There were then chosen three subordinate directors who had immediate charge of the engine under the commander, then four persons from each Company, to be called regulators, who were to "be diligent in searching for the most convenient source of water, in forming lanes for the supply of the engines, and preventing the use of dirty puddle water." Upon these gentlemen fell the unpleasant task of "noticing remisness in the members and others and being obliged to give information to their respective companies whenever such shameful instances occured to their observation." Trustees were responsible for the removal of property, and the entire company was obliged to wear "at times of fire" by way of distinction, black caps with white fronts with letters thereon designating their company. Moreover these companies pledged themselves to "respect" the other companies when their property was in danger from fire, "in preference to persons who are members of neither."

Doctor Dick stated that he lost his fire bucket at the fire at William Herbert's house, then occupied by Edmund Edmunds, and the treasurer reimbursed the good Doctor eighteen shillings on October 24, 1796.

In July 1797, Dennis Ramsay was ordered to lower and enlarge the engine house to receive the old engine; the floor had given way in 1793. He presented his bills the following February for a total of L43 9s. 9d.

In 1799 it was decided to hold meetings at the courthouse, from May to October at half after seven o'clock, and from November to April at six o'clock.

One of the last mentions of the engines was in 1800. The engines were both worked at the January meeting, found to be in good order, except that the old one leaked a little.

Governed by a set of "articles" framed by themselves, to which they faithfully adhered, these firemen fined themselves and paid their fines, cheerfully or otherwise (they were mostly Scotsmen) when neglectful of their duty. A roster was kept each year, month by month, marking the members present or absent. The A's predominate. It was from these fines, plus others for neglect of duty that the Company's funds were formed. Many of these rosters have been destroyed, but enough remain to give an idea of the citizens who were members of the Sun Fire Company and lived near each other within a certain radius of the water front.

* * * * *

List of members of the Sun Fire Company of Alexandria for January 1777—being the first intact roster in the minutes:

William Ramsay John Dalton Robert H. Harrison James Hendricks Thomas Fleming Richard Conway William Hartshorne James Kirk Patrick Murray Mathew Campbell James Buchannan William Hunter David Jackson (Doctor) John Mills John Carlyle John Harper (Capt.) George Gilpin Robert Mease McCrea William Rumney Richard Harrison William Wilson Thomas Kirkpatrick Andrew Steward James Stewart Josiah Watson William Herbert Robert Mease John Finley William Brown (Dr.) William Hepburn Cyrus Capper Robert Allison James Muir Robert Adam George Hunter Edward Owens

Added 1778

Dennis Ramsay (Col.) John Fitzgerald (Col.) David Arrell Valentine Piers

Added 1780

James Adam William Hunter, Jr. Colin MacIver David Steward (Doctor) Peter Dow Daniel Roberdeau (Gen.)

Added 1783 [Pages from 48 to 72 missing]

William Bird R. Hooe (Col. Robert T. Hooe) William Lyles (Col. Committee of Safety) Samuel Montgomery Brown Joseph White Harrison Jesse Taylor Charles Simms Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick

Added 1784

John Sutton Henry Lyles John Hendricks (Col.) George Richards John Oliphant Michael Ryan (Col.) John Allison John Hawkins Daniel McPherso

Added 1785

Thomas Williams Jonathan Swift Randle Mitchel William Baker (Doctor) William Lowry Michael Madden William Ramsay (Doctor) Edward Harper Jonah Thompson

Added 1786

James Woodward (Capt.) W.H. Vowel Philip Marsteller Joseph Greenway William H. Powell Cleon Moore John Rumney John Potts Robert Donaldson

Added 1787

Baldwin Dade Francis Peyton John Long John Love George Deneale

Added 1789

Joseph M. Perrin Richard Harrison John Gill John Forster

Added 1790

Jonathan Mandeville John Carson Seton Bernard Ghequiere James Lawrason Gustavus Brown Campbell (Doc.) Joseph Riddle

Added 1793-4-6

James Douglas John D. Orr (Doc.) Stephen Cook (Doc.) Robert Young Henry Rose (Doc.) Leven Powell, Jr. James McRea Augustine J. Smith (Doc.) Jesse Wherry Robert Hamilton John Dunlap Charles R. Scott Abraham Faw

Added 1798

William S. Thompson Joseph Saul James Russell William Hodgson Nicholas Voss Amos Allison, Jr. Charles I. Stur John T. Ricketts Cuthbert Powell John Ramsay William Byrd Page Joseph Mandeville Guy Atkinson Jacob Hoofman Antony Vanhavre Peter Wise, Jr. (Doctor) Thomas Magruder James Bacon John Watts Alexander Kerr Walter Jones Thomas Swann

Added 1799

William Groverman John Dunlap

Added 1800

Michael Flannery

(Note: Not all members at the same time.)

By the turn of the century, the city of Alexandria boasted three fire companies whose membership rosters included the most responsible citizens. The year 1774, marking the formation of the Sun Fire Company, also saw the organization of the better-known Friendship Fire Company, claiming Washington as honorary member. The Star Fire Company was founded in 1799.

Alexandria property owners were quick to realize the advantages of membership in the Mutual Assurance Society, established in December 1794 and offering protection "Against FIRE on BUILDINGS in the State of Virginia." At the Alexandria office, leading citizens enthusiastically subscribed to a plan so soundly conceived and efficiently administered that the company which pioneered it is in operation to this day. The archives of the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia constitute a mine of valuable information for the researcher. From General Washington's own files derives a broadside listing early subscribers throughout the state.[136] The Alexandria section includes a number of citizens whom we know to have been conscious of the ever-present danger of fire:

Number Buildings Name Insured Value Wm. Hartshorne 3 7000 John Potts 4 10000 Isaac McPherson 8 17700 Rob. Hamilton 4 6000 J. B. Nickols 6 2000 Ch. Simms 4 3000 Lemuel Bent 1 400 Thomas Rogerson 2 1000 R. T. Hooe 7 23500 John Dunlap 1 2000 Wm. Hodgson 3 10000 Rob't Young & Co. 2 8000 Tho's Patten & Co. 12 14600 John R. Wheaton 2 3000 John Mandeville 10 15000 Charles Lee 2 6000 Wm. Herbert 6 16000 John Longden 3 3000 Richard Weightman 4 4000 R. Weightman for the heirs of Ray's Estate 3 1000 Wm. Summers 5 8000 Wm. Brown 3 5500 Henry Stroman 1 300 Diedrich Schekle 2 3400 E. Deneale 1 2000 Korn & Wisemiller 3 6000 Rob. Lyle 4 7300 Wm. Ramsay 2 2000 Henry McCue 3 4000 Philip Wanton 1 800 Ephriam Evans 2 1600 Dennis Foley 2 2000 Wm. Hartshorne 1 4000 Philip G. Martsteller 2 3300 Joseph Thornton 1 2000 Stump, Ricketts & Co. 3 10000 Samual Davis 1 2000 Thomas Richards 5 15000 Adam Lynn 2 2000 Mathew Robinson & Co. 2 3000 Wm. Hoye 1 1600 John Harper 4 8000 Benjamin Shreve 3 9000 John Dundas 2 7000 Henry Walker 1 800 John & Tho's Vowell 2 3000 Ricketts & Newton 2 5000 George M. Munn 2 5000 Jonah Thompson 5 14000 Adam S. Swoope 1 2000 Mordecai Miller 1 3000 Wm. Bushby 2 4500 Philip Richard Fendall 7 10000 Wm. Hepburn 9 13500 Tho's White 2 1600 Richard Conway 8 15000 Wm. M. McKnight 1 3000 Charles McKnight 1 2000 P. Marsteller 1 2000 Adam Faw 1 2000 Wm. Halley 1 3000 Jacob Schuch 3 1000 Peter Wise 3 9000 John Fitzgerald 3 6000 Thomas Forrell 1 800 Wm. Wright 3 2700 James Kennedy 2 6000 Joseph Riddle & Co. 2 3500 Guy Atkinson 1 3000 James Patton 2 6000 James Lawrason 1 1500 Shreve & Lawrason 7 12000 Geo. Hunter 5 2700 Jacob Cox 4 3000 Geo. Gilpin 3 6000 Isaac McPherson for N. Elliot 4 12000 George Slacum 3 3000 Geo. Slacum for Gabriel Slacum 1 2000 Samuel Harper 1 1200 Jamieson 1 400 Chapin 2 2600



Chapter 13

Captain John Harper and His Houses

The streets of the old port of Alexandria bear royal names. Prince is one of those streets, shown in the first map of the town as surveyed in 1749. The 100 block is still paved with cobblestones "big as beer kegs" purportedly laid by Hessian prisoners during the Revolution.

The brick houses which sprang up in early days set the standard for the town. Many of these houses were erected prior to the Revolution and immediately after the signing of the peace in 1783. All original lots had been built upon by 1765 but there remained between these first houses empty spaces. There was a constant effort to have all vacant spaces of the lots built upon, so as to present an unbroken front. By 1790 the 100 and 200 blocks of Prince Street stood, very much as they stand today, the visible expression of the Scottish and English towns that our ancestors had left behind them.

