"In the meantime President Washington had begun his triumphal tour through the South. In Maryland he was escorted by his Excellency Governor Howard and the Honorable Mr. Kilty: Washington's Diary for March 28-30, 1791, reports:

'Monday 28th: Left Bladensburgh at half after six, and breakfasted at George Town about 8:—where, having appointed the Commissioners under the Residence Law to meet me, I found Mr. Johnson one of them (and who is Chief Justice of the State) in waiting—and soon after came in David Stuart, and Danl. Carroll Esqrs. the other two. A few miles out of Town I was met by the principal Citizens of the place and escorted in by them; and dined at Suter's tavern (where I also lodged) at a public dinner given by the Mayor and Corporation—previous to which I examined the Surveys of Mr. Ellicott who had been sent on to lay out the district of ten miles square for the federal seat; and also works of Majr. L'Enfant who had been engaged to examine and make a draught of the grds. in the vicinity of George Town and Carrollsburg on the Eastern Branch making arrangements for examining the ground myself tomorrow with the Commissioners.'

'Tuesday, 29th

'In thick mist, and under strong appearance of a settled rain (which however did not happen) I set out about 7 o'clock, for the purpose above mentioned, but from the unfavorableness of the day, I derived no great satisfaction from the review.

'Finding the interests of the Landholders about George Town and those about the Carrollsburgh much at variance and that their fears and jealousies of each were counteracting the public purposes and might prove injurious to its best interests, whilst if properly managed they might be made to subserve it, I requested them to meet me at six o'clock this afternoon at my lodgings, which they accordingly did....

'Dined at Colo. Forrest's today with the Commissioners and others.' [Whose residence was at 3348 M Street.]

'Wednesday, 30th.

'The parties to whom I addressed myself yesterday evening, having taken the matter into consideration, saw the propriety of my observations; and that whilst they were contending for the shadow they might loose the substance; and therefore mutually agreed and entered into articles to surrender for public purposes, one half of the land they severally possessed within the bounds which were designated as necessary for the City to stand with some other stipulations, which were inserted in the instrument which they respectively subscribed.

'This business being thus happily finished and some directions given to the Commissioners, the Surveyor and Engineer with respect to the mode of laying out the district—Surveying the grounds for the City and forming them into lots—I left Georgetown, dined in Alexandria and reached Mount Vernon in the evening.'"

The "others," with whom he dined, were evidently the proprietors of the land, sixteen, who next day signed before witnesses the agreement drawn up that day. It is too long to quote in its entirety, but in effect these were the conditions: "that in consideration of the good benefits they were to derive from having the Federal City laid off upon their lands the President may retain any number of squares he may think proper for public improvements or uses at the rate of L25 ($66.66 in Penn. currency) per acre. For the streets they should receive no compensation. Each proprietor was to retain full possession of his land till it should be sold into lots." The men who signed, in order of signing, were: Robert Peter, David Burnes, James M. Lingan, Uriah Forrest, Benjamin Stoddert, Notley Young, Daniel Carroll, of Duddington; Overton Carr, Thomas Beall, of George; Charles Beatty, Anthony Holmead, William Young, Edward Peirce, Abraham Young, James Peirce, and William Prout. At a later date the following men joined in the agreement and are often counted among the original property holders: Robert Morris, Samuel Blodget, William Bailey, Samuel Davidson, William Deakins, Jr., James Greenleaf, Thomas Johnson, Robert Lingan, Dominick Lynch, John Nicholson, John H. Stone, Comfort Sands, Benjamin Oden, John P. Van Ness, George Walker, and the legal guardians of Elizabeth Wheeler.

It was in this little town that the President issued his proclamation concerning the permanent seat of government of the United States. It reads thus:

Done at George Town, aforesaid, the 30th day of March in the year of our Lord, 1791 and in the Independence of the United States the fifteenth.

By the President, GEORGE WASHINGTON. THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Having satisfactorily accomplished this business, General Washington proceeded to Mount Vernon, whence he wrote on April 3, 1791, to the Commissioners to proceed at once with the Attorney-General in regard to deeds so that the sale of lots and public buildings might commence as soon as possible. He quotes a letter from Mr. Jefferson:

... that on the 27th of March a bill had been introduced in the House of Representatives for granting a sum of money for building a Federal Hall, a house for the President, etc.

At a meeting of the Commissioners on September 9, 1791, in reply to a letter from Major L'Enfant a letter was written saying:

... that the title of the map he was making was to be, "A Map of the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia," and that the streets were to be named alphabetically one way and numerically the other, etc.

(Signed by) THOMAS JOHNSON, DAVID STUART, DANIEL CARROLL.

L'Enfant aimed to make an original plan for the Federal City, adapted to the topography, but he endeavored to secure ideas from plans of great cities of Europe that might be found possible of adaptation so he wrote to Jefferson who sent his notable reply and plans of a number of cities that he had secured evidently while our minister to France.

"June 30th Washington noted, 'The business which brot. me to Georgetown being finished and the Comrs. instructed with respect to the mode of carrying the plan into effect, I set off this morning a littel after 4 o'clock, in the prosecution of my journey towards Philadelphia....'"

"Thereupon the building site for the city took on intense activity."

Pierre Charles L'Enfant was the son of Pierre L'Enfant, an artist who painted battle scenes and also designed tapestries for the Gobelin Works. L'Enfant himself was an artist and it was his artistic temperament which caused him trouble. At the age of 22 he had come to America to volunteer his services in the war against England. He became an officer of engineers, and also helped Gen. von Steuben drill the Army at Valley Forge, and worked on fortifications. After the war he was a practicing architect in New York City for several years but when he heard of the Federal City to be created he longed to be the author of its plan and as I have said wrote to Washington asking for the job.

But it was his desire for perfection which eventually was his undoing. There was delay in submitting the Plan to President Washington, and also he refused to take orders from any one except Washington, whereas he was told to take them from the three Commissioners of the District of Columbia: Thomas Johnson, David Stuart, and Daniel Carroll. Dr. David Stuart had become the second husband of Mrs. John Parke Custis, daughter-in-law of Mrs. Washington. Things went from bad to worse when the nephew of Daniel Carroll the Commissioner, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, started to build a house which abutted into a street laid out on the Plan and Major L'Enfant had it demolished. Also there was delay in getting the Map engraved.

Major L'Enfant lived at Suter's Tavern during the months he was working in George Town. But where he actually did his work of drawing his famous Map, where Andrew Ellicott had his office as surveyor, and where the three Commissioners met for their business has never been settled.

The tradition is that their office was The Little Old Stone House, now 3049 M Street, and known for many years as "General Washington's Headquarters." As General Washington never had need for military headquarters here, for there was no fighting nearby, this tradition has persisted that this was the office of the Commissioners.

On December 13th President Washington sent a letter to L'Enfant advising him that he must work under orders from the Commissioners.

"Then before leaving for Philadelphia to superintend the engraving of his "Plan" personally, L'Enfant wrote to the Commissioners asking for supplies for the winter work, as follows:

'Georgetown Dec. 25, 1791.

'Gentlemen: Mr. Roberdeau, on whose activity and zeal I rely in the execution of what is necessary to accomplish this winter, will communicate to you a statement of the business I committed to this care and I have to request you will make provision for the supply of 25 hands in the quarries and 50 in the city which in all will be 75 men kept in employment besides their respective overseers.

'There is an immediate necessity for a number of wheel-barrows and above 100 will be wanted early in the spring. Therefore I beg you will devise the mode of obtaining that number before the 15th of March next—These wheel-barrows ought to be made light and should be only roughly finished, though substantial, ...'

Next we find that L'Enfant addressed a long and comprehensive Report to President Washington 'for renewing the work at the Federal City' in the approaching season and giving an estimate of expenditures for one year in the amount of $1,200,000."

"We have here to do with the idealism of L'Enfant that contemplated quite a completely built city before it was occupied and operated as a 'Seat of Government.' Unfortunately, L'Enfant did not realize the poverty of the Treasury; and the state of mind of national legislators, particularly of the North, who preferred to stay in Philadelphia to moving 'to the Indian Place' on the banks of the Potomac."

"It is generally thought that the trouble concerning the Daniel Carroll of Duddington House was the reason for L'Enfant's resignation from the Washington work in March, 1792, and the reason for the letter from Secretary of State Jefferson terminating his services that month. But a close analysis of L'Enfant's experiences reveals that this was simply a 'serious incident' in a chain of troubles to follow. This brings to light the names of L'Enfant's assistants Roberdeau and Baraof. There were also Benjamin Banneker; and Alexander Ralston."

"L'Enfant remained silent so far as arguments with President Washington and the Plan was concerned, until 1800 after 'his General' had died. In the meantime the L'Enfant Plan was engraved, the question of compensation to L'Enfant came up and he was reimbursed in part." But the question of payment to Major L'Enfant was never settled.

After leaving Georgetown he worked on a Plan for the city of Patterson, New Jersey, built a magnificent house for Robert Morris in Philadelphia which was never finished, and also Oeller's Hotel where the Philadelphia Assemblies were held.

