Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-10

.-&S->- .R'GKEN
Historic kenmore.
Across the street. back Of the Mary
Washington home, is almost as historic
Kenmore" the home of Betty Washing
ton-Lewis. where 1t is supposed that Mary
Washington died. The house is in a splen-
did state of preservation. and. though
quaint in architecture, might have been
built in the last twenty years. 1t is now
descendant Of Francis Scott Key. He
takes INNER Sc pride in it, and has care
fully restored 1t in every feature The in
terror has never been changed in the least
and is exquisitely rich In wood carving and
stucco work. which 1t is said Washington
himself designed for his siste-. In the wide
old-fashioned hall stands the older fash
Toned clock. which. in her hall. once ad-
monished Mary Washington of the flying
hours. and taught her punctuality. 1t still
keeps perfect time. Oh, II 1t could only
talk!
Some two hundred yards northwest from
Kenmore" Is the spot where Mary WASH
ington chose to be buried. 1t Is said that
this was favorite place of resort for the
mother of Washington, that she went
there to read her Bible and pray Possibly
she did, but 1t is hard to believe that a
woman so thoroughly domestic, not senti-
mental and energetic, would walk SO far
o@n home quarter a rsad Of Ss n,b mierom her
We must believe that she had In her a love
for the beautiful In nature which did not
show In her daily walks and talks. 1t Is
said that she loved to sit on the rocks but
to do SO she must have let her feet and legs
hang on into space in a most undignified
manner.
1t is romantic spot. huge cleft granite
boulder Jutting out of the hillside making
sheer precipice Of fifteen o. twenty feet
and overshadowed by three or four elms
OF perhaps nifty years growth. There NAV
nave been other trees there in her time
dol No.
row have grown since her day. This spot
commands view of a scope of country
twenty miles in any direction The An
proach Is gradual rise from the Kappa
hammock and the city of Freder1cksburg.
while on the west the boulders tut out into
space On the south the ascent is more
abrupt and half way down is the we'll
formed outline of intrenchments thrown up
py captain Quinn, now of this city when
guarding Fredericksburg from the an
proach of Burnside and the bluecoats in
december. 1853. On the summit of this
knoll Mary Washington was buried in
august liS9. 1t was desolate field in her
day, with no houses between Kenmore and
II, and its selection Swallowed forth her
peculiarities to the end. She had nothing
IN common with the world o. its vanities
anu sought TO be as far apart from them as
possible. -' 10
Although Fredericksburg suspended bust
ness and wore Grape on its doors for the
occasion and Congress swathed itself I'm
unmarked for forty years
some futile effort IVES made to stir up
public sentiment. but not till in lSa3 did
II meet with any success. And here is the
true story OF the failure of that noble plan.
told for the first time to The Star cores
pondent by an old lady, whose mind is clear
as bell, Mrs. Catherine Nossett Mr. Bur
roughs OF New York designed the first mon
ument 1t was of the purest white Cara ra
marble From a square pedestal rose eight
Grecian columns set in embrasures aud
over these were perched four eagles on
one side was the inscription MARY the
Mother Of Washington" The crowning
obelsk tapered to a height of fifty feet and
was crowned by a bust of Washington
above whose lofty brow perched a nth ca
gle, poised for flight. The LAYING of the
cornerstone of this monument was the oc-
casion OF the third great episode in the life
or tredericksburg people. 1t occurred with
national pomp on May s. 1893.
President Andrew Jackson and his ca binet
and private secretary were there, the Presi-
dent slightly disngured, but still in the
ring" for II was while on the boat on his
way here that Lieut.. Beverly Randolph OF
the United States navy pulled Old Hickorv,s
nose. a Fredericksburg gentleman who
remembers the cornerstone laying we'll saws
that the Presidents proboscis was
sight" The military and civic display
was great. and the Marine Band made the
music. 1t was a proud day for Virginia.
and especially for Fredericksburg, but their
pride was laid low Mr. Burroughs almost
Immediately took his departure for China,
first paving a stonemason. Rufus Hill by
name. his contract price for putting the
monument in shape and finishing up the
good work begun. Mr.. Burroughs died soon
after. The stonemason. Mr.. Hill, who was
doing the carving himself while working on
the monument in the hot sun, had sun
stroke, then brain fever and died There
was no one to carry on the work and II
lapsed into ruin, though Mr.. Hill had been
paid in full for its completion. And that
Is the true story why the monument was
left unfinished, told by a woman who knew
Mr.. Hill and can show you where he work ed
at the monument, where he lived and where
he is buried
When the civil war ravaged the vicinity
shot and shell busted themselves with the
crumbling marble, which lay upon the
ground, and in 1889 the climax of dishonor
was reached when the ground containing
the dust of washington was offered
at auction for sale to the highest bidder
Only one other country ever tried to do as
atrocious thing. Spain wanted to sell the
body Of Columbus to the worlds fair man
ayers.
Judge James B. Sener, when a member Of
Congress from this district tried 10 get ap-
preparations to restore the monument, and
once got a committee down here to investi-
gate the matter. but nothing came of it,
He did not give up urging 1t. however. and
when the last outrage was perpetrated the
women took the thing in hand.
The Memorial Association.
The National Mary Washington Memorial
Association was formed, with Mrs. Amelia
c. Waite as president, and the fnrorpor-
ators with her were Mrs. Elizabeth Blair
Lee. Matilda w. Emory Margaret Hetzel
and Maud Lee Davidge. The trustees were
the President of the United States chief
Justice of the Supreme Court and governor
of Virginia. The various states are repre-
scented by vice president each. Life mem
berships cost SIS, yearly memberships 81 a
year.
The spot upon which the grave rested was
then given to the association by Mr., George
Washington Shepard. a wealthy resident Of
Fredericksburg. whose offer to sell the spot
brought such storm of indignat ion from
all over the country. and lawsuit from the
man who bought the grave, as he thou yht
but found that the goods could not be de-