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Records
Columbia Historical Society
WASHINGTON, D. C,
Volume 22
EDITED BY
JOHN B. LARNER
washington
Published by thk Socibtv
1919
Copyright
BY THE
Columbia Historical Society
1919
-•• •
PRESS OF
THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY
LANCASTER. PA
*■- ^ -yC
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Early Days of the Supreme Court of the District of Co-
lumbia. By Job Barnard 1
Christian Hines, Author of ** Early Kecollections of
Washington City, ' ' with Notes of the Hines Family.
By John Clagett Proctor 36
General Roger Chew Weightman, a Mayor of the City of
Washington. By Allen C. Clark 62
The Birth and Growth of the Patent Oflfice. By George
W. Evans 105
General John Peter Van Ness, a Mayor of the City of
Washington, His Wife Marcia, and Her Father
David Bumes. By Allen C. Clark 125
Remarks of James Dudley Morgan on the Paper by Mr. .
Allen C. Clark, November 26, 1918, before the Co-
lumbia Historical Society 205
Dr. William Beanes, The Inciden tar Cause of the Author-
ship of the Star-Spangled Banner. By Caleb C.
Magruder, Jr 207
Appendk.
Officers for 1918 228
Committees for 1918 229
List of Members, October, 1919 230
Communications made to the Society during 1918 240'
Proceedings of the Society for 1918 241
In Memoriam William H. Dennis, John Paul Earnest . . . 244
Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Treasurer 248
Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Secretary 249
Report of the Chronicler for 1918 251
Necrology, 1918 256
• . •
HI
iv Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Plate No. Facing Page
I. David K. Cartter, Chief Justice Supreme Court
District of Columbia, 1863-1887 (courtesy
Washington Law Reporter) 22
II. The Supreme Court District of Columbia as con-
stituted March 11, 1863 (courtesy of Wash-
ington Law Reporter) 32
III. Christian Hines, 1781-1874 36
IV. Jacob Hines, 1778-1874 58
V. Roger Chew Weigh tman 62
VI. John Peter Van Ness (from a painting by Gil-
bert Stuart) 126
VII. John Peter Van Ness (St. Memin) 140
VIII. Mrs. John Peter Van Ness 154
IX. The Burnes Cottage (from photograph by T. A.
Mullett, 1894) 160
X. Mrs. John Peter Van Ness (from a painting by
James Peale) 176
XI. The Burnes Graves 184
XII. The Van Ness Mausoleum, Oak Hill Cemetery . . 192
XIII. The Lodge Gate 196
XIV. Van Ness House (south front) 200
XV. Pan-American Building 204
XVI. Tomb of Dr. Beanes before Restoration 216
XVII. Tomb of Dr. Beanes after Restoration 222
XVIII. Tablet to memory of Dr. Beanes 224
XIX. William Henry Dennis 244
Preiidenis of the Society.
PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY.
•Dr. J. M. Toner 1894-1896
tJohn A. Kasson 1897-1906
JAlexander B. Hagner 1906-1909
James Dudley Morgan 1909-1916
Allen C. Clark 1916-
♦ Died July 29, 1906.
t Died May 18, 1910.
t Died June 30, 1915.
vi RtcordM cff ike Ccimtmbia HUtorical Seeing.
NOTE.
The tirerjty-«<econd volume of the 'Recobds of the Society is
pr*sent^l to the members and to the public with the confident
h/>pe that the large amount of unusually good historical mat-
ter in this volume will be fully appreciated and made use of.
One of the objects of the Society is to disseminate as widely
as possible historical data in reference to the nation *s capital.
In order that this may be successfully accomplished, we need
the encouragement of the people of Washington. The only
source of income of the Society is from membership fees. It
is gratifying to note that since the publication of volume
twenty-one the total membership has been increased from 209
to 'ilO members.
On October 21st the first meeting of the season was held at
the AnemWy Hall of the Cosmos Club, where the Society will
hold its meetings until further notice.
<.s^q
Copyright
BY THE
Columbia Historical Society
1919
• %
PRESS OF
THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY
LANCASTER. PA
^
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Early Days of the Supreme Court of the District of Co-
lumbia. By Job Barnard 1
Christian Hines, Author of ** Early KecoUections of
Washington City/' with Notes of the Hines Family.
By John Clagett Proctor 36
General Roger Chew Weightman, a Mayor of the City of
Washington. By Allen C. Clark 62
The Birth and Growth of the Patent Oflfice. By George
W. Evans 105
General John Peter Van Ness, a Mayor of the City of
Washington, His Wife Marcia, and Her Father
David Bumes. By Allen C. Clark 125
Remarks of James Dudley Morgan on the Paper by Mr.
Allen C. Clark, November 26, 1918, before the Co-
lumbia Historical Society 205
Dr. William Beanes, The Incidentar Cause of the Author-
ship of the Star-Spangled Banner. By Caleb C.
Magruder, Jr 207
Appendk.
Officers for 1918 228
Committees for 1918 229
List of Members, October, 1919 230
Communications made to the Society during 1918 240"
Proceedings of the Society for 1918 241
In Memoriam William H. Dennis, John Paul Earnest . . . 244
Twenty-fifth Annual Keport of the Treasurer 248
Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Secretary 249
Report of the Chronicler for 1918 251
Necrology, 1918 256
• • •
HI
iv Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Plate No. Factno Paoi
I. David K. Cartter, Chief Justice Supreme Court
District of Columbia, 1863-1887 (courtesy
Washington Law Reporter) 22
II. The Supreme Court District of Columbia as con-
stituted March 11, 1863 (courtesy of Wash-
ington Law Reporter) 32
III. Christian Hines, 1781-1874 36
IV. Jacob Hines, 1778-1874 58
V. Roger Chew Weightman 62
VI. John Peter Van Ness (from a painting by Gil-
bert Stuart) 126
VII. John Peter Van Ness (St. Memin) 140
VIII. Mrs. John Peter Van Ness 154
IX. The Burnes Cottage (from photograph by T. A.
Mullett, 1894) 160
X. Mrs. John Peter Van Ness (from a painting by
James Peale) 176
XI. The Burnes Graves 184
XII. The Van Ness Mausoleum, Oak Hill Cemetery . . 192
XIII. The Lodge Gate 196
XIV. Van Ness House (south front) 200
XV. Pan-American Building 204
XVI. Tomb of Dr. Beanes before Restoration 216
XVII. Tomb of Dr. Beanes after Restoration 222
XVIII. Tablet to memory- of Dr. Beanes 224
XIX. William Henry Dennis 244
Presidents of the Society.
PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY.
•Dr. J. M. Toner 1894-1896
tJohn A. Kasson 1897-1906
JAlexander B. Hagner 1906-1909
James Dudley Morgan 1909-1916
Allen C. Clark 1916-
♦ Died July 29, 1906.
t Died May 18, 1910.
t Died June 30, 1915.
vi Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
NOTE.
The twenty-second volume of the Records of the Society is
presented to the members and to the public with the confident
hope that the large amount of unusually good historical mat-
ter in this volume will be fully appreciated and made use of.
One of the objects of the Society is to disseminate as widely
as possible historical data in reference to the nation's capital.
In order that this may be successfully accomplished, we need
the encouragement of the people of Washington. The only
source of income of the Society is from membership fees. It
is gratifying to note that since the publication of volume
twenty-one the total membership has been increased from 209
to 310 members.
On October 21st the first meeting of the season was held at
the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, where the Society will
hold its meetings until further notice.
\
ELIBLT I>AT>
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wat»^r niiiri iz. -j.- ::t.-:t "".-i"
dent Liniit. [r.*-? -zi^^'!_7a".
beenina*:»f : :j.-7r x-r- zi.':-:~
at home anti i ? ;i.; -^ L -_
the respon.-i*:L'-: — r :■ .: .i ■'
affairs or :iitr :i;i'.- .:. : -." ■.: -
and tried ni»fn .ii - -r ... :
legislative, aiifi
The rjircui*
the Act of F-^riii.— «"
the court of I'-ii- -■..
three jndsrr^s. • '.:.-: •' :
judges, -J;ime> ^. li'
There wa^ i —■.;:■
cases, in x«'!iic::i T!. ...
was rjickand ii..i -
to Januan* -<i. 1 -^ -
ness and dearii *..-
then a great ma:. ■
the Circuit ^.^u:-*.
character with v .
Judge Morseil .uu:
years, and wa^ jr.ii-
X
••-.
I- ■ ~ <•- <t'
■ 1 ■••
• a^ . . .
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ir- -
- • '- • ;-
•^.•:_..i
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.'.■. . . . "^T"
■ • ■•:
s t
. : ■ 'i
EARLY DAYS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
By job BARNARD.
(Read before the Society, January 15, 1918.)
The early part of the year 1863 found this District
in a greatly disturbed condition by reason of the Civil
War. That struggle had not then reached its high-
water mark in the fierce battle of Gettysburg; Presi-
dent Lincoln's emancipation proclamation had just
been made ; there were many foes of the administration
at home and abroad ; and those who were charged with
the responsibility of conducting the civil and military
affairs of the nation, felt the necessity of having strong
and tried men in every important position, executive,
legislative, and judicial.
The Circuit Court of this District established under
the Act of February 27, 1801 (2 Stat. L. 103) was then
the court of general jurisdiction. It was composed of
three judges. Chief Judge James Dunlop, and assistant
judges, James S. Morsell and William M. Merrick.
There was a separate court for the trial of criminal
cases, in which Thomas H. Crawford was judge. He
was sick and unable to hold court from November, 1862,
to January 26, 1863, when he died. Because of his ill-
ness and death the criminal cases, of which there were
then a great many, were tried by one of the judges of
the Circuit Court, in addition to the cases of a civil
character with which that court was then burdened.
Judge Morsell had been on the bench about forty-eight
years, and was practically superannuated; and there-
2 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
fore the trials of civil and criminal cases all fell upon
two men, Chief Judge Dunlop and Judge Merrick.
There was no method of appeal from the judgments
of this court, except directly to the Supreme Court of
the United States. The condition of the personnel of
the court, and the crowded condition of the dockets, be-
came the subject of inquiry in Congress, and an act
was prepared to reorganize the courts in this District ;
and after earnest debate, the same became a law on
March 3, 1863. (12 Stat. L. 762.)
There was no charge of disloyalty to the Govern-
ment made against either of the judges of the old Cir-
cuit Court, and they might have been nominated for
judges of the Supreme Court of the District of Colum-
bia, created by said act, if the President had deemed it
wise to nominate them ; but at that particular time he
considered it of the utmost importance that there
should be a court in the national capital composed of
judges of national reputation, with positive and strong
convictions in accord with the policies of the adminis-
tration on all questions then disturbing the country.
The said act abolished the Criminal Court, and the Cir-
cuit Court, and transferred all the business, and the
jurisdiction of both these courts, to the new court to
be organized ; and the President was left in freedom to
nominate such men for judges as he might deem ad-
visable.
Under this statute, Mr. Lincoln, on March 11, 1863,
sent to the Senate, then holding an extra session, the
names of four men selected by him to constitute the
new bench, all of whom were well known to the coun-
try to be strong, conservative, and loyal to the ad-
ministration.
Three of these men had been members of Congress
and one was a local man.
\
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 3
David K. Cartter, of Ohio, was named to be chief
justice, and Abraham B. Olin, of New York, George P.
Fisher, of Delaware, and Andrew Wylie, of the District
of Columbia, associate justices, the statute using these
titles to designate the judges, instead of the titles of
chief judge and assistant judges, which were used in
the act creating the old circuit court.
Chief Justice Cartter had been one of the delegates
from Ohio to the Republican convention held in Chi-
cago in 1860, and his influence and vote secured the
four votes from Ohio to be changed from Mr. Chase to
Mr. Lincoln, which gave him a majority on the third
ballot. Before the result of that ballot had been an-
nounced, it was known by those who kept tally, that
Mr. Lincoln had 231^ votes out of a total of 465, and
needed one ballot and a half to constitute a majority.
While the tellers were adjusting the count, and before
the announcement was made Cartter sprang upon a
chair and announced a change of four votes from Ohio,
from Chase to Lincoln, the Ohio delegation up to that
time having voted solidly in each of the three ballots
taken for Chase. This change of vote giving Mr. Lin-
coln a majority, other delegates announced changes of
their votes, until when the result of the vote was finally
announced by the chair, the number had reached 364,
and as soon as the applause that followed permitted,
Mr. Evarts from New York, who spoke for Mr. Seward
and for the New York delegation, moved to make the
nomination unanimous, which was carried with wild
applause (2d volume. Life of Abraham Lincoln, by
Nicolay&Hay, 275).
Justice Olin was a member of the 37th Congress,
which expired on March 3, 1863, and had charge of the
bill in the House, authorizing the draft to fill the quotas
in the Army, which became a law on the last day of that
4 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Congress. He had not only earnestly advocated that
bill, but had, by his service in other matters, greatly
strengthened the legislation in support of the prosecu-
tion of the war, and of the various policies of the ad-
ministration.
Justice Fisher was also a member of the same Con-
gress, and he had been active in support of important
administration measures, and also in endeavoring to
have Mr. Lincoln 's scheme for coinpensated emancipa-
tion adopted by the State of Delaware, a scheme some-
what similar to that which finally became a law appli-
cable to the District of Columbia, and which resulted
in the emancipation of the slaves in this District on
April 16, 1862. The Delaware legislature was to pass
a law abolishing all the slaves then owned in that State,
in ten annual installments, or 180 slaves a year, there
being 1,800; and Congress was to pass an act giving
Delaware bonds for $900,000, without interest, payable
in ten annual installments as the slaves became free,
this being $500 per head. Bills were prepared and sub-
mitted embracing this scheme, but they failed to pass.
Justice Wylie resided in Alexandria, Virginia, at the
time of the election of President Lincoln, and had been
known to be an avowed Republican; and he was the
only man in the city of Alexandria who voted for Mr.
Lincoln. His open avowal of his political principles
had subjected him to threats that he would be shot if
he voted for Mr. Lincoln, and after the election he was
fired upon by some one while sitting on his porch, the
bullet striking and breaking a glass which he held in
his hand, and shortly after that he removed from Alex-
andria to Washington.
The following editorial appeared in the ** Evening
Star" of March 11, 1863, and shows the peculiar condi-
tions then existing in this District :
^
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. $
**Thb District Judiciary.
**Thi8 forenoon the President we know sent to the Senate
the nominations of the following gentlemen to compose the
United States Bench for this District, viz : Hon. D. K. Cartter,
of Ohio, C. J. ; Hon. A. B. Olin, of New York ; Hon. G. P.
Fisher, of Delaware, and Judge Wylie of our late criminal
court.
**In making these appointments it is evident that the Presi-
dent was influenced by considerations growing for the most
part out of the anomalous condition of the District affairs,
arising from the war, for which the country is indebted to
secession.
**The nation at large never had so deep a stake in the af-
fairs of the District of Columbia as at this time, necessarily
far overshadowing any local considerations whatever in the
judgment of the Executive. The country holds him respon-
sible that the administration of justice here shall tend, past
peradventure, to conserve the Government's hold upon the
District and the border States, as the means of ultimately com-
pelling the obedience of the rebellious States to the laws.
** Under the existing condition of affairs here, therefore, it
is by no means strange that in making these appointments he
should have sought nominees known well to the whole country
having this momentous stake involved, rather than gentlemen
of this community, who however well known and confided in
at home, are unknown to the country in connection with the
troubles of the times.
**The gentlemen nominated, with the exception of our fel-
low-citizen Judge Wylie, have all served in Congress, where
the interests of the District never had warmer friends than
they were.
** Their competence is all that our public could ask, while
we may not inappropriately add that all are conservative.
** Under these circumstances we sincerely believe their selec-
tion to be the subject of congratulation to this community.
''Some of our fellow-citizens doubtless have preferred others
on personal grounds, but personal considerations should not
and could not safely be permitted to influence the President 's
6 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
actions in such a case. It is not to be expected that those not
sincerely and thoroughly loyal at heart will approve this ex-
ecutive action, but as that which would please them would, of
course, tend to endanger the safety of the State, it matters
nothing whether they are pleased or not.
**It is to be presumed that the Senate will at once confirm
the nominations in question."
These nominations were confirmed by the Senate on
March 12, but the confirmation of Mr. Justice Wylie
was reconsidered, and as to him, the extra session ad-
journed without further action.
The Senate adjourned on March 13, and on March 18
the President conmiissioned Mr. Justice Wvlie as a re-
cess appointment, and he was qualified with the others,
and they first met in the city hall, no\v the United States
courthouse, to organize the new court on March 23,
1863.
The first official act of the court was to appoint Re-
turn J. Meigs clerk, who gave bond as such in the sum
of $2,000, the bond being approved by the justices, and
the oath of office was administered to him by the chief
justice.
Thereupon they ordered all the record books, papers,
and files appertaining to the old circuit, district, and
criminal courts of the District of Columbia to be
placed in the custody of the clerk.
They also ordered that the clerk make a roll of the
proctors, solicitors, attorneys, and counsellors of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, embracing
therein the names of such proctors, solicitors, attor-
neys, and counsellors, of the District of Columbia, as
shall before him subscribe and take the oath that the
said justices have subscribed and taken— that is to say,
the oath prescribed by the act of Congress entitled,
**An act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other
^
i
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 7
purposes," approved July 2, 1862. This was called
in those days the ** iron-clad oath."
They also ordered a special term of the court to be
held on the first Monday of April, for the trial of crim-
inal cases ; and that a grand and petit jury be selected
and notified to attend at that time. And thereupon
their first meeting was adjourned.
A number of the attorneys took the said oath, and
were entered upon the roll of attorneys of the new
court on the same dav.
Justice Fisher was assigned to hold the criminal
court for the April term, and proceeded to the trial
of numerous criminal cases that were then waiting to
be heard.
On May 4, 1863, the first regular session of the court
met in general term, and caused a memorandum of the
meeting on March 23 to be recorded and made part of
the proceedings of the court in general term, by being
then approved ; and on that day the court ordered that
the rules of practice of the late courts of the District
of Columbia be continued in force for regulating the
proceedings of this court, so far as the same are ap-
plicable thereto, until further order.
In addition to the order providing a bar, made on
the 23d of March, the court ordered that applicants
for admission may be admitted either by special order
of the court, or after examination by a committee of
the bar, to be appointed from time to time ; and, there-
upon, Thomas J. D. Fuller and George Tucker, were,
on motion, admitted to the bar.
William Eedin, Joseph H. Bradley, and Michael
Thompson were appointed a committee to examine
applicants, and, on their report, filed the same day,
Robert B. Caverly and Meigs Jackson were admitted.
Tlie court then ordered a special term to be held,
8 Records of the Coltmibia Historical Society.
commencing on the second Monday of May, for the
trial of all such matters of a civil nature, not requiring
a jury, as appertained to the jurisdiction of this court
at a special term ; and that a special term be held, com-
mencing on Tuesday, the 14th day of May, for the trial
of crimes and offenses arising within the District of
Columbia, and for the delivery of the jail of said Dis-
trict, and ordered a grand and petit jury for that term ;
and also ordered, for the trial of all matters of law re-
quiring a jury, and matters at law and in equity ap-
pertaining to the jurisdiction of this court, a special
term to be held, conmaencing on Monday, June 1, and
that a jury be selected and notified to attend said term.
William Redin, Joseph H. Bradley, Walter D. Dav-
idge, R. H. Gillett, and the clerk of the court were ap-
pointed a conmiittee to prepare rules of practice for
the several courts.
Henry Baldwin, Peter H. Watson, Whiting,
Charles Mason, Joseph J. Coombs, and the clerk were
appointed a conmiittee to prepare rules of practice in
patent cases, and William Redin was appointed audi-
tor in chancery.
The appointment of Hester L. Stevens, previously
made at the special term of the court for criminal busi-
ness, as commissioner in admiralty, was confirmed,
and he was appointed such commissioner.
The court in general term continued to meet from
day to day, admitting aliens to become naturalized as
citizens, and doing such other business as came
before it.
On May 8, 1863, Andrew Hall, a person of color,
under the age of twenty-one, came, by his next friend,
John C. Underwood, and filed a petition for a writ of
habeas corpus, averring that he was unlawfully dis-
seized of his liberty and imprisoned in the common jail
\
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 9
of the District, in custody of Ward H. Lamon, marshal,
and the writ was immediately granted, requiring the
marshal to have the body of said Hall before the court
on the next day at 10 o 'clock ; and at that time the mar-
shal produced the body, and made his return, from
which it appeared that the said Hall had been arrested
by virtue of a warrant issued by direction of Mr. Jus-
tice Wylie, on the petition of George W. Duvall, of
George, a citizen of Prince George's County, Mary-
land, filed April 20, 1863, in which he had set forth
that the said Andrew Hall, and two other negroes
named, had absconded from him, and were fugitives
from service and labor due and owing to him, and that
they were then in the District of Columbia.
Thereupon the case was argued by John Dean and
John JoUiffe, as attorneys for the relator, and by Wal-
ter S. Cox and Joseph H. Bradley, attorneys for the
claimant, the argument lasting several days.
On the 13th, the court ordered a reargument, which
was had on May 21; and on the 22d, the court an-
nounced that it was equally divided, two of the justices
holding that the relator ought to be discharged from
arrest, and the other two being of the opinion that he
is subject to arrest and delivery to his master, under
the fugitive slave law. The court therefore denied re-
lief under the writ of habeas corpus, and remanded
Hall to the custody of the marshal, to be by him safely
kept until the further order of the justice who had or-
dered his arrest, Mr. Justice Wylie.
It appears that thereupon Mr. Justice Wylie dis-
charged him, and his attorneys were afterwards in-
dicted, charged with having, with force and arms, hin-
dered and prevented said Duvall from arresting and
seizing said Hall; and also charged with unlawfully
seizing, carrying away, and rescuing said Hall from
lO Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
the custody and control of said Duvall, his master;
and with assisting and abetting said Hall to escape
from the custody and control of said Duvall, they well
knowing the said Hall to be a fugitive from service and
labor from the State of Maryland.
This case is No. 362 on the criminal docket; but it
appears that no trial was ever had, and the case was
nolle prossed on February 23, 1864.
It will be remembered that the emancipation procla-
mation, signed by President Lincoln, on January 1,
1863, only applied to those States and parts of States
that were then in rebellion against the United States,
which did not include any part of Maryland.
The right to hold slaves in Maryland not having been
affected therebv, slave rv continued in that State until
it was abolished by the new Constitution which was
adopted in October, 1864.
The case of Hall was not the only one where the Su-
preme Court of the District of Columbia was called
upon to arrest fugitive slaves from Maryland, and to
restore them to their masters, there being fifteen
others for which warrants were issued by direction of
Justice Wylie, or Justice t'^sher, from April 14 to
April 20, 1863.
The Hall case, however, seems to be the first case of
importance to be argued before the new court, and it
was of such great interest that each of the judges de-
livered an opinion therein. These are reported in Vol-
ume 6, District of Columbia Reports, page 10.
Chief Justice Cartter and Justice Fisher were of the
opinion that the court had power to execute the fugi-
tive slave law ; and for that reason they were disposed
to remand the petitioner to the marshal, for the pur-
pose of restoring him to his master; but Mr. Justice
Olin, and Mr. Justice Wylie thought that the fugitive
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 1 1
slave law was not applicable to the District of Colum-
bia, and that there was no statutory authority in this
court to assist the owners of fugitive slaves in secur-
ing their property.
Being equally divided, the matter was left as it was
before the argument, and Justice Wylie, entertaining
the views that he did, directed the relator to be dis-
charged. When Hall was on his way out of the court-
house, after such discharge, Mr. Duvall seized him by
the collar, and his friends interfered, and he was again
taken before Justice Wylie, and counsel asked to have
Mr. Duvall punished for a contempt of court. Justice
Wylie intimated that he could not permit Hall to be
seized in the manner in which it had been represented
to him that he had been seized, while in the courthouse ;
but there seems to have been no further action taken
for the alleged contempt, and later it appears that Mr.
Dean also seized Hall, holding him by the collar, to
prevent him from being taken by force by Mr. Duvall.
This contention caused so much disturbance that Mr.
William B. Webb, then chief of police, came to the
courthouse with other officers to protect Hall, and to
prevent a further conflict ri et arm is, took him to the
station house for safe keeping.
The provost marshal, Major Sherburne, sent men
under the command of Lieutenant Baker to the station
house for Hall, and Mr. Webb turned him over to the
military authorities, and later Mr. Webb, Mr. Duvall,
and Mr. Bradley went to the provost marshal to find
out what had been done with him and were told that
he had been sent to the contraband camp to be held
there until Major-General Hitchcock, who was then
commissioner for exchange of prisoners, could hear the
matter next day and say what ought to be done with
him.
12 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
The second grand jury, summoned for the May term,
was composed of the following citizens : Henry Naylor,
foreman ; James S. Casparis, Thomas B. Brown, Wil-
liam H. Forrest, J. W. Fitzhugh, Thomas Purcell,
George A. W. Randall, Robert H. Graham, Horatio E.
Berry, John H. Russell, J. T. K. Plant, A. H. Paul,
John D. Boyd, William Richards, John Corcoran, John
A. Peake, James Wallace, A. G. Pumphrey, and R. W.
Fenwick.
A special report made by them at the close of their
services on June 10 (volume 1, page 242, of the Min-
utes of the Criminal Court), shows the bad condition of
affairs existing at that time in this District. It says
there were then retained indefinitely in the jail many
persons by reason of witnesses having absconded, or
having been sent off with the Army, or for other
causes, and it suggests that a careful canvass of the
jail docket be made, and that an attempt be made to
obtain witnesses in every case to be brought before the
next grand jury, because it says the magnitude of the
evil and suffering caused in this way is so great that
immediate efforts should be made to render the same
better.
It also states that the number of petit cases which
ought to be disposed of by the city magistrates, but
which are brought up to the grand jury, is legion, and
it suggests remedies for that condition.
It further states that the city is full of colored serv-
ants, who are ignorant of law, and the penalty attach-
ing to crime, and who are committed for theft, and that
the jail is not sufficient to hold the great numbers daily
conmaitted.
It suggests the necessity for a house of refuge, or
reform school, to which boys can be sent ; and it calls
attention to other evil conditions which affected the
^
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 1 3
young and verdant soldiers from inland towns of the
different States of the country.
The criminal cases, as shown by Criminal Docket No.
1, which were tried during the first months of this new
court, were not different in character from those usu-
ally tried in criminal courts, save a few who were in-
dicted for procuring soldiers to desert, for aiding and
abetting rebellion, for rescuing fugitive slaves, or for
treason.
The clerk began a new series of numbers for the
cases in the different branches of the court, which
series has continued to the present time.
Abraham Baldwin Olin, son of Gideon Oliri, was bom
in Shaftsbury, Vermont, in 1808. He graduated at
Williams College in Massachusetts in 1835; studied
law, and was admitted to the bar in Troy, New York,
in 1838, of which city he was recorder for three years.
He was elected to Congress as a Republican from the
Troy district, and took his seat December 7, 1857 ; and
he was reelected, and continued in Congress until
March 3, 1863. He remained upon the bench until Jan-
uary 13, 1879, when he retired. He died in Washing-
ton City, July 7 of the same year.
On the occasion of his retirement from the bench,
fifty of the active and prominent members of the bar
sent a letter to him; and on the occasion of his death, a
meeting of the bench and bar adopted appropriate reso-
lutions, which letters and resolutions will be found in
Volume 3 of Mac Arthur's Reports.
The esteem in which he was held by the bar is ex-
pressed by them in these words :
** During the long term that you have been a member of the
court your learning and ability, your almost intuitive percep-
tion of right, your enthusiastic love for justice, your broad
and comprehensive understanding of legal and equitable prin-
14 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
ciples, and your veneration for authority and precedent have
done much to give stability to the judgments of the court and
have illustrated your eminent fitness for the position which
you have occupied.
** During the whole of your service upon the bench our per-
sonal relations have been of the kindest character, and our
respect for you as a judge has always been associated with the
most sincere regard for you as a man/'
The reports in which Justice Olin's opinions appear
are the MacArthur Reports, 3 volumes, and the 6th and
7th D. C. Reports, prepared by Franklin M. Mackey,
volume 6 embracing those cases reported from the or-
ganization of the court in 1863 to November 19, 1868,
and Volume 7 containing cases decided from February,
1869, to February, 1872, inclusive.
Let me quote briefly from one of Justice Olin's opin-
ions, In re Poole, 2 MacArthur, 593.
In this case he discharged a boy from custody of the
marshal under a writ of habeas corpus, and made these
general remarks :
**The first great canon for human conduct is, be obedient to
law, human and divine; and the next one is, mind your own
business. Those who are actuated by benevolence prepense,
are sometimes as troublesome in this world, as those actuated
by malice aforethought.^^ (No. 11031 at Law, decided in
1876.)
George PurnoU Fishor was born in ^lilford, Kent
County, Delaware, October 13, 1817. He attended St.
Mary's College, Baltimore, one year, and then went to
Carlisle, Pa., and graduated from Dickinson College in
18'?8. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in
1841. From 1857 to I860 h(» was attorney-general for
the State of Delaware; and he was elected to the 37th
Congress from that State, and remained there until the
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 1 5
close of his term, March 3, 1863. He continued on the
bench until April, 1870, when he was appointed by Pres-
ident Grant, as Attorney of the United States, for the
District of Columbia, succeeding General Edward C.
Carrington.
His opinions as judge, which have been reported, are
all contained in Volumes 6 and 7, D. C. Eeports.
Mr. Justice Fisher sat in the trial of John H. Surratt,
and during that trial, for use of language, and objec-
tionable conduct which he held to be in contempt of
court, he passed an order striking the name of Mr.
Joseph H. Bradley, one of the attorneys for the de-
fendant, and a leading member of the bar, from the roll
of attorneys of the criminal court.
A bitter controversy grew out of this, and Judge
Fisher was sued for damages by Mr. Bradley, the case
being decided against the plaintiff, and affirmed by the
court in general term, a report of which will be found
in Volume 7, D. C. Eeports, page 32.
The case was then taken by writ of error to the Su-
preme Court of the United States, and there affirmed
by that court. It is reported in 80th United States (13
Wallace), page 335.
Before this case was heard in the Supreme Court of
the United States, the Supreme Court of the District of
Columbia, in general term, had required Mr. Bradley
to show cause why he should not be disbarred from that
court, and on his answer, had made an order striking
his name from the roll of attorneys of the Supreme
Court of the District of Columbia. He then applied to
the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of
mandamus, to compel the Supreme Court of the Dis-
trict of Columbia to restore him to the office of attor-
ney and counselor, from which he alleged he had been
wrongfully removed by the said court, on November 9,
1867.
1 6 Records of the Columbia Historical Society/,
To that petition the Supreme Court of the District
of Columbia made return and the matter was heard and
the writ ordered to issue, the reason alleged in the opin-
ion by Mr. Justice Nelson being that the alleged con-
tempt was committed in the criminal court, which was
a separate court from that of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia, under the terms of the said
act of March 3, 1863, although held by one of its judges ;
and that, therefore, the Supreme Court of the District
of Columbia acted without jurisdiction in removing
Mr. Bradley from its bar, for misconduct in the crim-
inal court. The case is reported in 7th Wallace, 364.
Congress interposed to make the organic act more ex-
plicit, and by act of June 21, 1870 (16 Statutes at
Large, 160), it was provided that the special terms of
the circuit courts, the district courts, and the criminal
courts, authorized by the said act of March 3, 1863,
* * which have been or may be held shall be, and are de-
clared to be, severally, terms of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia."
On receipt of the writ of mandamus from the Su-
preme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court
of the United States, the Supreme Court of the Dis-
trict of Columbia passed an order (1st Minutes Gen-
eral Term, 323), rescinding the order striking Mr.
Bradley 's name from the roll of attorneys ; and at the
same time, by virtue of its power to make rules,
adopted a rule as follows :
**No attorney or counsellor who has heretofore been or may
hereafter be suspended from practice or dismissed from the
bar by the order of either of the courts organized by said act
(March 3, 1863), for contempt of court or professional mis-
conduct, shall be allowed to practice in aily other of said
courts so long as such order shall remain in force. ' '
\
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 1 7
Thereafter Mr. Bradley made several attempts to be
reinstated, claiming that the rule was ex post facto as
to him ; and after much consideration, and by an opin-
ion recorded in the minutes of the general term, the
court indicated that his remedy would be to make an
apology and seek an order in the criminal court setting
aside the order disbarring him there before the court
in general term would undertake to allow him to prac-
tice in the other branches of the court. He refused to
pursue that course, and so the court, by express order,
made the said rule applicable in his case, and his dis-
barment was continued for a number of years. He
was reinstated in his rights at the bar on motion of
Thomas J. Durant on September 28, 1874, shortly
after the de^th of his son, Joseph H. Bradley, Jr. (2
M. G. T., 352).
Justice Fisher remained in his office of United States
Attorney for the District of Columbia until he was suc-
ceeded by Henry H. Wells, and thereafter he resided
in this District and in Delaware. He was First Au-
ditor of the Treasury Department during President
Harrison's administration. He died in this city on the
10th day of February, 1889, in his eighty-second year.
Andrew Wylie was born at Connorsburg, Pa., Feb-
ruary 25, 1814. His father was president of Washing-
ton University in Pennsylvania, and when he was a lad
his father moved to Bloomington, Ind., and became
president of the Indiana State University.
Judge Wylie graduated at Bloomington, and then
went to Lexington, Ky., where he studied law, and at-
tended the Transylvania University. He wanted to
settle in the south, but his father was opposed to hav-
ing him go to a slave State, so he went to Pittsburgh,
and entered the office of Walter Forward, then the
leader of the bar of that city, and who was afterwards
2
1 8 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Secretary of the Treasury. He was admitted to the
bar and began his practice in Pittsburgh and was
elected a member of the city council, and in 1845 was
the city attorney. On March 6, 1845, he married Miss
Mary Caroline Bryan, of Alexandria, Va., a relative
of the Barbour family, of Virginia, and a sister of
Thomas B. Bryan, of Chicago, a former Conamissioner
of this District. Ten days after his return from his
wedding the great Pittsburgh fire occurred, which
swept away about one-third of the city. He then went
to Indiana, and after remaining there a short time re-
turned to Pittsburgh, and finding business there much
disturbed came to Washington City and was admitted
to the bar of the old circuit court on February 19,
1849. He resided, however, in Alexandria City, Va.,
until after the election of President Lincoln in 1860.
Shortly before the 3d of March, 1863, through the
influence of his friends, Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary
of War, and Henry S. Lane, Senator from Indiana,
President Lincoln nominated him for the position of
judge of the criminal court, to succeed Judge Craw-
ford. Before his confirmation by the Senate, the crim-
inal court was abolished, and the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia provided for, and his nomination
was made as one of the justices of that court.
He remained on the bench from March, 1863, until
May 1, 1885, when he retired at the age of seventy-two
years.
He sat in the second trial of John H. Surratt, for
the murder of President Lincoln, when the defendant
was acquitted.
Judge Fisher sat at the first trial, when William B.
Todd was foreman of the jury, which failed to agree
and was discharged.
Justice Wylie issued a writ of habeas corpus for
^
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 19
Mrs. Surratt, but the return was made that the writ
was suspended by order of the President, Andrew
Johnson ; and Mrs. Surratt was executed, without hav-
ing an inquiry under the writ, she having been con-
victed by a military court.
Judge Wylie's first commission is dated March 18,
1863 ; but after he was confirmed by the Senate, he re-
ceived a second commission bearing date January 20,
1864 (IstM. G. T., 46).
The opinions delivered by Justice Wylie, so far as
reported, are all contained in the first ten volumes of
the District of Columbia Reports, ending with 4th
Mackey.
The bar adopted resolutions expressive of their
feelings when he resigned, and they are found in 4th
Mackey.
He died August 1, 1905, at his home in Washington
City, in his ninety-second year.
Memorial services were held in the old circuit court
room, at which Mr. Justice Hagner presided, and Mr.
Nathaniel Wilson read a sketch of his life, showing his
ability and courage as a judge and the appreciation in
which he was held by the bar. This paper and an ac-
count of the proceedings will be found in Volume 33
of the Washington Law Reporter, page 803.
Judge Wylie sat upon the equity bench more than
any other judge during his term. He was also fre-
quently assigned to hear appeals. His independent
mind on legal matters often prevented him from being
able to agree with the majority of the court when he
sat in the general term, so that we find him dissenting
in a number of cases. He was the last surv^ivor of the
original court, although Chief Justice Cartter re-
mained upon the bench longer than any other.
David Kellogg Cartter was bom in Rochester, N. Y.,
20 Records of the Coly/mbia Historical Society,
June 22, 1812. His father was a carpenter, and he
died when David was only 10 years old. The lad
learned to be a printer, beginning the trade under the
instructions of Thurlow Weed. He afterwards studied
law with an older brother and was admitted to the bar
in Rochester in 1834. He married Miss Nancy H. Han-
ford, of Scottsville, N. Y., July 6, 1836. They removed
to Akron, Ohio; afterwards to Massilon, and later to
Cleveland, in all of which places he was engaged in the
practice of the law.
He was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1849,
and remained in Congress until March 3, 1853. He
was appointed by President Lincoln as Minister to
Bolivia, S. A., in March, 1861.
He was chief justice of this court from March 11,
1863, until his death, April 16, 1887, in the seventy-
fifth year of his age.
Resolutions adopted by the bar upon his death will
be found in 5th Mackey, which is the last volume in
which any of his reported opinions are found.
During his incumbency in office the Supreme Court
of the District of Columbia had been increased to six
members. Justice MacArthur having been appointed
as the fifth justice, July 15, 1870, under act of June 21,
1870 (16 Statutes at Large, 160) ; and Justice Cox
having been appointed as the sixth justice, March 1,
1879, under act of February 25, 1879 (20 Statutes at
Large, 320). The said act of June 21, 1870, abolished
the orphan's court and added its jurisdiction to the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
Chief Justice Cartter was a man of great strength
of mind, imbued with a strong sense of justice; and he
had through his life been a great reader, although in
his later years he read much less than formerly. He
had quaint and original ways that naturally attracted
\
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 2 1
attention. His personal appearance was remarkable.
He had a leonine face, roughly marked by smallpox.
He had a noticeable impediment in his speech, gen-
erally stopping in the middle of a word, which seemed
to give force to his utterances rather than to detract
from them.
The members of the bar who practiced before him,
will no doubt readily recall many of the peculiar words
of his vocabulary. The word ** supervene" was one
that he frequently used in his opinions.
Chief Justice Cartter had an active mind as well as
an original one. He obtained several patents for in-
ventions, one of which, obtained in November, 1876,
was for a ventilating device for windows, etc. It is
the device that he had put in operation in the windows
of the courthouse, its object being to provide a con-
stant current of fresh and pure air through the room
without the irregular drafts and currents attendant
upon open doors and windows. This device consists
essentially of a ventilating chamber or casing per-
manently located between the frame and sash of the
window, opening downward into the external air, and
upward into the interior of the room, and which can be
opened and closed by a rod at the side of the window.
In January, 1879, he obtained letters patent on a
car-truck for street-railways, the device consisting in
having an independent axle for each wheel of the rail-
way car, joumaled in a swiveling-box at the outer end,
and joumaled in a box mounted in curved guides at
the inner end, the whole scheme being an invention to
obviate the difficulties attendant upon turning curves
with cars on street railways.
About the same time he also took out letters patent
on an improvement in coverings for beds, the object
of which was to support the coverings of a bed, so that
22 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
they would not come in inunediate contact with the
person, and the improvement was intended to alleviate
the conditions of the sick and debilitated, so that they
could be made more comfortable, and could be more
convenientlv treated.
Mr. James L. Norris was his attorney in securing
these patents.
Chief Justice Cartter met with a sore loss while he
was Minister to Bolivia, in the death of his youngest
son, David K. Cartter, Jr., who was a member of the
Second Ohio Infantry. He died at Fort Scott, Kans.,
August 12, 1862, of typhoid fever. He was a young
man about twenty-one years of age, and had been with
his father previously in Bolivia. This loss so aflfected
him that it was said to be the moving cause for resign-
ing his position as minister and his return to Ohio.
A peculiar duty which Chief Justice Cartter per-
formed was that of administering the oath of office to
the cabinet ministers. It is said that he had sworn in
all of the cabinet ministers, from the time of his ap-
pointment as chief justice of his court up to and in-
cluding Robert T. Lincoln and the other members of
the cabinet of President Garfield in 1881.
He was on intimate terms with manv of these cabinet
officers, including Seward, Stanton, Fish, Chandler,
and Grant, and w^as recognized by them as a valued
adviser.
With such men as Senators Wade, and Chandler,
and the w^ar leaders of Congress, he held a close rela-
tion to Mr. Lincoln.
He was frequently called upon to preside at mass
meetings of citizens in the District of Columbia, one
notable occasion being the meeting at Lincoln Hall, on
January 20, 1880, to consider measures for the relief
of the suffering poor of Ireland. On that occasion the
S
i
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 23
hall was crowded, and among those on the platform
were Senators Thurman of Ohio, Kernan of New
York, Jones of Florida, Samuel J. Randall, Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Representatives Ben-
jamin Butterworth of Ohio, J. E. Kenna of West Vir-
ginia, Gr. B. Loring of Massachusetts, Fred Douglass,
then marshal of this District, Hon. J. R. Hawley, Mr.
A. M. Clapp, W. W. Corcoran, Rev. J. E. Rankin, and
many other well-known citizens and officials.
As a specimen of his manner of speaking and think-
ing, I read his opening remarks at that meeting, as
published in the National Republican of January 21,
1880.
^^Fellow-citizens: After considering my acknowledgments in
view of the compliment to myself in calling me to preside over
your deliberations, and in view of the fact that the existing
distress and personal suffering obtaining in Ireland are more
or less complicated with political and property considerations,
the relative rights of Ireland as a constituent of the British
Empire, and the legal and relative rights of landlord and ten-
ant in the disposition of titles, you will permit me to disavow,
on your behalf and for myself, any purpose through the
agency of this meeting to influence either of these consid-
erations.
**\Vith us, as a republic, it has become a principle of inter-
national action, so often published and uniformly practiced
as to become a constitutional tradition, that we will not inter-
fere with the domestic political relations of the nations of
Europe nor permit them to interfere with ours. This prin-
ciple, right in itself, is eminently wise when applied to our
peculiar territorial conditions, made inaccessible for purposes
of invasion or external violence by the two oceans which stand
guard on the east and the west, and possessed between them
of all the material elements of comfort. Personally and as a
people wo are in the condition of absolute independence, and
if trouble comes to this people we must borrow it by going
abroad or create it within ourselves at home.
24 Records of the Colwmbia Historical Society.
** Again, we have no interest in or control over the property
relations of the subjects of Great Britain. They may be
wrong, and, with reference to the tenure of real estate, they
are wrong as viewed by us. Primogeniture and entail are in-
hibited by our Constitution and discouraged by the genius of
all our institutions. Nevertheless, the inviolability of titles
and the sacred character of contracts are watched with as
much jealousy by our institutions and people as any nation on
the globe, and it is eminently proper it should be so.
**The fee simple titles and a home are within the reach of
every man having health, industry, and economy, and when
health fails no people are quicker to rescue the unfortunate
from want. Those homes are indispensable among a free, self-
governed people. Inside of these homes are first taught the
lessons of authority and obedience, self-reliance and manhood,
and in and around them are gathered the guarantees against
future want — the providence of the husbandman. Without
them and without the title that secures them to the owner
would supervene agra nanism and communism not indigenous
and as yet unnaturalized in this country.
**I have felt it proper to make this brief disavowal of the
purposes of this meeting with a view of promoting its true
object. We are assembled to organize the instrumentality of
an instant active charity for the relief of the famishing under
the supreme law of humanity, which tolerates no discrimina-
tion on account of geography, but makes every man our neigh-
bor and brother, and in the case of the appeal now made to us
we ought to come to the relief with cheerful good will. The
suflferers are largely of our bone and blood, largely identified
with our beginning and progress; a people constitutionally
hospitable and generous; a people wlio, under like circum-
stances, would do to others as thoy would we should do unto
them.''
One who had heard him in the campaign of 1856,
when he left the Democratic party and joined the Re-
publican party, says of him that he put into the Fre-
mont campaign all the vigor and energy he possessed.
^
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court. 25
He stumped Ohio and Pennsylvania with great effect,
and was regarded as the best stump speaker in the
campaign.
The author had heard him at Franklin, Pa., and
again in Meadville, and says that the little impediment
or stutter in his speech added greatly to the strength
and charm of his words and manner.
(See an article entitled ** Celebrities at Home," in
The Republic, a weekly journal of politics and society,
published in Washington, October 30, 1880.)
In 1886, at the opening of the January term of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, holding a
general term, there were present Justices MacArthur,
Hagner, Cox, James, and Merrick on the bench, when
the picture of Chief Justice Cartter, painted by Mr.
Charles Armor, was presented to the court by Mr.
Reginald Fendall on behalf of the bar. In accepting
this picture for the court, Mr. Justice MacArthur said
that it was a very satisfactory likeness, the features in
fine relief, the expression excellent, perhaps a little
severe, as if the chief justice was in the act of smash-
ing a frivolous motion. He also said :
**The chief justice had sat there nearly a quarter of a cen-
tury, and they all knew the extraordinary ability he has shown
— perhaps unparalleled — and that when in the future they
should look upon this picture they would be reminded of his
strong utterances. '*
His vigorous style of speech was evidently acquired
before he came upon the bench, for in Ben Perley
Poore's Reminiscences, Vol. 1, page 390, the author
speaks of Chief Justice Cartter, then a member of
Congress, and says that, in criticizing Daniel Web-
ster's action as Secretary of State in negotiating with
the Barings, Corcoran & Riggs, and Howland & As-
26 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
pinwall drafts in pajTnent of Mexican indemnity money
for 3i per cent, premium, instead of accepting August
Belmont's offer to negotiate them for 4 per cent, pre-
mium, Justice Cartter used this language:
**I want the House to understand that I take no part with
the house of Rothschild, or of Baring, or of Corcoran & Riggs.
I look upon their scramble for money precisely as I would
upon the contest of a set of black-legs around a gaming table
over the last stake. They have all of them grown so large in
gormandizing upon money that they have left the work of
fleecing individuals, and taken to the enterprise of fleecing
nations. ' '
His original manner of speech is illustrated by many
anecdotes that are still told of him among the older
members of the bar.
Here is one which appeared in the Editor's Drawer
in Harper's Magazine for September, 1873:
**At a late term of the Circuit Court of the District of
Columbia, Chief Justice Cartter presiding, the dignity of the
proceedings was quite upset by the following incident :
**A suit was pending in which the plaintiff claimed full con-
tract price for work partially performed, but not finished on
account of fraud on the part of the defendant. The defense
was that the plaintiff was not entitled to more than quantum
meruit, because the defendant enjoyed no benefit from the
work. The chief justice, who is troubled with a slight im-
pediment of speech, speedly settled the point by stating, *If a
ma-a-an hired another ma-a-an to r-r-rub him with a br-r-ick,
he's g-got to p-pay for it wh-whether he enj-j-joys it or not.' ''
Another storv is this: An attornev in the trial of a
case before him was insisting with great earnestness
that there had been an unbroken line of decisions in
accordance Avith his contention for more than a hun-
dred years. The authorities seemed to the chief jus-
\
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court, 2J
ticc to be based upon narrow or technical grounds, and
not in accordance with his ideas of what was right and
just under the facts developed in the case. He stopped
the attorney and said to him, **You say that there has
not been a decision of any of the courts contrary to
your contention, for one hundred years? "
The attorney assured him that such was the fact.
Then the chief justice said: '* Don't you think it is
about time there was one? " and then added: ** There is
going to be one in about five minutes. ' '
The attorney was so taken back by the intimation
from the bench, that he suspended his argument, and
the line of decisions was at once broken by the ruling
of the chief justice.
On one occasion I remember to have heard him de-
liver a brief oral opinion in general term, in a judg-
ment creditor's suit. The bill had been filed some
twenty years before, seeking payment from the equi-
ties which the judgment defendant then had in certain
real estate which was covered by mortgages or deeds
of trust, securing bona fide debts greater than the
value of the land. The complainant did not prosecute
his suit further than to file his bill, have process served,
and an answer filed, showing the actual incumbrances.
The case then slept until in the course of time the
mortgages were discharged, and the property had been
conveyed to other parties; and when an owner, who
knew nothing of the lis pendens, was about transfer-
ring his title, a diligent title examiner found the suit
still undisposed of, and reported it as a possible ob-
jection. The solicitor for the complainant, on being
reminded of the case, undertook to proceed with it, and
obtained a decree which would have taken an innocent
purchaser's title from him if enforced. The owner,
who had been made a party defendant, took an ap-
28 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
peal, and the chief justice, in pronouncing the opin-
ion of the court in general term, reversing the decree
and remanding the case with directions to dismiss the
bill, said, that * * The complainant had allowed the case
to sleep so long, that it would be a sin against somnam-
bulism to wake it up now. ' '
Another time I remember a case was being tried
before him in which Mrs. Belva Lockwood was the at-
torney for the personal representative of a decedent.
In her argument she became quite earnest, and in a
high voice said, that if the court should decide con-
trary to the principle for which she was contending,
the deceased would got up out of his grave to pro-
test against it. At this point, the chief justice raised
his hand gently, and said: ** Never mind, Mrs. Lock-
wood, never mind; he won't get out."
It is not, however, for his strong language in speech,
or his anecdotes from the bench, that Chief Justice
Cartter should be best remembered. It is rather for
his love of justice, as expressed in many of his opin-
ions, his strong common sense, his fearlessness in the
discharge of his duty, and his efforts to preserve indi-
vidual libertv.
Among the more important cases heard by him was
that of Ilallet Kilbourn. Mr. Kilboum had been sum-
moned before a special committee of the House of Rep-
resentatives in March, ISTfi, as a witness, and declined
to answer certain (luestions asked him concerning cer-
tain real estate transactions in which it was thought
Jay Cooke & Co. had been involved, and also declined
to produce certain private papers called for. He was
then brought before the House, where he a^ain di»-
clined to answer the questions or to produce the papers
called for, when he was adjudged to be in contempt
and was arrested by the sergeant-at-arms by direction
L
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court, 29
of the House of Representatives and imprisoned in the
jail of this District.
After Mr. Kilboum had refused to answer questions
and to produce papers before the committee the
Speaker, under the provisions of sections 102, 103, and
104 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, had
certified the fact to the District Attorney, who was
then Henry H. Wells, and an indictment had been
found against him, which was pending in this court,
being No. 11,290 on the criminal docket.
Being confined in jail by the sergeant-at-arms, and
awaiting trial on the indictment for the same oflfense,
that of refusing to answer questions or produce
papers, Kilboum filed a petition, No. 11,314 on the
criminal docket, for a writ of habeas corpus, and the
same was issued by order of Chief Justice Cartter and
made returnable before him in chambers.
The petitioner was represented by Jeremiah S.
Black, Matt H. Carpenter, Walter D. Davidge, Noah
L. Jeflfries, Charles A. Eldredge, and Daniel W. Voor-
hecs; and the sergeant-at-arms, or the House of Rep-
resentatives, was represented by Col. Robert Christy
and Samuel Shellabarger.
The arguments on both sides were very able, and
lasted for several davs. I was then an assistant in the
office of the clerk of this court, and at the request of
Chief Justice Cartter, who asked me to hear the case
and give it my best consideration as a lawyer, I sat in
the court room and took notes of the arguments, and
prepared for him the statement of the case which ap-
pears in the record. He dictated the opinion to me,
word for word, as he walked back and forth in the con-
sultation room, and when written out it was annexed
to the statement and all published as coming from
him. He was not a man, however, to take the credit
30 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
for something which he did not do, and a day or two
afterward, I heard Judge Shellabarger say to him, that
his statement of the ease, in this opinion, was a better
one than he could have made himself. Chief Justice
Cartter promptly disclaimed any part in making the
statement, saying that it was all my work. I consid-
ered this a great compliment, coming as it did from
Judge Shellabarger, whose ability in stating a case
was one of the principal elements of his well-earned
reputation as a distinguished lawyer.
In this case Chief Justice Cartter ha(f to decide
against the judgment of the House of Representatives,
in ordering the petitioner to be confined in jail; or he
had to pronounce unconstitutional or inoperative the
statute which had been passed by both houses of Con-
gress, and approved by the President, providing for
the punishment for this character of contempt.
He reached the conclusion, in the able opinion pro-
nounced by him, that the House was wrong in under-
taking to punish for contempt contrary and in addi-
tion to, the method prescribed by the act of Congress ;
and he therefore ordered the discharge of the pris-
oner from the custody of the sergeant-at-arms, and the
United States jail, and remanded him to the criminal
court for trial.
I think the case was never tried, but Kilboum
brought suit against the sergeant-at-arms, for dam-
ages for false arrest, being suit No. 16,288 at law.
To this suit the sergeant-at-arms, the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and John M. Glover, and
other members of the special committee, wore made
defendants.
The sergeant-at-arms justified his action under the
Speaker's warrant. The other defendants pleaded the
general issue, and justification in special pleas. Kil-
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court, 3 1
bourn demurred to the special pleas, which demurrer
was overruled, and judgment entered for the defend-
ants ; and a writ of error was sued out to the Supreme
Court of the United States. The case was heard in
that court, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia was sustained as to the
Speaker, and other members of the House of Repre-
sentatives, but was reversed as to Thompson, the ser-
geant-at-arms ; and the speaker's warrant was held to
be no defense to the action. Kilbourn v. Thompson,
103 U. S., 168.
The case then came on for trial in the Supreme Court
of the District of Columbia, and the jury found a ver-
dict for the plaintiff, assessing his damages at $100,000.
The court on motion set this verdict aside because of
excessive damages. The plaintiff then amended his
declaration and averred special damages.
The case was tried a second time before Mr. Justice
Cox, when the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff
for $60,000, and that verdict was also set aside on the
ground of excessive damages.
The case was again tried and a verdict rendered for
$37,500. A remittitur was ordered to be entered of
$17,500 or stand a further new trial. The remittitur
was entered and the $20,000 remaining was paid. See
Kilbourn v. Thompson, MacArthur & Mackey, 401.
During the twenty-four years that Chief Justice
Cartter presided in this court there were, beside the
three associate justices appointed with him, seven
other associate justices, namely. Justice David C.
Humphreys, appointed May 13, 1870, as successor to
Justice Fisher, resigned; Justice Arthur MacArthur,
appointed July 15, 1870 ; Justice Alexander B. Hagner,
appointed January 21, 1879, to succeed Justice Olin,
retired; Justice Walter S. Cox, appointed March 1,
32 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
1879; Justice Charles P. James, appointed July 24,
1879, as successor to Justice Humphreys, deceased;
Justice Wm. M. Merrick, appointed May 1, 1885, as
successor to Justice Wylie, retired ; and Justice Martin
V. Montgomery, appointed April 1, 1887, as successor
to Justice MacArthur, retired.
During these twenty-four years, through the joint
efforts of the bench and bar, printed reports of many
of the decisions of this court were secured. The attor-
neys organized the Law Reporter Company, and Jus-
tice MacArthur, as a work of love, started the reports,
they being, as a rule, first published in The Law Re-
porter and then in book form in the MacArthur, the
MacArthur & Mackey, and Mackey's Reports.
Previous to the first MacArthur, which was pub-
lished in 1875, there had been no reports of the opin-
ions of the courts of this District $ince those of Judge
Cranch were brought to a close in 1840, a period of
thirty-five years.
If I may be pardoned for another personal remark,
I will say that I had some small part in the history of
this resumption of the reports. I was an assistant
clerk in the court from June, 1873, to June, 1876, and
wrote shorthand ; and I was frequently called upon by
the judges to report their oral opinions delivered in
general term, and I assisted Justice MacArthur in get-
ting together many of those which he published in the
first volume. In the preface to this volume Justice
MacArthur thanks the members of the bar and the
clerks for their assistance, and then does me the honor
to add: **My thanks are especially due to Mr. Barnard
for numerous transcriptions of his shorthand notes of
oral opinions."
Of all the officers connected with the court, when it
was first organized, none remain except four of the
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court, 33
members of the old bar, namely, Wm. F. Mattingly,^
Nathaniel Wilson, Eugene Carusi, and Samuel L.
Phillips.
During these twenty-four years the court witnessed
three bloodless revolutions in the government of this
District, and the futile efforts of Logan U. Reavis to
have the capital removed to St. Louis. It saw the last
mayor and common council and witnessed the aboli-
tion of the city governments of Washington and
Georgetown and of the levy court; it saw the exper-
iment of voting for a delegate in Congress and mem-
bers of the District legislature, and the administration
of two governors, and it saw the beginning of the gov-
ernment by Commissioners. It heard the city groan
under the weight of its own inertia, and then saw it
spring forward toward its present beauty, and wealth,
and comfort under the herculean energies of Governor
Shepherd and his co-workers.
It saw the excitement and sorrow attending the
assassination of two Presidents— Lincoln and Gar-
field; and one of its members. Justice Cox, tried the
assassin, Guiteau, and he was executed under the war-
rant of the court.
During this time the Bar Association of this Dis-
trict was organized, and the accumulation of its val-
uable library was begun. In this time, too, the court,
through the efforts of Chief Justice Cartter, secured
the appropriation and had the addition or new part
built to the courthouse, which is now the north half of
the building.
During these twenty-four years the Supreme Court
of the District of Columbia did much to advance the
cause of good order and good government, not only for
this District, with its steadily increasing population,
but for the nation at large.
I Died at Washington, D. C, Oct. 7, 1918.— Ed.
3
34 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Its broad jurisdiction and its location at the nation's
capital, brought before its judges many important
causes, such as could not have arisen in other courts,
either State or Federal. It was clothed with all the
common law powers of the State courts, and all the
statutory powers of the United States circuit and dis-
trict courts.
On the death of Chief Justice Cartter, a meeting of
the bench and bar was called, at which Mr. Justice
Wylie presided, and at which resolutions were adopted,
expressing the esteem in which he was held. These
will be found in Volume 15 of The Washington Law
Reporter, 245-247. In the same place will also be
found a record of the announcement of his death by
Mr. Worthington, then United States District Attor-
ney, in the court in general term; and the remarks of
Mr. Justice Hagner at that time, from which I quote
a few sentences ; and they seem appropriate in closing
this sketch, as Justice Hagner became the last survivor
of the ten associate justices who sat upon the bench
with Chief Justice Cartter.
Justice Hagner said of him, among other things, that
**he possessed a mind of great breadth and vigor, and
of rare acuteness; with a faculty of perceiving with
rapidity and clearness those points in a cause which
he considered decisive of the real questions involved.
His opinions, which were always pronounced extem-
poraneously, were couched in language peculiarly
characteristic of the qualities of his mind and disposi-
tion, original in style, frequently sententious and epi-
grammatic, always striking, sometimes abounding in
quaint humor; there was rarely absent from his deliv-
erances some sentence or expression that would fix
itself upon the attention and be carried away in the
memorv of those who listened. And whatever he said
Barnard: Early Days of the Supreme Court, 35
was delivered in a voice and with a manner so ani-
mated and impressive that communicated an interest
to discussion that might have otherwise been dull and
unattractive. Nature had bestowed upon him a mass-
ive form and striking physiognomy, a highly express-
ive countenance, and an aspect intelligent, almost
leonine, in its strength.
**It is with Chief Justice Cartter in his sphere as a
member of this court that we may appropriately speak
of him. There were other relations in which, as a
public man, the country at large knew him well. As a
lawyer long in full practice, as a legislator in the halls
of Congress, as holding a high diplomatic position, and
as the associate of prominent men in trying times, he
filled a conspicuous place in the history of his time.
He will long be remembered in this community, where
he lived so long, and especially by the members of the
bar, who knew him so well, and could best appreciate
his mental endowments and his great natural gifts."
CHRISTIAN UINICS, AUTHOR OF ^^EARLY
RECOLLECTIONS OF WASHINGTON
CITY," WITH NOTES ON THE
HINES FAMII>Y.
By JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR, LL.M.
(Read before the Society, March 19, 1918.)
C-hristiaii Iliiies, author of *' Early Recollections of
Washington City," was born near Liberty, Frederick
County, Maryhmd, in 1781, and resided in that county
until 171M), as is evident by the census returns for that
year. It must have been the latter part of this year,
however, that he settled with his parents in George-
town. Here, as he states, they resided at the junction
of High and Market streets— now Wisconsin Avenue
and Thirty-third Street — in a large two-story log
house, until December, 1799, when his people moved to
F Street, ])etween Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth
Streets, Northwest, Washington City. From here
they moved to the block bounded by D and E and
Twentv-first and Twentv-second Streets. Prior to
leaving Georgetown, his father had purchased of Wil-
liam Thompson, Kscj., a building lot on the south side
of F Street between Tenth and Eleventh Streets,
Northwest, opposite where is now the mammoth de-
partment store of Woodward & Lothrop, and on the
most prominent thoroughfare in the District of Co-
lumbia. Here his father erected a modest dwelling
in IHIMI, and occupied it the same year; it being the
first building erected in this block. It was here, his
father, John Mines, died in IHIG.
J6
\
Proctor: Christian Hines. 37
Prior to the War of 1812, Christian Hines was a
member of Eichard S. Briscoe's Company of Militia,
which was attached to the First Legion in the City of
Washington. During the early part of 1813 he was
ensign, or lieutenant, in the same Company, but from
May 20 to August 19, of that year, he served as lieu-
tenant under Captain Stephen Parry. As lieutenant,
he participated in the Battle of Bladensburg, his bat-
talion being commanded by Major Adam King, under
Colonel Carbery. From August 9 to October 8, 1814,
he was directly under Captain Briscoe and attached to
the Third Regiment. At the close of the war he was
elected Captain of his Company, but declined the
honor.
After the capture of Washington, in August, 1814,
he was elected, together with William Worthington and
John Gardiner, Esq., a committee to make collections
among the citizens of Washington for the purpose of
employing workmen to go to Fort Washington to assist
in repairing it, and he was selected to secure men for
this purpose. lie repaired to the fort where he and
his men remained for sixteen days. It was his pleas-
ure, upon this occasion, to meet and partake of a
friendly glass of wine with the celebrated engineer.
Major Pierre Charles L 'Enfant, to whose credit is due
the designing of the plan of the Federal Capital.
In his ** Early Recollections" he gives the following
men who accompanied him on that occasion: John
Conly, Timothy Ilerrity, John Donoho, Thomas Ladan,
Morgan Donoho, George Esling, Levi Shaw, Michael
Greager, John Tidings, Edward Crowly 1st, Michael
Herrity, Edward Crowly 2d, Samuel Duval, James
Gray, John Tiernan, James Esling, Samuel Douglass,
Richard Bannister, William Linkins, John Linkins,
James Troth, Leonard Ellis, Michael King, Lloyd
38 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Jones, Patrick Larner, and William Hayward. The
collections from the public for this expedition not
being sufficient, Christian Hines was forced to draw
on his own funds for the payment of the balance of the
expense incurred, which, however, was afterward re-
turned to him.
Many years after the close of the War of 1812, he
was granted a pension for his participation therein,
the certificate being numbered 2661, allowing him $8 a
month from February 14, 1871. In addition to this,
the record shows he was awarded bounty lands.
From 1822 to 1843, he and his brother Matthew kept
a grocery store at the southwest comer of Twentieth
and I streets, northwest, which property probably be-
longed to them as early as 1811 for in that year his
niece, the writer's grandmother, was born there.
From here they moved around the comer to 822
Twentieth Street, where they conducted a furniture
store until the death of Matthew Hines, in 1862, when
Christian Hines continued the business alone until his
death, and it was from here his funeral took place.
The site is now occupied by the Kidder building, and
is the home of Friendship Lodge of Odd-fellows.
His enterprises at one time covered a large field.
One of his ventures, which will be especially interest-
ing to the present generation, occurred in the spring
of 1828, when he and his brother, Matthew, purchased
from Ann Maria Thornton, for $5,650, fifty-six and
one half acres of land lying just outside the city limits
of Washington. The property consisted of two farms,
one containing twenty-two and three fourths acres and
was called Mount Pleasant, the adjoining farm con-
tained thirtv-three and three fourths acres. Of the
purchase price stipulated, $1,500 was paid at the time
of sale. The Bond of Conveyance is dated May 17,
Proctor: Christian Mines. 39
1828, and was recorded November 15, 1828, in Liber
W.B. 23, pp. 434r-436, in the office of the Recorder of
Deeds for the District of Columbia.
The principal object for the purchasing of this land
was for the purpose of cultivating silkworms, and for
this purpose a number of mulberry trees were planted,
some of which remained growing until recent years.
Here they built a home of the bungalow type— a-story-
and-a-half high and about twenty-five feet square. As
late as the eighties this house was a landmark in this
section, surrounded by a number of June pear-trees,
and facing the main highway to the west— now desig-
nated as Columbia road. These old trees, planted al-
most a century ago, were still growing and bearing
fruit as late as 1915, when they were repaoved, in No-
vember of that year, to make way for the Belmont, a
large apartment house, situated at the southeast cor-
ner of Belmont and Columbia roads.
In the northern part of this tract of land, some mem-
bers of the Hines family were buried. As near as can
be ascertained, the burial plot was located about in the
rear of stores 2440 to 2444 Eighteenth street, north-
west, and adjoining the southern wall of CrandalPs
Knickerbocker Theatre, where a few trees of the forest
primeval are still standing. In trying to locate this
God's acre, a letter was received from Mrs. M. L.
Sands, a daughter of the late John Little, the last
owner of the property before it was subdivided and
who purchased it December 7, 1836. The letter is
written from the **Mendota," is under date of March
30, 1915, and is in part as follows :
**The burying g^round you spoke of was in an oak grove not
far from the old pear trees and on the same side of the street,
there are no trees left and every trace of the g^raves gone.
There was never a stone to mark any of the graves. I only
40 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
remember hearing my parents say that the Hines were buried
there. It was used for a burial place for our family servants
and I think my mother had two very young children buried
there. The place is entirely built over by small stores on
18th St."
After the lapse of nearly a century, it would un-
doubtedly prove a difficult task to locate exactly these
fifty-six acres of land. The following is the descrip-
tion given in the Bond of 1828 :
** Beginning at a stone No. 30, standing near the main road
leading from the city of Washington to Mr. Johnson's Mill on
Rock Creek, it being the end of the third line of a tract of
land called plain dealing and running by and with said third
line reversed with two and a quarter degrees west, eighty six
perches to intersect the second line of a tract of land called
Jame's Park then by and with the second line south eighty-
nine degrees west seventy perches to the end thereof, then by
and with the third line south fourteen degrees east thirty-one
perches then east thirty-five perches to a stone No. 6 it being
a corner stone the lands of Thomas W. Pairo and John
Holmead.''
In a general way, it is believed to have been bounded
on the south by Florida avenue ; on the east by Cham-
plain avenue, as far north as Columbia Road; on the
west by Nineteenth street, as far north as Columbia
Road, and thence west to Rock Creek, which stream
seems to have formed the continuation of the western
boundaiy; Adams Mill road, from Rock Creek, east-
ward to Columbia Road, was probably the northern
boundary line.
It is evident that the silkworm industry proved un-
profitable, and from the record, one would infer that
the Hines brothers had in some way defaulted, for, in
1836, this property was deeded to the John Little
before mentioned.
Proctor: Christian Hines, 4^
While it belonged to the Hineses, the heavily wooded
portion along Eock Creek was known as * * The Cedars. ' '
Later it took the name of its new owner and was called
** Little's Woods," and will be remembered by many
as a popular place for Sunday-school picnics in the
late seventies.
Today, this is one of the finest sections of the Na-
tional Capital. It is covered with large apartment
houses and many handsome and costly residences, the
value of which would run well up into the millions.
Indeed, one can hardly realize that this magnificent
section, which houses so many of Washington's elite,
was once Hines ' farm.
As creditable as Christian Hines' militarv record
may be, and however interesting his business ventures
may prove, yet it is as a writer of local history that he
will be ever remembered by the people of Washington.
In 1866, after having jotted down for many years, as
he states, numerous incidents of which he had a per-
sonal knowledge, he issued his ** Early Recollections
of Washington City." This little volume of 96 pages,
though comparatively insignificant in appearance
when compared with a number of later and more elab-
orately printed and bound books on the District of Co-
lumbia, contains considerable original matter, and,
indeed, few subsequent historians have failed to quote
it in extenso. One of the best writers, in particular,
has seen fit to reprint ten pages of the Hines book in
his own volume, in addition to making from it many
quotations.
Christian Hines was not a book-maker, and had little
if any experience in preparing copy for the printer,
and this lot happily fell to the writer's father, John
Clagett Proctor, 1st, who had married the old gentle-
man's grandniece, and who gave to the subject as much
42 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
time as his duties as city editor of the Natiqnal Repub-
lican would permit. While these details were being
looked after, Christian Hines was a frequent visitor to
the Proctor home, and after its completion, continued,
occasionally, to drop in, so long as he was able to get
about. Although quite young at the time, the writer
remembers, upon one of those latter visits, of seeing
this venerable man, whose great age and mass of
wrinkles indelibly fixed themselves on his youthful
mind.
Christian Hines had a most wonderful memory, and
fortunately retained his mental faculties up to the end
of his life. He was frequently visited by newspaper
men in (luest of interesting information of events of
the past, and one of these visits has been so beautifully
pictured by the celebrated Civil War correspondent,
George Alfred TowTisend, in his *' Historical Sketches
at Washington," that its repeating here is deemed ap-
propriate and proper. Mr. Towiisend says -}
**To talk with a man eighty-nine years of age, who has
passed all his life on one spot, and has a good memory for all
the incidents respecting it, is in itself instructive. If your
acquaintance should chance to have passed all his life on the
site of the Capital City, and is able to recollect distinctly
events between 1797 and 1878, you will converse with him
1 The writer apologizes for calling attention to a few inaccuracies in Mr.
Townsond's excellent tribute to Christian Hines:
When ** Early Recollections of Washington City*' was published, its
author was 85, and not 82 years of age.
Christian Hines' father had twelve, and not thirteen children.
The vessel load of emigrants referred to came from Prussia and settled
in Maryland in 177.'i.
Thirty years before the Revolution what is now Montgomery County
was Prince (Jeorge's County. At that <late — 1740 — (^hristian Hines'
father was onlv two vears old.
No record of the Hineses being in Maryland as early as 1755 (when
Braddock marched from Georgetown to Frede^rick) has been found. It
was no doubt subsequent to this that they left Pennsylvania.
Proctor: Christian Hines, 43
with perhaps greater satisfaction than with the oldest denizen
of any other town in America, because his experience will
span the entire personal life of the nation.
** There are in Washington several old men who recollect
General Washington. One of them is Noble Hurdle, of
Georgetown, living at No. 176 High street, who is said to be
ninety-six years old, and to have a grandchild past forty. An-
other, Christian Hines, I went to see a few days ago, who was
eighty-nine years of age, and was an object of curiosity for
relic hunters and people who wished to ask questions on old
sites and points of interest. At the age of eighty-two, he pub-
lished at his own expense, a pamphlet of 96 pages, entitled
* Early Recollections of Washington City,' but he was in very
straitened circumstances, and the little book was not remu-
nerative, so that much which he might have committed to
print was allowed to go to waste. He had a clear apprehen-
sion, however, that in his remarkable old age and keen mem-
ory, Providence had left him some dignity worth living for,
in being of use to the future historians. This consciousness
lightened up his face and seemed to give increased tenacity to
his memory, for he would sometimes make flights of reminis-
cence, impelled by the strong desire of giving help to literary
folks, by which results were obtained as satisfactory to himself
as to his hearers.
*'A visit. One blustering day, I sought the old man's tene-
ment on Twentieth street, between H street and Pennsylvania
avenue. It was the last piece of property which he retained
out of a large portion of the block which had belonged to his
family, and here he had attended to an old furniture and junk
store as long as he was able to get about, but had finally been
driven by rheumatism and increasing infirmities to the upper
story, where he resided in a lonely way with his niece, who
was very deaf, and who shared the solitude and gave him
some little help. The lower portion of the store was filled with
everything quaint under the sun, and the loft where the old
man had lived consisted of three rooms without carpets or
plaster, two of which were forward of a partition which
divided the loft crosswise, and in one of these forward rooms
44 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Mr. Hines slept, and in the other had his frugal meal cooked.
He lived almost wholly upon his pension of a few dollars a
quarter, received from the Government for his services in the
War of 1812, which he entered as a private, and became a
Lieutenant at the time of the Battle of Bladensburg, in which
he was engaged. In the same company appeared the names
of the Bealls, Millers, Milburns, Shepherds, Goldsboroughs,
and many other families well known in Washington.
** Christian Hines was a fine-looking old man,^and, old as he
was, there was another brother aged ninety-three, residing in
Washington, who, he said, was in much better health and
memory than himself. This brother lived in Eleventh street
near S. There were thirteen* children in the family, whose
common father had been an emigrant from Germany to Penn-
sylvania, and, by his partial knowledge of the English lan-
guage was recommended to an emigrant Captain as a proper
person to procure a vessel load of people to come out to Mary-
land. With these emigrants, the elder Hines settled in Mont-
gomery County, Maryland, about thirty years before the Revo-
lution. He was therefore in Montgomery County when
Braddock's army marched through it from Georgetown to
Frederick. Christian Hines was brought up in Georgetown,
which he described as pretty much of a mud-hole before the
Capitol was built on the other side of Rock Creek. . . .
**Mr. Hines' family bought a farm from Dr. Thornton, the
architect of the Capitol, and had to forfeit it for want of
funds to make the final payments. The farm stood out near
the foot of Meridian Hill. He also invested, with his brother,
$900 in the Potomac Canal Company, and lost it. . . . The
old gentleman showed mo a beautiful etching of John Ran-
dolph, who had bought a lot and put up a house on the Hines
property. . . .
**Such were some of the recollections of this feeble, stalwart
old man, who sat before me, with a high black cravat, veins
large, and feebly moving in the hands and throat : gray but
abundant hair, and gray whiskers of a healthy hue. He
looked poor, but not in need — poor chiefly in days, which he
counted without apprehension, saying, *The Almighty means
to send for me soon.' '*
Proctor: Christian Hines. 45
When Congress convened for the first time in Wash-
ington, Christian Hines was a spectator in the House
gallery, and he also witnessed the first theatrical per-
formance in the District of Columbia, given in Blod-
gett's Hotel, where now stands the General Land
Office. He saw^ all the presidents from Washington to
Grant, and many of the great men who happened to
reside in, or visit Washington. It was also his pleas-
ure to be one of the early members of the Association
of Oldest Inhabitants, joining that body in 1866.
He was a bachelor, and it is said his remaining un-
married was due to an affair of the heart while he was
a young man.
On the morning of November 29, 1874, Christian
Hines breathed his last. At that time the writer's
father was city editor of the Daily Critic, and the item
written by him at that time appeared the day after the
old man 's death :
^^MR. CHRISTIAN HINES/'
**It was only last Friday that we announced the death of
Mr. Jacob Hines at the advanced age of ninety-seven years.
To-day we publish the death of his only surviving brother, Mr.
Christian Hines, who was in his ninety-fourth year. He died
yesterday morning at his residence on Twentieth street, where
he had lived probably sixty years. Mr. Hines was a bachelor,
and his niece, Miss Caroline Hines, kept house for him many
long years, staying with him and caring for him as faithfully
as she had the power to do, up to the time of his death.
** Christian Hines was born near Liberty, in Frederick
County, Md., and soon thereafter his parents and family re-
moved to Georgetown, D. C, and resided at High and Market
streets.
**When but a young man he went into a clothing store on
Greenleaf 's Point, as an assistant to Mr. Robert Bryson, who
was there started in business by Mr. Joseph Green, of George-
46 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
town. Subsequently he learned and carried on the baking
business, conducted a grocery, and engaged in other pursuits,
by which he accumulated considerable property. Through
adverse circumstances, however, he lost the major portion of
his earnings.
** Always correct in his dealings and gentlemanly in his
bearing, he was looked up to by many in the west end of
Washington, and was respected by all who had his acquaint-
ance. All of his manhood was spent in that end of the city,
his father and family having moved from Georgetown in 1799,
to a house on F street, between Twenty-third street and
Twenty-fourth street.
** Christian Hines was once elected a member of the Board
of Aldermen of this citv. The number of votes cast was about
110, of which he received all except three or four votes. He
had shaken hands with all the Presidents except General
Grant.
''In the years 1811-1812-1813, Christian Hines was an en-
sign in Capt. S. Parry *s District Militia. Mr. Hines was
selected one of three persons to engage a company of work-
men, which he raiseil and took to Fort Washington, down the
Potomac, to throw up breastworks, etc., at which they worked
for sixteen days, when they were relieved and returned to
Washington. One dollar and a pint of whiskey a day was
offered as an inducement for men to go down to the fort. At
the close of the War of 1812, Mr. Hines was elected captain;
but, by reason of the death of his father, he declined the posi-
tion that he might close up his business. He was a pensioner
of the War of 1812, and retained part of his uniform and
equipments to the day of his death.
**Soon after the close of the war, Captain Hines and his
brother Matthew eoui^luded thry would collect all the points
possible relative to the early history of Washington and
Georgetown, and they spent many days together in their laud-
able enterprise. It was not until the year 1866, however, that
Mr. Hines gave this information to the public in book form.
A few of these l)ooks were yet in his possession at the time of
his death.
Proctor: Christian Hines. 47
** Captain Hines died as he had lived — ^with malice towards
none, and with an implicit faith in his Redeemer. His funeral
will take place at 2 o'clock p. m. tomorrow, from Union
Chapel, on Twentieth street, and his remains will be interred
at Rock Creek church/'
On the same day the Critic item appeared The Even-
ing Star gave the following account of his death :
^* DEATH OF A VENERABLE CITIZEN/'
**Mr. Christian Hines, a brother of the late Jacob Hines,
whose funeral was noted in The Star of Saturday, died at his
residence in the First Ward yesterday in the ninety-fourth
year of his age. He came to this District, with his brother
Jacob, from Frederick county, Md., long before the city of
Washington was laid out, and taking up his residence in
Georgetown he learned the baker's business, which, with one
of his brothers, he conducted a number of years in that city,
and afterwards in the west end of Washington. In early life
he joined the Methodist Episcopal church and, like his brother
Jacob, was one of the early members of the Foundry church.
The deceased was in early life prominent in military circles,
and served in the War of 1812 as an officer of militia. He
never married. The funeral will take place to-morrow at 2
o'clock p. m. from Union Chapel, 20th street/'
Christian Hines was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery,
in lot 43, section A, site 2, which is close to the west
wall of St. Paul's church. The grave is unmarked.
Among the papers found in Christian Hines' ef-
fects, were a copy of a letter written to a cousin in
Ohio, in 1860, and a sheet of writing somewhat in the
nature of a memorandum. Both are undoubtedlv but
rough drafts, and are strikingly similar in the text.
They are not without error, yet they are deemed suf-
ficiently important and interesting to include here.
The letter reads :
4^ Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
''Washingtox, March, 1860.
*^Dear Cousin:
' ^ I will now endeavor to give you all the information in my
power, in obedience to your request in your letter of the 5th
inst., but I have to trust entirelv to mv memorv in the state-
ment I shall give you and all that I do know I derived from
my Father in listening to him while sitting around the fire
and hearing him relate his adventures while out as a militia-
man in the service of his countrj^. I know of no person who
could give me any information on the subject, indeed I do not
know or recollect ever to have seen more than two persons who
were in the same company with my Father and your Father,
and these were Mr. Mimm of Georgetown, and John Snyder
of Frederick county, Md., who had his leg shot off, I believe,
at the battle of Germantown,- perhaps I could have got some
additional information of my Brother Philip had he lived to
this time, but since his death (he being the oldest of us) I
know of no source from which I could get any information
except my Brother Jacob whom perhaps I may see to-morrow,
there are now only two of us remaining out of a family of
twelve, ten Brothers and two Sisters, \4z: Jacob and myself.
I will now give you the outlines of what I have treasured in
my memory, the particulars I may hereafter communicate to
you should my life be spared. Our Grandfather (Johanis
Heintz) emigrated from Pennsylvania to Frederick Co., Md.,
where he bought a farm near ^Liberty' sometime previous to
the Revolutionary war. His family consisted of himself, wife
and six children, viz: John, Henry, Daniel, Philip, Rudolph,
and Christena who afterward became Mrs. Ourand. John
(my Father) was the oldest. Rudolph your Father I think
was the youngest son. Mrs. Ouraud was the youngest of all.
My father bein^ the oldest was the first of the brothers who
married. He opened a tavern on the Annapolis road, about
six miles from Frederick Town, generally known at that time,
1777, as the Stonewall tavern. Here the militia used to as-
2, John Snyder lost a leg at White Plains; see Archives of J/<7., Vol. IS,
pp. 630, 631, and Scharf's ''History of Western Maryland,'' Vol.
1, p. 476.
i
Proctor: Christian Hines. 49
semble to muster. The company to which he belonged was
commanded by Captain Hoflf, or Huflf, or perhaps he spelled it
Hough;' the Lieutenant's name was Grosch;* the Ensign's
name I have entirely forgotten. I suppose your father was in
the same company. Their uniforms were hunting shirts, and
their arms mostly fowling pieces. General Smallwood com-
manded the brigade. My father served in two companies —
first as a militiaman and next as a volunteer, and 'tis very
probable your father did the same. My father's family at the
time he went out consisted of himself, my mother Gertrude,
my brother John, and sister Christiana Elizabeth, who after-
ward became Mrs. Matthew Kennedy. I suppose that neither
your father or uncle Philip were married, at that time. Henry
and Daniel both died bachelors. I have heard my father say
that they both belonged to what was called the * Flying Camp'
or * Minute Men.' The first skirmish my father was engaged
in was the battle of Germantown ; this must have been about
the year 1777 or 1778 (you can see by referring to history ).'^
I take it for granted that your father must have been in that
engagement — ^you know it proved disastrous to the American
army. I recollect hearing my father often relate the particu-
lars of a skirmish they had with a party of British and Hes-
sians near Germantown, and I often felt a degree of interest
in hearing it related by him : — when the brigade, commanded
by General Smallwood, came within a small distance of Ger-
mantown, Captain Hoff 's company was detailed as an advance
guard; accordingly they marched on in front of the brigade
with considerable rapidity, leaving the brigade moving on
slowly behind them. After marching on for some time. Lieu-
tenant Grosch obser\'ed to the Captain that he thought he was
moving on too rapidly for the brigade. Captain Hoflf said he
would march on a short distance further and then stop awhile
at a house of entertainment and get some refreshments for
themselves and company; accordingly, when they arrived at
the tavern the officers went in and asked the landlord if they
3 Capt. Abraham Haff.
* Lieut. Adam Grosh.
5 Battle of Germantown was fought Oct. 4, 1777.
so Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
could get any refreshments for the company. The landlord
looked very gloomy and told them, with a sad countenance,
that he did not think they could, but that they might go in
and see; but he did not think there was anything left as a
company of British and Hessians had just been there a while
before and had drank and eat up everything they wanted,
and what they did not want they destroyed. The officers and
men went in and found as the landlord had told them. They
went into the cellar, but found nothing there except barrels
with their heads knocked out. This exasperated the company
very much. The landlord then told them that but a short time
before a party of British and Hessians had crossed the road a
little beyond with a field piece and had got into an apple
orchard.® The captain immediately got his men under arms,
and went in pursuit of them, and found them posted in the
orchard. As they came near enough, the firing commenced.
The British in a great measure, screened themselves behind
apple trees. Our men were more exposed, being without any-
thing to shelter them from the fire of the enemy. The firing
continued for sometime without much loss on either side, 'till
at length Captain Hoff was seen to fall, having been severely
wounded by a shot from the enemy. My father was not far
from him, and instantly ran up and asked him, * What's the
matter Captain, are you wounded?' He said *yes, but never
mind me boys, but fight on.' He was then put on a little pony
and led away. The firing still continued for sometime, 'till
at length Lieutenant Grosch fell while encouraging his men,
having received a ball right through his heart. He instantly
died. One of the company ran up and took his watch out of
his fob and the silver buckles from his shoes, saying he would
deliver them to the widow upon their return. The Ensign,
seeing such havoc made among his officers, was not to be found.
6 Referring to this skirmish, Scharf, in his "History of Western Mary-
land, ' ' Vol. 2, p. 324, says : "A regiment from Conway 's brigade and
one from the second Maryland, piloted by Captain Allen McLane. a
brave Delaware officer, were in advance, and struck the enemy *s pickets
at Allen's house, near Mount Airy. These they soon drove in upon the
main line of the enemy, who were found in their encampment in an
orchard, ready to receive the Americans. ' *
\
Proctor: Christian Hines, 5 '
After a short time, the company having no officers to command
them, retired toward the brigade, which was advancing
rapidly. Upon their approach, the enemy made a hasty re-
treat, and thus ended this little skirmish, and the brigade
joined Washington at, or near Germantown, and there the
battle of Germantown was fought, in which my father and I
expect your father acted a part. ' '
The memorandum is as follows :
"In the year John Heintz, now spelled Hines, being
the oldest son of his father, immigrated from Germany to one
of the then British American colonies, now known as the State
of Pennsylvania. His family consisted of himself, wife, and
three sons, namely, John, Henry, and Daniel, and their only
child whose name was also John, who when grown to man-
hood, returned to visit his native country or fatherland. After
visiting Germany, he returned to America, his adopted coun-
try, with a cargo of German emigrants, bringing with him
such articles as the country mostly needed, such as firearms,
books, etc. Firearms were then prohibited by the King, yet
he contrived to bring many, each passenger was allowed to
own one or more, through this means he evaded the law of
England. Many of the passengers, or redemptioners, so-
called, then, being his friends or neighbors, most, or all of
whom, settled in Pennsylvania. Among the passengers was a
young woman by the name of Deitch in company with her sister
Mrs. Mordolph and family. While on their passage to Amer-
ica, John Hines was taken very sick, and from the attention
paid to him during his illness, besides she being a likely young
woman, he became attached to her and married her, and settled
in Frederick county in the state of Maryland, sometime before
the Revolutionary War, he being one of the first who refused
to pay that unjust tax called tythe, and when the war com-
menced he took up arms against the King by volunteering and
draft. Having then but one son, whose name was John, and
one daughter, Christina Elizabeth, [he] left his wife [with]
one child, and [with] another [brother] Henry, he went into
the tented field to fight without a tent, his arms a fowling
52 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
piece, to put their enemies to flight. He volunteered in Cap-
tain Hoff's company, Lieutenant Grosch, Ensign , the
whole under General Smallwood of the Maryland line. Cap-
tain Hoff and Lieutenant Grosch being mostly stout young
men were selected as the advance guard. Eager to drive the
tyrants and appressors from our land, they marched too far
in advance of the main army and fell in with the enemy's ad-
vance. The British being well recruited and disciplined;
however, the fight commenced. It was not long before the
Captain fell wounded by my father's side — he was shot with
a musket ball in his thigh. When my father asked him if he
was wounded, he replied *yes, but never mind it boys, fight
on.' Soon after, the Lieutenant received a ball through the
body, which terminated his existence in this world ; the Ensign
left the ground ; each man then fought for himself : When lo !
my father spied a * Redcoat' standing behind an apple tree,
not far off, who fired twice, and in the act of loading again,
while my father pulled trigger and burned primer twice, and
while in the act of stripping a leaf to pick the touchhole, one
of his comrades, an Irishman, came up and exclaimed, * what's
the matter Hines, what's the matter?' He replied, * don't you
see that Redcoat behind that apple tree ? ' These words were
hardly spoken, when up went his piece, which also burned
primer, when the Redcoat quickly decamped. By this time
the two main armies came together, and a bloodly battle en-
sued. He was in other battles and skirmishes during the war,
and continued to serve the American cause in various wajrs
during the Revolution. His father's family at the time con-
sisted of John (himself), Daniel, Henry, Rudolph, Philip,
and a sister, Christiana. Three of his brothers were also
in the service of the Revolutionary War. His sister, Eliza-
beth Christina, was married to Jacob Ourand, and had
many children ; his brother Philip was an invalid ; three of
the five brothers were married and had children — the fol-
lowing are their names and numbers : John Hines had twelve,
ten sons and two daughters, namely, first, John; Christiana;
Henry ; Daniel, who died without issue, never married ; Philip ;
Jacob; Elizabeth; Christian; Matthew; William, who died
Proctor: Christian Hines. 53
young; Frederick; and Abraham. The fallowing are the
number of their offspring: John had four sons and five
daughters; Chritiana had seventeen children, thirteen sons
and four daughters (they are the Kennedys) ; Henry had
three children, one son and two daughters; Daniel, none, un-
married; Philip had eleven children, eight sons and three
daughters; Jacob, three children, one son, two daughters;
Elizabeth, two children, both daughters; Christian, none, un-
married ; Matthew, none, unmarried ; William, none, died two
years old ; Frederick, five children, two sons and three daugh-
ters; Abraham, eight, five sons, three daughters; making a
total of fifty-eight children. Daniel Hines, son of the first
John, died unmarried; Henry Hines, son of the first John,
died unmarried ; Rudolph Hines, son of the first John, mar-
ried a Miss Hough, and had sons and daughters; Christiana
was married to Jacob Ourand, and had many children. ''
And so I have told you the story of the author of
''Early Recollections of Washington City," and with
your indulgence I shall say just a few words regarding
his family. His father, John Hines, or Johannes
Heintz, was bom in Dillenburg, Prussia, in 1744, and
came to America in 1751. He visited his native coun-
try in 1773, and returned to the colonies, in September
of that year, with a cargo of 247 German immigrants.
While returning from Europe, on this occasion, he was
taken ill, and was carefully nursed by a Miss Gertrude
Deitch, one of the passengers. So tender were her at-
tentions, that shortly after his recovery, she became
his wife. She died at the southwest comer of Twen-
tieth and I streets, N.W., Washington, D. C, on Feb-
ruary 7, 1827. The announcement of her death, as re-
corded inthe Daily National Intelligencer, is RS follows:
**In this City on Wednesday morning, the 7th instant, in
the 80th year of her age, Mrs. Gertrude Hines. The friends
and acquaintances of the deceased are requested, without
54 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
further notice, to attend her funeral on Friday afternoon, at
3 o'clock, from her late dwelling, nearly opposite the Seven
Buildings. ' '
She was probably of Swiss extraction, as family tra-
dition has it that the Hineses were of German-Swiss
ancestry.
John nines was a true patriot. On his return to
this country in 1773, he brought oyer, for the use of
the already dissatisfied colonists, forty stand of arms
—the importation of fireamis then being prohibited by
the crown, lie seryed throughout the Reyolutionary
War, and he neither asked nor receiyed any compensa-
tion whatsoeyer for the arms brought oyer by him or
for the time spent in fighting for freedom. He served
mainly with the Frederick Town militia which ren-
dered such brilliant and conspicuous service at Long
Island, White Plains, Brandywine, and Germantown,
and elsewhere, and he was undoubtedly a member of
one of the two companies of riflemen which went to
the assistance of Massachusetts after the Battle of
Bunker Hill. He died at his residence on F street, op-
posite Woodward & Lothrop's, on October 6, 1816.
The IntcUif/encer of October 10 has this notice:
**Died — On Saturday night, the Gth instant, Mr. John
Hines of this city, aged 72 years, in the full triumph of faith,
professing in confidence that he was not afraid to die;
'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!'. He was a good
citizen, an affectionate husband, and father of nine sons
grown to manliood, who were all present on the occasion of
his death."
Of the nine sons and two dauj^hters of John Hines,
who lived to maturity, their average age at time of
death was a little more than seventy years. ( )f these
Jacob lived the longest of all, and died at the age of
k.
Proctor: Christian Hines. 55
nearly ninety-seven years, in 1874. The names of the
other children were: John, Christina, Henry, Philip,
Daniel, Christian, Ann Elizabeth, Matthew, Frederick,
Abraham, and William, who died in infancy.
John Hines and his wife Gertrude have many de-
scendants in the District of Columbia, and throughout
the United States their progeny is numerous. In the
Army and Navy they are abundantly represented
today fighting for world democracy.
With possibly one exception, the better portion of
the lives of their children were spent in Washington
city, and a brief statement of them will be given :
John, the eldest, was bom in 1775 and died in Law-
renceburg, Indiana, in 1857. He resided in Washing-
ton at least until 1830. According to Scharf's His-
tory of Western Maryland, he was married in Mont-
gomery County, Maryland, July 11, 1799, to Belinda
Swain, of Georgetown, D. C. His children included
John, Elizabeth, Samuel, William, Julia, and Mary
Ann.
The older of the two daughters, Christina Elizabeth,
was bom in 1776, and died in Harrison County, Ohio,
in 1836. She married, in the District of Columbia,
Februar}' 2, 1794, Matthew Kennedy, of Paisley, Scot-
land, and became the mother of seventeen children,
thirteen boys and four girls. The latter, it seems, all
died in infancy, but all the sons lived to manhood.
Fifteen of the seventeen children were: William Car-
michael, Citizen James, John L., Napoleon Bonaparte,
Mary Ann, Return Matthew, David Washington, Ahio
Hines, Thomas J., Philip, Elizabeth, Jacob Jackson,
Abraham, Christian Hines, and Daniel Hines Kennedy.
Matthxiw Kennedy and his family left Georgetown,
D. C, May 12, 1806, and settled in Jefferson County,
Ohio. Previous to leaving Georgetown, he executed a
S6 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
bill of sale to his father-in-law, John Hines. It is dated
March 28, 1806; is witnessed by Philip B. Key, uncle
of Francis Scott Key, author of the * * Star-Spangled
Banner,'' and is recorded in the Office of the Kecorder
of Deeds of the District of Columbia. It reads :
**Know all men by these presents that I Matthew Kennedy
of George Town and District of Columbia have for and in con-
sideration of one hundred dollars to me in hand paid and for
the payment of five hundred dollars which I owe to John
Hines the father of my wife have granted, bargain and sell to
the said John Hines his executors administrators and assigns,
One waggon and four horses and set of traces compleat and
three feather beds all of which I have this day delivered to
him as his property in presence of Elisha Crown and Daniel
Hines : To have and to hold the said waggon, horses, gears and
feather beds to the said John Hines forever as his own abso-
lute property/'
Thomas Kennedy, brother of Matthew Kennedy,
was a poet of national reputation, was a Maryland
State Senator, and it was through his efforts and per-
sistency that a bill was finally passed by the Maryland
legislature permitting the Jews to hold public office.
Henry Hines, the second son, was bom in 1777 and
died in 1854. He was by trade a tanner, having served
his apprenticeship under Anthony Hyde. He married
Nancy Cole in 1807. The Intelligencer of July 12,
1854, and February 12, 1855, gives these two death
notices :
**0n the 11th instant, at half past 9 o'clock A. M., after a
long and painful illness, Mr. Henry Hines, aged about 76
years, and for the last 54 years a resident of this city.
**His friends, and the friends of the family, are respect-
fully invited to attend his funeral today at 4 o'clock P. M.,
from his late residence on H, between 18th and 19th streets,
in the First Ward. ' '
\
Proctor: Christian Hines. 57
Of Mrs. Hines the notice reads :
**0n Saturday, the 10th instant, after a long and painful
illness, which she bore with Christian fortitude, Mrs. Nancy
Hines, aged about seventy-seven years, relict of the late Henry
Hines.
**Her friends and those of the family are respectfully in-
vited to attend her funeral this (Monday) afternoon, at 2
o'clock, from the residence of her son-in-law, Mr. G. Bitner, on
H, between 18th and 19th streets. First Ward. ' '
Henry Hines had one son and two daughters, namely :
David, Elizabeth, and Susan. The children of Col.
Kobert Boyd are descendants of Elizabeth Hines.
David was an original member of the Association of
Oldest Inhabitants of Washington, D. C.
Jacob Hines, the fourth child, was bom in 1778 and
died in 1874. April 30, 1810, he married Susanna
Hines, a second cousin. Their children were: Joanna
Kyland, Philip John, and Sarah Ann Kossel. Mrs.
Hines' death is mentioned in the Intelligencer of
May 2, 1835, and is here given :
**0n the morning of the 30th of April, after a long and
lingering illness, which she bore with Christian resignation,
Mrs. Susanna, wife of Jacob Hines, in the 49th year of her
age.''
Speaking of the death of Jacob Hines, The Daily
Critic, of November 27, 1874, says :
** Death of an Aged Citizen. — ^Mr. Jacob Hines, aged about
97 years, died yesterday morning at the residence of his son-
in-law, Mr. Jas. W. Barker, No. 1106 H street, northwest.
The father of Mr. Hines came to this country from Switzer-
land, and afterwards returned to his native country and
brought back probably the first cases of guns that were shipped
to this country for the use of the colonists in the Revolu-
tionary War.
58 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
**Mr. Hines' father and several of his father's brothers bore
arms under Greneral Washington, and remained in the service
to the close of that long and bloody contest. Mr. Hines* father
never received any pay, either for his personal services or for
the guns he brought from Switzerland.
**Mr. Jacob Hines was, for many years, a messenger in the
First Comptroller's Office of the Treasury, and always so de-
ported himself as to demand the respect and esteem of his
acquaintances.
**His funeral will take place from his son-in-law's residence
at 2 p. m. tomorrow.
**Mr. Christian Hines, a brother, three or four years
younger, is still very feeble, though he has partially gained
the use of the limbs that were paralyzed. ' '
The Eveninff Star, of Friday, November 27, 1874,
has this item :
«
**Mr. Jacob Hines, one of the oldest citizens of the District,
if not the oldest, died at the residence of Mr. James W.
Barker, 1106 H street, yesterday morning, in the ninety-sev-
enth year of his age. The deceased was born in Frederick
county, Md., in 1777 and came to the District about ten years
later, before there had been any attempt at founding a city
on the present site of Washington. The family settled in
Georgetown, where the deceased learned the trade of tinner,
and he carried on business in that town for many years.
**In the last year of the last century he was converted and
joined the Methodist Church, of which he remained a member
up to the day of his death.
**When the plan was adopted for the city of Washington,
and settlements were commenced, he, w4th his brothers, re-
moved to the first ward of this city and resided there until
within a few years past. During the war of 1812 he was in
the army.
**He was one of the fathers of the Foundry M. E. Church,
which was built soon after the war of 1812, and for a long
series of years he was a class leader there. For some time past
^
Proctor: Christian Hines. 59
•
he had been partially paralyzed, but he was conscious until
within a few minutes before he died. The funeral will take
place from the residence of Mr. J. W. Barker, No. 1106 H
street, tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'colck.'*
In the Star of the following day appeared this brief
account of the funeral :
**The funeral of the late Jacob Hines took place today and
was attended by an immense concourse of the relatives and
friends of the deceased, among them being the members of the
Oldest Inhabitants' Association. The funeral services were
performed by Rev. Dr. Cleaveland of Foundry M. E. Church
And Rev. A. W. Wilson of Mount Vernon Place M. E. Church.
The pallbearers were William Bond, James C. Kennedy,
Matthew Mulhker, John C. Harkness, B. H. Stinemetz and
E. Stellwagen. Interment was at Glenwood cemetery.''
Daniel, the fifth child, was bom in 1778 and died in
1832. He never married.
Philip Hines, the sixth child, was bom 1780, and died
January 29, 1860. In The Evening Star of January
30, 1860, is this obituary notice:
**0n the 29th instant, at V/:* o'clock, after a short and pain-
ful illness, Philip Hines, in the 80th year of his age. The de-
ceased was a son of a Revolutionary soldier, who, with four
brothers, took an active part in that struggle for liberty; he
was one of eight brothers who bore arms in the war of 1812.
May he rest in peace.
**His friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to
attend his funeral from his late residence. No. 450 Twelfth
street, 2 o'clock p. m., to-morrow (Tuesday) afternoon.''
As a lad, Philip Hines assisted in carrying the in-
struments used by the surveyors in running the lines
for the street and avenues of the National Capital, and
it is said he established and operated the first line of
6o Records of the Coltimbia Historical Society.
omnibusses running between the Capitol building and
Georgetown.
Philip Hines married in 1825, Julia Ann Howard,
who bore him eleven children, three of whom died in
infancy, the others being: William H., George W.,
Emma, Frances, Thomas J., Daniel, Samuel, and John
Philip.
Christian Hines was the seventh child.
The younger of the two daughters, Ann Elizabeth,
married Benjamin Strong, and died August 4, 1834.
Her death notice, in the Intelligencer of August 5,
1834, is here given :
** Yesterday, at the residence of her brothers, C. & M. Hines,
comer of 20th street and Pennsylvania avenue, Mrs. Elizabeth
Strong, a faithful friend and a devout christian.
**The friends and acquaintances of the family are respect-
fully invited to attend the funeral of the deceased, from the
above place, to-day, at 3 o'clock, P. M.''
Benjamin Strong was by trade a hatter, and prior
to 1820 was a member of the Union Fire Company. He
died in Washington, July 7, 1830, and it may be that
both he and his wife were buried in the Little tract,
before mentioned. They had but two daughters, Julia
Ann and Mary Ann. The former married Henry L.
Cross and has many descendants living here. The
latter married Samuel C. Davison, a grandson of Sam-
uel Davison, Commodore of the Pennsylvania State
Navy at the time of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. She, also, has many descendants liv-
ing in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, includ-
ing the writer of this sketch.
Matthew Hines, the ninth child, was born in 1785
and died in 1862. The Star of December 9, 1862, gives
this notice :
Proctor: Christian, Hin^s, 6 1
**0n the morning of the 8th inst., Matthew Hines, in the
78th year of his age, and a resident of this District for the
last 69 years.
**The funeral will take place from his late residence, Twen-
tieth street, near Pa. avenue, on to-morrow (Wednesday)
evening, at 2 o' clock.''
At one time he was a man of means and influence. In
1825 and 1826, he served as a member of the Common
Council of the District of Columbia. He was a ser-
geant in the War of 1812, as well as one of the early
members of the Union Volunteer Fire Company, of
Washington, and for a time its treasurer. He never
married. His grave is in Rock Creek Cemetery.
Frederick Hines, the tenth child, was bom in 1788
and died in 1834. He was in turn a baker, police con-
stable, and grocer, and was an early member of the
Union Volunteer Fire Company, of Washington, D. C.
At the time of his death he resided near Tennallytown,
D. C. He married Christina Ourand, his cousin, and
had two sons and three daughters, those knoA\Ti being,
William Thomas, Rebecca Ann, and Caroline Elizabeth.
Abraham Hines, a baker, was the eleventh child. He
was bom in 1792 and died in 1855. He served as sec-
ond lieutenant in the War of 1812, at Indian Head,
Maryland, and elsewhere, under Captain Blake and
General Stewart, and was also an early member of the
Union Volunteer Fire Company, of Washington City.
He married Elenor Bowen, of Calvert County, Mary-
land, and had by her five sons and four daughters,
namely: Margaret, Enoch, Eliza, Abraham F., Jolm
B., Christian Matthew, Mary Ellen, Christiana Eliza-
beth Kennedy, and Philip H. T.
William Hines was the last of the children ; he died
in infancy.
GENERAL ROGER CHEW WEIGHTMAN, A
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
By ALLEN C. CLABK.
(Bead before the Society, April 16, 1918.)
Roger Chew Weightman in an old birthday book has
his entry into the world recorded **Jan. 18th, 1787.**
He was bom in Alexandria, Virginia. His father,
Richard Weightman, was from Whitehaven, England ;^
his mother's maiden name was Chew. His parents
likely never heard of eugenics, yet in him had an ex-
ponent.
Young Weightman came to Washington when the
general government to it was moving from Philadel-
phia. To gain a livelihood his capital was mental and
manual. He selected the printing trade and engaged
himself to Way and GroflF, which from 1801 had its
plant in the brick house on the south side of E street
between Seventh and Eighth. He became an assistant
to William Duane who printed and published at the
northwest comer of Pennsylvania avenue and Sixth
street. Weightman, May 27, 1807, bought the Duane
business. Mr. Weightman had a bookstore also on F
street in 1811. He discontinued the printing and pub-
lishing branch.
Mr. Weightman was successful. He bought in 1811,
1812 and 1813 the properties opposite his first estab-
lishment fronting on Pennsylvania avenue. Sixth and
C streets, designated on the official plat as lots part
8, 9, part 10, 11 and 12 in square 491. He built in 1816
1 Died at Alexandria, February 29, 1812, aj?cd 52. "A worthy and
respected inhabitant of that place."
(2
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 63
or before on the avenue front what was known as the
Weightman buildings.^ In the comer he had a store
where he sold books, but more the greater essentials of
life, particularized in an advertisement, October 2,
1824: * 'Yarns, plaid shirtings, chambrays, sattenetts,
chocolate, sugar, nails." The same date, September,
1813, he relinquished his branch store on F street, near
Fifteenth, adjoining Mrs. Curtis' boarding house.