From 1800 to 1810 he spent most of his time and efforts trying to secure payment for his services in laying out the Plan of the Capital City of Washington. On July 7, 1812 Secretary of War Eustis appointed him Professor of Engineering in the Military Academy at West Point but he declined saying that he had not "the rigidity of manner, the tongue nor the patience, nor indeed any inclination peculiar to instructors."

In 1814 he was consulted in regard to the fortification of Fort Washington opposite Mount Vernon and did some work there.

After the war was over he continued to live there at Warburton Manor with Thomas A. Digges until 1824 when he went to live with a nephew William Dudley Digges at Green Hill nearby, where he died, June 14, 1825, and was buried on the estate.

In 1909 the U. S. Government at last honored him by burying him in the National Cemetery at Arlington, in front of the house, overlooking the city of his dream.

At twelve o'clock October 12, 1792, the corner-stone of the President's House was laid, but there is no record of any ceremony. There is, however, a long account in the newspapers of the laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol, which was personally performed by George Washington in his capacity as a Mason, on September 18, 1792, "amid a brilliant crowd of spectators of both sexes." Right at the head of the procession, immediately following "the Surveying Department of the City of Washington," is noted "The Mayor and Corporation of George Town." John Threlkeld was Mayor that year, and certainly that "brilliant crowd" must have been largely composed of Georgetonians for the dwellers in the City of Washington at that time were few and far between. Witness General Washington's letter on the 17th of May, 1795, to Alexander White, one of the Commissioners: "I shall intimate that a residence in the City if a house is to be had, will be more promotive of its welfare than your abode in George Town." He was nursing along his namesake in every possible way. On February 8, 1798, he notes in his diary: "Visited Public Buildings in the morning." The day before, the 7th, he speaks of going to a meeting of the Potomac Company, dining with Colonel Fitzgerald, and lodging with Thomas Peter at Number 2618 K Street. This was only natural, as Mrs. Peter was, of course, his step-granddaughter. On that same trip he met the Commissioners again, this time at Union Tavern, and dined there. On August 5th his diary says: "Went to George Town to a general meeting of the Potomac Company. Dined at the Union Tavern and lodged at Mr. Law's." Thomas Law, an Englishman, had married Eliza Custis, Mrs. Washington's eldest grandchild, and had a home on Capitol Hill.

On August 11th he again spent the night at Thomas Peter's home, and that was the last night he ever spent in the city named in his honor. He was never to live to see the government established in the city over which he had worked so hard, and in which he had such absolute implicit faith.

"A century hence," he wrote, "if this country keeps united, it will produce a city, though not so large as London, yet of a magnitude inferior to few other in Europe."



Chapter VI

Below Bridge Street

Nearly all of the business, and most of the social life, up until 1800 took place below Bridge (M) Street. The island in the river below George Town, which was called, variously, Analostan, Mason's Island, My Lord's Island, and Barbadoes, was almost a part of George Town in those days. It belonged to the great plantation of George Mason, of Gunston, the brilliant statesman and author of the Bill of Rights.

His son, General Mason, had there an estate where he entertained in fine style. Louis Philippe of France, while a visitor in George Town, was feted there and said he had never seen a more elegant entertainment. Twenty-three kinds of fish were caught in the river in those days, besides terrapin and snapping turtles, so perhaps they helped to embellish the occasion.

The island was rich in forest trees, foliage, flowering and aromatic shrubs, orchards of cherry, apple, and peach trees. Cotton was grown there which was the color of nankeen; it was spun, woven, and used in its natural color, without being dyed. Also, there was grown a variety of maize of deep purple color, used as a dye.

John Mason had also a town house which we shall mention later. He, like most of the men in this community, was engaged in the business of shipping tobacco. The majority of his trade seems to have been with France, from letters of his father to him, in which the great George offered to help out his son in his shipments by letting him have some of the hogsheads he had on hand.

John Mason had been a general in the Revolution, and was at the head of the militia here, and also owned a ferry operating to the Virginia shore from the foot of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue). The ferry was worked by a great iron chain.

In 1835 Analostan Island was purchased by William A. Bradley, nephew of the Abraham Bradley who came to Washington with the Government in 1800 as Assistant Postmaster General. For many years it was a wilderness, with only traces showing of its once famous house, but not long ago it was purchased by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association.

Robert Peter's house stood on High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), about where Grace Church now stands. He owned the whole block between Congress (31st) Street and High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), up to Bridge (M) Street. It was called Peter's Square. At the age of forty, after he had lived nearly fifteen years in George Town, he married Elizabeth Scott, the daughter of George Scott, High Sheriff of Prince George County. They had eight children.

Their eldest son, Thomas, was married in 1795 to Martha Parke Custis, the second granddaughter of Mrs. Washington. The bride was sixteen, the groom twenty-seven. The wedding took place at Hope Park near Fairfax Court House, where Martha's mother, the former Eleanor Calvert (Mrs. John Parke Custis), had been living since she became the wife of David Stuart, one of the Commissioners laying out the City of Washington. Soon after their marriage, Mr. Peter gave to Thomas and his wife one of the six houses he had built for his sons on lots across Rock Creek in the new city. The one he gave them was 2618 K Street, and is still standing. It was there that General Washington stayed with the young couple so often. Martha was very lovely in appearance, and very devoted to her step-grandfather, and he, apparently, to her.

Robert Peter's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married in 1787 to her cousin, James Dunlop. Mr. Peter's mother had been Jean Dunlop of Garnkirke. To this couple, the father also gave a house situated not far from his own, a block away, up High Street (Wisconsin Avenue). There they reared a large family.

No more interesting figure looms out of the mists of early George Town than the Reverend Stephen Bloomer Balch, the founder and first pastor of the Presbyterian Church. But, far more than that, he seems to have been pastor, "Parson," as he was affectionately called, for the entire community. It was in his church edifice that each denomination met until they procured their own.

Born on his parents' place in the Susquehanna region, graduated from Princeton in the same class with Aaron Burr, Dr. Balch went to Lower Marlboro, Calvert County, Maryland, to take charge of a classical academy in October, 1775. For two years he taught, drilled the students in military training, and studied theology on the side. His books were borrowed from the Reverend Thomas Clagett, who afterwards became the first Episcopal Bishop of Maryland, and now lies buried in the Washington Cathedral, not very far from his pupil in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Not very long after Dr. Balch was licensed as a preacher, he came to George Town, about 1778, the only place of worship at that time being the Lutherans' small building, where their new church now stands on the corner of the present Q Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The lot was given in 1769 by Colonel Charles Beatty. Dr. Balch preached there on Thursday night and again on Sunday. He did not remain at that time, but, a year or so later, asked to come back, and at first used a little frame house on the north side of Bridge (M) Street, which was occupied on week days by a school. Just about this time he was made principal of the Columbian Academy, and the next year he married Elizabeth Beall, the daughter of George Beall. I wonder if he had, by any chance, met her on his first visit, and the memory of her bright eyes had followed him on his journeys down into the Carolines and lured him back.

At the wedding of Dr. and Mrs. Balch in 1782, tea was served in cups not much larger than thimbles. The ladies of George Town would not drink tea at all during the Revolution, and it was still not plentiful.

He was of a susceptible nature, for, after his wife's death in 1827, he was married the next year, when he was eighty-two, to another Elizabeth, one of the King family. She lived only eighteen days, and a little more than a year later, he again embarked on the sea of matrimony, this time with a widow, Mrs. Jane Parrott. By his first wife he had eleven children, the usual number in those days.

In 1783, one year after his first marriage, he built his home on Duck Lane (33rd Street), which he called "Mamre," from the Old Testament. After Abraham and Lot had separated, Abraham giving Lot the first choice of location, "the Lord told Abraham to look over the whole land which He would give to him and his seed forever, and Abraham moved his tent and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, and built there an altar unto the Lord."

In 1799, when a street was graded through, it completely ruined his property and he was obliged to take refuge with neighbors. One of his neighbors was James Calder, who was a trustee of his church, and Mr. Crookshanks lived near by. Dr. Balch had an island on the river called "Patmos." This time he went to the New Testament and named it for Saint John's abode, where he wrote the Book of Revelations. This island supplied wood for his fires. He had, also, a little way out of town, a farm of ten acres.

One Fourth of July, his son, Thomas, aged eight, as he tells us in his Reminiscences, wanted to deliver an oration which he had prepared—in Scotch Row, near by his home. All of his comrades had gone to see Captain Doughty's Company on parade with the fife-and-drum corps. But the little boy was not to be deterred. He went up on Bridge (M) Street, hunting an audience and a distinguished one he brought back with him. If small in number, it made up in quality, for he had General John Mason and Monsieur Pichon, a "bland and elegant" Frenchman sent by Napoleon to receive the $15,000,000 for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Mr. Pichon was a Huguenot from the city of Lyons and lived, while here, near the Bank of Columbia. This son followed in his father's footsteps as a minister and did not have to go out always for his audience.

A short while after the death of General Washington, Dr. Balch gave notice that he was going to speak on the life and services of the great statesman. He preached in the open air to more than a thousand people.

