initial commit of ebook 30747HEADmain

1 files changed, 11357 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/30747.txt b/30747.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a7fd2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30747.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11357 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Seaport in Virginia, by Gay Montague Moore,
+Illustrated by Worth Bailey and Walter Wilcox
+
+
+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: Seaport in Virginia
+       George Washington's Alexandria
+
+
+Author: Gay Montague Moore
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 23, 2009  [eBook #30747]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEAPORT IN VIRGINIA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Mark C. Orton, Graeme Mackreth, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the numerous original illustrations.
+      See 30747-h.htm or 30747-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30747/30747-h/30747-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30747/30747-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Characters immediately after a caret (^) were superscripts
+      in the original.
+
+
+
+
+
+SEAPORT IN VIRGINIA
+
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON
+
+By Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick. A painting in oil after a pastel by James
+Sharples. (_Courtesy Mount Vernon Ladies' Association_)]
+
+
+SEAPORT IN VIRGINIA
+
+George Washington's Alexandria
+
+by
+
+GAY MONTAGUE MOORE
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Drawings by Worth Bailey
+
+Photographs by Walter Wilcox
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The University Press of Virginia
+Charlottesville
+
+The University Press of Virginia
+
+Copyright (C) 1949 by The Rector and the Visitors of
+the University of Virginia
+
+Second printing 1972
+
+ISBN: 0-8139-0183-9
+Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-188711
+
+Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+                     TO MY HUSBAND
+
+                     CHARLES BEATTY MOORE
+
+                     TOGETHER WE HAVE DELVED INTO WHAT RECORDS
+                     WE COULD FIND THAT MIGHT THROW UPON THE
+                     SCREEN SOME SHADOW OF THOSE WHO BUILT
+                     AND LIVED IN THE OLD HOUSES IN
+                     ALEXANDRIA
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Twenty years ago on a hot and sultry July afternoon, my husband and I
+started to Mount Vernon to spend the day. On our return to Washington,
+we lazily drove through the old and historic town of Alexandria--and
+bought a house!
+
+The town at once became of vital interest to us. We spent months and
+years going through every vacant building into which we could force an
+entrance. Our setter dogs could point an empty doorway as well as a
+covey of quail, and seemed as curious about the interiors as we were
+ourselves. I became obsessed with a desire to know the age of these
+buildings and something of those early Alexandrians who had lived in
+them.
+
+Old maps and records littered my desk. Out of the past appeared clerks
+on high stools wielding quill pens and inscribing beautiful script for
+me to transpose into the story of one of America's most romantic and
+historic towns. It has been impossible to write about every house in
+Alexandria--even about every historic house. I tried to recall the old
+town as a whole. A succession of hatters, joiners, ships' carpenters,
+silversmiths, peruke makers, brewers, bakers, sea captains, merchants,
+doctors and gentlemen, schoolteachers, dentists, artisans, artists and
+actors, began to fill my empty houses. Ships, sail lofts, ropewalks,
+horses, pigs, and fire engines took their proper places, and the town
+lived again as of yore--in my imagination.
+
+Everywhere I turned I found General Washington: as a little boy on his
+brother Lawrence's barge bringing Mount Vernon tobacco to the Hunting
+Creek warehouse; on horseback riding to the village of Belle Haven; as
+an embryo surveyor carrying the chain to plot the streets and lots. He
+was dancing at the balls, visiting the young ladies, drilling the
+militia, racing horses, launching vessels, engaging workmen, dining at
+this house or that, importing asses, horses, and dogs, running for
+office, sitting as justice; sponsoring the Friendship Fire Company, a
+free school, the Alexandria Canal, or other civic enterprises. He was
+pewholder of Christ Church and master of the Masonic lodge. To town he
+came to collect his mail, to cast his ballot, to have his silver or his
+carriage repaired, to sell his tobacco or his wheat, to join the
+citizenry in celebrating Independence. His closest friends and daily
+companions were Alexandrians. The dwellings, wharves, and warehouses of
+the town were as familiar to him as his Mount Vernon farm.
+
+In Alexandria Washington took command of his first troops. From the
+steps of Gadsby's Tavern he received his last military review, a display
+of his neighbors' martial spirit in a salute from the town's militia. An
+Alexandrian closed his eyes, and Alexandrians carried his pall.
+
+Washington belongs to Alexandria as Alexandria belongs to him. This is
+_George Washington's Alexandria_.
+
+     GAY MONTAGUE MOORE.
+
+     Alexandria, Virginia
+     September 1949
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+     PREFACE                                                 vii
+
+
+     PART ONE: PROLOGUE
+
+     _AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST CENTURY OF THE
+     SEAPORT OF ALEXANDRIA_
+
+
+     PART TWO
+     THE PRESENCE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1749-1799
+
+     CHAPTER
+
+     1: William Ramsay: Romulus of Alexandria                52
+
+     2: John Carlyle and His House                           62
+
+     3: The Married Houses                                   71
+
+     4: The Fairfaxes of Belvoir and Alexandria              77
+
+     5: The George William Fairfax House                     87
+
+     6: John Gadsby and His Famous Tavern                    99
+
+     7: The Michael Swope House                             112
+
+     8: Dr. William Brown and His Dwelling                  119
+
+     9: The Peruke Shop                                     127
+
+     10: Historic Christ Church                             131
+
+     11: The Presbyterian Meetinghouse                      139
+
+     12: Presenting The Sun Fire Company                    147
+
+     13: Captain John Harper and His Houses                 156
+
+     14: Dr. Elisha C. Dick and the Fawcett House           162
+
+     15: The Benjamin Dulany House                          173
+
+     16: Dr. James Craik and His Dwelling                   184
+
+     17: Alexandria's Old Apothecary Shop                   195
+
+     18: Spring Gardens                                     197
+
+     19: William Fitzhugh and Robert E. Lee                 202
+
+     20: George Washington's Tenements                      210
+
+     21: The Georgian Cottage                               217
+
+     22: The Vowell-Snowden House                           222
+
+     23: The Edmund Jennings Lee House                      225
+
+     EPILOGUE: Washington in Glory--America in Tears        230
+
+
+     PART THREE
+
+     _FIVE SKETCHES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY_
+
+     24: The Yeaton-Fairfax House                           232
+
+     25: The Lafayette-Lawrason-Cazenove House              239
+
+     26: Enter the Quaker Pedagogue: Benjamin Hallowell     247
+
+     27: The Alexandria Lyceum                              254
+
+     28: The Sea Captain's Daughter and Her House           259
+
+     Acknowledgments                                        263
+
+     Chapter References                                     265
+
+     Bibliography                                           272
+
+     Index                                                  275
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER DRAWINGS
+
+
+ CHAPTER 1: Ramsay house. After restoration plans by Milton L. Grigg.
+
+ CHAPTER 2: Keystone from Carlyle House, basement level.
+
+ CHAPTER 3: John Dalton's frame house. Hypothetical restoration with false
+   front removed.
+
+ CHAPTER 4: Fairfax coat of arms. From Belvoir fireback. Preserved in the
+   Mount Vernon collection.
+
+ CHAPTER 5: George William Fairfax house, south facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 6: John Gadsby's famous hostelry and tavern sign, "Bunch of
+   Grapes."
+
+ CHAPTER 7: Michael Swope house, showing flounder type ells.
+
+ CHAPTER 8: Dr. William Brown house, west facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 9: Peruke shop. Hypothetical restoration with false front removed.
+   Showing an Alexandria alley house adjoining.
+
+ CHAPTER 10: Christ Church through open gates of churchyard.
+
+ CHAPTER 11: Presbyterian meetinghouse before fire of 1835 and subsequent
+   enlargement. _From an old print._
+
+ CHAPTER 12: Fire engine of Friendship Fire Company, said to have been
+   presented by George Washington. This old rotary type pumper is preserved
+   in the Maryland Building at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore.
+
+ CHAPTER 13: Ship model, believed to represent the _Lexington_ owned and
+   commanded by Captain James MacKenzie, who presented it to the Alexandria
+   Library Association.
+
+ CHAPTER 14: Fawcett house, south facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 15: Benjamin Dulany house, south facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 16: Dr. James Craik house, north facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 17: Old Apothecary Shop Museum and adjoining antique shop.
+
+ CHAPTER 18: Spring Gardens, north facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 19: Robert E. Lee house, south facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 20: George Washington's tenements, appearance before remodeling.
+
+ CHAPTER 21: Flounder house of the type said to have been the nucleus
+   of the Georgian Cottage. Example shown (demolished 1944) stood
+   on the grounds of the Alexandria Hospital.
+
+ CHAPTER 22: Vowell-Snowden house, east facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 23: Edmund I. Lee house, showing wisteria-covered gallery.
+
+ EPILOGUE MEMORIAL MOTIF, incorporating swords used on Washington's
+   casket, owned by Alexandria-Washington Lodge of Masons.
+
+ CHAPTER 24: Yeaton-Fairfax house, south facade.
+
+ CHAPTER 25: Lafayette-Lawrason-Cazenove house and doorway detail.
+
+ CHAPTER 26: Alexandria Boarding School (1834) of Professor Hallowell.
+   _From an old print._
+
+ CHAPTER 27: Alexandria Lyceum, classic portico.
+
+ CHAPTER 28: Wax flowers under glass dome, made by Melissa Hussey Wood.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+PART ONE: PROLOGUE
+
+An Account of the First Century of The Seaport of Alexandria
+
+[Illustration: A typical Alexandria shipping merchant's home: Bernard
+Chequire, called the "count," built his dwelling and storeroom under the
+same roof]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SITE AND ANTECEDENTS
+
+
+In the middle of the seventeenth century when the English King, Charles
+II, was generously settling Virginia land upon loyal subjects, what is
+now the port of Alexandria was part of six thousand acres granted by the
+Royal Governor, Sir William Berkeley, in the name of His Majesty, to
+Robert Howsing. The grant was made in 1669 as a reward for bringing into
+the colony one hundred and twenty persons "to inhabit."
+
+Howsing did not want this land but John Alexander did. He had surveyed
+the tract and knew its worth. Howsing doubtless thought himself well out
+of it when Alexander paid six hundredweight of tobacco and took it off
+his hands within a month.[1]
+
+The growth and development of the colony of Virginia into a great
+agricultural population occupied in the cultivation of tobacco was not
+at all what the London Company had in mind. It visualized a colony of
+towns. But the possibilities offered by the great rivers emptying into
+Chesapeake Bay and the development of the tobacco trade were responsible
+for a civilization unique to Englishmen. True that the establishment of
+towns as trading centers was a recognized need--generally agitated by
+the Burgesses and planters from interested motives--but little came of
+it. Planters whose lands and domiciles lined the Virginia waterways
+found the direct trade with English ships a facile, if expensive,
+convenience. It was so easy to dispose of a cargo of tobacco and receive
+at one's door in return delivery of a neat London sofa, greatcoat, or a
+coach and harness. So instead of towns, great tobacco warehouses were
+built at convenient centers where tobacco was collected, inspected, and
+shipped. Such a warehouse was established by act of Assembly in 1730 and
+1732[2] at the mouth of Great Hunting Creek, where it empties into the
+Potomac River, on the land of Hugh West, Sr. (a member of the Alexander
+clan) and where there was already a ferry to the Maryland side of the
+river. Almost immediately a little village grew up--a group of small
+houses and a school--known then as Belle Haven.
+
+Tobacco was currency in the colony, tendered as such, and it constituted
+the first wealth. Salaries and fees were paid in tobacco, fines were
+levied in tobacco; it was the medium of exchange in England as well as
+in Virginia. When the colonists wrote the word, they used a capital T!
+
+His Majesty's government of the New World was much occupied with the
+cultivation, housing, and transportation of this natural weed. The
+importance attached to tobacco is best illustrated by a most
+extraordinary law. When Englishmen, whose homes are their castles,
+permitted the right of search of citizens' private dwellings, some idea
+of the value of this commodity may be realized. The Burgesses resolved
+early "that any Justice of Peace who shall know or be informed of any
+Package of Tobacco of less than----weight made up for shipping off,
+shall have power to enter any suspected House, and by night or by day
+and so search for, and finding any such Package, to seize and destroy
+the same; and moreover the Person in whose Possession the same shall be
+found, shall be liable to a Penalty."[3] Inspectors of tobacco held
+their appointments under the King; theirs was the responsibility of
+watching the crop, estimating its yield and weight, maintaining the
+standard of quality and inspecting the packing. Moreover, no tobacco
+could be "bought or sold, but by Inspector's Notes, under a Penalty both
+upon the Buyer and Seller."[4]
+
+In 1742 the Burgesses, lower house of Virginia's Parliament, in session
+at Williamsburg, became exercised about the tobacco trade and "Resolved,
+That an humble address of this house be presented to His Majesty, and a
+Petition to the Parliament of Great Britain; representing the distressed
+state and decay of our Tobacco Trade, occasioned by the Restraint on our
+Export; which must, if not speedily remedied, destroy our Staple; and
+there being no other expedient left for Preservation of this Valuable
+Branch of the British Commerce, to beseech His Majesty and His
+Parliament, to take the same into Consideration; and that His Majesty
+may be graciously pleased to grant unto his subjects of this Colony, a
+Free Export of their Tobacco to Foreign Markets directly, under such
+Limitations, as to His Majesty's Wisdom, shall appear Necessary."[5]
+
+From 1742 a series of petitions from the inhabitants of Prince William
+and Fairfax[6] counties, asking authority from the Assembly at
+Williamsburg to erect towns in the county, were presented to the
+Burgesses. Several years passed before any notice was taken of these
+requests.
+
+At a General Assembly, begun and held at the College in Williamsburg on
+Tuesday, November 1, 1748 (sixteen years after the establishment of the
+warehouse at Hunting Creek) in the twenty-second year of the reign of
+George II, a petition was presented from "the inhabitants of Fairfax in
+Behalf of Themselves and others praying that a Town may be established
+at Hunting Creek Ware House on Potomack River."[7] On Tuesday, April 11,
+1749, a bill for establishing a town at Hunting Creek Warehouse, in
+Fairfax County, was read for the first time.
+
+The bill went through the regular proceedings and was referred to
+Messrs. Ludwell, Woodbridge, Hedgeman, Lawrence Washington, Richard
+Osborne, William Waller, and Thomas Harrison. On April 22, the ingrossed
+bill was read the third time, and it was "resolved that the Bill do
+pass. Ordered, that Mr. Washington do carry the Bill to the Council for
+their concurrence."[8] On May 2, 1749 the bill came back from the
+Council (the upper house) with additional amendments to which the
+Council desired the house's concurrence. Washington was again sent up to
+the Council with the approved amendments, and on Thursday, May 11, 1749,
+Governor Gooch commanded the immediate attendance of the house in the
+Council chamber. The Speaker, with the house, went up accordingly; and
+the Governor was pleased to give his assent to the bill "for erecting a
+town at Hunting Creek Ware House, in the County of Fairfax."[9]
+
+The act stated that such a town "would be commodious for trade and
+navigation, and tend greatly to the best advantage of frontier
+inhabitants."[10] Within four months after passage of the act, sixty
+acres of land belonging to Philip Alexander, John Alexander, and Hugh
+West, "situate, lying and being on the South side of Potomac River,
+about the mouth of Great Hunting Creek, and in the County of Fairfax,
+shall be surveyed and laid out by the surveyor of the said County ...
+and vested in the Right Honorable Thomas, Lord Fairfax, the Honorable
+William Fairfax, Esq., George Fairfax, Richard Osborne, Lawrence
+Washington, William Ramsay, John Carlyle, John Pagan, Gerard Alexander,
+and Hugh West, of the said County of Fairfax, Gentlemen, and Philip
+Alexander of the County of Stafford, Gentleman, and their successors in
+trust for the several purposes hereinafter mentioned."[11]
+
+These same gentlemen were "constituted and appointed directors and
+trustees, for designing, building ... the town"[12] and the trustees and
+directors or any six of them were to have the power to "Meet as often as
+they shall think necessary, and shall lay out the said sixty acres into
+lots and streets not exceeding half an acre of ground in each lot; and
+also set apart such portions of the said land for a market place, and
+public landing as to them shall seem convenient; and when the said town
+shall be so laid out, the said directors and trustees shall have full
+power and authority to sell all the said lots, by public sale or
+auction, from time to time, to the highest bidder so as no person shall
+have more than two lots."[13] The money arising from the sale was to be
+paid to the two Alexanders and to Hugh West, the proprietors.
+
+It was further enacted that purchasers of every lot or lots should
+"within two years next after the date of the conveyance for the same,
+erect, build and finish on each lot so conveyed, one house of brick,
+stone or wood, well framed of the dimensions of twenty feet square, and
+nine feet pitch, at the least or proportionably thereto if such grantee
+shall have two lots contiguous, with a brick or stone chimney ... and if
+the owner of any such lot shall fail to pursue and comply with the
+directions herein prescribed for the building and finishing one or more
+house or houses thereon, then such lots upon which such houses shall not
+be so built and finished shall be revested in the said trustees, and
+shall and may be sold and conveyed to any other persons whatsoever, in
+the manner before directed, and shall revest and be sold as often as the
+owner or owners shall fail to perform, obey and fulfill the directions
+aforesaid, and the money arising from the sale of such lots as shall be
+revested and sold applied to such public use for the common benefit of
+the inhabitants of the said town as to them shall seem most proper; and
+if the said inhabitants of said town shall fail to obey and pursue the
+rules and orders of the said directors in repairing and mending the
+streets, landing, and public wharfs, they shall be liable to the same
+penalties as are inflicted for not repairing the highways in this
+Colony."[14]
+
+The county surveyor wrote on July 18, 1749:
+
+   By Virtue of an Act of the General Assembly ... I, the Subscriber did
+   Survey and lay off sixty acres of land to be for the said town, and
+   divided the same into lotts, streets, etc., as per the plan thereof
+
+        JOHN WEST, JR.
+        Dept. S.F.C.[15]
+
+George Washington had been living with his half-brother, Lawrence, at
+Mount Vernon for some time and studying engineering under Mrs. Lawrence
+Washington's brother, Colonel George William Fairfax. It is a safe
+assumption that the three young men sailed up the Potomac numerous times
+to see the layout for the prospective new town; or, that wanting an
+afternoon's ride, they set their horses towards Belle Haven. It was not
+a strange journey. For years the Hunting Creek warehouse had handled
+tobacco from Mount Vernon, Belvoir, Gunston Hall, and the neighboring
+estates. Tradition has it in Alexandria that Washington aided John West
+when he was struggling through the underbrush and tree stumps staking
+out the lots. So familiar did the embryo engineer become with the future
+town site that he drew a map, and added the names of lot purchasers to
+the side of his drawing.[16]
+
+News traveled throughout the colony, from the Tidewater to the
+Shenandoah, of the town to be built near the Hunting Creek warehouses.
+Advertisements were inserted in the colony's gazettes. Auction of lots
+was to take place on the site, in the month of July, on the thirteenth
+day.
+
+On the morning of the sale people on horseback began pouring into the
+village of Belle Haven from all the nearby plantations and estates.
+Tidewater was represented by Ralph Wormley of Rosegill in Middlesex;
+from Westmoreland came Augustine Washington; from Fredericksburg,
+William Fitzhugh; from Gunston Hall, George Mason; from Belvoir, the two
+Colonels Fairfax; and from Mount Vernon, young George Washington and his
+half-brother, Augustine, up for the proceedings.
+
+Lawrence Washington was not present, possibly away in England at the
+time. His brother, Augustine, however, stood proxy and the letter in
+which he reported the day's proceedings throws a new light upon the
+sale. It is believed never to have been published; here is the portion
+relating to the Alexandria auction:
+
+        Mount Vernon July 19th 1749
+
+   D^r Brother
+
+   I have this day returned from Goose Creek, and the Vessel by whom
+   this comes being under way alows one but a short time to write. As to
+   your family I need only to say that they are well as my Sister &c
+   wrote to you by the same ship whilst I was up the Country. You have a
+   very fine prospect for a Crop of Corn & I am in hopes you have made a
+   worse Crop of Tob^o than you'll make this year if the fall is
+   Seasonable, but that depends very much upon the fall. As to Belhaven
+   or Alexandria I understand my Brother George has left much to say
+   upon that head. I purchased you two lots near the water upon the
+   Main street, as every one along the rode will be trough that street.
+   I thought they would be as agreeable to you as any, as M^r Chapman
+   was determined upon having the Lot on the point. I had a Plan & a
+   Copy of the Sale of the Lots to send you, but as my Broth^r has
+   sent both & I am [torn] very exact, I need not trouble you with any
+   more; you will see by the amount of the Sale that your part cleared
+   three hundred & eighty three pistoles [torn] sensible if Alexander
+   had Stood to the sale of them he would not have made half the Sum by
+   th [torn] every one seem'd to encourage the thing, upon y^r and
+   M^r Chapman's account, as they were sensible what you did was
+   through a Publick Spirit & n [torn] of interest; the reason the lots
+   sold so high was River side ones being sett up first which were
+   purchased at a very extravagant price by the prop [illegible] Your
+   two, M^r Carlyles M^r Dortons M^r Ramseys [illegible] M^r
+   Chapmans sold at different prices, as you may se by the Sale, but we
+   agreed before the Sale to give any Price for them & to strike them
+   upon an average so that by adding them up & dividing them by five you
+   will se what your two lots Cost. M^r Chapman was obliged to pay
+   Phil Alexander the money for your & his bond last Stafford Court
+   (before the Sale) or other wise was to have George the Second upon
+   his back. M^r Chapman took into Partnership M^r Ramsey Carlyle &
+   Dorton, Ramsey has a fourth, Dorton & Carlyle the other fourth....
+
+   The price is L10 12_s._ 10_d._
+
+Here assuredly are the circumstances surrounding the plan of the town in
+the youthful George Washington's hand, still preserved among the
+Washington papers in the Library of Congress, as indeed is the relevant
+letter. If this was not the actual map sent by George to Lawrence, it
+most certainly was the copy which he retained for his personal files of
+the eighty-four lots divided by seven streets running east and west; and
+three north and south, checkerboard fashion, which comprised the
+contemplated town.
+
+The bell was rung. Business got under way. John West was crier and
+announced that the lots put up would be sold within five minutes. The
+hot crowd pressed in to hear and see all that took place. The disturbed
+dust blanketed man and beast.
+
+Bidding was brisk; and twenty-four lots were sold in short order. Among
+the first day's purchasers, besides those mentioned above, were William
+Fitzhugh, the Honorable William Fairfax, and Colonel George Fairfax.
+
+The trustees met again the next day, July 14, and wasted no time. At
+once seventeen lots were sold. The trustees agreed to adjourn "till 20th
+of September next,"[17] at which time the "deeds are to be executed for
+the above lots and the remaining lots to be sold, and that the Clerk
+prepare blank deeds for the same."[18]
+
+As for the prices paid for the lots--it is surprising to find a foreign
+coin, the Spanish _pistole_, as the basic unit of currency. This was due
+to a situation where hard money was seriously lacking in colonial
+Virginia. As early as 1714 a general act had been passed to attract
+foreign specie, which was declared _current_ according to weight. Thus
+the legal valuation of the _pistole_ was slightly in excess of 21s. or
+approximately $4.34.[19] Its purchasing power in the eighteenth century
+was about five times as great as today. Lots purchased at auction on the
+first day brought from 16 to 56-1/2 _pistoles_. On the second day, they
+went for as little as six _pistoles_, the highest bidder for that day
+being Henry Salkeld, who purchased lots Nos. 38 and 39 for 23 _pistoles_
+(present-day normal evaluation about $282.00).
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE TOWN BUILT
+
+For many months the trustees were primarily concerned with the disposal
+of the lots and "advertisements were set up to that purpose,"[20] in the
+gazettes. Sales were numerous, houses began to go up speedily. By
+January 1750, eighty lots had been sold with two lots set apart for the
+town house and market square. In August 1751, Colonel Carlyle was
+"appointed to have a good road cleared down to Point Lumley and to see
+the streets kept in repair."[21] On July 18, 1752, the trustees "Ordered
+on Coll. George Fairfaxe's motion that all dwelling houses from this day
+not begun or to be built hereafter shall be built on the front and be in
+a line with the street as chief of the houses now are, and that no gable
+or end of such house be on or next to the street, except an angle or
+where two streets cross, otherwise to be pulled down."[22]
+
+While the trustees were feverishly building the new port, the Assembly
+at Williamsburg was discharging the purchasers of marsh lots from the
+necessity of building on and improving them; approving the proposition
+"for appointing fairs to be kept in the Town of Alexandria."[23] Fairs
+and lotteries were the principal source of municipal income in early
+years; the journals of the House of Burgesses contain frequent requests
+for such from many of the Virginia towns.
+
+[Illustration: Plan of the Town of Alexandria by George Washington.
+(From the Washington Papers in the Library of Congress)]
+
+On March 10, 1752, a committee reporting to the House of Burgesses
+"Resolved That it is the opinion of the Committee that the Proposition
+from the County of Fairfax, in opposition to the proposition from that
+county, for appointing the Court of the said County to be held at the
+Town of Belhaven, be rejected."[24] A somewhat complicated manner of
+ordering the court to be held at Alexandria.
+
+[Illustration: The good ship Metamora of Alexandria, John Hunter,
+builder and owner. He was the founder of Hunter's Shipyard, "the most
+complete private establishment of the kind in the country."]
+
+Four days later the Burgesses rejected "the proposition from the Town of
+Alexandria for altering the name of that town to Belhaven."[25] There
+had been much talk about this, and for long "The Town at Hunting Creek"
+was the only designation. The Alexander family, which was both numerous
+and important (the head of the clan bearing the title Lord Stirling),
+and the bulk of the land upon which the town was built having been a
+part of its patent,[26] it was deemed appropriate to name the new town
+Alexandria. Save for an occasional slip in some old letter (Washington
+dated some letters Bellehaven) Alexandria is the name by which the town
+was called since this time.
+
+By 1753 a village had become a town with the market place located
+exactly in the middle. The first courthouse of frame was built on the
+east side of lot No. 43, at the intersection of Cameron and Fairfax
+Streets. South of the Town House on Fairfax stood the jail, stocks, and
+whipping post for the use of those who failed to keep the law. Directly
+behind these buildings the market square, or green, occupied all of lot
+No. 44. Here the town militia drilled, here were held the carnivals, and
+public gatherings, and here was the larder of Alexandria. To this day
+the market square caters to the appetites of hungry townsmen. Across
+Royal Street, facing the square, stood the City Tavern or Coffee House;
+southward on the same side of the street was the Royal George, after the
+Revolution called George Tavern. Already substantial wharves and
+warehouses appeared along the water front, and private houses and stores
+were beginning to fill the empty lots.[27]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+HEADQUARTERS AND PORT OF SUPPLY
+
+As the passage of four years marked physical growth in Alexandria, so it
+made a difference between a lad barely seventeen and an officer in His
+Majesty's Militia. Early in November 1753, Major George Washington, aged
+twenty-one, and an Adjutant General of the Colony, was sent by the Royal
+Governor to the Ohio to "visit" the commandant of the French forces and
+deliver a letter asking him to withdraw from the lands "known to be the
+property of the Crown of Great Britain." Up to town came Major
+Washington to busy himself acquiring the "necessaries" for the
+expedition. Once equipped, he set out from Alexandria and was gone about
+two months, returning on January 11, 1754. January 16 found him in
+Williamsburg making his report to the Governor. The report was of such a
+nature that His Excellency alerted the Virginia troops; it was deemed of
+such importance as to be published in both Williamsburg and London
+gazettes.
+
+When Washington returned he carried a commission from His Excellency of
+a lieutenant colonelcy in the Virginia regiment "whereof Joshua Fry,
+Esquire, was Colonel," and joined his command in Alexandria. The market
+square took on a militant atmosphere. "Two Companies of Foot, commanded
+by Captain Peter Hog and Lieutenant Jacob Van Braam, five subalterns,
+two Sergeants, six Corporals, one Drummer and one hundred and twenty
+Soldiers, one Surgeon, one Swedish Gentleman, who was a volunteer, two
+wagons, guarded by one Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal and twenty-five
+soldiers," were all under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
+Washington.[28]
+
+Many brave young men newly outfitted in the colorful uniforms of His
+Majesty's Militia, short clothes and white wigs, drilling in the market
+square, swaggering around the town, filling up the new City Tavern.
+Dances and dinners for the officers were the order of the day. Then came
+the command for Washington to join Fry in defending British possessions
+against the French, who had continued their depredations despite the
+earlier diplomatic parley, and had not removed from the lands claimed as
+the property of Great Britain.
+
+Came April 2, and from the market place crowded with citizens, "Every
+thing being ready," the commander, aged twenty-two, gave the order and
+the company set forth to the strident beats of one drummer.[29] As the
+creaking wheels of the two wagons and the tramp of marching feet faded
+out of hearing, Alexandria had sent her sons off to her first war.
+
+While Lieutenant Colonel Washington was occupied in so spectacular a
+fashion, the town trustees were not without their troubles, also. People
+were delinquent about complying with the Assembly laws. In June 1754,
+the trustees ordered that various lots not built upon be put up at
+auction and sold to the highest bidder. They were in earnest about this
+dereliction on the part of purchasers, and seven lots were forfeited at
+this time. Among those paying such a penalty was George Washington's
+half-brother, Augustine Washington.
+
+By December 1754, public buildings were well under way, the courthouse
+lot was ordered "paled in with Posts and Rails in a workman-like
+manner," and John Carlyle, John Dalton, George Johnston and William
+Ramsay were appointed to see what was necessary to be done to the
+finishing of the courthouse.
+
+Within the year, his expedition defeated, Washington was back at Mount
+Vernon, and very irritated by army orders demoting colonials of the same
+grade and rank below the British regulars. Despite a vote of
+commendation by the Burgesses and the sum of L50 voted for his services,
+he threw up his commission.
+
+The French continued hostilities, stirring up the Indians and causing no
+end of trouble. His Majesty's government became sufficiently exercised
+to dispatch an officer of the line, Major General Edward Braddock, two
+warships in which were stowed a fine arsenal of powder, rifles, and
+cannon, and two regiments of regulars. Word reached Alexandria in
+February of Braddock's arrival in Williamsburg and that he and the
+Governor were in conference. The first result of this conference was a
+letter to "Mr. George Washington" written on March 2, 1755, and
+dispatched in the person of General Braddock's aide-de-camp, Lieutenant
+Robert Orme, requesting the presence of _Mr._ Washington as a member of
+the General's military family. This, thought the Governor and the
+General, would do away with any unpleasantness due to difference in
+rank. A second decision reached in Williamsburg was one that resounded
+along the Atlantic seaboard--to call a conference of the colonial
+governors to consider ways, and especially means, of waging the coming
+campaign. Alexandria was chosen as a meeting place and the day set was
+April 14, 1755.
+
+In the meantime, the English warships _Sea Horse_ and _Nightingale_
+under command of Admiral Keppel arrived in Alexandria. Two of His
+Majesty's regiments disembarked from the sea-grimed ships and the
+Redcoats in formation marched to the "northwest of the town" led by
+Colonel Sir Peter Halket and Colonel Dunbar. The humbler citizens had
+never seen such a sight; neither had the Redcoats, and up went British
+noses for all things Colonial. The regulars promptly dubbed the militia
+"Bobtails."
+
+After the exchange of several letters, Colonel Washington "volunteered"
+to go unpaid with General Braddock on the campaign, and he came to
+Alexandria to attend the governors' conference and whip his militia into
+shape. Again he occupied the City Tavern as headquarters.
+
+All at once the town was overrun with governors, His Majesty's royal
+representatives. From Williamsburg came Dinwiddie; from Maryland,
+Governor Sharpe; from Massachusetts, Governor Shirley; from New York,
+Governor De Lancey; and from Pennsylvania, Governor Morris. Neither
+dress nor ceremony had yet been curtailed by the drabness of Democracy.
+Each governor arrived with a retinue of secretaries, attendants, and
+aides; each by coach, decorated in gilded scrolls and colorful arms,
+drawn by four to six horses; each governor resplendent in wig and
+powder, silken hose, coats of brocade, velvet or broadcloth, waistcoats
+of satin or damask, embroidered and braided, shirts of finest linen,
+betucked and belaced, and attended by servants in livery as colorful as
+their masters. The town was packed. Taverns were full, and private
+houses were put at the disposal of these visitors. Dinners and balls
+followed the serious councils of the day, which lasted until eleven or
+twelve o'clock at night. The market place rang with the continuous
+drilling of the Bobtails. Redcoats were everywhere. The ladies of the
+town vied with one another in presents of potted woodcock and delicious
+cake to the distinguished guests.
+
+It has been one hundred and ninety-four years since the citizens of
+Alexandria were treated to the panoply of five of His Majesty's royal
+governors, two warships, and the presence of Major General Edward
+Braddock with Mr. George Washington as part of his military family.
+These days established the little seaport in history and furnished
+sights and subjects resulting in tales and traditions more firmly
+established than the printed word. Amid the scratching of quills and the
+dipping of snuff, the destiny, not only of this hemisphere but of the
+world, was changed, for the five governors assembled decided to tax the
+colonies to support Braddock's expedition. It was not a popular
+decision, and great difficulties arose in collecting the allotted sums.
+It was a fateful step which led eventually to revolt by the colonies.
+
+The conference over, pomp and pageantry departed, but not before Mr.
+Washington and General Braddock had disagreed heartily on the fashion of
+waging warfare. The heavy cannon brought by the British were dumped
+overboard, notwithstanding, or were otherwise abandoned as too
+cumbersome for the long trek west. General Braddock purchased from
+Governor Sharpe of Maryland "an old English chariot and six horses" for
+the march.
+
+On April 20 the Redcoats and Bobtails (six companies, two from
+Alexandria and the nearby countryside) set out. To Sir Peter Halket's
+regiment were assigned Captain Stephens', Captain Peyronny's and Captain
+Cock's Company of Rangers, and Captain Polson's Company of Artificers.
+The heavy coach lumbered over the rough country roads, shaking poor
+General Braddock almost to pieces and "greatly increased his
+discomfort." Mr. Washington, desiring time to arrange his private
+affairs at Mount Vernon, was unable to depart with his military family
+for eight days after they left.
+
+This tragically ill-fated expedition resulted in heavy casualties. On
+July 9, Braddock was attacked unexpectedly near Fort Du Quesne by a body
+of French and Indians, some three hundred strong, which so surprised the
+British regulars they were struck with a "deadly panic" and
+ignominiously fled. "The officers behaved with incomparable bravery ...
+there being near 60 killed and wounded. The Virginian Companies behaved
+like men and died like Soldiers ... scarce 30 were left alive ... The
+General was wounded behind in the shoulder and into the Breast, of which
+he died three days after."[30] George Washington miraculously saved the
+army from complete rout. He afterwards collected his decimated
+Virginians and marched them back to the market square in Alexandria. The
+reception was a sad one.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+EARLY GROWTH
+
+The minutes of the trustees for 1755 announced that by this time the
+first frame courthouse was fenced--it had taken two years--and the
+gentlemen justices of Fairfax County, sitting on November 17, 1756,
+ordered John West, John Carlyle, and William Ramsay, Gentlemen, to be
+paid five thousand pounds of tobacco; John Doonas, Alexandria's first
+policeman, was to receive 120 pounds for patrolling twelve days.
+
+For the next hundred years the great municipal interests were to be
+tobacco, wheat, and ships; the rapid and proper dispatching of the
+produce stored in the great warehouses occupying the river front; the
+housing and sale of the vast diversity of goods coming to anchor with
+each new sail. But in these earliest days, tobacco and ships to
+transport it were the motivating forces of the town.
+
+Turning the pages of a journal of long ago, one gets this glimpse of the
+fit setting:
+
+   In the evening we returned down the river about fifteen miles to
+   Alexandria or Belhaven, a small trading place in one of the finest
+   situations imaginable. The Potomac above and below the town is not
+   more than a mile broad, but it here opens into a large circular bay
+   of at least twice that diameter. The town is built upon an arc of
+   this bay; at one extremity of which is a wharf; at the other a dock
+   for building ships; with water sufficiently deep to launch a vessel
+   of any rate or magnitude.[31]
+
+On May 19, 1760, George Washington "went to Alexandria to see Captn.
+Litterdale's ship launched, wch. went off extreamely well."[32] Again on
+October 5, 1768, he "went up to Alexandria after an early dinner to see
+a ship [the _Jenny_] launched, but was disappointed and came home."[33]
+Next day, the 6th, he "went up again, saw the ship launched; stayd all
+night to a Ball and set up all Night."[34] His expense account shows a
+loss of 19 shillings at cards for the evening.
+
+Alexandria's importance as a seaport was phenomenal and after a few
+years it was ranking third in the New World--greater than New York, the
+rival of Boston. Master shipbuilders turned out vessels to sail any
+sea--manned, owned, and operated by Alexandrians. Down the ways of
+Alexandria shipyards glided as good vessels as could be built. From her
+ropewalks came the rope to hoist the sails made in her sail lofts.
+Chemists' shops specialized in fitting out ships' medicine boxes for the
+long voyages, and bakeshops packed daily thousands of ships' biscuits.
+Ship chandlers forsook older ports for the new one; planters rolled in
+tobacco in ever increasing bulk to fill the vessels crowding the harbor.
+With greater wealth came the means to fill the need and desire of
+Alexandrians for good clothes and fine furnishings. And so back to
+England with each cargo went orders for the newest taste and the latest
+fashion.
+
+It took months, sometimes longer than a year, to complete an order for
+goods. Each voyage was a stupendous adventure. Ships with full cargoes
+often disappeared and were neither seen nor heard of again. George
+Washington's writings serve as a good history of Alexandria. His
+voluminous letters reveal what our first citizens needed, bought, and
+used, what various articles cost, and how business details were handled:
+
+        November 30, 1759
+
+        To Robert Cary & Company
+
+   Gentn: By the George and Captns Richardson and Nicks who saild with
+   the Fleet in September last I sent invoices of such Goods as were
+   wanting for myself Estate etc, but knowing that the latter
+   unfortunately foundered at Sea soon after her departure from Virginia
+   and that the former may probably have suffered by that Storm or some
+   other accident, by which means my Letters &c would miscarry I take
+   this oppertunity by way of Bristol of addressing Copies of them, and
+   over and above the things there wrote for to desire the favour of you
+   to send me a neat Grait (for Coal or small Faggots) in the newest
+   taste and of a size to fit a Chimney abt. 3 feet wide and two Deep,
+   and a fender suited to Ditto. Steel I believe are most used at
+   present; also send me a New Market Great Coat with a loose hood to be
+   made of Blew Drab or broad cloth with Straps before according to the
+   present taste, let it be made of such cloth as will turn a good
+   shower of Rain and made long, and fit in other respects for a Man
+   full 6 feet high and proportionately made, possibly the Measure sent
+   for my other cloths may be a good direction to these. Please to add
+   also to the things ordered for Mrs. Dandridge 12 yds of Silver cold
+   Armozeen or Ducape and cause it to be packed up with the Rest of her
+   things charged with them. &ca.
+
+   Five days ago I dropt a letter at Williamsburg, to take the first
+   Conveyance to you, desiring Insurance on 50 Hhds Tobo pr. the Cary
+   since then I have got 4 more Inspected and all on Float ready to
+   deliver at the Ships side. You will therefore Insure that Quantity
+   and dispose of them in the best manner for Our Interest. If Captn.
+   Talman uses that Dispatch in Loading of his Vessell, which I am sure
+   he now has in his power to do this Tobo. wl come to a very good
+   market, I hope.
+
+   It is almost as much trouble and expense getting Goods from any of
+   the Rivers round to Potomack as the Original Charges of Shipping them
+   amount to, unless they are committed to the charge of very careful
+   Captains who has an Interest in forwarding. I should be glad
+   therefore if you would take the oppertunity of some Ship to that
+   River of sending my Goods for the Future.
+
+   Your favour of the 6th Augt. I have had the pleasure of receiving,
+   and acknowledge myself particularly obliged to you for your polite
+   Congratulations on my Marriage, as I likewise am for your Dispatch of
+   my Goods.
+
+   I am Gentn.[35]
+
+[Illustration: A Suffer to Pass of the ship Polly and Nancy of
+Alexandria; John McKnight, Master. Signed by George Washington.
+(Courtesy Mount Vernon Ladies' Association)]
+
+An invoice of goods of earlier date sent by the same firm for the use of
+George Washington contained 194 items. Wearing garments, ornaments for
+the chimney place, busts, drugs, sugar, carpenter's and plowman's tools,
+candy, a case of pickles containing anchovies, capers, olives, "salid
+oyl" and a bottle of India mangoes; tea, harness, saddles, corks, six
+pounds of perfumed powder, three pounds of the best Scotch snuff,
+ribbons, gloves, sword belt, nine dozen packages of playing cards, paint
+and brushes, one and one-half dozen bell glasses for the garden; one
+mahogany closet stool case in the newest taste, with place for chamber
+pot, etc.; soap, garden seeds, nuts and condiments, locks and two dozen
+H&L hinges and three pounds of bird lime, were but a few of the items
+listed.
+
+In addition to his own orders, the General supervised the shopping for
+the two Custis children and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Dandridge. Not only
+were clothes and materials ordered, fine ivory combs, stockings, etc.,
+but toys. Here is a selection made by the Cary firm--a child's fiddle, a
+coach and six in a box, a stable with six horses, a toy whip, a filigree
+watch, a neat enameled watch box, a corner cupboard and a child's huzzit
+[housewife].
+
+General Washington was a Virginia gentleman who lived in a fashion
+similar to his neighbors; like orders, we may be sure, went from
+Alexandria, and like articles were bought and received into its homes.
+Perhaps the system was not always so direct, for the average townsman
+doubtless relied more upon local merchants as agents. Washington
+followed this course at various times, but until the American
+Revolution he rather steadfastly depended upon Robert Cary & Company of
+London.
+
+With the growth of trade and population came the necessity for expansion
+of the town, and we see the Assembly approving the petition of the
+trustees and sundry inhabitants of the town of Alexandria in 1762,
+"Praying that an Act may pass to enlarge the Bounds of the said
+Town."[36] All lots save those in the marsh were then built upon.
+
+On May 9, 1763, the trustees proceeded to sell the new lots, which had
+been added by act of Assembly. The town property was enhancing in value
+and for that reason the lots were sold with a twelve-month credit,
+hoping to increase the sale value. Forty-six lots were disposed of,
+among the purchasers being George Johnston, Robert Adam, Francis Lee,
+John Dalton, John Carlyle, and George Washington, who at thirty-one
+years of age became a _bona fide_ citizen of Alexandria. The town which
+he had honored returned the compliment four years later when the city
+fathers meeting on December 16, 1766, "proceeded to elect as Trustee in
+the room of George Johnston, decd, and have unanimously chosen George
+Washington, Esq., as Trustee for the town aforesaid."[37]
+
+Fifteen years after the laying out of the town, at a session of the
+House of Burgesses, November 5, 1764, in the fifth year of the reign of
+George III it was "Resolved, That it is the Opinion of this Committee
+that the Petition of divers Proprietors of Lots, and other Inhabitants
+of the Town of Alexandria, in the County of Fairfax, praying that so
+much of the Act of Assembly for establishing the said Town as obliges
+the Purchasers of Lots therein to build and improve the same in a
+limited Time, may be repealed, and the Purchasers left at Liberty to
+build thereon when convenient to them, is reasonable."[38] George
+Washington found it convenient to build a house on one of his lots in
+1769; the other was not built upon until almost thirty years later.
+
+The prodigious development of the new port was accompanied by a growing
+civic pride and the demand for better public buildings. A
+story-and-a-half brick town hall was erected in 1759 by funds raised by
+lottery, tickets selling at ten shillings each, the trustees making
+themselves responsible for a sum adequate for the purpose. At the
+trustees' meeting of April 1767, John Dalton and John Carlyle produced
+an account of moving the courthouse amounting to L52 7_s._ 5-1/2_d._;
+while William Ramsay presented his account for a "scheme of a lottery to
+build a Church and Market house" in the amount of L11 12_s._[39] The new
+town house with its clerk's office and assembly room stood on the
+northeast corner of the square; nearby on Cameron Street stood the
+Fairfax Court House, which town promotion had brought to Alexandria. The
+church and market did not materialize so early.
+
+[Illustration: The addition to the town in 1763 and 1767. (Library of
+Congress)]
+
+EARLY EDUCATION
+
+Space in the lower floor of the town hall was provided for a grammar
+school soon after the completion of this building in 1760. Seven years
+later the town fathers found that the schoolhouse was so misused that
+repairs were urgent and minutes for the meeting of February 2, 1767,
+record how they considered it necessary to put it in better condition,
+"also to make some additions in order to make the upper room usefull not
+only for meeting of the Trustees but for such other purposes as may be
+thought necessary." Apparently a separate entrance for the schoolroom
+dates from this time; other improvements included the raising of the
+roof for greater utility upstairs. The trustees further resolved: "As it
+appears to us that the House has been very much injured by the
+negligence of the School Masters it is now determined that each Master
+give security to repair any injury that the House may sustain during the
+time they have it." Robert Adam and Thomas Fleming were appointed
+overseers of the property for a term of twelve months.
+
+[Illustration: Corner mantel at 211-1/2 Prince Street in the house built
+about 1786 by William Hickman. The builder was trying to cram into a
+given space every motif in the _Builder's Handbook_: Greek entablature
+at the top of the pediment, crowded center panel, broken pediment, and
+the top of the pediment jammed into the cap fretwork. The whole is very
+amusing but interesting and altogether charming.]
+
+A grammar school reputed to have been supported by public funds was in
+existence at Belhaven in 1739, just ten years before Alexandria was
+founded. Presumably the Alexandria school of 1760 was put into operation
+under identical conditions and it may be that special classes beyond the
+mere rudiments of education were conducted for children whose families
+could pay extra tuition. Such a plan would closely approximate the
+tutorial arrangement prevailing on outlying plantations. For orphaned
+children and the very poor who had to earn while they learned, provision
+was usually made for a little schooling within the framework of the
+apprenticeship system, and church wardens were charged with
+responsibility for placing orphans with individuals to learn a useful
+occupation. At a court held March 18, 1770, "James Gameron, five years
+old the last of this month and Sarah Gameron three years old" were bound
+out "to William Wren who is to learn them to read and write, and the
+said James the trade of a shoe maker."[40]
+
+After the Revolution, the town's educational system centered in the
+Alexandria academy, which stood on the east side of Washington Street
+between Wolfe and Wilkes, where now stands the present Washington Public
+School. The old Marsteller house, acquired by the public school system
+in 1882, when the present school building was erected, has by many been
+confused with the old academy building. The Alexandria academy was a
+one-story brick structure. Its cornerstone was laid September 7, 1785,
+by the Alexandria Lodge of Freemasons, Robert Adam, Esquire, Worshipful
+Master of the Lodge. Mrs. Powell, in her _History of Old Alexandria_,
+states that after the stone was laid "a gratuity was distributed among
+the workmen." The school was incorporated in 1786 by act of the Virginia
+Assembly and the trustees were to be chosen by those gentlemen who had
+contributed five or more dollars for the use of the academy, thirteen
+fit and able men to serve beginning in 1788. In the meantime,
+Washington, Dr. Brown, and twelve other generous public-spirited
+citizens were appointed by law as trustees until the annual elections
+should begin. The letter asking Washington to serve is extant.
+
+General Washington, always a believer and a patron of learning,
+contributed for many years prior to his death, L50 annually toward a
+free department for poor students. In his will he left one thousand
+dollars or "20 shares of stock which I hold in the Bank of Alexandria,
+towards the support of a free school established at and annexed to the
+said Academy, for the purpose of educating such orphans or children of
+such poor and indigent persons as are unable to accomplish it with their
+own means, and who in the judgment of the trustees of the said Seminary
+are best entitled to the benefit of this donation."
+
+[Illustration: A Mantel in the home of the late Miss Saidee M. Field,
+316 Duke Street, in the Adam-McIntyre manner. The house was built prior
+to 1795, at which time a trust to secure William Stoggett of
+Carnelsford, County Cornwall, England for L253.16.9 is cited. Note the
+large brick in the worn hearth and bit of original pine flooring. The
+fireback has been rebuilt.]
+
+By 1791 the school established by his bounty was caring for thirteen boy
+and seven girl pupils. One graduate, John Weylie, wrote to thank the
+General for his benevolence. This same young man later became tutor for
+the children of Dr. David Stuart. In January 1800, following
+Washington's death the month previous, the Alexandria council voted to
+provide a suit of mourning for each of the poor scholars educated at his
+expense that they might join in the memorial exercises scheduled for
+February 22.
+
+George Steptoe Washington and Lawrence Augustine, sons of the General's
+deceased brother, Samuel, were both sent to the academy. They were
+boarded by Washington with one of the trustees, Samuel Hansen, who
+frequently reported to their uncle on their interests and behavior. In
+1789, Hansen wrote to the General recommending for George one Cleon
+Moore as teacher of the violin at L12 per year.
+
+These gentlemen were not as circumspect when students as was Lorenzo
+Lewis, who was cited in 1819 for "general deportment and propriety of
+conduct." Young Lewis was the son of Nelly Custis and Lawrence Lewis,
+the former Mrs. Washington's granddaughter and the General's ward, the
+latter the General's nephew. Robert E. Lee perchance might be included
+in this Washington family circle, by virtue of his subsequent marriage
+to the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, brother of Nelly. Lee
+attended the academy from about 1820 until 1824, and was remembered by
+his teachers as an exemplary scholar.
+
+Education for the opposite sex was not overlooked. Through the interest
+and encouragement of Washington, Mrs. Eliza Harriot O'Conner opened an
+academy for young ladies as early as 1788. Quaintly worded announcements
+appearing in local gazettes early in the nineteenth century reveal an
+ever-increasing number of girls' schools.
+
+Female scholars clad in blue worsted dresses, black aprons, muslin
+handkerchiefs, leather shoes and colored hose, capes, blue lined straw
+bonnets, sporting crimson ribbons, studied the exotic subjects of
+"Painting in inks and colors on 'tiffany.' Embroidered landscapes both
+plain and fanciful in chenile, gold and silver, wrought maps in
+'ditto'--printed work in Tambour and needlework--made fringe and
+netting."
+
+
+EARLY AMUSEMENTS
+
+Alexandrians were not without their lighter side. There were plays in
+town at least as early as 1768, for on September 20 of that year George
+Washington took Mrs. Washington and the Custis children to Alexandria to
+see "The Inconstant, or, Way to Win." They remained overnight and the
+next day attended the theatre again to see "The Tragedy of Douglas." The
+cost of the two entertainments was given as L3 12_s._ 6_d._
+
+In 1789 the _Virginia Journal and Alexandria Advertiser_ announced the
+presentation of the "Tragedy of Jane Shore, with the musical farce of
+the Virgin Unmasked." Mr. McGrath opened the Alexandria Theatre for four
+seasons beginning in 1791. On November 6 he presented Garrick's comedy,
+"The Lying Valet" and on November 19, 1793, the American comedy, "The
+Contrast: or, the True Born Yankee." The theatre doors opened at six,
+and the curtain was raised promptly at half-past six--or so the
+announcement read, and it continued, "no money to be received by the
+Door-Keepers."
+
+In 1797, Thomas Wade West, Manager of "The Virginia and South Carolina
+Comedians Companies" and Margaret, his wife, came to Alexandria for the
+purpose of erecting a theatre. A lot on the north side of Cameron
+Street, fronting thereon fifty-four feet, was purchased on July 8, 1797,
+from Thomas and Sarah Porter, the ground rental of which was 108 silver
+dollars yearly.
+
+The patrons of this enterprise, some twenty-nine of the first citizens
+of Alexandria--among them Edmund I. Lee, William Herbert, Josiah Watson,
+Ludwell Lee, Elisha Cullen Dick, Joseph Riddle and Jonah
+Thompson--agreed with one another to contribute the sum of two hundred
+dollars each to be laid out and expended for the erection of a theatre
+upon the aforesaid piece of ground. The subscribers had free tickets of
+admission to every performance with the exception of benefits and
+charities. This was to continue in effect for one season after
+reimbursement at six per cent interest. Thomas Wade West agreed to
+furnish all the decorations, scenery and furniture to the value of L500.
+This was the New Theatre as shown on the early maps of the town.
+
+Cockfights and horse racing, too, were popular, the latter attended by
+women and children. But in 1816 the council forbade these activities
+taking place within the town limits, and ruled that "every person who
+shall trim, heel, or pit any cock so fought and every owner of such cock
+consenting thereto and every person who shall bet on such a match or
+main shall severally forfeit and pay for every offense the sum of twenty
+dollars."[41] Since horse racing could not be easily secreted in cellars
+and walled gardens, no such drastic penalties accompanied that
+pertinent part of the act. Blooded horses were imported by John Carlyle
+as early as 1762. Alexandria races attracted the best horses in the Old
+Dominion. Famous Maryland and Tidewater stables participated in the
+Jockey Club races. George Washington was steward of the Alexandria
+Jockey Club. The gazettes were full of notices concerning the races and
+frequently gave pedigrees of certain horses advertised for sale or stud.
+
+[Illustration: Doorway of the supposed Jockey Club of which Washington
+and Dulany were stewards. (814 Franklin Street)]
+
+After the races, especially those of the Jockey Club, there was sure to
+be an Assembly Ball at one of the larger taverns, followed by a fine
+supper. In Gadsby's time the Jockey Club used his tavern as
+headquarters. After dining, the members were frequently entertained by
+"The Players" or "Jugglers and Tumblers." Maryland neighbors as well as
+nearby Virginians turned out for these festivities.
+
+[Illustration: Mantel in the home of the late Mr. and Mrs. Norman H.
+Davis, 804 Prince Street. Late 18th and early 19th Century reeded
+carving, typical of the Federal House. The decoration is achieved by the
+returns around the pilasters, the reeded trim and diamond motif in the
+center panel.]
+
+Fox hunting was indulged in frequently by Alexandria gentlemen who went
+often to Mount Vernon, Belvoir and to other estates near Alexandria for
+the sport.
+
+Fairs and circuses from time to time filled the town with excitement.
+Feats of horsemanship, vaulting and dancing were performed every Fair
+Day during the visitation of Messrs. Pepin and Breschard in April 1810.
+The doors opened at half-past three and the performance commenced at
+half-past four; beginning with a Grand Military Manoeuvre by eight
+persons well mounted, and ending with the admired "Scene of the Domestic
+Horse" (by the famous Conqueror) who brought chairs and baskets when
+commanded, and the "Ladies Fireworks," composed by Mr. Condit.
+
+Of course, there was much wining and dining out, followed by cards
+rendered more spicy when played for stakes. Taverns and oyster houses
+furnished recreation for those less affluent. Fields and streams
+furnished rare sport for fishermen; the successful fisherman or hunter
+could always dispose of his excess catch at the market. Fish fries were
+common entertainment.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+DOMESTIC ECONOMY AND A NEW MONEY CROP
+
+As the population grew, the markets were abundantly supplied. Great
+vessels packed with ice for sale in the town tied up at the wharves;
+open spaces devoted to gardens and outbuildings gave way to dwelling
+houses, and the town became more compact. Twelve or more servants were
+necessary for the maintenance of large establishments, varying in number
+according to the size of the family and the house. There was generally a
+butler, who acted as major-domo, a cook and kitchenmaid, body servants
+or valets for the head of the house and the young gentlemen, a ladies'
+maid, chambermaid, nurse and nursemaids, a coachman, stable boy,
+gardener, yard boy and laundress.
+
+During the first twenty years of the city's development, an entire block
+might contain not more than four homes. Each of these units functioned
+as a miniature and self-supporting estate, surrounded by flower and
+vegetable gardens and the usual outbuildings--necessaries, kitchen,
+dairy, ice house, smokehouse, fowl house, servant quarters and stable.
+The following advertisement appearing as late as 1828 illustrates the
+traditional layout:
+
+        TO LET
+
+   An elegant two story Brick House, with kitchen, wash house, bath
+   house, stable and carriage houses, an elegant garden, and a well of
+   excellent water, a pump in the middle or centre of the square, a
+   cistern for wash water and every convenience, equalled by few and
+   exceeded by none of its size in Alexandria and suited only to a
+   genteel family.
+
+   It stands on Prince Street. It will be let for one or more years as
+   best suits the tenant and possession given at once.
+
+   Apply to ROBERT BROCKETT
+
+In spring the gardens were prepared, the herring salted and packed. In
+summer great quantities of preserves, jellies, and pickles were put up
+for the long winter. At the first frost the smokehouses were filled with
+hams and great sides of bacon. Game was plentiful, and during the season
+venison, duck, partridge, wild turkey, and woodcock appeared in market
+and graced the tables of the well-to-do. With tea from China and India,
+coffee from Brazil, oil and condiments from Spain, sugar and fruits from
+the West Indies, Alexandrians fared sumptuously.
+
+By 1770 Alexandria's tobacco trade had largely given way to wheat, and
+the local shipping merchants were finding their supplies farther and
+farther west in the valley of the Shenandoah. George Washington was one
+of the first planters on the upper Potomac to change his money crop from
+tobacco to wheat. He enlarged his mill and took advantage of the latest
+mechanical advances of his time. However successful he became as a wheat
+farmer, he never escaped the trials and grief caused by those middlemen,
+his agents. In 1767 he wrote a nine-page letter roundly berating Carlyle
+and Adam for the destruction of his bags and for delay in paying him for
+his wheat.
+
+A list of merchants and factors doing business in Alexandria in 1775
+emphasizes the transition from tobacco to wheat. Of twenty-one firms
+enumerated, fourteen were purchasers of wheat:
+
+     1. Hooe and Harrison--_wheat_ purchasers.
+     2. Steward and Hubard--_wheat_ purchasers.
+     3. Fitzgerald and Reis--_wheat_ purchasers.
+     4. Harper and Hartshorne--_wheat_ purchasers.
+     5. John Allison--_wheat_ purchaser.
+     6. William Sadler--_wheat_ purchaser.
+     7. Robert Adam and Co.--_wheat_ purchasers.
+     8. Henby and Calder--_wheat_ purchasers.
+     9. William Hayburne--_wheat_ purchaser.
+     10. James Kirk--_wheat_ purchaser.
+     11. George Gilpin--_wheat_ purchaser, inspector of flour.
+     12. Thomas Kilpatrick--_wheat_ purchaser, inspector of flour.
+     13. McCawlay and Mayes--import British goods which they sell
+         wholesale.
+     14. William Wilson--seller of British goods who buys tobacco.
+     15. John Locke--seller of British goods who buys tobacco.
+     16. John Muir--seller of British goods who buys tobacco.
+     17. Brown and Finley--they import goods from Philadelphia and
+         purchase tobacco and _wheat_.
+     18. Josiah Watson--he imports goods from Philadelphia and purchases
+         tobacco and _wheat_.
