_Gay (N) Street--East to Rock Creek_
Across High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) along Gay (N) Street on the
northwest corner of Congress (31st) is the Baptist Church which has just
celebrated its 75th anniversary. It was originally a small frame
building, up on a bank. The present building was erected in 1890.
On the southwest corner of Gay (N) and Congress (31st) Streets stood,
not so very many years ago, an attractive old white house with long
porches, tiers of them, across the back overlooking a garden. I think
the present building is what it was converted into in the period that
did the best to rob Georgetown of all its charm.
Here, in 1795, Dr. James Heighe Blake built his home. He was a very
eminent citizen, a member of the first vestry of Saint John's Church,
one of the very first to advocate schools of the Lancastrian system and
a reformatory, and the very first person to suggest a health officer for
the City of Washington. He moved over to the city and became its third
mayor from 1813 to 1817. His daughter, Glorvina, married William A.
Gordon, senior, of whom I have already spoken.
Here, at one time, lived Judge Walter Cox, grandson of Colonel John Cox.
His wife was a daughter of Judge Dunlop. Still later, the school of Miss
Jennie and Miss Lucy Stephenson was here, which was well attended in the
seventies and eighties. In the spring of 1875, a romantic elopement
took place. A young girl of sixteen, an orphan, who was said to be "an
heiress," went off to Baltimore very early one morning with the son of a
minister who taught Latin in the school.
When the pupils came that morning, they sensed the excitement and
gathered in groups in the gallery. Eventually, the news leaked out and
the chief topic was that the young lady took no baggage, not even a
nightgown, in her flight.
Just below here, on Congress (31st) Street, in the latter part of the
last century lived a lady much beloved by rich and poor. She was the
first person to conceive the idea of a diet kitchen for the needy. She
had not much of this world's goods, so she went daily to the different
butchers who gave her scraps of meat which she cooked, and had
continually on hand jars of "beef tea." All the doctors knew where to
apply when they had patients who were in need of it. She was the widow
of Captain Charles Carroll Simms, an officer of the old navy who went
with the Confederacy, and at the famous battle in Hampton Roads, was
second in command of the _Merrimac_, and in command after the chief
officer was killed. She was Elizabeth Nourse, daughter of Major Charles
Joseph Nourse, of The Highlands.
Next door, below Mrs. Simms' house, stands the Methodist Protestant
Church which not long ago celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. The
lot for it was purchased in April, 1829, but the founders for a year or
two previous to that had been worshipping in the Presbyterian Church
building, Saint John's or the Lancastrian schoolroom. It is now a
Christian Science Church.
Across the street from the church, next door to the Post Office, the
tall brick house is where a family lived which in the nineties was a
mystery to Georgetown--the Oueston family--father, mother, and daughter.
No one knew what was the father's business, and no one ever saw the
mother out, but it was rumored that she came from South America, was of
royal blood, and had a throne on which she sat, dressed accordingly. The
daughter was known then, and for many years afterwards, as "the girl of
a thousand curls." She was tall and slender, and her magnificent suit of
dark hair was a mass of curls, making her head look like "a bushel
basket." She wore ankle-length dresses of a style totally different from
what every other girl wore: white stockings, when all of us wore black,
and black slippers, laced up with narrow black ribbons.
And then up to the northeast corner of Gay (N) and Congress (31st)
Streets, to the tall yellow house, now an apartment house. For many
years it was at the home of the Snyders. Dr. John M. Snyder died at the
age of 36, in the enjoyment of a fine reputation in his profession, of
an unusual accident.
The story is told by Dr. Samuel Busey, in his _Personal Reminiscences_:
Dr. Snyder had bought a farm called "Greenwood" a little way out of
town toward Tenallytown, and one afternoon at Dr. Busey's home,
"Belvoir," now the Beauvoir School, was telling Dr. Busey how he was
enjoying pruning the old oak trees on his place of dead wood. Dr.
