USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Historic homes in Washington : its noted men and women and a century in the White House > Part 24
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Mr. Motley's sudden call from England was a shock to his proud spirit from which he never recovered-a
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shock that affected his sensibilities, producing an interior laceration from which he died.
Mr. Motley's three daughters married Englishmen. The eldest, Mrs. Ives, a widow, married Sir William Har- court. Notwithstanding the feeling she naturally shared with her father that America had wronged him, in Sir William Harcourt she must have found a sympathizer in Republican ideas, as he is the stanch ally of Mr. Glad- stone and "home rule." One of the other sisters married a Mr. Mildmay; the third, a son of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. All have become daughters of old England, and in her soil rests the dust of John Lothrop Motley.
Mr. Levi P. Morton purchased this house, and occupied it while he was in Congress. He belongs to the old mer- chant aristocracy of New York, and is one of the most popular of all merchant princes. When the future of the country was in question at the outbreak of the civil war, there was no uncertain ring in his decisions; they were founded on the broad principle of patriotism. He has lived to see France, which under the Second Empire attempted to take advantage of our civil strife and in- vade Mexico, become a free Republic upon the American model, and himself chosen to represent the United States at the Capital of the French Republic.
The day before James A. Garfield was made President he breakfasted with Mr. Morton, and it was, perhaps, at this time that the curious dispute arose as to the terms of agreement by which Mr. Morton had been pledged either the portfolio of the Secretary of the Treasury or Ministership to France.
· This was the secret bargain that had gained credence by which Mr. Garfield was to obtain the support of the Stalwart faction; but when the campaign had been fought and won, Mr. Garfield's advisers insisted that Mr. Morton must be sent off to France. Mr. Morton never revealed the facts, and the secret remained with Roscoe Conkling. It is known that Mr. Morton accepted what to him was banishment from his country, and amid all the grandeur by which he was surrounded he sighed for his native land. While he was in Europe
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Senator Hale lived in his house. An apartment house is now in its place. Lincoln, Stanton, Sumner, Hooper, Johnson, Grant, Motley, Garfield and Conkling have all passed away, and but the ghosts of memory people our brain, as once they gave life and character to this historic spot.
Mr. Morton began life in a country dry-goods store in Concord, N' H. Later he was a teacher in a district school. He : a bachelor of 32 when he married for his first wife Lucy Kimball, of Flat Land, Long Island. She was a woman of rare energy of character, possess- ing wonderful executive ability, generous and benevo- lent to a marked degree, a woman of many charms of person and temperament.
Grace Church Memorial of New York was the gift of Mr. Morton in memory of his wife's unselfish service to the poor. She died in Newport in 1871, leaving no children.
On the walls of Mr. Morton's house in Fifth Avenue, New York, among the portraits of Washington, Grant, Garfield and Lafayette, is a daguerreotype of the old country store at Concord where he began his mer- cantile career which led to his seniorship in a large whole- sale house in New York; from that to ships, from ships to foreign exchange and to the banking house of Morton, Bliss & Co., New York, and of Morton, Rice & Co., London.
The present Mrs. Morton is the daughter of William I. Street, of Poughkeepsie, and the niece of Alfred B. Street, the Albany poet. She is a lady of refined tastes, cultivated intellect and refined presence. She is the . mother of five young daughters.
No home in Washington surpassed that of the Vice- President, on Scott Circle, in royal entertaining; for both Mr. and Mrs. Morton won golden opinions from the people by the manner in which they adorned their high estate, and drew social forces into life at home and at foreign courts.
On the northwest corner of 6th and E streets is a square- .
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built brick house that was once the home of Salmon P. Chase, who was successively Governor of his State, Senator in Congress, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the country's direst need for level-headed men he was the one who carried its finances triumphantly through the great civil war, and was lastly Chief Justice of the highest Court in the land.
It was in this house that. the beautiful Kate Chase graced the home of her great father. It is said that her history would, in part, be a history of the war; that no one woman had more to do in influencing the move- ments on the military and political chess-board than she, and it was her influence largely that kept McClellan at the head of the army. An unfortunate marriage to a man of brilliant promise, for the sake of the father she adored, which failed by the smallest chance of making him the Chief Magistrate of the Nation, proved her down- fall .. There was a time when Mrs. Sprague's position, her exquisite grace, her beauty of form and feature gave her the ascendency in society. Self-exiled was she for years. Edgewood, on the outskirts of the city, the ·
country home of the family, had most of the time a de- serted look. The change that came upon this once happy family laid its hand also upon beautiful Edge- wood.
An organization of members of the bar from Ohio, in the Summer of 1886, removed the remains of Mr. Chase to Cincinnati, where he was best known as a lawyer. Mrs. Kate Chase Sprague returned from Europe to attend the last rites in honor of the father she adored.
The Nation will always reverence the name of Salmon P. Chase, and not forget the beautiful daughter who went down into the valley of suffering through filial affection and aspirations.
CHAPTER XXIX
GEORGETOWN HIGHTS-THE CHANGES OF A
HUNDRED YEARS-THE HOLLAND HOUSE OF
WASHINGTON.
THE BEALE FAMILY-THE UNEARTHING OF ANCIENT TABLETS. AN INDIAN PRINCESS-GEORGETOWN ARISTOCRATS-THE TUDOR ESTATE-THE LINTHICUM MANSION-PHILIP BARTON KEY-GEN. FORREST AT ROSEDALE-ONE OF THE HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD-THERE THE SANITARY COMMISSION WAS PLANNED AND ORIGINATED-STATESMAN, SAGE AND PHILAN- THROPIST TO BE FOUND THERE.
Not many years ago there were unearthed in George- town some tablets of great value to the lover of anti- quities. These slabs bear date so remote that most of the inscriptions have been eaten away by the tooth of time, but there remains sufficient to identify the Beale family, whose estate comprised what is known as George- town Hights.
· Far back in the shadowy past the clear, ringing tongue of the Celtic Bell made melody in the ear of an Indian Princess, who soon after became his wife. The first home of this young pair was a wigwam founded upon Dum- barton Rock; afterwards a log cabin snuggled in these woody hights. . Here Madame Bell, attended by her pale-faced consort, led the fashion without rival, and with none to dispute her sway.
To the east stretched their vast possessions, which embraced all the land within the scope of vision be- tween the cottage and the rising sun. Over the stormy seas came the winged sailing vessels, bringing rich brocades and laces for this dusky queen. Her cos- tumes were half civilized and half barbaric.
These ancient Georgetown aristocrats have been slowly undergoing the bleaching process, and the past hundred years have almost obliterated the last trace of Indian origin. But true to their instinct they were the first to seize the deadly musket in the Southern cause:
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and the late battlefields of the South are made richer by the bones of the last of the aristocracy of Georgetown.
After the Bells came the Peters family, whose slave call was answered by hundreds of sable men. George- town Hights, in those days, was called the Tudor estate, in memory of the royal line in England.
The Peters family was related to the Washingtons and the Lees. Washington Peters is the most prominent descendant of this aristocratic family, but the last frag- ment of the estate has passed away from him, and he lives on a farm at Ellicott's Mills, a man of nearly eighty years. He alone retains the haughty bearing of the proud family, the last of his race whose hand has rested on the yoke of a slave.
The shifting panorama shows us Protestant Thuldkill, who, through the influence of Archbishop Carroll, of Baltimore, gave the extensive grounds, now occupied by the Georgetown College and Convent, to the Catholic Church during the latter part of the last century. But little has came down to us of the social element of the Thuldkills. They were a family of culture and refinement, and institutions of learning that have sprung up under their fostering care are their enduring monuments. The following amusing incident was related to us by a friend. Mr. Thuldkill was a great stock breeder on his estate, Georgetown Hights. When Merino sheep first attracted attention in this country he had obtained a small flock, ' and had been negotiating for some time for a ram. At length it reached Washington. He mounted his horse, and rode anxiously to see and possess it. 'It was a splen- did animal, with a price correspondingly high. He bought it, engaged a cart and negro driver, and hastily addressed a note to Mrs. Thuldkill, saying that a stranger and several gentlemen would dine with them, and to have especially a leg of mutton done up in superior style; adding also: "The colored boy who delivers this takes over a splendid ram; please to see it."