+     19. Robert Dove and Co.--distillers.
+     20. Carlyle and Dalton--import Rum and Sugar.
+     21. Andrew Wales--brewer.[42]
+
+It is said that Virginia wheat was the best to be procured and all
+Europe was a market for Alexandria flour. It was not long before the
+great wagons that had formerly carried wheat from Tidewater to
+Philadelphia and the Delaware found the Potomac port as good a market
+and a shorter journey. Numerous bakehouses appeared and Alexandria
+packed and shipped large quantities of bread and crackers along with
+flour to Europe and the Indies.
+
+Alexandria had been a port of entry since 1779 and time was when the
+Potomac from mouth to port was so crowded with vessels that navigation
+was difficult. The early gazettes constantly referred to the crowded
+condition of the river. The water front seethed with activity. One finds
+the notice in a newspaper of 1786 of the arrival from St. Petersburg,
+Russia, of the ship _Hunter_ of Alexandria. She was advertised to ply
+her trade between these two places. This ship was built, owned, and
+sailed by an Alexandrian, and was but one of many claiming Alexandria as
+home port. Far corners of the earth were united in this ancient harbor
+for a hundred years or more. "Commerce and Shipping" columns in the
+local journals were as well read then as are our "classifieds" today.
+Ships from China lay beside ships from Spain; flags from Holland,
+Jamaica, Portugal, Germany, France and Russia flaunted their gay colors.
+Private as well as public wharves were built. Large and rich shipping
+firms were numerous. Great warehouses of brick lined the river front. A
+kinsman of President Washington wrote him in 1792 that the "port of
+Alexandria has seldom less than 20 square-rigged vessels in it and often
+many more. The streets are crowded with wagons and the people all seem
+busy."[43]
+
+Sloops, brigs, barques and schooners unloaded osnaburgs, wild boars,
+moreens, brocades and damasks, bombazines, Russian and Belgian linens,
+Scottish wools, French and Italian silk, caster hats, morocco leather
+slippers, pipes of Madeira wine, casks of rum and port from Spain,
+spices, fruits, and muscovado sugar from the West Indies, chests of
+Hyson tea from China, neat sofas, bureaus, sideboards, harpsichords and
+spinets from London, along with other things "too tedious to mention."
+
+By 1816 decline in the importance of the port had set in, but no less
+than 992 vessels entered and cleared the customs that year. This number
+did not include the "vast number of inland packets, coal traders, lumber
+vessells, wood d^o, grain d^o, etc." Of these 992 vessels, 195 were
+foreign--ships, brigs, schooners, sloops--while coastwise entrances and
+clearances reached 797. On January 22, 1817, the account of vessels in
+the port of Alexandria stood:
+
+        Ships        9
+        Barques      1
+        Brigs       11
+        Schooners   30
+        Sloops      15
+                   ---
+        Total       66
+
+These figures do not include a number of small craft in the port or the
+steamboats _Washington_ and _Camdon_.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+AFTERMATH OF REVOLUTION
+
+Participants in the Revolution made more impress upon Alexandria's
+history than the war itself. The town was divided in its sentiments.
+Many of the Scottish people remained loyal in their sympathies to the
+mother country. Old Lord Fairfax, a Tory of Tories, became incensed with
+young Washington, whom he had practically brought up, and 'tis said,
+refused ever to see or speak to him again. His heir, Parson Bryan
+Fairfax, of Mount Eagle, afterward Eighth Lord, remained on the
+friendliest terms with the household at Mount Vernon, while holding the
+strongest of Loyalist convictions. Tradition has it that Washington
+personally saved him from molestation by the American troops.
+
+[Illustration: An early cartoon representing John Bull collecting
+indemnity from Alexandrians during the War of 1812. By Wm. Charles.
+(_Library of Congress_)]
+
+The Alexandria Committee of Safety obtained and outfitted fifteen
+vessels for the protection of the town and the Potomac. On two occasions
+the people became much excited and badly frightened. Rumor was rife in
+1775 that Governor Dunmore had dispatched an expedition of warships up
+the Potomac to "lay waste the towns and the country, capture Mrs.
+Washington, and burn Mount Vernon."[44] Martha Washington remained calm,
+and though finally persuaded by Colonel Mason to leave home, she stayed
+away one night only.
+
+The second scare is revealed in a letter from the General's manager,
+Lund Washington, written in January 1776. "Alexandria is much alarmed
+and indeed the whole neighborhood," he wrote. "The women and children
+are leaving the town and stowing themselves in every hut they can find,
+out of reach of the enemy's cannon. Every wagon, cart and pack horse
+they can get is employed. The militia are all up, but not in arms, for
+indeed they have none, or at least very few."[45]
+
+[Illustration: Mantel in the house of the late Mrs. Davidson Maigne, 220
+South Royal Street, dates about 1800 and is a good example of the
+period, showing grace and restraint. Attention is drawn to the center
+panel in an interesting way.]
+
+La Fayette, De Kalb, Rochambeau, John Paul Jones, and "Light Horse
+Harry" Lee, were in and out of Alexandria many times. On May 4, 1781,
+the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army recorded in his diary: "A
+letter from the Marq^s de la Fayette, dated at Alexandria on the 23rd,
+mentioned his having commenced his march that day for Fredericksburg"--that
+desertion had ceased, and that his detachment was in good spirits.[46]
+High morale and grand strategy brought victory for the Continental cause
+that October. Something like thirty-odd officers of the Revolution lived
+in or near Alexandria, or came to live here after the war. Sixteen of them
+became members of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which Washington was
+President General.
+
+The Peace of 1783 revived strangulated commerce and construction. The
+harbor came to life. The brickmason and the carpenter took up their
+tools. Wheat and tobacco rolled in to fill again the empty warehouses.
+The citizens were gay and indulged themselves in festivities, as witness
+an old letter written from Alexandria on February 13, 1787:
+
+   Last Evening there was an elegant Ball in this Town, being the
+   anniversary of General Washington's birth. No less than fifty Ladies
+   elegantly dressed graced the Ball Room, tho the mud in our
+   intolerable Streets was up to the Knees in Shoes (rather Boots) &
+   Stockings.
+
+   Mr. Jenckes attended--says the Ball was agreeable for one so
+   numerous. He has formed considerable acquaintances with the ladies,
+   who are very agreeable but in general they talk rather too broad
+   Irish for him.[47]
+
+Brissot de Warville, who visited America in 1788, was impressed by the
+possibilities of Alexandria:
+
+   ... where thirty or forty years ago there were only one or two
+   houses, is now indeed smaller than Baltimore, but plans to surpass
+   her. She is already quite as irregular in construction and as muddy.
+   But there is more luxury evident at Alexandria, if a miserable
+   luxury; you see servants in silk stockings, and their masters in
+   boots.
+
+   At the end of the war the people of Alexandria imagined that the
+   natural advantages of their situation, the salubrity of the air, the
+   depth of the river channel and the safety of the harbour which can
+   accomodate the largest ships and permit them to anchor close to the
+   wharves, must unite with the richness of the back country to make
+   their town the center of a large commerce. In consequence they are
+   building on all sides, they have set up superb wharves and raised
+   vast warehouses.
+
+   At the moment the expected commerce languishes. This is attributed to
+   the heavy taxes. Whatever may be the cause many citizens are
+   emigrating or planning to emigrate. Some ships of Alexandria are now
+   trading regularly with the West Indies and at New Orleans.[48]
+
+[Illustration: Classical Revival in mantel and doorway]
+
+
+THE FEDERAL PERIOD
+
+It was not long after the Revolution that the seat of the new federal
+government was selected near Alexandria. In fact, one old story has it
+that Alexandria was chosen as the site, and the patriot Washington was
+twitted with the advantages that would accrue to him, with such vast
+holdings of land so near the new capital. The tales go on that
+Washington waxed very angry and replied that never, if he could help it,
+should a public building be put south of the Potomac.
+
+Be this as it may, the Virginia Assembly ceded to the federal government
+on December 3, 1789, a generous slice of Fairfax County to be
+incorporated with the State of Maryland's larger portion into a district
+for the federal capital, ten miles square. The Congress of the United
+States was pleased to accept this, and later an additional act of
+Congress of March 3, 1791, amended and repealed a part of the first act,
+naming Alexandria part of the ceded territory. And so for the next
+fifty-six years we have no longer Alexandria in Virginia, but Alexandria
+in the District of Columbia.
+
+The Federal City (afterward Washington) which did not officially become
+the nation's capital until 1800, was an undrained marsh in 1790.
+Travelers visiting Alexandria about that time described it as having
+"upwards of three hundred houses," many "handsomely built."[49] In 1795
+Thomas Twining passed through Alexandria and commented: "What struck me
+most was the vast number of houses which I saw building ... the hammer
+and the trowel were at work everywhere, a cheering sight."[50] The Duc
+de la Rochefoucauld in the following year stated: "Alexandria is beyond
+all comparison the handsomest town in Virginia and indeed is among the
+finest in the United States."[51] That same year, 1796, Isaac Weld
+remarked, "Alexandria is one of the neatest towns in the United States.
+The houses are mostly of brick."[52]
+
+Virginians were largely their own architects. Thomas Jefferson designed
+Monticello, the University of Virginia, and the Capitol at Richmond;
+George Mason built Gunston Hall; and George Washington directed the
+transformation of Mount Vernon from a simple villa into the famous
+mansion it is. Alexandria "Undertakers," or contractors, did the
+work--James Patterson in 1758 and Going Lamphire from 1773 onward for a
+number of years. One Mr. Sanders, was called in about roof troubles and
+afterwards dismissed. John Carlyle was the great gentleman architect and
+builder of Alexandria. He built his own fine house, he took over Christ
+Church in 1773 when James Parsons failed to complete his contract, and
+he also superintended the erection of the Presbyterian meetinghouse.
+
+James Wren, Gentleman, is remembered as the designer of Christ Church in
+1767. Thomas Fleming is referred to as a ship's carpenter and "one who
+is inclined to serve the Town." A story goes that George Coryell built a
+gate in Philadelphia which so pleased the first President that he
+persuaded him to move to Alexandria. True or not, the local _Gazette_
+carried Coryell's advertisements of building materials and he is known
+to have built a number of houses. Robert Brockett was building in 1785
+the Presbyterian Manse. Benjamin Hallowell, William Fowle, and William
+Yeaton at a later time proved themselves able architects.
+
+The designs of Alexandria houses derived from the Old Country, and
+follow the type of eighteenth century architecture found in the British
+Isles, especially Scotland. The general floor plans of Alexandria's
+homes are similar. With the _Builder's Companion and Workman's General
+Assistant_, it was well-nigh impossible to go wrong. This series of
+pamphlets, reprinted in 1762 by William Pain of London, offered the
+purest and best of classical designs. The Scottish founders adapted them
+to their needs, with the result that Alexandria differs from other
+Colonial towns in Virginia, as Scotland differs from England. The
+spiritual and physical variations are keenly sensed.
+
+The interior trim of Alexandria's houses is simple and severe compared
+to the plantation houses lining the Virginia rivers; to the elaborate
+carving of the fine eighteenth century Charleston homes it seems plain
+and austere. Nonetheless, there is a substantial dignity about these
+houses that produces an atmosphere of calm, gracious peace not unlike
+the interiors of meetinghouses. Even the little brick-and-frame cottages
+partake of this same feeling and are remarkable for the charm of their
+inviting and harmonious rooms. The simple overmantels, chair rails, wide
+and low six-paneled doors hung on the proverbial H&L hinges, well
+proportioned rooms and large, hospitable fireplaces, all done in
+miniature, form interiors rare in scale, surprising in elegance, perfect
+in balance.
+
+For the better part of ten years after the Revolution, buildings
+continued going up as rapidly as bricks could be made and artisans found
+to put them together. As the town grew, the gaps along the streets were
+filled. Alexandria assumed the character, not of Williamsburg or
+Annapolis, but rather of Philadelphia or some Old World town. By 1795 it
+wore an air of stability as row after row of fine brick buildings went
+up. Alexandria houses were city dwellings and homes of merchants.
+Comfortable and inviting they were, too, with a wealth of detail in
+finish and appearance. Doorways and cornices for the outside; arches,
+mantels and paneling within. Very sad it is to relate how much of this
+has found its way into the museums of the country, and sadder still to
+tell how much has been wantonly destroyed. The New York Metropolitan
+Museum of Art houses one of the great rooms from Alexandria; the St.
+Louis Museum another; and some interior woodwork has found its way to
+Williamsburg.
+
+[Illustration: Varied were the designs and never were the twain alike]
+
+Conceived and built as a trading center, by 1796, almost without
+exception, the first floor of every building was used as a place of
+business while the upper floors served as the family dwelling. This
+accounts for the more elaborate woodwork found on second floors. The
+Mutual Assurance Society archives reveal many instances of a store,
+countinghouse, office or shop located in a wing or attached building;
+likewise warehouses on the premises as well as along the water front.
+
+
+ARTISANS AND TRADESMEN
+
+Alexandrians owned and operated shipyards, sail lofts, ropewalks, lumber
+yards, brick kilns; print and apothecary shops; manufactories of
+harness, saddles, boots, shoes, mattresses, and cloth. And of course
+there were the taverns and hotels, inns and oyster houses, markets,
+stables, ferries, and fish wharves (where millions of herring were
+packed for export). Its citizens maintained churches, schools,
+academies, banks, fire companies, counting houses, and newspapers. They
+supported ministers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, oculists,
+cabinetmakers, artists, musicians, actors, merchants and a town militia.
+Mention has already been made of the important building professions--to
+the activities of house and ship carpenters, and the "undertakers," or
+contractors of the day.
+
+Among the tradesmen and artisans of the town were watchmakers and
+clockmakers, jewelers, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, gunsmiths, blacksmiths,
+and ironmongers; confectioners, bakers and brewers; hatters, and
+wig-makers. Cottom & Stewart was a firm of publishers and vendors of the
+latest in literature. Joshua Delacour was a bookbinder who carried on
+his business in all its branches, not only supplying ladies with
+bandboxes, trunks, pasteboard stays and stomachers, but he also papered
+rooms in the neatest fashion. Books and stationery were imported by
+Joshua Merryman, who also advertised blotting paper, quills, ink powder,
+inkpots, sealing wax and wafers--in fact, all the adjuncts of polite
+correspondence.
+
+Margaret Greetner set great store by her newly imported mangle, by which
+"silk, linen and cotton stockings, and other articles were smoothed and
+glossed in the most expeditious manner." She took in washing at
+"moderate terms" and apparently was the eighteenth century counterpart
+of our modern laundry. Joseph Delarue was her competitor in the
+dry-cleaning field, offering his services to ladies and gentlemen of the
+town and adjacent country as a scourer of silks, chintzes, and woolen
+clothes. Coachmaking was carried on by E.P. Taylor and Charles Jones.
+Unfortunately, records relating to Alexandria's early artisans are
+pathetically scanty or altogether lacking.
+
+Alexandria in its heyday boasted as fine silver as could be found in the
+colony, and while there is a quantity of English silver thereabouts,
+much was made by her own craftsmen. It exists today in families who,
+while cherishing it for generations, have used it commonly for a century
+or more.
+
+A partial list of silversmiths includes some nineteen or twenty names,
+for the earliest of whom there is any record, we must thank "the
+General," for it is in his ledgers that these first five names are
+found, noting some work done for Mount Vernon, usually of a repair
+nature. Salt spoons and ladles evidently saw hard service, or were kept
+so spick and span they had to go to the silversmith for frequent
+mending. In 1773 the Washington silver chest was the richer for a punch
+ladle made by William Dowdney. While this was in the making, one Edward
+Sandford was restoring a salt and mending a punch ladle. He also
+repaired Mrs. Washington's watch and made her a silver seal. The salt
+spoons were in the hands of one Charles Turner in 1775; and Mrs.
+Washington had a gold locket from one Philip Dawe. The punch ladle was
+out of order again in 1781 and had a new handle made by "Mr. Kanat."
+
+[Illustration: The Federal Period interpreted in iron]
+
+About this time the Adam family of silversmiths began to attract
+attention. The first of that name in Alexandria was James Adam
+(1755-1798). He was working in Alexandria as early as 1771, and he who
+has an original Adam piece is either one of an ancient family in the
+town or a fortunate collector. The work of his son, John Adam
+(1780-1843), is more frequently found, and of the best type. The Adam
+grandson, William W. (1817-1877), followed the trade of his
+progenitors, turning out good work certainly but in the Victorian idiom.
+
+Charles Burnett, working in Alexandria in 1793, and probably as early as
+1785, produced sauceboats, urns, tea sets, tankards, and so on. His
+flatware is usually distinguished by a shell motif, and gadroon edges
+finish and decorate many of his pieces. His work is very similar to his
+Philadelphia contemporaries.
+
+Adam Lynn (1775-1836) was born in Alexandria, of Alexandria parents, the
+son of Colonel Adam Lynn, a Revolutionary officer and a member of the
+Society of the Cincinnati. He inherited property from his father, two
+lots of land on King and St. Asaph Streets. At the age of twenty-five,
+in 1800, he advertised himself as:
+
+       ADAM LYNN
+
+   Jeweler, Silver and Goldsmith, Silver Tea sets may be had to any
+   pattern at short notice, warranted to equal any in America.
+
+It is noted that in 1801 he "respectfully informs the public that he has
+commenced the clock and watchmaking business, in addition to that of
+jewelry. He has laid in a large assortment of the best materials in that
+line and is determined to give general satisfaction." Lynn's work is
+delicate and fine. Strangely, very little remains but what there is is
+satisfactory. He frequently decorated his flatware with a refined
+etching or gravure, his hollow ware with reeding. To the jewelry
+business Lynn combined another. In 1810 his advertisement read:
+
+      New Hardware Store Adam Lynn & Co.
+
+   Have received by the Ship "Dumphries" from Liverpool, via Baltimore A
+   Large and General Assortment ... which they now offer for sale at
+   their store corner King and Royal Streets--late occupied by Peter
+   Sherron.
+
+Lynn held several offices in the Masonic lodge and served for years as
+vestryman of St. Paul's Church. He had the added distinction of being
+drawn by M. de St. Memin.
+
+A few spoons and ladles survive Mordecai Miller, 1790; John Duffey,
+1793; George Duffey (1845-1880); James Ganet (1820-1830); William Cohen,
+1833; Benjamin Barton, 1833; R.C. Acton, 1840; William A. Williams
+(1787-1846). The last-named craftsmen made the famous silver cup
+presented by the "grateful City Council" to the lovely Mrs. Lawrason for
+entertaining La Fayette in her home. John Pittman is listed in a deed
+in 1801 as a goldsmith and silversmith, while the census for 1790 gives
+the names of Thomas Bird, William Galt, John Piper and John Lawrason. In
+addition, from other deeds and advertisements, the names of John Short
+(1784); James Galt (1801); Josiah Coryton, "late of this town" (1801)
+are gleaned as watchmakers and clockmakers.
+
+[Illustration: _Top_: Creamer, sugar and bowl by Charles Burnett.
+_Center_: Sauceboat and sugar urn by Charles Burnett, creamer by I.
+Adam. Owned by Mrs. John Howard Joynt. _Bottom_: Service by I. Adam.
+Owned by the Misses Snowden.]
+
+Slate roofing seems to have made its initial appearance around 1800. In
+1805 Joseph Riddle's dwelling house was "covered in copper" and John
+Janney's warehouse in slate, and at least one building in "composition."
+At this date an insurance plat shows a tinsmith and coppersmith's shop.
+The early roofs were covered in wood (_i.e._, wooden shingles).
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+DECLINE AND RESURGENCE
+
+With the death of George Washington in 1799, which emphasized the close
+of the eighteenth century, the city whose prosperity seemed in some
+mystic fashion to have developed and grown with him began a decline.
+
+In 1803 came yellow fever, leaving desolation and mourning in its wake.
+An English traveler wrote in 1807:
+
+   Alexandria was about eight years ago a very flourishing place, but
+   the losses sustained from the capture of American vessels by the
+   French in the West Indies, occasioned many failures. In the year
+   1803, the yellow fever, which broke out there for the first time,
+   carried off a number of its inhabitants. These shocks have so deeply
+   affected the mercantile interest, that the town has but two or three
+   ships in the trade with Great Britain; and there is little prospect
+   of its ever attaining to its former prosperity.[53]
+
+Alexandria was further subjected to plagues. Cholera broke out in 1832,
+and people dropped dead in the streets while the population shuddered.
+Illness, death, and burial was the fearsome sequence of only a few
+hours. There was a Board of Health and a Quarantine Officer, but
+ignorance of sanitation laws and preventive medicine resulted in
+appalling epidemics brought in by visiting vessels.
+
+Fire, too, ravaged the town. There were two major conflagrations in the
+early nineteenth century, one in 1810 and another in 1824, in each of
+which at least fifty buildings were consumed. The fire in the latter
+year all but demolished the west side of Fairfax Street between King
+and Prince Streets. George Washington is credited with having founded
+the first fire company and giving to the city what was then the finest
+of modern hand pumpers--a magnificent affair of red paint, brass
+trimmings, and leather buckets. A law of the town made it mandatory for
+each householder or proprietor of a dwelling or storehouse to furnish
+leather buckets of at least two-and-one-half-gallon capacity at "his or
+her expense"--in quantity equal to the stories of his house; no
+proprietor was expected, however, to provide more than three buckets.
+The buckets were numbered and lettered with the names of the owners,
+whose duty it was to send or carry them to any place where a fire broke
+out, or to "throw them into the street so that they may be taken
+there."[54]
+
+The fire companies at the first alarm, in scarlet shirts, turned out on
+shortest notice, at a dead run on "shanks' mare." Woe betide the member
+who was late, for he was fined right heavily. Pumping by hand to put out
+a fire was a laborious affair and slackers were not tolerated. Even with
+the best of will and the most earnest of pumpers, the fires got out of
+hand and took a terrible toll of the early buildings. While insides were
+gutted, the walls often remained to contain again an interior of beauty
+and dignity.
+
+Alexandria suffered more from the War of 1812 than from the Revolution.
+Before Washington fell to the British in 1814, Alexandria was forced to
+capitulate and had to pay a high indemnity for physical protection. This
+disaster, coupled with the failure of the canal which was to open up the
+vast Ohio country, all but wrecked the best financial hopes and plans of
+the city.
+
+The opening of the Potomac River for navigation, to connect with the
+Ohio, was a project close to General Washington's heart. He had
+entertained this dream from the time of his first western venture in
+1754. He calculated, plotted, and surveyed distances, and from 1770
+onward his mind was set upon the accomplishment. In July of that year he
+was in correspondence with Thomas Johnson, to whom he wrote: "Till now I
+have not been able to enquire into the sentiments of any of the
+Gentlemen of this side in respect to the Scheme of opening inland
+navigation of the Potomac by private subscription."[55] Washington's
+trips to the Ohio, in October 1770 and again in September 1784--on both
+occasions accompanied by Dr. Craik--while in the interest of his western
+land holdings were also to forward this canal business.
+
+All of this resulted in the founding of the Potomac Navigation Company
+in 1785, and Alexandria subscribed heavily to the bond issue. By 1829
+the first steam locomotive was operating in America and the coming of
+the steam engine was followed by the collapse of the canal project.
+Thousands of local dollars were thus lost. When the deflation was
+complete, financial stagnation followed, from which Alexandria never
+entirely recovered. During these trying 1830s and 1840s many of her
+younger men departed for the west hoping to better their fortunes.
+
+Alexandrians did not take kindly to federal jurisdiction of their
+affairs, and within half a century from 1800--on February 3, 1846--a
+petition was presented from the citizens of the county and town of
+Alexandria to the Virginia General Assembly, stating that they had
+pending before Congress an application for recession to the Commonwealth
+of Virginia. They asked the Assembly for a law to accept them back into
+the fold should their request be granted. By act of Congress, dated July
+9, 1846, it was provided that: "With the assent of the people of the
+County and Town of Alexandria, that portion of the territory of the
+District of Columbia ceded to the United States by the State of Virginia
+... receded and forever relinquished to the State of Virginia ..."[56]
+
+Virginia welcomed the recession as a mother would welcome home a
+maltreated and divorced daughter. Alexandria County (later Arlington
+County) and the City of Alexandria were accepted on March 13, 1847, just
+two years short of the latter's centenary.
+
+Fourteen years later the first blood of dreadful civil war was spilled
+in Alexandria and the city found itself a pawn to arbitrament by the
+sword. When General Robert E. Lee accepted the command of Confederate
+forces, a host of Alexandrians followed him into battle. To the
+citizenry with Southern sympathies, war meant bitter severance once
+again from Virginia. For the duration of the Civil War, Alexandria,
+under federal jurisdiction again, became the capital of that part of the
+state (West Virginia) which refused to secede with the Richmond
+government. To the old city came a governor and legislature with
+Northern sympathies, making welcome any federal forces camping on the
+outskirts of town. Old prints show the Union flag in the hands of
+marching soldiers on King Street, and camps and cantonments, beginning
+at the "Round House," extending for miles.
+
+Even so, the best and noblest donned the gray, and Alexandria's own
+marched out to become part of the 17th Virginia Infantry, C.S.A., upon
+the bloody battlefields of the South.
+
+With the close of the Civil War, prosperity departed. Fewer and fewer
+ships came to anchor in the Potomac port, until finally nothing remained
+to show the important part that Alexandria played for a century in the
+sea commerce of the world save rotted piles that once supported wharves,
+and a few grimy, scarred old warehouses whose collapsing roofs and loose
+bricks threatened the very life of the pedestrian.
+
+Other wars have come and gone and each has had a conspicuous effect upon
+the town. The tragic era of 1861-65, binding our great nation into an
+indissoluble union, began likewise the process of cementation which
+steadfastly links Alexandria to the District of Columbia by bands that
+are basically nonpolitical (maybe stronger for that same reason).
+Paradoxically, Alexandria is a free city--part of Virginia, though not
+characteristic of the State; allied to the District, but no part of it.
+
+Alexandria's cultural heritage has appealed for many reasons to
+Washington officialdom, and many persons prominent in national affairs
+have crossed the river to settle and to restore the gracious old homes
+of bygone days. George Washington's Alexandria is a city at once assured
+and self-conscious. Confident in its background, its venerable
+traditions, and its associations with the great in the country's
+development, Alexandria ponders its destiny.
+
+[Illustration: Adam Lynn, Silversmith. (By Saint Memin)]
+
+All faithful sons and daughters, whether native or adopted, fondly hope
+that this bicentennial year of the city's existence may bring closer to
+fulfillment the famous toast voiced by La Fayette in 1824: "The City of
+Alexandria: May her prosperity and happiness more and more realize the
+fondest wishes of our venerated Washington!"
+
+
+L'ENVOI
+
+Where is the great seaport that was Alexandria? Where are the ships that
+plied their trade to the four corners of the earth, built, outfitted,
+loaded from this port, officered and manned by the men of this town?
+Where the great shipyards down whose ways slipped vessels of any
+magnitude; the ropewalks where black slaves trod the weary miles
+twisting the hemp to lift the sails made in Alexandria sail lofts? Where
+the great docks, wharves and warehouses that lined the water front?
+
+Only phantom vessels, locked in the eternal secrets of the deep, float
+at anchor and crowd the harbor with a pale tracery of masts and rigging.
+Only the voices of sailors long silent float ashore on the breezes in a
+polyglot of languages, while ghostly laughter and oaths of those held in
+taverns by rum and sugar at three pence ha'penny disturbs the sobriety
+of the water front.
+
+Gone are the shipyards. Upon ways destroyed by rot will rise no more the
+skeleton ribs of sloop nor barque nor brig.
+
+Silent are the sail lofts. Long ago the last workman at day's end put
+down the canvas and the thread.
+
+Empty are the ropewalks of docile slave and pungent hemp.
+
+Cold are the bake ovens--crumbled the last biscuit....
+
+The worn and polished cobbles are destitute of coach and four, of
+chariot and chair. Nor does the mail arrive by stage.
+
+No more will hoops and wigs add allure to the progress of beauty--nor
+peruke nor smallclothes invest the beau with grandeur.
+
+The factor and the sea captains have departed. The weary clerk has put
+up the last shutter; empty stools and blunted quills abandoned. Only the
+ledgers remain, free of blot and blemish to attest the skill and
+patience of the forgotten scribe.
+
+An autumn moon lights the old town, turning to silver the tiny waves
+lapping the old sea wall, shimmering on the panes of dormer windows,
+silhouetting the high brick facades against the white night, outlining
+trim and cornice. Lighted transoms dimly reveal the white paneled
+doorways.... Let us enter....
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+PART TWO
+
+The Presence of George Washington 1749-1799
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 1
+
+William Ramsay: Romulus of Alexandria
+
+[Historic Ramsay House, once the home of Alexandria's first mayor and
+oldest building standing in the city, miraculously escaped destruction
+by fire in 1942. Later threatened by the "wheels of progress," it was
+saved by heroic efforts of Alexandria antiquarians who persuaded the
+city fathers to purchase the structure as a gesture to the 1949
+anniversary. As this book goes to press an active campaign is under way
+by Alexandria historical societies to raise funds for restoration.]
+
+
+Some two hundred years ago a sturdy-bottomed little sailing ship riding
+at anchor in the port of Dumfries in Scotland, and bound for the port of
+Dumfries in Virginia, was boarded by a young Scotsman. No _parvenu_
+voyager he, but a young man of settled background and promising future,
+educated for his calling and going out to take his place in one of the
+Scottish firms trading in Virginia.
+
+Our adventurer belonged to the Ramsay family of the noble house of
+Dalhousie, which goes back into Scottish history of the thirteenth
+century. King Edward I, in July 1298, spent the night at Dalhousie on
+his way to battle with William Wallace; and in 1400 Sir Alexander Ramsay
+defended the walls of Dalhousie against Henry IV. In 1633 William,
+Second Lord Ramsay, was created First Earl of Dalhousie. This young
+adventurer bore the name of the Second Lord, William. He was born in
+1716 in Kirkendbrightshire in the Galloway district of Scotland, and he
+was destined to play no small part in his own particular sphere. He
+brought the integrity and industry of his native land to the new world
+shores, and was one of that band of Scotsmen of whom President Madison
+said, "Their commercial edicts served the colony as substantial
+legislation for many years."[57] These traits, added to vision, wisdom,
+sound morality and a tender nature, formed the character of the future
+first citizen of Alexandria.
+
+The year 1744 found William Ramsay settled in business with John
+Carlyle, trading under the name of Carlyle & Ramsay in the village of
+Belle Haven. This little settlement lay on the banks of the upper
+Potomac behind the Great Hunting Creek warehouse.
+
+Ramsay early sensed that the large harbor of Belle Haven with its deep
+water and fine approach was a better situation for a town than many then
+being agitated before the Burgesses. Forming friendships with Colonel
+Fairfax, Lawrence Washington, George Mason, George Johnston, and other
+large planters, he impressed them with the importance of this situation
+as a site of great promise for a city and a port.[58]
+
+When this dream became an accomplished fact it was a natural conclusion
+that William Ramsay was one of the seven men chosen by the Virginia
+Assembly for the purpose of laying out the town at Hunting Creek
+warehouse.[59]
+
+His faith in Alexandria was supported by his pocketbook. At the first
+auction of lots on July 13, 1749, he bought lots Nos. 46 and 47; and he
+never lost an opportunity to invest his hard and dangerously earned
+money in the soil of his begotten city.
+
+At the outbreak of the French and Indian War he was appointed (on George
+Washington's recommendation) Commissary in 1756. Many letters dealing
+with commissary affairs, and more interesting, the movement of troops,
+written from Rays Town are among the Washington papers.
+
+His partnership with Carlyle was followed by one with John Dixon which
+was dissolved in 1757, when Dixon returned to England and his native
+Whitehaven. Ramsay incurred a large debt by buying Dixon's interests. He
+wrote to Washington in July 1757, saying he had been extremely
+unfortunate in all his affairs, and asking for a loan of L250, saying,
+"I have made application to the monied ones--My L^d Fx, M^r Speaker, M^r
+Corbin, M^r Cary and many others with^t success wch I put to the Acco^t
+of my perverse fortune, not to the want of ability to serve me." These
+gentlemen were among the richest and most influential men in the colony,
+but George, a young colonel of militia, scraped up L80 in August and
+another L70 in September, to lend his good friend and mentor.
+
+William Ramsay had given Washington some sound advice in September 1756,
+when the young Colonel was somewhat upset by criticism of militia
+officers and not too happy in his official duties. Ramsay wrote, "...
+Know sir, that Ev'ry Gent^n in an exalted Station raises envy & Ev'ry
+person takes the Liberty of judging or rather determining (with judging)
+from appearances (or information) without weighing circumstances, or the
+proper causes, on wch their judgem^t ought to be founded.... Upon the
+whole, S^r, triumph in your innocency, your disinterestedness, your
+unwearied Application & Zeal for your country's good, determine you to
+continue in its service at a time there may be the greatest call for
+you, & when probably some signal Day may mark you the bravest (as
+hitherto you have been) of persons ..."[60]
+
+Ramsay served Alexandria some thirty-six years as a public servant. He
+was town overseer, census taker, postmaster, member of the Committee of
+Safety, colonel of the militia regiment, adjuster of weights and seals
+with John Carlyle at Hunting Creek warehouse in 1754, town trustee,
+mayor, and did his duty as gentleman justice for many years, beginning
+that service prior to the settlement of Alexandria. Tradition has it
+that he was the most beloved citizen of Alexandria, which is certainly
+confirmed. In 1761 he was elected by his fellow townsmen their first and
+only Lord Mayor. The enthusiastic inhabitants decorated him with a
+golden chain bearing a medal. "Upon one side was represented the infant
+state of Alexandria and its commodious harbour, with these words in the
+legend, '_Alexandria Translate et Renate Auspice Deo_,' and in the
+exerque, '_Condita Reg^o Geo. II. An. Dom. 1649_.' The reverse has this
+inscription: '_Dig^mo Dom^no Guilielmo Ramsay. Romulo Alexandriae
+Urbisque Patri, Consuli Primo. Bene Merenti. An. Dom. 1761_.'"[61]
+
+The election and investment over, the _Maryland Gazette_ tells us, "the
+Lord Mayor and Common Council preceded by officers of State Sword and
+Mace bearers and accompanied by many gentlemen of the town and county,
+wearing blue sashes under crosses, made a grand procession ... with
+drums, trumpets and a band of music, colors flying." The shipping in the
+harbor displayed "flags and banners while guns fired during the
+afternoon." A "very elegant entertainment was prepared at the Coffee
+House," where the new Lord Mayor and his entourage sat down to a
+sumptuous repast. This was followed by a ball given by the Scottish
+gentlemen "at which a numerous and brilliant company of ladies danced."
+Ceremonies ended with fireworks, bonfires, and "other demonstrations."
+Perhaps this enthusiasm may be somewhat explained by the fact that this
+celebration took place on St. Andrew's Day.[62]
+
+In 1765 Ramsay went back to Scotland, whether to see again his family or
+on business is not revealed. But that he had a most remarkable reception
+cannot be questioned. Dumfries and Kirkendbright conferred
+extraordinary honor upon him. Yellowed by age, two pieces of engraved
+parchment are treasured by his descendants. These towns each made him a
+"Burgess," the most signal distinction to be conferred upon a visitor.
+
+Besides the original lots which William Ramsay purchased on July 13,
+1749 (Nos. 46 and 47 for forty-six _pistoles_), he later purchased lot
+No. 34. Augustine Washington forfeited his lots, Nos. 64 and 65, for
+neglecting to build within the required time, and Ramsay bought this
+property. When William Seawell, the peruke-maker, lost his holdings for
+indebtedness, Ramsay also acquired lot No. 61. He owned the Royal
+George, a tavern of importance, and had numbers of slaves and indentured
+workmen. In 1749 he paid taxes on seven blacks and seven whites. In 1782
+he owned twenty-one blacks, four horses and a coach. His will, dated the
+month before his death, enumerated seven slaves by name, specifying
+special considerations for two, _viz_: "that they may be better cloathed
+both in Winter and Summer than is common for slaves, and that they be
+particularly taken good care of as a reward for their long and faithful
+services."
+
+William Ramsay married Ann McCarty, daughter of Dennis McCarty Sr. and
+his wife Sarah Ball, who was a kinswoman of George Washington and sister
+of Mrs. George Johnston. Ann McCarty Ramsay was one of those women of
+the day who by the laws of the land lost their property and identity
+with marriage. Yet, when this retiring, gentle person was called upon to
+raise funds in Alexandria and Fairfax County, no modern matron working
+for bond drive or Red Cross ever did a more successful work. Thomas
+Jefferson, as Governor of Virginia, in a letter from Richmond written on
+August 4, 1780, to General Edward Stevens, attached a list of "female
+Contributions, in aid of the War, Probably in 1780." Among the thirteen
+ladies who gave their watch chains, diamond drops and rings is the name
+of "Mrs. Anne Ramsay (for Fairfax), one halfjoe, three guineas, three
+pistareens, one bit. Do. for do. paper money, bundle No. 1, twenty
+thousand dollars, No. 2, twenty-seven thousand dollars, No. 3, fifteen
+thousand dollars, No. 4, thirteen thousand five hundred and eighteen
+dollars and one third."[63]
+
+This excellent wife took her Presbyterian husband into the Established
+Church and we find Washington crediting him with L33 for pew No. 20 in
+Alexandria (Christ) Church in January 1773. But the Presbyterian citadel
+of learning was the choice over William and Mary College when time came
+for the eldest son, William Jr., to prepare for a professional career.
+The strict discipline of Old Nassau was more to the liking of Scottish
+conservatism than the laxness reported among students and faculty at the
+Williamsburg institution. At Princeton young William studied medicine
+under Dr. Benjamin Rush. In 1775, after joining the General in winter
+headquarters at Cambridge, Mrs. Washington wrote the family that she had
+seen young Ramsay as she passed through Princeton and that "he was very
+well but did not talk of comeing home soon."[64] Maybe this was a
+woman's subtle way of breaking the news of young William's plans to
+follow the Continental cause wherever it might lead. As surgeon in the
+army, he served throughout the Revolutionary War.
+
+Following the custom, the elder William Ramsay placed his second son in
+trade with the firm of Jennifer & Hooe in Dumfries. From Alexandria, on
+December 5, 1774, he sent young Dennis, then a lad of eighteen years,
+the following letter brimming with sound parental advice and Scottish
+business acumen:
+
+   Dear Dennis
+
+   Tho' you have been but a short time from us, I cannot help informing
+   you that we are all well--But as a Parent, I must say more but I hope
+   you are so well grounded in the principals I would inculcate, that it
+   need only put you in mind of the duties we owe to the supreme Being &
+   our fellow Men--your first duty my dear Son, is to your God, do not
+   by any means neglect your duty in paying your adorations &
+   supplications to him for a blessing on your endeavors, & your
+   gratefull acknowledgements for every benefit and money you receive,
+   which you & I every day experience--Your next duty is to your
+   Parents, who, I hope you will pay that respect to, you always have
+   done, & continue to listen to their advice with proper attention,
+   because you must be assured, it flows from the parental and
+   affectionate regard they have for you and your welfare here &
+   hereafter. Your next duty is to your fellow Men, more especialy to
+   your employer, his interest demands your justice, your diligence and
+   utmost attention to his business and interest, your secrets & his
+   relating to your affairs you must religiously keep, mind his business
+   only, do not intermedle with that of other peoples, and avoid
+   entering into any dispute with them: you may gain much observation &
+   society, but nothing by disputetation. Let your intimates be few and
+   those well chosen, for the formation of youth depends on the
+   companions they chuse, therefore in this be very cautious. I will not
+   say any more to you on this head but hope that you will conduct
+   yourself as hitherto you have done & shun even the Appearance of
+   evil. When y^o lodge by yourself be cautious in securing your Windows
+   and doors, and if you cou'd, as probably you may, get some agreeable
+   young fellow to sleep with you if not always, very often; he wou'd be
+   company to you, and made your time less lonesome, but your own
+   prudence will suggest to you these things better than I can--When
+   your Bed and Chest comes down, I will send Anthony down to you, he
+   can make your fire, clean your Shoes, fetch you water &c.... As I
+   mentioned to you, that what you now get from your industry shall be
+   your own, besides, I will help you all that I can 'till you are of
+   age, please God to bless me & you with the sight of that day, I will
+   strain every nerve to set you forward in the World, your behavior I
+   hope will entitle you to it, and give your Mother and me the highest
+   pleasure we can hope for here, that is, your doing well--If you want
+   a Waistcoat and Breeches you may get them in town yourself. Mr. Hooe
+   says that he will immediately send you some Rum & Sugar on their
+   Acco^t to dispose off in the Wholesale way, that you may take your
+   choice out of it to retain on your own Account--Be cautious and do
+   not trust. I do not know my dear Dennis anything I can say more to
+   you at this time. I expect to hear from you next Post and that you
+   will be particular with regard to your situation &c. Your Mother
+   gives her blessing to y^o, all your sisters,
+
+   I am, my dear Dennis, your most Affectionate Father,
+
+        WM RAMSAY[65]
+
+[Illustration: Bill of Lading to William Ramsay at Bellehaven, dated
+1751. (Ramsay Papers)]
+
+When war came, Denny Ramsay, like his brother, threw his lot with the
+cause of liberty and served with distinction in the army, reaching the
+rank of colonel.
+
+Dennis Ramsay closely followed in the footsteps of his father. Both
+served as mayor of the town and it was the official duty of both to
+address General Washington upon commemorative occasions--William in 1781
+after Yorktown, and Dennis in 1789 when the General paused in Alexandria
+on his way to be inaugurated as President of the new republic. Both
+father and son were Freemasons and members of the Sun Fire Company.
+
+After the death of Martha Washington's little daughter, Patsy Custis,
+her empty heart sought solace in association with the young daughters of
+her friends. The girls of Alexandria kept the carriage wheels rolling
+to Mount Vernon, where they were joyfully received, and where they were
+nearly always numerous enough to make a gay evening. The young ladies
+from the houses of Carlyle, Dalton and Ramsay were near neighbors in
+Alexandria and frequenters of Mount Vernon, as were the Misses Craik,
+Herbert, Fitzhugh, Lee, and Fendall, whose presence brightened the
+mansion house with girlish laughter and confidences. At these gatherings
+none was held in more affection than the young daughter of William and
+Ann McCarty Ramsay. Where could a more charming letter be found than
+this written by the hand of Martha Washington one hundred and
+seventy-four years ago, within the sounds of the guns of Bunker Hill, to
+Mistress Betty Ramsay:
+
+       Cambridge December the 30th 1775
+
+   Dear Miss
+
+   I now set down to tell you that I arrived hear safe, and our party
+   all well--we were fortunate in our time of setting out as the weather
+   proved fine all the time we were on the road--I did not reach Phila^d
+   till the tuesday after I left home, we were so attended and the
+   gentlemen so kind, that I am lade under obligations to them that I
+   shall not for get soon. I dont dout but you have seen the Figuer our
+   arrival made in the Philadelphia paper--and I left it in as great
+   pomp as if I had been a very great some body.
+
+   I have waited some days to collect something to tell, but allass
+   there is nothing but what you will find in the papers--every person
+   seems to be chearfull and happy hear--some days we hear a number of
+   Cannon and shells from Boston and Bunkers Hill, but it does not seem
+   to surprise any one but me; I confess I shuder everytime I hear the
+   sound of a gun--I have been to dinner with two of the Generals, Lee &
+   Putnam and I just took a look at pore Boston--& Charlestown--from
+   prospect Hill Charlestown has only a few chimneys standing in it,
+   there seems to be a number of very fine Buildings in Boston but God
+   knows how long they will stand; they are pulling up all the warfs for
+   fire wood--to me that never see any thing of war, the preparations
+   are very terable indead, but I endevor to keep my fears to my self as
+   well as I can.
+
+   Your Friends Mr Harrison & Henly are boath very well, and I think
+   they are fatter than they were when they came to the Camp--and Capt.
+   Baylor is a lusty man to what he was when you see him. The girls may
+   rest satisfied on Mr. Harrisons account for he seems two fond of his
+   country to give his heart to any but one of his Virginia Friends,
+   there are but two Young Laidis in Cambridge, and a very great number
+   of Gentlemen so you may guess how much is made of them--but neither
+   of them is pritty I think.
+
+   This is a beautyfull Country, and we had a very pleasant journey
+   through New england, and had the pleasure to find the G[eneral] very
+   well--we came within the month from home to the Camp.
+
+   I see your Brother at princeton he was very well but did not talk of
+   comeing home soon.
+
+   Plese to give my love and good wishes to your mamma & grand mamma,
+   Mr. Ramsay and Family, my compliments to all enquiring Freinds, the
+   good gentlemen that came with me up to Baltimore, and Mrs.
+   Herbert--in which the general and Mr. and Mrs. Custis join, please to
+   remember us to Mr. and Mrs. McCarty and Family.
+
+   I am Dear miss your most affectionate Friend and Well &C
+
+        MARTHA WASHINGTON.[66]
+
+Ramsay did not wait for death to close his eyes ere he provided for his
+children. As early as 1777, and probably before, he divided his original
+purchase of lots Nos. 46 and 47 among his eight children. There is a
+much-worn old plat still in the hands of his descendants showing this
+division; on file at Fairfax Court House there is a deed to his youngest
+son, Dennis, for that part of his lot No. 47 fronting on Fairfax and
+King Streets, "Beginning at the S.W. corner of said lot extending north
+up Fairfax 90 feet more or less to Ramsay's Alley, then east down said
+alley 75 feet more or less, then South 90 feet to King Street, and then
+West with King 75 feet to the beginning with all houses warehouses
+Buildings, etc."
+
+To his eldest son and namesake he gave his dwelling house and lot lying
+to the north of the alley. As the custom of primogeniture prevailed it
+was but natural that William Jr. fell heir to the dwelling house of his
+father. At the time of this gift in December 1784, William reserved to
+himself an "absolute right and title to take away as much earth or dirt
+from said ground even up to my Dwelling House, if necessary without
+prejudice to the said House to be applied towards filling up my wharf
+and Peers until they are finished ..."[67] After the death of his
+father, William Jr., bachelor, "farm let" to his brother, the married
+Dennis, for the full term of ten years from the 10th day of May last
+[1785], "the rent to be fixed by Robert McCrea, John Allison, or any
+other person whom they shall choose--the lot lying and being on the
+north side of King Street and the east side of Fairfax, beginning upon
+Fairfax Street ten feet south of the south end of the Kitchen, which
+stands upon the said street belonging to William Ramsay, then running
+east sixty-six feet parallel to King, then north parallel with Fairfax
+twenty-five feet, then with a line parallel to King West twenty-two
+feet, including a Brick Smoke House, then with a line parallel to
+Fairfax north to a four-foot alley lately laid out in the said lott by
+William Ramsay, Esq., deceased, then East with the line of the alley 84
+feet, then south to Ramsays Alley then West parallel to King until it
+reaches Fairfax Street, then with Fairfax and binding there upon to the
+beginning and all Buildings, Houses, Yards, Gardens, Stables, to the
+said premises belonging or in any wise pertaining. Furthermore Dennis
+Ramsay may erect upon the premises a Kitchen in such part as will be
+most convenient, and at the expiration of the lease Dennis Ramsay has
+Liberty to remove the same from the premises."[68] Ten years later, on
+July 6, 1795, William Ramsay Jr. sold this property to Guy Atkinson.
+This gentleman owned the property until his death in 1835 and requested
+in his will, probated July 14 of that year, that his children reside "in
+my present mansion."
+
+This is the house standing today at 113 North Fairfax Street,[Owner:
+Miss Frona Matthews.] and unless other research at a later day denies
+the assumption that this brick mansion was the last home of the Romulus
+of Alexandria, it is so declared.
+
+The little white frame clapboard house with the Dutch roof, standing on
+the northeast corner of King and Fairfax Streets was certainly the
+property of William Ramsay--probably his office or kitchen, and later
+occupied by the descendants of his son, Dennis, after additions and
+improvements. The architect who is restoring this ancient and quaint
+house thinks that it is far older than the town of Alexandria, and that
+it is not now established upon the original foundation, but has been
+moved over from another location. It is interesting to think that it
+might have been part of Carlyle & Ramsay's original office in Belle
+Haven in 1744.
+
+On February 12, 1795, George Washington was at Mount Vernon happily
+engaged in planning his garden and planting his shrubs when he "Received
+an Invitation to the Funeral of Willm. Ramsay, Esqr., of Alexandria, the
+oldest Inhabitt. of the Town; and went up. Walked in a procession as a
+free mason, Mr. Ramsay in his life being one, and now buried with the
+ceremonies and honors due to one."[69]
+
+A few days later the town's newspaper carried the following tribute:
+
+        MEMORIAL
+
+   On the 10th, instand departed this Life, in the 69th year of his age,
+   WILLIAM RAMSAY, Esq., a Gentleman generally esteemed for the humane
+   and generous sentiments of his heart, as well as for his uprightness
+   and integrity, throughout a long and active life.
+
+   This Gentleman first proposed and promoted the establishment of the
+   town of Alexandria, and was its first inhabitant. He was consoled on
+   the verge of life, with the reflection of having acted his part well,
+   and of having reared and leaving to represent him a numerous and
+   amiable family, in possession of as much happiness as generally falls
+   to the lot of humanity. Thus he met the lingering, but certain
+   approach of death with a composure and resignation of mind very
+   remarkable and truly exemplary.
+
+   His remains were interred on the 12th, in the Episcopal Church Yard,
+   and attended by a very numerous and respectable company, preceeded by
+   the Brotherhood of Free Masons in procession with the solemnities
+   usual on such occasions.[70]
+
+Within less than two months, Washington, still at work upon his garden,
+grafting cherry trees, was interrupted to go to Alexandria to "attend
+the Funeral of Mrs. Ramsay who died (after a lingering illness) on
+Friday last.... Dined at Mr. Muir's and after the funer^l obseques
+were ended, returned home."[71] Again was spread upon the sheets of the
+town paper an obituary:
+
+        MEMORIAL
+
+   On Saturday last departed this life, Mrs. ANN RAMSAY, relect of the
+   late WM. RAMSAY, Esq., in the 55th years of her age.
+
+   The amiable character of this lady, exemplified in her conduct as a
+   wife, a mother, and a neighbour, as it procured her through life the
+   general esteem and affection of all who knew her, will render her
+   loss long regretted not only by her nearer relations, but by the
+   inhabitants of this town, and neighbourhood of every rank and
+   description, to whom her benevolence and humanity displayed in
+   numberless good offices, and her agreeable deportment have heretofore
+   been a social blessing and comfort.
+
+   On Monday her remains were interred with every mark of respect,
+   contiguous to the grave of her late deceased husband.[72]
+
+[Illustration: Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Ramsay]
+
+The General had seen the "Romulus of Alexandria" to the grave. Fourteen
+years later the latter's son served as honorary pallbearer for the
+Father of His Country at Mount Vernon, on that fateful December 18,
+1799.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 2
+
+John Carlyle and His House
+
+[Like nearby Ramsay House, the home of John Carlyle has also been
+threatened by business interests and was in danger of demolition just
+before the outbreak of World War II. It was saved by Mr. Lloyd L.
+Scheffer who acquired the property from the Wagar estate and continues
+to maintain the residence as a historic house museum. Entrance to the
+Carlyle Home is through the lobby of the Wagar apartments at 123 North
+Fairfax Street.]
+
+
+In an ancient will book at Fairfax Court House is the inventory of a
+gentleman's estate--household fabrics, mahogany and walnut furniture,
+family pictures, maps, prints, books, silverware, glassware, chinaware,
+and all manner of utensils, and drawers of "Trumpery!" More personal
+items imply a rich wardrobe and a man who doubtless cut a figure in
+society, for the list of apparel is long, containing, "1 scarlet cloth
+jacket with broad gold lace," "1 crimson velvet jacket with broad gold
+lace," "1 pair scarlet breaches with gold knee bands," "1 silver tobacco
+box," "1 tortoise shell ditto with silver top," "2 pair silver shoe
+buckles and 1 pair gold studds," "24 silver large coat buttons and 1
+stock buckle," "1 box with 4 wiggs," etc.[73]
+
+Another entry in a more ancient tome reads:
+
+   At a court held for the County of Fairfax, 19th March, 1754. Present
+   John Colvill, Geo. Wm. Fairfax, John West, William Ramsay and Thomas
+   Colvill, Gentlemen Justices.
+
+   Mr. John Carlyle produced a commission from the Honorable the
+   Governor under the seal of the Colony appointing him Commissary of
+   provisions and stores for an expedition intended to the River Ohio
+   pursuant to which he took the oaths according to Law, repeated and
+   subscribed to the Test.... Lieutenant Col^o George Washington,
+   Lieutenant John West Jr. and James Townes pursuant to their military
+   commissions from the Honorable the Governor took the oaths according
+   to Law and subscribed to the Test.[74]
+
+[Illustration: John Carlyle's Alexandria Mansion]
+
+Military echoes are not lacking from the inventory of his possessions.
+Is it possible that "1 Blue cloth coat with vellam holes"[75] related to
+his military service as major of Virginia militia? Was this perchance
+the coat worn by Major Carlyle in 1755 when the Redcoats of His
+Britannic Majesty's forces and the Virginia Militia fought under General
+Edward Braddock and met defeat at Great Meadows at the hands of the
+French and Indians? Major Carlyle was quartermaster in those days, with
+the mission of scouring the countryside for horses and forage. Objects
+of military use more easily picked out of the list taken by his
+executors include a spyglass, guns, pistols, swords, saddles,
+saddlebags, holsters, a powder horn and "2 spontoons." It is a local
+tradition that a store of these latter antique weapons were left behind
+in Alexandria by Braddock's direction and that they constituted part of
+the equipment of the town watchmen until the outbreak of the War Between
+the States.
+
+[Illustration: Mantel in the dining room]
+
+John Carlyle was a Scotsman of gentle birth, of the Limkilns branch of
+Carlyles of Torthorwald Castle. He left his home in Dumfrieshire for
+Dumfries in Virginia at the age of twenty to enter one of the Scottish
+shipping firms in that town in the year 1740. Foreseeing the end of that
+port, he moved to the village of Belle Haven, and with John Dalton set
+up in the mercantile and shipping business by 1744. This firm, under the
+name of Carlyle & Dalton, was destined to become the most important one
+in the new port, and John Carlyle the leading citizen. He was one of the
+influential men in Fairfax County who agitated for a town at Belle
+Haven, at the Hunting Creek warehouse. He was selected by the assembly
+as one of the incorporators of the town of Alexandria, and as one of the
+first trustees. Active in the town from the beginning, he helped build
+the courthouse and market place. He was the town's first "Overseer." In
+1755 he was ordered to build a warehouse at Point Lumley, a hundred feet
+long, twenty feet wide, with thirteen-foot pitch, as well as to build
+roads and clear streets.
+
+[Illustration: John Carlyle's shell and silver snuffbox. Listed and
+described in the inventory of his estate]
+
+Carlyle bought the third lot put up for auction on July 13, 1749, No.
+41, paying thirty _pistoles_. As the auction continued, he purchased
+another lot adjoining the first for sixteen _pistoles_. Upon his two
+lots he erected in 1752 the greatest private house in Alexandria for two
+or more decades, and furnished it with the best his ships could carry.
+
+The Carlyle house stands high above the river and so strong and thick
+are the foundations that tradition has it they were early fortifications
+against the Indians. The house of stone is oblong, being almost as long
+again as it is wide and is believed originally to have had connecting
+wings. Two-and-a-half stories high, large twin chimneys rise out of the
+hipped roof and three dormer windows break the front and back. Double
+galleries stretch across the river end, and before modern buildings
+obstructed the view, the river could be viewed for miles in each
+direction.
+
+[Illustration: Portrait of John Carlyle's mother, Rachel Carlyle, which
+hung always above her son's bed]
+
+Inside, a large hall divides the house. A stairway that has neither the
+appearance nor character of so old a house, and is doubtless an
+"improvement," winds up to the second floor. Four rooms open into this
+hall--fine rooms, too--but the blue or drawing room is the gem,
+architecturally and historically. This is paneled from floor to ceiling.
+There are three windows with low window seats and heavy paneled blinds
+which become a part of the jambs when closed. Over the doorways are
+elaborate pediments, with broken arches. The chair rail is carved in a
+fret pattern and the dog-eared fireplace mold in the familiar
+egg-and-dart design. In the overmantel, double dog-eared molding
+outlines the center panel and two flat fluted pilasters reach from
+mantelshelf to the heavy modillioned cornice which is carved in
+alternating modillions and rosettes. The room is sixteen by eighteen
+feet, painted a light slate blue with white or cream trim. On the second
+floor five comfortable bedchambers open upon a narrow hall.
+
+To this home Carlyle brought his first wife, Sarah Fairfax, whom he
+married in 1748. She was the daughter of Colonel William Fairfax of
+Belvoir, sister of Ann Fairfax Washington and George William Fairfax.
+After her death in 1761, when Carlyle married Sybil West, he named their
+only son for his well loved brother-in-law, George William Fairfax. When
+his will was opened, it was by the side of Sarah he wished to be buried:
+"As to my Body, I desire it may be interred under the Tombstone in the
+enclosed ground in the Presbyterian Yard near where my first wife and
+children are interred."[76]
+
+This house was the social and political center of Alexandria. Such men
+as Charles Carroll, Aaron Burr, John Paul Jones, John Marshall, Thomas
+Jefferson, George Mason, George Washington, and the two Fairfaxes are
+but a few of those who gathered here for good food, good wine, and
+better talk. Any visitor of importance was entertained at "coffee"; the
+house was often filled with music, and "balls" were common.
+
+The "Congress of Alexandria" met here Monday, April 14, 1755, and on the
+following Tuesday and Wednesday, when with Braddock and the five
+colonial governors plans were made for concerted action against the
+French and Indians. Here that famous letter, still in existence, was
+written, urging upon the British government the necessity of taxing the
+colonies. This letter set into movement a chain of events disastrous to
+the mother country. It resulted in the loathed Stamp Act and led
+ultimately to the Revolution of 1775.
+
+[Illustration: Mantel in the music room. Probably a later "improvement"]
+
+Carlyle was appointed collector of His Majesty's customs on the South
+Potomac in 1758, succeeding his father-in-law, William Fairfax. In 1762
+he was importing race horses into the colony. These were imported, "just
+as they imported Madeira wine and other luxuries." One of the early
+Maryland gazettes of July 29, 1762 carries the following advertisement:
+
+   Imported by Carlyle & Dalton in the ship _Christian_, Captain Stanly,
+   and for sale, three horses [Thorne's Starling: Smith's Hero, and
+   Leary's Old England] and three mares [the other two being the
+   Rock-mares Nos. 1 and 2] of full blood, viz: A _ch. m._ with a star
+   and two white heels behind, eight years old: Got by Wilson's Chestnut
+   Arabian: her dam by Slipby, brother to Snap's dam; and out of Menil
+   [sic] the dam of Trunnion. Menil was got by Partner: out of
+   Sampson's-Sister, which was got by Greyhound: her grandam by Curwen's
+   Bay Barb: her g. grandam by Ld. D'Arcy's Arabian: her dam by
+   Whiteshirt: out of a famous mare of Ld. Montagu's.
