USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 54
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
ceremonies. The first regular session, with full line of lectures and entertainments, was held during the summer of 1891, Rev. A. II. Gillet chancellor.
The National Bureau of Education, under the direction of the Department of the Interior, originated in a general demand of the edu- cators of the country for a central agency to collect, preserve, and publish educational statistics. It was created by an act of Congress, March 2, 1867, General Garfield being chairman of the committee in Congress which reported the bill, and the most prominent supporter of the measure on the floor. Its functions are succinctly stated in the act: "For the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the United States in the establish- ment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education." The bureau is not administrative, and hence has no control over State systems. It is conducted by a Commissioner of Education appointed by the President. The first incumbent of the office was Hon. Henry Barnard, LL. D., of Con- necticut, who held the position for three years from 1867. He was succeeded in 1870 by General John Eaton, LL. D., of Tennessee, who performed the duties of the position until he was followed, in 1886, by Dr. Nathaniel HI. R. Dawson, of Alabama. A change of national administration occurring, Dr. Dawson was superseded in the summer of 1889 by Dr. William T. Harris, of Concord, Massachusetts, formerly superintendent of the schools of the city of St. Louis. The bureau, never endowed as fully as it deserves, occupies humble apartments on the corner of G and Eighth streets Northwest.
Norwood Institute, a select preparatory and classical school, is located at 1407 and 1409 Massachusetts Avenue and 1212 and 1214 Fourteenth Street Northwest. It was organized September 26, 1881, by Mr. and Mrs. William D. Cabell, as principals, and is still under their management. The institution has a good course of study, and is supported by the patronage of leading citizens of the city.
Wood's Commercial College, located on East Capitol Street, was founded by Court F. Wood as a night school. In the latter part of 1891, it secured new quarters in Baum's Hall, and instituted day ses- sions. A little later in the season, the proprietor purchased Starin's Commercial School, conducted on E Street, between North Capitol and First, Northwest, and consolidated it with his own.
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EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
Wayland Seminary, on Meridian Hill, north of the city, was founded in 1865, by the Baptist Church, for the education of colored preachers and teachers. The building, a three-story brick with accom- modations for two hundred students, was erected in 1873-74 at a cost of $35,000, voluntarily contributed by friends of the institution. The work on the structure was all done by colored labor.
The Ivy Institute is an institution specially devoted to private instruction, with a view to qualifying patrons for passing examinations in the Civil Service for various governmental positions. It began in 1876, under the direction of Professor Thomas Flynn, A. M., its present manager. The school is located on the corner of K and Eighth streets.
Miss Balch, on Tenth Street Northwest, has been for several years conducting a similar school. Her patronage has been quite extensive.
Mount Vernon Seminary, corner of M and Eleventh streets Northwest, is one of the largest and most popular schools for young ladies, not only in the city, but in the country. It began, in 1875, on F Street, with but two or three pupils; and under the energetic and skillful management of its founder and principal, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Somers, has reached its present prosperous and commanding posi- tion. The location is a pleasant one, and the view in all directions most gratifying. The buildings are convenient and commodious, affording every modern facility for both boarders and day pupils. The faculty embraces some twenty-five instructors, representing leading American colleges. The patronage comes from leading families in Washington and throughout the United States. The enrollment during the scholastic year of 1891-92 is upwards of sixty boarding pupils, and one hundred and fifteen day pupils. Extensive additions were made to the buildings during the year 1891; and all these build- ings are neatly furnished, thoroughly heated and ventilated, and admirably adapted to their purpose.
Columbia College of Commerce, located at 623 Louisiana Avenue, opposite the post office, was founded in May, 1885, by Mr. C. K. Urner, for fifteen years preceding that time an instructor in the Eastman Business University, of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is a practical business school, with day and evening sessions to meet the wants of the large class of young people who must attend classes when they can find it suitable to do so. The organization consists of C. II. Urner, president; C. K. Urner, principal, and Mrs. M. N. Urner, secretary and treasurer.