In the Weightman buildings for two years prior to
August 15, 1820, the Mayor and the Register had
offices; then they moved to the new City Hall. The
National Hotel was built, taking in the Weightman
buildings. It was opened the first time by John
Gadsby, Washington's birthday, 1826, with parade and
ball. From 1828 to 1832, the Bank of Washington had
quarters on the first floor; at the latter date, it re-
moved to its permanent banking house. In 1849, Cal-
vert and Co. became the proprietors of the hotel ; they
made many improvements.
Mr. Weightman was a defender in the War of 1812.
He was First Lieutenant of the Washington Light
Horse, May 30, 1812. Elias B. Caldwell was the Cap-
tain. Captain Caldwell with his cavalry was ordered
«"0n the site now occupied by the National Hotel, Gen. Weightman
erected the row of houses which three or four generations ago were
known as Weightman 's Buildings. These were a block of five or six three
story bricksy arranged for dwellings, with store roortis in one or two.
G^n. Weightman lived in the corner house, and conducted a book and
stationery store, which was the center of the literary circle of that day.
The general, being a popular officer of the militia, and prominent in
municipal affairs as a member of the city councils, and in 1824 as mayor
of the city, drew about him the leading citizens, and at his store many
menirbers of Congress and other government officials were wont to gather.
There were located here Joseph Wood, a portrait painter of repute, and
Samuel Hanson, a clerk in the land office. John Graeff occupied one of
the houses as a dwelling and wine store, and in another was John Gard-
ner, who conducted a boarding house, at which Levi Barber and John W.
Campbell, of Ohio; Thomas R. Mitchell, of South Carolina, and other
congressmen were quartered. '* — James Croggon.
64 Records of tht- Columbia Historical Society.
'*to remove and destroy forage aiid provisions in front
of the enemy, and to impede his march as much as pos-
sible, August 20, 1814."^* The march of the enemy was
that to Washington by way of Bhidensburg. General
Winder collected all his forces for the battle of Blad-
ensburg and Lieut. Weightman was of the army which
ran. Men of mind are not boasters. Mr. Weightman
was a nnm of mind. Yet a lapse does not defeat the
rule and Mr. Weightman in one thing did boast, and
that, at the Battle of Bhidensburg, he ''ran as fast as
the rest of them." Lieut. Weightman with the rest of
them helped to prove the Hudibras sentiment:
'^Houce timely running's no mean part
Of conduct in the martial art.*'
Among the papers of President Madison is a com-
munication of Lieut. Weightman, with the President's
endorsement on it.
Cool Springs, Sept 6, 1814
** Tuesday night
**7 o'clock
* * I)r Sir,
**Mr Carroll arrived here between 4 and 5 o'clock this after-
noon while I was on the heigrhts of Benedict, with information
from Sergeant Chirk that the whole force of the enemy had
pone down the bay — lie has himself proceeded to the mouth
of the Potomac to ascertain whether they move up that river
or not. I apprehend however that they will not go up the
Potomac as I have just learned that the enemy's ships have
passed down that river. I shall proceed to Allen's Fresh in
the morninp — Clark will <lire('t to me there, if (Jaither finds
him, who was met by Carroll this afternoon and directed to
the most likely place to get information of him.
** Respectfully Yours
**R. C. Weightman
''Capt Caldwell—
3 '* Centennial History of Washing^ton, D. C."
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 65
**Mr. Young takes this to Piscataway and he to take it from
there.
**The enemy have not been seen today from the heights of
Benedict with a good glass — Carroll states they were under
sail at 11 o'clock this morning.''
The communication of Lieut. Weightman has ref-
erence to the retirement of the enemv from the Potomac
to appear before Fort Henry on the Patapsco.
National Intelligencer, May 7, 1814 :
'* Married on Thursday evening, the 5th inst. by the Rev.
Mr. Gilson, Roger Chew Weightman, Esq. to Miss Serena
Hanson, daughter of Samuel Hanson of Saml. Esq. all of
this city. ' '
No other item of information is there than he gave
her a silver cup^ with the same sentiment sung by Old
Ben Jonson :
"Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine ;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup.
And 1^11 not look for wine.'*
Mr. Weightman was elected to the tenth council, as
common councilman, June, 1812. He then was in his
twenty-sixth year. He continued in the eleventh and
twelfth councils, each council representing a year, in
the same capacity. He was the President for these two
councils. He was a common councilman in the eight-
eenth council, beginning June, 1820. He was an alder-
man for three consecutive councils, the nineteenth,
twentieth and twenty-first, beginning June, 1821.
In the joint ballot of the Councilors, June 9, 1817,
for Mayor, Mr. Weightman had support. Benjamin
G. Orr was elected.
* The property of Roger Weightman Jannus.
S
66 Records of the Coltmbia Historical Society.
At the election for Mayor, June, 1822, the rival can-
didates were Thomas Carbery and Mr. Weightman.
The vote was close. On the face of the returns Mr.
Carbery had a narrow margin. Mr. Weightman car-
ried the contest to the Court. There the contest con-
tinued until Mr. Carbery 's term expired, which con-
clusion has parallel in Dean Swift's lines on Cadenus
and Vaneesa :
"For sixteen years the cause was spun.
And then stood where it first begun. ' '
Mr. Bryan's work, **A History of the National Cap-
ital," has everything in it, briefly and yet comprehen-
sively ; accurately and yet attractively told. Mr. Bryan
has that at this election were two parties— the poor
man's party represented by Mr. Carbery, which re-
quired no more possessions than the clothes the citizen
was in, and the moneyed aristocracy represented by
Mr. Weightman, which required wealth to the extent
of an assessment for one hundred dollars on the tax
ledgers.
At the election, June, 1824, Mr. Carbery and Mr.
Smallwood angled for the suffrages of the voters for
Mayoral honors. Mr. Smallwood won.
Mr. Weightman was elected, Monday, October 4,
1824, by the Board of Aldermen and Board of Com-
mon Council, in joint session. Mayor, for the term end-
ing June, 1826, in the place of Samuel N. Smallwood,
deceased.
For mayorship Mr. Carbery and Mr. Weightman,
June 5, 1826, again appealed to the voters. Mr. Car-
bery had 331 votes ; Mr. Weightman, 487. The follow-
ing Tuesday, Mr. Weightman addressed the two
Boards :
n
In taking a second time the oath prescribed by the charter,
\
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 67
it shall be my pride and my pleasure to administer the office
of First Magistrate of this rising Metropolis with a single eye
to the public welfare. In doing this, I am persuaded that I
shall best express my convictions of the kindness of my fel-
low citizens, in calling me to the highest office in their gift.
But it is to you, gentlemen, that the city looks with confidence
for the enactment of wise and salutary laws. On the wisdom
of your councils mainly depends our common prosperity. Let
our joint efforts prove that the confidence of our constituents
has not been misplaced. ' *
The candidates were recognized as exemplary citi-
zens and although the editors of the National Intel-
ligencer from a political standpoint favored the rivals
of Mr. Carbery, yet when that gentleman, June 15,
1826, was appointed Inspector of the Revenue and
Deputy Collector of the Customs they editorially con-
gratulated the citizens.
Mr. Weightman as Mayor conjointly with the Mayor
of Georgetown had charge of the inaugural programme
at the inauguration of John Quincy Adams, as Presi-
dent, March 4, 1825. They appointed Marshals of the
day, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, General John
Mason and Thomas Munroe.
All was agog on Lafayette's triumphal tour of the
**U. States." There w^as that and that, as elsewhere,
in the National City to hold in mind the idolized vis-
itor. At Pisliey Thompson's bookstore, n. s. Pennsyl-
vania Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets, w^re
Lafayette medals and Lafayette portraits. At the
Theatre was ** Lafayette, or, the Castle of Olmutz";
and that the tragic might not make frightful slumber
was added the musical farce, **The Devil to Pay; or
Wives Metamorphosed."
Marquis de Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert
Motier Lafayette visited Washington in his sixty-
68 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
seventh year. The committee for the reception, Au-
gust 20, 1824, was Samuel N. Smallwood, Mayor, Wil-
liam W. Seaton, President of the Board of Aldermen,
Peter Force, President of the Board of Common Coun-
cil, Charles W. Goldsborough and George Watterston
of the Aldermen, Edward I. Lewis and William Hunt
of the Common Council, Maj. Gen. Jacob Brown, U.
S. A., Commodore Thomas Tingey, U. S. N., Daniel
Carroll of Duddington, Richard Bland Lee. The
Mayor was the Chairman of the Committee ; Mr. Sea-
ton, Secretary. Mr. Smallwood died September 30.
Mr. Weightman having succeeded as Mayor succeeded
automatically to the chairmanship of the committee.
To have a clearer view of the setting for the recep-
tion of General Lafayette it is recalled that the Capitol
did not then have the large dome over the rotunda and
that the two wings were not commenced. The eastern
portico had just been completed but not the grand
stairway. The Capitol Square which within a year
had a sidewalk laid along its borders was enclosed by
a fence. The bounds of the Square were First Street
east and A Street north and A south. At the east was
a central gate. The grade on the eastern bound was
about six feet higher than at present. On First Street
at A north was the Old Capitol ; on First from A south,
northward, Carroll Row. In the street, P^ast Capitol
Street, immediately east of the Square, was a public
market.
During the night preceding the reception young
women decorated the entrance to the Square. Over the
keystone was placed an eagle. Scrolls were caught
with these inscriptions: *' Lafayette, the associate of
Washington, and Liberty's friend." **IIail, friend of
Freedom." ''A grateful Nation will not forget him
who generously volunteered in her defence." Dra-
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 69
peries in bright colors and garlands of green added to
the effect. The decoration, a surprise, reflected credit
on the taste and industry of the ladies by whom it was
designed and executed and called forth **loud expres-
sions of admiration from the multitude. ' '
October 12, 1824. At the District line the Baltimore
Committee to the Washington Committee relinquished
the guest. He in an elegant landau, drawn by four
greys, accompanied by Maj. Gen. Brown and Commo.
Tingey, and in another, George Washington Lafayette,
his son, and Col. Vassieur, his secretary, with George
Washington Parke Custis, had military escort. On the
arrival at the city line, artillery posted on Maryland
avenue gave salute and salutes followed at the Navy
Yard and the Arsenal, at the latter with pieces cap-
tured in the Revolutionary War at Bennington, Sara-
toga and Yorktown.
**0n rising to the extensive plain which stretches eastward
from the Capitol to the Anacostia river, the General found
himself in front of the most brilliant spectacle which our city
ever witnessed, being a body of 10 or 1200 troops, composed
entirely of volunteer companies of the City, Georgetown, and
Alexandria, some of them recently organized, clad in various
tasteful uniforms, and many of them elegant beyond any thing
of the kind we have before seen/* **Brig. Grcn'ls Smith and
Jones were in the field with their respective field officers of
the first brigade. These troops, together with the larger body
of cavalry, the vast mass of eager spectators which occupied
the plain, and animation of the whole, associated with the
presence of the venerated object of so much curiosity, gave a
grandeur and interest to the scene which has never been
equalled here on any former occasion.''
The entire body of troops moved along East Capitol
street towards the Capitol as escort. The General
alighted at the east end of the market house. The
JO Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
market on the exterior with other adornments had the
Declaration of Independence over which was perched
a great live eagle. The General passed through the
draped market and entered the eastern entrance of the
Capitol Square already mentioned.
At the gate the General was met by twenty-five girls,
dressed in white and bearing flags and wreaths, twenty-
four representing States and one the District of Co-
lumbia. The representative of the District arrested
his progress and in a short speech delivered a wel-
come.^ Each of the girls presented her hand which
the General received in affectionate manner and with
kind expressions. (I quote briefly from the Intelli-
gencer.) *'He then passed a double line of girls, prop-
erly dressed, from the schools, who strewed his way
with flowers." Then lines of students from the insti-
tutes. He was conducted through the great door at the
north side of the Capitol, up the grand case, into the
central rotunda * * which of immense size, was filled with
ladies and gentlemen." He passed on to the portico
through the old tent of Washington lent by Mr. Custis
to the front. The introduction concluded, in the pres-
ence of many thousand spectators, the Mayor delivered
this address :
^^ General: In beholding: you again in our country, after a
lapse of forty years, and in the Capital of our Nation, on the
vestibule of this magnificent temple, dedicated to its liberty,'
and at the door of that tent which, for eight years, formed the
principal habitation of the achiever of our freedom ; that tent
in which you have so often partaken of his cares, and partici-
pated in his councils, the citizens of Washington feel emo-
tions beyond the power of utterance.
**The gratitude and admiration which have been exhibited
by our countrymen, since your arrival in the land which your
5 Miss S. M. Watterston, eleven years of age, daughter of George Wat-
terston, Librarian of Congress.
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 71
exertions contributed to render free, are evidences of the esti-
mation in which we hold him who bravely and generously
aided in the attainment of the blessings we now enjoy. But
the admiration and gratitude already displayed cannot excel
what we feel on this occasion, nor what the whole American
nation must feel, in beholding the associate of their Wash-
ington, and the brave defender of their country. The splendid
and disinterested actions of your youth have been deeply
interwoven with the memory of the old, and transmitted to
the young of the present day. Actuated by the principles of
a glorious Revolution, and animated by the example of its
illustrious Chief, we have rejoiced to behold you, in every
condition in which destiny has placed you, the same unde-
viating and unchangeable friends of liberty and of man.
**We will refrain from enumerating all the disinterested
and splendid services you have rendered to our country ; but,
permit us particularly to refer to that awful period when,
commanding in chief in the commonwealth of Virginia, you
foiled the most renowned Captain of our enemy, confining
him to the narrow precincts of Yorktown, where he was soon
compelled to surrender to the combined arms, under Wash-
ington of the United States, and of our good friend, and
potent and magnanimous ally, Louis the Sixteenth, King of
France; in which memorable siege you acted a leading and
distinguished part.
**With these recollections, we welcome you, with our whole
hearts, to the Metropolis of our Nation, created since you left
us, out of a wilderness — a city especially founded by our
people as the permanent memorial of their liberty. To render
it, at the same time, the perpetual monument of their grateful
veneration for the pure, wise, brave, and consummate leader
of our armies, and founder of our Republic, they bestowed on
it the immortal name of Washington; under whom you
learned the art of war ; under whom you became a great and
mighty prop to our cause, always commanding the confidence
of your chief in the hours of gloom and peril ; and, after our
country *s freedom and safety had crowned your united efforts
with imperishable glory, enjoying his steady, sincere, and
72 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
unvarying esteem and friendship to the latest moment of his
life/'
General Lafayette replied:
**The kind and flattering reception with which I am hon-
ored by the citizens of Washington, excites the most lively
feelings of gratitude. Those grateful feelings, sir, at every
step of my happy visit to the United States could not but en-
hance the inexpressible delight I have enjoyed at the sight of
the immense wonderful improvements, so far beyond even the
fondest anticipations of a warm American heart, and which,
in the space of forty years, have so gloriously evinced the
superiority of popular institutions and self-governments over
the too imperfect state of political civilization found in every
part of the other hemisphere. In this august place, which
bears the most venerated of all ancient and modem names, I
have, sir, the pleasure to contemplate not only a centre of that
constitutional union so necessary to these states, so important
to the interests of mankind, but also a great political school,
whose attentive observers from other parts of the world may
be taught the practical science of true social order. Among
the circumstances of my life, to which you have been pleased
to allude, none can aiford me such dear recollections as to my
having been early adopted as an American soldier ; so there is
not a circumstance of my reception, in which I take so much
pride, as my sharing those honors with my beloved companions
in arms : Happy I am to feel that the marks of affection and
esteem bestowed on me bear testimony to my perseverance in
the American principles I received under the Tents of Wash-
ington, and of which I shall, to my last breath, prove myself a
devoted disciple. I beg you, Mr. Mayor, and the gentlemen of
the Corporation, to accept my respectful acknowledgments to
you and to the citizens of Washington.*'
Mr. John Cox, the Mayor of Georgetown, stepped
in front and said in part :
'' General: ... It remains but for me to say, that the elec-
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 73
trie glow which was kindled at your arrival in America has
vibrated with undiminishing force among my fellow towns-
men, and that they yield to none in the sincerity with which
they bid you welcome. Permit me to add my individual hap-
piness in being made the medium of their address/'
The General assured the Mayor that Georgetown
was an old acquaintance of his, where he had found
many friends, valuable and esteemed— and with great-
est delight he would visit it.
For the Eevolutionary officers, John Brown Cut-
ting, the town laureate, addressed the General, in prose
and poetry:
Come then, Fayette I accept deserv 'd applause,
Who fought and bled in Freedom's sacred cause;
Take well-earned praises, fervent and sublime,
Burnish 'd and Brighten 'd by the wing of Time ;
Take from the City of that Heroe's name,
Dear to thy soul, emblazoned with thy fame,
Honors that grateful lofty minds dilate.
Ordain M for deeds imperishably great I
The General, in the series of replies, continued :
** While I embrace you, Sir, and make acknowledgments to
those of our Revolutionary comrades, in whose name you wel-
come me to this metropolis, be assured that I reciprocate those
kind expressions of attachment, which from them are pecul-
iarly gratifying. And although, in doing this, it cannot be
expected that I should command such beautiful language as
you employ, yet I speak from the bottom of my heart, when I
assure you that the associations of time and place to which you
allude, exalt the interest which I shall ever feel in your pros-
perity, and that of every meritorious individual who belonged
to the Revolutionary Army of the Uinted States/'
The guest was conducted to the door of the north
wing by the Mayor. With the General, the Mayor
74 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
ascended the landau accompanied by General Brown
and Commodore Tingey. The procession was resumed
in the original order and moved up Pennsylvania
Avenue.
* ' In this passage the streets were lined with spectators ; but
the most pleasing sight was the windows on each side of it
filled with ladies in their best attire and looks, bestowing with
beaming eyes, their benedictions on the beloved Chief and
waving white handkerchiefs, as tokens of their happiness. ' '
The General in company with the Committee was
received at the Executive Mansion by the Marshal of
the District, Tench Ringgold. He was conducted into
the drawing room, where awaited him, the President,
Mr. Monroe. The General and the procession then
proceeded to his quarters at the Franklin Hotel, I and
Twentv-first Streets.
»
The dinner was at six o'clock. The toasts at that
extraordinary function as in all others at that period
followed endless until the bottles were wineless; but
the first at the Lafayette dinner was by the Mayor:
General Lafayette: '4Ionor for his bravery; love for
his worth; and gratitude for his services." The Gen-
eral felicitously replied. His toast was: **The City of
Washington —the central star of the constellation
which enlightens the whole world."
Fireworks in the Mall and illumination of residences
made the night honors.
**Thus, this, the most brilliant event, perhaps, in the his-
tory of Washington, passed away. If neither our population
nor resources enabled us to approach the splendor of Eastern
cities, on this occasion, we have done our utmost to show the
sincerity of the homage which we are disposed to pay to the
early services and exemplary virtues of Lafayette.''
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman, 75
Congress gave a grand banquet to General Lafay-
ette. Two hundred guests assembled at the William-
son 's, January 1, 1825, at six o 'clock. Joel E. Poinsett,
from South Carolina, had the management. Mr. Gail-
lard, President of the Senate, presided at one table;
Mr. Clay, Speaker of the House, presided at the other.
The President, Mr. Monroe, sat on one side of Mr.
Gaillard; General Lafayette, the other. While the
dinner was served, a Revolutionary soldier, eighty
years of age, from the Shenandoah section, arrived at
the hotel. Mr. Poinsett personally invited the veteran
to come up ; he presented him to the General.
Said the veteran: ** General, you don't remember me.
I took you off the field when wounded in the fight at
Brandywine. ' '
**Is your name John Near? " asked the General.
*at is, General."
The General embraced him and congratulated him
on his strength and years. ** John Near also became
the guest of Congress and remained at Williamson's a
fortnight, feasting upon the good cheer and retiring
to bed every night in a comfortable state of inebria-
tion. ' ' Lafayette gave him $2,000 ; which he exchanged
for a Virginia farm.
At the banquet. General Lafayette gave the toast:
** Perpetual union among the States— It has saved us
in times of danger; it will save the world."
At.a town meeting in the City Hall, June 8, 1826, the
citizens **to make arrangements for celebrating the
fiftieth anniversary of American Independence, in a
manner worthy of the metropolis of the nation" ap-
pointed a committee of thirteen, to wit: The Mayor
(Chairman), Commo. William Bainbridge, Thomas
Carbery, Asbury Dickens, Joseph Gales, Col. Archi-
bald Henderson, Dr. Henry Huntt, Gen. Thomas S.
^(> Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Jesup, Col. Roger Jones, Capt. John L. Kuhn, Richard
Bland Lee, Thomas Munroe, Judge Buckner Thruston,
Dr. Tobias Watkins (Secretary).
Daily National Intelligencer, July 4, 1826 :
**The sentiments contained in the following letters are in
every respect so appropriate to the occasion of this day's
Celebration, that, in offering them to onr readers, it would be
supererogation to add a word of comment. If history is
philosophy teaching by example, where could a more beautiful
example be found, than in that which is afforded by the follow-
ing Letters from the surviving men of the Revolution T
Washington, June 14, 1826.
**Sir: As Chairman of a Committee appointed by the citizens
of Washington, to make arrangements for cele^brating the
Fiftieth Anniversary of American Independence in a manner
worthy of the Metropolis of the Nation, I am directed to in-
vite you, as one of the Signers of the ever-memorable Declara-
tion of the Fourth of July, 1776, to favor the City with your
presence on the occasion.
**I am further instructed to inform yon, that, on receiving
your acceptance of this invitation, a special deputation will
be sent, to accompany you from your residence to this City,
and back to vour home.
**With sentiments of the highest respect and veneration, I
have the honor to be, your most obedient servant,
**R. C. Weightman
** Mayor of Washington, and Chairman of the Committee
of Arrangements.''
* * DouonoRAGEX Manor. June 17, 1826.
**Sir: I was this day favored with your letter of the 14th
inst.
**I am much obliged to the Committee for their invitation
to attend, on the fourth of next month, the celebration of the
Fiftieth Anniversar}' of American Independence, in the Me-
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman, 77
tropolis of the United States. Having received a similar in-
vitation from the City of New York, and having declined it, I
cannot with propriety attend the celebration at Washington.
** Accept, Sir, my thanks for the sentiments you have ex-
pressed to me in your letter.
**I remain, with great respect, Sir, your most humble
servant.
**Ch. CiVRROLL, of CarroUton. ' '
**QuiNCY, June 22, 1826.
**R. C. Weightman, Esq., Chairman, jr.
^^Sir: Col. House, of the U. S. Army, now stationed at Fort
Independence in my neighborhood, has favored me with a call,
and communicated your very polite letter, desiring him to
offer me an escort to Washington in order to celebrate with
you the approaching Fiftieth Anniversary of our National
Independence.
**I feel very grateful for this mark of distinguished and
respectful attention on the part of the citizens of the City of
Washington, which the present state of my health forbids me
to indulge the hope of participating, only with my best wishes
for the increasing prosperity of your city, and the constant
health of its inhabitants.
**I am. Sir, with much respect, your friend and humble
Servant,
**J. Adams."
**MoNTicELLO, June 24, 1826.
^^ Respected Sir: The kind invitation I received from you,
on the part of the citizens of the City of Washington, to be
present with them at their celebration of the Fiftieth Anni-
versary of American Independence, as one of the surviving
signers of an instrument, pregnant with our own and the fate
of the world, is most flattering to myself, and heightened by
the honorable accompaniment proposed for the comfort of
such a journey. It adds sensibly to the sufferings of sickness,
to be deprived by it of a personal participation in the rejoic-
78 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
ings of that day; but acquiescence is a duty under circum-
stances not placed among those we are permitted to control.
I should, indeed, with peculiar delight, have met and ex-
changed these congratulations, personally, with the small
band, the remnant of that host of worthies who joined with
us, on that day, in the bold and doubtful election we were to
make, for our country, between submission and the sword;
and to have enjoyed with them the consolatory fact that our
fellow citizens, after half a century of experience and pros-
perity continue to approve the choice we made. May it be to
the world, what I believe it will be (to some parties sooner, to
others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to
burst the chains, under which monkish ignorance and super-
stition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume
the blessings and security of self-government. The form
which we have substituted restores the free right to the un-
bounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes
are opened or opening to the rights of man. The general
spread of the lights of science has already laid open to every
view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not
been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few,
booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the
grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others ; for our-
selves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our
recollections of those rights, and an undiminished devotion
to them.
**I will ask permission here to express the pleasure with
which I should have met my ancient neighbors of the City of
Washington and its vicinities, with whom I passed so many
years of a pleasing social intercourse — an intercourse which
so much relieved the anxieties of the public cares, and left
impressions so deeply engraved in my affections, as never to
be forgotten. With my regret that ill health forbids me the
gratification of an acceptance, be pleased to receive for your-
self, and those for whom you write, the assurance of my high-
est respect and friendly attachments.
**Tu. Jefferson/'
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 79
The committee of arrangements through the Mayor
invited the Ex-Presidents and he varied the communi-
cation to fit :
**MoNTPELiER, June 20, 1826.
'^Dear Sir: I received by yesterday's mail your letter of
the Wth, inviting, in the name of the Committee of Arrange-
ments, my presence at the celebration, in the Metropolis of
the United States, of the Fiftieth Anniversary of American
Independence.
**I am deeply sensible of what I owe to this manifestation
of respect, on the part of the Committee, and not less so of the
gratifications promised by an opportunity of joining with
those, among whom, I should find myself, in commemorating
the events which calls forth so many reflections on the past
and anticipations of the future career of our country. Allow
me to add that the opportunity would derive an enhanced
value from the pleasure with which I should witness the grow-
ing prosperity of Washington, and of its citizens, whose kind-
ness, during my long residence among them, will always have
a place in my grateful recollections.
**With impressions such as these, it is with a regret, readily
to be imagined, that I am constrained to decline the flattering
invitation you have communicated. Besides the infirmities
incident to the period of life I have now reached, there is an
instability of my health at present, which would forbid me to
indulge my wishes, were no other circumstance unpropitious
to them.
**This explanation will, I trust, be sufficient pledge that,
although absent, all my feelings will be in sympathy with the
sentiments inspired by the occasion. Ever honored will be the
day which gave birth to a nation, and to a system of self-
government, making it a new epoch in the history of man.
**Be pleased to accept. Sir, for yourself and the Committee,
assurances of my respectful consideration, and of my best
wishes.
'* James Madison.
**R. C. Weightman, Mayor of Washington,
**And Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, &c.**
8o Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
* ' Oak Uaias, June 28, 1826.
^^Sir: In consequence of my attendance in Albemarle, on
important concerns of a private nature, I was deprived, until
to-day, of the gratification afforded by the receipt of your in-
vitation to unite with my fellow citizens of the Metropolis of
our Union, in the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of
our Independence.
** Having devoted my best efforts, through a long series of
years, to the support of that great cause, and a large portion
of them in the Metropolis, the kindness shown me, by this in-
vitation, is gratefully acknowledged. Many engagemeats
which press on me at this time, render it impossible for me to
leave home, of which you will have the goodness to apprize the
Committee of Arrangement.
''With great respect and esteem, I have the honor to be,
your very obedient servant,
*' James Monroe."
The account of the Jubilee, has this apropos quota-
tion from the scriptures, Leviticus xxv— 9, 17, 18, to
head it.
^^Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound
. . . throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fif-
tieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto
all the inhabitants thereof. Ye shall not therefore oppress one
another; but thou shalt fear thy Ood — and the land shall yield
her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in
safety.''
**The most conspicuous object in the procession was (Jen-
eral Philip Stuart, a veteran, whose bmly is seamed with hon-
orable wounds received in the war of the Revolution, habited
in the military costume of the Revolution, bearing the stand-
ard of his country — supported on one side by Commodore
Bainbridge, and on the other by Gen. Jesup.
**The exercises were at the Capitol. Hon. Joseph Ander-
son who was in battle throughout the Revolutionary War,
with appropriate explanatory comment, read the Declaration
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 8i
of Independence. The Metropolis's orator on all state occa-
sions, Walter Jones, made the oration on this occasion.
**Here the Orator indulged in the most cheering anticipa-
tions, as well for this continent, as for the Old World, looking
forward to the celebration of the next Jubilee — and pre-
dicting the universal freedom of all America, and the amel-
iorated condition of European nations. ' '
Notice had been given by the Mayor that at the con-
clusion of the exercises a subscription for Mr. Jeffer-
son would be opened. James Barbour, Secretary of
War, made the appeal and Richard Rush, Secretary
of Treasury, concurred in it.
It is a reasonable conclusion that the letter by Mr.
Adams and the letter by Mr. Jeflferson were the last
written. Mr. Jefferson of his earthly end had no other
solicitude than that he might not reach the Fiftieth
National Anniversary. Said he : * * Do not imagine for
a moment that I feel the smallest solicitude about the
result. I am like an old watch, with a pinion worn out
here and a wheel there, until it can go no longer. ' ' He
died at ten minutes before one o'clock.
The Daily National Intelligencer announced, July 7 :
'* Thomas Jefferson is no More. — His weary sun hath
made a golden set, leaving a bright tract of undying fame to
mark his path to a glorious immortality/'
Mr. Adams had the same solicitude. The day pre-
vious, the third, he mistakenly said, *^it is the day."
His already benumbed faculties roused by the trum-
pet's clang and cannon's roar on the Day of Jubilee,
he inquired of those around his bed, the cause of those
signs of rejoicing and was informed that it was in
honor of the Fourth of July. He answered— ** It is a
Great and Glorious Dayl" Last he murmured,
82 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
^'Jeflferson still lives"— but Jefferson had passed on;
Adams survived him a few hours.
It is a wonderful coincidence that even fifty years to
the day from the date of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, the work of Mr. Jefferson, and within the hours
it was being declaimed, his spirit should take flight;
that Mr. Adams who asked that Mr. Jefferson write
the document, within the same hours should close his
mortality.
At the City Hall upon the Mayor's call was a town
meeting, July 8, to arrange memorial honor to Mr. Jef-
ferson ; another, July 11, for like arrangement to Mr.
Adams. William Wirt, then Attorney General, was
designated to deliver an oration on Jefferson and
Adams. A committee with the Mayor, chairman, was
appointed to wait upon Mr. Wirt.
Sir Charles Richard Vaughan was the Envoy Extra-
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United
States from Great Britain during Mr. Weigh tman's
mayoral reign. In high society Sir Charles was the
illumination, as the sun makes a light day. For didn't
Dollv Madison to her niece write: **But if Sir Charles
Vaughan leaves what will we all do? " And so, the
Mayor, the chairman of the committee on arrange-
ments for the Fourth of July dinner, enthusiastically
and cordiallv invited Sir Charles. It was too near the
last disagreement for Sir Charles to relish American
buncombe. He saw the spirit and was not insulted and
indited a diplomatic note to the effect he thought he
should be indisposed on the Fourth of July.
The citizens of that time had for the city an eighteen
carat admiration ; in fact, were idolators. Everything
about it to them was big and beautiful. Even'thing
which happened was a little more grand than anything
that ever happened before. The women were ladies,
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 83
ever young and lovely. The men without titles in front
never failed to have less than an Esq. behind. The
speakers had several shades of sweetness on the honey-
lipped St. Chrysostom. The sideway for three blocks
newly paved with brick was as a ** paved work of
sapphire stone ' ' stretching to where the heaven makes
the horizon. The city was the Metropolis of the Nation
whereas it was not a sure-enough city until the Civil
War and may not be a metropolitan city until after
the German War. When the people came out to view
the parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, the best avenue
for the purpose in the whole world, it was the populace,
the concourse, the multitude. The description of the
crowds which lined the avenue will answer for these
times when there are already here four hundred thou-
sand and materially many more when anything is to
be seen, visitors from the. now populous nation.
The population began with a scant 16,000 and ended
with 700 more in the three years of Mr. Weightman 's
administration. These figures included adults aoid
minors, males and females, white and black. And
Georgetown had perhaps half as many people as Wash-
ington. For the period in question the annualist's
(John Sessford) resume for 1826 suffices:
**The improvements in the City within the year are gen-
erally of a permanent nature and very valuable, and greater
than they have been for some years past, in the improvement
of streets and rapid extension of paved sideways — ample pro-
vision is made for the poor, and the education of youth at the
public expense have been productive of great benefit.**
President Adams entered in his journal, July 2, 1827,
that Mr. Weightman, the Mayor, and Mr. Goldsbor-
ough came as a committee from the citizens to request
him unite in the Independence Day celebration by
84 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
joining in the procession and attending the oration to
be delivered at Dr. Laurie's church. Mr. Adams says
the oration was by Richard S. Coxe, ** after this there
was sung an ode or hymn." The Intelligencer's re-
porter put this feature another way: **The pleasure
of the whole being much enhanced by some fine music
by an amateur choir of ladies and gentlemen under
the direction of Mr. McDuell, and by the excellent
music of the marine band." Mr. Adams continues to
say that the house was scantily filled, that he was es-
corted home by a cavalry troop ; and that he * * received
visitors, that is, the whole population, from one till
three."
An important lottery decision was made in the time
of the Weightman mayoralty. It was in Chastein
Clark against the Corporation of Washington. Con-
gress by an act. May 4, 1812, amendatory to the char-
ter, gave the corporation full power and authority to
authorize the drawing of lotteries for effecting any im-
portant improvement of the city, which the ordinary
funds or revenue thereof, would not accomplish: pro-
vided, that the amount to be raised in each year shall
not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars. The Pres-
ident to pass upon the question of importance.
The Corporation of Washington passed various or-
dinances in reference to lotteries which are set out in
the final opinion. The Managers for the Corporation
sold to David Gillespie of New York a lottery called
the ^* Fifth Class of the Grand National Lottery" for
ten thousand dollars to be paid before its commence-
ment. An agreement between the Managers and Gil-
lespie was executed of date. May 4, 1821.
Advertisements appeared in the local papers having
the names of the Managers to which was appended a
notice by Gillespie **as agent for the managers" for
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman.
85
sale of tickets at his ** Fortunate office, Pennsylvania
Avenue, Washington City.''®
The lottery ticket itself is almost a complete history
of the lottery.
^
$100,000 Highest Prize.
1.1
bo
No. 2929.
William Brent
John Davidson
Thomas H. Gillis
Andrew Way, Jun.
Moses Young
Daniel Rapine
R. C. Weightman
National Lottery.
This Ticket will entitle the Possessor to such
Prize as may be drawn to its Number, if demanded
within twelve months after the completion of the
Drawing; Subject to a deduction of Fifteen per
cent. Payable sixty days after the Drawing is
finished.
Washington City, February, 1821,
Thos. II. Gillis, Manager.
By Authority of Congress,
o
O
n
CD
Ticket No. 2929 is reproduced. It is the one for
which Chastein Clark gave ** thanks to giddy chance."
It is useless to repeat the number. The number now
can have no fortunate significance. The wheels of the
lottery have ceased to spin. The blessings of the lot-
tery are no more. The pleasures of the imagination
sweeter than the pleasures of reality were in the pos-
«**David Gillespie, U. S. lottery office, Penn. av. nearly op|>OBite
Brorwn's hotel." ** Jesse Brown, proprietor of Indian Queen hotel, n.
side Penn. av. btw 6 and 7 w. " Directory, 1822.
86 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
session of him who had in his wallet a ticket for the
next drawing. The possessor had already the tan-
gible things of wealth as the homage given to wealth.
Before the door of his stone front was a pompous
lackey ; upon the walls, the talent of the masters ; his
handsome equipage awed the crowd; he patronized
genius, bestowed charity and sat with the wise— in his
mind. If yet the lottery offered golden promise we would
repeat Mr. Clark's number as the golden number for
those who do not accept equal chance in all the num-
bers and whom Addison likened to the ass between two
bundles of hay ; his eyes and nose equally tempted by
either side, he could not violate his neutrality before
he starved to death. But the discussion is without
worth. The poor are welcome to their poverty. The
poor man's riches, thin as the impalpable air, and for
a short span, are denied. The lottery has been crushed.
Mr. Clark, happy in expectation, presented the ticket
which he had bought from an agent of Mr. Gillespie in
Richmond. Mr. Gillespie having disposed to his own
use the proceeds or a considerable part thereof, the
Corporation declined to honor the ticket or even ac-
knowledge its liability so to do. Its defense was really
repudiation under a dress of legal sophistry.*^
Mr. Clark brought an action in the Circuit Court for
$100,000, March 31, 1823. The case was removed to
Alexandria Countv and there tried. At the trial the
case was elaborately argued. Thomas Swann, the Dis-
trict Attorney, and William Wirt, the Attorney Gen-
eral, for the plaintiff, December 7, 8, 9, 10, 1824, and
Walter Jones, for the defendants, December 11. The
question on which turned the decision was whether Gil-
lespie owned and operated the lottery on his owti
responsibility or whether he was the agent of the man-
7 The Mayor by Act approved September 3, 1827, was authorized to
take out letters of administration on the estate of Gillespie.
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 87
agers. Verdict for $35,000 was given. The Court
granted a new trial. On an agreed statement at the
April term, 1825, the Court gave judgment for the de-
fendant, which was appealed. Cranch, 2, 502.
The hearing before the United States Supreme Court
was on January 26, 1827. Daniel Webster in the high
tribunal appeared as counsel instead of Mr. Swann.
The decision was for the plaintiff, Clark; the opinion
by Chief Justice Marshall. The brief of Mr. Jones is
in narrow distinctions. The opinion of the Chief Jus-
tice is succinct and clear. Throughout the case ticket
holders are called * 'fortunate adventurers for prizes."
The court speaks of the limitation of $10,000 as the
yearly benefit the Corporation can desire as a Con-
gressional restriction of gaming. Wheaton, 12, 40.
The message of Mayor Weightman announcing to
the Councils the decision was, of course, mournful yet
it had chinks through which glimmered the rays of
hope. The first paragraph:
** Mayor's Office, March 12, 1827.
**To THE Board of Aldermen and Board of Common
CoUNCUi :
** Since the last meeting of the two Boards, the most inter-
esting subject to our constituents is the late decision of the
Supreme Court, in the case of Chastain. Clarke against the
Corporation, adverse to our pretensions. Their opinion, a
copy of which is herewith sent, involves the City in a very
heavy debt. The necessity and expediency of promptly meet-
ing the judgment of the Court, in a manner which shall have
the effect of presuming, unimpaired, our credit, with the least
possible burthen upon the community, is submitted to the wis-
dom of the Councils. No better mode suggests to my mind,
than the creation of a stock, the interest of which shall be paid
out of our present Lottery resources, and the surplus pledged
as a sinking fund to redeem the principal. If, in addition to
88 Records of the Colvmbta Historical Society.
this, were added the accruing taxes upon improvements an-
nually made, for a few years to come, the principal of the
Stock thus created, might be extinguished without the neces-
sity of any augmentation of our taxes ; leaving us, at the same
time, the whole of our present resources untouched, and ap-
plicable to the general improvement of the City. By the
exercise of sound economy, and by limiting our appropriations
to such objects only as shall promote our true interests, the
abstraction' of the revenue to be derived from the improve-
ments for a few years to come, will not be felt, and the City
will continue to advance in its present prosperous career. ' '
The Mayor advises other recoveries for prizes
drawn.
The Councils by an Act approved September 13,
1827, authorized the issue of stock at four per cent, in-
terest payable on or before thirty years to be delivered
to Clark for a **good and suflScient acquittance in law
and equity.'' The line had poor bait to catch Mr.
Clark. The Councils tried again by an Act approved
October 23, 1827, which made the stock bear five per
cent, and due in ten years. It was accepted. A sim-
ilar act was passed, August 19, 1828; to provide for
the other prizes drawn the Corporation was requested
to redeem by judgments at law. The stock created to
discharge Gillespie claims, April 1, 1829, was $198,000.®
8 The early hwtory of Washington reveals a very interestmg feature,
a system of lotteries. Lotteries with the approval of the President for
improving the city were authorized in amounts of not exceeding $10,000
in any one year by the charters of 1812 and 1820.
On November 3, 1812, the city council adopted a resolution to raise
$10,000 by lottery for building two public school houses. On August 3,
1814, a similar lottery to raise funds for the erection of a workhouse, and
on May 10, 1815, one to raise funds for building a city hall were recom-
mended. In 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, and 1821, resolutions were
adopted for raising $10,000 by lottery with which to erect the afore-
mentioned buildings. By act of July 24, 1815, Congress appointed seven
men to manage three lotteries authorized up to that time for raising a
total of $30,000. On November 17, 1818, an ordinance was passed an-
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 89
The ten lotteries of the Corporation, 1812 to 1821, in-
cluding the Gillespie aflfair, netted the Corporation
$100,000, if the full limitation, i. e., $10,000 at each was
fully realized.
The other mention of Mr. Weightman in Mr. Adams'
journal is under date. May 31, 1827. It states that Rev.
William Matthews, a clerg>^man of the Roman Cath-
olic Church and Mr. Weightman, the Mayor, came as
a committee from the directors of the Washington
Library requesting the use of a public lot on which to
erect a small brick building to keep the books. Father
Matthews was the President of the Library.
Mr. Weightman resigned the mayoralty, July 21,
1827, to give his undivided attention to his duties as
Cashier of the Bank of Washington to which he had
been just elected. He continued to be the Cashier of
that institution until 1834. At the time of his selection
as Cashier he was a Director in the Branch of the
United States Bank, F and Thirteenth streets. Mr.
Weightman ran for Mayor, June, 1850, and was de-
feated by Walter Lenox, by the small margin of 32
votes.
In the early times, Mr. Weightman was on about all
the committees for state occasions, as Independence
Day and Birth Night celebrations, May balls, inau-
thorizing the mayor to appoint seven citizens to manage a lottery to
raise a total sum of $40,000, as provided for by the resolutions of
1816,-17,-18.
On January 4, 1827, an ordinance authorized the sale of the three pend-
ing lotteries, as well as any future ones to be authorized under the
charter provisions, the purchasers to assume the entire responsibility for
the payment of the prizes. Under this ordinance David Gillespie and
others took over the management of the lotteries. Gillispie defaulted with
the main prize and other amounts. The managers being unable to pay
the prizes, the city was subjected to judgments aggregating upward of
$198,000. No further attempts were made to raise money by the lottery
method. — Harry Milloff, Educational Contest, Washington high schools,
1915.
90 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
gurations and public dinners. General William Henry
Harrison, the Whig presidential candidate, was met
while on the steamboat, September 20, 1836, by a com-
mittee of which was Mr. Weightman. He was the one
to present the letter extending **a hearty welcome to
the Metropolis of the United States,'' which he did
**with a neat and pertinent address."
^*The Washington Guide," by William Elliot, pub-
lished 1837, has given thirty-nine names as ** Amongst
those who by their wealth, talents, or industry have
contributed to the formation of an infant Metropolis.
. . . Roger C. Weightman."
The Columbian Institute for the promotion of
'* mathematical, physical, moral and political sciences,
general literature and fine arts," was organized, Oc-
tober 7, 1816. Of the primal organization Mr. Weight-
man was elected a curator. Under the Congressional
charter, April 20, 1818, he was of the first board of
managers. The Institute was most honorable and its
participants were men of national reputation and of
city celebrity.
Of the Washington National Monument Society, Mr.
Weightman was of the original board of managers
(1833).
With Thomas Carbery, Mayor, William Prout,
George Sweeny, and John P. Ingle, Mr. Weightman
was a Commissioner for Building the City Hall (1820).
With Thomas Carbery, Mayor, George Watterston,
James Hoban, and Adam Lindsay, Mr. Weightman
was a Commissioner for Draining Low Grounds.
Under authority of the Congressional act creating it,
the Commissioners sold two squares on each side of
Pennsylvania avenue formerly parts of the Mall.
Mr. Weightman had judicial authority, for he was a
Justice of the Peace, January 2, 1827, to January 2,
1837.
\
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 91
Mr. Weightman was of the managers of the Rock-
ville and Washington Turnpike Company (April, 4,
1828).
Mr. Weightman was Chairman of the citizens' com-
mittee (1820) to cooperate with the Corporation au-
thorities in the encouragement of the construction of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
**How sharper than a serpent's tooth
It is to have a thankless child."
Equally sharp it is to the child to be repaid in indif-
ference and negligence for devotion and sacrifice. The
Nation and the Nation's City are in relation of parent
and child. In the earlier years to dress it to comport
with its respectability as the Nation 's City was a severe
strain on the thin purse of the Corporation. The nar-
rowTiess of its finances is evident in the lottery his-
tory. To realize an annual addition of $10,000 to the
revenues was attempted the hazard of the lottery then
growing into disfavor on grounds of propriety. Even
this amount of minor magnitude was too large for the
sparse population. The Councils by Act directed the
Mayor to address the State legislatures for the priv-
ilege of vending. It is a fact— it is not an assertion of
recent origin— that in the earlier years the corpora-
tion of Washington paid about all the bills for im-
provements and the general government paid about
none of the bills. Notwithstanding the devotion and
the sacrifice of the Washingtonians in the care of the
Nation's City, the Nation has neglected to allow them
those rights which are dearest to the American bosom,
common to all other Americans. Those rights are the
unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness secured by a government deriving ils just
powers from the consent of the governed. What here
92 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
is said, was eloquently said, by William Biddle Shep-
ard, 1836, in the House of Representatives.
* * In the plan originally adopted by the government for the
city of Washington," said Representative Shepard, **the
width and extent of the streets were upon a scale greatly be-
yond the necessities of any resident population which will
ever be found there.
**A11 this was done doubtless to gratify the national pride
or for the accommodation of the public; why, then, should
not the nation pay for these expensive tastes t
**The United States are much the largest proprietors of
real estate within the city, and yet they have paid compar-
atively nothing toward the improvement of the streets, while
individual owners of lots have paid more than $400,000. I
can perceive no principle which can justify the government
in not paying along with other properties for the improve-
ment of streets, which add to the value of their property, par-
ticularly when the government claims the right of property in
the streets, points their direction and describes their dimen-
sions, matters over which the corporation of Washington can
exercise no control, but are the passive instruments of the
people of the United States.
**If the United States had paid in proportion to the prop-
erty they hold within the eity, as other proprietors have done,
their proportion toward the expenses of the city since the year
1802 would at this time amount to more than the entire debt
of the corporation.
' * The citizens and the corporation of Washington have, with
a public spirit which does them a great credit, effected much ;
they have struggled on under great disadvantages ; they have
built up a city for the accommodation of the people of the
United States, under the most adverse circumstances, with but
little aid from its wealthiest and largest proprietor, without
foreign commerce or internal trade.
"The people of the District stand towards the Congress of
the United States in a peculiar and unusual position ; they are
excluded from many of those rights which are dearest to an
\
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 93
American bosom ; they have no voice upon this floor ; to them
we owe no responsibility ; they can make no appeals but to our
justice and humanity, and I do trust that in an American
Congress that appeal will never be made in vain.
**When the government was poor and needy, individuals
aided you in building up the metropolis of the nation. Now,
when you are rich, when you are embarrassed with your
wealth, render to those who were your friends in your hours
of need a simple act of justice."
Miss Louisa S. Weightman of Gen. Weightman, Jan-
uary 6, 1918, writes :
'* Before the death of his wife . . . the family was prom-
inent in the social life of Washington and for many years a
fancy ball they gave was talked about as one of the unique
and beautiful of the social events of that time.''
In this connection James Croggon has :
**Ten years later the Bank of Washington had come from
Capitol Hill and bought the Stettinius property facing Louis-
iana avenue, 7th and C streets, on which was a spacious three-
storied brick building on the site now covered by the National
Bank of Washington. Gen. Weightman was then the Cashier
of the bank and had his residence over the bank for a number
of years. Gen. Weightman 's residence became as well known
as the bank itself. He was prominent in social as well as
business circles, and the halls over the vaults and office were
often the scenes of society functions. One of these was a fancy
ball, in 1837, at which Washington's '400' turned out en
masse, and this having equalled, if not surpassed, all prior
affairs of this kind, *Gen. Weightman 's ball' was long in the
minds of the people."
These reminiscences invite the extract from the
''Life and Letters of Dolly Madison" :
**Mrs. Madison's affability was in youth — ^throughout — and
94 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
in age. In youth she was courteous to age and in age, she was
bending to youth. It is no wonder, then, that in age she was
honored by youth and that youth courted her presence and
withdrew every limitation that might discourage it.
'* 'Bal Costume.'
'*Mrs. Weightman requests the pleasure of Mrs. Madison's
company on Thursday evening the 21st of Feb. at 8 o'clock
in Fancy Costume.
* ' Thursday, Jany 31st (1839) .
' * My dear Madam :
"Understanding that you feel some diflBculty in coming to
the Fancy Ball in Fancy Costume, allow me to say that I shall
be most happy to see you in your usual dress —
**I am dear Madam
, "Yrs most cordially
'* Serena L. Weightman."
Mrs. Weightman was Louisa Serena Hanson, the
youngest daughter of Samuel Hanson and Mary Kay
Hanson. Mr. Hanson was collaterally related to John
Hanson, a delegate from Maryland to the Continental
Congress and its President. Mrs. Hanson wrote her
name interchangeably, Louisa Serena and Serena
Louisa. Samuel Hanson died December 16, 1830, in
his seventy-eighth year. Mrs. Weightman died about
the year 1839.
In Mr. Weightman 's time also was determined effort
by those who care not for that which **maketh glad
the heart of man" to prevent those who did from re-
course to the medium of gladness. The advocates of
abstinence could within the covers of the scriptures
find authority so overflowingly as to ignore the in-
quiry, ** Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God
and man'* and Paul's suggestion to Timothy to use a
little for tonic purposes. The patriarch Noah, drunken
with success as a manager of a menagerie, had toasted
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 95
himself too freely and was of the awful examples. The
direness of dnmkemiess was preached early and late
and none escaped, old or young, the warning of evil.
A grandchild asked Mr. Weightman if he was ever
drunk. He confessed he had been and the young ones
listened for the tale of orgy and disgrace. **In Alex-
andria, when I was ten years old, I leaned over the
vats and breathed the pungent and pleasant fumes
until I reeled and fell from intoxication. ' '
The directories disclose that Mr. Weightman lived,
1822, in Weightman Row and he had his place of busi-
ness there. The Bank of Washington in 1827 was on
the east side of New Jersey Avenue between B and C
Streets south and Mr. Weightman over the banking
rooms lived. In 1834 the bank had removed to Seventh
and C and Louisiana Avenue and Mr. Weightman lived
on the avenue side of the bank building. About 1850
he moved to the north side of the avenue and there he
lived many years, including the period he was con-
nected with the Patent Office. Old numbering 43.
Mr. Weightman contributed his interests in square
491 and George Calvert and others contributed theirs
in the same square, October 24, 1831, to an association
to own the hotel. In the association Mr. Weightman
had originally sixty-eight shares of the total three hun-
dred and fifteen. From time to time he realized on
some of his shares and transferred some to members
of his family. The final sale, twenty-six shares, was
made. May 11, 1871, to the new formed National Hotel
Company.
Mr. Weightman was the Chief Clerk of the Patent
Office from June 1, 1851, to May, 1853. Under a change
of administration he was changed to a second-class
clerk and his duties were in the library. He expe-
rienced **the joys of librarianship "® for twenty years;
» * * The Joys of Librarianship, ' ' Arthur E. Bostwick.
96 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
for **to the useful iy^e of mind that delights in effect-
ing public enlightenment this task makes a special ap-
peal." In 1870 he was removed to the outside. Gov-
ernor Shepherd, at the time Vice-President of the
Board of Public Works, gave him a position with the
Board, which he resigned when illness required.
Mr. Weightman ascended the military ladder and
became a Colonel. The correspondence is preserved
that shows Captain Force's request for the appoint-
ment of the next day for himself and his command to
make a complimentary call— the Colonel's compliance
with the request— with the result that the hour not
being designated Captain Force and his company came
when the Colonel was somewhere else. March 27, 1860,
President Buchanan appointed Mr. Weightman Major
General of the Militia of the District of Columbia.
General Weightman had his headquarters in the Patent
Office Library. He received the company lists for
enlistment. He was assisted by Col. Charles P. Stone,
specially in the detective department.
To the Mayor, Mr. Berret, General Weightman made
this conununication :
''February 1, 1861.
'^Dear Sir: Be pleased to send me at your earliest conven-
ience a list of the names and residences of your police force
for day and for night servuce.
**If the assistance of the police should be required it is im-
portant to have the means of reaching them as early as prac-
ticable.''
