USA > Washington > Standard history of the city of Washington from a study of the original sources > Part 34
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Notwithstanding the disturbed conditions incident to the Civil War, an unusual number of the city's prominent churches were established during the decade in which that conflict occurred. In 1859 the F Street Presbyterian and Second Presbyterian Churches united under the name of the First Presbyterian Church and the following year the new structure of this church was dedicated. President Lincoln was a member of this con- gregation, and it was here also that President Cleveland attended services. In 1863 the Washington Hebrew Congregation dedi- cated its new edifice. In 1865 the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church commenced services in a small chapel and the buildings of Immaculate Conception, and North Presbyterian Churches were dedicated. In 1866 the new structure of Foundry M. E. Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and Calvary Baptist Church were dedicated. The latter was destroyed by fire in 1867 and rebuilt in 1869. The First Congregational Church was or- ganized in 1865 and its building constructed in 1866 and 1867. The Church of the Incarnation (Episcopal) and Hamline M. E. Church were dedicated in 1867; the First German Reformed Trinity Church, St. Stephen's Catholic Church, Memorial Lutheran Church, and the Gay Street Baptist Church in 1868; and the Mt. Vernon Place M. E. Church (South), Metropolitan M. E. Church, St. Mark's Episcopal, the People's Congregational on O Street between 7th and 8th, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church at 32nd and Q Streets, Georgetown, were dedicated in 1869. The latter was built on ground which had been donated for the purpose by Col. Charles Beatty just one hundred years before.
In 1871 the new West Street Presbyterian Church was dedi- cated; in 1872 Grace M. E. and North Carolina Avenue M. P. Churches were dedicated, Fifteenth Street M. E. Church was organized, and the former Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, with its name changed to Metropolitan Presbyterian, dedicated its new building at 4th and B Streets, southeast. In 1873 Zion Lutheran Church commenced services in a small frame structure.
The buildings of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, which had occupied a temporary structure since 1866; Mt. Tabor M. P.
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Church, and Central Presbyterian Church, were dedicated in 1874; Eastern Presbyterian Church, and the Church of the As- cension in 1875; Grace Lutheran and North Capitol M. E. Churches, in 1876; Douglas Memorial M. E. and the new All Soul's Unitarian Churches in 1878. Adams Israel Congregation was organized in 1875. In 1879 the old Friends Meeting House was replaced by the present building.
On May 27, 1870, occurred the last of the numerous at- tempts which have at various times been made in Congress to effect the removal of the Seat of Government from Washington. In the course of debate upon an appropriation bill Mr. Benjamin of Missouri moved to strike out a proposed item for the repair of the Capitol building, and although he disclaimed that his ac- tion had any reference to the question of the removal of the seat of Government, such was obviously his motive. By a coincidence, the subject was on the same day brought up in the Senate during the debate upon a bill to appropriate money for the extension of the Capitol grounds. Senator Harlan of Iowa, in speaking against this item, based his argument upon a resolution of the Iowa Legislature approved February 25, 1870 instructing the Senators and requesting the Representatives from that State to oppose all appropriations of public funds for the erection of new buildings or permanent additions to those now in existance or for other permanent improvements in the District of Colum. bia.
Both of the incidents above related were the outgrowth of a propaganda which at the time was being carried on by a resi- dent of St. Louis named L. U. Reavis looking to the removal of the seat of Government to St. Louis.
Owing to the brief interval available for preparation follow- ing the determination of the Hayes-Tilden contest, the inaugura- tion of President Hayes was attended with much less ceremony than was customary on such occasions. As March 4, 1877, came on Sunday, Mr. Hayes was sworn in at 7 o'clock on the evening of Saturday, March 3, by Chief Justice Waite, in the Red Room of the Executive Mansion, in the presence of President Grant, General Sherman, and several others. The inauguration day was overcast but mild. Mr. Hayes rode to the Capitol with Presi-
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dent Grant and Senator Morrill. Vice-president Wheeler was sworn in by Senator Ferry, the President pre tempore of the Senate, and the oath was a second time administered to Presi- dent Hayes on the east portico by Chief Justice Waite. The parade was short and no inaugural ball was held. A torchlight procession closed the day's celebrations.