Following is a list of the libraries in Washington, together with the number of volumes and pamphlets in each ;
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Academy of the Visitation, 1,000; American Medical Association, 7,000; Bar Association, 7,000; Bureau of Education, 17,500; Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 16,000; Bureau of Ordnance, 3,000; Bureau of Statistics, 5,000, 6,500 pamphlets; Carroll Institute, 3,000; Coast and Geodetic Survey, 8,000, pamphlets, 7,000; Columbia Institution for Deaf and Dumb, 4,000; Columbian University, 6,000; Department of Agriculture, 24,000, pamphlets, 8,000; Department of Justice, 20,000; Department of State, 50,000, pamphlets, 3,000; Department of the Interior, 10,500; District of Columbia, 2,000; Executive Mansion, 4,000; General Land Office, 3,000; Geological Survey, 30,000, pamphlets, 42,- 000; Georgetown College, 35,000; Gonzaga College, 10,000; Government Ilospital for the Insane, 2,480; Health Department, District of Col- umbia, 2,000; House of Representatives, 125,000; Howard University, 15,000; Hydrographic Office, 3,000; Library of Congress, 650,000, pamphlets, 200,000; Library of Supreme Council 33, Southern Juris- dietion, United States of America, 15,000; Light Battery C, Third Artillery, 2,000; Light-house Board, Treasury Department, 3,500; Marine Hospital Bureau, 1,500, pamphlets, 1,000; Masonic Library, 3,000; Nautical Almanac Office, 1,600; Naval Observatory, 13,000, pamphlets, 3,000; Navy Department, 24,100, pamphlets, 1,000; Patent Office Scientific Library, 50,000; Post Office Department, 8,000; St. John's College, 4,000; Senate Library, 47,000; Soldiers' Home, 5,700; Solicitor of the Treasury, 7,000; Surgeon General's Office, 102,000; pamphlets, 152,225; Treasury Department, 18,000; War Department, 30,000; Weather Bureau, 12,000, pamphlets, 2,500; Young Men's Christian Association, 2,000. Total number of volumes, 1,412,880; pamphlets, 426,225.
CHAPTER XV.
LITERATURE AND ART.
Warden's and Elliott's Works-Cther Authors-Literary Writers of Washington - G. A. Townsend- Ben: Perley Poore-Mrs. Southworth - Professor Baird -- Gen- eral H. V. Boynton-Dr. J. M. Toner-George Bancroft - Mrs. Burnett-Scientific Writers-William B. Webb -J. W. Powell-W. J. McGee- Architects - Hallett - Hadfield -Hoban - Latrobe - Bulfinch - Mills - Walter - Clark - Cluss - Schulze -Mullett - Hill -Page - Poindev- - Frazier - Corcoran Gallery of Art - Artists.
was
E ARLY in the centung]. En. . was written about the city of Wash- ington, because it had then recently become the Capital of the Nation. Some articles were written for magazines and some were published in book form. One of the earliest of the books upon the Distriet to attract attention was "The Chorographical and Statistical Description of the District of Columbia," published in 1816, the author being D. B. Warden. Jonathan Elliott, in 1830, published a book entitled "The Ten Miles Square," which contains much interesting original historical and documentary matter relating to Washington, and which is quoted to-day as the best authority upon the subject so far written.
In 1845, William Q. Force published "Force's Picture of the City of Washington," containing a brief historical sketch of the city, de- scriptions of the Government buildings, of the statuary, and of the public and educational institutions, etc., of Washington, and a sketch of Georgetown, of Alexandria, and of Bladensburg.
In 1848, Joseph B. Varnum, Jr., published a work called "The Seat of Government of the United States," which was a review of the discussions in and out of Congress on the site and plan of the Federal City. In 1854, a second edition of this work was published. It contains one hundred and twenty pages.
Colonel John S. Williams, in 1857, published a "History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington, and of the Events which Pre- ceded and Followed." It was written with the view of removing the obloquy which, in his opinion, has been undeservedly cast upon the American troops in the battle of Bladensburg. According to Colonel Williams, the blame for the result of this battle properly
519
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
lay with the Government itself and with the commanding general, and this he labors to prove.
There are many other books written thus early by Washington authors, but further particularization would perhaps be tedious.
Among those who have contributed to the fame of Washington as a literary center, the following may be referred to: Professor Joseph Henry, Ainsworth R. Spofford, Mrs. Southworth, George Alfred Townsend, Don Piatt, Ben: Perley Poore, Albert Pike, Walt Whitman, Mrs. Lippincott ("Grace Greenwood"), Harriet Prescott Spofford, and Dr. J. M. Toner. Some of these and several others are specially mentioned below.
John Burroughs was a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, his . articles being mainly on natural 1.'s, -v Walt Whitman was for a time a clerk in the office of the General, ibrary 1 and was pronounced by the Westminster Review "th, ouly re Council epresentative of art of the American Democracy"; whien criticism indicates that while this good gray poe' , 'v not have been universally admired by his own countrymen, y oba had warm admirers in Europe.
