Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-23
OLDEST COLORED RESIDENT
WITNESSED BATTLE OF BLADENS-
BURG, NEARLY A CENTURY AGO.
Henry Warren's Memory of Early
Events I'm Washing tOn-Slave
Who Bought Himself.

| Henry Warren q well-known and per-
| haps the Oldest colored resident of the Dis
| trict, living at No. 1893 9Th street north
| west, is in a very enfeebled condition, the
excessive heat OF the present month, with
| the infirmities of age-the weight OF a cen
| tury-being very severe upon him. Though
unable to walk a square. up to a month
| ago the old man was strong in mind, his
! recoilections of the early days Of the Dis
| trict being very clear, and he was able to
! converse intelligently Of events of three
quarters Of a century ago, interesting the
children by relating incidents in the lives
| of their ancestors which took place in his
| boyhood days.
From early youth the old man had been
! a lover of tobacco, being both chewer
and smoker, and one of his latest ambi-
| tons has been to put good color on to
a meerschaum pipe presented to him by a
| friend on his last birthday anniversary,
| February %. He was succeeding we'll be-
| fore the weather compelled him to give up
| his siestas under tree In his front yard
He has been communicate of the Catholic
| faith all his life and though unable to at
| tend service of late years, he Is particular
| in attending to his duties at home.
In recent talk with the writer Warren
said:
| II was born slave in the Key family
|
| burg, and not far from the District line,
and l saw the battle from a distance, but
| l was a mere boy and didn't know what
it meant. | remember that my father VINO
| was very bright in color, was taken pris-
| oner by the British. He was believed to
| be white man, but when he satisfied
| them that he was colored he was released
| and came home. Our family was large
| one and some were sold south and west
| one of my brothers going to the Indian
country. My father and mother and some
| of the others. including myself. were sold
| in the District. l to a man in Georgetown
l knew many of the old people OF that
| place in 1920 to 1880.
Il was hired to a tin and copper smith
Mr.. Tongue. who came from England, ana,
with his three sons. carried on business
there and subsequently in Washington. Mr..
Tongue was good master and a thorough
workman, and he gave me a good trade,
being just as particular in instructing me
as he was in teaching his own sons. l
could take old copper cent, beat and
roll it out and make a teakettle of 1t, and
l think | made perhaps fifty in my time,
some of which are now in the possession
of old residents. l made one of silver
half dollar. which / learned was taken
to China. While l was with Mr.. Tongue
he put on the copper covering of the dome
of the Capitol-the old dome-which !
think was late in the twenties.
His Ambition.
although I was well treated. to be my
l.
was told that my freedom could be pur-
chased for $500 tried to become free. Mr..
Glen Woodward. who had engaged in the
tin and stove business on d street between
10th and 18th streets. facing the avenue,
offered me the chance, and | agreed to work
for him SIX years II he would furnish the
money and give me board and clothes. l
later went to a shop where l spent nearly
half a century working in Mr.. Wood
wards shop for over half that period. l
recoiect that we did the tinw,Ek-gutter-
ing and spouting-on the houses III Frank
lin row, on X street between 18th and
18th streets, and they were then looked
upon as the finest buildings in the city.
This in 1892.
Immediately behind these houses was en-
orchard-Syes or Fry's-and where the As
cension Church now stands Mr.. Jake Dixon
had a track. From Franklin Square
there was a stream which flowed down 18th
street to below II street, thence eastward,
turning beyond 10th street and passing
southwark to the canal. into which it
emptied near where the central guard
house was erected. From this stream an
other flowed from near II and 18th streets,
crossed 10Th near G street, and, reaching
18th street north of F street, passed down
18th street to the canal. There was much
swamp land about the latter street west
of 18th street, a perfect morass existing
about 10Th and G. streets. Little did we
think then that we should ever such
streets as we have now. If any of the most
progressive people of that day had sug-
gested other than graveled street with
brick foot pavement they would have been
considered crazy
when / was boy had some taste for
music and cultivated it when l could. 1t
was not long before | could blow the fife.
AT that time the volunteer military COM
panies employed colOred boys to furnish
the music, and l was often the fifer, with
! Henry Hall az the drummer, for the
Georgetown companies. | recall playing
for Captain Thomas Corcoran's artillery
/ in ,,,,r.
| Georgetown Blues and Captain Thomas
Morgan Rifles and Colonel Seaton's Wash
ington Guards. l learned to play on many
| instruments. the clarinet and violin being
my favortes, and with Lloyd Williams
who subsequently died at Newport got
up a band. which for some years had
| quite large share of patronage. We
! gagged for parades, balls and parties for
profit, and sometimes a plantation band
! we would, with fiddles, banjoes, tambour-
| ines. etc. serenade some friend and then
| have a good time.
JavbOne Lutte.
I'VE had then an instrument you never
| hear of now-what we called the jawbone
| lutte. The bone was taken from the carcass
| of horse and rubbed up, and was thumped
| with the hand. 1t gave a humming sound
and sometimes. If the teeth were still in
the jaw, this humming was reinforced by
| rattle. For street parade we desired a
| uniform, and not being able to sport fine
one we bought some OF the CASTOR coats
! Of the Marine Band and had them made
! into jackets. There were eighteen of u.s.
| but do not know of a single one besides
| myself living and believe all have passed
over.
| "Once there We're seventeen in my fam
| lily, for we had fifteen children, of whom
| but two daughters remain. There are five
| grandchildren and seven great-grandchil-
| dren all men and women, in the family,
| but there may be many nephews, nieces
| and other relatives of which l know moth
| ing, not having heard Of my brothers and
! sisters since boyhood.
| The old man. as stated above was with
| Mr.. Woodward over twenty-five years, and
| for over fifteen years he served with
| Messrs. Sibly & Guy. He conducted bust
| ness on his own account more than TWEEN
| ty years on 18th above L street and on M
| street between 18th and 18th streets When
| suffrage was given the colored race he
old man was one Of its most conservative
members, and, enjoying the confidence of
| many OF the old white residents, he was
| candidate for the city council.
| QUESTION OF AUTHORITY.