+
+        JOHN CARLYLE[77]
+
+        Alexandria, Va., July 1762.
+
+In 1772 Carlyle took over the incompleted work on Christ Church and
+carried it to completion. In 1773 he bought pew No. 19. In 1774 he built
+the Presbyterian meetinghouse. In between times he was hunting at
+Belvoir and Mount Vernon, dancing at Alexandria assemblies, sitting as
+town trustee and gentleman justice, journeying to England and back,
+laying out and planting his garden, taking part in long, hot arguments
+with his family and neighbors in the ever-widening breach between the
+colonies and the mother country, breeding race horses, and joining in
+the frolics of the Jockey Club. Heir to a title old and honorable as it
+was, he ardently espoused the cause of the colonies. Too ill for active
+military service, he nevertheless served as a member of the Committee of
+Safety until his death in 1780, at the age of sixty.
+
+John Carlyle divided his lands, named after the Scottish family
+holdings, Limkiln, Bridekirk, Torthorwald Taken, between his two
+grandsons, Carlyle Fairfax Whiting and John Carlyle Herbert. To his
+daughter, Sarah Herbert, he left thirty feet on Fairfax Street and one
+hundred feet on Cameron Street, to include his dryware house. The
+mansion and all other property were for a brief period the property of
+his only son.
+
+In his will he expressed the utmost concern for the education of this
+boy, George William Carlyle, and urged his executors to spare no expense
+and to send him to the best schools. Alas, for the plans of men! The
+lad, fired by the talk of father and friends, was serving in Lee's
+Legion in 1781, and ere John Carlyle was moldering in his grave this boy
+of seventeen years, spirited, brave, heir to large estates, great
+fortune and honorable name, and to the title of Lord Carlyle, was dead
+at Eutaw Springs, led by that boy hardly older than himself "Light Horse
+Harry" Lee.
+
+Enough of serious and sad history; let us in lighter vein go once more
+into the lovely paneled blue room where not only weighty conferences
+occurred, but where, in lace and satin, noble figures threw aside the
+cares of state and trod a measure to the tinkling of the spinet; where
+games of cards were indulged in and the _pistoles_ changed hands. Let us
+go into the dining room with its fine Adam mantel and its mahogany
+doors, and visualize again the terrapin and the canvasback, the Madeira
+and Port so abundantly provided from that great kitchen below, and the
+most famous wine cellar of its day in Alexandria. Let us stroll in the
+still lovely garden where the aroma of box and honeysuckle mingle, and
+turn our thoughts once more to the inmates of this fine, old house.
+Built in the days when Virginia was a man's world, when men who wore
+satin, velvet and damask were masters of the art of fighting, riding,
+drinking, eating, and wooing. When a man knew what he wanted, and got it
+by God's help and his own tenacity, enjoying himself right lustily in
+the getting. Perchance Major John Carlyle, clad in Saxon green laced
+with silver, will be wandering up and down his box-bordered paths with
+his first love, Sarah Fairfax, watching the moon light up the rigging of
+Carlyle & Dalton's great ships at anchor just at the foot of the garden.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 3
+
+The Married Houses
+
+[209-211 North Fairfax Street. Owner: Mrs. Herbert E. Marshburn.]
+
+
+When the new town of Alexandria was laid out, John Dalton purchased, on
+July 13, 1749, the first lot put up for sale (No. 36) for the sum of
+nineteen _pistoles_. The lot faced the Potomac River and was bounded by
+Water (now Lee) Street, Fairfax Street and lot No. 37. When the latter
+lot, which lay on Cameron and Fairfax, was put up later in the day, it
+was purchased by Dalton for sixteen _pistoles_.
+
+Within three years Dalton had finished a small frame-and-brick cottage,
+neatly paneled, in which he is purported to have lived and died. The
+house faced on Cameron Street, standing about the middle of lot No. 37,
+with an extensive garden running the depth of the premises to the river,
+surrounded by outbuildings, orchards, wells, and so on, as was the
+custom of the times. His will mentioned the fact that he lived on this
+lot and left to his daughter, Jenny Dalton (later Mrs. Thomas Herbert),
+his new brick building on the corner of Fairfax and Cameron. His will
+further stated that the house must be finished out of his estate. To his
+daughter, Catherine (later Mrs. William Bird), he left the remainder of
+the lot which included his dwelling and another house on that same lot,
+at the time occupied by John Page.
+
+On February 27, 1750, John Dalton succeeded Richard Osborn as a trustee
+of the town. His appointment was the first after the original selection
+of trustees by the assembly in Williamsburg.
+
+John Dalton was a partner of John Carlyle in the firm of Carlyle &
+Dalton, which for many years acted as agent for the Mount Vernon
+produce. He was a pew owner with George Washington at Christ Church,
+which he served as vestryman. With his wife and daughter, he was a
+frequent visitor at Mount Vernon and a later chronicler has asserted
+that he barely missed becoming the General's father-in-law. A fox-hunter
+and horse-lover, in a company of Alexandria gentlemen or alone, he
+hunted with Washington and bred his mares to the blooded Mount Vernon
+stud.
+
+[Illustration: The old Clapboard House on the John Dalton property and
+believed to have been his original house. (_Courtesy of Mr. Frank
+McCarthy_)]
+
+On January 12, 1769, Washington went up to Alexandria to "ye Monthly
+Ball." He lodged with Captain Dalton and the next day being very bad he
+was "confined there till afternoon by rain."[78] Sometimes when
+attending court he "lodged at Captn. Dalton's."[79]
+
+John Dalton's bequest to his daughter, Catherine, included the home
+place. On April 24, 1793, Catherine and her husband, William Bird, sold
+to Jonah Thompson and David Findley for L1,500 (about $7,500) the
+property described as being in Fairfax Street, 60 feet to the north of
+Cameron, and extending north upon Fairfax Street 119 feet 3 inches to
+the line of Herbert, Potts and Wilson, thence East parallel to Cameron
+to cross Water and Union Streets into the Potomac River, thence with a
+line parallel to Fairfax south 119 feet 3 inches, and included houses,
+buildings, streets, lanes, alleys, and so on. But the Birds reserved the
+right to the "use and occupation of the dwelling House now occupied" and
+the kitchen and garden, until the "1st day of October next" and also
+reserved unto Lanty Crowe the house "demised unto him to the end of his
+term, he paying the annual rent thereof unto the said Jonah Thompson and
+David Findley."[80] Findley died within the year and Jonah Thompson
+bought from Amelia Findley, the mother and heir of David Findley, equal
+and undivided portion of the already described lot and paid her the sum
+of L500 12_s._
+
+[Illustration: Jonah Thompson's House purchased from John Dalton's
+daughter, Catherine Bird]
+
+Jonah Thompson was an important citizen of Alexandria. He was a shipping
+merchant, banker and large property owner. He married Margaret Peyton
+and they had three sons, Israel, William Edward, and James; a daughter,
+Mary Ann, married a Mr. Popham, and another daughter, Eugenia, married a
+Mr. Morgan.
+
+In 1809 Jonah Thompson mortgaged this property to the Bank of Alexandria
+for $13,500, which he paid within four years. In May 1850, the heirs of
+Jonah Thompson sold to Benjamin Hallowell for $4,600 a lot beginning at
+the south side of the alley which divided the block, running south 43
+feet 7 inches. Benjamin Hallowell, in turn, sold to James S. Hallowell
+for nine thousand dollars in April 1854, and from James S. Hallowell and
+his wife the property passed through various hands until it became St.
+Mary's Academy.
+
+The Jonah Thompson house, part of it at least already built in 1793, is
+one of the most interesting houses to be found anywhere. It is unusually
+large and has two handsome arched stone entrances. One, although
+similar, obviously was added, as the line of demarcation is plainly
+visible between the bricks.
+
+The house has been sadly abused with no thought given its architectural
+merits and much of the woodwork has been removed. The stair is perhaps
+the finest in Alexandria, with spindles and risers carved in a more
+elaborate fashion than was the practice of the thrifty Scotsmen of
+Alexandria. At the rear of this large house, separated only by a narrow
+area, stands another house, facing the long garden and originally the
+river. The front of this house boasts the loveliest bit of Georgian
+architecture left in the old seaport. A pure Adam loggia, executed in
+stone, runs across the garden facade. While arches are now filled in and
+clothes hung to dry flap on the gallery, the outline is so chaste in its
+classic form that nothing can destroy the illusion of beauty.
+
+No search of records reveals how or why these two houses stand back to
+back. Whether Jonah Thompson built the first for his bank or business
+offices, or whether his family outgrew the house and he needed more room
+is not known. The two are treated as one house in all the documentary
+evidence, and one's curiosity, interest, and imagination are excited by
+the twin or married houses. One story has it that Jonah Thompson built
+the rear or twin house for his eldest son so that the two families might
+be together but with separate menages.
+
+[Illustration: The Adam Loggia. Originally open between column and
+pilaster]
+
+Captain John Dalton forged a link between Mount Vernon, his family, and
+his posterity that was stronger than he knew. It was his granddaughter
+who was so deeply distressed at the ruin and desolation of the home of
+Washington that she fired her daughter's imagination with an idea that
+saved the spot for the nation. This great-granddaughter of John Dalton
+was Ann Pamela Cunningham, whose name will ever be indissolubly
+connected with Mount Vernon. In 1853 she formed the Mount Vernon Ladies'
+Association, and as its first regent stirred the women of America with
+her ardor and directed the entire campaign until adequate funds were
+collected. In 1859 John Augustine Washington sold the Mount Vernon
+estate to Miss Cunningham for two hundred thousand dollars--after the
+Virginia Legislature and the federal government had both refused to
+acquire it.
+
+This sale was negotiated by the Alexandria banker, John W. Burke, who
+was appointed executor and guardian of John Augustine Washington's
+estate after he was killed during the Civil War while on active duty as
+a member of General Robert E. Lee's staff.
+
+When the war broke out, Alexandria was occupied by Union troops. The
+Union authorities knew of the sale of Mount Vernon and repeated but
+futile efforts were made to find the securities. Mr. Burke's home was
+searched no less than three times. The funds were never found in their
+hiding place of the soiled-clothes basket. There they reposed until Mrs.
+Burke (_nee_ Trist, great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson) and Mrs.
+Upton Herbert (_nee_ Tracy), both Philadelphia-born ladies, sewed the
+bonds in their petticoats and with high heads carried them through the
+Union lines to Washington and delivered them to George W. Riggs, who
+held them for the duration of the war, when he returned them to
+Alexandria--and Mr. Burke.
+
+An interesting sequel to the story occurred only a short time ago when
+the last of John Augustine Washington's children died. Mr. Taylor Burke,
+grandson of John W. Burke, and president of the Burke & Herbert Bank,
+administered the estate of the late Mrs. Eleanor Washington Howard, and
+distributed her estate, composed of the remainder of that purchase
+price, among her heirs.[81]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 4
+
+The Fairfaxes of Belvoir and Alexandria
+
+
+Of the families in Virginia closely associated with George Washington,
+none bore so intimate a relation as that of Fairfax.
+
+William Fairfax, founder of the Virginia branch of the family, was born
+in 1691 in Towlston in Yorkshire, England, the son of the Honorable
+Henry Fairfax, Sheriff of Yorkshire, and grandson of the Fourth Lord
+Fairfax. Educated as a member of the governing classes, he began his
+career in the navy, later entering the colonial service. Before he was
+twenty-six he had acted as chief justice of the Bahamas and Governor of
+the Isle of Providence. Prior to 1717 he married Sarah Walker of Nassau,
+daughter of Colonel Walker, by whom he had four children, George
+William, Thomas, Anne, and Sarah. In 1729, Colonel Fairfax was appointed
+Collector of the Port of Salem, Massachusetts, and removed to that
+colony. In 1731 his wife died, and very shortly afterward he married
+Deborah, widow of Francis Clarke and daughter of Colonel Bartholomew
+Gedney of Salem, by whom he had three children, Bryan, William Henry,
+and Hannah.
+
+In 1734 Fairfax came to Virginia as agent for his first cousin, Thomas,
+Sixth Lord Fairfax (who, by direct inheritance from a royal grant of
+Charles II, had come into possession of some five million acres of
+Virginia land lying between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, and
+extending from Chesapeake Bay to the foothills of the Blue Ridge
+Mountains, known to Virginians as the Northern Neck); and to serve as
+Collector of Customs for the South Potomac. Fairfax first went to
+Westmoreland, where he was associated with the Washington and Lee
+families. Next he moved to King George, and lived at Falmouth. By 1741
+he was representing Prince William County in the House of Burgesses.
+Colonel Fairfax was elevated to "His Majesty's Council of State" three
+years later. Becoming President of the Council in 1744, he continued in
+that office until his death.
+
+About this time William Fairfax completed his dwelling house, Belvoir,
+situated on a high bluff overlooking the Potomac River, halfway between
+Mount Vernon and Gunston Hall. It was described by Washington in an
+advertisement as having "four convenient rooms and a wide Hall on the
+first floor." In one of these "convenient rooms," more than two hundred
+years ago on July 19, 1743, Anne, eldest daughter of Colonel Fairfax was
+married to Lawrence Washington of Mount Vernon.
+
+A few years after his marriage, Lawrence (to whom George Washington owed
+his start in life) took his impecunious young half-brother into his home
+at Mount Vernon, whereupon the in-laws became intimately concerned with
+George's future. Young George was wise enough to realize that the way of
+advancement led through this important family and he never lost an
+opportunity to cultivate the President of the Council. Colonel Fairfax
+became a benefactor of the young man's fortunes, an inspiration to his
+ambition, and was truly and wholeheartedly attached through his
+affections to the gangling youth. To the end of his life Fairfax signed
+his letters to George, "Y^r very affect^e & Assur^d Friend."
+
+In 1747 George William Fairfax, the Colonel's eldest son, returned home
+from England, where he had received his education, with the promise from
+Lord Fairfax of falling heir to his father's agency of the Northern
+Neck.
+
+The fifteen-year-old George took a great liking to young Fairfax, and
+despite a difference in age, a friendship began which was destined to
+last throughout their lives. A letter from George William Fairfax to
+Lawrence Washington stated, "George has been with us, and says he will
+be steady and thankfully follow your advice as his best friend. I gave
+him his brother's letter to deliver with a caution not to show his."[82]
+Doubtless this was the occasion when George was seriously considering
+the navy. Lawrence had served under Admiral Vernon, William Fairfax was
+trained for the navy, and Lord Fairfax was in Virginia to add either
+persuasion or influence as needed. Mary Washington was set in her
+determination that George should not become a sailor. Thus it was
+decided that surveying or engineering was the best outlook for the young
+man's future career, and Mount Vernon and Belvoir the seat of his
+further learning. Lord Fairfax would employ the embryo engineer as soon
+as he had sufficient instruction to be useful. The pupil was adept, the
+instructors efficient, and we see young Washington setting out with his
+new friend, George William, in March of 1748, upon his first surveying
+mission in the employment of Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax.
+
+On his return from this mission, serious, sober young Fairfax (he was
+twenty-three at the time) offered himself as a burgess for Frederick
+County and was duly elected. He followed his father to Williamsburg,
+where he found attractions more absorbing than lawmaking. After "several
+opportunities of visiting Miss Cary" he fell a victim to the wiles and
+graces of the belle of the season. _The Virginia Gazette_ for December
+1748 carried this bit of social news: "Married on the 17th inst., George
+William Fairfax, Esqr., eldest son of the Honorable William Fairfax of
+His Majesty's Council to Sarah, eldest daughter of Colonel Wilson Cary
+of Ceelys."
+
+Of all the colonial belles whose shades furnish theme for paean and
+lighten the pages of history, none is more colorful than Sally Cary.
+This girl, only seventeen, with head of red-brown hair, great
+intelligent eyes shaded by long, thick lashes, long rounded throat and
+beautifully modelled hands, arms and shoulders, had an intellect which
+far surpassed her husband's.
+
+When not at Williamsburg attending the assembly, the young Fairfaxes
+resided at Belvoir, where Sally acted as hostess for her widowed
+father-in-law or the bachelor Lord from Greenway Court. This house,
+after the Palace at Williamsburg, was the center of the social and
+political life of Virginia. The Fairfaxes were of ancient, noble
+lineage, with ample fortune, representing the very best in Old World
+culture. William Fairfax, as President of the Council, was second only
+in importance to the royal governor, serving as head of the state during
+the absences of His Excellency. Naturally, his home was the gathering
+place for men of eminence in the colony, as well as visitors of state.
+
+[Illustration: Colonel George William Fairfax]
+
+Belvoir was a rendezvous for neighborhood gaiety. Overflowing with the
+young people of the family, more were attracted. George Washington was
+a daily visitor--Sally, but two years older than himself, filled him
+with delight. At Belvoir he met with the heads of government and gleaned
+from these meetings knowledge and inspiration to carry him through
+ordeals never experienced by his preceptors. Here, too, the feminine
+contacts smoothed the rough edges; George learned to turn the music for
+young ladies performing upon the harpsichord, to rescue times without
+number skeins of silk and balls of wool as well as lacy bits of linen
+continually dropped by fair hands; he was taught the latest dance step
+from London and learned the most elegant of court bows. In those days
+the turn of a wrist and the flip of a lace ruffle were not considered
+inconsequential. It was here he acquired that never-failing interest in
+the "newest taste and the latest fashion."
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. George William Fairfax. (Sally Cary)]
+
+Under this hospitable roof in early and formative years, associated with
+the cavaliers in daily intercourse, Washington developed an ease of
+manner and a dignity of deportment that became him well. In the library
+of this home he became familiar with the best in literature, his love of
+beauty was aroused, his knowledge of homemaking and gardening acquired,
+for this household wielded a highly civilizing influence, and awakened
+George Washington to the charms of culture and refinement. To appreciate
+the influence of this family upon Washington, it is only necessary to
+recall how brief was his schooling, how limited his prospects, how poor
+his pocket when, at the age of fifteen, he came to make his home at
+Mount Vernon.
+
+At Belvoir and at Mount Vernon, George Washington first learned of the
+new port to be built at Hunting Creek warehouse. Long and often the talk
+was concerned with the progress being made before the assembly by
+Lawrence Washington and the two Colonels Fairfax. The latter gentlemen,
+being engineers, were both familiar with the construction of the towns
+in Great Britain and on the Continent. To Belvoir came Colonel Carlyle
+and Colonel Ramsay, as well as other gentlemen from Dumfries and the
+county, occupied with the same interest, who hoped to better their
+fortunes by the shipping trade which they expected the new town to
+attract, and willing to gamble time and money upon the erection of
+dwellings, warehouses, and docks.
+
+These men were all purchasers of lots at the first auction on July 13,
+1749, and at once began carrying out the mandate of the assembly,
+_i.e._, to build within two years or forfeit their holdings.
+
+Within six years the town, so neatly built, so strategically situated,
+was "honoured with 5 Governors in Consultation; a happy presage I hope,
+[wrote George Washington to William Fairfax at Williamsburg] not only of
+the success of this Expedition, but for our little Town; for surely such
+honours must have arisen from the Commodious and pleasant situation of
+this place the best constitutional qualitys for Popularity and increase
+of a (now) flourishing Trade."[83]
+
+That Sally Fairfax was in residence in Alexandria and evidently in her
+own house taking part in the festivities arranged for General Braddock
+at the Carlyle house, dancing at the assembly balls, attending reviews,
+is indicated by a communication from her friend, young Washington:
+
+         Fort Cumberland May 14, 1755
+
+   Dear Madam:
+
+   I have at last with great pains and difficulty discovered the Reason
+   why Mrs. Wardrope is a greater favorite of Gen^l Braddocks than Mrs.
+   Fairfax; and met with more respect at the late review in Alexandria.
+
+   The cause I shall communicate, after rallying you for neglecting the
+   means that introduced her to his favour which ... to say truth were
+   in [?] a present of delicious Cake, and potted Woodcocks; that
+   wrought such wonders [?] upon the Heart of the General as upon those
+   of the gentlemen that they became instant Admirers, not only the
+   charms but the Politeness of this Fair Lady.[84]
+
+After his father's death on September 3, 1757, George William Fairfax
+came a step nearer the title of Lord Fairfax. He went on a very curious
+mission to England to refute in person a rumor that he was a black man,
+and to show any doubting relations the hue of his skin was exactly the
+same as theirs. This was especially strange, for William Fairfax had
+taken Sarah Walker Fairfax, his wife and mother of George William, to
+England in 1717, and certainly they must have met representatives of the
+family on that visit. Nevertheless, it is to Sally that the knowledge of
+this peculiar circumstance is due. In 1802, writing to her nephew in
+Virginia in reference to an inheritance of her husband's she says, "He
+[Henry Fairfax, William Fairfax's older brother] would have left it to
+your uncle William Henry Fairfax [George William Fairfax's younger
+half-brother] from an impression that my husband's Mother was a black
+woman, if my Fairfax had not come over to see his Uncle and convinced
+him he was not a negroe's son."[85]
+
+While in England on this or other equally private affairs relating to
+his inheritance, George William wrote his wife from London on December
+12, 1757:
+
+   Dear Sally:
+
+   I am sorry to say I have not succeeded and that it is uncertain
+   whether I shall. But be as it may, I find it was necessary to be
+   here, and I should not have excused myself if I had not. Mr. Fairfax
+   went down to Leeds Castle yesterday and left me to push my own way,
+   and then to follow to spend my Xmas and to prepare for his embarking
+   with me in March. Therefore I beseech you'll employ Old Tom, or get
+   some person to put the garden in good order, and call upon Mr.
+   Carlyle for his assistance in getting other necessary things done
+   about the house in order to receive so fine a gentleman. And I must
+   further recommend, and desire that you'll endeavor to provide the
+   best provision for his nice stomach, altho I suppose he will spend
+   chief of his time with his brother.
+
+   However to make his and other company more agreeable I shall
+   endeavour to engage a butler to go over with me at least for one
+   year.
+
+   My Dear, I have often wished for your company to enjoy the amusements
+   of this Metropolis, for I can with truth say, they are not much so to
+   me in my present situation and that I now and then go to a play only
+   to kill time. But I please myself with my country visits imagining
+   the time there will pass more agreeable.
+
+   Permit me Sally to advise a steady and constant application to those
+   things directed for your welfare, which may afford me the greatest
+   satisfaction upon my arrival.
+
+   Your affect. and loving husband
+
+        GO. WM. FAIRFAX[86]
+
+Back in America within the year, at a court held for Fairfax County on
+August 19, 1758, George William Fairfax "presents a commission from his
+honor the Governor appointing me Lt. Colonel of Militia" of the county
+and at the same court he took the oaths according to law as a vestryman
+for Truro Parish.[87] In 1760 he went back to England again and remained
+nearly two years. On this occasion Sally accompanied him.
+
+All the while, George William Fairfax was occupied with his English
+inheritance, he was gradually losing interest in his Virginia life.
+Although he is credited with being loyal to the colonial cause
+(certainly he never failed in loyalty to his colonial friends) it is
+more than possible that the friction between the two countries swayed
+him somewhat in his determination to quit Virginia for the more settled
+state of the Old Country.
+
+On a June afternoon in 1773, George William and Sally set out from
+Belvoir to Mount Vernon for the last time to take leave of George and
+Martha Washington. Dr. Craik arrived in time to meet them and say
+goodbye. The next day, June 9, in the afternoon, Martha and George went
+to Belvoir to see these old and devoted friends "take shipping."[88] As
+the breeze lifted the sails and the sturdy little ship faded out of
+sight down the Potomac, it carried the Fairfaxes away from Belvoir
+forever.
+
+Until his own affairs became too involved, Washington supervised George
+Fairfax's Virginia interests. In August 1774, a year after the master's
+departure from Virginia, the contents of Belvoir house were sold.
+Washington himself bought many things--the sideboard, card tables, and
+other things. Other Fairfax furnishings came to Alexandria; Dr. Craik
+became the possessor of a Wilton carpet which Washington bought for him.
+
+George and Sally Fairfax settled in Bath in a red-brown sandstone house
+at 11 Lansdown Crescent, where they became a part of the gay parties
+taking the waters at the Pump Room and attending assembly balls in the
+fashion of Jane Austen's most aristocratic characters. Friendly letters
+went back and forth between Bath and Mount Vernon. After the Revolution,
+Fairfax wrote to Washington: "I glory in being called an American,"
+regretted his inability to contribute to the "glorious cause of Liberty"
+and offered his "best thanks for all your exertions ... to ... the End
+of the Great work ..."[89]
+
+Washington replied from New York on July 10, 1783: "Your house at
+Belvoir I am sorry to add is no more, but mine (which is enlarged since
+you saw it) is most sincerely and heartily at your Service till you
+could rebuild it" and expressed his pleasure at George William's
+approbation of his Revolutionary actions.[90]
+
+Fairfax, after becoming involved in lawsuit after lawsuit and dissension
+with his relatives, died in 1787 before inheriting his title. Sally
+lived on at Bath for twenty-five years after her husband's death. The
+damp English climate crippled her joints with rheumatism, but did not
+distort her slender, erect figure, and she maintained her beauty to the
+end. A year before his death, Washington penned his last letter to
+Sally, his affection for her undiminished, and his pride in Alexandria
+growing:
+
+        Mount Vernon, 16 May, 1798
+
+   My dear Madam,
+
+   Five and twenty years have nearly passed away, since I have
+   considered myself as the permanent resident at this place, or have
+   been in a situation to indulge myself in a familiar intercourse with
+   my friends by letter or otherwise.
+
+   During this period, so many important events have occurred, and such
+   changes in men and things have taken place, as the compass of a
+   letter would give you but an inadequate idea of. None of which
+   events, however, nor all of them together, have been able to
+   eradicate from my mind the recollection of those happy moments, the
+   happiest of my life, which I have enjoyed in your company.
+
+   Worn out in a manner by the toils of my past labor, I am again seated
+   under my Vine and Fig-tree, and wish I could add, that there were
+   none to make us afraid; but those, whom we have been accustomed to
+   call our good friends and allies, are endeavoring, if not to make us
+   afraid, yet to despoil us of our property, and are provoking us to
+   Acts of self-defence, which may lead to war. What will be the result
+   of such measures, time, that faithful expositor of all things, must
+   disclose. My wish is to spend the remainder of my days, which cannot
+   be many, in Rural amusements, free from the cares from which public
+   responsibility is never exempt.
+
+   Before the war, and even while it existed, although I was eight years
+   from home at one stretch (except the en passant visits made to it on
+   my march to and from the siege of Yorktown) I made considerable
+   additions to my dwelling-house, and alterations in my offices and
+   gardens; but the dilapidation occasioned by time, and those neglects,
+   which are coextensive with the absence of Proprietors, have occupied
+   as much of my time the last twelve months in repairing them, as at
+   any former period in the same space;--and it is matter of sore
+   regret, when I cast my eyes towards Belvoir, which I often do, to
+   reflect, the former Inhabitants of it, with whom I lived in such
+   harmony and friendship no longer reside there; and that the ruins can
+   only be viewed as the memento of former pleasures; and permit me to
+   add, that I have wondered often, (your nearest relatives being in
+   this Country), and that you should not prefer spending the evening of
+   your life among them, rather than close the sublunary scenes in a
+   foreign country, numerous as your acquaintances may be, and sincere,
+   the friendships you may have formed.
+
+   A century hence, if this country keeps united (and it is surely its
+   policy and interest to do it), will produce a city--though not as
+   large as London--yet of a magnitude inferior to few others in Europe,
+   on the banks of the Potomack, where one is now establishing for the
+   permanent seat of Government of the United States (between Alexandria
+   & Georgetown, on the Maryland side of the River) a situation not
+   excelled, for commanding prospect, good water, salubrious air, and
+   safe harbour, by any in the world; & where elegant buildings are
+   erecting & in forwardness for the reception of Congress in the year
+   1800.
+
+   Alexandria, within the last seven years (since the establishment of
+   the General Government), has increased in buildings, in population,
+   in the improvement of its streets by well-executed pavements, and in
+   the extension of its wharves, in a manner of which you can have very
+   little idea. This shew of prosperity, you will readily conceive, is
+   owing to its commerce. The extension of that trade is occasioned, in
+   a great degree, by opening of the Inland navigation of the Potomac
+   River, now cleared to Fort Cumberland, upwards of two hundred miles,
+   and by a similar attempt to accomplish the like up the Shenandoah,
+   one hundred and eighty miles more. In a word, if this country can
+   steer clear of European politics, stand firm on its bottom, and be
+   wise and temperate in its government, it bids fair to be one of the
+   greatest and happiest nations in the world.
+
+   Knowing that Mrs. Washington is about to give an account of the
+   changes, which have happened in the neighborhood and in our own
+   family, I shall not trouble you with a repetition of them.
+
+        I am
+
+        G^o WASHINGTON[91]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 5
+
+The George William Fairfax House
+
+[207 Prince Street. Owners: Colonel and Mrs. Charles B. Moore.]
+
+
+The 200 block of Prince Street is probably the finest left in Old
+Alexandria, in that it has suffered less change. No less than seven
+brick eighteenth century town dwellings remain in almost pristine
+condition. A small and fine Classical Revival building, and Mordecai
+Miller's "double three storied wooden buildings" make for diversity,
+while the old textile mill, later Green's furniture manufactory, adds
+the practical Scottish note to the locality.
+
+On the north side of the street, on lot No. 57, separated today from Lee
+Street on the east by garden and the former Old Dominion Bank Building,
+and flanked by John Harper's gift to his daughter Elizabeth on the west,
+stands a three-storied dormer windowed town dwelling, battered by time
+and the elements. It stands after nearly two hundred years, a silent
+sentinel--the Fairfaxes' contribution to the erection of the town at
+Hunting Creek warehouse.
+
+The house was originally nearly square. The wing, added after the main
+structure was built, was standing in 1782 at which time the house is
+described as it stands today. Due to the loss of one deed, that of
+father to son, it can be questioned whether the house was built by
+William Fairfax before 1752 or by George William, to whom it was deeded
+at that time. Like most old houses occupied by a succession of owners,
+much damage has been done to these old walls. The brick is worn and
+soft; paint is necessary to preserve them. The front door and stairway
+were changed a hundred and fifty years ago, as well as mantels and much
+of the trim and woodwork. The chimneys and dormers were blown down in
+1927 and replaced in 1929. When the house was renovated at that time and
+the plaster removed from the drawing-room walls, wooden blocks or stobs
+were exposed in the bricks, indicating paneled walls.
+
+The house has had some fourteen owners, each with his own idea of
+"improvements." The occupants of the house for the first hundred years
+are interesting as having been the founders and builders of the old
+trading port. Let us begin with the original purchaser of lots Nos. 56
+and 57 and learn a little of the early inmates of the premises
+identified in Alexandria today as the Fairfax or the George William
+Fairfax house.
+
+William Fairfax and his son, Colonel George William Fairfax, both
+purchased lots at the first auction held on July 13, 1749. The former
+had purchased the lots numbered 56 and 57 for thirty-five _pistoles_,
+while the latter had acquired two others across the street, lying south
+and designated Nos. 62 and 63 on the plat of the town. At the meeting of
+the trustees held the following day, it was ordered that deeds be made
+for September 20, 1749, for all lots disposed of. George William Fairfax
+retained his property until March 1750, when he sold the lots to
+Willoughby Newton, Gent., for L41 18_s._ 6_d._ Newton conveyed them, on
+November 10, 1752, to George Johnston for L44.
+
+Lot No. 58, adjoining Colonel Fairfax's purchases on the west, was early
+the property of Colonel Champe, but the fact that it soon passed to
+Fairfax ownership can be established by two references in the minutes of
+the trustees.
+
+On May 30, 1763, it was "ordered that Robert Adam Gent^n be overseer of
+the Main street [now Fairfax] from the upper part of Mrs. Chews Lott to
+the lower part of her Lotts and that he make so much of the said Main
+street dry and fitt for traveling for Waggon & foot people by the
+first of Septem^r Next or pay for his failure twenty Shillings to the
+Trustees for the use of the Town ... And that W^m Ramsay Gent. in like
+manner and under the same penalty put the said main street in order from
+the upper part of his own lott to the lower part thereof together with
+half the next street and that William Ramsay continue his district down
+to Col George Fairfaxes lott ... And that John Carlyle in like manner
+and under the same penalty put the main Street in order from the corner
+of Mr. Fairfaxes Lott to the lower corner of the said Fairfax's Lott and
+one half of the adjacent street."[92]
+
+[Illustration: Entrance hall and stair detail]
+
+On December 16, 1766, it was resolved that, "Whereas deeds were granted
+by William Ramsay and John Pagan two of the trustees of the town of
+Alexandria bearing date of the 28th day of March Anno Domini 1752 to the
+Hon Geo W^m Fairfax Esq^r for two Lotts of Land in the said Town No. 56
+& 57, on the motion of Geo W^m Fairfax Esq^r it appears to us the above
+mentioned Trustees that No. 56 should have been included in Lott No. 57
+as one lott liable to the Conditions of improvement by act of
+Assembly--and that he never having had a deed in his name or his fathers
+for Lott No 58 It is now ordered that one Deed of Conveyance be made out
+to the said Geo W^m Fairfax his Heirs and Assigns and that M^r W^m
+Ramsay and M^r John Carlyle be appointed and are hereby authorized to
+make good the said deed of Conveyance for these Lotts being improved
+agreeable to the Act of Assembly for constituting and erecting the said
+Town."[93]
+
+That deed, bearing date of January 30, 1767, cited that on March 1,
+1753, lots Nos. 56 and 57 were conveyed to George William Fairfax, Esq.,
+and that as lot No. 56 was only part of a lot it should be holden as
+parcel of the lot numbered 57 and that the purchaser hold the same
+without being compelled to make any improvements other than what was by
+law required on one whole and entire lot.
+
+In 1771, when Fairfax by reason of prospective inheritances of land and
+titles, was contemplating removal to England he turned to Robert Adam, a
+successful businessman, for assistance in disposing of his Alexandria
+property. Court records reveal that George William Fairfax and Sarah,
+his wife, sold on November 25, 1771, to Robert Adam, lots Nos. 56 and 57
+with all "Houses, buildings, orchards, ways, waters, water courses" for
+L350 current money of Virginia.[94]
+
+The transaction deed was witnessed by George Washington, Anthony Ramsay,
+and James Adam, and it is interesting that the entry for that day in
+Washington's diary reads: "went a hunting in the morning with Jacky
+Custis. Returned about 12 o'clock and found Colo. Fairfax and Lady here,
+Mrs. Fanny Ballendine and her nieces, Miss Sally Fairfax, and Mr. R.
+Adam, Mr. Jas. Adam, and Mr. Anthy. Ramsay, all of who went away in the
+afternoon, when Miss Scott came."[95] This deed was recorded at Fairfax
+Court on September 23, 1772, with another deed from John Carlyle and
+George William Fairfax, executors of the estate of William Fairfax, to
+convey lot No. 58 with all houses, building, etc., to Robert Adam for
+L125. Up to this time only one house stood on lots 56 and 57.
+
+It may well be that Adam acted only as agent for George William Fairfax,
+or that he assured title to the property for cash advanced. Within the
+month he had sold half of the lots to Andrew Wales, a brewer, for L331
+17_s._ 6_d._, nearly as much as he paid for the entire property. The
+other portion he sold to John Hough, Gentleman, of Loudoun County,
+Virginia.
+
+Robert Adam was quite the man of affairs in Alexandria. Born in
+Kilbride, Scotland, in 1731, the son of the Reverend John Adam and wife
+(_nee_ Janet Campbell), he came to Maryland at about twenty years of age
+and was in Alexandria before 1758, associating himself with that
+merchant prince of the town, John Carlyle, as early as 1760. The firm of
+Carlyle & Adam acted as agents for Mount Vernon as well as Belvoir,
+handling the wheat and tobacco from these plantations. Washington was
+close to both men until he was outraged by treatment accorded his wheat
+and bags, though he afterward did Adam the honor of dining with him.
+
+Following Colonel William Fairfax's death, Robert Adam succeeded to his
+place as a town trustee. In 1782, with others from Alexandria, he was
+active in founding the Masonic lodge. At the opening of the lodge in
+1783, he was elected and served as its first Worshipful Master, along
+with Robert McCrea as Senior Warden, Elisha C. Dick as Junior Warden,
+William Herbert as Secretary, and William Ramsay as Treasurer. The year
+1785 saw the erection of the Alexandria academy and Robert Adam laying
+the cornerstone.
+
+Like Adam before him John Hough had only a passing interest in the
+property of George William Fairfax. He disposed of two small lots, one
+to Benjamin Shreve, a hatter, and one to George Gilpin, the
+colonel-to-be. He sold the remainder of lots Nos. 56, 57 and 58,
+fronting on Prince Street to John Harper, a sea captain of Philadelphia,
+in June 1773 for the munificent sum of L780, with all and every
+improvement and all houses, buildings, and so on.
+
+[Illustration: The small parlor, restored. A blending of old and new]
+
+It is possible that Harper occupied George William Fairfax's house, but
+it is certain that he let it to Colonel William Lyle of Prince Georges
+County, Maryland, in 1782--probably before--and also as late as 1789,
+when Lyle returned to Maryland. Tax records show that Lyle was renting
+from Harper on Prince Street during this time. In 1782 he was taxed for
+"2 whites, 13 blacks, 2 horses, and 12 cattle."[96] He is mentioned
+several times in Washington's diaries as being at Mount Vernon, and at
+least once Washington came to Alexandria and dined with Colonel Lyle.
+
+For a time Colonel Lyle was associated with Colonel John Fitzgerald in
+the shipping trade under the firm name of Lyle & Fitzgerald. During the
+Revolution he served on the Alexandria Committee of Safety. From 1783
+until his departure to Maryland, Lyle was an active member of the Sun
+Fire Company. He owned considerable property in Alexandria. At one time
+he determined to build a dwelling house on part of lot No. 57 on the
+corner of Prince and Water [now Lee] Streets, which he had purchased
+from John Harper, but he sold the lot without fulfilling his intentions.
+
+When peace came in 1783, Captain John Harper, whose real-estate plans
+had been deferred by hostilities, began the division of his Fairfax
+property into building lots. At amazing speed and increasing prices he
+sold off what had formerly been gardens and orchards, and as soon as
+George William Fairfax's house was vacated by Colonel Lyle, Harper
+disposed of it to William Hodgson of Whitehaven, England, in 1790. Now
+our story of the Hodgson tenure must leave Alexandria to combine for a
+brief moment with the great house of Lee.
+
+[Illustration: The front room: The excellent Adam mantel from the Jonah
+Thompson House is an improvement to replace a later one with a Latrobe
+stove]
+
+Among the famous sons of the sire of Stratford Hall (Westmoreland
+County, Virginia), Thomas Lee, and his wife Hannah Ludwell, was William
+Lee, who was born in 1739. He went to England about 1766 as a Virginia
+merchant selling tobacco and acting as London agent for his Virginia
+clients. In London in 1769, William Lee married his cousin, Hannah
+Phillipi Ludwell (daughter of Philip Ludwell and Frances Grymes of Green
+Spring).
+
+William Lee took an active interest in politics and was elected as an
+alderman of London in 1774. This did not prevent him from doing all in
+his power to aid the American colonists. We find him going to Paris in
+April 1777 as commercial agent for the Continental Congress and working
+with his brother, Arthur Lee, on various diplomatic missions. While
+serving at The Hague he was ordered to the courts of Berlin and Vienna,
+but his services were thought to be so valuable it was decided to leave
+him in Holland. Arthur Lee was sent on to Berlin in his place, but
+later William Lee was appointed to the Austrian capital.
+
+[Illustration: 200 block of Prince Street. The Old Dominion Bank and the
+houses of George William Fairfax, Dr. James Craik and Dr. Elisha Cullen
+Dick]
+
+The four children of William and Hannah Phillipi Lee were born abroad.
+The first child, William Ludwell (1775-1803) was born in London; Portia
+(1777-1840) either in London or at The Hague; Brutus (1778-1779) at The
+Hague; and Cornelia (1780-1815) at Brussels. William Lee remained abroad
+until 1783, when he returned to his plantation, Green Spring, near
+Williamsburg. Peace had not then been concluded and he had such
+difficulty in obtaining passage for himself and family to Virginia that
+he was forced to purchase a ship for the voyage. The Lees set sail from
+Ostend on June 30, arriving home September 25.[97]
+
+While living in London William Lee was thrown into contact with William
+Hodgson, formerly of Whitehaven. This gentleman was an "active friend"
+of America, a "fire-eating radical," and a member of "The Honest Whigs,"
+a supper club of which Benjamin Franklin was a member, and the
+"presiding genius." Hodgson, also a member of the Royal Society, then
+composed of the intellectuals of the day--the premier scientific society
+of the English world--rendered valuable aid to the American
+commissioners in Paris by correspondence with Franklin in which he
+passed on much useful information.
+
+An enthusiastically outspoken recalcitrant, Hodgson was not content with
+his contribution to the American cause, but took up the cudgels for the
+French, and was promptly launched into very hot water. Two years in
+Newgate prison followed his hearty toast "The French Republic," and the
+epithet he applied to His Majesty, George III, of "German
+Hogbutcher."[98] After this experience, it is not surprising that
+Hodgson removed himself beyond the seas. He turns up at dinner at Mount
+Vernon in June 1788. Two years later we find him buying a house and lot
+for L1,650 from John Harper on Prince Street. The evidence is that he
+was already in this house as a tenant. Here he set up in the dry-goods
+business, using the first floor for his store and countinghouse, and the
+upper part as his dwelling.
+
+What could be more natural than Mr. Hodgson looking up his friends, the
+Lees, on his arrival in Virginia? His old friend, William, had died.
+Portia, now an orphan, was a young lady of handsome estate. Mr. Hodgson
+was dining rather frequently at Mount Vernon in 1798, and the General
+was writing of him always as "Mr. Hodgden."[99] Twice he was in company
+with Portia, the last time appearing in a diary entry of June 1799 with
+his wife at dinner. Mrs. Hodgson was, of course, the former Miss Portia
+Lee. Sometime this same year he brought her to his dry-goods store and
+dwelling house on Prince Street. Built some forty-odd years before, this
+house was doubtless in need of numerous repairs.
+
+The Hodgsons resided for upward of twenty-five years in the old town
+house of the Fairfaxes. They were the parents of eight children, so many
+that Hodgson found it necessary to give over to his family the lower
+floor of the house that he had been using as his store and countinghouse
+and to confine his activities to his warehouse and wharf on Union and
+Prince. About this time the house seems to have undergone many changes.
+A new front entrance was added, the stairway changed, a fashionable arch
+and reeded mantels appeared. In other words, the house was "done over"
+in the newest taste and latest fashion.
+
+In 1816 Hodgson was forced to sell his house due to his inability to
+meet a trust placed on the property in 1807. It was purchased in 1816 by
+John Gardner Ladd, senior partner of John Gardner Ladd & Company. Ladd
+appears to have come to Alexandria from Providence, Rhode Island, late
+in the eighteenth century. He is mentioned in Washington's diary as
+dining at Mount Vernon on February 1, 1798. A little glimpse into his
+private affairs is revealed by an old customs house record for the year
+1817. Under the entry for Thursday, January 2, we discover that the ship
+_America_, Captain Luckett in command, sailed for the West Indies and
+that "John G. Ladd, Esq., of the house of J.G.L. & Co. goes out in this
+ship, with a view of benefitting his health." His will, bearing date of
+February 18, 1819, and leaving to his wife, Sarah, for her life "the
+entire use and emoluments of my dwelling house and lotts on Prince and
+Water Streets (formerly the property of William Hodgson)," seems to
+indicate that this wish was not realized. The home remained in the Ladd
+family for the better part of thirty-five years.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To Alexandrians of later days, 207 Prince Street was known for many
+years as the home of the Honorable Lewis MacKenzie. This house had the
+first bathroom and tub in Alexandria. A niece of MacKenzie has stated
+that her childhood had no more enthralling experience than leaning out
+of the third story window and watching the water pour into Prince Street
+from a hole in the wall. It was hit or miss with the pedestrians below!
+MacKenzie also had the first heated halls in Alexandria, and nearly
+burned up the house in consequence. He simply bricked up a small chimney
+in a corner of the hall and installed wood stoves. Despite the hazard,
+the warm halls were a great luxury in those days, for before the advent
+of central heating all Virginians regarded halls in the wintertime as
+places to pass through as quickly as possible.
+
+Lewis MacKenzie, who owned the Fairfax house until 1891, was one of the
+eight children of Captain James MacKenzie, mariner. The unique wedding
+of his father and mother had been reported by the _Times and Alexandria
+Advertiser_ almost a century earlier (1798). Its nautical motif arrests
+our attention and carries us to the wharves of Alexandria in the time of
+George Washington:
+
+   We have to record an event of unusual interest which took place in
+   our harbor yesterday, on board the good ship "Lexington" which lay in
+   the stream opposite the town.
+
+   The "Lexington," dressed in her gayest rig, was loaded with a full
+   cargo of tobacco, in hogsheads, and only awaited the arrival of her
+   commander, Capt. James MacKenzie, before proceeding on her voyage to
+   Holland. The wind was fair, and the sun shone brightly. The jolly
+   tars had donned their holiday garb, and as the first officer walked
+   the deck and looked anxiously towards the town, it was evident that
+   an unusual event was about to occur.
+
+   The shipping in port showed the flags of all nations, and on the
+   British man-of-war, which lay close to the "Lexington," could be seen
+   the bright uniforms of the marines marshalled by their officers.
+
+   Precisely at ten o'clock several boats put off from Conway's wharf,
+   and on rounding under the stern of the "Lexington," the rolling of
+   the frigate's drums could be heard as the crew manned the yards. A
+   gay company passed up the gangway, led by the commander of the
+   "Lexington" who was accompanied by Miss Margaret Steel and a
+   clergyman from Maryland.
+
+   On the order of the officer on board the frigate, the marines came to
+   "present arms" in handsome style. It was then that Capt. MacKenzie
+   received his bride, the fine band of the frigate discoursing its
+   sweetest music as the guests departed. The order to "weigh anchor"
+   was then given, and the gallant captain, accompanied by his youthful
+   bride, "squared away" for his port of destination, with many good
+   wishes for his safe return.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: Gadsby's Tavern doorway comes home after four decades in
+the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as Alexandria celebrates its
+200th anniversary]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 6
+
+John Gadsby and His Famous Tavern
+
+[Gadsby's Tavern is controlled today by the Gadsby's Tavern Board, Inc.,
+under the auspices of the American Legion. The patriotic organizations
+of Alexandria have joined in the restoration of this building. In 1932
+the Alexandria Chapter of the Colonial Dames of America, the Alexandria
+Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Washington
+Society, restored the first floor, which included the famous dining
+rooms of the City Hotel.
+
+Due to the untiring efforts of the late Mrs. C.A.S. Sinclair, State
+Regent of the Virginia D.A.R., and Mrs. Robert M. Reese, one of the most
+worthwhile restorations in Virginia was completed in the fall of 1940 in
+the replacement of the woodwork in the ballroom. Happily, the floor is
+original. The inventory called for a coal grate, and in the attic the
+original grate, of Adam design, was found.
+
+In 1937-38, the Alexandria Association made a careful restoration of the
+roof, cornice and dormers, enabling other much needed work to go forward
+and before this book goes to press the original doorway in which
+Washington stood to receive his last official tribute in Alexandria will
+have been brought back from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (where it has
+been for four decades) to its rightful location. This patriotic
+restoration of the doorway by the Alexandria Association has been made
+possible by the past president and Honorary President of the
+Association, Colonel Charles B. Moore, U.S.A., Ret.]
+
+
+When Alexandria was one of the three largest seaports in America, a busy
+city of shipping merchants, a rendezvous for travelers, soldiers, and
+people of note, it was from necessity a city of taverns and hotels.
+
+Many are the tales, handed down from the late eighteenth and early
+nineteenth century travelers, and from the advertisements of the
+journals of that time, that, put together, form a very complete picture
+of this early American hostelry.
+
+The most famous tavern in Alexandria, perhaps in America, are the
+buildings on the corner of Cameron and Royal Streets, generally known
+and spoken of today as Gadsby's Tavern. Built in 1752, the smaller of
+these buildings was known for fifty years or more as the City Tavern,
+and sometimes as the Coffee House. John Wise built the large brick
+addition adjoining the City Tavern in 1792. On February 20, 1793, the
+_Alexandria Gazette_ carried the following announcement of Mr. Wise's
+City Tavern:
+
+   SIGN OF THE BUNCH OF GRAPES
+
+   The Subscriber informs the public in General that he has removed from
+   the Old House where he has kept Tavern for four years past to his new
+   elegant three story Brick House fronting the West end of the Market
+   House which was built for a Tavern and has twenty commodious,
+   well-furnished rooms in it, where he has laid in a large stock of
+   good old liquors and hopes he will be able to give satisfaction to
+   all who may please to favor him with their custom.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+David Rankin Barbee says that the hotel was opened on February 11 with
+festivities commemorating the birthday of General Washington: "As the
+guests assembled they were amazed as well they might be, at the internal
+arrangements of the new Hostelry."[100]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Wise's new hotel, Alexandria architecture reaches its highest
+expression. For its day and time it was the ultimate in comfort and
+elegance; more than that, it was in exquisite taste. A well known
+architectural historian has written of the ballroom, "One can sense that
+it was built as an Assembly room for Gentlefolk";[101] and gentlefolk
+used it for near a century.
+
+When the Jockey Club races were run on November 6, 1793, we find the
+members dining at Wise's inn, "the dinner to be on the table at three
+o'clock."[102] For the better entertainment of the guests, "Mr. Card
+performed wonderful feats at the Tavern every evening during the races.
+Feats in cards, slack-wire, celebrated equilibrist, ground and lofty
+tumbling."[103]
+
+And for the benefit of the ladies, November 6: "Information is hereby
+given that there will be a dancing assembly this evening at Mr. Wise's,
+to which are invited the ladies of Alexandria and its vicinity on both
+sides of the river. Tickets for the gentlemen, without which none can be
+admitted, may be had at the bar."[104] Out turned crimson velvet
+breeches, green damask coats laced with silver, or cinnamon damask with
+broad gold lace, while ladies in failles, lena gauzes, velvets, lace and
+ribbon took their places beside the dandies. Logs and coals glowed,
+candles burned, while the gossips sat against the wall and passed on the
+grace of this or that gallant and his lady. When the gentry came to the
+races, they remained for the dance!
+
+High above the floor, attached to the wall, hung the musicians'
+gallery[105] and to the strains of fiddle, flute, and banjo, the quality
+of the neighborhood bowed and glided. Upon these boards skipped little
+satin slippers and many times the heavy tread of the first citizen of
+America, for this gentleman was ever fond of the dance. Here gathered
+the Masons from Gunston Hall and Hollin Hall; the Lewises from
+Woodlawn; the Dulanys from Shuters Hill; the Lears from Wellington; the
+Ramsays, Herberts, Fairfaxes, Craiks, Browns, Roberdeaus, Lees,
+Fitzhughs, Diggeses, Custises, Swifts and many other of the town's
+Scottish gentry and their neighbors across the river.
+
+[Illustration: The doorway from hall to ballroom stands invitingly open]
+
+In 1794 an Englishman, one John Gadsby, took over the tavern under a
+long lease. As fine as the tavern had been under Wise, it was to reach
+new heights of public entertainment. Running the two taverns as one,
+under the name of Gadsby's, he brought its culinary fame to such a state
+of perfection that the odors of his dinners linger in the memory and
+titillate the palate to this day.
+
+There was always a fine stock of game, fish, oysters, terrapin, turkey
+and ham; Madeira, Port and brandy on hand for the traveler. Our own
+great Washington sat down to a very good dinner in his last days, if his
+adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis be correct, for on being
+assured of a plentiful supply of canvasback ducks about which he had
+just made inquiry, he gave the following order: "Very good, sir, give us
+some of them with a chaffing-dish, some hommony, and a bottle of good
+Madeira, and we shall not complain."[106]
+
+The fame of the tavern went out through the country and from Boston to
+New Orleans the traveler bent his efforts to make Gadsby's. John Gadsby
+established his own coach line from Alexandria to Philadelphia, and it
+was necessary to be a guest in City Tavern or his associated inns to get
+seat or ticket. Then he inserted the following notice in the _Gazette_:
+
+   March 1st, 1796.--John Gadsby informs the Gentlemen of Alexandria
+   that he has fitted up a large and convenient stable well provided
+   with hay, oats, etc., and an attentive hostler, and those who may
+   send their horses may depend on proper attention being paid to them
+   on moderate terms.
+
+This was very enticing to gentlemen traveling by horseback as well as
+those in the city not having private stables.
+
+Such men as George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, George
+Clinton, Benjamin Franklin, Braddock, the Byrds, Grymeses, Fitzhughs,
+Lees and Washingtons are among those who came here. One fine old tale
+has it that in 1777, in the old tavern courtyard, John Paul Jones met
+two bewildered Frenchmen in a dreadful dilemma--strangers in a strange
+land, speaking a strange tongue, unable to make themselves understood
+and doubtless very cross. By his knowledge of French, our brave
+privateer was enabled to smooth the way for these gentlemen, none other
+than Baron de Kalb and the Marquis de la Fayette, and the tale goes on
+that this assistance was so gratefully received that a friendship
+lasting a lifetime resulted from the encounter. The two taverns housed
+and fed most of the important persons visiting the country from 1752 for
+the next hundred years.
+
+[Illustration: Ballroom of Gadsby's Tavern, purchased and taken from
+Alexandria by the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, where it is
+now on exhibit]
+
+The Fairfax Resolves were prepared here--those resolves that eventually
+grew into the Virginia Bill of Rights. In this tavern met the little
+convention called by General Washington to settle the import duties upon
+the Potomac River commerce which led in time to the convention in
+Philadelphia which prepared the Constitution of the United States.
+
+In 1802 Gadsby entered into a new lease with Wise for fifteen years. In
+the indenture, reference is made to a three-story brick house and a
+two-story brick house, a brick kitchen and several wooden houses. Gadsby
+at this time was granted permission by Wise to erect at his own expense
+a brick stable one hundred feet long and twenty-seven feet wide and of
+a suitable height. He was also given permission to erect at his own
+expense another brick house forty-five feet long and fifteen or sixteen
+feet wide and two stories high, finished in a neat and decent manner so
+as to be habitable, and he also agreed to extend a wall thirty feet long
+and of the same height. The annual rent was to be two thousand dollars,
+and Gadsby agreed to paint the three-story brick house and the two-story
+house outside and inside, and he had permission to remove what wooden
+buildings were necessary and to keep the remainder in good repair.
+
+[Illustration: In the ballroom the musicians played from the balcony
+suspended from the ceiling. This is the restored ballroom]
+
+That Gadsby did not desire to keep the tavern so long is borne out seven
+years later when on November 13, 1809, John Wise, N.S. Wise, and R.I.
+Taylor leased the tavern to William Caton for three months and then for
+nine years for two thousand dollars a year, and stated the tavern was
+"formerly occupied by John Gadsby."[107] But the following year Caton
+had had enough and the _Alexandria Gazette_, on March 9, 1810, carried
+the following advertisement:
+
+   To the Public
+
+   The Subscriber has taken for a term of years that noted and eligible
+   establishment known by the name of the City Hotel, and once occupied
+   by Mr. Gadsby whose distinguished abilities as a Publican gave it an
+   eclat which the subscriber hopes to preserve by his unremitting
+   exertions.... James Brook.
+
+[Illustration: Ballroom fireplace containing original grate before which
+the gentry were wont to stand on winter nights]
+
+In 1811 an Englishman traveling incognito, put up at the tavern,
+formerly Gadsby's, became ill, and after it was discovered that he
+belonged to the Masonic fraternity, he was nursed by the gentlemen of
+the Alexandria lodge. Making a happy recovery, the gentleman departed,
+and apparently that was the last of him. Four years passed. One day
+there arrived by ship an enormous packing box for the lodge. It
+contained twenty-five hundred pieces of cut glass, decanters of all
+sizes, and glasses for any liquor distilled. The bottom of each piece
+was engraved with the Masonic emblem and the initials and number of the
+lodge. The enclosed card read simply: "From an English Gentleman and
+Brother in appreciation for fraternal courtesies." One hundred and
+seventy-five pieces remain in the Masonic Museum today, after more than
+a hundred years of use, and excellent crystal it is.
+
+One of the most romantic stories told of Gadsby's, a true one at that,
+is the mysterious tale of the Female Stranger. On a day in early autumn
+of 1816 a ship docked at the wharf in Alexandria, purported to have come
+from the West Indies. Down the ways came a striking couple. Luxuriously
+apparelled, they presented figures of great elegance. The handsome young
+"milord" was all tender solicitude for the fragile beauty clinging
+weakly to his arm in a state of collapse. Bystanders were considerably
+intrigued and greatly impressed by the distinguished strangers.
+Unquestionably they were rich, and certainly noble. It was indeed
+curious that such important people had no attendants, neither manservant
+nor maidservant, and the young lady sadly in need of assistance. Even
+while the sailors were busy with the great ropes and anchors the
+handsome stranger was making arrogant inquiries for the best tavern in
+the town and demanding a carriage for transporting the lady there with
+the least delay. First impressions were borne out, the gentleman was
+undoubtedly English, and he was a person of importance!
+
+[Illustration: In the Coffee House. A fine mantel and panelled chimney
+breast]
+
+[Illustration: Doorway to Coffee House or City Tavern]
+
+Naturally the strangers were directed to the best the town afforded, and
+to "Mr. Gadsby's City Hotel" the young people came looking for rooms.
+The gentleman evidently took mine host into his confidence and was
+provided with the most elegant accommodations. The young woman was put
+to bed and a physician ordered in attendance. She was truly very ill.
+Two of Alexandria's good Samaritans were informed of the pitiful little
+sick girl's condition and Mrs. John S. Wise and Mrs. James Stuart took
+their turns with the invalid. The husband proved himself devoted and
+fairly daft with anxiety, and 'twas said rarely left the bedside. The
+young woman grew rapidly worse. The skillful nursing, the constant
+and faithful attendance of the physicians were all useless, and after an
+illness of several weeks, the Female Stranger died. Thus she has been
+remembered in Alexandria, for a very curious thing had occurred. The
+doctors and volunteer nurses were asked to take an oath before ever they
+entered that sick chamber, and swore never to reveal aught that they
+heard, saw, or learned. That oath they kept. The young woman's name, her
+destination, her former habitation, have never been revealed, and her
+secrets lie buried with her.