Mrs. Helen C. Weeks was one of the first of the story writers for children, surpassed only, perhaps, by Miss Aleott.
George Alfred Townsend is at least one of the most prolific of American writers, and while he occasionally repeats the mistakes of his authorities, yet he is always exceedingly entertaining, and usually instructive. He has been in all parts of the civilized world, and has contributed to numerous papers and magazines in both Europe and the United States. He came to Washington in 1868, and resided here several years. The Chicago Tribune paid him $20,000 for one thousand columns of preferred matter, furnished at the rate of three hundred columns per year. Since then, he has been a regular and invaluable correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer, giving that paper its chief value to the general reader. His local work on Wash- ington, entitled " Washington, Outside and Inside," partly historical, partly descriptive, and partly discursive, is very entertaining, and in the discursive portion is an excellent illustration of a marked char- acteristic of human nature,-that of excessive severity against former friends, having, on account of their faults and imperfections, become their enemy.
Ben: Perley Poore was educated for the law, but always lived the life of a Bohemian, because that life was free and unrestrained. IIe early became European correspondent of the Boston Atlas, and afterward married in Georgetown, which city was the birthplace of his mother.
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LITERATURE AND ART.
He became a newspaper correspondent in Washington in 1838, but did not become a regular correspondent until his return from France in 1847, and then for the Boston Journal. Besides this paper, he cor- responded for the New York Commercial Advertiser, the New Orleans Times, and Harper's Weekly. He was also the author of several books, among them "The Rise and Fall of Louis Philippe"; but his greatest work was probably his "Personal Reminiscences." Every one consults, and every one is dissatisfied with, his index of Government publica- tions; but could any of his critics have prepared a better one?
The career of Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth as an author, while a most remarkable one, is well known to most readers. She was born in Washington in 1819. Her first story was entitled the "Irish Emigrant," and was published in the Saturday Visitor, of Baltimore. Her " Wife's Victory" was begun in 1846, in the Visitor, but was completed in the National Era, of Washington. She afterward became a contributor to the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post, and then to the New York Ledger, and was perhaps the most popular of its con- tributors.
Professor Spencer F. Baird wrote many monographs on natural history. Dr. Albert G. Mackay was the author of several standard works on Freemasonry. Judge Charles G. Nott wrote "Sketches of the War." Theodore N. Gill wrote numerous papers for scientific journals, his specialty being ichthyology. General A. A. Humphreys wrote "The Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River"; Miss Martha Thomas, the novel, "Life's Lessons"; Professor Benjamin Peirce, many works on physics and mathematics. Edward McPherson wrote a "Political History of the United States during the Rebel- lion," and a "History of Reconstruction," and has since published a political manual every two years. Professor J. E. Hilgard is the author of numerous scientific papers. Nathan Sargent, or "Oliver Oldschool," was one of the Nestors of Washington journalism, Mr. E. Kingman being another. J. R. Dodge wrote "The Red Men of the Ohio Valley," and other works. Dr. N. C. Towle wrote "His- tory and Analysis of the Constitution." Joseph J. Woodward, M. D., wrote a volume of poems. Rev. Charles B. Boynton, D. D., wrote " The Four, Great Powers," and several other works. Samuel Tyler wrote several books and reviews of poetry, philosophy, etc. Charles D. Drake was the author of a learned treatise on the law of suits by attachment. Mrs. Mary Clemmer wrote many letters for the New York Independent, "Ten Years in Washington," novels, and other works. D. W. Bartlett was a voluminous writer, and Rev. J. P. Newman wrote
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
"From Dan to Beersheba"; Professor S. M. Shute, "A Manual of Anglo-Saxon"; and George Taylor, "Indications of Creation."
Ben: Perley Poore has already been mentioned. He died in 1887. He was succeeded as the "Dean of the Press" by General H. V. Boynton, who has been a prominent newspaper correspondent since 1866. For many years he was the special correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, but within the last year or two he has severed his connection with that paper and is now one of the special writers for the Washington Post.
Dr. J. M. Toner is the author of "The Medical Men of the Rev- olution, with a Brief History of the Medical Department of the Continental Army"; " Wills of the American Ancestors of George Washington, in the Line of the Original Owner and the Inheritors of Mount Vernon "; "Contributions to the Study of Yellow Fever"; "The Toner Lectures," instituted to encourage the discovery of new truths for the advancement of medicine; " Address before the Rocky Moun- tain Medical Association, Containing Some Observations upon the Geological Age of the World"; "The Appearance of Animal Life upon the Globe," and numerous other works of value.