The Mayor replied that he would not relinquish an
important prerogative of the Mayor's office, the \Hrtual
subordination of the civil of the city to the military of
the District. That "he is not sensible of the existence
of any legal provision which empowers a military of-
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 97
ficer, however high in rank, even in the presence of the
most imminent danger, to assume command of the
police or to make requisition upon the Mayor for its
service."
General Weightman informed the Mayor that he mis-
understood his request. That he simply wished to be
in a position to have the services of an officer or more
in an emergency. That he had no notion of interfering
with the Mayoral duties.
The Mayor with elaboration adhered to his refusal.
It is not improbable that the Mayor had more parti-
sanship than principle. At any rate it created a sus-
picion of disloyalty which increased by his declination
to take the prescribed oath as Police Commissioner.
The declination made him the government's guest in
a fortress in New York harbor.
General Weightman did not have to wait until
Charon had him safely rowed to the far side of the
Styx and his attention distracted from celestial em-
plojTnent, to read his own obituarial review. For three
years and nearly four he could do that while yet in the
land of the mortals. In The Star of July 1, 1872, he
read:
**Gen. R. C. Weightman, one of our oldest and most es-
timable citizens, is lying at the point of death at his residence
on 20th street between G and H. His attending physician,
Dr. Maxwell of the Navy, believes that he cannot long survive. "
The General must have been pleased with the recita-
tion of his achievements and in his pleasure indul-
gently overlooked the slight inaccuracies of the re-
porter.
General Weightman died February 2, 1876, in the
morning, at his residence 717i Twentieth Street.
Official correspondence:
7
98 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
'*(To Col. Amos Webster, Adjutant General of the D. C.
militia.)
'*The funeral of the late Roger C. Weigh tman, the Com-
missioners are informed, will take place next Sunday under
the auspices of the Masonic societies of the city. (Jeneral
Weightman was major general of the District militia; and
one time mayor of the city ; he was also an officer in the last
war with Great Britain, and for many years an influential,
prominent and active citizen. It would, therefore, seem to be
a proper reason for a military display as a mark of respect,
and the Commissioners refer the subject to you for such de-
cision and action as you shall consider advisable and proper
in the premises.
"Very respectfully,
**Wm. TiNDAiiL, Secretary.
** General Orders No. 16. The companies comprising the 1st
Regiment N. G., D. C. M., are hereby ordered to attend as an
escort at the funeral of the late Major General Roger C.
Weighman, to take place on Sunday, the 5th inst. at 2.30
o'clock p. m. from the Masonic Temple. Col. Robert I. Flem-
ing will command and make all necessary arrangements for
the prompt execution of this order.
**By order of the Commissioners,
**A. Webster, Adj. Oen. D. CM.''
**To Brig. Gen. Wm. G. Moore, Commanding D. CM."
General Weightman 's Masonic history is that he was
the first candidate for membership in Lebanon Lodge,
No. 7, F. A. A. M., chartered in 1811 ; his application
dated November 14, of that year. In the Lodge he was
Senior Warden ; and in the Grand Lodge, Grand Mas-
ter. His offices *'he filled with honor to himself and
satisfaction to the craft. ' '
Services were held at the Masonic Temple. The pall-
bearers were John B. Blake and Thomas M. Hanson,
representing the Oldest Inhabitants; Cols. James G.
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 99
Payne and Nathaniel B. Fngitt, the militia; Past
Grand Masters Charles F. Stansbury and James E. F.
Holmead, the Grand Lodge of Masons; John Purdy
and Nicholas Acker, Lebanon Lodge. The services
were largely attended ; of the prominent in attendance
were the Ex-Mayors Wallach and Emery, Ex-Gov.
Shepherd and his military successor. General Peter
F. Bacon.
The procession moved to the Congressional Cem-
etery in the following order:
Detachment of mounted police.
Marine band, 55 pieces.
Battalion of First Regiment, National Guard, D. C. ;
Col. Robert I. Fleming, commanding.
Washington, Columbia and De Molay commanderies
of Knight Templars. Lebanon Lodge. Grand Lodge.
The casket bore the inscription: ** Roger C. Weight-
man, died February 2, 1876, aged 89 years. ' '
The Star had, February 2, 1876: '*He had an un-
sullied reputation, and possessed many traits of char-
acter which ennoble the possessor."
The National Republican had, February 7, 1876:
**In that station (Mayor) he performed the duties in a
dignified, gentlemanly manner, and by his administra-
tion of the office won the undivided confidence of the
public for honesty and fidelity to the trust reposed
in him."
He who follows the long life of General Roger Chew
Weightman— a span of four score and ten— will find
he was printer and publisher, stationer and general
merchant, soldier and statesman, banker and librarian,
sometimes rich and sometimes reduced; and always
commendably doing. And in his days ' decline, it could
have been said :
lOO Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
''Age sits with deeent grace upon his visage.
And worthily beeomes his silver locks;
He wears the marks of manj years well spent^
Of virtue, truth well tried, and wise experience. ' '
Kowe*s **Jane Shore."
The paragraphs that Miss Miller contributes to his-
torical papers have interest conveyed in naive charm :
**The Rochambeau,
''January 24, 1918,
''My dear Mr, Clark,
**I wish I could help you with regard to Genl. Weightman
and Mr. Gales, but tho' they were familiar figures in my child-
hood, I cannot recall anything specially worth recording.
They were both very close and intimate friends of my grand-
father Genl. Walter Jones and Grenl Weightman succeeded
him as Major (Jeneral District Militia. . . . Genl Weight-
man's sister-in-law Miss Ann Hanson, kept house for him, and
I always thought she must be a hundred years old — she seemed
so to my youthful eyes — she taught music and the first lessons
I ever had on the piano were from her. She was a great snuff
taker and deplored having acquired the habit, said my grand-
father and grandmother were so sensible when they set their
faces against the custom. She died after the war a very suf-
fering death due to a fall — her niece Miss Serena Weightman
lived with her. . . . Genl Weightman as I remember him was
very good looking, and always so courteous and kindly, and
I most truly wish I could help you to make a suitable record
of him, but I cannot. He lived you know on Louisiana avenue
near 6th street, and he and Mr. Force were among my grand-
father's most ardent admirers. Thank you for telling me of
the records you find of my grandfather. He must have been
a wonderful man and very modest with it all. I remember
him with greatest affection and am very proud of him. With
kind regards
**Very sincerely yours
* ' ViRGiNLv Miller. ' '
\
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. lOi
Miss Louisa S. Weightman has given enthusiastic
assistance to the preparation of this paper. With
other information is this by her pen, January 6, 1918 :
**Gen. Weightman had a large family, six sons and two
daughters. Most of them died quite young but one daughter
spent her whole life in Washington and died unmarried
twenty-five years ago at about the age of fifty-five.
**One son went to Louisiana, married and died there.
"The eldest son, Richard Hanson Weightman, volunteered
in the Mexican war — in the 40 's — returning a Major. Again
during the Civil War he went to the front, this time in the
Southern Army. He fought under Gen. Sterling Price and
was killed at Springfield, Mo., in 1861.^®
**His sons and daughters have lived most of their lives in
Washington. Richard Coxe Weightman was for many years
connected with The Washington Post.
**A second son named for the grandfather Roger Chew
Weightman died in 1904 leaving a daughter and two sons who
bear the family names and keep up the family reputations.
"Lieut. R. Hanson Weightman, great grandson of the old
Greneral, is in Prance with the Weather Bureau, sent by Gen.
Pershing's request.
"The second great grandson, Lieut. Roger Chew Weight-
man, has been for several years in the Coast Guard Service.
He is now at an Atlantic port awaiting orders to go *Over
there. '
"There are still two more great grandsons of Gen. Weight-
man deserving mention. Roger Weightman Jannus and
Antony H. Jannus, sons of Prankland Jannus and Emmeline
Carlisle Weightman Jannus. Both have made records as
aviators. Antony H. Jannus was killed in Russia thro' an
accident to his machine a little more than a year ago. Lieut.
10 Born in Washington, D. C, December 28, 1816. Attended the West
Point military academy, 1835- '7. Dinnissed for a contemplated duel near
Washington. Captain Missouri light infantry in the Mexican War.
Moved to Sante Fe, New Mexico. Delegate as Democrat to Congress,
March 4, 1851 to March 3, 1853. Killed while commanding a brigade,
C.8.A. at Wilson's Greek, Mo., August 10, 1861.
I02 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Roger Weightman Jannus is stationed at Ellington Field,
Texas, to which place he is returning at this writing with his
bride ; having been married, Dec. 27th last, to Miss Lucille R.
Taylor of Mount Clemens, Mich.
* * The writer has lost touch with the Louisiana Weigh tmans
but the loyal, patriotic old General may have grandsons and
great grandsons there too serving their country in this time,
when every man, and for that matter every woman, must
needs do the duty at hand.
**I am aware that the information regarding Gen. Weight-
man is very meager but he was a man who never talked of
himself, and most of the things I, his granddaughter, know
have come to me from outsiders. I well remember tho' his
funeral which occurred, I think, in the early 70 's. He was
buried by the Masons one Sunday afternoon in a drenching
rain — ^yet excepting at Inaugurations or some such public
function I have never seen a greater crowd. The avenue was
lined with people, many of them of the poorer classes, drawn
there, I was afterwards told, by memory of some kind act of
his to them.''
A brother of the General was Richard Weightman,
born at Alexandria about 1792, died at Washington,
October 30, 1841. He was a successful physician. It
is of the Doctor, Margaret Bayard Snodth, August 30,
1814, writes this White House incident:
'*The day before Cockburn paid this house a visit and forced
a young gentleman of our acquaintance to go with him, — on
entering the dining-room they found the table spread for
dinner, left precipitatly by Mrs. M. he insisted on young
Weightman 's sitting down and drinking Jemmy's health,
which was the only epithet he used whenever he spoke of the
President. After looking round, he told Mr. W. to take some-
thing to remember this day. Mr. W. wished for some valuable
article. No, no said he, that I must give to the flames, but
here, handing him some ornaments off the mantle-piece, these
will answer as a memento. ' '^^
11 "Forty Years of Washington Society," Margaret B. Smith.
\
Clark: General Roger Chew Weightman. 103
John Weightman, a brother, was a dry goods mer-
chant in Washington. Opened June 9, 1812, next door
to Davis 's TavemM Pennsylvania avenue. He emi-
grated to the great west and ^fras never heard of more.
Henry T. Weightman, a brother, was cashier of the
Patriotic Bank, at the southeast comer of 7th and D
streets.
The Washington Post, February 18, 1914 :
''Richard C. Weightman, one of the oldest and most widely
known newspaper men of Washington, and for miany years an
editorial writer on The Post, died yesterday morning in his
home, 1906 Sunderland place northwest. He had been ill sev-
eral months with a complication of grip and heart disease.
He was 70 years old. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Laura
Weightman, and one sister. Miss L. S. Weightman, of the
Berkshire apartments. He had two children, who died several
years ago.
"Funeral services will be held tomorrow morning at 11
'clock at his home. Interment will be private. Mrs. Weight-
man 's brother is expected to arrive today from New Orleans.
"Mr. Weightman was born in Washington, October 20,
1844. His father was Col. R. Hanson Weightman, of the Con-
federate army, and his mother was Miss Susan Coxe, also of
this city. Young Weightman went to the schools of Wash-
ington and later attended a private school at Catonsville, Md.
* * The Weightman family went to Kansas to live when Rich-
ard was about 13 years old, and when the war broke out the
father became attached to the staff of Gen. Sterling Price,
commanding the Confederate army of Missouri. He was
killed at Springfield, Mo., in the first year of the rebellion.
**(Jen. Price was greatly interested in the son of his intrepid
colonel and offered young Richard a place as aid on his staff,
which was accepted. But that sort of service was not to the
liking of the youth, and he entered the ranks as a private and
fought through the war, a part of the time serving with Gen.
P. G. T. Beauregard. The end of the war found Weightman
in New Orleans with his way to make, and he secured a posi-
tion on the staff of the Picayune.
I04 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
*' After several years of distinguished newspaper service in
that city, during which time he married Miss Laura Jury, one
of the beauties of the old regime, he CMne to Washington and
joined the staflf of The Post^s^s an editftial writer.
**A few years age he left The Post and became a member of
the staflf of the New York Sun, serving in a similar capacity.
A little more than two years ago he went to Staunton, Va.,
having become identified with a newspaper enterprise there.
He returned to Washington last September.
**Mr. Weightman was a prolific writer for magazines and
weekly publications, as well as newspapers. He was a mem-
ber of the Metropolitan Club, and enjoyed the acquaintance of
statesmen, diplomats, and the literary and art leaders of the
world."
\
THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE PATENT
OFFICE.^
By GEORGE W. EVANS.
(Read before the Society, May 21, 1918.)
The Honorable Secretary of the Interior, Franklin
K. Lane, in an address before the Liberty Loan Com-
mittee of the Department of the Interior, on April 8,
1918, referring to several bureaus of that Department,
said, among many other interesting things, that :
' * The Department of the Interior is not as active in the War
as some of the other Departments, but there is not a single
bureau therein that is not doing actual war work, aside from
boosting Liberty Loans, aside from your Red Cross contribu-
tions, and aside from intensive war work among the women.
These things are on the side; but if you will think over the
past year you will realize that the Department itself, in every
bureau, is contributing in real fashion to the success that we
are going to have in the end.
** Through the General Land Office we have made it possible
by legislation that we have advocated, and that has gone
through Congress, for the men who are on our homesteads to
leave them and go into more active war work, or go into the
trenches themselves. They to retain in fee simple their home-
steads.
*'The great work that the Bureau of Mines has been carry-
1 The paper herewith submitted concerns the birth and growth of the
United States Patent Office. It has been prepared by me after a careful
and complete research of the records and files of the Department of the
Interior, and the Patent Office Bureau. Also from the files of the
Washington National Intelligencer, the semi-official newspaper of the
general government, in the early period of the last century, said files now
forming a part of the valuable historical collection in the archives of the
Library of Congress.
105
io6 Records of the Colttmbia Historical Society.
ing on you are all familiar with. It is as complete and as per-
fect as any industrial system in the United States, and out of
it will come some real things that will have their effect in the
war itself. A contract has been signed for the farming of
100,000 acres of Indian lands, which one man is to take over
and put into wheat for war uses.
**The Geological Survey is working throughout the country
searching for the minerals that we need to make this a self-
sufficient country, looking for the potash, and the nitrates,
hunting out those finer, those rarer minerals that we have
neglected in the past.
**The Patent Office has a bureau organization under which
they are sifting out the inventions of the past twenty years to
find what there may be there that our great minds have de-
veloped, that have not been properly appreciated and appro-
priated to war work. ' '
The Patent Office, so often facetiously referred to
as **that Constitutional Bureau," because of the pro-
vision of the Constitution under which it is estab-
lished and upon which all laws affecting it are
based, is probably the only bureau of the Government
so established. The first provision relating thereto
provides :
**That Congress shall have the power ... to promote the
progress of Science and Useful Arts by securing for limited
Times to authors and Inventors the exclusive Eight to their
respective Writings and Discoveries.''
The patent system had its origin in England and
grew out of the practice of granting monopolies by
the crown. These were mostly granted through pure
favoritism and as rewards for services to the State.
It was not until 1623, in the reign of James I, that an
act was passed putting a stop to the abuse of this
kingly prerogative, and this act provided that letters
patent should be granted only for
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 107
^^The sole working or making of any manner of new manu-
factures within the realm to the true and first inventor.
The United States Patent Ofl&ce had its beginning
under a commission composed of the Secretary of
State, the Secretary of War and the Attorney General,
Act of April 10, 1790. Applications for patents were
discussed in cabinet meeting and but three patents
were granted by this commission, each being signed by
President George Washington. This commission
operated under the act of 1790, the first of the patent
acts, and this embodied the best features of the sys-
tems of Europe, although English theories were more
specifically considered. This law limited the life of a
patent to fourteen years, and there was no provision
for an extension. It required that a written specifica-
tion be filed with the Secretary of State, containing a
description of the article desired to be patented, ac-
companied with draft or model and explanations and
models. It also required that the specifications should
be so particular and the models so exact as not only to
distinguish the inventions or discovery from other
things before known and used, but also to enable a
workman or other person skilled in the art of manu-
facture whereof it is a branch, or whereunto it may be
nearest connected, to make, construct or use the same,
to the end that the public may have the full benefit
thereof after the expiration of the patent term. The
Secretary of State was also directed to furnish copies
of any specification and to permit any model to be
copied on application. Provision was made for the
repeal of any patent obtained surreptitiously or by
false suggestion, but no remedy was given for inter-
fering applications. The law was very defective, as
are nearly all initial measures, but was the starting
lo8 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
point of onr patent system, and it has, therefore, been
necessary to mention it as some length.
The tribunal of three which controlled the examina-
tion and granting of patents nnder this act of 1790
was absolute in its authority and there was no appeal
from its decisions. The severity of its scrutiny and
the strictness with which it exercised its power caused
great dissatisfaction, and inventors complained that
the three officers composing the board were not in sym-
pathy with those whom the law under which they acted
was designed to benefit; that, on the contrary, they
were by education and interest hostile to the industrial
classes.
Consequently in 1793 another act was passed which
destroyed this power of revision and rejection which
the first tribunal had so rigidly enforced. The general
construction of this act was much the same as that of
1790, except that there was no power of rejection, and
that to the Secretary of State alone was given author-
ity to grant patents.
For twelve years, from 1790 to 1802, the entire work
of the Patent Office was performed by a single clerk
in the State Department and all the records did not fill
over a dozen pigeonholes. No organization of a Patent
Bureau occurred until May, 1802, when President Jef-
TorHou appointed Doctor William Thornton, a scientist
and friend of George Washington, to have charge of
tht^ issuance of Patents. For twenty-six years Dr.
Thornton exorcised an autocratic control of the affairs
of the Patent Office.
Ilo used his powers of discretion to an extent that
\v\mUl \uuloubtodly bo much condemned at the present
Htnio of o\ir uutioual progress. From such inventors
\\n \y\\\\\\\ utYord to pay, he exacted the government fees,
\\\\\ when ho f\uuul that the inventor was poor in pocket.
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 109
he remitted the fees, boldly asserting that **the patent
law was made solely for the encouragement of authors
and inventors, and not to collect revenue."
Although upon his death an investigation of his office
showed a decided deficit between the amount which
actually was, and that which should have been to the
credit of the office in the Treasury, there does not ap-
pear to have been any suspicion of personal dishon-
esty on the part of Dr. Thornton, but was merely
chargeable to his generosity and leniency toward the
inventors. He took great interest in the office, making
it practically his life work. His salary was $1,400,
nowadays considered as a moderate-sized clerk's sal-
ary, but undoubtedly a large one in those days. His
single clerk drew $500 per year, and his messenger
was on the payroll for $72 annually. This was his office
force. Dr. William Thornton continued in office until
the date of his death in 1828.
The growth of the Patent Office in the succeeding
100 years is best illustrated by comparison of these
figures with those existing at present, when the office
itself occupies a whole city block, employs 1,000 indi-
viduals and has annual receipts amounting to over,
approximately, $2,500,000. The amount on the books
of the Treasury, January 1, 1918, credited as ** Patent
Office Receipts," was $8,223,883.45.
Of Dr. Thornton a story is told that during the war
of 1812, when the British captured the city of Wash-
ington and destroyed the Capitol Building, a loaded
cannon was trained upon the Patent Office for the pur-
pose of destroying it, and he is said to have put him-
self before the gun and in a frenzy of excitement
explained :
**Are you Englishmen or only Goths and Vandals? This is
the Patent Office, a depository of the ingenuity of the Amer-
1 lo Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
ican nation, in which the whole of the civilized world is inter-
ested. Would you destroy it? If so, fire away, and let the
charge pass through my body. * '
The effect is said to have been magical and to have
saved the Patent Office from destruction.
Whether this is true or not, I have thought it best to
give Doctor Thornton's statement notice as he pub-
lished it at that time. From the National Intelligencer,
of Washington, D. C. (semi-official government organ),
dated September 7, 1814, appears a conmaunication
addressed to the public as follows :
* * City op Washington, 30th August, 1814.
''To the Public:
** Hearing of several misrepresentations, I think it my duty
to state to you in as concise a manner as the various circum-
stances will permit, my conduct in the late transactions in this
city.
** After securing all the public papers committed to my care,
and sending them to a place of perfect safety, (leaving my
own property unattended to.) I proceeded on the 23d instant
to the neighborhood of the Army, and afterwards accompanied
the Honorable, the Secretary of State, Colonel Monroe, with
some other gentlemen in reconnoitering the country, when we
only returned at twelve o'clock at night.
**The next day I removed with my family in the retreating
army from the city, and beheld in deep regret, that night, the
tremendous conflagrations of our public buildings, etc. Hear-
ing next morning while at breakfast in Georgetown!, that the
British were preparing to burn the War Oflfiee and the public
building containing the models of the Arts. I was desirous
not only of saving an instrumont that had cost me great labor,
but of preser\'ing, if possible, the buiUling and all the models.
I therefore left my breakfast and hastened fon\ard. deter-
mining to request the first known democrat I should meet, to
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 1 1 1
accompany me, lest the malevolent should insinuate that I had
in any manner held an improper communication with the in-
vaders of the country. I met with Charles Carroll, Esquire,
one of the most respectable gentlemen in the District, and I
begged him to accompany me for the reason given; he very
politely attended me.
**We arrived at the very moment when the English, Colonel
Jones and his men, were proceeding to burn the War OflBce.
Mr. Carroll had already accompanied the Mayor of George-
town in a peace deputation and was therefore known to some
of the officers ; he informed Colonel Jones that I had waited on
him to request permission to take out of the Patent Office a
musical instrument; the Colonel immediately replied, that as
it was not their intention to destroy any private property, I
was perfectly at liberty to take it. After the War Office was
burnt, I entreated Mr. Carroll to accompany me to the Patent
Office, but he proceeded only to my house and told me he must
return. He did so, and I went to the residence of the Mayor
to ask him to accompany me to the building, but he was out
of town. I next called on Mr. Nicholson, my model maker and
messenger, and desired him to attend me; he did, and the
British soldiers were then marching in two columns to burn
the building. When we arrived there we found the Reverend
Mr. Brown, Mr. Lyon and Mr. Hatfield near the Patent Office.
Major Waters, who was then on guard and waiting the com-
mand of Colonel Jones, informed me that the private property
might be taken out; I told him that there was nothing but
private property of any consequence, and that any public
property to which he objected might be burnt in the street,
provided the building might be preserved, which contained
hundreds of models of the arts, and that it would be impossible
to remove them, and to burn what would be useful to all man-
kind, would be as bai'barous as formerly to burn the Alex-
andrian Library, for which the Turks have since been con-
demned by all enlightened nations.
** Major Waters desired me to go again with him to Colonel
Jones, who was attending some of his men engaged in destroy-
ing Mr. Gales printing office. I went to Penn Avenue and Sev-
112 Records of the Columbia Historical Society
enth Street, and was kindly received by the Colonel. They
took their men away and promised to spare the building. I
then returned, satisfied, without seeing any other British
Officer, and went out of the District with my family. On
Friday, the twenty-sixth, I returned to the city lest any in-
ferior officer, not knowing of this promise, should set fire to
the building ; but I found the British were gone, except a few
sick and wounded men and their attendants.
** Finding the Mayor not yet in the city, I, as the only Jus-
tice of the Peace, appointed a guard at the President's House
and Offices, another at the Capitol to prevent plunderers who
were carrying off all articles to the amount of thousands of
dollars. When at the Capitol I was informed that a dreadful
scene of plunder was exhibited at the Navj- Yard. I went and
ordered the gates to be shut and stopped every plunderer.
While placing a guard there, Commodore Tingey arrived.
I delivered everything up to him ; and on returning was told
the English sick and wounded were in want, and had no pro-
vision. I visited them and was informed by Sergeant Sinclair,
of the British 21st regiment, who had the command of these
men, that Doctor James Ewell had, in a most humane manner,
attended them as a physician, and as far as he could, had sup-
plied them with necessaries. Major L 'Enfant, with great
humanity, besides being useful in some precautionary meas-
ures, desired I would have carts sent for some of our wounded
men on the commons. I understood he had engaged one, and
I desired he would send as many as he thought necessary, for
which I would be answerable. I have heard since they had
been removed. I then waited on Doctor James Ewell, to thank
him in the name of the city for his goodness towards the dis-
tressed, who, being in our power, and especially in misery
were no longer enemies. He told me there was no provision
for them of any kind. I appointed a Commissary, and ordered
everything that the Doctor thought requisite, for which I
would be responsible. The Sergeant requested my protection
for all his men. I told him they would be protected, and as
our people would patrol the streets in squads of six, at least,
in every ward, and might meet some of them, it would be well
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 113
to send a man with each of our patrols as a guard to challenge
them; and thereby prevent our people from firing on them;
and if any should be found, to take them to the Sergeant, who
would put them under guard for further orders. He promised
to obey every order. I gave orders and he fulfilled them.
Some stragglers, I understand, were taken up, and perfect
order kept throughout the city.
** After I had made all the arrangements, the Mayor ar-
rived. I informed him of all I had done, and stated that I
then delivered over to him all the authority I had, from the
duty of office, assumed. He, I believe, and my follow citizens
of Washington, approved of my conduct. I returned late to
my family in the country. The next morning we returned to
the city when we heard the British ships bombarding Fort
Warburton. On the 28th instant, I learned that the people
being afraid of the landing of the British seamen, who they
thought were immediately bound for the city. I had desired
the Mayor to wait on the President, and request permission to
send a deputation — not to enter into capitulation of any kind,
but to represent to the Commander of the British squadron,
that it was understood, when their army destroyed the public
buildings and property, no other would be molested, and to
request, therefore, they would not permit their soldiers to
land; but learning at the same time that the President had
refused to hear of a deputation, and understanding that the
people on all sides deprecated a mere show of resistance ; for
it was supposed our men had not generally returned, and that
the few who had returned were all dispersed, I went imme-
diately to the President, who was attended by the Secretary of
State and the Attorney General, and gave my views of the
situation. I represented the general feelings of the people on
the above supposition, but was answered, it would be dishon-
orable to send any deputation, and that we would defend the
city to the very last ; that our men had returned, and we would
have sufficient force, if called together, and I was desired to
aid in rousing them to arms.
**I obeyed the call, returned, rode in all directions and called
to arms. I sent for the troops from Bladensburg, and urged
8
114 Records of the Colwmhia Historical Society.
them from various places. I sent to the different quarters, and
gave, so far as I could, every assistance in my power to fulfill
the wishes of the government.
** Respectfully,
** William Thornton/'
From Doctor Thornton's time up to the present, the
history of the Patent OflBce has been one of steady
growth. Two disastrous fires somewhat impeded its
progress on account of the destruction of records that
could not be replaced.
Although the original laws were taken from the Eng-
lish Statutes, many changes in the laws have been
made, which have in turn, been adopted by England
and other countries, until now the patent laws of most
of the nations are modelled more or less directly upon
those of the United States. The adoption of the search
system for novelty of invention originated in the
United States and was adopted by Great Britain, Ger-
many and other nations.
It must be admitted that the patent laws of the
. United States, as they stand at present, have done
more for the development of the nation than can be
readily calculated. The advancement along scientific
lines and the commercial progress of the nation are
directly traceable to the patent system. When one
stops to consider the myriad of inventions which have
. benefited mankind, all of which were fostered and en-
couraged under the United States Patent Laws, one
ventures upon a wide field of speculation. The tele-
phone, the sewing machine, the cotton gin, the loco-
motive, the trolley cars, electric lines, electric devices
and appliances, the telegraph, the automobile, the wire-
less, the flying machines, and the submarines, agricul-
tural machinery and appliances, all have helped to
build the nation's commercial supremacy. Inventions
\
Evans: Birth' and Growth of Patent Office. 1 1 5
have helped those who dwell in cities and those who
dwell in the country. Farmers own automobiles ; trol-
ley lines pass through their very farms, bringing
widely scattered communities into close touch; the
telephone enables the farmer to keep in touch with
the market values, and the automobile enables him to
haul his product to a profitable market, and the wire-
less to message at long distance by air currents, and
flying machines to carry the mails, etc. More intelli-
gence, more knowledge, more wealth have resulted
from inventions, and the end is nowhere in sight, as
the vast number of patents which are applied for each
year ably testifies. There is practically no limit to the
benefits to mankind which can be traced to the United
States Patent Svstem.
As before stated, Doctor Thornton, in 1821, assumed
the title of Superintendent of Patents, and continued
in office as such until 1828, the vear of his death. The
office of Superintendent of Patents was specifically
provided for by Congress in 1830, in the act making ap-
propriations for salaries for the Department of State.
By the Act of July 4, 1836, the office of Superintend-
ent of Patents was abolished, and in lieu thereof the
Office of Commissioner of Patents was created; Mr.
Henry L. Ellsworth became the first Commissioner,
continuing in office until May 9, 1849. By the Act of
March 3, 1849, the Department of the Interior was
created, to which was added, with other government
bureaus and offices, the Patent Office.
The late Honorable Thomas Ewing, Sr., was the first
Secretar>^ of the Interior (March 8, 1849, to August 15,
1850). His son, the late Thomas Ewing, 2d, was a dis-
tinguished lawyer, statesman and soldier. He served
gallantly throughout the Civil War in the Union Army
and rose to the grade of a Major-General. His son.
1 16 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Thomas Ewing, 3d, a prominent Patent Attorney of
New York, filled the oflSce of Commissioner of Patents
from July 10, 1913, to August 15, 1917. He was suc-
ceeded as Commissioner of Patents by the Honorable
James T. Newton, of Georgia, August 30, 1917, the
present Commissioner, who for a number of years was
in the Examining Corps of the office and later Assist-
ant Commissioner of Patents.
In July, 1836, the present system of consecutively
numbering patents was adopted, and up to and includ-
ing February 27, 1849, 6,151 patents were granted.
Patent number 6,152 was granted March 10, 1849.
Prior to July, 1836, 9,957 numbered patents were is-
sued. The first patent granted bore date of July 31,
1790, and was issued to Samuel Hopkins for his inven-
tion of a ** baking pot and pearl ashes." From that
date to December 31, 1917, the Patent Office has issued
1,077,760 patents, reissued patents and trade mark
designs.
In July, 1800, the Department of State removed from
Philadelphia to Washington. The records, etc., of the
Department were landed on Lear's Wharf, at the foot
of G Street. There was no building inamediately ready
to receive them, but in August the Department found
a home in what was locally known as the ** Seven
Buildings, ' ' on Pennsylvania Avenue between 19th and
20th* Streets, N.W.
In 1810 Congress authorized **the purchase of a
building for the accommodation of the general post-
office, and of the office of the keeper of the patents."
The building purchased was known as Blodgett's
Hotel, and stood on the site now occupied by the south
front of the old General Post Office Department, E be-
tween 7th and 8th Streets, N.W. Into the east end of
this building Commissioner Thornton moved the rec-
ords, models, etc., of the office.
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 1 1 7
On June 15, 1836, Mr. Ruggles, as one of a committee
appointed on his motion for the purpose, reported a
bill ** providing for the construction of a building for
the acconamodation of the Patent OflBce. ' ' On June 28,
the bill then being on its last reading, a motion was
made to recommit with instructions to report a bill
providing for the purchase of the * * old brick Capitol, ' '
fronting Capitol Square, First and A Streets, N.E.
The motion was lost, and the bill as read passed the
Senate, appropriating $108,000, out of the ** patent
Fund" for the erection of a suitable building of brick
and wood. A House amendment changed these ma-
terials to cut stone facing for the exterior walls, and
also provided for fireproofing the structure within.
The bill as amended became a law July 4, 1836. Late
in that month the erection of the building began, under
the supervision of Robert Mills, the architect and de-
signer thereof. It was the present south front of the
Patent Office Building, excluding the south ends of the
east and west wings. The building was 270 feet long
and 69 feet wide. The basement (what is now the first
or ground floor) was to be used for storage, fuel, fur-
naces, etc., the first or portico floor for office rooms,
and the second floor was to be one large hall; with gal-
leries on either side, and to have a vaulted roof. This
hall was designed to be used as a national gallery of
the industrial arts and manufactures, and for the ex-
hibition of models of patented and unpatented inven-
tions. The body of the building, the center south
front, is of Virginia sandstone and was afterward
painted white.
On December 15, 1836, a fire destroyed the building
where the Patent Office was then located, and all the
models and records and the library, with the exception
of one book, Volume VI of the Repertory of Arts and
1 1 8 Records of the Colvmbia Historical Society,
Manufactures (now in the Scientific Library of the
OflBce) which an employee of the office happened to
have taken to his home before the fire. Among the
records destroyed was a folio containing drawings of
Fulton's first steamboat, made by his own hands.
On December 19, Mr. Ruggles asked that a com-
mittee be appointed **to report the extent of the loss
sustained by the burning of the Patent Office." This
conunittee made a report, and also at the same time
submitted a bill which became the act of March 3, 1837,
and in which every provision was made to restore the
specifications, drawings, and models, by obtaining du-
plicates of them from the persons in whose possession
the originals were. An appropriation of $100,000 was
made for this purpose. The whole number of models
destroyed was about seven thousand, and the records
covered about ten thousand inventions. It was not
until 1849 that the work of the restorations was discon-
tinued, and out of the amount allowed for the purpose
$88,237.32 was expended.
During the erection of the Patent Office Building the
Commissioner found temporary quarters in the City
Hall, now the United States Court House for the
District of Columbia. In the spring of 1840, the south
wing of the Patent Office Building was completed and
the office moved into its o^\^l home, upon the building
of which the sum of $422,011.65 was expended. The
Commissioner in his annual report for 1840 said: **The
Patented models are classified and exhibited in suitable
glass cases. The National Gallery is ready for the ex-
hibition of models and specimens. I am happy to say
that the mechanics and manufacturers are improving
the opportunity to present the choicest contributions,
and from the encouragement given no doubt is enter-
tained that the hall, considered by some so spacious.
>
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 1 19
will, in a short time, be entirely filled, presenting a dis-
play of national skill and ingenuity not surpassed by
any exhibition in the world/'
By the Act of March 3, 1849, establishing the In-
terior Department, the Patent Office was attached
thereto. This same act appropriated $50,000 out of
the patent fund to begin the east or Seventh Street
wing. It was completed in 1852, and cost $600,000,
$250,000 of which was taken from the revenues of the
office. As soon as the wing was ready for occupancy,
the Interior Department took possession.
By an act approved August 31, 1852, a librarian at
$1,200 was provided for the office. This act also appro-
priated $150,000 to begin the erection of the west or
Ninth Street wmg. Plans for the entire building as it
now stands were prepared in this year. The west wing
was completed and occupied in 1856, and cost $750,000.
In the same year the work was begun upon the north
or G Street wing.
In 1867 the north or G Street wing of the present
Patent Office Building was finished at a cost of $575,-
000. The entire cost of the building was $2,347,011.65.
It speaks for itself. It is one of the handsomest, most
massive public structures in the world, and would be a
credit to any age or people. The Superintendent and
Architect of the three wings, constructed as above, was
Thomas U. Walter, the then Architect of the U. S.
Capitol Building. The 7th, 9th and G Street wings
are of white marble.
September 24, 1877, a second destructive fire oc-
curred at the Patent Office, entirely destroying the
Model Halls of the north and west wings of the build-
ing, causing a loss of more than a hundred thousand
models of American invention and serious damage to
nearly one hundred thousand more models on exhibi-
120 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
tion in the two Model Halls. The cost of reconstruct-
ing the Patent Office, damaged or partially destroyed
by the fire of September 24, 1877, was $606,674.46.
When the city of Washington was laid out the
square on which the Patent Office Building is located,
known as Reservation No. 8, F to G and 7th to 9th
Streets, N.W., was appropriated and reserved as Na-
tional Church Square, as noted on King's Plats, Sur-
veyor's Office, District of Columbia, recorded therein
as Reservation No. 8.
The Act of July 4, 1836, authorized the construction
of the south wing of the Patent Office on this Reserva-
tion, and legislation thereafter authorized the construc-
tion thereon of the East, West and North additions to
the original building.
From the Department of the Interior several of its
former bureaus have grown into Departments. First
to lay the foundation of the Department of Agricul-
ture was the Bureau of Agriculture ; for several years
prior to, and after the Civil War, it was located in the
rooms on the first floor, south wing of the Patent Office
Building. It was under the administrative control and
supervision of Hon. Isaac Newton, the first Commis-
sioner of Agriculture.
Second, the Census Bureau, which a few years since
was transferred to and made a part of the Department
of Commerce.
Third, the Bureau of Labor, afterwards made an in-
dependent bureau, and later transferred to the Depart-
ment of Commerce and Labor when that Department
was created.
For many years the Patent Office Building housed
the Patent Office, Pension Office, General Land Office,
Indian Office, Census Office, Agriculture Bureau, and
Office of the Secretary of the Interior. Today owing
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office. 12 1
to its great expansion the Patent Office is the sole oc-
cupant of the entire building.
The receipts in the Patent Office for the year 1917, amounted
to, $2,258,377.10
The cost of maintenance for the same period wa3, 2,048,173.16
Leaving a surplus of, $ 210,203.94
The new Interior Department Building was author-
ized by the Act of March 4, 1913. It was constructed
under the supervision and direction of the supervising
architect of the United States Treasury. The building
is of a pleasing style of architecture, constructed of
steel and hollow tile, with exterior walls of tt^ick faced
with limestone, and is fireproof. It is covered with a
promenade tile roof, giving a recreation space of about
two acres. The building has a frontage on E and F
Streets of 401 feet 10 inches, and on 18th and 19th
Streets of 392 feet 2 inches. It is eight stories high,
and its shape is the letter **E."
The total area of the basement is 104,340 square
feet; that of the first story a little more than 106,000
square feet, and the upper stories have approximately
75,000 square feet each, making a total floor space of
upwards of 685,000 square feet or 16 acres. The site
on which the building is located is open and the plan of
construction followed has been such as to provide
ample air space adjacent to practically all the rooms.
The basement is surrounded bv areawavs, and there
are two courts between the wings.
The west court of the building is used as a library
for the Geological Survey and has a capacity of 250,000
volumes in addition to cases for maps and offices for
librarian, clerks, etc.
In the east court is an auditorium, equipped with
319 leather-covered opera chairs, with stage, retiring
122 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
rooms, operating rooms for motion pictures, etc. At
the south of the auditorium is the press room where
the map printing of the Geological Survey is executed.
On the top of this wing is the largest photographic
laboratory in the United States, complete with dark
rooms, etc.
Special rooms are provided for the chemical, analyti-
cal, physical, petroleum, and mineralogical labora-
tories of the several bureaus in the building.
There are 1,500 room-units in the building, 14 feet
by 20 feet each, making about 1,280 rooms, and for
daytime lighting there are about 4,244 windows. The
building contains 52 toilets and 830 lavatories, each
supplied with hot and cold water, and there are 96
drinking water fountains in the corridors in addition
to lavatory fountains. The building is heated by direct
radiation ; and power and light are supplied from the
Capitol power, heating and lighting station. The ap-
propriations for the building and approaches, aggre-
gated $3,192,000.
Contracts for the complete building, including me-
chanical equipment, elevators, and lighting fixtures,
were made in July, 1913. This Department commenced
moving into the building on April 18, 1917, and the
moving of the various bureaus and oflSces was substan-
tially completed on June 23, 1917.
The working force of the Patent Office from 1790 to
1802 consisted of three persons. From that time to the
present it has gradually increased and now numbers,
approximately, 1,000 employees, classified as exam-
iners in chief, principal examiners, assistant exam-
iners, clerks, copyists, messengers and laborers.
In the early part of 1880 the exhibits of models of
inventions were removed from the model halls of the
Patent Office and stored in boxes in the basement of
Evans: Birth and Growth of Patent Office . 123
the building. The reason for this was that the oflSce
had decided to do away with the regulation requiring
models to be filed with applications for patents, except
in special cases when necessary to have a model, and
the substitution, in lieu thereof, of complete detailed
drawings of the proposed invention, together with
specifications in full concerning the same. The model
halls were then rearranged for the use of a part of the
office force, and for the location of the Patent Office
Scientific Library.
It may not be known to the general public that the
Patent Office is a self-sustaining bureau. Its annual
receipts more than equal the cost of maintenance by an
average approximating a surplus of $100,000.
In its records, among the many noted inventors, may
be recalled the names of :
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, etc.,
Samuel F. Morse, inventor of the telegraph, etc.,
Samuel P. Langley, inventor of the flying machine,
Thomas A. Edison, inventor of many electrical devices,
Cyrus H. McCormick, inventor of the reaping machine,
which has done so much for the cause of agriculture,
Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, after-
wards perfected by the Singer patents.
The Hoe Company, inventor of the Rotary Printing
Press,
Robert Fulton, inventor and introducer of steam navi-
gation, and the first steam warship and submarine
torpedo,
John Ericsson, inventor of caloric engines, the screw
propeller and turret war ships, one of which, the
** Monitor," distinguished itself in the American
Civil War and inaugurated a new era in naval
warfare,
J. P. Holland, inventor of the electric submarine boat,
the first of its kind being the ** Nautilus."
1 24 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Marconi was not the first discoverer or inventor of
wireless telegraph. It is a matter of record that Prof.
Silas L. Loomis, of Washington, D. C, was granted the
first patent in 1878, but never was able, on account of
lack of funds, to perfect his invention, and because, at
that time, the public was skeptical regarding its success.
There have been many American inventors of heavy
battery and field guns, and rapid firing, repeating ma-
chine guns, rifles, carbines, revolvers, and other kinds
of ordnance, among whom might, in part, be mentioned
Dahlgren, Gathman, Hotchkiss, Maxim, Colt, Reming-
ton and Rodman.
GENERAL JOHN PETER VAN NESS, A MAYOR
OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, HIS WIFE,
MARCIA, AND HER FATHER,
DAVID BURNES.
By ALLEN C. CLARK.
(Read before the Society, November 26, 1918.)
Not the forest primeval was at the time of selection
the site for the Federal City. It was not wooded wilds
whose solitudes were penetrated by paths unf requently
trodden. Aged fellows of the forest, **high in heaven"
there were ; and
"The century-living crow,
Whose birth was in their tops ; ' '
but these were survivors of the wilderness. The
streams that alone had been ruflBed by the aborigines'
canoes had long since been invaded by the vanquishing
race and ruffled by other craft. Original nature had
been broken for cultivation. A fact well known to the
tribes of crow blackbirds who gave discordant praise
for the planters' succulent provision provided their
sagacious cousins, just crow, had not been there first.
The tobacco worm gorged on the narcotic leaves and
swelled with gratitude to his providence— the planter.
It was, to use a simile for fertility in the time of Judge
Joshua, * * a land flowing with milk and honey. ' '
Maj. Andrew EUicott, who was the engineer first
sent to run the lines, to his '^Dear Sally" writes:
**This country intended for the Permanent Residence of
Congress, bears no more proportion to the Country about
Philadelphia and German-Town, for either wealth or fertility,
than a Crane does to a stall-fed Ox! *'
125
126 Records of the Columbia Historical Societif.
To make the unfavorable comparison the Major had
to resort to the then metropolis of the nation and its
rich environment.
To find less division of the land than there was at
the time of the selection mnst be found a time previous
to the fifth intercolonial or the French and Indian War,
1753 to 1760; a time prior to the fourth intercolonial
or King George ^s War, 1744-1748; and even beyond
the time of the third intercolonial or the Spanish War,
1739.
In the French and Indian War this particular part
of His Majesty ^s colonies had its participation. A
great rock is named in honor of General Braddock, but
whether it is because he saw it or did not see it is the
mooted question. The autocratic Braddock was petted
by the aristocratic George Town; and the grand Gen-
eral recognized in it real quality and to his protegee,
the celebrated actress, George Anne Bellamy, 1755,
he writes:
**We folks at home have been laboring under the very
erroneous idea that our friends in America were little better
than the aborigines, whom they supplanted, but, my dear
madam, we have all been in error, for never have I attended
a more complete banquet, or met better dressed or better man-
nered people than I met on my arrival in George Town, which
is named after our gracious majesty. The men are very large
and gallant, while the ladies are the most beautiful that my
eyes have ever looked upon. Indeed, madam, I know of no
English town that could produce so much beauty and gallantry
as I have found in George Town. The habitations of these
genial folk, dear madam, are stately buildings that have no
superiors in England, and the interior decorations are things
of beauty, while the grounds are laid out after our English
gardens, and the shrubbery- and flowers are well attended to.
In fact, dear madam, I might sum up everj-thing by declaring
George Town is indescribably lovely and I am loath to leave
it and its hospitable people."
X
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 127
Before it was declared self-evident: ''That all Men
are created equal ; that they are endowed by the Creator
with certain unalienable rights," George Town had
commercial importance and came to it the fashionable
to buy *' silks, satins, velvets and laces and other
finery." It was a flurry when the planter's hand-
some equipage hove in with black outriders and blare
of trumpets.
Miss Grace Miller from her friend Olivia received a
letter dated *' Philadelphia, Pa., March 22, 1775" and
directed *'High street, George Town." The bearer of
the missive or rather commission had in his honor a
party given by Miss Grace 's Aunt Debby at which were
the *'real nice." Miss Grace's letter, dated, March 30,
1775, in part is :
**The articles you requested me to buy for you I now send
by the captain, as per order & i trust that they mite meet
your approbation; the silver fringe, i have not been able to
procure, as it has all been sold but 3 yds. I can not find any
pther under two pounds a yd, and i have been to all the ships.
*
As this tambor muslin is a yd short of your Order, you can
have it for two shillings a yd. or return it and the owner will
take it back. Captain Quander has a bolt of yellow China silk,
which he will sell you for two Pound ten shillings. I hope that
you will be down here to see us all before summer, and I re-
main your very dear friend Grace. ' *
Miss Marcella Carter who lived on the Rappahan-
nock discloses in her letter to Patricia Dodge, Bridge
street near Frederick, that the gay life at Patty Polk's
school for young ladies makes plantation life lonesome
and concludes that *'as it is too early in the Season, I
would rather wait till the arrival of the Spring Ships
before I get me that hat or a bonnet. ' ' And that goes
to show as it is, it always was, and always will be with
the female, the highest importance, the head piece.
128 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
George To^vn, laid out 1752, had obtained such im-
portance that it was thought a time ripe for other
towns close by; and within the bounds of the future
Federal City, and antedating the Revolution were laid
out Carrollsburg (1770) and Hamburg (1771).
An act for the establishment of the seat of govern-
ment between the Conogocheague and the Eastern
Branch was approved July, 1790; and four months
thereafter the citizens of George Town owning lands
adjacent thereto offered them for the Federal City.
These lands or parts of them with other lands were
decided upon "by the President, General Washington,
and the Secretary of State, Mr. Jefferson, for the city.
It was a small strip on the Potomac divided by the
Tiber. The other lands and indispensable to their
plan included the farm of David Bumes. Mr. Jeffer-
son made a rough drawing of the city and the Capitol
was to be a little eastward of Mr. Bumes' cottage.
The President directed William Deakins, junior, and
Benjamin Stoddert, prominent merchants of George
TowTi, both large land owners and the latter proprietor
of lands adjoining Mr. Bumes' farm, to negotiate for
it for the public but ostensibly for themselves. The
negotiations failed. By the President, Maj. L 'Enfant
was directed to make a survey for the city in the East-
ern Branch section \sith the intent to give Mr. Bumes
the impression he was mistaken if he thought his farm
was to be included. The scheme failed.
At the conference between the President and the pro-
prietors, Mr. Bumes accepted the public proposal.
He was the second to sign the agreement. And he was
of those who declined to repudiate it as soon as the
President was a day's journey distant. He executed
a deed in trust. It is the first recorded deed in the
District.
\
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 129
Ninian Beall was granted in 1703 Beall's Levels, 225
acres. A part of this tract was conveyed to Henry
Massey. He made conveyance to James Bumes, who
for two years previous thereto occupied the land as
tenant. He had a re-survey made in 1769 of the Beall
and other acquired land but died before securing the
patent. David Bumes, sole heir of his father, James,
as the eldest son secured a patent on a re-survey in
1774.1
David was sixteen when General Braddock crossed
at George Town. Shortly before the revolt of the col-
onies he was the proprietor of the farm. At the call to
arms David responded, as did his brother, James.
David was second lieutenant in the company of which
his brother-in-law, John Wightt, was captain; and
James had the same rank, in the company of Captain
John Perry.2
The phrase of President Washington—* * the obstinate
Mr. Bums"— has given David Bumes added celebrity
and the addition is derogatory. The inference drawn
from the phrase is unfair to Mr. Burnes. The charac-
terization by the President was that of pleasantry and
not of criticism. The negotiations for purchase with
Mr. Bumes by the representatives of the President as
if for themselves was a failure, as also the attempt to
hoodwink him by the subterfuge of prospecting in an-
1 Hugh T. Taggart, Records or the Ck)LUMBiA Historical Society,
Vol. 11, p. 139. Probate Records, Prince George County, Maryland.
David Burnes: Will date<l October 5, 1737; probated October 28, 1762.
Devised the farm to hia widow, Ann, with reversion to their son, James
Burnes. Widow rcnounce<l executrixship in favor of James Burnes. She
had a son, John Fleming.
Ann Burnes: Will March 31, 1764; probated July 2, 1764. Jemima
Burnes, widow of James Burnes. W^ill, February 10, 1779, probated De-
cember 20, 1783 Names children: David, Thomas, John, James, Alex-
ander, Truman, wife Ann, Margaret, Elizabeth, Frederick, Burgess.
Witnesses to will, Anthony Holmead, Thomas Pearce, George Pearce.
2 Maryland Historical Society Records,
1 30 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
other section. When the situation of a site was openly
discussed, Mr. Bumes readily acceded to the public
project— the revelation of the reality and the needless-
ness of indirection amused the President— hence the
phrase in his paragraph of exultation.
George Alfred Townsend says :
***The obstinate Mr. Bums' will be the subject of por-
traiture often in the future, stickling for the largest equity
and conditions, and paying little relative respect to the opinion
of the General, whom he once declared to be of eminence
chiefly on the score of having married the rich widow Custis. ' '
The portraits of Mi; Bumes are numerous— mostly
copies— and make the subject's character features dis-
agreeable. The portrait now offered will have the
merit of stronger resemblance to the original.
Says Mr. Townsend :
** Could a finer subject appeal to the artist or to the munic-
ipality of Washington; the virgin landscape of the Capital,
and this greatest of founders of cities since Romulus, sur-
rounded by the two engineers, the three commissioners, and
certain courteous denizens, and seeking to reason the neces-
sities of the state and the pride of the country into the flinty
soul of Davy Bums, that successor of Dogberry, — for he is
said to have been a magistrate? "
Mr. Bumes was a magistrate for Prince George's
County, Marj^land.^ His letters evidence a familiarity
with legal phrases. It is hoped that he had **the cold
neutrality of an impartial judge, "^ separated the con-
flicting statements and accurately weighed them— and
listened to the arguments with patience— and without
being influenced— and gave his decisions with slowness,
3 The Natipnal Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. —
C. Middleton.
* Jean Pierre Brisset de Warville.
^
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 131
solemnity and soundness ; and, it is hoped, at the trial
times he was '*as sober as a judge." For it is said
that he **kept in a mellowed condition under frequent
libations of good Scotch whisky"— that he tarried
overtime at the Fountain Inn (Suter's) in George
Town and at the Bunch of Grapes in Bell Haven (City
Hotel, Alexandria). This is stated as a drawback to
Mr. Bumes' character bv those who are not aware
that spirits give relaxation to overwrought faculties of
great minds. If Mr. Bumes had any doubt on the sub-
ject, he would have been reassured from the good book
of his which he frequently took from the mantel— it
was, likely, the Kilmarnock edition of Eobert Bums—
and read under the title ' * Scotch Drink ' ' :
' ' Give him strong drink until he wink.
That's sinking in dispair;
An' liquor guid to fire his bluid.
That 's prest in grief an ' care.
There let him bouse an' deep carouse,
Wi ' bumpers flowing 'er,
Till he forgets his loves or debts.
An ' minds his griefs no more. ' '
Mr. Bumes (David Bumes) knew
** For gold the merchant ploughs the main,
The farmer ploughs the manor."
He knew he was a good farmer and kept on plough-
ing to the end of his days. Robert found himself no
kind of a farmer— and he changed the spelling of his
name which was like that of David— and they may have
been kin— and changed himself also to a poet.
