The La Fayette-Lawrason-Cazenove House
[301 South St. Asaph Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Wallack.]
The presence of La Fayette was nothing new to Alexandria, yet his
official visit in 1824, as the nation's guest, created a turmoil in the
town. As soon as the news was received of his arrival in New York (it
took two days to reach Alexandria) Captain A. William's company of
artillery arose before dawn to fire a national salute at sunrise, and at
noon the same company fired seventy-six rounds. During the day the
harbor presented the spectacle of all ships displaying their flags at
masthead. When the Marquis reached Baltimore, on October 8,
representatives from the Alexandria city council were on hand to extend
an invitation (in the form of an address) to visit the town, which the
distinguished visitor was pleased to accept.
He was met on the south side of the Potomac River on the 16th by that
same Captain Williams and his company, firing a salvo in salute, and was
addressed in a "neat and handsome" manner by General Jones and suite.
He "then entered a splendid barouche, drawn by four fine grays, with
postilions dressed in white with blue sashes," and thus was escorted by
a company of cavalry under the command of Captain Andrews and a civilian
escort led by Captain James Carson, dressed in blue "with sashes of the
same color." To this splendor add marines, fire companies, the
Alexandria Battalion (1,500 men) all saluting, firing salvos, presenting
arms--two bands playing, reception committees, constant alighting from
and entering the barouche, and you have some idea of the excitement as
the procession passed under the triumphal arch spanning Washington
Street.
[Illustration: _Left_: Thomas Lawrason, builder, and the first owner of
the La Fayette House.
_Right_: Mrs. Thomas Lawrason _nee_ Elizabeth Carson]
This arch was a masterpiece. It has been described by Benjamin Hallowell
in his _Autobiography_ and by the _Alexandria Gazette_ at the time, and
memories of it linger in old tales told in many homes. Built in three
sections, a large arch spanned the street, with smaller ones the
sidewalks. The columns were decorated with portraits of Washington and
La Fayette. Noble and patriotic sentiments were inscribed: "Welcome La
Fayette--A Nation's Gratitude Thy Due"--"For a Nation to be Free, it is
Sufficient that she wills it." A fully rigged ship hung beneath the
central span, and the whole was decorated with cedar, laurel and oak,
set off by a Liberty cap and "a real mountain eagle which had been
politely furnished by Mr. Timothy Mountford of the Museum." When the
column passed under the arch, the eagle "politely furnished" opened wide
his wings and gave a mighty screech, produced, 'tis said, by a small
boy and a pin placed in close proximity for this very purpose. From the
windows of the houses ladies waved handkerchiefs and threw nosegays in
fiesta fashion.
[Illustration: The doorway to the elegant house built by Thomas Lawrason
and loaned by his widow to La Fayette]
When the parade reached Royal Street and Gadsby's Tavern, we are told
that a ceremony took place there which, "in sublimity and moral effect
surpassed all." "One hundred young girls and one hundred boys from seven
to twelve years of age were arrayed in lines extending to the Reception
Room." They were neatly dressed, the "females" in white with blue sashes
and badges and leghorn bonnets, the boys in blue with pink sashes and
badges. As the General approached, a little girl, Rosalie Taylor,
stepped out and "spoke with becoming grace and manner" a poem several
verses long that began:
Fayette, friend of Washington.
_Freedom's_ children greet thee here;
Fame for _Thee_ our hearts has won
Flows for thee the grateful tear.
Chorus
Happiness today is ours;
Strew, ye fair! his way with flowers!
After being wined and dined at Claggett's Hotel, formerly Gadsby's, the
barouche was again brought forward and General La Fayette, escorted by
the procession, "moved on to the house which had been procured for his
accomodation."[186]
And so we arrive at the home of Mrs. Thomas Lawrason, the most elegant
house of its day and time in Alexandria, lent by this charming Irish
lady to the great Frenchman, thereby endowing it with imperishable fame
as the La Fayette house.
On August 5, 1779, the executors of John Alexander sold to Thomas
Wilkinson "a half acre lott lying and being upon the South side of Duke
Street and the West Side of St. Asaph Street and described by the number
175," the ground rent of which was L14 _10s_. In September 1795, William
Thornton Alexander, one of the heirs of John Alexander, released
Benjamin Shreve and James Lawrason from this ground rent upon the
payment of the sum of L300, and in this indenture of September 14, the
fact is cited that this was the property sold by Thomas Wilkinson and
that Shreve and Lawrason divided the property.
[Illustration: The hall]
On September 27, 1819, in an indenture between James Lawrason and Alice,
his wife, and Elizabeth Lawrason, widow of Thomas Lawrason, son of the
said James, lately deceased, and their five children, the fact is cited
that Thomas Lawrason bought for five hundred dollars the lot at the
intersection of St. Asaph and Duke Streets, described as running "West
on Duke 120 feet to an alley 6 feet wide 10 inches to be held in common
with the heirs of Benjamin Shreve, thence on said alley South 55 feet,
thence East, parallel to Duke 120 feet to St. Asaph and thence on St.
