, +and always wearing an apron tied around his waist and a derby hat on his +head. + +Tudor Place was purchased by Francis Lowndes, one of the prominent +tobacco merchants and shippers, in 1794, from Thomas Beall of George +who made a large addition to George Town in 1783, called by his name. +Mr. Lowndes started to build a mansion, but in 1805 he sold the property +to Thomas Peter and his wife, the former Martha Parke Custis. + +[Illustration: THOMAS PETER] + +When the Peters moved to their new home in George Town they used the +western wing, already built, with its addition on the east, as their +home, and the eastern wing was their carriage house and stable. This +fact has been proved by finding below the floors the signs of the old +stalls, and up in the rafters the corncobs of long ago. I have known +people who remembered the old yellow coach which often stood out in the +stable yard, and I've been told that if one dug deep enough its +cobblestones would still be found. + +Mr. and Mrs. Peter decided to use the fortune left her by her +grandmother, Mrs. Washington, to build a stately mansion. They certainly +succeeded. They engaged as architect Dr. William Thornton, whose plans +for the Capitol had been accepted in the second competition, as the +first yielded none sufficiently good. + +Dr. Thornton and his wife were intimate friends of the Peters, and a +beautiful miniature of him, done by her, is now in the possession of one +of the family. Mrs. Thornton was with Mrs. Peter when the British +soldiers set fire to the Capitol in 1814, and the two ladies sat at the +window of what is now the dining room of Tudor Place--the low part +between the main building and the western wing--and watched the +conflagration. You can imagine their grief as one saw the work of her +husband destroyed, and the other, the building which had been so much in +the mind and heart of her revered grandfather. + +There is in existence a very lovely painting of Mrs. Peter at about the +time of her marriage; a sweet, young girl with light curls, and the +embodiment of daintiness. Suspended about her neck is, I think, the +miniature which General Washington had painted for her as a wedding +gift. When he asked her what she wanted she replied "a replica of +himself." He was much pleased that a young girl would want a portrait of +an old man! The photograph reproduced of Thomas Peter is from a portrait +done by him by his son-in-law, Captain William G. Williams. + +While on a visit to Tudor Place occurred the death of Mrs. Peter's +mother, the former Eleanor Calvert. She was fifty-three years old, and +had borne twenty children. + +[Illustration: MRS. THOMAS PETER (MARTHA PARKE CUSTIS)] + +Mr. and Mrs. Peter had a family of eight children. Three of the +daughters had striking names: America, Columbia, and Britannia. + +When General Lafayette paid his visit to Georgetown in 1824 it was, of +course, most natural that he should be entertained at Tudor Place, as +Mrs. Peter had known him in her childhood at Mount Vernon. At that time +America met her husband, Captain Williams, who was acting as an aide for +the Marquis. In later years, as chief of engineers on the staff of +General Zachary Taylor, Captain Williams was killed at the Battle of +Monterey. On that same visit Lafayette presented the youngest child, +Britannia, a little girl of nine, with a lovely little desk, now in the +National Museum in the loan collection of her grandson, Walter G. Peter. +On its under side it has an inscription in the handwriting of Martha +Custis Peter, telling her daughter its history. + +Britannia Wellington Peter was born on January 27, 1815. She died the +day before her ninety-sixth birthday, and this editorial, from _The +Baltimore Sun_, gives a fine picture of the changes in the world in the +years covered by the span of her life: + + A LONG AND INTERESTING LIFE + + Mrs. Britannia Wellington Kennon, who died at Tudor Place, her + historic home in Georgetown, on the 26th instant, and who will be + buried today, was for many years a most interesting figure in the + social life of Washington. She was the last in her generation of the + descendants of Mrs. Martha Washington. John Parke Custis, Mrs. + Washington's son, left four children. One of his daughters, Martha, + married Thomas Peter, and Mrs. Kennon was their daughter. She + married Commodore Beverley Kennon, of the United States Navy, whose + father was General Richard Kennon, of Washington's staff, a charter + member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and a grandson of Sir + William Skipwith. Commodore Kennon was killed in 1844 by the + explosion on the U. S. S. _Princeton_, so Mrs. Kennon was a widow + for more than sixty-six years. + + Tudor Place, Mrs. Kennon's home, was famous for the distinguished + guests that were entertained there, among them being General + Lafayette, who visited there in 1824. She was the center of an + intellectual and cultivated society, and was always in touch with + the progress of events in the world. + + Mrs. Kennon was born three weeks after the Battle of New Orleans, + and several months before the Battle of Waterloo. Her life spanned + the period of the great advance in the appliances of civilization in + this and the last century. It was very important that the news of + the battle of Waterloo should reach London without delay, and yet + with every appliance and speed then known, it took three days for + the news to reach England. Indeed, when Mrs. Kennon was thirty-two + years of age, it required eight months to travel from New England to + Oregon. At the age of fifteen she could have been a passenger on the + first passenger railroad train that was ever run; until she was five + years old, there was no such thing as an iron plow in all the world, + and until she was grown up, the people were dependent on tinder + boxes and sun glasses to light their fires. She had reached the age + of twenty-three years when steam communication between Europe and + America was established, and when the first telegram ever sent + passed between Baltimore and Washington she was still a young woman. + If all the advances in civilization which took place during the + lifetime of this remarkable lady were catalogued, they would make a + singularly interesting list. + +Mrs. Kennon was left a widow when less than thirty years of age, with +her one child, Martha Custis Kennon. To Mrs. Kennon and her daughter +Mrs. Thomas Peter bequeathed Tudor Place, having long survived her +husband, and her other children having received their inheritance. +Martha Custis Kennon married her cousin, Dr. Armistead Peter, the son of +Major George Peter, and so the original surname came back to the place, +which has never been out of the one family. + +Until the death of Mrs. Kennon when they were, of course, divided, there +was at Tudor Place a very large and valuable collection of Washington +relics, fascinating things, among them Mrs. Washington's seed-pearl +wedding jewelry and dress, a set of china made for and presented to +General Washington by the French government, the bowl given him by the +Order of the Cincinnati, and numberless other interesting things. In a +corner of the central room, the saloon, as it is called, was the small +camp trunk always used by the General. The room on the east, off of +which opens the conservatory, is the drawing room; that to the west, the +parlor. The saloon opens out onto the temple, the round porch on the +south. The two large rooms at each side have lovely cornices, beautiful +marble mantels and handsome crystal chandeliers; long group windows to +the floor and very unusual doors of curly maple. At the debut tea of +Mrs. Kennon's granddaughter, I was helping to serve, when, seeing two +dear old ladies, one very short, the other very tall, both dressed in +simple black with big bonnets and long veils, looking about in the crowd +as if they were trying to see something particular, I went up and asked +them if I could bring them some refreshments. They said, "No, thank you, +we really don't want anything, we are just trying to see if there are +the same ornaments on the table as when Britannia was married." I found +out afterward that the ornaments were three beautiful alabaster groups +of classic figures. The two old ladies were Miss Mary and Miss Rosa +Nourse, of The Highlands. + +Britannia Peter was a first cousin of Mary Custis, of Arlington, and was +one of the bridesmaids at the wedding there which united the daughter of +George Washington Parke Custis to the handsome United States army +officer, Robert Edward Lee. The friendship was an enduring one, and +General Lee visited Tudor Place when he paid his last visit to +Washington City in 1869. + +Britannia Peter was bridesmaid for another first cousin, Helen Dunlop, +when she was married at Hayes to William Laird. + +From the descendant of another one of those bridesmaids at that famous +wedding at Arlington who, as a young girl, paid long visits to Mary +Custis, I heard this delicious story: "There being no telephones, when +the girls at Arlington and at Tudor Place wanted to get together they +had a series of signals. Hanging a red flannel petticoat out of the +window meant 'come on over'. A white one had another meaning. This +method was not popular with the owners of the two mansions, but +persisted, nevertheless." To prove this, not long ago I went to +Arlington with the person who told me the story. The room there used by +the girls of those days does look toward Georgetown. There is a forest +of tall trees there now but trees can grow very tall in a hundred years. + +When my father built his house at the foot of Mrs. Kennon's place, she +told him she was so glad to have him near by, but chided him for cutting +off her view of the river. + +Until only a few years before her death, Mrs. Kennon sat perfectly erect +in her chair, never touching the back, and I can remember her as quite +an old lady, almost flying up the hill of Congress (31st) Street, +always, of course, in bonnet and long, crepe veil. She was a member of +Christ Church, and once many, many years ago when a parish meeting was +announced to decide some important question, the rector and gentlemen +were very much surprised on entering the vestry to find Mrs. Kennon +there waiting for the meeting. She said she wished to have a say in the +matter, and having no man to represent her, had come herself. So she was +the original suffragette! Mrs. Kennon was one of the early presidents +of the Louise Home, and was the first president of the National Society +of Colonial Dames of America in the District of Columbia. + +Before the day of country clubs there used to be a very fine tennis +court at Tudor Place, on the flat part to the north of the house not far +from Congress (31st) Street, and it was much used. The Peter boys were +champions of the District several times. In the first administration of +President Cleveland, Mrs. Cleveland, a bride, used to drive her husband +in from Oak View or, as it was popularly called, Red Top, to his office +at the White House nearly every morning in a low, one-horse phaeton. No +secret-service entourage in those days! In the evenings she came again +in style in a Victoria, and frequently they would stop opposite Tudor +Place and watch the game in progress. There was a good deal of intimacy +between Tudor Place and "Red Top" in those days. + +The only football I ever heard of being played at Tudor Place was by a +team of which my youngest brother was a member. They had nowhere to +play, so he walked up there one day, and being a very engaging young man +of about ten years, with big, blue eyes and a charming smile, he asked +the old lady for permission, which she gave. She used to sit by the long +window in the parlor and watch them with great interest and pleasure. +Some other boys thought they would like the same privilege and asked for +it, but she told me she always asked, "Are you a friend of my little +cousin?" Only his friends could play there. + +Mrs. Kennon lived all her long and active life at Tudor Place, with the +exception of two brief periods. The first was the year and a half when +she was living at the Washington Navy Yard with her husband while he was +stationed there. And the second was when her daughter was at boarding +school in Philadelphia, just before the Civil War, and she leased the +place to Mr. Pendleton, a Representative in Congress from Virginia. Of +course, after the secession of that State, Mr. Pendleton left Washington +City--but very hurriedly. Mrs. Kennon heard that her home was to be +taken over by the United States government to be used as a hospital so +she hastened back and occupied it herself. She took as boarders several +Federal officers on the one condition that the affairs of the war should +not be discussed. + +The last time I saw her was not many months