The last years of Dr. Balch's life were spent at number 3302 Gay (N) Street, where a bad fire destroyed many valuable papers and the records of his church. He wrote to a friend: "Only the Parrott (his wife) remains!" Apparently, he never lost his sense of humor. Perhaps it was that which helped to make him so universally beloved.

Dr. Balch died on the 7th of September, 1833. Every house in town was hung in black, all the stores and banks were closed and the bells tolled as his body was carried to the church.

One block westward of Dr. Balch's original house lived another man, very influential in the religious life of the town in addition to his large business activities. Henry Foxall, a native of Monmouthshire, England, was born in 1760. He went to Dublin, where he was put in charge of extensive iron works and where he became a Methodist. On coming to this country, he first settled in Philadelphia, where, in 1794, he was a partner in the Eagle Iron Works of Robert Morris, the great financier and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

When Thomas Jefferson became President, he thought it advisable to have at the seat of government an ordnance plant, so Morris recommended Foxall, who came here in 1799 for that purpose. He built his foundry on the western outskirts of George Town, just behind Georgetown College. He built also a large brick house, two stories, with dormer windows on Frederick (34th) Street, between Water (K) and Bridge (M) Streets. It was quite a pretentious house for that time, with its high ceilings, elaborately decorated cornices of minute workmanship, and mantels of carved wood. It had ample grounds, and in front stood two tall and graceful Lombardy poplars. He had also a summer home, a little farther out and higher up, called "Spring Hill," from whence he had a fine view of the Potomac and the Virginia hills.

A warm friendship sprang up between him and Thomas Jefferson, as they had many tastes in common. Both were performers on the violin and used to accompany each other, and both were fond of tinkering. Jefferson, you remember, was of a very inventive turn of mind. During this time he thought of an air-tight stove and got Mr. Foxall to make some according to his ideas, but they did not work out to please him.

Thomas Jefferson lived for a while in George Town on the little street bearing his name, between Washington (30th) and Congress (31st) Streets, running south below Bridge (M) Street, in a house demolished a few years ago. It stood immediately south of the Canal on the east side, and was in appearance much like the home of Francis Scott Key. It must have been during the time he was Secretary of State in John Adams's administration that he occupied this house.

Mr. Jefferson was never happy living in a town. I found this interesting little tidbit about him in the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "For eight years he tabulated with painful accuracy the earliest and latest appearance of 37 vegetables in the Washington market, and after his return from France for 23 years he received from his old friend, the superintendent of the JARDIN DES PLANTES, a box of seeds which he distributed to public and private gardens throughout the United States." So I think we might easily call him the founder of the Garden Clubs of America, certainly of the Georgetown Garden Club.

Mr. Foxall was a convert to Wesleyanism, and a lay minister. He was in the habit of entertaining the members of the Methodist Conference at this home, and was once good-humoredly twitted by one of them in regard to his inconsistent roles of "proclaimer of the gospel of peace and forger of weapons of war." To this he replied: "If I do make guns to destroy men's bodies, I build churches to save their souls."

At this foundry (then the only one south of Philadelphia), cannon were cast for the American troops during the War of 1812. The artillery and indeed all the military arms of this country were then very imperfect. Foxall was the only founder in America who understood the proper mode of manufacture. Here began the first manufacture of bored cannon in this country, being vastly superior to the old ordnance. The abandonment and recasting of the old-style guns speedily followed.

Commodore Perry would have no others on the little fleet he built at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. The battle of Lake Erie was deferred until Foxall could fill an order from the government for guns, and transport them over the mountains on carts drawn by ten or twelve yoke of oxen to the scene of the engagement. From the deck of his flagship The Lawrence, manned by these guns from George Town, Perry sent his famous message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours!"



In 1814, when the British entered Washington and burned the Capitol and the White House, this foundry, upon which the country depended so largely for its supplies, was in imminent danger, and its owner vowed that, if God would spare it, he would build a church to His glory. The enemy had their face set in its direction when a sudden and violent storm turned them from their course. An old letter, written by George Bleig, afterwards Chaplain-General of the British Army, says: "On the 25th a hurricane fell on the city which unroofed houses and upset our three-pound guns. It upset me also. It fairly lifted me out of the saddle, and the horse which I had been riding, I never saw again."

True to his vow, Henry Foxall built the Foundry Methodist Church at the northeast corner of 14th and G Streets. It was sold some years later and the Colorado office building erected there. With the proceeds the very handsome grey stone church was built on 16th Street above Scott Circle. The trustees of the Foundry Church were Isaac Owens, Leonard Mackall, John Eliason, William Doughty, Joel Brown, John Lutz, and Samuel McKenney.

Methodism at that time was in a struggling condition. The first visit by a Methodist preacher had been one by the tireless Francis Asbury. He was an old friend of Foxall, had visited him often in Philadelphia, and preached in George Town December 9, 1772. But it was twenty years before regular services were held, and then only by a preacher who came up from Alexandria. It was not until after the arrival of Henry Foxall that any Methodist preacher was stationed in the District. William Watters was so appointed in 1802.



Mr. Foxall was instrumental in the erection of no less than four churches, the old church at George Town on Rock Creek, one at the Navy Yard known as Ebenezer, a colored chapel, and later, the Foundry Church. In 1814 was organized the first Bible society in the District of Columbia. Among its founders were Henry Foxall and Francis Scott Key, near neighbors.

Mr. Foxall was three times married, his first wife was Ann Harward, whom he married in England in 1780; his second was Margaret Smith, married in Philadelphia in 1799; his third, Catherine, whom he married in 1816 in England, while on a visit home. He had only two children and they were by his first marriage—a son who died when twenty-five years old and daughter, Mary Ann, who became the wife of Samuel McKenney, and for whom he built a lovely home.

In the summer of 1823 he went to England for a visit, and there in December of that same year he died, quite suddenly, in great peace. "He served well his country, his generation, and his God."

Mr. Foxall was said by one of his old employees to have been honest and just in his dealings, and although he did a large business, employing many people, he owed no man a dollar. He was prompt in paying off his workmen, usually making coin payments. He was a conscientious, earnest Christian, a real enthusiast in his religion. During his term of office as mayor in 1819 and 1820, the ordinances for the town which provided against profaning the Sabbath, were strictly enforced.

The old Sunday Laws (so-called Blue Laws), which George Town inherited from Maryland, were decidedly severe, and it took a man of Mr. Foxall's force of character to enforce them. A few of the offenses against which he waged relentless war may be mentioned. Five dollars was the penalty for gaming, hunting, and fishing on the Sabbath. No trading was allowed on the Lord's Day, except the selling of "fresh fish, milk, and other perishable goods." Cock-fighting and drinking, when indulged in by free men, were punished by a fine of $5.00, but when a slave was the offender, he received thirty-nine stripes on the bare back in a public place.

The old gentleman was fond of buying slaves whom he would set free after teaching them a trade. Long years after, one of his old slaves boasted of having driven the Marquis de Lafayette to visit his old mistress, Mrs. Catherine Foxall, on his visit in 1824.

When the Potomac Canal was taken over and reorganized as the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a great celebration was made of the event.

On Friday, July 4, 1828, President John Quincy Adams, accompanied by heads of Federal Government Departments, members of the Diplomatic Corps, the president and directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company and authorities of the three cities of the then District of Columbia: Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown, assembled early at the Union Hotel. The procession formed and, to the music of the United States Marine Band, marched to the High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) wharf, where, on board the steamboat Surprise and other boats, they moved up the Potomac, until they reached the termination of the old Potomac Canal, landed, and marched a few hundred yards to canal boats prepared to receive them. They glided along until they reached the point of destination where the old powder magazine stood. On landing, they formed a large circle. The president of the C. & O. Company addressed President Adams in a brief speech and handed him a spade. After making the speech, he attempted to run the spade into the ground, but struck a root. He tried it again, when a wag in the crowd cried out he had come across a "hickory root," (allusion to Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," and their political campaign).

He then threw down the spade, ripped off his coat, and went to work in earnest. People on the hills around raised loud cheers until their Chief Executive overcame the difficulty.

On July 4, 1831, water was let in the canal from the first feeder to the Columbia Foundry. The loan of $1,500,000 was obtained in Holland through Richard Rush on the credit of the citizens of Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown.

It is said that, with the probable exception of General Washington, he took more interest in the affairs of the District of Columbia than any other president. He was largely identified with its material prosperity; he owned and operated a flouring mill on Rock Creek, but the project he was most zealously interested in was the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Of course, Mr. Adams had been here some during his father's presidency, though he was a man in his thirties then and was much abroad on diplomatic missions. He was also Secretary of State in Monroe's administration, and after his own term of office as President, served as a representative in Congress until his death.

A flouring mill which stood at the point where the canal of the old Potomac Company entered the river, was owned by the Edes family. The fish caught there were much larger than those caught elsewhere.

On the bank of the canal opposite the mill, lived Bull Frizzle, noted for his enormous strength. One time, after there was an accident at the Little Falls (Chain) Bridge, he crawled under a large beam and prized it up by the strength of his back, saving the life of the man pinned underneath.



Chapter VII

Along Bridge (M) Street

The bridge over Rock Creek at Bridge (M) Street, was built in 1788, and one night when a storm of wind and rain was raging, gave way while a stage-coach was passing over it. The coach was precipitated into the water but only the driver and the horses were drowned. Ever afterwards it was said that on stormy nights the ghost of the driver haunted the spot.

Peter Casanave had a stone house near the bridge and close by was the house of the French's. Mrs. French had been Arianna Scott, sister of Mrs. Robert Peter. The house, which is still remembered by many old residents, was a fine, large brick mansion of the prevailing type at that time.

It was surrounded by trees—some of them being cherries—and a garden. One large room was hung with very unusual paper representing scenes of Indian life. It is still remembered by a gentleman who lived there when he was quite young, who says he remembers passing when the house was being demolished and again admired the very handsome and remarkable paper. At that time the place was entered by a gate from the Pennsylvania Avenue side, and then there was a flight of steps to reach M Street on the other side.

Mrs. French evidently owned several houses nearby, for she advertised:

For sale or rent:

The house opposite the Bank of Columbia lately occupied by Mrs. Suter, and the house lately occupied by John M. Gantt, Esqur., adjoining Dr. Weem's house are for sale or rent. The house opposite the bank is very eligibly situated for a commercial character having an excellent storeroom and counting room with every convenient compartment for a private family. The house adjoining Dr. Weems' can accomodate very comfortably a small family and from its situation will soon be very valuable. The terms of sale or rent may be known on application to Dr. Weems.

9th January 1799 A. FRENCH.

Also, Mrs. Pick had a millinery store just about here.

On the corner of Bridge (M) and Greene (29th) Streets, was where David Reintzel lived, who was mayor several times.

A block or two further west, on the north side of the street, stood the very modest home of Jacob Schoofield, the Quaker with whom William Wirt was put to board when he was sent in 1779 to George Town to attend school. He speaks of how Mrs. Schoofield comforted him the first night he was there, a home-sick little boy, by telling him the story, from the Bible, of Joseph being sold by his brother and carried off into Egypt. He said "I remember, also, to have seen a gentleman, Mr. Peter, I think, going out gunning for canvas-backs, then called white-backs, which I have seen whitening the Potomac and which, when they arose, as they sometimes did for half a mile together, produced a sound like thunder."

Just a few doors from this house was the famous Union Tavern, of which I have already said so much. The building was standing until a few years ago when it was replaced by a filling station. When it became Crawford's Hotel after John Suter, Jr., gave it up, again William Wirt comes into the picture:

Here I am at Crawford's. I am surrounded by a vast crowd of legislators and gentlemen assembled for the races, which are to commence tomorrow. The races amidst the ruins and desolation of Washington.

These gentlemen used to ride to and from the capitol in a large stage-coach with seats on top called the "Royal George."

Among the other notable guests of the old hostelry were Louis Philippe, Jerome Bonaparte, Talleyrand, ex-Bishop of Autun when he was driven from France, John Adams, when as President in the early summer of 1800, he came down to look over his new field; Anthony Merry, Minister from England to the United States; Washington Irving, Count Volney, Humbolt, the geographer; Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat; Lorenzo Dow, the eccentric preacher; several young naval officers from the Tripolitan War; and John Randolph of Roanoke. I wonder if it was from this old tavern that that brilliant but erratic statesman went out across the Chain Bridge to fight his duel with Henry Clay? It is recorded by a marker, just at the end of the bridge on the Virginia side, and reads thus: "Near here Henry Clay and John Randolph of Roanoke fought a duel April 8, 1826. Randolph had called Clay a 'Blackleg' in a speech. Both men were unhurt, but Randolph's coat was pierced by a bullet."

John Randolph spent the night before the duel in quoting poetry and playing whist while his will was being amended.

John Randolph must have liked George Town, for years afterwards when he lay very ill in his boarding place on Capitol Hill, he insisted on his body servant, Juba, getting him some water from George Town, no other would do. He called it "The water of Chios."

Joseph Crawford, the proprietor of this hotel, was the principal manager in the unloading of the records and furniture belonging to the government when the ships bringing it from Philadelphia docked at Lear's Wharf. Abraham Bradley, who, as Assistant Postmaster General, had charge of the removal of that department, and Joseph Nourse, who was Registrar of the Treasury, may also have stopped at Crawford's until settled in their homes.

Just opposite on the southeast corner of Bridge (M) and Washington (30th) Streets stood, until 1878, the Presbyterian Church, whose founder, Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch, was its pastor for fifty-two years. When it was first built in 1782, it was only about thirty feet square. In 1793 it was enlarged by extending the north front. In 1801-'02, it was further enlarged by extending it on the west side. For this purpose Thomas Jefferson helped by subscribing $75.00. In 1806 the trustees of the congregation were incorporated by Congress. They were: Stephen B. Balch, William Whann, James Melvin, John Maffitt, John Peter, Joshua Dawson, James Calder, George Thompson, Richard Elliott, David Wiley, and Andrew Ross. The first and only elder for some time was James Orme, son of Reverend John Orme, of Upper Marlborough. In 1821 a new building was erected. When Dr. Balch died in 1833, he was buried there, but when the congregation moved in 1878 and the church was torn down, his remains were taken to Oak Hill, where, with the original gravestone, they lie not far from the chapel and just north of the grave of John Howard Payne.



On the northwest corner of Bridge (M) and Washington (30th) Streets lived a Mr. Lee; probably Thomas Sim Lee, whose home was the gathering place for the Federalists. Just beyond here, still on the north side where the two lovely old carved doorways remain unchanged, are the houses once owned by Henry Addison, who served as mayor of the Town from 1845 to 1857 and again from 1861 to 1867. He was a hardware merchant, and in 1827 it was for him that the first steam fire engine was named.

Mr. Hill lived in one of these houses and next door on the east lived Mr. Vanderwerken. He owned the line of omnibuses that ran along Bridge (M) Street and over to the city before there were street cars. The omnibuses bore the names of prominent people.

There was a pump in the back yard on the line between these two houses. On each side of the fence was a handle on the pump so that it could be worked by both families. The water flowed smoothly until something caused a fuss between the two men, and one day, when Mr. Hill, who was a very large man, protruded over the fence, Mr. Vanderwerken got out his shotgun and peppered his shoulder!

Across the street at number 3012 lived John Abbott, who came from Philadelphia with the transfer of the government in 1800.

At number 3016 lived John Mountz who was Clerk of the Corporation for sixty-seven years, from the time of its beginning in 1789 up to 1856.

Across the street again is the quaint little Stone House which has caused so much discussion. For many years tradition had said it was there that Major L'Enfant had his headquarters while he was mapping the new capital city. Then, someone said it had never been proved. So now we are waiting for proof. From its looks it was most certainly standing in those early days. If only it could speak and tell its own history!

We do know it was bought as lot 3 in June, 1762, by John Boone for one pound, ten shillings. Two years later, as he had not improved it, it was bought by Christopher Leyhman for the same amount, and presumably, a house was built about that time. Apparently, by inheritance, it came to Rachel Furvey (formerly Rachel Leyhman), and in June, 1767, by deed, it became the property of Cassandra Chew, who made it over to her two daughters, Harriot, who married Richard Bruce, and Mary, who first married Richard Smith, and later, Mr. Bromley. Mary's daughter, Barbara Smith, married John Suter, Jr., and they lived in this house. This is supposed to have something to do with the claim that has been made that this building on lot 3 was Suter's Tavern.

Almost next door on the west Mr. Claggett had a house. Again, across the street, on the southeast corner, is the building which, until recent years, housed the Farmers and Mechanics Bank. It was founded in 1814. When the Mexican War came, this bank enabled the government to pay the war debt. It has now been absorbed by the Riggs National Bank and moved further up the street. Before the building of the bank, John Peter, a nephew of Robert Peter, had a house on that corner. His house was a simple frame one, and back of it he had rabbit warrens and pigeon houses. He used to go often in the evenings the short distance to his uncle Robert's house for a game of whist, of which the old gentleman was very fond.

Just above Bridge (M) Street on Congress (31st) Street stands the Georgetown post office, an imposing granite building. It is also the custom house of the District of Columbia.

Near the corner of Congress (31st) Street lived W. King, and at number 3119 was the house Thomas Corcoran built. He had come from Limerick, Ireland, to Baltimore in 1783 and entered business with his uncle, William Wilson, there. Soon after his marriage to Hannah Lemon, of Baltimore County, he came to George Town, intending to go on to Richmond, but being so impressed with the thriving little town, he decided to settle here. He first rented a house on Congress (31st) Street below Bridge (M) from Robert Peter, and started a business in leather. In 1791 he built this three-story house and there lived for many years. He was mayor five different terms from 1805, and also magistrate and postmaster for fifteen years until his death in 1830. It was in this house that a meeting was held in 1817 to found Christ Church.

The Union Bank was on the north side of this block.