To be sure there is not an iota of contemporary cor-
roboration that Mr. Bumes drank to excess or drank
at all and nothing more than he was like other real men
of that time and did as they did. But for a certainty
132 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
there was a mantel in the cottage and it is to be seen in
the library of the Society. It did belong to Mr. Hood.
On it is a silver tablet with the legend :
1790.
This Mantel
Graced the dining-room in the cottage of
David Burnes
One Of The Original Proprietors Of The Land
Whereon Is The City Of Washington.
Presented to the
Columbia Historical Society
by James F. Hood,
1915.
** George town December 21'** 1791
''Dear fir
**agreablQ to your request of yesterday the square on the
which you like to erect a hou/e will be marked out so as to
enable you to proceed as conveniently & as immediately as you
plea/e in diging the foundation.
** Should the manufacturing of the quantity of brick you
propo/e making require more clay than will come out of the
foundation you may safly dig out of the street what quantity
you want to an/wer your object — provided you erect all your
brick kiln within the area of the square on which your build-
ing is to stand.
**this square marked, in the map, N° 171 will border on one
of the main diagonal avenues to the president palace. It will
have a front on part of the square to that palace & will also
view on the grand park, & on every of the principal Improve-
ments — fo that it will be worth your attention to Have the
House of a proper dimention of fronts & in every respect com-
bined conformably with the plan of Intended Improvements,
becau/e you are to con/idere that this hou/e in helping the ad-
vancement of the/e Improvements will accellerate the ri/e of
^
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. I33
valu of your other property, and be/ides that its being elligibly
/ituated well contrived & with a convenient distribution of
appartements will enable you to rent it, or dispo/e of it to
better advantage.
**as I suppo/e it will be your wish with to re/erve to your
self the whole of the area of the square upon which you will
builth — this will be perfectly at your option by resigning —
*in exchange' to the publick an area of equal dimention on
the opo/ite diagonal avenue were the Improvement this ex-
change will facilitate will benefit you equally as will your
building on this fide,
'*I should be glad Sir, to know you determination on this
& if you agree to fix your House /o as to make it contributive
to the execution of the propo/ed Improvements I will with
plea/ure de/ign for you a plan combined with tho/e Improve-
ments & will be/ides attend to the construction & in all part
were the publick may derive some advantage from your ex-
ertions you may rest a//ured of being a//i/ted and that what
ever ornamental work will be nece//ary on the out/ide of your
present Intended building shall be effected without Incuring
you in expences beyond what you shall have fixeil upon & as
shall be adequate to the object you propo/e.
**I have the Honor to be
**dear /ir
**Your most Hum***
**& obed' Servant
''P. C. L 'Enfant
'*M*^ David burns Esq*^''
''20th January 1792
''Sir,
** You will see by the fifth article of the conditions published
previous to the sale of any Lots, agreeable to the Deeds in
Trust, a copy of which we enclose you, presuming it may not
be in your memory ; that our approbation is necessary for the
erection of any temporary Building in the City of Washington.
**We yesterday saw one carrying on, avowedly under your
authority, in which we have not been consulted, and which we
134 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
do not approve of; and to prevent unnecessary expence and
trouble to you, we thus early notify our sentments.
**We are Sir, &e
**Tho. Johnson
**Dd Stuart
**Dan'l CARROLIi
* * To Mr. David Burns. ' '
Mr. Bumes had his dream with the others. The
dream was a magnificent city— stately public build-
ings; large reservations; handsome residences with
spacious grounds— everywhere stretches of green-
sward and striking effects, arboreal and horticultural.
Mr. Bumes' lots were the choicest— they made the
heart of the city. The golden prospect for him was
the greatest and quickest to be in realization. Thor-
oughly in the spirit to do his part to promote the city
and to live in keeping with his multiplied fortune he
proposed to build a residence and to have the open
about as he had been accustomed. He exchanged lots
with the public that he might have a whole square.
The square selected fronts the Ellipse and what was to
be the site of the dwelling is that of the Corcoran Gal-
lery of Art. Maj. L 'Enfant volunteered to give his
talent on the exterior ornamentation for no extra
charge but Mr. Bumes recognizing that the Major's
genius was for great things— too great for him to un-
dertake—did not accept the inducement— proving him-
self wiser than Robert Morris, the Financier of the
American Revolution. Besides Mr. Burnes, like his
poet authority, did not care for architectural thrills :
"Windows and doors in nameless sculpture drest,
With order, symmetry, or taste unblest;
Forms like some bedlam's statuary's dream,
The craz'd creation of misguided whim."
Mr. Bumes put up the temporary structure and in
>
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 13S
SO doing without consulting the sensitive commis-
sioners was by them threatened with expensive conse-
quences. The commissioners were plainly within the
regulation and equally true the enforcement was a
petty exhibition of authority and without any good
purpose. That Mr. Bumes discontinued the work may
be due to the accumulating evidence that the sale of
his own lots and of the public lots from which the Com-
missioners were to pay him for the appropriation of
his lands was to be slow and the considerations small.
Mr. Burnes made complaint to the Commissioners of
the slowness of settlement for his lands appropriated
to the reservations and then an appeal to the President.
**The President to Mb. Burnes.
** Philadelphia 14 Feb^ 1793
''Sir,
**The President of the United States directs me to acknowl-
edge the receipt of your Letter to him of the 12 Inst : and to
inform you, that altho' he is exceedingly sorry to learn that
any misunderstanding has taken place between the Commis-
sioners and yourself, relative to your Lands in the Federal
City ; yet, as the Commissioners were appointed, according to
law, for the special purpose of managing all matters within
the District & city, respecting the grounds & public buildings,
& thereby relieving the President from the details of that busi-
ness, (which the duties of his oflBce would have made it impos-
sible for him to have entered into) he declines any interference
on the subject of your Letter : — and adds, that from his knowl-
edge of the characters of the Gentlemen acting as Commis-
sioners, he does not believe there can be any intention, on their
part to avoid a strict compliance with the terms of the con-
tracts made with the proprietors, or to withhold what is justly
due to any individual concerned therein — But that if you con-
ceive yourself injured by any conduct of their 's, the door is
open for an appeal to that tribunal where every Citizen has a
right to seek for justice.
**I am. Sir, &c
** Tobias Lear
136 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
To Mr. Bumes the Commissioners made, November,
1793, the explanation :
** We are sorry that the dilatory payment of some of the pur-
chasers should disappoint your expectations, other proprietors
and the public suffer in the same way, and we fear in some in-
stances we shall be obliged to resume the property, for repeated
applications have proved fruitless. ' '
The controversy between the Commissioners and
Mr. Bumes over the opening of the street through his
enclosure has been given some prominence. The street
proposed to be opened was Seventeenth, which ran
close to his dwelling. Mr. Bumes insisted he had not
been given timely notice and the break would be detri-
mental to his crops. The street was opened and a
wharf on the Tiber, known as the Commissioners'
Wharf, was constructed.
Mr. Bumes, with or without reason, resorted to the
law for redress. For his action he gave the Presi-
dent's recommendation, February 14, 1793.
The alluring advertisement of Mr. Bumes has in it,
* * the evidence of things not seen, ' ' to wit : * * vicinity to
the President's Palace"; for in the same issue of the
George Town journal is the advertisement of the Com-
missioners offering a prize to the successful competitor
for the best design for that same Palace.
The George-Town Weekly Ledger, September 22,
1792:
**The Subscriber has for sale A Number of Lots in the most
eligible situations of the City of Washington, A purchaser
disposed to improve, may combine prospect, commercial ad-
vantage, vicinity to President's Pal^vce, and obtain an indis-
putable title to Lots so circumstanced on moderate terms, from
their humble servant
** David Burnes.
'* George-Town, July 18, 1792/'
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 137
**CiTY OP Washington March 2T^ 1793
** Robert Carter, Esq*"*
''Sir,
* * Your Letter of 11'** March did not come to hand until 28'**
Inst else I should have been happy to have answered you on
the subject of your Letter before this time, Hhoug'h I hope not
subjecting you to any inconvenience on account of the delay.
I have it in my power to acomodate you with the number of
Lots, and in such situations as you mention. Lots in Square
405 or 429 or in other situation, the lots are 55 feet front and
113 feet back which I will sell for £100, Buildings to be erected
on them in three years.
**I transmit you the terms and conditions declared by the
President of the United States for regulating the Buildings in
the City of Washington, which will give you the necessary in-
formation on that head.
**The Act of Assembly you refer to I am not able to send
you, but the purport of it is nearly to this effect, to show the
lines of the ten miles square and what quantity of land Con-
gress was to have Jurisdiction over, also specifying that part
of the territory called the City of Washington, which could not
be particularly designated in the act of Congress — ^Also giving
the Commissioners power to compel persons who had not ceded
their Lands within the City, to come forward and Deed their
Lands in trust in the same manner that the greater part of the
Proprietors had done — Such as persons absent out of the State,
minors, persons now compos mentis &c., on three months notice
in the Maryland Journal, themselves, the Guardians or friends
of those persons, could make over their Lands by agreement,
otherwise it would be condemned by summoning five Free-
holders and acting according to the Act of Assembly, — The
Act also contains some other regulations relative to the City —
** These are the Heads of the law as near as I can give them
which may be of some satisfaction until you can see the land —
**I hope you will come and see the situation of the land in
this place, as I make no doubt of being able to accomodate you
6 Son of (''King'') Robert Carter. Married Miss Bladen. Plantation
called **Nominy Hall''; in Westmoreland Co., Va.
138 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
with lots under equal advantages if not superior to any in the
City, I have not the honour of a personal acquaintance with
you, or I should take the liberty to request you to mention me
to any Gentleman who wishes to Buy Lots, and I can inform
you with the most sacred regard to truth that no* man would
be readier to execute any commands on the subject of your
Letter than
''Your Hble Sert
**David Burnes''
The letter of Mr. Bumes is introduced as a standard
of his mental furnishings. On the subject of it, the sale
of his property, he gave intelligent and energetic effort.
His prices were fair and his terms liberal. With his
son, in 1793, he went to Philadelphia and had inserted
in the leading newspapers an advertisement. He
learned that while away the Commissioners had beared
the market by selling lots of equal advantages to his at
a less consideration than was understood to be main-
tained, which greatly excited his ire arid he indited a
denunciatory letter to them.
The Washington Gazette:
**I Hereby forewarn all persons from hunting with Dog or )
Gun, within my inclosures or along my shores ; — likewise, cut-
ting down Timbers, Saplings, Bushes, of Wood of any kind,
carrying off and burning Fence logs, any old wood on the
shores ; or in the woods ; — If I should find any person trespass-
ing as above I will write to my attorney and suits will be com-
menced against the trespassers in the general court.
**^David Burnes.
' * Washington, Nov. 11, 1797. ''
Mr. Forbes-Lindsay has noticed that Mr. Bumes
has dog with a capital D and attorney with a small a.
lie intimates a distinction as to relative importance
was made by Mr. Burnes by the emphasis of letters of
A
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness, 139
the alphabet. The inference may not be the fact. Per-
haps the printer exhausted the font of small d's in
some word before he reached Mr. Burnes' advertise-
ment. Mr.. Forbes-Lindsay calls attention to the com-
munication in the next issue :
'*Jfr. More,
** Observing in your last Gazette, a Caution to all persons
from hunting with dog or gun in David Bumei^'s inclosures, or
on his shores, I will thank Mr. David Bumes, exactly to
discribe where his shores are, and likewise where his own prop-
erty lays, within his inclosures ; in the Washington Gazette, as
I presume the Commissioners, or any other proprietor, will
not object to any one amusing himself in gunning on their
property, within David Bumes 's inclosures.
**A SUBSCRffiER.
'* Washington, Nov. 13, 1797.''
As the entire area within the city borders on the map
was cut into streets and squares and the squares sub-
divided into lots; and of the public's share of the lots,
the Commissioners had sold here and there, the ridic-
ulousness of Mr. Bumes' notice is clear. Mr. Bumes
saw the clearness and withdrew the notice.
The Bumes cottage was near the westward boundary
line of the farm. It was at the mouth— almost a bay
—of the Tiber which united with the Potomac and
made a wide water sheet. Directly eastward was level
and low. The lowland overflowed and the cottage amid
the trees gave from the distance the effect of an island.
From the cottage were seen the ships with sails furled
gliding by inbound with foreign freight and outbound
with native products. The projection where was the
great rock and the height where was the fort cut off
the view of George Town. And likely the Peerce farm-
house due north, because of the trees was not visible.
140 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
The trumpet vines that ran riot over the ruins in the
last, at the time in mind, 1790, were more decorous and
gave a dash of gayety by their color and of grace by
their festoons. The bams were large and full. The
slaves were cared for and carefree. It was a scene of
peace and plenty.
The original dwelling was in the space now bounded
by G and H, Ninth and Tenth streets, square 375, as
was the grave enclosure.^ The land on which the
Bumes cottage stood was a part of a narrow strip
along the Potomac and the Tiber acquired May 1,
1764,^ and about that date it may have been built. The
older dwelling was occupied by James, a brother.
James remained in possession of his occupied part by
sufferance, permission or understanding. He had four
sons and one daughter. In 1790, David had twelve
slaves and James, five.
Mareia at the time her father with the other pro-
prietors was requested to meet the President at the
Fountain Inn, was eight years of age. Her elementary
education was had in George To^^'n. She completed
her education when of the household of the luminary
of the law, and example of eccentricity, Luther Mar-
tin. At the same time her brother, John, studied law
in his office. It was at this Baltimore home, 1797, the
artist, James Peale, had in Mareia a fortunate subject
for his exquisite art.
Dr. Busev savs that after the Revolution was crvs-
tallized a higher society, its altitude measured by
cThe house was 20 X 16; the graveyard 30 X 30.
' John nint to James Burnes. Beginninfj at the mouth of a gutt or
Inlett of Potomack River and running thence east 187 perches to a point
that makes the mouth of goose Creok, thence eastly north 100 p. to the
upper side of another point up said creek, then north 26** west to the
said Gutt or Inlet, then with the gutt to the beginning, containing 29 A.
more or less. £57, 1, 10 sterling. T. T., pp. 234, 235, Prince George's
Co., Md.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 141
'* wealth, culture, family pride, and social exclusive-
ness. ' ' That this elevated class, composed of the elite
of George To\vn and the landed nabobs of Prince
George's and other contiguous counties, established
the George Towti Balls. And the Doctor says it has
been suggested that Marcia Bumes and Nellie Custis
made debut at this function.^
Mr. Hines tells his recollection with such simplicity
no paraphrasing can improve the telling and what
adds remarkability is that although written in his ad-
vanced age he guessed the young lady's age exactly:
**Now, the only child that Davy Burns had was a daughter
named Marcia, who, at that time, might have been about six-
teen years of age, and was just springing into womanhood. I
only recollect seeing her once while she was single, and this
was, I think, in 1798. I had just returned from school and
was standing at the door of the residence of Mr. Green, with
whom I then lived, when a young man and young lady rode up
to the door of Mrs. Green's milliner shop. The young lady
jumped from her horse and went into the house to buy some-
thing, or to have her measure taken, and the young man was
left at the door with the horse until she returned, when^he
remounted, and they rode off together. After they had gone I
heard, by the conversation of the family, who the parties were.
The young lady was Miss Marcia Burns, the rich heiress, as
she was called, and the young man was her. cousin, named
Moses Orme. What causes me to recollect so well that this was
in the year 1798, is the fact that I went to school in George-
town in that year, and in the year following my father moved
to the city.
**Miss Marcia Burns was, perhaps, more talked of than any
other female in the District of Columbia at that time. Almost
every person heard of the rich young heiress. Miss Marcia
Burns, and many young men were desirous of making her ac-
quaintance, but most of them lacked the courage. Some few,
8 Pictures of the City of Washington in the Past. Dr. Samuel C. Busey.
142 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
who were in good circumstances, made the attempt to gain the
prize, but without success.''®
This notice appears in the Centinel of Liberty and
George-Toivn and Washington Advertiser, May 10,
1799 :
Died,
In the City of Washington,
On Tuesday last, Mr. Davto Burnes, a very considerable
proprietor of Lots.
Mr. Burnes died on the 7th day of the month. He
reached only to the sixtieth year. Yet if his thought
was active, his was not a short life. It appears from
an advertisement in the Centinel, the same year, he had
grain to * * sell for ready cash ' ' and had not relinquished
the tillage of the soil. Mrs. Burnes administered upon
the estate and had the assistance of John Oakley, the
Custom House Officer of George Town. A sale of
slaves, postponed December 12, 1800, indicates that
Mrs. Burnes about that date laid aside the implements
of husbandry. ^^
In Mrs. Thornton's journal for 1800 are glimpses
of the heiress. She was in the whirl yet showed no at-
tachments. To Mr. and Mrs. Knap, she was a frequent
visitor." And one very hot and oppressive evening
in July, his guests, among whom, Samuel Dexter, the
first Secretary of War, were entertained by the singing
of Miss Marcia to the accompaniment on the guitar.
David Burnes is in more myths than any other local
»**Early Recollections of Washington City,*' Christian Hines
10 Administration Accts. P. G. Co., Md. S. T. 2 and 3, folio 214.
Acct. of Anne Burnes, December IS, ISOO. Widow's share £7,548-12-6^;
daughter's £15,097--5-li.
11 John Knap, lumber dealer, lived '*in the house known as the Cottage
above the Commissioner's wharf."
\
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 143
worthy. He is in conversational controversies with
President Washington which a comparison of dates
disproves.
**To this little two-room cottage came diplomats and Con-
gressmen to pay court to beautiful Marcia Bums. Old David
Burns received them all, and with an instinct that is often
given to simple natures, was soon able to distinguish between
those who came on account of the wealth that was hers and
those who came for love of the happy hearted girl herself.
Every visiting foreigner of importance was also brought to
David Burns 's home. And in one of the little attic rooms old
Tom Moore once slept. ' '^^
Mr. Bumes' nature was not simple if by that is
meant unsophisticated ; he was well posted in the ways
and wiles of the world— up to snuff. Congress did not
convene in Washington for the first time until he had
been housed in the graveyard a year and a half. And
Tom Moore was young Tom Moore when he came and
when he did the Bumes family lived elsewhere than in
the cottage.
Vice-Admiral Aert Van Ness, very distinguished
when Holland was a naval power, was the first of the
family to come to New Amsterdam; he came early in
the seventeenth century.
General David Van Ness, of the Army of the Revo-
lution, was an uncle of John Peter Van Ness. His
father was Colonel Peter Van Ness ; whose estate ** Lin-
den wald" was near the town of Kinderhook. In the
burial plot at Lindenwald is the monument with the
inscription :
**Here lie the remains of the Honorable Peter Van Ness
who died Dec. 21, 1804, aged 70 years and 21 days. He was a
high minded, honorable man fearing none but his God, and a
12 The Washington Post, August 16, 1903.
144 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
distinguished and influential patriot in the most trying times,
having served his country with great credit in numerous public
stations both civil and military, among which were the com-
mand of a company at the age of 19 years by the unanimous
choice of his men in the invasion and conquest of Canada by
the British, the command of a regiment at the capture of Bur-
goyne in 1777, that of a member of the State convention which
adopted the Federal Constitution and a long service as a State
Senator, member of the Council of Appointment, and Chief
Judge of this county. ' *
John Peter was bom at Lindenwald in 1770. He
supplemented his elementary education by a course at
Columbia College. He studied law. It does not ap-
pear that he ever tried it for a livelihood and when a
party to litigation remembered the adage.
Announcement in the National Intelligencer y May
19, 1802 :
** Married, John P. Van Ness, Esq, Member of Congress,
from the state of New York, to Miss Marcia Bums, of this city. ' '
History there is none of a wedding tour. Perhaps it
consisted of the journey from the cottage to the rented
house on Pennsylvania avenue, 1109 and 1111. The
house has undergone so many changes little of the orig-
inal is seen. The General and Marcia and Marcia 's
mother there resided until December, 1804. At that
date the two houses across the way, that is, the south-
west comer of D and Twelfth streets were completed.
The comer house which had a store was rented. They
took for themselves the house next, No. 1202 D. It
stands today slightly remodelled. Here they enter-
tained like royalty and in the exchange of hospitality
were the guests at every fashionable board.
It was here that to Miss Fairlee, the actress, July 7,
1807, Washington Irving writes:
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 145
(<
I am now scribbling in the parlor of Mr. Van Ness, at
whose house I am on a visit.''
And Irving to Henry Brevoort, January 13, 1811,
writes :
**I am delightfully moored *head and stern' in the family
of John P. Van Ness, brother of William P. He is an old
friend of mine, and insisted on my coming to his house the
morning after my arrival. The family is very agreeable.
Mrs. Van Ness is a pretty and pleasant little woman, and quite
gay ; then there are two pretty girls likewise, one a Miss Smith,
clean from Long Island, her father being a member of Con-
gress,^' she is a fine blooming country-lass, and a great belle
here ; you see I am in clover — ^happy dog ! ' '
And on the same visit, to the same **Dear Brevoort,"
February 7, 1811 :
**To show you the mode of life I lead, I give you my engage-
ments for this week. On Monday I dined with the mess of
officers at the barracks; in the evening a ball at Van Ness's.
On Tuesday with my cousin Knickerbocker and several merry
Federalists. On Wednesday I dined with General Turreau;
who had a very pleasant party of Frenchmen and democrats ;
in the evening at Mrs. Madison's levee, which was brilliant and
crowded with interesting men and fine women. On Thursday
a dinner at Latrobe's. On Friday a dinner at the Secretary
of the Navy's, and in the evening a ball at the Mayor's. Satur-
day as yet is unengaged. At all the parties you meet with so
many intelligent people that your mind is continually and
delightfully exercised."^*
The Reverend Manassali Cutler entered in his
journal,
13 Senator John Smith.
14 Herman Knickerbocker; Gen. Turreau de Oarambonville ; Benjamin
H. Latrobe; Paul Hamilton; Robert Brent.
10
146 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
it
1804 Jan. 7, Saturday. Dined at Major Van Ness', with
several members of Congress. A very fine entertainment and
an agreeable time. We had the Spitzberger apple from New
York ; the flavor excellent. I have not tasted a better apple. ' '
And the Reverend Representative within the limits
of that year made another social entry :
**Dec. 27, Thursday. Dined with Mr. Nourse at his country-
seat back of Georgetown. Mr. Pickering, Hillhouse, and Smith
of Ohio, of the Senate ; Mr. Taggart, Morrow and myself, of
the House ; Mr. Laurie and lady, Mr. Van Ness and lady made
up our company. ' ^^^
* * To Theodosia Alston.
** Washington, December 31, 1804.
''Being the last time I shall write 1804. Now, how much
wiser or better are we than this time last year? Have our
engagements for the period been worth the trouble of living ?
These are inquiries not wholly congenial with the compliments
of the new year, so will drop them. . . .
** Peter Van Ness, the father of General John P., died on the
23d instant. He has left his sons about forty thousand dollars
apiece.
** Madam, when I enclose you a book or paper, be pleased, at
least, to let me know that you or your husband have read it.
Pretty business, indeed, for me to be spending hours in cutting
and folding pamphlets and papers for people who, perhaps,
never open them. Heaven mend you.
**A. Burr.''
The letter of the Vice-President discloses that Gen-
eral Van Ness was not a parasite on the Bumes in-
heritance -as generally understood; he inherited an
ample fortune from his father as Mrs. Van Ness did
from hers.
15 Timothy Pickering; James Hillhouse; John Smith; Samuel Taggart;
Jeremiah Morrow; Rev. James Laurie.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 147
''DrSir
**...! know you was doing well, & know I would before
long be able to congratulate you upon a change in your situa-
tion which I can not but think very important. It gives me
great pleasure to find your experience is such as ought to con-
firm our opinions upon the subject — I have no doubt you will
(reflecting & considering that your future prospects are prin-
cipally founded upon your attention to the Improvement of
that mind, & those talents, with which you are blessed) neglect
no opportunity of accomplishing this desireable object to such
a degree as to render you an ornament & an honor to your
friends & your Country — ^You have now advantages before
you, let me, however, remind you that you have dangers
around you. — Temptations to vice are every where present-
ing themselves — I need not tell you that the first, & often an
insensible, step towards it is Idleness — This is not only a nega-
tive evil inasmuch as you neglect your business; but a positive
one inasmuch as it brings you to a point from which you
plunge with great facility into the worst mischiefs of every
kind — The transition is a very easy one. — I need not dilate
upon this subject to you, indeed I have no time. — I would not
wish to be understood that I am hostile to rational amuse-
ments ; — by no means — They are necessary, as well as close ap-
plication to the advantageous cultivation of the mind. — And a
due intermixture with good society we all know contributes
vastly to the Improvement of both Mind & Body. The Theatre,
about which you ask my opinion, affords certainly a great op-
portunity for both ; the only objection (or at least a principal
one) is that we are sometimes so fascinated & subdued by its
charms as to become wholly devoted to it. — This will not do,
and I confide in your good sense to prevent any such effect in
your case. . . .
**You will find I have written pretty plainly to you on some
points — I will continue to do so as I am your friend — after
that it is no matter.
**In great haste I am
*' John P. Van Ness.
'*Mr Martin Van Buren
''Washington Jan^ 6th, 1802 (1803) ''
148 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
''D' Sir
* * You possibly suppose that I feel an Indifference, or at least
not that ardent sentiment of .friendship, towards you which I
have always possessed — This Impression may have been made
on you from my long silence, but believe me that is not the case
— My attachment to you is as strong as ever, and anything in
my power to serve you I shall always take pleasure in doing —
I would with great pleasure send you on such sum of money as
you may require immediately, but, owing to the embarrass-
ments here for the want of money, it is by Heavens almost im-
possible to procure any whatever Property or Estate one may
have — ^Add to this the extraordinary Expenses we are, owing
to the peculiarity of our situation constantly obliged to incur ;
& you will have some Idea of my affairs — I have long been in
hopes that I would have been able to answer your letter with
a One hundred Dollar Bill ; but innumerable disappointments
prevent — ^By God, my friend Cash . . . out of my power ; but
if my Note for a Hundred Dollars at Twelve, or if necessary
at Six Months will answer your purpose let me know, and it
is at your service — But do not neglect your Improvement &c
— This is the time for you — ^Your prospects are good, do not
neglect them I beg of you — Write me immediately & fre-
quently however irregular I may be in my answers — You can
scarcely conceive the hurry of business I am constantly en-
gaged in —
**Your friend &c
**JoHN P. Van Ness
*' — in great haste
'*M' Martin Van Buren
Nov' 3<> 1803
Washington.
Martin Van Buren was twenty years of age at the
dates of the letters of General Van Ness. Martin had
appealed for financial assistance. The General en-
closed a twenty dollar bill with the request that noth-
ing be said about it. The General in strong language
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 149
told of his own— and great— financial troubles. What
he failed to yield to Martin 's appeal for cash he more
than made up in advice for Martin's life cruise— advice
as wise as the precepts of Polonius given to Laertes
upon his sea voyage.
Martin was of the Dutch. His father had a tavern
in the village of Kinderhook and a farm near it. The
bar-room discussion listened to by Martin educated
him for a politician and he decided to be a Democrat
like the Van Ness. Martin swept the oflRce and ran
errands for the country lawyer and took his pay in law
instruction and then went down to New York and com-
pleted it under General Van Ness' brother, William
Peter. Martin had a clear conception of character and
his observation when he had the power of patronage
proves it:
**I prefer an oflSce which has no patronage. When I give a
man an office, I offend his disappointed competitors and their
friends. Nor am I certain of gaining a friend in the man I
appoint; for, in all probability, he expected something better.'*
Martin at the youthful age he received General Van
Ness' letters had of human cunning sufficient insight
to detect that the digression was polite refusal.
The General's letter, January 6, 1803, has the
postscript :
**N. B. My friends need feel no uneasiness about my seat
in Congress — The republicans, whatever their sentiments are
upon the point (& here indeed they differ among themselves)
are universally disgusted at Davis^® for raising it — And I sus-
pect you will not see much decided about it until a pretty late
period in the Session altho' the Federalists & a very few
others are anxious about it. ' '
i« Thomas .T. Davis, of Kentucky.
ISO Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Mr. Van Ness had by his new neighbors been hon-
ored as Major of the militia and the President gave
him a corresponding commission. The point in Con-
gress was made he had thereby two Federal positions.
On the report by Mr. John Bacon, of Massachusetts,
* * in case of J. P. Van Ness, member of Congress, as to
his having vacated his seat as a member by accepting
and exercising the functions of major of militia in the
Territory of Columbia," January 11, 1803, the House
voted unanimously that he had, January 17, 1803. He
was elected as a Democrat and served from December
7, 1801.
General Van Ness helped to give a strong start to
ever}i;hing essential to the city's life. The General of
himself could repeat Dr. Johnson's principle **I am a
great friend to public amusements ; for they keep peo-
ple from vice." And he, at the request of the com-
mittee in charge, officiated at the laying of the corner-
stone of the Washington Theatre, June 24, 1804.
For the protection of the property of the rising city
General Van Ness accepted an humble and working
part. He became, September 8, 1804, a member of the
Union— the organization for the first fire ward. He
was of the six firemen.
The resident citizens of the first and second wards.
May 10, 1816, resolved that John P. Van Ness and
Roger C. Weightman mth others named be appointed
to manage the secular affairs of St. John*s Church
until a vestry can be legally appointed. General Van
Ness was the first warden.
General Van Ness recognized from the beginning
what has been recognized ever since, that the city
should have manufacturing establishments that it may
receive for its wares the equal paid for the wares of
other places. General Van Ness with others, worthy
\
• Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 151
of praise, made the attempt to introduce and induce
this character of enterprise. At an adjourned meeting
of the meeting called by the Mayor, June 5, 1808, a
company was formed which was chartered for the cot-
ton industry at Greenleaf 's Point. General Van Ness
was of the first board of directors.
General Van Ness presided at the meeting of the
citizens, February 4, 1817, at which another attempt
for the creation of manufacturing was made.
Money is essential to trade and trade to existence.
It was so from the purchase of the field of Machpelah
**for as much money as it is worth" to the present.
General Van Ness to keep money moving and ensure
for the youthful metropolis its benefits encouraged
banking. He was elected a Director of the Bank of
Discount and Deposit, which was a branch of the Bank
of the United States, at its organization, February 4,
1806; and on April 3 was by the directors elected
President.^ ^
On the establishment of the Bank of The Metropolis,
January 11, 1814, General Van Ness was elected Pres-
ident. It is stated in Arthur T. Brice's concise history
of The National Metropolitan Bank that General Van
Ness' salary at first was $500.
The bank, first called The Bank of the Metropolis,
was organized when the country was in the throes of
war. Mr. Brice has made the interesting extracts from
the first volume of minutes :
** Wednesday Aug 24, 1814.
**No Board on account of the Enemy's approach to the City
. and the engagement at Bladensburgh.
**At 2 p. m. the Cashier moved all the Bank's effects for
safety, and on the 25th deposited the specie and notes in the
Bank at Ilagerstown/'
17 ^*The Fiuancial Institutions of Washington City in its Early Days,"
Charles E. Howe, Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
152 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
** Monday, 5, September, 1814.
* * The Cashier returned and opened the Bank for business.
yy
General Van Ness continued this presidency until
his death.
General Van Ness until the Second War had nothing
to add to his military prestige save stately courtesy
on parade proceedings, but with that war had the
chance to
**Add new luetre to the historic page."
He was promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel
Commandant of the First Legion of the Militia, Dis-
trict of Columbia, January 8, 1805 ;^® and between April
and July, 1811, was advanced to Brigadier-General.
He, February 16, 1813, ordered **the commanding of-
ficers of the cavalry of the District to be ready to
march at the sound of the trumpet." About May 8,
1813, the District militia was reorganized with John P.
Van Ness, Major-General. On the 11th of that month,
in the military records, appear the Major-General's
announcements, appointments and arrangements to
conform to the general army plan.
That the General had in mind more of preparation
than of play in times for action, can be quoted Mrs.
Seaton, March, 1813 :
'*You will see by the Federal Republican, that the plan
might be carried into execution without a miracle, of seizing
the President and Secretaries with fifty or a hundred men;
and rendering this nation a laughing-stock to every other in
the world. I did not think much of these possibilities until
hearing them discussed by General Van Ness and others, who,
far from wishing a parade of guards or ridiculous apprehen-
sions to be entertained, were yet anxious that the city should
not be unprepared for a contingency the danger of which did
certainly exist.''
18 National Intelligencer.
\
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. IS3
To the committee of investigation, Gen. Van Ness
said:
**At length, in August last, when the increased and re-
enforced fleet, with the troops, ascended the Chesapeake, and
were known from authentic information to have entered the
Patuxent, I called on Secretary Armstrong again, and ex-
pressed, as usual, my apprehensions, arising from want of
means and preparations, adding that, from the known naval
and reputed land force of the enemy, he probably means to
strike a serious blow. His reply was, *0h yes; by G — d, they
would not come with such a fleet without meaning to strike
some where, but they certainly will not come here. What the
d — 1 will they do here 1 ' etc. After remarking that I differed
very much from him as to the probable interest they felt in
destroying or capturing our seat of government, and that I
believed a visit to this place would, for several reasons, be a
favorite object with them, he observed, *No, no; Baltimore is
the place, sir ; that is of so much more consequence. ' ' '^®
In the chapter **The Bladensburg Races" in ** Social
Life in the Early Republic" it appears that in the night
the General joined the Homans' party, exiled on the
shores of the Potomac above Georgetown. And while
the Homans' maid prepared a scanty repast of ground
rice and coffee 'Hhe gentlemen of the party stood
around a fire of blazing logs discussing the situation
of affairs with General Van Ness, who had made his
way up to the anchorage, while all gazed, from time to
time, upon a large portion of the horizon illuminated
by the burning Capitol and other public buildings."
The part that the military plays in peace was plainly
perceived w^hen the gallant appearing General Van
Ness with General John Mason, Adjutant-General
John Cox and Major Walter Jones his aides, on steeds
i» * * History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington, ' ' John
8. Williams.
1 54 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
of mettle marshaled the large cavalcade of momited
citizens, who had assembled March 5, 1817, to escort
President-elect Monroe from his residence, 2017 I
Street, to the Capitol.^"
General Van Ness, Richard Bland Lee and Tench
Ringgold were appointed a conmiission by President
Madison for the reconstruction of the public buildings,
March, 1815. The commission had its quarters in the
Post Office or Blodgett's Hotel.^^ Numerous drafts of
letters bv President Madison in this relation are de-
posited in the Library of Congress.
After preliminarj^ meetings, a general one was called
for the establishment of an orphan asylum, October 10,
1815, in the Ilall of Representatives. Mrs. Madison
was elected first directress; Mrs. Van Ness, second
directress. Upon the retirement of Mrs. Madison Mrs.
Van Ness was the first directress.
Mrs. Van Ness to this benevolent enterprise gave
the requisites of success. Having welcome at **the
great house," she, at once, enlisted Mrs. Monroe's sup-
port.22 Says Mrs. Smith, December 21, 1827 :
**Next week there is to be a Fair, for the benefit of the
Orphan Asylum. Every female in the City,. I believe, from
the highest to the lowest has been at work for it. Mrs. Van
Ness spares neither time or expense. '^^^
The asylum was at first for girls.
Says the Rambler in the Sunday Star, September 15,
1918:
( (
The orphan asylum, when organized in 1815, was estab-
lished in a small frame house on 10th street near Pennsyl-
vania avenue. In 1816-17 it occupied a frame house on H
20 The Evening Star, February 25, 1901.
-»i **A History of the National Capital,'' W. B. Bryan.
i'2<< Forty Years of Washington Society," Margaret Bayard Smith.
A
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. ISS
street near 10th street, part of its site being that of the brick
building erected in 1828-29. In 1822 the orphanage was re-
moved to a house on 7th street between H and I streets and
remained there until it was moved to the new brick building
on H street in the summer of 1829."
The new brick was on a lot sixty feet front imme-
diately west of the Mausoleum lot and was donated by
General Van Ness. The corner stone was laid by Mrs.
Van Ness in the presence of a large assemblage. The
asylum here remained until 1867. The title by charter
of Congress is the Washington City Orphan Asylum.
General Van Ness built the mansion in the square
which had the cottage. The square is officially desig-
nated South of 173 and is bounded by Seventeenth and
Eighteenth, B and C streets. It was called Mansion
Square. The mansion was first occupied in May, 1816.
Mr. Latrobe was the architect.
Jonathan Elliot in '* Historical Sketches of The Ten
Miles Square," 1830, gives a description, a part of
which is :
** Mansion Square.
**In the plan of the City, this beautiful Square, containing
about six acres of ground, was retained by the proprietors,
and was designated as above, on a map made by N. King, Esq.
formerly Surveyor of the City. It is handsomely situated at
the junction of the classical Tiber with the majestic Potomac,
who proudly pursues his course from the stupendous Alle-
gany, to the Chesapeake and the Ocean, . . . They improved
at great expense, the Square in the best modem taste, both as
to buildings and grounds — the latter of which, in addition to
their lofty, dignified, paternal trees, are abundantly supplied
with the best native and foreign fruits, including figs and
grapes, and adorned with a great variety of ornamental
shrubs and plants, hedges, quin cunxes, gravel walks, vines,
bowers, &c. The solidity, elegance and convenience, through-
1 56 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
out the whole of the buildings and other improvements of this
spot, combined with the natural beauty of location, justly
excite great interest and admiration. The spacious Mansion
itself, . . . built in a style of the finest architecture, near the
President's House, is probably not excelled by any private
building in this country. The entrance into this walled square
is through an iron gate between two lodges at the north east
angle, fronting on the street and the President's Square.
Thence there is a winding carriage way, skirted by ornamental
trees, shrubbery and flowers, ascending an artificial mound at
the north front of the house, and passing under an elegant,
projecting stone portico at the door. This portico is the first
of the kind, if not the only one, excepting that recently erected
at the President's House, in the United States. ..."
The Elliot description fails to state that in every
chamber was hot and cold water, the first dwelling in
the Union with these luxuries and that it had, quite as
essential, spacious storage for the choicest vintages.
Something of the interior arrangement is given in a
newspaper :
* * On the first floor are the parlors, the great reception-room
opening into a large conservatory on the south side which
must once have been a bower of beauty. The dining-room is
large enough for a state banquet hall, and at one end of it still
remains the high marble mantel, with quaintly carved pillars,
inclosing the little old-fashioned grate set well up from the
floor. Between the dining-room and a small side room, evi-
dently the buttery or wine room, is a curious sort of revolving
door, with shelves on either side, so arranged for the sending
the course of a dinner. The buttery is plentifully provided
with shelves and closets, while in one corner a dumb waiter
communicates with the big kitchen below. From the main
hallway broad, winding stairs, with spindle-supported hand-
rail, lead both to the upper stories and down to the basement. ' '
A daughter to General and Mrs. Van Ness was born
\
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 1$?
in 1803. She returned from the boarding school with
a mind well stored with useful knowledge in the dif-
ferent branches of science.
Her marriage cannot better be told than it has been
by Mrs. Kate Kearney Henry :
**In 1821 Ann Elbertina married Arthur Middleton of
South Carolina. His grandfather was a signer of the Declara-
tion of Independence. He was Secretary of Legation at Mad-
rid when Cornelius P. Van Ness, an uncle of his wife's, was
United States Minister to Spain. Few weddings of the pres-
ent day equal and none surpass the elegance and munificence
of that occasion ; there were six bridesmaids and groomsmen.
The former were Miss Casenove, who married General Archi-
bald Henderson, Commandant of the Marine Corps; Miss
Frances P. Lewis, a daughter of Lawrence Lewis (Washing-
ton's nephew), who married General Butler, U. S. A., Miss
Laura Wirt, daughter of William Wirt, who married Thomas
Randall, Esq. ; Miss Mason, who married her cousin, George
Mason of Gunston ; Miss Lee, who married Dr. Bailey Wash-
ington of the U. S. N., and Miss Mary Ann Kerr, a niece of
Mrs. Peter Hagner. The festivities lasted nearly a month,
each bridesmaid gave a party, each groomsman, a dinner.'*
John Quincy Adams entered in his journal January
1,1822:
**From the President's we went to General Van Ness's, and
paid a wedding visit to his daughter, Ann, who was last week
married to Arthur Middleton. We met among the company
there Mr. and Mrs. Eustis, and Mr. and Mrs. Bussell.^^
Two years from her marriage, Mrs. Middleton died.
**In giving birth to a daughter, she fell a victim to a
malignant fever, which had already proved fatal to
many other ladies of the district in a similar situa-
tion." She was interred in the enclosure consecrated
23 William Eustis; Jonathan BuBsell.
1 5 8 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
to the dead of the Burnes generations. The location
was H between Ninth and Tenth streets, south side.
General and Mrs. Van Ness had built a mausoleum.
It is of graceful architecture, circular and colonnaded.
The columns are twelve. It is a replica of the Temple
of Vesta at Tivoli near Rome. The material is sand-
stone, the same as the central part of the Capitol.
George Hadfield was the architect. The square after
was called The Mausoleum Square.^^
Mrs. Van Ness upon the death of her daughter
dropped the gayeties and entered more devotedly into
charitable work. She was deeply religious. She had
care for the domestics; of their everyday needs and
pleasures and of their spiritual— for every morning
and evening she joined the corps in devotional exer-
cises. Her ideas of propriety had not the latter-day
liberty and she, not to let the daughter of the house
with the other young ladies of Madame Bonfils'
school-^ appear on public entertainments arranged for
them a May-day festival with a may-pole in Mansion
Square. The daughter was crowned queen.
The daughter of the house was Marcia, the daughter
of Cornelius P. Van Ness. Marcia married William
Gore Ouseley, attache to His Majesty's Legation. He
was the attache in 1823. The wedding excited the
women in the smart set. It had a double ceremonv.
First the religious by the Rev. Dr. Hawley. After it,
the civil. The bridal party, the bride and groom, Miss
Virginia Jones and Baron von Stackelburg, Miss
Nancv Kerr and Prince Lisbon, were driven to the
British embassy, then occupying the mansion, now 2107
I street, where the service under the British flag was
solemnized.
24 At Rome, April. 1841, Mr. M'nMleton married the roiintess, the
daujrhter of the Count of Bentivoglis.
25 S.W. corner F and Twelfth 8treet«.
4
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 159
Congress, in 1822, passed an act authorizing the Cor-
poration of Washington to drain and dry the low
grounds in certain public reservations, to improve and
ornament them; and to effect the object to sell lots in
reservations numbered 10, 11 and 12 and certain other
squares. John P. and Marcia Van Ness filed a bill
against the Corporation of Washington and the United
States ** claiming title under David Bumes, the orig-
inal proprietor of that part of the city, and that they
were in equity entitled to the whole or a moiety of the
proceeds of the sale of the lots." The case is reported
in 4 Peter, 232. It takes fifty-five pages. The original
bill was filed April 16, 1823. It was decided in the U. S.
Supreme Court, the January term, 1830. Roger B.
Taney represented Gen. and Mrs. Van Ness; William
Wirt and Walter Jones, the Corporation of Washing-
ton; John M. Berrien, the Attorney General, the United
States. The case was decided adversely to the plain-
tiffs. Justice Story delivered the opinion; Justice
Baldwin dissented.
In the case is this expression of the Supreme Court
of the United States :
**The plan of the city as originally projected by L*Enfant,
improved and matured by Ellicott, was approved and adopted
in 1792, by the President of the United States/'
In the same case is the valuation bv that court of the
lands at the time of the cession :
**They admit that about five hundred and forty-two acres
were reserved for the use of the United States and not allotted
and divided; that these lands thus reserved were purchased
at the rate of twenty-five pounds, or sixty-six dollars and
sixty-six cents per acre, paid out of the public treasury, which
price was more than three-fold the market price or real value,
independently of the adventitious and speculative valuation
l6o Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
superinduced by making this the permanent seat of gov-
ernment. ' *
General Van Ness, his two brothers, both of political
prominence, and their intimate associates, among
whom notably the comrade of their youth, Martm Van
Buren, were of the party or succession of parties
which had success in the election of General Jackson
to the presidency. In the city was a Jackson Central
Committee, 1828, and General Van Ness was the chair-
man of it. With the election it did not disband but con-
tinued a Jacksonian triumphal chain. It arranged for
the celebration of the battle of New Orleans, for the
reception of the President-elect and for his inaugura-
tion. General Van Ness with John H. Brent and Henry
M. Morfit were elected delegates for Washington to the
Democratic convention held in Baltimore, 1832. It
was at this convention Van Buren was elected the can-
didate for Vice-President, the nearest stepping-stone
to the presidency.^"
General Van Ness was a passionate partisan. He
was a staunch supporter of William H. Crawford for
the Presidency with others prominent locally. The
Crawford supporters included many who were social
intimates of Mr. Adams. This was irritation to Mr.
Adams, who, himself, was a candidate. Ninian Ed-
wards in Congress attacked Mr. Crawford's record.
An investigation was in progress. Gen. Van Ness, in
anger, prevailed upon the committee for the Inde-
pendence Day supper, July 5, 1824, to prevent Mr. Ed-
wards ' attendance. Mr. Adams in his journal, July 1,
writes :
**An acceptance by the officers of the (Government of an in-
vitation under such a condition thus necessarily implied appro-
bation of the exclusion of Mr. Edwards. Under these circum-
26 "A History of the National Capital,'' W. B. Bryan.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. i6i
stances, the President and members of Cabinet deemed the
matter of suflSeient moment to prompt a formal public notice
declining to attend the dinner/'
Messrs. Adams, Calhoun and McLean withdrew their
subscriptions and absented themselves. Thomas Car-
bery, the chairman of the committee on arrangements,
who presided at the festivity, called upon Mr. Adams.
He said the majority of the committee was taken in.
General Van Ness proposed that the ticket sellers be
advised privately not to sell to Mr. Edwards. With-
out the proposition being either adopted or rejected,
he notified the sellers privately and had the matter ad-
verted to publicly. To Mr. Carbery's apologies, Mr.
Adams said he was satisfied he had intended nothing
improper.
In the local government General Van Ness had an
important part. His part was legislative and exec-
utive. He was of the Second Council, 1803— the First
Chamber— and its president. General Van Ness's en-
thusiasm was, no doubt, an effectual discouragement
to absenteeism and he was not of those fined for failure
to appear and whose failures for two years added to
the municipal treasury $3.50.^" ;:
General Van Ness was an Alderman. He was of the
Twenty-seventh Council, 1829.
He was elected Mayor, June 8, 1830. The vote was
William A. Bradley, 285; George Sweeny, 295; John
P. Van Ness, 343.
General Van Ness was re-elected June 5, 1832, by
the narrow majority of 13. The vote was John P. Van
Ness, 505 ; Thomas Munroe, 492.
John Quincy Adams is of the wonderful products of
the new world. Few equal in brain power. An esti-
sTAlonzo Tweedale. The Sunday Star, March 23, 1913.
II
1 62 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
mation of himself as to certain characteristics, to his
wife he gave August 11, 1821 :
* * I well know I never was and never shall be what is eom-
monly termed a popular man, being as little qualified by na-
ture, education, or habit, for the arts of a courtier, as I am
desirous of being courted by others. But I have no powers of
fascination; none of the honey which the profligate proverb
says is the true fly-catcher. I am certainly not intentionally
repulsive in my manners and deportment, and in my public
state I never made myself inaccessible to any human being."
Surely he would have been almost without popularity
if he used in speech the caustic comment he used about
almost everybody in his journal. His criticism has a
pleasing piquancy :
i i i^.
February 16, 1831. Dr. Huntt was here, more full of
politics and personalities than of physic. He says Mr. Cal-
houn's pamphlet is to be published to-morrow morning. Duff
Green, editor of the Telegraph, has been elected by both
Houses public printer for the next Congress. Green is under-
stood to be in the interest of Calhoun. A new paper, published
twice a week, and called The Olohe, has been established, sup-
posed to be under the auspices of Mr. Van Buren, Secretary
of State. These are the two candidates in embryo for the suc-
cession to the Presidency. Each of them must have his news-
paper, and in our Presidential canvassing an editor has become
an appendage to a candidate as in the days of chivalry a
'squire was to a knight. Dr. Huntt is grievously annoyed by
the appointment of H. Ashton as Marshal of the District, in
the place of his father-in-law, Tench Ringgold. Ashton is a
small lawyer, originally a toaster of Crawford, as long as there
was a prospect of creeping into an office by puffing him.
When Crawford was distanced in the field, he, like John Van
Ness, now the Mayor of the city, crossed over into the Jackson
camp, and both were members of the Central Committee which
took charge of his cause and his person at the time of his
election.''
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 163
The citizens met at the City Hall, October 14, 1830.
General Van Ness presided; Colonel Peter Force re-
corded. The occasion was the enthronement of Louis
Philippe and the establishment of republican features
through the instrumentality of General Lafayette. It
was directed that a letter expressive of admiration be
addressed to the patriot.
The 28th of the month was the day of celebration. In
the procession was the President and the French lega-
tion. The District's orator was the orator of the day.
In the eastern portico of the Capitol, Walter Jones
equalled the eloquence, his high talents made capable.
In the evening **a handsome Ball" was given **at
Carusi's splendid assembly rooms."
In the period of the municipality the constituents of
it had closer connection with the nation's executive
and with their excellencies, the foreign ministers. They
formally welcomed the Executive ; they formally gave
him godspeed at his departure. When the foreign
representative was recalled by his government, the
town meeting was convened at which the Mayor pre-
sided. A committee was formed to arrange to speech-
ify and banquet him. The citizens, March 5, 1831,
resolved that M. Roux de Rochelle was everything
admirable and to him addressed a memorial.
**WAsmNGT0N, 5th March, 1831
"/Sir: Our countrymen saluted you on your arrival, with
that respect due to the representative of a great nation, the
first ally of our Republic. The ties which unite us politically
to the French took origin in the cradle of our liberty, when the
patriots of the two hemispheres were seen marching arm in
arm, to glory and to independence. The acknowledgment of
those ties should be as frank and unrestricted as their source
was pure and philanthropic ; and we are pleased to see in the
164 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
choice of the distinguished individuals France has made for
her representatives, the evidence of reciprocal feelings of re-
spect and friendship.
**JoHN P. Van Ness
'*Dan'l T. Patterson
** Richard Smith
**W. A. Bradley
** Eugene A. Vail.''
At the ball, the 15th, the supper table was elegantly
and abundantly supplied by Joseph Letoumo, the cele-
brated restaurateur; and General Van Ness directed
the flow of eloquence.
Jean Baptiste Gaspard Roux de Rochelle from mem-
ory and notes wrote a history of the **Etats Unis
d'Amerique," 1837.
**The innumerable streets drawn in the form of a checker
board through this territory are still uninhabited and this
aspect of a few sparse edifices thrown here and there on desert
space might recall the memory of those ancient cities where
temples and palaces remain standing and all other traces of
men and their habitations have disappeared, but one feels
here other impressions. Those monuments which survive the
nation sadden the soul. These concern the enjoyment of those
who commence their cities and who foretell their grandeur.
* * Soon several groups of houses commenced to form around
the principal public buildings, others were scattered on the
heights or in the plains, and from the Navy Yard to George-
town ; from the summit of Kalorama to the shores of the Po-
tomac one sees villages, hamlets, isolated houses rise like the
landmarks of an immense city, whose achievement is left to
future generations.
. **The sessions of Congress, business affairs, the desire for
travel, must attract to Washington, every year countrymen
and foreigners, and this influx will give to the Federal City an
animated character but apt to be short-lived. After a resi-
\
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness, 165
dence of several months this floating population will commence
to disperse, throughout the vast space of the United States and
the streets where they once circulated will again become long
solitudes. The neighborhood between the Capitol and the
House of the President has already several thousand inhabi-
tants. This intermediate section is the most favorable for the
congestion of business affairs, for commercial activity, for the
exercise of all the arts and of all the trades which are neces-
sary to the building of a city and which must answer to the
needs of its people. The Navy Yard and the vicinity of
Georgetown were occupied immediately but everywhere else
the progress was less noticeable and the precincts of the city
must yet include for a long time waste lands, fields covered
with harvests and pastures where cattle wander at liberty and
come toward evening to the door of the house to be milked and
to receive from their owners water and salt.
**In order to favor the growth of the city, it was not suffi-
cient to have placed here the seat of government. The founder
who chose the situation thought that some day it would become
a great commercial centre, in spite of several other maritime
places. The project of opening a gate of communication be-
tween the Potomac and Ohio had already been formed, it must
materialize in the future, and must have an influence on the
growth and interests of the Federal City. A city is founded
for centuries and time alone can achieve the work that fore-
sight has commenced.''-®
Political party feeling was so intense in the year
1831 that a divided celebration of Independence Day
resulted. The National Republican Celebration by the
friends of Clay was under the chairmanship of William
W. Seaton. The oration was by Philip Richard Fen-
dall at the City Hall. The Administration Celebration
was under the chairmanship of General Van Ness.
