The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1876-05-25

t---~f~-N--- JCA-Ne
His own name was Pope; his plan
tation he therefore christened by
the name of Rome, and the stream
at the foot of the hill where he
dwelt he called the Tiber. Very
frequently did he bore his guests
with the oft-told tale that America,
as we'll as Europe, had its Pope,
dwelling at Rome, on the banks of
the Tiber! How 1t would have de
lighted his honest old heart, could
he have foreseen that the ground
where he then dwelt would in other
days be known as Capitol Hill.
1t required some time and much
talking to reconcile all the diverse
elements; but at last David Burns
and his neutrality-suspicious. con
sented that their homesteads should
be converted into the capital Of the
nation. One-halt of the land was
to be given up to the public, the
old proprietors to retain the other
half. Major L'Enfant, a French
engineer of note, was selected to
lay out the city. He made his
streets run due north and south
and named them after the numer-
ais; or else due east and west, des.
ignated alphabetically. The French
minister of that day remarked to
Gen. Washington that his engineer
must be an infant in mind as we'll
as name 20 call his streets a, B, c,
and l, ? and 3.
David Burns, planter, justice of
the peace, owner of the many broad
acres that lay between Georgetown
and the present site of the Capitol,
lived in a small cottage, a little
back from the river, on the square
now lying between Seventeenth and
Eighteenth streets. That planters
mansion of the last century still
stands, under the shadow of its
overhanging trees, and is still kept
in good repair by its present owner.
Here Mr.. Burns, who had but lately
lost his wife, was bringing up his
two children, just passing out of
their teens, when President Wash
ington insisted on thrusting great
fortune upon them. The old gen
tleman had dedicated his son to
the law, but the young gentleman's
health failed, and he passed away
to better world just as population
was beginning to pour itself over
the parental plantation. His death
left the young lady soul heiress to
all that part of Washington now
occupied by the White House, the
Treasury, the Observatory, the Pat
ent Office, the Post Office, the
Smithsonian, the Agricultural build
ings, and the aristocratic mansions
of H, I, and NJ streets. The con-
version of this large plantation into
the squares of a city that was to be
the metropolis of a nation, made
Miss Burns the wealthiest partie
then living in this country. The
presence of Congress close by her
Joore hold =, n email ,,1ooa vvboro
there vas almost nc, society, brought
to her feet scores of Congressional
bachelors. They had not the slight
est objection to taking charge of
the fair form and large fortune of
the rich heiress. Politics was dis
cussed in the Capitol; love in the
cottage of David Burns. For the
young lady was just nineteen and
very beautiful. Her complexion
was one of dazzling fairness, her
eyes full of playful fire; but her
most attractive feature was the air
of goodness that continually dwelt
upon her face. Always at ease and
always trying to put others at ease,
lovely, quick witted and cultured,
Miss Maria Burns would have been
the belle of any society in any city
on the continent; at Washington
she was its queen.
1t would hardly be fair to the
memory of the gay young gentle
men of the Congress of 1902 to state
how many of them failed in their
attempts to secure the great prize
1t is more to our purpose to relate
that among the gallant members OF
the first Congress that ever assem-
bled at Washington was the Hon
John P. Van Ness, of New York
He belonged to that patrician and
aristocratic family that then Occu
pied the magnificent country seal
of Lindenwall, subsequently owned
by Mr.. Van Buren. Mr.. Van Mes:
had been educated at Columbia Col
Iege, and had studied for the law
but had been forced by ill-health tt
give up its practice. He was nov
a representative in Congress, thirty
years Of age, of fair talents, and
what is of no less Importance in tn,
eyes of young ladies, of handsom,
and commanding appearance. Hi
family and Congressional standin!
gave him prestige in society; hi
abilities confirmed the favorabl
impressions his manly looks ere
p ated: and he was much aided by th
( influence of his political friends
t The disposition of the greatest for
[ tune then in the matrimonial mar
t ket was the object of much specula
ton among those whose thought
s were supposed to be given to legis
\ lation. Mr.. President Aaro
Burr. then of unspotted reputation