Chapter XCI: The Wadsworth Longfellow House, Portland, Maine 400 (7)

Thus was fulfilled in a striking way the prophecy made by John Randolph when he pleaded with Congress not to make war on Great Britain, "All the causes urged for this war will be forgotten in your treaty of peace, and possibly this Capitol may be reduced to ashes."

The next session of Congress was held in the Union Pacific Hotel, but by December, 1815, there was ready a three-story building, erected by popular subscription, which Congress used for three years, paying for it an annual rental of $1,650. This was called "The Brick Capitol."

Of course efforts were made to remove the Capital to another location, but Congress made appropriation for the reconstruction of the Capitol on the old site. Work was begun almost at once, and was continued until 1830, when the wings had been rebuilt as well as the rotunda and centre structure. In general appearance the building was the same as before the fire, but marble instead of sandstone was used for colonnades and staircases and floors. The beautiful capitals of the marble pillars were carved in Italy or prepared by workmen brought from Italy.

During the latter part of this period the rotunda was used for all sorts of exhibitions. Once a panorama of Paris was shown there, an admission fee of fifty cents being charged. Exhibits of manufactured goods were made in this "no man's land," over which nobody seemed to have jurisdiction. In 1827 a congressman spoke in the House of the fact that "triangles of steel to take the place of bells, stoves, stew pans, pianos, mouse traps, and watch ribbons were marked with prices and sundry good bargains were driven." The general public felt that they had a right even to the hall of the House; frequently popular meetings were held there.

The present dome surmounting the rotunda is not the dome first planned. For Latrobe's dome, which he did not build, a higher dome was substituted by Bulfinch. The present dome is the work of Thomas U. Walter, the designer of Girard College, Philadelphia, whose plans for the completion of the Capitol were approved in 1851. The burning of the western front of the centre building in December, 1851, proved a blessing in disguise, for Walter was able to rebuild the section in perfect harmony with the other portions. The House first occupied its present quarters on December 16, 1857, but the Senate was not able to take possession of its new hall until January 4, 1859.

The great structure was finished in 1865, work having been carried on throughout the Civil War. Though they knew that there would be delay in receiving payment for their work, the contractors insisted on continuing and completing what is one of the most harmonious public buildings in the world.

The patriotic contractors had their reward, for the building was ready to receive the body of President Lincoln when, on April 19, 1865, after the services in the White House, the casket was placed on a catafalque under the dome of the rotunda, that the people of the country whose destinies he had guided through four years of civil war might gather there to do him honor.

L

THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON

THE HOME OF EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE WASHINGTON

When, in 1792, James Hoban suggested to the commission appointed to supervise the erection of public buildings at Washington that the Executive Mansion be modelled after the palace of the Duke of Leinster in Dublin, his proposition was accepted, and he was given a premium of five hundred dollars for the plan. More, he was engaged, at the same amount per year, to take charge of the builders.

No time was lost in laying the corner stone. The ceremony was performed on October 13, 1792, and operations were pushed with such speed that the building was completed ten years later!

In November, 1800, six months after the transfer of the government offices from Philadelphia to Washington, Mrs. Adams joined President Adams at the White House. She had a hard time getting there. A few days after her arrival she wrote to her daughter:

"I arrived here on Sunday last, and without meeting any
accident worth noticing, except losing ourselves when we
left Baltimore, and going eight or nine miles on the
Frederick road, by which means we were obliged to go the
other eight miles through woods, where we wandered for two
hours, without finding a guide, or the path. Fortunately, a
straggling black came up with us, and we engaged him as a
guide to extricate us out of our difficulty; but woods are
all you see, from Baltimore until you reach the city, which
is only so in name. Here and there is a small cot, without a
glass window, interspersed amongst the forests, through which
you travel miles without seeing any human being. In the city
there are buildings enough, if they were compact and
furnished, to accommodate Congress and those attached to it;
but as they are, and scattered as they are, I see no great
comfort for them."

Mrs. Adams found no great comfort in the White House, either. "To assist us in this great castle," she wrote, "and render less attendance necessary, bells are wholly wanting, not one single one being hung through the whole house, and promises are all you can obtain.... If they will put me up some bells, and let me have wood enough to keep fires, I design to be pleased.... But, surrounded with forests, can you believe that wood is not to be had, because people cannot be found to cut and cart it.... The house is made habitable, but there is not a single apartment finished.... We have not the least fence, yard, or other convenience, without, and the great, unfinished audience-room I make a drying room of, to hang up the clothes in. The principal stairs are not up, and will not be this winter."

The building itself was in good condition, though the surroundings were far from prepossessing, when it was burned by the British in 1814. President and Mrs. Madison moved to the Octagon House, and spent more than a year in this comfortable winter home of Colonel John Tayloe.

The cost of rebuilding and refurnishing the Executive Mansion was about three hundred thousand dollars. The work was begun in 1814, and in September, 1817, the building was so far completed that President Monroe was able to take up his quarters there in some degree of comfort, though the floor in the East Room had not yet been laid and some of the walls were still without plastering. On January 1, 1818, the first New Year's reception was held there. "It was gratifying to be able to salute the President of the United States with the compliments of the season in his appropriate residence," the _National Intelligencer_ said. It may be added that the editor called the building "the President's House." The title, "the White House," was not yet in common use.