These houses were nearly all built by Captain John Harper, and when not built by him, built on his land at a stipulated ground rent. The north side of the 100 block was part of lot No. 56 and until after 1771 no houses stood there. The ground rose here in a high bank above the Potomac, and the original lot contained less ground than a quarter of an acre. Bought by the Honorable William Fairfax at the first auction in 1749, in 1766 he was released from building thereon, as it was stated the improvement on his lot No. 57 was adequate for the two lots and "such was the true intent and meaning of the Trustees."[137]

The Honorable William Fairfax deeded this property to his son, Colonel George William Fairfax, who sold it on November 25, 1771, to Robert Adam. Adam in turn sold to John Hough of Loudoun County on December 11 and 12, 1771; and Hough, after disposing of several parts of the Fairfax lots, sold in June 1772, the remaining parts of lots Nos. 56, 57 and 58, fronting on Prince Street, to Captain John Harper of Philadelphia.

This is our first introduction to John Harper in the records of Alexandria. Apparently he must have made this purchase through someone else, for nearly a year later Washington received the following letter:

Philadelphia, May 5th 1773

Esteemed Friend Colonel Washington

From the little acquaintance I had with thee formerly, I take the liberty of recommending the bearer Cap^t John Harper who is in partnership with William Hartshorne—John Harper comes down in order to see the country, if he likes, they propose to come down and settle with you; they are Men that have a verry pretty Interest—W^m Hartshorne lived with me some Time—They are Industrious, careful, Sober men; if Cap^t Harper should want to draw on this place for Five hundred Pounds, I will engage his Bills shall be paid—Any Civilitys shewn him will be returned by

Thy Friend

REESE MEREDITH[138]

Harper did nothing with these newly purchased lots until after the Revolution, when he began to sell and to build at astonishing speed. The number of deeds in the clerk's office in Fairfax and in Alexandria of property transferred to or from him fill page after page in the records. A book on John Harper's activities would be a good history of early town housing. Twice married, he had twenty-nine children—and to every one he left a house and lot.



John Harper's property housed many of Alexandria's important citizens. Two of Washington's physicians occupied adjoining houses built by him on Prince Street, though not at the same time. Dr. Craik lived at least three years and probably five at 209 Prince Street—from 1790 to 1793, and doubtless until 1796, when he moved to the house he purchased on Duke Street. Dr. Dick lived at 211 Prince Street from 1798 certainly until 1804, and then again at the same house in 1815. Surely it is safe here to domicile the restless Doctor, for these ten undocumented years between 1805 and 1815. The Doctor paid for this house L70 per annum.



The early Harper houses which fill lower Prince Street are known in Alexandria today as "the Sea Captains' Houses" or "Captains' Row" and in truth they were either owned or occupied by captains or masters of vessels. After weathering the storms of a hundred and fifty years or better, their sea legs, or foundations, are well established in the soil of Alexandria, and they present one of the attractive sights of the town. The street slopes at a steep angle from the top of the hill, at Lee Street to the river, and the quaint old houses go stair-step down toward the Potomac in an unbroken line; sometimes a roof or a chimney sags with age, or a front facade waves a bit. The first house in the block on the northwest corner of Prince and Union was our stout Captain's warehouse and his wharf jutted out into the Potomac across the street from his place of business. A few years ago a great oil tank buried in the ground forced its way to the surface, bringing with it the enormous beams of John Harper's wharf and part of an old ship rotting in the earth. Real estate was only a side issue with the Captain. His main interest was the sea, his ships, and their cargoes.

On February 23, 1795 Harper sold to John Crips Vowell and Thomas Vowell, Jr., for L150, that part of lot No. 56 fronting on Prince Street, 24 feet 6 inches, 88 feet 3-1/2 inches in depth, which begins on the "North side of Prince, fifty feet to the Eastward of Water Street, upon ye Eastern Line of a ten-foot alley, and all houses, buildings, streets, lanes, alleys, etc...." The Vowells agreed to lay off and keep open forever an alley upon the northern back line of the premises, nine feet wide "Extending from the aforesaid ten-foot alley to the line of ... William Wright."[139] This described property was one of those houses built by Harper. The two Vowells were his sons-in-law and both gentlemen in the shipping trade.

By this circuitous route we arrive at 123 Prince Street,[Owner: Miss Margaret Frazer.] the house with a pure Directoire tent room, practically a duplicate of that at Malmaison, and another room with a magnificent painted Renaissance ceiling. How such work became a part of the sturdy two-story "Sea Captains' Houses" is one of Alexandria's mysteries. It is true that both rooms were in a deplorable state of repair, and it was necessary to trace the work on paper, repair the plaster and then continue the interrupted design. Naturally, the colors were freshened. It was exciting to watch this discovery unveiled, when sheets of shabby paper were pulled from the walls, and the artist repaired and restored the work of some itinerant master whose name has vanished with his dust these hundred years or better.

John Harper, a Quaker, was born in Philadelphia in 1728, and he was living in Alexandria in 1773, if not before. By his first wife, Sarah Wells of Pennsylvania, he had twenty children. He married at her death Mrs. Mary Cunningham, a widow, the daughter of John Reynolds of Winchester. By this lady he had nine children. In 1795 he was living at his residence on Prince Street, for William Hodgson's property was described in his insurance record as being next door to John Harper on the west. Captain Harper's house is now known as 209 Prince Street and today bears, erroneously, a plaque to the memory of Dr. Dick. This is the house in which Dr. Craik was living in 1790-93. Incidentally, no record viewed in a search of hundreds mentions Dr. Dick as occupying 209 Prince Street. On the contrary, Dr. Dick in 1796 was paying insurance on his dwelling on Duke Street.

In his old age Captain John Harper built two brick houses on the east side of Washington Street, south of Prince. In one of these he died in 1804, aged seventy-six years. Dr. Dick attended John Harper in his last illness and was paid sixty-five dollars by the executors for this service. Wine for the funeral was eleven dollars, the coffin and case cost twenty-six dollars, and the bellman received one dollar for crying property to be sold. Captain John Harper lies buried in the cemetery of the old Presbyterian meetinghouse near two of his daughters, Mrs. John C. Vowell and Mrs. Thomas Vowell.

Captain Harper was an ancestor of Mrs. Mary G. Powell, author of The History of Old Alexandria. She tells of his patriotic action in procuring ammunition from Philadelphia for the independent companies of Prince William and Fairfax Counties: "Eight casks of powder, drums and colors for three companies."[140] His religion prohibited his taking part in combat, but his sympathy was manifested in a very practical fashion. John Harper was a member of the first city council in 1780 and of the congregation of the old Presbyterian meetinghouse. He was one of General Washington's Alexandria agents for Mount Vernon produce, doing an extensive business with the General in the matter of "Herring." At Washington's death he took part in the Masonic ceremonies at the funeral, and his son, Captain William Harper, commanded the artillery company on that eventful day. This son took an active part in the Revolution at the battles of Princeton, Monmouth, Brandywine, and Valley Forge, and crossed the Delaware with Washington. He succeeded to the business at Prince and Union. John Harper's third son, Robert, was a lawyer and married a daughter of John W. Washington, of Westmoreland County. John Harper, Jr., married Margaret West of West Grove, daughter of John West, and while acting as foreign agent for the Harper firm in the West Indies, was drowned in 1805.

Alexandria's Malmaison, or the Harper-Vowell house, listed as 123 Prince Street, was the residence of the eminent architect, Ward Brown, until his death in 1946.



Chapter 14

Dr. Elisha C. Dick and The Fawcett House

[507 Prince Street. Owners: The Fawcett Family.]

The dashing Dr. Dick first appeared in Alexandria fresh from the tutelage of Drs. Benjamin Rush and William Shippen of Philadelphia. He was just twenty-one and of a figure to set feminine hearts aflutter; five feet ten inches, of commanding presence, very handsome, "playing with much skill upon several musical instruments" and singing in a sweet voice of great power; skilled and learned in his profession, "a strong and cultivated intellect," a genial spirit, witty and charming.[141]

The son of Major Archibald Dick (Deputy Quartermaster General in the Revolutionary Army in 1779) and his wife, Mary Barnard, Elisha Cullen Dick was born on March 15, 1762, at his father's estate near Marcus Hook, in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

His primary education was gained at the Philadelphia Academy, in the home of the Rev. Robert Smith, D.D., at Pegnea, and in his father's home, tutored by the Rev. Samuel Armor. In 1780 he began the study of medicine, graduating on March 21, 1782. Two days later he lost his father and came into his inheritance of half the estate. A year later he disposed of his Pennsylvania interest to Isaac Dutton and started for Charleston, South Carolina, with the expectation of settling there.



Armed with letters of introduction to General Washington, Colonel Fitzgerald, and Colonel Lyles, he stopped en route in Alexandria "to call upon a female relative" and to present his letters. He got no farther. "Influential persons" caused him to abandon his plans and remain in Alexandria, where the recent death of old Dr. Rumney left an opening which Dr. Dick filled for better than forty years. Alas, for the belles of Alexandria! In October 1783, Dr. Dick married Miss Hannah Harmon, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Harmon of Darby in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Two years after beginning his professional life in Alexandria, he pulled a tooth for one of the Mount Vernon house servants, and the following entry taken from Washington's diary for February 6, 1785, tells the results which do not seem to have been entirely satisfactory:

Sunday, 6th, Doctr. Brown was sent for to Frank (Waiter in the house), who had been seized in the night with a bleeding of the mouth from an orifice made by a Doctr. Dick, who some days before attempted in vain to extract a broken tooth, and coming about 11 o'clock stayed to Dinner and returned afterwards.[142]

So far as Washington's diaries show, Dr. Dick never crossed the threshold of Mount Vernon again until fourteen years later on a raw, cold day in December when the snow lay thick on the ground, he was sent for by Dr. Craik to attend Washington in his last illness. It was Dr. Dick who advised against additional bleeding and it was he, who, when Washington's last breath escaped, walked to the mantel and stopped the hands of the clock. This clock, with arrested hands, stands today in the George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Alexandria.

