USA > Washington > Standard history of the city of Washington from a study of the original sources > Part 28
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the said District, and for all subsequent elections twelve months' prior residence shall be required to constitute a voter; but the legislative assembly shall have no right to abridge or limit the right of suffrage." (18 Stat. 116).
The Registration Officers and Superintendents of Elections, the time, place, and manner of conducting the first election under that law, were designated in an undated proclamation by the Governor and Judges of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, as directed by section 5 of that law. The first election under that law was held on Tuesday, April 20, 1871, from 8 a. m. until 7 p. m. But the like duty as to subsequent elections was vested in and exercised by the Legislative Assembly and Governor.
The Act of the General Assembly of Maryland, passed December 25, 1789, incorporating Georgetown prescribed respect- ing municipal suffrage in that town, "that all free men above twenty-one years of age, and having visible property within the state above the value of thirty pounds current money, and having resided in said town one whole year next before the first day of January next, shall have the right to assemble at such place in said town as the said mayor, recorder, and aldermen, or any three or more of them shall appoint, and proceed to elect viva voce," etc.
A property qualification in Georgetown continued until August 11, 1856, when an Act of Congress of that date granted the suffrage to every free white male citizen of the United States who had attained the age of twenty-one years, and had resided in Georgetown one year immediately preceding the election, and been subject to and paid a school tax for the year.
By the Act of February 21, 1871, above cited, Georgetown became amenable to the same laws respecting suffrage, as the rest of the District.
When the Government created by the Act of February 21, 1871, was abolished on June 20, 1874, all right of municipal suffrage anywhere in the District of Columbia was extinguished, and has not been restored.
Although Congress may confer the privilege of self govern- ment upon the people of the District of Columbia, as an admin-
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istrative expedient, as it has done, to save it from the toil and care which exclusive legislation required by the constitution would involve, or from considerations of policy or sentiment, just as it has since vested the Commissioners with power to make police and other regulations in the nature of the ordinances of other municipalities, it is obvious that local suffrage cannot be granted to the people of the District as a right, without an amendment to the constitution to that effect. In short, Congress has no power to divest itself of complete responsibility for the government of the National Capital.
CHAPTER XI
General History.
At the time of the removal of the Government to Washing- ton in 1800 the population of the city consisted of 2,464 white persons, 623 slaves, and 123 free colored persons ; 3,210 persons in all. The population of Georgetown was 2,993. At this time the public buildings consisted of the original north wing of the Capitol-the portion now occupied by the Supreme Court; the President's house; the Treasury building, a plain, two-story brick structure containing thirty rooms, which occupied the site of the south front of the present edifice; and a similar building at the southwest corner of the grounds of the Presi- dent's house, known at first as the War Office and later as the Navy Department building.
During the first decade of the city's existence the popula- tion nearly trebled, the census of 1810 showing it in that year to be 8,208, of whom about 6,000 were whites, about 1,300 slaves, and about 900 free colored persons. The population of Georgetown was in that year 4,948. This decade, which cov- ered the mayoralty of Mr. Brent, witnessed a considerable devel- opment in the condition of the city. In 1803 Congress spent $13,466 in the improvement of Pennsylvania Avenue, which at the time of the removal of the Government was almost impass- able. This appropriation was largely due to the interest of President Jefferson, who was also responsible for the planting of the double row of poplars which adorned Pennsylvania Avenue from the foot of the Capitol grounds to Fifteenth Street.
The amended charter of 1804 provided "for the establish- ment and superintendence of schools," and an act of the City
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Councils of December 5 of that year provided "that the super- intendence of public schools within the City of Washington shall be placed under the direction of a board of thirteen trus- tees, whereof seven shall be annually chosen, by the joint ballots of the Council, from among the residents of the city, and six be annually chosen by individuals contributing to the promotion of schools, as hereinafter provided."
The Board was given power to receive donations for the schools. A small charge was made for pupils whose parents or guardians were able to pay for them, but for those who could not afford tuition fee the board made provision, keeping the knowledge of such free pupils to themselves, that the children should not be mortified by the fact.