For many years the successive occupants of the building were subject to all sorts of criticism. Mrs. Monroe refused both to make first calls and to return calls. President Monroe bought foreign-made furnishings! John Quincy Adams actually introduced a billiard table, and the use of public money to buy "a gaming table" was bitterly attacked! (Of course the purchase was made with personal funds.) Mrs. Adams was cold and haughty! When President Van Buren left Washington he took with him the gold spoons and the gilt dessert service that had attracted attention! But these were private property.

However, most criticisms like these have been inspired by pride in the President and his household, and a pardonable feeling of possession in them and the White House.

Until within recent years the President's offices were in the east end of the White House. A pleasing description of these offices has come down from Isaac N. Arnold, who thus spoke of the quarters of President Lincoln:

"The furniture of the room consisted of a large oak table,
covered with cloth extending north and south, and it was
round this table that the Cabinet sat when it held its
meetings. Near the end of the table and between the windows
was another table, on the west side of which the President
sat, in a large arm-chair, and at this table he wrote. A tall
desk, with pigeon holes for paper, stood against the south
wall. The only books usually found in this room were the
Bible, the United States Statutes, and a copy of Shakespeare.
There were a few chairs and two plain hair-covered sofas.
There were two or three map frames, from which hung military
maps, on which the positions and movements of the armies were
traced. There was an old and discolored engraving of General
Jackson over the mantel and a later photograph of John
Bright. Doors open into this room from the room of the
secretary and from the outside hall, running east and west
across the house. A bell-cord within reach of his hand
extended to the secretary's office. A messenger sat at the
door opening from the hall, and took in the cards and names
of visitors."

During the time of President Roosevelt, outside Executive offices were built, and rooms that had long been needed for the personal uses of the President's household were released. The change has increased patriotic pride in the White House, one of the simplest mansions provided for the rulers of the nations.

LI

THE OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON

IN WHICH DOLLY MADISON LAVISHED HOSPITALITY IN 1814

John Tayloe, the wealthiest man in the Virginia of the late eighteenth century, had his summer home at Mt. Airy. His plantation, the largest in the State, was worked by more than five hundred slaves.

When he wanted a winter home, he thought of building at Philadelphia. But George Washington, eager to secure him as a resident of the young Federal City on the Potomac, asked him to consider the erection of a house there. So Mr. Tayloe made an investigation of Washington as a site for a residence, bought a lot for one thousand dollars, and in 1798 commissioned Dr. William Thornton to make the plans for a palatial house. During the construction of the building Washington several times rode by and from the saddle inspected the progress of the work.

Thornton was at the time a well-known man, though he had been born in the West Indies and was for many years a resident there. After receiving his education in Europe, he lived for several years in the United States. During this period he was a partner of John Fitch in the building and trial of the steamboat that for a time ran successfully on the Delaware River, more than twenty years before Fulton built the _Clermont_. He was himself something of an inventor; he secured a number of patents for a device to move a vessel by applying steam to a wheel at the side of the hull.

He had returned to the West Indies when he read that a prize was to be given for the best plan submitted for the Capitol to be built at Washington. At once he wrote for particulars, and in due time he presented his plans. He was then living in the United States. The plans were considered the best that had been offered. Jefferson said that they "captivated the eyes and judgment of all," while Washington spoke of their "grandeur, simplicity, and convenience." While these plans were later modified by others, certain features of the Capitol as it appears to-day are to be traced directly to Dr. Thornton's plans.

At the time of the award he was but thirty-one years old, and had already won a place as a physician, an inventor, and a man of science. He was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, and had received the prize offered for the design for the new building of the Library Company of Philadelphia, in which Franklin was especially interested. Later he was awarded a gold medal by the American Philosophical Society for a paper in which he outlined the method of the oral teaching of deaf and dumb children which is still in use in many institutions.

The building planned by Dr. Thornton for Mr. Tayloe, at the northeast corner of New York Avenue and Eighteenth Street, was completed in 1801. At the time it was the best house in Washington. At once, as the Octagon House, it became famous for the lavish hospitality of its owner.

The next stirring period in the history of the Octagon House was the later years of the second war with Great Britain. On the night of August 24, 1814, when the British Army entered the city, the French minister, M. Serurier, looked from his window and saw soldiers bearing torches going toward the White House. Quickly he sent a messenger to General Ross and asked that his residence be spared. The messenger found General Ross in the Blue Room, where he was collecting furniture for a bonfire. Assured that "the king's house" would be respected, he returned to the minister.

Dr. Thornton, who was at the time superintendent of the patent office, succeeded in persuading Colonel Jones to spare that building, on the ground that it was a museum of the Arts, and that its destruction would be a loss to all the world.

Among the public buildings destroyed was the White House. Mr. Tayloe at once offered the Octagon House to President Madison. On September 9, 1814, the _National Intelligencer_ announced, "The President will occupy Colonel Tayloe's large house, which was lately occupied by the French minister." For more than a year the house was known as the Executive Annex.

