■^ ^ c ^ ^>/vf ^ ^^"^^ ''-ss^/ c/'"^-^ '^^f:^'^^^ ^^' '^ iT'^ ^'i)^ -"o '^-f^ /. .x^' 0^ . '■^^ ^ °>^...'.^ ^jT U •^^- .• '^ '^ '' %" ^<^ < ^ s * " » O M " ■ s .0^ ^0-; ^^^ '^^ •*. v-^' ^-n^ - ^ ^'^'^- ^oV ./' ''-.. '^^' IJ^y iO -r,. 4 <^ ">■ i O^ * ' • 1^ ~ ■-'>, \V «^ \> . ^ • • ,^"^' O . I * A O > ,, c « Ay «i- • 1^ ^' ■» • ft 1v '^ Ci7o / •> , V ; 1 --^^ ;i .0^ - V- ^^^^% i ' 9 -p^ 'o . * ^ o •"' A '5.^' "^ .'-''' ,4 o. s • • ^- » • « s < ' ^ J. lO' ^•4 .*,«??/%:? -4 o. .'^^■■ -.3 ,-N ■J.^ L ' .• . ■ ■^^ ^ ^^>^^^ A^' .0- .0' > 5 V » • t * M • ^/ ^^'' ^^' ^.*^ ^0 V ^ .^ r<> ••\ '^^'^ "-^^ V ^ ^^j. .^^ IJ ,^-- o^ ,-^" 1*'^.*. ^-^ -0 ' « •J ■ t^ V* <^ f** ,0 ^ ^■ ^^^vT " o , THE COTTAGE of DAVID BURNES and its DINING-ROOM 2VLANTEL JAMES FRANKLIN HOOD id P 'n :. THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNES ETCHED BY W. H WALLACE ;ARTIST'S PROOF) The Cottage of David Burnes and its Dining-Room Mantel A SKETCH Read to the Columbia Historical Society Washington, D. C. February 25. 1919 by JAMES FRANKLIN HOOD a charter member of the Society and Curator from its Organization WASHINGTON Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen Ccmpl'itnenH oF •Hi^n J0 -T^Iil-: WRITER has printed a few copies of this sketch for presentation to friends, front-paged hv a practically unknown etching from a i)rivate plate made by William 11. Wallace, of T.edfortl Park, New York, about 1896, from views taken before that date. Observe the signature of the artist in the left-hand lower corner, in reverse. He writes that the building in the left distance was drawn to show in outline the VanNess mansion. An effective picture of the cottage in its final stage, and possibl}- its last authentic portrait, from an unpub- lished photograph by T. A. Mullet, of Washington, made in 1894, is shown with his i)erniission. ADDRESSING Mr. Allen C. Clark, President of the Society, Mr. Hood said : Mr. President, you have asked me to write some- thing more about David Burnes. After your admir- al)le paper on "General John Peter J^anNess, a Mayor of Washington, his wife Marcia, and her father Pai'id Burnes." presented to us in November last, T must regard your request as a high compHment. There is so Httle of interest or vahie to l)e added to what you have already told that I shall confine my brief remarks to the much talked of "cottage" and to what became of it. w HEN THR Congress of the United States in 1700, after long and weary public debate and much private negotiation, deter- mined that the future Fetleral City should be built on the Potomac River, David Burnes was the owner of a productive farm on the site selected for the new Capital of the United States. His land holdings ex- tended from a i)oint on or near the river front not far from what is now the foot of New York Avenue, northeasterly almost along the line of that avenue through the site of the White House to another point a little beyond and south of the present Public Library. Thence his line ran down Sixth Street almost to Pennsylvania Avenue, then by irregular lines to the middle of the Botanical Gardens, and then by other irregular lines back to the river. His was by much the largest farm within the limits of the present City of Washington. It included the land whereon is now the Pan-American Building, Continental Hall, the Corcoran Art Gallery, the greater part of the \\'hite House grounds, the Treasury Department, the Hotel Washington, The New Willard, the Municipal Build- ing, the Raleigh, St. Patrick's Church, the Washing- ton Loan and Trust Company, the Patent Office, the old Post Office Department, the Bank of Washington, the Center Market and the entire Smithsonian and Monument grounds. Some farm. THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNES Mr. Biirnes was of Scotch descent and understood the ways of the world. Before the acquisition of his farm by the United States its owner Hved in a modest cottage on its extreme western edge whereon is now the Pan-American Building. The cottage was of frame on a brick foundation, about forty feet front by twenty feet in depth, one and one-half stories in height, with living-room, dining-room and a small bedroom on the first floor; two bedrooms with dormer windows on the second floor, and a spacious cellar under the entire house, with supporting wooden posts. The cellar was of unusual size and depth, which is to be noted because the land at that point lies low and in those days, and for many years after, an extra- ordinary rise of the river would flood any cellar in the neighborhood. Don't forget the cellar. The kitchen, according to the custom of the time, was probably a separate building nearby, which has long since disappeared. There is every reason to believe that the house was built before the Revolutionary War; whether by David or Ijy one of his ancestors I have not ascertained, l)ut here he lived and cultivated his broad acres until they became a part of the future National Capital. On the laying out of the city streets Mr. Burnes ex- pressly stipulated that his home should not be dis- turbed and this agreement was faithfully kept. The building faced south by a few degrees east, a short distance east and south of the center of the square, which was afterwards officially designated on the city plats as square "south of square one hundred and seventy-three," containing about six acres. Here his son John and his daughter Marcia were born, the 8 AND ITS DINING-ROOM MANTEL latter May 9, 1782, and here was she reared until about twelve or thirteen years of age. She was then placed in a school in Baltimore and provided with a home in the refined and dignified household of the Hon. Luther Martin, of that city, one of Maryland's great- est statesmen. After an absence of about five seasons she returned to her father's cottage. David Burnes died in his home May 7, 1799. Marcia continued to live there until her marriage on her twentieth birthday. May 9, 1802, to the Hon. John Peter VanNess, a Member of Congress from the City of New York. This : (From the Washington Evening Star, Se])teml)er 8, 1918, by J. Harry Shannon, writing under the pen-name "The Rambler.") " *The Rambler' believes that the marriage of Marcia TUirncs was solemnized in the small and humble cottage which had been her birthplace and her home, and which stood a ruin until a few years ago in the grounds occupied by the Pan-American Building. Marcia's affection for that humble home is shown by the fact that when John P. VanNess, her husband, decided to build the finest house in the District of Columbia, that house was built in the grounds around the cottage and within a few yards of it. The stately mansion and the small cottage stood almost side by side for close upon one hundred y^ars." In Jonathan Elliot's book entitled the "Ten Miles Square," ])ublished in 1830. is a glowing description of the completed mansion which (says he) : "standing in the center of the square, built in a style of the THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNES finest architecture, near the President's house, is prob- ably not excelled by any private building in the coun- try. The grounds, in addition to their lofty, dignified, paternal trees, are abundantly supplied with the best native and foreign fruits, including figs and grapes, and adorned with a great variety of ornamental shrubs and plants, hedges, gravel walks, vines and bowers. The solidity, elegance and convenience, throughout the whole of the buildings and other improvements of this spot, combined with the natural beauty of loca- tion, justly excite great interest and admiration. The entrance to this walled-square is through an iron gate between two lodges at the northeast angle fronting on Seventeenth Street and the President's Square. Thence there is a winding carriage-wa}' skirted by ornamental trees, shrubbery and flowers, ascending an artificial mound at the north front of the house, and passing under an elegant, projecting stone portico at the door. This portico is the first of the kind, if not the only one, excepting that recently erected at the President's House, in the United States." General VanNess, as may be supposed, entertained lavishly in his wonderful home and all the great people of the day were his guests. But Marcia's heart was not in the new magnificence ; rather was it in the old home, in which it is said she fitted a room for re- tirement and meditation. I do not here go into an b^ ly details of her subsequent sorrows or her well-known charities. They have been written. She died Sep- tember 9, 1832, and was followed by her husband March 7, 184^/ After the death of General VanNess the property passed into the hands of strangers, who, after a pre- 10 THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNES PHOTOGRAPH E,D BY T. A. MULLET AND ITS DINING-ROOM MANTEL tence of restoration and preservation, entirely ne- glected it. The condition of both cottage and mansion became deplorable. Moss in thick masses grew on the roof of the cottage, and in evidence of the disgrace into which it fell a much-used target for pistol prac- tice ornamented its front door. The once beautiful mansion passed into grievous decay; its windows and doors were battered and broken ; its walls were de- faced ; its Italian marbles were cracked and thrown about; its stairways were mutilated; thieves broke in and devastated as they cliose : it became the abode of bats. \3 THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNES THE COLUMBIA ATHLETIC CLUB was at one time a great organization. In its best (lays the names of more than one thousand members were on its roll. Its home was on G Street N.W., now owned and occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association. Analostan Island in the Potomac River was well nigh covered with its ball fields, tennis courts, running track, grand stand and all the paraphernalia incident to active exer- cise in the out-of-doors. In 1892 it was compelled to give up the Island and it engaged for the following season the VanXess Square, sometimes called VanNess Park. Prof. John T. Crossley, the Club's Director of Athletics, is my authority for saying that the last spring games of the Club on Analostan Island were held June 4, 1892, and that the Club's workmen l:)roke ground for the new athletic field in the following spring. The mansion did not seriously interfere with the new l)all ground, but unfortunately the cottage stood well toward the center of it. The Club considered removing it to the west side of the scjuare, where it would be out of the way, or, with the permission of the War Department, to carry it across Seventeenth Street to the White House grounds. Individuals became in- terested in the fate of the ancient relic, the oldest house in Washington, and came to inspect and inquire. Mr. J. Paul Smith, a well-known builder, was com- missioned by the late Gardiner Greene Hubbard to ex- amine the structure and report upon the feasibility of removing it to his country-seat, "Twin Oaks." Mr. Smith's report was to the effect that the old house was so far gone that it would not survive the journey. I 14 AND ITS DINING-ROOM MANTEL have l)een told that the Hon. Alexander B. Ilagner. long a Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, and for years President of this Society, went to see it and is (juoted as saying after his visit that '"he found neither the decayed cottage nor any- thing within it a subject for veneration or respect." Thus matters stood during the summer and fall of 1893 while the workmen were clearing the land of trees and undergrowth and laying out for the Athletic Club its tracks and courts for the season of 1894. The cottage was still on the ground in the spring of 1894, no disposition having been made of it. About the 20th of May of that year occurred a local thun- derstorm of extraordinary violence. The place had l)een denuded of trees and, lacking their protection, the old cottage was racked and cracked by the ferocious wind beyond any possibility of restoration or repair. It was now become a real danger to the workmen and to everybody who approached it. Mr. Crossley, first obtaining authority from the officers of the Clul), with the aid of "Tommy" O'Neill, the track master, and two or three others, carefully encircled the structure with heavy ropes and with a mighty all- together pull and heave, hurled it down, crumbling as it fell, into the cellar below. There on the identical spot where the cottage of David Burnes arose into being, it found burial. This: (From the Washington Ercninij Star. W'ax 24, 1894.) "Davy P.urnes' cottage, which has withstood the storms since 1748, is no more. It was torn down ves- 15 THE COTTAGE OF DA J' ID B U R N E S terday by order of those engaged in laying out the Cokimbia Athletic Club's new grounds. In spite of its apparently dilapidated condition, the structure re- quired the most forcible handling .to demolish. Down to the lowest brick in the foundation, strong and united efforts of the workmen were required to level it. It was allowed to stand until the last moment, in the hope that it would not interfere with the various fields, but the necessity for its demolition became im- perative. The venerators of things historical cannot but regret its destruction. It was the home until his death of one of the original proprietors of the ground on which Washington stands. Of all the men General Washington came into contact with during his event- ful career, Davy Burnes, he is said to have declared, was the most obstinate. His Scotch nature bowed to none. He lived a Czar on his great tract, allowing not even the foremost man in the country to oppose him. The cottage was situated in \ anNess Park, near the foot of Seventeenth Street." The writer of this visited the cottage only once. It was in the autumn of 1893 when workmen were busy upon the new grounds. Curiosity seekers and relic hunters were daily visitors, but I can testify from personal observation that there was, in or about the cottage at that time, absolutely nothing of value with the possible exception of the antiquated mantel in the dining-room, which, after a century and a quarter of use, was woefully the worse for wear. I had been President of the Clul) and readily obtained permission IT) AND ITS DINING-ROOM MANTEL to remove the old ornament for preservation, thus pre- venting its destruction by someone else for firewood. I sent it to a well-known local firm of dealers in fur- niture with instructions to clean and renovate it, but on no account to undertake to restore it. This was done and from 1893 to 1915, a period of twenty-two years, the old mantel found in the high and dry cellar of my house a refuge from destruction in the cellar of Davy's house. The foreman of the shop in which it was cleaned told me that in the cleansing process he removed from it three coats of paint, one of drab, another of pea-green, and a third of light yellow approaching white, before reaching the original native wood. In the year last named I made of it a present to our Society and it now has place among your muniments. Some statistics of the old mantel follow : Material, Virginia pine; height, 63 inches; length of shelf, 80 inches; width of shelf, 8 inches; height of opening for lircplacc, 44 inches; width of the same, 57 inches. Of it has Ijeen said, after personal inspection jjy one of our best informed dealers in antiques, that according to its design "it was probably made between the years 1760 and 1800; natural pine color has been restored; has the 'Greek key' colonial moulding which shows the mantel to have been made by hand ; head-piece is mortised into the side of the uprights; all the nails fastening it to the wall were handmade. While show- ing much use it is in a good state of preservation." 17 THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNES The legend on the plate of solid silver which identi- fies it follows : ii'Hiijii).i'iBiijiii.»i'«iiii>'HjHiin '^im^mmmmmmmmmm^sM^ms^mmmmf^^ '««r -TntrinintroiriTinn i iiww ii n » "ltiirniw-i nwnnwr n^ | nao. THK^MANTEIIi QneDfThe Oi^iBiNALPF\QPf^iETORS OfThe Land Whei^eqn IsTheCittOfWashinstdn . C/ '^ ,| 11905 Here ends a chronicle of the life, death and hurial of the cottage of David Burnes, "The Oldest House in Washington," and of the rescue and preservation of its last remaining ornament, its dining-room mantel. i^r^^o I *^o ,^^ Sft A*^ ,'* * o » o ' ^ ' ^° ^-' -y :.>■ ,^' o « o o V C .^^ 0' .,0 t • 4 o ,0^' .5^ A ■^. C' ■^^f:-'>^ •^. „*■ .-. .-^^ ^> V^ '•ft' t, ->'r.' ^,^ G ~ c C' u. 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