Busey warned him that he was engaging in a dangerous amusement and
related the story of how a hired man of his, doing such a job, had
had a bad fall, but, fortunately, without injury.
Two or three days later, Dr. Busey was summoned to "Greenwood,"
where he found Dr. Snyder dying from just such an accident. The
branch of the tree he had been sawing off was hanging by a
splintered sliver, too weak to support its weight and, in swinging
to the ground, had knocked away the ladder on which Dr. Snyder was
standing.
His wife was Sophy Tayloe, a member of the well-known family of the
Octagon House in Washington, and beautiful old Mount Airy in Virginia.
As a widow in her old age, she had a steady admirer, a general, who came
every afternoon at the same time in his Victoria, and took her to drive.
I can see her now, a small, slight figure in her cape, and little black
bonnet tied under her chin, and holding one of those quaint little
ruffled sunshades to keep the sun out of her eyes.
She had one daughter, Miss Annie, who had the loveliest rosy cheeks (no
rouge in those days), who never married. One son, Bladen, was an artist,
and he used to be a familiar sight with his camp-stool and easel on the
streets, painting.
Georgetown was not so "arty" in Bladen Snyder's day, unfortunately, so
he was considered very "odd."
The other son, Dr. Arthur Snyder, was a fine surgeon, and an ardent
horseman.
Not long ago I was being shown photographs of belles and beaux of the
eighties and nineties in Georgetown. Among them were several pictures of
the crews of the Columbia Boat Club, and one of the "four" was young Dr.
Snyder, whose home this was.
There were two boat clubs in those days which were great rivals. The
Columbia was at the foot of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and the
Potomac was at the foot of Congress (31st) Street. I have more
recollections of the latter, especially the dances held there on
summer evenings, and the porch overhanging the river, with the moonlight
on the water.
[Illustration: OLD DR. RILEY'S HOUSE]
We used to have tug parties, starting from there, going several miles
down the Potomac and back, eating our supper on board and singing "My
Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," and "On the Road to Mandalay," which at
that time was quite new.
Across the street, at number 3038, is the house that I have always heard
called "old Dr. Riley's." It was sold on the 24th of March, 1812, by
James S. Marshall to William S. Nicholls and Romulus Riggs. Mr. Riggs
owned the house until 1835. He was born near Brookeville in Montgomery
County, Maryland. He was married in 1810. Somewhere between 1812 and
1835 he went to live in Philadelphia where he was a prosperous merchant
and influential citizen. I think it probable he lived in this house
during some of that time and sold it to Dr. Joshua Riley.
Dr. Riley had several students of medicine whom he taught. Among them
was Dr. Armistead Peter, Alec Williams, "the handsomest man in town,"
and the two nephews of Baron Bodisco, who also spent much time here. His
office, a quaint little one-story brick building, on part of his lot,
was torn down a few years ago, to the great sorrow of us old-timers, for
Georgetown had lost one of its most distinctive antiques.
Dr. Riley practiced medicine for 51 years and died beloved in the
community at large as well as by his patients. He had a good word and
pleasant salutation for everybody. He was a man of marked personal
appearance, tall, slim, gaunt, awkward in manner, with a quick emphatic
style of speech.
Dr. Riley had married a daughter of Colonel Fowler, who lived on West
(P) Street, and on the 10th of June, 1851, his wife's niece, Juliet
Murray was married in this dear old house to John Marbury, Jr. Dr.
Riley's daughter, Miss Marianna, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Riley,
occupied this house for many years until her death, when it was sold for
almost "a song." Since then it has been resold several times.
Across the street, at number 3043, now the home of Vice-Admiral Laurence
Du Bose, was the home of another well-known admiral, Theodore Wilkinson,
when he returned from the Pacific. He and his wife started off on a
motor trip. At Norfolk, Virginia, as they were landing from a ferry, his
car got out of control; he signaled to his wife to jump and her life was
saved, but he and the car ran off into deep water and he was drowned.