Mrs. Hayes was a prominent member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and consequently during her hus- band's administration alcoholic refreshments were served at the White House on only one occasion; that of the visit of the Grand Dukes, Constantine and Alexis of Russia. Nevertheless, the social life of the White House was no less elaborate under the Hayes leadership than it had been under that of President and Mrs. Grant, and the diplomatic receptions, particularly, of Presi- dent and Mrs. Hayes have probably never been exceeded in brilliancy. On June 19, 1878, a White House wedding took place, the principals being Miss Emily Platt, a niece of the Presi- dent, and General Russell Hastings, formerly Lieut. Col. of the 23rd Ohio Regiment, of which President Hayes had been the Colonel.
In the forenoon of Monday, September 24, 1877, fire broke out in the roof of the south end of the 9th Street wing of the Patent Office building. Aided by a strong south wind it spread rapidly along the 9th and G Street wings. The entire fire de- partment was called out, and one engine brought from Alex- andria and four from Baltimore, while detachments of regulars, marines and militia aided the police force in maintaining order. About 1 o'clock the roof of the 9th and G Street wings fell. The fire was practically extinguished by nightfall. The damage was mainly confined to the roof and upper stories of the 9th and G Street wings.
In consequence of a snow storm the night before President Garfield's inauguaration on March 4, 1881, the streets that morn- ing were thinly covered with slush. The sun came out early, however, and the Avenue was dry when the parade started. Mr. Garfield rode to the Capitol with ex-President Hayes and Sena- tors Thurman and Bayard. Vice-president Arthur was sworn in by Mr. Wheeler, his predecessor. In the Senate chamber were
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President Garfield's mother, who sat with Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Garfield, General Hancock, who had been President Garfield's opponent, and General Sheridan. The new President was sworn in and delivered his address on the east portico. The inaugural parade, which was elaborate, was under the charge of General Sherman who, in civilian clothes, and wearing a great coat and slouch hat with a gilt cord, was described in the Star as "curbing his horse with a free and experienced hand." The ball was held in the newly erected National Museum building.
Owing to the illness of Mrs. Garfield, the four months of her husband's term of office, previous to his assassination saw little in the way of social life at the Executive Mansion.
On the morning of July 2, 1881, President Garfield was shot while passing through the station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad at the southwest corner of 6th and B Streets; northwest, by Charles J. Guiteau, who was concealed behind the B Street entrance. The ball passed diagonally from right to left, through the body of the first lumbar vertebra without injuring the spinal cord, and lodged below the left end of the pancreas, where it became completely and harmlessly encysted. The Presi- dent was removed to the second story southeast room of the depot. Upon the arrival of Dr. D. W. Bliss he was examined and sent to the White House. An error in the diagnosis led to the overlooking of the track of the ball in the wound, and to the daily injection of antiseptic solutions on the right side, which eventual- ly produced an immense abscess cavity in the vicinity of the gall bladder and a long suppurating channel from the wound to the right groin. He was taken to Long Branch, New Jersey, at 6:30 a. m. on the 6th of September via the Baltimore and Potomac railroad with the hope that the conditions there would be helpful to him, but died there at 10:35 p. m., on the nineteenth of that month ; one of the causes of death being attributed to the rupture of one of the mesenteric arteries which had been slightly in- jured by the passing ball.
The attending surgeons and two experts using an "electri- cal induction balance,"' decided on August 1st, after a thorough examination, that "the location of the ball has been ascertained with reasonable certainty and that it lies, as heretofore stated, in
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the front wall of the abdomen, immediately over the groin, about five inches below and to the right of the navel," which presumed a course directly at right angles to the course actually taken by the ball.
Prayers for the President's recovery were, on the recom- mendation of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, offered between 10 a. m. and 12 m., on the 6th of September, in all churches in the District. His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol during the 22nd, and funeral services were con- ducted there on the 23rd, on the afternoon of which date the body was taken to Cleveland, Ohio, via the Baltimore and Poto- mac Railroad, and funeral ceremonies conducted at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland on September 26th.