+
+[Illustration: The Coffee House or City Tavern which later was run as
+one with Gadsby's Tavern and City Hotel. Headquarters for Washington and
+the Alexandria Militia in 1754]
+
+Many are the stories that survive. Some say the husband decamped without
+paying his host, doctors, and nurses. Others that he had eloped with
+this girl of good family and destroyed her reputation, and so brought
+about her death. One story claims that he was a criminal and was seen in
+prison by a gentleman from Alexandria, and others far more romantic
+tell of his reappearance at stated intervals in Alexandria when he was
+observed prostrate upon the tomb. Whatever his own story, he placed the
+mortal remains of the little stranger in St. Paul's Cemetery and covered
+her with a table tomb which is inscribed with the equally mysterious
+inscription:
+
+   To the memory of a Female Stranger Whose mortal sufferings terminated
+   On the fourteenth day of October, 1816.
+
+   This stone is erected by her disconsolate Husband in whose arms she
+   sighed out her last breath, and who under God did his utmost to sooth
+   the cold, dull hour of death.
+
+        How loved, how honor'd once avails thee not,
+          To whom related or by whom begot.
+        A heap of dust remains of thee
+          'Tis all thou are, and all the proud shall be.
+
+In 1808 the celebrated actress, Anne Warren, known as the "ornament of
+the American stage," was acting at the new theatre, Liberty Hall, just
+across from the Tavern on Cameron Street. While stopping at Gadsby's she
+became ill and died. (Not all the Tavern's patrons were so afflicted.)
+It is said that her interment was the last in old Christ Church yard.
+
+On October 16, 1824, La Fayette was entertained by the Alexandrians
+"amid the wildest popular demonstration of joy and affection,"[108] and
+again in February 1825, he returned to Alexandria and Gadsby's for a
+farewell entertainment by the Masonic lodge. The tavern at this time was
+run by a Mr. Claggett.
+
+Washington's association alone is sufficient fame for Gadsby's. In the
+little tavern he recruited his first military command, when as colonel
+of Virginia Militia in 1754 he set out to protect the Virginia frontier
+from the French and Indians. Again in 1755, as aide to General Braddock,
+he established headquarters at the City Tavern. Here, prior to the
+Revolution, he celebrated the King's birthday anniversary balls, an
+institution subsequently replaced by festivities of his own birthnight
+anniversaries:
+
+   February 11th, 1799 [22nd, new style] went up to Alexandria to the
+   celebration of my birthday. Many manoeuvres were performed by the
+   Uniform Corps, and an elegant Ball and Supper at Night.[109]
+
+At Gadsby's he was entertained right royally by proud and patriotic
+citizens on his way to New York to be inaugurated as President, and on
+his return to Mount Vernon and private life. Throughout his life he
+attended the assembly balls, and from the steps of the new building he
+gave his last military order and took his last military review.
+
+John Gadsby left Alexandria for greater fields--his hotels in Baltimore
+and Washington were in time more important than the City Hotel. He had a
+positive talent for Presidents, and knew them all from Washington to
+Polk. On the least provocation, it was said, he could put on an
+entertainment that would furnish food for gossip for a week.
+
+In 1836 Gadsby bought the Decatur house in Washington, and proceeded to
+entertain the elite of the town with the finest his kitchen and wine
+cellar could produce. President and Mrs. Polk often attended these
+functions. Again to quote Barbee: "The Chevalier Adolph Bacourt,
+Minister from France, attended one of these functions."[110] The
+gentleman was not very happy about it, and denouncing Gadsby, he wrote
+of him:
+
+   He is an old wretch who has made a fortune in the slave trade, which
+   does not prevent Washington Society from rushing to his house, and I
+   should make myself very unpopular if I refused to associate with this
+   kind of people. This gentleman's house is the most beautiful in the
+   city, and perfect in the distribution of the rooms; but what society,
+   my God![111]
+
+Gadsby died in the Decatur house in Washington in his seventy-fourth
+year, leaving his widow (a beautiful third wife!) to reign in this
+mansion some years after his death. He is buried in the Congressional
+Cemetery, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 7
+
+The Michael Swope House
+
+[210 Prince Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Hugh B. Cox.]
+
+
+There is an ancient house in Alexandria whose rusty rose brick facade
+and beautifully hand-carved eighteenth century doorway add ornament and
+distinction to the 200 block of Prince Street.
+
+Not many years ago Mrs. Alexander Murray (the daughter of a former
+owner) who had spent her girlhood in this old house remarked to the
+author, "You know, the house has a ghost. There is a story that an
+American Revolutionary spy who was executed by the British haunts the
+place." Every proper old mansion should have a ghost--and what could be
+nicer than an American patriot--blue coat and cocked hat?
+
+Time passed. Mrs. Murray's story remained to be written, when about 1930
+General Dalton came into possession of 210 Prince Street. Hearing that
+his house had been broken into, he requested his friend, Mrs. Sheen, the
+wife of Colonel Sheen, to examine the house and have the lock repaired.
+Mrs. Sheen with her son, Gordon, and a Negro went to General Dalton's
+empty house to repair the door and to lock the mansion. While the Negro
+was working on the lock, he said, "I certainly does feel funny. There's
+something strange about this house. Let's hurry and get out o' here."
+Whereupon Gordon Sheen pooh-poohed the idea, standing by the Negro to
+reassure him. Suddenly he saw (or said he saw) in the doorway at the end
+of the hall a soldier in Revolutionary uniform walking toward him. When
+the apparition reached the music room or library, it turned sharply to
+the right into the room and disappeared.
+
+[Illustration: Doorway to Colonel Michael Swope's House]
+
+Some time after this Mrs. Sheen was showing General Dalton's house to
+friends who had been living abroad and wanted a home. The two ladies had
+been through the lower floors and started to the third story. At the top
+of the steps the visitor said, "I can't go farther. Something is pushing
+me back." Mrs. Sheen at once descended the stairs, thinking her friend
+ill. When they reached the first floor the lady from abroad said, "A
+force was pushing me backward. I am quite psychic, you know, and the
+ghost who inhabits this house would make it impossible for me to live
+here. I love the house and should like to own it, but I should not be
+permitted to do so."
+
+At the second auction of lots held on July 14, 1749, Augustine
+Washington, brother of Lawrence Washington and half-brother of George,
+bought lots Nos. 64 and 65 for fifteen _pistoles_. At a meeting of the
+trustees on June 15, 1754, lots Nos. 64 and 65, the property of
+Augustine Washington, along with other lots were ordered to "be sold to
+the highest bidder at a Public Vendue, the several Proprietors thereof
+having failed to build thereon according to the directions of the Act of
+Assembly in that case made and provided and it is further ordered that
+the Clerk do give Public Notice that the sale of the said lotts will be
+at the Town aforesaid on the first day of August next."[112] In the
+minutes of the trustees for September 9, 1754, lots Nos. 64 and 65 were
+entered as sold to William Ramsay for 39-1/2 _pistoles_, or L37 1_s._
+9_d._
+
+The next document in regard to these lots is an indenture made July 21,
+1757, between William Ramsay, of the County of Fairfax and the Colony of
+Virginia, merchant, and Anne, his wife, of the one part, and John Dixon
+of the County of Cumberland in the Kingdom of England, merchant, of the
+other part, whereby William Ramsay in consideration of the sum of L810
+_7s._ sterling money of Great Britain to him in hand paid by John Dixon
+releases, grants, confirms, etc. to John Dixon certain lands described
+fully (1,261 acres) and "also the following lotts or half acres of land
+situate lying and being in the town of Alexandria in the County of
+Fairfax to wit Lott number thirty-four, forty, forty-six, forty-seven,
+and the lotts number _sixty-four_, _sixty-five_ [author's emphasis] as
+the same are numbered in the plan and survey of the said Town
+originally made by John West Junr., as also the following Negro and
+mulatto slaves with their increase (to wit) Peter the joyner, Jacob,
+Sophia, Whitehaven, Moll, Sall, Peter, Imanuel, Winnifrid and her child,
+Zilla, Phillis, and Clarisa, all which said lands and tenements lotts of
+land and slaves are now in the actual possession of the said John Dixon
+by virtue of one indenture bearing date the day before the date of these
+presents and by force of the statute for transferring uses into
+possessions to have and to hold the said lands tenements and all and
+singular other premises with them and every of their appurtenances
+together with the aforesaid slaves unto the said John Dixon, his heirs
+and assigns forever,"[113] provided always that if William Ramsay shall
+pay or cause paid to John Dixon of the town of White Haven, England, the
+just sum of L810 7_s._ with interest at five per cent per annum on the
+first day of July next, he will again come into possession of this vast
+property.
+
+[Illustration: The Great Room]
+
+In the following August, Dixon appointed Harry Piper of Alexandria his
+true and lawful attorney to collect and receive for him all sums of
+money or tobacco which might become due, "and furthermore for as much as
+I have taken a Deed of Mortgage from Mr. William Ramsay of the town of
+Alexandria in the Colony of Virginia, Merchant, for sundrie lotts or
+half acres of land in the town of Alexandria with ye houses, gardens and
+other improvements thereon, together with sundrie slaves as also one
+tract or parcel of land...."[114]
+
+In 1757 by a letter of attorney, dated August 8, John Dixon, merchant,
+of the town of White Haven in the Kingdom of Great Britain, authorized
+and empowered his attorney, Harry Piper of Alexandria, to take all legal
+means of foreclosure to receive the sum of L810 from William Ramsay who
+had mortgaged certain part of lots Nos. 64 and 65 with sundry slaves to
+secure that amount.
+
+John Dixon in turn sold this property to the Scottish firm of shipping
+merchants, Robert McCrea, Robert Mease, & John Boyd in 1774, and in 1778
+Boyd released his part of the property to McCrea and Mease for the sum
+of L253, with all houses, alleys, profits, commodities, and so on.
+
+That William Ramsay built at least a part of this house seems almost
+indisputable. First, Augustine Washington had forfeited the property by
+not complying with the law to build thereon, and it seems hardly
+possible that Ramsay should have owned the property from 1754 to 1757
+without complying with this act of the assembly. Furthermore, in the
+appointment of Piper as Dixon's attorney on August 16, 1757, the
+property is referred to as consisting of houses, gardens, and other
+improvements thereon. Dixon disposed of the property in 1774 to McCrea,
+Mease & Boyd, and four years later Boyd released his part for L253, with
+all houses, alleys, and so on. Little construction was done in
+Alexandria from 1775 to 1783, for this was the period of the
+Revolutionary War and no capital was going begging in the colonies at
+this date. Besides this evidence, the house has every appearance of a
+colonial building and the woodwork is all mid-eighteenth century in
+design. William Ramsay was an original trustee, appointed by the
+assembly for laying out the town. For a time he was successful and
+prosperous, owning much property, until overtaken by great misfortunes
+and compound interest!
+
+All of which brings us to Michael Swope of York, Pennsylvania, a worthy
+gentleman of ancient lineage, patriotic inclinations, and distinguished
+service. The family Bible attests the fact that he held many offices of
+trust--judge of the Orphans' Court; justice of the peace; member of the
+assembly; Colonel, First Battalion, First Brigade, Pennsylvania Flying
+Camp Regiment, being but some of them. He was captured at Fort
+Washington and kept a prisoner of war for a number of years, suffering
+great hardship and privation.
+
+[Illustration: Stairway and kitchen at Colonel Michael Swope's]
+
+When the Revolutionary War was over, Colonel Swope's health was
+undermined and he found the severe Pennsylvania winters unbearable. With
+his wife and family he moved south to Alexandria, where he set up in the
+ship chandlery business with his sons. He purchased from Robert and Ann
+McCrea and Robert Mease the property already described as a residence in
+1783. In a later deed of June 29, 1809, it is recited that Michael Swope
+erected a large three-story brick building on these premises in 1784.
+
+This house at 210 Prince Street is a fitting memorial to this officer.
+The doorway to the dignified old town mansion is one of the best
+examples of Georgian woodwork in Alexandria, and remains, save for one
+small patch and a new fanlight, in its original state.
+
+The back drawing room is splendidly proportioned. The paneled mantel
+flanked by fluted pilasters is in keeping with the other woodwork which
+is good throughout the house. Some of the best, a cupboard, was found on
+the third floor and brought down to replace one missing in the great
+room. Since it fitted perfectly, it is quite possible that it has only
+been returned to its original place. The rear wing of the house seems
+older and more worn than the front, giving the feeling of earlier
+construction.
+
+During Colonel Swope's occupancy fine furniture filled these rooms. In
+the Alexandria clerk's office an inventory of Colonel Swope's
+possessions, taken in 1786, fills several pages of legal paper when
+copied in its entirety. Such things were listed as "one clock and case,
+one mahogany dining table and eight chairs, one spinnett, one large
+looking glass, four small ones, one dressing table, one desk and
+drawers, five beds with all their furniture and linen belonging to them
+and bedsteads, two Franklin stoves, one riding chair and harness, sundry
+china and Queensware, eight decanters, 75 pounds of pewter, sundry
+silver furniture, to wit, two cream pots, five tablespoons, six
+teaspoons, two soup laddles, one tankard, and also one Negro woman and
+her child named Jude."[115] These are but a few of the Colonel's
+possessions, scattered these many years among his descendants.
+
+Michael Swope and his sons were successful in the thriving seaport of
+Alexandria, and when Adam Walter, the second son, was married he moved
+to Philadelphia, where he set up in the shipping business as a partner
+of his father. His father built for him a home at 31 Catherine Street
+and 'tis said that the architecture very much resembles the Prince
+Street house.
+
+Michael Swope died in 1809, aged eighty-four years. The body of the old
+hero was taken by boat from the port of Alexandria to the port of
+Philadelphia where he was interred in the Swope family vault in Union
+Cemetery at Sixth and Federal Streets. About 1858, during the yellow
+fever epidemic, the city board of health issued orders to have this
+vault cleaned out. It is said that the metal casket containing the
+earthly remains of Michael Swope was then in good condition. Perhaps,
+after all, Colonel Swope is the ghost that haunts this old house and
+chooses its inmates.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 8
+
+Dr. William Brown and His Dwelling
+
+[212 South Fairfax Street. Owners: Honorable and Mrs. Howard R. Tolley.]
+
+
+Between George Mason's house, Gunston Hall, and Mount Vernon, on Highway
+1, about seventeen miles south of Alexandria, stands the colonial church
+of Pohick. There is an old cemetery behind a brick wall, beginning at
+the very door of the church and rambling over an acre or so of the yard.
+Among the tombs is that of one man peculiarly and intimately connected
+with the town of Alexandria.
+
+He was one of the forty-odd officers of the Revolution to go from here,
+one of the twelve or more charter members of the Society of the
+Cincinnati, prominent for his contribution to his profession, and
+remembered for his friendship and association with Washington. His tomb
+was not originally placed at Pohick. It stood for many years in the
+private graveyard at Preston, now the site of the Potomac railroad
+yards, and was removed when that vandal of our port, "Progress" claimed
+the site.
+
+Let us trace the worn letters on the old stone:
+
+   In Memory of/William Brown, M.D./(Formerly Physician General to the
+   Hospital of the United States)/who died on the 11th day of Jan'y
+   1792/in the 44th year of his age;/This Tablet is inscribed/by/his
+   affectionate & afflicted widow/His zeal & fidelity as a Patriot/His
+   patience, diligence & skill as a Physician/His benevolence, curtesy &
+   integrity as a Man/Secured him/the applause of his country/the honor
+   & emoluments of his Profession/the respect of the Wealthy/and/the
+   veneration of the Poor/Let/the grateful witness of his virtues in
+   domestic life/add/that as a Husband, Father & Master he was tender,
+   instructive & humane/that he lived without guile/and died without
+   reproach.
+
+Dr. Brown's grandfather was Dr. Gustavus Brown who emigrated to Maryland
+in 1708 and in 1710 married Frances, the daughter of Colonel Gerard
+Fawke. Their son, Richard Brown, returned to England to prepare himself
+for the church. Richard's son, William, was born in Scotland in 1748;
+was educated at the University of Edinburgh, graduated in 1770, and came
+to America. This is Alexandria's Dr. Brown.
+
+This young Scotsman, gentle born, learned, traveled, handsome, came to
+Virginia at the age of twenty-two. He began to explore the south side of
+the Potomac, and his path often led to Dumfries and to the homes of his
+relations there, the Reverend James Scott's family, at the rectory, and
+the Blackburns at Rippon Lodge. Sometimes the carriage was brought out,
+or the horses saddled, or even the barge manned, and off to Mount Vernon
+the family would go.
+
+It was always pleasant at Mount Vernon for young people. Never the week
+went by but some of them gathered for dinner or to spend the night, and
+often both. When Washington returned from Alexandria, where he was
+attending court on May 19, 1772, he found his guests included Colonel
+Blackburn and lady, from Rippon Lodge, Miss Scott, Mrs. Blackburn's
+sister (both were daughters of James Scott, rector of the Church at
+Dumfries), Miss Brown and young Dr. Brown. "This company spent the night
+and went away the next morning."[116]
+
+Whether this was the beginning or the culmination of the romance, none
+now can tell, but by 1774 Miss Scott was already Mrs. Brown, and the
+mother of two very small sons, William Jr. being born that year. The
+young family was doubtless residing in General Washington's town house,
+and for this there is the authority of the General himself. In a letter
+to his nephew, Bushrod, dated November 1788, he writes, "If you could
+accomodate yourself to my small house in Town (where Doctr. Brown
+formerly lived) you shall be very welcome to the use of it rent
+free."[117]
+
+Previous to this, in 1785, Lund Washington's ledger reveals that he had
+received L40 from Dr. Brown on account of Gen^l Washington for "Rent of
+House in Alexandria."[118] In the General's own account ledger he refers
+to Dr. Brown's rent as having been fixed by "M^r L^d Washington at L60 a
+year for My House," and the sum is cancelled due to advances made by Dr.
+Brown and for professional services.[119]
+
+In July 1783, Dr. Brown purchased from John Mills the white clapboard
+house that has been identified as his Alexandria home. He purchased
+twenty-six additional feet south on Fairfax Street adjoining his
+dwelling house, from Robert Townshend Hooe and Richard Harrison,
+merchants, on July 10, 1790. This property became his garden.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. William Brown's clapboard residence]
+
+An Alexandria tradition and the Brown family belief is that the house
+was built by him prior to the Revolution. It is, indeed, very old and
+probably dates between 1757, when the property was mortgaged by William
+Ramsay to John Dixon of White Haven, England, and 1783, when the
+property was sold to Dr. William Brown by John Mills, for the sum of
+L280, indicating a substantial structure. There was at least one house
+on lot No. 65, and Dr. Brown's house is the only one standing on that
+lot today at all indicative of a pre-Revolutionary dwelling. If the
+house was not built by Ramsay, the probability is that it was built by
+Mills between 1777 and 1783, which is doubtful, as building during the
+Revolution was so difficult as to make it almost impossible.
+
+The home of the young Browns was the gathering place for the elite of
+Alexandria and the countryside. The Washingtons dined and passed the
+evening frequently. The Blackburns came often from Rippon Lodge, the
+Brown cousins from Port Tobacco, and of course Dr. Craik from around the
+corner. Colonel Fitzgerald, Colonel Swope, and Colonel Lyles were all
+near neighbors.
+
+The Doctor was a man of fine attainments. Active in the church, he
+served as vestryman at Christ Church; public spirited, he was the moving
+force in the founding of the Sun Fire Company; and the Alexandria
+academy was largely his idea. It was in great part due to his efforts
+that Washington was aroused to take an active part in this project, to
+contribute L50 annually, and at his death to will L1,000 to this
+institution.
+
+At the outbreak of the war with England, Washington showed his
+confidence by appointing Dr. Brown Physician-General and Director of
+Hospitals of the Continental Army. He served throughout the Revolution.
+Brown wrote and published the first _American Pharmacopoeia_ in 1778,
+"For the sake of expedition and accuracy in performing the Practice, and
+also to introduce a degree of uniformity therein throughout the several
+hospitals," the title pages read.
+
+It was due to hardships suffered at Valley Forge that he died in 1792 at
+the age of forty-four years. The following notice appeared in the
+_Virginia Gazette and Alexandria Advertiser_ for Thursday, January 19,
+1792:
+
+   On Friday, last, after a tedious and excrutiating illness, the iron
+   hand of relentless Death arrested and hurried that amiable citizen,
+   DR. WILLIAM BROWN, to the World of Spirits, "from whence no Traveller
+   returns!" All the love we bore him could not add one "supernumerary
+   gasp." He long felt the approaches of vital dissolution--no vain
+   laments--but sustained it with religious intrepidity, such as marks
+   the dignity of a Christian Hero.
+
+   He felt the force of Republican Principles early in life, and stept
+   forth, in the infancy of the American war, to oppose the British
+   King.--How often have I heard him, with the ardour of a Patriot,
+   expatiate on the firmness and virtues of a Hampden and a Sidney!
+   Viewing with horror the piteous situation of our virtuous and wounded
+   Soldiery--the derangement of the hospitals and medical department--he
+   relinquished his domestic ease and lucrative employment, and offered
+   his services to the Continental Congress. They were accepted--How he
+   conducted the interesting and important charge, the testimony of that
+   respectable body and his grateful country have long declared. Having
+   arranged and reformed the constitution of the army allocated to his
+   care, and reduced the wild and extravagant practice to system and
+   order, he left the service, and resumed his vocation in this Town; in
+   which he discovered the most exemplary tenderness, and unusual depth
+   of professional knowledge. He was sagacious by nature, inquisitive
+   and comprehensive, improved by study, and refined by sentiment. He
+   was equalled by few in the social and domestic virtues of politeness
+   and benevolence. He was the accomplished Gentleman, and finished
+   Scholar--the best of Husbands, and the best of Parents. The Poor and
+   needy ever experienced the humanity of his tender and sympathetic
+   soul. He was a man to hear "Afflicktion's cry." The loss of so much
+   charity, friendship and beneficence but claims the tributary tear;
+   But, temper your grief, ye pensive Relatives, and afflicted Friends--
+
+        "The toils of life and pangs of death are O'er;
+        And care, and pain, and sickness are no more."
+
+   He is gone, we fondly hope, to chant anthems of praise to an
+   approving God! Though the struggles of nature are agonizing and
+   prevailing, yet disturb not his gentle shade by impassioned
+   woe!--"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the
+   name of the Lord."
+
+[Illustration: Hall and stairway in Dr. Brown's House]
+
+There are not many reminders left of the good Doctor. In the Library of
+Congress a few bills rendered to Colonel John Fitzgerald for outfitting
+ships' medicine boxes and attending sick sailors; a letter from one
+Thomas Bond of Philadelphia written in April 1784 to Colonel Fitzgerald
+stating that his brother "goes to Virginia to study Physic under Dr.
+Brown." In the Virginia State Library is a tax report showing that for
+the year 1784 he owned eight slaves and one cattle, and that in 1789 the
+Doctor had three blacks and two horses. The minutes he wrote as clerk
+and treasurer of the Sun Fire Company are preserved and, of course, a
+few copies of his _Pharmacopoeia_.
+
+The Dr. William Brown house stands today much as it stood during his
+lifetime. Architecturally and historically it is one of the most
+interesting in Alexandria. No great house, this modest home built of
+white clapboard over brick and sitting close to the ground, rises two
+and one-half stories, hiding behind its stout doorway some of the best
+and certainly the most original woodwork in the old town.
+
+One enters a spacious hall, the wide board floors of which are worn with
+the passing of many years, and colored by use and time a deep amber.
+Running around the hall is paneled wainscoting in alternating vertical
+and horizontal panels. The stairway rises from about the middle of the
+hall in easy steps to the second floor, the spindles are rather
+primitive and the entire stairway has a provincial air. The white
+baluster rail is matched by a handrail and supported by half a matching
+newel post; wherever the cornice breaks, it turns against itself. An
+amusing feature, one found sometimes in old houses, is an inside window
+opening from the back drawing room into the hallway.
+
+If the stair is simple, certainly the woodwork in the upstairs front
+room is most ambitious. Mantel, overmantel and matching cupboards cover
+one entire wall, the chimney end of the room. The mantel is flanked by
+two fluted pilasters, reaching from floor to denticulated cornice. Above
+the shelf is a rectangular dog-eared panel, in each of the four ears of
+which is a rosette. Under the shelf, oblong panels carry out the same
+design, divided by a carved half urn. The shelf is supported by consoles
+and decorated by a fret that returns around the urn. The cupboards on
+each side of the mantel have, at the top, circular glass doors,
+surmounted by an arch and keystone. The bottom doors are wood paneled.
+The remainder of the woodwork is conventional, plain chair rail,
+baseboard and trim.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. Brown's upstairs parlor]
+
+The kitchen with its Dutch oven in the great brick chimney; the large
+fireplace where the old crane still hangs sturdily enough to support
+Mrs. Brown's best dinner, are in an excellent state of preservation. One
+is intrigued by some very ancient and peculiar waterworks that formed a
+part of the sanitary equipment in the culinary department and which
+function to this day. There is a heavy hand-hewn stone sink and a copper
+caldron with its own firebox and ashpit. Formerly a large oaken bathtub
+stood in the back room off the kitchen and the water heated in the
+copper caldron was available to both rooms. An old brass spigot that
+served the bathtub remains.
+
+At Dr. Brown's death the house passed to his widow. She left it in trust
+for her daughter, Sarah Maynadier, and the Maynadier grandchildren at
+her death in 1813. The house remained in the Maynadier family until
+April 26, 1842, when the property was purchased by James Green for
+seventeen hundred dollars. In 1940, the present owners, the Honorable
+and Mrs. H.R. Tolley, acquired the property.
+
+Dr. Brown's home has fallen into sympathetic hands. Today Queen Anne
+chairs and piecrust tables grace the parlor. From the hall comes the
+vibrating tick-tock of a fine old clock. Logs blaze cheerfully in open
+fireplaces, the flames reflected in old and polished silver. The hall
+window frames Catherine Brown's garden, which is divided into three
+sections, one shut off from the other by wall or fence, making private
+living areas of each. Old trees, brick walks, ivy and flowering shrubs
+add their attractions. A tall brick smokehouse stands sentinel, all that
+remains of a number of outbuildings which clustered, village fashion,
+about the dwelling.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. William Brown. From a miniature.
+
+(_Courtesy Mrs. Bessie Wilmarth Gahn_)]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 9
+
+The Peruke Shop
+
+[405 Prince Street. Owners: The Moore Family.]
+
+
+This house is completely surprising. Many years ago the owners put on a
+new pressed-brick front and changed the sash from the usual small lights
+to two single lights of large dimensions. The transition from this 1890
+front to an eighteenth century interior in a perfect state of
+preservation, produces upon one crossing the threshold the sensation of
+walking straight through the looking glass. And whither does the looking
+glass lead? Right into the parlors of Mr. William Sewell!
+
+The stairway rises on the far side of a fine arch in the entrance hall.
+Halfway up, it becomes obscured from view, leaving one gazing at a
+paneled ceiling, as it makes an abrupt about-face. The rooms on the
+second floor are quaint. Low-pitched, sloping ceilings, off-center
+mantels with odd panels and chimney closets and six-paneled doors with
+H&L hinges, are amusing as well as charming.
+
+Two parlors on the ground floor, opening off the hall, are formal and
+elegant. Fine paneled chimney breasts dominate these rooms. Dentils and
+fret trim cornices and mantels. Chair rails, six-panel doors, wide board
+pine floors, and double doors opening flat against the walls, making the
+two rooms into one, are found here. In the front room the interesting
+feature is a Franklin stove set in the fireplace--quite the last word in
+comfort in the 1780s.
+
+On July 14, 1749 the Reverend John Moncure bought lot No. 61 for L5
+_9s._ On March 28, 1752, the deed for this property was filed at Fairfax
+Court House and described as lot No. 61, a half acre of land on Royal
+and Prince Streets, as surveyed and platted by John West. Two years
+later, June 15, 1754, the Reverend John Moncure, along with other
+gentlemen of prominence in the colony, lost his lot for having failed to
+comply with the directions of the assembly to build thereon within three
+years. The following September there took place an auction of these
+forfeited lots, and No. 61 passed to William Sewell for L5 7_s._ 6_d._
+
+At a court held at Fairfax, on April 18, 1759, with five gentlemen
+justices presiding; _to wit_, John Carlyle, John West Jun., John Hunter,
+Robert Adam, and William Bronaugh:
+
+   William Sewell brings into court his servant Elizabeth McNot for
+   having a base born child. Ordered that she serve for the same one
+   year and she agrees to serve her said master six months in
+   consideration of his paying her fine.[120]
+
+Thus out of the mist of one hundred and ninety years emerges again the
+dim figure of William Sewell. And who, pray, was William Sewell?
+Peruke-maker! So called in a deed of trust dated 1766, "William Sewell
+Peruke Maker," and Elizabeth, his wife. The same Elizabeth?
+
+Nearly two hundred years have passed since William dressed a wig or
+powdered a head, but if these parlors were his shop, and certainly they
+were, all the gentry in the town waited his pleasure here. Visitors who
+came to Alexandria and took part in the balls testified to the elegance
+of the ladies' apparel (almost always) and a lady to be elegant must
+have a well dressed head. It was rare, too, to see a gentleman without
+his peruke. William must have had a very large business. One likes to
+think that Major Washington dealt with Sewell, and it is not difficult
+to imagine on ball evenings Mrs. Carlyle's maid rushing in, making a
+hasty curtsy and breathlessly demanding Madam's wig; or perhaps Mrs.
+Fairfax's maid presents Mrs. Fairfax's compliments and "Please, will Mr.
+Sewell come at two o'clock to dress Mistress Fairfax's hair?" Nor, is it
+difficult to picture William, when the shop day is over, with his
+apprentices bent over the fine net, meticulously crocheting, by
+candlelight, the white hair into a lofty creation that will, in about
+six months time, take a lady's breath away.
+
+Alas! Alack! Peruke-making and hair-dressing were not all they ought to
+be. Poor William owed a lot of money. He was indebted with interest to
+John Carlyle and John Dalton for L42 15_s._ 7_d._; William Ramsay for
+L83 14_s._ 4_d._; John Muir for L23 7_s._ 9_d._--all merchants of
+Alexandria. But that was not all; the Kingdom of Great Britain was
+concerned. He owed one Henry Ellison, of White Haven, merchant, L62
+10_s._ 7_d._, and Joshua Pollard of Liverpool, shipmaster, L17. Poor
+William put up for security lot No. 61, with all buildings thereon,
+water rights, watercourses, etc., which led, eventually, to a sheriff's
+sale. By due process of law, and to satisfy and pay sundry mortgages,
+lot No. 61 fell to William Ramsay.
+
+[Illustration: Mantel in home of William Sewell, peruke-maker]
+
+Ramsay sold a part of this lot on Prince and Royal Streets in 1785 to
+Colin McIver, and the property was described as bounded today:
+"Beginning 24 feet 6 inches west of Royal and running West on Prince 24
+feet, 6 inches, thence 88 feet North to a six foot alley, etc., for
+L225, with all houses, buildings, streets, lanes, allies, profits, etc."
+
+In 1795 Colin McIver's son, John, sold the property to a Philadelphia
+merchant named Crammond for L450 and Crammond agreed to give up the
+house and land within a stated time to anyone paying more, or to pay the
+difference.
+
+After twenty-three years the property was bought by another merchant of
+Philadelphia, Thomas Asley, for $750.00, and within two years Mr. Asley
+sold it to John Gird of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, for
+$1,300. In September 1819, John Gird had a note endorsed for $4,100 by
+Isaac Entwistle, and mortgaged some of his personal possessions which
+were listed as "one clock, one sideboard, two mahogany dining tables,
+two tea ditto, one pair card tables, one secretary, two bureaus, one
+writing desk, one dozen rush bottom chairs, one ditto with settee to
+match, one sofa, two looking glasses, carpets, brass andirons, two
+fenders, shovel, tongs, window curtains, three bedsteads and beds,
+chair, wash stand, chest, house linen, one set gilt tea china, four
+waiters, one half dozen silver teaspoons, one set plated castors, sundry
+glass and earthen ware, kitchen furniture, etc."[121]
+
+Six years later this debt was not cleared up and John Gird secured the
+debt with his house and lot. Thus ended Gird's tenure and the property
+passed on through other hands for twenty-four years to the Miller
+family; thence to Isaac Rudd, until the Moore family purchased the house
+about 1892.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 10
+
+Historic Christ Church
+
+
+Earliest parish records shed little light upon the spiritual life of the
+infant settlement of Alexandria. First mention of services held in the
+town turns up in the old Truro Parish vestry book, under date of June 4,
+1753, when it was "ordered that the Rev. Mr. Charles Green do preach
+every third Sunday."[122] Later entries in 1754 and 1756 respectively
+for "building the desk at Alexandria"[123] and "to have seats made for
+the Church at Alexandria"[124] are puzzling since no mention occurs for
+any levies or appropriations for building or repairing. The inference
+would seem that some individual had provided a meeting place for
+services, though local tradition is firmly entrenched that a Chapel of
+Ease stood on Pitt Street near Princess.
+
+Fairfax Parish emerged in 1765 as a daughter of the mother parish of
+Truro. Whatever previous arrangements for church attendance were
+provided for in Alexandria, an increasing population now demanded a
+more appropriate and commodious place of worship. James Wren,
+gentleman, designed the church and a contract to build it was originally
+let to one James Parsons in 1767 for the sum of L600. For some reason,
+Parsons failed to fulfill his contract and in 1772 the vestry
+appropriated an additional L220 and gave Colonel John Carlyle the task
+of finishing the building.
+
+Wren proved himself an able architect and Carlyle a great builder. No
+cathedral in Europe conveys greater serenity than this little church.
+Cherished by Alexandrians for one hundred and seventy-seven years, the
+ancient interior expresses all the spiritual and sacred qualities of
+man. The reredos is centered upon a Palladian window, included as an
+element of the design. The window is flanked by the tablets for which
+James Wren was paid eight pounds "to write" the Lord's Prayer, the
+Creed, and the Golden Rule. Fluted pilasters frame the windows and the
+tablets. A hexagonal wine-glass pulpit rising on its slender stem is
+surmounted by a hexagonal canopy. The pews, originally square, were
+divided in 1817. The balcony was added much later, but is in perfect
+harmony with the earlier woodwork. The brick tower and interesting
+"pepper pot" steeple were built in 1818.
+
+In an old deed at Fairfax Court House, dated 1774, between John
+Alexander of Stafford County, gentleman, of the one part, and Charles
+Broadwater and Henry Gunnell, church wardens, of the other part,
+Alexander, for and in consideration of the sum of one penny, current
+money, gave to the parish:
+
+   All that piece or parcell of Land situate lying and Being near the
+   Town of Alexandria in the parish of Fairfax aforesaid where the new
+   Church built by James Parsons stands, containing one Acre, Beginning
+   at a locust post in a north west Corner from the northwest corner of
+   the Church standing on the said Land and at the Distance of Twenty
+   three and one half feet from the said Corner thence South Seventy
+   eight Degrees East and parallel to the north wall of the Church,
+   Twelve poles and Sixteen and a Quarter links, thence South 19 deg. W.
+   12 poles and 16 and 1/4 links, thence N. 75 deg. W. 12 poles and 16
+   and 1/4 links, thence N. 12 deg. E. 12 poles and 16 and 1/4 links to
+   the Beginning to have and to hold the aforesaid piece or parcell of
+   Land with all and Singular its Appurtenances unto them the said
+   Charles Broadwater and Henry Gunnell and their successors Church
+   Wardens of the said Parish of Fairfax forever, to and for the use and
+   Benefit of the said Parish, and the said John Alexander for himself
+   his Heirs Executors and Administrators the aforesaid piece or parcell
+   of Land against the right, Title interest, claim and Demand of him
+   the said John Alexander and his Heirs, and of any person claiming or
+   to claim by from or under him the said John Alexander or his Heirs,
+   to them the said Charles Broadwater and Henry Gunnell and their
+   Successors Church wardens of the said parish of Fairfax, to and for
+   the use of the said Parish of Fairfax, will warrent and for ever
+   Defend by these Presents.
+
+   In Testimony whereof he the said John Alexander hath hereunto set his
+   hand and affixed his Seal the Day and year aforesaid.
+
+        John Alexander [Seal]
+
+   Signed, Sealed and Delivered in presence of I. Kirk, David Henley,
+   Rd. Harrison, Rob. H. Harrison.
+
+   Received this 10 day of October 1774 of the within named Charles
+   Broadwater and Henry Gunnell Church Wardens of Fairfax parish the
+   Consideration Money in the within Deed.
+
+        John Alexander
+
+   Witness I. Kirk, David Henley, Rd. Harrison, Rob. H. Harrison.
+
+   At a Court held for the County of Fairfax 20th March 1775 This deed
+   and Receipt was proved by the oath of David Henley, James Kirk and
+   Robert Hanson Harrison to be the Act and Deed of John Alexander and
+   ordered to be recorded.
+
+        Test P. WAGONER, Cl. Ct.
+
+[Illustration: Christ Church where both Washington and Lee worshipped]
+
+As early as 1762, General Washington was chosen vestryman for Truro
+Parish and at the first election held in March 1765, for the newly
+created Fairfax Parish (including Alexandria) he was elected to that
+office. This development stemmed from the terms of an act of the
+Virginia Assembly which set the boundaries in such a way that Mount
+Vernon lay within the new parish. As repealed and revised four months
+later, legislation returned Mount Vernon to Truro. Technically, then,
+Washington was vestryman-elect in the new parish for less than three
+months, yet his association with the Alexandria church was always close.
+Even before the new church (later to be known as Christ) was finished
+and delivered to the vestry, he had purchased pew No. 15, for which he
+paid L36 10_s._, thought to be the highest price paid for any pew.
+
+Pohick Church in Truro Parish was completed about the same time as
+Christ Church in Alexandria. It was Washington's home church until after
+the Revolution, when it was practically abandoned by the Episcopal
+congregation. The General's habitual attendance at Christ Church
+apparently dates from about April 1785, when he bound himself to pay an
+annual pew rent of "five pounds, Virginia money."[125]
+
+An anecdote told in Alexandria of how a group of girls tried to save the
+silver marker from the Washington pew during the War Between the States
+is worth repeating. The town was under Union jurisdiction. A group of
+half-grown girls of whom the leaders were Molly Gregory (Mrs. Robert
+Powell) and Connie [Constance] Lee (Mrs. George E. Peterkin, wife of
+Bishop Peterkin) banded together to help the Confederate cause in any
+way they could. One of their ideas was to go to Christ Church and remove
+the silver plate marking Washington's pew and take it home for
+safekeeping. No one was taken into their confidence. In very short order
+the Yankee provost marshal arrived at Cassius Lee's house and demanded
+the return the plate. Of course, Lee knew nothing whatever of the
+removal, but he summoned his children, lined them up, and demanded if
+any of them had any knowledge of the plate. There was silence for some
+time. The provost marshal became threatening before admission was made
+that the removal of the plate was not a theft, but had been taken for
+safekeeping. The plate was returned to the church. The next day it
+disappeared and nothing has ever been known of it since.
+
+[Illustration: The Holy Interior of the old church]
+
+Interesting and distinguished men have occupied the pulpit of Christ
+Church, beginning with the Reverend Townsend Dade, rector (1765 to
+1778); and including such men as David Griffith (1780-1789), Bryan
+Fairfax (1790-1792), and Thomas Davis (1792-1802). The last named
+officiated at General Washington's funeral. But in the second year of
+Davis' ministry, President Washington had received the following
+solicitation:
+
+        Alexandria. 22^d Feb^y 1793
+
+        Sir
+
+   The Episcopal Congregation of this Town and Neighborhood, being
+   extremely pleased with the induction of that Respectable Character
+   and accomplished Preacher, Mr. Davis, wish to compleat their
+   satisfaction by the acquisition of an Organ.
+
+   As no one can be more desirous of obtaining it than myself, I have
+   been requested to undertake the Collection of Subscriptions; and I
+   have been instructed to leave a place at the head of my Paper for a
+   Name which has always been foremost in every undertaking both of
+   private and public munificence.
+
+   I think it necessary to mention my being only an Agent in this
+   business, that, should there be any impropriety in the present
+   application, no more than a due share of it may be imparted to me. I
+   may have been mislead by the Opinions of others, and seduced by my
+   own Eagerness to accomplish a favorite purpose, but I beg of you Sir,
+   to be persuaded that no Earthly consideration should tempt me to
+   violate, wittingly, those Sentiments of perfect respect with which I
+   am
+
+        Sir
+               Your most obliged & obedient Servant
+                                     Sm Hansen of Sam^l
+
+        Docket: From
+            Col^o Sam^l Hanson
+            22^d Feb. 1793[126]
+
+The letter was long in passage, but it elicited the desired result the
+following April. The President entirely approved this measure and
+affixed his name to the paper, regretful at the same time that public
+subscriptions of all sorts limited the size of his contribution.
+
+This instrument, now preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, has had
+an engaging history. Built in England in 1700, it was first used in the
+colonial church at Port Royal and from thence was acquired for
+Alexandria. After considerable service at Christ Church, it went to the
+Episcopal church at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and about the middle
+of the nineteenth century passed to St. Thomas Episcopal Church at
+Hancock, Maryland. It was presented to the Smithsonian by the vestry of
+the latter church in 1907.
+
+Christ Church is proud of its association with the Reverend William
+Meade, afterward the Virginia bishop of beloved memory. His pastorate
+was short, from 1811 to 1813, but his fame as preacher, gentleman, and
+scholar forecast his later attainments. The Reverend Charles B. Danna
+was another nineteenth century divine who faithfully served the
+congregation. Dr. Danna occupied the pulpit from 1834 to 1860, when he
+left to take a church at Port Gibson in Mississippi. He later removed to
+Natchez, Mississippi, in 1866 to be rector of Trinity Church. He was a
+trusted friend of Mrs. George Washington Parke Custis and Mrs. Robert E.
+Lee, and he baptized the children at Arlington House. It was during his
+pastorate that Robert E. Lee was confirmed on July 17, 1853, by Bishop
+Johns. When word was received in Alexandria of Dr. Danna's death, in
+1873, Christ Church was draped in mourning.
+
+There is an odd and sad sequel to Dr. Danna's pastorate in Natchez. Some
+years ago there occurred an astounding and mysterious death in Natchez,
+Mississippi. A very prominent woman whose father had represented his
+country at a foreign court was found in her own home brutally murdered.
+Suspicion at once fell upon her nearest neighbors, a man and a woman,
+eccentric characters, who shared the same house. They were arrested and
+tried for murder. Their house immediately attained notoriety as "Goat
+Castle" and was so known over the United States from the manner in which
+the inmates lived. The strange fashion in which dogs, goats, chickens,
+or any animal on the place was made welcome in the drawing room was very
+queer and gave cause for the name.
+
+[Illustration: The open door marks Robert E. Lee's pew. Here he came for
+spiritual guidance]
+
+The murdered woman had objected to the presence of her neighbors' pets
+on her place, especially the goats, which were prying and curious, as
+well as other tame animals which belonged by right in the barnyard, but
+preferred the drawing room. Ill feeling sprang up, quarrels, lawsuits,
+all the dreadful sequel of a neighbors' feud. At the trial
+circumstantial evidence piled up and up. It was not enough for
+conviction. The inmates of "Goat Castle" were acquitted. Even so, black
+distrust was their portion from many of their fellow townsmen.
+
+Some people from Alexandria were making the Natchez pilgrimage and came
+unwarned upon "Goat Castle." Lovely strains of music could be heard,
+coming from an old piano, sometimes improvised, sometimes a bit of Bach,
+Mozart, Chopin, played with much feeling. As the strangers approached
+the house they were shocked at the dilapidation--sash missing in the
+windows, doors off hinges, boards decayed and missing from the house and
+porch. Embarrassed, they hesitated to enter when to the door came a man,
+the musician. Speaking in a quiet voice, he asked them in. Upon the
+piano a large hen was standing, perfectly at ease. The deterioration of
+the interior was more pronounced than that of the outside--springs
+bursting through upholstery, beds unmade and without linen, neither
+carpets upon the floors nor curtains at the windows. Animals wandered in
+and out at will. Yet upon the walls hung some portraits and the
+furniture had been good. There were many books. The man was obviously
+cultivated in his speech and manner. The host collected the stipend for
+entering the place and proceeded to show the tourists the house, which
+was interesting, and his inventions, which were not; a collection of
+senseless, pitiful, useless things.
+
+Upstairs, and downstairs, into this room and that they were taken to be
+shown an "invention." Each room was more squalid than the last. Finally
+the end in sight, escape near at hand, the gentleman said, "I'll show
+you something," and took the Alexandrians into a room opening off the
+hall. There was a large mahogany bookcase, sealed by a court order,
+which the host opened at will, carefully replacing what he took out
+after it had been examined. One of the strangers, flipping the pages of
+an old book, saw the signature of Robert E. Lee, Alexandria, Virginia.
+Startled, she asked where the book had come from. "It was my father's,"
+was the simple reply. "That is my father," pointing to an old oil
+portrait of a clergyman. "He lived in Alexandria. He was rector of
+Christ Church."
+
+Not long after this a Negro, arrested in the West, but formerly employed
+in Natchez, was purported to have confessed to the murder for which
+these people had been tried and acquitted.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 11
+
+The Presbyterian Meetinghouse
+
+[In 1928 the church was restored as a shrine and the cemetery put in
+order by a group of persons, many of whom were descendants of the
+original society members. In 1940 the Alexandria Association replaced
+the missing pulpit with one, which while not a replica, conveys the
+spirit if not the pattern of that destroyed. Ecclesiastical settlement
+has vested the property in the name of the Second Presbyterian Church of
+Alexandria.
+
+Before this book goes to press the Old Presbyterian Meetinghouse will
+have opened its doors again for regular services.]
+
+
+One does not associate religious intolerance with America; nevertheless,
+the Act of Toleration which permitted religious freedom of worship was
+not signed until 1760. French Presbyterians were seeking refuge in the
+New World as early as 1562. The Church of England was the official form
+of worship in Virginia from 1607 until after the Revolution. Prior to
+1760 worship not of the Established Church was done secretly and behind
+closed doors, generally in the fastness of a citizen's private home or
+place of business, though from time to time one finds permission given
+to preach. For example, in 1699, Francis Makemie was granted permission
+from the colonial authorities to preach Presbyterianism at Pocomoke and
+Onancock on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Francis Doughton preached in
+Virginia as early as 1650-59, and is considered the father of British
+Presbyterianism in the middle colonies, having begun his work as early
+as 1643.
+
+Here in the little town of Alexandria, the population was largely
+composed of Scottish agents, shipping merchants, and sea captains,
+sincere followers of Dr. John Knox. Outwardly they conformed to the
+Episcopal Church, punctually attending services, by compulsion or
+otherwise. At the same time they adhered to the Scottish faith they had
+brought with them, meeting where and when it was expedient, until the
+day came when unmolested they were free to emerge from secret places and
+publicly worship as they pleased. That they practiced the liberty of
+conscience, which they won the hard way, is proclaimed in an
+announcement carried in _The Columbian Mirror and Alexandria Gazette_ of
+November 28, 1793: "At 12 o'clock on Friday the 30th instant a charity
+Sermon will be preached in the Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. James
+Muir, for the benefit of the Poor without respect to country or sect."
+
+Major John Carlyle, after completing Christ Church in 1772 for his
+Church of England friends, undertook the direction of the Presbyterian
+meetinghouse, so-called, doubtless, to distinguish it from the Church of
+England. According to a report written in 1794 by the pastor, Dr. James
+Muir, "No church was yet built ... to accomodate them in worship
+[_i.e._, in 1772]. It was determined to build one; Mr. Richard Arrell
+and his wife, Eleanor, presented the Society with a lot of ground ...
+the members of the Society came forward with generous subscriptions and
+loans; some assistance was afforded by their brethren of other
+denominations; they were thus enabled to erect and cover in a brick
+building sixty feet long and fifty feet broad."[127] This was partially
+completed by 1774. Not until after the Revolution was the church
+plastered and finished off.
+
+The first minister of the congregation, the Rev. William Thom, was
+ordained in Pennsylvania in 1772 and called to Alexandria. But in one
+year the "Little Minister" was dead of a pestilential fever. Further
+steps to improve the House and organize the Society were interrupted,
+according to Dr. Muir's report, by the war which commenced between Great
+Britain and the colonies.
+
+In 1780 the Rev. Isaac Stockton Keith was invited to remain with the
+Society during the winter. He remained nine years. The "Contract for the
+erection of the manse was let in July, 1787, to Mr. Robert
+Brockett."[128] In March 1789, Dr. Muir was called to the pastorate and
+remained until his death, serving for thirty-one years. Dr. Muir was a
+trustee of the Alexandria academy. As president of the board of
+trustees, he rendered to Washington satisfactory accounting on how his
+donations were being applied and what good was being accomplished, after
+a rather sharp letter of inquiry. As chaplain of the Masonic lodge, he
+assisted Dr. Dick with the Masonic ceremonies at the funeral of George
+Washington on December 18, 1799. Ten days later the _Gazette_ carried
+the following notice: "The walking being bad to the Episcopal Church the
+funeral service for George Washington will be preached at the
+Presbyterian Meeting House tomorrow at 11 o'clock." This was a memorial
+service, one of a countless number held throughout the length and
+breadth of the land. The Rev. James Muir's "Funeral Sermon on the Death
+of George Washington" was widely circulated in its day by means of a
+printed broadside.
+
+When Dr. Muir died on August 8, 1820, he was held in such great
+affection and respect that it was decided to bury him under the pulpit
+and to erect a suitable monument to his memory. The committee appointed
+for this purpose was working at least five years and submitted reports
+again and again on the cost of altering the pulpit for the memorial. The
+last mention of the subject in the Committee Book reads: "Mr. Mark
+reports that the bannisters of the Cupola have been taken away as
+ordered at last meeting ... Rev'd E. Harrison, Mr. Jno. Adam & Mr. Jos.
+B. Ladd are appointed a Committee to make all necessary arrangements for
+procuring and erecting a suitable monument to the memory of the late Dr.
+Muir."[129]
+
+An old table gravestone with its inscribed eulogy formerly marked the
+spot where Dr. Muir was buried under the pulpit. It was removed to the
+burying ground to the lot beside the tombs of his wife and children
+after the restoration of the church building following the fire of 1835.
+A mural tablet under the gallery on the north wall now bears eloquent
+testimony to his beloved memory.
+
+Dr. Muir's widow was allowed to continue on in the manse where she
+conducted a school for several years. Near the end of her life she moved
+from the manse with expressions of gratitude, and her daughters took up
+and continued the school for some years after her death. These ladies
+might have stepped out of the pages of Barrie's _Quality Street_ so
+gentle and so inadequately equipped were they to battle with cold
+dollars and cents and naughty children. Eleven years after the good
+doctor's death, this announcement in the _Gazette_ shows Dr. Harrison
+and Mr. Hallowell giving a helping hand:
+
+   Female Board School (The Misses Muir)
+
+   Tendering to the public their grateful acknowledgements for the
+   liberal patronage hitherto received, take this method of giving
+   notice that their school will re-commence, on Monday next the 5th of
+   September. The course of instruction will be as heretofore, and very
+   similar to that of all other respectable Female Seminaries in the
+   District.
+
+   The higher classes besides being examined twice a week by the Rev.
+   Mr. Harrison, will have also the privileges of attending the lectures
+   of Mr. Hallowell on Astronomy and Chemistry. And in addition to all
+   the ordinary branches of a solid education, they are prepared to
+   teach and do teach, the more ornamental ones of Music, Drawing,
+   Painting, and French.
+
+   Terms of boarding and tuition, as usual, moderate.[130]
+
+On a hot Sunday afternoon in July 1835, during an electrical storm, the
+meetinghouse was struck by lightning. On that day the pastor, Dr.
+Harrison, had been invited to Georgetown to preach, and the usual Sunday
+afternoon services were postponed. Imagine his horror upon returning to
+discover the "severe and Awful calamity which had befallen the church
+and congregation." In the session book of the meetinghouse, we find this
+vivid description:
+
+   It has pleased God in his inscrutably mysterious yet wise and
+   adorable providence to permit that on this day consecrated to holy
+   rest, and to public services of devout worship in his earthly
+   sanctuary, their venerable Church Edifice--for so many years, the
+   place of hallowed devotion for their fathers and themselves, should
+   be totally consumed by the lightening of Heaven.
+
+   This melancholly event took place about a quarter before three
+   o'clock in the afternoon--a few minutes previously to the time
+   ordinarily set apart for the ringing of the bell for the exercises of
+   Public Worship. It was just at the close of a refreshing shower of
+   rain, attended as is usual at this season of the year, with peals of
+   thunder and flashes of vivid lightening. The Electric fluid seems to
+   have been attracted by the spire of the Steeple, which--running up
+   from the centre of a four-sided roof rising in the form of a
+   pyramid--was rapidly conducted by means of a large quantity of iron
+   used for the security of the timbers, to the shingles and other
+   combustible materials of three of the corners of the building, almost
+   directly under the eave. There entirely inaccesible for some minutes
+   to any efforts which could be made use of for the purpose of
+   quenching it, and continually fed by the qualities of the matter with
+   which its work of desolation, with a rapidity which was truly awful
+   and appalling. In a space of time too brief almost to be deemed
+   credible by such as were not witnesses of the sublime and fearful
+   spectacle, the entire roof exhibited to the immense multitude
+   gathered around to mingle their sympathies and tender their
+   assistance, nothing but one mighty map of living fire--curling in
+   rapid and terrific volumes around the still suspended tho tottering
+   steeple; and smiling at every effort towards extinction, save that of
+   Him--that Dread and Aweful Being, by whom the flame had been
+   enkindled. A period of two hours had not elapsed from the
+   commencement of the conflagration, before the whole edifice except
+   the walls, was involved in one shapeless mass of smoking ruin,
+   presenting a scene, as desolating and repulsive to the common
+   citizen, as it was tearful and heart-rending to the church and
+   congregation. Our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised
+   the Lord--to use the language of the Prophet,--was thus burned up
+   with fire; and all our pleasant things laid waste.
+
+   With the exception of the lamps, a venerable clock in front of the
+   Gallery opposite, the pulpit, the books and cushions, a part of the
+   windows, the Stoves, a large proportion of the pipes of a Splendid
+   Organ which was split open with an axe for that purpose, and some of
+   the plank broken from the pews--all was destroyed; and but for the
+   real and practical sympathy of many of our esteemed citizens in
+   braving dangers of no common magnitude, a like destruction had been
+   the fate of these also.
+
+   The house had been standing for more than 63 years--the steeple and
+   galleries had been built somewhat later--and except the Episcopal
+   church on Washington Street, generally known by the name of "Christ's
+   Church"--was the oldest of all the ten places of religious worship in
+   town. For many years its bell was the only Church-going signal within
+   the limits of the corporation; and owing to this circumstance,
+   connected with its peculiarly clear and inviting tones, the
+   destruction of it--which was caused by its fall from so lofty an
+   eminence--seemed the occasion of regrets to the public at large, more
+   immediately expressed than for the edifice itself. To the
+   congregation, no loss besides the house, was more deeply deplored
+   than that of the large and richly toned Organ. Not only because of
+   its superior worth as an Instrument of Music, the difficulty of
+   replacing it by another, and the sacred uses to which it was applied,
+   but equally because it had been presented by a few venerated and much
+   esteemed individuals, most of whom are now sleeping in the dust.
+
+   For several years, there had been an Insurance effected on the
+   building to the amount of five thousand dollars--two thousand five
+   hundred on each of the Offices in town. But it so happened in
+   providence, that one of these Policies, which had expired about four
+   or five months previous, had never been renewed;--so that with the
+   exception of twenty-five hundred dollars, the loss to the
+   congregation was total.
+
+   Yet there was one circumstance which ought to be recorded with
+   emotions of adoring gratitude. The calamity took place at a time when
+   on ordinary occasions, some individuals would have been in the
+   house--as it was so near the hour of the afternoon's service,--and
+   had that been the case now, there is much reason to fear, that it
+   would have been attended, if not with loss of life, at any rate with
+   serious injury to not a few. But it had been so ordered by Infinite
+   Wisdom no doubt, that, for the first Sabbath in more than two years,
+   the Church was closed during the whole of that day--the Pastor having
+   been providentially called away to supply the pulpit of a sick
+   brother in the neighboring city of Georgetown. So that no individual
+   was in the house, and no serious injury occurred to any individual
+   during the progress of the fire--and thus, while there is much to
+   produce sadness and to call for deep humiliation before God, the
+   Session would feel, that there is still something to awaken emotions
+   of gratitude and praise; and that however severely the loss may be
+   felt, yet it has not been unattended with significant expressions of
+   kindness and regard.
+
+[Illustration: The old Presbyterian Meetinghouse showing the new tower]
+
+Dr. Harrison's lamentations, while justified, were not for complete
+demolition. In the minutes of the trustees, the fact is stated that the
+roof and cupola burned and fell in, destroying much of the interior
+woodwork, but not all. The walls and part of the galleries remained
+intact, Dr. Muir's tablet was uninjured, many windows were not broken,
+and the organ, at first thought destroyed, was very little injured; it
+remains in use to this day, and likewise the old clock. However, the
+damage was terrific and there was only a nominal insurance to cover the
+loss.
+
+Part of the congregation wished a new building site and it was given
+some thought, but the "siller" [silver] was found to be inadequate for
+the purpose. The amount in the treasury did cover the cost of
+restoration, and on April 5, 1836, it was "Resolved, That the
+congregation of the Church be called to meet at the Lecture room on
+Friday evening next at 1/2 past 7 o'clock, to decide permanently on the
+location of the Church."[131] In November the committee minutes recorded
+that "The location of the Church was permanently fixed on the old
+site,"[132] and on February 7, 1837, "Mr. Smith, from the committee
+appointed to consult on the propriety of lowering the gallery, reported
+that it was thought to be inexpedient to do so."[133] The final notation
+on the new church read: "It was, on Motion Resolved that our New house
+of worship, be solemnly Dedicated to the Worship of Almighty God on the
+last Sabbath of July next--it being on that day two years before, that
+our former house of worship was consumed by fire...."[134]
+
+It is distressing to think of the eighteenth century interior destroyed
+on that hot afternoon of July 1835, but we must be grateful for what the
+rebuilders of 1837 preserved as an outstanding example of Georgian
+architecture. In 1843 the tower was added: it was in the approximate
+location that the pulpit had stood for many years. In 1853 the front
+vestibule was constructed.
+
+Dr. Harrison was a delicate man and for a long time his health was far
+from good. In 1848 he was so wretched that it was recommended he go
+south for his health. The firm of Lambert & McKenzie offered Dr.
+Harrison a free passage to and from the Barbados on the barque
+_Archibald Gracie_. The minutes of the committee record the motion of
+appreciation to the owners.
