A Portrait of Old George Town

nd L'Enfant

89, on his way from Mount Vernon to his inauguration in New York as first Pr

mack Packet, on April

ectable corps of gentlemen from Alexandria where the George Town ferry boats, properly equipped, received his Excellency and suit, safely landed them, under the acclamation of a large crowd of their grateful fellow citizens-who beheld his Fabius, in the evening of his day, bid adieu to

y high office in those days, (there was no mayo

ral James Maccubbin Lingan, General Otho Williams, William Beatty (who had distinguished himself in the army and had attained the rank of Colonel), Thomas Richardson who, although a Quaker, was Captain of a company and won

nt period of the Congress of the Confederation, from 1774 to 1789, Congress had met in eight different town and cities-Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and New York City, part of the time pursued by the enemy and part of the time attacked by disgruntled soldiers

City was still unsettled, L'Enfant wrote to President Washington

nment than we know today. It was at its height, that we know. The question of size of the Federal District had been settled by the Constitution-it was to be

United States; second, a site on the Delaware River near the falls above Trenton, which Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the other States nearby favored. But on the whole it was deemed very important during the First Congress to give the National Capital

ligations of the United States. His aim was to restore the value of the worthless continental dollar (a pound of tea sold for $90; a pair of shoes for $100; a barrel of flour for $1,500 in paper money) but it was pointed out that the assumption of State debts by the Government would result in most benefits to the Northern St

definitely decided that the seat of govern

hose Pierre Charles L'Enfant, 'the artist of the American Revolution,' for this work. No better choice could have been mad

sketch of the area proposed for the Federal City that would enable him to fix locations on the spot for public buildings. H

ceed from thence upwards, laying down the hills, valleys, morasses and waters between that and the Potomac, The Tyber, and the road leading from Georgetown to the Eastern branch and connecting the whole with certain fixed points on the map Mr. Ellicott is preparing. Some idea of the height of the lands above the base on which they stand would be desirable. For necessa

tiser of March 18, 1791, reported Major L

n (Patowma

iguous to Georgetown, where the Federal City is to be put. His skill in matters of this kind is justly extolled by all disposed to give merit its proper tr

o Secretary of State

March

possibly reach before Wednesday last and very late in the evening, after having tra

-he made me a kind offer of his assistance in procuring for me three or four men to attend me in the surveying and this being the only thing I was in need of, every matter has been soon arranged. I am only at present to regret that a heavy rain and thick mist which has been incessant ever since my arrival here, doe

the South. In Maryland he was escorted by his Excellency Governor Howard an

qrs. the other two. A few miles out of Town I was met by the principal Citizens of the place and escorted in by them; and dined at Suter's tavern (where I also lodged) at a public dinner given by the Mayor and Corporation-previous to which I examined the Surveys of Mr. Ellicott who had been sent on to lay ou

sday

not happen) I set out about 7 o'clock, for the purpose above mentioned, but fro

jealousies of each were counteracting the public purposes and might prove injurious to its best interests, whilst if properly managed th

h the Commissioners and others.' [W

esday

or the shadow they might loose the substance; and therefore mutually agreed and entered into articles to surrender for public purposes, one half of the land they severally possess

and Engineer with respect to the mode of laying out the district-Surveying the grounds for the City and

e rate of ￡25 ($66.66 in Penn. currency) per acre. For the streets they should receive no compensation. Each proprietor was to retain full possession of his land till it should be sold into lots." The men who signed, in order of signing, were: Robert Peter, David Burnes, James M. Lingan, Uriah Forrest, Benjamin Stoddert, Notley Young, Daniel Carroll, of Duddington; Overton Carr, Thomas Beall, of George; Charles Beatty, Anthony Holmead, William Young, Edward

ed his proclamation concerning the permanent seat

March in the year of our Lord, 1791 and in the

e Pre

Washi

s Jef

on April 3, 1791, to the Commissioners to proceed at once with the Attorney-General in regard to deeds so that

the House of Representatives for granting a sum of money f

ember 9, 1791, in reply to a letter from

ity of Washington in the Territory of Columbia," and that the streets

gne

s Joh

d St

l Car

e ideas from plans of great cities of Europe that might be found possible of adaptation so he wrote to Jefferson wh

e Comrs. instructed with respect to the mode of carrying the plan into effect, I set off this

g site for the city to

rouble. At the age of 22 he had come to America to volunteer his services in the war against England. He became an officer of engineers, and also helped Gen. von Steuben drill the Army at Valley Forge, and worked on fortification

e three Commissioners of the District of Columbia: Thomas Johnson, David Stuart, and Daniel Carroll. Dr. David Stuart had become the second husband of Mrs. John Parke Custis, daughter-in-law of Mrs. Washington. Things went from bad to worse w

here he actually did his work of drawing his famous Map, where Andrew Ellicott had his office

s as "General Washington's Headquarters." As General Washington never had need for military headquarters here

a letter to L'Enfant advising him that he m

raving of his "Plan" personally, L'Enfant wrote to the Commi

own Dec.

communicate to you a statement of the business I committed to this care and I have to request you will make provision for the suppl

spring. Therefore I beg you will devise the mode of obtaining that number before the 15th of March next

Washington 'for renewing the work at the Federal City' in the approaching season

as a 'Seat of Government.' Unfortunately, L'Enfant did not realize the poverty of the Treasury; and the state of mind of national legi

e reason for the letter from Secretary of State Jefferson terminating his services that month. But a close analysis of L'Enfant's experiences reveals that this was simply a 'serious

after 'his General' had died. In the meantime the L'Enfant Plan was engraved, the question of compensation to L

sey, built a magnificent house for Robert Morris in Philadelphia which was neve

y of Washington. On July 7, 1812 Secretary of War Eustis appointed him Professor of Engineering in the Military Academy at West Point but h

e fortification of Fort Washington oppos

A. Digges until 1824 when he went to live with a nephew William Dudley Digges a

urying him in the National Cemetery at Arlington, in

r, and certainly that "brilliant crowd" must have been largely composed of Georgetonians for the dwellers in the City of Washington at that time were few and far between. Witness General Washington's letter on the 17th of May, 1795, to Alexander White, one of the Commissioners: "I shall intimate that a residence in the City if a house is to be had, will be more promotive of its welfare than your abode in George Town." He was nursing along his namesake in every possible way. On February 8, 1798, he notes in his diary: "Visited Public Buildings in the morning." The day before, the

ver spent in the city named in his honor. He was never to live to see the government established

ted, it will produce a city, though not so large as Lon