It was further provided that so much of the net proceeds of taxes laid or to be laid on slaves, dogs, licenses for carriages and hacks, for ordinaries and taverns, for retailing wines and spirituous liquors, for billiard tables, for theatrical and other amusements, and for hawkers and peddlers up to fifteen hun- dred dollars should be appropriated as the trustees might decide to be necessary for the education of the poor of the city.
All contributors to the amount of ten dollars, and over, were entitled to meet and elect six trustees for the schools, to remain in office one year. At this election each voter had as many votes as the sums of ten dollars he had contributed. In addition to these six trustees, the City Councils at another meeting, elected seven other trustees, to hold office for one year. President Jefferson was made one of the first trustees and president of the board, and accepted the duty in a courteous letter to Mayor Brent, dated August 14, 1805.
The first committee appointed to solicit contributions suc- ceeded in getting $3,782 from 191 persons. President Jefferson contributed $200 of this amount.
The board made a distinction between "poor children" and pay pupils, thus: "In these schools poor children shall be taught reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic, and such branches of the mathematics as may qualify them for the professions they
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are intended to follow ; and they shall receive such other instruc- tion as is given to pay pupils, as the board may, from time to time, direct; and pay pupils shall, besides, be instructed in geography and in the latin language." Pay pupils were charged five dollars a quarter for tuition.
Each principal, in connection with the superintending com- mittee, directed his school, but was subjected to intervention by the board. He received $500 a year, payable quarterly. If the number of pay pupils in his school exceeded fifty, his salary might be increased by the board. Out of this salary he was required to pay the rent of the school house, for fuel and other incidentals, as well as for assistant teachers. Fifty dollars a year was allowed for "paper, pens, ink, and books necessary for the instruction of poor children."
Toward the close of the first decade of the century a school society was organized in Georgetown with Thomas Corcoran as its president. This movement resulted in the establishment in 1811 of a school on the Lancastrian system, supported by popu- lar subscription, at the head of which was placed Mr. Robert Ould, an Englishman, who had been recommended by Joseph Lancaster, the founder of this system of schools. In 1812 the corporation provided for an addition to the school building for the accommodation of female pupils.
There were numerous private schools in Washington in its earliest days and Georgetown had several good institutions of learning when Washington was originated. The Reverend A. T. McCormick organized a school on Capitol Hill in 1802, where he taught the common branches of studies. This school was successfully continued for many years.
In 1803 Francis Donnelly opened another school "in a building then lately occupied as an auction store, near the West Market." This same year Mr. J. Sewell opened a school on F Street.
Georgetown, which was a town of importance when the Federal City was born, had several good schools before the Government became established in Washington. The most im-
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portant of these was established in 1785, by the Reverend John Carroll, First Archbishop of Baltimore, together with five men of influence in the community. These gentlemen established an "Academy at Georgetown, Potomac River, Maryland."
In 1789 this enterprise was furthered by the erecting of the "South East College" building, and in 1791 the school was opened to students. Later the institution was called the "Col- lege of Georgetown." In 1815 this college had so grown in efficiency that an Act of Congress was passed, raising it to the rank of a university, which was empowered to confer degrees in the arts and sciences.
In 1803, the Columbian Academy of Georgetown, under the supervision of Reverend David Wiley, was doing good work, with seventy-five pupils in attendance.
A school worthy of special note is one that was built in 1807, the first school established for colored children. George Bell, an ex-slave, was the leader of the movement for this school, and he was greatly assisted by Nicholas Franklin and Moses Liverpool, who had also been slaves. Bell and his wife had bought the freedom of one another.
This school had a one-story frame building, and was taught by a Mr. Lowe, a white man. The school continued for a few years and then ceased, but in 1818 the building, which had been used as a residence, was again converted into a school house and a school for negro children started in it by the "Resolute Beneficial Society," of which William Costin was President, James Harris, secretary, and George Bell, treasurer. A night school was added and both the night and day schools continued several years. The first teacher of this restored school was a Mr. Pierpont, of Massachusetts, and the next was the first negro to teach in the District, John Adams.