Rufus Rockwell Wilson, in "Washington, the Capital City," tells how the mansion looked at this time:

"Its circular entrance hall, marble tiled, was heated by two
picturesque stoves placed in small recesses in the wall.
Another hall beyond opened into a spacious and lovely garden
surrounded by a high brick wall after the English fashion. To
the right was a handsome drawing room with a fine mantel,
before which Mrs. Madison was accustomed to stand to receive
her guests. To the left was a dining-room of equal size and
beauty. A circular room over the hall, with windows to the
floor and a handsome fireplace, was President Madison's
office. Here he received his Cabinet officers and other men
of note, listening to their opinions and reports on the
progress of the war; and here, also, on a quaintly carved
table, he signed, February 18, 1815, the proclamation of the
Treaty of Ghent, which ended the contest with England."

The story of this table's history is interesting. From the Octagon House it went to John Ogle Ferneaux, of King George County, Virginia. He kept it until October 30, 1897, when it was sold to Mrs. A. H. Voorhies, of 2011 California Street, San Francisco. When the fire that succeeded the earthquake of 1906 approached the house, the table was taken away hurriedly. Mrs. Voorhies says, "We wrapped sheets around the circular part of the table, and in part of the journey, it went turning round as a wheel to a place of safety." The San Francisco chapter of the Institute of Architects purchased it for $1,000, and sent it to Washington, December 1, 1911.

It is said that on the day the message came to the Octagon House that peace had been declared, Miss Sally Coles, who was Mrs. Madison's cousin, called from the head of the stairs, "Peace! Peace!" One who was a guest at the time gave a lively account of the scene in the house:

"Late in the afternoon came thundering down Pennsylvania
Avenue a coach and four foaming steeds, in which was the
bearer of the good news. Cheers followed the carriage as it
sped on its way to the residence of the President. Soon after
nightfall, members of Congress and others deeply interested
in the event presented themselves at the President's House,
the doors of which stood open. When the writer of this
entered the drawing room at about eight o'clock, it was
crowded to its full capacity. Mrs. Madison--(the President
being with the Cabinet)--doing the honors of the occasion;
and what a happy scene it was!"

Mr. Tayloe occupied the Octagon at intervals until his death in 1828. Mrs. Tayloe lived until 1855. By this time the neighborhood had changed, and the property deteriorated. In 1865 it was occupied as a girls' school. From 1866 to 1879 it was the hydrographic office of the Navy Department. Later it became a dwelling and studio. From 1885 to 1889 it was in the hands of a caretaker, and deteriorated rapidly. At the last eight or ten families of colored people lived within the storied walls.

The Institute of American Architects leased the property in 1899 and later purchased the house for $30,000. It is now one of the sights of Washington. A tablet fixed to the wall relates the main facts of its history.

SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS

_I love the stately southern mansions with their tall white
columns,
They look through avenues of trees, over fields where the cotton
is growing;
I can see the flutter of white frocks along their shady porches,
Music and laughter float from the windows, the yards are full of
hounds and horses.
Long since the riders have ridden away, yet the houses have not
forgotten,
They are proud of their name and place, and their doors are always
open,
For the thing they remember best is the pride of their ancient
hospitality._

HENRY VAN DYKE.

SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS

LII

MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

George Washington was twenty years old when he became the owner of the Mount Vernon estate on the Potomac, in accordance with the provisions of the will of Laurence Washington, his half-brother. At that time the house contained but eight rooms and an attic, four rooms on each floor. There were twenty-five hundred acres in the farm.

As a boy Washington had tramped over every acre of the estate. When he was sixteen he made a plot of the region around Mt. Vernon. The original of the survey made at that time may be seen in the Library of Congress at Washington.

The young owner looked forward to years of quiet on his estate, but he was frequently called away from home for service in the militia of Virginia. In spite of these absences, however, he managed to make the acres surrounding the mansion give a good account of themselves.

When he responded to the call of the Colonies and became Commander-in-Chief of the army, he turned his back on Mt. Vernon with great reluctance, and for six years hardly saw the place he loved. But when the independence of the Colonies had been won he returned home, in the hope that he might be permitted to remain there in obscurity, farming his land and entertaining his friends in the house on the Potomac.

That he might have more room for his friends, he enlarged the house. On July 5, 1784, he wrote to his friend, William Rumney of Alexandria, asking him to inquire into the terms on which "a House Joiner and Bricklayer" might be engaged for two or three years. To the house, which dated from 1744, he made additions until it was three times as large as when he inherited the property. The alterations were completed in 1785. The completed house was ninety-six feet long, and thirty feet deep, with a piazza fifteen feet wide. The building material was wood, cut in imitation of stone.

While these alterations were in progress a visitor to Mt. Vernon was Charles Vardo, an Englishman. When he returned home he wrote an account of his visit, in which said:

"I crossed the river from Maryland into Virginia, near to the
renowned General Washington's, where I had the honor to spend
some time, and was kindly entertained with that worthy
family. As to the General, if we may judge by the
countenance, he is what the world says of him, a shrewd,
good-natured, plain, humane man, about fifty-five years of
age, and seems to wear well, being healthful and active,
straight, well made, and about six feet high. He keeps a good
table, which is always open to those of a genteel
appearance....