On March 28, 1788, Dr. Dick was offering a reward of eight dollars for a runaway servant:

I will give the above to any person who will secure in Alexandria Gaol a Negro fellow named Ned, who ran away from me about three weeks ago. He is between thirty and forty years of age, about 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high and was formerly the property of Mrs. Clifford of whom I bought him. Having a wife in Maryland, belonging to Mr. Samuel H. Bean, I imagine Ned will be inclined to make a nightly resort to her quarters. His winter clothes were made of a mixed cloth of a gray color and it is probable he will be found with a soldier's old napsack upon his back in which he carries his provisions.

Dr. Dick was one of the founders of the Alexandria Masonic lodge, to which Washington belonged. In 1791 he was Worshipful Master when the cornerstone of the District of Columbia was laid. Arm in arm with the President of the United States, who acted as Master, Dr. Dick led the procession with George Washington in 1793 at the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol. This same year, as Master of the lodge, he solicited the President to "set" for the portrait by William Williams, which still graces the lodge room. In 1794 he commanded a company of cavalry raised in Alexandria and under "Light Horse Harry" Lee marched into Pennsylvania to help quell the famous Whiskey Rebellion. In 1795 he was superintendent of quarantine, an office he held for many years. In 1798 he was appointed coroner; in 1802, justice of the peace.

Dr. Dick amassed a great deal of property and was constantly buying and selling land, houses, ships, and so on. In April 1797 he disposed of the brig Julia to Robert Mease for ten thousand dollars, "with all her rigging and materials, together with the cargo of flour and corn now on board as she lies at Ramsay's Wharf in the Port of Alexandria."[143]

Two letters to the governor, written during his service as quarantine officer reveal the fact that he was alert to his responsibilities and give some idea of how grave they were:

Alexandria 4th Sept, 1795

Hon Robert Brooke Sir:

Having received from various persons pretty certain information that a malignant fever is now prevalent in the town of Norfolk, I take the liberty of soliciting your instructions with regard to the propriety of interrupting the intercourse by water between that place and this. The inhabitants of Alexa. discover considerable signs of apprehension, and the corporation have entered into some temporary arrangements until more permanent ones can be obtained.

I have not yet received a compensation for the last year on account of my services as Superintendent of quarantine. Such sum as you may think me entitled to for last year as well as the percent you will oblige me by placing in the hands of Mr. Thomas Majore [?] subject to the order of Mr. Charles Turner of this place.

I am with great regard Your Excellys Obed Servt

ELISHA C. DICK

* * * * *

Alexander, 24th July 1800

Hon James Monroe Sir:

The Ship Two Brothers on her voyage from New Orleans to this point having put into Charleston S.C. there contracted the yellow fever or some other infectious disease, by which two of her crew have died. Exercising a discretionary power given by the quarantine laws to the Superintendant, I have caused this ship to commence her quarantine near this place between Rozins Bluff and Jones Point. As the removal of vessels from this port to the mouth of Elizabeth River has been found to be attended with considerable inconvenience, the Executors have hitherto authorized me to use the situation above mentioned as the anchorage ground for all vessels bound here. I shall thank you sir for such instruction as you may deem it advisable to communicate on this subject, as well with regard to my present and future government.

I have the honor to be with the highest regard

Your obed. servt.

ELISHA C. DICK Superintend. of quar. Port of Alexa.

In 1801 Dr. Dick was declared bankrupt, but in 1811 he was setting free his Negro slave, Nancy, aged about forty. During these years he tended the sick (a bill for sixty-five dollars was tendered to John Harper's widow in 1804), fought the plague and fever, epidemics, and prescribed for his friends with time out for a song or a sketch. His copy of James Sharples' George Washington, now in the Mount Vernon collection, is a competent, artistic portrait. He was fond of good food, good talk, people and music. His genial spirit and charming wit graced many a festive board, and that he was hospitable as well needs no further proof than the following invitation:

If you can eat a good fat duck, come up with us and take pot luck. Of white backs we have got a pair, so plump, so sound, so fat, so fair, a London Alderman would fight, through pies and tarts to get one bite. Moreover we have beef or pork, that you may use your knife and fork. Come up precisely at two o'clock, the door shall open to your knock. The day 'tho wet, the streets 'tho muddy, to keep out the cold we'll have some toddy. And if perchance, you should get sick, you'll have at hand, Yours,

E.C. DICK[144].

Surely this friendly medical advice is well worth including in any sketch of Dr. Dick. A mature physician, he wrote to James H. Hooe:

Alexandria 20 of 2nd Month 1815

Respected friend:

I am in great hopes that the instructions I shall be able to give thee with regard to the general treatment of the prevailing disease, will be found on trial to be so far successful as to quiet in a good measure thy present apprehensions. Having received applications by letter from several physicians at a distance requesting information as to the character of the disease and the plan of treatment possessed by myself, I have thrown together a few practical remarks, which I shall here transcribe, and then add such other observations as may seem more especially necessary for thee in the present emergency.

The disease usually commences with a chill, succeeded by fever and accompanied either in the beginning or at a subsequent stage with pain in the head back breast or sides, and sometimes with an affection of the throat.

Though it is a disease attended sometimes if not generally with signs of local inflammation, yet owing to some peculiar affection or tendency of the nervous system, blood letting is in my opinion inadmissible. Of those who have been bled it has appeared that they either die or have tedious recoveries.

The disease is frequently though not always of a bilious character—that is an abundance of bile is found floating in the stomach or intestines. There seems to be neither torpor nor enlargement of the liver which have characterized the diseases of this country for 21 years past; hence culomel especially in the beginning has been avoided.

Emetics, if employed at all, (and in some cases they may be necessary) should not be given till the intestines have been well evacuated. The leading curative indication is purging, for which purpose Glaubers Salt has been preferred as acting upon the bowels with most ease and certainty. The purging process to be diligently persisted in, day and night or day after day according to the force and duration of the disease.

Warm, stimulating drinks such as toddy, made of whiskey, is frequently, though not in every case, indispensible. This stimulus, is to be resorted to whenever there are signs of prostration of body or mind, both in the beginning and after stages of the disease.

Excessive pain in the trunk may be generally mitigated in every stage of the disease by anodyne injections; for an adult two or three teaspoonsful of laudunum with a half pint of warm water. A beneficial persperation often follows this exhibition. Spontaneous sweats are commonly useful, but I have not found them critical.

Blisters may be employed for the mitigation of pain, and perhaps ought not to be omitted when ... is either fever [?] is obstinate, but I have not found them in this disease to evidence their usually efficacy.

If the disease be attended with sore throat, swelling of the tonsils or palate, stricture of the trachea, with or without external swelling, a gargle of warm strong toddy, in the water of which has been boiled a pod of red pepper, will it is believed from past experience, be found uniformly and promptly effectual even in cases when suffacation seems immediately threatened. When this affection has existed to any considerable extent, I have generally with the use of the gargle also applied a blister around the throat.

In order that thou may not easily be discouraged in the prosecution of the purging plan, it is necessary to inform thee that I often find it expedient to give 3 to 6 ounces of salts in 24 hours. I usually divide 2 ounces into three portions giving one every two hours dissolved in a teacupful thin gruel. When the bowels are brought readily and freely into operation I have little difficulty in the management of the case—but I never discontinue the process till all fever and pain have subsided. Sometimes when the salts appear to be in operation I interpose with 60 or 70 grains of the cathartic powder repeated at intervals of two or three hours. When there is a despression of the pulse and something of coldness of the extremities, especially of the feet, I use with advantage mustard plaster to the feet, to which in such cases may be added with advantage hot bricks or bottles of hot water to various parts of the body.

There is one thing which particularly deserves thy notice and that is that this disease is in a majority of instances I believe preceeded by certain premonitory signs; such as flying pains about the chest or some other part, head ache, etc. A reasonable resort under such circumstances to one or two cathartics will pretty certainly avert a more serious attack.

I have directed Archy to forward thee a supply of salts and cathartic powder and I feel a persuasion that by the aid of the foregoing observations thou wilt be able to manage this disease to thy satisfaction. It indeed may be not expected that none should die of so formidible an epidemic, but I think I can with truth state to thee, that under this treatment 19/20s of those who fall under my care recover.

With regard to thy wife's present situation, I think it would be advisable for her to take occasionally a gentle laxative, and for that purpose I send a package or two of my saline purgative powders. Let her take one in a cup of gruel and repeat it as may be necessary.

Hoping that thou may be at least as successful as I have been in thy future management of this complaint, and that thy family may furnish no more victims is the sincere wish of

Thy friend

ELISHA C. DICK

Tobacco 1 Magnesia 1.50 Newspaper 7 Ginger Cake 12 Tavern 1.50 Turnpike 18 4.37

Tablespoon vingar with 10 gns of salts of Tartar in teacup swallowed in effervescent state—slight sweat.



Dr. and Mrs. Dick were the parents of two children, Julia and Archibald. Julia married Gideon Pearce of Maryland and their son, James Alfred Pearce, became a United States senator from Maryland.