On the southwest corner of Bridge (M) and High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) is the site of Gordon's Inspection House, and just west of here in 1791 were three large tobacco sheds covering three acres. Here was the "Warehouse Lot," used by circuses when they came to town.

Close by was the big warehouse of John Laird. It was after his death in 1833 that the trade in tobacco began to decline.



From 1792 to 1795, number 3221 was the home of Dr. William Thornton, the architect of the Capitol; the Octagon House, built by John Tayloe; of Tudor Place, and also of Woodlawn. He was later the first Superintendent of Patents from 1802 until 1807.

The old market stands where there always has been a market. Its upper stories used to be where the meetings of the Corporation of George Town were held.

At number 3300 was the home of Paymaster David Whann.

Midway between Market (33rd) and Frederick (34th) Streets, on the north side of Bridge (M) Street, General James Maccubbin Lingan had a large piece of property. I wonder if this advertisement inserted in a newspaper on April 22, 1801, describes this very place:

The subscriber offers for sale the houses and lots where he now resides. The improvements are a commodious dwelling house, office, kitchen, wash house, meat house, carriage house, a stable for five horses, likewise a large and well cultivated garden and clover lot. He will also sell the upper wharf and warehouses, all of which have been lately built and well situated for receiving produce that may come down the river.

J. M. LINGAN.

General Lingan was of noted Scotch ancestry, the second child of Dr. Lingan. He was born in 1751, in Frederick County, Maryland. On his mother's side he was related to the Maccubbins, and to the Carrolls of Maryland. He came to George Town as quite a young man and went directly into the tobacco warehouse of a relative. In 1776 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the army. After the victory of the Battle of Long Island, he was captured at Fort Washington on November 16, 1776, his breast being pierced by a bayonet at that time. He was sent as a prisoner aboard the Jersey—the "Hell," as she was called. The conditions on board were terrific, and many of the prisoners died. When the coffin was brought for the body of one of his friends, it was found to be too short—the guards started to decapitate the body to make it fit. Young Lingan stood over the body and said he would kill them with his bare hands. So they brought a larger coffin.

While he was still a prisoner there, his cousin, Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, of His "Satanic" Majesty's Navy, as Lingan called it, visited him and offered him L2,000 (pounds) and high rank in the British Army if he would return to his former allegiance. Lingan's answer was, "I'll rot here first!" And he almost did! He was cooped up in a space so short that he could not lie full length, so low that he could not stand erect. It was many months after his release before his cramped and agonized muscles allowed him to sleep except in an armchair.

The reasons for wishing to obtain his defection were, first, the pride, and perhaps, affection of his connections in England. Lord North, himself, was one of these, and his cousin, Zachariah Hood was persona gratia at the Court of St. James. Also, the affiliations and connections of his family in Maryland made his defection greatly to be desired. One of his sisters had married Thomas Plater, the son of Governor George Plater of Sotterley, and he was also related to the prominent Carroll family.

At the conclusion of the war, General Lingan returned to George Town and farmed two estates he owned, both named after battles in which he had participated—Harlem and Middlebrook. He also was appointed collector of the port by General Washington himself. He was one of the original members of the Order of the Cincinnati.

In later years he moved over to the city, his house then being in the neighborhood of Nineteenth, M and N Streets. He had a wife and children, many friends, and all was going well with him until the election year of 1812. General Lingan was a Federalist in politics. The party organ was The Federal Republican, published in Baltimore and edited by Alexander Contee Hanson, whose wife was a near relative of Nicholas Lingan, the brother of James.

War with England was declared on Friday, the 19th of June, 1812, and next day an editorial appeared in The Federal Republican, which was like a match set to a powder train. On Sunday, public meetings were held advocating the suppression of the paper, and on Monday, three or four hundred men and boys assembled at the office of the paper at Gay and Second Streets, in Baltimore, and destroyed the furniture and the house.

The staff then removed to Georgetown where, although it was threatened from both Baltimore and Washington, it continued to publish the paper until July 26th, when Mr. Hanson went back to Baltimore to a small house on South Charles Street, accompanied by General Lingan, John Howard Payne, General Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee, and others. On the following day the paper was issued from that office, though it had been printed in Georgetown. It contained an attack on the State authorities for the outrage of June 22nd. This time the mob that gathered brought arms and ammunition. The twenty-seven gentlemen assembled in the office were also armed, "to defend the rights of person, and property, and the liberty of the press." At first only stones were used by the assailants, answered by volleys of blank cartridges. After scenes almost fantastic in fury, the gentlemen were finally overcome and marched to gaol for safety. But after dark another mob gathered round the gaol, and overcoming the guard, broke in. Mr. Gwynn pushed his way through a group of fifty men to General Lingan who was being knocked down by clubs, then jerked up to be knocked down again, while the outside ring of men bellowed, "Tory! Tory!" The only word General Lingan spoke to the mob was, when tearing open his shirt, he displayed the mark of the Hessian bayonet, still purple, and exclaimed, "Does this look as if I was a traitor?" Just then a stone struck the scar and he fell. As the last breath left his body, he murmured to a friend near by, "I am a dying man—save yourself."

On this side of Bridge (M) Street, adjoining what was then Bank Street stood the Bank of Columbia, when it moved from a few blocks east. From old pictures, it looks much more like a stately home than a bank, and part of it was used as his home by William Whann, the cashier. Set far back on the hill, with columns on its facade and a Greek pediment, it was very handsome. Its first president was Samuel Blodgett; its second, General John Mason of Analostan Island. Across the street he had his town house.

To this bank one day late in 1814, while he was Secretary of State, came James Monroe, on horseback, and asking for William Whann, told him that the government was entirely out of funds, and wanted a loan with which to dispatch General Andrew Jackson to New Orleans. Mr. Monroe pledged his own private fortune that the debt would be paid, and the money was turned over to him. The government at that time was not strong enough to levy heavier taxes for the conduct of the war with England, which was very unpopular in the New England States.

The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815—two weeks after peace had come—for a Treaty of Peace had been signed on Christmas Eve, and the great loss of life on the English side might have been avoided.

Just beyond here on the corner, Mr. Thompson had a residence, and still a little further lived Mr. Warren. Just opposite, at number 3350, is one of the oldest houses in Georgetown and one of the most notable, for here Colonel Uriah Forrest was living in 1791 when on March 29th he gave that memorable dinner, referred to by General Washington, when the arrangements were made for the purchase of land on which to build the new City of Washington.

What a scene that must have been! One can imagine the turtle soup, the fish and terrapin caught fresh from the river, wild ducks and ham with shoulders of mutton and all the vegetables and hot breads and other delectable foods for which Maryland is famous—for Uriah Forrest, himself a Marylander, had a Maryland wife, Rebecca Plater, the daughter of Governor Plater, whose home was Sotterley, in Saint Mary's County.

In 1792 Colonel Forrest was mayor of George Town. Not long after this, Colonel Forrest purchased a large tract of land lying north of the town and there he built a country home which he called Rosedale, and to which he eventually retired for his permanent home. His descendants, the Greens, lived on at Rosedale until not so very many years ago. One of them, Mr. George Green, sold to President Cleveland, in his first administration, a stone cottage on the Rosedale estate which the President remodeled and made his summer home. It was called Red Top, from its turreted red roof, but its real name was Oak View. From it, the suburb, Cleveland Park, derives its name.



Mr. Cleveland, in his second administration, used Woodley for his summer home. It had been a part of the Rosedale tract, and the house was built by Philip Barton Key, a brother-in-law of Colonel Forrest, for he also had married a Miss Plater.

Mr. Key moved out of town and resided at Woodley, where he dispensed lavish hospitality until his death in 1817. Thomas Plater also had moved out from George Town and lived near by. He was the executor for Philip Barton Key. After Mr. Key's death, his widow went back into town and took up her residence on the corner of Gay (N) and Congress (31st) Streets.

After Colonel Forrest left the house on Bridge (M) Street, it was bought by William Marbury, who had come to Georgetown from Annapolis. He was a justice of the peace, a very responsible and honorable office in those days. It was in connection with his reappointment to the office that the controversy arose which resulted in the famous law case of MARBURY versus MADISON, as James Madison, in his capacity as Secretary of State to Thomas Jefferson, was the Madison involved. The prominence of the case was because it was the first of those great opinions handed down by Chief Justice John Marshall in which he decided that the Supreme Court has the power to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional.



In 1814 Mr. Marbury became the first president of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank when it was organized; its cashier being Clement Smith, who, after the presidency of Thomas B. Beall, from 1817-1821, became the third president, and the only one in the history of that institution to be promoted to that office. Not many years ago, Mr. Marbury's picture, in his old-fashioned costume, was printed on the bank checks to impress the public with the antiquity of the institution.

He was a very imposing looking gentleman, as was his son, John Marbury, who was eight years old when the family moved to Georgetown. Some years ago, one of his great-grandsons heard the family talking about "Grandfather's Bourbon nose." A little later he was found standing, gazing intently at the portrait of the old gentleman, and when asked, "Why such sudden interest?" he replied, "Where is the 'burb' on his nose?"