The ram was tied up, and the preliminaries of the feast arranged. In reference to the mutton, Mrs. Thuld- kill consulted her steward, and they concluded from the
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tenor of the note that the animal sent by the cart was to supply the leg of mutton for the festive board; so, accord- ingly, that costly and fine ram was victimized, and his plump quarter dressed, garnished and served smoking at the head of the table.
After some preliminary libations at the sideboard, the guests were seated, and a generous slice of mutton was placed upon each plate. They unanimously decided that it was very superior, and the host heartily indorsed the sentiment, and turning to his delighted spouse, inquired from which particular flock it had been taken. She, of course, responded: "It was the large ram you sent for the occasion this morning."
This was too much. The old gentleman's cue stood on end, his face was fairly purple, for at first he was dum- founded. He arose from his chair, nearly upsetting the table, and brought his fist down with a tremendous . thump, and, with an emphasis pinned with oaths, said:
"Madam, you have slaughtered my magnificent ram, for which I paid $300 this morning." It was a scene so ridiculous, it is said, one of the guests was obliged to withdraw to have out his laugh.
Coming down to the last 50 years, we find the aristoc- racy of Georgetown strongly flavored with merchants and trades-people.
The Linthicum mansion, standing at the head of Thirty- first street, is one of the finest of the old mansions of George- town. It was built and owned by a hardware merchant. He, too, has passed away, like all the old residents who gave tone to the elegant society which ruled during the Administrations of Polk and Buchanan. Many noted people have lived in this house, among them the Hon. John C. Calhoun. It is now owned by one of the capital- ists of Washington, Henry F. Blount, and is known as "The Oaks." The beautiful grounds, the spacious mansion, its unique adornment of antique furniture so eminently befitting its tapestries, pictures, marbles, and the indwelling host and hostess, still bring sage and philanthropist together. From this home influences will go forth that will be dissolvents of prejudices and
-
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the building of mental forces which will be keenly sym- pathetic with the life of the time.
In the days of Polk and Buchanan one of the social queens of the Capital lived in Georgetown, the city of her birth and education, the daughter of an obscure but highly-respected citizen, Mr. Williams. At the early age of 16 she was married to the Russian Minister, Bodisco. At this wedding there were eight bridesmaids. Miss Jessie Benton, the first, walked with James Buchanan. The bride wore a rich satin brocade and veil of Honiton lace, her ornaments simply a pearl sprig and pin. Henry Clay gave her away. M. de Bodisco wore his splendid court dress of blue, decorated with several Orders and precious stones and silver-lace of great depth. The foreign Ministers of his train wore their uniforms.
This marriage at once lifted Madame de Bodisco to the highest round in the social ladder, while his vast wealth was used to give his wifely jewel the most costly setting. From over the sea came the flashing gems that had adorned the persons of a hundred generations of Bodisco Russians-diamonds eclipsed only by those of world- wide fame, the same that Mrs. Tyler mentions in a letter written in 18.12:
"I very seldom go to parties, but, of course, I could not refuse Madame Bodisco's invitation. Her ball was ex- pected to be tit grandest affair of the season. Madame Bodisco looked lovely and was attired in pink satin with lace, flowers, and such splendid diamonds, stomacher, ear-rings, breastpin, bracelets !- I never saw such beautiful diamonds. Most of the furniture was of European make, and the house was filled with a variety of curios, bric-a-brac and works of art, the china service unsur- passed, the plate magnificent."
Articles from this mansion are vet to be seen in some of the homes, and find a way into loan collections from time to time.
The home of the Bodiscos was 3142 P street, George- town. The most superb fete ever given in the District, it is said, was given in this house, in honor of the birth- day of the Emperor Nicolas, when 800 guests were in-
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vited. Music enlivened the brilliant scene. All the foreign Ministers were in attendance, with their attaches, in court dress.
The supper was served at I o'clock. A commodious apartment in the second story was set apart to accommo- date the ladies. The table was covered with gold and mirror plateaus, candelabras, ornamental dishes, gold forks, etc. The gentlemen were not admitted to this room, the ladies being waited upon by servants. The gentlemen's supper room was in the third story.
The Czar of Russia was represented by one of the most popular Ministers of the Diplomatic Corps. None com- pared in' popularity with M. Bodisco. Courtesies ex- tended and entertainments given are often found to be the golden chain that binds Nations together.