before her death, sitting in +a chair in her bedroom and very, very feeble. When I told her good-bye, +she kept saying something to me over and over, which I couldn't +understand. Finally I leaned down very close, and heard, "Be a good +girl." I was then the mother of two children, but to her, just a little +girl and the daughter of my father and mother, of whom she was very +fond. + +Opposite Tudor Place, where now is a twin apartment house, was until the +nineteen-twenties a simple old brick house somewhat like the old Mackall +house on Greene (29th) Street, only minus a portico. When I knew it it +was the home of the Philip Darneilles--and I remember hearing my mother +say, "But Mrs. Darneille was a Harry!" Which meant nothing to me until I +looked up the title to this place, and there I found that all this land +went right back to Harriot Beall, Mrs. Elisha O. Williams, one of the +three daughters of Brooke Beall, who was among those wealthy shipping +merchants who were responsible for Georgetown's early prosperity. + +Mrs. Harriot Beall Williams left this property, all the way down to +Back (Q) Street, to her daughter Harriot Eliza Harry. Through her it +passed to Harriot Beall Chesley, and then to her daughter, Emily +McIlvain Darneille. The old house stood untenanted for several years +until bought for the erection of the apartments. + +Mr. and Mrs. Darneille had three daughters, the eldest really a beauty +(the youngest inherited the old name of Harriot), and they had a great +deal of gaiety there in the nineties. I remember especially the New +Year's Day receptions they used to have, the many "hacks" overflowing +with young men, that used to climb the hill. It was the custom in those +days for the ladies of each household to receive on the afternoon of +that day. Only gentleman callers came, all dressed in their very best, +and left their cards for all the ladies of their acquaintance. If you +weren't receiving (attired in your best, sometimes to the extent of real +low-necked evening dresses, the dining room table loaded with salads, +old hams, biscuits, ices, candies, tea and coffee--and always a punch +bowl on the side) you hung a basket on your front door bell, and the +callers just deposited their cards and went on to the next place. + +What fun the children had, watching the front doors and counting the +cards; and there was a real thrill when the caller happened to be an +Army or Navy officer, attired in full-dress uniform with gold braid and +feathers, having earlier in the day paid his respects at the White +House. + +On part of the Darneille property stands an intriguing frame house. It +is quite an old house and stood originally several hundred feet to the +eastward in Mackall Square, the property owned by Christiana Beall +Mackall, who was the sister of Harriot Beall Williams. So you see one +sister sold it to the other and it took a trip across Washington (30th) +Street to reside on Congress (31st) Street. I wonder how they moved it +in those days, for it was a long, long time ago. + +Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dodge lived there after they left Evermay. + +In the 1880's this house, 1633 31st Street, was the home of a very +interesting and eminent person, John Wesley Powell, American geologist +and ethnologist. I now quote from the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_: "He was +born at Mount Morris, N. Y., March 24, 1834. His parents were of English +birth, but had moved to America in 1830, and he was educated at Illinois +and Oberlin colleges. He began his geological work with a series of +field trips including a trip throughout the length of the Mississippi in +a rowboat, the length of the Ohio, and of the Illinois. When the Civil +War broke out he entered the Union Army as a private, and at the battle +of Shiloh he lost his right arm but continued in active service, +reaching the rank of major of volunteers. In 1865 he was appointed +professor of geology and curator of the museum in the Illinois Wesleyan +university at Bloomington, and afterwards at the Normal university. + +In 1867 he commenced a series of expeditions to the Rocky Mountains and +the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers, during the course of which +(1869) he made a daring boat-journey of three months through the Grand +Canyon; he also made a special study of the Indians and their languages +for the Smithsonian Institution, in which he founded and directed a +bureau of ethnology. His able work led to the establishment under the U. +S. Government of the geographical and geological survey of the Rocky +Mountain region with which he was occupied from 1870 to 1879. This +survey was incorporated with the United States geological and +geographical survey in 1879, when Powell became director of the bureau +of ethnology. In 1881, Powell was appointed director also of the +geological survey, a post which he occupied until 1894. He died in +Haven, Me., on Sept. 23, 1902." + +On two panes of glass in the front windows of this old house are names +etched by a diamond--on one is "Genevieve Powell," under it "Louis Hill" +and under that "1884." She probably was the daughter of Mr. Powell. + +On the other pane of glass is etched "Moses and Mary." To the owners of +the house that means nothing, but to me it means "Moses Moore," who was +not a man but a woman (whose real name was "Frank"), and Mary Compton, +both of whom I knew and still know. + +In the nineties it was for awhile the home of Mrs. Donna Otie Compton, +who was the daughter of Bishop James Hervey Otie, first Episcopal Bishop +of Tennessee. She was a picturesque figure, attired in her widow's cap +and long crepe veil. Mrs. Compton had four daughters who were great +belles. + +Then for a good many years it stood there looking quite deserted, for +old Mr. Arnold, its owner, was almost a cripple and one rarely saw him +making his way up the street with great difficulty. Now General and Mrs. +Frank R. McCoy have bought it and made it a charming house with a lovely +garden. + +Through the alley just north of here, described in the title as "a +private road," we can reach another house built on that same property of +the Harry's, but just who built it I do not know. It also was vacant +when I was a girl, for I remember going to a Fair there one night in the +spring when it had been loaned for some charity. In 1930 the house was +bought by Miss Harriet and Miss Mary Winslow, who have added a lovely +music room at the rear, but have kept the old-time appearance of the +house. A mammoth oak tree, the pride of the owners, stands near the +house. + +The next house on Congress (31st) Street has another fine oak tree in +front of it, and used to have a companion even larger on the other side +of the walk. This property also came through Mrs. Harriot Beall Williams +to Mrs. Brooke Williams, senior, and her daughter, Mrs. Johns, who lived +there with her family. + +A romantic story is told of how Captain William Brooke Johns, of the +United States Army, one day saw at a picnic the beautiful Miss Leonora +de la Roche, and fell in love with her immediately. But, since it was +not considered good form in those days to be presented to a lady at a +picnic, he watched her from a distance all day. The next afternoon he +went to call. It was a case of love at first sight for both, and the +wedding soon followed, with all the military splendor. As was told +before, when the Civil War came he left the Union Army. Captain Johns +had quite a talent for carving, and did a very good medallion of General +Grant, who continued always to be a true friend to him. He also invented +a tent which was used during the Civil War by the Northern Army. + +This house was, for more than a generation, the home of Colonel and Mrs. +John Addison. + +At that time it was a two-story house, with quite a different roof. It +was a big, merry household with four sons and four daughters. The +daughters were reigning belles in those days, and the old custom of +serenading was much in vogue. One lovely moonlight night four swains +with their guitars stationed themselves under the windows of the +handsome old house and sang plaintive love songs for an hour or more. +Finally a shutter was pushed open very gently, and the four hearts went +pitter-patter, anticipating the sight of a lovely young girl's face. +Instead, appeared an old, black one, capped by a snowy turban, and these +words floated down: "I'se sorrie, gen'le-men, but de young ladies is all +gone out--but I sure is pleased wid you-all's music!" The quartet was +composed of Summerfield McKenney, Frank Steele, and a young Noyes, of +the family now for many years identified with _The Evening Star_, and +another whose name I do not know. + +It was while the Addisons were living here that Commodore Kennon was so +tragically killed on the _Princeton_. + +One afternoon the youngest member of the Addison family, a little girl, +was swinging in the yard when a carriage came up the street and turned +in at the gate of Tudor Place, across the street. In it she saw her +older brother, John. Much mystified, she ran to her mother, telling her +how strange it seemed for "brother John" to be coming up the hill in a +carriage, and not coming home. It turned out that he had been sent to +notify Mrs. Thomas Peter of the sudden death of her son-in-law. + +In later years Brooke Williams, junior, lived here and, still later, +George W. Cissel. The chapel of the Presbyterian Church on West (P) +Street is named for this family. The house is now the home of Mr. +Alfred Friendly, the well-known newspaper man. + +Next door, where there is now a big apartment house, used to be a large, +double brick house, which was for many years the home of Abraham Herr, +who with the Cissels conducted an important flour-milling business in +Georgetown. His son, Austin Herr, was a fine figure of a man, and was, I +think, a promoter. I distinctly remember as a little girl his return +from a trip to China and the tales of all the treasures he had brought +back with him--not so common then as now. + +At No. 1669, in the eighties lived one of the oddest characters--Mrs. +Dall. She had come from Massachusetts many years before to teach at Miss +English's Seminary. While there she received frequent visits from young +Mr. Dall who was an assistant at Christ Church while finishing his +course at the Episcopal Seminary near Alexandria. The gentleman stayed +so late sometimes--probably until eleven o'clock--that Miss English had +to ask him to mend his ways. The courtship resulted in a marriage, but +before long the bridegroom went off to India as a missionary to convert +the heathen. After some years the news came that, instead, he had been +converted to Hinduism. At last he was coming home. It was in the spring +and, of course, there had to be a spring cleaning, which took several +days. One night about twelve o'clock, when the peace of the old-time +world, minus the automobile and blaring radio, lay over old Georgetown, +the clop-clop of horses' hoofs was heard coming up Congress Street, +stopping in front of Mrs. Dall's. Then there was a great knocking on the +door--a window was raised and a voice called: "Who is that?" "It's +Henry." Came back from the wife: "Well, I'm in the midst of +house-cleaning. Go on down to the Willard and stay until I send for +you." A warm welcome, and one not approved of by the neighbors who had +heard the conversation through their windows. + +Mrs. Dall was not very popular in Georgetown, it being overwhelmingly +Southern in its sympathies and she being an abolitionist. I can dimly +remember her padding down 31st Street, for so her progress might be +called from the form of footwear she wore, it had no form--the queerest, +high, shapeless boots. She wore a little close-fitting bonnet and a +long, loose, grayish cape. She was a most particular person in some +ways. A lady who lived there as a housekeeper said she was never allowed +to leave her thimble on the window sill for a few moments; and it was +well known that when a caller rang the front door bell the maid who +answered had orders to scan the costume closely. If there was "bugle +trimming" among its adornments the caller was shown into the parlor on +the right side, where the furniture was all stuffed and no harm could be +done, but if the clothes were devoid of the shiny, scratchy gear, she +might safely be allowed to enter and sit upon the polished mahogany of +the room on the left of the hall. She used to have a sort of salon for +long-haired scientists and exponents of all sorts of "isms." + +Another story I've heard was about her going out to Normanstone to stay +for a rest. One morning after breakfast, having had a plentiful helping +of oatmeal with lots of cream, her hostess remarked to Mrs. Dall how +well she looked. "Yes," she said, she "felt well," and ended up with "a +little starvation is always good for one." Is it a wonder she wasn't +greatly beloved? + +[Illustration: LLOYD BEALL] + +A very handsome and imposing old gentleman, Mr. Joe Davis, who was a +bachelor, lived here in the nineties. I remember him always, in his +frock coat and high silk hat. This was where Mr. and Mrs. Fulton Lewis +lived for many years and where their son, Fulton Lewis, junior, the +noted radio commentator, grew up. + +The house has been for several years the home of the Honorable and Mrs. +Francis E. Biddle. He was the Attorney-General under President Franklin +D. Roosevelt. Mrs. Biddle, whose pen name is Katharine Garrison Chapin, +is an eminent poet. + +Adjoining Tudor Place on the north live the Bealls, descendants of Lloyd +Beall, who sold his patrimony in southern Maryland and converted the +proceeds to equipping and sustaining his company during the +Revolutionary War. He was adjutant on the staff of General Alexander +Hamilton and was wounded at Germantown. Later he was captured by the +British, but escaped by swimming the Santee River. The effect of this +performance is shown by the water-logging on his commission which he +carried in his pocket. + +After being mustered out of the army he came to live in Georgetown, but +just where his home was I cannot discover. He served as mayor of the +town three times--in 1797, 1798 and 1799. + +Upon the reorganization of the army he was reinstated, and died in +command of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The Bealls who live here are +also descended from Francis Dodge and from William Marbury. + +In the seventies Frederick L. Moore came in to Georgetown from the +country and built his home next door, so as to be between his two +friends, John Beall and Joseph H. Bradley. The Bradleys no longer own +this house nor their ancestral estate which was Chevy Chase, where the +club of that name now is. Abraham Bradley came with the government from +Philadelphia, as Assistant Postmaster-General. He made his home in +Washington City and then bought Chevy Chase as his country estate. He +was living there in August, 1814, when the British came to Washington. +It is said that several members of the cabinet took refuge with him +there during those two or three dreadful days and brought with them +valuable records. His old house was mostly destroyed by fire several +years ago. + +His grandson, Joseph Henry Bradley, built the house at number 1688 31st +Street. At the time of Lincoln's assassination he was living out in the +country near Georgetown. He bore a remarkable resemblance to John Wilkes +Booth and on April 15, 1865, the night after the tragic event in Ford's +Theater, he was driving home in his buggy along a lonely road when he +was held up by policemen and arrested. When he protested, he was told +that he was John Wilkes Booth and was taken to jail. He insisted he was +not, but to no avail. After a good while he got in touch with friends +who identified him and he was released and went home. His wife had +thought that her colored servants had been behaving strangely all day, +but though living not more than five miles from the scene of the great +tragedy, she herself had no knowledge of it. + +In later years Mr. Bradley and his father, Joseph Habersham Bradley, who +practiced law together, served as counsel in the famous John Surratt +trial. + +This house is now the home of Robert A. Taft, Senator from Ohio. + + + + +Chapter XVI + +_Evermay, the Heights, and Oak Hill_ + + +Evermay, on Montgomery (28th) Street, is one of the show-places of +Georgetown. Its fascinating garden is shown every spring for the benefit +of Georgetown Children's House by its owner, the Honorable F. Lamot +Belin, at one time Ambassador to Poland. He removed the cream-colored +paint from the old house, revealing the lovely old-rose brick, and built +the wall and the lodge at the gate when he bought the place in 1924. +Evermay used to extend all the way down to Stoddert (Q) Street. The +original boundary is the little old stone in the corner of the property +of Mrs. Thomas Bradley on Q and 28th Streets. + +Evermay was built by Samuel Davidson with proceeds from the sale of +property to the United States government. This included land for the +northern part of the "President's Square," (the David Burns-Davidson +property line passing directly through the White House) and adjacent +Federal property including Lafayette Park. He willed his estate to Lewis +Grant, a nephew in Scotland, upon condition of his assuming the Davidson +surname. + +Samuel Davidson is buried in the portion of Oak Hill Cemetery which was +formerly part of the estate. Mr. Davidson must have been rather a +strange person; certainly he was determined not to be bothered by +people, for this is the advertisement he published: + + Evermay proclaims, + Take care, enter not here, + For punishment is ever near. + + Whereas, the height called Evermay, adjoining this town, is now + completely enclosed with a good stone wall in part and a good post + and rail fence thereto, this is to forewarn at their peril, all + persons, of whatever age, color, or standing in society, from + trespassing on the premises, in any manner, by day or by night; + particularly all thieving knaves and idle vagabonds; all rambling + parties; all assignation parties; all amorous bucks with their + dorfies, and all sporting bucks with their dogs and guns. + + My man, Edward, who resides on the premises, has my positive orders + to protect the same from all trespassers as far as in his power, + with the aid of the following implements, placed in his hands for + that purpose, if necessary, viz:--Law, when the party is worthy of + that attention and proper testimony can be had, a good cudgel, + tomahawk, cutlass, gun and blunderbuss, with powder, shot and + bullets, steel traps and grass snakes. + + It is Edward's duty to obey my lawful commands. In so doing, on this + occasion, I will defend him at all risques and hazards. For the + information of those persons who may have real business on the + premises, there is a good and convenient gate. But Mark! I do not + admit mere curisoity an errand of business. Therefore, I beg and + pray of all my neighbors to avoid Evermay as they would a den of + devils, or rattle snakes, and thereby save themselves and me much + vexation and trouble. + + June 2, 1810 SAMUEL DAVIDSON. + +Lewis Grant's daughter married Charles Dodge, they being one of the four +couples who had the very early morning wedding at Francis Dodge's home +on the corner of Stoddert (Q) Street and Congress (31st) Street. Apropos +of this there is a prized letter of four closely written pages from +Charles Dodge to his father, announcing that he had reached the age of +twenty-one and asking the parental gift of what might be "his due." He +ended by saying he "hoped he approved of his engaging in the estate of +Holy Matrimony, for without that blissful comsummation his life would be +void of happiness forevermore." His father's concise reply was in four +lines: "Attend carefully whatever business you engage in, put off your +marriage as long as possible, and get religion!" + +Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dodge did not live always at Evermay. It was sold +to Mr. John D. McPherson, and the Dodges went to live in the old frame +house opposite the gate of Tudor Place. + +For many years the McPhersons leased Evermay to Mr. William B. Orme and, +certainly, during those years the spectre of the inhospitality of its +first owner was laid, for the Ormes were noted for their delightful +parties and there, too, were June weddings with charming brides. + +One morning in 1905 a group of Georgetown ladies met at Evermay and +formed a little literary club (which is still in existence) composed of +thirty-five members. It still bears the name of The Evermay Club. It met +there regularly once a month as long as it was the home of Mrs. Orme, +but nowadays the club moves from house to house. One summer the Ormes +rented Evermay to a Hawaiian princess, who enjoyed it with her family. + +Just across the street from Evermay is what is known as Mackall Square. +The old mansion sits so far back in the middle of the square and is so +embowered in trees that it is not easily seen from either Montgomery +(28th) or Greene (29th) Street. It is a simple and lovely colonial brick +with old wooden additions on the back, and has been there a long, long +time. But it is not the first house that was on that spot, for the one +that was there was the frame house which was moved over opposite the +gate of Tudor Place. + +Benjamin Mackall married a daughter of Brooke Beall, and with the money +inherited from her father's estate they bought this property and built +the house. + +In 1821 a trust was placed on the property, and in the title is recorded +"no encumbrance except a small wooden house in which Mrs. Margaret Beall +now lives, in which she has her life interest." + +Benjamin Mackall was a brother of Leonard Mackall. Their father owned +large estates in Calvert and Prince Georges Counties in Maryland, and +his products were sent to the Georgetown market; so it happened that his +sons met the daughters of Brooke Beall, one of the important merchants +shipping grain and tobacco to England. + +This land was part of the Rock of Dumbarton, and Benjamin's wife was +named Christiana. I wonder if by any chance they could have given her +that name in commemoration of another Christiana who is spoken of in an +old, old surveyor's book thus: + + Surveyed for George Beall 18 January, 1720. Beginning at the bounded + Red Oak standing at the end of N. N. W. tract of land called Rock of + Dunbarton on the south side of a hill near the place where + Christiana Gun was killed by the Indians. + +Louis Mackall, their son, was born in this house and inherited the place +in 1839. He was a well-known physician, but a large part of his life was +spent at the old country home of the Mackalls, Mattaponi, in Prince +Georges County, and there his son, Louis, was born in 1831. His father +brought him to Georgetown when he was under ten years of age, and +entered him in Mr. Abbott's school, from whence he went to Georgetown +College and Maryland Medical University. He established a large practice +in Georgetown and married Margaret McVean. Their home was not here but +on Dumbarton Avenue and Congress (31st) Street, and they had a son, +again Louis, who also went into the medical profession. + +[Illustration: THE OLD MACKALL HOUSE] + +This house was vacant when I was a girl and I remember very distinctly +going to a dance there one heavenly moonlight night in June when it was +loaned to the O. T. That was a little club of boys about my own +age--"Only Ten"--but the meaning of the name was a secret then. During +the next two years they followed the example of the I. K. T. by giving +dances in Linthicum Hall during the Christmas holidays. + +The I. K. T. was a group of boys two or three years older than the O. T. +My brother was one of them, and when I asked him a year or two ago what +the letters meant he said he couldn't tell; it was still a secret, like +a fraternity. They had a pin somewhat like a fraternity pin. I still +have the engraved invitations that both clubs sent out for their dances, +with the names of the members underneath. + +After having been vacant for years this place was bought by Mr. Hermann +Hollerith in the early 1900's. He did not make his home here but built a +house farther down on Greene (29th) Street, where his family still live. +They continue to rent the old house. Hermann Hollerith was the inventor +of the tabulating machine which is used by the International Business +Machine Corporation, and his work was done in a little house down on +Thomas Jefferson Street. His wife was Miss Lucia Talcott. + +Immediately opposite the steps on Greene (29th) Street which lead up to +this dear old place are other high steps which lead to a place called +Terrace Top. Here it was that in the winter of 1920-'21 two very +charming people came to rest in what they considered the most attractive +of American cities. They were Julia Marlowe and E. H. Sothern. + +While they were here Miss Marlowe was honored by George Washington +University at its one hundredth anniversary, on February twenty-second, +by receiving the degree of D. D. L., a most unusual honor for a woman. +This house is now the home of Mr. Herbert Elliston, editor of the +_Washington Post_. + +All of this land was still, of course, Beall property, and somehow it +all seemed to pass down through the women, for the next place to the +west originally belonged to Miss Eliza Beall, a daughter of Thomas Beall +of George, who married George Corbin Washington, great-nephew of General +Washington. He was a grandson of John Augustine Washington and Hannah +Bushrod. He was president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, +member