Dr. Dick, who began life as an Episcopalian, became a Quaker and Mrs. Dick became an Episcopalian. His dueling pistols are among the curios in the Masonic museum, but if he ever used them, it is not known in Alexandria.

Writing to her son, Smith Lee, April 10, 1827, Mrs. R.E. Lee commented: "Poor Alexandria has suffered much by fire this winter. Mr. Dulaney will give you the particulars, it has lost some of its old inhabitants too. Capt. Dangerfield, Mr. Irvin, dear Dr. Dick, and Sam Thompson ..."[145]

Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick rests in the Friends burial ground in an unmarked grave, but his spirit hallows several houses in Alexandria. With such a wealth of dwellings to choose, it has been difficult to settle Dr. Dick for long; nor really does he want to be settled. He was full of surprises during life, and it will be another to most Alexandrians when we place him in the old clapboard house known for better than a century as "the Fawcett house."

On December 20, 1774, John Alexander sold to Patrick Murry a certain lot or half acre of land situated and adjoining the west side of a lot or half acre of land lying in the town of Alexandria and represented by lot No. 112. This lot, lying on the north side of Prince Street, between Pitt and St. Asaph Streets, was described as: "Beginning on the Southwest corner of the said lott No. 112 and running thence with it to the Northwest corner thereof 176 feet 7 inches, thence Westerly with a line at right angles with the last 123 feet 5 inches thence Southerly with a line parallel to the first one and of the same extent thence Easterly with a straight line to the beginning."[146]

There was a ground rent upon this property every year forever of L13 5s., and the provisions that Patrick Murry or his heirs should build within the space of two years from the date of purchase a brick, stone or wooden house, twenty feet square, to cover four hundred square feet, with a brick or stone chimney or chimneys. At the same time John Alexander bound himself to lay out and keep free forever a street sixty-six feet wide binding on the west side of the granted lot or half acre of land, by the name of St. Asaph Street: "Beginning at a straight line produced and extended from the termination of Cameron Street in the said town of Alexandria until it extends sixty-six feet to a direct line to the Westward beyond the breadth of the other lott or half acre of land, thence Southerly and parallel to Pitt Street in the said town, until it intersects a street of the same width called Wilkes Street ..."[147]

Patrick Murry built and resided in this completely charming clapboard house until the year 1786, when the wheels of fortune forced him to dispose of all houses, yards, gardens, ways, advantages, and so on, to Ann English and William McKenzey, executors of Samuel English to secure the payments of the sum of L348, Virginia currency, with interest from August 22, 1775. Alas, for compound interest! Ann English and her husband, James Currie, did convey and sell the lot with all improvements unto Elisha Cullen Dick on April 15, 1794. Two years later Dr. Dick and his wife, Hannah, disposed of the house and grounds to John Thomas Ricketts and William Newton for and in consideration of L1000 current money.



On July 2, 1806, William Newton and wife conveyed the property "including all that framed dwelling house lately occupied by the said William Newton" for the sum of four thousand dollars to William Smith;[148] thence again in 1816 the Smiths, William and Margaret, disposed of the frame dwelling house for three thousand dollars to John D. Brown.

The descendants of John Douglas Brown have occupied the home for the past one hundred and thirty-three years. His great-grandchildren, the Fawcett family, are the present owners of the house. The Fawcett house has been little changed, and is kept in excellent repair. The woodwork in the drawing room is true to the period; that throughout the house is quaint and interesting. In the great room the fire breast is outlined with a dog-eared mold. The mantelshelf, attached without brackets, has a punch-work motif. The heavy raised panels on each side of the chimney, and the paneled closets enclose the entire west wall.



There are many levels, and the house goes back in a surprising brick ell that is not seen from the street. The exterior presents the appearance of a story-and-a-half cottage. Two windows, with their uncommon blinds, break the wood-shingled roof. The blinds' slats are wide and heavy, and the shutters are held in place when opened by the traditional molded iron holdbacks. The east gable end of the house is shiplap. From this side projects the entrance porch, added about 1816, and protected by "jalousies."

Portraits, old silver, glass, and china, prints and mahogany, with great grandmama's best brocade dresses, are the fruits of more than a century of the family's inheritance. The picture over the mantel is done in embroidery—the product of one of the Fawcett ancestors, worked in 1814, while a pupil at one of Alexandria's schools where young ladies were taught the fine arts, and the curriculum included every form of needlework.



Chapter 15

The Benjamin Dulany House

[601 Duke Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. John Howard Joynt.]

On February 15, 1773, George Washington wrote to a friend, "Our celebrated Fortune Miss French, whom half the world was in pursuit of, bestowed her hand on Wednesday last, being her birthday (you perceive I think myself under the necessity of accounting for the choice) upon Mr. Ben Dulany, who is to take her to Maryland in a month from this time."[149]

Miss French, the heiress, was a ward of Washington and lived at Rose Hill, not far from Mount Vernon. Benjamin Dulany Sr., a wealthy and cultured gentleman of Maryland, born of distinguished Irish parentage, was of the third generation in America. He and the celebrated Miss French moved to Alexandria before the Revolution and settled at Shuter's Hill overlooking the town, where they reared a large family. Ben Dulany is often mentioned by General Washington in his diaries. He was a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, a companion in the chase and the race, at dinner and overnight, sometimes with his lady, but more often without.



In 1785 Washington concluded a bargain for the exchange of some land with the Dulanys and made several references to the transaction in his diary. Under the entry for Monday, February 21, 1785, he wrote:

Went to Alexandria with Mrs. Washington. Dined at Mr. Dulaney's and exchanged deeds for conveyances of land with him and Mrs. Dulaney, giving mine, which I bought of Messrs. Robert Adam, Dow and McIver, for the reversion of what Mrs. Dulaney is entitled to at the death of her Mother within bounds of Spencer and Washington's patent.[150]



Tradition says Dulany served with Washington as steward of the Jockey Club. An amusing anecdote has come down to us of a race in which both gentlemen had entered horses. The race was close—Washington's horse won. For some reason the governors awarded the prize to Dulany. The General left in high dudgeon and wrote a letter resigning from the club, saying that he was under the impression that he belonged to a club the members of which were gentlemen. Whereupon the governors reversed their decision and awarded the General the prize! This extraordinary action is reported to have placated him, for he appears to have continued a member of the Jockey Club.

Mr. Dulany's house, now 601 Duke Street, is one of those famous houses where it is claimed General Washington slept. An agent of the General, Peyton Gallagher, occupied this house at one time, and—so the story goes—when Washington had sat too long at accounts and the evening was bad, his man of business put him up for the night.

The tradition is firmly entrenched that the Marquis de la Fayette addressed the citizens of Alexandria from the front steps of this house in 1824. The General was occupying the house across the street, which was given to the Marquis and his party by the owner, Mrs. Lawrason, for the duration of his visit. Alexandria was more excited by this visit than any other occurrence in her history, and gave La Fayette a resounding welcome. When citizens came surging in great crowds around the Lawrason mansion to do him honor, the old gentleman, finding the steps too low for speechmaking, walked across the street, climbed the steps of 601 Duke Street, where he could be seen, and there made his expressions of good will and appreciation in broken English to "the assembled multitude."

Tradition also reports that Benjamin Dulany was a handsome, arrogant gentleman, a fine horseman, superbly mounted. In those days the streets of Alexandria were not as smooth nor as dry as today. Irate pedestrians often found themselves bespattered and befouled by some passing horseman or vehicle and in danger of their very lives. "Bad Ben" Dulany thundered up and down the streets, riding a spirited horse, sparing no wayfarer, causing men to rush for safety to the nearest doorway. At Shuter's Hill, his estate just outside Alexandria, he maintained well appointed stables and owned fine-blooded horses. A "stranger" traveling in America records a rather interesting horse story in connection with one of Mr. Dulany's sons:

Throughout his campaign he [Washington] was attended by a black man, one of his slaves, who proved very faithful to his trust. This man, amongst others belonging to him, he liberated, and by his will, left him a handsome maintenance for the remainder of his life. The horse which bore the General so often in battle is still alive. The noble animal, together with the whole of his property, was sold on his death under a clause in his will, and the charger was purchased by Daniel Dulaney, Esquire, of Shuter's hill, near Alexandria, in whom it has found an indulgent master. I have often seen Mr. Dulaney riding the steed of Washington in a gentle pace, for it is now grown old. It is of a cream color, well proportioned, and was carefully trained to military manoeuvres.[151]

* * * * *



The Dulanys were hospitable folk, and many were the guests entertained both at their country estate and at their Alexandria home. A revengeful guest, or a malicious wit, startled the town one morning by the following poem entitled

THE BALL AT SHOOTER'S HILL

By A.X.—Georgetown

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill, Once said to his wife, "Our rooms we'll fill With all the beauty, and all the style And all of the rank and some of the file That flourish in Alexandria Alias 'Botany Bay'," (Which was ever his subsequent say When speaking of Alexandria). Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh "If such is your fancy, so will I".

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill Said to his wife, "We will fulfill Our social trust and invite them all, The great and the wealthy to come to our ball, The handsome and ugly, the pretty and plain, The learned and the silly, the wise and the vain." He was a man of great learning and wealth And the name that he bore was a power itself, For his Tory father was great among men And smote hard on the rebels with voice and pen, But Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh, "This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill Said to his wife, "I wish you to fill The pantry and larder, the shelves and the table With all the most excellent things you are able, And spare neither trouble or money, for when (Tobacco remember was currency then), I offer a banquet my guests must behold Something more on my table than china and gold" And Mrs. Dulany said with a deep sigh, "This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill, Said to his wife, "Of course we will Have music, the best that can be found And we, dear wife, will dance one round. Many years have passed since you agreed To slide down from your window and marry with speed, And we'll show our children how to dance After the fashion I learned in France". Mrs. Dulany sighed and said "What could have put this whim in his head".