John Marbury married and lived for some years on Gay (N) Street, near Market (33rd) Street. After his father's death, he moved to the old house on Bridge (M) Street in order to keep his mother company. He had a very large family, seven sons and six daughters. All of the daughters attended Miss English's Seminary, walking to and from school all winter wearing low-necked and short-sleeved dresses, covered only by a little cape. Not a case of poverty, I assure you, but of fashion! I was told this not long ago by a descendant, and of how they used to have to melt their gum shoes to get them on in cold weather. I think the names of a trio of their friends very amusing—Jerry Berry, Hetty Getty, and Jimmy Finney.

The house had a large garden in the rear and spacious rooms where they entertained a great deal. Not long ago, I saw a fascinating drawing of a party in Georgetown in the fifties. It represented four musicians intent upon playing a bass viol, a cello, a violin, and a flute; a few of the company standing near by with curls and puffed coiffures, and among them a tiny man, side-whiskered, so short that he barely reached the shoulders of the ladies. He must, of course, have been Prince Iturbide. There was never anyone quite like him. He was a Mexican, here in the diplomatic service, and had married Miss Alice Green, a granddaughter of Uriah Forrest.

At a party one evening at the Marbury's, a dispute arose between him and Baron Bodisco, the Russian Minister, who was also a resident of Georgetown. It ended in the prince calling the baron a liar, whereby the baron immediately knocked Prince Iturbide down. The little prince sprang onto a sofa and bounced up and down, shouting over and over again, "He knocked an Iturbide down; he knocked an Iturbide down!" as if he expected Mr. Marbury to straightway haul the baron off to be beheaded, at least. It was the last party given at the old house for many a day, as Mr. Marbury considered that they had been disgraced by their guests.

Years after, when Madame Iturbide was left a widow in Mexico, the Emperor Maximilian wished to adopt her son, to which she gave her consent, but finding later that it meant complete separation from him, she kidnapped him and escaped to America.

For two whole days after the Battle of Bull Run, the "Damn Yankees," as the Marburys called them, poured over the nearby bridge from Virginia at a dog-trot and dropped from exhaustion on the steps of this house and the pavement. Mr. Marbury ordered all of the shutters to be kept tightly closed during that dreadful time.

A little granddaughter of his, living there, went one day with a friend of hers to place flowers on the grave of a child of Jefferson Davis in Oak Hill Cemetery. They were arrested, and when it was discovered who she was, soldiers were sent to search the house. Mrs. Marbury had some letters from her nephews in the Confederate Army, and she hurriedly sewed them up in a chair, for she said the boys might be killed and she hated to destroy their letters. Many, many years after, on a summer day in the garret of an old house, not far from Leesburg, Virginia, three of Mrs. Marbury's great-grandchildren ripped them out of their long hiding place.

Just a few doors west of this interesting old house stood another, somewhat smaller, which, until a few years ago, was in its original state of preservation. Now it has gone! It was the home of the author of our National Anthem. Here Francis Scott Key lived for twenty years. Here his eleven children were born, while he served three terms as District Attorney and engaged in the private practice of law.

Everyone knows the story of how, hearing of the arrest of a friend, Dr. William Beanes, by the British, in the War of 1812, Mr. Key made the trip to Baltimore to see what he could do to help the old gentleman, who had done some very rash talking down in Prince Georges County. Mr. Key was a connection of Mrs. Beanes', who was a member of the Plater family.

Mr. Key went on board the British man-of-war, under the command of Admiral Cockburn, called The Red Devil of the Chesapeake, lying opposite Fort McHenry, but was told by the captain that he would have to spend the night on board as a bombardment was about to take place. Imagine his sensations all through the night—no wonder that he burst forth into such a poem of love for his flag when he came on deck in the early morning and saw it "still there!"



Poetry was only a side issue with Mr. Key. I have often thought how interesting it is that a man may work all the days of his life at his profession or vocation, and some avocation, like verse-making, may carry his name down to posterity; like Izaak Walton, who had an insurance business in London, but is remembered now only as a fisherman.

Don't you imagine Mr. Key would have been amazed if he could have had a vision of the years to come, when on parade grounds all over this great land at sunset, every day, troops stand immovable at attention while the emblem of their country is being lowered for the night, and the strains of the music of his poem thrill all who hear it? "The Star-Spangled Banner" was first read by Mr. Key at a meeting of the George Town Glee Club.



Francis Scott Key was a nephew of Philip Barton Key, and a vestryman, like his uncle, of Saint John's Church. He was a fine, humanitarian gentleman. In a recent book, called Father Takes Us to Washington, he is accused of having treated his dozen slaves in a terrible manner. His great-grandson has just come out with a refutation of such treatment and said that Mr. Key freed all of his slaves before his death in 1843 and that he was one of the founders of the American Colonization Society, which had for its purpose the freedom of the Negroes and their colonization on the West Coast of Africa. Of course, it was in James Monroe's administration that Liberia was founded and its capital named Monrovia.

In later life, Francis Scott Key moved to Frederick, Maryland, where he lies buried. The beautiful new bridge, only a stone's throw from his home, bears his name. It replaces the aqueduct bridge which was built about 1880, and before that, there was a bridge which carried the canal across the river to continue on its way to Alexandria. I cannot remember it, but I have been told that, looking across from the Virginia side, it was a very picturesque sight with its long arches reaching above the bridge, carrying its dripping load beneath, and standing against the western sky, the towers of Georgetown College.



Chapter VIII

High Street, Prospect Avenue, the College, the Convent, and the Threlkelds

Up the hill from Bridge (M) Street on the east side of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), a door or two above where the Farmers and Mechanics Branch of Riggs Bank now stands, was a fine old house where the Potomac Fire Insurance Company had its first home. But long before that, it was the home of Mrs. Caperton, whose son, Hugh Caperton, became a well-known lawyer here.

At the present 1239 Wisconsin Avenue, where Becker's Paint Store has been for a good many years, was the house which Robert Peter gave to his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, when, at the age of sixteen, she married her cousin, James Dunlop, in 1787. This old letter gives some news about the wedding.

It is addressed to: John Davidson, Esq., Merchant, Annapolis:

George Town August 17th, 1787

Dear Sir:

Without any ceremony or preamble I have undertaken to enclose you the measure for a pair of Stays, not that I suppose that you are to make them, but that you may undertake to engage Mrs. Davidson's interest to undertake the direction of them.

They are for a daughter of mine who is tollerably nice, and she will not consent to trust the business entirely to the Staymaker, nor, it seems, to any other Lady in Annapolis but Mrs. Davidson, so that you see what a deal of trouble I have brought her into, by having often observed in my daughter's hearing how that Mrs. Davidson seemed to me to be in all things about her Family, in short the Girl has taken it into her head that she is old enough to become a wife, and does not only beg of Mrs. Davidson to direct as to her Stays, but wishes she would take the trouble of procuring some Paterns of silks fit and suitable for what they call a Wedding Gown, with the prices paid or annexed to the Patterns, and when the choice is made I suppose the next favor will be of Mrs. Davidson to direct as to the making of it. Mrs. Davidson must take the cause of all this trouble to herself, for if she did not merit the charge she would not have had the trouble. I am just now interrupted by receiving a further commission, to wit for a crepe cushion made by the best and most fashionable Barber in Annapolis, and a lock of the color wanted is enclosed. I want everything good and fashionable, but you know we old Fellows like everything as cheap as they can be got to have them good. I leave everything to yours and Mrs. Davidson's good management, but, at the same time, it would appear as if there was some expedition. The samples and prices of the silk I will be obliged by your sending by post, the Stays and Cushion perhaps you may be able to forward by Miss Patty Lingan who will be coming down in nine or ten days, as I am informed. I am just now tortured with black guard consignment business and therefore I conclude by remaining Your Very Humble Servant,

ROBERT PETER.

They were married in October and had eight children, all but one of whom lived to maturity.

In 1792, five years after their marriage, James Dunlop bought an estate of 700 acres known as "Hayes," seven miles out in Montgomery County; this later became their permanent residence. It had been built in 1762 by the Reverend Alexander Williamson, rector of Rock Creek Church (now St. Paul's), until he resigned in 1776, being a Tory. In history, he is called the "Sporting Parson" because of his love for fox-hunting and cock-fighting.

The back lawn of this house was the bowling green and the old balls are still in the attic there. Also, there is still there an old rose bush bearing small white roses, which was planted by Elizabeth Peter Dunlop. This was my summer home when I was a girl and is now in possession of my eldest brother.

Just above number 1239 is the crook in High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and, until a few years ago, I never knew why it was that way: actually, it follows the line of the grant of the Rock of Dumbarton, which was surveyed that way. The reason the streets on the west side of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) don't match those on the east side is because they were laid out by different owners.

Just about here is the Aged Woman's Home, standing high above the street. It was founded in 1868 with a gift of $15,000 from Mr. W. W. Corcoran. It houses fourteen women. In all these years there have been only three Presidents of the Board: Mrs. Beverley Kennon, Miss Emily Nourse, and the present one, Mrs. Louis Freeman. The back part of the house is what is left of the home of John Lutz, who had a good deal of land around his house when he built it nearly two hundred years ago.

In days gone by, the Aged Woman's Home was partly supported by contributions collected by women who were members of the Benevolent Society, who went from door to door with a book in which amounts to be given were subscribed.

On the southeast corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Gay (N) Street, just above here has been conducted, since 1861, the grocery business of H. W. Fisher and Son, first was the grandfather, known as Henry, whom I remember, with a long grey beard; then his son of the same name, known as Wellen, and now his son, Henry. I am told by an old resident that the first telephone in Georgetown was in the Fisher's store, as it is known, and that when people wanted to phone, they went there and used it.

I was fed from Fisher's all my young life, and I imagine my father was one of their best customers, as he had eleven children and multitudes of relatives in Maryland and Virginia, who came to stay whenever they wished to visit Washington City. So you can rather imagine the consternation of the elder Mr. Fisher when, one hot afternoon, as he was clearing out his crate of tomatoes just before closing time and, as was the custom in those long ago days, picked up a large, over-ripe one and threw it out, as he supposed into the gutter, that, instead, it landed on the stiff "boiled shirt" bosom of Mr. George T. Dunlop! I never knew of this occurrence until I was told of it many years after by Mr. Wellen Fisher, who said his father always said it never made any difference to Mr. Dunlop.

On the other side of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), coming up from Bridge (M) Street, on the corner was the hardware store of Edward M. Linthicum; later Henry Addison had a dry goods store there.

A little farther up, in the nineties, was Joe Schladt's, the saloon of the Town. We all knew about it, but, of course, no lady ever entered it. There were, however, three or four very well-known gentlemen who entered it very frequently, and had a good deal of difficulty reaching their homes every evening.

Then we come to 1254 Wisconsin Avenue, Stohlman's, which, ever since 1820, has dispensed a very different form of refreshment—ice cream. First it was Arnold's Bakery, then, in 1845, the business was sold to Mr. and Mrs. May; then, in 1865, to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Stohlman, she being the niece of Mrs. May; then to J. William Stohlman, father of the present owner by the same name, and they are still serving the "elite of Georgetown" not only with ice cream, but other dainties. Back in my girlhood it was "quite the thing" to go down to Stohlman's and have a saucer of ice cream in the back parlor at one of the little marble-topped tables.

Right next door is Forrest Hall. Here, at one corner of the property, was one of the original stones marking the northern border of Georgetown when it was surveyed, No. 46. On this lot stood the Union Bank and then, in 1855, Bladen Forrest, (not a descendant of Colonel Uriah Forrest), built this large and very good-looking building.

The enlisted men of the battalion of the Second U. S. Infantry were quartered in Forrest Hall for a time at the beginning of the Civil War. Later it was used as a hospital for Union soldiers. After that, the Georgetown Assemblies were held there for several years, and various other affairs. I remember a fete called a "Chocolatere" when I was a little girl, and going to it with my mother, and seeing three pretty girls dressed in Japanese costume singing "Three Little Girls from School Are We." I think that was not so very long after the Mikado made its debut.

On the northwest corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Prospect Street, the building which has an interesting cornice and roof is where W. W. Corcoran started his career, in the dry goods business.

Just beyond was a market; I think it was called a "Farmers' and Butchers' Market," an offshoot of the old Market on Bridge (M) Street. I remember going there when I was a little girl with my mother, and her buying vegetables from a Dutch woman, Mrs. Hight. I have always remembered her rosy, smiling face, and her stall of gay, vari-colored vegetables. She had a farm out on the Rockville Pike, and I think of it sometimes when I pass.

High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) nowadays has become the center of antique shops, there are many of them, also now there are dress shops and accessories of all kinds.

Then we go along Prospect Street, which was named for the tract of land belonging to Benjamin Stoddert, called "Pretty Prospect."

On the corners of Potomac Street are two quaint, little houses. On the southeast corner of Frederick (34th) and Prospect Streets stands an apartment house, which, before a false front was added a few years ago when it was converted, was the dignified brick house where Benjamin Stoddert lived and entertained in most hospitable style.



He named his home "Halcyon House," and what a suitable and lovely name for one in his business, and one who had settled here after his service in the Revolution. For the halcyon was a fabled bird, whose nest floated upon the sea. It had the power of charming winds and waves, hence, "halcyon days" are days of tranquillity and peace. He had married Rebecca Loundes, the daughter of Christopher Loundes, of Bladensburg. They had several children. Mrs. Stoddert writes thusly of them on a day when they must have been particularly trying:

I wonder that you can be so anxious to see my children, for a parcel of rude, disagreeable brats as ever was born, except the two youngest.

She writes another letter on the 15th of December, 1799, in which she is evidently condoling with someone, and says she "hopes Nancy was not disappointed at having a fine girl;" she is sure of "Richard's feelings on the subject, for the men always are, if they would but own it, after having one daughter, all but sons are unwelcome." She goes on to say, "But they may comfort themselves, but I will be security that the next one will be a son."

What marvelous necromancy this lady must have possessed—in her own opinion—worth a gold mine if it could really be true!

From his southern dormer windows, tradition says, Major Stoddert used to watch with his telescope for the coming of some of those ships that he and Colonel Forrest and Colonel Murdock sent out across the ocean.

On May 17, 1798, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy, being the first to hold that position, and so remained until March 1, 1807.

On May 29, 1800, he wrote thusly from Philadelphia (where he was engaged by his cabinet duties), to his near neighbor, John Templeman, on the corner just one block west of him, the old house which stood for so many, many years unoccupied:

Dear Sir:

The Pres. will be at Washington by the time you receive this, or a day or two after. He proposes to stay but a little while. I wish he would remain longer. This and other good things will depend on the manner of employing his time. I request, therefore, that setting Bashfulness at defiance, you will urge the Pres. to go to the balls, to ride with you in your coach, and to get Mr. Scott at least to go with you. Let the Pres. be pleased with the attention and with the country.

I am resp. yrs.,

BEN STODDERT.

Barring accidents, I expect to be in Geo. Town the 14th of June.

After Benjamin Stoddert's death, this house was given by William Whann as a wedding present to his only child, Anna Maria, on her marriage to Benjamin Mackall, the son of Leonard Mackall. Their son, General William W. Mackall, was a graduate of West Point in the class with General Grant. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and later in the Confederate Army. Shortly after the close of the Civil War, General Grant gave a reception at the White House to the Aztec Society, composed of officers who served in the War with Mexico and their descendants. General Mackall went to it clad in his grey uniform and was most cordially received by his old comrades.

Still later than the Mackalls, this house was occupied by Mr. Martineau, Minister from the Netherlands, and then by the Pairo family.

To return to Mr. Templeman's house which he built about 1788. He was president of the Bank of Columbia; also an owner of ships, and, as a side issue, had:

For Sale—At John Templeman's Store. Whisky, Firkin Butter, Linseed Oil, and Flour. George Town June 20, 1800.

Those ships which carried tobacco across 3,000 miles of ocean didn't fill their holds with bricks as ballast on the way back, as we used to be told; there were too many better things needed here. And there was plenty of clay right here to burn brick. Even in the early days of Jamestown there were brick factories of which there are records and "English Brick" meant made by specifications of English brick.

The Templeman family lived here for three generations until the Civil War. Then it belonged to Franklin Steele, whose three daughters were Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Arthur Addison, and Mrs. Edward Macaulay.

"Old Mrs. Morris," as she was called, lived there many years alone and was always complaining to my father that the new building of the Capital Traction Company was undermining her house and was knocking it down. It still stands firm. It was finally "done over" a few years ago, and eventually bought by James E. Forrestal, when he became Secretary of the Navy, and was still his home when he resigned as our first Secretary of Defense, and then ended his life tragically May 12, 1949, by leaping from a window of the Naval Hospital at Bethesda.

The house was leased for two or three years to the Government and called "Prospect House." It was used by the State Department as a "guest house," where such honored persons as the Shah of Iran, Monsieur Vincent Auriol, President of France, and several Presidents of Latin American countries, and other officials, stayed. The State Department often used it for dinner parties. Its garden which used to be terraced down to the river, and quaint little gazebo are still lovely. It has recently been purchased by Representative Thurmond Chatham of North Carolina.



Just across from Mr. Templeman's house on the northeast corner is one of the loveliest houses left in Georgetown. It stood for many years unchanged and unoccupied until a few years ago, when it was bought by Sir Wilmott Lewis, the representative in Washington for a long time of the London Times.

It was built by John Thomson Mason, (not General John Mason, whose home was on Bridge Street). It was acquired in 1810 by Dr. Charles Worthington, who came to George Town in 1783 from Sumner Hill in Anne Arundel County. He previously owned a house on the southwest corner of Bridge (M) and Market (33rd) Streets, and, later on, bought this house. He called his home "Quality Hill." His family lived there for many years until about 1856, when they moved up to the Heights and bought a house on Road Street. The family of James Kearney lived there then, until about twenty years ago. Dr. Worthington was one of the original members of Saint John's Church and first president of the District of Columbia Medical Society.