of Congress from Maryland, and a prominent candidate for the +Vice-Presidency at the time Winfield Scott was nominated for President. + +Their son was the Lewis Washington who was living near Harper's Ferry at +the time of John Brown's raid, and was taken prisoner by him and held as +a hostage until released by Colonel Robert E. Lee and his United States +troops when they arrived on the scene. + +Miss Eleanor Ann Washington, the daughter of the house, was skilled in +painting and did miniatures of her mother and of other members of her +family. She also used to sketch in the beautiful woods north of her +father's home, which soon after became Oak Hill Cemetery, and she was +the first person to be buried in its grounds. + +George Corbin Washington married a second time, a girl who had been +almost like a daughter in his house, Ann Thomas Beall Peter, of whom his +wife had been very fond. Both of the wives of George Corbin Washington +were descended from the Reverend John Orme, a distinguished clergyman of +Maryland in colonial days. + +After the death of Mr. Washington the place was sold and became the home +of Senator Jesse D. Bright, of Indiana, who was deprived of his seat in +the Senate during the Civil War because of his sympathy with the South. + +For a long time this place belonged to Columbus Alexander, but in recent +years it has changed hands several times. It had been leased by the +Honorable Dwight Morrow to be his home while Senator from New Jersey, +but his sudden death the summer before of course changed that +arrangement. + +During World War II it was the home of General William (Wild Bill) +Donovan, head of OSS, and is now the home of Mr. Philip Graham, +publisher of the _Washington Post_. + +All of this property of The Heights belonged, as I have said, to Thomas +Beall, and after 1783 it was rapidly being "developed," as they say +nowadays. It is interesting to follow out how it all happened and how +relatives wished to live one another. + +Directly across Washington (30th) Street, a large piece of land was sold +by Thomas Beall in 1798 to William Craik, who was the son of that Dr. +Craik who attended General Washington in his last illness. He evidently +intended to build a home here, but Mrs. Craik died and he soon followed +her. She was Miss Fitzhugh, a sister of Mrs. George Washington Parke +Custis, of Arlington. + +How I wish there were in existence a picture of the house which David +Peter built in 1808 when he bought this piece of land. The house must +have stood among handsome trees, for it was called Peter's Grove, and we +can look at the oaks still standing in near-by places and visualize +those which surrounded this house. + +David Peter was a son of Robert Peter. He married Sarah Johns, and had +two daughters and one son, Hamilton. After his death Mrs. David Peter +married John Leonard, and the place was sold, in the thirties, to +Colonel John Carter, Representative in Congress from South Carolina. His +wife was Eleanor Marbury, one of that large family of girls in the old +house on Bridge (M) Street. The house was then renamed Carolina Place. + +For a while it was occupied by the Honorable John F. Crampton, Minister +from England. It was during this time that a treaty was settled by him +with Daniel Webster concerning the Newfoundland fisheries. A little +later Count de Sartiges, the French Minister, lived here. + +About that time the house was destroyed by fire and the land was sold by +John Carter O'Neal, of the Inniskillen Dragoons, son of Anne Carter who +had married an Englishman, to Henry D. Cooke. + +The western part of this square was bought in 1805 by Mrs. Elisha O. +Williams. She was Harriot Beall, daughter of Brooke Beall, the third of +these sisters to settle on The Heights, and she also bought her home +with money inherited from her father's estate. + +[Illustration: HOME OF BROOKE WILLIAMS] + +Six months after buying the property Mrs. Williams was left a widow. She +built a home and lived there with her small children, and thirty years +later gave the northern part of her land to her son, Brooke Williams and +his wife, Rebecca. It was on the spot where the Home for the Blind now +stands. + +Mrs. Rebecca Williams was a very beautiful woman and all her children +inherited her beauty. The daughter who was named Harriot Beall for her +grandmother became the most famous girl who ever grew up in Georgetown. +The romantic story of her marriage to Baron Bodisco, the Russian +Minister, runs thus: + + It all started with a Christmas party which the baron gave for his + nephews, Waldemar and Boris Bodisco. To this party all of the boys + and girls were invited, and great bonfires lighted the way, for + there was little gas in those days. + +Among those who came was Harriot Beall Williams, the beautiful +sixteen-year-old daughter of Brooke Williams, senior. Baron Bodisco, a +bachelor of sixty-three, became completely enamored of Miss Williams +that evening, and it is said that the next morning he walked up the hill +to meet and escort her to school--the school, of course, being the same +Seminary of Miss English. + +My story is copied almost entirely from Miss Sally Somervell Mackall's +_Early Days of Washington_, for nothing could improve on that: + + Miss Williams' family were much opposed to the marriage, and at one + time the engagement came near being broken. She told Mr. Bodisco + that "her grandmother and everybody else thought he was entirely too + old and ugly." His reply was that she might find someone younger and + better looking, but no one who would love her better than he did. + + They were married in June, 1849, at four o'clock in the afternoon, + at her mother's home on Georgetown Heights. Only the immediate + relatives and the bridal party witnessed the ceremony, after which + there was a brilliant reception. The wedding party formed a circle + and just back of them on a sofa sat a row of aged ladies in + lace-trimmed caps, among them her grandmother, Harriot Williams and + her three sisters, Mrs. Benjamin Mackall, Mrs. William Stewart, + senior, and their cousin, Mrs. Leonard Hollyday Johns, senior, all + of whom were between seventy and eighty years of age. + + The mariage ceremony was performed by her cousin, Reverend Hollyday + Johns, the second. Her trousseau came from abroad, and her bridal + robe was a marvel of rich white satin and costly lace which fell in + graceful folds around her; the low-cut dress showed to perfection + her lovely white shoulders and neck. On her fair brow and golden + hair was worn a coronet of rarest pearls, the gift of the groom. The + effect was wonderfully brilliant. As her father was not living, her + hand was given in marriage by Henry Clay. + + The groom wore his court dress of velvet and lace. All the + bridesmaids, seven in number, were beautiful girls about her own + age. Their gowns were figured white satin, cut low in the neck with + short sleeves and trimmed with blond lace; their hair was simply + dressed without ornaments. The bridesmaids were: her sister Gennie + Williams, Sarah Johns, Jessie Benton, Ellen Carter, Eliza Jane + Wilson, Emily Nichols, Mary Harry, and Helen Morris, daughter of + Commodore Morris. Each bridesmaid was presented with a ring set with + her favorite stone. The groomsmen were Henry Fox, the British + Minister in scarlet court dress; Mr. Dunlop, Minister from Texas; + Mr. Martineau, Minister from the Netherlands; Mr. Buchanan, who had + been Minister to Russia, and was then Senator, and afterwards + President of the United States; Baron Saruyse, the Austrian + Minister; Martin Van Buren; Mr. Kemble Paulding, whose father was + Secretary of the Navy at that time; Mr. Forsythe, whose father was + Secretary of State. Each minister had his own carriage and + attendants dressed in livery. The house and grounds were thronged + with noted guests, strolling amid sweet-scented flowers and lemon + trees hanging with rich golden fruit. + + Among the distinguished guests were President Van Buren; Daniel + Webster; all the Diplomatic Corps and a host of other notables, + including James Gordon Bennett of _The New York Herald_. + + The bride was taken to her new home in Mr. Bodisco's gilded coach + with driver and footman in bright uniform, drawn by four horses. The + same afternoon, Mr. Bodisco gave a dinner to just the bridal party. + At nine o'clock the same day he gave a general reception for the + families of the attendants. The morning after the wedding the + bridesmaids took breakfast with the bride and, girl-like, as soon as + breakfast was over, went on an investigating tour. In her boudoir + they found many beautiful things, among them an old-fashioned + secretary, with numerous drawers, one was filled with ten dollar + gold pieces, another with silver dollars, another with ten-cent + pieces, another with the costliest of jewels, and still another with + French candy. + + The next week Mr. Bodisco gave a grand ball, on which occasion + Madame Bodisco wore her bridal robe. Shortly after the wedding, + President Van Buren gave a handsome dinner at the White House in + honor of Madame Bodisco and Mrs. Decantzo, another bride. To this + dinner all the bridal party were invited. Madame Bodisco wore a + black watered silk, trimmed with black thread lace and pearl + ornaments. President Van Buren sent his private carriage and his + son, Martin, to escort Ellen Carter (an adopted daughter of Jeremiah + Williams who was an important shipping merchant of the town) to the + dinner. The President thought Miss Carter like her Aunt Marion + Stewart of New York, to whom he was engaged while Governor of that + State. At the dinner table he drank wine with her, and again in the + reception room. Miss Carter afterwards married Paymaster Brenton + Boggs of the United States Navy. + + On another occasion at one of the diplomatic dinners given at the + White House, Madame Bodisco wore a rich, white watered silk, the + sleeves, waist and skirt embroidered with pale rosebuds with + tender green leaves. Her jewels were diamonds and emeralds. + +[Illustration: MADAME BODISCO] + +Alexander de Bodisco was born in Moscow on the 30th of October, 1786, +and died at his residence in Georgetown on the 23rd of January, 1854, +having filled the post of Russian Envoy to the United States for about +seventeen years. He was in Vienna in 1814 during the famous Congress +which settled the affairs of the continent, and was afterward charge +d'affaires at Stockholm. At his funeral his two nephews, Boris and +Waldemar, both very handsome and dressed in white uniforms, marched on +either side of the hearse, accompanied by attaches of the legation and +members of the household in uniform. + +All during my childhood the Williams house stood gaunt and untenanted, +the personification of a haunted house. If only a place with such a +history could have been renovated and kept, instead of disappearing +entirely from Georgetown. + +On the next block at 3238 R Street is the house, now somewhat changed, +where lived General H. W. Halleck, chief-of-staff of the army during the +Civil War. After the war General U. S. Grant made it his home until he +became president. Later, until about 1900, it was the home of Colonel +John J. Joyce, a picturesque figure with his leonine head and long white +hair and mustache and black sombrero. It was said he had been the Goat +of the Whiskey Ring. In the last years of his life a lively dispute +arose between him and Ella Wheeler Wilcox as to which was the author of +the lines + + Laugh, and world laughs with you, + Weep, and you weep alone! + +[Illustration: MOUNT HOPE. THE WILLIAM ROBINSON HOUSE] + +It was much discussed in the newspapers at the time. Colonel Joyce's +tombstone in Oak Hill bears a likeness of him carved upon its face. + +In the early days of the New Deal this house was rented by a group of +young men, among them Tommy Corcoran and Ben Cohen, who were responsible +for helping to frame much of the legislation of that eventful time. It +was known then as the "Big Red House on R Street." + +The southwest corner of Road (R) Street and High (Wisconsin Avenue) was +the land owned by Thomas Sim Lee, who had been Governor of Maryland. +Every winter he came from his estate, Needwood, to spend several months +in Georgetown, in his house on the northwest corner of Bridge (M) Street +and Washington (30th) Street, which was for a long time the headquarters +of the Federal Party. He died in 1819 before he could build here the +mansion he contemplated. + +Until about 1935 the old reservoir sat here, high up like a crown, until +the Georgetown Branch of the Public Library was built. + +The little street below here which runs west from Valley (32nd) Street, +now called Reservoir Road, was originally named the New Cut Road, due to +the fact that it was cut through to connect with the Conduit