The orator was Francis S. Key ; the place, the rotunda
of the Capitol.
28 Translated by Miss Elizabeth G. Clark.
1 66 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
General Van Ness' impetuosity in political affairs
created embarrassment for himself as well as others.
An incident is in the journal of Mr. Adams, April 12,
1833:
** Worth told me also that Amos Kendall and Van Ness, the
Mayor of Washington, had undertaken to investigate certain
charges of peculation against Commodore Rodgers, and went
to him at the office of the Navy Commissioners ; that Bodgers
told them if he had been guilty of official misdemeanor he had
a right to a trial by his peers ; and that he should not hold him-
self accountable to them ; that there was the door of the office,
out of which he recommended them to retire, to save him and
them the mortification of his kicking them out, which he should
certainly otherwise do. They sneaked off/'
Dr. William Palev to his ** Moral and Political Phil-
osophy'' made a dedication to the Right Reverend Ed-
mund Law, D.D., Lord Bishop of Carlisle, and dated it,
Carlisle, February 10, 1785. The dedication is men-
tioned particularly as Bishop Law was the father of
Thomas Law, preeminent in the history of the Federal
City. Dr. Paley concludes the chapter **0f diflferent
Forms of Q-ovemment" thus:
**But much of the objection seems to be done away by the
contrivance of a federal republic, which distributing the coun-
try into districts of a commodious extent, and leaving to each
district its internal legislation, reserves to a convention of
states their adjustment of their relative claims; the levying,
direction, and government, of the common force of the con-
federacy; the requisition of subsidies for the support of this
force ; the making of peace and war ; the entering into treaties ;
the regulation of foreign commerce ; the equalization of duties
upon imports, so as to prevent the defrauding the revenue of
one province by smuggling articles of taxation upon the bor-
ders of another; and likewise so as to guard against undue
partialities in the encouragement of trade. To what limits
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness, 167
such a republic might, without inconveniency, enlarge its
dominions, by assuming neighbouring provinces into the con-
federation ; or how far it is capable of uniting the liberty of a
small commonwealth with the safety of a powerful empire ; or
whether, amongst coordinate powers, dissensions and jeal-
ousies would not be likely to arise, which, for want of a com-
mon superior, might proceed to fatal extremities; are ques-
tions upon which the records of mankind do not authorise us
to decide with tolerable certainty. The experiment is about
to be tried in America upon a large scale. ' '
The functions of government summarized by Dr.
Paley accord with the Articles of Confederation per-
fected March 1, 1781, and is **the experiment to be
tried in America upon a large scale." The Constitu-
tion to secure that of liberty with other blessings was
ordained and established, September 17, 1787. With
the first inauguration of President, April 30, 1789, the
machinery of the American government was in full
motion.
A test of forty-two years had been made when Gen-
eral Lafayette debating the Election Law in the Cham-
ber of Deputies, France, January 15, 1833, said:
**I shall speak of the Government of the United States, al-
though I am one of those who pay it the just tribute of calling
it the pattern Oovernment, But we are now told that what I
should call republican institutions suit only a vast continent,
bounded on the one side by the ocean, and on the other by
widely extended forests. Formerly, however, it was said that
they suited only for an island. They are suited to every coun-
try where the citizens are intelligent, and wish to be free."
It is a pattern government. A pattern that is being
more and more appreciated and approved. It is not a
Avild prediction— that most of the American boys who
wear now American uniforms will see it adopted essen-
tially by every nation on the globe.
1 68 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
The government of the United States, made of true
democracy, likened to a garment is beautiful. It is
never out of fashion. It wears well. It is a perfect fit.
Yet there is a patch of diflferent material in it and
small as it is, it is decidedly noticeable. The patch is
the District of Columbia— the center of the league of
the American States— its government is not demo-
cratic, any government of its own it has not at all. In
the creation of the general government it was not so
intended. It cannot be so inconsistent that ten miles
square were reserved for political serfdom in a nation
the preamble to the constitution of which begins **in
order to form a more perfect union, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquillity, provide for common de-
fence, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."
Roger B. Taney, eminent ' practitioner, to become
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States, said: '*The constitution of the United States
declares that congress shall have exclusive legislation ;
but it does not require that the power shall be despotic
or unlimited. It merely excludes the states from all
interfering legislation.'' Mr. Taney said this in his
brief in Van Ness against the Corporation of Washing-
ton, 4 Peter, 232, and emphasized despotic and un-
limited.
The address about to be repeated made eighty-five
years ago is prophetic of the United States ' part in an
event of importance without parallel in all recorded
time. May He who measured the waters in the hollow
of His hand hasten the consummation.
Independence Day, 1833, was celebrated at Paris by
a sumptuous banquet. Nearly one hundred Americans
were guests. Mr. F Cames of New York made an
eloquent preface to his toast :
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 169
*'Fill, therefore, your glasses to the brim and drink to the
health of
That Model of Disinterested Patriotism,
The Veteran Lafayette ! ' '
n
1 1
General Lafayette said :
**It is now for the 57th time that it has been given me to
hail our glorious anniversary of the 4th of July, the sacred
era of the doctrine of the rights of man, the polar star of uni-
versal freedom. But how can I find adequate words to ex-
press my gratitude for the so very warm applause that has
greeted the last toast, and the most kind speech that has pre-
ceded it. When such testimonies of your esteem are so af-
fectionately poured upon me, it is yourselves you are applaud-
ing, my dear friends. Am I not in fact an American Veteran ?
Have I not, at all times, in every situation, firmly declared
myself a disciple of the American school? Am I not Wash-
ington's adopted son? Delighted I am, on this convivial
meeting, to see such a numerous concourse of American fellow-
citizens, coming from every part of the Union, and to enjoy
with them the immense results of public and private pros-
perity, security, happiness, and unbounded prospects, that
have flowed from that great day of independence and free-
dom. And when I advert to the few clouds, that have at dis-
tant periods threatened somewhat to obscure so brilliant an
atmosphere, which it would be the more improper here to par-
ticularize, I rejoice that they are now, and I hope for ever,
dispelled, I recur to that admirable trait of the American
character, which, in my last farewell speech at Washington,
I have greatly called a 'National good sense, the great arbiter
of all the difficulties.' May all the internal and external ad-
vantages, resulting from the day we are celebrating, continue
to be more and more increasing. May the people of the United
States reap every benefit from this scientific, literary, mer-
cantile intercourse, and mutual exchanges, with this side of
the Atlantic, particularly with France, where I want at this
moment to express my conviction that proper measures, will
be adopted to cherish them.
170 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
** There is, however, a sort of commodity, which, in your
Earopean connexions, and although I have devoted more than
fifty years of my life to make a matter of importance to
Europe, I must earnestly warn you never to make a matter of
exchange. I mean republican principles, pure, \irtuous, un-
alloyed so happily condensed in that one American word,
'Self-government.' While those principles are imported
gratis, do forever beware of European Exchange, and accept
from me the following toast : The National Grood Sense of the
American People — ^the final arbiter of all diflSculties. ' '
When the writer was a boy he heard of the falling
stars. He heard the old colored people speak of the
awe-making display with composure for it was long
after the event. In searching for the great events of
Van Ness' magistracy he found the stars fell, for one
of them.
The Intelligencer indulged in one of the few journal-
istic enterprises of its seventy-year career— it had
made a wood-cut illustration just like that in the CoM'
mercial Advertiser. On that memorable morning the
reporters of the Intelligencer were away in the land of
dreams and did not see to report the goings-on in the
sky. The Intelligencer did as wtU by quoting three
accounts;^ and one of w^hich, the most brief, so does
the writer:
** Wheeling, Wednesday, November 13, 1833
**A Phenomenon the most singular, and yet one of the
grandest, appeared on the night of Tuesday, commencing at
about 2 o'clock A. M. and continued (with a short abatement)
in all its grandeur, until after 5 o'clock A. M. The whole
heavens were filled with shooting meteors, generally taking an
obli(iue direction towards the earth, rather from the south-
westward, though frequent in other directions. The whole
-0 Boston Courier, communu'aiion from Maiden, Mass. Commercial
Advertiser.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 171
heavens seemed to be parfially illuminated — all the meteors
seemed to leave in their wake a bright milky way, which pre-
sented to the spectator an awful grandeur.
**No part of the heavens seemed to have been divested of
their presence. I therefore conclude that it must have been
observed throughout our country.
** After a snow storm you may have noticed, at its close, the
large flakes falling thick and rapidly — the meteors had much
that appearance. It is one of those wonders of nature, of
which I have never yet seen, or heard of a similar; and one
that I hope will draw to its elucidation some of the Savant of
our age. The scene was witnessed by many of our citizens,
though most of them were deprived of a sight of the mag-
nificent spectacle.
Respectfully, yours,
*'0. P. Q.''
The phenomenon was repeated the next year and the
next year to that in the same month and in the same
day of the month.
Andrew EUicott, identified with the District of Co-
lumbia, in defining the original exterior and interior
lines, saw the phenomenon in 1799, the same day of the
year mentioned, while on shipboard near West Indies.
He said * * the whole heavens appeared as if illuminated
with sky rockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and
I was in constant expectation of some of them falling
on the vessel. ' '
No account appears in the Intelligencer of the eflfect
of the meteoric shower on the people. What happened
here, happened elsewhere, and an account of that else-
where is, of consequence, an account of that here. In
a Southern town the people were alarmed— they feared
the last day had arrived. Some thought to busy them-
selves with stitching the ascension robes; some re-
solved immediately to take up that matter of repentance
1/2 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
they had so often postponed. • The evening of that day-
was prayer-meeting time. The minister said that the
audience was unusually large and the faces imusually
serious. And it was market morning. On market
mornings at the public house the proprietors did big
business, but on this particular morning only one drink
was bought and the proprietor would not take pay
for that.3<>
The Maryland legislature at the December session,
1830, passed an act **to promote internal improve-
ment by the construction of a Rail Road from Balti-
more to the city of Washington." The Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company accepted. May 8, 1833, an
amendatory act and simultaneously adopted the plan
of financeering. The Baltimore Patriot, October 3, the
same year, announced the route had been selected.
The culmination of the enterprise belongs to the
achievements of a subsequent mayoralty.
Mr. Gales' first railroad ride he tolls of in the issue
of October 1, 1831 :
**At length we have had an opportunity of paying our long-
desired visit to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. . . .
** After what we have seen, no doubt remains on our mind,
that, for celerity of transportation of persons, the Rail-Road
possesses advantages over every other mode; nor that, wher-
ever the cost of a Rail-Road can be borne, it will supersede all
other modes of travelling. We experienced in a very slight
degree the jarring w-hich we have heard spoken of in the
motion of the cars, or the other inconveniences wiiich we liad
apprehended. It will require care, to be sure, to guard against
accidents in this mode of conveyance; but that will be the case
with every description of rapid locomotion. For ourselves, we
met with no accident of any sort ; nor had any just reason to
apprehend any, during our jaunt. One of the cows, indeed,
which we overtook strolling or grazing along the edge of the
30 Columbia Spy,
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness, 173
road, cast a suspicious glance with a momentary alarm, lest
she should attempt to cross our path ; but, luckily, she forth-
with took a direction from the road instead of crossing it, and
we were let off for the fright.
**We travelled in a large car, drawn by one horse, carrying
eight or ten persons, and capable, we suppose of carrying
thirty or forty. Indeed the car was drawn with so much ease,
that we do not believe that, had it been loaded its progress
would have been at all retarded by the additional weight of
the load. In the distance between Baltimore and Ellicott's
Mills, the horse was changed once, going and coming. In
going, we did not accurately reckon the time. But, in return-
ing, the whole distance of thirteen miles was performed in 59
minutes, the limit to the speed being the capacity of the horse
in trotting, rather than the labor he was tasked to perform.
The locomotive steam-machine, in the train of which cars
loaded with persons are occasionally drawn as well as those
loaded with the materials of commerce, is propelled at about
the same rate, and might be propelled much more rapidly if it
were desirable. But, for our part, we have no desire even to
be carried by any mode of conveyance, more rapidly than at
the rate of thirteen miles on hour." . . .
The Canal had partizans and the Railroad also. Mr.
Gales was partial to the Canal. Having accepted the
railroad's hospitality, he could not without an exhibi-
tion of ingratitude make unfavorable comparison. He
relieves himself with the intimation he might if he
must.^*
May 23, 1834. It was a commemoration occasion of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. An excur-
sion was made in two canal boats. Present were chiefly
members of Congress. Some of the guests were ac-
companied by ladies. The real founder of the under-
taking, Charles F. Mercer, was of the company. Mr.
Adams has in his account:
31 '* Canal and Steam Railroads, 1802-1903, Charles Moore.
174 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
**John P. Van Ness, Mayor of Washin^on, Mr. Cox of
Georgetown, and Colonel Abert, a Director on the part of the
government, did the honors of the party. The passage <m the
canal was verj- slow, and continually obstructed by stoppage
of the locks. There was a light collation and dinner, and,
after it, some drinking of strong wine, which made some of the
company loquacious and some drowsy. The band (of the
Marine Corps) gave occasional reports of animating music.
The canal almost the whole way follows close to the Potomac
River; the country along the margin of which is generally
beautiful, sometimes wild, and in other parts variously culti-
vated, but seemingly little inhabited. There is not a luxu-
riously comfortable country-seat on the whole way, nor one
that bespeaks aflSuence and taste. Point of Rocks is one of the
remarkable positions on the way."
Mr. Adams made the entry eighty-four years ago. A
journal entry of the present will have mention of the
columnal-portico mansion of the Doubleday estate, the
log-walled bungalow in picturesque setting of William
F. Roberts, the castle of Joseph Leiter on the Virginia
bluflfs of the Potomac and the pretentious mansions at
Glen Echo in the Maryland boulevard.
March 14, 1834, Town meeting. The Mayor in the
chair. Col. Force of the committee made a detailed
report of proposed alterations and amendments to the
Code of Laws for the government of the District of
Columbia submitted to Congress. Many other at-
tempts were made and not until sixty-seven years after
was accomplishment.
Gen. Van Ness was a member of the Columbian In-
stitute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences.
In the organization of The Washington National
Monument Society, Gen. Van Ness was the second vice-
president— 1833.
1
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 175
Washington Guide:
** Amongst those who by their wealth, talents, or industry
have contributed to the formation of our infant Metropolis,
may be reckoned the following : John P. Van Ness. ' '
The city directory of 1834 shows Gen. Van Ness of
the Joint Oonunittee to manage the Canal Fund and
President of the Commissioners of the Washington
Canal.
The cholera appeared in the summer of 1832. It
started in the north of the country and moved south-
ward. In the newspapers of July 26 is a bulletin for
the city of New York and of succeeding dates for that
and other cities.
Editorially, the Intelligencer, August 1, has :
**The pestilence appears, however, to be gradually spread-
ing to other places, and none should calculate an entire ex-
emption from it, we doubt not that, like other epidemics, it
will, in time, and with more or less severity, be felt in every
dense community in the country.''
A panic prevailed. The Board of Health, August
16, passed an order:
** Believing them, therefore, in the light of nuiscmces, they
hereby direct that the sale of them, or introduction, within the
limits of the city be prohibited from and after the 22d inst.
for the space of ninety days: Cabbage, Green Corn, Cucum-
bers, Peas, Beans, Parsnips, Carrots, Egg Plants, Cimblins, or
Squashes, Pumpkins, Turnips, Watermelons, Canteloupes,
Muskmelons, Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Damsons, Cher-
ries, Apricots, Pine Apples, Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Cocoa-
nuts, Ice Creams, Fish, Crabs, Oysters, Clams, Lobsters and
Crawfish.''
The prohibition provoked the calling of a town meet-
1 76 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
ing, the 21st, in protest. While another, in turn, the
23d, was called to recommend complying. The editors
of the Intelligencer not to be caught within the upper
and nether millstones ^Svanted their readers to under-
stand they take no part in the controversy. ' '
The public asylums were the Western Hospital, the
Central Hospital and the Eastern Hospital. Several
private places were accepted as asylums.^^ The physi-
cians worked heroically and the women were proto-
types of the Red Cross.
The Intelligencer, September 18, announced:
* * This alarming disease may be hoped, if we may judge from
the daily reports, to be gradually passing away from us, after
having proved as severe a scourge to this city, perhaps, as tO
anv other in the United States/'
Mrs. Van Ness had been ill some time. While the
complaint is not given as the prevalent plague that
may have had an undermining influence. The rapid
passing away of friends and neighbors must have been
depressing.
Mrs. Smith's letter:
'^August 17 (1832)
'*. . . Poor Mrs. Cutts is no more. She has been long ex-
tremely ill. . . . Mrs. Van Ness, another contemporary in my
social life, is now dangerously ill of fever/'
As the shades of death deepened, she dimly saw her
husband, and in weakened voice, she last said: *' Heaven
bless you, my dear husband, never mind me."
C. Middleton :
**Biit owing to a constitutional delicacy, frequently aggra-
vated by fatigue in laborious duties of humanity her health
^ See The Rambler, The Sunday Star, September 22, 1918.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 177
had long been infirm. She had repeated attack of fever, which
at length admonished her and her friends that her earthly
career was drawing to an end. ' '
The National Intelligencer , Monday, September 10,
1832:
**Died, after a severe and protracter illness at 10 o'clock,
A. M. yesterday. Mrs. Van Ness, wife of Gen. John P. Van
Ness, Mayor of this City. Of this lady it may be emphatically
said she was the guardian of the Orphan and the benefactress
of the Poor. ' '
On the evening of the day of death a meeting of the
citizens was held at the Western Town House (S.W.
cor. of I and Twentieth streets). With the resolves of
tribute it was resolved that a memorial be drawn and a
plate executed. The engraved inscription is:
'*The Citizens of Washington
In testimony of their veneration for
Departed Worth, . \
Dedicate this plate to the memory of
Marcia Van Ness
The excellent consort of J. P. Van Ness.
**If Piety, Charity, high principle and exalted worth, could
have averted the shafts of Fate, she would still have remained
among us, a bright example of every virtue. The hand of
death has removed her to a purer and happier state of exist-
ence ; and while we lament her loss, let us endeavor to emulate
her virtues.''
On the casket above this plate was another with the
name and dates of birth, marriage and death.
The funeral service was held September 10, 4 P. M.
Rev. William Hawley, the rector of St. John's deliv-
ered the discourse. From it, is:
12
178 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
* * In early life she was distinguished for great sprightliness
of mind, and amiableness of disposition, which seldom or never
failed of winning the affections, and securing the esteem of all
her acquaintance. The sedateness of her manners gave dig-
nity to her deportment, and genuine piety of her heart, as was
exemplified more extensively in after life, placed her among
the first in society, in the estimation of all who knew her inti-
mately, or enjoyed the pleasure and honor of her acquaintance.
* * The old cottage house, in which she was bom, and in which
her beloved parents ended their days, was an object of her
deep veneration and regard — a true token of genuine filial
affection — of undying love for the memory of departed
Parents, which dutiful children will always cherish to their
latest breath. In this humble dwelling, over whose venerable
roof wave the branches of trees planted by her dear Parents,
and now stretching forth their kindred boughs to shelter it
from the pelting storm, she had selected a secluded apartment,
with appropriate arrangements for solemn meditation, to
which she often retired and spent hours in quiet solitude and
in holy communion with God and Saviour. ' '
It was the first public funeral of a woman. Within
the gates of the sacred plot, little girls, orphans, stood
in divided ranks. Between them the procession passed.
The casket being placed in front of the vault, the girls
approached and strewed it with branches of weeping
willow.
C. Middleton savs:
**Her face, without being formally handsome, was of un-
common loveliness, with that mixture of innocence and arch-
ness so much admired and rarely seen; the tout enseynhle
yielding that interesting expression which may be called the
essence of beauty ; add a penetrating mind, engaging and un-
affected manners, and the accomplishments of an excellent
education, and it will be admitted in her case virtue has chosen
to appear in the most agreeable shape. ' '
Chirk: General John Peter Van Ness. 179
In the National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished
Americans are one hundred and seventeen. Of these
five are women: Martha Washington, Catherine M.
Sedgwick, Marcia Van Ness, Dolly P. Madison and
Abigail Adams. The biographical sketch of Mrs. Van
Ness is by C. Middleton; the engraving is after the
talented portraitist, Frank Alexander.
The portrait group in the Washington City Orphan
Asylum is a copy of the Alexander portrait by Charles
Bird King, with the inclusion of the portraits of three
children of prominent Washingtonians in the guise
of orphans.
General Van Ness donated the site for one church
edifice and perhaps other church sites.
The prohibition tide was high in 1843. General
Van Ness was influenced by the tide. The General to
the Freemen's Vigilant Total Abstinence Society sent
a communication :
** Washington, June 2, 1843.
'*To Messrs. Henshaw, Callan, and Savage, Committee.
(Gentlemen : The interest I have long felt, and which is daily
becoming more intense, in the just cause in which your con-
stituent Institution is engaged, does not permit me to hesi-
tate a moment about contributing my mite towards the suc-
cess. Whoever loves virtue, morality, and religion — whoever
feels a concern for the happiness of his fellow creatures in
this world, as well as in their efforts to prepare and qualify
themselves for another far better, must be amply remunerated
for such contribution, however liberal it may be, by the reflec-
tion of his having cooperated for those benevolent purposes.
He ought to wish no greater reward."
This is the first paragraph. The others delicately
intimate his mite has the importance of the widow's
mite and have moral flights higher and higher; but the
last paragraph is a swift descent to business. It pro-
1 80 Itecorih of the Columbia Historical Society.
vidos that lie will not convev until fifteen hundred dol-
lars has been expended on the proposed improve-
m(»nts ; and if the lot is diverted to other than the tem-
perance cause it shall revert to him, his heirs or his
rei)resentatives with all that is on it.
The Freemen's Vigilant Total Abstinence Society
thanked the General for his gift and its committee re-
ported, **the lot bestowed by General Van Ness is situ-
ated on E street between 9th and 10th streets, in
square 378, and is 40 feet front by 187 deep, and is
worth at the lowest valuation, $1,809.16."
Temperance Hall was the central meeting place of
the advocates of abstinence for years. It became a
popular place for public entertainments. It was here
that Charles Dickens was enthusiastically received at
his reading. Subsequently it was known as Marini's
Hall where graceful movement was taught.
The General was gifted as a public speaker. He
said pat things at the appropriate time. At a ball in
honor of Sir Charles (Richard) on his leave taking,
October, 18;?5, the General gave the toast: **Sir Charles
Vaughan, 1 1. B. M. 's Minister near the Court of Wash-
ington." Benjamin Ogle Tayloe says the sentiment
**was received with much merriment and with shouts
of applause." Its significance may not be apparent to
all. An expression of Sir Charles is. Great crowds at
the New Year's reception paid their respects to Gen-
eral Jackson by shaking his hand and enjoying his re-
freshments while the band blew and beat patriotic
airs; Sir Charles came, alighted, saw the crowd, ex-
claimed, * * This is too damned democratic for me ' ' and
drove back home.
Correspondence of the Journal of Commerce:
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. i8i
Washington, March 3, 1845.
I witnessed this evening at the White House a very inter-
esting scene. . . .
** About five o'clock, General Van Ness, of Washington, ap-
proached the President, and delivered an eloquent and feeling
address to him. He complimented the President on the many
social ties which had, during the brief period of his adminis-
tration, grown up between the citizens of the District and him,
and which were now about to be severed. He gave assurances
of the kindest regard of the people for his moral and social
worth, expressing the sincere regret all felt on parting with
him. He alluded to the important events which had so emi-
nently distinguished his administration, the peaceful relations
which had been strengthened and extended over the whole
world during his administration, many of which were of a
character to reflect honor both upon himself and the country.
He said, when time had been given for the effervescence of
political party strife to subside, and the people in moments of
calmness came to review the honest, patriotic and well in-
tended measures of his administration, they would mete out
to him in his retirement that justice and praise which he so
richly deserved at the hands of his fellow citizens. Assuring
him that the best wishes of all would attend him when he re-
tired, and engaged in the more pleasant and peaceful pursuits
of domestic life, he expressed wishes for his continual pros-
perity and happiness. In private life, the vexations growing
out of the administration of public affairs, with his best acts
and motives misrepresented, would cease to annoy him.
**With many other well conceived and well expressed re-
marks, the mere random substance of which I am only able to
allude to, the speaker concluded by saying, that he only re-
gretted that the gem he had attempted to offer for the ac-
ceptance of the President was not better polished.
**The President made one of the happiest replies I ever
heard. He very briefly thanked the speaker for the kind ex-
pressions of the good will of his fellow citizens, and especially
for their complimentary allusions to his social hospitalities and
the relations which had grown up between them, and which
1 82 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
were now about to be severed. The offering was a brilliant
gem, of the brightest polish, and of inestimable value."
In the concluding years of the Van Ness reign of
hospitality, Miss Ann Gertrude Wightt was the hostess.
She had personal beauty and conversational talent;
she was a welcomed guest in high society; she was an
intimate of America's beloved, Dolly Madison.^^ She
was a cousin of Mrs. Van Ness and was bom on the
Wightt farm in the environs of Washington. She is
enveloped in a fog of mystery which the sun of curios-
ity will never penetrate. From an idealistic concep-
tion she became a nun in the convent of the Sisters of
Visitation in Georgetown. She took the name Sister
Gertrude. Mrs. Smith savs :
** Sister Gertrude I knew well in her childhood, saw her
now and then through the convent grates and on one occasion
when accidentally alone with her, offered if she wished to leave
it, to communicate her desire to her relatives, but she then
said she was confined more by her own inclination, than by
her vows, or the walls that surrounded her.*'
In the spring of 1831, Sister Gertrude had a change
of inclination. She donned a hat and a wrap of one of
her convent pupils and made an escape. She made her
way to the ^'^an Ness mansion. A priest there in the
presence of the G^^neral received from her the an-
nouncement of her firm determination not to return.
She did not give the cause of her change of heart and
no cause of those oflFered has been verified— that is the
mystery. An unfounded report that the Catholics in-
tended to recover her bv force nearlv caused a mob.
Miss AVightt at first lived with Madame Iturbide,
former Empress of Mexico, as a daughter and in
33** Life and Letters of Dolly Madison,'*
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 183
charge of the real daughters. Senorita Isis Iturbide
made her a substantial testamentary acknowledgment
of affection.
A Van Ness who associated with Miss Wightt says
• she was short, stout and jolly; that she travelled ex-
tensively abroad and that her life had thrilling ad-
venture, of which was her capture by the brigands of
Mexico.
George Alfred Townsend, Ben Perley Poore and
Marian Gouveneur in the same key have made inter-
esting sketches.
Miss Wightt died of apoplexy in Richmond, Vir-
ginia, November 19, 1867, at the residence of Colonel
Arthur Anderson. The funeral services were held,
November 21, in the chapel of Oak Hill Cemetery. She
is interred in the Peter's plot and a modest monument
marks the mortal.
**Gen. Van Ness requests the honor of Mrs. Madison's Com-
pany at dinner, on Thursday, 1st of March, at 5 'clock.
** Mansion Square
**22d Feby (1838)
**The favor of an Answer is desired/'^*
The invitation card is also an index card— it indi-
cates the General's chief characteristic.
A Dean, economical in one respect, to a company of
less high ecclesiastics, dwelt upon the remarkable per-
formance of a blind man. To more impress, he ex-
claimed, **the poor fellow could see no. more than that
bottle 1" To which a minor interjected, **I do not
wonder at it at all. Sir, for we have seen no more than
that bottle all the afternoon." General Van Ness had
more reverence for the scriptures in the one respect
than the Dean for he **was given to hospitality," and
34 * < Life and Letters of Dolly Madison, ' ' Allen C. Clark.
1^4 Unonh of the Columbia Historical Society.
to '*ust' hospitality, ono to another, without gradging"
was a preempt lir practiced almost daily.
Al.KXANDKU (lARDINEK TO MrS. TyLER.
' Washington, Feb. 13, 1846.
"J/// Dntr Sisdr:
• «••■•••••
"Tlu» (liiv Im'Toiv I diiH'il at itvu. Van Ness'. It was a sen-
atorial dinnrr, Cass, Ilaywooil, Evans. Johnson, Dayton, Mil-
h'r, etc., etc., Judjro Woodhury, Mi's. Wilkes, Mrs. Johnson,
rlc, wen* tlio «^iu'sts. ("ass h(»Ul the phice of honor, but was
not othtTwist' a vvrv j?n»at fratmv. llavwood was very'amu»-
in«r, and t(M)k otT AHon with j^ivat otTtvt, showing^ the absurdity
of his <>nini('iati(>n and how ho was in thi' habit of sinking the
«rrratrr into th»» h-ssrr tiiumtity, as for instance, *four years
and Two Months. In a mixoil company this was not perhaps
in llir hcst taslo, and his wit was soniotimes rather overdone.
When a l)otth' of particular wine was passed to Woodbury, he
(h'rhirrd thrre was no hope that it woidd jret beyond him,
since it had reached the eonrt of hist resort. This was well
said, and not a had hnu mot. I have sinee seen Gen. Van Ness
and liis family, now consist injr of Miss Wijrhtt, Miss Van Ness
and (lov. Van Ness and his wife. Tliey siiid many agreeable
thinj^'s of the l*resiihMit and yonrself.*'^'
In Knglish literature, in humor, no product equals
Dickens' '* Pickwick." Tony Woller, the senior,
warns *M)e\vare of widows." That is a travestv. No
man properly conslitutcul, and the right, ever bewared.
He constitutes liimself a lighthouse to rescue a
stranded widow. (lein^ral ^^ni Ness was high up in
station— Imilt of cash and culture— and easily (»spied
a widow to rescue. The (Jeneral had the chief seat in
the sanctuary and heard plainly the scripture apropos.
•«•" Lewis (.'a»a, WiHiam II. Ilaywoo*!, Oeor^jo Evans, Iloiiry Johnson,
William L. Dayton, Jacob W^ Miller, Levi Woodbury, William Allen.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 185
*'He shall be no more remembered, . . . and doeth
not good to the widow." **And I caused the widow's
heart to sing for joy." The widow's heart the Gen-
eral set singing was that of Mrs. Connor. To do good
to the widow he let her live in his fine house in Reserva-
tion B; he did so for a number of years. That she
might not be embarrassed by her neighbors' gossip, he
let it be known he was calling for the rents. It was
plain to see he was indulgent for he collected in small
installments.
The good General was called to his reward and there
was a respectful period for mourning. The period
seems not to have been strictly used for that purpose
—but rather to find if he had made an acceptable dis-
position of his property, real, personal and mixed.
The period was a fortnight. The fortnight expired,
mystery thickened. The heirs, all on the side or col-
lateral, were fearful that the widow had used her wiles
for big winnings. The widow was fearful she had
been betrayed— her mature affections not accounted
for in the testamentary balance sheet.
The widow opened fire. She wrote an anonjonous
letter to Cornelius Peter, the General's brother, signed
'* Missouri Avenue." Cornelius needed no more def-
inite direction. He called on the widow. According
to her version, Cornelius assumed the manner and lan-
guage of an affectionate brother; exhorted her to con-
fide in him and enquired if the General had entrusted
to her the will. He then let her into his belief that she
and he had been liberally provided for and that the
family adverse to them were suppressing the docu-
ment. After an hour of desultory discussion of the
deceased's affairs, he volunteered he would call again.
He did; and in a vague way alluded to the important
relations understood to have existed between the Gen-
1 86 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
eral and herself and endeavored to elicit the course she
would pursue.
In the preliminary sparring the widow wrote other
anon\Tnous letters which practically were not-marked
in the litigation which ensued, exhibits A to F.
Letters of administration were granted to Cornelius
P. Van Ness. The widow petitioned that the letters be
changed and her name written where is his.
The widow contended she was the widow Van Ness.
That in Philadelphia, the sixth of August, 1845, by an
individual the General addressed as **Mr. Alderman"
the marriage ceremony was solemnized; whose iden-
tity she had failed to discover. That the. marriage at
his urgent solicitation was held in secrecy until he
could so arrange the family affairs as to announce it
without embarrassment. That he assured her he had
made a will of ample and appropriate provision with
the certificate of marriage folded within it. And in
corroboration she produced nine missives couched in
tender terms.
Cornelius gave different versions to the interviews
and declared the nine letters were not genuine. Cor-
nelius admitted an incident thus :
**True it is, that during the last sickness of my deceased
brother, (I think on the day of the death or the day previous
thereto) I was informed by one of the servants of the house
that there is a woman in a hack at the door who desired to
speak to you ; upon going to the door I found Mrs. Connor in
the hack, I knew by sight and reputation. She inquired how
is the General and upon being answered by me that he is dan-
gerously ill, she replied, please inform him Mrs. Connor
called to inquire. Whereupon I remarked, * Madam, I think
he is past recei\nng any message.
> J J
The trial of widowhood was made in the Circuit
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 187
Court, October term, 1846, and decided adversely to
the widow.
The widow instituted an equity proceeding for her
thirds. The bill has this averment :
**She cannot believe that her said husband having the
strongest reasons to avoid an intestacy of his large and val-
uable estate could have been so regardless of the high moral
claims upon a portion of his property by the needy heirs of
his first wife by whom he obtained the bulk of said property
as to be unprepared with a will, or so regardless to truth as to
have falsely represented without any apparent motive that he
had a will/'
The court decided against the widow on legal con-
siderations. On the appeal to the Supreme Court of
the United States, it decided against her * * for want of
jurisdiction," January term, 1848.
The widow gave the name Van Ness to the directory
man and that there might be no mistake *'Mrs. John
P. Van Ness." She bought realty in the name of Mary
A. W. C. Van Ness and the tax ledgers carried in the
name a long list.
General Van Ness died Saturday evening, March 7,
1846, at half past six 'clock. The funeral service was
at four o'clock the ensuing Tuesday. Of his obitu-
arial notice is :
**His loss will be sensibly felt by a large circle of acquaint-
ances, and by the community in which he lived, as the large
property which he received with his wife enabled him to ex-
tend an elegant hospitality to his acquaintances and to
strangers visiting the city, and to patronize with great lib-
erality all the public improvements and charitable and re-
ligious institutions in this city, without respect to sect or
denomination.
1 88 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
The personal estate of General Van Ness in round
numbers was fifty thousand dollars. Of this was 995
shares, face value $49,875, of the Bank of the Metropolis
which realized $35,513.12.
An inventory of the goods and chattels was made by
Benjamin Ogle Tayloe and James Lamed. The in-
ventory is an index in one particular of the period.
The particular is the valuation of human chattels.
Julius and George, aged twenty-five and thirty-two,
respectively, had in prospect for their owners many
years of servitude and were equally appraised at $550.
Simon and Sallv both even sixtv vears on human ex-
pectation to have lessened years and diminished
strength, were marked at $100 and $75. ** Betty— quite
old no value" had a blank space in the dollars and
cents column opposite her name. Simon and Sally
were in their youth when they saw Master David daily
make the rounds of his plantation; and, ** Betty— quite
old no value ' ' was almost a woman ere Marcia first saw
the ripples of the Tiber just beyond the front door.
The inventory discloses that the furnishings of the
General's home and of his countrv estate were those
of an affluent and cultured man. He was not an art
collector, although he had a number of choice portraits,
among which that of General Washington ; he was not
a collector of art objects, although he had a cabinet
and in it an assortment of medals. He was a collector
of books, choice books. His volumes sold at auction,
June 23 and 24, 1846, numbered 882. Some of them
no doubt have come to the shelves of the Librarv of
Congress. A Modem Atlas by John Pinkerton, 1814,
an elaborate production, was bought by Peter Force
and, bearing the autograph of General Van Ness, is in
the Map Division of that library.
The inventory was much in detail; the contents of
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness, 189
each room specified. It is an imagination in poor run-
ning order that cannot restore each apartment— the
greenhouse— and even the old cottage.
In the dining-room, prominently placed was the por-
trait of the General's political patron, General Jack-
son. And the General extolling his hero, no doubt,
often quoted his inspiring words at New Orleans:
** Stand to your gunsl . . . Let us finish the business
todav!"
In the parlor were the General's most precious be-
longings. On the wall was Alexander's portrait of the
little lady. And the General repeated or thought the
sentiment of Burns:
"She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a handsome wee thing,
She is a bonny wee thing,
This sweet wee wife o' mine."
In the morning, gently awakened by Aurora's ''good
morning, sir," spoken by the shimmering light through
the sycamores just beyond the chamber window, the
General saw about him attractive appointments, the
delicate tinted walls, the rich furniture; and, a por-
trait of a most handsome man. General John Peter
Van Ness.
All the chattels, including those at the General's
farm, the Glebe, in Alexandria County, Virginia, and
the live stock there were sold at auction. Benjamin
Homans was the auctioneer for all the sales. Upon
Marcia's marriage to the General, the cottage was
rented. George Boyd had been a tenant. Later an-
other advertisement: **To be Let. A Pleasant House
& Excellent Garden at the mouth of the Tiber, if ap-
plied for soon."
The citizens who had the antiquarian sentiment
plead for the preservation of the Bumes cottage. For
I go Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
them, the communication in The Washington Post by
DeWitt Clinton Brodhead speaks:
'*The people of Washington owe something to the memory
of the dweller in this humhle cottage, as well as to that of the
great founder of the city whose monument now easts its
shadow athwart the former transferred acres, and it cannot be
that the residents of this highly favored city will yield up to
the ravages of time, this most interesting relic without at least
making the effort to secure and preserve it to future genera-
tions. A subscription for its purchase, in the name of the city,
should at once be opened, and if found necessary, in future
years, it should be housed like the little dwelling at Zaardam,
where Peter the Great went to learn the art of ship building
from the Dutch.
** While the visitor here sees one National grandeur at every
turn, there is nothing to show him as the result of local effort
and cooperation. Let us preserve our historic relics at least,
though we make no history ; for without such basis, there will
be nothing upon which to found romance.'*
** Washington, Sept. 28 (1883).'*
The Evenififj Star, May 24, 1894:
**Davy Burns* cottage is no more. It was torn down yester-
day by order of those engaged in laying out the Columbia
Athletic Club's new grounds. In spite of its apparently
dilapi(late<l condition, the structure required the most forcible
handling to demolish. Down to the lowest brick in the foun-
dation strong and united efforts of the workmen were required
to level it. It was allowed to stand until the last moment, in
the liope that it would not interfere with the various fields, but
the nec<»ssity for its demolition became imperative."
'* There is pivcn
Unto tho things of earth, which time hath })ent.
A spirit's feelinp. • • •
For which the palace of the present hour
Mu^<t yield its pomp, an<l wait till apes are its dower."
Bvron's Childe Harold.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 191
In his Washington life, he was Mr. Van Ness, Major
Van Ness, Colonel Van Ness, and General Van Ness.
We have not minded minute distinctions of time and
have let John Peter Van Ness be General all the time.
Of the plan of the conspiracy was the abduction of
President Lincoln and imprisonment in the under-
ground apartment of the Van Ness mansion, so it is
often written. It became the property of Thomas
Green, son-in-law of ''Father" Ritchie,^® editor of The
Union. Mr. Green kept the domain in high perfection.
The neighborhood boys prompted by innate impish-
ness succumbed to the temptation to pilfer. Mr. Green
repelled the invaders with his great cane but never had
more use for it in this warfare than to shake it vigor-
ously as he cried, **You rascals!" as the aforesaid
rascals climbed the walls with their plunder. Mr.
Green was a gentleman of the old school and dressed
with ruflBes and all the trimmings of his class.
In its vicissitudes the mansion was with the square
a German beer garden, a florist's nursery, the head-
quarters of the street-cleaners. It was purchased by
the George Washington University, November 4, 1903,
and used for an engineering school and for athletics—
and that was its final use.
The colored people of the vicinity who had a clearer
vision of that which is supernatural and saw things
that less gifted did not, said that General Van Ness on
each anniversary of his death came to his mansion in
his carriage drawn by his favorite troop of white
horses bringing with him ghostl§ guests to silently
kick up high jinks.
The mansion was razed for the Pan-American. The
building of South American Republics of surpassing
beauty is a worthy successor of the Cottage and the
s« Thomas Bitchie.
192 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Mansion if architectural perfection can compensate
for the historic and the romantic.^^*
The classic temple is on a promontory in Oak Hill
Cemetery. From right to left are these two in-
scriptions :
Sacred
to the memory of
Mareia Van Ness
consort of
Gen^ John P. Van Ness
She was born 9 May 1782.
Married 9. May 1802
Died 9 : Sep 1832
Sacred
to the memory of
Ann Elbertina MroDLETON
wife of Arthur Middleton Jun. of South Carolina,
Daughter of Gen. J. P. and Mareia Van Ness,
She was born 12 June 1803 ; died 22 Nov. 1823.
Her infant Daughter
Mareia Helen,
Within this Monument is placed beside her.
With each inscription is obituarial poetry in grandil-
oquent sentiment.
Under an equity proceeding for the disposition of
the undivided part of the estate of General Van Ness
the mausoleum lot al auction was sold June 8, 1872.
Removed with the mausoleum were the remains of
John P. Van Ness, Mareia Van Ness, Ann Elbertina
Middleton, George W. Montgomery and Cornelius P.
Van Ness.
30a Square acquired by the United States of America, April 17, 1907.
It contains 215,111 sq. ft.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 193
National Intelligencer, February 2, 1807 :
**Died. On Wednesday, the 28th inst. Mrs. Anne Burnes,
widow of the late David Burnes, Esq. of this city, aged 67.
On Thursday evening her remains, attended by a number of
her relatives and friends, were deposited in the family grave
yard, about five miles from this place. The charitable and
benevolent virtues of this lady were known and highly esti-
mated by all who were acquainted with her. She suffered a
long and painful illness — ^but in her greatest agony and dis-
tress she was not unmindful of him who created her — and the
faith of a christian never forsook her. Shortly before her
death she had several conferences with the Rev. Mr. Sayre of
the episcopal church in Greorgetown, who confirmed and en-
creased her hopes of an ultimate reception amongst the spirits
of the blessed.'*
Anne Bumes was Ann Wightt. She was bom within
the Ten Miles Square. The Wightts lived on the farm
with the patent name *'Inclosure." Her brother, John,
owned it. From him it descended to the Queen family,
from the Queen to the Brooks family— however, all of
the same family, of different names because of the
men the daughters admitted into it. The tract is the
suburb, Brookland, of rose culture fame.
George Alfred Townsend in connection with the re-
moval of the Van Ness mausoleum states that David
and Anne Burnes were of seven bodies under it. He
states besides that little is known of Mistress Anne,
and makes this ill-natured comment :
**1. David Burns, — a few bones, and a skull and teeth, and
the relics of an old-fashioned winding sheet, which wrapped
the defunct around and around, as if afraid he might get out
of it, as out of some other bad bargain. The undertaker of the
latter part of the nineteenth century looked at this winding-
sheet as if he were stumped at last. It was too much for him. '*
^3
194 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
We can agree with Mr. Townsend that the under-
taker was surprised if there had been the disinterment.
Mr. Townsend 's imagination makes an invasion on
veracity. The fact is David Bumes was buried in the
private Wightt graveyard, as was his wife and son.
When the Wightt-Queen-Brooks tract was being cut
up to make Brookland, under a group of dreary pines
in an isolated spot, just where Monroe avenue and
Twelfth street intersect, were found the three graves.
The Van Ness family was informed with the result
that Eugene Van Ness purchased, April 26, 1888, three
sites in Rock Creek Cemetery (Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in reser-
vation adjoining No. 191, section C) to which they
were removed.
**Here in the stillness of the city of the dead, and over-
shadowed by two large cedars and hedged in with japonica
bushes, repose the bodies of David Bumes, his wife, and son.
The graves are even with the ground and stones of regular and
symmetrical shape cover the graves. These stones are a little
more than seven feet in length and three and one-half in width
and with a thickness of nearly three inches. A slightly raised
molding and scroll work hewn in the inscriptions, the lettering
being in the old style workmanship, and notwithstanding the
facts that the stones have been exposed to the elements for a
century, the wording is very clear and not difficult to decipher.
David Burn'es, Esq'
Of Thk
City of AVashington
died
The 8^»' of May, 1800,
Aged 60 years, 2 months and 24 days.
>f
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 195
M" Anne Bubnes
Wife of
David Burnes, Esq*"
Died on the 28*»» of January, 1807
Aged
66 years, 11 months and 4 days
M' John Burnes
Son of
David Burnes, E^'
died
in the year 1792
aged 20 years.
He was a youth amiable & intelligent,
who promised fair to become
an honor to his friends and
an ornament to his Country.
The inscriptions were written by General Van Ness
as the tribute to the son is almost identical with an
expression in his letter to Martin Van Buren. The
inscriptions are in the same style of lettering and orna-
mentation and were apparently chiseled under one
order. The dates are singularly inaccurate. Mr.
Burnes died May 7, 1799. The son was living October
19, 1793.
The Brooks mansion and its grounds is a Brookland
block. Over the entrance gate is Saint Benedict Acad-
emy. Jehiel Brooks married Ann Queen; and Ann
was the daughter of Nicholas L. Queen, the boniface
of Queen's Hotel, the favored abiding place of con-
gressmen and like celebrities, just east of Capitol;
and Mr. Queen's wife was a Wightt. And the oldest
part of the Brooks mansion may have been the home
196 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
of Ann Wightt when her David Bumes came courting.
From associations and circumstances the writer
gives his opinion that Mr. Bumes gave allegiance to
the sect of the Scotch emigrants who located here-
about, the Presbj-terian ; and that Mrs. Bumes, whose
maiden name was spelled like the Isle of Wight with
an additional /, was of the Church of England. The
opinion is given for nothing else than historic detail
as the form of worship is but a shadow and unim-
portant. Mr. and Mrs. Bumes lived so close to
nature that to them is peculiarly appropriate Pope's
sentiment :
''Slave to no «ect, who takes no priTate road.
But looks through nature up to nature's God. "
John Peter's brothers, William Peter and Cornelius
Peter, had more celebrity than he. William was eight
years younger; Cornelius, eighteen. William was the
protege of Aaron Burr and carried the correspondence
and challenge to Hamilton and with Burr was indicted
for murder. He was a judge. Of him, the Xew York
historian, Jabez D. Hammond, says: *Hhat talented
man of dark and indignant spirit; " and another his-
torian, Dr. Alva Stan wood Alexander: '*Van Xess
wrote with a pen dipped in gall.'' Cornelius has large
space in the encyclopedia and larger in the history of
Vcmioiit. At the cabinet meeting, February 14,
1846, **the idea of sending a confidential agent to con-
fer with Santa Anne was mentioned.'' President Polk
remarked that if such an agent were to be sent, (lov. C.
P. Van Ness, foraier Minister to Spain, would })e the
best selection in the country." He passed the greater
part of the time in his later years in Washington ; in
fact, became a Washin^tonian.
Says George Alfred Townsend:
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 197
''General Van Ness lived down to the period of the Mexican
war. . . . Several portraits are extant of him. In one he is
represented as wearing a powdered wig and toupee with very-
light, fine, brown hair and side-whiskers, with a short fore-
head, and strong perceptive brows, very full and memory-
keeping, a fine, aquiline nose, straight lip and chin, and small
mouth and a fine, hazel, open eye with brown lashes and eye-
brows. A handsomer man, a woman nor a novel never looked
upon. There is a luscious Dutch look about that portrait Gil-
bert Stuart painted of Van Ness which does not fail to account
for his success with Miss Burns. * '
The portraits in the St. Memin^^ collection, num-
bered 405 and 597, executed respectively 1806 and
1808, have strong exactness with that of Gilbert Stuart,
proving fidelity to the subject. The Stuart was ex-
ecuted about 1804.
James Bumes, it appears from a strong circum-
stance, considered himself the owner, or, at least, was
confident peaceable possession of the part he had en-
closed, to him and his would not be denied or dis-
turbed. This circumstance is that, August 29, 1792,
he submitted to the commissioners as responsible an
estimate of his losses by damage to crops and fences
by the plotting of the city; and, March 11, the next
year, demanded again reimbursement for his losses
with mention of his necessities. Mr. Ilines gives a
chapter in this connection:
James" Bums, (Brother to Davy).
I was well acquainted with the family of James Burns,
especially with the younger of the males. I believe there were
four sons and one daughter. The names of the boys were, I
think, Thomas, Moses, Billy, and Trueman. Billy was a black-
smith, and Trueman, the youngest, a carpenter. I do not
recollect the name of the daughter but I think it was Rebecca.
S7 Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mtaiin.
98 James from ' ' Tommy ' ' corrected by author in writing.
198 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
These were all cousins to Mrs. Vanness. The farm which
James Burns cultivated was, at that time, laid oflf in lots and
became smaller and smaller every year as the lots were sold.
All this little farm of lots, I believe, belonged to his brother
Davy. Not far south of the house, at the foot of the hill on
which St. Patrick's Church now stands, was a most excellent
spring of water, shaded by two or three oaks. This spring, I
believe, was originally called Bums* spring; but the name was
afterwards changed to St. Patrick's spring. Here the male
members of the family would assemble in the evenings to
amuse themselves with various kinds of sports, such as swing-
ing, &c.
* * In the course of conversation with Trueman, on his family
affairs, I asked him how it happened that his uncle was so rich
and his father comparatively so poor. He stated, in answer to
my question, that his uncle Davy, being the oldest son, the
English law of primogeniture which then prevailed in this
country, as in England, gave his uncle Davy the right and title
to all the land his grandfather owned and died possessed of;
and, consequently his father was deprived of any share in the
land.
' * I suggested to him then, and several times since, that he
ought to make his case known to some of the friends of Gen-
eral Vanness, or other influential person, that they might
afford him some relief by aiding him in getting some of the
propery which he ought, in justice, to have had from his grand-
father's estate, and which an unjust English law prevented
him from receiving. But I do not believe he ever made any
application with that view. However, time passed on, years
rolled around ; Trueman married, and, as I understood, had a
pretty large family of children. ... At length, as age and
infirmities increased, Trueman became an inmate of the poor-
house, where, four or five years since he died at an advanced
age. Whatever became of Trueman 's brothers I have never
heard, but suppose they are all dead. ' '^^
89 Family of Truman Burnes. The Rambler, The Sunday Star, Sep-
tember 15, 1918.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 199
Marcia joined with the General in conveyance of all
realty inherited from her father to William Bain-
bridge and Thomas Swann, September 25, 1826. And
Bainbridge and Swann with equal dates made a con-
veyance to John P. Van Ness. W. B. 18, folios 83, 89.
The effect of these conveyances was a divertence of
the property from the Bumes to the Van Ness family.
A three character sketch— David Bumes, Marcia,
and John P. Van Ness— has serially appeared in The
Sunday Star of recent date. It is the product of The
Rambler. The distinction of the sketch is only the dis-
tinction to all the Rambles. That is, there is naught
rambling about them. They consistently show intelli-
gent investigation put on paper in piquant and pleas-
ant phrases with pictorial adjunct. Historical funds
are given away with chunks of wisdom without stint
and without price. It is doubly fortunate— the enter-
prise of the journal and the enlightenment of the
writer. However, one sad consequence may ensue if
the Rambler does not eventually disclose himself— a
similar contention to that which caused so much fever
of the brain— who wrote the letters signed Junius.
Primogeniture by which under the common law the
eldest took the whole estate, with the advance of a
comprehension of right has been universally abolished.
Another advance will be in the abolition of disposal by
last testament. The government under measurably
fixed rules or rules with flexibility for the conditions
will administer. Many wills are without fairness or
judgment. In fact, a disposition by the testator of
what is not or cannot be his— when he is not— is with-
out sound basis.
We have in our subjects an illustration of the uni-
versal worship— ever as now. The Israelites bowed
to the molten calf in gold— a metaphor, perhaps, of the
almighty dollar now.
200 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
David Bumes chanced to be the eldest and thereby
to have all. When his farm lands turned to city lots
he forgot his brother and thought only of the heiress.
The daughter was at heart charitable but she forgot
man's adage, charity begins at home, and the scrip-
tural declaration, **but if any provide not for his own,
and specially for those of his own house (kindred), he
hath denied the faith, and is more than an infidel.''
• General Van Ness was public spirited and he was
highly hospitable. For these conunendable things he
had his reward in the^glory of men and not in the re-
ward of those who give in secret. He was a rank out-
sider and vet succeeded to all the adventitious Bumes
wealth. He lived in Mansion Square; a Bumes de-
scendant lived in the poorhouse.
