The National tribune., 1897-11-25
Copyright, 1891, by Mary S. Lock wood.
CHAPTER II.
THE VAN NESS MANSION.


MISREPRESENTATION of the Olden Time.
L'Enfant was grand, elegant magnili.
cent in all his conceptions, and wher
Daniel Carroll began building DuddIngton
House in the center of one of his grand
avenues New Jersey, and he saw thai
IL would lead TO the breaking up of his
great plan, he first admoniSheG him tina.
IL could not I've, and when he saw that this
was not needed. he dad not hesitate to
send parties in the night To TaZe the house
to the ground. much to the disgust of the
Commissioners, and especially of Daniel
Carroll. Duddington House was rebuilt by
the Government.
IL was at about this time that Washing
ton wrote to jefferson: 1T is much to be
regretted that men who possess talents
which fit them for peculiar purposes, should
almost invariably he under the influence
of an unframed disposition. 1have thought
Tor such employment as he Is now en-
gagged in, for prosecuting public works,
and carrying them into effect, Mai. LIN
FAINT was better qualified than any one
who has come within my knowledge IN
this country or any other.
In a letter from Jefferson, dated March
8. 1892. his dismissal was thus announced:
ut having been found impracticable to
employ Mai. l. Enfant about the Federal
City in that subordination which was law
ful and proper, he Is notified that his SerV-
ices are at an end"
Andrew Ellicott was the man chosen to
finish the laying out of the city, after the
original plan of Maj. LEnfant
When Washington made the contract
with Mr.. Burns, he agreed To have the
lines of the streets run as not TO dis
turb the cottage of the latter. This agree
ment was faithfully carried out by the
Government.
Mr.. Burnss estate came to him through
long Scotch ancestry, and If he held on
to his broad acres with obstinate tenacity,
it was his right; for, ere Isaac Barre called
the colonists Sons OF Liberty" ere Will
ham Pitt Numbered in Parliament, 'if the
Americans had submitted Ia the Stamp
Act they deserved to be slaves, ere
Washington was made COMMANDMENT
Chief or Boston had had her Tea Party,
the thumb-latch of the door to this old
cottage was smoothed and battered by the
hands of sturdy Scotchmen.
Those long Winter evenings brought
many a merry meeting of the old neigh
bors. They would sit before the cracking
fire in the cid fireplace, with its hanging
crane and singing frewood, and while the
flames were making wIerd pictures upon
the back log, they talked of the old homes
and mother country, and cherished Tecol-
lections OF Bonnie Doom.
Such was the life under this roof in the
old Colonial days, when the master was
plain Farmer Burns. But when the sale
of the broad acres had brought him wealth,
there was a change in all this. The places
Of the plain farmers who came, in surtout
and doublet. TO drink their rnUn dof apple
jack, were taken by men famous in the
worlds history. George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson. Alexander Hamilton,
Aaron Burr were frequent visitors. The
Calyerts, the CAROLS were his intimate
neighbors. Tom Moore was an honored
guest.
The little room off the large room, on the
ground floor, was pointed out as Tom
MoOre's room. Quite possibly il was in
this room that he wrote his poetry about
Americans; and from here he penned TO
Thomas Hume the lines:
"Tn fancy now beneath the twilight gloom,
Come, let me lead thee DER this modern
Rome,
Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi
And what was Goose Creek once, is Tiher
now,
This famed metropolis where Fancy sees
Squares IN morasses, obelisks in trees:
Which, travelling fools and gaHetters adorn
With shrines unbuilt, and heroes yet I'M
born,
Though naught but wood, and -, they
So here / pause,-and now my Hume! we
part;
But OH full oft in magic dreams of heart
Thus let US meet, and mingle converse dear
here,
Der lakes and marsh, through fevers and
through fogs,
Midst hears and Yankees, democrats and
frogs,
Thy foot shall follow me; thy heart and
With me shall wonder, and with me de-
spise."
Could such cottage stand through the
centuries and not have its chapter OF 70
nance TO bequeath tender legacies TO the
after time, Nhispcrings have brought to
US the name of one whose graces made
this old home beautiful
The fairest belle in all the realm was
Marcia Burns. II was rich inheritance.
indeed, 10 this child of nature, 10 he sur
rounded with fields Of waving grass and
trees, and singing birds and the bread
acres, 10 give her the sense that she Yves
born 10 a noble principally. IL WAS one
that brought many suitors 10 her home;
but of them all, John T.. Van Ness was the
lucky man. He was "a Member of Congress
from New York. We read Of him that he
was " well-ied, well-bred and well-read"
elegant, popular and handsome enough 10
win ms way 10 any maiden's heart
Marcia Burns married Mr.. Van Ness q;
20 years Of age, and being the only living
heir, lnherlteI the whole Of her fathers
vast estate. or several wears after heir
marriage they continued To live i'm the cot
tage in which she was born ii plain un-
pitAfiltF'Dh HDfuf5 Yet III lft' udN IL was
built IL had no rivals, and was known as
the Burns Mansion low, one-story
house with garret, four rooms i'm all. In
all its appointments it bears the most rrimi-
tive stamp.
In 1920, when their only child REARED
from school AT Philadelphia, a new man
sion was ready for occupancy. IL stands
in the same grounds that surrounded The
cottage, and was the most magnificent of
all the houses in the place. No historic
house 10 day i'm Washington compares
with II IN elegant pretentiDusness. La
trobe, whose master hand il seen i'm the
Capitol, was the architect. This house
was built, at cost al $50 600 half "A cen
tIry ago. The cid cottage WAS still the oh
feet al tender care. and was looked upon
with the utmost veneration. The Italian
mantSls that adorned the new home. with
their sculDtured Loves and Graces. had no
more charm for Mrs. Van Ness marcia
Buns than the old fireplace in the cot
tage, sacred 10 cid associations, where
love had always had a home, and the
hearth fires needed no yestal watch 10
keep them burning.
The finish OF costly woods, the doors
ornamented with Spanish Azuleios, meant
no more les her than the old cottage door
that mad 10: ages swung upon its rude
hinges. II WAS into the new home that
Ann Elbertine Van Ness was brought
Like her mother, she was lo?ely in char
acter, form and feature
Miss tan Ness was soon after married 10
al A...,f n, IL. -.