In those primitive days the working people used to line the roadway to see Madame Bodisco pass from her mansion to the White House, on occasions of receptions or levees. If the weather permitted she was visible to all in her open carriage, far more beautiful than the famous Eugenie, and with the same superior tact and grace. , Creamy white satin and costly old lace was the favorite costume, and when adorned with jewels worth more than half a million, mounted policemen followed in her train.
The people said, "Old Bodisco is afraid some one will steal his wife," but he was simply protecting her after the Russian fashion. But this American girl was something more than a figure to be adorned with precious stones. With that superb tact which only a Josephine knew how to practice, she united the contending social elements. She thawed the frozen ocean of diplomatic ceremony and bade the foreign fortress open its doors to her country- women as well as to herself. It is true, she had standing at her right hand the incomparable Harriet Lane, of the White House. History rarely records the fact that dis- tinguished ladies are beautiful, but popular acclamation gave both these women the fairest crown.
Alike in style and type, both blondes, almost perfect in form and feature, with Titian-tinted flesh and golden hair such as the masters gave their beloved Madonnas,
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they held their emblems of power with a firmer grasp than did Marie Antoinette, a woman of the same mold. * %
There is no place where the sacred rites of hospitality were more rigidly observed than on the Hights of George- town, and at no period of history was this more gener- ously carried out than immediately after the Revolution- ary War.
One of the Generals of that war was Uriah Forrest, a member of an aristocratic Maryland family. During the struggle for independence he served in the "Maryland Line," and lost a leg at the battle of Brandywine; he was again wounded at the battle of Germantown, from the effects of which he never recovered.
He was as distinguished in civil as he was in military affairs. During the years 1786-87 he was a delegate from Maryland to the Continental Congress, and a Repre- sentative in the Councils from 1793 to 1794, when he re- signed.
When the District of Columbia was ceded to the United States by the States of Maryland and Virginia, Gen. Forrest resided on his estate, "Rosedale," near George- town, then a portion of Montgomery County; but being within the 10 miles square, it became a part of the Dis- trict, and Gen. Forrest thus became literally one of the first families of the District of Columbia.
He married Rebecca Plater, of "Rousby Hall," Mary- land, daughter of George Plater. Mrs. Forrest was remarkable for her beauty; she was once toasted in Eng- land as "one of America's great beauties."
Gen. Forrest died at his residence, "Rosedale," in 1805. One of his daughters married John Green, of Maryland, who was for many years an efficient clerk in the Navy Department. They lived at "Rosedale," the former residence of her father.
One of the daughters of Mr. Green married Don Angel de Iturbide, whose father was the ill-fated Don Augustin I., the first and last Emperor of Mexico, who, after being banished from his country, had the courage to return, and soon after fell into the hands of his enemies,
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HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON.
and was shot in the presence of his family, who were banished and sought an asylum in the United States, where they remained many years.
But in the lapse of time, the friends of the late Emperor came into power, and young Iturbide, who from a long residence in this country, spoke English like a native, was appointed Secretary of the Mexican Legation in 1856; and it was while holding that position that his marriage with Miss Green took place. To them was born a son, Don Augustin. He was about seven or eight years old when Maximillian, supported by the bayonets of Napoleon III., attempted his unsuccessful conquest of Mexico.
Maximillian deeming it a wise policy to make him- self popular with the people he was ambitious to govern, resolved to adopt young Augustin Iturbide as his heir.
In order to get control of the boy, he held out promises of power and wealth to the parents of Augustin, who, as soon as such promises were accepted and the child given up, were banished from the country, and once more sought the fostering care of the United States. Upon their arrival here they called upon William H. Seward, then Secretary of State, to ask him to use his influence as mediator between Maximillian and themselves.
But the United States being then at war, Mr. Seward was timid about making any fresh complications with , foreign countries, so he declined to interfere, but advised Madame Iturbide to go to Paris, see Napoleon, and lay her case before him.
She followed Mr. Seward's instructions, but failed to get a personal interview with Napoleon, and was con- pelled to lay her case before him in writing. He declined to interfere, and Madame Iturbide was once more forced to return to her mother's home, "Rosedale."
Soon after the downfall and death of Maximillian, Augustin and his parents were once more united. Young Iturbide, after being educated in the best colleges in this country and Europe, again returned to the home of his fathers.