With all industry the biographer may overlook an
interesting item. The writer in his sketch of General
Van Ness intentionally omitted minor matters, but he
may have unintentionally omitted something important.
Dr. Johnson writes the life of Milton with assiduity.
*' Assiduity" in those days was the word for diligence
and kindred words. The Doctor wondered that the
poet who was Cromwell 's secretary did not get appre-
hended for sedition. And the Doctor in this was not
apprized of one of the most singular events in Milton 's
life or any other man's life. Milton hid. He pre-
tended he was dead and actually had a funeral— a
hearse with flowers strewn on the casket; mourners
in carriages ; and an interment. Charles II, a merciful
monarch, was not deceived ; he was amused ; and f ace-
tiouslv remarked that Milton **bv a seasonable show
of dying" had paid a sufficient penalty and was en-
titled to enjoy liberty and life.*^
The Eveniuff Star] May 11, 1808:
*o Chumingham 's History of England.
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 201
* * To THE Editor op The Star :
**The story is old of the American who, on the arrival of
his train, jumped off without looking at all, of the English-
man who stopped to see if he had left anything, and of the
Scotchman who turned around to see if any one else had left
anything. Possibly Mr. William E. Curtis had this story in
mind when in writing the article which appeared in The
Evening Star Friday last entitled, *Mr. Carnegie's Gift.' He
referred to the difficulty which Washington found in bring-
ing the Scotchman, David Bums, to the terms which the gov-
ernment would, offer for the land. Mr. Curtis stated that
Burns was * avaricious, cunning, elusive, and ambiguous in his
phrases.' If he had stated what the federal government,
whose funds were low, asked of the nineteen original pro-
prietors of the land within the limits of the city his statement
that David Burns was * avaricious' would seem to have been
without foundation, for of the 7134 acres of land within the
city as originally laid out, extending from the river to what is
now called Florida avenue, but what was formerly known as
Boundary street, the owners gave 3600 acres outright for
avenues, streets and alleys, 1508 acres for the government to
sell to enable it to raise the money to pay for 512 acres at
$66% an acre, which were designed for government use, in-
ducing the original owners to believe that by the establish-
ment of the seat of government here the 1508 acres which they
retained out of the entire 7134 acres would become so valuable
that they would be compensated in the end for the sacrifice.*^
Mr. Curtis stated in the article referred to that proceeds of
the sale of David Burns' farm to the government made him
rich, leaving the impression 4;hat the government paid for all
of his land at a high figure, when as a fact the government
actually paid for only a small portion of his land which it
took and gave little for that.
*'Fred. L. Fishback."
41 For statistics see letter of Richard Wallach, Mayor, to the Secretary
of the Interior, November, 1865.
202 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
For the land retained by the government for public
purposes, the original proprietors were liberally com-
pensated in the view of Justice Story of the United
States Supreme Court. Mr. Fishback, of the Columbia
Historical Society, maintains the reverse with good
rhetorical figures as well as with figures which are not
figures of speech. The writer accepts Mr. Fishback 's
contention on the merits. Besides, President Wash-
ington's bid for Mr. Bumes' acres through inter-
mediaries proves it. And Jefferson to Washington,
April 10, 1791 :
'*The acquisition of groimd at Georgetown is really noble.
Considering that only £25 an acre is to be paid for any grounds
taken for the public, and the streets not to be counted, which
will in fact reduce it about £19 an acre, I think very liberal
reserves should be made for the public."
Mr. Townsend has quoted at length comment on the
subjects of these sketches by a former resident of
Washington who in 1868 returned after an absence of
forty years. Mr. Townsend not to disclose the identity
of the prodigal calls him the Cheerful Patriot. The
choice of name is charitable, for he could have appro-
priately called him the Cheerful Liar. Of the com-
ment onlv this :
'*At that time an ignorant, obstinate, canny Scotch farmer
named Davy Bums lived in a farmhouse down by the fogs of
the river. The location of the Capital City upon his grounds
made him rich. To his crude shanty, young Congressmen
pressed at night courting for the heiress and Van Ness, hav-
ing the New York *dash' carried oflf Miss Marcia Burns.''
Charles Harcourt Ainslie Forbes-Lindsay says :
**More than one writer has fancifully described David
Burnes as an ignorant, uncouth Scotchman. There is no evi-
Clark: General John Peter Van Ness. 203
dence that he was other than an American by birth like almost
all of his neighbors. If he had been the rude boor he is pic-
tured, it is difficult to account for men of education and re-
finement, such as Van Ness — ^who married his daughter — fre-
quenting his house as we know that they did.
**In short there does not appear to be a single point in the
Burnes story to recommend it to the credence of a sensible
person. ' ^
C. Middleton says:
** David Burns, Esq., . . . was respected and esteemed for
his hospitality and other virtues. ' '
In the office of the t^ublic Buildings and Grounds
are the records of the commissioners under the Resi-
dence Law. Twenty letters of David Burnes to them
are there. All have originality of expression, variety
of words and correctness of authography. These are
convincing proof that Mr. Burnes was educated and
in advance of his period. That Mr. Burnes was reac-
tionary in the establishment of the new nation's city
the writer thinks is disproven. For what was his he
was impatient, not uncommon in the human character.
"For I want what I want
When I want it." — Opera, M UleModiste.
It is true he quarreled with the commissioners. And
of the proprietors so did James Greenleaf, a merchant
prince, a large capitalist and consul at Amsterdam;
80 did George Walker, accepted as the first projector
of the magnificent plan of the city; so did Thomas
Law, scion of English aristocracy, a ruler of a million
people in East India and connected with the President
by marriage; and so did the engineers, L 'Enfant and
Ellicott. In each case a special cause, in all, under-
lying disappointment.
204 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
As David Bumes sat at the cottage door, his former
acres within his range of vision, his memory told him
these scenes were long familiar and so had been to his
father and to his father's father and he could express
himself in his poet's lines:
"Still o'er these scenes my memorj wakes,
And fon4lly broods with miser care,
Time but the impression deeper makes.
As streams their channels deeper wear.
EEMARKS OF JAMES DUDLEY MOEGAN ON
THE PAPER BY MR. ALLEN C. CLARK, ON
GENERAL VAN NESS, NOVEMBER 26,
1918, BEFORE THE COLUMBIA
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
There can be nothing added to the fnlbiess and the
pleasure of the paper by Mr. Clark, but I simply wish
to call attention to the disputes that David Bumes
had with the Commissioners and to say that there
were others like Major L 'Enfant and Samuel David-
son—an original proprietor— who also had many con-
tentions with the Commissioners. Major L 'Enfant,
as you know, refused to receive further orders from
anyone but President Washington, and quit ; and Sam-
uel Davidson was in a long acrimonious discussion
with the Commissioners, principally, as to his property
contiguous to what is now Lafayette Square, and on
which David Bumes' property abutted. Both David-
son and Bumes appealed to Major L 'Enfant and
David Bumes '^ letter follows :
*^ Monsieur L 'Enfant,
**The respect you have ever shown me and the Gratitude
that exists in my Breast for you cannot allow me to remain a
silent friend. I take the liberty of addressing a few lines to
you hoping you will accept of this as a small tribute of grati-
tude, untill I can make a Journey to Philadelphia this fall, at
which time I hope to be gratified with your company ; it is a
source of information and agreeableness. I hope you can
give me some information on the subject of dispute between
the Commissioners and myself which I expect will will be ended
1 Original in possession of Dr. James D. Morgan.
205
2o6 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
next Spring. I hope you will do me the favor to write to me
whether I can see you at Philadelphia about November next.
**Your very Hble Serv.
* * ( Signed) David Bxtrnes.
th
''July 24 1794.''
DR. WILLIAM BEANES, THE INCIDENTAL
CAUSE OF THE AUTHORSmP OF THE
STAR-SPANGLED iSaNNER.
By CALEB OLARKE MAGRUDER, Jr.
(Read before the Societj, December 15, 1914.)
The genesis of the Beanes family in America traces
from Christopher Banes, according to. the signature
attached to his will, a Scotsman who came to the col-
ony of Maryland in 1671, and settled in Calvert county.
Among the properties acquired by him were. Eel Hall,
in his home county, and Christopher's Camp, in Balti-
more county.
His first wife was Ann Brooke, daughter of Robert
Brooke, immigrant, by Mary Mainwaring, his second
wife. Through Lord Baltimore's commission Robert
Brooke became conamander of a new county in the col-
ony, erected in 1650, and called Charles in honor of the
King of England. Mary Mainwaring was the daugh-
ter of the Bishop of St. David's, chaplain to Charles I.
of England, and a descendant of a noble Cheshire
family.
Ann (Brooke) Beanes predeceased her husband,
and he married secondly, Elizabeth Higham, relict of
Francis Higham of Calvert county. He left her a
widow without issue of their union, in 1696. Chris-
topher and Ann (Brooke) Beanes had issue: Chris-
topher, William, Ann and Mary.
William Beanes, the first of his family in Prince
George's county, son of Christopher Banes, inami-
grant, was a merchant and planter. He married
Elizabeth, family name unknown, and died in 1765.
207
2o8 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
His widow survived until 1773. By the terms of the
former's will his widow was devised realty (mmamed)
and his children personalty only. Their issue were:
William ; Mary married John Sutton ; Elizabeth mar-
ried Luke Marbury : Oolmore, died unmarried; and a
daughter who became the wife of Major Josiah Tow-
good of Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
William Beanes, representing the third generation,
married Mary Bradley, daughter of Eobert Bradley
and Ann Hill, progenitors of General Bradley Tyler
Johnson of the Confederate States Army. On the dis-
taflf side Mary Bradley was the granddaughter of
Clement Hill and Ann Damall. Clement Hill was the
nephew and heir of Clement Hill, immigrant, sometime
surveyor-general of the province of Maryland. Ann
Darnall was the daughter of Colonel Henry Damall,
of Portland Manor, Anne Arundel County, Maryland,
and Eleanor Hatton, who was the widow of Major
Thomas Brooke, and the daughter of Eichard and
Margaret Hatton.
Mary (Bradley) Beanes died in 1794, and William
Beanes, her husband, in 1801. Their children were:
William, John Hancock, married Elizabeth Dyer and
Harriet Clagett, bom Southron; Eleanor, married
James Mullikin; Colmore, married Millicent Tyler;
William Bradley, married Eleanor Brown; Millicent,
married James Alexander Magruder; and Mary, who
married Baruch Duckett. Among the properties de-
vised these children bv their father were: Brooke
Ridge, Hale's Eest, Bristol (a part of Moimt Calvert
Manor), Craycroft's Eight, Beanes' Landing (on
Charles Branch), Addition to Beanes' Landing, all
in Prince George's county, and lot 261 in CarroUs-
burgh, now included in the city of Washington.
Such were the marital alliances of the forebears of
Magruder: Dr. WHliam Beanes. 209
Dr. William Beanes, son of William Beanes and Mary
Bradley, the third of his name, representing the fourth
generation.
He was bom at Brooke Eidge, near Croome, Prince
George's County, on the 24th day of January, 1749.
Brooke Ridge, comprising one thousand acres, was
patented by Charles Brooke, son of Robert Brooke,
first commander of Charles county, who, dying child-
less in 1671, devised one half of the property to his
then unmarried sister, Ann Brooke, great-grand-
mother of Dr. William Beanes.
We know nothing of this William Beanes ' early days,
but they were doubtless those of the youth of his
time whose parents were large landholders living in
ease and comfort. There was no medical college in
America at this period, so that from a public school,
or more probably a private tutor, he began the study
of medicine in the office of some experienced practi-
tioner of whom there were several in his neighborhood.
November 25, 1773, the young physician took for
wife Sarah Hawkins Hanson, daughter of Colonel
Samuel Hanson and Ann Hawkins, a niece of John
Hanson, President of the First Continental Congress,
and by virtue of this position, the first President of
the United States. Hardly had his married life begun
before the tyranny of the mother country forced the
First Continental Congress to adopt a series of ''Re-
solves " as a rebuke for odious taxes levied and to pre-
pare for armed resistance. Dr. Beanes was one of a
committee of Prince Georgians who carried such ''Re-
solves'' into effect.
Following the battle of Lexington the government
established the first General Hospital at Philadelphia,
where the young surgeon treated the maimed brought
from bloody Long Island and Brandywine, as well as
u
2IO Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
those half-starved and near-frozen patriots from
gloomy Valley Forge.
Returning to his home before the close of the Revo-
lutionary War he purchased property in the town of
Upper Marlborough from William Sprigg Bowie in
1779, and erected a home on the site of the present
Marlborough High School. Continuing the practice
of his profession h^ grew in skill and constantly in-
creased the confidence of an ever enlarging circle of
friends and patients. Agriculture claimed some part
of his attention on several farms surrounding his
home town, known as Meadows, Kinsale, and Bacon
Hall, and he also owned and operated a nearby grist
mill.
Professionally his fitness spread beyond the county,
and when, in 1799, the Medical and Chirurgical Fac-
ulty of Maryland was established he was one of its
founders and a member of its first examining board.
This faculty was never a teaching body, but young
physicians submitted to examination by them before
being permitted to practice, so that it is the prototype
of the present Maryland State Medical Board. His
interest in religious affairs is evidenced by his con-
nection with the establishment of Trinity Protestant
Episcopal Church, Upper Marlborough, and upon its
organization by Bishop Clagett, in 1810, he was elected
its first senior warden.
Such had been his various activities when in 1812
Great Britain declared war against the United States.
Military operations were mainly in the north until the
spring of 1813, when an enemy squadron sailed from
Lynn Haven Bay, Virginia, into the Chesapeake. Pil-
lage, plunder and arson followed in their wake. The
Patapsco River was blockaded, Annapolis and Balti-
more threatened, towns on the Eastern Shore of Mary-
Magruder: Dr. W'Miam Beanes. 211
land sacked, Havre de Grace stormed and burned.
Hostile marauders invaded the Potomac River and the
surrounding country swarmed with spies.
August 19, 1814, the British landed eight miles below
Benedict, Charles county, and promptly took up their
march to Nottingham. Prince George's at once be-
came the field of spirited war-time activities. Nearing
Nottingham some slight resistance w^as offered the
enemy's advance on the 21st, but upon being pressed
it faded away with a single casualty while the British
were unscathed. Following the river road along the
Patuxent under cover of their ships' guns Mount Cal-
vert was reached where they debouched and moved
toward Upper Marlborough.
A British annalist,^ accompanying the army, wrote :
**The advanced parties having arrived at the more open
country which surrounds Marlborough, found themselves sud-
denly in the presence of two squadrons of well mounted and
handsomely appointed cavalry. They were composed, as we
afterwards learned, of gentlemen volunteers in the service of
their country. To do them justice, the troopers no sooner
saw our men than they made a spirited effort to cut down one
or two files which appeared to be separated from their com-
panions, and at a distance from the wood. But a single dis-
charge from another party which they had not observed,
instantly checked them; and they galloped off."
Upper Marlborough was entered on the 22d of Au-
gust. As the same annalist relates:
**It was one o'clock when the neat houses and pretty gar-
dens of Marlborough presented themselves to our view. I
know not whether the scene would strike me now as it struck
me then, were I again to visit it; but at that moment I im-
agined that I had never looked upon a landscape more pleas-
ing, or more beautiful. The gentle green hills which on either
1 George Gleig.
2 1 2 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
hand enclosed the village, tufted here and there with mag-
nificent trees, the village itself, straggling and wide, each cot-
tage being far apart from its neighbors and each ornamented
with flower beds and shrubberies ; these, with a lovely stream
which wound through the valley, formed, as far as my memory
may be trusted, one of the most exquisite panoramas, on which
it has ever been my good fortune to gaze."
The town having been invested the British General
Boss selected the home of Dr. Beanes as his headquar-
ters, there remaining until the afternoon of the next
day, August 23, when, following a council of war with
Admiral Cockbum, held in the same house^ the army
evacuated the town and on the same night bivouaced
at Mellwood, the old home of Thomas Sim Lee, sec-
ond Governor of Maryland, who held office during a
part of the Eevolutionary War.
Be it said to the credit of the enemy, the inhabitants
of Upper Marlborough, or the very few who remained
after their coming, were treated right civilly. Some
chicken roosts and pig sties were robbed, and tradition
says they kneaded bread on tomb stones in Trinity
Church yard, which church was used for barracks, but
the greatest act of wanton vandalism recorded occurs
in the Parish Register of that church, reading:
** Several leaves here and some in other parts of this book
were torn out by some of Ross' soldiers who found the book
in the Church where it had been put for safe keeping. To
their eternal disgrace be it recorded.''
Signed ''John Read Magruder clerk of the vestry."
Military strategists divined that the enemy's objective
was the national capital, and so advised, but official
Washington appeared indifferent.
In 1813, Commodore Joshua Barney was commis-
sioned to fit out a flotilla, which was completed and
Magruder: Dr. WiUiam Beams. 213
manned by the spring of 1814. In June, while directly
commanding a part of his flotilla, thirteen barges and
five hundred men, he was pursued by the British and
sought safety in St. Jjeonard 's Creek, Calvert County.
The water was too shallow for the enemy to follow so
that attacks were made on the land side, but slight
harm resulted and the blockade continued. Thinking
the destruction of such a possible prize would lead the
British to abandon a position so near Washington,
Barney was ordered to destroy his boats but an imme-
diate counter order advised an effort to break the
blockade. With two eight pounders mounted upon
traveling carriages the attack was made and Barney
succeeded in cutting through the blockading line and
ascending the Patuxent.
Learning of the presence of the British army at
Benedict, Barney landed four hundred of his flotilla
men near Mount Pleasant Ferry, a little above Hill's
bridge, and marched to Upper Marlborough, leaving
orders with Lieutenant Frazier to fire the flotilla
should the enemy approach in force. On the 22d of
August, Barney proceeded to Woodyard, the home of
Richard W. West. The British entered Upper Marl-
borough while his camp fires were yet smouldering.
As they were in force and but two miles away Lieu-
tenant Frazier obeyed his instructions and the thir-
teen barges were fired, scuttled and sunk. At Wood-
yard Barney met General Winder in command of some
twenty-five hundred troops. The same day the aug-
mented force moved toward Washington and en-
camped at I^ong Old Fields, now known as Forestville,
advancing in the morning after an inspection by Presi-
dent Madison.
Knowledge of Ross' stay in Upper Marlborough
prompted Winder to mass his available arms between
214 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
his camp and the enemy. General Stansbury and
Lieutenant-Colonel Steret were directed accordingly,
and similar orders were dispatched to ' Lieutenant-
Colonel Beall and Major Peter. , Winder set out to
confer with Stansbury who was advancing from Bla-
densburg. When nearing that village couriers in-
formed him the enemy had left Mellwood, come in con-
tact with Major Peter and driven him back on the
covering line of General Smith and Commodore Bar-
ney at Long Old Fields where the latter stood in battle
order. Stansbury was ordered to retrace his march
to Bladensburg, join with Steret and if attacked and
driven to reform for the protection of Washington.
After a brush with Major Peter, Ross reached the
branch road leading to Washington and Alexandria
Ferry. Here his apparent indecision bafiSed our
forces, the Secretary of War, General Armstrong, not
yet convinced that Ross' vision of conquest included
Washington. While yet Madison, Winder and cabinet
members were in conference the British were in mo-
tion toward Bladensburg. Smith was hurried for-
ward, while Barney took a position on the eastern
branch of the Potomac, now known as Barney's Circle,
Pennsylvania Avenue, Southeast, Washington.
On the 24th day of August, 1814, the American
forces were thus disposed at Bladensburg: near the
Bladensburg bridge, General Stansbun^; in his rear
two artillery companies under Captains Magruder and
Myers. To the right of this battery, Major Pinkney's
riflemen covering two companies of infantry, Ducker
and Gorsuch captains, forming the right wing. P^'ifty
vards awav Steret commanded the P^'ifth Marvland
Regiment with the regiments of Regan and Schultz,
and three hundred cavalry forming the centre. A line
of Maryland militia, Beall, Colonel, stood to the right
Ma grader: Dr. William Beams. 215
of the latter formation with a detachment of Barney's
flotilla-men. Colonel Magruder, with the District of
Columbia militia, and Peter's battery comprised the
left wing. Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, of the Second
Maryland regiment, supported Peter's battery. Col-
onel Magruder was stationed to the left of the marines
and Colonel Kraemer forward of Colonel Beall.
Awaiting the enemy stood 5,401^ men and ofiScers
ready to receive a foe slightly inferior in numbers.
Shortly before one o'clock General Ross' army
emerged from a screen of trees fringing the woods and
the first guns boomed. The descendants of men who
stood the shock of battle on many a bloody field of
Revolutionary days, and finally hurled back the in-
vader, were panic stricken. Formation after forma-
tion wavered, broke and fled. The arrival of Barney
with a portion of his marines on the Bladensburg pike
at the District line, who had come at a double quick
from the eastern branch of the Potomac, heartened
them for a moment but forced to stand the onslaught
without support they too gave way. The gallant Bar-
ney, wounded by a bullet which was only extracted
after death, and for which it was somewhat respon-
sible, was taken prisoner. By four o'clock the enemy
was victorious with a foe widely scattered.
Bladensburg is an inglorious field in our history
whereon no luster was shed upon American arms. As
General Ross said of the marines, '*they have given
us the only real fighting we have had." And yet we
should bear in mind the fact that among the British
were veterans of the Peninsular Campaign and Napo-
leonic Wars, while opposed to them were an almost
exclusively raw militia.
A copy of General Ross' report on the battle to his
3 War Department records.
2i6 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
military superiors appeared in the London Gazette
Extraordinary under date of September 27, 1814, in
which the casualties as listed by him were :
** Killed, one Captam, two Lieutenants, five Sergeants, fifty-
six rank and file, ten horses. Wounded, two Lieutenants-
Colonel, three Ensigns, one Captain, fourteen Lieutenants, ten
Sergeants, one hundred and fifty-five rank and file, eight
horses."
Lossing gives the British casualties as 500. The
American loss was twenty-six killed and fifty-one
wounded.
The nation's capital undefended, the British entered
the city, then having a population of about 20,000, and
applied the torch to the Capitol, the President's man-
sion, the Navy Yard barracks and all other public
buildings, the Patent OflSce excepted, entailing a loss
of two million dollars.
On the 25th of August, Ross began his backward
movement by Bladensburg, where his wounded were
permitted to remain, reaching Upper Marlborough on
the 26th, and thence to Nottingham where he em-
barked his troops, weighing anchor from Benedict on
the 29th.
Two days before the army sailed from Benedict a
squadron appeared before Fort Washington, in Prince
George's County, which was blown up without a gun
having been fired against the enemy, whereupon Alex-
andria was visited by them and an enormous ransom
demanded.
After the British left Upper Marlborough on the
26th of August, and were encamped at Woodyard, a
body of troopers returned to the town and placed Dr.
Beanes under arrest. He was forced to arise from his
bod after midnight at the point of a revolver, scarcely
Magruder: Dr. William Beanes. 217
permitted to clothe himself, and made to ride horse-
back on a rough-gaited, cadaverous animal to Benedict,
some thirty-five miles distant.
On the day Ross passed through Upper Marlborough
toward Nottingham Dr. Beanes was host to Dr. Wil-
liam Hill and Philip Weems. Many marauders ap-
pearing in the town it was proposed that they be ar-
rested, whereupon Dr. Beanes and his guests headed a
body of citizens who threw several of them into the
county jail. One, however, escaped, acquainted Gen-
eral Ross with the circumstances and he ordered the
arrest of the three offenders. Subsequently Dr. Hill
and Mr. Weems were released, but General Ross and
Admiral Cockbum seemed relentless toward Dr.
Beanes.
That these gentlemen were arrested is attested by a
letter dated August 31, 1814, from General Winder^ to
General Ross in which their names were mentioned as
prisoners, coupled with a reproach for the ''great
rudeness and indignity heaped upon a respectable and
aged old man,'' in allusion to Dr. Beanes; but Gen-
eral Winder's intercession was fruitless with respect
to Dr. Beanes.
At this juncture Richard W. West, of Woodyard,
appealed to Francis Scott Key, a then resident of
Georgetown. With the consent of President Madison,
John S. Skinner, a Prince Georgian then living in Bal-
timore, and in charge of the exchange of prisoners,
accompanied Key down the Chesapeake Bay under a
flag of truce aboard the Minden. Preparations were
making for an attack on Baltimore but Key and Skin-
ner were courteously received by Admiral Cochrane.
When their mission was made known General Ross
8'*The British Invasion of Maryland/' by Wm. M. Marine.
2 1 8 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
and Admiral Cockbum^ bitterly opposed the pris-
oner's release, the latter speaking of him in the harsh-
est and most venomous manner.
Fortunately, Skinner carried letters from the
wounded left by Ross at Bladensburg in which he was
told of the extremely kind treatment they had re-
ceived. Touched by the tender mercies of an enemy
Ross felt grateful and promised to requite it by the
desired release. But fearing information of visible
preparations aboard ship for an attack upon Balti-
more might be conveyed to the city in the event of im-
mediate return, Key and Skinner were detained.
Before the attack upon Fort McHenry which followed,
Dr. Beanes was permitted to join his friends and all
were convoyed to a place of safety.
So long as great guns belched forth from the Fort
they knew its defenders were undismayed. Toward
morning resistance grew feebler, and then— an ominous
silence. With every fiber racked by alternate hopes
and fears Key pierced through the gloom until by the
'* dawn's early light" he saw that ^^our flag was still
there. ' '
Shot through with a genuine patriotic fervor Key
sketched the outlines of The Star-Spangled Banner
on the back of a letter, partially completing it while
returning to Baltimore on the Minden. It appeared in
the Baltimore American on September 21, 1814, under
the title of ^*The Defense of Baltimore," and imme-
diately became immensely popular, which popularity
has continued to grow until today Key is best known
as the author of the accepted American national an-
them, judged by competent critics to rank with the
martial hymns of ^*Rule Brittania" and '*The Mar-
seillaise. ' '
* Admiral Cockbum conveyed Napoleon Bonaparte as a prisoner to St.
Helena.
Ma grader: Dr. William Beams, 219
Its exultant and defiant note well typifies the Amer-
ican spirit, but acknowledgment of a higher Power
and a prayer for our national perpetuation breathes
through the lines,
*' Blest with victory and peace may the heaven-reacued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation."
Without doubt the bombardment of Fort McHenry
fired Key's imagination and inspired his pen, contro-
verting, '' Poeta nasitur non fit"— Poets are bom not
made— although he had a poet ancestor in the person
of Henry Howard, Earl of Surry, bom in the year
1515, an eight times great-grandfather, who was the
first to employ blank verse in English poetry.
Baltimore, the birthplace of '*The Star-Spangled
Banner," thus owes Prince George's County the occa-
sion of its authorship, and the centennial anniversary
which Maryland's metropolis so fittingly celebrated
some weeks since should serve to inseparably link the
name of Beanes with that of Key, the author, with the
occasion of his inspiration.
Mr. Chief Justice Taney, a brother-in-law of Francis
Scott Key, in a letter regarding Dr. Beanes' arrest,
writes,
**They (the British) did not seem to regard him, and cer-
tainly did not treat him, as a prisoner of war/'
Key was permitted to interview him.
**He was in the forward part of the ship among the sailors
and soldiers. He had not had a change of clothes from the
time he was seized; was constantly treated with indignity by
those around him and no officer would speak to him. He was
treated as a culprit and not as a prisoner of war and this harsh
and humiliating treatment continued until he was placed on
board the cartel. '*
220 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
General Boss said Dr. Beanes deserved much more
punishment than he received. Continuing, the Chief
Justice says : his treatment was that of one
* * Who had deceived and broken his faith with them. Some-
thing must have passed when the ofiSeers were quartered in
his home on the march to Washington which in the judgment
of Oeneral Boss bound him not to take up arms against the
English forces until the troops had reembarked. It is impos-
sible on any other ground to account for the manner in which
he was spoken of and treated.
**But whatever General Boss and the other oflScers may
have thought I am quite sure that Dr. Beanes did not think
he was in any way pledged to abstain from active hostilities
against the public enemy. ... He was a gentleman of un-
tainted character and a nice sense of honor, and incapable of
doing any thing that could have justified such treatment."
Considering all published data regarding the affair
we are inclined to think that the friendly oflSces of Dr.
Beanes, when he played host to the British, were so
construed by a subsequent action— that of instigating
the arrest of marauders— as a breach of faith. Only
after this manner can we reconcile his treatment by
the British, for the mere arrest of marauders would
not have rendered him less worthy of consideration
than a prisoner of war and brought to him all the con-
tempt and contumely of which he was the victim.
Apart from the fact that he was host it probably
occurred to Dr. Beanes that diplomacy would prove
the best policy. Because of it his home was guarded,
his slaves were unmolested, his horses and cattle
spared. And this inclination becomes a conclusion
when we road in ^'A Subaltern in America, '^ by a fair-
minded narrator who subsequently became chaplain-
general of the British army:
**The only inhabitants whom we found abiding in his house
Magruder: Dr. William Beanes, 221
was a Dr. Bean, a medical practitioner. . . . The Doctor was,
in point of fact, a Scotchman ; that is to say, he had migrated
about twenty years ago from some district of North Britain
and still retained his native dialect in all its doric richness.
He professed, moreover, to retain the feelings as well as the
language of his boyish days. ... He was a Federalist — in
other words, he was hostile to the war with England, which he
still persisted in regarding as his Mother country. Such, at
least, were the statements with which he favored us, and we
believed him the more readily that he seemed really disposed
to treat us as friends. ..."
Note that George Gleig, the author, states, Dr.
Beanes was a Scotchman, he had migrated twenty
years before, he professed a love for the mother
country, he was opposed to the war, ''Such at least
were the statements with which he favored us."
The genealogy of Dr Beanes' family proves con-
clusively that his immigrant ancestor was in Maryland
more than one hundred years before the War of 1812,
and that Dr. Beanes was bom in Prince George's
County. It is hardly believable that he could have
acted as has already been shown during the Revolu-
tionary period and entertained other sentiments at the
time specified by our author, his action in causing the
arrest which led to his own apprehension preclude
this, yet we have no right to disbelieve our author,
and the known character of General Ross*^ was not of
a nature to mete out such treatment as Dr. Beanes
received, especially after partaking of his hospitality,
unless some untoward act indicated a breach of faith,
and so we are forced to the conclusion that Dr. Beanes
carried his policy of diplomacy to such an extreme as
to weave his own web of trouble.
It is admitted that Dr. Beanes was a most gracious
B General Boss was killed at the battle of North Point, Md.
222 Records of the Columbia Htstorical Society.
host who cared for his guests with a friendly solicitude
and that the most reasonable explanation of the bitter
resentment aroused in General Ross was due to the
fact that he construed hospitality as sympathy, and
that his leadership of those who had thrown the
marauders into jail was a breach of faith. According
to British standards he may have appeared perfidious,
but to American standards it is unthinkable to charge
him with disloyalty.
Following his release the doctor returned to his
home on Academy Hill, Upper Marlborough, where as
a relic of two wars he spent the evening of life in the
quiet retrospect of stirring days. July 15, 1822, Mrs.
Beanes passed away, and on October 12, 1828, Dr.
Beanes died a childless old man at the mellow age of
eighty years, and their remains now rest in what was
the garden of their home.
Many friends and relatives were named as benefi-
claries in his will, and the three codicils attached
thereto, but the one who attained the greatest public
prominence was Dr. William Beanes Magruder (a son
of his sister Millicent, who married James Alexander
Magruder), Mayor of Washington in 1857 and 1858,
and of whom Mr. Robert H. Harkness read a most in-
teresting sketch before this society December 12, 1912.
Just a year ago— December 10, 1913, to be exact—
the writer had a letter from Mayor James H. Preston,
of Baltimore, President of the National Star-Spangled
Banner Centennial Commission, requesting the co-
operation of Prince George's County in the proposed
centennial exercises. The result was the formation of
The Star-Spangled Banner Society of Prince George's
Count V,
**Org^anized to restore the tomb of Dr. William Beanes
whose name is inseparably linked with that of Francis Scott
Key in the authorship of our National Anthem.
Magruder: Dr. William Beanes. 223
**To commemorate the same at Upper Marlborough, Mary-
land, September 3, 1914.
**To cooperate with the National Star-Spangled Banner
Centennial Commission in celebrating a century of peace and
progress. ' '
Funds were solicited from the public school children
of th^ county. To stimulate interest '* Patriotism "
and ''Charles Carroll of CarroUton" were assigned
as subjects for competitive compositions in the high
schools and primary departments respectively, with
two gold, two silver and two bronze medals as awards.
Patriotic and historical societies in Washington and
Baltimore were requested to donate the medals with
the following results: subject, ''Patriotism," gold
medal, by the Maryland Society of the War of 1812;
silver medal, by the Southern Maryland Society;
bronze medal, by the Society of Colonial Wars in the
District of Columbia. Subject, "Charles Carroll of
CarroUton," gold medal, by the District of Columbia
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution ; silver
medal, by the Society of The Ark and The Dove;
bronze medal, by the Columbia Historical Society.
To the funds raised by the public school children and
their teachers were added those contributed by private
individuals, the Civic Society of Upper Marlborough,
the County School Board, the Board of County Com-
missioners and the National Star-Spangled Banner
Centennial Commission.
A few months ago the tombs of Dr. and Mrs. Beanes
were broken into many fragments. The walls sur-
rounding were nearly level with the ground, and un-
sightly, gnarled sassafras trees were undermining the
foundations and penetrating the hallowed soil of
sepulture. Today such pieces of the old tombs as could
be recovered, pieced with new marble to the original
224 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
size, rest on marble supporters above repaired vaults.
Around the tombs is a brick wall as the base of a
wrought iron railing with six pilasters surmounted
by sixteen-inch cannon balls.
On either side of the stout iron entrance gate are
bronze tablets.
Exercises commemorating the restoration were held
on September 3 last, and resulted in what some of the
metropolitan newspapers declared to be the most
elaborate public function ever held in Southern Mary-
land. Following is the program:
Hon. Fillmore Beall, Associate Judge, Seventh Judicial Cir-
cuit, presiding.
Invocation — ^Rev. Alphonsus J. Donlan, S.J., Presidwit,
Georgetown University.
Address of Welcome — Hon. Fillmore Beall.
** America" — ^United States Marine Band (section).
Response — Hon. James H. Preston,* Mayor of Baltimore;
President, National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial Com-
mission.
** Columbia'' — ^Marine Band.
Poem — **Dr. William Beanes," The Bentztown Bard.
**Suwanee River'* — ^Marine Band.
Historical Address — ^Mr. Caleb C. Magruder, Jr., President,
Star-Spangled Banner Society, Prince George's County.
**Cavalleria Rusticana" — ^Marine Band.
Patriotic Address — Hon. Percy E. Quinn, Member of Con-
gress from Mississippi.
** Dixie'' — ^Marine Band.
Report of Committee on Compositions — ^Dr. Marcus Benjamin,
Chairman, Vice-President-General, Society of the War of
1812.
Col. Frederick C. Bryan, President, Society of the Sons of
the American Revolution in the District of Columbia.
6 Mayor Preston was prevented from being present because of a death
in his official family.
Magruder: Dr. William Beams. 225
Mr. Allen C. Clark, Vice-President, Columbia Historical
Society.
Award of Medals — Hon. Henry Stockbridge, Associate Judge,
Maryland Court of Appeals.
** Maryland — My Maryland '* — ^Marine Band.
Raising of Star-Spangled Banner, Hon. William L. Marbury,
President, Southern Maryland Society, Kinsman of Dr.
William Beanes.
Firing of National Salute — Detachment of Company F, First
Maryland Regiment, Oswald A. Greager, Captain.
The Star-Spangled Banner — Solo, Hon. Thomas F. McNulty,
Sheriff of Baltimore.
Benediction — Rev. Francis E. McManus, Rector, Trinity
Church, Upper Marlborough.
Gold and bronze medals, designed by Hans Shuler,
were subsequently struck by The National Star-
Spangled Banner Centennial Commission in commem-
oration of the 100th anniversary of the writing of
**The Star-Spangled Banner," on which Francis Scott
Key and Dr. William Beanes appear watching,
li
The rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air.'
IS
APPENDIX
OFFICERS.
Vice-Presidents
Officers Elected at the Twenty-fifth Annual Meetinq
Held January 28, 1919.
President Allen C. Clark.
rJoB Barnard,
\ WiLHELMUs B. Bryan.
Treasurer Cuno H. Rudoli*h.
Recording Secretary Miss Maud Burr Morris.
Corresponding Secretary Willlvm F. Roberts.
Curator James Franklin Hood.
Chronicler Frederick L. Fishback.
Managers classified
according to cxpi- ^
ration of term of
service
1921
1920 / JoH^ ^- Larner.
L James Dudley Morgan.
AM Van Zandt Cox.
rcis Regis Noel.
1922 / Theodore W. Noyes.
\ John Joy Edson.
1923 J^^^- Ch.vs. W. Richardson,
\ William Tindall.
r WiLUA
\ Fr.\nc]
228
COMMITTEES.
On Communications,
James Dudley Morgan, Chairman,
WiLiiELMUs B. Bryan, William Tindall.
On Membership,
William F. Roberts, Chairman,
F. Regis Noel, Mrs. Cn^vs. W. Richardson,
On Qtuilification.
Willlvm V. Cox, Chairman,
Job Barnard, James F. Hood.
On Building.
Theodore W. Noyes, Chairman,
John Joy Edson, Mrs. Edward T. Stotesbury,
On Publication.
John B. Larner, Chairman,
CuNO H. Rudolph, Miss Maud Burr Morris.
On Exchange.
James F. Hood, Chairman,
John B. Larner, Miss Maud Bltir Morris.
229
LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE COLUMBIA HISTORICALi
SOCIETY, 1919.
Life Members.
Dimock, Mrs. Henry F.,
Goldenberg, M.,
Hutcheson, David,
Jackson, Miss Cordelia,
1301 Sixteenth St.
922 Seventh St.
1221 Monroe St., Brookland,
D. C.
3021 N St.
HONOBABY MeMBEB.
Porter, Miss Sarah Harvey, 1834 K St.
Annual Members.
Abell, Mrs. Edwin F.,
Abell, Walter W.,
Adams, Byron S.,
Adkins, Jesse C,
Ailes, Eugene E.,
Ailes. Milton E.,
Albert, Leon E.,
Allen, Charles G.,
Allen, Clarence G.,
Allen, Walter C,
Anderson, Mrs. Alexandra K.,
Armat, Thomas,
Atkisson, Horace L. B.,
Barber, Mrs. Velma Sylvester,
Barbour, Mrs. Annie V.,
Barnard, Hon. Job,
Bamhart, Dr. Grant S.,
Bates, Charles H.,
16 East Mt. Vernon Place,
Baltimore, Md.
424 Equitable Building, Balti-
more, Md.
512 Eleventh St.
1512 H St.
Care National City Co.. N. Y.
1620 I St.
501-2 Westor>' Building.
Woodward Building.
2310 Nineteenth St.
District Building.
1757 K St.
1901 Wyoming Avenue.
Union Trust Building.
703 East Capitol St.
1741 Rhotle Island Ave.
1401 Fairmont St.
1434 Rhode Island Ave.
906 Westor\' Building.
230
List of Members.
231
Beck, Howard C,
Becker, Conrad,
Bell, Alexander Graham,
Bell, Alexander Hamilton,
Bell, Charles James,
Bennett, William A.,
Bingham, Benjamin P.,
,^lair. Major Gist,
Blair, Henry P.,
Blair, Montgomery,
-^Blair, Woodbury,
Bourne, Mrs. Linnie M.,
Bowie, W. Worthington,
Bradford, Ernest W.,
Breuninger, Lewis E.,
Britton, Alexander,
Brown, Walter A.,
Browne, Evans,
Browne, Francis L.,
Bryan, George B.,
Bryan, Dr. Joseph H.,
-^Bryan, Wilhelmns Bogart,
Buchanan, Gen. James A.,
Bukey, Miss Alice,
Bulkley, Barry,
Bullock-Willis, George,
Bundy, Hon. Charles S.,
^ Burchell, Norval Landon,
Burkart, Joseph A.,
Butler, Rev. Charles H.,
Butler, Dr. W. K.,
P. 0. Box 784, Baltimore, Md.
1324 P St.
1331 Connecticut Ave.
1510 Columbia Road.
1327 Connecticut Ave.
1316 Gallatin St.
110 Maryland Ave., N.E.
Union Trust Building.
Colorado Building.
Hibbs Building.
Hibbs Building.
2027 Hillyer Place.
2630 University Place.
Washington Loan & Tr. Bldg.
5700 Sixteenth St.
1811 Q St.
624 Fourteenth St.
Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, Md.
2258 Cathedral Ave.
101 B St., S.E.
818 Seventeenth St.
1330 Eighteenth St.
2210 Massachusetts Ave.
209 Maryland Ave., N.E.
1205 Nineteenth St.
918 F St.
The Kensington Apartments.
1102 Vermont Ave.
Colorado Building.
229 Second St., S.E.
1207 M St.
Carr, Mrs. William Kearny,
Carroll, Harry R.,
Carter, Mrs. Ellen L.,
Carter, William G.,
Casey, Mrs. Silas,
Casley, D. B.,
1413 K St.
1207 Decatur St.
1528 Sixteenth St.
928 Louisiana Ave.
The Oakland.
622 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
232 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Casteel, Dr. Prank A.,
Chamberlaine, William W.,
Chamberlin, Edward M.,
Chilton, Robert S., Jr.,
Chilton, William B.,
Church, William A. H.,
-Clark, Allen C,
Clark, Appleton P., Jr.,
Clark, Rev. John Brittan,
Clark, Lincoln R.,
Clephane (Lt. Col), Walter C.
Cohen, Myer,
Colbert, Michael J.,
Colladay, Edward P.,
Combs, Mrs. Henrietta Du-
Hamel,
Conniff (S.J.), Rev. Paul R.,
Coolidge, Ernest Hall,
Corby, W. S.
Cowles, John H.,
Cox, William Van Zandt,
Coyle, Miss Emily B.,
Crane, Hon. Richard,
Croissant, DeWitt C,
1616 I St.
1806 Wyoming Ave.
2636 Woodley Road.
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada.
2015 I St.
912 B St., S.W.
816 Pourteenth St.
1778 Lanier Place.
2713 Wisconsin Ave.
348 Eastern Ave., Wash 'n,D.C.
Chevy Chase, Md.
2146 Wyoming Ave.
Southern Building.
Union Trust Building.
5208 Porty-first St.
Gonzaga College.
1901 Kenyon St.
Langdon Station, D.C.
Sixteenth and S Sts.
Emery Place,Brightwood,D.C.
1760 N St.
Department of State.
1717 Q St.
Dale, Mrs. Thomas,
Daniel, Ernest H.,
Darlington, Joseph J.,
Davenport, Com'dr R. Gra-
ham, U.S.N.,
-Davis, Henry E.,
Davis, Miss Josephine,
Dennison, Dr. Ira W.
Devitt (S.J.), Rev. Edw. I.,
Dorsey, Vernon M.,
Dove, J. Maury,
British Vice-Consulate, Chi-
huahua, Mexico.
2111 Nineteenth St.
410 Pifth St.
1331 Eighteenth Street.
Wilkins Building.
The Concord.
The Wyoming.
Georgetown University.
104 Chevy Chase Drive, Chevy
Chase, D.C.
1740 New Hampshire Ave.
List of Members.
233
Downing, Mrs. Margaret B.,
Drury, Samuel A.,
Dunlop, G. Thomas,
Eaton, George Q.,
Edgarton, James A.,
Edmonston, William E.,
Edson, John Joy,
Edwards, Daniel A.,
Elkins, Mrs. Stephen B.,
Emery, Frederick A.,
Eustis, William Corcoran,
Everett, Edward H.,
1262 Lawrence St., Brookland,
D.C.
2637 Connecticut Ave.
Fendall Building.
416 New Jersey Ave., S.E.
1646 Park Road.
1220 Massachusetts Ave.
1324 Sixteenth St.
225 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.
1626 K St.
5315 Connecticut Ave.
1611 H St.
Twenty-third St. and Sheri-
dan Circle.
Fahy, Charles,
Ficklen, Samuel P.
Fishback, Frederick L.,
^Flannery, John Spaulding,
Fletcher, Miss Alice C,
Forman, Dr. Samuel E.,
Fraser, George B.,
Fulton, Horace Kimball,
Gaddis, Edgar T.,
GaflP, Thomas T.,
Gale, Thomas M.,
Galliher, William T.,
Garfinkle, Julius,
Gasch, Herman E.,
Gill, Herbert A.,
Glassie, Henry H.,
Glennan, John W.,
Glover, Charles C,
Goodwin, William McAfee,
Graham, Edwin C,
Groevenor, Gilbert H.,
410 Fifth St.
1823 Biltmore St.
2709 Thirty-sixth St.
2411 California St.
214 First St., S.E.
The Kenesaw.
1509 H St.
1213 Vermont Ave.
1017 East Capitol St.
1520 Twentieth St.
2300 S St.
American National Bank.
1226 F St.
1753 P St.
Colorado Building.
Department of Justice.
Warder Building.
1703 K St.
1406 G St.
1330 New York Ave.
Sixteenth and M Sts.
234 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Guilday, Rev. Peter (D.D.), Brookland, D.C.
Guy, Benjamin W., 313 Ninth St.
Hamilton, George E.,
Hannay, William Mouat,
Harper, Albert,
Harris, Miss Louisa B.,
Harvey, Richard S.,
Haston, T. M.,
Henderson, John B.,
Henderson, Richard W.,
Heurich, Christian,
Hibbs, William B.,
Hickey, Miss S. G.,
Hill, William Corcoran,
Hines, C. Calvert,
Hood, James Franklin,
Hoover, William D.,
Hunt, Mrs. Alice Underwood,
Hunt (LL.D.), Gaillard,
Hutchins, Walter Stilson,
Hyde, Thomas,
Jameson, J. Franklin,
Janin, Mrs. Violet Blair,
Jennings, Hennen,
Johnson, Benjamin F.,
Johnson, Frederick T. F.,
Johnson, Paul E.,
Johnston, James M.,
Johnston, Richard H.,
Jones, Eugene A.,
Jose, Rudolph,
Julihn, Louis G.,
Union Trust Building.
207 I St.
505 E St.
1809 H St.
Washington Loan & Tr. Bldg.
918 M St.
1601 Florida Ave.
1109 F St.
1307 New Hampshire Ave.
Hibbs Building.
821 Third St., N.W.
1724 H St.
1625 Newton St.
American Security & Tr. Co.
National Savings & Tr. Co.
814 Fifteenth St.
Library of Congress.
1308 Sixteenth St.
1537 Twenty-eighth St.
2231 Q St.
12 Lafayette Square.
2221 Massachusetts Ave.
703 Fifteenth St.
The Balfour.
929 Woodward Building.
1628 Twentv-first St.
429 Homer Building.
2000 Sixteenth St.
3206 Eighteenth St.
1233 Crittenden St.
Kann, Simon,
Kaufman, D. J.,
Kaufman, Joseph D.,
2029 Connecticut Ave.
Macomb St. east of Conn. Ave.
1005-7 Pennsvlvania Ave.
List of Members.
235
Kern, Charles E.,
Kibbey, Miss Bessie J.,
King, LeRoy 0.,
King, William,
Kingsbury, Clarence P.,
Kingsman, Dr. Richard,
Knapp, Hon. Martin A.,
Kober, Dr. George M.,
Krauthoff, Edwin A.,
Lambert, Wilton J.,
Lamson, Franklin S.,
Larcombe, John S.,
-Larner, John Bell,
Larner, Philip F.,
Lawrence, Miss Anna M.,
Learned (LL.D. ) , Henry Bar-
rett,
Leo, Ralph W.,
Leech, A. Y., Jr.,
Leiter, Joseph,
Lenman, Miss Isobel Hunter,
Letts, John C,
Long, Hon. Breckenridge,
McCoy, Hon. Walter I.,
McElroy, John,
McKee, Fred,
McKenney, Frederic D.,
McMahon, Richard W.,
Martyn, Dr. Herbert E.,
Mason, Guy,
Mackall, Dr. Louis,
Magruder, Caleb Clarke, Jr.,
Mark, Rev. Augustus M.,
Marlow, Walter H., Jr.,
Marshall, Burgess W.,
1328 Harvard St.
2025 Massachusetts Ave.
3112 N St.
3114 N at.
216 Woodward Building.
711 East Capitol St.
Stoneleigh Court.
1819 Q St.
304 Riggs Building.
1028 Vermont Ave.
1915 Kilbourne Place.
1815 H St.
Washington Loan & Trust Co.
918 F St.
2221 Kalorama Road.
2123 Bancrodt Place.
1514 Newton St.
2702 Cathedral Ave.
1500 New Hampshire Ave.
1100 Twelfth St.
52 St.
Department of State.
Court House, D.C.
44 6 St., N.E.
610 Thirteenth St.
Hibbs Building.
District National Bank Bldg.
1332 Massachusetts Ave.
526-9 Woodward Building.
3044 St.
820 Riggs Building.
Twentieth & Evarts Sts., N.E.
811 E St.
Nat. Metropolitan Bank Bldg.
236 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Marshall, James Rush,
Matthews, Henry S.,
Meegan, James F.,
Merrick, Ernest M.,
Merrill, Gkorge P.,
Merritt, William E. H.,
Mertz, Mrs. Delia Hine,
Messer, James A.,
Millan, W. W.,
Minor, Henry,
Mohun, Barry,
Moore, Charles,
Moore, Mrs. Virginia Camp-
bell,
Morgan, Dr. James Dudley,
Morgan, Mrs. James Dudley,
Morrison, Miss Ella J.,
Mussey, Mrs. Ellen Spencer,
Morris, Miss Maud Burr,
Moss, George W.,
2507 Pennsylvania Ave.
1415 G St.
813 Seventeenth St.
1005 L St.
U. S. National Museum.
1403 H St.
1819 G St.
1000 Penna. Ave.
Columbian Building.
Macon, Miss.
Maryland Building.
Cosmos Club.
1680 Thirty-first St.
Chevy Chase, Md.
Chevy Chase, Md.
The Woodworth.
1317 New York Ave.
1603 Nineteenth St.
2147 Wyoming Ave.
Neale, Sidney C,
Needham, Charles Willis,
Noel, Francis Regis,
Norment, Clarence F.,
Norton, Adml. Harold P.,
U.S.N.,
Noyes, Frank B.,
Noyes, Theodore W.,
1208 F St.
1809 Phelps Place.
408 Fifth St.
2339 Mass. Ave.
1704 Nineteenth St.
The Evening Star.
1730 New Hampshire Ave.
O'Brien, Matthew J.,
O'Connell, Rt. Rev. D. J.,
OflPutt, George W., Jr.,
400 Fifth St.
800 Cathedral PI., Richmond,
Virginia,
1416 F St.
Peelle, Hon. Stanton J.,
Perry, R. Ross,
Peter, Miss Fannie I.,
Peyser, Capt. Julius I.,
1416 F St.
1635 Massachusetts Ave.
Indian Office, D.C.
Southern Building.
List of Members.
237
Pimper, Charles W.,
Potter, Charles H.,
Powderly, Hon. Terence V.,
Preseott, Samuel J.,
Proctor, John Clagett,
Pyles, Dr. Richard A.,
Ramsay, Arthur,
Rapp, Frank E.,
Richardson, Dr. Charles W.,
Richardson, Mrs. Charles W.,
Richardson, Francis Asbury,
Richardson, Dr. J. J.,
Riggs, T. Lawrason,
Roberts, Hon. Ernest W.,
Roberts, William F.,
Rogers, William Edgar,
Rosenberg, Maurice D.,
Rudolph, Cuno H.,
Saks, Isadore,
Sanders, Joseph,
Saul, John A.,
Schroeder, Roar-Adm. Scaton,
Scisco (Ph.D.), Louis Dow,
Schutt, George F.,
Shahan ( D.D. ) , Rt. Rev. T. J.,
Shand, Miles M.,
Shandelle(S.J.),Rev.Henry J.
Shea, William T.,
Shir-Cliff, William H.,
Shuey, Theodore F.,
Simpson, Dr. John Crayke,
Skinner, Mitchell A.,
Spofford, Miss Florence P.,
Stewart, Henry C,
Stock, Edward L.,
Stotesbury, Mrs. Edward T.,
1140 Fifteenth St.
431 Eleventh St.
3700 Fifth St.
814 Thirteenth St.
U. S. National Museum.
2015 Nichols Ave., S.E.
Fairmont Seminary.