The cream-colored brick house with wings out on each side, now number
3033 N Street, is one of the very oldest houses in Georgetown. It was
the home of Colonel George Beall, son of Ninian Beall, and bequeathed by
him at his death in 1780 to his daughters, Elizabeth and Ann, the same
Elizabeth who became the wife of Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch shortly after
her father's death.
Adjoining the house on the east was the garden. All the land between
this house and the one at 3017, built by George Beall's son, Thomas
Beall of George, as he always styled himself, was made his two
"Additions to Georgetown," was part of this estate. Many years
afterwards, the little summer house and the fruit trees were still
there. And, as was the custom in those long-ago days, here was the
family burying-ground. I know people who remember it. Among the
gravestones removed to the old Presbyterian burying-ground were two
which bore these inscriptions: "Here lieth Colonel George Beall, who
departed this life March 15, 1780, aged 85." And the other, "Here lieth
the body of Elizabeth Beall, who departed this life October 2, 1748,
aged about 49 years." She was Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of Colonel
Thomas Brooke and Barbara Dent.
In 1809 these two sisters sold this house to John Peter, and the next
year he sold it to Mrs. Robert Peter, who was then a widow. She came
here to live with her younger daughter, Margaret, who had become the
wife of Thomas Dick, of Bladensburg. Here Mrs. Peter lived until her
death in 1821, at the age of seventy-eight. Mrs. Dick's husband had died
while on a trip to the West Indies and had been buried at sea. She lived
on here the rest of her life with her only child, Robert, and he lived
there many years and died there--an old bachelor. He was buried in Oak
Hill on Christmas Eve, 1870. During these years there was a much-beloved
old cook, Aunt Hannah, who was famous for her gingerbread and cookies. I
have seen her photograph "all dressed up to have her picture took."
Robert Dick had a big black dog who always came to the gate to greet the
newsboy and took the paper in his mouth to his master.
After Robert Dick's death, Thomas Cox bought the place and it was the
home of his family for a good many years. The eastern wing was put on at
that time and used as a conservatory. Since then the house has changed
hands many, many times, and the western wing been added.
The two houses at numbers 3025 and 3027 were built in the seventies by
Oscar Stevens for his family and that of his brother-in-law, Dr. John S.
Billings. Their wives were sisters, and very dependent upon each other.
Dr. Billings was a pioneer in the introduction of indirect heating in
buildings, and became an authority on that subject, and on ventilation.
His textbooks on the subject were used in the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and when Johns Hopkins Hospital was built, he was consulted.
Because he had made such a fine record in creating the Army Medical
Library, he was asked to come to New York and create the new Public
Library there from the Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, which were
consolidated.
Across the street, at number 3032, where now is a large, modern brick
house, there used to be, before I can remember, a quaint, frame
structure. It was supposed to be one of the first houses built on the
grant of the Rock of Dumbarton, and was intended for the "overlooker" of
that part of the grant. It was a very plain but comfortable house, and
was the home in the early part of the century of Hezekiah Miller who,
like many of the gentry in those days, was in charge of government work.
His department dealt with the Indians, and he had the distribution of
money and supplies to certain tribes to whom he went from time to time,
and also looked after them when they came to Washington. They always
called him "Father Miller." Mr. Miller's wife was Miss Middleton, from
Brooke Court Manor, in Maryland. Hezekiah Miller was a devout member of
Christ Church. His daughter became the wife of the Reverend George
Leakin, an Episcopal clergyman of Baltimore. She was to have been a
bridesmaid at the wedding of Harriet Williams and Baron Bodisco, but was
prevented by the sudden death of her brother by drowning. He was one of
twins, born just at the time of General Lafayette's arrival on his visit
in 1824, who were named Washington and Lafayette at the request of the
townspeople. It was the latter young man who drowned, at the age of
twenty-five.