"The General's house is rather warm, snug, convenient and
useful, than ornamental. The size is what ought to suit a man
of about two or three thousand a year in England. The
out-offices are good and seem to be not long built; and he
was making more offices at each wing to the front of the
house, which added more to ornament than to real use. The
situation is high, and commands a beautiful prospect of the
river which parts Virginia and Maryland, but in other
respects the situation seems to be out of the world, being
chiefly surrounded by woods, and far from any great road or
thoroughfare.... The General's lady is a hearty, comely,
discreet, affable woman, some few years older than
himself.... The General's house is open to poor travellers as
well as rich, he gives diet and lodging to all that come that
way, which indeed cannot be many, without they go out of
their way on purpose...."

A visitor of January 19, 1785, was Elkanah Watson. In his diary Washington wrote simply that Mr. Watson came in and stayed all night; and that he went away after breakfast next morning. But Mr. Watson had a fuller account to give:

"I found him at table with Mrs. Washington and his private
family, and was received in the native dignity and with that
urbanity so peculiarly combined in the character of a soldier
and eminent private gentleman. He soon put me at ease.... The
first evening I spent under the wing of his hospitality, we
sat a full hour at table by ourselves, without the least
interruption, after the family had retired. I was extremely
oppressed by a severe cold and excessive coughing, contracted
by the exposure of a harsh winter journey. He pressed me to
use some remedies, but I declined doing so. As usual after
retiring, my coughing increased. When some time had elapsed,
the door of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my
bed-curtains, to my utter astonishment, I beheld Washington
himself, standing at my bedside, with a bowl of hot tea in
his hand."

The following May Rev. Thomas Coke and Bishop Francis Asbury were welcomed to Mt. Vernon. "The General's seat is very elegant," Mr. Coke wrote. "He is quite the plain, country-Gentleman." After dinner the visitors presented to their host a petition for the emancipation of the Negroes, "entreating his signature, if the eminence of his station did not render it inexpedient for him to sign any petition." Washington told his guests that he was "of their sentiments, and had signified his thoughts on the subject to most of the great men of the State; that he did not see it proper to sign the petition, but if the Assembly took it into consideration, would signify his sentiments to the Assembly by a letter."

An attractive picture of the General was given by Richard Henry Lee after a visit to Mt. Vernon in November, 1785:

"When I was first introduced to him he was neatly dressed in
a plain blue coat, white Casimer waistcoat, and black
breeches and Boots, as he came from his farm. After having
sat with us some time he retired.... Later he came in again,
with his hair neatly powdered, a clean shirt on, a new plain
drab Coat, white waistcoat and white silk stockings."

John Hunter, who was with Colonel Lee, added his impression:

"The style of his house is very elegant, something like the
Prince de Conde's at Chantilly, near Paris, only not quite so
large; but it's a pity he did not build a new one at once, as
it has cost him nearly as much as repairing his old one....
It's astonishing what a number of small houses the General
has upon his Estate for his different Workmen and Negroes
to live in. He has everything within himself--Carpenters,
Bricklayers, Brewers, Blacksmiths, Bakers, etc., etc., and
even has a well assorted store for the use of his family and
servants."

While the repairs were still in progress, the ship _Mary_ arrived at Alexandria, having a consignment for Washington from Samuel Vaughan, a great admirer in London. This was a chimney-piece, wrought in Italy from pure white and sienite marble, for the use of Mr. Vaughan. When the mantel reached England the owner learned of the improvements then in progress at Mt. Vernon. Without unpacking the mantel he sent it on to America. When Washington received word of the arrival of the gift, he wrote, "By the number of cases, however, I greatly fear it is too elegant and costly for my room and republican style of living." Nevertheless the mantel was installed in the mansion and became a great delight to the household.

Washington's days at Mt. Vernon were interrupted by the renewed call of his country. For much of the time for eight years he was compelled to be absent, and when, at length, the opportunity came to resume the free life on his estate, he had less than three years left. But these years were crowded full of hospitality in the mansion and of joyous work on the estate, and when, on December 14, 1799, he died as a result of a cold caught while riding on the estate, he left it to his "dearly beloved wife, Martha Washington."

For many years Mt. Vernon continued its hospitable career. Then came years of neglect, when the mansion was falling into ruins. But in 1853-56 Miss Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina appealed to the women of the nation, and succeeded in organizing an association that took over the estate, restored it to its original condition, furnished it with Washington relics gathered from far and near, and opened it for the visits of the reverent visitors to the city of Washington, who continue their journey sixteen miles down the Potomac that they may look on the scene that brought joy to the heart of the Father of his Country.

LIII

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

FROM WHICH ROBERT E. LEE WENT TO BATTLE FOR THE SOUTH

After the death of George Washington the Mt. Vernon family was gradually broken up, one after another going elsewhere for a home. George Washington Parke Custis, Washington's adopted son, and grandson of Martha Washington, decided to build a home on a hill overlooking the Potomac, opposite Washington City. There were eleven hundred acres in the estate of which Arlington, the mansion he built in 1802, was the central feature.

It has been said that the stately house is an adaptation of the Doric temple at Paestum, near Naples. The roof of the great portico rests on eight massive columns. The rooms within are of a size in keeping with the magnificent portal.

Perhaps the plan was too ambitious for the Custis fortune. At any rate the rooms on the south side of the hall were not completed. But it was a famous house, nevertheless. Guests were many. They delighted to look from the portico across the Potomac to Washington, where they could see the government buildings slowly taking shape.

