Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-14

reiauVe. CONGRESSIONAL committee rooms
occupied the rest Of the building. The ses-
sions of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Con-
crosses were held in the temporary Capitol.
On March 4. 1917, the oath of Office as Pres
!dent was administered to James Monroe in
| the building, and he delivered his inaugural
address from the platform erected over the
door on the LIST street side.
Congress. the Supreme Court and the
Circuit Court of the District of Columbia
(the latter having been ousted once or
twice. continued to meet in the building
on and LIST streets until December @,
tSl9, when general removed to the re-
built Capitol occurred. Congress, for the
use and oo cupaticn of the old Capitol from
the year 1915 to the year 1919. paid in all
the sum of s13.155, as follows: For rent,
$1,000; for fixtures and other expenses in
CURED for better accommodations, 5000;
Tor necessary repairs, $l.555.
When Congress Left.
After its abandonment by Congress the old
Capitol began an uncertain existence
awaiting tenants. Toward the close of the
twenties the Rev. Mr.. Kelley. assistant pas
tor of st. Patrick's Church, opened a
school in 1T for boys, assisted by Nicholas
and John F. Callan, Charles Strahan and
Mr. Mallory as teachers. Mr.. Hughes
succeeded and established his private
academy in the building, continuing it
there until about the year 1885. In these
two schools many old citizens of the Dis
trict, the Mays. the Wetterstons, the Calls
educated. During its occupancy as a school
a commission or two, under international
treaties, held their sessions in portion Of
the building, and as messenger to one of
these Is still remembered Mr.. Brightwell
who kept stable of fine horses in the yard
and trotted them over a private course on
what is now Lincoln Park.
Having survived it's use as a school, as
IL true to its hostelry origin, the building
reverted into fashionable boarding house.
kept by the wife of H. V. Hill, cabinet
maker Of the city, and 1t was in 1t that
John c. Calhoun died. on Sunday morning,
March S1s 1850. between z and O'Clock.
At Last a Prison.
AS Is well known, at the beginning Of the
war handful of men were secretly drilling
In Washington every right with the inten-
ton Of Selling the capital at the first op-
Fortune moment, and placing it In the
hands of the rebels. At the same time,
meetings, IS secret, were conducted in Tenn
perance Hall by men whose object was the
espionage of the suspected persons and
their arrest for disloyalty, and as a conse-
quence Tnany citizen was sent over the
lines for secession sentiments expressed I'M
Ger cover, as the result of their work. AS
the war continued these arrests. became
more frequent. The prisoners were con-
find In places provided by the provost mar
shall or sent to military prisons throughout
the country. A common place of imprison-
ment for the suspects as well as for pris-
oners confined pending trial by court-mar
tial became necessary, and William P.
wood, a Washington citizen, particular
favorite of Stanton. who had especially
pursued with a keen scent for suspected
parties, was ordered to provide suitable
building ss common place Of imprison-
ment. He received his order early in the
year 1862, and at once took possession of
the old Capitol. 1t was then in state of
decay, its title was in dispute. 1t had been
sold again and again for taxes and its rag
muffin tenantry knew no landlord. He dis
possessed mOtlev crowd II w
chung to their habitation like wharf rats to
the Cocks. Windows were barred, heavy
bolts adjusted to doors and all was in read
iress for the purposes intended at a weeks
notice Then the big battles Of the war
commenced. and the prisoners captured
were sent to tie old Capitol. until the over
tated an annex, and Carroll row. one block
farther down on LIST street, was seized.
These two buildings became the famous
military prisons of the north. What Lib
hey was to Richmond they were to Wash
ington. William P. Wood was appointed
superintendent, and held his position con-
tinuously during the war.
The old Capitol prisoni Who but remem-
bers it! 1t stood. gloomy and dismal and for
lcrn. veritable architectural hulk, strand
ed; derelict in an ocean of brick and NOR
tar In it We're the colonel and private in
gray, the camp follower and the spy. The
detailed history Of the building during its
period as prison would fill a volume
Military Executions.
In the old Capitol prison yard occurred
four military executions, as follows:
December 8. 1862, John Conrad Kessler,
company K, one hundred and third New
York volunteers, hanged for the murder of
Lieut.. F. Linzy Of the same company at
the 9th street wharf.
November 25. 1864. Charles Williams,
colored. thirty-first U. S. colored troops.
hanged for the murder of an unknown
colored woman at Camp Casey.
August rs, 1884, Charles Fenton Beavers
of Loudoun county, Va, private in Mos
by's guerrtllas, hanged as spy.
November 10, 1865 Henry Wirz, the An
Jacksonville jailor. hanged for violations of
the lives of United States soldiers while
prisoners under his custody.
The most noted prisoner at the old Capt.
toll was probably Belle Boyd, the dashlng
confederate female spy, who began her ca
reer by killing Union soldier who had Of
fered an insult to her home in Martins
burg. Va. In an autobiography called
Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison" she has
detailed the adventures of her life The
old Capitol she describes as "a vast brick
building. like all prisons, somber. chilling
and repusive," and William P. Wood as
"a man having humane heart beneath a
gruff exterior. and announcing the hours
and forms of religious worship in the pris-
on In the following parlance: All you who
want to hear the word of God preached ac-
cording to JEFF Davis, go down into the
yard; and all you who want to hear 1t
preached according to Abe Lincoln go into
No. 16.'"
Remodeled.
On the conclusion of the war the old
Capitol was abandoned as a prison, Wirz
being the last prisoner confined there Some
enterprising freebooters took possession of
| the building and for a few days did a
thriving business by exhibiting it's interior
| to the public at ten cents admission. The
federal authorities checked the enterprise
| by closing and barring the structure, leav-
| ing 1t more dismal than ever. Disintegra-
| ton threatened its old roof and architec-
| tural suicide seemed imminent in its bulg-
| ing walls. The title to the building seemed
| always Swallowed by some legal Clouds and
under judicial order the auctioneer offered
| it for sale on April &c, 1866 The price linn
| tied was $4,000. the highest offer $4,000
| and the sale was withdrawn. Shortly af-
| terward George Brown, the sergeant-at-
arms Of the Senate, bought the decayfng
structure, and at once began its removal
| ton. The cunning of the architect ex-
| hausting the learning of his profession the
| highest skill of the trained artisan and a
| couple Of fortunes were needed and en-
| ployed in the task. Without destroying the
| historical brick and mortar of the old Cap
| itol, its forlorn identity was lost in its re-
| construction. George Brown made his
| name famous in way by connecting il
| with the purchase ard reconstruction of
| the old CaDitol. but he emitted his DocketS