Number 3028 was the home, for a long, long time of the Reads, three
sisters. One married Dr. Post, who was a missionary to Syria, but Miss
Jane and Miss Isabella lived here many years after. The house next door
still has its old-time doorway, but, unfortunately, one owner in the
eighties spoiled its quaintness by adding a corner tower. It was here, I
think, that Dr. William Barton Rogers, first President of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lived at one time.
The two big houses, numbers 3014 and 3017, standing opposite each other
on this block are very closely connected in their history. The early
part is all tied up together. Although number 3017 has been somewhat
changed in appearance, it is still, I imagine, a good deal like it was
when Thomas Beall built it in 1794. Of course, the street has been cut
down and left it higher up than it originally was, and also the old
bricks have been covered with paint, and now a modern addition has
hidden its lovely little wing.
[Illustration: 3017 N STREET. THE HOUSE THAT THOMAS BEALL BUILT]
The building of this house was evidently quite an event in those days,
for in old advertisements of the sale of houses, many of them are
"Between the Union Tavern and Thomas Beall's house on Gay Street." John
Laird had a frame house on the lot, immediately across the street, now
number 3014, but he was becoming exceedingly prosperous and wanted a
handsome house. He married first, Lucinda Dick, sister of Thomas Dick,
of Bladensburg, and, after her death, her elder sister, Mary. While he
was building his brick house at number 3014, he rented and occupied
Thomas Beall's house. No reason is given as to why Mr. Beall was not
occupying it himself.
About 1800 Mr. Laird moved into his own new mansion. At that time only
the central part of the large building was there. Several wings have
been added and the little portico at the front door. John Laird's eldest
daughter, Barbara, married James Dunlop, Junior, the eldest son of James
Dunlop; and his only son, William Laird, married two of James Dunlop's
daughters at Hayes, first Helen, by whom he had three children, William
Laird, Jr., James Dunlop Laird, who went to California in 1848 and never
married, and Helen Laird, who also never married. After the death of his
first wife, William Laird, Sr., married his sister-in-law, Arianna
French Dunlop. She was very lame, and the marriage took place only a
short time before her death.
The miniatures reproduced of John Laird and James Dunlop represent them
both in scarlet coats, with lace ruffles and powdered hair.
John Laird was always very much interested in the Presbyterian Church
and its affairs, and his descendants have remained so.
He came to this country at the age of seventeen and was active in
Georgetown from its early days, and it is a pity that none of his
children had a son to carry on his name.
[Illustration: JOHN LAIRD]
[Illustration: JAMES DUNLOP, SENIOR]
His son, William Laird, Jr., who had children, but no grandchildren, was
clerk of the town for a great many years, longer than any other man. He
is said to have had no superior as an accountant in this country.
After John Laird's death in 1833, his house became the property of his
daughter, Margaret. She never married, and lived there for a great many
years with her aunt, Miss Elizabeth Dick. They were always known as
"Miss Peggy" Laird and "Miss Betsy" Dick. My mother, as a little girl,
remembered them. They used to sit by the front windows a great deal, and
the turban which Miss Betsy wore on her head was, of course, very
intriguing to a young girl in 1850. They were both almost always dressed
in Scotch gingham of such fine quality that it seemed like silk. They
were both ardent supporters of the Presbyterian Church and workers for
the Orphan Asylum. Miss Betsy Dick died first, of course. Thomas Bloomer
Balch dedicated to her one of the lectures he gave in Georgetown in the
fifties called "Reminiscences of George Town."
When Miss Peggy Laird died, she left the house to her sister, Barbara,
Mrs. James Dunlop. They had been living on the southeast corner of Gay
(N) and Greene (29th) Streets. From that time on, number 3014 was always
known as the Dunlop house.
Judge Dunlop was always very prominent. As a young man he was secretary
of the Corporation of Georgetown, which fact is recorded on the keystone
of the little bridge on High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) over the canal.
He was for some time a law partner of Francis Scott Key, and later was
appointed Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the District of
Columbia. He was holding this office at the outbreak of the Civil War
and, being a Southerner in his sympathies, was, very naturally, removed
from office by President Lincoln. An interesting thing is that about
1915 this place was bought from the heirs of Judge Dunlop's son by
Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Lincoln.