One of the favored guests was Robert E. Lee. His frequent visits led to his marriage, in 1831, to Mr. Custis' daughter. At this time Lee was a lieutenant in the United States Army. Mrs. Lee remained at Arlington, waiting for the husband whose military duties enabled him to spend only brief seasons with her and the growing family there.

During the years before the war visitors to the Capital City thronged to Arlington. Some of them were interested in the many Washington relics in the house. Chief among these was the bed on which Washington died. Others came to the picnic grounds at Arlington Spring, which Mr. Custis had opened for the pleasure of the people, building for the use of all comers a great dining-hall, a dancing pavilion, and a kitchen.

One of these visitors told his impressions of Arlington:

"In front of the mansion, sloping toward the Potomac, is a
fine park of two hundred acres, dotted with groves of oak and
chestnut and clumps of evergreens; and behind it is a dark
old forest, with patriarchal trees bearing many centennial
honors, and covering six hundred acres of hill and dale.
Through a portion of this is a sinuous avenue leading up to
the mansion."

At the time of the secession of Virginia, Robert E. Lee was a colonel. Duty seemed clear to him. It was not easy for him to take up arms against the United States Government, but he considered himself first of all a citizen of his native State. To respond to the call of the Confederacy meant ruin. His beautiful home, he feared, would be destroyed. But he did not hesitate. A desire to retain possession of his slaves had nothing to do with his decision. His own slaves had already been freed, and provision had been made in the will of Mrs. Lee's father that all his slaves should be freed in 1862.

When, in 1865, General Lee was urged to prolong the conflict by guerilla warfare, he said: "No, that would not do. It must be remembered that we are Christian people. We have fought the fight as long and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a Christian people there is but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation. These men must go home and plant a crop, and we must proceed to build up our country on a new basis."

But he could not return to Arlington. The government had taken possession of the estate for a National Cemetery. For a time he lived in obscurity on a little farm. Then he became President of Washington College, later Washington and Lee University. With his family he lived on the campus at Lexington, Virginia, and there he died, October 12, 1870.

In the meantime the National Cemetery at Arlington was becoming a pilgrimage point for patriotic Americans. The slopes of the beautiful lawn were covered with graves. The stately white mansion, with its eight great pillars and its walls of stucco seemed a fitting background for the ranks of little white tombstones.

For years the title to the property was in dispute. In 1864 the United States bought it for $26,800, when it was sold at auction for delinquent taxes. In 1882 the Supreme Court decided that G. W. C. Lee, son of General Lee, was entitled to the property, and the following year the government paid him $150,000 for eleven hundred acres, including the mansion.

LIV

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

WHERE WASHINGTON HAD A PEW "AT THE UPPER PART OF THE CHURCH"

George Washington was chosen one of the vestrymen of Fairfax parish in 1764, when this was formed by the division of Truro parish, although he was already a vestryman in Pohick Church at Truro.

The records of the new parish show that in 1766 it was decided to build Christ Church at Alexandria, and a second church at the Falls of the Potomac instead of the old church there. The members of the parish were asked to pay thirty-one thousand pounds of tobacco for the purpose of construction.

James Wren, the architect of Christ Church, is said to have been a descendant of Sir Christopher Wren. While the building was well designed, no one ever thought of it as a masterpiece. But it has answered the purposes of the worshipper for more than a century and a half, and it promises to last at least a hundred and fifty years more.

The original contract called for the expenditure of L600. Colonel John Carlisle, who was bondsman for the contractor, James Parsons, in 1772, agreed to complete the building on payment of L220 additional, since Parsons failed to fulfil his agreement.

The church was built of brick, and was sixty by fifty feet long. The work was carefully done, but the structure was ready for the vestry to take possession early in 1773.

At the first sale of pews, of which there were fifty in all, Washington paid L36 10 s. for pew number five. He had already made a generous gift toward the building fund, but asked the privilege of giving the brass chandelier which still hangs from the ceiling.

When the Church and State were separated in Virginia, after the Revolution, Washington subscribed five pounds a year to the rector's salary. By act of the legislature the glebe lands of churches in the State were confiscated, but, through the influence of Washington and Charles Lee, Christ Church "and one other" (probably Falls Church) were allowed to retain their lands.

Many changes have been made in the building. The gallery was added in 1787, that twenty-five pews might be provided for the growing congregation. The west aisle was built in 1811, and the next year the chimneys were built, for stoves were placed in the church at that time. The bell was hung in 1816. The pews were later divided, including that which Washington occupied, but this pew has since been restored to its original condition. Since 1891 the high pulpit and sounding board have been replaced as they were at first.

