A Portrait of Old George Town Part 12

Just about here is the Aged Woman's Home, standing high above the street. It was founded in 1868 with a gift of $15,000 from Mr. W. W.

Corcoran. It houses fourteen women. In all these years there have been only three Presidents of the Board: Mrs. Beverley Kennon, Miss Emily Nourse, and the present one, Mrs. Louis Freeman. The back part of the house is what is left of the home of John Lutz, who had a good deal of land around his house when he built it nearly two hundred years ago.

In days gone by, the Aged Woman's Home was partly supported by contributions collected by women who were members of the Benevolent Society, who went from door to door with a book in which amounts to be given were subscribed.

On the southeast corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Gay (N) Street, just above here has been conducted, since 1861, the grocery business of H. W. Fisher and Son, first was the grandfather, known as Henry, whom I remember, with a long grey beard; then his son of the same name, known as Wellen, and now his son, Henry. I am told by an old resident that the first telephone in Georgetown was in the Fisher's store, as it is known, and that when people wanted to phone, they went there and used it.

I was fed from Fisher's all my young life, and I imagine my father was one of their best customers, as he had eleven children and mult.i.tudes of relatives in Maryland and Virginia, who came to stay whenever they wished to visit Was.h.i.+ngton City. So you can rather imagine the consternation of the elder Mr. Fisher when, one hot afternoon, as he was clearing out his crate of tomatoes just before closing time and, as was the custom in those long ago days, picked up a large, over-ripe one and threw it out, as he supposed into the gutter, that, instead, it landed on the stiff "boiled s.h.i.+rt" bosom of Mr. George T. Dunlop! I never knew of this occurrence until I was told of it many years after by Mr. Wellen Fisher, who said his father always said it never made any difference to Mr. Dunlop.

On the other side of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue), coming up from Bridge (M) Street, on the corner was the hardware store of Edward M.

Linthic.u.m; later Henry Addison had a dry goods store there.

A little farther up, in the nineties, was Joe Schladt's, the saloon of the Town. We all knew about it, but, of course, no lady ever entered it.

There were, however, three or four very well-known gentlemen who entered it very frequently, and had a good deal of difficulty reaching their homes every evening.

Then we come to 1254 Wisconsin Avenue, Stohlman's, which, ever since 1820, has dispensed a very different form of refreshment--ice cream.

First it was Arnold's Bakery, then, in 1845, the business was sold to Mr. and Mrs. May; then, in 1865, to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Stohlman, she being the niece of Mrs. May; then to J. William Stohlman, father of the present owner by the same name, and they are still serving the "elite of Georgetown" not only with ice cream, but other dainties. Back in my girlhood it was "quite the thing" to go down to Stohlman's and have a saucer of ice cream in the back parlor at one of the little marble-topped tables.

Right next door is Forrest Hall. Here, at one corner of the property, was one of the original stones marking the northern border of Georgetown when it was surveyed, No. 46. On this lot stood the Union Bank and then, in 1855, Bladen Forrest, (not a descendant of Colonel Uriah Forrest), built this large and very good-looking building.

The enlisted men of the battalion of the Second U. S. Infantry were quartered in Forrest Hall for a time at the beginning of the Civil War.

Later it was used as a hospital for Union soldiers. After that, the Georgetown a.s.semblies were held there for several years, and various other affairs. I remember a fete called a "Chocolatere" when I was a little girl, and going to it with my mother, and seeing three pretty girls dressed in j.a.panese costume singing "Three Little Girls from School Are We." I think that was not so very long after the _Mikado_ made its debut.

On the northwest corner of High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Prospect Street, the building which has an interesting cornice and roof is where W. W. Corcoran started his career, in the dry goods business.

Just beyond was a market; I think it was called a "Farmers' and Butchers' Market," an offshoot of the old Market on Bridge (M) Street. I remember going there when I was a little girl with my mother, and her buying vegetables from a Dutch woman, Mrs. Hight. I have always remembered her rosy, smiling face, and her stall of gay, vari-colored vegetables. She had a farm out on the Rockville Pike, and I think of it sometimes when I pa.s.s.