An anecdote is told of a dinner party long ago where Judge Dunlop was a
guest, when one of the other guests was making puns on the names of all
those present. Judge Dunlop said, "You will not be able to make one on
my name." Quick as a flash came back the rejoinder, "Just lop off the
last syllable and it is dun."
Judge Dunlop and all of his brothers, except one, were graduates of
Princeton College, he being valedictorian of his class. A portrait of
him hangs in the courthouse in Washington. His son, William Laird
Dunlop, lived for many years as a bachelor in the old house before his
marriage to his cousin, Miss Sallie Peter, in Rockville. An interesting
story is told of their neighbor, Dr. Tyler, coming home one evening and
saying to his wife, "I'll have to go over and see what is the matter at
Mr. Dunlop's; the house is lit up from top to bottom." When he returned,
he was laughing heartily. "It's only that Mr. Dunlop is going to be
married and is inspecting the house thoroughly." The bride he brought
there was a very lovely person and very much beloved.
William Laird Dunlop always kept up his custom of keeping his own cow
and killing his own hogs in the fall. The little square, brick building
covered with vines between the house and the stable was the meat house.
It is in the garden of this house that the only remaining stone marker
used in laying off the original George Town stands, protruding about
eighteen inches from the ground.
Now to return to number 3017 across the street. In 1811 this house was
bought from Thomas Beall by Major George Peter. He was the youngest son
of Robert Peter. He was born in George Town on the 28th of September,
1779. When only fifteen years old he joined the Maryland troops against
the Whisky Insurrectionists (1794), but his parents sent a messenger to
camp and General Washington, hearing of the matter, ordered him home.
His youthful ardor was gratified five years later in July, 1799, by his
appointment as second lieutenant of the Ninth Infantry, United States
Army, by President Adams, and he enjoyed the distinction of receiving
his commission from the hands of General Washington at Mount Vernon.
While in command at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, during the administration
of President Jefferson, he organized the first light-horse battery
formed in the United States service, and he always referred to his
"Flying Artillery" with a special pride, in that he was specially
selected by President Jefferson for that purpose.
In April, 1805, Lieutenant Peter accompanied General Wilkinson to the
West and took part in the organization of the Territorial Government of
Missouri. Arriving at St. Louis on the Fourth of July, he established
the first cantonment on the banks of the Missouri at Bellefontaine and
fired the first salute on the return of Lewis and Clarke from their
expedition to the Pacific. He also served under General Wilkinson during
Governor Claiborne's administration before Louisiana was admitted to the
Union and he was present as a witness at the trial of Aaron Burr.
At the beginning of the War of 1812, President Madison tendered him a
brigadier-generalship, which the condition of private affairs compelled
him to decline, but in 1813 he volunteered his services and commanded a
battalion of "Flying Artillery."
Among the privates in this battalion were George Peabody and Francis
Scott Key, besides others who afterwards became distinguished citizens.
In writing of this battalion, W. W. Corcoran says the list of its
membership represented the wealth, worth, and talent of the town at that
time.
In 1815, he was elected to Congress from the Sixth District of Maryland,
but his seat was contested on the ground that he was not a resident of
the Congressional District. At that time he was a resident of Georgetown
and a member of the Town Council, but had large farms in Maryland. The
House of Representatives, however, decided in his favor, and admitted
him to take his seat. He was the first Democrat ever elected to Congress
from the Sixth District of Maryland and was re-elected in 1817, and
again in 1828. He served several terms in the State Legislature and in
1855 was elected by the Democratic Party a Commissioner of Public Works
for the State of Maryland.
He was a man six feet in height, straight as an arrow, and of splendid
physique.
He was married three times. His first wife was Ann Plater, daughter of
Governor Plater of Maryland; his second, Agnes Freeland, and his third,
Sarah Norfleet Freeland of Petersburg, Virginia.