Washington's diary tells of his attendance at service on Sunday, June 2, 1799. Perhaps it was of this Sunday a visitor to Alexandria wrote in a letter to a friend, which was quoted in "The Religious Opinions and Character of George Washington," published in 1836. The writer said:

"In the summer of 1799 I was in Alexandria on a visit to the
family of Mr. H.... Whilst there, I expressed a wish to see
General Washington, as I had never enjoyed that pleasure. My
friend ... observed: 'You will certainly see him on Sunday,
as he is never absent from church when he can get there; and
as he often dines with us, we will ask him on that day, when
you will have a better opportunity of seeing him.'
Accordingly, we all repaired to church on Sunday.... General
Washington ... walked to his pew, at the upper part of the
church, and demeaned himself throughout the service of the
day with that gravity and propriety becoming the place and
his own high character. After the services were concluded, we
waited for him at the door, for his pew being near the pulpit
he was among the last that came out--when Mrs. H. invited him
to dine with us. He declined, however, the invitation,
observing, as he looked at the sky, that he thought there
were appearances of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, and he
believed he would return home to dinner."

LV

THE MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA

WHERE WASHINGTON'S MOTHER SPENT HER LAST YEARS

The first property mentioned in connection with the name of Mary Ball, who became the mother of George Washington, was on the tract of four hundred acres "in ye freshes of Rappa-h-n River," bequeathed to her in her father's will before she was six years old. Her father, Colonel Joseph Ball of Epping Forest, Lancaster County, thought he was about to die, but he lived some years longer.

Ten years later an unknown writer spoke of Mary Ball in pleasing terms:

"WmsBurg, ye 7th of Octr, 1722.

"Dear Sukey, Madam Ball of Lancaster and her sweet Molly have
gone Hom. Mama thinks Molly the Comliest Maiden She Knows.
She is about 16 yrs old, is taller than Me, is verry
Sensable, Modest and Loving. Her Hair is like unto Flax, Her
Eyes are the color of Yours, and her Chekes are like May
blossoms. I wish You could see Her."

This "Belle of the Northern Neck," as she came to be called, continued her conquests of young and old until, at twenty-two, an orphan, she left Epping Forest to live with her brother, Joseph Ball, at "Stratford-by-bow, Nigh London." There, on March 6, 1730, she became the second wife of Augustine Washington, the second son of Laurence Washington, who was visiting England at the time.

Less than two years later, at Wakefield, on the Potomac, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, George Washington was born. He was not three years old when the mansion was burned.

The new home was at Pine Grove, in Stafford County, on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg. For eight years the family circle was unbroken, but on April 12, 1743, Augustine Washington died. Laurence Washington, Mary Washington's stepson, then became the owner of Mt. Vernon, while to George Washington was bequeathed Pine Grove, though the estate was to be managed by Mrs. Washington until the son became twenty-one.

With wonderful skill Mrs. Washington directed the plantation and with firm purpose she devoted herself to the care of her five fatherless children.

A picture of this capable woman at this period was recorded by Laurence Washington, a nephew of George Washington's father. He wrote:

"I was often there [at Pine Grove] with George, his playmate,
schoolmate, and young man's companion. Of the mother, I was
more afraid than of my own parents; she awed me in the midst
of her kindness; and even now, when time has whitened my
locks and I am the grandfather of a second generation, I
could not behold that majestic woman without feelings it is
impossible to describe."

The death, in 1752, of Laurence Washington of Mt. Vernon made George Washington the owner of that property. Thereafter the twenty-five hundred acre estate became known as the home of the eldest son, while Mrs. Washington remained at Pine Grove with her younger children.

Only a few months later he stopped to see his mother, as he was on his way to the West to carry out a commission laid upon him by Governor Dinwiddie. As Mrs. Washington bade her son good-bye, she urged him to "remember that God only is our sure trust." Then she added, "To Him I commend you."

Her words were remembered. In 1755, when General Braddock asked Colonel Washington to accompany him to Fort Pitt, Mrs. Washington hurried to Mt. Vernon and urged him not to go. He considered her objections, but said:

"The God to whom you commended me, madam, when I set out on a
more perilous errand, defended me from all harm, and I trust
He will do so now; do you?"

One by one the children left Pine Grove. In 1750 Betty Washington was married to Colonel Fielding Lewis, who built for her the stately house Kenmore, not far from her mother's home, but across the river, on the edge of Fredericksburg. This house is still among the show places of the old town.

In the early days of the Revolution Colonel and Mrs. Lewis tried to persuade Mrs. Washington that she was getting too old to live alone at Pine Grove, and urged her to make her home at Kenmore. At the same time Colonel Lewis offered to take over the management of the plantation. To both entreaties she turned a deaf ear; she said she felt entirely competent to take care of herself, and she would manage her own farm.

However, she consented to make her home in a house purchased for her in Fredericksburg, because "George thought it best." The dutiful son had time to help in the flitting to the new home before he hurried to the North. He was not to see her again for seven long years.

A member of the family described later the days of waiting when Mary Washington directed her household in the preparation of clothes, provisions, and other comforts for the General and his associates: "During the trying years when her son was leading the Continental forces, the mother was watching and praying, following him with anxious eyes," the story is told. "But to the messenger who brought tidings, whether of victory or defeat, she turned a calm face, whatever tremor of feeling it might mask, and to her daughter she said, chiding her for undue excitement, 'The sister of the commanding general should be an example of fortitude and faith.'"

It was November 11, 1781, when the victorious commander next saw Fredericksburg, on his way to Philadelphia from Yorktown. George Washington Parke Custis has described the meeting with his mother:

"She was alone, her aged hands employed in the works of
domestic industry, when the good news was announced, and it
was told that the victor was awaiting at the threshold. She
bade him welcome by a warm embrace, and by the
well-remembered and endearing name of George.... She inquired
as to his health, for she marked the lines which mighty cares
and toils had made in his manly countenance, and she spoke
much of old times and old friends, but of his glory not one
word."

