The Benjamin Dulany House
[601 Duke Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. John Howard Joynt.]
On February 15, 1773, George Washington wrote to a friend, "Our
celebrated Fortune Miss French, whom half the world was in pursuit of,
bestowed her hand on Wednesday last, being her birthday (you perceive I
think myself under the necessity of accounting for the choice) upon Mr.
Ben Dulany, who is to take her to Maryland in a month from this
time."[149]
Miss French, the heiress, was a ward of Washington and lived at Rose
Hill, not far from Mount Vernon. Benjamin Dulany Sr., a wealthy and
cultured gentleman of Maryland, born of distinguished Irish parentage,
was of the third generation in America. He and the celebrated Miss
French moved to Alexandria before the Revolution and settled at Shuter's
Hill overlooking the town, where they reared a large family. Ben Dulany
is often mentioned by General Washington in his diaries. He was a
frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, a companion in the chase and the
race, at dinner and overnight, sometimes with his lady, but more often
without.
[Illustration: Benjamin Dulany of Shooter's Hill and Alexandria]
In 1785 Washington concluded a bargain for the exchange of some land
with the Dulanys and made several references to the transaction in his
diary. Under the entry for Monday, February 21, 1785, he wrote:
Went to Alexandria with Mrs. Washington. Dined at Mr. Dulaney's and
exchanged deeds for conveyances of land with him and Mrs. Dulaney,
giving mine, which I bought of Messrs. Robert Adam, Dow and McIver,
for the reversion of what Mrs. Dulaney is entitled to at the death of
her Mother within bounds of Spencer and Washington's patent.[150]
[Illustration: Entrance hall, Dulany House. Fine woodwork in arch and
cornice]
Tradition says Dulany served with Washington as steward of the Jockey
Club. An amusing anecdote has come down to us of a race in which both
gentlemen had entered horses. The race was close--Washington's horse
won. For some reason the governors awarded the prize to Dulany. The
General left in high dudgeon and wrote a letter resigning from the club,
saying that he was under the impression that he belonged to a club the
members of which were gentlemen. Whereupon the governors reversed their
decision and awarded the General the prize! This extraordinary action is
reported to have placated him, for he appears to have continued a member
of the Jockey Club.
Mr. Dulany's house, now 601 Duke Street, is one of those famous houses
where it is claimed General Washington slept. An agent of the General,
Peyton Gallagher, occupied this house at one time, and--so the story
goes--when Washington had sat too long at accounts and the evening was
bad, his man of business put him up for the night.
The tradition is firmly entrenched that the Marquis de la Fayette
addressed the citizens of Alexandria from the front steps of this house
in 1824. The General was occupying the house across the street, which
was given to the Marquis and his party by the owner, Mrs. Lawrason, for
the duration of his visit. Alexandria was more excited by this visit
than any other occurrence in her history, and gave La Fayette a
resounding welcome. When citizens came surging in great crowds around
the Lawrason mansion to do him honor, the old gentleman, finding the
steps too low for speechmaking, walked across the street, climbed the
steps of 601 Duke Street, where he could be seen, and there made his
expressions of good will and appreciation in broken English to "the
assembled multitude."
Tradition also reports that Benjamin Dulany was a handsome, arrogant
gentleman, a fine horseman, superbly mounted. In those days the streets
of Alexandria were not as smooth nor as dry as today. Irate pedestrians
often found themselves bespattered and befouled by some passing horseman
or vehicle and in danger of their very lives. "Bad Ben" Dulany thundered
up and down the streets, riding a spirited horse, sparing no wayfarer,
causing men to rush for safety to the nearest doorway. At Shuter's Hill,
his estate just outside Alexandria, he maintained well appointed stables
and owned fine-blooded horses. A "stranger" traveling in America records
a rather interesting horse story in connection with one of Mr. Dulany's
sons:
Throughout his campaign he [Washington] was attended by a black man,
one of his slaves, who proved very faithful to his trust. This man,
amongst others belonging to him, he liberated, and by his will, left
him a handsome maintenance for the remainder of his life. The horse
which bore the General so often in battle is still alive. The noble
animal, together with the whole of his property, was sold on his
death under a clause in his will, and the charger was purchased by
Daniel Dulaney, Esquire, of Shuter's hill, near Alexandria, in whom
it has found an indulgent master. I have often seen Mr. Dulaney
riding the steed of Washington in a gentle pace, for it is now grown
old. It is of a cream color, well proportioned, and was carefully
trained to military manoeuvres.[151]
* * * * *
[Illustration: The beautiful drawing room]
[Illustration: The original dining room at Mr. Dulany's, now the
library]
The Dulanys were hospitable folk, and many were the guests entertained
both at their country estate and at their Alexandria home. A revengeful
guest, or a malicious wit, startled the town one morning by the
following poem entitled
THE BALL AT SHOOTER'S HILL
By A.X.--Georgetown
Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill,
Once said to his wife, "Our rooms we'll fill
With all the beauty, and all the style
And all of the rank and some of the file
That flourish in Alexandria
Alias 'Botany Bay',"
(Which was ever his subsequent say
When speaking of Alexandria).
Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh
"If such is your fancy, so will I".
Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill
Said to his wife, "We will fulfill
Our social trust and invite them all,
The great and the wealthy to come to our ball,
The handsome and ugly, the pretty and plain,
The learned and the silly, the wise and the vain."
He was a man of great learning and wealth
And the name that he bore was a power itself,
For his Tory father was great among men
And smote hard on the rebels with voice and pen,
But Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh,
"This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".
Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill
Said to his wife, "I wish you to fill
The pantry and larder, the shelves and the table
With all the most excellent things you are able,
And spare neither trouble or money, for when
(Tobacco remember was currency then),
I offer a banquet my guests must behold
Something more on my table than china and gold"
And Mrs. Dulany said with a deep sigh,
"This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".
Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill,
Said to his wife, "Of course we will
Have music, the best that can be found
And we, dear wife, will dance one round.
Many years have passed since you agreed
To slide down from your window and marry with speed,
And we'll show our children how to dance
After the fashion I learned in France".
Mrs. Dulany sighed and said
"What could have put this whim in his head".
The guests arrived at Shooter's Hill,
Names of renown the chambers filled,
Masons and Carters, Stevens and Balls,
Rosiers and Fendals, Marshalls and Halls,
Daingerfields, Herberts, Craiks, Tuckers a few,
Platers, Custis, and Randolph and Washingtons, too,
Blackburns, Hunters and Forrests and Taylors a lot,
Lees, Seldons, Fitzhughs, Wests, Dandridge and Scott,
Pope, Ramsey and Graham, French, Lewis and Key,
Lloyd, Taylor and Wellford, Ridout, Beverly,
Simms, Peters and Lightfoot, Lyles, Murray and Beall,
Fauntleroy and Grey and Carroll they tell,
Berkley, Fairfax and Bladen, Powell, Chase, Montague,
Bassett, Harrison, Tasker, Gant, Stoddert and Chew,
Spotswood, Lomax and Taliaferro, Grymes, Rutherford,
Snowden, Fontaine and Pendleton, Moncure and Bushrod,
But if all were put down, the unlearned might insist,
The names had been taken from off the tax list.
Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill,
Received them with grace and courtly skill,
When all of a sudden he started to dance,
And teach them the lessons he learned in France,
He drew them up in a regular line
And marched them around while he kept time,
Shouldered a blunderbuss, stuck on a hat,
Called it a helmet, and drilled them in that.
Thundered and threatened and ordered them all
To know he was giving a marching ball.
Round through the parlors, out on the grass
Down through the garden and back did they pass,
Not for a moment he left them to rest,
Forward and backward, and wearied he pressed.
Mrs. Dulany appealed to his pride,
But unceremonious he thrust her aside.
Many the terrors, the words and the fright,
But he marched them and marched them till far in the night.
Mrs. Dulany again essayed
To urge him to cease his desperate raid,
Then bending before her his handsome form,
He declared no lovelier woman was born
Than she, his own, his beautiful wife
Then he vowed to love and cherish through life;
And to prove to all how he loved her then,
He'd embrace her before all those women and men,
Which he certainly did, for he clasped her waist,
And raising her high, strode off in haste.