The guests arrived at Shooter's Hill, Names of renown the chambers filled, Masons and Carters, Stevens and Balls, Rosiers and Fendals, Marshalls and Halls, Daingerfields, Herberts, Craiks, Tuckers a few, Platers, Custis, and Randolph and Washingtons, too, Blackburns, Hunters and Forrests and Taylors a lot, Lees, Seldons, Fitzhughs, Wests, Dandridge and Scott, Pope, Ramsey and Graham, French, Lewis and Key, Lloyd, Taylor and Wellford, Ridout, Beverly, Simms, Peters and Lightfoot, Lyles, Murray and Beall, Fauntleroy and Grey and Carroll they tell, Berkley, Fairfax and Bladen, Powell, Chase, Montague, Bassett, Harrison, Tasker, Gant, Stoddert and Chew, Spotswood, Lomax and Taliaferro, Grymes, Rutherford, Snowden, Fontaine and Pendleton, Moncure and Bushrod, But if all were put down, the unlearned might insist, The names had been taken from off the tax list.

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill, Received them with grace and courtly skill, When all of a sudden he started to dance, And teach them the lessons he learned in France, He drew them up in a regular line And marched them around while he kept time, Shouldered a blunderbuss, stuck on a hat, Called it a helmet, and drilled them in that. Thundered and threatened and ordered them all To know he was giving a marching ball. Round through the parlors, out on the grass Down through the garden and back did they pass, Not for a moment he left them to rest, Forward and backward, and wearied he pressed. Mrs. Dulany appealed to his pride, But unceremonious he thrust her aside. Many the terrors, the words and the fright, But he marched them and marched them till far in the night. Mrs. Dulany again essayed To urge him to cease his desperate raid, Then bending before her his handsome form, He declared no lovelier woman was born Than she, his own, his beautiful wife Then he vowed to love and cherish through life; And to prove to all how he loved her then, He'd embrace her before all those women and men, Which he certainly did, for he clasped her waist, And raising her high, strode off in haste. In vain she screamed, in vain besought, All her entreaties he set at nought, Into the pantry he quickly passed And stuck her up on the vinegar cask Then locking her in, he lovingly said, "Dear wife you are tired, 'tis time for bed".

And away he stalked to pick up his gun For a panic and flight had already begun, He ordered a halt, but they faster ran, Urging each other, woman and man. Wholly regardless of dresses and shoes, Thorns or stones, or damps or dews. Halt! he cried again more loud Then fired his blunderbuss into the crowd, Which only helped to increase their speed.

They thought he was crased, and he was indeed! Into the town at dead of night Forlorn and weary, half dead with fright, Into the town the company came, Draggled and straggling, half dead with shame, That they should have marched and tramped about At a lunatic's whim, now in, now out, The livelong night, through garden and hall, Would they ever forget Ben Dulany's ball!

Mrs. Dulany in grief had passed The rest of the night on the vinegar cask. Trembling the servants unlocked the door, And the wrathful lady stood before Her ... lord, but never a word Between them passed, or afterward was heard. He ordered his horse and from that day, As I have heard the old people say, He rode unceasing, nor ever still, Was Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill.[152]



On August 5, 1779, the executor of John Alexander, William Thornton Alexander, granted by deed to David Arrell the tract of land located at the northwest corner of Duke and St. Asaph Streets, which held an annual ground rent of L14 10s. On September 6, 1783, David Arrell of Alexandria and Fairfax County in the Dominion of Virginia, sold this same lot on Duke and St. Asaph Streets for L50 to Benjamin Dulany of the same place, charged with an annual ground rent of L14 10s., payable on the fifth of August forever. Very shortly thereafter the house now known as 601 Duke Street was completed for a town residence. During some recent repairs letters and bills for purchases made by Mrs. Dulany were found under a partition, bearing dates from 1785 to 1796. Two of these are quoted:[153]

Mrs. Delasia Balto. 24 Feby 1793 For Mrs. Dulaney Bo^t of George Wily 1 pair of sattin shoes 16/8 L 16. 8 1 p^c Roses 22d 1. 1. 18 ————— Rec^d payment L 1. 18. 6

Benjamin Dulany Esq. * * * GEORGE WILY Bo^t of Bennett & Watts 1 pr Slippers 9/—3-1/2 yds Lute string @ 10/ L 2. 4. Alex^a May 25^th 1796

Probably the best example of Georgian architecture in Alexandria, the plan of the house is common to this town. Two-storied, dormer-windowed, detached brick, the house faces south with a large garden to the left taking up half a square.

A hall runs the length of the house. Two large parlors, one behind the other, on the right, open into the hall. The dining room, in an ell at the rear, is entered from the hall by a small flight of steps leading to a lower level. The long, narrow, low-pitched room has an off-center fireplace and is papered at both ends in old wallpaper of Chinese design. When seen from the front doorway, the room presents an unexpected and charming view. This wing was added after 1800, probably 1810. A very nice tradition exists about the building of this wing. Robert I. Taylor bought the house from the Dulanys in 1810. He was a vestryman of St. Paul's Church and very much interested in its construction. Benjamin H. Latrobe was the architect for the church and it is believed that he designed the wing connecting the kitchen with the big house. The story is more than plausible since the high, narrow arches and pilasters are characteristic of his work.

The woodwork in the two parlors is massive. The heavy cornice is similar to that in the blue room at the Carlyle house. A thick dentil cornice is surmounted by modillions, and they in turn are surmounted by a heavy molding. The drawing room mantels, capped by the traditional broken arch, dominate these rooms. All openings are dog-eared, as well as the panels of the chimney breasts. The hall arches, wainscoting, handrails, and stairways are noble examples of early craftsmanship. Upstairs the woodwork is equally good, though more delicate, while the paneled mantels lack the broken arch.

It is a satisfaction to see these old rooms, graced by fine furniture, draperies, portraits, and silver of local origin, restored again to the dignity and graciousness of days long past.



Chapter 16

Dr. James Craik and His Dwelling

[210 Duke Street. Owner: Mr. Merle Colby.]

Of the many quaint, historical figures whose memories haunt the old streets and houses of Alexandria, none is more interesting than Dr. Craik.

He is remembered as a "stout, hale, cheery old man, perfectly erect, fond of company and children, and amusing himself with gardening work." But this was when the sands were running out. The good Doctor had passed fourscore years, and his share of history-making was over. Let us turn back some two hundred years and begin.

There is a little village near Dumfries in Scotland called Arbigland or Obigland. In the year 1730 on a cold December day a baby boy began an eventful life. He was destined to bring to the New World the skill to heal and succor the wounded, to ease the dying, to administer the primitive hospitals of the American Revolution, and to move for a span of forty-five years as the close and intimate friend of George Washington.

The names of his parents have been lost in the Scottish fogs. A story that his father employed a gardener by the name of John Paul, sire of another young Scotsman who distinguished himself in our naval history under the patronymic of John Paul Jones, is all we can glean of our Craik's paternal parent.[154]

The Scottish baby, christened James Craik, grew to young manhood in his native country, going in proper time to the University of Edinburgh and there was educated in medicine for service in the British Army. After leaving the university he set sail for the West Indies; from there he came to Virginia in 1750 and settled in or near Winchester.

We pick up his trail four years later on an April morning in the town of Alexandria. The occasion is both historic and dramatic. The market square was filled with "two companies of foot," a hundred and twenty soldiers; a drummer wielding his sticks fiercely; two wagons, loaded with provisions, and well guarded by officers and soldiers; a captain, a lieutenant, five subalterns and a "Swedish Gentleman" going along as a volunteer, and one surgeon. This military assembly under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Washington was marching out of Alexandria for points west "to the Ohio" to fight the Indians and the French, to build forts, and to defend the possessions of His Majesty. The commander of the purposeful outfit was twenty-two years old, and the surgeon, Dr. James Craik, twenty-four.

Did the two meet in the City Tavern, in the market square, or upon that first day's march of six miles when the troops bivouacked for the night? Wherever the acquaintance was made, the beginning of a friendship that was to last the lives of both men was cemented on this expedition. From the battles of Great Meadows and Fort Necessity, our warriors returned to accompany Braddock to the Monongahela and Fort DuQuesne where Dr. Craik nursed Washington through an illness and was with Braddock from the time he was wounded until his death.

In August 1755 Dr. Craik was back from two unsuccessful expeditions. He was one of a group of officers addressing the august assembly sitting at Williamsburg, by letter, who informed the Burgesses that they had lost horses, furniture, tents, marquees, clothes, linens—in short, all their field equipage—and asking that body to compensate in some measure for their misfortunes, reminding the House that it was customary among British troops by way of a contingent bill, and suggesting that the colonial troops were equally deserving. The letter was ordered tabled, but later L30 was voted as compensation.

After this second disastrous campaign, Dr. Craik was lured into domesticity by Miss Marianne Ewell, whom he married in 1760. This young lady drew the ties closer to Mount Vernon. Her mother, first cousin to George Washington, was Sarah Ball Conway, who married Charles Ewell. After his marriage, Dr. Craik moved across the Potomac to Port Tobacco, Maryland, where he built a house and proceeded to raise a family of six sons and three daughters.