The social life of Washington from the beginning centered largely about the President's house and took its character from the entertainments given there. When the Government was removed to Washington in 1800 it found an established social caste among the old residents of Georgetown and the owners of
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estates in the surrounding country, both in Maryland and in Virginia. The Georgetown balls or assemblies had been note- worthy events since the Revolution. For some time following the removal of the Government to Washington the dearth of accommodations in the new city caused much of the social activity of the time to continue to center at Georgetown.
Mrs. Adams, on her arrival at the new capital, continued the formal "drawing rooms" which President and Mrs. Wash- ington had inaugurated in Philadelphia; but President Jeffer- son, on coming into office, threw down the social barriers which his predecessors had established and admitted all classes to his receptions. He, however, maintained a special degree of dignity at the state dinners which were usually presided over by Mrs. Madison, occasionally with the assistance of one of the Presi- dent's married daughters.
On March 4, 1801, Mr. Jefferson, in company with a num- ber of friends, walked to the Capitol from his lodgings at the northwest corner of C Street and New Jersey Avenue. His entrance to the Capitol was greeted by a salute from the local Artillery Company, and he was accompanied to the Senate Chamber by the heads of Departments and the Marshal of the District of Columbia.
From the meagre accounts of his second inaugural on March 4, 1805, it appears to have been quite as unostentatious as his first, and that he rode on horse back from the White House to the Capitol, attended by his Secretary and groom, along Pennsylvania Avenue.
Washington society received new impetus with the inaugu- ration of the fourth President of the country, James Madison, in 1809. The new mistress of the White House, the charming "Dolly" Madison, who had so often helped Mr. Jefferson to entertain his guests, now had her own way about managing the Capital's social affairs, and she soon caused the simplicity of Jefferson's administration to be forgotten in contemporaneous gaieties.
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This change commenced with the inauguration, which was inducted with much ceremony and impressiveness. Militia of Georgetown and Alexandria conducted the new President to the Capitol where, in the Hall of Representatives, Chief Justice Marshall administered to him the oath of office.
In the evening a grand ball was given, the first inaugural ball in Washington. Over four hundred guests attended this fete. It is recorded that the excitement of the day added much animation to Mr. Madison's "pale, student face," and Mrs. Madison, "resplendent in a gown of yellow velvet, her neck and arms hung with pearls," was the "center of all eyes."
Two weddings took place in the President's House during the incumbency of President Madison. On March 11, 1811, Lucy Payne, the widow of a nephew of President Washington and sister-in-law of President Madison, was married to Justice Todd, of the Supreme Court; and in 1812 Anna Todd, a cousin of Mrs. Madison, was married to Representative Jackson, a great-uncle of "Stonewall" Jackson.
The most noteworthy incident in the early history of the city was the coming of the British under General Ross and Admiral Cockburn in August, 1814.
Throughout the year 1813 a British fleet had been in control of Chesapeake Bay, and in retaliation for the burning of Newark in Canada by the Americans had committed many barbarities among the towns and inhabitants along its shores. They had, however, for a long time been dissuaded from an attack on Washington by the belief that both the land and water ap- proaches were guarded by fortifications and adequate forces of troops.
In July, 1814, the fleets of Admiral Cockburn and Admiral Cochrane united in the Chesapeake, and alarmed by this demon- stration the Government made hasty preparations for defense against a possible advance towards Washington. General W. H. Winder, who had seen service in the Northwest but was without much military experience, was authorized to raise 93,000 men by draft. The force actually raised consisted of less than 1,000
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regulars, together with a brigade of District militia under Gen- eral Walter Smith, of Georgetown, numbering about 1,000; a brigade of 2,200 militia from Baltimore under General Stans- bury, and two other Maryland regiments and one from Virginia, giving about 1,800 additional men. Included in these forces were eighteen pieces of artillery. The regulars consisted of 520 sailors and marines under Commodore Barney and 300 regular troops under Lieut. Col. Scott. The militia had been raised with the stipulation that they should not be called into service until the British forces had landed, and were consequently undrilled and otherwise unprepared for the exigencies of a campaign.