1018 Seventeenth St.
1317 Connecticut Ave.
1317 Connecticut Ave.
Cosmos Club.
1509 Sixteenth St.
1311 Massachusetts Ave.
1918 N St.
1514 H St.
1860 Park Road.
1953 Biltmore St.
Second National Bank.
Broadway & 34th St., N. Y.
1460 Columbia Road.
344 D St.
1816 N St.
The Woodley.
The Ebbitt.
Catholic Univ. of America.
Department of State.
Georgetown University.
1436 Fairmont St.
1706 Lamont St.
U. S. Senate.
1421 Massachusetts Ave.
1516 Sixth St.
The Woodward.
1416 F St.
1220 New York Ave.
1925 Walnut St., Phila., Pa.
238 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Swormstedt, John S., Southern Building.
Swormstedt, Dr. Lyman B., 2 Thomas Circle.
Thom, Corcoran,
Thomas, Rt. Rev. Mgr. C. F.,
Thompson, Corbin,
Thompson, Edward W.,
Thompson, Mrs. John W.,
Tindall, Dr. William,
Tobriner, Leon,
Todd, William B.,
Topham, Washington,
Truesdell, Col. Gteorge,
Turner, Mrs. Harriot Stod-
dert.
American Security & Tr. Co.
St. Patrick's Rectory.
Woodbridge, Va.
1601 Connecticut Ave.
1419 I St.
The Stafford.
1406 Sixteenth St.
1243 Irving St.
43 U St., N.W.
The Altamont.
1311 New Hampshire Ave.
Van Schaick, Rev. John, Jr., 1417 Massachusetts Ave.
Van Wickle, WiUiam P., 1217 F St.
Walker, Ernest Q.,
Warder, Mrs. Ellen N.,
Wardman, Harry,
Warner, Dr. Garden F.,
Washburn, William S.,
Weller, Joseph I.,
Weller, Mrs. Michael I.,
Wheeler, Hylas T.,
White, Enoch L.,
White, George W.,
Whitney (Ph.D.), Edson L.,
Wilkins, Robert C.,
Willard, Henry K.,
Williams, Charles P.,
Williamson, Charles J.,
Wilson, Clarence R.,
Wood, Rev. Charles,
Woodhull, Gen. Maxwell V.Z.,
Woodward, Fred E.,
1522 R St.
1155 Sixteenth St.
1430 K St.
Chevy Chase, Md.
Chevy Chase, D.C.
420 Wash. Loan & Tr. Bldg.
408 Seward Square, S.E.
St. James Hotel.
1753 Corcoran St.
National Metropolitan Bank.
1234 Euclid St.
1512 H St.
Kellogg Building.
1675 Thirty-first St.
2616 Connecticut Ave.
1512 H St.
2110 S St.
2033 G St.
Eleventh and F Sts.
List of Members. 239
-Wright, W. Lloyd, 1908 Q St.
Wurdeman, J. H., 610 Twelfth St.
Wyeth, Major Nathan, 1517 H St.
Yeatman, Rudolph H., Munsey Building.
Additional Names Too Late for Classification.
Gordon, William A., Century Building.
Granger, Maude E., 1312 Connecticut Ave.
Osgood, Whitman, 2725 Connecticut Ave.
Proudfit, Samuel V., Wardman Courts, East.
Thompson, Eugene E., 728 Fifteenth St.
Warwick, Randolph T., 2400 Sixteenth St.
Wimsatt, William A., 215 Eighth Street, S.W.
Washington Public Library, Mt. Vernon Place.
Recapitulation.
Life Members 4
Honorary Members 1
Annual Members 305
Total ^iO*
* This includes all members to date of going to press with this volume.
COM^IUNICATIONS MADE TO THE COLUMBIA
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
(Continued from Page 366, Vol. 21.)
1918.
Jan. 15. Early Days of the Supreme Court of the Distriet of
Columbia. Hon. Job Barnard.
Feb. 19. Account of the Wftshingrton Monument and of the
Washingrton Monument Society. Frederic L. Har-
vey. (Not printed.)
Mar. 19. Christian Hines, Author of '* Early Recollections of
Washington City.-' John Cla^tt Proctor.
Apr. 16. General Roger Chew Weightman, a Mayor of the
City of Washington. Allen C. Clark.
May 21. The Birth and Growth of the Patent Office. George
W. Evans.
Nov. 26. General John Peter Van Ness, a Mayor of the City
of Washington, His Wife Marcia, and Her Father,
David Burnes. Allen C. Clark.
1914.
Dee. 15. Dr. Williams Beanes, the Incidental Cause of the
Authorship of the Star Spangled Banner. Caleb
Clarke Magruder, Jr.
240
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COLUMBIA HISTORICAL
SOCIETY.
169th meeting. January 15, 1918,
In spite of very inclement weather, about fifty members and
guests were present at this meeting: President Clark in the
chair.
The Minutes of previous meeting were adopted and names
of new members announced. President Clark then introduced
Hon. Job Barnard, who read a comprehensive and interesting
history of the ** Early Days of the Supreme Court of the Dis-
trict of Solumbia,*' of which body he was formerly a Justice.
Reminiscences of early Judges of, and some of the decisions
by, that Court were related by Messrs. Henry E. Davis,
Prank W. Hackett, Philip F. Larner and President Clark.
At the close of the discussion, annual reports were read, fol-
lowed by the election of officers for the ensuing year, all officers
being reelected, and Mrs. Charles W. Richardson and William
Tindall were elected Managers for four years, their term to
expire in 1923.
170th meeting. February 19, 1918.
President Clark presided at the 170th meeting, when about
fifty members and guests were present. After reading an
invitation to the members to attend a public patriotic celebra-
tion of Washington's birthday on the 22d inst. to be held in
** Liberty Hut,'' the Chair introduced the historian of the
evening, Mr. Frederic L. Harvey, who read an ''Account of
the Washington Monument and of the Washington Monument
Society.''
171st meeting. March 19, 1918.
A large audience was present at the 171st meeting of the
Society, at which President Clark presided. The paper of the
evening was by Mr. John Clagett Proctor, entitled ** Christian
i6 241
242 Records of the Coliumbia Historical Society.
Hines, Author of ' Early Recollections of Washington City,' "
a large land owner in the early dajrs of the District of Co-
lumbia. The discussion which followed was participated in
by Mr. Topham, Mr. Bryan and President Clark.
172d meeting. April 16, 1918.
After announcements by the Chair of future papers to be
read before the Society, President Clark proceeded to read the
communication of the evening, of which he was the author,
entitled *' General Roger Chew Weigh tman, a Mayor of the
City of Washington.'' The paper is one of a series of biog-
raphies of local Mayors appearing at intervals in the Society's
Records. The paper was discussed by Miss James, Miss
Morris and Mr. Rogers.
About sixty members and guests were present.
173d meeting. May 21, 1918.
President Clark presided at this meeting. Owing to very
inclement weather, only a small audience was present. The
communication of the evening was **The Birth and Growth of
the Patent Office" by George W. Evans, who gave a detailed
and accurate histor>' of that branch of the government from
1790 to the present time.
The Society adjourned for the summer recess.
174th meeting. November 26, 1918.
The opening meeting of the fall was attended by an au-
dience that filled the Gold Room of the Shoreham Hotel.
President Clark presided and welcomed the members and
guests after the summer recess, announced the names of new
members, and sugf?ested that any remarks, corrections or addi-
tions to the papers read before the Society be reduced to writ-
ing and sent to Mr. John B. Larner, to be incorporated in the
papers or used as foot notes in our Records when published.
President Clark then announced that the author of the pa-
per intended to have been read that evening was abroad in the
United States service, and that he himself would read a paper
Proceedings of the Society, 243
on '* General John Peter Van Ness, a Mayor of the City of
Washin^on, His Wife Mareia, and Her Father, David
Burnes.'' At the conclusion of the paper, seventeen colored
lantern slides of prominent persons and places mentioned in
the course of the paper, were exhibited. Discussion on the
subject followed by Dr. Morgan and Dr. Tindall, the former
also reading an original letter from David Burnes to Major
L 'Enfant.
Note: Owing to inability to secure a suitable place, no meet-
ing of the Society was held in December, 1918.
IN MEMORIAM— WILLIAM HENRY DENNIS, ESQ.
By JOHN PAUL EARNEST.
Ill every community there are men who make a lasting im-
pression for good upon their fellows. They are not noisy or
self-assertive and rather avoid the spectacular which to them
is offensive. They exhibit in a quiet way in their daily lives
those qualities of mind and heart which attract men to them
and hold their respect and esteem. They are reliable, depend-
able men, who, by their course of conduct in life, have merited
and won the respect and affection of those who have come to
really know them. They are satisfied to do their duty, day
by day, to the best of their ability, never seeking the acclaim
of the multitude or the glare of the limelight. Such men are
the backbone of every community. When such a man dies,
the community in which he lived realizes what a powerful
force for good he was, and the universal tribute to him is that
the world is better because he lived in it. No greater tribute
can be paid any man.
Such a man was William Henry Dennis, who died March
23, 1919, after an illness of only a few days.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., February 21, 1856, the
only child of Edward Griscom and Katherine (Matthews)
Dennis. His grandfather was John Dennis, at one time presi-
dent of Haverford College, and on his paternal side he was
descended from Quaker stock. His mother was Katherine
Matthews. She was a daughter of James Matthews, of County
Louth, Ireland, who came to this country with his family about
the year 1847. His father, Edward Griscom Dennis, died
soon after he was born. He lived with his mother in Phila-
delphia as a boy and attended the public schools of that city.
In 1869 they came to Washington and he entered Georgetown
University, from which he received the degree of A.B. in 1874,
LL.B. in 1876, and M.A. in 1882. He was a diligent and suc-
244
In Memoriam — William Henry Dermis, 245
cessful student, ^aduating at the head of his class. One of
his classmates was Father Tom Sherman, son of General Wil-
liam T. Sherman, between whom and Mr. Dennis there always
existed the warmest friendship. While at college Mr. Dennis
founded and edited the Georgetown College Journal. After
his graduation from the Law School, he entered the oflBce of
the Register of Wills and was Deputy Register from 1876 to
1886. He was the author of * * The Probate Law of the District
of Columbia'* published in 1883. He was for a time private
secretary of Justice Blatchford of the Supreme Court of the
United States. His thorough classical education and his com-
mand of English made him a forceful and effective editorial
writer. He traveled extensively in this country and abroad,
and was particularly interested in the history and mythology
of Egypt and Palestine. He took an active interest in many
organizations. He was a director of Carroll Institute ; Presi-
dent of the Washington Council, Catholic Benevolent Legion ;
President of the Lawyers* Club; Manager of the Columbia
Historical Society; Chairman of the Bar Examining Com-
mittee ; member of the Bar Association ; American Society of
International Law; Humane Society; Oldest Inhabitants As-
sociation ; and of the University and Century Clubs.
He was married June 20, 1901, to Lula L. Hughlett, who
survives him.
At the bar he was regarded as one of its most substantial
members. He possessed the confidence and respect of the
court and of his brother attorneys. He gave to his cases the
most exhaus1:ive study, and represented his clients* interests
with the utmost fidelity. He never descended to sharp prac-
tice, but was an upright and honorable opponent, as fair and
just in his professional relation as he was as a man and citizen.
Hope of gain never caused him to swerve one iota from his
duty to himself. His conscience was to him something sacred,
and was never for sale. Character and integrity were his
watchwords. His appreciation of these attributes was shown
particularly in his work as Chairman of "the Bar Examining
Committee. His aim was to admit to the bar only those men
who possessed the highest moral character. To be mentally
246 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
qualified was not enough. He felt it to be his duty to the
court, to the bar, and to the community to see in so far as he
could, that the moral qualifications of candidates were of the
highest order; that those admitted to practice the profession
of the law should be men of unsullied reputation who would
zealously uphold the highest professional standards, always
bearing in mind that the lawyer is an officer of a court of jus-
tice, and never sacrificing duty upon the altar of expediency.
In this respect he rendered a service of the greatest value to
his profession, and to this city and District.
The influence of such a life is never lost. Sustained by a
supreme faith, he has passed to the beyond. Well may he
have said with the poet :
*'Life! you and I have been long together,
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather —
'Tis sad to part when friends are dear.
May cause perhaps a sigh, a tear —
Then steal from sight, take thine own time.
Give little warning.
Say not '*Good Night,'' but in some better clime.
Bid me "Good Morning.''
Resolution by Society.
At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the Columbia
Historical Society, held in the Executive Board Room of The
Washington Loan and Trust Company, on April 17, 1919, the
following resolution prepared by Allen C. Clark, President,
was unanimously adopted :
** On the morning of the twenty-third day of March in the
current year, nineteen hundred and nineteen, William Henry
Dennis was called to the next life.
** With the Columbia Historical Society nearly all of its
life he was intimately identified. He was a member for
eighteen years. He was of the Board of Managers for twelve
years, and the Treasurer for nine years. As a Manager he
gave practical suggestion ; as the Treasurer he made sacrifice
of time.
** Mr. Dennis waS a chief factor in the Society's mission.
He contributed valuable historical papers; and to the papers
of others, in discussion, he gave the same character of sup-
plement.
In Memoriam — WUliam Henry Dennis. 247
** In the profession of the law, Mr. Dennis had distinctive
parts. He had to do particularly with the administration of
estates as a public oflBcer and as a legal adviser. He had to
do with the qualifications of those who sought to make the law
their profession.
** The disposition of Mr. Dennis was the same one day as
another day. Always calm, always cheerful, always greeting;
always ready with an incident or a reminiscence and generally
in a gentle, humorous vein. He was always welcome, for it is
the qualities like these that crown a welcome.
** He lived not to himself. For the bereaved he had sym-
pathy by deeds. He loved the young, and entered into the
enthusiasm of youth. For the dumb creation he had fond-
ness, evidenced by kindness.
**A11 who had acquaintanceship with Mr. Dennis respected
and esteemed him ; and the closer the relationship, the deeper
the respect and esteem.
^'Resolved, That the management and the membership of
this Society, in the passing of William Henry Dennis, feel
personal loss, and know it has lost a great assistant in its work.
**The Columbia Historical Society extends to the family its
sympathy, and directs that this expression be transmitted
to it."
REPORT OF TREASURER FOR YEAR ENDING
DECEMBER 31, 1918.
Receipts,
Balance on hand January 1, 1918 $ 183.54
Receipts from membership dues 965.00
Receipts from sales of publication 86.50
Interest on Liberty Bonds 6.36
$1,241.40
Disbursements.
Office rent $110.00
Rent of Gold Room 75.00
Clerk to treasurer 15.00
Treasurer's office postage 13.00
Secretary's salary 87.50
Secretary's office postage 26.45
Printing 79.25
Insurance premium 22.47
Flowers (Mrs. Foster) 10.00
Photo. (Harris & Ewing) 2.50
New Era Printing Co. on account 500.00 941.17
Balance on deposit Second National Bank .... $ 300.23
Life Membership Fund.
January 1, 1918, with American Security & Trust Co. $288.57
May 29, 1918, bought $300 U. S. Liberty 2d 4s 283.28
January 1, 1919, balance with American Security &
Trust Co $ 5.29
Respectfully submitted,
CuNO H. Rudolph,
Treasurer,
240
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
RECORDING SECRETARY.
Mr. President and Members of the Society:
While history has been in the making on the other side of
the Atlantic Ocean during the year 1918, the efforts of the
Columbia Historical Society to collect and preserve the past
history of the capital of the greatest nation on this side of the
ocean, have met with diflBculties. One result was a slightly
decreased attendance at its meetings, due more to the many
important meetings held nightly in the capital city in connec-
tion with war service than to a loss of interest in the Society.
Six regular meetings were held during the year, all in the
Gold Room of the Shoreham Hotel, with an average attend-
ance of about 75 members and guests ; and the same number
of meetings were held by the Board of Managers, at which
the business affairs of the Society were conducted, among
other things being the investment of the Life Membership
Fund in Liberty Loan Bonds. The December meetings were
dispensed with.
The increased cost of the annual publication of the Society
(Volume 21, issued late in the summer of 1918), due to the
high cost of paper and production, as well as to the fact that
it was the largest volume yet issued by the Society, was an-
other serious result of the war conditions. Vol. 21 contains
over 400 pages and 19 illustration, and ten or eleven papers
read during the previous year, in addition to other reading
matter.
Only six papers were read before the Society during the
year 1918, which will, however, add another interesting chap-
ter to the early history of this District, of great value to the
future historian.
There have been six new members admitted, offset by six
deaths and four resignations, — a net loss of only four mem-
bers during these unusual times. On January 1, 1919, our
membership was 206.
249
250 Records of the Columbin Historical Society.
Out library has been increased by many war publications
from abroad, in addition to annual volumes and pamphlets of
other historical societies in the United States, so that our
storage accommodations are more than ever overtaxed.
Respectfully submitted,
Maud Burr Morris,
Recording Secretary,
CHRONICLER *S REPORT FOR 1918.
Jan. 6. Rev. William A. (Billy) Sunday's evangelistic cam-
paign began.
Ice flood. The Aqueduct Bridge closed to traffic as
a precautionary measure.
Jan. 12. Regulations for wheatless and meatless days issued
by local Food Administration.
Jan. 16. Workless Mondays ordered by Fuel Administration
in manufacturing plants, stores and offices, to and
including March 25, as coal conservation measure.
Jan. 26. Food Administration issued order placing nation on
war bread diet.
Jan. 29. Public schools closed to-day until February 6 on
account of coal shortage.
Feb. 13. Ice went out of river^ leaving trail of damaged prop-
erty in its wake.
Feb. 16. Public schools reopened after being closed eight days
on account of lack of coal.
Mar. 15. By order of this date, effective March 20, gas rate
increased from 75 cents to 90 cents per 1,000 cubic
feet.
Mar. 19. Daylight Saving Law approved, by which beginning
March 31 clocks will be set forward one hour, the
new scheilule to remain in effect until October 27.
Mar. 29. Order effective prohibiting any person at hotels or
restaurants being served more than two ounces of
bread at any meal.
Apr. 1. Easter Monday egg-rolling at White House grounds
and Zoological Park suspended as a food conser-
vation measure.
Apr. 6. The President authorized the use of $4,200,000
from his Emergency Fund for the acquisition of
the old Arlington Hotel property by the Treasury
Department for the use of the War Risk Bureau.
251
252 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Apr. 12. There being no longer a West Street, the West
Street Presbjrterian Church, the oldest Presby-
terian Church in the District, changed its name to
the Georgetown Presbyterian Qhurch. This church
was organized in 1780 under the ministry of Rev.
Stephen A. Balch.
Apr. 14. St. Paurs English Lutheran Church celebrated the
75th anniversary of its organization. The church
site was donated by General John P. Van Ness.
Cornerstone laid January 12, 1844.
Apr. 21. Skip stops on street car lines went into eiffect.
Alien enemy women ordered to leave District by
Presidential Proclamation.
Apr. 25. Third Liberty Loan parade. District's quota was
$12,870,000. Amount subscribed $25,992,250.
May 4. Dedication of new hall at graduation exercises of
Gallaudet College.
May 11. The new building of the Washington Eye, Ear and
Throat Hospital was formally opened.
May 12. Death of Joseph Nicholas Young, lineal descendant
of Notley Young, one of the original proprietors
of the land taken for the City of Washington.
May 15. Establishment of the first airplane mail service, the
line being between Washington, Philadelphia and
New York.
May 18. Parade to promote interest in raising Red Cross
War Fund. The Red Cross flags flown from top
of Capitol dome with two American flags. First
time other than national emblem appeared above
Capitol.
May 20. First professional game of Sunday baseball played
to-day under authority recently granted by Dis-
trict Commissioners.
May 30. Memorial Day. An interesting feature at Arlington
was the planting of an American silk flag and
surrounding it with the emblems of England,
France, Belgium and Italy between the Mansion
and the tomb of the Unknown Dead.
Chronicler's Report for 1918. 253
June 1. Salisburg Anti-Profiteering Rent Law signed by the
President.
June 3. Strike of one hundred municipal employees.
June 5. First draft registration of the year when those who
had become 21 since last registration day (June
5, 1917) registered for military service.
June 8. Strike of approximately 1,000 District of Columbia
workers. Wage difiiculties soon adjusted.
June 10. Action taken by meeting of clergymen and laymen
to install a siren to call the people of Washington
at noon daily to prayer for Victory.
June 14. Flag Day. Hon. John W. Davis, American Ambas-
sador to Great Britain, made the principal address
at the exercises on the Monument Grounds.
June 28. The old Blagden estate on edge of Rock Creek Park,
known as **Argyle '* was purchased by Thomas H.
Pickford.
June 29. Five Washington grocers ordered by Food Admin-
istration to close their stores for five days for over-
charging for wheat flour.
July 1. Dr. Wm. C. Woodward, Health Officer since August
1, 1894, resigned to take effect August 1, to become
Health Officer of Boston.
Purchase of the Washington Fertilizer Company's
Plant at New Jersey Ave. and K St., S.E., for
operation as a municipal garbage reduction plant.
Municipal collection and disposal of garbage in the
District was begun to-day.
Miss Katharyn Sellers, the first woman selected for
the Bench in the District, was nominated as Judge
of the Juvenile Court.
July 4. Presentation of the pageant. Triumphant Democ-
racy, on the east steps of the Capitol.
July 14. Bastile Day. Following a resolution enacted by
Congress calling upon all citizens to observe the
Independence Day of France, exercises were held
on the Ellipse. The tri-color of France was flown
beside the Stars and Stripes from every public
building and from all ships at home and abroad.
254 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
July 21. Celebration of the 87th anniversary of Belgium's
independence by a vesper service on the Ellipse.
July 24. Lightless nights four nights a week, as a war con-
servation measure, went into effect.
July 27. Ration of two pounds of sugar a month per person
fixed by Food Administration. Manufacture of
ice-cream for one week prohibited.
July 28. George C. Maynard, expert in military telegraphy
in War Department during Civil War, and an eye
witness to the assassination of President Lincoln,
died.
Hotels released from pledge to use no wheat until
after this year's harvest.
July 31. At midnight the Government took over the telephone
and telegraph service as a war measure.
Aug. 4. Great Britain Day was observed by vesper service
on the Ellipse. Fourth anniversary of her en-
trance into the war.
Aug. 6. One of the most severe heat waves in the District 's
history, 105V2° — the highest temperature in 47
years.
Aug. 10. Work started on the dormitories for Grovemment
clerks on the squares between Union Station and
Capitol.
Aug. 17. Jacob H. Gallinger, Senator from New Hampshire;
for many years .Chairman of the Senate District
Committee, and an earnest friend of the District,
oldest Senator in years and service, died.
Attorney-General held Camp Meigs and Camp
Leach within the purview of the President's Proc-
lamation prohibiting the sale of liquor within five
miles of military camps.
Sept. 7. Seventeen vacant houses commandeered by the U. S.
Housing Corporation for the use of war workers.
Sept. 12. Second military registration of the year, this being
for all men between 18 and 45 years of age.
Sept. 19. Keating-Tramwell Bill, establishing a minimum
wage board for women and minors employed in
the District, approved by the President.
Chronicler's Report for 1918. 255
Sept. 21. Influenza made its appearance. First death re-
ported to-day. Disease gained epidemic form.
Schools, churches and theaters closed. Staler
hours were ordered during epidemic for opening
stores and government offices to reduce crowding
of street cars. 25,075 cases reported with 1,544
fatalities in U. S. between September 21 and No-
vember 4, date restrictions were removed. Churches
were opened October 31, schools and theaters No-
vember 4.
Oct. 12. Liberty Day and Columbus Day celebrated by a
legal holiday and the opening of the Fourth Lib-
erty Loan drive. District quota $27,608,000;
amount contributed $51,262,000.
Oct. 27. Five cent car fares on car lines, in place of six
tickets for 25 cents, were ordered by the Public
Utilities Commission.
Washington given first sight of night aeroplane work
when several illuminated planes flew over city.
Clocks were set back an hour after seven months of
operation of the Daylight Saving Campaign.
Nov. 1. Washington's flrst woman traffic policeman, Mrs.
Leola N. King, was assigned to duty at 7th and K
Streets, N.W.
Nov. 11. Signing of the Armistice by Germany, closing hos-
tilities of the European War. The President read
the terms of the Armistice at a joint session of the
Senate and House, and also announced the signing
of the Armistice by Proclamation.
Announcement of the signing of the Armistice re-
sulted in a great victory demonstration in the
afternoon and evening. An announcement on the
8th instant of an Armistice having been signed
caused a premature celebration on that day.
Nov. 21. A realistic parade featuring the distinctive work of
the Red Cross, Young Men's Christian Association,
Knights of Columbus, Hebrew Societies and Sal-
vation Army led to the over-subscribing of the
256 Records of the Coliumbia Historical Society,
District's allotment from $760,000 to $850,000 for
the United War Work Societies named.
Dec. 31. During the year five War Fund Compaigns were
conducted: Red Cross, Third Liberty Loan, Fourth
Liberty Loan, United War Fund and War Savings
Stamps. Quota assigned the District was $49,-
000,000. It raised $85,000,000, thus exceeding the
allotment by $36,000,000.
6,310 marriage licenses issued during the year, a
much greater number than in any previous year.
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick L. Fishback,
Chronicler.
NECROLOGY.
Elizabeth B. Davis April — , 1917.
Zebina Moses January 20, 1918.
CoRRA Bacon-Foster January 26, 1918.
Paul J. Pelz March 30, 1918.
Daniel O'C. Callaghan April 23, 1918.
Virginia Tatnall Peacock August 1, 1918.
J. Henry Small December 2, 1918.
INDEX.
(Prepared hj the Editor.)
Academy HiU, Md., 222
Acker, Nicholas, 99
Adams, Abigail, 179
Adams, John, letter to Mayor on
50th anniversary of Independ-
ence, 77; 81, 84
Adams, John Quincy, entry in his
journal, 157; extract from jour-
nal, 160, 161; estimate of him-
self, 162; incident from journal,
165; 173, 174
Agricultural Department, 120
Alexander, Dr. Alva Stanwood, his-
torian, reference to Van Ness,
196
Alexander, Frank, portraitist, 179
Alexandria Ferry, 214
Aliens, iadmission of, 8
Allen, William, 184
Alston, Theodosia, letter to, from
Aaron Burr, 146
American Independence, 50th an-
niversary, 75-84
Anderson, Colonel Arthur, 183
Appendix, 227
Armor, Charles, Cartter portrait,
25
Ashton, H., U. S. Marshal, D. C,
162
Attorneys, roll of, 6
Bacon, John> M.C., report on Van
Ness case, 150
Bacon, Peter F., general D.C.
Militia, 99
Bainbridge, William, 199
Baldwin, Henry, 8
Baltimore and Ohio B.B., incor-
poration of, 172; Mr. Gales' de-
scription of his ride over, 172-73
Banes (Beanes), Christopher, 207
Bank of the Metropolis, 151
Bank of the U. S. (Bank of Dis-
count and Deposit), 151
Bank of Washington, 63, 89, 93, 95
Bannister, Bichard, 37
Bar Association, D.C, 33
Barker, J. W., 57, 59
Barnard, Job, communication.
Early Days of the Supreme
Court, 1-35
Barney, Commodore, 212, 213, 214
Beairs Levels, 129
Beall, Ninian, 129
Beanes' tomb, restoration of, com-
memorating exercises, 224—2^
Beanes, Dr. William, the Incidental
Cause of the Authorship of the
Star -Spangled Banner, commu
nication by C. C. Magruder, Jr.
207-225
Beanes, William and Elizabeth
207, 208
Beanes, William and Mary, chil
dren of, 208
Bell, Alexander Graham, inventor
123
Bellamy, George Anne, actress
protegee of Braddock, letter to
from latter, 126 '
17
257
258 Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Berrien, John M., Attorney Oen-
eral, 159
Berry, Horatio E., 12
Black, Jeremiah S., 29
Bladensburg, battle of, 37, 44, 64,
113; races, 153; 214, 215, 218
Blake, John B., 98
Blodgett's Hotel, 45, 116; (Post
Office), 154
Board of Health, order of 1832,
cholera, 175
Bond, William, 59
Bowie, William Sprigg, 210
Boyd, Geprge, 180-00
Boyd, J, D., 12
Boyd, Robert, 57
Braddock, Oeneral, army of, 42
(note), 44; 12^, 129
Bradley, Joseph H., 7, 8, 9, 11;
disbarment ap^ reinstatement,
15-17
Bradley, Robert an4 Mary, 208
Bradley, William A., ciindidate for
Mayo?, 161, 164
Brent, John H., 160
Brent, Robert, (note) 145
Brent, William, 85
Brevoort, Henry, letter of Irving
to, 145
Brice, Arthur T-i History of Na-
tional Metropolitan Baid[, ex-
tracts from, 151, 152
Briscoe, Richard 8., 37
British, landing of, 211; casual-
ties, 216
Brodhead, Dewitt Clinton, commu-
nication Washington Post, 190
Brooke, Ann and Robert, 207
' * Brooke Bidge, * ' 208-09
Brooke, Major Thomas, 206
Brookland, 193^4-95
Brooks, family, 193-94-95
Brooks Mansion, 195
Brown, Thomas B., 18
Brown's Hotel, (note) 85
Bryan, Thomas B., Commissioner
D. C, 18
Bryan, W. B., cited 154; cited 160
Bryson, Robert, 45
''Bimch of Grapes" in Bell Haven
(City Hotel Alex., Va.), 131
Bureau of Labor (Commerce and
I^ibor), 120
Bureau of Mines, 105
Burnes, Ann, will of, (note) 129;
admn. account of, 144; death of
(see Ann Wightt), 193, 195
Burnes Cottage, 189, 191, 204
Burnes, David, 128-143
Burnes, James, father pf David,
129, 140
Burnes, Johp, 195
Burnes Mantel, 132
Burnes, Marcia. See 125-204.
Bums (Bnmes), James, letter to
brother Davy, 140} 197-98
Burns (Burnes), Trueman, 198
and note
Burr, Aaron, letter of, to Theo-
dosia Alston, 146; 196
Busey, Dr. S. C, ciM 140, (note) ;
141
Caldwell, Capt. :^lias B,, 68, 64
Calvert and Co., proprietors Na^
tional Hotel, 63
CfUvert, George, 95
Capitol, Thornton's account of
burning, 109-10; 117, 163
Carberry, Thomas, Mayoralty codt
test, 66, 67; 75, 90, 161
Carpenter, Matthew H., 29
Carroll, Charlps, of Carrollton, 77,
111, 223
Carroll, Daniel, 67, 68, 134
Carrollsburg, 128
Carter, Miss Marcella, 127
Carter, Robert, letter from Burnes,
187; married Miss Blgden,
(note) 137
Index.
259
Cartter, David K., C. J., 3, 5, 10;
sketch of, 19-31; 33
Carusi's Assembly Booms, 163
Carusi, Eugene, 33
Casparis, James S., 12
Cass, Lewis, 184
Caverly, Robert B., 7
Cedars, The, 41,
Census Bureau, 120
Centinel of Liberty and George-
Town and Washington Adver-
tiser, Burnes death notice, 142
Central Hospital, 176
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, open-
ing of, 173; Adams account of,
173, 174
Cholera, appearance of in 1832, 175
Christopher *s Camp, 207
Christy, Robert, 29
Chronicler's Report, 251-56.
Circuit Court, D. C, 1, 2
City Hall, 63, 82, 118, 163, 165
City Hotel, Alexandria, Va., 131
Civil War, 1
Clagett, Bishop, 210
Clapp, A. M., 23
Clark, Allen C, communication
Gen. Roger C. Weigh tman a
Mayor of the City of Washing-
ton, 62-104 ; communication Gen.
John Peter Van Ness, etc., 125-
204
Clark, Chastein, 84 85 ; lottery suit,
86; verdict, 87; payment of
judgment in stock, 88
Clark, Elizabeth G., translator, 165
Cockburn, Admiral, 102, 212, 217,
218
Columbia Athletic Club, 190
Columbia College, 144
Columbia Historical Society, 202;
prize on Essay on Patriotism,
223
Columbia Spy, cited, 172
Columbian Institute, 90, 174
Commerce and Labor, Bureau of,
120
Commissioners, controversy with
Burnes, 136, 139
Commissioners' Wharf, 136
Communications to Society, list of,
240
Congressional Cemetery, burial of
Weightman, 99
Conly, John, 37
** Constitutional Bureau," 106
Coombs, Joseph J., 8
Corcoran Gallery, 134
Corcoran, John, 12
Corcoran, W. W., 23
Cox, John, Mayor of Georgetown,
address to Lafayette, 72; reply,
73; 153
Cox, Walter S., Justice, 9, 20, 25,
31; (Guiteau case), 33
Crandall's Elnickerbocker Theatre,
39
Crawford, Thomas H., 1
Crawford, W. H.^ candidate for
presidency, 160-162
Criminal Court, 2
Croggin, James, quotation from,
63, 93
Crowly, Edward, 37
Curtis, Mrs., Boarding house, 63
Curtis, William E., quoted, 201
C*ustis, Nellie, debut, 141
Cutler, Rev. Manassah, entry in
journal, 145, 146
Cutting, John Brown, poem to La-
Fayette, 73
Darnall, Ann, 208
Damall, Colonel Henry, 208
Davidge, Walter D., 8, 29
Davidson, John, 85
Davidson, Samuel, an original pro-
prietor, 205
Davis' Tavern, 103
Dayton, William L., 184
26o Records of the Columbia Historical Society,
Deakins, WiUiam Jr., 128
Bean, John, 9
Delaware Slave Law, 4
Dennis, William H., In Memoriam,
John Paul Earnest, 244-246;
Resolutions of Society! 246-47
District Judiciary, extract from
Evening Star, 4, 5
Dodge, Patricia, 127
Donoho, John and Morgan, 37
Douglass, Fred, 23
Douglass, Samuel, 37
Duane, William, 62
Dunlop, James, Chief Justice, 1, 2
Durant, Thomas J.^ 17
Duvall, George W., 9, 11
Duval, Samuel, 37
Earnest, John Paul, In Memoriam
William H. Dennis, 244-46
Eastern Hospital, 176
Edison, Thomas A., inventor, 123
Edwards, Ninian, M. C, attacks
Crawford, 160
Eel Hall, 207
Eldredge, Charles A., 29
EUicot's Mills, 173
Ellicott, Major Andrew, engineer,
125, 159, 171, 203
Elliot, Jonathan, cited, 155
Elliot, William, 90
Ellis, Leonard, 37
Ellsworth, Henry L., first Com-
missioner of Patents, 115
Emery, M. G., Mayor, 99
Ericsson, inventor, 123
Esling, George and James, 37
Eustis, William, (note) 157
Evans, George, 184
Evans, George W., communication,
The Birth and Growth of the
Patent Office, 105-124
Evarts, William M., 3
Evening Star, account of death of
Christian Hines, 47; account of
death of Jacob Hines, 58-59;
account of death of Philip
Hines, 59; extract from, on
Bums' cottage, 190
Ewell, Dr. James, 112
Ewing, Thomas Sr., first Secretary
of Interior, 115
Ewing, Thomas second, 115-16
Ewing, Thomas third, commis-
sioner of Patents, 116
Fairlee, Miss, actress, letter to
from Irving, 144-45
Falling stars, account of, 170-72
*' Father Ritchie" (Thomas Rit-
chie), editor The Union, 191
Federal City, 37; site of, 125-28;
135, 164, 165, 166
Federal Republican, cited, 152
Fendall, PhiUp R., 165
Fendall, Reginald, 25
Fenwick, R. W., 12
Fishback, Frederick L., letter to
Evening Star, 201, 202
Fisher, George P., 3, 4, 5, 7, 10;
sketch of, 14-17; 18, 31
Fitzhugh, J. W., 12
Fleming, Colonel R. I., D. C. MUi-
tia, 99
Flint, John, deed to James Burnes,
140
Forbes-Lindsay comment on Bums *
advertisement, 138, 139; quoted,
202
Force, Colonel Peter, 68, 163, 174,
188
Forrest, William H., 12
Forestville (Long Old Fields), 213
Fort McHenry, 65, 218, 219
Fort Warburton, bombardment of,
113
Fort Washington, 37, 46
Foundry Church, 47, 58, 59
Fountain Inn (Suter's), 131, 140
Franklin Hotel, 74
Index.
261
Freemen '6 Vigilant Total Absti-
nence Societj; communication to
General Van Ness, 179, 180
French and Indian War, 126
Friendship Lodge, I. O. O. F., 38
Fugitt, N. B., 99
Fuller, T. J. D., 7
Fulton, Bobert, inventor, 123
*
Gadsby, John, 63
Gales, account of ride on B. and
O. R. B., 172-73
Garambonville, General Turreau de,
(note) 145
Gardiner, Alexander, letter to Mrs.
T>'ler, 184
Gardiner, John, 37
Gardner, John, (note) 63
General Land Office, 45, 105, 120
Geological Survey, 106, 121
George Washington University,
proposed site of, 191
Georgetown, population, 83, 126,
127, 128, 129, 131, 136, 139, 140,
141, 142, 146, 153, 164, 165, 182
George-Town Weekly Letter,
Burnes' advt., 136
Gettysburg, battle of, 1
Gillespie, David, Lottery office,
(note) 84, 85
Gillett, R. H., 8
Gillis, Thomas H., 85
Gleig, George, annalist, quoted,
210, 221
Globe, The, established, 162
Glover, John M., 30
Gouveneur, Marian, 183
Graeff, John, (note) 63
Graham, Robert H., 12
Grand Jury, second, report of, 12
Grand Lodge, D. C.^ Masons at
Weightman funeral, 99
Gray, James, 37
Greager, Michael, 37
Green, Duff, editor Telegraph, 162,
191
Green, Joseph, 45
Green, Thomas, 191
Greenleaf, James, merchant prince,
203
Greenleaf '8 Point, 45, 151
Hadfield, George, architect, 158
Hagner, Juirtice A. B., 19, 25,
31, 34
Hagner, Mrs. Peter, 157
Hall, Andrew, case of, 8-11
Hamburg, 128
Hamilton, Alexander, 196
Hamilton, Paul, (note) 145, ref-
erence to Van Ness Case
Hammond, Jabez D., historian, 196
Hanson, John, 208
Hanson, T. M., 98
Harkness, John C.j 59
Harper *8 Magazine, story of Cart-
ter, C. J., 26
Harrison, General William Henry,
90
Hatton, Eleanor, 208
Havre de Grace, stormed and
burned, 211
Hawkins, Samuel and Ann, 209
Hawley, Rev. William, 158; dis-
course at funeral of Marcia Van
Ness, 177, 178
Layward, William, 38
Hay ward, WiUiam H., 184
Heintz (Hines), Johanis, family
history, 48, 51, 53 ; death of, 54 ;
descendants, 55
Henderson, General Archibald, 157
Henry, Kate Kearney, cited, 157
Herrity, Timothy and Michael, 37
Higham, Elizabeth and Francis,
207
Hill, Ann, 208
Hill, Clement, 208
Hill, WiUiam, 217
262 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Hillhouse, James, 146
Bines, Abraham, 61
Hines, Caroline, 4o
Hines, Christian, author of ** Early
Eecollections of Washin^^n
City," with notes on the Uines
family, communication by John
Qagett Proctor, 36-61; recol-
lections of Davy and Marcia
Burnes, extract, 141
Hines family, burial site, 39
Hines, Frederick, 61
Hines, Jacob, 45; death of, 54-^5;
family of, 55
Hines, John, father of Christian,
36, 54, 55
Hines, Gertrude, death of, 53-54
Hines, Henry, death of, 56, 57
Hines, Matthew, 38, 60
Hines, PhUip, death of, 59, 60
Hines, William, 61
Hoe Company, inventor, 123
Holland, J. P., inventor, 123
Holmead, James E. F., Grand
master masons, Weightman fu-
neral, 99
Holmead, John, 40
Hood, James F., Burnes Mantel,
132
Hopkins, Samuel, holder of first
patent, 116
Howe, C. E., (note) cited, 151
Howe, Elias, inventor, 123
Humphrey, David C, Justice, 31,
32
Huntt, Dr., 162
Hurdle, Noble, 43
Hyde, Anthony, 56
Indian Office, 120
Indian Queen Hotel, (note) 85
In Memoriam, William H. Dennis,
by John Paul Earnest, 244-46
Interior Department, act establish-
ing and cost, 119; separation
into departments, 120; new
building, 121, 122
Inventors, not^d, 123, 124
Ireland, famine, address Cartter,
C. J., 23, 24
Irving, Washington, letter to Miss
Fairlee, 144; letter to Henry
Brevoort, 145
Iturbide, Madame, 182
Jackson Central Committee, 160
Jackson, Meigs, 7
James, Justice C. P., 25, 32
James' Park, 40
Jannus family, descendants of
Mayor Weightman, 101
Jefferson, Thomas, letter to Mayor
on 50th anniversary of Inde-
pendence, 77-78, 81, 82, 108,
128, 202
Jeffries, Noah L., 29
Johnson, General Bradley Tyler,
208
Johnson, Henry, 184
Johnson's Mill, 40
Johnson, Stuart and Carroll, let
ter to Burnes, 133-34
Johnson, Thomas, 134
JoUiffe, John, 9
Jones, Lloyd, 38
Jones, Virginia, 158
Jones, Walter, 81, 86, 87; aide to
Van Ness, 153; 159, 163
Journal of Commerce j correspond-
ence of, Van Ness at White
House, 180-81-82
Kalorama, 164
Kendall, Amos, 166
Kennedy, James C, 59
Kennedy, Matthew and Thomas,
49, 55, 56
Kerr, Mary Ann, 157
Kerr, Nancy, 158
index.
263
Key, Francis Scott, 56, 165, 217,
218, 219, 222
Key, Philip B., 56
Kidder Building, 38
Kilbourn, Hallet, case, 28-31
Kinderhook, Village of, 143, 149
KiDg, Adam, 37
King, Charles Bird, 179
King G«org<e's War, 126
King, Michael, 37
King, N., surveyor, 155
Knap, John, 142 and note
Knickerbocker, Herman, (note) 145
Knights Templar at Weigh tman
funeral, 99
Ladan, Thomas, 37
Lafayette, General, tour of U. S.,
visit to Washington, medals and
portraits, 67; reception, 68-75;
Mayor 's address, Lafayette *s re-
ply, 70-72; dinner at Franklin
Hotel, 74; Illumination, 74;
Congressional banquet, 75; 163,
167; address in Paris, 169-170
Lafayette Square, 205
Lamon, Ward H., marshal, 9
Lane, Franklin K., Secretary of
Interior, address before Liberty
Loan Committee, Dcpt. of In-
terior, 105-06
Langley, Samuel P., inventor, 123
Lamed, James, 188
Lamer, Patrick, 38
Latrobe, B. II., (note) 145, 155
Laurie, Rev. James, 146
Law, Rev. Edmund, Bishop, 166,
207
Law, Thomas, 166, 203
Lear, Tobias, letter to Burnes, 135
Lear's Wharf, 116
Lee, Richard Bland, 154
Lee, Thomas Sim, Gov. of Md., 212
Leiter, Joseph, 174
L 'Enfant, 37, 112, 128; letter to
Burnes, 132, 133, 134; cited in
Van Ness case opinion, 159;
203; letter of David Burnes to,
205-06
Lenox, Walter, Mayor, 89
Letourno, Joseph, restaurateur, 164
Lewis, Francis P., daughter of
Lawrence, 157
Lewis, Lawrence, Washington 's
nephew, 157
' ' Life and Letters of Dolly Madi-
son," extracts from, 93
Lincoln, Abraham, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10,
18, 20, 22; conspiracy against,
191
Lincoln Hall, 22
Lindenwald, inscription on monu-
ment of Peter Van Ness, 143-44
Linkins, William and John, 37
Little, John, 39, 40
Little's Woods, 41
Lockwood, Belva, 28
Long Old Fields (Forestville, Md.),
213
Loomis, Prof. Silas L., inventor,
124
Lotteries decision, corporation or-
dinances, 84; sale of ticJtets and
reproduction of ticket, 85; dis-
cussion of, (note) 88, 91; High
School contest 1915, (note) 88,
89
McArthur, Justice Arthur, 20, 25,
31, 32
McCormick, Cyrus II., inventor, 123
Madam Bonfils' School, 158
Madison, Dolly P., 179, 182, 183
Madison, James, letter to Mayor
on 5(Hh anniversary of Inde-
pendence, 79
Magruder, Caleb Garke Jr., com-
munication Dr. William Beanes,
The Incidental Cause of the
8tar-Spangled Banner, 207-226
264 Records of the Colwmbict Historical Society.
\
Magruder, James A., 222
Magruder, John Bead^ 212
Magruder, Dr. William Beanes, 222i
Mainwaring, Mary, 207
Mall, The, fireworks and illumina-
tion, 74
Mansion Square, 155, 156, 158, 183
Marbury, Luke, 208
Marconi, inventor, 124
Marini's HaU, 180
Marlborough High School, 210
Martin, Luther, 140, 149
Maryland Society of the war of
1812, 223
Mason, Charles, 8
Mason, George, of Gunston, 157
Mason, John, 67, 153
Masonic Temple, Weightman fu-
neral, 98
Massey, Henry, 129
Mattingly, William F., 33
Mausoleum Square, 158
Medals, National Star-Spangled
Banner commission, 225
Medical Society of Maryland State
Board, established, 210
Meigs, Return J., 6
Members, list of, 230-39
Mercer, Charles F., 173
Meridian Hill, 44
Merrick, William M., Assistant
Judge, 1, 2 25, 32
Mexican Indemnity, 25, 26
Middleton, Ann Elbertina, inscrip-
tion on tomb, 192
Middleton, Arthur, marries Ann
Elbertiua Van Ness, 157, 158
(note)
Middleton, C, 176; comment on
Marcia Van Ness, 178; bio-
graphical sketch of Mrs. Van
Ness, 179; quoted, 202
Miller, Miss Grace, letter to, 127
Miller, Jacob W., 184
Miller, Virginia, letter to Allen C.
dark in reference to Mayor
Weightman, 100
Mills, Robert, architect^ 117
Model Halls, destruction of, 119
Monroe, James, letter to Mayor on
50th anniversary of Independ-
ence, 80; 110, 154
Montgomery, George W., 192
^Montgomery, Justice Martin V., 32
Moore, Charles, cited (note) 173
Moore, General W. G., District
Militia, 98
Morfit, Hpnry M., 160
Morgan, James Dudley, remarks
on paper of Allen C. Clark, on
General Van Ness, 205-06
Morris, Robert, 134
Morrow, Jeremiah, 146
Morse, Samuel F., inventor, 123
Morsell, J. 8., Assistant Judge, 1
Mount Pleasant, 38
Mount Pleasant Ferry, Md., 213
Mount Vernon Place Methodist
Church, 59
Mulhker, Matthew, 59
Munroe, Thomas, candidate for
Mayor, 161
National Church Square, 120
National Gallery, for models, 117-
18
National Guard, at Weightman
funeral, 99
National Hotel, 63 and note
Ifational Intelligencer , cited, 152;
notice of death of Anne Bumes,
193
National Metropolitan Bank,
Brice's history of, 151
National Portrait Gallery, 179
National Republican Celebration,
165
National Bepuhlicanf speech of
Cartter, C. J., 23-24
Navy Yard, 164, 165, 216
Index.
265
Naylor, Henry, 12
Near, John, friend of Lafayette,
guest of Congress, 75
Necrology, 256
Nelson, Justice, 16
Newton, Isaac, first Commissioner
of Agriculture, 120
Newton, James T., Commissioner
of Patents, 116
Norris, James L., 22
Oak HiU Cemetery, 183, 192
Oakley, John, Custom House offi-
cer, 142
Officers of the Society, 228; elec-
tion of, 241
"Old Brick Capitol,'' 117
Oldest Inhabitants Association, 45,
59
Olin, A. B., 3, 5, 10; sketch of,
13-14; 31
Ouseley, William Gore, 158
Pairo, Thomas W., 40
Paley, Dr. William, quotation from,
166, 167
Pan American Building, 191
Patapsco River, blockaded, 210
Patent Laws, English, U. S., and
German, 114
Patent Office, first fire, 117; second
fire, 119; scientific library, 123
Patent Office Receipts, 109, 121
Patent Office, The Birth and
Growth of, communication by
George W. Evans, 105-124
Patents, number of, 116; receipts
from, 109, 121
Patent System, origin of, 106
Patriotic Bank, 103
Patriotism, Essays on, 223
Patty Polk 's School, 127
Patterson, Daniel T., 164
Patuxent River, 211
Paul, A. H., 12
Payne, James G., 98
Peake, John A., 12
Peale, James, 140
Peerce Farm, 139
Pension Office, 120
Perry, Captain John, 120
Peters, brothers, (John, William
and Cornelius), 196
Philadelphia General Hospital, es-
tablished, 209
Phillips, Samuel L., 33
Pickering, Timothy, 146
Pinkerton, John, atlas, 188
Plant, J. T. K, 12
Point of Bocks, 174
Polk, President, 196
Poore, Benjamin P., reminiscences,
25, 183
Post Office, purchase of building
for, 116
Potomac Canal Co., 44
Potomac River, 139, 140, 153, 155,
174
President's Palace, 136; letter
from Burnes, 136
Preston, James H., Mayor of Bal-
timore, 222, 224
Primogeniture, law of, referred to,
199
Proceedings, of the Society, 241-43
Proctor, John Clagett, communica-
tion Christian Hines, 36-61
Proctor, John Claggett, firsts edi-
tor National Republican, 41-42
Public Buildings and Grounds, of-
fice of, 203
Public Reservations, drained, 159
Pumphrey, A. G., 12
Purcell, Thomas, 12
Purdy, John, 99
Queen family, 193-94-95
Queen 's Hotel, 195
Queen, Nicholas L., 195
266 Records of the Columbia Historical Society.
Bam bier, The^ cited from Sunday
Star, 154, 199
RandaU, George A. W., 12"
Bandall, Thomas, 157
Bankin, Bev. J. E., 23
Bapine, Daniel, 85
Becording Secretary, Beport of,
249-50
Bedin, William, 7, 8
Beform School, necessity for, 12
Bepertory of Arts and Manufac-
tures, Vol. VI saved from fi^re,
117-18
Bepublican Convention, 3
Beservation B, 185
Beservation 8, 120
Bichards, William, 12
Binggold, Tench, marshal, 74, 154,
162
Bitchie, Thomas, (Father Bitchie),
191
Boberts, William F., 174
Bochelle, M. Boux de, memorial to
163-64; history of U. S. extract
from, 164
Bock Creek Cemetery 47, 61, 194
Bockville and Washington Turn-
pike Co., 91
Botary Printing Press, invention
of, 123
Bussell, J. H., 12
Bussell, Jonathan, 157 (note).
Saint Benedict Academy, 195
St. John's Church, Van Ness and
Weightman, 150, 177
St. Memin, artist, 197
St. Patricks Church, 198
St. Paul 's Church, 47
Sands, Margaret L., letter from,
39, 40
Seaton, William W., 68, 165
Sedgwick, Catherine M., 179
''Seven Buildings,'' 116
Seward, 3
Shaw, Levi, 37
Shellabarger, Samuel, 29, 30
Shepherd, Alexander S., Governor,
96, 99
Shepherd, William Biddle, address
H. of B., on D. C, 92, 93
Silkworms, cultivation of, 39, 40
Sisters of Visitation in George-
town, 182
Skinner, John S., 217, 218
Slaves, Emancipation of, 4
Small wood, Samuel N., Mayor, 66,
68
Smith, John, 146
Smith, Margaret Bayard, White
House incident, 102; cited, 154
Smith, Bichard, 164
''Social Life in the Early Bepub-
lie," Van Ness and the "Ho-
mans party," 153
Society of Colonial Wars in D. C,
223
Southern Maryland Society, 223
Star Spangled Banner, 56, 218-19;
society organized, 222, 223 ,225
Stansbury, Charles F., Grand Mas-
ter Masons, Weightman funeral,
99
State Department, removal of to
Washington, 116
Stellwagen, E., 59
Stevens, Hester L., 8
Stinemetz, B. H., 59
Stoddert, Benjamin, 128
Stone, Colonel Charles P., 96
Story, Justice, opinion of in Van
Ness case, 159, 202
Stuart, David, 134
Stuart, Gilbert, artist, 197
Supreme Court of the District of
Columbia, Early Days of, com-
munication by Job Barnard,
1-35; general and special term,
7; rules of practice, 8; Man-
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