In 1754 Governor Dinwiddie offered as bait to officers who would enlist for service in the French and Indian Wars, two hundred thousand acres of land in the Ohio country. Sixteen years later this land had not been distributed. Washington was selected as agent to represent the officers of the First Virginia Regiment, and at their request, he left early in October 1770 to inspect and locate lands to be patented in their names. He was accompanied by Dr. Craik. The two set off on horseback with three Negro servants, two of the General's and one of Dr. Craik's, and a pack horse, spending two months in surveying and plotting these wild lands. Despite bad weather, cold, and early snow, it was a journey enjoyed by both men.

The route was charged with memories of Fry and Braddock's campaign. Washington wished to retrace these rivers and streams. The possibility of connecting the Potomac with the west by canals, opening up the country for settlement and trade had come to the engineer even while the soldier was fighting. As they rode he dreamed of tilled fields and settled communities in the path of his horse and used his instruments to measure distances and to plumb the depth of streams. That he revealed his plans to this congenial friend of his travels seems certain. Fourteen years later, in 1784, he took Dr. Craik over the same terrain when these dreams appeared to attain realization in the contemplated canal to connect the Potomac with the Ohio.

During his entire life, Dr. Craik was a steady visitor at Mount Vernon, on social occasions or on professional calls. He could be counted on for a visit at least once a month; sometimes he remained four or five days at a time, but more frequently he only passed the night. It is rather strange that the good Doctor is never mentioned as a companion of Washington's favorite sport. That he was an able horseman, covering the roughest terrain in arduous campaigns, a seasoned sportsman, a hardened athlete but no fox-hunter, seems borne out by the fact that he is never mentioned as sharing in the chase, although the gentleman to whom it meant so much noted almost every hunt and rider in his daily journals.

Politically the two friends were united. When Virginians were becoming dissatisfied and impatient with England, Dr. Craik and Washington thought alike, attending county meetings and councils, acting together. When the colony was disrupted by revolt and Washington appointed commander in chief of the Continental forces, he at once had Dr. Craik appointed Surgeon-General in the Continental Army. In 1777 he was made Assistant Director General of the Hospital of the Middle Department of the Army. Throughout the war he was part of Washington's military family.

At Cornwallis' surrender, Dr. Craik was in command of the hospital corps at Yorktown and present on that occasion. It was his painful duty to attend the fatally injured Hugh Mercer at Princeton, to dress the wounds of La Fayette at Brandywine, to nurse during his last hours young Jacky Custis, only surviving child of Martha Washington. It was Dr. Craik who learned of the Conway Cabal in 1777 and warned Washington of the conspiracy to remove him from command. To him we also owe the Indian legend of Washington's immortality. When Braddock was defeated and killed at Monongahela, Washington, with four bullets through his coat and two horses shot from under him, the chosen target of the Indian chief and his braves, was unharmed, and the Indians believed him immune to poisoned arrow or blunderbuss.

It is said that Washington persuaded Dr. Craik to move to Alexandria after the Revolution. We find him renting a house on Fairfax Street from one Robert Lyles in 1788 for L45. In 1789 he rented a house on Prince Street from John Harper for L25, and in 1790 one on the same street for L35. He rented and occupied a house belonging to John Harper from 1793 to, or through, 1795, for L60, a residence which has been so closely associated with Dr. Dick that it bears a memorial tablet in his memory.

In October 1795, Dr. Craik bought the property on Duke and Water (now Lee) Street, which he occupied for several years, and owned until 1810. Tradition, in this case false, says the house was built by George Coryell, and the story of how he came to Alexandria as a builder is a very interesting anecdote. On one of Washington's trips to Philadelphia after the Revolution, the story goes, he admired a well designed and constructed gate at the house of Benjamin Franklin, and inquired the name of the artisan. It was the work of one George Coryell of Coryell's Ferry. The young man's father, Cornelius Coryell, had acted as guide during the New Jersey campaign and the family had rowed Washington across the Delaware in that surprise attack upon the Hessians on Christmas Night, 1776. The General, interested in building, and something of an architect himself, with an eye to securing competent workmen near home, is said to have persuaded George Coryell to move to Alexandria. Here Coryell bought a lot on Duke Street in 1794 where he lived for many years. That Coryell set up in the building and lumber business and was very active is better documented, for this advertisement appeared in the Gazette for October 23, 1793:

George Coryell Has for Sale At His Board Yard on Mr. Mease's Wharf and at his Dwelling House on Duke Street Two-inch, Inch, and Half-Inch and etc. Plank. House frames of different sizes, Cypress shingles Locust and Red Cedar Post Scantling

Many houses in the town are perhaps his handiwork, but the statement that he built Dr. Craik's house or the frame cottage next door, which tradition says was his Alexandria home, is open to grave doubt. Recorded deeds at Fairfax Court House testify that the house and lot east of Dr. Craik were owned by Joseph Robinson, a sailmaker, in 1783, and used descriptively in a deed dated 1795. Coryell's lot was two doors below Dr. Craik's house (the lot now in possession of General Carl Spaatz) which Coryell purchased from William and Sarah Lyles of Prince Georges County, Maryland.

Coryell served for a time as clerk of the market and sealer of weights and measures. He did some repair jobs on Washington's town house. At the General's funeral, when Lieutenant Moss was unable to carry the heavy weight of the casket, George Coryell took his place as one of the pallbearers. He remained in Alexandria some fifty-odd years, returning to Coryell's Ferry a few years previous to his death in 1850, at the advanced age of ninety-one.

At the first auction of lots in Alexandria town in 1749, the lots numbered 80 and 81 were sold to Anne West. The trustees upset this sale in 1754, reselling lot No. 80 to George Mercer for L9 13s. 10d. and lot No. 81 going to Daniel Wilson for L10 10s. By devious transactions these parcels of land were divided and sold. The property of Dr. Craik was in the ownership of John Short, a watchmaker, in 1783. Due to inability to repay John Harper money advanced, Short, then of the borough of Norfolk, sold his house and lot at auction on November 30, 1789 to John Murry for L234. This same property was sold by John B. Murry and Patty, his wife, of the city and state of New York on October 26, 1795, along with another lot belonging to Murry, to Dr. James Craik for L1,500. Allowing for the additional lot, for which Murry had paid L71 10s. 1d. in 1787, and on which Dr. Craik's stable stood, for inflation and increase in value of property in Alexandria following the Revolution, this price of approximately $7,500 indicates beyond question that John Murry made very substantial improvements upon this property. It was subject to a ground rent of L11 forever, and it is only within the last few years that the present owners have satisfied this rent.



The house is a typical Alexandria town mansion. With three stories, dormer widows, of salmon brick, laid in Flemish bond, it faces the street as sturdily as when first built.

All the chimneys in Dr. Craik's house are handsomely paneled, as well as the window frames. Cornices, chair rails, stairway, six-panel doors, old pine floors, H&L hinges are part of its attractions. It is believed that Dr. Craik used the front rooms on the first floor of his house as his office. Washington was a visitor in this house. He frequently mentions in his journal dining or supping with his friend. The last time seems to have been in July 1798, when he "went up to Alexa. with Mrs. W. and Miss Cus[tis] dined at Doct^r Craik's, ret^d in y^e aft^n."

One of the Craik boys was named after George Washington. In September 1785, Washington makes this entry in his diary: "Wed. 31st.... This day I told Dr. Craik that I would contribute one hundred dollars pr. ann. as long as it was necessary towards the education of his son, George Washington, either in this country or in Scotland."

* * * * *

George Washington Craik studied medicine, and was, for a time during Washington's second administration, his private secretary. He was one of the young people of the town who was a constant visitor at Mount Vernon up to Washington's death. In 1807 and 1808 he was postmaster at Alexandria. He married Maria D. Tucker, daughter of Captain John Tucker, and their son, James Craik, was an Episcopal clergyman. Another son, William, married the daughter of William Fitzhugh and became the brother-in-law to George Washington Parke Custis. William Craik was a member of Congress, judge of the District Court of the United States, and chief justice of the Fifth Maryland Judicial Circuit Court. Craik lost two sons, James and Adam. James Craik Jr. set up in the drug business in Alexandria, dissolving his current business of James Craik & Company in 1787, but continued "the drug business at his store next door to Col. Ramsays'." At the time of this announcement he advertised for a young man well recommended as an apprentice for the druggist profession. He died, poor young man, without attaining any great success. The Doctor was appointed administrator and failed to give any accounting of the estate. As a result Dr. Craik was haled before the court to show the cause of his failure to comply with the order. He was somewhat riled as appears from the following:

James Craik this day appeared at the Register office and being duly sworn, gave the following statement: That when the said James Craik, Jr., departed this life all the personal estate he had consisted of a Medical Shop furniture, and medicine, to what amount or value he cannot ascertain, nor did he ever think it necessary he should render any appraisement of them, as he was security for the payment of the money they were purchased for, and since the deceased death has paid the same, and every debt he owed; in speaking of the said shop furniture and medicine being all the personal estate of the deceased his cloathes are excepted of which the said administrator saith he considered it unnecessary to render any account for the reasons above mentioned. Sworn to before me at the Register office on Tuesday, the 26th day of April, 1803.

CLEM MOORE

James Craik Adms.[155]



Of the three daughters, one married a Mr. Harrison, one Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and the third married Colonel Roger West of West Grove. The daughter of this union married John Douglas Simms, son of Colonel Charles Simms of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. James Craik Jr., was Sarah Harrison, daughter of Robert Hanson Harrison, one of Washington's military secretaries.

On November 27, a little over two weeks before Washington's death, Dr. Craik delivered Nellie Custis, wife of Washington's nephew and private secretary, Lawrence Lewis, of a daughter, her first child.

December 12, 1799, was a bad day. General Washington, making the usual rounds of his farms, was not deterred by snow, sleet, nor the cold rain that followed. Coming in late to dinner, which was awaiting him, his clothes soaked, snow clinging to his hair, he did not take time to change his wet things. The next day he had a sore throat and was very hoarse. During the night he felt ill and awoke his wife. As soon as it was daylight, Mrs. Washington sent a messenger posthaste for Dr. Craik. Before he arrived, Washington insisted upon being bled, and his secretary, Tobias Lear, sent across the river to Port Tobacco for Dr. Gustavus Brown. When Dr. Craik arrived he was alarmed at the condition of his friend, bled him twice, and asked to have Dr. Dick called for consultation. The three doctors battled with their primitive knowledge as best they knew how. Dr. Craik rarely left the room, sitting by the fire, his hand cupped over his eyes. Mrs. Washington sat at the foot of the bed, while Tobias Lear noted every passing moment for posterity and gave what aid he could to make the patient comfortable. About five o'clock Washington said to Craik, "Doctor, I die hard but I am not afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not survive it. My breath cannot last long." Life dragged five hours more, and when the end came Dr. Craik closed the eyes of him who was his best friend.[156] The watch which ticked off these awful moments is preserved in the Museum at Mount Vernon. When the General's will was opened one of the clauses read:

To my compatriot in arms, and old & intimate friend, Doct^r Craik, I give my Bureau (or as the Cabinet makers call it, Tambour Secretary) and the circular chair—an appendage of my Study.[157]



This desk and chair migrated with a later generation of Craiks to Kentucky and afterward the heirloom chair was presented as a token of esteem to General Andrew Jackson. Happy to relate, both pieces are again united in the library at Mount Vernon.

There remained for Dr. Craik one more duty to perform at Mount Vernon. In May 1802, two and a half years after the death of her husband, Martha Washington fell ill. This old friend of her married life of forty years watched over her for the seventeen days that remained and was with her, too, when she breathed her last.

Doctor Craik lived for fifteen years after the death of his friend and patron, hale and hearty to the end. In 1810 he put up his Alexandria house as security for a loan and it was sold at public auction March 23, 1810, to Rebecca Taylor.

Doctor Craik died on February 6, 1814, in his eighty-fourth year at his country estate, Vauclause, near Alexandria. He lies in the graveyard of the old Presbyterian meetinghouse.

His house in Alexandria, at 210 Duke Street, was fittingly enough in 1943 made habitable once again by another physician, Dr. Laurence A. Thompson, and Mrs. Thompson.



Chapter 17

Alexandria's Old Apothecary Shop

[With the settlement of the Leadbeater estate in 1933, these two adjoining buildings were acquired by the Landmarks Society of Alexandria and the contents purchased by the American Pharmaceutical Association. Under the direction of Mrs. Robert M. Reese the buildings have been restored and opened to the public as a museum with displays generously lent by the American Pharmaceutical Association. Entrance at 107 South Fairfax Street.]

Among the Quakers who settled in Alexandria there was a young man by the name of Edward Stabler, who came from Petersburg, Virginia. By 1792 he had established himself in the drug business on Fairfax Street between King and Prince. The major portion of his first stock of drugs came from London and cost about L106. Today his shop is famous as the second oldest apothecary shop in the United States in continuous operation and has been conducted by five generations of Stabler's descendants, the name of the proprietor changing to Leadbeater in 1852.

Always the proprietors maintained the most unique relations, business and social, with their patrons. Extant today are orders for one quart of castor oil from Martha Washington, an order for paint from George Washington Parke Custis, and many other curious and historical records, including the comments on a bad debt. In 1801 Mr. Stabler ordered from his dealer in London:

One medicine chest, complete with weights, scales, bolus knives, etc. I want this to be mahogany, of good quality as it is for the granddaughter of the widow of General Washington, the cost to be about 12 guineas.



There is a story in Alexandria that it was in this shop that the messenger, Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart, from the War Department, found General R.E. Lee chatting with the proprietor, his old friend, the senior Leadbeater, and delivered to the then Colonel Lee sealed orders from General Winfield Scott ordering him to Harpers Ferry to take command during John Brown's raid. It may be safely said that this shop was commonly used as a place of meeting by the gentlemen of the town who gathered there to exchange views and hear the latest news.

There remain in the old pharmacy early hand-blown bottles, counters and showcases, weights and scales, mortars and pestles, prescriptions, old ledgers, and much unidentified impedimenta of these early apothecaries. The decoration of the interior is indicative of the five generations who have lived and worked here. Georgian and Victorian blend in a harmonious whole. The exterior has been admirably restored to eighteenth century correctness—semicircular windows and all. The shop proper is the ground floor of a three-story business structure. Adjoining is an associated gift shop, also on the ground floor of a three-story building, and the two structures must appear very much as they did when built.



Chapter 18

Spring Gardens

[414 Franklin Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Harris.]

The stranger arriving in Alexandria by ship, coach, or horse could be sure of a welcome. The old port was noted for her taverns. They were numerous and good. At the taverns the gentlemen of the town were wont to gather for an oyster supper, a turtle feast, or a cockfight. The Masonic brothers sought these places for their banquets, and often for their meetings. Here stagecoaches drew up with bustle and excitement to put out the mail, change the horses, set down and take up the passengers, and let the traveler call for a draught of ale. Here the mail was collected and distributed. Here sailors could find a berth, the stranger a roaring fire, a glass of grog, food, bed and forage for his weary horse.

In 1753 at a court held at Fairfax, the rate for a night's lodging with clean sheets was fixed at 6d., "otherwise 3 pence." For a quart of punch with loaf sugar, 1s. 3d.; for a quart of punch with brown sugar, 10d. For a hot dish with small beer or cider, 1s.; for a cold dish, 4d. Stablage and fodder for a horse for twenty-four hours, 6d.; pasturage for twenty-four hours, 4d. It was ordered that "the several and respective ordinary keepers in this county do sell according to the above rates in money or tobacco at the rate of twelve shillings and six pence per cubic weight, and that they do not presume to demand more of any person what so ever."[158]

Among the Alexandria taverns of note that flourished in the late eighteenth century was Spring Gardens or Yates' Tavern, as the place was known in comparatively recent years. The little brick buildings were surrounded by spacious grounds, the walks edged in box, arbors covered with vines, grapes, fruit and shade trees all but hiding it from view.

In the Columbia Mirror and Alexandria Gazette of Saturday, January 12, 1793, the following advertisement appeared:

Oyster House—Spring Gardens. The subscriber informs his Friends and the Gentlemen of Alexandria that he intends providing oyster suppers at his house this winter on the most moderate terms and at the shortest notice. Those who may incline to favor him with their custom, may rest assured that there shall be nothing wanting on his part to give general satisfaction.

ABEL WILLIS

Again Spring Gardens figured in the news of October 5, 1795, when this advertisement appeared in the Virginia Gazette and Alexandria Advertiser of that date:

To be sold by Private Contract. The unexpired term of the lease or covenant of that desirable lot called Spring Gardens with all its extensive improvements. The lease or covenant has many and great advantages annexed to it. Apply to the proprietor on the premises.

H. WILBUR.

Some time previously, in 1793, H. Wilbur in the same publication announced that the "Late Master of the Steine House Academy Brighthelm-stone, Begs leave Respectfully to inform the Public in General that his Academy will open on Monday next, the 27th, inst. for the reception of ten young Ladies at Two Dollars per month, pens and ink included."

Was Spring Gardens a young ladies academy as well as oysterhouse, tavern and jockey club?

The tradition that Spring Gardens was the second Jockey Club seems to be borne out in the announcement of the spring races which appeared on Saturday, May 20, 1797:

Red House Spring Races

To be run for on Thurs. 25th inst. over Jockey Club course. A subscription purse of 100 dollars, three mile heats, free for any horse, mare or gelding. Aged horses to carry 126 lbs; six year old 118; 5 years old 110; 4 years 98 and three years old feather.

On Friday, a Purse of $50.00, 2 mile heats, Saturday a Purse of $50.00, mile heats. The Purses shall be at the Post.

The horses to be entered the day preceding each race with me or pay double on entrance; the winning horse on each preceding day only excepted. I have expended a great deal of money in altering and improving the course it is now approved by the best judges of racing. No exertion shall be wanting to give satisfaction by the publics devoted servent.

JAMES GARDINER

Last day a feather.

N.B. The Jockey Club Races will commense on Wed. 20th, Sept. next.

The Races were intended for the 18th, 19th, and 20th, but the commencement of the District Court being altered from the 12th to the 18th inst. was only known this day by the public's obedient servant.

JAMES GARDINER

N.B. On the 15th June following a colts purse or sweepstake will certainly be run for; each subscriber putting five guineas in the purse the day before starting. Several are already entered. The Colts that are admissable may be known by an application to J.G.