When the Peace Ball was given in Fredericksburg she was an honored guest. Her son walked with her into the gaily decorated ballroom. She remained for a time, but after a while, from the seat where she had watched the dance, she called him to her side. When she was near she said, "Come, George, it is time for old folks to be at home."

Lafayette visited Fredericksburg in 1784, that he might pay his respects to Mrs. Washington. He found her in her garden, dressed in a short linsey skirt, working among her flowers. After his visit he declared, "I have seen the only Roman matron living at this day."

She still went frequently to her plantation across the river, but as she became more feeble her son gave her a phaeton in which she could cross the ferry in comfort. Her great-granddaughter has written of her appearance when she rolled in the phaeton down the village street:

"In summer she wore a dark straw hat with broad brim and low
crown, tied under her chin with black ribbon strings; but in
winter a warm hood was substituted, and she was wrapped in
the purple cloth cloak lined with silk shang (a present from
her son George) that is described in the bequests of her
will. In her hand she carried her gold-headed cane, which
feeble health now rendered necessary as a support."

One of the last visits paid by George Washington to his mother was on March 7, 1789. A Fredericksburg paper of March 12 said, "The object of his Excellency's visit was probably to take leave of his aged mother, sister, and friends, previous to his departure for the new Congress, over the councils of which, the united voice of America has called him to preside." On March 11 Washington's account book shows that the expenses of the trip were L1.8.0. He also noted that he advanced to his mother at the time "6 Guineas."

At New York, on September 1, 1789, President Washington was dining with friends when a messenger brought word of the death of Mrs. Washington. The notice of her death, as given in the _Gazette of the United States_, on September 9, read:

"Fredericksburg, Virginia, August 27, 1789--On Tuesday, the
25th inst. died at her home in this town, Mrs. Mary
Washington, aged 83 years, the venerable mother of the
illustrious President of the United States, after a long and
painful indisposition, which she bore with uncommon
patience. Though a pious tear of duty, affection, and esteem
is due to the memory of so revered a character, yet our grief
must be greatly alleviated from the consideration that she is
relieved from the pitiable infirmities attendant on an
extreme old age.--It is usual when virtuous and conspicuous
persons quit this terrestrial abode, to publish an elaborate
panegyric on their characters--suffice it to say, she
conducted herself through this transitory life with virtue,
prudence, and Christianity, worthy the mother of the grandest
Hero that ever adorned the annals of history."

"O may kind heaven, propitious to our fate,
Extend THAT HERO'S to her lengthen'd date;
Through the long period, healthy, active, sage;
Nor know the sad infirmities of age."

The house in Fredericksburg which was occupied after 1775 by Mrs. Washington, is now the property of the Association for the Preservation of Virginian Antiquities.

LVI

GREENWAY AND SHERWOOD FOREST, VIRGINIA

TWO OF THE HOMES OF JOHN TYLER

A little girl was responsible for the fact that John Tyler, who became the tenth president of the United States, was born, not at Marlie, but at Greenway. Marlie was the name chosen by Judge John Tyler for his James River estate, but his young daughter, Anne Contesse, as soon as she began to talk, insisted on calling it "Greenway," "because the grass grows so green there."

The fact that Anne's name displaced that chosen by her father is an indication of his great love for children. Greenway was "a bird's nest full of young," but at various times he added to his own flock one or another of twenty-one children, of whom he was made guardian, all of whom he guided through childhood to earnest manhood and womanhood.

These children must have enjoyed roaming about the estate, for, according to Judge Tyler's description, it was a delightful place. He said of it:

"Greenway contains five hundred acres, well improved. On it
is a genteel, well-furnished dwelling-house, containing six
rooms, all wainscoted, chair-board high, with fine dry
cellars the full length of the house, which is 56 feet; also
every other building which a reasonable person could wish or
desire, to wit: a handsome study, storehouse, kitchen,
laundry, dairy, meat-house, spring-house, and an ice-house
within the curtelage; a barn 40 by 34 feet, two granaries,
two carriage houses, 20 stalls for horses, a quarter for
house servants; a handsome pigeon-house, well stocked; and
several other houses for slaves; a well of water (so
excellent that I can drink with delight after returning from
a mountain circuit), a large, fertile garden, abounding with
a great variety of shrubs, herbs, and beautiful flowers, well
enclosed. The buildings new and well covered with shingles."

On this attractive estate John Tyler was born on March 29, 1790. He was a slender, delicate-looking lad, but he was not afraid to stand up for himself when he felt he was being abused. His first schoolmaster, a Mr. McMurdo, who taught across the road from Greenway, thought that it was impossible to teach well unless the rod was in daily use. "It was a wonder that he did not whip all the sense out of his scholars," John said once, years later. But one day the boys rebelled. "John and some of the larger boys tripped him up, and began to tie his hands and feet," the Tyler family biographer tells the story. "McMurdo scuffled bravely, but upon little William Tyler, the smallest boy in school, throwing himself upon him, he exclaimed, in imitation of the great Roman, '_Et tu, Brute!_' and ceased to resist. The boys firmly secured him, locked him up in the schoolhouse, and left with cheers of triumph and derision."