+
+Mr. Robert Bell of the old printing firm of that name made a gift of
+letter paper to Dr. Harrison every Christmas for many years. In his
+latter years the Doctor in thanking Mr. Bell always said that he never
+expected to see another Christmas. He saw at least three after the first
+of these communications, for that many letters exist containing the same
+mournful allusion.
+
+In 1862 the Civil War disrupted the Church. Dr. Elias Harrison died in
+1863 after forty-three years of ministering to his congregation and with
+his death the Church ceased to function and its congregation scattered.
+During the Battle of Bull Run, it was used as a hospital for wounded
+soldiers, and from time to time it was used by other faiths, including a
+Negro Baptist congregation. Neglected, uncared for, the prey of thieves
+and vandals, the doors were finally closed.
+
+The cemetery lies between the Church and the manse. Here John Carlyle
+sleeps. Cofounder and trustee of Alexandria in 1748; son-in-law to
+Colonel William Fairfax; brother-in-law to Lawrence Washington;
+commissary of the Virginia forces under Braddock in 1755; collector of
+customs on the South Potomac, and major in the Revolution; a Scottish
+gentleman, heir to a title, he cast his fate with the colonies. Nearby
+lies the tomb of William Hunter, founder of St. Andrew's Society, and
+that beloved friend and physician of General Washington, Dr. James
+Craik. Ramsay, McKenzie, Muir, Vowell, Harper, Hepburn and Balfour are
+among the names found inscribed upon the old stones. Their dust makes of
+this soil a part of Old Scotland.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 12
+
+Presenting The Sun Fire Company
+
+
+In the eighteenth century calamities visited Alexandria, and of these
+nothing was more feared than fire. To prevent and control such
+catastrophes the gentlemen of the town formed themselves into several
+companies of fire fighters. How and with what means the raging
+holocausts were controlled is revealed in an old, mutilated,
+leather-bound minute book of the Sun Fire Company.[135] The first entry
+in this treasure is part of the damaged record for the March meeting in
+1775. The next page is numbered 9 and contains the minutes for the April
+meeting. This is evidence that the Company was formed in 1774 between
+August and December.
+
+At this March 1775 meeting it was agreed to limit the number of the
+Company to forty-five persons. The clerk for this meeting was John
+Dalton; members served as clerks in rotation. Absent members were fined
+one shilling three pence. Members were to be provided with two buckets,
+a brown linen or oznaburg bag containing at least four yards of
+material, and a wicker basket as soon as possible after admittance.
+These were to be hung up in good order and always in place. There was a
+forfeiture of money for any neglect. The Company took some several
+months to acquire proper ladders and hooks. In April the "propriety of
+purchasing an Engine" was discussed and at the June meeting it was
+agreed to postpone the matter. Three ladders were then finished but most
+of the buckets were at the painters being marked with owners' names and
+numbers. By August the ladders had been completed by Thomas Flemming,
+and John Dalton was ordered to procure locks with proper staples for
+securing the ladders under the "piazza of the Court House."
+
+As the Revolutionary War got under way many of the members were excused,
+"being frequently abroad on the Servis of Their Country." Among these
+were Captain Valentine Peirs, Captain John Allison, Colonel John
+Fitzgerald and J. Windsor Brown.
+
+Unfortunately the clerks took for granted that everybody knew when there
+had been a fire and rarely are these important events mentioned in the
+minutes. In January 1777, "William Wilson lost a bucket at the late
+fire" and he was authorized to purchase another at the Company's
+expense; Robert Adam, who was clerk, forgot to "warn the Company and was
+fined Ten Shillings"; several members neglected to put up lights when
+the late fire happened at Zael Cooper's and the fine was two shillings.
+The next clerk was "desired to Enquire of the several members if they
+had candles at their windows and to collect Fines from such of them as
+had not."
+
+The light begins to break--at the first hint of fire the Company member
+must, at the fastest possible speed, put lighted candles in the front
+windows of his dwelling. This was Alexandria's first alarm system! The
+member then dashed for four yards of material in an oznaburg bag, two
+leather fire buckets (they each weighed as much as a saddle) and a
+wicker basket and, without stopping, he raced to the fire, where he
+either pumped water, formed spectators in ranks for passing buckets,
+removed goods from burning houses in his bag or basket, climbed ladders
+or pulled down adjoining houses when necessary; and last but not least
+watched to "prevent evil minded persons from plundering sufferers." The
+only tranquil occupation was that of the "sentinels" who kept watch over
+goods removed from the conflagration wherever such goods were deposited.
+
+What a spectacular sight a fire in Alexandria presented when one
+remembers the elegant dress of the day; short clothes, elaborate jackets
+or vests, ruffled linen, full skirted coats, perukes, queues braided and
+beribboned, powdered heads in three-cornered hats, silken and white
+hose, buckled shoes; and that fires generally occurred in winter upon
+the coldest days and in the worst weather, often at night, and that
+these firemen were the elite of the town, the serious, responsible
+merchants, doctors, masters, ship captains and owners.
+
+There was some reward now and then for their efforts. At the April
+meeting in 1777, the "Succeeding Clerk is desired to warn the Company to
+meet next month at the _Ball Room_ and to Desire the Treasurer to
+purchase Ten Gallons of Spirits, and one Loaf of Sugar Candles etc. The
+Clerk to have the Ball Room cleaned and put in order." Alas, the members
+were either not warned or invited for only six showed up. The next month
+was worse, again no warning and only four came. The clerk was ordered to
+warn again and provide what spirit, sugar and candles may be necessary
+for the next meeting and "that the same be held in the Town House." The
+clerk was reimbursed "one pound Two Shillings for white washing and
+cleaning the Ball Room."
+
+On February 22, 1779, a resolution was passed to fine the clerk refusing
+or neglecting his duty forty-two shillings, and absent members three
+shillings. There was a fine called the "Moreover Fine," which was
+increased from five shillings to nine shillings, and the Company voted
+to dispose of any sum not exceeding L5 "when less than 2/3 of the
+members are met." Besides funds in cash, the Company had 1,000 pounds of
+tobacco on hand. The following July the Company ordered the tobacco
+sold.
+
+On Monday, October 27, 1783, nine years after the founding of the
+Company, the succeeding clerk is ordered to give notice that at the next
+meeting a proposal will be made to dispose of the money in stock in the
+purchase of an engine. Two months later, undaunted by the recent
+unpleasantness, the treasurer was requested to "Import from London on
+account of this Company a fire engine value from seventy to eighty
+pounds sterling." It took two years for the engine to arrive.
+Preparatory to its reception, officers were appointed for its direction.
+Nine stalwart members were chosen, and they were ordered to serve nine
+months. Six shillings each was collected from the members to help make
+up the deficiency, and a committee was appointed to wait upon the county
+court with a petition requesting ground sufficient for building an
+enginehouse upon the courthouse lot. This was granted and the
+enginehouse was built on Fairfax Street "adjoining the school House."
+The members were called on for a dollar each for this purpose and it was
+later necessary to borrow another dollar. Two keys were ordered labeled
+"Sun Fire Company."
+
+The April minutes in 1786 contain the invoice for the engine:
+
+  To a Fire Engine Imported from London with 2 dozen buckets
+     Amt p. invoice                                             L 72.14
+  Commission on shipping D^o--5%                                   3.12. 8
+  Insurance on L76 @ 2-1/2pc                                       1.18
+  Freight from London                                              6. 6
+                                                                ----------
+                                                                L 84.10. 8
+  Exchange 40 pc^1                                                33.16. 2
+                                                                ----------
+                                                                 118. 6.10
+  Freight from Baltimore                                           1. 4
+                                                                ----------
+                                                                L119.10.10.
+
+It was incorporated into the articles that the engine was to be worked
+for two hours every Monday of the meeting, and anyone neglecting to
+attend and work the engine was penalized nine pence. Moreover William
+Herbert, Dennis Ramsay and Isaac Roberdeau were charged with getting the
+engine to fires.
+
+About this time (1788) the Virginia Assembly passed an act authorizing
+the different towns in the state to elect fire companies.
+
+In May 1789, Dr. William Brown was elected treasurer to succeed William
+Hartshorne.
+
+The first mention by the Sun of other fire companies in Alexandria is in
+the minutes of February 28, 1791. In July specific reference is made to
+the Friendship Fire Company and the Relief Fire Company.
+
+In May 1793, the Sun Company was dissatisfied with the English engine,
+and they began correspondence with a Mr. Mason of Philadelphia with the
+intention of selling the old engine and acquiring a new one. Mason
+manufactured three engines. They contained 190, 170 and 160 gallons of
+water, respectively, which they discharged in one minute and a half and
+they were worked by twenty-four, twenty-two and eighteen or twenty men,
+respectively, and varied in price accordingly. The Sun Fire Company
+purchased the smallest engine for L125. It seems to have arrived in
+April 1794. Later the old engine "with the suction pipe" was thoroughly
+repaired by Mason and returned to the Sun Fire Company.
+
+By 1796 such confusion reigned at fires that the three companies
+associated themselves together to make and sustain certain plans and
+rules for the management of fires. It was decided to have three
+directors or commanders, one chosen from each company, only one of whom
+was to act at a time, who were to have control of the engines, fire
+hooks, ladders and to be the judges of the expediency of pulling down
+adjacent buildings. In order that these gentlemen be more conspicuous
+(distinguished was the word) it was decided to "elevate their voices
+above the ordinary clamour on such occasions," each of them in action
+was ordered to carry in his hand a "_speaking trumpet, painted white,
+and not less than three feet long_." Each company was to keep such an
+affair in the enginehouse.
+
+There were then chosen three subordinate directors who had immediate
+charge of the engine under the commander, then four persons from each
+Company, to be called regulators, who were to "_be diligent in searching
+for the most convenient source of water_, in forming lanes for the
+supply of the engines, and _preventing the use of dirty puddle water_."
+Upon these gentlemen fell the unpleasant task of "noticing remisness in
+the members and others and being obliged to give information to their
+respective companies whenever such shameful instances occured to their
+observation." Trustees were responsible for the removal of property, and
+the entire company was obliged to wear "at times of fire" by way of
+distinction, black caps with white fronts with letters thereon
+designating their company. Moreover these companies pledged themselves
+to "respect" the other companies when their property was in danger from
+fire, "in preference to persons who are members of neither."
+
+Doctor Dick stated that he lost his fire bucket at the fire at William
+Herbert's house, then occupied by Edmund Edmunds, and the treasurer
+reimbursed the good Doctor eighteen shillings on October 24, 1796.
+
+In July 1797, Dennis Ramsay was ordered to lower and enlarge the engine
+house to receive the old engine; the floor had given way in 1793. He
+presented his bills the following February for a total of L43 9_s._
+9_d._
+
+In 1799 it was decided to hold meetings at the courthouse, from May to
+October at half after seven o'clock, and from November to April at six
+o'clock.
+
+One of the last mentions of the engines was in 1800. The engines were
+both worked at the January meeting, found to be in good order, except
+that the old one leaked a little.
+
+Governed by a set of "articles" framed by themselves, to which they
+faithfully adhered, these firemen fined themselves and paid their fines,
+cheerfully or otherwise (they were mostly Scotsmen) when neglectful of
+their duty. A roster was kept each year, month by month, marking the
+members present or absent. The A's predominate. It was from these fines,
+plus others for neglect of duty that the Company's funds were formed.
+Many of these rosters have been destroyed, but enough remain to give an
+idea of the citizens who were members of the Sun Fire Company and lived
+near each other within a certain radius of the water front.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+List of members of the Sun Fire Company of Alexandria for January
+1777--being the first intact roster in the minutes:
+
+     William Ramsay
+     John Dalton
+     Robert H. Harrison
+     James Hendricks
+     Thomas Fleming
+     Richard Conway
+     William Hartshorne
+     James Kirk
+     Patrick Murray
+     Mathew Campbell
+     James Buchannan
+     William Hunter
+     David Jackson (Doctor)
+     John Mills
+     John Carlyle
+     John Harper (Capt.)
+     George Gilpin
+     Robert Mease McCrea
+     William Rumney
+     Richard Harrison
+     William Wilson
+     Thomas Kirkpatrick
+     Andrew Steward
+     James Stewart
+     Josiah Watson
+     William Herbert
+     Robert Mease
+     John Finley
+     William Brown (Dr.)
+     William Hepburn
+     Cyrus Capper
+     Robert Allison
+     James Muir
+     Robert Adam
+     George Hunter
+     Edward Owens
+
+
+     _Added 1778_
+
+     Dennis Ramsay (Col.)
+     John Fitzgerald (Col.)
+     David Arrell
+     Valentine Piers
+
+
+     _Added 1780_
+
+     James Adam
+     William Hunter, Jr.
+     Colin MacIver
+     David Steward (Doctor)
+     Peter Dow
+     Daniel Roberdeau (Gen.)
+
+
+     _Added 1783_ [_Pages from 48 to 72 missing_]
+
+     William Bird
+     R. Hooe (Col. Robert T. Hooe)
+     William Lyles (Col. Committee of Safety)
+     Samuel Montgomery Brown
+     Joseph White Harrison
+     Jesse Taylor
+     Charles Simms
+     Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick
+
+
+     _Added 1784_
+
+     John Sutton
+     Henry Lyles
+     John Hendricks (Col.)
+     George Richards
+     John Oliphant
+     Michael Ryan (Col.)
+     John Allison
+     John Hawkins
+     Daniel McPherso
+
+
+    _Added 1785_
+
+     Thomas Williams
+     Jonathan Swift
+     Randle Mitchel
+     William Baker (Doctor)
+     William Lowry
+     Michael Madden
+     William Ramsay (Doctor)
+     Edward Harper
+     Jonah Thompson
+
+
+     _Added 1786_
+
+     James Woodward (Capt.)
+     W.H. Vowel
+     Philip Marsteller
+     Joseph Greenway
+     William H. Powell
+     Cleon Moore
+     John Rumney
+     John Potts
+     Robert Donaldson
+
+
+     _Added 1787_
+
+     Baldwin Dade
+     Francis Peyton
+     John Long
+     John Love
+     George Deneale
+
+
+     _Added 1789_
+
+     Joseph M. Perrin
+     Richard Harrison
+     John Gill
+     John Forster
+
+
+     _Added 1790_
+
+     Jonathan Mandeville
+     John Carson Seton
+     Bernard Ghequiere
+     James Lawrason
+     Gustavus Brown Campbell (Doc.)
+     Joseph Riddle
+
+
+     _Added 1793-4-6_
+
+     James Douglas
+     John D. Orr (Doc.)
+     Stephen Cook (Doc.)
+     Robert Young
+     Henry Rose (Doc.)
+     Leven Powell, Jr.
+     James McRea
+     Augustine J. Smith (Doc.)
+     Jesse Wherry
+     Robert Hamilton
+     John Dunlap
+     Charles R. Scott
+     Abraham Faw
+
+
+     _Added 1798_
+
+     William S. Thompson
+     Joseph Saul
+     James Russell
+     William Hodgson
+     Nicholas Voss
+     Amos Allison, Jr.
+     Charles I. Stur
+     John T. Ricketts
+     Cuthbert Powell
+     John Ramsay
+     William Byrd Page
+     Joseph Mandeville
+     Guy Atkinson
+     Jacob Hoofman
+     Antony Vanhavre
+     Peter Wise, Jr. (Doctor)
+     Thomas Magruder
+     James Bacon
+     John Watts
+     Alexander Kerr
+     Walter Jones
+     Thomas Swann
+
+
+     _Added 1799_
+
+     William Groverman
+     John Dunlap
+
+
+     _Added 1800_
+
+     Michael Flannery
+
+(Note: _Not all members at the same time._)
+
+By the turn of the century, the city of Alexandria boasted three fire
+companies whose membership rosters included the most responsible
+citizens. The year 1774, marking the formation of the Sun Fire Company,
+also saw the organization of the better-known Friendship Fire Company,
+claiming Washington as honorary member. The Star Fire Company was
+founded in 1799.
+
+Alexandria property owners were quick to realize the advantages of
+membership in the Mutual Assurance Society, established in December 1794
+and offering protection "Against FIRE on BUILDINGS in the State of
+Virginia." At the Alexandria office, leading citizens enthusiastically
+subscribed to a plan so soundly conceived and efficiently administered
+that the company which pioneered it is in operation to this day. The
+archives of the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia constitute a mine
+of valuable information for the researcher. From General Washington's
+own files derives a broadside listing early subscribers throughout the
+state.[136] The Alexandria section includes a number of citizens whom we
+know to have been conscious of the ever-present danger of fire:
+
+                                                _Number_
+                                              _Buildings_
+     _Name_                                   _Insured_    _Value_
+     Wm. Hartshorne                                  3      7000
+     John Potts                                      4     10000
+     Isaac McPherson                                 8     17700
+     Rob. Hamilton                                   4      6000
+     J. B. Nickols                                   6      2000
+     Ch. Simms                                       4      3000
+     Lemuel Bent                                     1       400
+     Thomas Rogerson                                 2      1000
+     R. T. Hooe                                      7     23500
+     John Dunlap                                     1      2000
+     Wm. Hodgson                                     3     10000
+     Rob't Young & Co.                               2      8000
+     Tho's Patten & Co.                             12     14600
+     John R. Wheaton                                 2      3000
+     John Mandeville                                10     15000
+     Charles Lee                                     2      6000
+     Wm. Herbert                                     6     16000
+     John Longden                                    3      3000
+     Richard Weightman                               4      4000
+     R. Weightman for the heirs of Ray's Estate      3      1000
+     Wm. Summers                                     5      8000
+     Wm. Brown                                       3      5500
+     Henry Stroman                                   1       300
+     Diedrich Schekle                                2      3400
+     E. Deneale                                      1      2000
+     Korn & Wisemiller                               3      6000
+     Rob. Lyle                                       4      7300
+     Wm. Ramsay                                      2      2000
+     Henry McCue                                     3      4000
+     Philip Wanton                                   1       800
+     Ephriam Evans                                   2      1600
+     Dennis Foley                                    2      2000
+     Wm. Hartshorne                                  1      4000
+     Philip G. Martsteller                           2      3300
+     Joseph Thornton                                 1      2000
+     Stump, Ricketts & Co.                           3     10000
+     Samual Davis                                    1      2000
+     Thomas Richards                                 5     15000
+     Adam Lynn                                       2      2000
+     Mathew Robinson & Co.                           2      3000
+     Wm. Hoye                                        1      1600
+     John Harper                                     4      8000
+     Benjamin Shreve                                 3      9000
+     John Dundas                                     2      7000
+     Henry Walker                                    1       800
+     John & Tho's Vowell                             2      3000
+     Ricketts & Newton                               2      5000
+     George M. Munn                                  2      5000
+     Jonah Thompson                                  5     14000
+     Adam S. Swoope                                  1      2000
+     Mordecai Miller                                 1      3000
+     Wm. Bushby                                      2      4500
+     Philip Richard Fendall                          7     10000
+     Wm. Hepburn                                     9     13500
+     Tho's White                                     2      1600
+     Richard Conway                                  8     15000
+     Wm. M. McKnight                                 1      3000
+     Charles McKnight                                1      2000
+     P. Marsteller                                   1      2000
+     Adam Faw                                        1      2000
+     Wm. Halley                                      1      3000
+     Jacob Schuch                                    3      1000
+     Peter Wise                                      3      9000
+     John Fitzgerald                                 3      6000
+     Thomas Forrell                                  1       800
+     Wm. Wright                                      3      2700
+     James Kennedy                                   2      6000
+     Joseph Riddle & Co.                             2      3500
+     Guy Atkinson                                    1      3000
+     James Patton                                    2      6000
+     James Lawrason                                  1      1500
+     Shreve & Lawrason                               7     12000
+     Geo. Hunter                                     5      2700
+     Jacob Cox                                       4      3000
+     Geo. Gilpin                                     3      6000
+     Isaac McPherson for N. Elliot                   4     12000
+     George Slacum                                   3      3000
+     Geo. Slacum for Gabriel Slacum                  1      2000
+     Samuel Harper                                   1      1200
+     Jamieson                                        1       400
+     Chapin                                          2      2600
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 13
+
+Captain John Harper and His Houses
+
+
+The streets of the old port of Alexandria bear royal names. Prince is
+one of those streets, shown in the first map of the town as surveyed in
+1749. The 100 block is still paved with cobblestones "big as beer kegs"
+purportedly laid by Hessian prisoners during the Revolution.
+
+The brick houses which sprang up in early days set the standard for the
+town. Many of these houses were erected prior to the Revolution and
+immediately after the signing of the peace in 1783. All original lots
+had been built upon by 1765 but there remained between these first
+houses empty spaces. There was a constant effort to have all vacant
+spaces of the lots built upon, so as to present an unbroken front. By
+1790 the 100 and 200 blocks of Prince Street stood, very much as they
+stand today, the visible expression of the Scottish and English towns
+that our ancestors had left behind them.
+
+These houses were nearly all built by Captain John Harper, and when not
+built by him, built on his land at a stipulated ground rent. The north
+side of the 100 block was part of lot No. 56 and until after 1771 no
+houses stood there. The ground rose here in a high bank above the
+Potomac, and the original lot contained less ground than a quarter of an
+acre. Bought by the Honorable William Fairfax at the first auction in
+1749, in 1766 he was released from building thereon, as it was stated
+the improvement on his lot No. 57 was adequate for the two lots and
+"such was the true intent and meaning of the Trustees."[137]
+
+The Honorable William Fairfax deeded this property to his son, Colonel
+George William Fairfax, who sold it on November 25, 1771, to Robert
+Adam. Adam in turn sold to John Hough of Loudoun County on December 11
+and 12, 1771; and Hough, after disposing of several parts of the Fairfax
+lots, sold in June 1772, the remaining parts of lots Nos. 56, 57 and 58,
+fronting on Prince Street, to Captain John Harper of Philadelphia.
+
+This is our first introduction to John Harper in the records of
+Alexandria. Apparently he must have made this purchase through someone
+else, for nearly a year later Washington received the following letter:
+
+                  Philadelphia, May 5th 1773
+
+      Esteemed Friend
+         Colonel Washington
+
+   From the little acquaintance I had with thee formerly, I take the
+   liberty of recommending the bearer Cap^t John Harper who is in
+   partnership with William Hartshorne--John Harper comes down in order
+   to see the country, if he likes, they propose to come down and settle
+   with you; they are Men that have a verry pretty Interest--W^m
+   Hartshorne lived with me some Time--They are Industrious, careful,
+   Sober men; if Cap^t Harper should want to draw on this place for Five
+   hundred Pounds, I will engage his Bills shall be paid--Any Civilitys
+   shewn him will be returned by
+
+          Thy Friend
+
+                   REESE MEREDITH[138]
+
+Harper did nothing with these newly purchased lots until after the
+Revolution, when he began to sell and to build at astonishing speed. The
+number of deeds in the clerk's office in Fairfax and in Alexandria of
+property transferred to or from him fill page after page in the records.
+A book on John Harper's activities would be a good history of early town
+housing. Twice married, he had twenty-nine children--and to every one he
+left a house and lot.
+
+[Illustration: 211 Prince Street was John Harper's gift to his daughter,
+Peggy Harper Vowell, April 10, 1793. Here Dr. Dick lived from 1796 to
+1804. As he was here in 1815 it is safe to assume that he occupied this
+house for nineteen years. He paid John Harper L70 a year rent.]
+
+John Harper's property housed many of Alexandria's important citizens.
+Two of Washington's physicians occupied adjoining houses built by him on
+Prince Street, though not at the same time. Dr. Craik lived at least
+three years and probably five at 209 Prince Street--from 1790 to 1793,
+and doubtless until 1796, when he moved to the house he purchased on
+Duke Street. Dr. Dick lived at 211 Prince Street from 1798 certainly
+until 1804, and then again at the same house in 1815. Surely it is
+safe here to domicile the restless Doctor, for these ten undocumented
+years between 1805 and 1815. The Doctor paid for this house L70 per
+annum.
+
+[Illustration: The Harper-Vowell Houses or the Sea Captains' Row]
+
+The early Harper houses which fill lower Prince Street are known in
+Alexandria today as "the Sea Captains' Houses" or "Captains' Row" and in
+truth they were either owned or occupied by captains or masters of
+vessels. After weathering the storms of a hundred and fifty years or
+better, their sea legs, or foundations, are well established in the soil
+of Alexandria, and they present one of the attractive sights of the
+town. The street slopes at a steep angle from the top of the hill, at
+Lee Street to the river, and the quaint old houses go stair-step down
+toward the Potomac in an unbroken line; sometimes a roof or a chimney
+sags with age, or a front facade waves a bit. The first house in the
+block on the northwest corner of Prince and Union was our stout
+Captain's warehouse and his wharf jutted out into the Potomac across the
+street from his place of business. A few years ago a great oil tank
+buried in the ground forced its way to the surface, bringing with it the
+enormous beams of John Harper's wharf and part of an old ship rotting in
+the earth. Real estate was only a side issue with the Captain. His main
+interest was the sea, his ships, and their cargoes.
+
+On February 23, 1795 Harper sold to John Crips Vowell and Thomas Vowell,
+Jr., for L150, that part of lot No. 56 fronting on Prince Street, 24
+feet 6 inches, 88 feet 3-1/2 inches in depth, which begins on the "North
+side of Prince, fifty feet to the Eastward of Water Street, upon ye
+Eastern Line of a ten-foot alley, and all houses, buildings, streets,
+lanes, alleys, etc...." The Vowells agreed to lay off and keep open
+forever an alley upon the northern back line of the premises, nine feet
+wide "Extending from the aforesaid ten-foot alley to the line of ...
+William Wright."[139] This described property was one of those houses
+built by Harper. The two Vowells were his sons-in-law and both gentlemen
+in the shipping trade.
+
+By this circuitous route we arrive at 123 Prince Street,[Owner: Miss
+Margaret Frazer.] the house with a pure _Directoire_ tent room,
+practically a duplicate of that at Malmaison, and another room with a
+magnificent painted Renaissance ceiling. How such work became a part of
+the sturdy two-story "Sea Captains' Houses" is one of Alexandria's
+mysteries. It is true that both rooms were in a deplorable state of
+repair, and it was necessary to trace the work on paper, repair the
+plaster and then continue the interrupted design. Naturally, the colors
+were freshened. It was exciting to watch this discovery unveiled, when
+sheets of shabby paper were pulled from the walls, and the artist
+repaired and restored the work of some itinerant master whose name has
+vanished with his dust these hundred years or better.
+
+John Harper, a Quaker, was born in Philadelphia in 1728, and he was
+living in Alexandria in 1773, if not before. By his first wife, Sarah
+Wells of Pennsylvania, he had twenty children. He married at her death
+Mrs. Mary Cunningham, a widow, the daughter of John Reynolds of
+Winchester. By this lady he had nine children. In 1795 he was living at
+his residence on Prince Street, for William Hodgson's property was
+described in his insurance record as being next door to John Harper on
+the west. Captain Harper's house is now known as 209 Prince Street and
+today bears, erroneously, a plaque to the memory of Dr. Dick. This is
+the house in which Dr. Craik was living in 1790-93. Incidentally, no
+record viewed in a search of hundreds mentions Dr. Dick as occupying 209
+Prince Street. On the contrary, Dr. Dick in 1796 was paying insurance on
+his dwelling on Duke Street.
+
+In his old age Captain John Harper built two brick houses on the east
+side of Washington Street, south of Prince. In one of these he died in
+1804, aged seventy-six years. Dr. Dick attended John Harper in his last
+illness and was paid sixty-five dollars by the executors for this
+service. Wine for the funeral was eleven dollars, the coffin and case
+cost twenty-six dollars, and the bellman received one dollar for crying
+property to be sold. Captain John Harper lies buried in the cemetery of
+the old Presbyterian meetinghouse near two of his daughters, Mrs. John
+C. Vowell and Mrs. Thomas Vowell.
+
+Captain Harper was an ancestor of Mrs. Mary G. Powell, author of _The
+History of Old Alexandria_. She tells of his patriotic action in
+procuring ammunition from Philadelphia for the independent companies of
+Prince William and Fairfax Counties: "Eight casks of powder, drums and
+colors for three companies."[140] His religion prohibited his taking
+part in combat, but his sympathy was manifested in a very practical
+fashion. John Harper was a member of the first city council in 1780 and
+of the congregation of the old Presbyterian meetinghouse. He was one of
+General Washington's Alexandria agents for Mount Vernon produce, doing
+an extensive business with the General in the matter of "Herring." At
+Washington's death he took part in the Masonic ceremonies at the
+funeral, and his son, Captain William Harper, commanded the artillery
+company on that eventful day. This son took an active part in the
+Revolution at the battles of Princeton, Monmouth, Brandywine, and Valley
+Forge, and crossed the Delaware with Washington. He succeeded to the
+business at Prince and Union. John Harper's third son, Robert, was a
+lawyer and married a daughter of John W. Washington, of Westmoreland
+County. John Harper, Jr., married Margaret West of West Grove, daughter
+of John West, and while acting as foreign agent for the Harper firm in
+the West Indies, was drowned in 1805.
+
+Alexandria's Malmaison, or the Harper-Vowell house, listed as 123 Prince
+Street, was the residence of the eminent architect, Ward Brown, until
+his death in 1946.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 14
+
+Dr. Elisha C. Dick and The Fawcett House
+
+[507 Prince Street. Owners: The Fawcett Family.]
+
+
+The dashing Dr. Dick first appeared in Alexandria fresh from the
+tutelage of Drs. Benjamin Rush and William Shippen of Philadelphia. He
+was just twenty-one and of a figure to set feminine hearts aflutter;
+five feet ten inches, of commanding presence, very handsome, "playing
+with much skill upon several musical instruments" and singing in a sweet
+voice of great power; skilled and learned in his profession, "a strong
+and cultivated intellect," a genial spirit, witty and charming.[141]
+
+The son of Major Archibald Dick (Deputy Quartermaster General in the
+Revolutionary Army in 1779) and his wife, Mary Barnard, Elisha Cullen
+Dick was born on March 15, 1762, at his father's estate near Marcus
+Hook, in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
+
+His primary education was gained at the Philadelphia Academy, in the
+home of the Rev. Robert Smith, D.D., at Pegnea, and in his father's
+home, tutored by the Rev. Samuel Armor. In 1780 he began the study of
+medicine, graduating on March 21, 1782. Two days later he lost his
+father and came into his inheritance of half the estate. A year later he
+disposed of his Pennsylvania interest to Isaac Dutton and started for
+Charleston, South Carolina, with the expectation of settling there.
+
+[Illustration: Floor plan of house]
+
+Armed with letters of introduction to General Washington, Colonel
+Fitzgerald, and Colonel Lyles, he stopped en route in Alexandria "to
+call upon a female relative" and to present his letters. He got no
+farther. "Influential persons" caused him to abandon his plans and
+remain in Alexandria, where the recent death of old Dr. Rumney left an
+opening which Dr. Dick filled for better than forty years. Alas, for the
+belles of Alexandria! In October 1783, Dr. Dick married Miss Hannah
+Harmon, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Harmon of Darby in Chester
+County, Pennsylvania.
+
+Two years after beginning his professional life in Alexandria, he pulled
+a tooth for one of the Mount Vernon house servants, and the following
+entry taken from Washington's diary for February 6, 1785, tells the
+results which do not seem to have been entirely satisfactory:
+
+   Sunday, 6th, Doctr. Brown was sent for to Frank (Waiter in the
+   house), who had been seized in the night with a bleeding of the mouth
+   from an orifice made by a Doctr. Dick, who some days before attempted
+   in vain to extract a broken tooth, and coming about 11 o'clock stayed
+   to Dinner and returned afterwards.[142]
+
+So far as Washington's diaries show, Dr. Dick never crossed the
+threshold of Mount Vernon again until fourteen years later on a raw,
+cold day in December when the snow lay thick on the ground, he was sent
+for by Dr. Craik to attend Washington in his last illness. It was Dr.
+Dick who advised against additional bleeding and it was he, who, when
+Washington's last breath escaped, walked to the mantel and stopped the
+hands of the clock. This clock, with arrested hands, stands today in the
+George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Alexandria.
+
+On March 28, 1788, Dr. Dick was offering a reward of eight dollars for a
+runaway servant:
+
+   I will give the above to any person who will secure in Alexandria
+   Gaol a Negro fellow named Ned, who ran away from me about three weeks
+   ago. He is between thirty and forty years of age, about 5 feet 7 or 8
+   inches high and was formerly the property of Mrs. Clifford of whom I
+   bought him. Having a wife in Maryland, belonging to Mr. Samuel H.
+   Bean, I imagine Ned will be inclined to make a nightly resort to her
+   quarters. His winter clothes were made of a mixed cloth of a gray
+   color and it is probable he will be found with a soldier's old
+   napsack upon his back in which he carries his provisions.
+
+Dr. Dick was one of the founders of the Alexandria Masonic lodge, to
+which Washington belonged. In 1791 he was Worshipful Master when the
+cornerstone of the District of Columbia was laid. Arm in arm with the
+President of the United States, who acted as Master, Dr. Dick led the
+procession with George Washington in 1793 at the laying of the
+cornerstone of the Capitol. This same year, as Master of the lodge, he
+solicited the President to "set" for the portrait by William Williams,
+which still graces the lodge room. In 1794 he commanded a company of
+cavalry raised in Alexandria and under "Light Horse Harry" Lee marched
+into Pennsylvania to help quell the famous Whiskey Rebellion. In 1795 he
+was superintendent of quarantine, an office he held for many years. In
+1798 he was appointed coroner; in 1802, justice of the peace.
+
+Dr. Dick amassed a great deal of property and was constantly buying and
+selling land, houses, ships, and so on. In April 1797 he disposed of the
+brig _Julia_ to Robert Mease for ten thousand dollars, "with all her
+rigging and materials, together with the cargo of flour and corn now on
+board as she lies at Ramsay's Wharf in the Port of Alexandria."[143]
+
+Two letters to the governor, written during his service as quarantine
+officer reveal the fact that he was alert to his responsibilities and
+give some idea of how grave they were:
+
+                       Alexandria 4th Sept, 1795
+
+               Hon Robert Brooke
+               Sir:
+
+   Having received from various persons pretty certain information that
+   a malignant fever is now prevalent in the town of Norfolk, I take the
+   liberty of soliciting your instructions with regard to the propriety
+   of interrupting the intercourse by water between that place and this.
+   The inhabitants of Alexa. discover considerable signs of
+   apprehension, and the corporation have entered into some temporary
+   arrangements until more permanent ones can be obtained.
+
+   I have not yet received a compensation for the last year on account
+   of my services as Superintendent of quarantine. Such sum as you may
+   think me entitled to for last year as well as the percent you will
+   oblige me by placing in the hands of Mr. Thomas Majore [?] subject to
+   the order of Mr. Charles Turner of this place.
+
+        I am with great regard
+           Your Excellys
+             Obed Servt
+
+                        ELISHA C. DICK
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                       Alexander, 24th July 1800
+
+               Hon James Monroe
+               Sir:
+
+   The Ship Two Brothers on her voyage from New Orleans to this point
+   having put into Charleston S.C. there contracted the yellow fever or
+   some other infectious disease, by which two of her crew have died.
+   Exercising a discretionary power given by the quarantine laws to the
+   Superintendant, I have caused this ship to commence her quarantine
+   near this place between Rozins Bluff and Jones Point. As the removal
+   of vessels from this port to the mouth of Elizabeth River has been
+   found to be attended with considerable inconvenience, the Executors
+   have hitherto authorized me to use the situation above mentioned as
+   the anchorage ground for all vessels bound here. I shall thank you
+   sir for such instruction as you may deem it advisable to communicate
+   on this subject, as well with regard to my present and future
+   government.
+
+     I have the honor to be with the highest regard
+
+         Your obed. servt.
+
+             ELISHA C. DICK
+             Superintend. of quar.
+             Port of Alexa.
+
+In 1801 Dr. Dick was declared bankrupt, but in 1811 he was setting free
+his Negro slave, Nancy, aged about forty. During these years he tended
+the sick (a bill for sixty-five dollars was tendered to John Harper's
+widow in 1804), fought the plague and fever, epidemics, and prescribed
+for his friends with time out for a song or a sketch. His copy of James
+Sharples' George Washington, now in the Mount Vernon collection, is a
+competent, artistic portrait. He was fond of good food, good talk,
+people and music. His genial spirit and charming wit graced many a
+festive board, and that he was hospitable as well needs no further proof
+than the following invitation:
+
+   If you can eat a good fat duck, come up with us and take pot luck. Of
+   white backs we have got a pair, so plump, so sound, so fat, so fair,
+   a London Alderman would fight, through pies and tarts to get one
+   bite. Moreover we have beef or pork, that you may use your knife and
+   fork. Come up precisely at two o'clock, the door shall open to your
+   knock. The day 'tho wet, the streets 'tho muddy, to keep out the cold
+   we'll have some toddy. And if perchance, you should get sick, you'll
+   have at hand, Yours,
+
+               E.C. DICK[144].
+
+Surely this friendly medical advice is well worth including in any
+sketch of Dr. Dick. A mature physician, he wrote to James H. Hooe:
+
+                       Alexandria 20 of 2nd Month 1815
+
+     Respected friend:
+
+   I am in great hopes that the instructions I shall be able to give
+   thee with regard to the general treatment of the prevailing disease,
+   will be found on trial to be so far successful as to quiet in a good
+   measure thy present apprehensions. Having received applications by
+   letter from several physicians at a distance requesting information
+   as to the character of the disease and the plan of treatment
+   possessed by myself, I have thrown together a few practical remarks,
+   which I shall here transcribe, and then add such other observations
+   as may seem more especially necessary for thee in the present
+   emergency.
+
+   The disease usually commences with a chill, succeeded by fever and
+   accompanied either in the beginning or at a subsequent stage with
+   pain in the head back breast or sides, and sometimes with an
+   affection of the throat.
+
+   Though it is a disease attended sometimes if not generally with signs
+   of local inflammation, yet owing to some peculiar affection or
+   tendency of the nervous system, blood letting is in my opinion
+   inadmissible. Of those who have been bled it has appeared that they
+   either die or have tedious recoveries.
+
+   The disease is frequently though not always of a bilious
+   character--that is an abundance of bile is found floating in the
+   stomach or intestines. There seems to be neither torpor nor
+   enlargement of the liver which have characterized the diseases of
+   this country for 21 years past; hence culomel especially in the
+   beginning has been avoided.
+
+   Emetics, if employed at all, (and in some cases they may be
+   necessary) should not be given till the intestines have been well
+   evacuated. The leading curative indication is purging, for which
+   purpose Glaubers Salt has been preferred as acting upon the bowels
+   with most ease and certainty. The purging process to be diligently
+   persisted in, day and night or day after day according to the force
+   and duration of the disease.
+
+   Warm, stimulating drinks such as toddy, made of whiskey, is
+   frequently, though not in every case, indispensible. This stimulus,
+   is to be resorted to whenever there are signs of prostration of body
+   or mind, both in the beginning and after stages of the disease.
+
+   Excessive pain in the trunk may be generally mitigated in every stage
+   of the disease by anodyne injections; for an adult two or three
+   teaspoonsful of laudunum with a half pint of warm water. A beneficial
+   persperation often follows this exhibition. Spontaneous sweats are
+   commonly useful, but I have not found them critical.
+
+   Blisters may be employed for the mitigation of pain, and perhaps
+   ought not to be omitted when ... is either fever [?] is obstinate,
+   but I have not found them in this disease to evidence their usually
+   efficacy.
+
+   If the disease be attended with sore throat, swelling of the tonsils
+   or palate, stricture of the trachea, with or without external
+   swelling, a gargle of warm strong toddy, in the water of which has
+   been boiled a pod of red pepper, will it is believed from past
+   experience, be found uniformly and promptly effectual even in cases
+   when suffacation seems immediately threatened. When this affection
+   has existed to any considerable extent, I have generally with the use
+   of the gargle also applied a blister around the throat.
+
+   In order that thou may not easily be discouraged in the prosecution
+   of the purging plan, it is necessary to inform thee that I often find
+   it expedient to give 3 to 6 ounces of salts in 24 hours. I usually
+   divide 2 ounces into three portions giving one every two hours
+   dissolved in a teacupful thin gruel. When the bowels are brought
+   readily and freely into operation I have little difficulty in the
+   management of the case--but I never discontinue the process till all
+   fever and pain have subsided. Sometimes when the salts appear to be
+   in operation I interpose with 60 or 70 grains of the cathartic powder
+   repeated at intervals of two or three hours. When there is a
+   despression of the pulse and something of coldness of the
+   extremities, especially of the feet, I use with advantage mustard
+   plaster to the feet, to which in such cases may be added with
+   advantage hot bricks or bottles of hot water to various parts of the
+   body.
+
+   There is one thing which particularly deserves thy notice and that is
+   that this disease is in a majority of instances I believe preceeded
+   by certain premonitory signs; such as flying pains about the chest or
+   some other part, head ache, etc. A reasonable resort under such
+   circumstances to one or two cathartics will pretty certainly avert a
+   more serious attack.
+
+   I have directed Archy to forward thee a supply of salts and cathartic
+   powder and I feel a persuasion that by the aid of the foregoing
+   observations thou wilt be able to manage this disease to thy
+   satisfaction. It indeed may be not expected that none should die of
+   so formidible an epidemic, but I think I can with truth state to
+   thee, that under this treatment 19/20s of those who fall under my
+   care recover.
+
+   With regard to thy wife's present situation, I think it would be
+   advisable for her to take occasionally a gentle laxative, and for
+   that purpose I send a package or two of my saline purgative powders.
+   Let her take one in a cup of gruel and repeat it as may be necessary.
+
+   Hoping that thou may be at least as successful as I have been in thy
+   future management of this complaint, and that thy family may furnish
+   no more victims is the sincere wish of
+
+               Thy friend
+
+                    ELISHA C. DICK
+
+     Tobacco       1
+     Magnesia      1.50
+     Newspaper        7
+     Ginger Cake     12
+     Tavern        1.50
+     Turnpike        18
+                   4.37
+
+   Tablespoon vingar with 10 gns of salts of Tartar in teacup swallowed
+   in effervescent state--slight sweat.
+
+[Illustration: The Fawcett House where Dr. Dick lived]
+
+Dr. and Mrs. Dick were the parents of two children, Julia and Archibald.
+Julia married Gideon Pearce of Maryland and their son, James Alfred
+Pearce, became a United States senator from Maryland.
+
+Dr. Dick, who began life as an Episcopalian, became a Quaker and Mrs.
+Dick became an Episcopalian. His dueling pistols are among the curios in
+the Masonic museum, but if he ever used them, it is not known in
+Alexandria.
+
+Writing to her son, Smith Lee, April 10, 1827, Mrs. R.E. Lee commented:
+"Poor Alexandria has suffered much by fire this winter. Mr. Dulaney will
+give you the particulars, it has lost some of its old inhabitants too.
+Capt. Dangerfield, Mr. Irvin, dear Dr. Dick, and Sam Thompson ..."[145]
+
+Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick rests in the Friends burial ground in an unmarked
+grave, but his spirit hallows several houses in Alexandria. With such a
+wealth of dwellings to choose, it has been difficult to settle Dr. Dick
+for long; nor really does he want to be settled. He was full of
+surprises during life, and it will be another to most Alexandrians when
+we place him in the old clapboard house known for better than a century
+as "the Fawcett house."
+
+On December 20, 1774, John Alexander sold to Patrick Murry a certain lot
+or half acre of land situated and adjoining the west side of a lot or
+half acre of land lying in the town of Alexandria and represented by lot
+No. 112. This lot, lying on the north side of Prince Street, between
+Pitt and St. Asaph Streets, was described as: "Beginning on the
+Southwest corner of the said lott No. 112 and running thence with it to
+the Northwest corner thereof 176 feet 7 inches, thence Westerly with a
+line at right angles with the last 123 feet 5 inches thence Southerly
+with a line parallel to the first one and of the same extent thence
+Easterly with a straight line to the beginning."[146]
+
+There was a ground rent upon this property every year forever of L13
+5_s._, and the provisions that Patrick Murry or his heirs should build
+within the space of two years from the date of purchase a brick, stone
+or wooden house, twenty feet square, to cover four hundred square feet,
+with a brick or stone chimney or chimneys. At the same time John
+Alexander bound himself to lay out and keep free forever a street
+sixty-six feet wide binding on the west side of the granted lot or half
+acre of land, by the name of St. Asaph Street: "Beginning at a straight
+line produced and extended from the termination of Cameron Street in the
+said town of Alexandria until it extends sixty-six feet to a direct line
+to the Westward beyond the breadth of the other lott or half acre of
+land, thence Southerly and parallel to Pitt Street in the said town,
+until it intersects a street of the same width called Wilkes Street
+..."[147]
+
+Patrick Murry built and resided in this completely charming clapboard
+house until the year 1786, when the wheels of fortune forced him to
+dispose of all houses, yards, gardens, ways, advantages, and so on, to
+Ann English and William McKenzey, executors of Samuel English to secure
+the payments of the sum of L348, Virginia currency, with interest from
+August 22, 1775. Alas, for compound interest! Ann English and her
+husband, James Currie, did convey and sell the lot with all improvements
+unto Elisha Cullen Dick on April 15, 1794. Two years later Dr. Dick and
+his wife, Hannah, disposed of the house and grounds to John Thomas
+Ricketts and William Newton for and in consideration of L1000 current
+money.
+
+[Illustration: Patrick Murray's parlor. The picture over the mantel is
+needleworked, a polite accomplishment taught to females and the product
+of the gentle hands of a Fawcett ancestor]
+
+On July 2, 1806, William Newton and wife conveyed the property
+"including all that framed dwelling house lately occupied by the said
+William Newton" for the sum of four thousand dollars to William
+Smith;[148] thence again in 1816 the Smiths, William and Margaret,
+disposed of the frame dwelling house for three thousand dollars to John
+D. Brown.
+
+The descendants of John Douglas Brown have occupied the home for the
+past one hundred and thirty-three years. His great-grandchildren, the
+Fawcett family, are the present owners of the house. The Fawcett house
+has been little changed, and is kept in excellent repair. The woodwork
+in the drawing room is true to the period; that throughout the house is
+quaint and interesting. In the great room the fire breast is outlined
+with a dog-eared mold. The mantelshelf, attached without brackets, has a
+punch-work motif. The heavy raised panels on each side of the chimney,
+and the paneled closets enclose the entire west wall.
+
+[Illustration: Dear Dr. Dick. By Saint Memin.
+
+(_Courtesy Corcoran Gallery of Art_)]
+
+There are many levels, and the house goes back in a surprising brick ell
+that is not seen from the street. The exterior presents the appearance
+of a story-and-a-half cottage. Two windows, with their uncommon blinds,
+break the wood-shingled roof. The blinds' slats are wide and heavy, and
+the shutters are held in place when opened by the traditional molded
+iron holdbacks. The east gable end of the house is shiplap. From this
+side projects the entrance porch, added about 1816, and protected by
+"jalousies."
+
+Portraits, old silver, glass, and china, prints and mahogany, with great
+grandmama's best brocade dresses, are the fruits of more than a century
+of the family's inheritance. The picture over the mantel is done in
+embroidery--the product of one of the Fawcett ancestors, worked in 1814,
+while a pupil at one of Alexandria's schools where young ladies were
+taught the fine arts, and the curriculum included every form of
+needlework.
+
+[Illustration: Benjamin Dulany's Town House]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 15
+
+The Benjamin Dulany House
+
+[601 Duke Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. John Howard Joynt.]
+
+
+On February 15, 1773, George Washington wrote to a friend, "Our
+celebrated Fortune Miss French, whom half the world was in pursuit of,
+bestowed her hand on Wednesday last, being her birthday (you perceive I
+think myself under the necessity of accounting for the choice) upon Mr.
+Ben Dulany, who is to take her to Maryland in a month from this
+time."[149]
+
+Miss French, the heiress, was a ward of Washington and lived at Rose
+Hill, not far from Mount Vernon. Benjamin Dulany Sr., a wealthy and
+cultured gentleman of Maryland, born of distinguished Irish parentage,
+was of the third generation in America. He and the celebrated Miss
+French moved to Alexandria before the Revolution and settled at Shuter's
+Hill overlooking the town, where they reared a large family. Ben Dulany
+is often mentioned by General Washington in his diaries. He was a
+frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, a companion in the chase and the
+race, at dinner and overnight, sometimes with his lady, but more often
+without.
+
+[Illustration: Benjamin Dulany of Shooter's Hill and Alexandria]
+
+In 1785 Washington concluded a bargain for the exchange of some land
+with the Dulanys and made several references to the transaction in his
+diary. Under the entry for Monday, February 21, 1785, he wrote:
+
+   Went to Alexandria with Mrs. Washington. Dined at Mr. Dulaney's and
+   exchanged deeds for conveyances of land with him and Mrs. Dulaney,
+   giving mine, which I bought of Messrs. Robert Adam, Dow and McIver,
+   for the reversion of what Mrs. Dulaney is entitled to at the death of
+   her Mother within bounds of Spencer and Washington's patent.[150]
+
+[Illustration: Entrance hall, Dulany House. Fine woodwork in arch and
+cornice]
+
+Tradition says Dulany served with Washington as steward of the Jockey
+Club. An amusing anecdote has come down to us of a race in which both
+gentlemen had entered horses. The race was close--Washington's horse
+won. For some reason the governors awarded the prize to Dulany. The
+General left in high dudgeon and wrote a letter resigning from the club,
+saying that he was under the impression that he belonged to a club the
+members of which were gentlemen. Whereupon the governors reversed their
+decision and awarded the General the prize! This extraordinary action is
+reported to have placated him, for he appears to have continued a member
+of the Jockey Club.
+
+Mr. Dulany's house, now 601 Duke Street, is one of those famous houses
+where it is claimed General Washington slept. An agent of the General,
+Peyton Gallagher, occupied this house at one time, and--so the story
+goes--when Washington had sat too long at accounts and the evening was
+bad, his man of business put him up for the night.
+
+The tradition is firmly entrenched that the Marquis de la Fayette
+addressed the citizens of Alexandria from the front steps of this house
+in 1824. The General was occupying the house across the street, which
+was given to the Marquis and his party by the owner, Mrs. Lawrason, for
+the duration of his visit. Alexandria was more excited by this visit
+than any other occurrence in her history, and gave La Fayette a
+resounding welcome. When citizens came surging in great crowds around
+the Lawrason mansion to do him honor, the old gentleman, finding the
+steps too low for speechmaking, walked across the street, climbed the
+steps of 601 Duke Street, where he could be seen, and there made his
+expressions of good will and appreciation in broken English to "the
+assembled multitude."
+
+Tradition also reports that Benjamin Dulany was a handsome, arrogant
+gentleman, a fine horseman, superbly mounted. In those days the streets
+of Alexandria were not as smooth nor as dry as today. Irate pedestrians
+often found themselves bespattered and befouled by some passing horseman
+or vehicle and in danger of their very lives. "Bad Ben" Dulany thundered
+up and down the streets, riding a spirited horse, sparing no wayfarer,
+causing men to rush for safety to the nearest doorway. At Shuter's Hill,
+his estate just outside Alexandria, he maintained well appointed stables
+and owned fine-blooded horses. A "stranger" traveling in America records
+a rather interesting horse story in connection with one of Mr. Dulany's
+sons:
+
+   Throughout his campaign he [Washington] was attended by a black man,
+   one of his slaves, who proved very faithful to his trust. This man,
+   amongst others belonging to him, he liberated, and by his will, left
+   him a handsome maintenance for the remainder of his life. The horse
+   which bore the General so often in battle is still alive. The noble
+   animal, together with the whole of his property, was sold on his
+   death under a clause in his will, and the charger was purchased by
+   Daniel Dulaney, Esquire, of Shuter's hill, near Alexandria, in whom
+   it has found an indulgent master. I have often seen Mr. Dulaney
+   riding the steed of Washington in a gentle pace, for it is now grown
+   old. It is of a cream color, well proportioned, and was carefully
+   trained to military manoeuvres.[151]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: The beautiful drawing room]
+
+[Illustration: The original dining room at Mr. Dulany's, now the
+library]
+
+The Dulanys were hospitable folk, and many were the guests entertained
+both at their country estate and at their Alexandria home. A revengeful
+guest, or a malicious wit, startled the town one morning by the
+following poem entitled
+
+THE BALL AT SHOOTER'S HILL
+
+By A.X.--Georgetown
+
+     Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill,
+     Once said to his wife, "Our rooms we'll fill
+     With all the beauty, and all the style
+     And all of the rank and some of the file
+     That flourish in Alexandria
+     Alias 'Botany Bay',"
+     (Which was ever his subsequent say
+     When speaking of Alexandria).
+     Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh
+     "If such is your fancy, so will I".
+
+     Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill
+     Said to his wife, "We will fulfill
+     Our social trust and invite them all,
+     The great and the wealthy to come to our ball,
+     The handsome and ugly, the pretty and plain,
+     The learned and the silly, the wise and the vain."
+     He was a man of great learning and wealth
+     And the name that he bore was a power itself,
+     For his Tory father was great among men
+     And smote hard on the rebels with voice and pen,
+     But Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh,
+     "This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".
+
+     Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill
+     Said to his wife, "I wish you to fill
+     The pantry and larder, the shelves and the table
+     With all the most excellent things you are able,
+     And spare neither trouble or money, for when
+     (Tobacco remember was currency then),
+     I offer a banquet my guests must behold
+     Something more on my table than china and gold"
+     And Mrs. Dulany said with a deep sigh,
+     "This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".
+
+     Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill,
+     Said to his wife, "Of course we will
+     Have music, the best that can be found
+     And we, dear wife, will dance one round.
+     Many years have passed since you agreed
+     To slide down from your window and marry with speed,
+     And we'll show our children how to dance
+     After the fashion I learned in France".
+     Mrs. Dulany sighed and said
+     "What could have put this whim in his head".
+
+     The guests arrived at Shooter's Hill,
+     Names of renown the chambers filled,
+     Masons and Carters, Stevens and Balls,
+     Rosiers and Fendals, Marshalls and Halls,
+     Daingerfields, Herberts, Craiks, Tuckers a few,
+     Platers, Custis, and Randolph and Washingtons, too,
+     Blackburns, Hunters and Forrests and Taylors a lot,
+     Lees, Seldons, Fitzhughs, Wests, Dandridge and Scott,
+     Pope, Ramsey and Graham, French, Lewis and Key,
+     Lloyd, Taylor and Wellford, Ridout, Beverly,
+     Simms, Peters and Lightfoot, Lyles, Murray and Beall,
+     Fauntleroy and Grey and Carroll they tell,
+     Berkley, Fairfax and Bladen, Powell, Chase, Montague,
+     Bassett, Harrison, Tasker, Gant, Stoddert and Chew,
+     Spotswood, Lomax and Taliaferro, Grymes, Rutherford,
+     Snowden, Fontaine and Pendleton, Moncure and Bushrod,
+     But if all were put down, the unlearned might insist,
+     The names had been taken from off the tax list.
+
+     Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill,
+     Received them with grace and courtly skill,
+     When all of a sudden he started to dance,
+     And teach them the lessons he learned in France,
+     He drew them up in a regular line
+     And marched them around while he kept time,
+     Shouldered a blunderbuss, stuck on a hat,
+     Called it a helmet, and drilled them in that.
+     Thundered and threatened and ordered them all
+     To know he was giving a marching ball.
+     Round through the parlors, out on the grass
+     Down through the garden and back did they pass,
+     Not for a moment he left them to rest,
+     Forward and backward, and wearied he pressed.
+     Mrs. Dulany appealed to his pride,
+     But unceremonious he thrust her aside.
+     Many the terrors, the words and the fright,
+     But he marched them and marched them till far in the night.
+     Mrs. Dulany again essayed
+     To urge him to cease his desperate raid,
+     Then bending before her his handsome form,
+     He declared no lovelier woman was born
+     Than she, his own, his beautiful wife
+     Then he vowed to love and cherish through life;
+     And to prove to all how he loved her then,
+     He'd embrace her before all those women and men,
+     Which he certainly did, for he clasped her waist,
+     And raising her high, strode off in haste.
+     In vain she screamed, in vain besought,
+     All her entreaties he set at nought,
+     Into the pantry he quickly passed
+     And stuck her up on the vinegar cask
+     Then locking her in, he lovingly said,
+     "Dear wife you are tired, 'tis time for bed".
+
+     And away he stalked to pick up his gun
+     For a panic and flight had already begun,
+     He ordered a halt, but they faster ran,
+     Urging each other, woman and man.
+     Wholly regardless of dresses and shoes,
+     Thorns or stones, or damps or dews.
+     Halt! he cried again more loud
+     Then fired his blunderbuss into the crowd,
+     Which only helped to increase their speed.
+
+     They thought he was crased, and he was indeed!
+     Into the town at dead of night
+     Forlorn and weary, half dead with fright,
+     Into the town the company came,
+     Draggled and straggling, half dead with shame,
+     That they should have marched and tramped about
+     At a lunatic's whim, now in, now out,
+     The livelong night, through garden and hall,
+     Would they ever forget Ben Dulany's ball!
+
+     Mrs. Dulany in grief had passed
+     The rest of the night on the vinegar cask.
+     Trembling the servants unlocked the door,
+     And the wrathful lady stood before
+     Her ... lord, but never a word
+     Between them passed, or afterward was heard.
+     He ordered his horse and from that day,
+     As I have heard the old people say,
+     He rode unceasing, nor ever still,
+     Was Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill.[152]
+
+[Illustration: The front bedroom, Dulany House]
+
+On August 5, 1779, the executor of John Alexander, William Thornton
+Alexander, granted by deed to David Arrell the tract of land located at
+the northwest corner of Duke and St. Asaph Streets, which held an annual
+ground rent of L14 10_s._ On September 6, 1783, David Arrell of
+Alexandria and Fairfax County in the Dominion of Virginia, sold this
+same lot on Duke and St. Asaph Streets for L50 to Benjamin Dulany of the
+same place, charged with an annual ground rent of L14 10_s._, payable on
+the fifth of August forever. Very shortly thereafter the house now known
+as 601 Duke Street was completed for a town residence. During some
+recent repairs letters and bills for purchases made by Mrs. Dulany were
+found under a partition, bearing dates from 1785 to 1796. Two of these
+are quoted:[153]
+
+     Mrs. Delasia                Balto. 24 Feby 1793
+     For Mrs. Dulaney Bo^t of George Wily
+     1 pair of sattin shoes 16/8             L    16. 8
+     1 p^c Roses     22d                       1. 1. 18
+                                             ----------
+     Rec^d payment                           L 1. 18. 6
+
+
+     Benjamin Dulany Esq.    *  *  *      GEORGE WILY
+     Bo^t of Bennett & Watts
+     1 pr Slippers 9/--3-1/2 yds Lute string @ 10/        L 2. 4.