In vain she screamed, in vain besought,
All her entreaties he set at nought,
Into the pantry he quickly passed
And stuck her up on the vinegar cask
Then locking her in, he lovingly said,
"Dear wife you are tired, 'tis time for bed".
And away he stalked to pick up his gun
For a panic and flight had already begun,
He ordered a halt, but they faster ran,
Urging each other, woman and man.
Wholly regardless of dresses and shoes,
Thorns or stones, or damps or dews.
Halt! he cried again more loud
Then fired his blunderbuss into the crowd,
Which only helped to increase their speed.
They thought he was crased, and he was indeed!
Into the town at dead of night
Forlorn and weary, half dead with fright,
Into the town the company came,
Draggled and straggling, half dead with shame,
That they should have marched and tramped about
At a lunatic's whim, now in, now out,
The livelong night, through garden and hall,
Would they ever forget Ben Dulany's ball!
Mrs. Dulany in grief had passed
The rest of the night on the vinegar cask.
Trembling the servants unlocked the door,
And the wrathful lady stood before
Her ... lord, but never a word
Between them passed, or afterward was heard.
He ordered his horse and from that day,
As I have heard the old people say,
He rode unceasing, nor ever still,
Was Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill.[152]
[Illustration: The front bedroom, Dulany House]
On August 5, 1779, the executor of John Alexander, William Thornton
Alexander, granted by deed to David Arrell the tract of land located at
the northwest corner of Duke and St. Asaph Streets, which held an annual
ground rent of L14 10_s._ On September 6, 1783, David Arrell of
Alexandria and Fairfax County in the Dominion of Virginia, sold this
same lot on Duke and St. Asaph Streets for L50 to Benjamin Dulany of the
same place, charged with an annual ground rent of L14 10_s._, payable on
the fifth of August forever. Very shortly thereafter the house now known
as 601 Duke Street was completed for a town residence. During some
recent repairs letters and bills for purchases made by Mrs. Dulany were
found under a partition, bearing dates from 1785 to 1796. Two of these
are quoted:[153]
Mrs. Delasia Balto. 24 Feby 1793
For Mrs. Dulaney Bo^t of George Wily
1 pair of sattin shoes 16/8 L 16. 8
1 p^c Roses 22d 1. 1. 18
----------
Rec^d payment L 1. 18. 6
Benjamin Dulany Esq. * * * GEORGE WILY
Bo^t of Bennett & Watts
1 pr Slippers 9/--3-1/2 yds Lute string @ 10/ L 2. 4.
Alex^a May 25^th 1796
Probably the best example of Georgian architecture in Alexandria, the
plan of the house is common to this town. Two-storied, dormer-windowed,
detached brick, the house faces south with a large garden to the left
taking up half a square.
A hall runs the length of the house. Two large parlors, one behind the
other, on the right, open into the hall. The dining room, in an ell at
the rear, is entered from the hall by a small flight of steps leading to
a lower level. The long, narrow, low-pitched room has an off-center
fireplace and is papered at both ends in old wallpaper of Chinese
design. When seen from the front doorway, the room presents an
unexpected and charming view. This wing was added after 1800, probably
1810. A very nice tradition exists about the building of this wing.
Robert I. Taylor bought the house from the Dulanys in 1810. He was a
vestryman of St. Paul's Church and very much interested in its
construction. Benjamin H. Latrobe was the architect for the church and
it is believed that he designed the wing connecting the kitchen with the
big house. The story is more than plausible since the high, narrow
arches and pilasters are characteristic of his work.
The woodwork in the two parlors is massive. The heavy cornice is similar
to that in the blue room at the Carlyle house. A thick dentil cornice is
surmounted by modillions, and they in turn are surmounted by a heavy
molding. The drawing room mantels, capped by the traditional broken
arch, dominate these rooms. All openings are dog-eared, as well as the
panels of the chimney breasts. The hall arches, wainscoting, handrails,
and stairways are noble examples of early craftsmanship. Upstairs the
woodwork is equally good, though more delicate, while the paneled
mantels lack the broken arch.
It is a satisfaction to see these old rooms, graced by fine furniture,
draperies, portraits, and silver of local origin, restored again to the
dignity and graciousness of days long past.
[Illustration]