A Portrait of Old George Town

from Cox's Row to High

. John Cox was of English descent. He was born in 1775 during the Revolution, was the youngest of four children, and being left an orphan as a small child, was raised by an uncle who was a banker in Baltimore. He later lived for a while in Philadelphia, and from there came to

keld became his wife they built a lovely house on part of the Berleith estate, next door to the old Threlkeld which had been burned, and called it The Cedars. It stood where the Western High School now stands, and it is difficult to realize now that there, in my memory, was a home surrounded by a mass of trees and vines a

on himself, while other men would be up to their ankles in mud, for in those days there were no pavements." Stepping-

1824, it fell to his lot to act as host for Georgetown to

Consequently, he used one of these houses which was vacant at that time, number 3337; had it furnished from top to bottom, his

ecorating the floor by painting a pattern around the edges with colored chalks-garlands of roses entwined with the flags of the two countries. A marvelous supper w

to the District of Columbia, having come by way of Baltimore, he was escorted by a troop of cavalry from Montgomery County comman

t his eldest son of the same name left to enter the Confederate Army. William A. Gordon, senior, born in Baltimore, had gone to the Military Academy at West Point, and while there a terrible cry arose about the poor quality of food furnished for the cadets. Mr. Gordon was one of the three young men

d he was presented by the officials with a very handsome silver punch bowl, ladle and tray and a large silver loving cup. He died suddenly a month or two after giving up his business and his widow did n

ent being on the occasion of the recapture and destruction of the frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli in 1804. Midshipman Morris, then nineteen years old, volunteered for the service and was the first to stand o

on of towing and kedging by means of the Constitution's boats and anchors, an extraordinary escape was made which, as Captain Hull stated at the time, w

. S. Brandywine, and while on a visit to the general his portrait was pain

rld, went into the Southern Navy during the Civil War. At the time of his funeral W. W. Corcoran, who was a very intimate friend, was a pall-bearer. In those days it was the style for the mourners to wear a long streamer of crêpe around their hats a

of Colonel Joseph Ives, a brilliant young engineer officer of the United States Army, who, although of Northern birth, espoused the Southern cause. He was put on General Lee's staff, and later transfe

Ould, whose name still is a synonym for grace, beauty and wit, spent her childhood here. After the Oulds went to R

Assistant Secretary of State. Women of my generation still remember him

kins, the great friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt, bought and moved to with his new wife and his daughter Diana, when

he Heights, and also the Wheatleys of whom there were several h

utionary War." In the one on the corner of First (N) and Potomac Streets used to live Mrs. Gannt and her daughter Clare and Mrs. Gannt's sister Mrs. Smith. I t

ithin recent years Ambassador to the Court of St. James. This house is now the home of Mrs. McCook Knox who is very well known in connection with the study of Early American Portraits and has been connected with the Frick Art Reference Library of New York since its inception. In the front room of the attic of 3259 were doors

Hon. and Mrs. Richard B. W

ant Secretary of War it was the home of Hon. and Mrs. F. Trubee Davis

lled Holy Hill, because of the great number of Irish who dwelt in the neighborhood.

was not a very dark negress and had a fine countenance and striking figure. She used to go about the streets blessing little children and wanting to baptize them, followed, of course, by a string of boys making fun of her. She would go up to Trinity Church and stand by the door; but once she

r the Hein family whose home was at number 3249 N Stree

e Civil War kept the Stars and Stripes flying from one of his windows. All through the two terrible days after the Battle of Bull Run, when the Northern troops were streaming through Georgetown, Mr. Hein maintained a soup kitchen for the soldiers in his ba

behind another house, opposite the post office. There he took pupils. He was very picturesque in appearance, t

n interesting book called Memori

dashing young Cavalry officer, who was showing off the paces of his handsome black charger to the Minister. I lingered nearby, greatly enjoying the equestrian performance, and upon

n and Major Dunlop, of the Union Army, by a drumhead Court Martial, and their conviction and execution by hanging. In recent years I was informed by my wife's mother, Mrs. Ross, that she remembered Williams quite well, and that

attle of Monterey, Mexico, while serving on the staff of General Zachary Taylor, and his mother, America Peter was the daughter of Thomas Peter, a prominent c

was a large, two-story frame building, having a high entrance porch, where hung the bell. It stood on a hill which commanded a fine view of the river from the study rooms upstairs. Ad

n later years the present building was erected but having a very

ories is being dared by my brothers and sisters to jump off the stone wall fronting the street, about fo

he United States Naval Observatory now stands. She was the daughter of Major Adlum whose home was The Vineyard where the Bureau of Standards