Road, now +renamed MacArthur Boulevard which covers the conduit bringing the water +from Great Falls to Washington. + +On the southwest corner of Road (R) Street and High (Wisconsin Avenue) +stood the imposing mansion of Mr. William Robinson, who was a very fine +lawyer in the middle of the nineteenth century. He was a Virginian who +had settled in Georgetown. He called his home Mount Hope and a +wonderful situation it had, commanding a view of the entire city and the +river. At that time the western wing was the ballroom, with domed +ceiling circled by cupids and roses. + +Mr. Robinson's beautiful daughter, Margaret, married Thomas Campbell +Cox, son of Colonel John Cox, and they lived at Mount Hope until they +moved to Gay Street. I remember Mrs. Cox as an old lady, still +beautiful, and regal in bearing. The Weaver family lived there after +that until the early 1900's, when this place was used as the Dumbarton +Club. It had very good tennis courts, and for a while a nine-hole golf +course where the suburb of Berleith is now. + +Then Mr. Alexander Kirk, Ambassador to Egypt, bought the place and made +a good many changes, including the addition of a swimming-pool. + +Afterward Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean purchased it and renamed it +Friendship, after the former estate of the same name out on Wisconsin +Avenue, where many famous parties had been given. Here she continued her +lavish entertainments and during World War II contributed generously to +the pleasure of members of the armed services. + +The large house, number 3406, in the middle of the next square, was +built in the early 1800's by Leonard Mackall, one of the two sons of +Benjamin Mackall of Prince Georges County, Maryland, who came to +Georgetown. He married Catherine Beall, another daughter of Brooke +Beall. Mr. Beall, as seems to have been the custom in those days, had +given this square to his daughter and her husband. The place was bought +by Dr. Charles Worthington's family when they left their home on +Prospect Street and was held by his descendants, the Philips, for many +years, although the latter part of the time none of them lived there, +but rented the place. + +It has been for a good many years now the home of Mrs. Frank West, who +has made a beautiful rose garden and christened it Century House. The +house itself has charming rooms, all opening to the south, as so many +old-fashioned houses had, and several porches. + +I have spoken of Colonel Cox and the row of houses he built on First (N) +Street and Frederick (34th) Street, where he lived for a while in the +house on the corner. That must have been in the period of his first +marriage to Matilda Smith, who was a sister of Clement Smith, well-known +as the first cashier of the Farmer's and Mechanic's Bank, later its +president. Colonel and Mrs. Cox had three children, one of whom was +named Clement. + +After his marriage to Jane Threlkeld they built a lovely house on part +of the old Berleith estate next door to the old Threlkeld home, which +had been burned. They called their home The Cedars. It stood where the +Western High School now stands, and it is difficult to realize that +there, in my memory, was a home most delightfully private and charming. + +Turning back eastward along Road (R) Street just opposite Mount Hope, +the pretty old light brick house is where the Marburys lived after they +moved up on The Heights. He called himself Mr. John Marbury, junior, to +the day of his death, in spite of having a long, white beard. Although +his family never moved from this house, in the course of a few years +they had three different addresses. At first they were living on the +corner of Road and High Streets, then on the corner of U and 32nd +Streets, and finally on the corner of R Street and Wisconsin Avenue. + +[Illustration: THE OAKS (NOW DUMBARTON OAKS)] + +[Illustration: MONTROSE] + +Across High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), the house sitting high on the +bank was for many years the home of Mr. William Dougal and his family of +one son and four lovely daughters. His wife was Miss Adler, and this +house was built on part of her father's property. The old brick house, +which was back of it some distance north, was the home of Morris Adler. +A small frame house nearer Road (R) Street was where his son, Morris J. +Adler, lived, until he built a house on West (P) Street. + +A little way eastward on the same side of Road (R) Street is the famous +Dumbarton Oaks. The land was first bought from Thomas Beall in 1800 by +William H. Dorsey, first judge of our Orphan's Court, who was appointed +by President Jefferson. Mr. Dorsey had previously been living in the old +part of the town, for I find an advertisement of the sale of his +property before he came up here, and from the minutes of a meeting of +the Corporation of Georgetown on October 24th, 1801, we find the +following: "William H. Dorsey writes to ask if his removal to his +present place of residence will disqualify him from serving on the +Corporation. They are of opinion it does not disqualify him as a member +thereof." + +He built this house, named it The Oaks, and lived in it for four years. +His first wife was Ann Brooke, the daughter of Colonel Richard Brooke, +of Oak Hill, Sandy Spring, whose wife was Jane Lynn, the daughter of +David Lynn. In 1802 Mr. Dorsey married Rosetta Lynn, who was the aunt of +his first wife. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM HAMMOND DORSEY] + +William Hammond Dorsey was born at Oakland, in Howard County, and died +at Oakley, near Brookeville, in 1818. He was a very handsome man and was +nicknamed "Pretty Billy" by his Quaker neighbors of Sandy Spring. + +In 1805 the place was bought by Robert Beverley of Essex County, +Virginia. His wife was Jane Tayloe, a sister of Colonel John Tayloe, who +built the famous Octagon House. Mr. and Mrs. Beverley owned the place +until 1822. During that time their son James was married to Jane Peter, +the daughter of David Peter of nearby "Peter's Grove," and this place +became their home. They did not remain here long, but went back to +Virginia and established themselves near The Plains. + +The next owner was James E. Calhoun, of South Carolina. He loaned it to +his distinguished brother, John C. Calhoun, who made it his home for +some of the time he spent at the capital in the various offices he held. +He was Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Monroe; +Vice-President with John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson, and Senator +from South Carolina. From here he wrote that the leisure of the office +of Vice-President gave him a good opportunity to study the fundamental +questions of the day called "The American System." At this time the +place was known as _Acrolophos_ (Grove on the Hill), a most descriptive +name. Later it became Monterey, after the war with Mexico made that +battle so famous. + +It was in 1846 that the estate was bought by Edward M. Linthicum, and I +think it must have been during the time he owned it that the mansard +roof was added which, fortunately, has been removed by the present +owners. In Mr. Linthicum's day it is described thus: + + The house which has been changed, but not improved in appearance, by + the addition of a mansard roof and other alterations, was a large, + two-story brick, with hall from front to rear "wide enough for a hay + wagon to pass through," on either side of which were great parlors + beautifully proportioned. The east parlor opened into a bright, + sunny dining room, which in turn looked out upon a well-filled + greenhouse, with flower gardens on the east, wooded lawn in front, + grove of forest trees on the west, and gently sloping well-sodded + hills in the rear, all of which were kept in perfect order. During + the life of Mr. Linthicum, "The Oaks" was the show place of the + District. + +Mr. and Mrs. Linthicum had no children so they adopted a daughter, Miss +Kate Mitchell, of Lower Maryland, who became the wife of Mr. Josiah +Dent. Their son, Edward Linthicum Dent, inherited the place. In those +days it was known as "The Oaks," the name I always heard it called by in +my girlhood. + +In 1891 it was bought by Mr. Henry F. Blount, who had made a fortune and +came to Washington. In 1920 it was purchased by the Honorable Robert +Woods Bliss, Ambassador to the Argentine. He and Mrs. Bliss remodeled +the house and created the gardens, which comprise over thirty acres and +are marvels of beauty. Many more acres at the back were allowed to +remain in a delightfully wild condition. + +The place was renamed Dumbarton Oaks, a museum was built as a wing on +the west to house a library and a collection of Byzantine and +pre-Christian material, and in 1940 the estate was given by Mr. and Mrs. +Bliss to Harvard University, with the exception of the part along the +stream at the back, which was donated to the District of Columbia as a +park. The Dumbarton Oaks Conference which led to the formation of the +United Nations was held here, beginning August 21, 1944. + +Part of the land at the back is where the Home for Incurables was until +it was moved farther out of town. I used to go there to visit some of +the patients who were my friends, and for the simple Sunday evening +services. + +Lover's Lane, at the east of Dumbarton Oaks, separates it from Montrose +Park. It is still, as it has always been, I am glad to say, completely +unimproved, unspoiled, sweet and rambling and quiet, wending its way +along the brook that empties into Rock Creek at the beginning of Oak +Hill. I suppose there is hardly a soul of middle-age living in +Georgetown who has not fond memories of Lover's Lane, for in the days of +our youth we did walk with our lovers; no automobiles or movies filled +our Saturday or Sunday afternoons, and very little golf. + +Through Lover's Lane we went to Normanstone, the home of the two Misses +Barnards and their sister, Mrs. Talcott. It was a quaint little house, +which stood just about where the British Embassy now is. The name is +commemorated by Normanstone Drive. Mr. Robert Barnard built Normanstone +in 1830. It was a Devonshire cottage of clay, straw, and pebbles, with +walls four feet thick. + +The turreted stone mansion nearby was built by Mr. Elverson of +Philadelphia. His daughter, Nelly, became the wife of Monsieur +Patrenotre, the French Minister. This was in the days before our foreign +envoys became Ambassadors. + +Our first knowledge of the present Montrose Park was as Parrott's Woods. +Richard Parrott conducted there a "rope walk." It seems that when they +made rope it was necessary to have a long, even stretch where the +rope-makers walked up and down manufacturing the hemp into rope. And, +of course, in this town with all its ships, the making of rope was a +lucrative business. + +Mr. Parrott evidently was kind in loaning his property for picnics too, +for again Mr. Gordon gives us vivid pictures of the Fourth of July +annual picnic of all the Protestant Sunday schools. It seems to have +been a huge affair, with flags and banners and rosettes of various +colors adorning the scholars of the different schools. + +In 1822 the property was bought by Clement Smith, of whom I have spoken +before as being the first cashier of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, +afterwards becoming its president. He called the place Elderslie. In +1837 he sold it to Mrs. Mary McEwen Boyce, whose daughter, Jane, married +George Washington Peter, son of Thomas Peter of Tudor Place. In a +railroad accident, both Captain Boyce and another daughter were killed. +Mrs. Boyce continued to live here the rest of her life. + +It was a very sweet, homelike house, but not a particularly handsome +one. There was a conservatory opening off of one of the rooms, for Mrs. +Boyce seems to have been especially fond of flowers. A sweet little +story was told me the other day about her. A friend paused one day to +admire the roses blooming in front of the house, saying, "How lovely +your roses are, Mrs. Boyce!" "They are not my roses," said she. At the +surprised look on her friend's face she continued, "I plant them there +for the public." And still, today, there are lovely roses blooming at +Montrose for "the public," for after many, many years a movement was set +on foot to buy this place with its marvelous old trees of numerous +varieties for a park for the people of Georgetown. + +Two historic events have taken place in Montrose Park. The first was +long ago, on September 1, 1812, when the funeral services were held here +for General James Maccubbin Lingan, after his tragic death in Baltimore. +No church could be found large enough to accommodate the crowds which +wished to attend. There were representatives from three cities and five +counties, in those days of travel by foot, by saddle, by rowboat and by +coach. General Washington's tent was spread over the stand on which were +four clergymen, other dignitaries, and George Washington Parke Custis +of Arlington, who delivered the oration. + +The funeral cortege was escorted by Major George Peter's company. The +General's horse was led behind the hearse, where his son walked as chief +mourner, followed by two heroes of the Revolution, Major Benjamin +Stoddert and Colonel Philip Stuart. Light Horse Harry Lee, who had been +wounded at the time General Lingan was killed, was still too ill to be +present. + +General Lingan's widow was not able to be present because of a very +unfortunate occurrence. While she was sitting by her window waiting for +her carriage, a rough man, carrying a pike, stopped under her window +and, thrusting up the weapon covered either with blood or rust, which +had the same appearance, he let forth a torrent of brutal words. She was +so overcome with an agony of shock and grief that she was obliged to +remain at home. + +The other historic event took place on the fifth of June, 1918, the day +on which was inaugurated the draft for the soldiers of the World War I. +All over this land that evening speeches were delivered on the subject, +but I think none could have been more effective or impressive than the +one staged in Montrose Park at sunset. Then Newton D. Baker, as +Secretary of War, in charge of the whole operation, "elected to speak to +his neighbors." A wonderful speech it was, and I shall never forget the +sight as he stood outlined against the glow of the western sky. + +Of Oak Hill Cemetery I have spoken again and again. It is almost like a +refrain. It seems to be the natural resting place for Georgetonians when +their work is done. + +Its terraces leading steeply down the hill to Rock Creek are shaded by +many stately oak trees and numerous gorgeous copper beeches, and are +adorned in the spring by flowering shrubs. + +There is the little ivy-covered chapel which can be seen from the +street, and farther back is the little white Greek temple where Oak +Hill's donor, Mr. Corcoran, rests. Also the larger circular mausoleum +where Marcia Burns Van Ness is interred. + +Many besides Georgetonians have been laid to rest within its borders, +for there are Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War for President Lincoln; +James G. Blaine, and many more, all prominent in their days. There, too, +lies Peggy O'Neale, who, as the wife of Andrew Jackson's Secretary of +War, Eaton, kept the social life of the Capital in an uproar for many a +year and, it is said, also greatly influenced political matters. + +Her very first triumph took place in Georgetown, when, at a school +exhibition at the Union Hotel, the little girl with dark brown curly +hair and pert red lips was crowned the "Queen of Beauty" by Mrs. Dolly +Madison. Peggy was the daughter of the Irish landlord of a hotel on +Pennsylvania Avenue, and was married at sixteen to Mr. Timberlake, an +officer in the United States Navy. He committed suicide in 1828. + +After that began her career, when she was defended and supported in all +that she did by Andrew Jackson, who had suffered bitterly from criticism +of his own wife. + +But the most famous person who lies buried in Oak Hill is the man whose +song is known in every hamlet of this broad land: John Howard Payne, the +author of "Home, Sweet Home." He had been in Georgetown in his youth, +you remember, for he accompanied General Lingan on that trip to +Baltimore from which the General never returned but to his funeral. Mr. +Payne was then a young man of twenty-one and excited over the adventure, +I suppose, like any one of that age. He was sent in later life as a +consul to one of those little states on the northern coast of Africa +which in those days made so much trouble for the United States. There he +died and was buried. Years later his body was brought back by Mr. +Corcoran, and there was quite a ceremony for his re-interment. + +The stone placed over him in that distant land and brought back with his +body has the seal of the United States carved at the top and reads: + + IN MEMORY + OF + COL. JOHN HOWARD PAYNE + TWICE CONSUL OF + THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + FOR + THE CITY AND KINGDOM OF TUNIS + THIS STONE IS PLACED + BY A GRATEFUL COUNTRY + HE DIED AT THE AMERICAN CONSULATE + IN THIS CITY AFTER A TEDIOUS ILLNESS + APRIL 1, 1852 + HE WAS BORN AT THE CITY OF BOSTON + STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS + JUNE 8, 1792 + HIS FAME AS A POET AND DRAMATIST + IS WELL KNOWN WHEREVER THE ENGLISH + LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN THROUGH + HIS CELEBRATED BALLAD OF + HOME, SWEET HOME + AND HIS POPULAR TRAGEDY + OF BRUTUS AND OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTIONS + +This slab lies flat upon the ground. Adjoining it is a circle in the +center of which is a monument bearing a bust of Colonel Payne, and on it +is the following inscription: + + IN + MEMORY OF + JOHN HOWARD PAYNE + AUTHOR + OF + HOME, SWEET HOME + BORN JUNE 9, 1791 + DIED APRIL 9, 1852 + ERECTED ANNO DOMINI 1883 + + "Sure when thy gentle spirit fled + To realms beyond the azure dome + With arms outstretched, God's angel said + 'Welcome to Heaven's Home, Sweet Home.'" + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + + BALCH, THOMAS BLOOMER: _Reminiscences of Georgetown_. + + BRYAN, W. B.: _A History of the National Capital_. + + BUSEY, SAMUEL C.: _Pictures of the City of Washington in the Past_. + + CAEMMERER, H. PAUL, Ph.D.: _The Life of Pierre Charles L'Enfant_. + + CLARK, ALLEN C.: _Life and Letters of Dolly Madison_. + + CORCORAN, W. W.: _A Grandfather's Legacy_. + + COLUMBIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: _Record of the_. + + DODGE, HARRISON H.: _Dodge Family Memoirs_. + + EVANS, HENRY R.: _Old George Town on the Potomac_. + + HALL, MRS. BASIL: _The Aristocratic Journey_. + + HEIN, O. L., LT. COL., U. S. A.: _Memories of Long Ago_. + + HINES, CHRISTIAN: _Early Recollections of Washington City_. + + JACKSON, RICHARD P.: _Chronicles of Georgetown_. + + LATHROP, GEORGE AND ROSE: _A Story of Courage_. + + LATIMER, LOUISE PAYSON: _Your Washington and Mine_. + + LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: _Old Newspapers_. + + MACKALL, SALLY SOMERVELL: _Early Days of Washington_. + + TAGGART, H. T.: _Old George Town_. + + TORBERT, ALICE COYLE: _Doorways and Dormers of Old George Town_. + + TOWNSEND, GEORGE ALFRED: _Washington Outside and Inside_. + + GAHN, BESSIE WILMARTH: _Original Patentees of Land at Washington + Prior to 1700_. + + + + +INDEX + + + _A Grandfather's Legacy_, 168. + + Abbott, John, 85, 215. + William R., 215. + + "Abby, Aunt," 185. + + Acheson, Dean G., 250. + + _Acrolophos_, 303. + + Adams, James Truslow, 14. + President John Quincy, 77, 254. + + Addison, Mrs. Arthur, 113. + Henry, 85, 107, 130. + Colonel and Mrs. John, 274. + Rev. Walter, 199. + + Adlum, Major, 134. + + Adler, Morris, 301. + + Aged Woman's Home, 106. + + Allen, Robert S., 180. + + Alsop brothers, 179. + + American Colonization Society, 101. + + Analostan Island, 22. + + Anchor Tavern and Oyster House, 30. + + Anderson, James, 21. + + _Aristocratic Journey, The_, 157. + + Arnold's Bakery, 108. + + Asbury, Francis, 74. + + Augur, Gen. Christopher Colon, 179. + + "Aunt Hannah," 142. + + Auriol, Vincent, 113. + + Aztec Society, 112. + + + Bailey, William, 58. + + Baker, Hon, Newton D., 155, 307. + + Balch, Dr. Stephen Bloomer, 69, 134, 141, 209. + Rev. Stephen Bloomer, 67. + Thomas, 69. + + Baley, Jesse, 50. + + Bank of Columbia, 33. + + Baptist Church, 135. + + Barron, Commodore James, 157. + + Barrymore. John, 207. + + Beall, Alexander, 11, 25. + Brooke, 270, 289. + Catherine, 298. + Eliza, 287. + Elizabeth, 68. + George, 11, 141. + Harriot, 270, 289. + John, 26, 279. + Josiah, 10, 11. + Lloyd, 279. + Mrs. Margaret, 284. + Thomas, 8, 10, 58, 97, 141, 144, 160, 253, 262, 288. + Ninian, 5, 7, 8, 183. + + Beall's Levels, 11. + + Beanes, Dr. William, 99. + + Beatty, Charles, 17, 30, 58, 182. + William, 52. + + Beauvoir School, 137. + + Belin, Hon. F. Lamot, 281. + + Bell, Alexander Graham, 119. + Alexander Melville, 119. + Miss Aileen, 120. + Chichester, 120. + David Charles, 120. + + Bellamy, George Anne, 14. + + Belt, Rev. Addison, 34. + James, 182. + Joseph, 24, 25, 26, 27. + Tobias, 9. + + Benevolent Society, 106. + + Benning, 4. + + Benton, Jessie, 185. + Thomas Hart, 183. + + Berleith, 17. + + Berry, Horatio, 217. + Jerry, 97. + Mary Ellen, 239. + Philip Taylor, 194, 217. + + Beverley, Robert, 302. + + Bible Society, 76. + + Biddle, Hon. and Mrs. Francis E., 279. + + Billings, Dr. John S., 143. + Mrs. Mary, 197. + + Blackford, Col. B. Lewis, 246. + + Bladensburg, 14. + + Blaine, James G., 308. + + Blake, Dr. James Heighe, 135. + + Bleig, George, 74. + + Bliss, Robert Woods, 252, 304. + + Blodget, Samuel, 58, 92. + + Bloomer, Dr. Stephen, 83. + + Blount, Henry F., 304. + + Bodisco, Baron Alexander de, 98, 140, 202, 291, 295. + Madame, 204, 292. + + Boggs, Paymaster, 191. + + Bonaparte, Jerome, 82. + + Boncer, Christian, 26. + + Bonsal, Mrs. Stephen, 219. + + Boone, John, 86. + + Booth, John Wilkes, 280. + + _Boston Sentinel, The_, 42. + + Bowers, Claude, 244. + + Bowie, Washington, 200, 224. + + Boyce, Jane, 306. + Mrs. Mary McEwen, 306. + + Braddock, General Edward, 13. + + Bradley, Abraham, 66, 83, 280. + Joseph Habersham, 280. + Joseph Henry, 279, 280. + Mrs. Thomas, 281. + William A., 66. + + Brandywine, Battle of, 16. + + _Brandywine_, U. S. S., 129. + + Bright, Sen. Jesse D., 288. + + Bronaugh, Hamilton, 205. + + Brooke, Ann, 301. + Elizabeth, 142. + Col. Richard, 301. + Colonel Thomas, 142. + + Brown, Dr. Gustavus, 121. + Joel, 74. + + Bruce, Harriot, 86. + Col. Normand, 28. + Richard, 86. + + Bull, James, 47. + Maria Louisa, 254. + + Bureau of Standards, 134. + + Burnes, David, 58. + + Burnett, Charles C., 35. + + Burr, Aaron, 67. + + Busey, Dr. Samuel, 137. + + Bushrod, Hannah, 287. + + + Caemmerer, Dr. H. Paul, 52. + + Caille, Monsieur, 35. + + Calder, James, 69, 83. + + Calhoun, James E., 303. + John C., 303. + + Calvert, Eleanor, 66, 264. + + Campbell, John, 15. + + Canal, Chesapeake and Ohio, 77. + Potomac, 77. + + Caperton, Hugh, 134. + Mrs. Hugh, 104. + + Capital Traction Company, 113. + Transit Company, 155. + + "Carcassonne, The," 251. + + Carlile, Henry, 38. + + Carlton, Joseph, 17. + + Carpenter & Co., 217. + + Carr, Overton, 58. + + Carroll, Bishop, 116. + Charles, 256. + Daniel, 56, 58, 59, 256. + John, 116. + + Carter, Anne, 289. + Col. John, 289. + + Casanave, Peter, 17, 44, 80, 253. + + Cassin, Commodore, 214. + James, 181, 185. + Mrs. James, 180. + William Deakins, 182. + + Catholic Home for Aged Ladies, 218. + + Cedars, The, 125. + + "Century House," 299. + + Chandler, Captain, 220. + Walter S., 37, 257. + + Chapin, Katharine Garrison, 279. + + Chapman, Edward, 192. + Frances Isabella, 192. + Judge Henry Henley, 192. + Jane, 192. + + Chatham, Thurmond, 113. + + Cherry Lane, 40. + + Chevy Chase, 25, 280. + Club, 183. + + Chew, Cassandra, 86. + Harriot, 86. + Mary, 86. + + Christ Church, 87, 160, 174, 212, 276. + + Christian Science Church, 136. + + Cissel, George W., 275. + + City Tavern, 30. + + Clagett, James, 33. + Rev. Thomas, 67, 86. + + Clarke, Thomas, 160. + + Cleveland, President and Mrs., 171. + + Coakley, Magdalen, 131. + + Cochrane, John T., 217. + + Cohen, Ben, 297. + + College, Georgetown, 103. + + Colonial Apartments, 183. + + Columbia Boat Club, 138. + Foundry, 78. + Phonograph Co., 121. + + Columbian Academy, 134. + Library, 134. + + Compton, Donna Otie, 273. + Mary, 273. + + Congress, Continental, 16. + + Conjurer's Disappointment, 11. + + _Constitution_, 128. + + Cooke, Henry D., 243, 289. + Jay, 243. + + Corcoran, Charles Morris, 168. + Gallery of Art, 171. + Harriett Louise, 168. + Mrs. James, 167. + Louise Morris, 168. + Thomas, 18, 87, 200, 213. + Thomas, Jr., 217. + Tommy, 297. + W. W., 106, 151, 163, 174, 182. + + Cotton Manufactory, 19. + + Cox, John, 123, 125, 135, 298. + Sally, 126. + Thomas, 142. + Thomas Campbell, 298. + Judge Walter, 135. + + Coyle, Jennie, 217. + + Cozens, Mrs., 32. + + Crabb, Capt. Henry Wright, 10. + + Craik, William, 288. + + Crampton, Hon. John F., 289. + + Crawford, Joseph, 83. + + Crawford's Hotel, 82. + + Crookshanks, Mr., 69. + + Crossbasket, 14. + + Curley, Rev. James, 117. + + Curtis, 214. + School, 163. + + Custis, George Washington Parke, 22, 267. + Mrs. John Parke, 60. + Martha Parke, 66, 262. + Mary, 267. + + + Dabney, John, 35. + + Dall, Mrs., 276. + + Darneilles, Philip, 270. + + Davidson, Adeline, 230. + Eliza G., 239. + John, 104, 156, 192, 230. + Kate, 230. + Martha, 230. + Mary, 192. + Nannie, 230. + Aunt Peggy, 192. + Samuel, 10, 58, 281. + + Davies, Cornelius, 26. + + Davis, Dwight F., 252. + Jefferson, 99. + Joe, 279. + + Davison, Hon. F. Trubee, 131. + + Daw, Reuben, 250. + + Dawson, Joshua, 83. + + Deakins, Colonel, 15, 17, 51. + Francis, 206. + Tabitha Ann, 180. + William, 18. + William, Jr., 10, 47, 58. + + Debtors' Prison, 37. + + Decatur, Stephen, 157, 158. + + Dent, Barbara, 142. + Edward Linthicum, 304. + Josiah, 304. + Place, 163. + + Dick, Betsy, 148. + Lucinda, 146. + Margaret, 142. + Robert, 142. + Thomas, 142, 146. + + Discovery, 11. + + Digges, Thomas A., 63. + William Dudley, 63. + + Dill, Sir John and Lady, 246. + + Dinsmore and Francis, 35. + + District of Columbia, 27. + + Dodge, A. H., 242, 247. + Allen, 237. + Charles, 239, 282. + Mr. and Mrs. Charles, 272. + Ebenezer, 17, 234. + Elizabeth, 240. + Emily, 240. + F. & A. H., 242. + Francis, 17, 232, 242, 251. + Francis, Jr., 192, 237. + Col. Harrison Howell, 156, 234. + Henry H., 241. + Robert, 234. + Robert Perley, 251. + William, 237. + + Donovan, General William. 288. + + Dorsey, William Hammond, 50, 301, 302. + + Dougal, William, 301. + + Doughty, William, 74. + + Doughty's, Capt., Company, 69. + + Douglas, Hon. Lewis A., 131. + + Dow, Lorenzo, 82. + + Doyle, Alexander, 116. + + Du Bose, Vice-Admiral Laurence, 141. + + Duck Lane, 40. + + Duclaviacq, J. B., 44. + + Dumfries, Virginia, 15. + + Dumbarton House, 252. + + Dunlop, Arianna French, 146. + Elizabeth Peter, 106. + Helen, 268. + Henry, 166. + Capt. Henry, 127. + James, Jr., 15. + James, 15, 20, 67, 104, 146. + Mrs. James, 148. + Judge, 148, 183. + + Dupont Circle, 156. + + Duval, Gabriel, 253. + + + Eagle Iron Works, 70. + Tavern, 30. + + Earle, George, 126. + Joseph, 18. + + _Early Days of Washington_, 191, 291. + + East Lane, 40. + + Eaton, William, 35. + + Ebenezer (church), 76. + + Edes Home, 187. + Margaret, 19, 187. + + "Elderslie," 306. + + Eliason, John, 74. + + Ellicott, Andrew, 61. + + Elliot, Jonathan, 117. + + Elliott, Richard, 83. + + Elliston, Herbert, 287. + + Elverson, Nelly, 305. + + English, Miss Lydia, 183. + + Epiphany School, 214. + + Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 173. + + Eustis, Hon. George, 169. + Mrs. William Corcoran, 252. + + _Evening Star, The_, 275. + + "Evermay," 281. + Club, The, 283. + + + Farmers' and Butchers' Market, 109. + + "Federal House," 202. + + _Federal Republican, The_, 91. + + Federalists, 85. + + Ferguson, Robert, 11. + + Fierer, Charles & Co., 32. + + Fifer Largo, 8. + + Finley, Mrs. David E., 202. + + Finney, Jimmy, 97. + + Fisher, H. W., 107. + + Fishing Lane, 40. + + Fleeson, Doris, 208. + + Fleete, Henry, 3. + + Flournoy, Rev. Parke P., 219. + + Forrest, Bladen, 108. + + "Forrest Hill," 191. + + Forrest Hall, 202. + + Forrest, Stoddert, and Murdock, 16. + + Forrest, Uriah, 16, 58, 93. + + Forrestal, James E., 113. + + Fort Duquesne, 13. + + Fort McHenry, 101. + + Foster, Sir Augustus, 45, 254. + + Foundry Methodist Church, 74. + + Fountain Inn, 30, 48. + + Fowler, Colonel, 141, 216. + + Foxall, Catherine, 76, 153. + Henry, 70, 153, 156. + Mary Ann, 76, 196. + + Frankfurter, Justice, 191. + + Franklin, Dr. (Benj.), 19. + + Freeland, Agnes, 151. + Sarah Norfleet, 151. + + Freeman, Dr. Douglas S., 204. + + Fremont, General C., 185. + + French, A., 81. + Colonel W. E. P., 155. + + Frick Art Reference Library, 131. + + Friendly, Alfred, 276. + + "Friendship," 298. + + Frizzle, Bull, 79. + + Frogland, 11. + + Fulton, Robert, 82. + + Furvey, Rachel, 86. + + + Gadsby's Tavern, 26. + + Gannt, John M., 18. + Clare, 130. + + Gantt, John M., 81, 160. + + Garden Club, Georgetown, 72. + + Garden Clubs of America, 72. + + Gardette, Mr., 32. + + Gardiner, Miss Jennie, 219. + + George Town Academy, 36, 46. + + _George Town Weekly Ledger, The_, 23. + + George Town Wool, 19. + + George Washington University, 172. + + "Georgetown," 204. + + Georgetown College, 70, 116, 165. + + Georgetown College and Convent, 17. + + Germantown, Battle of, 16. + + Getty, Hetty, 97. + + Gillespie, James, 206. + + Glee Club, Georgetown, 101. + + Glyn, Elinor, 220. + + Godeys, 214. + + Gordon, Elizabeth Dodge, 248. + George, 9, 10, 11. + J. Holdsworth, 246. + Josephine, 248. + Margaret R., 248. + William A.. 127, 135, 161, 180. + William A., Jr., 246, 248. + + Gordon's Inspection House, 87. + + Govan, Archibald, 22. + + Grace Church, 66. + + Graham, Philip, 288. + + Grant, General, 209. + Lewis, 281. + + Grayson, Admiral and Mrs. Cary T., 256. + + Greeley, General Adolphus, 210. + + Green, Alice, 98. + George, 93. + Hill, 63. + Pyle, 245. + Mrs. Zola, 245. + + Greenleaf, James, 58. + + "Greenwood," 137. + + Greenway, Mrs. Isabella, 220. + + Grinnell Arctic Expedition, 177. + + Grosvenor, Mrs. Gilbert, 119. + + Gunston Hall, 214. + + + "Halcyon House," 109. + + Hall, Mrs. Basil. 157. + + Halleck, Gen. H. W., 295. + + Hamilton, Alexander, 279. + Thomas, 28. + + Hanewinckel, William Frederick, 224. + + Hanson, Alexander Contee, 91. + + Harkness, Richard, 191. + + "Harlem," 90. + + _Harper's Magazine_, 204. + + Harrison, Thomas, 160. + Virginia, 160. + + Harrover, Miss, 185. + + Harry, Harriot Eliza, 271. + + Harward, Ann, 76. + + Haw, John Stoddert, 160, 213. + Lucinda Stoddert, 215. + + "Hayes," 105. + + Haynes, Aaron, 45. + + Hazel's Stable, 209. + + Hedges, Nicholas, 182. + + Heiberg, Colonel and Mrs., 201. + + Heighe, Glorvina, 135. + + "Heights, The," 299. + + Hein, Charles, 133. + Col. O. L., 133. + Samuel, 132. + + Henderson, Thomas, 213. + + Henry Brand & Co., 35. + + Herr, Abraham H., 202, 276. + Austin, 276. + + Herring Hill, 180. + + Heugh, Andrew, 10, 15. + + "Highlands, The," 256. + + Hight, Mrs., 109. + + Hill, Louis, 273. + + Hinckley, Howard, 257. + + Hines, Christian, 27. + + Hoban, James, 38. + + Hobbs, Miss, 159. + + Hollerith, Hermann, 286. + + Hollingsworth, Col., 224. + + Holmead, Anthony, 58. + + Holy Hill, 131. + + Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 116. + + Home for the Blind, 291. + + Hood, Admiral Sir Samuel, 90. + + Hope, Eleanor, 227. + + Hopkins, Diana, 130. + Harry, 130. + Mrs. Mary, 121. + Rev. Matthew, 121. + + Howard, Governor, 56. + Nathaniel, 172. + + Hubbard, Roberta, 120. + + Hull, Captain Isaac, 128. + Prince, 45. + + Humboldt, Baron, 169. + + Humbolt, 82. + + Hume, Thomas L., 209. + + Hunter, William, 130. + + Hyde, Anthony, 182. + Granville, 182. + Thomas, 183, 252. + + + Ihlder, Mr. and Mrs. John, 250. + + _Impartial Observer and Washington Advertiser_, 47. + + Independence, Declaration of, 70. + + Indians, 4. + Nacotchankes, 4. + Anacostians, 4. + + Industrial Home School, 9. + + International Business Machines Corporation, 286. + + Iran, Shah of, 113. + + Irving, Washington, 82. + + Islands, 65. + Analostan, 65. + Mason's, 65. + My Lord's, 65. + Barbadoes, 65. + + Iturbide, Prince, 98. + + + Jackson, Andrew, 78, 92, 183. + Samuel, 253. + + James, Reverend Mr., 200. + + Jancerez, A. L., 35. + + Jefferson, Thomas, 4, 58, 70, 199, 254. + + _Jersey_, 90. + + John Glassford & Company, 14. + + Johns, Margaret, 224. + Captain Richard, 35. + Sarah, 289. + Thomas, 18. + + Johnson, Andrew, 183. + Thomas, 58, 59. + Thomas, Jr., 18. + + Joiner, Robert, 42. + + Jones, John, 44. + + Joseph Semmes's Tavern, 31. + + Josepha, Anna Maria, 254. + + Joyce, Col. John J., 295. + + + Kearns, Francis, 30. + + Keith, James, 129. + Rev. Ruel, 213. + + Kennon, Mrs. Beverley, 106, 204, 261. + Mrs. Britannia W., 265. + Martha, 154. + Martha Custis, 266. + + Key, Francis Scott, 99, 208, 213. + Philip Barton, 18, 31, 95, 200, 208. + + Keys, The, 40. + + Kilty, Hon. Mr., 56. + + King, William, 18, 31, 87. + + Kings Arms, 25. + + Kirk, Alexander, 298. + S. and Sons, 35. + Thomas, 34. + + Kirk's School, 163. + + Knave's Disappointment, 11. + + Knox, Mrs. McCook, 131. + + + Lacy, Benjamin, 30. + + Lafayette, General, 144. + + Laird, Helen, 146. + John, 17, 87, 144, 146. + Peggy, 148. + William, 268. + Mrs. William, 127. + William, Jr., 146. + + Lancaster, Joseph, 212. + + Lancastrian School, 136. + + Langfitt, Colonel, 258. + + Lanman, Charles, 239, 241. + + _Lawrence, The_, 72. + + Laws, Sunday, 76. + + League of American Pen Women, 115. + + Leakin, Rev. George, 143. + + Lear's Wharf, 83. + + Lee, General Charles, 253. + Charlotte, 215. + General Henry, 91. + Mrs. Henry, 204. + Margaret, 215. + Richard Bland, 53. + _R. E._, 204. + General Robert E., 172, 267. + Thomas Sim, 85, 297. + + Lemon, Hannah, 87. + + L'Enfant, 51. + + Lewis, Fulton, Jr., 279. + Mr. and Mrs. Fulton, 279. + Sir Wilmott, 115. + + Leyhman, Christopher, 86. + + Liancourt, Duc de la Rochefoucault, 16. + + Libbey, Joseph H., 218. + Martha, 218. + + Liberia, 103. + + Liberty League, 201. + + Light-Lane, 48. + + Lincoln, Abraham, 149, 155. + Robert Todd, 149. + + Lingan, James Maccubbin, 17, 52, 58, 89, 306. + Nicholas, 19, 232. + Robert, 58. + + Linthicum, Edward M., 107, 161, 303. + Institute, 163. + Kate, 163. + + Lippincott, Mrs. Hare, 160. + + Lippman, Walter, 119. + + Lipscomb's School, Miss, 155. + + Little Old Stone House, The, 61. + + Little Falls, The, 40. + + Lockwood, Gen. Henry Hayes, 247. + James, 247. + + Lodge, Henry Cabot, 210. + + Longfont, Major, 55. + + Lord Baltimore, 5. + + Lottery, 46. + + Louise Home, 171, 269. + + Loundes, Christopher, 109. + Francis, 17. + Rebecca, 109. + + Lovering, William, 38. + + Lover's Lane, 304. + + Lowndes, Francis, 261. + + Lower Marlboro, 67. + + Lutz, John, 74, 106. + + Lynch, Dominick, 58. + + Lynn, David, 10, 301. + Jane, 301. + Rosetta, 301. + + Lyon's Mill, 19. + + + Macaulay, Mrs. Edward, 113. + + Mackall, Benjamin, 112, 200, 284, 298. + Christiana Beall, 271. + Christiana, 284. + Leonard, 74, 112, 284, 298. + Louis, 284. + Dr. Louis, 181. + Dr. and Mrs. Louis, 191. + Sally Somervell, 291. + + Madison, Dolly, 30, 254, 308. + James, 30, 254. + + Magruder, Dr. Hezekiah, 18, 202. + James A., 213. + Mrs. James A., 217. + Samuel III, 10. + + "Mamre," 69. + + Marbury, Eleanor, 289. + John, 97, 141, 167. + John, Jr., 299. + William, 95, 279. + + Marburys, 130. + + March, John, 35. + + Marche, Madame de la, 36. + Mary de la, 119. + + Marlowe, Julia, 287. + + Morsell, Judge, 157. + + Marshall, John, 95. + + Martineau, Mr., 112. + + Mary Margaret Home, 217. + + Maryland Agricultural College, 172. + + _Maryland Gazette_, 24, 25, 26, 46. + + _Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, The_, 55. + + Mason, Mrs. Beverley Randolph, 214. + Emily V., 250. + James, 171. + John, 50, 65, 69, 92, 200. + John Thompson, 115. + Robert, 7. + + Matthews, Henry Cooksey, 215. + + Maximilian, Emperor, 98. + + McCartney, Mrs., 196. + + McCleery, Harry, 208. + + McCormick, Mrs. Ruth Hannah, 252. + + McCoy, Mrs. Frank R., 273. + + McCraith, Richard, 243. + + McDermott, Maria, 119. + + McDonald (Alexander, Mary), 42. + Andrew, 32. + + McGrath's Company, 43. + + McIlvaine, Rev. Charles, 215. + + McKenney, Henrietta, 196. + Samuel, 74, 196, 212. + Summerfield, 275. + + McLaughlin, Charles, 30. + + McLean, Mrs. Evalyn Walsh, 298. + + McPherson, John D., 283. + + McVean, Dr. James, 216. + Rev. James, 6, 181. + Margaret, 181, 286. + + Melvin, James, 83. + + _Memories of Long Ago_, 133. + + _Merrimac_, 136. + + Merry, Anthony, 82. + + Methodist Church, 161. + + Methodist Episcopal Church, 197. + + Meyer, Hon. and Mrs. Balthasar, 208. + Sylvia, 208. + + "Middlebrook," 90. + + Middleton, Miss, 143. + + _Mikado_, 108. + + Military Academy, 63. + + Miller, Benjamin F., 251. + Mrs. Benjamin, 218. + Hezekiah, 143. + + Mitchell, Miss Kate, 303. + + Maffitt, John, 83. + + Monroe, James, 92, 254. + + Monrovia, 103. + + "Montrose," 300. + + Moore, Clement, 213. + Frederick L., 279. + + Morris, Anthony, 254. + Commodore Charles, 128. + Gouveneur, 196. + Louise, 167. + Mrs., 113. + Rebecca, 254. + Robert, 58, 70, 196. + + Morrow, Hon. Dwight, 288. + + Morsell, Judge, 219. + + Morton, William, 213. + + "Mount Airy," 137. + + "Mount Alban," 254. + + Mount Alto Hospital, 23. + + Mount Vernon, 51, 173. + + Mount Zion Methodist, 179. + + Mountz, John, 85. + + Murdock, John, 10, 17. + William, 17, 52. + + _Museum, The_, 33. + + Myers, John, 213. + + + Napier, Lord and Lady, 169. + + National Gallery of Art, 160, 202. + + Naval Agent, 37. + Observatory, U. S., 134. + + Neale, Rev. Francis, 116, 118. + + Needham, John, 10. + + Newbold, John L., 258. + Lydia, 257, 258. + + New Orleans, Battle of, 93. + + Nicholson, Commodore, 245. + John, 58. + + Nicolls, William, 224. + + "Normanstone," 305. + + Norwood, Dr. William, 213. + + Nourse, Major Charles, 254. + Major Charles Joseph, 136. + Elizabeth, 136. + Miss Emily, 106, 247. + Joseph, 83, 247, 253. + Miss Mary, 267. + Miss Rosa, 267. + + + "Oak Hill," 83, 189. + Cemetery, 167. + + "Oak View," 95, 269. + + "Oaks, The," 161, 300. + + Odell, Thomas, 24. + + Oden, Benjamin, 58. + + Oeller's Hotel, 63. + + Oertel, Reverend Mr., 200. + + _Old Houses in Georgetown Heights_, 161. + + "Old White," 172. + + Old Yarrow, 206. + + Olney Institute, 219. + + O'Neal, John Carter, 289. + + O'Neale, Peggy, 308. + + O'Neill, Bernard, 10. + + Order of Poor Clares, 118. + + Orme, James, 83. + John, 25, 26. + Rev. John, 