Hours later the schoolmaster was released by a passing traveller, who heard his cries. At once the enraged man hastened to Judge Tyler and told his story. "But the Judge, born and bred in the Revolutionary school, hated tyranny in any shape, and as he drew himself up to his full stature, he ... replied, in the language of Virginia's motto, _'Sic Semper Tyrannis_.'"

At the age of twelve John entered the grammar school of William and Mary College at Williamsburg. There he had a good time, and he made a creditable showing in his classes. Yet that he did not advance in at least one study is evident from a letter written by his father in 1807. He said:

"I can't help telling you how much I am mortified to find no
improvement in your handwriting; neither do you construct
your lines straight, which makes your letters look too
abominable. It is an easy thing to correct this fault, and
unless you do so, how can you be fit for law business?"

Some years later, when Judge Tyler was Governor of Virginia, he announced impressively to John that Thomas Jefferson would be among the dinner guests on a certain day. "Be sure you have a good dinner," the Governor added; for John was at the time in charge of the establishment. The future President asked himself, "What is the best thing for dinner?" "Plum pudding!" was the answer.

The appointed time came. The company was seated at table. The first course was served. Then came a long wait.

"Suddenly a door flew open, and a negro servant appeared,
bearing, with both hands raised high above his head, a
smoking dish of plum pudding. Making a grand flourish, the
servant deposited it before Governor Tyler. Scarcely had he
withdrawn before another door flew open, and an attendant,
dressed exactly like the first, was seen bringing another
plum pudding, equally hot, which at a grave nod from John, he
placed before Mr. Jefferson. The Governor, who expected a
little more variety, turned to his son, who sat surveying the
puddings with tender interest, and exclaimed, in accents of
astonishment, 'Two plum puddings, John, two plum puddings!
Why, this is rather extraordinary!' 'Yes, sir,' said the
enterprising major domo, 'it is extraordinary; but' (and here
he rose and bowed deferentially to Mr. Jefferson) 'it is an
extraordinary occasion.'"

In 1813, John Tyler married Letitia Christian. They did not make their home at Greenway, however. On the death of Judge Tyler the old house was sold, but it became the property of John Tyler in 1821. There he retired for the season of rest which he sorely needed after his strenuous years as a member of the House of Delegates, and Representative in Congress. During the intervals of his service as Governor and United States Senator he resided at the old home, but in 1829 he sold the property, and removed to Gloucester County, to an estate which he took for debt. Eighteen years later, at the close of his presidential term, he returned, with his bride, the second Mrs. Tyler, to the county where he was born, having bought an estate of twelve hundred acres, three miles from Greenway, on the north side of the James, opposite Brandon. He tore down the old house on the estate, and built a house on the same plan, which, with its connected out-buildings, was more than two hundred feet long. He called his place "Sherwood Forest," with grim humor; for was he not an outlaw, in the opinion of the Whigs, just as really as was Robin Hood?

Not long after the beginning of life at Sherwood Forest he was appointed overseer of the road on which his estate was located. Some claimed that this appointment was secured by the Whigs to humiliate him. But he refused to be humiliated. Instead he determined to be a good overseer and make the road the best in the State. All the men in the township were called, and they were kept at work day after day, as, according to law, he had a right to keep them. But it was harvest time, and the wheat was dead ripe. "The smiles that lately illuminated the countenances of the Whigs turned to dismay. The august justice who had made the appointment repaired to Mr. Tyler's house, and represented to him the state of things. Mr. Tyler replied that the law made it his duty to put the road in good order, and to keep it so. The Whigs expostulated. Mr. Tyler was firm. Then the justice begged him to resign, and let the hands go home. The ex-President said, 'Offices are hard to obtain in these times, and having no assurance that I can ever get another, I cannot think, under the circumstances, of resigning.'"

One of the statesman's valued companions during these early years at Sherwood Forest was "General," the old horse which he had owned for many years. At length the horse died, and was buried in the grave at Sherwood Forest. On a wooden slab at the head of the grave the owner wrote:

"Here lieth the bones of my old horse, General, who served
his master faithfully for twenty-seven years, and never
blundered but once--would that his master could say the
same!"

The last years of John Tyler's life witnessed the return of his popularity. Enemies became friends, and all rejoiced to do him honor. He was called to a number of honorable posts, and he was about to take his seat as a member of the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress when he died, in Richmond, on January 18, 1862.

LVII

TWO HISTORIC COURTHOUSES OF VIRGINIA

OLD DOMINION COUNTY BUILDINGS AT HANOVER AND WILLIAMSBURG

A momentous announcement appeared in the Williamsburg, Virginia, _Gazette_ on March 16, 1769:

"The Common Hall having this day determined to build a
commodious brick court-house in this city and having
appointed us to agree with and undertake to build the same,
we do hereby give notice that we shall meet at Mr. Hay's (the
Raleigh Tavern) on Tuesday, the 4th of April, to let the
building thereof; we are also appointed to dispose of the
present court-house, and the ground on which the same stands.
James Cock, John Carter, James Carter, John Tazewell."