The British sent one fleet up the Potomac as far as Alex- andria from which they took away several merchant vessels .- The other force pursued Commodore Barney's gunboat flotilla into the Patuxent River, where Barney landed his men and burned his vessels. The British land forces, which arrived at this time from Bermuda, consisted of four thousand of Welling- ton's veterans. The entire British force, including the com- plement of sailors and marines from the fleet numbered about 5,000 men. This force proceeded by leisurely stages as far as Melwood, twelve miles from the city. From this point a feint was made to approach Washington over the Eastern Branch bridge, but the route was then changed to Bladensburg. The American militia had reached the city by forced marches and many of them were exhausted by fatigue and sickness. One regiment, which arrived the night before the battle, was delayed so long in receiving its arms that it did not reach the field.
Upon the near approach of the British, Stansbury's Balti- more brigade was stationed at Bladensburg while General Winder, misled by the British feint, took position with the main body of the American forces at the Eastern Branch bridge. On the morning of August 24, learning that the British had gone towards Bladensburg, General Winder hastened to that point, arriving at about the same time as the British and taking posi- tion about a mile in the rear of Stansbury's brigade. Stans- bury's line was quickly driven back by the British who advanced
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to the main line of the American forces. The latter were demor- alized by the Congreve rockets of the British and quickly gave way under General Winder's orders to retire. Commodore Barney's forces, however, maintained their position resolutely until their position was flanked and their commander seriously injured.
Lieutenant Gleig, of the English forces, in his account of the battle said :
"Had they (the American forces) conducted themselves with coolness and resolution, it is not conceivable how the day could have been won. But the fact is, that with the exception of the sailors from the gunboats, under the command of Com- modore Barney, no troops could behave worse than they did. The skirmishers were driven in as soon as attacked. The first line gave way without offering the slightest resistance, and the left of the main body was broken within half an hour after it was seriously engaged. Of the sailors, however, it would be injustice not to speak in terms which their conduct merits. They were employed as gunners, and not only did they serve their guns with a quickness and precision which astonished their assailants, but they stood till some of them were actually bayoneted, with fuses in their hands; nor was it until their leader was wounded and taken, and they saw themselves desert- ed on all sides by the soldiers, that they quit the field."*
General Ross reported his loss as 64 killed and 185 wounded and missing, most of his casualties resulting from the attack on Barney's battery. An English authority states this to have been the greatest number in proportion to the men engaged of any which had been inflicted upon English troops in battle. The American loss was 26 killed and 50 wounded.
No stand was made by the American forces until Tenley- town was reached from which point they again retired to Mont- gomery Court House.
*For maps and reports of American commanders see account of Joshua Barney by M. I. Weller, Vol. 14, Records Col. Hist. Soc.
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The British followed closely and arrived at the Capitol grounds at six in the evening. That night they burned the Capitol, President's House, Treasury, State and Navy build- ings, and a number of private houses on Capitol Hill. While the flames were rising one of the most terrific thunder storms in the history of the city took place and the torrents of rain extinguished the fires in the Capitol and President's House in time to preserve the walls.
Commodore Tingey in command of the Navy Yard, acting under instructions, burned large quantities of material and a vessel which was under construction as well as two adjacent privately owned rope walks.
A detachment of British soldiers went to Greenleaf's point to destroy the stores at the Arsenal there. All the powder had been thrown into a dry well into which a British soldier threw a lighted torch. An explosion followed which resulted in the killing or wounding of nearly one hundred British soldiers.
Fearing an attack by the militia, the British withdrew the following night, leaving their wounded to the mercy of the Americans.