+     Alex^a May 25^th 1796
+
+Probably the best example of Georgian architecture in Alexandria, the
+plan of the house is common to this town. Two-storied, dormer-windowed,
+detached brick, the house faces south with a large garden to the left
+taking up half a square.
+
+A hall runs the length of the house. Two large parlors, one behind the
+other, on the right, open into the hall. The dining room, in an ell at
+the rear, is entered from the hall by a small flight of steps leading to
+a lower level. The long, narrow, low-pitched room has an off-center
+fireplace and is papered at both ends in old wallpaper of Chinese
+design. When seen from the front doorway, the room presents an
+unexpected and charming view. This wing was added after 1800, probably
+1810. A very nice tradition exists about the building of this wing.
+Robert I. Taylor bought the house from the Dulanys in 1810. He was a
+vestryman of St. Paul's Church and very much interested in its
+construction. Benjamin H. Latrobe was the architect for the church and
+it is believed that he designed the wing connecting the kitchen with the
+big house. The story is more than plausible since the high, narrow
+arches and pilasters are characteristic of his work.
+
+The woodwork in the two parlors is massive. The heavy cornice is similar
+to that in the blue room at the Carlyle house. A thick dentil cornice is
+surmounted by modillions, and they in turn are surmounted by a heavy
+molding. The drawing room mantels, capped by the traditional broken
+arch, dominate these rooms. All openings are dog-eared, as well as the
+panels of the chimney breasts. The hall arches, wainscoting, handrails,
+and stairways are noble examples of early craftsmanship. Upstairs the
+woodwork is equally good, though more delicate, while the paneled
+mantels lack the broken arch.
+
+It is a satisfaction to see these old rooms, graced by fine furniture,
+draperies, portraits, and silver of local origin, restored again to the
+dignity and graciousness of days long past.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 16
+
+Dr. James Craik and His Dwelling
+
+[210 Duke Street. Owner: Mr. Merle Colby.]
+
+
+Of the many quaint, historical figures whose memories haunt the old
+streets and houses of Alexandria, none is more interesting than Dr.
+Craik.
+
+He is remembered as a "stout, hale, cheery old man, perfectly erect,
+fond of company and children, and amusing himself with gardening work."
+But this was when the sands were running out. The good Doctor had passed
+fourscore years, and his share of history-making was over. Let us turn
+back some two hundred years and begin.
+
+There is a little village near Dumfries in Scotland called Arbigland or
+Obigland. In the year 1730 on a cold December day a baby boy began an
+eventful life. He was destined to bring to the New World the skill to
+heal and succor the wounded, to ease the dying, to administer the
+primitive hospitals of the American Revolution, and to move for a span
+of forty-five years as the close and intimate friend of George
+Washington.
+
+The names of his parents have been lost in the Scottish fogs. A story
+that his father employed a gardener by the name of John Paul, sire of
+another young Scotsman who distinguished himself in our naval history
+under the patronymic of John Paul Jones, is all we can glean of our
+Craik's paternal parent.[154]
+
+The Scottish baby, christened James Craik, grew to young manhood in his
+native country, going in proper time to the University of Edinburgh and
+there was educated in medicine for service in the British Army. After
+leaving the university he set sail for the West Indies; from there he
+came to Virginia in 1750 and settled in or near Winchester.
+
+We pick up his trail four years later on an April morning in the town of
+Alexandria. The occasion is both historic and dramatic. The market
+square was filled with "two companies of foot," a hundred and twenty
+soldiers; a drummer wielding his sticks fiercely; two wagons, loaded
+with provisions, and well guarded by officers and soldiers; a captain, a
+lieutenant, five subalterns and a "Swedish Gentleman" going along as a
+volunteer, and one _surgeon_. This military assembly under the command
+of Lieutenant Colonel George Washington was marching out of Alexandria
+for points west "to the Ohio" to fight the Indians and the French, to
+build forts, and to defend the possessions of His Majesty. The commander
+of the purposeful outfit was twenty-two years old, and the surgeon, Dr.
+James Craik, twenty-four.
+
+Did the two meet in the City Tavern, in the market square, or upon that
+first day's march of six miles when the troops bivouacked for the night?
+Wherever the acquaintance was made, the beginning of a friendship that
+was to last the lives of both men was cemented on this expedition. From
+the battles of Great Meadows and Fort Necessity, our warriors returned
+to accompany Braddock to the Monongahela and Fort DuQuesne where Dr.
+Craik nursed Washington through an illness and was with Braddock from
+the time he was wounded until his death.
+
+In August 1755 Dr. Craik was back from two unsuccessful expeditions. He
+was one of a group of officers addressing the august assembly sitting at
+Williamsburg, by letter, who informed the Burgesses that they had lost
+horses, furniture, tents, marquees, clothes, linens--in short, all their
+field equipage--and asking that body to compensate in some measure for
+their misfortunes, reminding the House that it was customary among
+British troops by way of a contingent bill, and suggesting that the
+colonial troops were equally deserving. The letter was ordered tabled,
+but later L30 was voted as compensation.
+
+After this second disastrous campaign, Dr. Craik was lured into
+domesticity by Miss Marianne Ewell, whom he married in 1760. This young
+lady drew the ties closer to Mount Vernon. Her mother, first cousin to
+George Washington, was Sarah Ball Conway, who married Charles Ewell.
+After his marriage, Dr. Craik moved across the Potomac to Port Tobacco,
+Maryland, where he built a house and proceeded to raise a family of six
+sons and three daughters.
+
+In 1754 Governor Dinwiddie offered as bait to officers who would enlist
+for service in the French and Indian Wars, two hundred thousand acres of
+land in the Ohio country. Sixteen years later this land had not been
+distributed. Washington was selected as agent to represent the officers
+of the First Virginia Regiment, and at their request, he left early in
+October 1770 to inspect and locate lands to be patented in their names.
+He was accompanied by Dr. Craik. The two set off on horseback with three
+Negro servants, two of the General's and one of Dr. Craik's, and a pack
+horse, spending two months in surveying and plotting these wild lands.
+Despite bad weather, cold, and early snow, it was a journey enjoyed by
+both men.
+
+The route was charged with memories of Fry and Braddock's campaign.
+Washington wished to retrace these rivers and streams. The possibility
+of connecting the Potomac with the west by canals, opening up the
+country for settlement and trade had come to the engineer even while the
+soldier was fighting. As they rode he dreamed of tilled fields and
+settled communities in the path of his horse and used his instruments to
+measure distances and to plumb the depth of streams. That he revealed
+his plans to this congenial friend of his travels seems certain.
+Fourteen years later, in 1784, he took Dr. Craik over the same terrain
+when these dreams appeared to attain realization in the contemplated
+canal to connect the Potomac with the Ohio.
+
+During his entire life, Dr. Craik was a steady visitor at Mount Vernon,
+on social occasions or on professional calls. He could be counted on for
+a visit at least once a month; sometimes he remained four or five days
+at a time, but more frequently he only passed the night. It is rather
+strange that the good Doctor is never mentioned as a companion of
+Washington's favorite sport. That he was an able horseman, covering the
+roughest terrain in arduous campaigns, a seasoned sportsman, a hardened
+athlete but no fox-hunter, seems borne out by the fact that he is never
+mentioned as sharing in the chase, although the gentleman to whom it
+meant so much noted almost every hunt and rider in his daily journals.
+
+Politically the two friends were united. When Virginians were becoming
+dissatisfied and impatient with England, Dr. Craik and Washington
+thought alike, attending county meetings and councils, acting together.
+When the colony was disrupted by revolt and Washington appointed
+commander in chief of the Continental forces, he at once had Dr. Craik
+appointed Surgeon-General in the Continental Army. In 1777 he was made
+Assistant Director General of the Hospital of the Middle Department of
+the Army. Throughout the war he was part of Washington's military
+family.
+
+At Cornwallis' surrender, Dr. Craik was in command of the hospital corps
+at Yorktown and present on that occasion. It was his painful duty to
+attend the fatally injured Hugh Mercer at Princeton, to dress the wounds
+of La Fayette at Brandywine, to nurse during his last hours young Jacky
+Custis, only surviving child of Martha Washington. It was Dr. Craik who
+learned of the Conway Cabal in 1777 and warned Washington of the
+conspiracy to remove him from command. To him we also owe the Indian
+legend of Washington's immortality. When Braddock was defeated and
+killed at Monongahela, Washington, with four bullets through his coat
+and two horses shot from under him, the chosen target of the Indian
+chief and his braves, was unharmed, and the Indians believed him immune
+to poisoned arrow or blunderbuss.
+
+It is said that Washington persuaded Dr. Craik to move to Alexandria
+after the Revolution. We find him renting a house on Fairfax Street from
+one Robert Lyles in 1788 for L45. In 1789 he rented a house on Prince
+Street from John Harper for L25, and in 1790 one on the same street for
+L35. He rented and occupied a house belonging to John Harper from 1793
+to, or through, 1795, for L60, a residence which has been so closely
+associated with Dr. Dick that it bears a memorial tablet in his memory.
+
+In October 1795, Dr. Craik bought the property on Duke and Water (now
+Lee) Street, which he occupied for several years, and owned until 1810.
+Tradition, in this case false, says the house was built by George
+Coryell, and the story of how he came to Alexandria as a builder is a
+very interesting anecdote. On one of Washington's trips to Philadelphia
+after the Revolution, the story goes, he admired a well designed and
+constructed gate at the house of Benjamin Franklin, and inquired the
+name of the artisan. It was the work of one George Coryell of Coryell's
+Ferry. The young man's father, Cornelius Coryell, had acted as guide
+during the New Jersey campaign and the family had rowed Washington
+across the Delaware in that surprise attack upon the Hessians on
+Christmas Night, 1776. The General, interested in building, and
+something of an architect himself, with an eye to securing competent
+workmen near home, is said to have persuaded George Coryell to move to
+Alexandria. Here Coryell bought a lot on Duke Street in 1794 where he
+lived for many years. That Coryell set up in the building and lumber
+business and was very active is better documented, for this
+advertisement appeared in the _Gazette_ for October 23, 1793:
+
+     George Coryell
+     Has for Sale
+     At His Board Yard on Mr. Mease's Wharf and
+     at his Dwelling House on Duke Street
+     Two-inch, Inch, and Half-Inch and
+     etc. Plank. House frames of different
+     sizes, Cypress shingles
+     Locust and Red Cedar Post
+     Scantling
+
+Many houses in the town are perhaps his handiwork, but the statement
+that he built Dr. Craik's house or the frame cottage next door, which
+tradition says was his Alexandria home, is open to grave doubt. Recorded
+deeds at Fairfax Court House testify that the house and lot east of Dr.
+Craik were owned by Joseph Robinson, a sailmaker, in 1783, and used
+descriptively in a deed dated 1795. Coryell's lot was two doors below
+Dr. Craik's house (the lot now in possession of General Carl Spaatz)
+which Coryell purchased from William and Sarah Lyles of Prince Georges
+County, Maryland.
+
+Coryell served for a time as clerk of the market and sealer of weights
+and measures. He did some repair jobs on Washington's town house. At the
+General's funeral, when Lieutenant Moss was unable to carry the heavy
+weight of the casket, George Coryell took his place as one of the
+pallbearers. He remained in Alexandria some fifty-odd years, returning
+to Coryell's Ferry a few years previous to his death in 1850, at the
+advanced age of ninety-one.
+
+At the first auction of lots in Alexandria town in 1749, the lots
+numbered 80 and 81 were sold to Anne West. The trustees upset this sale
+in 1754, reselling lot No. 80 to George Mercer for L9 13_s._ 10_d._ and
+lot No. 81 going to Daniel Wilson for L10 10_s._ By devious transactions
+these parcels of land were divided and sold. The property of Dr. Craik
+was in the ownership of John Short, a watchmaker, in 1783. Due to
+inability to repay John Harper money advanced, Short, then of the
+borough of Norfolk, sold his house and lot at auction on November 30,
+1789 to John Murry for L234. This same property was sold by John B.
+Murry and Patty, his wife, of the city and state of New York on October
+26, 1795, along with another lot belonging to Murry, to Dr. James Craik
+for L1,500. Allowing for the additional lot, for which Murry had paid
+L71 10_s._ 1_d._ in 1787, and on which Dr. Craik's stable stood, for
+inflation and increase in value of property in Alexandria following the
+Revolution, this price of approximately $7,500 indicates beyond question
+that John Murry made very substantial improvements upon this property.
+It was subject to a ground rent of L11 forever, and it is only within
+the last few years that the present owners have satisfied this rent.
+
+[Illustration: Rear of house and courtyard built by John B. Murray and
+bought by Dr. James Craik. The leanto at right replaces the frame
+building of Joseph Robinson, sailmaker]
+
+The house is a typical Alexandria town mansion. With three stories,
+dormer widows, of salmon brick, laid in Flemish bond, it faces the
+street as sturdily as when first built.
+
+All the chimneys in Dr. Craik's house are handsomely paneled, as well as
+the window frames. Cornices, chair rails, stairway, six-panel doors, old
+pine floors, H&L hinges are part of its attractions. It is believed that
+Dr. Craik used the front rooms on the first floor of his house as his
+office. Washington was a visitor in this house. He frequently mentions
+in his journal dining or supping with his friend. The last time seems to
+have been in July 1798, when he "went up to Alexa. with Mrs. W. and Miss
+Cus[tis] dined at Doct^r Craik's, ret^d in y^e aft^n."
+
+One of the Craik boys was named after George Washington. In September
+1785, Washington makes this entry in his diary: "Wed. 31st.... This day
+I told Dr. Craik that I would contribute one hundred dollars pr. ann. as
+long as it was necessary towards the education of his son, George
+Washington, either in this country or in Scotland."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+George Washington Craik studied medicine, and was, for a time during
+Washington's second administration, his private secretary. He was one of
+the young people of the town who was a constant visitor at Mount Vernon
+up to Washington's death. In 1807 and 1808 he was postmaster at
+Alexandria. He married Maria D. Tucker, daughter of Captain John Tucker,
+and their son, James Craik, was an Episcopal clergyman. Another son,
+William, married the daughter of William Fitzhugh and became the
+brother-in-law to George Washington Parke Custis. William Craik was a
+member of Congress, judge of the District Court of the United States,
+and chief justice of the Fifth Maryland Judicial Circuit Court. Craik
+lost two sons, James and Adam. James Craik Jr. set up in the drug
+business in Alexandria, dissolving his current business of James Craik &
+Company in 1787, but continued "the drug business at his store next door
+to Col. Ramsays'." At the time of this announcement he advertised for a
+young man well recommended as an apprentice for the druggist profession.
+He died, poor young man, without attaining any great success. The Doctor
+was appointed administrator and failed to give any accounting of the
+estate. As a result Dr. Craik was haled before the court to show the
+cause of his failure to comply with the order. He was somewhat riled as
+appears from the following:
+
+   James Craik this day appeared at the Register office and being duly
+   sworn, gave the following statement: That when the said James Craik,
+   Jr., departed this life all the personal estate he had consisted of
+   a Medical Shop furniture, and medicine, to what amount or value he
+   cannot ascertain, nor did he ever think it necessary he should render
+   any appraisement of them, as he was security for the payment of the
+   money they were purchased for, and since the deceased death has paid
+   the same, and every debt he owed; in speaking of the said shop
+   furniture and medicine being all the personal estate of the deceased
+   his cloathes are excepted of which the said administrator saith he
+   considered it unnecessary to render any account for the reasons above
+   mentioned. Sworn to before me at the Register office on Tuesday, the
+   26th day of April, 1803.
+
+                         CLEM MOORE
+
+     James Craik Adms.[155]
+
+[Illustration: "To my compatriot in arms, and old intimate friend, Dr.
+Craik I give my Bureau, (or as the cabinet makers call it, Tambour
+Secretary) and the circular chair--an appendage of my study." (_Mount
+Vernon Ladies' Association_)]
+
+Of the three daughters, one married a Mr. Harrison, one Daniel of St.
+Thomas Jenifer, and the third married Colonel Roger West of West Grove.
+The daughter of this union married John Douglas Simms, son of Colonel
+Charles Simms of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. James Craik Jr., was Sarah
+Harrison, daughter of Robert Hanson Harrison, one of Washington's
+military secretaries.
+
+On November 27, a little over two weeks before Washington's death, Dr.
+Craik delivered Nellie Custis, wife of Washington's nephew and private
+secretary, Lawrence Lewis, of a daughter, her first child.
+
+December 12, 1799, was a bad day. General Washington, making the usual
+rounds of his farms, was not deterred by snow, sleet, nor the cold rain
+that followed. Coming in late to dinner, which was awaiting him, his
+clothes soaked, snow clinging to his hair, he did not take time to
+change his wet things. The next day he had a sore throat and was very
+hoarse. During the night he felt ill and awoke his wife. As soon as it
+was daylight, Mrs. Washington sent a messenger posthaste for Dr. Craik.
+Before he arrived, Washington insisted upon being bled, and his
+secretary, Tobias Lear, sent across the river to Port Tobacco for Dr.
+Gustavus Brown. When Dr. Craik arrived he was alarmed at the condition
+of his friend, bled him twice, and asked to have Dr. Dick called for
+consultation. The three doctors battled with their primitive knowledge
+as best they knew how. Dr. Craik rarely left the room, sitting by the
+fire, his hand cupped over his eyes. Mrs. Washington sat at the foot of
+the bed, while Tobias Lear noted every passing moment for posterity and
+gave what aid he could to make the patient comfortable. About five
+o'clock Washington said to Craik, "Doctor, I die hard but I am not
+afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not survive
+it. My breath cannot last long." Life dragged five hours more, and when
+the end came Dr. Craik closed the eyes of him who was his best
+friend.[156] The watch which ticked off these awful moments is
+preserved in the Museum at Mount Vernon. When the General's will was
+opened one of the clauses read:
+
+   To my compatriot in arms, and old & intimate friend, Doct^r Craik, I
+   give my Bureau (or as the Cabinet makers call it, Tambour Secretary)
+   and the circular chair--an appendage of my Study.[157]
+
+[Illustration: Mantel in the house at 209 Prince Street which John
+Harper rented to Dr. Craik from 1790 to 1795 at L60 per annum and which
+bears a plate erroneously marking the domicile of Dr. Dick, who lived
+next door]
+
+This desk and chair migrated with a later generation of Craiks to
+Kentucky and afterward the heirloom chair was presented as a token of
+esteem to General Andrew Jackson. Happy to relate, both pieces are again
+united in the library at Mount Vernon.
+
+There remained for Dr. Craik one more duty to perform at Mount Vernon.
+In May 1802, two and a half years after the death of her husband, Martha
+Washington fell ill. This old friend of her married life of forty years
+watched over her for the seventeen days that remained and was with her,
+too, when she breathed her last.
+
+Doctor Craik lived for fifteen years after the death of his friend and
+patron, hale and hearty to the end. In 1810 he put up his Alexandria
+house as security for a loan and it was sold at public auction March 23,
+1810, to Rebecca Taylor.
+
+Doctor Craik died on February 6, 1814, in his eighty-fourth year at his
+country estate, Vauclause, near Alexandria. He lies in the graveyard of
+the old Presbyterian meetinghouse.
+
+His house in Alexandria, at 210 Duke Street, was fittingly enough in
+1943 made habitable once again by another physician, Dr. Laurence A.
+Thompson, and Mrs. Thompson.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. James Craik and Dr. Elisha Dick]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 17
+
+Alexandria's Old Apothecary Shop
+
+[With the settlement of the Leadbeater estate in 1933, these two
+adjoining buildings were acquired by the Landmarks Society of Alexandria
+and the contents purchased by the American Pharmaceutical Association.
+Under the direction of Mrs. Robert M. Reese the buildings have been
+restored and opened to the public as a museum with displays generously
+lent by the American Pharmaceutical Association. Entrance at 107 South
+Fairfax Street.]
+
+
+Among the Quakers who settled in Alexandria there was a young man by the
+name of Edward Stabler, who came from Petersburg, Virginia. By 1792 he
+had established himself in the drug business on Fairfax Street between
+King and Prince. The major portion of his first stock of drugs came from
+London and cost about L106. Today his shop is famous as the second
+oldest apothecary shop in the United States in continuous operation and
+has been conducted by five generations of Stabler's descendants, the
+name of the proprietor changing to Leadbeater in 1852.
+
+Always the proprietors maintained the most unique relations, business
+and social, with their patrons. Extant today are orders for one quart of
+castor oil from Martha Washington, an order for paint from George
+Washington Parke Custis, and many other curious and historical records,
+including the comments on a bad debt. In 1801 Mr. Stabler ordered from
+his dealer in London:
+
+   One medicine chest, complete with weights, scales, bolus knives, etc.
+   I want this to be mahogany, of good quality as it is for the
+   granddaughter of the widow of General Washington, the cost to be
+   about 12 guineas.
+
+[Illustration: Alexandria's Old Apothecary Shop, where Georgian and
+Victorian meet]
+
+There is a story in Alexandria that it was in this shop that the
+messenger, Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart, from the War Department, found
+General R.E. Lee chatting with the proprietor, his old friend, the
+senior Leadbeater, and delivered to the then Colonel Lee sealed orders
+from General Winfield Scott ordering him to Harpers Ferry to take
+command during John Brown's raid. It may be safely said that this shop
+was commonly used as a place of meeting by the gentlemen of the town who
+gathered there to exchange views and hear the latest news.
+
+There remain in the old pharmacy early hand-blown bottles, counters and
+showcases, weights and scales, mortars and pestles, prescriptions, old
+ledgers, and much unidentified impedimenta of these early apothecaries.
+The decoration of the interior is indicative of the five generations who
+have lived and worked here. Georgian and Victorian blend in a harmonious
+whole. The exterior has been admirably restored to eighteenth century
+correctness--semicircular windows and all. The shop proper is the ground
+floor of a three-story business structure. Adjoining is an associated
+gift shop, also on the ground floor of a three-story building, and the
+two structures must appear very much as they did when built.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 18
+
+Spring Gardens
+
+[414 Franklin Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Harris.]
+
+
+The stranger arriving in Alexandria by ship, coach, or horse could be
+sure of a welcome. The old port was noted for her taverns. They were
+numerous and good. At the taverns the gentlemen of the town were wont to
+gather for an oyster supper, a turtle feast, or a cockfight. The Masonic
+brothers sought these places for their banquets, and often for their
+meetings. Here stagecoaches drew up with bustle and excitement to put
+out the mail, change the horses, set down and take up the passengers,
+and let the traveler call for a draught of ale. Here the mail was
+collected and distributed. Here sailors could find a berth, the stranger
+a roaring fire, a glass of grog, food, bed and forage for his weary
+horse.
+
+In 1753 at a court held at Fairfax, the rate for a night's lodging with
+clean sheets was fixed at 6_d._, "otherwise 3 pence." For a quart of
+punch with loaf sugar, 1_s._ 3_d._; for a quart of punch with brown
+sugar, 10_d._ For a hot dish with small beer or cider, 1_s._; for a cold
+dish, 4_d._ Stablage and fodder for a horse for twenty-four hours,
+6_d._; pasturage for twenty-four hours, 4_d._ It was ordered that "the
+several and respective ordinary keepers in this county do sell according
+to the above rates in money or tobacco at the rate of twelve shillings
+and six pence per cubic weight, and that they do not presume to demand
+more of any person what so ever."[158]
+
+Among the Alexandria taverns of note that flourished in the late
+eighteenth century was Spring Gardens or Yates' Tavern, as the place was
+known in comparatively recent years. The little brick buildings were
+surrounded by spacious grounds, the walks edged in box, arbors covered
+with vines, grapes, fruit and shade trees all but hiding it from view.
+
+In the _Columbia Mirror and Alexandria Gazette_ of Saturday, January 12,
+1793, the following advertisement appeared:
+
+   Oyster House--Spring Gardens. The subscriber informs his Friends and
+   the Gentlemen of Alexandria that he intends providing oyster suppers
+   at his house this winter on the most moderate terms and at the
+   shortest notice. Those who may incline to favor him with their
+   custom, may rest assured that there shall be nothing wanting on his
+   part to give general satisfaction.
+
+                        ABEL WILLIS
+
+Again Spring Gardens figured in the news of October 5, 1795, when this
+advertisement appeared in the _Virginia Gazette and Alexandria
+Advertiser_ of that date:
+
+   To be sold by Private Contract. The unexpired term of the lease or
+   covenant of that desirable lot called Spring Gardens with all its
+   extensive improvements. The lease or covenant has many and great
+   advantages annexed to it. Apply to the proprietor on the premises.
+
+                         H. WILBUR.
+
+Some time previously, in 1793, H. Wilbur in the same publication
+announced that the "Late Master of the Steine House Academy
+Brighthelm-stone, Begs leave Respectfully to inform the Public in
+General that his Academy will open on Monday next, the 27th, inst. for
+the reception of ten young Ladies at Two Dollars per month, pens and ink
+included."
+
+Was Spring Gardens a young ladies academy as well as oysterhouse, tavern
+and jockey club?
+
+The tradition that Spring Gardens was the second Jockey Club seems to be
+borne out in the announcement of the spring races which appeared on
+Saturday, May 20, 1797:
+
+       Red House Spring Races
+
+   To be run for on Thurs. 25th inst. over Jockey Club course. A
+   subscription purse of 100 dollars, three mile heats, free for any
+   horse, mare or gelding. Aged horses to carry 126 lbs; six year old
+   118; 5 years old 110; 4 years 98 and three years old feather.
+
+   On Friday, a Purse of $50.00, 2 mile heats, Saturday a Purse of
+   $50.00, mile heats. The Purses shall be at the Post.
+
+   The horses to be entered the day preceding each race with me or pay
+   double on entrance; the winning horse on each preceding day only
+   excepted. I have expended a great deal of money in altering and
+   improving the course it is now approved by the best judges of
+   racing. No exertion shall be wanting to give satisfaction by the
+   publics devoted servent.
+
+                         JAMES GARDINER
+
+   Last day a feather.
+
+   N.B. The Jockey Club Races will commense on Wed. 20th, Sept. next.
+
+   The Races were intended for the 18th, 19th, and 20th, but the
+   commencement of the District Court being altered from the 12th to the
+   18th inst. was only known this day by the public's obedient servant.
+
+                         JAMES GARDINER
+
+   N.B. On the 15th June following a colts purse or sweepstake will
+   certainly be run for; each subscriber putting five guineas in the
+   purse the day before starting. Several are already entered. The Colts
+   that are admissable may be known by an application to J.G.
+
+[Illustration: Rear of Spring Gardens or Yate's Tavern]
+
+General Washington was a visitor many times and on July 4, 1798, he
+recorded in his diary: "Went up to the Celebration of the Anniversary of
+Independance and dined in the Spring Gardens near Alexa. with a large
+Compa. of the Civil and Military of Fairfax County."[159] His cash
+accounts for the day set his expenses in Alexandria "at the Anniversary
+of Independance" as L1 4_s._[160] A Philadelphia newspaper gave a full
+account of the festivities:
+
+   _Alexandria_, July 7--The 23rd [_sic_] Anniversary of American
+   Independence was celebrated by the inhabitants of this town, on
+   Wednesday last, with the greatest harmony and conviviality.--Every
+   thing conspired to render the business of the day a varied scene of
+   patriotism and social joy; and the dignified presence of the beloved
+   WASHINGTON, our illustrious neighbor, gave such a high colouring to
+   the tout ensemble, that nothing was wanting to complete the picture.
+   The auspicious morning was ushered in by a discharge of sixteen guns.
+   At 10 o'clock the uniform companies paraded; and, it must be
+   acknowledged, their appearance was such as entitled them to the
+   greatest credit, while it reflects honor on their officers and the
+   town--it was perfectly military: ... The different corps were
+   reviewed in King street by General Washington, and Col. Little, who
+   expressed the highest satisfaction at their appearance and
+   manoeuvring; after which they proceeded to the Episcopal Church,
+   where a suitable discourse was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Davis. Of
+   this discourse I may say, with the expressive Collins, it was
+
+                   "Warm, energetic, chaste, sublime."
+
+   A dinner was prepared at Spring Gardens by Mr. John Stavely; which,
+   considering the number of citizens and military that partook of it
+   (between 4 and 500) was conducted with the greatest propriety and
+   decorum.--Ludwell Lee, esq. presided at the head of the table--the
+   foot was honored by Col. Charles Little.... GEN. WASHINGTON was
+   escorted into town by a detachment from the troop of Dragoons. He was
+   dressed in full uniform, and appeared in good health and spirits. The
+   troops went through a number of military evolutions during the day,
+   with all of which the General was particularly pleased, and bestowed
+   many encomiums on their martial appearance.--_Claypoole's American
+   Daily Advertiser_, July 19.[161]
+
+In the last years of his life, the General again "Went up to Alexa. and
+dined with a number of the Citizens there in celebration of the
+Anniversary of the declaration of American Independence."[162] And again
+the Philadelphia newspaper reported:
+
+   _Alexandria_, July 6.--The 23rd anniversary of the American
+   Independence was celebrated in this town with the greatest harmony
+   and decorum. The military commands agreeably to orders previously
+   given, mustered in the court house square, and the line was formed in
+   Fairfax street. After going through the manual, which was performed
+   with the strictest exactitude, Col. John Fitzgerald, accompanied by
+   John Potts, Esq., passed the line in review, and expressed his
+   satisfaction at their military and elegant appearance. The battalion
+   then marched, by sections, up King street, and formed the line there
+   to receive their beloved chief General GEORGE WASHINGTON. On his
+   passing the line the usual military honors were paid; and it is with
+   pleasure I remark, that the Cincinnatus of America appeared in
+   excellent health and good spirits.
+
+   Lieutenant General Washington dined at Col. Kemp's tavern, with a
+   select party of friends.--_Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser_,
+   July 11.[163]
+
+Whether Colonel Kemp at this time kept the Spring Gardens Tavern, the
+deponent sayeth not!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thrilling tales of long departed patrons who haunt the old red house are
+told by the Misses Lewis and Evans, who lived in this house for several
+years. When the family of three sat down for their evening meal, they
+were disturbed by the consciousness of the presence of unseen persons.
+Often they raised their wine glasses in a silent toast to the invisible
+guests and empty chairs. On several occasions a brave spirit clad in
+buff and blue was clearly seen, only to vanish into the heavy six-panel
+door--to the utter astonishment of three pairs of eyes. Once on a clear
+moonlight night, a great brick barn appeared in the place of a modest
+wooden structure which stands today. The lady who first saw it called
+her companion and asked her what she saw. The immediate reply was "An
+enormous brick barn." For a while they thought it an optical illusion
+produced by moonlight and clouds and waited at the window to see the
+bricks disintegrate into the factual wooden structure. But the ladies
+retired leaving the great brick apparition still standing. Colonel W.H.
+Peake, the recent owner, when told this story, confirmed it to the
+extent of admitting that there was a large brick foundation under the
+present frame building.
+
+Colonel and Mrs. Peake added a half story to the two wings and increased
+the length of the ell. The old tavern faces the street bravely, and the
+sturdy, paneled front door swings on H&L hinges as in days long past. In
+the brick-walled garden behind, arbors are fragrant with grape and
+wisteria. Hollyhocks flourish in the borders. A modern garage replaces
+the stables where the gentry of Alexandria and the neighborhood put up
+their horses when they frequented the "Oyster House." In this mellowed
+atmosphere of Spring Gardens, it is pleasant to turn one's thoughts
+backward and reflect on the gay evening when it cost the General L1
+4_s._ to celebrate "Independance."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 19
+
+William Fitzhugh and Robert E. Lee
+
+
+Another fine example of late eighteenth century federal architecture in
+Alexandria is the residence at 607 Oronoco Street,[Owners: Mr. and Mrs.
+Robert C. Goodale.] commonly spoken of as the boyhood home of Robert E.
+Lee. This house abounds with memories of Alexandria. Her history,
+romance, and past are interwoven here in a perfect pattern. Washington,
+perhaps, frequented this house more than any other save Dr. Craik's
+after the Fitzhughs moved to Alexandria from Chatham near
+Fredericksburg.
+
+Built by John Potts in 1795 on land purchased from Charles Alexander,
+the date is attested by the stone fixed high in the wall under the
+carved cornice. Potts and his wife, Elizabeth, deeded the property to
+William Fitzhugh in 1799 for the sum of twelve thousand dollars.
+
+The house and garden occupy half a city block. A central hall runs
+through the house and every room opens by window or door into the
+garden. The woodwork in the house, while simple, is in the best
+tradition and, save for two missing mantels, is undisturbed. The
+stairway rises on the left of the hall in a series of easy steps to a
+landing that crosses one end of the hall and then mounts on the right
+side to the second floor. The decoration of the risers and landing, in a
+diamond motif paneled in a delicate mold, is reminiscent of the
+designer, Adam. Two superb rooms open off the hall on each side, and the
+dining room and offices are in an ell on a lower level. There are Adam
+mantels of great beauty in the two master bedrooms on the second floor.
+The doors, chair rails, cornices, floors, and locks are in a fine state
+of preservation throughout the house.
+
+In the kitchen is the brick oven with patent doors made in England and
+inserted in the chimney about the time the house was built. A few years
+ago, the former owners, Dr. and Mrs. R.R. Sayers, went to the address of
+the manufactory at Stratton, 173 Cheapside, London. It was still in
+operation and there they were able to purchase needed parts for the
+faithful old oven.
+
+Virginia is more like the mother country in the relations that exist
+between her aristocratic classes, than any other part of the Union save,
+perhaps, South Carolina. These people moved in one large circle,
+marrying and intermarrying, related and associated as one enormous
+family. Welcome in one another's homes, they kept alive family ties by
+visits and letters, both of considerable length. It was quite possible
+to go away from home for several years for a series of visits, moving
+from one estate to another and remaining for the season--all the while
+renewing associations within the chosen orbit.
+
+Of this hierarchy was William Fitzhugh. A man of charm and culture,
+reared in the days and traditions of the great planters, he kept open
+house at Chatham, near Fredericksburg, the year around. Travelers en
+route to and from Williamsburg and Richmond were entertained in a lavish
+fashion. With the formation of the new government, the stream of
+visitors increased to such an extent that the Fitzhughs were being eaten
+out of house and home, and found it necessary to escape from their
+friends. They selected Alexandria as a place of domicile. Chatham was
+placed on the market in 1796.
+
+A lifelong friend and associate of George Washington, there was great
+intimacy between the two families. Fitzhugh contributed two fine does to
+the Mount Vernon deer park in 1786, and the same year forwarded a supply
+of orchard grass seed for the General's use. A year before Washington's
+death his good offices as neighbor and friend were directed toward the
+acquisition of a horse that would best serve Washington's purpose.
+Entries in George Washington's diaries attest the many times that the
+Fitzhughs were at Mount Vernon, and the Washingtons at Chatham or
+Alexandria. On January 3, 1798: "Mrs. Washington, myself, etc., went to
+Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh,"[164] and on April 3, 1799,
+"went to Alexandria and lodged myself with Mr. Fitzhugh";[165] the next
+day he "returned to Alexandria and again lodged at Mr. Fitzhugh's."[166]
+The last mention in Washington's diary of his old friends is in the last
+month of his life, dated November 17, 1799, "went to Church in
+Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh."[167]
+
+[Illustration: The Alexandria home bought by William Fitzhugh of Chatham
+to escape from his friends]
+
+To Fitzhugh's house came Washington Custis wooing, and successfully,
+too, Mary Lee Fitzhugh. George Washington did not live to see the
+marriage between the daughter of this old friend and his adopted son,
+George Washington Parke Custis; nor the splendid Arlington mansion,
+following that new fashion of likeness to a Greek temple, that was to
+house the Custis and Lee families for three generations. He knew those
+rolling acres of the Arlington plantation, but never dreamed they were
+destined to become the emerald pall for America's warrior dead.
+
+In the _Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial and Political_ of Friday,
+January 12, 1810, appeared the following advertisement:
+
+   On Wednesday, the 17th instant will be sold between the hours of ten
+   and eleven at the house of William Fitzhugh, esquire, deceased, a
+   quantity of
+
+                        Household Furniture
+
+   consisting of carpets, chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc., as also a
+   carriage and one or two horses. Of all sums of twenty dollars or
+   under, immediate payment will be expected, on all over a credit of
+   six months will be given, and bond with approved security required:
+
+           Robert Randolph
+           Executor of Wm. Fitzhugh
+
+[Illustration: The Alexandria home of "Light Horse" Harry Lee's widow.
+The house that General Lee loved]
+
+William Fitzhugh's will was probated on December 23, 1809. To each of
+his two daughters who had "made themselves as dear as children can be to
+an affectionate Father," he left the sum of two thousand pounds, certain
+slaves (about sixteen) and lands containing eight hundred acres, for
+since they were "equal in his affections" he wished them to have an
+equal quantity. After other bequests, the residue of his estate passed
+to his only son, William Henry Fitzhugh, with the admonition and hope
+that he would make proper use of it. He appointed his two sons-in-law,
+William Craik and George Washington Parke Custis, also Edmund I. Lee and
+Robert Randolph, as guardians of his son's estate until he came of age,
+and as executors of his will. The inventory of the contents of his house
+is that of a rich man, who lived in the comfort and elegance of his
+time. Appropriately enough, a pair of his knife boxes have found their
+way to Mount Vernon.
+
+[Illustration: General Lee's bedroom, showing the railing of the little
+stair leading to his mother's room]
+
+William Henry Fitzhugh married Anna Maria Goldsborough of Maryland and
+built the house on the Ravensworth estate so intimately associated with
+the Fitzhughs and Lees. In September 1820, he sold the house in
+Alexandria to William Brent of Stafford for ten thousand dollars.
+William Brent Jr., lost the house by indebtedness to the Mechanics Bank
+of Alexandria in 1824. The bank was the highest bidder at $3,500.
+
+Young Fitzhugh met an early death shortly after his marriage when thrown
+by his horse. He was an only son and he died childless so that branch
+of the clan ended with the death of Mrs. George Washington Parke Custis.
+Fitzhugh's widow lived for forty years at Ravensworth.
+
+[Illustration: The mantel in Mrs. Harry Lee's bedroom]
+
+Later William Hodgson and his family owned the Oronoco Street house for
+a couple of generations and in turn sold the house to William C. Yeaton,
+who owned it for some twenty-odd years. This family planted many
+tropical trees, the unique magnolia and the lemon trees among them. In
+1883 the house was sold at public auction for one thousand dollars to
+Mary E. Fleming, widow of Dr. Robert F. Fleming, "she being the highest
+bidder."
+
+It is a strange coincidence that to this Alexandria home of the
+Fitzhughs came, about 1818, the widow of a gentleman active in the
+affairs of the nation. He had commanded, during the Revolution, a Legion
+bearing his own name; he had served as governor of his state from 1792
+to 1795; as a member of Congress from 1799 to 1801, and he it was who
+prepared the memorial resolutions which were presented when word reached
+Philadelphia of Washington's decease, declaring him in immortal words:
+"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow
+citizens." In fact, he liked the phrase himself and used it with a
+slight modification in the halls of Congress when making his celebrated
+eulogy of Washington.
+
+This widow then resident in the former home of William Fitzhugh was Mrs.
+Henry Lee, born Anne Carter of Shirley. Exiled from Stratford when her
+eldest stepson came into his patrimony, she and her husband, General
+Lee, known to all Virginians as "Light Horse Harry," moved to
+Alexandria. The Lees occupied several houses from time to time, but on
+October 14, 1824, Mrs. Lee was at home in the house on the northwest
+corner of St. Asaph and Oronoco Streets and she received a visitor of
+such importance that it made history. The guest, who was no less a
+personage than General the Marquis de la Fayette, came to pay his
+respects to the wife of his friend. This visit was witnessed by the
+young Quaker, Benjamin Hallowell, who had moved into the house next door
+with his bride of a day, and stood in the doorway to watch the Marquis
+go by. Moreover, the Marquis saw the young couple and "made a graceful
+bow."
+
+Mrs. Henry Lee, with her family of boys, occupied this house for seven
+years. Robert Edward's room adjoined hers, on a lower level, being
+connected by a small stairway.
+
+Shortly after Mr. Hallowell opened his school, Robert E. Lee went to him
+in February 1825, for instruction in mathematics, preparatory to going
+to West Point to prepare himself for the Army.
+
+Naturally the friendliest intimacy existed between the family at
+Arlington and the house on Oronoco Street. And so, two years after
+leaving West Point, Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, Corps of Engineers,
+married, on June 30, 1831, Mary Custis, granddaughter of William
+Fitzhugh, and great-granddaughter of Martha Washington.
+
+General Lee always loved this house and after defeat he came back to
+Alexandria, which for some time had been in command of the Union forces,
+to take farewell of his family and friends and went again to look once
+more upon the scenes of his childhood. The story is told that people
+next door were startled to see a man peeping over the wall. Upon
+investigation, it proved to be General Lee, who had climbed upon the
+wall to look into the garden. He apologized, saying, "I just wanted to
+see if the snowballs were in bloom."
+
+To this day the garden, as the house, retains its integrity. All the
+growing things associated with old gardens are there--the lilacs,
+boxwood, magnolias, lemon trees, iris, syringa, lilies, jonquils,
+jasmine, honeysuckle--and General Lee's remembered snowballs.
+
+[Illustration: George Washington Parke Custis; grandson of Martha;
+adopted son of George Washington; husband of Mary Fitzhugh;
+father-in-law of Robert E. Lee. By Saint Memin. (_Courtesy Corcoran
+Gallery of Art_)]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 20
+
+George Washington's Tenements
+
+[123 South Pitt Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Fred Latimer Hadsel.
+125 South Pitt Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Harlan Trott.]
+
+
+On the corner of Pitt and Prince Streets stand two little frame houses
+that possess the distinction of being the only buildings in Alexandria
+built on George Washington's lots and dating back to his time. Their
+history is fairly complete and may be compiled by anyone taking the
+trouble to search the records housed in the Alexandria clerk's office
+and balancing those data against the well kept accounts and writings of
+General Washington.
+
+Alexandria had outgrown her swaddling clothes by 1761 when the trustees
+petitioned the assembly for permission to extend the limits of the town.
+This was promptly granted. New acreage was added, divided into lots and
+sold at auction as formerly. General Washington bought, at the sale held
+on May 9, 1763, two half-acres of ground, numbered on the plat as 112
+and 118, which he took up later for approximately L48. For the former,
+the subject of this sketch, on the northwest corner of Pitt and Prince,
+he paid L38. On the latter lot at Pitt and Cameron Streets he built his
+town house six years later. As early as 1760 Washington spoke of "my
+House in Town," but this earliest reference[168] is believed to have
+related to Lawrence Washington's estate, for which he was one of the
+executors. Its subsequent story has not been unwound, but all facts
+point to the house at South Lee Street as having been built by Lawrence.
+
+General Washington acquired the deed to lot No. 112 in 1765 and mention
+was made of it in his will and in the accompanying inventory of his
+property. At the time of his death the lot had been subdivided for
+building and let on ground rent, for purposes of revenue. The two small
+frame houses standing today at 123 Pitt and 501 Prince Streets
+unquestionably date from this period.
+
+Time did not deal gently with these little houses and a few years ago
+they were condemned by the city council as unfit for habitation and
+ordered to be destroyed as they created a fire menace. Former owners
+succeeded in allaying the ultimatum of the council, reclaiming them from
+oblivion. Unaware that the story of Washington's ownership was true, the
+wing of one was demolished, the other is a new addition and replaces a
+smaller one too dilapidated to restore. The floors, mantels, much of the
+trim, some hardware and two chimneys are original. The uprights were
+found to be mortised together and numbered in Roman numerals. Handmade
+nails and split wood laths formed part of the original construction.
+Preservation of the structure was the urgent concern.
+
+In her _History of Old Alexandria_ Mrs. Powell tells an interesting
+anecdote relating to the construction of these houses. The mention of
+"Mr. La Fayette" identifiable as the son of the Marquis, fixes the
+period at 1797. It seems that the coach had been sent to Alexandria from
+Mount Vernon for repairs and stood in the courtyard of the coachmaker's
+waiting to be called for. Two little children, Hannah Taylor and Joe
+Peters, were playing hide-and-seek in the courtyard. The little girl
+opened the door and hid in the coach. Joe failed to find her, and she
+fell asleep. The carriage was called for, the horses hitched and driven
+to Mount Vernon, without awakening the child. Only when the coach came
+to a standstill in the stable yard did she awake, much frightened and in
+tears. She was carried at once to the house, soothed and petted. The
+General dispatched a servant on horseback to tell Mr. and Mrs. Taylor
+that the little girl was safe and would be returned in the morning. She
+dined with the family, sat next to Miss Nelly, and was laughed at by a
+young man called "Mr. La Fayette" whom she did not like. She was put to
+bed by the Negro maid, Caroline Brannum, in a little room at the head of
+the stairway, wearing one of Miss Nelly's gowns, much too large, but
+with beautiful lace on neck and sleeves, her sheets warmed by the first
+copper warming pan she had ever seen. Caroline left the candle burning
+until Hannah fell asleep, to keep the little girl from being frightened.
+She had a splendid breakfast and was returned home in the coach wrapped
+in a large shawl and with a piece of cake as booty.
+
+After that she frequently saw General Washington on the streets of
+Alexandria. "He often walked past her father's shop to the corner of
+Pitt and Prince, where two small frame houses were being built, and he
+seemed to be giving some directions to the carpenters, but he did not
+recognize Hannah who stood in too much awe of the great man to make
+herself known."[169] Hannah was all of seven years old at the time of
+the visit. Her trip to Mount Vernon furnished her with conversational
+matter for the rest of her life.
+
+[Illustration: Washington identified this sketch: "Col^o Fitzgerald
+respect^g my Vacant Lot-in-Alexandria" and the notation under Prince
+Street is also in his handwriting. This rough draft seems to have been
+done by Fitzgerald pursuant to the General's letter to him, dated June
+12, 1797. (_Courtesy Library of Congress_)]
+
+The little houses, known in Alexandria for many years as the Washington
+Tenements, fell to the lot of his nephew, Lawrence Washington, in the
+division of the estate.
+
+Now to explore the title for those whose time does not permit or whose
+inclination does not incite to delving into old and dusty records.
+
+In February 1767 Washington, in an irate letter to Carlyle & Adam, who
+had neglected to pay for some wheat, soundly berates them, complaining
+that in September 1764, he passed his bond for the wheat for "some lotts
+in Alexandria as payment," only to have the money demanded again with
+interest and "was at some pains to convince Mr. John Alexander of the
+unreasonableness of paying twice for the same thing."[170]
+
+[Illustration: The Washington Tenements]
+
+Writing to his friend, the Secretary of War, Henry Knox, in January
+1785, he says, "... Rents have got to such an amazing height in
+Alexandria, that (having an unimproved lot or two there) I have
+thoughts, if my finances will support me in the measure, of building a
+House, or Houses thereon for the purpose of letting."[171] Later in that
+same year he confides to Knox that his finances were not equal to
+undertaking the projected building in Alexandria.
+
+Ten years later the lot was still unimproved, when Halley, who owned
+abutting property, was desirous of acquiring ten feet of Washington's
+land for an alley. The deal did not go through and a year later William
+Summers offered the owner three thousand dollars for the lot in
+question, which was declined. President Washington wrote Tobias Lear,
+his secretary, under date of March 21:
+
+   I have no wish to part with the lot unless I can do it upon
+   advantageous terms, and can dispose of the Money in a more productive
+   manner. I had thoughts of building on it, but this would be attended
+   with trouble, and perhaps a good deal of impositions; as it could not
+   be properly attended to in the execution of the work. And besides
+   workmens wages and materials are very high at this time.[172]
+
+Shades of a later postwar era!
+
+By June 1797, Washington had determined upon the subdivision as a
+solution. This was time-honored practice locally. To John Fitzgerald, on
+June 12 he wrote, "If you have had leizure to examine my unimproved lot
+in Alexa, more attentively, and have digested any plan in your own mind
+for an advantageous division of it, I would thank you for the result, as
+I wish to fix on a Plan." A plot plan, docketed by Washington "my vacant
+lot in Alex" has been found among his papers preserved in the Library of
+Congress,[173] and is worthy of reproduction. That this plan was carried
+out almost to the letter is revealed by the text of an advertisement
+prepared in July to be set up in the gazettes:
+
+   The Subscriber having resolved to lay off the half acre lot which he
+   holds in the town of Alexandria (bounded by Prince and Pitt Streets)
+   into convenient building squares, gives this public notice thereof;
+   and of his intention to lease them forever, on ground Rent. Five and
+   a half feet extending from Prince Street, will be added to the alley
+   already left by Mr. Rickets, across to Mr. Halleys lot; and another
+   Alley of ten feet will be laid out about midway the lot from Pitt
+   Street until it intersect the former Alley. All the lots on Prince
+   Street will extend back to this Alley, and be about 83 or 4 feet in
+   depth. And the lots North thereof will extend from Pitt Street to the
+   first mentioned Alley, and be four in number of equal front (about 21
+   feet each). The other lot will have a breadth of 26 feet on Prince
+   Street and about 83 or 4 on Pitt Street, or may be divided into
+   [illegible] remaining front on the former street will be divided into
+   [illegible] lotts, equal in size and abt. 24 or 5 feet front each. If
+   any persons should be inclined to make offers for the lots here
+   described, or any of them, Mr. Jas. Anderson (my manager) will
+   receive the same [illegible] shortly, the lotts will be exposed at
+   public sale, of which notice will be given.[174]
+
+The following September, writing to James Harrison, he said, "The Ground
+Rent of the lot I have offered to Lease, in Alexandria, is three dollars
+a foot, for what it measures on _each_ Street. This I must obtain as an
+annual Rent or the lot will not be disposed of in that way."[175]
+
+Washington died on December 14, 1799, and his will, written July 9,
+1799, was probated January 20, 1800. In an annexed schedule of property
+which he directed be sold (some conditionally disposed of) with
+explanatory notes relative thereto appears this entry:
+
+   Alexandria
+
+   Corner of Pitt & Prince Stts. half an Acre--laid out into build[in]gs
+   3 or 4 of wch. are let on grd. Rent at $3 pr. foot. 4,000(t)[176]
+
+Under the note "t" the property is further described: "For this lot
+though unimproved, I have refused $3500.--It has since been laid off
+into proper sized lots for building on--three or 4 of which are let on
+ground Rent--forever--at three dollars a foot on the street,--and this
+price is asked for both fronts on Pitt & Princes Street."[177]
+
+These lots were included in the estate left to his wife for her
+lifetime. Martha Washington died on May 22, 1802. On June 7, 1803, the
+executors of Washington's estate sold this half-acre lot divided into
+nine lots, Nos. 1 to 4 on Pitt and Nos. 5 to 9 on Prince. An alley ten
+feet wide separated the Prince Street lots from those on Pitt. Only one
+lot was unimproved. The executors submitted this sale along with others
+made the same day to be recorded at Fairfax July 15, 1811.
+
+The lot at the intersection of Pitt and Prince, bearing the number 5 in
+the division, was sold to L.A. Washington for $1,613.33, bringing more
+by nearly four hundred dollars than any of the other eight.
+
+Lawrence Augustine Washington's deed for this property was dated August
+7, 1804, and calls for "twenty-five feet four inches on Prince Street,
+beginning at the intersection, running in depth parallel to Pitt
+eighty-three feet to a ten-foot alley, and all Houses, Buildings,
+Improvements, Streets and Allies."[178]
+
+On the death of Lawrence A. Washington the little houses and the lot on
+the corner of Prince and Pitt Streets became the property of his son,
+Robert W. Washington. He in turn sold the property to Alexious Johnson,
+at whose death it was sold at public auction by Samuel Bartle,
+commissioner, to William Gregory for $605.00 on July 11, 1844. Three
+years later, September 13, 1847, Will and Mary Gregory sold the same
+property to Benjamin Huges. Benjamin and Susan Huges divided the
+property, selling 30 feet 10 inches on Pitt Street to Joseph Francis
+Cook on July 15, 1874, and on July 26, 1887, the Huges sold the house
+and lot on the corner of Prince and Pitt, running 25 feet west on Prince
+and 52 feet north on Pitt to J. Frank Taylor. On July 17, 1874, Joseph
+Francis Cook and his wife, Georgeanna, conveyed to Taylor the part they
+had previously bought from the Huges.
+
+On April 20, 1897, J. Frank Taylor conveyed this same property to Walter
+G. Rogers, and on April 20, 1900, Walter G. Rogers and his wife, Matilda
+A. Rogers, sold to George T. Klipstein. In 1935 the property was
+purchased by Charles B. and Gay Montague Moore, and in 1945 the property
+was again divided, and the house on Pitt Street was sold to Mr. Charles
+Francis Alexander, and the Prince Street House to Colonel Hubbard.
+
+[Illustration: In England a Georgian Cottage, but in Alexandria a great
+house]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 21
+
+The Georgian Cottage
+
+[711 Prince Street. Owner: Mrs. Andrew Pickens.]
+
+
+Alexandria was never a large town. The thrifty merchants of this
+Scottish trading center built well, and their dwellings abound in
+architectural interest, but really great houses are rare. On the 700
+block of Prince Street, behind a picket fence, guarded by a tall
+magnolia and several gnarled box trees stands what is called in England
+a "Georgian cottage," which in Alexandria is an important house.
+
+On November 2, 1797, William Thornton Alexander and Lucy, his wife, sold
+to James Patron, of Fairfax County, half an acre of land situated in
+Fairfax County in the state of Virginia, adjacent to the town of
+Alexandria and bounded as follows:
+
+   Vizt: On the South by Prince Street, on the West by Columbus Street.
+   Beginning at the corner formed by the intersection of the East side
+   of Columbus Street and with the North side of Prince Street and
+   running Eastwardly with Prince Street 123 feet 5 inches, thence
+   Northerly and parallel with Columbus Street one hundred and seventy
+   six feet seven inches, thence Westerly and parallel with Prince
+   Street 123 feet 5 inches thence Southerly with Columbus Street to the
+   point of beginning.[179]
+
+This was subject forever to a ground rent of L30 in good and lawful
+money of Virginia. On this lot James Patton erected a type of house well
+known locally as a "flounder," because of its narrow width. Such a
+building was usually set back from the street, anticipating fuller
+architectural development when the flounder became the ell of the larger
+house. Patton's home, though diminutive, was comfortable and it had
+convenient gardens and pleasant surroundings. Here he lived until
+overtaken by that ogre of all Alexandria shipping merchants--compound
+interest.
+
+He became indebted to the firm of Marsteller & Young to the amount of
+ten thousand dollars and sundry notes discounted for his use at the Bank
+of Alexandria to the amount of nine thousand dollars. To afford full
+indemnity, he sold in November 1809, to Robert I. Taylor, twenty-five
+shares of Potomac Bank stock, six shares of Little River Turnpike stock,
+ten shares of Great Hunting Creek bridge stock, a house and lot on
+Fairfax Street, and two squares of ground under the charter of
+Alexandria, adjoining Spring Gardens, bought of Jesse Sims, and the brig
+_John_ of Alexandria. Also relinquished to Taylor in the settlement of
+his debts was the half-acre on Prince and Columbus Streets "with the
+buildings and improvements thereupon erected."[180]
+
+A year later William Fowle with "the consent and concurrance of all
+parties," purchased the said lot of ground and improvements from James
+Patton at the price of $6,550.
+
+William Fowle had come to Alexandria in 1800 from Boston to enter, as a
+partner, the important shipping firm which became Lawrason & Fowle. He
+married Miss Esther Taylor, daughter of George Taylor of Broomalaw and
+they are purported to have had eighteen children, eight of whom they
+reared to maturity. Fowle's father-in-law is remembered as the last
+gentleman in Alexandria to hold to the fashion of knee breeches and silk
+stockings. As he lived well into the nineteenth century, his figure clad
+in "short clothes" and leaning upon a high cane (similar to those
+associated with the Court of Louis XVI) was a familiar sight upon the
+streets of Alexandria long after such a costume had become a curiosity.
+Taylor entertained no idea of giving up the habits of his ancestors, nor
+of complying with any such folderol as high choker collars and
+pantaloons so tightly strapped under a gentleman's gaiters that someone
+had to invent a machine for jumping into them.
+
+The Fowles were agreeable hosts and the Georgian cottage was the scene
+of many gay gatherings and fine dinners. The family took part in all the
+festivities of the town--balls at Gadsby's, the theatre; trips to
+Boston, doubtless in their own ships, were frequent. William Fowle was
+senior warden at Christ Church for many years.
+
+[Illustration: Elegance and grace, harmony and beauty in brick and wood
+and iron. Regency at its best in Alexandria]
+
+Thirty-six years after Fowle moved to Alexandria the following notice
+appeared in one of the papers. It is interesting to observe that the
+firm was now "William Fowle & Co."
+
+   The splendid ship Alexandria, about 500 tons burthen, built under the
+   superintendence of Captain William Morrell, for William Fowle & Co.,
+   and others, and to be commanded by Capt. Charles W. Turner was
+   launched in beautiful style on Thursday.
+
+[Illustration: The stair sweeps up, circular wall, window and door in
+hall]
+
+William Fowle was a man of taste as well as means. He improved his
+garden by acquiring adjoining property and extending his grounds as far
+east as Washington Street and as far north as King, adding several new
+outbuildings. Nor did he stop with horticulture. He took up architecture
+and deftly transformed his home to the ample size and satisfactory
+design all admire. The earlier flounder house became one of the fine
+houses of Alexandria--and one of the loveliest. By the addition of a
+wing to the left of the present doorway, a beautiful Palladian window,
+and new entrance porch set in a gabled bay, Fowle changed the front
+facade into the latest mode. The house has an individuality and appeal
+unlike anything else in town.
+
+The outstanding architectural interest is in this entrance. Inside as
+well as out the design and wood carving are chaste and elegant. Four
+slender columns support a shallow balcony whose grace and lightness is
+produced in a great measure by the fragile spindles carrying the weight
+of the projection. The delicate inclosure of wrought iron is Regency at
+its best in this medium. It is said he imported the plans for this
+arresting doorway from New England. The interior focal point is again
+the doorway, for here the beauty in design and wood carving equal the
+elegance of the exterior. An added interest is the circular wall, window
+and door in the entrance hall.
+
+The drawing room mantel is of gray marble, early Empire in design, a
+style which dominates the lower floor. The walls support the original
+old whale-oil lamps, complete with engraved shades and prisms.
+Interesting family portraits and fine furniture have occupied the same
+places for over a century and a quarter. The Sheraton sideboard is
+exceptional.
+
+In the garden court, box bushes cluster close to the doorway, perfuming
+the air after a summer's shower. Enormous pink poppies, phlox, and roses
+grow in riotous abandon, while old-fashioned periwinkle covers the roots
+of ancient trees.
+
+It is a satisfactory thought that Fowle's descendants still inhabit his
+house, using many of his possessions, for this is one of the few old
+residences in Alexandria still in the family. Five generations have
+called it home. Two wings, or dependencies, of this house have been
+demolished and the garden reduced by time and the inroads of "progress."
+What is still a large city garden, no longer touches Washington and King
+Streets.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 22
+
+The Vowell-Snowden House
+
+[619 South Lee Street.]
+
+
+Presently the residence of Mr. Justice and Mrs. Hugo L. Black, this
+house has been known in Alexandria for about a hundred years as the
+Snowden home; and so it was from 1842 to 1912 when it passed from the
+hands of that family.
+
+The Snowdens have long been prominent in the old town. Samuel Snowden
+became sole owner and editor of the _Alexandria Gazette_ in 1800, a
+paper that traces its ancestry back to 1784, and boasts of being the
+oldest daily newspaper printed continuously, still in circulation in the
+United States. Edgar Snowden succeeded his father as editor, at the age
+of twenty-one years. Active in civic affairs, interested in politics, he
+was the first representative of Alexandria to the Virginia Assembly
+after the retrocession of Alexandria to Virginia in 1846. He ran for
+Congress on the Whig ticket when Henry Clay was defeated for the
+Presidency and went down with his party.
+
+He was mayor of Alexandria in 1841, and Mrs. Powell states in her
+_History of Old Alexandria_ that in a collection of silhouettes in
+London is one of "Edgar Snowden, Mayor of Alexandria."
+
+Snowden married Louisa Grymes of the prominent family of Grymesby,
+Brandon, and Marmion on the Rappahannock. From this union there were
+three sons, Edgar, Jr., Harold and Herbert, "each of whom in turn upheld
+the traditions and honor of the old paper."[181]
+
+[Illustration: The Vowell-Snowden House. The widow's walk is missing]
+
+Edgar Snowden purchased the Lee and Franklin Streets property from
+Lawrence B. Taylor, who had the house from Thomas Vowell Jr. In a deed
+granted August 29, 1798, William Thornton Alexander and Lucy, his wife,
+let this property with all houses, buildings, streets, lanes, alleys,
+and so on, to Thomas Vowell Jr., for the yearly ground rent of $61.66.
+The fact is cited that William Thornton Alexander had the property from
+his father, John Alexander. In 1802 Thomas Vowell was released from this
+obligation upon payment of L200.
+
+In 1826, in a deed of trust, the house is referred to specifically as a
+two-story brick dwelling, with other buildings and improvements. There
+is doubt as to whether the present house was built by Alexander or by
+Vowell. William Thornton Alexander mentions in the deed of 1798, "all
+houses, buildings, streets, lanes, alleys, Etc." The front of the house
+is a typical federal house, hardly earlier than 1790 to 1798, and
+similar to the New City Hotel, built in 1792. The doorway is almost a
+replica of the doorway taken from the tavern to the Metropolitan Museum
+of Art and since restored. The transom above the entrance door, in a
+deeply recessed arch, is interesting in design. The unusual cornice
+excites attention.
+
+Thomas Vowell, in partnership with his brother, John, operated for a
+long while a successful mercantile business. The firm of John & Thomas
+Vowell owned a large wharf on the east side of Union between Prince and
+King Streets and sent out its own ships to the far corners of the earth,
+advertising its wares upon their return. George Washington ran an
+account with the Vowells and receipts preserved at Mount Vernon tell of
+purchases made by James Anderson, his manager. One of Anderson's
+dockets, dating from 1798, reaffirms in the inscription the age-old
+system of barter, "For Lint seed Sold them & Salt in Exchange." Lean and
+hard times were Thomas Vowell's lot. He overreached himself in
+speculation--buying and selling property until "by reasons of losses and
+misfortunates in trade" we find him mortgaging his warehouse and wharf,
+even his house; finally he was forced to part with his home.
+
+Thomas Vowell's first wife, Mary Harper, died in 1805, aged twenty-three
+years, and was buried in the old Presbyterian meetinghouse graveyard.
+She was the daughter of Captain John Harper; her sister, Margaret,
+married Thomas Vowell's brother, John. The graves of the two sisters lie
+near the north wall of the church, while their father's remains rest
+within.
+
+The Vowell-Snowden house, in splendid condition, stands flush with the
+street, surrounded by a half-acre of garden, defying the elements as
+well as the hand of time. Much of the fine woodwork has been removed or
+destroyed, but the perfect proportion of the rooms is indestructible.
+The hall arch and stairway remain untouched and convey some idea of the
+former beauty of the woodwork and elegance of the house.
+
+There are people still living in Alexandria who as children played on
+the "Widow's" or "Captain's Walk" that formerly topped the old mansion.
+A magnificent view up and down the Potomac River could be had from that
+vantage spot, long since disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 23
+
+The Edmund Jennings Lee House
+
+[428 North Washington Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Franklin F. Korell.]
+
+
+Many of the citizens of this community bore the greatest names in the
+Commonwealth. Henry Cabot Lodge's description of Virginia society in the
+eighteenth century might aptly be applied to Alexandria: "We must go
+back to Athens to find another instance of a Society so small in numbers
+and yet capable of such an outburst of ability and force."
+
+Among the great Virginia names closely associated with Alexandria is
+that of Lee. Virginia's (and America's) patriot, Arthur Lee, was born at
+Stratford, in Westmoreland County, on December 20, 1740, and died at his
+residence, Lansdown, in the old town of Urbanna, Middlesex County, on
+December 12, 1792. These fifty-two years he filled with deeds and
+action. His primary education was gotten at Eton. From there he went on
+to the great University of Edinburgh to study medicine. For a while he
+practiced this profession in Williamsburg, but in 1766 we find him
+reading law at the Temple in London. By 1770 he had begun his role as a
+barrister in London and there he practiced until 1776. For five years of
+this time he acted as London agent for Virginia and Massachusetts. Thus
+began his diplomatic career. With Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane he
+was one of the commissioners to France in 1776, and from this he went on
+to other negotiations between America and Europe.
+
+Arthur Lee returned to America in 1780, and from 1782 to 1785 he served
+as a member of Congress. During these years he entered somewhat into the
+real-estate business in Alexandria. When his will was probated, he left
+to his niece, Hannah Washington, wife of Corbin, a half-acre lot on
+Washington and Oronoco Streets.
+
+Hannah and Corbin Washington sold a half-acre lot to Charles Lee on
+March 19, 1796. It is described as beginning at the intersection of
+Washington and Oronoco on the southwest side, running west on Oronoco
+123 feet 5 inches and south on Washington 176 feet 7 inches.
+
+Charles Lee and Anne, his wife, sold this property to their brother,
+Edmund I. Lee, for five thousand dollars in January 1801. Part of the
+lot was rented at that time to Henry Zimmerman, subject to a ground
+rent, and part to Howard Beale, and there were houses, ways, advantages,
+and so on.
+
+Edmund Jennings (always called Edmund I., following the eighteenth
+century usage of I for J) Lee was born just prior to the Revolution in
+1772, when great events were stirring. He grew to young manhood in the
+post-Revolutionary days, and developed into an able lawyer, one of those
+stalwart citizens, giving his time and energy to his family, his church,
+and his city. He has been overshadowed by his more famous brothers,
+"Light Horse Harry" and Charles Lee, Attorney General in Washington's
+cabinet, and his immortal nephew, Robert Edward Lee.
+
+At twenty-four, Edmund Jennings Lee married Sarah Lee, daughter of
+Richard Henry Lee of Stratford, his near cousin, and that same year,
+1796, settled in Alexandria. Nearly everyone of local prominence dined
+at Mount Vernon on some occasion or another--and so did Edmund Lee and
+his wife. Washington's diaries record three dates when the former was
+present and one when the latter accompanied Attorney General Charles Lee
+and his wife. Mrs. Edmund Lee as "Miss Lee" had visited General and Mrs.
+Washington innumerable times with her father. As a matter of statistical
+interest, the General's diaries enumerate more than one hundred visits
+of various Virginia Lees to Mount Vernon.
+
+Edmund I. Lee is remembered in his native city for saving the Glebe
+lands for Christ Church. Glebe lands were property belonging to the
+Church of England, and used for the support of the rector and the needs
+of the parish. After the Revolutionary War the Virginia Assembly
+confiscated these lands for the use of the poor. On behalf of the
+Alexandria church, now called Christ Church, Edmund I. Lee took this
+case to the United States Courts in 1814, protesting the
+unconstitutionality of the act. His eloquence, legal knowledge and
+labors resulted in the return of the Glebe lands to Christ Church. The
+case was won on a technicality, _i.e._, the Virginia Assembly had no
+jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, and Alexandria lay in the
+District.
+
+In 1810 Lee was president of the common council of the city, a thankless
+task which he performed faithfully and cheerfully. The year 1832 saw
+"his house and half an acre lot at Washington and Oronoco Streets in
+which he now resides for sale or rent." It was not sold, for in his
+will, Lee left this dwelling and lot to his two daughters, Sally Lee and
+Hannah Stewart, jointly. To his son he left the family Bible and a
+cane-bottom settee, formerly owned by William Lee of Green Spring, and a
+house and lot at the "bottom of his garden" on Washington Street, and
+the "arm-chair" from his drawing room. His son, Cassius Lee, fell heir
+to his father's home and there brought up a large family of handsome
+children.
+
+Family tradition names Edmund I. Lee as the builder of his home, which
+would fix the date of the house at 1801 or later. Everything about the
+house is typical of a late eighteenth century federal building. It is
+certain that Charles Lee built the mansion around 1796 and that Edmund
+I. Lee lived there from the time of his marriage. The price of five
+thousand dollars at the time of purchase is also indicative of a
+substantial and elegant residence.
+
+This house is a fine federal example and is handsomely fitted out. The
+Lee family seems to have had a leaning toward brass hardware, and like
+the hinges in the great hall at Stratford, unusual brass latches and
+locks are here plentiful. Unquestionably the handsomest brass locks in
+Alexandria are in this house. A rare latch in addition to the great
+locks is attached to the Washington Street door. This double doorway,
+deeply recessed, in a hand-carved Georgian frame, arched and paneled,
+challenges the attention of every passer-by. The colonnaded rear gallery
+is hung with festoons of wisteria and is the most picturesque and lovely
+spot when the great lavender bunches of bloom are scattered and draped
+around the vine and against the white columns and railings. The woodwork
+throughout the house is in keeping with the dignified exterior. The
+rooms are large and inviting; the mantels' trim and stairway are better
+than pleasing.
+
+[Illustration: Edmund I. Lee's doorway, an inviting entrance]
+
+Robert E. Lee was first cousin to Cassius Lee. They grew up together,
+were of the same age and generation, devoted and sympathetic friends
+throughout their lives. For advice and counsel they sought each other.
+
+On April 21, 1861, the Sunday following General Lee's resignation from
+the United States Army, he attended Christ Church in Alexandria, and
+left his carriage and horses at Cassius Lee's house. Sometime during the
+morning, commissioners sent by the Virginia convention arrived at
+Arlington House and found General Lee gone to church in Alexandria. They
+followed him to the home of Cassius Lee, and there awaited his return
+from church. When the two Lee gentlemen, who had walked home from church
+together, entered the house, they found the waiting delegation.
+Realizing at once that only grave considerations had brought these
+gentlemen to his home, Cassius Lee left the room, and dispatched his
+family of children to the house of his sister, Mrs. Lloyd. General Lee
+had written to General Scott only the day before--on April 20:
+
+   Since my interview with you on the 18th inst. I have felt that I
+   ought no longer to retain my commission in the Army. I therefore
+   tender my resignation, which I request you will recommend for
+   acceptance. It would have been presented at once but for the struggle
+   it has cost me to separate myself from a service to which I have
+   devoted the best years of my life, and all the ability I
+   possessed.... Save in the defense of my native State, I never desire
+   again to draw my Sword.[182]
+
+For this purpose the commissioners from the governor and convention had
+come, to ask Robert E. Lee to draw his sword--to accept the office of
+commander in chief of the Virginia forces.
+
+General Lee arrived in Richmond on April 22, and the next day accepted
+from the Secession Convention the command just offered him:
+
+   Trusting to Almighty God, an approving conscience and the aid of my
+   fellow citizens, I will devote myself to the defense and service of
+   my native State, in whose behalf alone would I ever have drawn my
+   sword.[183]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+WASHINGTON IN GLORY--AMERICA IN TEARS
+
+
+The effect of the sudden news of his death upon the inhabitants of
+Alexandria can better be conceived than expressed. At first a general
+disorder, wildness, and consternation pervaded the town. The tale
+appeared as an illusory dream, as the raving of a sickly imagination.
+But these impressions soon gave place to sensations of the most poignant
+sorrow and extreme regret. On Monday and Wednesday the stores were all
+closed and all business suspended, as if each family had lost its
+father. From the time of his death to the time of his interment the
+bells continued to toll, the shipping in the harbor wore their colors
+half mast high, and every public expression of grief was observed. On
+Wednesday, the inhabitants of the town, of the county, and the adjacent
+parts of Maryland proceeded to Mount Vernon to perform the last offices
+to the body of their illustrious neighbor. All the military within a
+considerable distance and three Masonic lodges were present. The
+concourse of people was immense. Till the time of interment the corpse
+was placed on the portico fronting the river, that every citizen might
+have an opportunity of taking a last farewell of the departed
+benefactor.--_The Alexandria Times and District of Columbia Advertiser_,
+December 20, 1799.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+PART THREE
+
+Five Sketches of the Nineteenth Century
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 24
+
+The Yeaton-Fairfax House
+
+[607 Cameron Street. Owners: The Misses Crilly.]
+
+
+William Yeaton was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1766, and
+migrated to Alexandria to enter the shipping business when a young man.
+In the early nineteenth century he launched into the building trade--an
+"undertaker" he would have been called in the eighteenth century--an
+architect and contractor today.
+
+On July 15, 1805, he purchased from Cuthburt Powell a part of a lot,
+granted unto Levin Powell by James Irvine in a deed dated September 10,
+1795, and described as situated at the intersection of Cameron and St.
+Asaph Streets, running west on Cameron for the distance of one hundred
+feet and north on St. Asaph for ninety-eight feet. The consideration
+involved one thousand one hundred dollars.
+
+[Illustration: Recessed and panelled doorway to my Lord Fairfax's town
+house]
+
+The elegant three-storied square brick house which William Yeaton
+erected upon his land is a monument to his talent as a designer. His
+residence is an individualized interpretation of the best Georgian
+traditions. The facade of the house is broken in the middle by a long
+recessed shallow arch, beginning flush with the first belt line, and
+continuing nearly to the modillioned cornice. In this recess the middle,
+second and third story windows, are centered, giving the effect of a
+very high Palladian window. Large arched windows flank each side of the
+entrance, while windows of the second and third stories are quite
+ordinary, save in proportion. Every window has outside shutters and
+molded iron holdbacks.
+
+[Illustration: Washington's Tomb at Mount Vernon. From a sketch
+appearing in a letter of William Yeaton to Lawrence Lewis under date of
+April 4, 1835. (_Courtesy Mount Vernon Ladies' Association_)]
+
+The entrance, a flat arch flush with the house, opens into a deeply
+recessed and paneled vestibule. Side lunettes, leaded transom, double
+doors supported by reeded half columns, and an elaborate fret decorate
+the arch and door trim, making the doorway a very important element of
+the design. Stone front steps and double flights of outcurving steps,
+banded by iron railings, contribute emphasis. The watersheds and belt
+lines are white, as is the recessed arch, adding a dramatic touch to the
+dull red masonry.
+
+To the right, upon entering, runs a long room the entire length of the
+house; to the left a small chamber faces the street. A large arch frames
+a graceful stair, which winds up to the third floor in a circular
+movement. Newel post and stair ends are carved. While woodwork
+throughout the house is elaborate, the difference between the first and
+second floors is marked. That of the first floor is massive, rather more
+dull than interesting, but the second floor, especially the large room,
+is startling in that mantel, door trim, chair rail, and baseboard are
+carved with the delicate lightness of Adam. The feature of this room is,
+of course, the mantel which is centered between two large shell-like
+shallow recessed arches, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. The
+room might have been done by McIntire at his best.
+
+In 1814 the Yeatons sold their home to a man who immediately disposed of
+his interest in the property to the Bank of the Potomac for ten thousand
+dollars. Sixteen years later, on December 9, 1830, the house was
+purchased as a town residence by Thomas, Ninth Lord Fairfax, for five
+thousand dollars, and remained in the Fairfax family for thirty-four
+years. Thomas, Ninth Lord Fairfax, in 1800 married Margaret Herbert,
+eldest daughter of William and Sarah Carlyle Herbert and granddaughter
+of John Carlyle. They had ten children. Mrs. Robert E. Lee (_nee_
+Custis) was an intimate of the girls of this family and a frequent
+visitor in the house.
+
+[Illustration: William Yeaton produced this fine Federal Mansion. A
+sample of the interior woodwork]
+
+Doctor Orlando Fairfax succeeded his father as owner from 1848 to 1864.
+He bore the title of the "Beloved Physician." The following
+advertisements, taken from the files of the _Alexandria Gazette_, give a
+brief glimpse of his activities in the 1830s:
+
+   Dr. Fairfax has returned to Alexandria, and is ready to resume the
+   practice of his profession in the town and its neighborhood. His
+   office is at the N.W. corner of Pitt and Cameron Streets.
+
+   Dr. Fairfax in his late absence of five months, has been constantly
+   engaged at Philadelphia in increasing his medical acquirements.
+   [1831]
+
+   Dr. Fairfax has returned to Alexandria and is ready to resume the
+   practice of his profession. He has, during his late absence from
+   Alexandria, witnessed many cases of the epidemic cholera. [1832]
+
+In 1829 Dr. Fairfax had married Mary Randolph Cary, daughter of Wilson
+Jefferson Cary. They had nine children.
+
+[Illustration: Arch and staircase in the Yeaton-Fairfax House]
+
+In a deed of April 14, 1864, the fact is revealed that this property was
+condemned according to an act of Congress in 1862 "to suppress
+insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion to seize and confiscate
+property of Rebels and for other purposes."[184] It further records that
+on the preceding day, April 13, 1864, Gouverneur Morris, attorney for
+Patsy J. Morris, of Westchester County, New York, purchased for four
+thousand dollars, he being the highest bidder therefor, all the right,
+title, interest and estate of Dr. Orlando Fairfax.
+
+Gouverneur Morris was a brother-in-law of Dr. Orlando Fairfax, and while
+living in France sent the Fairfaxes from the palace at Versailles a very
+large and elegant mirror which hung in the drawing room, filling one of
+the alcoves from floor to ceiling. This mirror is still in existence and
+in the possession of Dr. Fairfax's granddaughter, Mrs. Donald MacCrea.
+
+Mrs. Burton Harrison in her _Recollections, Grave and Gay_, relates the
+wartime experiences of her uncle and his family who were forced to seek
+refuge in Richmond, of their sufferings and privations, and of the death
+of the young son of the family, Randolph, barely twenty, killed in
+action in mid-December 1862.
+
+During the years of Fairfax occupancy, this mansion was one of the
+social and cultural centers of the town; the Fairfaxes were the
+important noble family of the "upper reaches of the Potomac." They
+intermarried with the Carlyles, Washingtons, Herberts, and Carys. Their
+contribution to Alexandria cannot be overrated, for in their personal
+lives and public service, they set an example of chivalry and courage.
+They have been distinguished by handsome men and beautiful women, by
+gentleness and courtly bearing. They have had great wealth and used it
+generously; have lost great wealth and borne it nobly. The family is
+represented in England today by Thomas Brian, Thirteenth Lord Fairfax,
+great-great-grandson of Thomas, Ninth Lord Fairfax.
+
+Let us return to William Yeaton, builder of the mansion on Cameron
+Street. It is of vital interest that he was the designer and contractor
+for the inclosure of the Tomb of the _Pater Patriae_.[185] The archives
+at Mount Vernon contribute a number of papers dealing with this
+construction. Here is the proposal which Yeaton addressed to Major
+Lawrence Lewis, of Woodlawn, General Washington's nephew and the
+executor who supervised the work:
+
+                         Alex April 4th 1835.
+
+   Dear Sir
+
+   I have sent you a sketch of the wall & have anticipated a _Gate_ way
+   on one of the sides which I expect will be necessary.
+
+   If you wish the Gate, one something like the sketch will be
+   appropriate, you may have the gate made solid--or open as you prefer,
+   to releive the dead wall, between the arch and copen there may be
+   placed a slab of stone 4 Feet long & one foot wide, or a pannell may
+   be formed in the wall.
+
+   I will engage to have the wall erected and find all materials, say
+   Forty Five Feet square, ten Feet high, from the bottom of the
+   foundation, which is to be two Bricks thick 2 feet high, the peirs to
+   continue the same thickness to the copen, the pannells between the
+   piers to be one brick & one half thick, the copen to be formed with
+   best Brick three courses above the square--the Gateway & Gate similar
+   to the sketch the work to be well done, & materials of the best
+   quality--For Six hundred dollars,--
+
+     Very respectfully
+     Your Obed Servt
+
+                         W. YEATON
+
+This addition was completed by the end of the year at a cost just
+slightly in excess of the original six-hundred-dollar estimate. Designed
+primarily as a protective wall to inclose the burial vault built in
+1831, it contributed an appropriate architectural character to the tomb
+lot. The Gothic arch of the completed entrance was in sympathy with a
+funereal scene enhanced by willowlike foliage observable in certain
+views of the period.
+
+Alterations were made in 1837 which created a vestibule between the
+vault and the outer wall and gateway constructed by William Yeaton. It
+is not known whether Yeaton again participated in the construction. It
+was in 1837 that the bodies of General and Mrs. Washington were removed
+from this closed vault behind and permanently entombed in marble
+sarcophagi, which the visitor views today in the outer chamber at Mount
+Vernon.
+
+[Illustration: William Yeaton, builder and "undertaker" (architect) of
+Alexandria. By Saint Memin. (_Courtesy Corcoran Gallery of Art_)]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 25
+
+The La Fayette-Lawrason-Cazenove House
+
+[301 South St. Asaph Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Wallack.]
+
+
+The presence of La Fayette was nothing new to Alexandria, yet his
+official visit in 1824, as the nation's guest, created a turmoil in the
+town. As soon as the news was received of his arrival in New York (it
+took two days to reach Alexandria) Captain A. William's company of
+artillery arose before dawn to fire a national salute at sunrise, and at
+noon the same company fired seventy-six rounds. During the day the
+harbor presented the spectacle of all ships displaying their flags at
+masthead. When the Marquis reached Baltimore, on October 8,
+representatives from the Alexandria city council were on hand to extend
+an invitation (in the form of an address) to visit the town, which the
+distinguished visitor was pleased to accept.
+
+He was met on the south side of the Potomac River on the 16th by that
+same Captain Williams and his company, firing a salvo in salute, and was
+addressed in a "neat and handsome" manner by General Jones and suite.
+He "then entered a splendid barouche, drawn by four fine grays, with
+postilions dressed in white with blue sashes," and thus was escorted by
+a company of cavalry under the command of Captain Andrews and a civilian
+escort led by Captain James Carson, dressed in blue "with sashes of the
+same color." To this splendor add marines, fire companies, the
+Alexandria Battalion (1,500 men) all saluting, firing salvos, presenting
+arms--two bands playing, reception committees, constant alighting from
+and entering the barouche, and you have some idea of the excitement as
+the procession passed under the triumphal arch spanning Washington
+Street.
+
+[Illustration: _Left_: Thomas Lawrason, builder, and the first owner of
+the La Fayette House.
+
+_Right_: Mrs. Thomas Lawrason _nee_ Elizabeth Carson]
+
+This arch was a masterpiece. It has been described by Benjamin Hallowell
+in his _Autobiography_ and by the _Alexandria Gazette_ at the time, and
+memories of it linger in old tales told in many homes. Built in three
+sections, a large arch spanned the street, with smaller ones the
+sidewalks. The columns were decorated with portraits of Washington and
+La Fayette. Noble and patriotic sentiments were inscribed: "Welcome La
+Fayette--A Nation's Gratitude Thy Due"--"For a Nation to be Free, it is
+Sufficient that she wills it." A fully rigged ship hung beneath the
+central span, and the whole was decorated with cedar, laurel and oak,
+set off by a Liberty cap and "a real mountain eagle which had been
+politely furnished by Mr. Timothy Mountford of the Museum." When the
+column passed under the arch, the eagle "politely furnished" opened wide
+his wings and gave a mighty screech, produced, 'tis said, by a small
+boy and a pin placed in close proximity for this very purpose. From the
+windows of the houses ladies waved handkerchiefs and threw nosegays in
+fiesta fashion.
+
+[Illustration: The doorway to the elegant house built by Thomas Lawrason
+and loaned by his widow to La Fayette]
+
+When the parade reached Royal Street and Gadsby's Tavern, we are told
+that a ceremony took place there which, "in sublimity and moral effect
+surpassed all." "One hundred young girls and one hundred boys from seven
+to twelve years of age were arrayed in lines extending to the Reception
+Room." They were neatly dressed, the "females" in white with blue sashes
+and badges and leghorn bonnets, the boys in blue with pink sashes and
+badges. As the General approached, a little girl, Rosalie Taylor,
+stepped out and "spoke with becoming grace and manner" a poem several
+verses long that began:
+
+     Fayette, friend of Washington.
+     _Freedom's_ children greet thee here;
+     Fame for _Thee_ our hearts has won
+     Flows for thee the grateful tear.
+                   Chorus
+     Happiness today is ours;
+     Strew, ye fair! his way with flowers!
+
+After being wined and dined at Claggett's Hotel, formerly Gadsby's, the
+barouche was again brought forward and General La Fayette, escorted by
+the procession, "moved on to the house which had been procured for his
+accomodation."[186]
+
+And so we arrive at the home of Mrs. Thomas Lawrason, the most elegant
+house of its day and time in Alexandria, lent by this charming Irish
+lady to the great Frenchman, thereby endowing it with imperishable fame
+as the La Fayette house.
+
+On August 5, 1779, the executors of John Alexander sold to Thomas
+Wilkinson "a half acre lott lying and being upon the South side of Duke
+Street and the West Side of St. Asaph Street and described by the number
+175," the ground rent of which was L14 _10s_. In September 1795, William
+Thornton Alexander, one of the heirs of John Alexander, released
+Benjamin Shreve and James Lawrason from this ground rent upon the
+payment of the sum of L300, and in this indenture of September 14, the
+fact is cited that this was the property sold by Thomas Wilkinson and
+that Shreve and Lawrason divided the property.
+
+[Illustration: The hall]
+
+On September 27, 1819, in an indenture between James Lawrason and Alice,
+his wife, and Elizabeth Lawrason, widow of Thomas Lawrason, son of the
+said James, lately deceased, and their five children, the fact is cited
+that Thomas Lawrason bought for five hundred dollars the lot at the
+intersection of St. Asaph and Duke Streets, described as running "West
+on Duke 120 feet to an alley 6 feet wide 10 inches to be held in common
+with the heirs of Benjamin Shreve, thence on said alley South 55 feet,
+thence East, parallel to Duke 120 feet to St. Asaph and thence on St.
+Asaph North to the beginning." This same document further described that
+"the said Thomas entered on said lott and erected thereon a three story
+brick tenement and other buildings and improvements and afterwards
+departed this life intestate without having received a deed for the
+same," which deed James was at this time executing, conveying this
+property to his son's widow and orphans.
+
+The three-story brick tenement, built by Thomas Lawrason for his young
+wife, is one of the important federal houses in this ancient seaport.
+High upon the roof a white railing incloses the "Captain's Walk" from
+which point of vantage the Fowle & Lawrason ships could be sighted far
+down the Potomac. The doorway is the outstanding feature of the house.
+The fanlight over the door is a true fan in shape and design, and the
+lunettes on each side of the double doors are unique. The interior of
+the mansion is commodious and comfortable with well proportioned rooms
+of agreeable size and beautiful woodwork.
+
+James Lawrason of Sussex County, New Jersey, married Alice Levering.
+Their son, Thomas Lawrason, builder of the house, was born in Norfolk,
+Virginia, in 1780. The Lawrasons lived for a while in Canada, where life
+for those with Tory sympathies was more agreeable, but after the
+Revolution, and prior to 1795, the family returned to Virginia and
+settled in Alexandria, where the senior Lawrason was associated for a
+time with Benjamin Shreve.
+
+Thomas Lawrason, a member of the important shipping firm of Lawrason &
+Fowle, married Elizabeth Carson, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Dr.
+Samuel Carson of Armagh, Ireland, in October 1808. To them were born
+five children: Samuel Carson, October 18, 1809; James Thomas, July 28,
+1811; William Wilson, 1814; George Carson, 1816; and Anne Carson, 1818.
+
+Thomas Lawrason died on June 7, 1819, before he could enjoy his fine,
+new home, leaving Elizabeth to struggle with a house and family. She
+never remarried, remaining in Alexandria until her children were reared
+and settled in life. Then she followed her youngest son, George Carson
+Lawrason, to New Orleans. An entry in the family Bible reads: "Elizabeth
+Lawrason, consort of Thomas Lawrason died at the residence of her son
+George C. Lawrason in New Orleans on the 11th of April, 1851, aged 59
+years." A curious and sad sequel to her death is that some years later
+her grave was washed away and swallowed by the Mississippi. When General
+Lee's body lay in state at Washington College (now Washington and Lee
+University) her grandson, Samuel McCutcheon Lawrason, then a student at
+Virginia Military Institute, was one of the bodyguards at the bier.
+
+[Illustration: The rear parlor. These rooms are spacious and well
+proportioned, the woodwork in style of McIntire after Adam is worthy of
+the master builders]
+
+The original portraits of Elizabeth and Thomas hang in the Lawrasons'
+Louisiana plantation home at St. Francisville. Some of the family
+silver, made in Alexandria by I. Adam, belongs to her granddaughter,
+Mrs. Kirkpatrick.
+
+The La Fayette-Lawrason association rightfully includes the name
+Cazenove to commemorate the role played by Alexandria's noble
+French-speaking citizen on the happy occasion of La Fayette's visit.
+Really his name was De Cazenove for his family was both Huguenot and
+noble. They had fled France in 1688 and settled in Geneva, Switzerland,
+where they were prominent bankers for over one hundred years. When the
+French Revolution broke out, the radical Swiss threw the French
+aristocrats into jail; then, becoming frightened at their tyranny, they
+released the patricians. Among those incarcerated were the De Cazenove
+family. After their release Antoine Charles de Cazenove and his elder
+brother were sent by their parents to America to avoid the Revolution.
+They landed in Philadelphia and were the guests of some cousins there by
+the same name. The two brothers married sisters, the Misses Hogan of
+Philadelphia.
+
+Later, the elder brother returned to Geneva. Antoine Charles Cazenove
+(for by this time our young Frenchman had become imbued with the spirit
+of republicanism and dropped the De as un-American), moved to Alexandria
+about 1794 and founded the banking house of Cazenove & Company. Head of
+a large shipping business, he maintained his own wharf and warehouses;
+was French consul; one of the founders of the Alexandria Water Company
+and of the cotton factory; and an active member of the old Presbyterian
+Church. He owned three or four black slaves who spoke only French.
+During the yellow fever epidemic in 1803, when forty to fifty people
+were dying in a day, Cazenove refused to leave Alexandria. He contracted
+yellow fever and was one of the few persons to have the disease and
+survive.
+
+After Mrs. Lawrason put her Alexandria home at the disposal of General
+La Fayette, Antoine Charles Cazenove was invited to act as host. When
+the Alexandrians crowded outside the Lawrason house demanding a sight of
+and a speech from La Fayette, Cazenove introduced him. La Fayette was
+"_chez lui_"; the whole visit passed off with great _eclat_.
+
+The great General on departure referred to his entertainment in
+Alexandria as "the most pleasing hours of his life." A gratified city
+council presented Mrs. Lawrason with a silver cup in recognition of her
+generous and hospitable act. This, duly inscribed, is cherished to this
+day by her great-granddaughter, Mrs. Donald M. Hamilton of Georgetown,
+in Washington, D.C.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 26
+
+Enter the Quaker Pedagogue: Benjamin Hallowell
+
+
+Benjamin Hallowell came to Alexandria in 1824 to open a school for boys.
+He was then twenty-five, with no fortune, a large debt, a dependent
+mother, a new and young bride.
+
+For his first school he rented the building on the northeast corner of
+Oronoco and Washington Streets, next to the house where the widow of
+General Harry Lee resided!
+
+Alexandria was in a turmoil of hospitality, welcoming the Marquis de la
+Fayette. Hallowell and his wife of a few hours stood in their front door
+the morning after their marriage and saw the famous Frenchman paying his
+_devoirs_ to Mrs. Lee. Hallowell's autobiography pictures the occasion:
+"When he got opposite," he wrote, "he looked at us, took off his hat,
+and made a graceful bow, not knowing it was to a lady who had been
+married the day before." Nor that his liking for a fresh smiling face
+inspired the schoolmaster to immediately express his emotions in the
+following verse:
+
+     Each lover of Liberty surely must get
+     Something in honor of LaFayette
+     There's a LaFayette watch-chain, a LaFayette hat,
+     A LaFayette this, and a LaFayette that.
+     But I wanted something as lasting as life
+     As I took to myself a LaFayette wife.[187]
+
+The school of Benjamin Hallowell filled slowly at first. The ninth boy
+to enroll was Mrs. Harry Lee's son, Robert Edward. Edmund Lee and Thomas
+Swann sent their boys, who were "ten dollar" scholars. The time was to
+come when Hallowell would turn away more than a hundred applicants, but
+that was after Robert Edward Lee had gone to West Point and
+distinguished himself.
+
+At the end of his year in Alexandria, Hallowell's child was born. Both
+he and the mother were very ill, "seemingly with bilious fever." Then,
+for the first time, Hallowell heard that the "situation on Oronoco
+Street, on the edge of town as it was, had always been regarded as
+unhealthy."[188] He could not bear the idea of his wife and family
+continuing in a place that was so evil, or of inviting his scholars to
+share such an environment. Then it was that he got in contact with the
+widow Hooe, made arrangements to give up his first schoolhouse and
+immediately engaged the more healthy situation on Washington Street.
+
+The house which was so "unhealthy" is a replica in almost every respect
+of Mrs. Harry Lee's house, but there is no record of Mrs. Lee
+complaining of the situation nor of the health of her boys.
+
+The new schoolhouse, so commonly spoken of as the Lloyd House [220 North
+Washington Street.] by Alexandrians, was built by John Hooe in 1793. In
+1826, Benjamin Hallowell rented it from the widow Hooe and in the spring
+vacation with his ill wife in his arms, moved into this building so
+admirably adapted to his purpose.
+
+"My school room," he tells us, "was on the first floor, north end, all
+across the house. I having obtained permission of my Landlady, in our
+arrangements, to remove the partition on condition of replacing it by
+one with folding doors, when I should leave the property, which was
+done. My lecture room was the back room over the school room.... The
+very day the quarter's rent was due the widow Hooe's carriage was at the
+door, and this continued to be her custom as long as she lived. If I had
+not the money, which was generally the case, I would frankly tell her
+so, and add that the first money I could get, and could possibly spare,
+I would take to her, with which she was always satisfied. She never said
+a word like urging me, or being disappointed in not getting the rent
+due, and I did take her the very first I received, never permitting it
+to be in my possession over night."[189]
+
+The frail Mrs. Hallowell opened a school for girls in the front room
+over the schoolroom, and Hallowell lectured to her scholars. Money
+being very scarce with them at this time, they could not afford two
+stoves, so Hallowell and the servant, Nancy, carried the stove from
+schoolroom to lecture room as needed.
+
+[Illustration: Entrance to Benjamin Hallowell's first school. A fine
+type of Georgian doorway]
+
+"On the 17th of Ninth month, 1830," the autobiography continues,
+"commenced giving private lessons to Angela Lewis, daughter of Major
+Lawrence Lewis (who was a nephew of General Washington, and it was said
+a good deal resembled him in appearance). These lessons continued
+through the year, for which I charged fifty dollars, and the Major
+promptly sent me his check for the amount. Eleanor Lewis, Angela's
+Mother, always attended at her daughter's recitations in English
+Grammar, Parsing, Natural Philosophy, etc., so that her influence, which
+she afterwards exerted in my favor, and her praise of my method of
+teaching, was of greater value to me than the amount I received in hand
+for teaching her daughter."[190]
+
+[Illustration: The Lloyd House and Benjamin Hallowell's second school]
+
+In the meantime, he struggled along with debt, with illness, with
+sorrow. Scarlet fever wiped out three of the four little Hallowells in
+nearly the same number of weeks. He witnessed the cholera in Alexandria
+and had the unhappy experience of seeing a man drop dead of the plague
+before his eyes; he heard the market square echo to the feet of soldiers
+mustering and drilling in preparation for war in Mexico.
+
+This man had the most singular relationships in his business dealings.
+When he bought the lot and buildings of his school from the bank, it was
+two years before any papers were signed, interest paid, or deed given,
+although he had made extensive improvements during that time. He never
+failed to meet an obligation although at the beginning it took him ten
+years to pay back the two hundred dollars plus five per cent interest,
+that he had from his Uncle Comly in Philadelphia. Everyone trusted him,
+the merchants in Philadelphia from whom he had his school supplies and
+chemical apparatus; his grocer in Alexandria, John P. Cowman, not only
+never dunned him, but invited him to come to his store and get what was
+necessary, and never sent bills unless requested.
+
+[Illustration: When the blast of winter chilled the great rooms at
+Woodlawn the Lawrence Lewises came into warmer quarters in Alexandria
+and occupied this cottage. 'Twas here that Benjamin Hallowell came to
+improve the mind of Nelly Custis' daughter]
+
+Hallowell was city surveyor, but accepted no fee because it afforded a
+fine opportunity to instruct his pupils in "Field Practice with the
+Odolite and Level." He was something of an architect, improving every
+place he occupied, and building two fine structures in the town.
+
+In 1831 the widow Hooe died and in the spring of 1832 the house which he
+had acquired for a school in 1826, was put up at auction. Hallowell
+hoped to possess this property, having put both his time and money into
+the remodeling. He had already enlarged and improved a sugar house
+adjacent to the building. His school was growing in reputation and size,
+he becoming more prosperous. Gathering together all the cash he could
+put his hands on, he attended the auction where he had the misfortune to
+be outbid. The property was purchased by John Lloyd, and remained in the
+Lloyd family for nearly one hundred years.
+
+[Illustration: Early nineteenth century mantel in the home of Mr. and
+Mrs. Ford Swetnam at 815 Franklin Street. The original use of reeded
+work to form a beautiful design, the shell-like ornamentation and
+diagonal bands make this an attractive piece of wood carving. (Nelly
+Custis Town House)]
+
+Ancient mahogany filled the rooms, portraits of ancestors lined the
+walls. General Lee was a frequent visitor in this house. The Lloyds
+intermarried with the Lees, and Mrs. Lloyd was General Lee's first
+cousin. His daughter, Miss Mary Custis Lee, always stayed here when
+visiting in Alexandria. The last Lloyds to live in this house were two
+very old ladies. What follows will serve to reveal why their neighbors
+considered them "quaint."
+
+Following the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, a
+fashion grew up in Virginia affecting widows. At the death of the
+husband a real Victorian Virginia lady simply went to bed and awaited
+death. It did not always follow that a broken heart put her in her grave
+as readily as was anticipated, and many of these brokenhearted widows
+lived to a ripe old age. Such was the case with one of these piously
+saddened ladies. When she heard the doorbell, she at once put herself
+between the sheets of her high poster and covered herself to the chin.
+Under the cover went such things as high button shoes, a "reticule" and
+any other regalia that was in service at the moment. If the caller was
+familiar, or after the formalities had been observed, proper sympathy
+for the heart palpitating between the sheets, the head languishing upon
+the pillow noticed and condoned, the sufferer would arise, hop out of
+bed fully clothed and partake of cookies and wine passed by the black
+dwarf, Selena. This small creature, after fulfilling her part in the
+social amenities, seated herself upon a small stool, joined in the
+conversation, and when amused (which was often) broke into a high
+falsetto laugh. In the last years of these two ladies she gained a most
+unholy influence over her charges and took cruel advantage of their
+helplessness.
+
+Another peculiarity of this household was the fashion of being admitted
+to the mansion. After repeated ringing of the bell, a second-story front
+window would open--those not in the know often left--and in a leisurely
+fashion a grape basket was lowered by a long string. Inside the basket,
+those who were familiar with the proceeding would find the front-door
+key, a large, heavy iron affair, somewhat like that to the Bastille, now
+on display at Mount Vernon, and with this they let themselves in.
+
+The Lloyd house, a large rectangular brick building, divided by a
+central hall with rooms on each side, is two and a half stories high.
+Three dormer windows pierce the roof, front and back, and four great
+chimneys rise from the gable ends. Flush with the street, on a corner,
+with a handsome garden behind a pale and paneled fence adjoining to the
+left, the house is a model federal town mansion. Pedimented doorway,
+window caps, keystones, cornice and dormer trim follow the best
+mid-Georgian tradition. This house is one of Alexandria's finest homes.
+It was for many years the residence of Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Smoot.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 27
+
+The Alexandria Lyceum
+
+[201 South Washington Street.]
+
+
+Benjamin Hallowell, our Quaker pedagogue, was not content with improving
+the minds of the young. He soon realized the necessity of furbishing up
+the cranial contents of his associates.
+
+An able propagandist, Hallowell set himself to interest his friends in
+founding a lyceum. This was accomplished in 1834, just ten years after
+his entrance as a schoolmaster. Naturally he was the first president and
+naturally the early lectures were held in his school. Here the erudite
+of the town were wont to gather to express themselves in lecture and
+debate. Hallowell does not give the date of the actual building of the
+lyceum, saying merely:
+
+   At length a lot was purchased on the Southwest corner of Washington
+   and Prince Streets, on which was erected a fine building, a little
+   back from the street, with a pediment front supported by four fluted
+   Doric columns with a triglyph cornice, and surrounded by an iron
+   railing, and a beautiful yard of flowers and ornamental shrubbery. In
+   this building was placed the Alexandria Library, and there was
+   besides, on the first floor a large reading room, and a room for a
+   cabinet of minerals, and specimens in Natural History. On the second
+   floor was a well arranged and handsome lecture room, with marble
+   busts of Cicero and Seneca, one on each side of the President's desk
+   and seat. In this room lectures were given by John Quincy Adams,
+   Caleb Gushing, Dr. Sewell, Samuel Goodrich (Peter Parley), Daniel
+   Bryan, Robert H. Miller, William H. Fowle and several others. I gave
+   the introductory lecture (which was published) and several others
+   afterwards. Attending the Lyceum was a very interesting and improving
+   way of spending one evening in the week (Third-day evening), and the
+   citizens would adapt their visiting and other arrangements so as not
+   to have them come on Lyceum evenings.[191]
+
+Thus came into being one of the finest examples of the Classical Revival
+in American architecture. When the portico was under construction,
+bricks salvaged from old St. Mary's Catholic Church were used for the
+columns (afterwards plastered). This is an interesting fact, but another
+Quaker-Catholic relationship merits recalling here. Old St. Mary's
+Church stood on South Washington Street on land donated by Robert
+Townsend Hooe, a Quaker. Built in 1793, it was abandoned in 1826 when
+the new church on Royal Street was opened, but the early graveyard which
+adjoined the old church continues in use. A small detail this of the
+bricks--yet it commemorates the friendly ties ever maintained in
+Alexandria between the two congregations.
+
+It was appropriate that the new lyceum should provide facilities for the
+Alexandria Library Company, the city's first organization for the
+advancement of learning dating back to 1794. Insight into the early
+efforts to establish a library and the bid made for its public support
+is revealed through announcements of the type which follow. This one
+appeared in the local gazette for the year 1797:
+
+   ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY COMPANY
+
+   The President and Directors of the Alexandria Library Company
+   desirous of promoting the influence which they conceive eminently
+   calculated to diffuse useful knowledge, establish the morals of the
+   rising generation, and afford rational entertainment for a vacent
+   hour, earnestly recommend it to the attention and support of their
+   fellow citizens. The utility of a public circulating library is too
+   obvious to need arguments to demonstrate it. The friends of
+   Literature, of Virtue, and refinement of manners, will, no doubt duly
+   appreciate its value, and interest themselves in its advancement.
+
+   The addition of a number of valuable books has lately been made to
+   the former selections; to which the American edition of the
+   Encyclopoedia is directed to be super added as soon as it can be
+   procured.
+
+   The President and Directors have ordered a catalogue of all the books
+   in the library forthwith to be printed, with their respective prices
+   annexed; to which will be prefixed the existing laws of the company,
+   together with the names of all the actual subscribers to the
+   institution. As they can determine between real and nominal members
+   only by the fulfillment of their engagements, they solicit those who
+   are in arrears to come forward and pay their respective balances to
+   Samuel Craig, Treasurer, before the fifteenth of the next month,
+   otherwise their names will be omitted in the list and their shares,
+   agreeably to the condition, will be deemed forfeited to the company
+   without respect of persons. Also all such as incline to become
+   subscribers are desired to call on Mr. Craig on or before the above
+   date, and pay their subscriptions, that their names may be inserted
+   with the rest.
+
+     Signed by order
+
+                         JAMES KENNEDY, Librarian.
+
+That the Alexandria Library Company merited and met with cordial and
+generous support is shown by the fact of its perpetuation to this day
+within the structure of the Alexandria library system. The Library
+Company has been called one of the "time-honored heirlooms of the
+town."[192]
+
+The Alexandria Library has had a nomadic existence from the time it was
+called into existence in 1794 until it was moved into its new home on
+Queen Street in 1937. At least five buildings other than the lyceum have
+doubled for home during this period; but the lyceum is the first
+location mentioned in the extant minutes of the company. The author
+nostalgically hopes the lyceum may know a renaissance and that it may
+again serve as the city's library and a historical museum.
+
+Hallowell tells us that the books were housed on the first floor. His
+autobiography also contributes an interesting note on the busts of
+Cicero and Seneca which stood in the lecture room upstairs: "The marble
+busts spoken of above," he added, "were purchased in Italy in the time
+of Cromwell by one of the Fairfax family; they were brought to this
+country by Lord Fairfax, and had come into the possession of Daniel
+Herbert, whose mother was a Fairfax. I purchased them of him for the
+price he asked (one hundred and twenty-five dollars), but permitted them
+to remain in the Lyceum while it continued in operation." Benjamin
+Hallowell served as president of the lyceum until 1842.
+
+After the War Between the States, the lyceum was abandoned, the society
+dissolved. The town was rife with rumors that a Negro organization was
+making plans to acquire the building. By order of the court in 1867, the
+stockholders of the Alexandria Lyceum Company were compelled to sell the
+property. Advertisements were set up in the _Gazette_. W. Arthur Taylor
+and Reuben Johnston were appointed commissioners, and having given
+thirty days' notice of the time and place of sale, the building was
+offered at public auction in front of the mayor's office on May 16, 1868
+and "struck off" to John B. Daingerfield for the sum of $6,800.00, being
+the highest bid. The sale was confirmed by the court and the deed
+ordered executed, describing the lot of ground with buildings and
+improvements, southwest corner of Prince and Washington Streets,
+commonly called the Lyceum Hall, fronting on Washington Street 92 feet 7
+inches and on Prince 101 feet 5 inches and bounded on the south by the
+property of H.W. Vandergrift and on the West by Mr. Henry Daingerfield's
+estate.[193] John Bathurst Daingerfield and his brother, Henry, owned
+almost the entire square bounded by Prince, Duke, Columbus and
+Washington streets, where now stands the Alexandria Hospital.
+
+[Illustration: The old Lyceum and Library]
+
+John B. Daingerfield turned the lyceum into a residence for his
+daughter, Mary, at the time of her marriage to Captain Philip Beverly
+Hooe, 17th Virginia Regiment, C.S.A. The house remained in the Hooe
+family until 1900, when John Daingerfield Hooe and his wife, Mary, the
+daughter of Colonel Arthur Herbert, sold the property to Sara J.
+McGuire. In 1913 Mrs. McGuire transferred the property to her husband,
+the late Dr. Hugh McGuire. The lyceum was used for many years as a
+private residence by Dr. and Mrs. McGuire, and the interior has been
+much changed. The exterior is quite untouched, triglyph cornice, Doric
+columns, all well past the century mark. It stands today one of the best
+examples of the Classical Revival in architecture, not only in
+Alexandria but in America.
+
+The corner of Prince and Washington Streets is hallowed ground to
+Alexandria. From here the 17th Virginia Regiment, C.S.A., marched
+gallantly off to war, and when the fighting and turmoil died, the
+remnant of this regiment was wont to gather on Confederate Memorial Day
+and hold services for those left behind on Virginia's bloody
+battlefields. This custom continued long after the bronze monument of a
+Confederate soldier was placed in the center of the street. If, today,
+hurrying automobiles are forced to slow up to pass the circle enclosing
+the Confederate warrior, it is well. For this spot, while marking a lost
+cause, does not mark a forgotten one.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Chapter 28
+
+The Sea Captain's Daughter and Her House
+
+[617 South Washington Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Westcott
+Hill.]
+
+
+This large, almost square house, rises three stories in a stately pile
+of soft red brick, flanked by two ancient tulip trees towering
+twenty-five feet above the pavilion roof, while a great box hedge
+partially hides the front facade and large garden. Five generations of
+the same family have called it home.
+
+It is a romantic and interesting house. Built prior to 1853 by Reuben
+Roberts on a half-acre of unimproved ground, it lay "in the country" for
+some years. Roberts, a Quaker of the family of Cameron Farms, died in
+1853; his widow moved to New Jersey, and the house stood new and
+tenantless until 1857, when it was purchased by Captain Samuel Bancroft
+Hussey of Portland, Maine, as a bridal gift for his only daughter,
+Melissa Ann. And thereby hangs a tale.
+
+Gallant Captain Hussey is reported to have been a descendant of that
+Christopher Hussey who arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1630
+and became one of the large proprietors. Intended for the Navy at an
+early age he ran away to sea and became a master of Clipper ships that
+raced the seas in the China trade. Captain in succession of the
+_Reindeer_, the _Strabo_, earlier and smaller vessels, he became Captain
+of the _Westward Ho_ on which, in 1854, he made a record trip of
+eighty-five days from Canton to New York. In 1857 he speeded the same
+vessel from Boston around the Horn to San Francisco in a hundred days.
+Two years later he died on the _Stag Hound_ of which he was master and
+part owner.
+
+[Illustration: _The Stag Hound_, one of the great clipper ships in the
+China trade]
+
+The _Westward Ho_ was a great and beautiful ship of sixteen hundred
+tons, outfitted with every comfort and luxury of her day, including
+crystal, books, silver, and a melodeon on which to while away the hours
+at sea. Captain Hussey was frequently accompanied on his voyages by his
+wife, and for a time they lived in India, as well as many other far-off
+and curious ports.
+
+Melissa Ann Hussey[194] after her graduation from the Charlestown Female
+Seminary, near Boston, made the grand tour with her father. This was not
+her first voyage, as he had entrusted her to Captain Creesy, master of
+the _Flying Cloud_ on a long journey from China. But on the occasion of
+this grand tour graduation gift, he directed the _Westward Ho_ up the
+Potomac and anchored in the then busy port of Alexandria. The city of
+Washington was not very sophisticated in those days, so the official
+and social set of the capital sought the theatres, taverns, and balls
+of Alexandria. Statesmen had apartments at the new and elegant Braddock
+House or Green's Mansions on Fairfax Street, and at this hotel the
+Captain engaged a suite for himself and daughter.
+
+[Illustration: To this house came the Portsmouth bride, Melissa Ann
+Hussey Wood, with parakeets and nonpareils]
+
+While in Alexandria, a romance developed which resulted, in 1857, in
+the marriage of Melissa Hussey and Robert Lewis Wood. Their wedding took
+place in New York, and the young couple returned to take up life in
+Alexandria. No colonial house was desired by this bride of nineteen. She
+must have something new and fresh and modern, and as though preordained,
+they came upon the large red brick house at Franklin and Washington
+Streets, much like those so well known to her in Portland, Longfellow's
+"beautiful town that is seated by the sea."
+
+With Melissa came to her new home a collection of rare birds in such
+numbers that the room over the kitchen was devoted to the cages of
+cockatoos, parakeets, parrots and nonpareils. Here these feathered
+friends in spectrum-hued plumage lived among the potted plants and
+charmed the little bride with their beauty and sweet tricks. Other
+appendages included a chimpanzee, and a small Chinese slave boy, bought
+by her father from one of the innumerable sampans in the harbor of
+Canton. "Chinese Tom" was reared and educated by Melissa Wood and after
+the War Between the States she gave him his freedom. For years he was
+the only Chinaman in Alexandria. Mrs. Wood's granddaughter remembers the
+visits of this man to her grandmother. He would station himself at the
+entrance to her door and a long conversation would go on between the
+guttural-voiced Oriental and the gentle little "Missey" whom he adored.
+
+Almost unchanged is Melissa Hussey Wood's house. Her exquisite wax
+flower arrangements, colored and molded by her hands, her mother's
+tete-a-tetes, made in England and purchased in India, paintings of her
+father's ships and his ivory chessmen, her silver wedding bouquet
+holder, her baby's shoulder clips, her brass and crystal girandoles, her
+pictures, books and chairs, have all been used by her two daughters, her
+granddaughter, and her great-granddaughters. Old pressed brass cornices
+decorate the windows above the lace curtains. Unusual, too, are the very
+large silver daguerreotypes, made in California for the new house, and
+the haircloth "pouf" rocking chairs. An Italian clock, bought by her
+father in Florence, which arrived in Bangor, Maine, on the day Melissa
+Ann was born in 1838, stands on its original music box base upon the
+dining-room mantel. Strangest contrast of all, above the doors of this
+high-ceilinged room are steel engravings in their contemporary oval
+frames of Generals Joe Johnston, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee,
+placed there by the Yankee bride, who after three years in Alexandria
+became an ardent champion of the Confederacy and never took the oath of
+allegiance while Alexandria was under Union jurisdiction.
+
+
+
+
+Acknowledgments
+
+
+It would be impossible to write a book of this kind without a great deal
+of help from many sources. This help was given by very busy people with
+knowledge or documents, which inspired the historian to further
+impositions upon their useful persons.
+
+An expression of appreciation, always banal, is nevertheless an attempt
+to express gratitude--and this is my only means of acknowledging my
+obligations to friend and stranger. Without such help this book, such as
+it is, would never have been written and so my lasting gratitude goes:
+
+First, to my father, who said I would never finish it, and to my
+husband, who said I would.
+
+To Mr. Walter Wilcox, American Photographical Society, and Royal
+Photographical Society, for his labors and beautiful photographs which
+illustrate this book.
+
+To Mrs. George Kirk, for endless and patient typing and sustained
+enthusiasms.
+
+To Miss Virgila Stephens, for intimating that I might be able to write
+anything that anybody would ever care to read, and to Mrs. Worth Bailey,
+who said I had.
+
+To Mr. Worth Bailey, curator of Mount Vernon, for numerous historical
+contributions, rare and authentic, for the finished seal of Alexandria,
+the endpapers, the charming drawings, for editing; and lastly, for wise
+and useful advice. Mr. Bailey's historical knowledge and artistic
+training have been invaluable.
+
+To Mrs. Louis Scott, for permission to see the scrapbook of her mother,
+Mrs. Mary G. Powell, and family papers; for the Harper family records,
+for her gracious assistance and advice, and for the use of her late
+mother's _The History of Old Alexandria, Virginia_.
+
+To Mrs. Robert M. Reese, for long and helpful hours and the generous use
+of the Ramsay family records, and historical documents.
+
+To the Lady Regents of Mount Vernon and to Mr. Wall, the superintendent,
+for the use of the Mount Vernon library, the photograph of Lawrence
+Washington, the choice bill of lading, and Dr. Dick's _George
+Washington_.
+
+To Miss Frances Herbert, for information about the Carlyle, Herbert and
+Fairfax families, and for the photograph of John Carlyle's mother,
+Rachel Carlyle.
+
+To the late Mrs. Charles R. Hooff, for loan of the Carlyle genealogy and
+for permission to photograph John Carlyle's snuffbox.
+
+To Mrs. William Boothe, for Lee family notes and Christ Church
+anecdotes.
+
+To Mrs. Charles Baird, and her sister, Mrs. Gerhard Dieke, for
+permission to quote from the books of their father, the late Fairfax
+Harrison, and from the books of their late grandmother, Mrs. Burton
+Harrison; for photographs of Sally Gary, George William Fairfax and Ben
+Dulany.
+
+To Mr. Taylor Burke, for the anecdote of the purchase money for Mount
+Vernon.
+
+To Judge Walter T. McCarthy, for permission to open court-sealed deed
+books.
+
+To the late clerk and assistant clerk of the Fairfax Court House,
+Messrs. F.W. Richardson and Alton R. Holbrook, and to the present clerk,
+Mr. Thomas P. Chapman Jr., for documents, photostats and unfailing
+patience and courtesy.
+
+To the attendants of the manuscript division, the map room and the rare
+book room of the Library of Congress.
+
+To the attendants of the Virginia state archives in Richmond, for
+assistance in uncovering Alexandria records.
+
+To the ladies at the Alexandria library.
+
+To Miss S. Frances Leary, for the Michael Swope family notes.
+
+To the late Mr. Charles Callahan, and to Mrs. Callahan, for permission
+to quote from Mr. Callahan's works and for many inspirational talks with
+Mr. Callahan.
+
+To Captain George H. Evans for old photographs.
+
+To Mrs. Arthur Herbert, for photographs of Herbert furniture from the
+Carlyle house.
+
+To Mr. Courtland Davis, for generous aid and valuable Alexandria records
+and the use of his personal manuscripts and to Mr. Davis and the
+Reverend Doctor William B. McIllwayne, for access to the old
+Presbyterian meetinghouse session books.
+
+To Miss Cora Duffy, for the records of the Sun Fire Company.
+
+To Mrs. Margaret Gill Davis, for use of an old customs house journal.
+
+To the late Mr. Ward Brown, for loan of architectural documents.
+
+To Messrs. I.D. Matthews and Milton Grigg, for floor plans.
+
+To Mrs. Howard Tolley, for the photograph of Dr. Brown and his obituary.
+
+To Mr. Gardner L. Boothe and the vestry of Christ Church, for permission
+to photograph the church.
+
+To Mrs. Helen Lawrason Kirkpatrick, Miss Margaret Lawrason and Mrs.
+Edward Butler, for a wonderful day at the Lawrason plantation,
+Greenwood, in Louisiana, and the photographs of the Lawrason portraits.
+
+To the Misses Carne, for the loan and use of valuable Alexandria
+documents.
+
+To Miss Belle da Costa Green, of the Pierpont Morgan Library, for use of
+an important Martha Washington letter.