The assassin, who was obviously mentally unbalanced, was tried in the old City Hall from November 14, 1881, until about 5:30 p. m. January 25, 1882, when the verdict of "Guilty" was rendered. He was hanged in the Jail on the 30th of the follow- ing June.
General Arthur was sworn in at his residence in New York City by Justices Brady and Donohue of the New York Supreme Court, at 2:30 a. m. on September 20, 1881. A six months' period followed during which no official functions were held, though the President at times entertained informally and ac- cepted the hospitalities of his friends.
For several months following the death of President Garfield President Arthur occupied the granite house belonging to Hon. B. F. Butler at New Jersey Avenue and B Street, southeast. President Arthur was a widower and during his term the White House was presided over by his widowed sister, Mrs. McElroy. President Arthur was the last President to make use of the build- ing erected as a summer residence for the Presidents at the Soldiers' Home.
On October 14, 1881, the French and German guests of the nation in connection with the dedication of the monument at Yorktown commemorating the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, were officially entertained at Washington. The guests were rep- resentatives of families of Rochambeau, Lafayette, Viomenil, de Grasse, de l'Estrade, d'Aboville, de Broglie, and von Steuben,
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and with them was General Boulanger of the French Army. The ceremonies included a military and civic parade to the Capitol where President Arthur, aided by General Sherman and Secretary of State Blaine, held a reception in the Rotunda in honor of the distinguished visitors. That evening Pennsylvania Avenue was, after some difficulty, illuminated with electricity specially for the occasion.
The weather on President Cleveland's first inauguration day was ideal. President Arthur, Mr. Cleveland, and Senators Sher- man and Ransom rode together to the Capitol. Just before Vice- president Hendricks was sworn in by Senator Edmunds, an- nouncement was made, amidst great applause, of the passage of the Grant retirement bill and of Persident Arthur's message nominating General Grant to fill the vacancy caused by it. Presi- dent Cleveland's inaugural address was delivered, and the oath administered by Chief Justice Waite, on the east portico. The favorable weather made the parade highly impressive. The ball was held that evening in the newly erected Pension Office building, this being the first of the many which have taken place in that structure.
President Cleveland was the country's second bachelor President, and for the first year of his administration the Execu- tive Mansion was presided over by his sister, Miss Rose Eliza- beth Cleveland. On June 2, 1886, the marriage of the President to Miss Frances Folsom, in the East Room brought to the White House one of the most popular of the many lovely women who have graced it. The President's wife was twenty-two years of age at the time of her marriage, and at once became the idol of Washington society. An institution of special interest which she inaugurated was a series of informal Saturday afternoon recep- tions which she insisted upon holding in order to give the self- supporting women of the city an opportunity to meet the Mis- tress of the White House.
The inauguration ceremonies of President Harrison on March 4, 1889, were marred by the cold northeast rain which fell all day. General Harrison drove to the Capitol with Presi- dent Cleveland and Senators Hoar and Cockrell. In the Senate Chamber the President pro tempore, Senator Ingalls, administer-
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ed the oath to Vice-president Morton and on the east portico the oath was administered to President Harrison by Chief Justice Fuller. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, the parade was memorable both for its extent and its character.
At the ball which was held in the Pension building, it was estimated there were twelve thousand persons. The occasion was notable by reason of the absence of all liquors or wines, except Roman punch which was served with the supper.
Mrs. Harrison was assisted in the social functions of the White House by her daughters-in-law, Mrs. Russell Harrison and Mrs. James R. McKee.
The close of the first year of President Harrison's term was marked by a series of tragedies. Dinner invitations to the White House had been issued for February 6, 1890, when the death of the daughter of Secretary of State Blaine on February 2, caused them to be recalled. In the early morning hours of the following day the wife and daughter and the French maid of Secretary of the Navy Tracy lost their lives in the fire which destroyed his residence on I Street facing Farragut Square. The funeral of Mrs. Tracy and her daughter was held from the White House on Wednesday, February 5th. The death of Mrs. Harrison, occurred in the White House on the night of October 24, 1892.
On Sunday, June 2, 1889, occurred the latest and probably the highest of the floods which have at different times inundated Pennsylvania Avenue and other streets in the lower levels of the city. From 2d to 7th Street the water was up to the floor of the horse cars on the Avenue. Much damage resulted, particularly along the water front. The banks of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal were washed away for great distances and one of the main channel spans of the old Long Bridge was carried out. This flood occurred as a result of the storm which caused the memor- able Johnstown disaster. Other floods which have permitted boats to be rowed on the Avenue occurred on February 12, 1881, on November 26, 1887, and on October 1, 1870, when the Chain Bridge was carried away. At the time of the last-mentioned flood the waters reached the seats of the horse cars as they cross- ed the arched 7th Street bridge over the Tiber canal.
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A cold nortwest wind with a heavy fall of snow greeted the city's visitors at the occasion of President Cleveland's second inaugural on March 4, 1893. Mr. Cleveland and President Harrison rode to the Capitol unaccompanied. Vice-president Stevenson was sworn in by his predecessor, Mr. Morton, and Mr. Cleveland braved the weather to take the oath, administered by Chief Justice Fuller, on the east portico. The parade was much diminished by the non-participation of numerous organizations which had come to take part but were deterred by the storm. The ball was held in the Pension building.
On the evening of May 19, 1893, the Infanta Eulalie, the daughter and representative of the Queen Regent of Spain, with her husband, Prince Antoine, and a suite of nineteen persons, arrived at Washington on her way to the Chicago World's Colum- bian Exposition. The following day she was received by Presi- dent and Mrs. Cleveland in the Blue Room of the White House, and that afternoon received a return visit from Mrs. Cleveland at the Spanish Embassy. Five days were spent by the party in seeing the points of interest in and around Washington and in the enjoyment of many social attentions, among the latter being a formal dinner at the White House on the evening of May 23d.
On June 9, 1893, occurred the second of the catastrophes with which the name of Ford's Theatre will always be associated. The building was occupied as at present, by the Adjutant General's office of the War Department. A tunnel in the cellar was being dug, and a pillar in the interior of the building had been undermined by workmen and left without shoring. At 9 :30 on the morning of the fatal day the flimsy support of this pillar gave way precipitating an extensive portion of the build- ing into the opening, with the result that twenty-two persons were killed outright or fatally injured.
On the 14th of March, 1894, a self styled "General" Frye in California demanded of the War Department, transportation to Washington and rations for 800 persons who were unemploy- ed because of the business depression of that period, various groups of whom were formed in western parts of the country. They were variously known as Frye's or Kelley's "Army,"
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Galvia's "Hoste," Jones' "Boston Contingent" and Morrison's St. Louis "Regiment."
On the 25th of March, Jacob S. Coxey with two hundred such followers called "industrials" left Massillon, Ohio, for the City of Washington. They subsisted en route by begging, by giving exhibitions, and by various forms of charity, and on April 7th forty of these men in an exhausted and almost starving con- dition arrived at Eckington, on the outskirts of the city, and two days later were taken before the Police Court on charges of vagrancy, but were dismissed and admonished not to prolong their stay in the city. On April 29th, Coxey with 300 more arrived and were taken by the police to a camp at Brightwood Driving Park. They were permitted to march the next day on 14th Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, then east to Ist and thence back to their camp.
Coxey and two of his lieutenants, Carl Brown and Christo- pher C. Jones attempted to test their right to speak from the Capitol steps, and were arrested. On May 7th they were ad- judged guilty of trespass, and on the 21st of that month sentenc- ed to 20 days in the District Jail which they served. Some of these followers removed to Maryland where they were sent to the House of Correction.
During this period the Frye, Galvin, Randall and Kelley bodies reached the District, but upon learning of the disposition made of the Coxey contingent, went in to camp in Virginia. They were driven away by the militia of that State and became a charge upon the District, at the expense of which, they and others were sent to their former abodes. Owing to the admirable police surveillance no actionable violence occurred from their presence.
A beautiful day, an unprecedented concourse of visitors, and most elaborate preparations combined to render March 4, 1897, the day of President Mckinley's first inauguration, memorable in the history of the city. President Cleveland, Mr. Mckinley, with Senators Mitchell and Sherman, were escorted to the Capitol by Troop A of Cleveland. Vice-president Hobart received the oath from his predecessor, Mr. Stevenson, in the Senate Chamber, and President Mckinley received the oath from
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Chief Justice Fuller and delivered his address from the east portico. The parade was estimated to be four miles in length. The day was closed with a ball at the Pension building and fire- works at the Monument lot.
A number of circumstances combined to produce a dearth of gaiety in the White House during President McKinley's ad- ministration. Mrs. McKinley was a sufferer from a nervous trouble, and the President, a man of unusually serious bearing, was weighted with the Cuban difficulty and the threats of and later the actual occurence of the war with Spain. He was, more- over, the object of probably the most vitiolie newspaper attacks to which any President, in recent times at least, has been subject- ed. His devotion to his invalid wife was the most noteworthy feature of both the family and social life of the White House, which was at times, however, enlivened by the visits of Miss Mabel Mckinley, the President's niece.
During the Spanish-American War the Government main- tained a military rendevous at Camp Alger, a short distance south of Fort Myer. Large numbers of troops were concentrated at that point throughout the summer of 1898. The District of Columbia regiment was stationed at this camp until called to take part in the Santiago campaign. On July 3, 1898, it em- barked at Tampa, Florida, in a transport, and on the 11th of that. month arrived in front of Santiago, in time to complete the in- vestment of that place, being present at the time of the sur- render of the Spanish Army.
On September 9, 1898, the regiment returned from the Cuban campaign, detraining at 3d Street and Virginia Avenue, and marching up 3d Street and Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House where it was reviewed by President McKinley. The troops were sadly worn with sickness and fatigue and the marching column was followed by ambulances bearing those too enfeebled to walk.
On the night of September 29, 1896 occurred the most de- structive storm that ever visited Washington and on the night of Sunday, February 12, and all day February 13, 1899, occurr- ed the snow storm for which that year is memorable.
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On October 2, 1899, Admiral Dewey, on his return to the country after his victory at Manilla, was brought to Washington from New York, in company with a local reception committee of one hundred, on a specially tendered train of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company. A short stop was made at Dean- wood, near the District line, where Commissioner John B. Wight tendered to the Admiral an engrossed parchment offering him the freedom of the National Capital. The Admiral was welcom- ed at the depot with an artillery salute of seventeen guns, and driven to the White House where he was received by President McKinley and his Cabinet. The entire party then proceeded to the stand where they reviewed the civic parade by the light of electric illuminations and red fire.
The following day occurred the military parade which fol- lowed the Admiral, who in company with the President was driven to the Capitol for the ceremony of the presentation of the sword voted to the Admiral by Congress. The front steps of the east portico were occupied by the sailors and marines of the Olympia wearing the medals voted by Congress for participation in the battle of Manilla Bay. After an address by Secretary of the Navy Long, President Mckinley tendered the sword to Ad- miral Dewey with a few appropriate words, the ceremony was closed with a benediction by Cardinal Gibbons, followed by a review of the procession at the stand by the President, Admiral Dewey and General Miles. A state dinner at the Executive Mansion, and elaborate fireworks with a brilliant search-light display closed the celebration.
On December 12, 1900, the date having been designated by President Mckinley, was held the celebration of the one hundreth anniversary of the removal of the seat of Government to Wash- ington. The ceremonies consisted in a reception by the Presi- dent at the White House to the Governors of the States and Territories, with addresses by Colonel Theodore A Bingham on the history of the Executive Mansion, Commissioner MacFar- land, and Governors Shaw of Iowa and Wolcott of Massachusetts. At 1:30 a civic and military parade took place, ending with a review at the Capitol, after which joint exercises were held in the hall of the House of Representatives, participated in by the
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members of both houses of Congress, the members of the Supreme Court, the Diplomatic Corps, the Governors of the States and Territories, Lieut. General Miles and Admiral Dewey, and num- crous other officials. Addresses were delivered by Representa- tives James D. Richardson and Sereno E. Payne and Senators Louis E. McComas and John W. Daniel. In the evening a re- ception was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in honor of the Governors of the States and Territories.
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