High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) nowadays has become the center of antique shops, there are many of them, also now there are dress shops and accessories of all kinds.

Then we go along Prospect Street, which was named for the tract of land belonging to Benjamin Stoddert, called "Pretty Prospect."

On the corners of Potomac Street are two quaint, little houses. On the southeast corner of Frederick (34th) and Prospect Streets stands an apartment house, which, before a false front was added a few years ago when it was converted, was the dignified brick house where Benjamin Stoddert lived and entertained in most hospitable style.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BENJAMIN STODDERT'S HOUSE]

He named his home "Halcyon House," and what a suitable and lovely name for one in his business, and one who had settled here after his service in the Revolution. For the halcyon was a fabled bird, whose nest floated upon the sea. It had the power of charming winds and waves, hence, "halcyon days" are days of tranquillity and peace. He had married Rebecca Loundes, the daughter of Christopher Loundes, of Bladensburg.

They had several children. Mrs. Stoddert writes thusly of them on a day when they must have been particularly trying:

I wonder that you can be so anxious to see my children, for a parcel of rude, disagreeable brats as ever was born, except the two youngest.

She writes another letter on the 15th of December, 1799, in which she is evidently condoling with someone, and says she "hopes Nancy was not disappointed at having a fine girl;" she is sure of "Richard's feelings on the subject, for the men always are, if they would but own it, after having one daughter, all but sons are unwelcome." She goes on to say, "But they may comfort themselves, but I will be security that the next one will be a son."

What marvelous necromancy this lady must have possessed--in her own opinion--worth a gold mine if it could really be true!

From his southern dormer windows, tradition says, Major Stoddert used to watch with his telescope for the coming of some of those s.h.i.+ps that he and Colonel Forrest and Colonel Murdock sent out across the ocean.

On May 17, 1798, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy, being the first to hold that position, and so remained until March 1, 1807.

On May 29, 1800, he wrote thusly from Philadelphia (where he was engaged by his cabinet duties), to his near neighbor, John Templeman, on the corner just one block west of him, the old house which stood for so many, many years unoccupied:

Dear Sir:

The Pres. will be at Was.h.i.+ngton by the time you receive this, or a day or two after. He proposes to stay but a little while. I wish he would remain longer. This and other good things will depend on the manner of employing his time. I request, therefore, that setting Bashfulness at defiance, you will urge the Pres. to go to the b.a.l.l.s, to ride with you in your coach, and to get Mr. Scott at least to go with you. Let the Pres. be pleased with the attention and with the country.

I am resp. yrs.,

BEN STODDERT.

Barring accidents, I expect to be in Geo. Town the 14th of June.

After Benjamin Stoddert's death, this house was given by William Whann as a wedding present to his only child, Anna Maria, on her marriage to Benjamin Mackall, the son of Leonard Mackall. Their son, General William W. Mackall, was a graduate of West Point in the cla.s.s with General Grant. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and later in the Confederate Army. Shortly after the close of the Civil War, General Grant gave a reception at the White House to the Aztec Society, composed of officers who served in the War with Mexico and their descendants.

General Mackall went to it clad in his grey uniform and was most cordially received by his old comrades.

Still later than the Mackalls, this house was occupied by Mr. Martineau, Minister from the Netherlands, and then by the Pairo family.

To return to Mr. Templeman's house which he built about 1788. He was president of the Bank of Columbia; also an owner of s.h.i.+ps, and, as a side issue, had:

For Sale--At John Templeman's Store.

Whisky, Firkin b.u.t.ter, Linseed Oil, and Flour.

George Town June 20, 1800.

Those s.h.i.+ps which carried tobacco across 3,000 miles of ocean didn't fill their holds with bricks as ballast on the way back, as we used to be told; there were too many better things needed here. And there was plenty of clay right here to burn brick. Even in the early days of Jamestown there were brick factories of which there are records and "English Brick" meant made by specifications of English brick.