Major Peter was one of the largest landowners and farmers in Montgomery
County and carried on those farms up to the date of his death, which
occurred at Montanvert, near Darnestown, June 22, 1861. He was nearly
eighty-two.
[Illustration: MAJOR GEORGE PETER]
[Illustration: JUDGE JAMES DUNLOP]
[Illustration: WILLIAM REDIN]
His three sons by his third marriage were: George, who became an eminent
lawyer in Rockville; Alexander, who lived and farmed near Darnestown;
Armistead, who practised medicine many years in Georgetown; and Walter
Gibson Peter, who met the heroic and tragic death I have already spoken
of. Dr. Peter had been sent to Georgetown to live with his aunt, Mrs.
Dick, to receive his medical education under Dr. Riley.
In 1827 George Peter sold this house, 3017 N Street, to John Laird,
evidently for his son, William, who made it his home until 1834, when it
was bought by Miss Elizabeth Dick, but she apparently changed her mind
and decided to live with her niece, for she sold it the same year to
William Redin.
Mr. Redin was an Englishman from Lincolnshire, who had come to America
about 1817. He was an attorney, and I have heard very old people refer
to him as "Lawyer Redin," and speak of the green baize bag which he
always carried back and forth to his office, the forerunner of the
present-day brief case, and I know an old lady who can remember him in
his pew in Christ Church. He had five daughters and one son. The young
man, Richard Wright Redin, soon after his graduation from Princeton,
fell a victim to cholera, that terrible disease brought to George Town
in its ships. It also carried off a young sister, Fanny, who was a
little beauty, and only about eighteen.
Mr. Redin was a friend of Henry Foxall, and named his youngest daughter
Catherine Foxall.
During the Civil War, Mr. Redin was a Union sympathizer, and when
President Lincoln removed Judge Dunlop from the bench, he offered the
Justiceship to Mr. Redin, but he refused to take the office of his old
friend and neighbor across the street. In 1863, he was made the first
Auditor of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia.
One of his married daughters was living, during the Civil War, not far
from Culpeper, Virginia, almost on the battlefield. She died when only
thirty-seven, from the fact that no medicines could be gotten for her;
nor could a minister be found to bury her, so her eldest daughter,
seventeen, read the burial service over her mother.
There were seven of these motherless children left--the eldest three all
very pretty girls. It was quite impossible for them to remain in their
home, so their grandfather got permission for them to come to
Washington. They came, wearing sunbonnets, and traveling all day long in
a box-car from Culpeper to Alexandria, a distance of only fifty miles.
There they had to spend the night at a hotel until they could pass
through the lines. The Union officer in charge of them slept outside
their door that night.
Not very long after their arrival, Martha Kennon, of Tudor Place, came
to see the eldest girl. They had been at school together a few years
before, at Miss Harrover's. She suggested that they should go "over to
the city" together. On the way down to Bridge (M) Street to take the
omnibus, they found they had no small change to pay their fare, so
Martha said: "Never mind, I have a cousin in a store near here. He will
change our money or lend us some." They went to him and she introduced
my father to my mother!
This was the old Vanderwerken omnibus that ran along Bridge (M) Street
and Pennsylvania Avenue, which became the Capital Traction Company, and
now the Capital Transit Company.
I have often heard my mother tell of how the Southern girls would not
walk under the Stars and Stripes hanging out from the hospital in the
Seminary. They would cross to the other side of the street, and when the
Union officers passed, they held aside their skirts. She has also
described to me how the city was hung with black when Abraham Lincoln
was killed.
Mr. Redin bequeathed his house to his only unmarried daughter,
Catherine. She married later, and sold the house in 1873 and regretted
it bitterly, to such an extent that she went into melancholia and
committed suicide by taking poison. For a while it was Miss Lipscomb's
School for Young Ladies, then it was bought by John D. Smoot, and his
family lived there many years.