Asaph North to the beginning." This same document further described that
"the said Thomas entered on said lott and erected thereon a three story
brick tenement and other buildings and improvements and afterwards
departed this life intestate without having received a deed for the
same," which deed James was at this time executing, conveying this
property to his son's widow and orphans.
The three-story brick tenement, built by Thomas Lawrason for his young
wife, is one of the important federal houses in this ancient seaport.
High upon the roof a white railing incloses the "Captain's Walk" from
which point of vantage the Fowle & Lawrason ships could be sighted far
down the Potomac. The doorway is the outstanding feature of the house.
The fanlight over the door is a true fan in shape and design, and the
lunettes on each side of the double doors are unique. The interior of
the mansion is commodious and comfortable with well proportioned rooms
of agreeable size and beautiful woodwork.
James Lawrason of Sussex County, New Jersey, married Alice Levering.
Their son, Thomas Lawrason, builder of the house, was born in Norfolk,
Virginia, in 1780. The Lawrasons lived for a while in Canada, where life
for those with Tory sympathies was more agreeable, but after the
Revolution, and prior to 1795, the family returned to Virginia and
settled in Alexandria, where the senior Lawrason was associated for a
time with Benjamin Shreve.
Thomas Lawrason, a member of the important shipping firm of Lawrason &
Fowle, married Elizabeth Carson, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Dr.
Samuel Carson of Armagh, Ireland, in October 1808. To them were born
five children: Samuel Carson, October 18, 1809; James Thomas, July 28,
1811; William Wilson, 1814; George Carson, 1816; and Anne Carson, 1818.
Thomas Lawrason died on June 7, 1819, before he could enjoy his fine,
new home, leaving Elizabeth to struggle with a house and family. She
never remarried, remaining in Alexandria until her children were reared
and settled in life. Then she followed her youngest son, George Carson
Lawrason, to New Orleans. An entry in the family Bible reads: "Elizabeth
Lawrason, consort of Thomas Lawrason died at the residence of her son
George C. Lawrason in New Orleans on the 11th of April, 1851, aged 59
years." A curious and sad sequel to her death is that some years later
her grave was washed away and swallowed by the Mississippi. When General
Lee's body lay in state at Washington College (now Washington and Lee
University) her grandson, Samuel McCutcheon Lawrason, then a student at
Virginia Military Institute, was one of the bodyguards at the bier.
[Illustration: The rear parlor. These rooms are spacious and well
proportioned, the woodwork in style of McIntire after Adam is worthy of
the master builders]
The original portraits of Elizabeth and Thomas hang in the Lawrasons'
Louisiana plantation home at St. Francisville. Some of the family
silver, made in Alexandria by I. Adam, belongs to her granddaughter,
Mrs. Kirkpatrick.
The La Fayette-Lawrason association rightfully includes the name
Cazenove to commemorate the role played by Alexandria's noble
French-speaking citizen on the happy occasion of La Fayette's visit.
Really his name was De Cazenove for his family was both Huguenot and
noble. They had fled France in 1688 and settled in Geneva, Switzerland,
where they were prominent bankers for over one hundred years. When the
French Revolution broke out, the radical Swiss threw the French
aristocrats into jail; then, becoming frightened at their tyranny, they
released the patricians. Among those incarcerated were the De Cazenove
family. After their release Antoine Charles de Cazenove and his elder
brother were sent by their parents to America to avoid the Revolution.
They landed in Philadelphia and were the guests of some cousins there by
the same name. The two brothers married sisters, the Misses Hogan of
Philadelphia.
Later, the elder brother returned to Geneva. Antoine Charles Cazenove
(for by this time our young Frenchman had become imbued with the spirit
of republicanism and dropped the De as un-American), moved to Alexandria
about 1794 and founded the banking house of Cazenove & Company. Head of
a large shipping business, he maintained his own wharf and warehouses;
was French consul; one of the founders of the Alexandria Water Company
and of the cotton factory; and an active member of the old Presbyterian
Church. He owned three or four black slaves who spoke only French.
During the yellow fever epidemic in 1803, when forty to fifty people
were dying in a day, Cazenove refused to leave Alexandria. He contracted
yellow fever and was one of the few persons to have the disease and
survive.
After Mrs. Lawrason put her Alexandria home at the disposal of General
La Fayette, Antoine Charles Cazenove was invited to act as host. When
the Alexandrians crowded outside the Lawrason house demanding a sight of
and a speech from La Fayette, Cazenove introduced him. La Fayette was
"_chez lui_"; the whole visit passed off with great _eclat_.
The great General on departure referred to his entertainment in
Alexandria as "the most pleasing hours of his life." A gratified city
council presented Mrs. Lawrason with a silver cup in recognition of her
generous and hospitable act. This, duly inscribed, is cherished to this
day by her great-granddaughter, Mrs. Donald M. Hamilton of Georgetown,
in Washington, D.C.
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