+
+To Dr. St. George L. Sioussat, chief of the division of manuscripts of
+the Library of Congress.
+
+To Mr. Allen L. Reese, for exciting finds among the Washington papers in
+that library.
+
+To Mrs. Andrew Pickens, for notes on the Fowle family.
+
+To Mr. Louis de Cazenove, for information on the Cazenove family.
+
+To the late Mr. Cazenove Lee, for the story of General Robert E. Lee and
+the Edmund I. Lee house.
+
+To Mr. W.B. McGroarty, for the letters and biographical information on
+Dr. Dick and permission to quote from his works.
+
+To the Corcoran Gallery of Art for photographs of St. Memin's
+Alexandrians.
+
+To Mr. John O. Brostrup, Mr. Thomas Neil Darling, Mr. Lewis P. Woltz,
+and others, for the use of photographs.
+
+And last but not least, to Lena Harris, my old and faithful maid, who
+made it all possible.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter References
+
+
+
+
+PART ONE: PROLOGUE
+
+_An Account of the First Century of the Seaport of Alexandria._
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Caton, _Jottings from the Annals of Alexandria_, 3-4; and
+Powell, _The History of Old Alexandria, Virginia_, 25.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Hening, _Statutes at Large_, IV, 268.]
+
+[Footnote 3: _Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia_, Session
+1727-34, 1736-40, 204.]
+
+[Footnote 4: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, Session 1742-47, 1748-49, 30.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Fairfax County was formed from Prince William in 1742
+(_Journals of the House of Burgesses, Virginia_, 1742-47, 70; and
+Hening, V, 207-8) after numerous petitions to this effect had been
+presented to the Burgesses, beginning as early as 1732 (_Ibid._,
+1727-34, 1738-40, 146), with a request to divide the county into two
+parishes.]
+
+[Footnote 7: _Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia_, 1748-49,
+1742-47, 265.]
+
+[Footnote 8: _Ibid._, 375.]
+
+[Footnote 9: _Ibid._, 404-5.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Hening, _Statutes at Large_, VI, 214; and Caton's
+_Jottings_, 6-8.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Caton's _Jottings_.]
+
+[Footnote 12: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 13: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 15: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 16: In 1748 George Washington made a survey of the site of
+Belle Haven, and the following year, 1749, a plan of the town, doubtless
+for his brother, Lawrence, who purchased lots. Now with the Washington
+papers in the Library of Congress.]
+
+[Footnote 17: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria_, 1749-1767.]
+
+[Footnote 18: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 19: From data contributed by Robert C. Gooch, Chief of General
+Reference and Bibliography Division, Library of Congress, Letter dated
+April 11, 1947.]
+
+[Footnote 20: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria_, 1749-1767.]
+
+[Footnote 21: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 22: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 23: _Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia_,
+1752-1755, 1756-1758, 21, 24 and 31.]
+
+[Footnote 24: _Ibid._, 27.]
+
+[Footnote 25: _Ibid._, 34.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Analoston Island, formerly My Lords Island, was part of
+the Alexander purchase.]
+
+[Footnote 27: _Minutes of the Trustees, Recorded Deeds_; and Carne's
+_Tiny Town_ notes.]
+
+[Footnote 28: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries of George Washington_, I, 74.]
+
+[Footnote 29: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 30: _Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington_, I, 148-150,
+Washington's Report to Governor Dinwiddie, July 18, 1755.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Burnaby, _Through the Middle Settlements in North America_
+(1759-60), 40.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries of George Washington_, I, 163.]
+
+[Footnote 33: _Ibid._, 294.]
+
+[Footnote 34: _Ibid._, 294.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Fitzpatrick, _Writings of George Washington_, II, 338.]
+
+[Footnote 36: _Minutes of the House of Burgesses_, November 5, 1762, 76,
+(Vol. 1761-1765); _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria,_ 1749-1767.]
+
+[Footnote 37: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria,_ 1749-1767.]
+
+[Footnote 38: _House of Burgesses Journal,_ 1761-1765, 246.]
+
+[Footnote 39: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria,_ 1749-1767.]
+
+[Footnote 40: _Order Book_, Fairfax Court House, 1768-1770, 338.]
+
+[Footnote 41: _The Charter and Laws of Alexandria, Va._, 78.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Harrison, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, II, 416, note
+46.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Letter to George Washington from Lund Washington, April
+28, 1792. _Toner Transcripts_, Library of Congress. Copied from notes in
+Mount Vernon Ladies Association Library.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Wilstack, _Mount Vernon_, 138.]
+
+[Footnote 45: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 46: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries of George Washington_, II, 209.]
+
+[Footnote 47: Letter of Olney Winsor to his wife in Providence, Rhode
+Island. Original in archives, State Library, Richmond, Virginia.]
+
+[Footnote 48: Harrison, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, II, 409.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Morse, _The American Geography_, 381.]
+
+[Footnote 50: Harrison, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, II, 408.]
+
+[Footnote 51: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 52: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 53: _A Stranger in America_ (Anonymous), 213.]
+
+[Footnote 54: Snowden, _The Laws of the Corporation of the Town of
+Alexandria from 1779 to 1811_, 32.]
+
+[Footnote 55: Fitzpatrick, _Writings of George Washington_, III, 18.]
+
+[Footnote 56: Caton, _Jottings_, 115.]
+
+
+
+
+PART TWO: THE PRESENCE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1749-1799.
+
+
+Chapter 1. WILLIAM RAMSAY: _Romulus of Alexandria_.
+
+[Footnote 57: Harrison, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, II, 371,
+quoting President Madison in 1827.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Harrison, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, II, 406.]
+
+[Footnote 59: _Ibid._, 663. Alexandria, 1749. Record Hening, I, 214,
+C.O. 5, 1895, No. 20. Description: "60 Acres ... parcel of the land of
+Philip Alexander, John Alexander, and Hugh West, situate ... on the
+south side of Potomack River about the mouth of Great Hunting Creek in
+the county of Fairfax." Trustees: Thomas, Lord Fairfax, William Fairfax,
+George William Fairfax, Richard Osborne, Lawrence Washington, William
+Ramsay, John Carlyle, John Pagan, Gerard Alexander, Hugh West, Philip
+Alexander.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Hamilton, _Letters_, II, 164.]
+
+[Footnote 61: Harrison, _Landmarks_, II, 414; Hayden, _Virginia
+Genealogies_, 88; _William and Mary College Quarterly Historical
+Magazine_, IV, 17; _Maryland Gazette_ (_Copy in Ramsay Family
+records_).]
+
+[Footnote 62: _Maryland Gazette_, December 1761, Ramsay Family records.]
+
+[Footnote 63: Lipscomb, _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_, IV, 90,
+Memorial Edition.]
+
+[Footnote 64: Letter of Martha Washington to Betty Ramsay, dated
+Cambridge, December 30, 1775. Courtesy Pierpont Morgan Library.]
+
+[Footnote 65: _Ramsay Family records._]
+
+[Footnote 66: See reference No. 8, _supra_.]
+
+[Footnote 67: _Deed Book P_, 365, December 20, 1784. Fairfax Court
+House.]
+
+[Footnote 68: _Deed Book B_, 168, July 14, 1785. Alexandria Land
+Records.]
+
+[Footnote 69: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries of George Washington_, II, 342.]
+
+[Footnote 70: From a newspaper clipping in _Ramsay Family records_.]
+
+[Footnote 71: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, II, 356.]
+
+[Footnote 72: From a newspaper clipping in _Ramsay Family records_.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Book F_, 331.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book 4_, 92.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Books_: _D_, No. 1, Part I, 436; _D_, 380; _M_, No. 1,
+286.
+
+
+Chapter 2. JOHN CARLYLE AND HIS HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 73: _Will Book I-D_, 368. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 74: _Minute Book_, 1753 Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 75: _Will Book, I-D_, 368. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 76: _Will Book I-D_, 203-207. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 77: Harrison, _Early American Turf Stock_, I, 152, 155-156.]
+
+
+Chapter 3. THE MARRIED HOUSES.
+
+[Footnote 78: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, I, 308.]
+
+[Footnote 79: _Ibid._, 366.]
+
+[Footnote 80: _Deed Book E_, 63. Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 81: From information furnished by Mr. Taylor Burke.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _43_, 445; _E_, 90, 316; _L-3_, 474; _P-3_,
+650; _Q-3_, 19; _T-3_, 537; _V-3_, 383; _W_, 398; _W-3_, 453.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book 4_, 63.
+
+_Fairfax Will Book D_, 17-20.
+
+
+Chapter 4. THE FAIRFAXES OF BELVOIR AND ALEXANDRIA.
+
+[Footnote 82: Neill, _The Fairfaxes of England and America_, 49.]
+
+[Footnote 83: Fitzpatrick, _Writings_, I, 166.]
+
+[Footnote 84: _Ibid._, 122-123.]
+
+[Footnote 85: Cary, _Sally Cary_, 50.]
+
+[Footnote 86: Neill, _The Fairfaxes of England and America_, 95-97.]
+
+[Footnote 87: _Minute Book_, Court held August 15, 1758, 501-502.]
+
+[Footnote 88: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, II, 118.]
+
+[Footnote 89: Fitzpatrick, _Writings_, XXVII, 58].
+
+[Footnote 90: _Ibid._, 57.]
+
+[Footnote 91: _Ibid._, XXXVI, 262-265.]
+
+
+Chapter 5. THE GEORGE WILLIAM FAIRFAX HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 92: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria, 1749-1767_; _Deed
+Book G-1_, 116. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 93: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria, 1749-1767_.]
+
+[Footnote 94: Fairfax Court House Records. Missing Liber K (now in the
+Library of Congress), 124-127.]
+
+[Footnote 95: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, II, 42.]
+
+[Footnote 96: Personal Property Tax, Fairfax County (1782-1793).
+Virginia State Library Archives, No. 400.]
+
+[Footnote 97: Lee, _Lee of Virginia_, 235-254.]
+
+[Footnote 98: Shepperson, _John Paradise and Lucy Ludwell_, 98.]
+
+[Footnote 99: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, IV, 270, 280.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _B_, 364; _D_, No. 2, 177.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book 2_, 278 (Orphans' Court).
+
+_Fairfax Deed Books_: _C-1_, 382; _G-1_, 116.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Book K_, 119-127; 302-307, 368, 370. Now in Library of
+Congress.
+
+
+Chapter 6. JOHN GADSBY AND HIS FAMOUS TAVERN.
+
+[Footnote 100: _Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine_,
+XVI, No. 4, 233.]
+
+[Footnote 101: So-called by Thomas T. Waterman, author of _The Mansions
+of Virginia_.]
+
+[Footnote 102: _Columbia Mirror and Alexandria Gazette_, October 30,
+1793.]
+
+[Footnote 103: _Ibid._, November 6, 1793.]
+
+[Footnote 104: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 105: A number of years ago the Metropolitan Museum acquired by
+purchase the woodwork of the great ballroom, where so many of
+Alexandria's social events had taken place. It is an outstanding exhibit
+in the American wing.]
+
+[Footnote 106: Custis, _Recollections and Private Memoirs_, 451-452.]
+
+[Footnote 107: _Liber R_, _No. 2_, 372. 1809. Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 108: _Alexandria Gazette_, October 19, 1824.]
+
+[Footnote 109: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, IV, 298.]
+
+[Footnote 110: _Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine_,
+XVI, No. 4, 238.]
+
+[Footnote 111: _Ibid._]
+
+_Alexandria Liber P_, No. 2, 421. Indenture, July 8, 1802.
+
+
+Chapter 7. THE MICHAEL SWOPE HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 112: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria,_ 1749-1767.]
+
+[Footnote 113: _Liber D_ (1755-1761), 452. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 114: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 115: _Liber B_, 375. July 25, 1786. Alexandria.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Book X_, 330.
+
+_Fairfax Liber I_, No. 1, 321-322; _N_, No. 1, 226.
+
+
+Chapter 8. DR. WILLIAM BROWN _Author of the First American
+Pharmacopoeia_ AND HIS DWELLING.
+
+[Footnote 116: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, II, 64.]
+
+[Footnote 117: Fitzpatrick, _Writings_, XXX, 133.]
+
+[Footnote 118: Lund Washington's ledger, 148. Manuscript Collection of
+the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.]
+
+[Footnote 119: Washington's Papers, Ledger B, 119. Library of Congress.]
+
+_Alexandria Liber B_, No. 3, 273; H, No. 1, 140.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Books_: _D_, No. 1, Part 1, 436; _M_, No. 1, 25, 261; _O_,
+No. 1, 82.
+
+_Fairfax Liber M_, 259; _S_, No. 1, 419.
+
+
+Chapter 9. THE PERUKE SHOP.
+
+[Footnote 120: _Order Book_, 333-334. (April 18, 1759.) Fairfax Court
+House.]
+
+[Footnote 121: _Liber J_ (I), 236. Alexandria.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _F_, 483; _S_, 420; _V_, 114.
+
+_Alexandria Liber O_, No. 2, 453.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Books_: _C_, 306; _G_, 119; _P_, No. 1, 385.
+
+_Fairfax Liber D_, 169.
+
+
+Chapter 10. HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH.
+
+[Footnote 122: Truro Parish Vestry Book (Manuscript), _sub._ June 4,
+1753.]
+
+[Footnote 123: _Ibid._, November 22, 1754.]
+
+[Footnote 124: _Ibid._, November 29, 1756.]
+
+[Footnote 125: Slaughter, _Truro Parish_, 96-100.]
+
+[Footnote 126: Papers of George Washington, Library of Congress, Vol.
+258.]
+
+
+Chapter 11. THE PRESBYTERIAN MEETINGHOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 127: Dr. Muir's Report, in the files of the Presbyterian
+Historical Society, Philadelphia.]
+
+[Footnote 128: _Minutes of the Session._]
+
+[Footnote 129: _Committee Book_, October 4, 1825, 132.]
+
+[Footnote 130: _Alexandria Gazette_, 1831.]
+
+[Footnote 131: _Committee Minutes_, 208.]
+
+[Footnote 132: _Ibid._, 209.]
+
+[Footnote 133: _Ibid._, 212.]
+
+[Footnote 134: _Session Book_, Session 210, 134 (April 29, 1837).]
+
+_Fairfax Liber L_, No. 1, 215.
+
+
+Chapter 12. PRESENTING THE SUN FIRE COMPANY
+
+[Footnote 135: _Minutes of the Sun Fire Company._ Courtesy of Miss Cora
+Duffey.]
+
+[Footnote 136: Papers of George Washington. Library of Congress. Vol.
+275 (August 24-October 19, 1795), _sub._ October 7, 1795.]
+
+
+Chapter 13. CAPTAIN JOHN HARPER AND HIS HOUSES.
+
+[Footnote 137: _Minutes of the Trustees of Alexandria, 1749-1767_; _Deed
+Book G. No. 1_, 116. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 138: Hamilton, _Letters to Washington_, IV, 196.]
+
+[Footnote 139: _Liber G_, _No. 1_, 28, Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 140: Powell, _Old Alexandria_, 313-314.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Book E_, 128.
+
+_Alexandria Land Book_ (1798-1800), Virginia State Library and Archives.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book B_, 16-161.
+
+_Fairfax Liber K_, No. 1, 270-275.
+
+
+Chapter 14. DR. ELISHA C. DICK AND THE FAWCETT HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 141: Letters of his great-grandson, J.A. Pearce, to Dr. A.M.
+Toner, August 30, 1885. From copies given the author by Mr. W.B.
+McGroarty.]
+
+[Footnote 142: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, II, 340.]
+
+[Footnote 143: _Deed Book I_, 41. Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 144: Lindsey, _Historic Homes and Landmarks of Alexandria,
+Virginia_, 37.]
+
+[Footnote 145: Freeman, _R.E. Lee_.]
+
+[Footnote 146: _Liber M_, 121. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 147: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 148: _Liber N, No. 2_, 42. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _A_, 53; _B_, 23; _C_, 113; _V_, 445.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Books_: _B_, 336; _G_, 39-42.
+
+_Fairfax Liber D_, No. 2, 25.
+
+
+Chapter 15. THE BENJAMIN DULANEY HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 149: Fitzpatrick, _Writings_, III, 114. Letter to Burwell
+Bassett.]
+
+[Footnote 150: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, II, 339 and 344.]
+
+[Footnote 151: _A Stranger in America_ (Anonymous), 212.]
+
+[Footnote 152: Contributed by Mr. W.B. McGroarty.]
+
+[Footnote 153: Courtesy Mr. and Mrs. John Howard Joynt.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Book T_, 508.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Book O_, 75.
+
+
+Chapter 16. DR. JAMES CRAIK AND HIS DWELLING.
+
+[Footnote 154: From an address on James Craik, Physician General, by
+Major General Robert A. Patterson in _The Military Surgeon_, February
+1932.]
+
+[Footnote 155: Will Book A, 128, April 13, 1803. Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 156: Ford, _Writings of Washington_, XIV, 245-258; Callahan,
+_Washington: the Man and the Mason_, 188-191.]
+
+[Footnote 157: Prussing, _The Estate of George Washington, Deceased_,
+58.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Book BB_, 349.
+
+_Fairfax Deed Book Y_, No. 1, 224.
+
+
+Chapter 17. ALEXANDRIA'S OLD APOTHECARY SHOP.
+
+
+Chapter 18. SPRING GARDENS.
+
+[Footnote 158: _Order Book_, 1753. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+[Footnote 159: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, IV, 279.]
+
+[Footnote 160: Washington's Cash Memorandum Book, Toner Transcript in
+Library of Congress.]
+
+[Footnote 161: Baker, _Washington After the Revolution_, 361.]
+
+[Footnote 162: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, IV, 309.]
+
+[Footnote 163: Baker, _op. cit._, 383.]
+
+
+Chapter 19. WILLIAM FITZHUGH AND ROBERT E. LEE.
+
+[Footnote 164: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries_, IV, 269.]
+
+[Footnote 165: _Ibid._, 301.]
+
+[Footnote 166: _Ibid._, 301.]
+
+[Footnote 167: _Ibid._, 318.
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: 13 (1883-1884), 399; _K_, No. 2, 234; _M_, 162;
+_M_, No. 2, 343; _O_, No. 2, 231.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book C_, 308, 318.]
+
+
+Chapter 20. GEORGE WASHINGTON'S TENEMENTS.
+
+[Footnote 168: Fitzpatrick, _Diaries, sub._ April 28, 1760, I, 157.]
+
+[Footnote 169: Powell, _Old Alexandria_, 76-78.]
+
+[Footnote 170: Fitzpatrick, _Writings_, II, 448.]
+
+[Footnote 171: _Ibid._, XXVIII, 25.]
+
+[Footnote 172: _Ibid._, XXXIV, 503-504. George Washington to Tobias
+Lear.]
+
+[Footnote 173: Papers of George Washington, 245. Library of Congress.]
+
+[Footnote 174: Fitzpatrick, _Writings_, XXXV, 496.]
+
+[Footnote 175: _Ibid._, XXXVI, 25.]
+
+[Footnote 176: Prussing, _Estate of George Washington, Deceased_, 73
+(page 30 of Will).]
+
+[Footnote 177: _Ibid._, 81 (page 40 of Will).]
+
+[Footnote 178: _Liber M_. _Folio 140_ (1804). Deed recorded June 17,
+1805. Fairfax Court House.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _4_, 206, 209; _8_, 459; _19_, 10; _45_, 205;
+_120_, 464; _218_, 532, 550; _G_, 256; _I_, No. 3, 165.
+
+_Alexandria Liber F_, No. 3, 190-192; _M_, 140; _X_, No. 2, 524.
+
+
+Chapter 21. THE GEORGIAN COTTAGE.
+
+[Footnote 179: _Liber M_, 103. Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 180: _Deed Book W_, 10 and 103. Alexandria.]
+
+
+Chapter 22. THE VOWELL-SNOWDEN HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 181: Powell, _Old Alexandria_.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _B_, 195, 485; _B-3_, 329; _L_, 209; _Q-2_
+(1826), 195.
+
+
+Chapter 23. THE EDMUND JENNINGS LEE HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 182: Lee, _Lee of Virginia_, 374; Lee, _Recollections and
+Letters of General Lee_, 24.]
+
+[Footnote 183: Lee, _Recollections And Letters_, 28.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _A_ (1801), 264; _H_, 460.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book 4_, 320.
+
+
+
+
+PART THREE: FIVE SKETCHES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
+
+
+Chapter 24. THE YEATON-FAIRFAX HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 184: _Deed Book K_, 264. Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 185: Information contributed by Mr. Worth Bailey. The author
+is indebted to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association for permission to
+quote Yeaton's letter which follows in the chapter text.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Books_: _D_, 81; S-2, 669.
+
+_Alexandria Liber V-3_, 470.
+
+
+Chapter 25. THE LA FAYETTE-LAWRASON-CAZENOVE HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 186: _Alexandria Gazette_, October 19, 1824.]
+
+_Fairfax Deed Books_: _G_, 358, 383; K, 181.
+
+
+Chapter 26. ENTER THE QUAKER PEDAGOGUE: BENJAMIN HALLOWELL.
+
+[Footnote 187: Hallowell, _Autobiography_, 99 and 100.]
+
+[Footnote 188: _Ibid._, 104.]
+
+[Footnote 189: _Ibid._, 105.]
+
+[Footnote 190: _Ibid._, 108.]
+
+
+Chapter 27. THE ALEXANDRIA LYCEUM.
+
+[Footnote 191: Hallowell, _Autobiography_, 128-129.]
+
+[Footnote 192: _Alexandria Gazette_, December 2, 1876.]
+
+[Footnote 193: _Liber Y_, No. 3, 410. Alexandria.]
+
+_Alexandria Deed Book 45_, 406.
+
+_Alexandria Will Book 10_, 414.
+
+
+Chapter 28. THE SEA CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER AND HER HOUSE.
+
+[Footnote 194: The material for this sketch was contributed by Mrs.
+George R. Hill, Sr., daughter of Mrs. Melissa Hussey Wood.]
+
+
+
+
+Bibliography
+
+
+I. MANUSCRIPTS
+
+_Alexandria Court Records_; Deed Books, Will Books.
+
+[Alexandria], _Custom Record Journal of the Port for the Year_
+1816-1817. Privately owned.
+
+[Alexandria], _Minutes of the Trustees and the Council_, 1749-1780;
+1792-1800.
+
+[Alexandria], _Minutes of the Sun Fire Company_. Privately owned.
+
+[Alexandria], Personal Tax List, 1782. _Virginia State Library and
+Archives._
+
+_Fairfax County Court Records_; Deed Books, Will Books, Minutes and
+Order.
+
+[Fairfax County], Census and List of Tithables for 1749; Personal Tax
+List, 1782-1793. _Virginia State Library and Archives._
+
+[Fairfax County], Liber K. _Library of Congress._
+
+[Fairfax County], Truro Parish Vestry Book. _Library of Congress._
+
+Lawrason Family Bible. Privately owned.
+
+Letter, Olney Winsor to his wife. _Virginia State Library and Archives._
+
+Letters of J.A. Pearce to Dr. A.M. Toner, his great-grandfather.
+Typescripts prescribed by Mr. William B. McGroarty to the author.
+
+_Mount Vernon Ladies' Association_, Miscellaneous manuscripts.
+
+_Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia._ Microfilm records. _Virginia
+State Library and Archives._
+
+_Presbyterian Historical Society_, Philadelphia, Pa., Dr. Muir's Report;
+_Minutes_ of the Session (210); Committee Minutes.
+
+_Ramsay Family Records._
+
+_Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop_, Archives. Courtesy of the
+Alexandria Landmarks Association.
+
+Washington, George, Accounts, Cash memoranda; Ledgers A and B. _Library
+of Congress._
+
+Washington, George, Papers. _Library of Congress._
+
+Washington, Lund, Ledger in the collection of the _Mount Vernon Ladies'
+Association._
+
+Washington, Martha, Letter to Miss Betsy Ramsay, dated December 30,
+1775. _Pierpont Morgan Library._
+
+
+II. PERIODICALS
+
+_Alexandria Gazette_, established as _The Virginia Journal and
+Alexandria Advertiser_ and underwent many changes of proprietors and
+names.
+
+_American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine_, March, 1830.
+
+Carne, William E., "Tiny Town Notes," _From Ramsay Family Records._
+
+Carne, William E., "Washington As a Burgher," _Harper's New Monthly
+Magazine._ February 1880.
+
+_The Magazine Antiques_, special issue devoted to Alexandria, February
+1945.
+
+_Maryland Gazette_, Annapolis, Md.
+
+_Records of the Columbia Historical Society_, Washington, D.C.
+
+_Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine_, Richmond, Va.
+
+_Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, Richmond, Va.
+
+_William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine_, series I and
+II. Williamsburg, Va.
+
+
+III. PUBLISHED SOURCES & GENERAL WORKS
+
+[Alexandria], _The Charter and Laws of the City of Alexandria, Va., and
+Historical Sketch of Its Government_, published by the city council,
+Alexandria, 1874.
+
+Baker, William Spohn, _Washington After the Revolution_, Philadelphia,
+1898.
+
+Blanton, Wyndham B., _Medicine in Virginia in the Eighteenth Century._
+Richmond, 1931.
+
+Brockett, F.L., _The Lodge of Washington_, 1783-1876, Alexandria, 1890.
+
+Burnaby, Rev. Andrew, _Travels Through the Middle Settlements in North
+America, 1759-1760_, London, 1775.
+
+Callahan, Charles H., _The Memorial to Washington: an Historical
+Souvenir_, Alexandria Memorial Committee, c. 1923.
+
+Callahan, Charles H., _Washington: The Man and the Mason_, published
+under the auspices of the Memorial Temple Committee of the George
+Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, 1913.
+
+Cary, Wilson Miles, _Sally Cary, A Long Hidden Romance of Washington's
+Life. With Notes by Another Hand_. New York, 1916. Privately printed.
+
+Caton, James R., _Legislative Chronicles of the City of Alexandria, or
+Jottings from the Annals of Alexandria_, Alexandria, 1933.
+
+Conway, Moncure D., _Barons of the Potomack and the Rappahannock_, New
+York, 1892.
+
+Custis, George Washington Parke, _Recollections and Private Memoirs of
+Washington_, New York, 1860.
+
+Davis, Deering, Stephen P. Dorsey, and Ralph Cole Hall, _Alexandria
+Houses_, 1750-1830, New York, 1946.
+
+_Dictionary of American Biography._ Edited by Allen Johnson and Dumas
+Malone, New York, 1928-36. 20 Vols. and supplement.
+
+Fairfax, Thomas, _Journey from Virginia to Salem, Massachusetts_, 1799,
+London, 1936. Privately printed.
+
+Fitzpatrick, John C., ed., _The Diaries of George Washington 1748-1798_.
+Published for the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. New York, 1925. 4
+Vols.
+
+Fitzpatrick, John C., ed., _The Writings of George Washington.
+Bicentennial Edition_. Washington, D.C., 1932. 37 Vols. and index.
+
+Ford, Worthington Chauncey, ed., _The Writings of George Washington_.
+New York and London, 1889-93. 14 Vols.
+
+Freeman, Douglas Southall, _R.E. Lee_, New York, 1934. 4 Vols.
+
+Hamilton, S.M., ed., _Letters to George Washington_, Boston and New
+York. 5 Vols.
+
+Harrison, Constance (Cary), "Mrs. Burton Harrison," _Crow's Nest and
+Belle Haven Tales_. New York, 1892.
+
+Harrison, Constance (Cary), "Mrs. Burton Harrison," _Recollections Grave
+and Gay_. New York, 1916.
+
+Harrison, Fairfax, _The Background of the American Stud Book_. Richmond,
+1933. Privately printed.
+
+Harrison, Fairfax, _Early American Turf Stock, 1730-1830_. Richmond,
+1934. 2 Vols. Privately printed.
+
+Harrison, Fairfax, _The Equine F.F.V.'s_, Richmond, 1928. Privately
+printed.
+
+Harrison, Fairfax, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, Richmond, 1924.
+Privately printed. 2 Vols.
+
+Harrison, Fairfax, _Virginia Land Grants, Richmond_, 1928. Privately
+printed.
+
+Hayden, Rev. Horace Edwin, _Virginia Genealogies_, Washington, D.C.,
+1931.
+
+Hening, William Waller, comp., _The Statutes at Large Being a Collection
+of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature
+in the Year 1619_. Richmond, 1810-23. 13 Vols.
+
+Hallowell, Benjamin, _Autobiography_, Philadelphia, Pa., 1883.
+
+Jackson, Rev. Eugene B., _The Romance of Historic Alexandria_.
+Alexandria, 1923.
+
+Janson, Charles William, _The Stranger in America_. London, 1807.
+
+Kettell, Russell Howes, ed., _Early American Rooms ..._ Portland, Me.,
+1936.
+
+Knox, Katharine McCook, _The Sharples, Their Portraits of George
+Washington and His Contemporaries_, New York, 1930.
+
+Lee, Edmund Jennings, _Lee of Virginia_, 1642-1892. Philadelphia, 1895.
+
+Lee, Robert E. Jr., _Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee_, New
+York, 1905.
+
+Lindsey, Mary, _Historic Homes and Landmarks of Alexandria, Virginia_.
+1931. Privately printed.
+
+Lipscomb, Andrew Adgate, ed., _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_.
+Washington, D.C. (_Memorial Edition_) 1903-04. 20 Vols.
+
+Lossing, Benson J., _Mount Vernon and Its Associations_. New York, 1859.
+
+MacDonald, Rose Mortimer E., _Mrs. Robert E. Lee_, Boston, 1939.
+
+McGroarty, William Buckner, _The Old Presbyterian Meeting House at
+Alexandria, Virginia_ 1774-1874. Richmond, 1940.
+
+McIlwaine, H.R., ed., _Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia_.
+11 Vols.
+
+McIlwaine, H.R., ed., _Legislative Journals of The Council of Colonial
+Virginia_, Richmond, 1925-28, 3 Vols.
+
+Morrison, A.J., ed., _Travels in Virginia in Revolutionary Times_,
+Lynchburg, Va., 1922.
+
+Morse, Jedidiah, _The American Geography_, London, 1792.
+
+Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, _Annual Reports_, 1938-48.
+
+Neill, Edward D., _The Fairfaxes of England and America_. Albany, N.Y.,
+1868.
+
+Norfleet, Fillmore, _St. Memin in Virginia_, Richmond, 1942.
+
+Powell, Mary G., _The History of Old Alexandria, Virginia_. Richmond,
+Va., 1928. Privately printed.
+
+Prussing, Eugene E., _The Estate of George Washington, Deceased_,
+Boston, 1927.
+
+Ramsay, A.M.H., _A Short Life of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie_.
+From Ramsay Family Records.
+
+Ritson, Mrs. A., _A Poetical Picture of America Being Observations Made
+During a Residence of Several Years at Alexandria and Norfolk in
+Virginia_, London, 1809.
+
+Scott, Sir Walter, _Historical Passages in the Life of Sir A. Ramsay_.
+From Ramsay Family Records.
+
+_The Scottish Tartans_, Edinburgh and London, 1886. From Ramsay Family
+Records.
+
+Shepperson, Archibald Bolling, _John Paradise and Lucy Ludwell_,
+Richmond, Va., 1942.
+
+Slaughter, Rev. Philip, _The History of Truro Parish in Virginia_,
+Philadelphia, 1907.
+
+Smoot, Mrs. Betty Carter (McGuire), _Days in an Old Town_, Alexandria,
+Virginia, 1934. Privately printed.
+
+Snowden, Samuel, _The Laws of the Corporation of The Town of Alexandria
+from 1779 to 1811_. Alexandria, 1811.
+
+Snowden, W.H., _Some Old Historical Landmarks_, Philadelphia, 1894.
+
+Spencer, Richard Henry, _Carlyle Family_, Richmond, Va., 1910.
+
+Swem, Earl G., _Virginia Historical Index_, Roanoke, Va., 1934-36. 2
+Vols.
+
+Wedderburn, Alexander J., _Historic Alexandria, Va., Past and Present,
+Souvenir of Virginia Tercentennial_, 1907.
+
+Wilkes, Marion R., _Rosemont and Its Famous Daughter_, mimeographed
+edition, 1947.
+
+Wilstach, Paul, _Mount Vernon_, Garden City, N.Y., 1916.
+
+
+
+
+Index
+
+
+Acton, R.C., 44
+
+Adam, James, 43
+
+Adam, John, 43
+
+Adam, Robert, 21, 25;
+  disposition of property, 91;
+  real estate transactions, 90, 157;
+  Masonic activities, 91;
+  migration to Virginia, 91
+
+Adam silversmiths, 43f
+
+Adam, William W., 43
+
+Advertisements, 32, 40, 44, 69, 100, 102, 104, 188, 198, 204, 220, 235
+
+Alexander, Charles Francis, 215
+
+Alexander, Gerard, 5
+
+Alexander, John, 3;
+  donation of land to Christ Church, 132;
+  real estate transactions, 169, 182, 242
+
+Alexander, Philip, 5
+
+Alexander, William Thornton, 182;
+  real estate transactions, 217, 223, 242
+
+Alexandria Academy, 25
+
+Alexandria, Town of. _See_ Town of Alexandria
+
+Amusements, 28f
+
+Anderson, James, 224
+
+Apothecary Shop, 195f
+
+Apprentices, 25
+
+Architecture (_See_ entry of specific structure);
+  ability of citizens, 39;
+  influence of English design, 40
+
+Arrell, David, 182
+
+
+Barcourt, Adolph, 111
+
+Bakeries, 33
+
+Balls, 29, 100
+
+Barbee, David Rankin, 100
+
+Bartle, Samuel, 215
+
+Barton, Benjamin, 44
+
+Beale, Howard, 226
+
+Belhaven, name rejected, 12
+
+Belle Haven, 4
+
+Belvoir, settlement by Fairfax, 78;
+  visitors to, 79
+
+Berkeley, Sir William, 3
+
+Bird, Thomas, 46
+
+Black, Hon. & Mrs. Hugo L., 222
+
+Bounties of land, 186
+
+Braddock, Gen. Edward, 14;
+  expedition, 16
+
+Braddock House, 262
+
+Brissot de Warville, 37
+
+Brockett, Robert, 40, 140
+
+Brook, James, 104
+
+Brown, Dr. Gustavus, 192
+
+Brown House, 119f;
+  visitors to, 122
+
+Brown, John, raid of, 196
+
+Brown, John Douglas, 170
+
+Brown, Ward, 161
+
+Brown, Dr. William, antecedents, 120;
+  civic services, 122;
+  epitaph, 119;
+  medical writings, 122;
+  migration to Virginia, 120;
+  necrology, 122;
+  real estate transactions, 120;
+  treasurer of Fire Company, 150
+
+Building, delinquency in, 14
+
+Buildings, municipal. _See_ Public Works
+
+Burke, John W., 76
+
+Burnett, Charles, 44
+
+
+Capital, National, establishment, 39.
+  _See_ also District of Columbia.
+
+Capitol, cornerstone laid, 164
+
+Captains' Row, 159
+
+Captains' Walk, 244
+
+Carlyle House, 62f;
+  visitors to, 67
+
+Carlyle, John, 5, 14, 17, 21;
+  ability as architect, 39, 69;
+  bequests, 67, 69;
+  builds Christ Church, 132;
+  civic services, 62, 64, 67f, 69;
+  death, 69;
+  mercantile activities, 64;
+  real estate, 65
+
+Carlyle, Sarah Fairfax, 67
+
+Carlyle, Sybil West, 67
+
+Caton, William, 104
+
+Cazenove, Antoine Charles de, civic services, 246;
+  migration to Virginia, 245
+
+Chatham, 203
+
+Christ Church, 131f;
+  attended by R.E. Lee, 229;
+  lands of, 226-227
+
+Cincinnati, Society of the, 37
+
+Circuses, 31
+
+City Tavern. _See_ Gadsby's Tavern
+
+Civil War, effect on town, 48f
+
+Claggett's Hotel, 242
+
+Coachmaking, 42
+
+Cockfights, 28
+
+Coffee House. _See_ Gadsby's Tavern
+
+Cohen, William, 44
+
+Committee of Safety, 35
+
+Confederate States Army, contribution to, 48
+
+Conway Cabal, 187
+
+Cook, Joseph Francis, 215
+
+Coryell, George, 40, 187;
+  civic services, 188
+
+Coryton, Josiah, 46
+
+Cox, Mr. & Mrs. Hugh B., 112
+
+Craik, George Washington, 190
+
+Craik House, 184f
+
+Craik, Dr. James, 47;
+  antecedents, 184;
+  attends Mrs. Washington, 194;
+  attends Gen. Washington, 192;
+  children of, 190;
+  death, 194;
+  migration to Virginia, 185;
+  militia service, 185;
+  real estate transactions, 187;
+  Revolutionary services, 187
+
+Crilly, Misses, 232
+
+Cunningham, Ann Pamela, 75
+
+Currency, use of pistoles, 9
+
+Currie, James, 170
+
+Customs, taboos, 223
+
+Custis, George Washington Parke, 102
+
+Custis, Nelly, 27
+
+Custis, Washington, 204
+
+
+Dade, Rev. Townsend, 135
+
+Daingerfield, John B., acquires Lyceum, 256
+
+Dalton, General, 112
+
+Dalton House, 71f
+
+Dalton, John, 14, 21;
+  bequests, 71, 72;
+  civic services, 71;
+  mercantile activities, 71;
+  real estate transactions, 71;
+  visits by Washington, 72
+
+Danna, Rev. Charles B., 136
+
+Davis, Rev. Thomas, 135
+
+Dawe, Philip, 43
+
+Decatur House, bought by Gadsby, 111
+
+De Cazenove. _See_ Cazenove
+
+De Kalb, Baron, 37
+
+Delacour, Joshua, 42
+
+De Lancey, Governor, 15
+
+Delarue, Joseph, 43
+
+Dick, Dr. Elisha Cullen, 28;
+  attends Washington, 163, 192;
+  Masonic services, 164;
+  medical advice, 166;
+  migration to Virginia, 162f;
+  militia service, 164;
+  real estate transactions, 170
+
+Dick, Hannah Harmon, 163
+
+Dinwiddie, Governor, 15
+
+District of Columbia, cession of land to, 39;
+  withdrawal from, 48
+
+Dixon, John, real estate transactions, 114
+
+Domestic economy, 31f
+
+Doughton, Francis, 139
+
+Dowdney, William, 43
+
+Duffey, George, 44
+
+Duffey, John, 44
+
+Dulany, Benjamin, acquaintance with Washington, 173;
+  behavior, 176;
+  poem dedicated to, 178;
+  steward of Jockey Club, 176
+
+Dulany House, 173f
+
+Dunmore, Governor, 35
+
+Du Quesne, Fort, 16
+
+
+Education, early, 22.
+  _See_ also Schools
+
+English, Samuel, 170
+
+Epidemics, 46, 164
+
+
+Fairfax, Anne, 77
+
+Fairfax, Bryan, 35, 77, 135
+
+Fairfax, Deborah Gedney Clarke, 77
+
+Fairfax family, antecedents, 77;
+  contribution to Alexandria, 237;
+  intermarriages of, 237
+
+Fairfax, George, 5, 8
+
+Fairfax, George William, 7, 77;
+  aspersions on birth, 83;
+  letter to Sally, 83;
+  move to England, 84;
+  real estate transactions, 88
+
+Fairfax, Hannah, 77
+
+Fairfax (George William) House, 87f
+
+Fairfax, Henry, 77
+
+Fairfax, Dr. Orlando, 235
+
+Fairfax, Sally Cary, social activities, 79
+
+Fairfax, Sarah Walker, 77
+
+Fairfax, Thomas, 5, 53, 77;
+  incensed with Washington, 34;
+  real estate transactions, 234
+
+Fairfax, William, 5, 8, 77;
+  civic services, 78;
+  Fairfax Street home, 60;
+  migration to Virginia, 77;
+  real estate transactions, 88, 157
+
+Fairs, 31;
+  source of income, 9
+
+Fawcett, House, 162f
+
+Female Stranger, legend of, 106f
+
+Fire companies, 47
+
+Fire engines, purchase of, 149f
+
+Fire fighting techniques, 150
+
+Fire insurance, list of properties covered, 154
+
+Fires, 46
+
+First Virginia Regiment, 186
+
+Fitzhugh House, 202f
+
+Fitzhugh, Mary Lee, 204
+
+Fitzhugh, William, 7, 8, 202f;
+  association with Washington, 203;
+  bequests, 205;
+  real estate transactions, 202
+
+Fitzhugh, William Henry, 206
+
+Fleming, Mary E., 207
+
+Fleming, Thomas, 25, 40
+
+Fowle, William, 40, 218
+
+Fox hunting, 31
+
+Frazer, Margaret, 160
+
+Freemasons, Lodge of, 25, 91;
+  contribution to, 106;
+  entertains La Fayette, 110
+
+French, hostile attitude of, 14
+
+Friendship Fire Company, 150, 154
+
+Fry, Joshua, 13
+
+
+Gadsby, John, 99f;
+  buys Decatur House, 111
+
+Gadsby's Tavern, 242, 99f;
+  fame of, 102;
+  fare, 102;
+  meetings held in, 103;
+  patrons, 100f, 102;
+  visit of Female Stranger, 106;
+  Washington's association, 110f
+
+Galt, James, 46
+
+Galt, William, 46
+
+Ganet, James, 44
+
+Georgian Cottage, 217f
+
+Ghost, of Spring Gardens, 201;
+  of Swope House, 112f
+
+Glebe lands, 226
+
+Goat Castle, 137
+
+Goldsborough, Anna Maria, 206
+
+Goldsmiths. _See_ Silversmiths
+
+Gooch, Governor, 5
+
+Governors, conference of, 15
+
+Great Hunting Creek warehouse, 3
+
+Green, Rev. Charles, 131
+
+Green's Mansions, 262
+
+Greetner, Margaret, 42
+
+Gregory, William, 215
+
+Griffith, Rev. David, 135
+
+
+Hadsel, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Latimer, 210
+
+Halket, Col. Peter, 15
+
+Hallowell, Benjamin, 40, 208, 240;
+  civic services, 251;
+  describes La Fayette's visit, 247f;
+  early difficulties, 248;
+  financial difficulties, 250;
+  migration to Virginia, 247;
+  reputation grows, 251;
+  sponsors Lyceum, 254
+
+Hamilton, Mrs. Donald M., 246
+
+Hansen, Samuel, 27
+
+Hardware merchants, 44
+
+Harper Houses, 156f
+
+Harper, John, 91;
+  civic services, 161;
+  family history, 160;
+  division of Fairfax property, 93;
+  real estate transactions, 157, 160
+
+Harrison, Mrs. Burton, 237
+
+Harrison, Rev. Elias, 142
+
+Herbert, William, 28
+
+Hill, Mr. & Mrs. Malcolm Westcott, 259
+
+Hodgson, William, disposition of Fairfax property, 96;
+  migration to Virginia, 95;
+  political offenses, 95;
+  real estate transactions, 207
+
+Hog, Peter, 13
+
+Homes, designed layouts, 41
+
+Hooe, James H., 166
+
+Hooe, John Daingerfield, 258
+
+Hooe, Robert Townsend, 255
+
+Horse racing, 28, 176, 198
+
+Horses, importation of, 29, 69
+
+Hough, John, real estate transactions, 157
+
+Houses, distinguished:
+  Apothecary Shop, 195f;
+  Braddock House, 262;
+  Brown House, 119f;
+  Captains' Row, 159;
+  Carlyle House, 62f;
+  Christ Church, 131f;
+  Coffee House, 99;
+  Craik House, 184f;
+  Dalton House, 71f;
+  Dulany House, 173f;
+  Fairfax House, 87f;
+  Fawcett House, 162f;
+  Fitzhugh House, 202f;
+  Gadsby's Tavern, 99f;
+  Harper Houses, 156f;
+  La Fayette-Lawrason-Cazenove House, 239f;
+  Lee House, 225f;
+  Lloyd House, 248;
+  Married Houses, 71f;
+  Marsteller House, 25;
+  Peruke Shop, 127f;
+  Presbyterian Meetinghouse, 139f;
+  Ramsay House, 52f;
+  Sea Captain's Daughter's House, 259f;
+  Sea Captains' Houses, 159;
+  Spring Gardens, 197f;
+  Stratford Hall, 93;
+  Swope House, 112f;
+  Thompson House, 71f;
+  Vowell-Snowden House, 222f;
+  Washington Public School, 25;
+  Yeaton-Fairfax House, 232f
+
+Howsing, Robert, 3
+
+Huges, Benjamin, 215
+
+Hussey, Melissa Ann (Wood), 259f
+
+Hussey, Capt. Samuel Bancroft, 259
+
+
+Imports, 33f
+
+Indians, hostile attitude of, 14
+
+Industries, 42
+
+
+Janney, John, 46
+
+Jefferson, Thomas, ability as architect, 39
+
+Jewelers, 44
+
+Jockey Club, 29, 198;
+  Washington's disagreement with, 176
+
+Johns, Bishop, 136
+
+Johnson, Alexious, 215
+
+Johnson, Thomas, 47
+
+Johnston, George, 14, 21, 53
+
+Jones, Charles, 42
+
+Jones, John Paul, 37
+
+Joynt, Mr. & Mrs. John Howard, 173, 183
+
+
+Keith, Rev. Isaac Stockton, 140
+
+Klipstein, George T., 215
+
+Knox, Henry, letter from Washington, 213
+
+Korell, Mr. & Mrs. Franklin F., 225
+
+
+Ladd, John Gardner, 96
+
+La Fayette, Marquis de, 37;
+  entertained by Masonic lodge, 110;
+  toast to town, 49;
+  visit to Alexandria, 176, 239;
+  visit described by Hallowell, 247f;
+  visit to Henry Lee, 208;
+  visit to Lawrason home, 239f
+
+La Fayette-Lawrason-Cazenove House, 239f
+
+Lamphire, Going, 39
+
+Latrobe, Benjamin H., 183
+
+Laundries, 42
+
+Lawrason, Mrs. Elizabeth, 44, 242
+
+Lawrason family, origin of, 244
+
+Lawrason House, visit of La Fayette to, 239f
+
+Lawrason, James, 242
+
+Lawrason, John, 46
+
+Leadbeater, Mr., 195
+
+Lear, Tobias, 192
+
+Lee, Arthur, bequest, 226;
+  civic services, 225f
+
+Lee, Cassius, 134, 227
+
+Lee, Charles, 227;
+  real estate transactions, 226
+
+Lee, Edmund (I.) Jennings, 28;
+  bequests, 227;
+  civic services, 227;
+  real estate transactions, 226, 227;
+  visitor to Mount Vernon, 226
+
+Lee (Edmund Jennings) House, 225f
+
+Lee, Francis, 21
+
+Lee family, connection with Mount Vernon, 226
+
+Lee, Henry ("Light Horse Harry"), 37, 208
+
+Lee, Ludwell, 28
+
+Lee, Mary Custis, 208
+
+Lee, Robert Edward, 27, 196, 202f, 227;
+  accepts Confederate command, 229;
+  association with Lloyds, 252;
+  attends Hallowell school, 248;
+  confirmed at Christ Church, 136;
+  member of Christ Church, 229;
+  resigns from Army, 229
+
+Lee, Thomas, 93
+
+Lee, William, civic services, 93
+
+Lewis, Lawrence, 27
+
+Lewis, Lorenzo, 27
+
+Library, municipal, 255
+
+Lloyd family, association with Lees, 252;
+  idiosyncrasies, 253
+
+Lloyd House, 248
+
+Lloyd, John, 251
+
+Lodge, Henry Cabot, description of Virginia society, 225
+
+Lodging, cost of, 197
+
+London Company, 3
+
+Lots, auction of, 7f;
+  division of town into, 6;
+  prices paid for, 9
+
+Lotteries, source of income, 9, 21
+
+Lyceum, municipal, 254f;
+  sold to Daingerfields, 256
+
+Lyle, William, 92;
+  civic services, 92;
+  mercantile activities, 92
+
+Lynn, Adam, 44
+
+
+MacCrea, Mrs. Donald, 237
+
+MacKenzie, Lewis, 96
+
+Madison, James, comment on immigrants, 52
+
+Makemie, Francis, 139
+
+Married Houses, 71f
+
+Marshburn, Mrs. Herbert E., 71
+
+Marsteller House, 25
+
+Mason, George, 7, 53;
+  ability as architect, 39
+
+Matthews, Miss Frona, 60
+
+McGuire, Dr. Hugh, 258
+
+McGuire, Sara J., 258
+
+McIver, Colin, real estate transactions, 130
+
+McKenzey, William, 170
+
+Meade, Rev. William, 136
+
+Mercer, George, 188
+
+Merchants, activities of, 42
+
+Meredith, Reese, letter to Washington, 157
+
+Merryman, Joshua, 42
+
+Militia, attachment to Braddock's command, 16;
+ composition, 14
+
+Miller, Mordecai, 44
+
+Moncure, Rev. John, real estate transactions, 127
+
+Moore, Col. & Mrs. Charles B., 87, 99, 215
+
+Moore family, 127;
+  acquisition of Sewell property, 130
+
+Moore, Cleon, 27
+
+Morris, Governor, 15
+
+Morris, Gouverneur, 236
+
+Morris, Patsy J., 236
+
+Mount Vernon, associated with Lee family, 226;
+  funds hidden, 76;
+  visitors to, 57f, 120
+
+Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 75
+
+Muir, Rev. James, 140;
+  burial of, 141
+
+Murray, Mrs. Alexander, 112
+
+Murry, John, 189
+
+Murry, Patrick, real estate transactions, 169
+
+Mutual Assurance Society, 154
+
+
+New Theatre, 28
+
+Newspapers, 28;
+  _Alexandria Gazette_, oldest, 222
+
+Newton, William, 170
+
+
+O'Conner, Eliza Harriot, 27
+
+Organ, Christ Church, 136
+
+Orme, Lt. Robert, 15
+
+Osborne, Richard, 5
+
+
+Pagan, John, 5
+
+Pain, William, 40
+
+Parsons, James, 39;
+  builds Christ Church, 132
+
+Pastors, distinguished, 135f
+
+Patterson, James, 39
+
+Patton, James, 217;
+  indebtedness, 218
+
+Peake, Col. W.H., 201
+
+Peruke Shop, 127f
+
+Peterkin, Constance Lee, 134
+
+Pew marker, Washington's, 134
+
+Pickens, Mrs. Andrew, 217
+
+Piper, John, 46
+
+Pistole, use in Colony, 9
+
+Pittman, John, 44
+
+Pohick Church, 134
+
+Port of Alexandria, activity, 33;
+  decline in activity, 46f;
+  importance of, 17f
+
+Porter, Thomas, 28
+
+Potomac Navigation Company, 47f
+
+Potomac River, navigation of, 47
+
+Potts, John, 202
+
+Powell, Mary G., 25, 161, 211, 222
+
+Powell, Molly Gregory, 134
+
+Presbyterian Cemetery, 146
+
+Presbyterian Manse, 40
+
+Presbyterian Meetinghouse, 39, 69, 139f
+
+Public works, 12, 21
+
+Publishers, 42
+
+
+Railroads, 48
+
+Ramsay, Alexander, 52
+
+Ramsay, Ann McCarty, memorial to, 61;
+  patriotic activities, 55
+
+Ramsay House, 52f
+
+Ramsay, William, 5, 14, 17, 21;
+  activities of sons, 56f;
+  bequests, 59;
+  civic services, 54;
+  family, 55;
+  funeral, 60;
+  initial founder, 52f;
+  letter to Dennis, 56;
+  memorial to, 60;
+  mercantile activities, 53;
+  real estate transactions, 55, 114f, 130
+
+Reese, Mrs. Robert M., 99, 195
+
+Relief Fire Company, 150
+
+Religious tolerance, 139
+
+Revolution, aftermath of, 34
+
+Ricketts, John Thomas, 170
+
+Riddle, Joseph, 28, 46
+
+Roberts, Reuben, 259
+
+Robinson, Joseph, 188
+
+Rochambeau, Count de, 37
+
+Rochefoucauld, Duc de la, 39
+
+Rogers, Walter G., 215
+
+Roofers, 46
+
+Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 56, 162
+
+
+Saint Mary's Church, 255
+
+Saint Paul's Church, 183
+
+Salkeld, Henry, 9
+
+Sandford, Edward, 43
+
+Sayers, Dr. & Mrs. R.R., 203
+
+Scheffer, Lloyd L., 62
+
+Schools, 22, 141;
+  Hallowell's, 247f
+
+Scott, Gen. Winfield, 196
+
+Sea Captain's Daughter's House, 259f
+
+Sea Captains' Houses, 159
+
+Servants, 31, 128
+
+Seventeenth Virginia Infantry, 48, 258
+
+Sewell, William, indebtedness, 128;
+  real estate mortgaged, 130;
+  real estate purchases, 128
+
+Sharpe, Governor, 15
+
+Sheen, Gordon, 112
+
+Shipbuilding, 18
+
+Shippen, Dr. William, 162
+
+Shipping. _See_ Port of Alexandria
+
+Shirley, Governor, 15
+
+Short, John, 46, 188
+
+Shreve, Benjamin, 242
+
+Shuter's Hill, anonymous poem, 178f
+
+Silversmiths, 42
+
+Sinclair, Mrs. C.A.S., 99
+
+Slaves, 115, 164, 165, 262
+
+Smith, William, 170
+
+Smoot, Mr. & Mrs. W.A., 253
+
+Snowden, Edgar, civic services, 222
+
+Snowden, Samuel, 222
+
+Spaatz, Gen. Carl, 188
+
+Sports, 31
+
+Spring Gardens, 197f
+
+Stabler, Edward, 195
+
+Star Fire Company, 154
+
+Stratford Hall, 93
+
+Stuart, Dr. David, 27
+
+Stuart, Lt. J.E.B., 196
+
+Sun Fire Company, 147f;
+  membership, 151
+
+Swope House, 112f
+
+Swope, Michael, civic services, 116;
+  migration to Alexandria, 117;
+  real estate transactions, 117
+
+
+Taverns, fame of, 197
+
+Taylor, E.P., 42
+
+Taylor, George, 218
+
+Taylor, J. Frank, 215
+
+Taylor, Lawrence B., 223
+
+Taylor, Robert I., 104, 183, 218
+
+Theatres, erection of, 28
+
+Thom, Rev. William, 140
+
+Thompson House, 71f
+
+Thompson, Jonah, 28;
+  real estate transactions, 74
+
+Tobacco, supplanted by wheat, 32;
+  use as exchange, 4, 17
+
+Tolley, Hon. & Mrs. Howard R., 119, 126
+
+Town of Alexandria, building of, 9f;
+  capital of West Virginia, 48;
+  decline and resurgence, 46f;
+  early growth, 17f;
+  effect of Civil War, 48;
+  effect of War of 1812, 47f;
+  enlargement, 21;
+  establishment, 5;
+  genesis, 3f;
+  name adopted, 12;
+  paradox of location, 49;
+  part of federal district, 39;
+  post-Revolution building, 40;
+  re-ceded to Virginia, 48
+
+Towns, colonial, authority asked to erect, 5
+
+Tradesmen, activities of, 42
+
+Trott, Mr. & Mrs. Harlan, 210
+
+Turner, Charles, 43
+
+Twining, Thomas, 39
+
+
+Van Braam, Jacob, 13
+
+Virginia Bill of Rights, 103
+
+Virginia Colony, development of, 3f
+
+Vowell, John Cripps, 160
+
+Vowell-Snowden House, 222f
+
+Vowell, Thomas Jr., 160;
+  real estate transactions, 223
+
+
+Warren, Anne, 110
+
+Washington, Augustine, 7, 14;
+  letter to Lawrence, 7;
+  real estate transactions, 114
+
+Washington, city of. _See_ District of Columbia
+
+Washington, George, 7;
+  ability as architect, 39;
+  activities as farmer, 32;
+  advice to Braddock, 16;
+  association with Fitzhughs, 203;
+  attends Ramsay funeral, 61;
+  bequests, 193, 212, 214;
+  association with Fairfaxes, 78f;
+  disposition of real estate, 215;
+  domestic purchases, 19f;
+  education as surveyor, 79;
+  elected town trustee, 21;
+  encourages navigation, 47;
+  envisions waterways, 186;
+  last illness, 192;
+  letter from Meredith, 157;
+  letter to Cary & Company, 18;
+  letter to Knox, 213;
+  letters to Sally Fairfax, 82, 85;
+  Masonic funeral, 140;
+  mercantile interests, 212;
+  necrology, 230;
+  patron of Gadsby's, 110f;
+  patron of learning, 25;
+  patron of Spring Gardens, 200;
+  pew marker saved, 134;
+  real estate transactions, 210f;
+  resigns commission, 14;
+  service as vestryman, 134;
+  steward of Jockey Club, 29;
+  supervises Fairfax interests, 84;
+  tenements owned by, 210;
+  tomb designed by Yeaton, 237;
+  visit to French commandant, 13;
+  warned of Cabal, 187
+
+Washington, George Steptoe, 27
+
+Washington, John Augustine, 76
+
+Washington, Lawrence, 5, 7, 53
+
+Washington, Lawrence Augustine, 27;
+  real estate transactions, 215
+
+Washington, Lund, 35
+
+Washington, Martha, 35;
+  attended by Dr. Craik, 194;
+  letter to Betty Ramsay, 58
+
+Washington Public School, 25
+
+Washington, Robert W., 215
+
+Washington, Samuel, 27
+
+Watchmakers, 44
+
+Watson, Josiah, 28
+
+Weld, Isaac, 39
+
+West, Anne, 188
+
+West, Hugh, 4, 5
+
+West, John, 8, 17
+
+West, Thomas Wade, 28
+
+West Virginia, town becomes capital of, 48
+
+Weylie, John, 27
+
+Wheat, supplants tobacco, 32
+
+Wheat brokers, 32
+
+Widows, fashion affecting, 253
+
+Wilkinson, Thomas, 242
+
+Williams, William A., 44
+
+Wilson, Daniel, 188
+
+Wise, John, 99f
+
+Wise, N.S., 104
+
+Wood, Melissa Ann Hussey, 259f
+
+Wood, Robert Lewis, 262
+
+Wormley, Ralph, 7
+
+Wren, James, 40; designs Christ Church, 132
+
+Wren, William, 25
+
+
+Yates Tavern. _See_ Spring Gardens
+
+Yeaton, William, 40;
+  designs Washington's Tomb, 237;
+  migration to Virginia, 232;
+  real estate transactions, 232, 234
+
+Yeaton, William C., 207
+
+Yeaton-Fairfax House, 232f
+
+Yellow fever epidemic, 46
+
+
+Zimmerman, Henry, 226
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEAPORT IN VIRGINIA***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 30747.txt or 30747.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/7/4/30747
+
+
+
+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.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://www.gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:
+http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+