General Washington was a visitor many times and on July 4, 1798, he recorded in his diary: "Went up to the Celebration of the Anniversary of Independance and dined in the Spring Gardens near Alexa. with a large Compa. of the Civil and Military of Fairfax County."[159] His cash accounts for the day set his expenses in Alexandria "at the Anniversary of Independance" as L1 4s.[160] A Philadelphia newspaper gave a full account of the festivities:

Alexandria, July 7—The 23rd [sic] Anniversary of American Independence was celebrated by the inhabitants of this town, on Wednesday last, with the greatest harmony and conviviality.—Every thing conspired to render the business of the day a varied scene of patriotism and social joy; and the dignified presence of the beloved WASHINGTON, our illustrious neighbor, gave such a high colouring to the tout ensemble, that nothing was wanting to complete the picture. The auspicious morning was ushered in by a discharge of sixteen guns. At 10 o'clock the uniform companies paraded; and, it must be acknowledged, their appearance was such as entitled them to the greatest credit, while it reflects honor on their officers and the town—it was perfectly military: ... The different corps were reviewed in King street by General Washington, and Col. Little, who expressed the highest satisfaction at their appearance and manoeuvring; after which they proceeded to the Episcopal Church, where a suitable discourse was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Davis. Of this discourse I may say, with the expressive Collins, it was

"Warm, energetic, chaste, sublime."

A dinner was prepared at Spring Gardens by Mr. John Stavely; which, considering the number of citizens and military that partook of it (between 4 and 500) was conducted with the greatest propriety and decorum.—Ludwell Lee, esq. presided at the head of the table—the foot was honored by Col. Charles Little.... GEN. WASHINGTON was escorted into town by a detachment from the troop of Dragoons. He was dressed in full uniform, and appeared in good health and spirits. The troops went through a number of military evolutions during the day, with all of which the General was particularly pleased, and bestowed many encomiums on their martial appearance.—Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, July 19.[161]

In the last years of his life, the General again "Went up to Alexa. and dined with a number of the Citizens there in celebration of the Anniversary of the declaration of American Independence."[162] And again the Philadelphia newspaper reported:

Alexandria, July 6.—The 23rd anniversary of the American Independence was celebrated in this town with the greatest harmony and decorum. The military commands agreeably to orders previously given, mustered in the court house square, and the line was formed in Fairfax street. After going through the manual, which was performed with the strictest exactitude, Col. John Fitzgerald, accompanied by John Potts, Esq., passed the line in review, and expressed his satisfaction at their military and elegant appearance. The battalion then marched, by sections, up King street, and formed the line there to receive their beloved chief General GEORGE WASHINGTON. On his passing the line the usual military honors were paid; and it is with pleasure I remark, that the Cincinnatus of America appeared in excellent health and good spirits.

Lieutenant General Washington dined at Col. Kemp's tavern, with a select party of friends.—Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, July 11.[163]

Whether Colonel Kemp at this time kept the Spring Gardens Tavern, the deponent sayeth not!

* * * * *

Thrilling tales of long departed patrons who haunt the old red house are told by the Misses Lewis and Evans, who lived in this house for several years. When the family of three sat down for their evening meal, they were disturbed by the consciousness of the presence of unseen persons. Often they raised their wine glasses in a silent toast to the invisible guests and empty chairs. On several occasions a brave spirit clad in buff and blue was clearly seen, only to vanish into the heavy six-panel door—to the utter astonishment of three pairs of eyes. Once on a clear moonlight night, a great brick barn appeared in the place of a modest wooden structure which stands today. The lady who first saw it called her companion and asked her what she saw. The immediate reply was "An enormous brick barn." For a while they thought it an optical illusion produced by moonlight and clouds and waited at the window to see the bricks disintegrate into the factual wooden structure. But the ladies retired leaving the great brick apparition still standing. Colonel W.H. Peake, the recent owner, when told this story, confirmed it to the extent of admitting that there was a large brick foundation under the present frame building.

Colonel and Mrs. Peake added a half story to the two wings and increased the length of the ell. The old tavern faces the street bravely, and the sturdy, paneled front door swings on H&L hinges as in days long past. In the brick-walled garden behind, arbors are fragrant with grape and wisteria. Hollyhocks flourish in the borders. A modern garage replaces the stables where the gentry of Alexandria and the neighborhood put up their horses when they frequented the "Oyster House." In this mellowed atmosphere of Spring Gardens, it is pleasant to turn one's thoughts backward and reflect on the gay evening when it cost the General L1 4s. to celebrate "Independance."



Chapter 19

William Fitzhugh and Robert E. Lee

Another fine example of late eighteenth century federal architecture in Alexandria is the residence at 607 Oronoco Street,[Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Goodale.] commonly spoken of as the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee. This house abounds with memories of Alexandria. Her history, romance, and past are interwoven here in a perfect pattern. Washington, perhaps, frequented this house more than any other save Dr. Craik's after the Fitzhughs moved to Alexandria from Chatham near Fredericksburg.

Built by John Potts in 1795 on land purchased from Charles Alexander, the date is attested by the stone fixed high in the wall under the carved cornice. Potts and his wife, Elizabeth, deeded the property to William Fitzhugh in 1799 for the sum of twelve thousand dollars.

The house and garden occupy half a city block. A central hall runs through the house and every room opens by window or door into the garden. The woodwork in the house, while simple, is in the best tradition and, save for two missing mantels, is undisturbed. The stairway rises on the left of the hall in a series of easy steps to a landing that crosses one end of the hall and then mounts on the right side to the second floor. The decoration of the risers and landing, in a diamond motif paneled in a delicate mold, is reminiscent of the designer, Adam. Two superb rooms open off the hall on each side, and the dining room and offices are in an ell on a lower level. There are Adam mantels of great beauty in the two master bedrooms on the second floor. The doors, chair rails, cornices, floors, and locks are in a fine state of preservation throughout the house.

In the kitchen is the brick oven with patent doors made in England and inserted in the chimney about the time the house was built. A few years ago, the former owners, Dr. and Mrs. R.R. Sayers, went to the address of the manufactory at Stratton, 173 Cheapside, London. It was still in operation and there they were able to purchase needed parts for the faithful old oven.

Virginia is more like the mother country in the relations that exist between her aristocratic classes, than any other part of the Union save, perhaps, South Carolina. These people moved in one large circle, marrying and intermarrying, related and associated as one enormous family. Welcome in one another's homes, they kept alive family ties by visits and letters, both of considerable length. It was quite possible to go away from home for several years for a series of visits, moving from one estate to another and remaining for the season—all the while renewing associations within the chosen orbit.

Of this hierarchy was William Fitzhugh. A man of charm and culture, reared in the days and traditions of the great planters, he kept open house at Chatham, near Fredericksburg, the year around. Travelers en route to and from Williamsburg and Richmond were entertained in a lavish fashion. With the formation of the new government, the stream of visitors increased to such an extent that the Fitzhughs were being eaten out of house and home, and found it necessary to escape from their friends. They selected Alexandria as a place of domicile. Chatham was placed on the market in 1796.

A lifelong friend and associate of George Washington, there was great intimacy between the two families. Fitzhugh contributed two fine does to the Mount Vernon deer park in 1786, and the same year forwarded a supply of orchard grass seed for the General's use. A year before Washington's death his good offices as neighbor and friend were directed toward the acquisition of a horse that would best serve Washington's purpose. Entries in George Washington's diaries attest the many times that the Fitzhughs were at Mount Vernon, and the Washingtons at Chatham or Alexandria. On January 3, 1798: "Mrs. Washington, myself, etc., went to Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh,"[164] and on April 3, 1799, "went to Alexandria and lodged myself with Mr. Fitzhugh";[165] the next day he "returned to Alexandria and again lodged at Mr. Fitzhugh's."[166] The last mention in Washington's diary of his old friends is in the last month of his life, dated November 17, 1799, "went to Church in Alexandria and dined with Mr. Fitzhugh."[167]



To Fitzhugh's house came Washington Custis wooing, and successfully, too, Mary Lee Fitzhugh. George Washington did not live to see the marriage between the daughter of this old friend and his adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis; nor the splendid Arlington mansion, following that new fashion of likeness to a Greek temple, that was to house the Custis and Lee families for three generations. He knew those rolling acres of the Arlington plantation, but never dreamed they were destined to become the emerald pall for America's warrior dead.

In the Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial and Political of Friday, January 12, 1810, appeared the following advertisement:

On Wednesday, the 17th instant will be sold between the hours of ten and eleven at the house of William Fitzhugh, esquire, deceased, a quantity of

Household Furniture

consisting of carpets, chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc., as also a carriage and one or two horses. Of all sums of twenty dollars or under, immediate payment will be expected, on all over a credit of six months will be given, and bond with approved security required:

Robert Randolph Executor of Wm. Fitzhugh



William Fitzhugh's will was probated on December 23, 1809. To each of his two daughters who had "made themselves as dear as children can be to an affectionate Father," he left the sum of two thousand pounds, certain slaves (about sixteen) and lands containing eight hundred acres, for since they were "equal in his affections" he wished them to have an equal quantity. After other bequests, the residue of his estate passed to his only son, William Henry Fitzhugh, with the admonition and hope that he would make proper use of it. He appointed his two sons-in-law, William Craik and George Washington Parke Custis, also Edmund I. Lee and Robert Randolph, as guardians of his son's estate until he came of age, and as executors of his will. The inventory of the contents of his house is that of a rich man, who lived in the comfort and elegance of his time. Appropriately enough, a pair of his knife boxes have found their way to Mount Vernon.