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]



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]



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.



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]



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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 12s.



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.



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]



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.



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."



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]



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 18s. 6d. 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]



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 17s. 6d., 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.



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.



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.



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.



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: