WASHINGTON OLD AND NEW BY BARRY BULKLEY TheNewEbbitt ARMY & NAVY. Washington, D. C. G F.SCHUTT. PROPRIETOR. site "" WASHINGTON OLD AND NEW By BARRY BULKLEY ii A UTHOR of "The First Continental Congress," "The City * * of Washington," "The Yellowstone National Park," "The Panama Canal," "Portland, the City of Roses," "The United States Navy" and other manuscripts and lectures. "District Day" Lecturer at Pan-American Exposition, Lecturer by invitation of the Board of Education of New York City, and by request of the United States Government at the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Expositions. WRITTEN AT REQUEST OF GEO. F. SCHUTT ft ft ft WASHINGTON, D. C, 19 13 VJTlpAAy COPYRIGHTED 1913 BY BARRY BULKLEY By ir ansfer 'Jbrary APR 1 8 1940 PRESS OF W. F ROBERTS CO WASHINGTON. D C. 'R. GEORGE F. SCHUTT, proprietor of The New Ebbitt and National Hotel, recognizing the demand from tourist and student guests for fuller information about Washington than can be had from the ordinary guide books, conceived the idea of compiling a booklet to meet such inquiries. Having assembled much data of old Washington, particularly concerning facts and personages from time to time identified with his hotels, he has been prevented, because of the many demands upon his time, from personally putting his ideas into effect. He, therefore, employed the services of the writer to perform the task for him. This little book aims to give the reader, in concise form, an account of the events leading up to the selection of the site of the National Capital and to briefly trace its growth from ante-bellum days and the period immediately succeeding the Civil War to the present day. Grateful acknowledgment for helpful suggestion is made to the Hon. Robert Wickliffe Woolley, Auditor of the U. S. Treasury for the Interior Department; Chas. Clinton Swisher, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of History, The George Washington University; and to Mrs. Mary Stevens Beall, Secretary of the Columbia Historical Society. B. B. • GEORGE WASHINGTON. CHAPTER ft THE SELECTION OF A PERMANENT CAPITAL SSrjlASHINGTON ls the s P lendi(1 reslllt of the firsl I m sordid political deal ever made in the Congress of EA^I the United States. It is the brilliant realization of the dream of a civic idealist, L'Enfant. It is the nation's pledge to the future of the perfect municipality. While named for our first President, Thomas Jefferson is respon- sible for its location on the banks of the Potomac. He saw a chance to drive for the South a bargain with Alexander Hamilton, in whose personal integrity he had the utmost confidence, but whose politics he despised and whose schemes for the welfare of the infant republic he mistrusted, and he drove it with a shrewdness and coolness which would do credit to a business statesman of today. The selection of a permanent capital was squarely up to the First Congress, following the adoption of a Federal Constitution. Fully a dozen cities had good claims. Each W A S II I N GT N O L D AND NEW of several of these had actually been the seat of government for brief periods during the disorderly and unsatisfactory existence of the Continental Congress. One day citizens of a town would glory in their good fortune; the next they would awake to find that hungry soldiers of the Revolution, demanding pay for services rendered, had caused the Con- vention to decide to move on with haste. Baltimore, Lan- caster, York, Princeton, Trenton and Annapolis had all been temporary refuges following the enforced abandon- ment of Philadelphia in June, 1783, and each had substan- tial claims on the people. Precedent and the imagination, however, counted heavily in favor of the Quaker City or New York. The one was nearest to the then center of population and was really the cradle of American liberty; the other had already become the leading seaport of the country, and had the largest number of people. In October, 1783, Elbridge Gerry offered a resolution to erect buildings for the use of the Continental Congress on the banks of the Potomac or of the Delaware. Six months later it was so amended as to provide for such building on both rivers; but the resolution was repealed altogether on April 26, 1784. In October, 1784, two Com- mittees of Congress were appointed, under a resolution to select a place for the permanent capital either in New Jersey or in Maryland. The Maryland Committee was instructed to "examine and report on a location at or near the lower falls of the Potomac." But nothing came of its findings. The question continued to be uppermost in the minds of the lawmakers and the people down to the day of settlement in 1790. It was generally agreed that it would not be wise to locate the seat of the Federal Government in any State capital. WASHINGTO N OLD AND NEW George Mason and James Madison were chiefly respon- sible for the action taken by the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Mason was for providing definitely against the selection of a State capital; Mr. Madison held that a central residence for the government was necessary. On the latters motion, the Congress' powers under the constitution were added to as follows : "To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatso- ever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may by cession of the particular States and the acceptance of Congress become the seat of government of the United States. Art. 1, Sec. 7." With the ushering in of the first Congress under the con- stitution the Capital question became fraught with danger. The New England and Eastern States demanded first Ger- mantown, Pennsylvania. But the representatives from the Southern States stood fast for the Potomac. When the question came to a vote September 3, 1789, the New Eng- land members charged that the country along the latter was an unhealthy wilderness; Mr. Madison replied that the banks of the Susquehanna were even more unhealthy. "The gentleman from Virginia seems to think the banks of the Potomac a paradise and that river a Euphrates," re- torted the brilliant Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts. A Georgia member went so far as to predict that if the North insisted on the Susquehanna site it would "blow the coals of sedition and endanger the Union." Mr. Wadsworth, of Connecticut, said, "he did not dare to go to the Potomac; he feared the whole of New England would consider the Union destroyed." Richard Bland Lee, of Virginia, said : "If it should be found that confederacies of States east of Pennsylvania IV A S II f N G T N OLD AND N E U r were formed, to unite their councils for their particular interests, disregarding the Southern States, they would be alarmed and the faith of all south of the Potomac would be shaken. Virginia had not solicited Congress to place the seat of Government in her State, only contending that the interests of the Southern and 'Western country should be consulted; that their interests would be sacrificed if Con- gress fixed on any place but the Potomac." Mr. Madison affirmed that "if the declarations and pro- ceedings of this day had been brought into view in the Con- vention of Virginia, which adopted the Federal Constitution, he firmly believed Virginia would not have been a part of the Union at this moment." As a result, the House adopted a resolution authorizing the President to appoint three Commissioners to select a site on the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania. Later on the Senate, by a tie vote, which was broken by Vice-President Adams voting in the affirmative, decided on a district ten miles square at Germantown, Pennsylvania; whereupon the 1 louse passed the Senate Bill, with an amendment providing that the laws of Pennsylvania should continue in force in the Federal District. Only one day of the Senate remained, and the Bill finally died for want of action. The South's opportunity, seized upon by Jefferson, came with the defeat in the House in Committee of the Whole, April 12, 1790, of the Bill, drawn by Alexander Hamilton, for funding the Federal debt and assuming the debts incurred by the thir- teen States during the Revolutionary War. Those States whose debts were not embarrassing — Virginia was chief among these — maintained that it would be an invasion of State prerogatives for the General Government to levy taxes to pay debts contracted separately, by the respective States; 8 THOMAS JEFFERSON. W AS HI N GT O X OLD AND N E IV furthermore, that it would be grossly unfair to them should they be obliged to share the burdens of States whose debts were considerable. Alexander Hamilton contended that the credit of the new nation was at stake and he threw all of his splendid ability into the fight for the passage of what had come to be popu- larly known as the "Assumption Bill." Moreover, he fore- saw that upon its enactment the federal bonds would be tightened and the importance of individual States corre- spondingly minimized. In a paper read before the Ameri- can Historical Association in 1895, Gaillard Hunt states the issue as follows: "Upon the former (Assumption Bill) de- pended the financial standing of the new nation in the eyes of the world, while the latter (location of a permanent capi- tal ) was a measure of purely domestic concern. The two, however, had no connection with one another, yet, by a system since come to be known as 'logrolling,' they became involved. "The Eastern members of Congress desired the passage of the 'Assumption Bill,' but had no hope, for geographical reasons, of obtaining the capital. The members from the Middle States, on the other hand, were determined, if pos- sible, that the seat of the Federal Government should be permanently located at Philadelphia or in that neighbor- hood. * * * But Virginia and Washington conceived that they also had claims to the Capital, and their respective legislatures had already taken steps to procure it. "On December 27, 1788, before Congress had come to- gether, the General Assembly of Virginia passed resolutions offering ten miles square of any portion of the State for the new Federal City — which the Constitution provided for, and (Alexander) White laid these resolutions before the 10 WAS II I N GT O N OLD A N D N E W National House of Representatives May 15, 1789. On the following day, Seney, of Maryland, offered a similar act from the legislature of his State. Maryland and Virginia were not, however, in hostile rivalry in their efforts to ob- tain the Federal District. They contemplated its location on the banks of the Potomac, and they calculated upon jointly profiting in consequence." On December 10, 1789, the General Assembly of Vir- ginia informed the General Assembly of Maryland that it would advance $120,000 toward the erection of public buildings in the new Federal City — if it should be located on the Potomac, provided Maryland would advance three- fifths of that sum, and at the November session, the Mary- land Assembly appropriated $72,000 for the purpose. L Mr. Jefferson was well aware that Mr. Hamilton's as- sumption scheme was bound to triumph eventually; by agreeing to use his influence to hasten its passage he could combine the Puritans and the Cavaliers and snatch the Capi- tal from the Quakers. So he gave a dinner which he de- scribes in his Anas as follows : "As I was going to the President's one day, I met him (Hamilton) in the street. He walked me backward and forward before the President's door for half an hour. He painted pathetically the temper into which the Leg- islature had been wrought, the disgust of those who were called the creditor States, the danger of the seces- sion of their members, and the separation of the States. He observed that the members of the administration ought to act in concert; that though this question was not in my department, yet a common duty should make it a common concern ; that the President was the center on which all the administrative questions ultimately 11 W A SHI N GT X L D A N D N E W rested, and all of us should rail)- around him; and that, the question having been lost by a small majority only, it was probable that an appeal from me to the judgment and discretion of some of my friends might effect a change in the vote and the machine of government, now suspended, might be again set in motion. I told him that I was really a stranger to the whole subject ; not having yet informed myself of the systems of finance adopted ; 1 knew not how far this was a necessary se- quence ; that individually, if its rejection endangered a dissolution of our Union at this incipient state, I should deem that the most unfortunate of all consequences, to avert which all partial and temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed to him, however, to dine with me the next day, and I would invite another friend or two; bring them into the conference together and 1 thought it impossible that reasonable men, consulting together coolly, could fail with some mutual sacrifices of opinion to form a compromise which was to save the Union. "The discussion took place. I could take no part in it but an exhortatory one, because I was a stranger to the circumstances which should govern it. But it was finally agreed that, whatever importance had been at- tached to the rejection of the proposition, the preserva- tion of the Union and of Concord among the States was more important and that, therefore, it would be better that the vote of rejection be rescinded, to effect which some members should change their votes. But it was observed that this bill would be peculiarly bitter to the Southern States and that some concomitant measure should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them. There had be- fore been propositions to fix the seat of government either at Philadelphia or at Georgetown on the Poto- 12 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. W A S H I N GT O N OLD A X D N E W mac, and it was thought by giving- it to Philadelphia for ten years, and to Georgetown permanently after- wards, this might, as an anodyne, calm in some degree the ferment which might be excited by the other measure also. So two of the Potomac members (White and Lee, but White with a revulsion of stomach almost con- vulsive) agreed to change their votes, and Hamilton undertook to carry the other point. In doing this, the influence he had established over the Eastern members, with the agency of Robert Morris, with those of the Middle States, effected his side of the engagement, and so the assumption was passed, and twenty millions of stock divided among favored States and thrown in as pabulum to the stock-jobbing herd." Jefferson gives us no further details, but it is significant that Hamilton carried out his part of the agreement first. The House passed the bill locating the Capital on the banks of the Potomac, between the Eastern Branch and Conoco- cheague Creek, on July 9, 1790, by a vote of 32 to 29. It went through the Senate with little delay and was signed by the President a few days later. Rumors that a bargain had been driven traveled as rap- idly as the news that a Capital bill had at last been enacted, and the Middle States were far from happy over having the seat of government at Philadelphia for ten years only. The question of the hour soon became: "Where in Hades is the Conococheague ?" The rhymsters and the ready letter writers got busy in the newspapers of New York, Boston, Charleston and Albany. For the information of the reader of today, let it be known that this modest stream — a small creek — rises in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and flows through Washington County, Maryland, and into the Poto- 14 W A S H I X G T X — — OLD A X D X E W mac at Williamsport, fully eighty miles from the mouth of the Eastern Branch. But the country above the Great Falls of the Potomac was never seriously considered. The President, under the law, had the right to choose any ten square miles he pleased between the two points and started his surveys at the extreme eastern boundary pre- scribed in the Act. He seems to have been perplexed only over the erection of the city in the Federal District. The owners of the land at the mouth of the Eastern Branch held out for what the President considered unreasonable prices. The land adjacent to Georgetown was then decided on, but the owners of it also demanded fancy sums and only came to terms after George \Yashington himself appeared and bargained with them personally. An additional act of Congress, passed Alarch 3, 1791, was necessary to fix the boundaries of the District of Columbia as finally constituted. In his proclamation of January 24, 1791, the President "prescribed" four lines of experiment, beginning at Hunt-, ing Creek, on the Virginia shore, just below Alexandria and embracing a portion of territory beyond the Eastern Branch, and consequently not included in the law. A second proclamation was drawn at Georgetown in Jefferson's own hand, read by Washington at Mt. Vernon, all that was as- serted about public buildings being stricken out, and it was returned to be engrossed before the President signed it, which he did on Alarch 30. On January 22, 1791, the President appointed Thomas Johnson and Daniel Carroll, of Maryland, and David Stew- art, of Virginia, Commissioners for surveying the territory of the district accepted for the permanent seat of the Federal Government. It promptly became apparent, how- 15 W ASHTN GTO N OLD A X D N E W ever, that the naming of this Committee was little more than a compliance with the letter of the act of July 16, 1790. Mr. Washington had already done the work. On January 24, just two days later, letters patent were issued to the effect "after duly examining and weighing the advantages and disadvantages of several situations'' those portions of Maryland and Virginia which now constitute the District of Columbia and Alexandria County (the receded portion of the District ) respectively had been chosen. This reach- ing out for territory not described in the original act. made necessary the second enabling act of Congress. The date of the beginning of the survey may be fixed from the following correspondence: On February 2, 1791, Secretary of State Jefferson wrote Major Ellicott : "You are desired to proceed by the first stage to the Fed- eral Territory on the Potomac to make a survey of it." Major Ellicott replied in part, February 14: "I arrived at this town on Monday last, but the cloudy weather prevented any observation from being made until Friday, which was fine. On Saturday the two first lines were completed." Ellicott officially reported on January 1, 1793, that he had completed the work of marking with boundary stones the outlines of the Federal territorv. Every school child knows today that the elaborate plans for a magnificent capital city within the District — now so nearly carried out and with such wonderful results — were drawn by Major Peter Charles L'Enfant. His great work was done in obedience to the following order, dated March 11, 1791, and signed by Secretary of State Jefferson: "Sir: You are desired to proceed to Georgetown, where you will find Mr. Ellicott employed in making a survey and 16 W ASHINGTON OLD AND N E W map of the Federal territory. The especial object of asking your aid is to have drawings of the particular grounds most likely to be approved for the site of the Federal town and buildings. You will, therefore, be pleased to begin on the Eastern Branch, and proceed from thence upwards, laying down the hills, valleys, morasses and waters between that, the Potomac, the Tiber and the road leading from George- town to the Eastern Branch, and the whole within certain fixed points of the map Mr. Ellicott is preparing. Some idea of the height of the hills above the base on which they stand would be desirable. For necessary assistance and ex- penses, be pleased to apply to the Mayor of Georgetown, who is written on the subject. I will beg the favor of you to mark to me your progress about twice a week — say every Wednesday and Saturday evening — that I may be able in proper time to draw attention to some other objects which I have not at this moment time sufficient to define." Washington took a tremendous interest in the embryo city. Frequent trips from his estate, Mt. Vernon, were made to Washington, where he conferred with Ellicott and L' Enfant, and he was kept constantly advised while at Philadelphia of the progress of the work of constructing buildings and laying out streets. In addition to having it become the most beautiful capital in the world, he wished it to be a great commercial center. That time has fulfilled this wish only in part is a constant source of gratifica- tion to those who realize now the wisdom of having the capital city primarily and largely the political, social, artistic and literary hub of the nation and a gathering place for great thinkers and achievers of great things from all parts of the world. 17 W A S II I N G T O -V OLD A N D X E IV It is interesting to read in the Washington Gazette of June 25, 1796, the first paper published in the new city, a proclamation by President Washington, setting forth that the requirements of building all houses in the Federal city of brick or stone, and not less than 3>S feet high, had re- tarded the settlement of the city by mechanics and others and that, therefore, it would be suspended until the year 1800. Raising funds sufficient to defray the cost of constructing public buildings caused the Commissioners of the District frequently to hold public auction sales of lots, at one-third cash, balance payable in one and two years. Probably the greatest speculator in these lots was an Englishman, Thomas Law. He was a son of the Bishop of Carlisle, and had made a fortune in India prior to coming to the United States. Law seems to have invested with recklessness and an optimism which would have put a Mul- berry Sellers to shame. In the heyday of his fame, and business activities, he was married to Elizabeth Parke Cus- tis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington. The union was not a happy one and in due time they were separated. Tradition has it that one morning, while he was at break- fast, his negro waiter announced: "Massa Thomas, Missus Law died last night." "The hell she did? Pass the potatoes," was his only reply. Of Thomas Law, George Alfred Townsend says: "One man only have I ever talked with who personally saw Thomas Law, namely, the late Christopher Lowndes, of Bladensbnrg, and his father took him to an oyster house somewhere in Washington, where they met a grave, sweet 18 THOMAS LAW. WASHINGTON OLD AND NEW old man, with whom they had some oysters, and he read them a poem of his own." Mr. Samuel Lorenzo Knapp pays Law this tribute : "Thomas Law, Esq., has, although now nearly an octo- genarian, lately published a book upon currency. He is a man of no ordinary powers of mind. His life has been an eventful one. In England, his native country, he was con- sidered a man of mind. In India he was distinguished for his financial talents, and was the great benefactor to the natives, by his judicious plans for their relief. He was the companion of Teignmouth and the friend of Sir William Jones. Active and enterprising, he saw the accounts of the establishment of our Federal city, and he hastened to this country to identify himself with its growth, from the corner stone to the setting of the gates thereof. He purchased largely of the soil, built on an extensive scale, suggested ten thousand plans for the improvement of the city, and for the prosperity of the nation; but the slow, doubtful, and often strange course of Congress, came not only in his way, but in the way of all those deeply interested in the welfare of the city; and he has spent the days of his maturity and wisdom in unavailing efforts for the improvement of it. It is happy for him, however, that he has lived to see the dawn of a better day for Washington; and if he cannot stay here long to enjoy it, as a good man he will rejoice in the hopes of his friends and descendants. If his disappoint- ments have been numerous, yet it cannot be said that they have soured his temper or hardened his heart, or that his tenants have felt his resentment, because he was deceived by those who could have favored his plans. In this world, the insults received from those above us, are often repeated by those below us, in pitiful and aggravated forms." 20 W A S H I N GT O N OLD AND N E W David Burns. Washington's "obstinate Mr. Burns," owned much of the site of the future Federal city, an inheri- tance through several generations of Scotch ancestors, and with him President Washington had largely to do in his negotiations for the land. And there were others, too, with an eye to the windward for a real estate speculation, as Thomas S. Woodward at- tests : "I picture William Prout, the staid Baltimore mer- chant; Benjamin Stoddert. the Revolutionary soldier; Rob- ert Morris, the great financier of the colonies; Samuel Blod- gett, the lottery man ; the Youngs, gentlemen of the manor born; James Greenleaf, the prince of schemers; Thomas Law, the man of the world ; George Walker, the canny Scots- man, and all the lesser lights, clad in the quaint costume of the time, doing business as real estate brokers after the most approved methods." Richard Parkinson, who toured America in 1798 to 1800, and published two volumes of interesting impressions, re- ports that there were only 300 houses in Washington when he visited it and that the time was not ripe for starting a brewery there. Mr. Parkinson further states: "If a man wants wit, he may go to America; but if he wants money and comfort he should stay at home." A man named Blodgett undertook to build a hotel from the proceeds of a lottery. He succeeded, and, according to a report published in the Washington Gazette at the time, was about the only beneficiary of the drawings. The completed building seem* to have been almost as much of a fraud as the proprietor, for it soon collapsed. Many descriptions of the Washington of that day have been handed down to us. Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, wrote one in 1804, which aptly epitomizes those written in 21 W AS H I N GT O N — OLD A X D N E W 1800, the year when the seat of Government was formally transferred from Philadelphia to Washington, as follows : "This embryo capital where fancy sees Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees ; Which secondsighted seers, even now, adorn With shrines unbuilt, and heroes yet unborn, Though naught but woods and Jefferson they see, Where streets should run and sages ought to be." CHAPTER II ft THE WASHINGTON OF ANTE-BELLUM DAYS Little does the average person who justly glories in the beauties and wonders of Washington of today realize what a hopeless looking and disgusting spot it was in October, 1800, when President John Adams and his practical and literary spouse, Abigail, arrived there by stage coach and took up their abode at the new marble mansion, known these hundred years and more as the White House. Old John Randolph, of Roanoke, has likened it unto "the great Ser- bonian bog." Daniel Carroll's ancestral acres covered the major portion of Capitol Hill and the lots into which he was subdividing them were held at such prohibitive fig- ures that many homebuilders were being forced into the lowlands, where David Burns and Notley Young, a retired English sea-captain, were literally doing a "land office busi- ness" in what is now known as the northwest section of the city. The disgust of Cabinet officers and Congressmen at leaving Philadelphia, where the Capital had been located 23 WASHINGTON OLD AND N E W for ten years, for such a place is reflected in their diaries and in newspaper articles published at the time. It is well to explain here that had Major Peter Charles L'Enfant been allowed to keep secret his plan of the city until the sites of the Capitol, Executive Mansion and other public buildings in immediate contemplation had all been located and the avenues and cross streets laid out, much of this confusion and unpreparedness could have been avoided. He foresaw the activities of land boomers and other "get- rich-quick" men and resolved to keep secret as far as pos- sible all desired information. Only Major Andrew Ellicott, who was assisting him as surveyor or geographer, knew exactly what was being done. In 1792 the three District Commissioners ordered L'Enfant to submit his plan to them in order that it might be engraved and published for the benefit of those intending to buy lots at the Government sales. Having arranged a certain system of construction and having allowed no one to deviate from it in the least, even having gone to the length of tearing down a house which was being erected across an avenue, he felt that he would be untrue to himself and to his trust if he were to obey such an order. So President Washington dismissed him March 1, 1792. Upon the recommendation of Thomas Jefferson, by direction of the President, that he "should have no cause of discontent," the Commissioners notified L'Enfant that they had ordered five hundred guineas ($2,500) paid to him. He promptly declined the money and retained the original draft of his plan to the day of his death, June 4, 1824, at Dudley Digges's Chellum Castle estate, near Bladensburg, Md. This draft is in the office of the architect of the Capitol, torn and dingy and yellow with age. Ellicott succeeded L'Enfant, followed out his 24 IV A S II I X GT O X O L D A X D X E W ideas, which he knew by heart, making only a few minor changes, and his plan, engraved by Thackara and Wallace, of Philadelphia, in 1792, was published in this country and Europe. Hence the "land sharks" and chaos. The records show that grasping and visionary owners on the one hand and those rapacious and often unscrupulous speculators on the other frequently caused President Washington to retire to Mount Vernon in disgust. He dealt with these people direct in many instances, and on one occasion the vulgar David Burns, in reply to an argument in favor of transfer- ring certain lands to the Government, said: "I suppose, Mr. President, you think the people are going to take grist from you as pure grain; but what would you have been if you had not married the rich widow Custis ?' There was great commotion in the "mudhole" and on "the hill" when, one morning in October, 1800, a little "packet sloop," bringing the records and furniture of the departments and some of the officials, dropped anchor in the Potomac. Practically the entire population of the city gathered on the riverbank and indulged in a hysterical Wel- come. President and Mrs. Adams, Secretary of State John Marshall, Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Sec- retary of War Samuel Dexter and Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert arrived by stage from Baltimore the following day. They found the executive mansion ready for occupancy, the buildings for housing the executive de- partments nearly completed, and one wing of the Capitol ready for the Congress, which was to begin its session in a few weeks. Abigail Adams promptly dubbed Washington the "Wilderness City." "Those who had opposed its location were merry over 'its exceedingly mean and disgusting appearance,' " says 25 W AS H I N GT X OLD AND X E IV Stilson Hutchins in his "The National Capital," "apparently forgetting that Congress had given scant aid to the Com- missioners in the work of construction, and had left them to depend for money almost entirely on chance gifts and the proceeds of the land sales. "\\ hen one reads the records of the vexatious delays in erecting the public buildings and improving the highways for lack of means, of the quarrels among those in authority, of the jealousy and opposition constantly displayed, the wonder is not that the capital city was a mean, dismal place in 1800 and only fit to be the laughing stock of the country, but that its builders should have been able in the face of the obstacles they encountred to make it bear the slightest semblance to a city." From 1800 to 1815 was a critical period for the new city. Many even in official life were skeptical as to its future, the anticipated rapid growth was not materializing, failures as a result of feverish speculations in town lots and of erecting buildings beyond the demands of business were numerous and scandalous. There was a general desire that the whole scheme should be abandoned. Removal to any of a dozen places would have been heartily welcomed. The American people were apparently indifferent to their capital city. They simply refused to be interested in its building or in the proper conduct of its local affairs. How often have they been charged in more recent years with being just as apathetic ! That the population increased from 8,208 in 1810 only to 13,474 in 1820 was exasperating to the optimistic friends of the city. Jurisdiction over the Dis- trict of Columbia, which included the present District and what is now Alexandria City, Va., and contained the sep- arate cities of Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria, was formally assumed by Congress in 1801. Washington 26 W A SHI N G T O N OLD AND NEW was incorporated in 1802 and the President was empowered to appoint its Mayor, the people being allowed to elect only the Council. This plan caused much dissatisfaction. So a few years later Congress transferred to the Council and to the people the right to elect the Mayor. No further material change in the municipal form of government was made until 1871, when the city charter was repealed and a territorial form of government was established. Yet this was the Washington of Thomas Jefferson, of Tames and Dolly Madison, of James Monroe, of Henry Clay in the prime of his brilliant career, of Alexander Ham- ilton and Aaron Burr, of John Randolph, and of the early political days of Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. It was the Washington of strife and trials for the young re- public — those were really days of beauty, of wit and chivalry — and of a genuine Democracy. By far the most authentic account of the capital of that period is to be found in a small book written by Jonathan Eliott eighty years ago. In part, he says: "President Jef- ferson did much to further the prosperity of the city by procuring grants of money for carrying on the public budd- ing; he also gave encouragement to all the improvements brought forward during his administration. He caused Pennsylvania Avenue to be opened and planted with trees. President Madison was also friendly to the city, but owing to the restrictions on commerce and the subsequent war during his administration little progress was made in the public works. But it was in the administration of Presi- dent Monroe that the most extensive and valuable improve- ments were made in every part of the city, and the public money expended on the national works with the greatest liberality." 27 W A S H I X G T X OLD A X D X EW It is interesting to look over the riles of the National Intelligencer, the leading newspaper of that period. We learn that the Great Hotel, erected in 1793 by Samuel Blod- gett on the square now occupied by the General Land Office, was a popular abiding place for a few years, but following the disastrous failure of its owner, was supplanted in public favor by the "Little Hotel" and the Metropolitan Hotel, whose name was changed in 1820 to "Indian Queen." The latter was conveniently located on Pennsylvania Avenue and was a favorite resort with Congressmen. The fame of Jesse Brown, the genial proprietor, became international. We learn also from the National Intelligencer that Wash- ington was the scene of much pleasant social activity, which seems to have been of a most democratic nature. "The in- habitants are social and hospitable, and respectable strangers, after the slightest introduction, are invited to dinner, tea, balls and evening parties." Naturally, the overshadowing local event of the first twenty years of the City of Washington's existence as the capital of the Nation, was the burning of the White House and the Capitol building August 24, 1814, by the British. The visit of the enemy was not wholly unexpected, but it threw the high officials into a state of panic just the same. News that British troops had been landed on the banks of the Patuxent River and were marching across Maryland to the capital was received by courier and preparations to evacuate the city, with only a show of resistance, were promptly made. First reports were that the enemy was 16,000 strong. On August 21, President Madison, accom- panied by the Secretary of W T ar and the Secretary of the Navy, joined General Winder, who commanded about 3,000 American troops and was encamped at Wood's, a point to the southeast of the city. The following day they returned 28 WASHINGTON OLD A N D N E W to see that all books and papers of the department were sent away and that all citizens left the place. Winder's troops gave battle to the British at Bladensburg, rive miles out of Washington, but were soon put to rout, fleeing in all direc- tions. The enemy encountered real opposition, however, from a few hundred sailors with cannon commanded by Commodore Joshua Barney, a privateersman, who were holding a hill near the city. In due time they, too, were put to flight and their commander, badly wounded, was captured. So easy was the entrance to Washington that General Ross and his British troops seemed to regard the excursion from the Patuxent as a sort of schoolboys' prank. Arriv- ing at the Capitol grounds early in the evening of the 24th, they fired into the windows of the building and then marched into the House of Representatives wing. Troops filled the chamber. Admiral Cockburn, commander of the naval force, was escorted to the chair by General Ross. He rapped for order and shouted: "Shall this harbor of Yankee Democracy be burned? All for it say aye!" The response was unanimous and the approval uproarious. Then the shout went up: "Fire the building." Ross gave the order. All papers, books, pictures and other combustible materials were heaped on the floor in the center of the Hall and a lighted torch applied. The flames spread rapidly. When the ruin of the beautiful building was complete the troops proceeded to the Executive Mansion to continue their job of destroying the seat of government. Dolly Madison remained at the White House until after the Battle of Bladensburg. The President sent messages to her, advising her to flee to a place of safety. On receiv- ing his message, August 24, between 2 and 3 P.M., she ordered sent away in a wagon silver plate and many other valuables to be deposited in the Bank of Maryland at Balti- 29 IV AS HI N GT N OLD A N D N E W more. Then she turned her attention to the full length por- trait of George Washington, painted by Stuart. Finding the process of unscrewing the massive frame from the wall too cumbersome, she ordered it broken to pieces, and then personally removed the canvas. J. G. Barker and R. G. L. De Peyster. two visitors from Xew York, entered the room at this juncture. As the picture lay on the floor, they heard troops approach. "Save that picture," ordered the fascinating Dolly. "Save it if possible; if not possible, destroy it; under no circum- stances allow it to fall into the hands of the British." President Madison had arrived. Mrs. Madison snatched up the engrossed original of the Declaration of Independ- ence, hastened to her carriage and drove with her husband and her sister to a refuge beyond the Potomac. Barker and De Peyster joined the retreating army and left the picture at a farm house. It was returned to Mrs. Madison a few weeks later and now hangs in the Blue Room of the White House. The Declaration of Independence is carefully pre- served, in a glass case, at the State Department. The de- struction of the Executive Mansion was practically complete, only a part of the walls being left standing. It was not re- built until 1818. On the day following these awful depredations, the Brit- ish troops robbed and burned stores and dwellings at will. They destroyed the workshop in the Navy Yard, the fort at Grenleaf's, and would doubtless have left not even a shanty standing had they not received a report that night that a large force of American troops was about to enter the city. This caused them to retreat post haste, every man for himself, to Marlboro. A few days later they went aboard their ships and sailed away to the Chesapeake Bay and safety. 30 DOLLY MADISON. WASHINGTO N OLD AND NEW For some time following" this remarkable and humiliating occurrence, it-looked as if nothing could prevent the removal of the National Capital farther inland or at least to some point where it would be better protected against a foreign foe. Advocates of new centers, even of a few west of the Alleghanies, were especially active in their efforts to secure it. They fought hard, doing everything they could think of to prevent appropriations for the restoration of the pub- lic buildings. In February, 1815, however, Congress passed a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow $500,000 for the purpose. That settled the matter for all time. Land boomers became active again, but there was also plenty of legitimate private enterprise, and in the next de- cade Washington increased materially in population and in beauty. The better understanding with the British, as a result of General Andrew Tackson's successful termination of the war, seemed to inspire the Capital and Nation alike with a hope and a confidence which had never before been evident. As was inevitable, the city rapidly became a center of wealth and fashion. Second in social and political importance only to the burn- ing of the Capitol and the White House was the two weeks' visit of General, the Marquis de Lafayette, which began Tuesday, October 12, 1824. He drove through the city in a barouche drawn by four white horses, which were led by grooms in white livery. Many military companies, civic societies, etc., formed a parade more than two miles long. On the line of march the distinguished warrior was met by 25 beautiful maidens attired in white muslin and blue scarfs, their heads decorated with wreaths of red flowers. They were supposed to represent the 24 States of which the Union was at the time composed and the District of Columbia. At the Capitol, Henry Clay, then Speaker of the House of 32 -J cC z r/1 o r. — >^ tvi bn U (M p C - pi i> o W A S H I X GT N OLD A X D X E IV Representatives, greeted him ; President Monroe showed him marked distinction at the White House. Many and brilliant were the entertainments given in honor of Lafayette. Not more than two decades ago there resided in Washington a number of persons who remembered them vividly and were wont to describe them. "During the early months of 1829 an affair at Washing- ton, known as the Eaton scandal, created much public ex- citement," says Henry William Elson in his "History of the United States." "This matter would not merit the notice of serious history but for the permanent effect it had upon the Administration. Many years before this time a William O'Neal had kept a tavern at Washington, and his house became the lodging place of many Government offi- cials. Among the boarders was Senator John H. Eaton from Tennessee. O'Neal had a daughter, a witty young beauty, known over the city as Peggy O'Neal. She was quite free with the inmates of her father's house, and especially with Air. Eaton — until the gossips were set going and her name became tainted. At length Peggy O'Neal married a Mr. Timberlake, of the navy, but he died by suicide in the Mediterranean; and in January, 1829, Eaton, who was still in the Senate, married the widow. Mrs. Eaton now set out to gratify the ambition of her life —to become a leader in Washington society. But her for- mer history was exhumed and most of the ladies of the city refused to recognize her. This was the state of affairs when Jackson arrived in the city. Eaton had been one of his chief campaign managers and the O'Neals had a warm place in Jackson's heart, as he also had been their guest while serving in the Senate a few years before. "Remembering the slanders against his own wife, now- deceased, believing Mrs. Eaton to be innocent and believ- 34 W AS H I N G T O X OLD A N D N E W ing also that the gossip about her was inspired by Henry Clay with the object of ruining her husband, Jackson deter- mined to espouse the cause of the Eatons. He appointed Air. Eaton to his Cabinet and did everything in his power to clear the name of his wife and to give her a standing in society. He wrote scores of letters, he called Cabinet meet- ings, he attended stately dinners — all for Mrs. Eaton. But the women who held the key to the inner sacred circle de- clined to open the door to Mrs. Eaton. General Jackson now practically informed the members of his Cabinet that their political fortunes depended on the recognition by their wives of Mrs. Eaton; but these men were powerless; their wives simply refused, and that was the 'end of it.' Even the President's niece, the mistress of the White House, made a stand. 'Anything else, Uncle, I will do for you, but I cannot call on Mrs. Eaton.' 'Then go back to Tennessee, my dear,' said the President, and she went back to Tennes- see. Thus the hero of New Orleans, the old iron warrior who had never known defeat in battle, was completely de- feated by the women. The Cabinet was now inharmonious in the extreme, and after hanging together till the spring of 1831, it broke to pieces and a new Cabinet was formed. "Aside from disrupting the Cabinet, the Eaton scandal had another and still more marked effect on American his- tory. It built the fortunes of the Secretary of State. Mar- tin Van Buren was at this time a widower and without daughters, and he could well afford to give his energies to the cause that was so dear to his chief. He called on Mrs. Eaton; he arranged balls and dinners for her: he spoke of her virtue in every social circle ; he sought out the British and Russian ministers, both bachelors, and secured their aid in pushing Mrs. Eaton to the front. And he succeeded, not in having her recognized in Washington society, but in in- 35 W A S II I N G T X L I) A N D N E IV trenching" himself in the heart of General Jackson. Never from this moment was there a break between the two, though as unlike they were as winter and balmy spring. It was soon after this time that Jackson decided to name Van Buren as his choice for the Presidential succession, and his decision was final, for his party was all powerful and he swayed the party as Jefferson had done thirty years before." From 1820 to 1860 the city of Washington was badly governed and was still far from pleasing to look upon. It was the Washington of John Marshall and Roger B. Taney, of "Tippecanoe (Harrison) and Tyler, too," of Thomas H. Benton and James K. Polk, of Buchanan and Breckinridge, but it was not yet a comfortable abiding place. The fol- lowing description from "The National Capital," by Stilson Hutchins and Joseph West Moore, tells in a nutshell what conditions were : "A writer draws this picture of society : 'The first things that strikes a stranger is the affectation of style and fashion which seems to pervade almost every rank and class. The President opens his drawing room every fortnight for re- ception of such as may please to visit him ; and his Cabinet secretaries give dinners and evening parties during" the ses- sion of Congress. The subordinate officers of the Govern- ment, clerks, etc., also follow the example, and although their salaries are small and their means limited, they fancy it would be unpardonable not to ape those above them and be what is called fashionable, and thus they plunge into the vortex of ruin. They give evening parties, pay morning visits with cards, in their own carriages, or any they can procure, give routs, go to assemblies, and, in short, exhibit every folly their superiors think proper to practice because it is said to be haut ton and they cannot think of being un- fashionable, whatever may be the result. 36 ANDREW JACKSON. IV AS H I N GT N OLD A N D NEW "Every one who lived in what was called the ' court end ' of the city kept a carriage of some kind, and it was said ' many persons would even ride to church when the dis- tance was not more than a hundred paces. ' Members of Congress were in great request for all the parties, and the prominent ones could not accept half the invitations they received. Outside of its fashionable life, however, the city was apparently in ' a long dead calm of fixed repose, ' and its development year by year was very slow. It was not until 1830 that Pennsylvania Avenue, the central thorough- fare, was paved, and then it was done cheaply and badly. There were only two small public schools. On August 25, 1835, the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was opened, but it was as late as 1851 that stages to the West ceased to run. In 1836 the Long Bridge across the Potomac to Virginia was opened, and has continued in use to the present day. It was constructed at a cost of $100,000 and is a mile in length. "In 1840 the city had 23,364 people. On the 1st of March, 1844. a terrible catastrophe occurred. A large party of officials and prominent residents visited the warship ' Princeton,' lying off Alexandria, and sailed in her a short distance down the river. On the return trip a cannon burst while being fired, killing Secretary of State Upshur, Secre- tary of the Navy Gilmer, and three other persons, and seri- ously injuring eighteen others. From 1840 to 1850 the gain in population was nearly 17,000; from 1850 to 1860, over 21,000. The census of the latter years shows a population of 61,222, and in the entire District of Columbia, 75,080. Washington entered upon the trying years of the Civil W r ar a very unattractive place. Those who had business with the Government came to the city, looked with surprise and contempt at its muddy, unpaved streets and rude, insignifi- 38 W ASHINGTOX OLD AND NEW cant private buildings, and went away as soon as possible. It was a capital sprawling over a great territory, but remark- able only for its distances and discomforts and its listless daily life." CHAPTER III & WASHINGTON DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR 0~~ LL IMPRESSIONS of hasty travel are necessarily chaotic, but it must be admitted that Charles _ Dickens, who did not see the "States" as a normal traveler does, had formed a pretty accurate estimate of our national capital on his first visit to the United States. In his "American Notes" he gives a description of the Federal City in 1842, which truthfully applies twenty years later : "It is sometimes called the City of Magnificent Distances, but it might with greater propriety be termed the City of Magnificent Intentions, for it is only on taking a bird's-eye view of it from the top of the Capitol, that one can at all comprehend the vast designs of its projector, an aspiring- Frenchman. Spacious avenues, that begin in nothing, and lead nowhere; streets, miles long, that want houses, roads and inhabitants; public buildings that need but a public to be complete; and ornaments of great thoroughfares which lack only great thoroughfares to ornament — are its leading 41 W A S HI N GTO N OLD A X D X E W features. * * It has no trade or commerce of its own; having little or no population beyond the President and his establishment; the members of the legislature who reside there during the session; the Government clerks and officers employed in the hotels and boarding-houses ; and the tradesmen who supply their tables. "Few people would live in Washington, I take it, who were not obliged to reside there, and the tides of emigration and speculation, those rapid and regardless currents, are little likely to flow at any time towards such dull and slug- gish waters." While Dickens is represented as viewing America with ill nature, coldness, or even animosity, it cannot be denied that the picture he gives of the City of Washington at the time of his tour of our country is substantially correct. In "Bentley's Miscellany" for 1861 appeared an article en- titled "The Federal City of Washington," by J. G. Kohl, evidently a foreigner. "The streets are miles in length and superfluously broad, and in the suburbs small cottages stand at wide intervals. Only in the center is there a more compact body, and the whole resembles a frame of Berlin woodwork in which the fair embroidress has made spas- modic attempts at commencement. * * * " "There is no state in the world which possesses propor- tionately so small, scantily populated, and shabby a capital as the American Union. * * * Pennsylvania Avenue connects the House of Congress and the White House in a straight line, and is hence one of the principal arteries of circulation in the city. It was for a long time the only paved street in Washington, and, indeed, the majority of the streets are still without that useful article. During the rainy weather, consequently, the city is a swamp and the 42 WASHINGTON OLD A N D N E W dry season constantly full of dust clouds. Along Pennsyl- vania Avenue are the principal shops, and hence it is the favorite, almost sole, promenade of the fair sex. * * A little muddy stream, which in winter bears a little water along the base of the Capitol, but in summer is hardly liquid enough for geese, is called Tiber Creek. * * * "Washington is well provided with pleasant gardens, clumps of trees, alleys and flower beds. This circumstance, and especially that of the long rows of trees accompanying the streets, gives the city a very pleasant aspect and it looks like a large rural village. The prettiest gardens and public places are around the White House or the Mansion, as it is called in the higher and official style. * * * During spring, which often begins here in February with the pleas- antest day and the mildest air, the city assumes an almost idyllic garb. "The kine pasture in the streets, the bull frogs croak and roar in the side lanes. The birds of passage twitter in all the trees and the humming birds flash around every flower. * * * A portion of the Washington street population consists of negroes, both free and slaves. * * * On Sunday the city appears almost entirely to belong to the negroes, for on that day they, and especially their wives, or, as they call them, 'ladies,' parade in the most elegant costumes, the most glaring colors, the broadest crinolines, rustling in silks, and most closely imitating the white ladies and gentlemen." The following is an extract from a paper by Mrs. Mary E. W. Sherwood, appearing in "Lippincott's Magazine," in August, 1894: "It was a straggling mudhole in winter, but when spring came it was as beautiful (in spots) as it is now, and it had a 43 W A S H I N G T X — OLD A X D X E W gentler climate than at present. I have picked roses in Jan- uary in Mrs. Seaton's garden. "Mrs. Fremont, her sister Sue Benton, some pretty girls named Smith, the gifted nieces of Madame Calderon, the beautiful Mrs. Barton Key; in fact, all our neighbors, on summer evenings would run about to visit each other with- out bonnets. People sat on doorsteps and I have often seen a set of intimates walk up Pennsylvania Avenue to the old Capitol grounds, attended by Senators and secretaries, with their heads bare, at seven o'clock on a fine summer evening." How delightful the informality characterizing the social intercourse of fifty years ago ! Could Kohl or some other of his foreign contemporaries revisit the Capital city today, they would find much in Penn- sylvania Avenue to remind them of the past, but in the mag- nificent city spreading gracefully out before them in strict conformity with the plans of the gifted L'Enfant they would detect nothing to suggest the "straggling mudhole" of the 60's. To properly understand the growth of the city it is but necessary to reflect that its population fifty years ago was i)nl\- about one- fourth of what it is at the present day; there was no municipal improvement of any importance; everything was neglected in the "all absorbing question of slavery and the fate of the Union." The muddy streets, now well paved avenues, resounded to the tramp of march- ing troops ; where now are the homes of the rich were then the hovels of the poor; the beautiful parks and government reservations of today were then used as camps and barracks ; frowning forts "with bristling guns broke through the ver- dure of the adjacent fields and crowned the hills on either side of the Potomac." 44 WASHINGTON OLD A X D N E W Small chance was there at the close of the war or in the next few succeeding years for formulating a plan for mu- nicipal improvement. Washington was a disorganized, hopeless and disrupted community. Although at the commencement of the Capitol in 1851 the city began to show some signs of substantial prosperity, it was not until the year 1872 that it began to afford an evi- dence of its subsequent strength and greatness. Washing- ton surely needed a shock of awakening. The agitation for the change of the seat of government was as great at the close of the Civil War as it had been after the burning and invasion by the British in 1814. Sixty years after that time the city was still in an unfinished state ; the Capitol was in- complete ; the White House was out of repair; the streets were mainly swamps, and there was a general despondency about the site. The timely impetus to civic awakening was given in rather an amusing way. "A red bearded, crippled, Quilpish-looking man, of St. Louis, Missouri, by name Mr. L. Q. Reavis, with a certain sense of resistance about him and an uncer- tain sense of reformation took it in his head that St. Louis had been slighted and ought to be the Capital of the Gov- ernment. He had a simple nature, a love of circulation and public consideration, and some hopes of authorship. Per- fectly honest, always approachable, always approaching, loose and continuous in argument, striking high for eminent attention, and carrying acquaintace by the assiduity with which he cultivated it, Mr. Reavis tested to extremities the power of the unit of citizenship to upset the Capital city and drag it away. His ingenuities were all in the noblest nature of destructiveness. He had very little to propose in the way of reconstruction, and was indifferent whether the public 45 W AS H I N GT N OLD AND N E W edifice should be carried away piecemeal or abandoned to the unworthy people on the Potomac. But it happened at the moment that the strength of the dominant part in the West, the fever of change, the opening of the Pacific Rail- road and other lines to the extreme frontier, and perhaps more than all the rising agitation on the subject of free trade which the Western free traders hoped to settle in their favor by getting Congress amongst them, gave a noisy, and it was thought a favorable, celebrity to Mr. Reavis' scheme. Mr. Horace Greely favored the removal in the New York Trib- une, and a convention or two were held in St. Louis. "The conservative sense, reverence and thrift of the na- tion prevailed, however, and Congress settled the question by voting a large sum of money to begin a grand State De- partment at Washington which should cost several millions. The city itself at its own expense put on a new apparel, and the national appropriations of 1872-3 were unusually gen- erous and even excessive." With the advent of Alexander R. Shepherd upon the scenei any further serious consideration of the change of the seat of government ceased. His was the master hand, his the directing force and energy controlling the new and greater Washington. Alexander R. Shepherd was a native of the District who had been fairly successful in a number of business enterprises. His building operations began timidly at first in 1865, but gradually increased in magnitude. He put up "several Philadelphia rows of brick houses ad- jacent to the old Duddington house of the Carrolls" and also built the first business structure of any consequence on Pennsylvania Avenue. President Grant was quick to recognize the zeal and ability of Shepherd, and was 46 ALEXANDER R. SHEPHERD. (From photograph loaned by Frank A. Miller, Esq.) IV ASHINGTO N OLD AND NEW the first to take up in a large way the plans of Washing- ton which had been developed by L' Enfant, but which had remained untouched for nearly three-quarters of a century, because of the neglect of the National Govern- ment. Former Commissioner Henry B. F. Macfarland, in one of his many interesting and instructive addresses upon the National Capital, says: "He (Grant) helped Alexander R. Shepherd, the bright young Washing- tonian, strong of frame and mind, to secure from Con- gress, which is the Supreme Legislative authority for the District of Columbia, power to make real and actual the paper streets and avenues of Washington's plan, and Alexander R. Shepherd, the Commissioners and the Congress of the United States from the dusty map of this talented Frenchman impressed upon the marshes, upon the woodlands and on the hills its outline, and, out of the green earth arose the new Washington, as from the stroke of the enchanter's wand." An enthusiastic writer has this to say about the im- provements accomplished, and projected, during Grant's first administration : "Washington changed character almost entirely after the war. Northern capital moved in and fine architecture prevailed in private buildings. The very form of government was altered and a Board of Public W r orks took the paving of streets out of the hands of the local legislature. "The appropriations are now greater than they have ever been in the history of the city — far greater than when the place was first pitched here. They amount to about $3,000,000 direct this year, and nearly $2,000,000 for public edifices. The Capitol edifice itself gets a snubbing, the architect being a shy man who had not learned the art of lobbying and could only state the ne- 48 WOODROW WILSON W A S H I X GT O X OLD A X D X E W cessity of repairs at least. But the great new renais- sance building- for the State, War and Navy Depart- ments has received a lift which will cover it with stone- cutters as soon as spring opens ; a new statue of General Thomas is ordered to cost $40,000, and the Farragut statue is taken out of the hands of the artists of the lobby. In two years from this period, there will be six colossal statues in the streets of this city, five of them equestrain, Washington, Jackson, Scott, Grant, Thomas and Farragut, besides out-of-door statues of Lincoln, Scott and Washington. * * * Several new street railways are authorized and the building permits applied for or granted show an extraordinary advance in con- struction, much of which is of a villa character in the suburbs. In May the whole line of the Baltimore and Potomac Road will be opened, as well as the new Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio. And the Municipal Government has spent $8,300,000 in about eighteen months, according to its own report, and its opponents say $14,000,000, assessed upon nearly the full valuation of property." In view of the above use of the terms "lobby" and "lobby- ist" and the fixed determination of President Wilson's administration to relegate both to the past, it is inter- esting to read the same writer's definition of them: "The word 'Lobby,' as anybody might guess, is derived from the part of the Capitol where people go who have objects to attain on the floors of Congress but not the right of access. In the Latin lobby signifies a covered portico- — pit for walking, and in the Capitol at Wash- ington the lobbies are long, lofty and lighted corridors completely enclosing both halls of legislation. One of the four sides of this lobby is guarded by a door-keeper, 50 W ASH I N GT O N OLD A X D N E W who can generally be seduced by good treatment or a douceur to admit people to his privacy, and in this darkened corridor the lobbyists call out their members and make their solicitations. "The lobby at AYashington is referred to by the archi- tect Latrobe as early as 1806. He explains that 'the lobby of the House is so separated from it that those who retire to it cannot see and probably will not dis- tinctly hear what is going forward in it. This arrange- ment,' he says, 'has been made with the approbation of the President of the United States, and also under the advice of the Speakers of the two Houses at the time when the designs were made.' * * * "A lobbyist is an operator upon his acquaintance, his wits and his audacity. Your lobbyist may be an old man, whose experience, aplomb, suavity or venerable- ness may recommend him. He may be a strong man in middle life, who commands what he is paid for doing by a knowledge of his own force and magnetism. He may be an adroit young man, free of hollow profession, who dexterously leads his victim along from terrace to terrace of sentimentality, until that dell is reached where the two men become confederates, and may whisper the truth to each other." The type of character the writer had in mind has passed away. His departure may be said to have been synchronous with the disappearance of the old hotels of AYashington. At the close of the war, dining played a great part in American politics. "The lobby man dines the Representative; the Representative dines the Sena- tor; the Senator dines the charming widow, and the charming widow dines her coming man." The politician found Hancock's a place for his reed birds and mixed 51 WASHINGTON OLD AND N E W drinks; Harvey's for oysters; Chamberlin's for the best of everything in dining and good fellowship; and Worm- ley's for a quiet supper. Charles Dickens says AYelcker kept the best restaurant in the world. The Old Willard Hotel enjoyed during and after the war a large patronage. Here is a fragment from a diary picked up in its corridors many years ago: "April 22, 1868 — Dear me, how tired! I am in Washington, the Capital of the United States. It's not larger than New York, my husband, Alonzo, says, which I think is a great shame. Government ought to make it bigger right away, or have it somewhere where it would get bigger, itself. The maps are all incorrect about Wash- ington, where it is represented by a great many dots, while all the other towns have only one dot. We went to Willard's Hotel, and, in order to give us a fine view of the city, they put us up in the top story. We went down to breakfast at nine o'clock, and called for oysters, of course. They tasted as if they had been caught in warm water. The first shad was quite a bone to pick. My dear husband took a cocktail before breakfast. He says it's quite the thing here. Senator Tatterson joined him, he says. I hope my husband will never be a drunk- ard." "N. B. — He says the Senator took his straight." At the breaking out of the Civil War the leading hotels on Pennsylvania Avenue were Brown's, Owen's, Victoria, Henry Clay, Willard's, Kirkwood and Na- tional. Of these all save Brown's (now the Metropoli- tan) and the National have disappeared. The Ebbitt House came into prominence during the war and ac- quired earlv a celebrity as the headquarters of the Army and Navy. Completely revivified and rehabilitated, it retains today all of its old popularity and charm. z>L CO 00 O .£ X s 3 -s O fc W A S H I X GT O N OLD AND N E W George Alfred Townsend says of the Ebbitt in 1872: "It is now a very elegant mansion, six stories high and of a bright, cheerful color, which lightens the spirits of the guests ; from every window canopies of canvas de- pend to cool the interior through the summer; for this house, unlike several in Washington, is kept open the whole year around. The taste of the proprietor, Caleb C. AVillard, Esq., is displayed in the elegant French pa- vilions, and broken lines of the roof, and in the series of classical window mouldings, which liken the establish- ment to the finer class of the public edifices. The new dining room (vide the present one) is made to include two entire stories in height, and the lofty ceiling is beautifully frescoed, while the windows are given nearly the loftiness of the hall, thus bathing the apartment in the exquisite light of this latitude. Beneath the dining room is the historic line of offices known over the whole country as 'Newspaper Row.' The newspaper corre- spondents had pitched upon this block before a hotel was devised, on account of its immediate proximity to the telegraph offices, the Treasury, all the lines of city communication, and as it was centrally situated to the White House and the great departments. * * * "In this house have put up nearly all the eminent sailors and soldiers of the country : Rogers, Farragut, Worden, Canby, Thomas, Porter, Winslow, Boggs, Case, Drayton and the rest." Brief as is this description, it gives a fair idea of what the Ebbitt was ; what it is is best attested by its estab- lished position in the forefront of American hotels of today. No story of Washington is complete without mention of the National, the first hotel building of large dimen- 54 WASHINGTON OLD AND NEW sions erected in the city ; and indissolubly connected with the nation's history. It has well withstood the test of time, and today enjoys a large and country- wide popularity. It was built about 1827. In suite known as 17 and 18 Henry Clay died; Alexander Stephens occupied these rooms when a member of Con- gress. In the Civil War the Supreme Court of the United States lived at the National ; and from then until now it has been the home of men prominent in all walks of life. Through the courtesy of Mr. G. F. Schutt, proprietor of the Ebbitt and National Hotels, the writer is enabled to publish the following: "The Hon. E. G. Spaulding, member of Congress from New York, gave a private dinner party Thursday evening, February 28, 1861, at the National Hotel, to the President (Abraham Lincoln) and Vice-President- elect. "The following invited guests w r ere present: Lieuten- ant-General Winfield Scott. Commander of the Army; Edward Bates, of Missouri; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana; Salmon P. Chase, Senator from Ohio ; Judge Ira Harris, of New York; Wm. E. Dodge, a member of the Peace Congress of 1861 ; Thurlow Weed, New York journal- ist; General Alexander S. Webb; Judge David Davis, from Illinois; Wm. H. Seward, Senator from New York; Simon Cameron, Senator from Pennsylvania; Preston King, Senator from New York ; John J. Crit- tenden. Senator from Kentucky; John P. Hale, Senator from New Hampshire ; Zachariah Chandler, Senator from Michigan ; E. B. Washburn, member Congress from Illinois; H. Winter Davis, M. C. from Maryland; W. Pennington, M. C, from New Jersey; John Sherman, 56 w rt H C O 1—1 - c J < rt £ n 3 W H