Mrs. Green, the daughter of Gen. Forrest, and mother
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of Mrs. Iturbide, during her lifetime gave a portion of "Rosedale" to her son, George F. Green, whereon he erected a stone house. The point upon which the house was built presents a magnificent view of Washington and the surrounding country, and was called by him "Pretty Prospect,"
"Pretty Prospect" was afterwards purchased by Presi dent Cleveland, who made many handsome improve- ments to the property. With the change of owners came a change of name, and it is now known as "Oak View."
Gov. Plater's daughter, Ann, married Judge Philip Barton Key. He was born in Maryland in 1765. He entered the English service as Captain, and distinguished . himself by refusing to bear arms against the Colonies. Afterward he established a high reputation as a lawyer. and lived at that beautiful spot called "Woodley."
Francis Scott Key, who immortalized his name by the writing of the "Star Spangled Banner," was a nephew of Judge Key. His home for many years was on the south side of Pennsylvania avenue, Georgetown, near Aqueduct Bridge. An authentic account of the in- cidents connected with the writing of this National song has been given by the grand-niece of Dr. Beans, Mrs. Dorsey:
"Françis Key, in 1810, lived in Georgetown. Dr. Beans, of Marlborough, a Surgeon in the United States Army, was attending the disabled soldiers when Com- modore Barney's flotilla was attacked on the Patuxent. The British army, on their march to Washington, bi- vouacked on the plantation of Dr. Beans, who, though detesting them, treated the officers with true Maryland hospitality.
"A few days after their departure, while he was at dinner with some friends, a. slave brought the news that the British were marching back to their boats. Full of glee, the party went to a spring on the estate, with lemons, whisky, etc., to drink to the confusion of 'perfidious Albion.
"Three tired English soldiers coming for water, were made prisoners by the patriotic American gentlemen,
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and marched off to the County jail. The men were missed from the ranks, and a detachment sent in search of them traced them to Marlborough, where the terrified inhabitants betrayed who were the captors. The men were recovered. Dr. Beans was seized at midnight, placed, in his night-dress, on the bare back of a mule, and taken, closely guarded, to the troops. Thence he was sent to Admiral Cockburn's ship and into rigorous con- finement.
"The whole country. was aroused, and as soon as steps could be taken, Francis Key, the intimate friend of Dr. Beans, was sent by President Madison, with a flag of truce, to get him exchanged. When Key reached the British fleet at North Point, they were about to attack Baltimore, and, though he was courteously received and invited to dine with Cockburn, he was informed that he must remain on board till after the bombardment of the city. He shared his friend's uncomfortable quarters that memorable night, at sunset seeing the Star Spangled Banner waving proudly from the ramparts of Fort Mc- Henry. When the morning dawned after that night of battle, lit at intervals by the lurid flashes of exploding bombs, and made fearful by the thunders of cannon, the mist was too dense to discern whether the flag or the red cross of St. George waved from the fort, in the direction in which the two watched through the porthole, trembling with suspense. Presently there was a ripple in the water, a soft sough in the fog, and, like magic, it rolled away, revealing the American flag still floating defiantly from the staff above the ramparts. The patriots fell on each other's breasts, weeping for joy. Mr. Key then drew a letter from his pocket, and on its back penciled the first stanza of the celebrated National song. After the bom- bardment, Dr. Beans and Mr. Key were sent ashore in a skiff."
The land force was under the command of the grand- father of Kate Claxton, the dramatic artist. After the - song was completed it was published in the Baltimore American.
With the coming of civil war a society mildew fell upon
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Georgetown. Neighbors and friends looked upon each other with mutual distrust. As a general rule most of the fighting element rolled Southward. In a few in- stances a house was divided against itself.
Once a Georgetown mother appeared before Abraham Lincoln to beg for the life of her son, who had been caught as a guerrilla with arms in his possession. "My eldest son," said the mother, "is a trusty officer in the Union Army; my youngest, my darling, was one of Mosby's guerrillas.".
"Miserable mother," said the President; "God help you, for I cannot. I know who you are; this is the third time your boy has been caught. Mercy is beyond me." And the man with streaming eyes supported the falter- ing steps of the wretched woman beyond the threshold.
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