Just before the arrival of the British in the city, Mrs. Madison, escorted by a party of gentlemen, left the White House and crossing the Long Bridge took refuge in a tavern in Vir- ginia where she was later joined by the President. The burn- ing of the Long Bridge compelled them to make their return by boat.
The residence of the President was then established at the Octagon House at the corner of New York Avenue and 18th Street and in 1815 removed to the residence at the northwest corner of 19th and Pennsylvania Avenue where it remained un- til the restoration of the Executive Mansion.
After the withdrawal of the British Congress for a time occupied the Blodget Hotel building which had been acquired for the use of the general Post Office, and later moved into a building erected for the purpose by an organization of Wash- ington citizens. This building stood on the southeast corner
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of First and A Streets northeast. It was for a long time known as the "Old Capitol Building" and was used during the Civil War as a military prison.
An interesting sidelight upon the Battle of Bladensburg is furnished by the following document which is to be found in the office of the Auditor of the District. The paper speaks for itself :
"John P. Van Ness To Thomas Hughs, Dr.
To one barrel of whiskey 354 gall. at 68 cts. $24.31
Aug. 24, 1814. Barrel 1.00
$25.31
The above whiskey was ordered by said Van Ness for the use of the Troops on their retreat on the day of the Battle of Bladensburgh; and was drank by them near the Pump not far from my store, as they passed by-The amount has been paid by said Van Ness to me this 20th day of Oct., 1814.
Thomas Hughes.
Rec'd the above amount of $25.31 from Henry Whitcroft, Treasurer of Washington City, March 25, 1815.
John P. Van Ness.
Having been satisfied that the within barrel of whiskey was got for our Troops and drank by them at a time they were greatly in want of it-and therefore should be paid for by the corporation, out of the same fund similar expences have been paid-you will please issue a checke in favor of Gen'l. Van Ness for the same, he having advanced the money to Mr. Hughes.
James H. Blake,
Mayor of the City of Washington.
Wm. Henry Whitcroft.
Mar. 24, 1815.
Whiskey acct. for Troops Aug. 24, 1814."
Hughes kept a grocery store on the south side of Pennsyl- vania Avenue near the Center Market.
On October 18, 1814, the City Councils of Washington voted $300 for a sword to be presented to Commodore Barney "as a testimony of their respect for the gallantry and intrepidity
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displayed by himself and the officers and men under his com- mand in the defense of the city."
On March 5, 1817, the inauguration of President Monroe took place. On that day the President and Vice-President elect, were escorted by a large body of militia to Congress Hall. There they were met by the ex-President, Senators and Judges of the Supreme Court. From the Eastern balcony the new President delivered his address and took the oath of office, which was administered by Chief-Justice Marshall.
During Mr. Monroe's administration levees at the Pres- ident's mansion continued, though not so frequently as under his predecessor. Mrs. Monroe, owing to physical disability, did not mingle as much in society as had Mrs. Madison, but she - performed the honors of the White House in a creditable man- ner, assisted by her daughter, Mrs. George Hay. Mrs. Monroe had been a forceful and dignified member of society for years. When abroad with her husband in 1803, while he was United States minister to France, she succeeded in having Madame LaFayette, who was imprisoned at LaForce, set at liberty.
March 20, 1820, witnessed a wedding in the East room of the rebuilt White House, when Maria Monroe married her cousin, Samuel L. Gouverneur, her father's private secretary.
A gloom was thrown over Washington people in the midst of these social activities, caused by the news of the death of Stephen Decatur, who was shot in a duel with Commodore James Barron.
The quarrel out of which this duel grew was the result of the surrender of the frigate Chesapeake by Commodore Barron to a search and the impressment of three seamen by the British frigate Leopard off the capes of Virginia in 1807. Decatur was one of a coterie of officers of the Navy who never forgave Barron for surrendering, and when in 1818 Bar- ron sought the command of the newly constructed ship Columbus, Decatur opposed his appointment so persistently and offensively that under the code of the times Barron after a protracted
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correspondence with Decatur had little choice but to eventually challenge Decatur to a duel.
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