Sharp County record., 1879-10-30

/ her to Leave the city as soon is poSSl
BILE; the British have arrived. 1t was
md derstoood in advance where she should
90 if she received such Il message. she
Immediately left for place in Virginia
where she remained, as did the PreSi-
dent and several members of his Cabl-
NET. until the British left for Baltimore
eicht or ten days after. You have read,
no doubt, of the death of Gen. Ross near
Old Point, at Baltimore, on September
y, following. As he was riding along
two bows fired at and killed him from Il
LARGE tree in the woods. The boys were
liddled bv bullets, a whole regiment re-
turning their fire. Mrs, Madison left
the White House in charge OF mesSen-
GER named John Souissa, who died less
| than ten years ago. 1t was Mr.. SOuissa,
who was a Frenchman, who cut Gilbert
Stuart's portrait of Washington out OF
its frame and hid it somewhere in the
woods, so that the British could not de-
stroy it. know this from Mr.. Souissa
and several others who were employed
at the White House at the time"
"This matter was the subject Of an
inquiry recently, was it notP"
"Yes. Mr.. Hayes sent for me cou-
pie of months ago. Iwent to the White
House to see him. He asked me to tell
him the entire story of the saving OF the
Stuart portrait of Washington, which is
still there, and is the best portrait in eX-
istence. | did 50. Mr., Hayes said he
had been told that the portrait had been
cut out of its frame by colOred man,
but satisfied him it was saved by Mr..
Souissa. The Oldest Inhabitants AssO-
citation recently investigated the matter
thoroughly, and found beyond doubt
that it was Souissa who saved the pic
ture. Edward McManus, who was door
keeper at the White House for nearly
80 wears, told me several days ago that
when the picture was reframed, Just be-
fore Buchanan left the White House, he
saw the Jagged edges made by the knife,
lust as Mr.. Souissa had described them
to him. / satisfied Mr.. Hayes on this
subject. There was a cOlored man en-
ployed at the White House at the time
| by the name of Jerry Smith. Just be-
fore Mrs. Madison left the mansion, af-
ter piling all of her clothing and such
little things as she could take into
trunks, she impressed upon Jerry the
importance of saving a fine poll-paTot
she had While Souissa was cutting the
portrait out of it's frame, Jerry took the
poll-parrot down the street, looking for
some one who would promise him they
would take care of it to oblge Mrs.
Madison. He finally put it in McGraw's
restaurant, corner of Fifteenth and +
Streets, where it was kept until Mrs.
Madison returned Mr.. w. W. Cor
coran told me some time ago that
Souissa rolled up the picture, and hid it
in the Union Hotel in Georgetown. He
did not say this of his own knowledge,
however, and | am sure he is mistaken.
1t was hid somewhere else, but | don't
exactly remember where. Mr.. Souissa
told me often, but at this moment | for
get the place"
"How were the red-coats treated
while here?'
"At that time, ~ said Mr.. Callan, "the
population of Washington did not eX-
ceed four or five thousand. To-day it is
one hundred and sixty thousand. Every
body was of course frightened. The
soldiers committed no depredations eX-
cept going into grog-shops and ordering
what they wanted to drink, which they
forgot to pay for. But that was eX-
pected. On the day following the en-
trance of the British, Father Mathew
(who was then pastor of st. Patrick's
Church) heard the confessions Of a num-
Der of the British soldiers. He did not
appear to be the least bit afraid Of them,
and continued his regular services the
same as if every thing was as quiet as
usual. Father Mathew was the first ma
tive American who was ordained a
priest in this country. Hewas ordained
in Baltimore by Archbishop Carroll.
Many of the British soldiers attended
the services at his church, marching up
from their camp, about the spot where
the Botanical Garden now is, in
squads"
"When was the War Department
building burned?h
"On the morning after the 25th Gen.
Ross led detachment of his soldiers up
to the War Department. They passed
right along Pennsylvania Avenue. With
a lot Of other youngsters, | followed the
other soldiers up and saw them burn the
building. As Gen. Ross was return
ing he stopped in front of the
Bank of the Metropolis (now
known as the National Metropolitan
Bank, on Fifth Street, opposite the
Treasury. The bank was in charge of
watchman, all of its other attaches
having run away the day before, as did
great many others. A short time be-
fore, the bank had loaned S500,O0O to
the Government, to be sent to Gen.
Jackson at New Orleans. They issued