George Bancroft, the eminent historian, wrote a volume of poems, and published translations of Heeren's "Politics of Ancient Greece" and Heeren's "History of the Political System of Europe." His " His- tory of the United States," which placed him among the great writers of the age, was issued in ten volumes from 1834 to 1874. The first three volumes are devoted to the Colonization, and the next seven to the Revolutionary, period. "A History of the Formation of the Con- stitution of the United States" was afterward written. He was also the author of numerous other works. Dr. Bancroft was born at Wor- cester, Massachusetts, in 1800, and died in Washington, 1891.
Alexander Graham Bell has written "Facts and Opinions Relat- ing to the Deaf," "Memoir upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race," "Upon the Method of Teaching Language to a Very Young Congenital Deaf Child," " Upon the Electrical Experi- ments to Determine the Location of the Bullet in the Body of the Late President Garfield," "Upon the Production of Sound by Radiant Energy," and other works.
John Shaw Billings, M. D., besides other works, wrote "Bibli- ography of Cholera," "Hospital Construction and Organization," "A Treatise on Public Health and Hygiene," "The National Medical Dictionary, Including English, French, German, Italian, and Latin Technical Terms used in Medicine and the Collateral Sciences"; but
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LITERATURE AND ART.
his great work is the "Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office."
Swan Moses Burnett has written " A Case of Choroiditis Exsu- dation, Accompanied with Partial Micropsia, Metamorphopsia, and Chromatopsie Scotomata of Singularly Regular Forms," "A Case of Diplacusis Binauratis, with Remarks," " A Case of Restricted Range of Audition," " How We See," and other works.
James C. Welling, M. D., president of Columbia University, has written "Connecticut Federalism, or Aristocratie Politics in a Social Democracy," and "The Fundamental Elements of Intellectual Edu- cation."
Robert Fletcher, M. D., has written "On Prehistoric Trephining and Cranial Amulets," "Paul Broca and the French School of An- thropology," "A Study of Some Recent Experiments on Serpent Venom," "Tattooing among Civilized People," and other works.
Frances Hodgson Burnett, wife of Dr. S. M. Burnett, came with her husband to Washington in 1875. She wrote "That Lass o' Low- rie's," "Kathleen Mavourneen," "Pretty Polly Pemberton," "Theo," and other stories, for a Philadelphia paper. Afterward came " IIa- worth's," her second novel; "A Fair Barbarian"; "Through One Administration," and "Little Lord Fauntleroy," the latter of which has been frequently dramatized.
Edward Miner Gallaudet has written "Manual of International Law," " A Life of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet," "The Combined Sys- tem of Educating the Deaf," and "International Ethics." Dr. Gallaudet came to Washington in 1857, and took charge of the Columbian Insti- tution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind.
Madam M. V. Dahlgren wrote a "Memoir of John A. Dahlgren," and several novels.
Clarence E. Dutton wrote "On the Chemistry of the Bessemer Process," "The Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah," "Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District," and a large number of articles on scientific subjects.
Henry Gannett is the author of "Boundaries of the United States and the Several States and Territories, with a Sketch of Territorial Changes"; " Meteorological Observations during 1872, in Utah, Idaho, and Montana"; "Modern History and Present Distribution of the North American Indians," and other works.
Theodore Nicholas Gill has written " Arrangement of the Families of Fishes, or, Classes Pisces, Marsipobranchii, and Leptocardii"; "Ar- rangement of the Family of Mammals, with Analytical Tables";
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
"Arrangement of Families of Mollusks"; "The Doctrine of Darwin," and many other valuable scientific works and articles.
George Brown Goode has written " American Fisheries: A History of Menhaden "; "Bibliographies of American Naturalists"; "The Origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States"; "Contributions to the Natural History of the Bermudas," etc.
Gardner Greene Hubbard is the author of "American Railroads"; " The Education of Deaf-Mutes: Shall it be by Signs, or Articula- tion?" etc.
Garrick Mallery is the author of "Customs of Courtesy"; "Intro- duction to the Study of Sign Language among the North American Indians, as Illustrating the Gesture Speech of Mankind"; "The Rela- tions of President Garfield to Science," etc.