Dr. Charles Worthington was an austere man, very dignified and serious. To his latest day, he dressed in the old style; his hair in queue, knee breeches, long stockings, and buckles on his shoes. He drove a coach-and-four when going to his country place out on the Seventh Street Road near Brightwood. He was a man of great ability and zeal. He lived to be 76 years old, having practiced medicine 55 years. His son, Nicholas, followed in his profession.

Another block westward on this street stood Prospect Cottage, a charming little home where Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth lived in the sixties and wrote her many novels—one for every year of her life. This house was for a time the home of the League of American Pen Women.

Just about a block northward stands Holy Trinity Catholic Church, referred to sometimes in old newspapers as The Roman Church. The present large edifice, facing on Lingan (36th) Street, was first built in 1849, but the original church is the small building at the back of it, high up from First (N) Street. The earliest marriage recorded there is April 6, 1795; the first baptism, May 14, 1795, signed by Reverend Francis Neale, S. J., who was the first pastor. But the lot had been purchased some years before by Bishop Carroll.

The building was erected by Alexander Doyle, putting in his own means in addition to contributions from others. This church was virtually owned by the college and was used for the college commencements until 1832.

Georgetown College, now a university, stands like a fortress at the western boundary of the town. Its lovely chimes float out over the town at every quarter of the hour. Only one of the original buildings in old, red brick still stands behind the grey stone modern halls. The north building was put up first, and by 1797, students began to lodge in it. There were 57 boarders at that time. The college was opened in 1789—its founder being John Carroll, a member of the famous Maryland family, who was consecrated Bishop at Lulworth Castle in England, but returned immediately to this country. There is a fine seated statue of him just in front of the main building. In 1806 it passed under the control of the Jesuits, and in 1815, it was raised to the rank of a university. The observatory of Georgetown, founded by Reverend James Curley in 1842, is one of the oldest in this country.

In 1830 Jonathan Elliot wrote of the college:

On entering the College, every pupil shall pay ten dollars. He shall bring a mattress, a pillow, two pillow cases, two pairs of sheets, four blankets and a counterpane, or pay $6.00 per annum for the use of bed and bedding. He must also bring with him one suit of clothes, as a uniform—which is in winter a blue cloth coat and pantaloons with a black velvet waistcoat; in summer white pantaloons with a black silk waistcoat are used. He must likewise bring with him two suits for daily wear, for which no particular color is prescribed; six shirts, six pairs of stockings, six pocket handkerchiefs, three pairs of shoes, a hat and a cloak or great coat, also a silver spoon. These articles if not brought by the student will be furnished by the College and included in the first bill.

The pension for board, washing, mending and mending materials, use of books (philosophical and mathematical excepted), pens, ink, and writing paper, slates and pencil, is $150. Medical aid and medicine, unless parents choose to run the risk of a doctor's bill in case of sickness, $3.00 per annum. All charges must be paid half-yearly in advance.

With regard to pocket money it is desired that all students should be placed on an equality and that it should not exceed 12-1/2 cents per week; and whatever is allowed must be deposited in the hands of the directors of the College. Half-boarders are received on the usual terms, viz. $5 entrance and $65 for board per annum.

Day scholars $5 for fuel and servants, as no charge is made for tuition. The College has been established 45 years and not a single death has taken place among the students.

This was in spite of the fact that the young men, winter and summer, washed at the pump!

Early in 1861 several volunteer regiments, including the 69th New York and the 79th Pennsylvania Regiments, arrived in Georgetown. The 69th was mustered into service in the grounds of Georgetown College, where it was afterwards quartered. The 79th Pennsylvania Regiment was clad in their distinctive Scottish kilts, plaids, and striped stockings, and had a band of pipers at their head.

The Georgetown College students showed where their sympathies were by an ostentatious display of a badge fastened upon the lapel of the coat—tri-color for the Union, and blue for disunion.

Just west of the college used to be a pond which was a very popular resort for skaters in the winter season.

Not far away is another well-known Catholic institution, for the education of the other sex—the oldest Visitation Convent in the country—having on its list of alumnae many well-known names.

When Father Neale came from Philadelphia to George Town in 1798 to become president of the college, he found living on Fayette (35th) Street, near by, three ladies belonging to the Order of Poor Clares. This order was founded in Assisi long ago by Sister Clare, a devoted friend of Saint Francis of Assisi, and is similar to the Franciscans. The three ladies were members of the French nobility who had been driven from their convent in France during the Revolution in 1793 and, coming to this country, had set up a little convent not far from the college. They attempted to keep a school as a means of support, but had a very difficult time. Once, it is told, they were reduced to such poverty that they had to sell a parrot, which they had as a pet, in order to save themselves from starvation. These women, barefooted, according to the rule of their order, came of noble blood and had been born to luxury. One of them was Mary de la Marche, who advertised in the newspaper salves and eyewashes for sale.

In 1799 Father Neale sent back to Philadelphia for three devoted religious friends from Ireland, who wished to found a convent. They were Alice Tabor, Maria McDermott, and Louise Sharpe. For a few months they boarded with the Poor Clares, but a little later Father Neale bought a house and lot nearby and installed them in it. They became known as The Pious Ladies. On May 18, 1801, Mary de la Marche advertised the two houses of the Poor Clares for sale, but apparently they did not sell them at that time, for, in 1804, after the death of the Abbess, Madame de la Rochefoucault, who succeeded her, sold the convent to Bishop Neale, and the remaining ladies returned to France.

The Pious Ladies slowly increased in numbers, keeping their school and struggling against poverty, all the time endeavoring to become established as members of the Visitation Order. At last their hope and ambition came to pass, and, in 1816, they were regularly established as the Georgetown Visitation Convent.

Across the street from the Convent grounds, a lovely big meadow until it was partly taken over in World War II for a housing project, are the Volta Bureau for the Deaf and two interesting houses.

Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor, the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell, has very kindly given me this wonderful letter about them:

My grandfather, Alexander Melville Bell, lived on the corner of 35th Street and Volta Place in the house since occupied by Mr. Walter Lippman, (but not at present).

Following my father's removal to Washington in about 1879, his father and mother changed their residence from Brantford, Ontario, to Georgetown. With them were their three nieces, the Misses Symonds, who were my father's double cousins. At the back of the 35th Street property was an old stable which my father converted into a laboratory, and he carried on experiments there almost until the time of his death. He would come out nearly every afternoon to his laboratory and visit with his parents before returning home in the evening.

It was also our custom to have dinner with my grandfather and grandmother on Sundays. They were very jolly times and my grandfather always had a jar of candy for the grandchildren and games which we could all play. He was very popular with all the young people, being jolly, and looked a little like the usual idea of Santa Claus, with his gray beard and hair.

Shortly after my grandfather came to live in Georgetown, his brother, Mr. David Charles Bell and Mrs. Bell, followed him from Brantford to Washington and bought the house next door. With them at that time, keeping house for them, was Miss Aileen Bell. She was noted in the family as having turned down Bernard Shaw's offer of marriage in her young days, Bernard Shaw having been a great friend of her brother, Mr. Chichester Bell, and having visited with the family when they lived in Dublin, Ireland. Mr. David Bell had in his young days moved to Dublin to carry on the career of his father, Alexander Bell, as a teacher of elocution. His wife had a school for young ladies. Another son of the family was Mr. Charles J. Bell, later president of the American Security and Trust Company, who later married my mother's sister, Roberta Hubbard, and came to reside in Washington.

Mr. David Charles Bell was a very handsome man, but very irascible, and the young people were quite afraid of him. He and his brother had numerous vehement arguments as to whether Shakespeare or Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. My grandmother was eleven or twelve years older than her husband, so my grandfather did most of the marketing, and I understand it used to be quite a sight on Saturday morning to see the two old gentlemen, Mr. David and Mr. Melville Bell, going to market with baskets over their arms. Notwithstanding all their arguments, they were very devoted to each other.

Miss Aileen Bell was very musical and was one of the founders of the Friday Morning Music Club and other musical clubs. She was the organist and choir leader in Christ Church, Georgetown. She was always very punctilious in her attendance and I remember her talking about her church.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bell and their family also used to come out on Sundays to see their parents, but they usually came to supper. The family as a whole were very devoted. Mr. Chichester Bell, you may recall, was the co-inventor with my father and Mr. Tainter of the phonograph. The wax records that are used today are their invention and their company, the Columbia Phonograph Company, operated under their patents.

After my grandfather's death, the house came into my father's possession, and he gave it to the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, now called the Volta Speech Association. It was used for a time as the home of the Superintendent. My father still continued to use his laboratory. Some years later, when the Association needed money, it was sold and the proceeds used to carry on the work of the Association. My father was very much interested in the work of the Volta Bureau and one winter, when my mother was away, he lived at the Volta Bureau, compiling some of his scientific data. He had a way when he became absorbed in work of forgetting to eat or sleep, and the person that brought his dinner tray would often find his luncheon tray untouched.