In 1915 Colonel W. E. P. French purchased the property. He leased it
during the World War I to Honorable Newton D. Baker, then Secretary of
War. At that time Georgetown had hardly begun to be fashionable again,
and on first coming to Washington and hunting for a house, Mrs. Baker
told a friend she was discouraged trying to find one with a yard where
her three children could play, and that she thought they would have to
go to Fort Myer. The friend answered in a tone of deep commiseration,
"Too bad! You will have to pass through Georgetown!"
Another anecdote of somewhat the same tone was told me by an old lady
who has lived all her life in one of the loveliest old Georgetown
houses. Many years ago, while the street cars were still drawn by
horses, she was in a car sitting opposite two women, one of whom was
pointing out the sights to the other. They passed Dupont Circle, where
she showed the Leiter house, etc., and as they crossed P Street Bridge,
she said, "Now we are coming into Georgetown where nobody lives but
colored people and a few white people who can't get away."
On the next block east is a little house, entirely changed now, which
used to be very quaint in its appearance when it was covered with white
plaster and approached by a sort of causeway from the sidewalk. It had
belonged to Henry Foxall, though, of course, he never lived there.
On the southwest corner of Gay (N) and Greene (29th) Streets stands the
house that was originally the property of John Davidson. Then Mrs.
Williamson, a daughter of old Dr. Balch made her home here, followed by
her daughter, Mrs. Hasle. Next door, on the west, lived the son, Joseph
Williamson, whose wife was Marian Woods. Then the Howell family lived
there, and from them, Colonel Harrison Howell Dodge, who was
superintendent of Mount Vernon for over forty years, got his name. Later
the house was rented to Mr. and Mrs. John Worthington, whose daughter,
Lilah, married Mr. Henry Philip in April, 1865. She went to live at 3406
R Street.
A few years ago a gentleman who was an artist bought the house and
changed the windows on the first floor front--to give more light for his
studio, I was told.
The picturesque house on the northeast corner is always called "Admiral
Weaver's house." The back portion is very old, and "they say" there is a
ghost somewhere about. In the spring the hedge of Japanese quince here
is a thing of beauty with its flaming color.
On the next block eastward at number 2812 is the house with a very
beautiful doorway and a very interesting association. It was built in
1779, and was at one time the home of Judge Morsell, but it was called
the Decatur house. There is the Decatur house on Lafayette Square in
Washington, but we know that Admiral Decatur's widow left it after he
was killed in the duel with Commodore James Barron, near Bladensburg, on
March 22, 1820, and came to live in Georgetown. Tradition has persisted
that this was the house she lived in. These parts of two letters written
by Mrs. Basil Hall, in 1827, are from a volume called _The Aristocratic
Journey_, being her letters home to her sister in Edinburgh:
January 4: ... I had a note to-night from a lady whom I had
considerable curiosity to see, Mrs. Decatur, the widow of Commodore
Decatur. I brought a letter to her from Mrs. MacTavish at Baltimore
and sent it yesterday along with our cards. In this note she
acknowledged the receipt of it, but excuses herself from calling
upon me, "as peculiar circumstances attending a domestic affliction
she has suffered makes it impossible for her to come to Washington."
She asked us to spend the evening of the tenth with her, or any
other evening that suits us better, a very kind note, in short, and
we have promised to go on the eleventh. I knew that she would not
return my visit before I came. The reason of this peculiarity is
that her husband was killed in a duel, and she fears if she were to
go into company either morning or evening she might meet his second,
who she considers as having been very much to blame, or his
antagonist. Now all this is very natural, and I only object to it
because somehow she appears to have made her reasons too much the
subject of conversation, which is very unlike real feeling. She sees
a great deal of company at home. Her note smells so detestably of
musk that it quite perfumes the room and was like to make me sick,
so we had sealed it up in an envelope, but it shall go along with
the next of the scraps.