26, 288. + Lucy, 26. + William B., 283. + + Otie, Bishop James Hervey, 273. + + Oueston family, 137. + + Oulahan, Richard V., 218. + + Ould, Mattie, 130. + Judge Robert, 130. + + Owens, Isaac, 74. + + + Pairo, family, 112. + + Pancost, Wm., 38. + + Parrott, Mrs. Jane. 68. + Richard, 305. + + Parrott's Mill, 19. + + Patrenotre, Monsieur, 305. + + "Patmos," 69. + + Patton, Mrs. James D., 217. + + Payne, John Howard, 91, 308. + + Peabody Educational Fund, 177. + + Peabody, George, 151, 174. + + Pearson, Drew, 180. + + Peirce, Edward, 58. + James, 58. + + Pendleton, Mr., 270. + Dr. William, 172. + + Perrie, James, 10. + + Perry, Commodore, 72. + + Perthshire, 13. + + Peter, Alexander, 153. + America, 264. + Ann Thomas Beall, 288. + Armistead, 153. + Armistead, Jr., 261. + Dr. Armistead, 140, 186, 266. + Britannia, 264. + Columbia, 264. + David, 289, 302. + Mrs. David, 289. + Elizabeth, 67. + Major George, 150, 151, 153, 175, 266. + George Washington, 306. + Jane, 302. + John, 10, 50, 83, 86, 142. + Margaret, 142. + Robert, 10, 14, 47, 58, 66, 87, 105. + Mrs. Robert, 80, 142. + Sallie, 149. + Thomas, 64, 262, 306. + Mrs. Thomas, 64, 266, 275. + Walter G., 265. + + Peter's Grove, 289. + Square, 66. + + _Philadelphia_, 128. + + Philip, Henry, 156. + + Philippe, Louis, 65, 82. + + Phillips, E., 34. + + Pichon, Monsieur, 69. + + Pick, Mrs., 81. + + Pickrell, Annie Graham, 209. + John, 213. + + Pinckney, William, 173. + + Piney Branch, 5. + + Pious Ladies, The, 119. + + Pitt, George, 30. + + Plater, Ann, 151. + Rebecca, 93. + Thomas, 90, 200. + + Podestad, Marquis de, 219. + + Pollock, Isaac, 253. + + Pompean Hall, 29. + + Poore, Ben Perley, 239, 240. + + Post, Dr., 144. + + Potomac Fire Engine Co., 37. + Fire Insurance Company, 104. + + Powell, Genevieve, 273. + John Wesley, 272. + + Presbyterian Church, 275. + Sabbath School, 182. + + President's House, 38. + + "Pretty Prospect," 11, 109. + + Prince Georges County, Md., 9. + + _Princeton_, 275. + + Prospect Cottage, 115. + + "Prospect House," 113. + + Prout, William, 58. + + + "Quality Hill," 115. + + + Radford, Admiral, 245. + Sophy, 245. + + Randolph, John, 82. + + Read, Isabella, 144. + Jane, 144. + + _Red Devil, The_, 99. + + Redin, Catherine, 155. + Richard Wright, 153. + William, 153. + + Reed, Dr. Walter, 245. + + "Red Top," 269. + + Reintzel, Daniel, 11. + + Reverend Addison Belt's School, 163. + + Richardson, Thomas, 10, 18, 52. + + Ridgely, Anna Key, 128. + Elizabeth, 123. + + Riggs, Bank, 26, 104. + Elisha, 165, 175. + George W., 165. + + Riley, Marianna, 141. + + "Riley's, Dr.," 140. + + Ritchie, Dr. Lewis, 131. + Mary, 208. + + Rittenhouse, Fannie, 252. + Loulie, 258. + + Robbins, Warren Delano, 252. + + Roberdeau, Mr. 61. + + Roberts, Owen J., 210, 214. + + Robertson, Thomas, 160. + + Robinson, Margaret, 298. + William, 297. + + Roche, Captain de la, 189. + + Rochefoucault, Madame de la, 119. + + Rock Creek, 158, 179. + + Rock of Dumbarton, 11. + + Rogers, Mr., 34. + Dr. William Barton, 144. + + Rolling Houses, 10. + + Roman Church, The, 116. + + Roosevelt, Franklin D., 130. + Mrs. Henry Latrobe, 246. + James, 205. + Theodore Memorial Association, 66. + + "Rosedale," 93. + + Ross, Andrew, 83. + + "Royal George," 82. + + + Sailor's Oak, 23. + + Sailor's Tavern, The, 30. + + Saint Frances of Assisi, 118. + + Saint John's Church, 115, 135. + + Sayrs, Rev. Mr., 199. + + St. John's Episcopal Church, 199. + + _Salem_, 29. + + Sands, Comfort, 58. + Admiral James Hogan, 202. + William Franklin, 202. + + Sartiges, Count de, 289. + + Second U. S. Regiment, 202. + + Seminary, Miss English's, 97. + + Seminary, The, 183. + + Semmes, Cora, 129. + + _Sentinel of Liberty, The_, 33, 48. + + Sevier, Mr. and Mrs. John, 226. + + Schladt's, Joe, 107. + + Schoofield, Jacob, 34, 81. + + School for Young Ladies, 34. + + Schultz, Mr., 35. + + Scotch Row, 69. + + Scott, Arianna, 80. + Captain Douglas, 202. + Elizabeth, 66. + George, 66. + Gustavus, 19. + Winfield, 287. + + Shaffer, Amy, 129. + + Sharpe, Louise, 119. + + Shepherd, Alexander, 191. + + Ships-- + _Potomack Planter_, 22. + _Brothers_, 22. + _Betsy_, 22. + _Ritson_, 22. + _Felicity_, 22. + _Lydia_, 22. + _Columbia_, 22. + + Shouse, Jouett, 201. + + "Sign of the Golden Fan," 35. + + Sign of the Indian King, 31. + + Sigsbee, Admiral, 250. + + Simms, Mrs. Albert, 252. + Captain Charles Carroll, 136. + + Simpson, Ignatius, 27. + James Alexander, 132, 206. + John, 132. + Reverend, Mr., 220. + + Slidell, Hon. John, 170. + + Smith, Barbara, 86. + Clement, 97, 125, 213, 299, 305. + Gurdon B., 168. + James, 9, 130. + Captain John, 3. + Jennie, 224. + Margaret, 76, 224. + Matilda, 125, 299. + Roberta, 224. + + Smoot, John D., 155. + + Snyder, Dr. Arthur, 138. + Dr. John M., 137. + + "Sotterley," 93. + + Sothern, E. H., 287. + + Southworth, Mrs. E. D. E. N., 115. + + "Sporting Parson," 106. + + Sprague, Kate Chase, 244. + + "Spring Hill," 71. + + Stanton, Edwin M., 308. + + "Star and Garter," 177. + + _Star-Spangled Banner, The_, 101. + + Steele, Franklin, 113. + Frank, 275. + + Stephenson, Lucy, 135. + + Steuben, General von, 60. + + Stevens, George, 31, 32. + Oscar, 143. + + Steuart, Adam, 10, 18. + + Stewart, William, 200. + + Stoddert, Benjamin, 10, 16, 47, 58, 112, 307. + Captain Thomas, 16. + + Stohlman, Frederick, 108. + J. William, 108. + + Stohlman's, 108. + + Stone House, 86. + + Stone, John H., 58. + + Stouffer, Henry, 47. + + Strange, Michael, 207. + + Stuart, Albert Rhett, 214, 216. + David, 56, 59. + Gilbert, 44, 159. + Joshua, 182. + Col. Philip, 307. + + Sumner, Charles, 163. + + _Surprise_, 77. + + Suter, John, 27, 28. + John, Jr., 86. + + "Swallow Barn, The," 200. + + Symonds, Misses, 120. + + + Tabor, Alice, 119. + + Taft, Senator Robert A., 280. + + Talcott, E. M., 206. + Miss Lucia, 286. + + Talleyrand, 82. + + Tavern, Union, 81. + + Tayloe, Annie, 138. + Jane, 302. + John, 89, 302. + Sophie, 138. + + Temple of Islam, 179. + + Templeman, John, 111. + + Tenally Town, 257. + + Tennally, John, 31. + + Tenney, William H., 214, 220. + + Tenneys, Miss, 214. + + Terrace Top, 287. + + Thaw, Blair, 130. + + Thomas, Edward, 47. + Gen. George C., 219. + + Thompson, Charles, 51. + George, 83, 93. + + Thomson, Elizabeth, 234. + + Thornton, William, 31. + Mrs. William, 30. + Dr. William, 89, 263. + + Threlkeld, Elizabeth, 123. + Henry, 17, 121. + Jane, 125, 299. + John, 63, 123. + + Tillinghast, Rev. N. P., 239. + + Timberlake, Mr., 308. + + _Times and Potowmack Packet_, 28, 45, 46, 51. + + Toby, Lemuel, 22. + + Tohoga, 4. + + Tudor Place, 89, 154, 261. + + "Tunlaw," 209. + + Tschuda, Ume, 241. + + Turner, Nancy Byrd, 36. + + Turner's Counting House, 44. + + Tyler, Dr. Grafton, 149, 187. + Mittie, 182. + Dr. Walter Bowie, 189. + + + _Undiplomatic Memories_, 202. + + Union Bank, 87, 108. + Hotel, 77. + Tavern, 29, 64. + + United States Bank, 183. + + Upper Marlboro, 26. + + + Vanderwerken, Mr., 85. + + Van Devanter, Christopher, 202. + Sally, 202. + + Van Nell, John P., 58. + + Van Ness, Marcia Burns, 308. + + Victoria, Queen, 177. + + _Vigilant, The_, 36. + + Villard, R. H. L., 35. + + "Vineyard, The," 134. + + "Virginia Dons," 15. + _Gazette, The_, 18. + Military Institute, 172. + + Visitation Convent, 118. + + Volney, Count, 82. + + Volta Place, 206. + Speech Association, 121. + + + Wadsworth, Hon. James J., 131. + + Waggaman, Thomas E., 201. + + Walker, George, 15, 58. + Mr. and Mrs. John, 160. + + Wapping, 40. + + War Department, 170. + + Warburton Manor, 63. + + Ward, Ulysses, 213. + + "Warehouse Lot," 87. + + Warren, Mr., 93. + + Washington Cathedral, 68. + City Orphan Asylum, 170. + Eleanor Ann, 287. + _Federalist, The_, 30. + George, 12, 15, 28, 51, 58. + George Corbin, 287. + John Augustine, 287. + + Washington and Lee University, 172. + + Washington, Lewis, 287. + + "Washington Merry-Go-Round," 180. + + Walters, William, 74. + + Weaver's, Admiral House, 156. + + Webster, Daniel, 169, 174. + + _Weekly Ledger, The_, 33. + + Weems, Doctor, 18. + + Welsh, James, 35. + + West, Mrs. Frank, 299. + + West Washington School for Girls, 215. + + Western Channel, 22. + + Western High School, 126. + + "Weston," 257. + + Whann, David, 89. + Jane Maffitt, 181. + William, 83. + + Wheatleys, 130. + + Wheeler, Elizabeth, 58. + + Whiskey Insurrectionists, 150. + + Whitall, Samuel, 257. + Sarah, 257. + + White House, 39. + + White, Jane, 31. + + White Sulphur, 177. + + White's Tavern, Mrs., 44. + + Wigglesworth, Hon. Richard B., 131. + + Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 295. + + Wiley, Dr. David, 83, 181, 216. + Rev. David, 34. + + Wilkinson, General, 150. + Theodore, 141. + + Willard Hotel, 277. + + William and Mary College, 172. + + William of Orange, Prince, 13. + + Williams, Alec, 140. + Brooke, 291. + Brooke, Jr., 275. + Mrs. Brooke, Sr., 274 + Elisha O., 160. + Mrs. Elisha O., 270, 289. + Harriot Beall, 144, 202, 274, 291. + Jeremiah, 191. + Gen. Otho Holland, 52, 219. + Mrs. Rebecca, 291. + Dr. Walter, 216. + Capt. William G., 263. + + Williamson, Rev. Alexander, 105. + Mrs., 156. + + Wilson, William, 87. + + Winant, John G., 205. + + Winslow, Mary, 274. + + Wirt, William, 34, 81. + + Wise, John, 26. + + Wood, Admiral and Mrs. Spencer, 160. + + "Woodlawn," 89. + + "Woodley," 95. + + Woods, Marian, 156. + + "Woodyard," 9. + + Worthington, Dr. Charles, 115, 200, 298. + Mr. and Mrs. John, 156. + Lilah, 156. + Nicholas, 115. + + + Yellow Tavern, 205. + + Young, Abraham, 58. + Notley, 58. + William, 58. + + + Zeller, Mary, 217. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes. + +The copyright clearance of this work has been researched and no +indications were found that the U.S. copyright was renewed. + +Punctuation has been normalised, and hyphenation of words outside quoted +material has been made consistent, without comment here. + +Due to the large number of variant spellings in the material quoted in +this work, the following possible typographic errors in quoted material +have not been corrected: + + Page ix: "trnsubstantiation." + + Page 20: "American indenpendence." + + Page 30: "June 31, 1800." + + Page 38: "George Town, where he palns to." + + Page 38: "Carpenter, can by the asistance." + + Page 49: "number of dogs in Gerogetown." + + Page 133: "a freqeunt visitor." + + Page 158: "Rensselear." + + Page 282: "admit mere curisoity." + + Page 283: "blissful comsummation." + + Page 292: "The mariage ceremony." + +On Page 7 "at the the feast of the Annunciacion" was corrected to "at +the feast of the Annunciacion." + +The following typographic errors outside quoted materials have been +corrected: + + Page 32: "Paquet" to "Packet," and on Page 32 and Page 51: + "Potomack" to "Potowmack," to match other instances of the name of + the "_Times and Potowmack Packet_." + + Page 67: "Garnirke" to "Garnkirke." + + Page 74: "Samuel McKenny" to "Samuel McKenney." + + Page 109: "vari-clored" to "vari-colored" + + Page 127: "Mr. and Mrs. Willliam Laird" to "Mr. and Mrs. William + Laird." + + Page 129: "many other in this part" to "many others in this part." + + Page 157: "Artistocratic" to "Aristocratic," per Bibliography. + + Page 172: "the Greenbiar" to "the Greenbriar." + + Page 174: "ninety strokes as cariage" to "ninety strokes as + carriage." + + Page 175: "Encyclopedia" to "Encyclopaedia," to match other references + to "_The Encyclopaedia Britannica_." + + Page 280: "Lincoln's assasination" to "Lincoln's assassination." + + Page 313: "Beavoir School" to "Beauvoir School" + + Page 320: "Queston family" to "Oueston family." + + Page 314: "Burres, David" to "Burnes, David" and "Calton, Joseph" to + "Carlton, Joseph." + + Page 317: "Hallerith, Hermann" to "Hollerith, Hermann." + + Page 318: Indentation of Index entry for "Keith, Rev. Ruel," + corrected. + + Page 319 "Marsell, Judge" to "Morsell, Judge" and "McCloy, Mrs. + Frank R." to "McCoy, Mrs. Frank R." + + Page 321: "Phillyss, E." to "Phillips, E." + + Page 322: "Soyrs, Rev. Mr." to "Sayrs, Rev. Mr." + + Page 323: "Thomsen, Elizabeth" to "Thomson, Elizabeth." + +The Index has been re-ordered after correction so that entries are in +alphabetical order. + +Further it is noted that: + + On Page 288, in "to live one another" one or more words is missing. + + There is variation in the spelling of "Tenally Town", which is also + given as "Tennally Town" on Page 31, where the name is related to + that of its founder John Tennally. Both spellings appear to have + been in common usage. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Portrait of Old George Town, by +Grace Dunlop Ecker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PORTRAIT OF OLD GEORGE TOWN *** + +***** This file should be named 27716.txt or 27716.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/7/1/27716/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Louise Pattison and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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