The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-04-21
oLD HousEs IN WASHINGTON.

I'LL ttOSS-O Nv 0s1OfliN1 1 1iNs
No other American city the center
of SO glorious a store Of historical asso-
| Citations as the nations capital-associa-
dwindling number OF nne old dwellings,
that have thus far escaped the march
! of modern Improvement.
AT the foot OF Seventeenth street. away
from the usual paths of the sightseer
and now utterly fallen from its former
/ high estate. stands i house more init
mately involved, perhaps. than any other
/ with the early history Of Washington.
/ This is the mansion erected In the 1rst
/ decade Of the century by John Van
Ness, whose gracious and beautiful wife
was the only child Of that David Burns
/ who once owned most Of what IS now
/ the northwest section Of Washington.
| Burns, being u Seotchman, knew how TO
/ drive canny bargain, and when ne part
I ed with his land il was upon terms
which made him. who had formerly been
/ only a poor tobacco planter, the first
rich man Of the capital Upon his
4 death Marcia inherited his whole for
tune When. therefore, John Van Ness.
/ then a member OF congress from New
! York and the political prctege Of Aaron
Burr, was chosen from among her many
suitors, he was counted a fortunate man.
] They We're married in the early summer
/ OF 1852 and al the end Of his term the
l
York, and q few years later built for his
/ wife, near the cottage home OF her
| childhood, the house which bears his
name.
| Planned by the architect Latrobe. and
! commanding a noble view Of the broad
Potomac and the Virginia hills beyond,
\ II was placed IN the center OF a we'll
/ kept park. and in 1uxuriousness Of ap-
pointments had no equal in this country
/ at the time il was built Here for many
\ years, its owner dispensed q hospitality
/ the fame Of which has come down to the
present day. Many of the earlier presi-
dents were entertained here. ard every
year dinner was given TO the congress
OF the United States. The place is now
! used as picnic ground by the negroes
| Of the neighborhOoG; the basement Of
the mansion is beer-saloon. and
| dancing platform has been erected be-
meath the trees which sheltered Marcia
Durns in her girlhood and lOveler wo-
manhood.
The "Oetagon," which stands at the
northest corner of New York avenue
and Eighteenth street, antedates the Van
Ness mansion IN years, and is not less
rich in historic memories 1t was begun
IN 1873, and occupied in 1901, by Col. John
| Tayloe, the richest Virginian of his day
and, as master of Mount Airy with its
estate IN the Old Dominion. Col. Tayloe
had intended TO build a winter residence
in Philadelphia, but changed his plans
at the earnest request Of General Wash
ingtOn, and for the better part Of a gem.
GRAFTON the .'Octag0u so called because
Of its peculiar architecture. was the cen
ter OF all that was most brilliant and re-
fined in the unofficial society of the cap
ital.
Time was when it was also the official
center, for when in August 1914. the
British marched upon Washington and
burned the presidents house. as well as
other buildings, Col. Tayloe offered his
home to President Madison who, accept
ing the tender. made the "Octagon" hts
abiding place for over a year. A circu-
lar room over the entrance hall with
windows to the floor and a handsome
fireplace, was President Madison's Of
fee, and here, on one of the handsome
old tables now in the Corcoran Art Cal
lery, he signed, on February Is, 1875
the treaty Of Client, which had been
unanimously approved by the senate two
days before. IN 1898, after having been
carefully restored, the "Octagon" became
the home of the Washington Chapter of
the American Institute of Architects
and promises, so we'll did its builders
do their work, easily to survive the wear
and tear of another century.
Time has also dealt kindly with the old
Decatur mansion This house built by
Latrobe in 1873 was the first private
dwelling erected on Lafayette Square,
known in those early days as Burns
Orchard. It is a roomy structure of red
brick, with a pyramidal slated roof and
severely plain front. but in the days of
its first owner the gorgeousness of the
interior fully compensated for any lack
of outward adOrnment The history OF
Commodore Decatur's life was written on
the walls OF his home, which were COW
cred with the trophies Of his many sue
cesses. both of war and peace. His wife,
a famous Virginia belle, had been sought
in marriage by Jerome Bouaparte but on
the advice Of a shreWd friend who pre-
dicted that Napoleon would never rec
ognize the marriage, she refused him.
to become in due time the wife of the
man whom Nelson declared TO be the
most daring captain of his age The
Decaturs at once became social leaders
in Washington. but for only q single sea-
son. on March p. 1870, occurred the nus
bands needless, fatal meeting with Com
modore Barron on the old dueiling
ground at Bladensburg, and Decatur was
carried home to die in the house he had
built less than a year before. Since De-
catur's day the house has enclosed a fun
measure Of wit and beauty. for it has
rarely been without some famous occu-
pant. Henry Clay lived there while sec
rotary Of state under John Quincy Ad-
ans. and his successors In office. Martin
Van Buren, and Edward Livington. occu-
pied il in the same capacity. From 1879
until his death twenty years later Il was
owned and occupied by Gen. Edward
Beale. who with his accomplished wife
made it the center of eli that was best
in Washington society. Gen. Beale was
a grandson Of Commodore Truxton. IN
der whom Decatur, the builder Of this
house, had served as a midshiDman.
There are many other houses Of historic /
interest In and about Lafayette Square. I
Daniel Webster last Washington home.
now the Webster Law building was or
= street. between Fifth and Sixth streets.
Here he made his memorable midnight (
speech, when, IN 1852 Scott had won the
presidential nomination from him and
he knew that his political career WAS /
closed; but his home while secrefarT - /
state was the Corcoran house, where the /
AshburtOn treaty was discussed and /
practically concluded This hocsa faces I
Lafayette Square. Near by il the man 1
sion built By william T. Marcy when /
q member Of Poiks cabinet ard just
across Connecticut averue arc THE Old 4
homes Of Bancroft. the historian. aud o. 4
Admiral David Dixon Porter
salmon ?. Chase lived during The most +
eveutfUi years Of hls bitter. splendid ca- 1
reer in q house which stiH stands a. the T
corner Of y and sixth streets. ard ~ i
No. ~ street one comes upon tfe I
house built by stephen A. Douglas when /
the leader of his party in the senate ard 4
q hopeful aspirart f1r the presidency. 4
This house after she 1eatE ~ DouElaa. /
was fcE many years the home ~ Justice 4
Bradley 81 the supreme court Adloirirs
i IS the modest mansion given ~ Neg 4
York friends % Gen Grant iu which De
44ved untl be moved u the white 4
House. when similar act ~ generosity