January 6: We have had today weather much more like June than
January, most extraordinary for this climate, where at this season
there is generally severe frost and snow. I went out with a cloak on
but speedily returned and exchanged that for a silk handkerchief
tied round my throat, which was as much as I could bear. Yesterday,
the fifth, we walked off by eleven o'clock to visit Mrs. Decatur,
who lives at Georgetown, which is separated from Washington only by
a little creek, across which there is a shabby enough tumble-down
looking wooden bridge. There is so thick a fog that we could not see
three yards before us, "quite English weather," as our friends here
tell us, but not disagreeable to my mind as it was very mild. At the
door of Mrs. Decatur's house we met General Van Rensselear, "the
Patroon," who with his wife and daughter is now here. He went in
with us and introduced us to the lady of the mansion, who we found
dressed in very becoming weeds, and she gave us an extremely cordial
reception. She is a pretty, pleasing-looking person and very
animated, with no appearance of woe except the outward sign of cap
and gown. We sat some time with her and walked home....
If only Mrs. Hall had been able to say where the house was to which they
walked from across Rock Creek on that balmy day in January!
These other letters which follow are written to a young man then
beginning to make his way in the world, who certainly was possessed of a
most attractive personality, and it is not surprising that the widow
might have been rather "setting her cap" for him.
My dear Mr. Corcoran:
If you should find yourself destitute of amusement this evening,
while the belles are at church, I beg you to come and listen to some
of my lamentations.
Yours sincerely, S. DECATUR.
My dear Mr. Corcoran:
I am happy to say that I can take you under my wing today, on the
way to heaven, and I pray you to call for me at ten o'clock.
Yours sincerely, S. DECATUR.
Union Hotel, Monday morning.
My dear Mr. Corcoran:
The Iturbides have deferred their visit until Wednesday evening and
I hope you will be able to come and meet them, with your sister and
Colonel Thomas.
Yours sincerely, S. DECATUR.
If you have a moment to spare this evening I pray you to come and
tell me how your brother's family are after this dreadful alarm.[A]
[Footnote A: The destruction of Mr. J. Corcoran's dwelling by fire.]
As we know, it was of no avail, for he seems to have remained "fancy
free" until he met and married Louise Morris.
About 1828 Mrs. Decatur became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church
through her close acquaintance with the Carroll family, it is thought.
The latter part of her life was spent in a frame house on the brow of a
hill about one hundred yards from Georgetown College, which she rented
from Miss Hobbs. Here she died about 1860.
Among the souvenirs of the college is the portrait of Commodore Decatur
by Gilbert Stuart, his ivory chess-board and men, and his jeweled
toothpick box. The grave of Mrs. Decatur was discovered some time ago in
the cemetery of Georgetown College. It had been overgrown and neglected
and forgotten.
So had this part of Georgetown, until Admiral and Mrs. Spencer Wood
bought 2808 and brought it back to its pristine glory. This house was
built by John Stoddert Haw, nephew of Benjamin Stoddert, one of the
founders of Christ Church, of which many of his descendants are still
pillars. When the Woods lived here, there was at the back of the house a
very lovely, unusual green garden, which gave a feeling of restfulness
not always produced by a riot of glorious colors, opening off a paved
area under a wide porch, like so many houses used to have.
The old house at 2806 is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Walker. He is
the curator of the National Gallery of Art. Thomas Beall of George sold
the land to John M. Gannt in 1804, who may have built this lovely house.
It was purchased by Elisha Williams in 1810; also owned by Thomas
Robertson and Thomas Clarke in the first decade of the nineteenth
century. In the 1920's it was the home of Mrs. Hare Lippincott.
Across the street, at number 2723, a good many years ago, was where
Thomas Harrison and his sister lived for a long time. Miss Virginia kept
a little school for several years and her brother was a translator at
the Naval Observatory until he was well up in his eighties. When he was
over ninety he used to go out calling on Sunday afternoons, as spry as
could be, and with his cheeks as rosy as pippins. They were a couple
much beloved and typical of old-time days.