Thomas Corwin Mendenhall is the author of " A Century of Elec- tricity," and other valuable scientific works.
Professor Simon Newcomb is the author of many able and valuable works, among them " The A B C of Finance"; " A Critical Examina- tion of Our Financial Policy during the Southern Rebellion"; "Dis- cussion and Results of Observations on the Transits of Mercury from 1677 to 1881": "Elementary Theorems Relating to the Geometry of a Space of Three Dimensions, and of Uniformity Curvature in the Fourth Dimension "; "Measures of the Velocity of Light Made under the Direction of the Secretary in 1882"; "Newcomb's Mathematical Course "; "Popular Astronomy," and others.
Charles Valentine Riley has written a great deal on the subject of Entomology, among his works being "The Cotton Worm of the United States," "Darwin's Work in Entomology," "Little Known Facts about Well-Known Animals," " The Periodical Cicada," etc.
Lester F. Ward has written "Dynamic Sociology," "Haeckel's Genesis of Man," "Mind as a Social Factor," "Politico-social Func- tions," "Types of the Laramie Flora," "Botany of the District of Columbia," etc.
William B. Webb is the author of "A Digest of the Laws of the Corporation of Washington City, and of the Charter and Other Acts of Congress Concerning the Same," and of a part of Fortes' "Eco- nomic Legislation Relating to Incorporated Companies."
William Torrey Harris has contributed largely to magazines on art, education, and philosophy, and has published numerous works, among them " A Statement of American Education," "On the Function of the Study of Latin and Greek in Education," "Emerson's Orientalism," "Hegel's Logie," "The Idea of the State and its Necessity," etc.
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LITERATURE AND ART.
Samuel Clagett Busey, M. D., has written numerous treatises on medical subjects, some of them being the following: "Congenital Occlusion and Dilatation of Lymph Channels"; "The Mortality of Young Children: Its Causes and Prevention"; and also on other subjects, as "Immigration: Its Evils and Consequences."
Charles Daniel Drake, recently deceased, wrote "Camp Jackson: Its Ilistory and Significance"; "Christianity, the Friend of the Working Classes"; "The Duties of American Citizens"; "The Veto Power: Its Nature and History."
Stephen Johnson Field is the author of " Personal Reminiscences of Early Days in California, and Other States," "Remarks on the Electoral Commission on the Florida Case," etc.
Olive Risley Seward wrote "Around the World Stories," and edited William Henry Seward's "Travels around the World."
Anna Laurens Dawes, daughter of Senator Dawes, of Massachu- setts, has written "How We are Governed," "The Modern Jew, Ilis Present and Future," and other works, and a " Life of Charles Sumner."
A. W. Greely is the author of "American Weather," "Isother- mal Lines of the United States," "Three Years of Arctic Service; an Account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84," etc.
Samuel Pierpont Langley has written "The New Astronomy," " Researches on Solar Heat and its Absorption by the Earth's Atmos- phere," " The Temperature of the Moon," etc.
John George Nicolay is the author, in conjunction with John Ilay, of "Abraham Lincoln: A History," publishedj in the Century Magazine, and afterward in book form.
Charles Nordhoff is the anthor of " America for Free Working- men," "How Slavery Injures the Free Workingman," " California for Health, Pleasure, and Residence," "God and the Future Life," " Politics for Young Americans," etc.
Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Librarian of Congress, is the author of " Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress," "The American Almanac," "The Binding and Preservation of Books," "The Found- ing of Washington City, with Some Considerations on the Origin of Cities and Location of National Capitals," "The Higher Law Tried by Reason and Authority," etc.
John Hay was editor-in-chief for several months of the New York Tribune, and has published " Pike County Ballads," "Castilian Days," and with John G. Nicolay, wrote " Abraham Lincoln: A History."
Anna Hanson Dorsey is a native of Georgetown, District of Col- umbia. She is the author of a great many works of fiction, one of
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
which, " May Brooke," is remarkable for having been republished in Scotland, and for being the first Catholic book issued in Scotland since the Reformation. She has also writen, among other works, "The Stu- dent of Blenheim Forest"; "Flowers of Love and Memory"; "Oriental Pearls"; "Coaina, the Rose of the Algonquins"; "Gun, the Leper"; " The Fate of the Dane, and Other Stories."
Miss E. Ruhamah Seidmore is the author of "Alaska, Its South- ern Coast, and the Sitka Archipelago"; "The Berkeleys and Their Neighbors," etc.
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