The Templeman family lived here for three generations until the Civil War. Then it belonged to Franklin Steele, whose three daughters were Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Arthur Addison, and Mrs. Edward Macaulay.

"Old Mrs. Morris," as she was called, lived there many years alone and was always complaining to my father that the new building of the Capital Traction Company was undermining her house and was knocking it down. It still stands firm. It was finally "done over" a few years ago, and eventually bought by James E. Forrestal, when he became Secretary of the Navy, and was still his home when he resigned as our first Secretary of Defense, and then ended his life tragically May 12, 1949, by leaping from a window of the Naval Hospital at Bethesda.

The house was leased for two or three years to the Government and called "Prospect House." It was used by the State Department as a "guest house," where such honored persons as the Shah of Iran, Monsieur Vincent Auriol, President of France, and several Presidents of Latin American countries, and other officials, stayed. The State Department often used it for dinner parties. Its garden which used to be terraced down to the river, and quaint little gazebo are still lovely. It has recently been purchased by Representative Thurmond Chatham of North Carolina.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOME OF DR. CHARLES WORTHINGTON]

Just across from Mr. Templeman's house on the northeast corner is one of the loveliest houses left in Georgetown. It stood for many years unchanged and unoccupied until a few years ago, when it was bought by Sir Wilmott Lewis, the representative in Was.h.i.+ngton for a long time of the _London Times_.

It was built by John Thomson Mason, (not General John Mason, whose home was on Bridge Street). It was acquired in 1810 by Dr. Charles Worthington, who came to George Town in 1783 from Sumner Hill in Anne Arundel County. He previously owned a house on the southwest corner of Bridge (M) and Market (33rd) Streets, and, later on, bought this house.

He called his home "Quality Hill." His family lived there for many years until about 1856, when they moved up to the Heights and bought a house on Road Street. The family of James Kearney lived there then, until about twenty years ago. Dr. Worthington was one of the original members of Saint John's Church and first president of the District of Columbia Medical Society.

Dr. Charles Worthington was an austere man, very dignified and serious.

To his latest day, he dressed in the old style; his hair in queue, knee breeches, long stockings, and buckles on his shoes. He drove a coach-and-four when going to his country place out on the Seventh Street Road near Brightwood. He was a man of great ability and zeal. He lived to be 76 years old, having practiced medicine 55 years. His son, Nicholas, followed in his profession.

Another block westward on this street stood Prospect Cottage, a charming little home where Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth lived in the sixties and wrote her many novels--one for every year of her life. This house was for a time the home of the League of American Pen Women.

Just about a block northward stands Holy Trinity Catholic Church, referred to sometimes in old newspapers as The Roman Church. The present large edifice, facing on Lingan (36th) Street, was first built in 1849, but the original church is the small building at the back of it, high up from First (N) Street. The earliest marriage recorded there is April 6, 1795; the first baptism, May 14, 1795, signed by Reverend Francis Neale, S. J., who was the first pastor. But the lot had been purchased some years before by Bishop Carroll.

The building was erected by Alexander Doyle, putting in his own means in addition to contributions from others. This church was virtually owned by the college and was used for the college commencements until 1832.

Georgetown College, now a university, stands like a fortress at the western boundary of the town. Its lovely chimes float out over the town at every quarter of the hour. Only one of the original buildings in old, red brick still stands behind the grey stone modern halls. The north building was put up first, and by 1797, students began to lodge in it.

There were 57 boarders at that time. The college was opened in 1789--its founder being John Carroll, a member of the famous Maryland family, who was consecrated Bishop at Lulworth Castle in England, but returned immediately to this country. There is a fine seated statue of him just in front of the main building. In 1806 it pa.s.sed under the control of the Jesuits, and in 1815, it was raised to the rank of a university. The observatory of Georgetown, founded by Reverend James Curley in 1842, is one of the oldest in this country.

In 1830 Jonathan Elliot wrote of the college: