Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-06-12
speedy execution Of young Spencer
was. as I have heard, that his father

being Secretary of War, fair trial
might be found impossible where the
paternal influence could be felt. There
was great excitement about this matter
at the time, have been told, but Com
mander Slidell Mackenzie was sustain
ed by court of inquiry, composed OF
Commanders Stewart, Jones and Dallas.
He subsequently, at his own request,
was cOurt-martialed, and Commodore
Downs was president of the court
The trial lasted over forty days, and
resulted in Mackenzie's acquittal. Yet
so high did public opinion run against
him that i have been told ne dropped
the name of Mackenzie, retaining that
of Slidell. l think he was the brother
of Slidell, who was captured with Mason
and the brother-in-law of Admiral
Rodgers. Upshur and Gilmer, the two
members of the Cabinet who, in the
spring of 1874, were killed by the ex-
plosion of the gun on the Princeton,
which converted pleasure party on
the Potomac into hOrror-stricken
assemblage, wailing over the sudden
destruction of eight of their number,
were either living in the tragic house
at the time they went with President
Tyler's excursion or had lived there
while in the Cabinet. Seward lived in
that house during the time he was
Secretary of State under Lincoln, and
subsequently under johnson, and it
vas in his bed-chamber there, where
'c.s Law i'll, thar Payne, the would-be
assassin, made his attack, and his son,
Nr. Frederick Seward, the present
MISUNDERSTANDING of State, received
in his defense of his father the wound
which so nearly ended his life. Few
seem to understand, when they see that
gentleman wearing the little skull cap
in which he always appears in public,
that it is worn to conceal where his
skull was trepanned in consequence of
that wound. Commodore Rodgers, of
the navy, the father of the wife of Cen
eral Meigs, built this house with prize
money, and Commodore Decatur also
built his, on the north western corner of
Lafayette square, with prize money.
This fact has been commented upon be-
cause of the tragedies connected with
both houses, seemingly verifying the
seriptural proverb, ''For all they that
take the sword shall perish by the
sword" Decatur, it will be remem-
bered, was shot by Commodore Barron
in duel at Bladensburg, and was
brought back to his home mortally
wounded, and died there in a few hours.
He was universally beloved and his
services to his country were so highly
esteemed that his tragic death on the
morning of March %, 1920, plunged
the whole of Washington into mourn
ing, and was generally regarded as
national calamity. The house is now
owned by General Beale, and has been
used bv himselfanf familyas a residence
for several years It il his danshtsr,
Nine. Bakhmeteff and his son-in-law,
who are even now, suffering severely
from the bite of a mad dog. Should
hydrophobia. as is feared, terminate
their lives, it will add yet another to
the chapter of horrors with which the
surroundings of the beautiful park are
associated. This time last year newly
welded pair were welcomed to the
large double house adjoining DIR. Cor
coran's residence, and fronting on
Lafayette square. They were DIR.
Robert Stuart (the son of the wlfe of
Representative Elijah Ward and his
bride. They spent a brief portion of
their honeymoon there with his mother
aud sister. Last autumn the shocking
news came that the siX-months' wife
had died by her own hand in New
York. The story is still too fresh in
the public mind to recall it. / but
made the allusion in proof of my
assertion that sad histories cluster as
thickly about the neighborhood of
Lafayette square as leaves upon it's
spreading trees.