St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-11-14

romances have they concealed, and
what stirring scenes have been enact
ed around them in the country's up
building.
Those who lived in them have gone
to their allotted places in the silent
halls of the undiscovered country, but
the masses of masonry and brick, in
their quaint grandeur, remain as monu-
ments to the decades of the past, and
breathe out the mysteries of the times
that are no more
From the time that John Smith, in
1908, sailed up the Potomac only to
turn his back upon the wilderness
that he found until the time that con-
gress decided that the land should be
the site of the nations capital there
were few habitations in the district
but Indian wigwams and log cabins.
Of the latter, the most noteworthy
was that of old David Burns, who sur
rendered his land to the government
only after bitter controversy, and
under a threat from President Wash
ington that it would be seized if he
would not sell. When the hard
headed old Scotchman conceded the
money that his property brought made
him wealthy man. 1t was on this
farmland that the White House was
erected, but, in the laying out of the
streets and lots, the quaint old cottage
Of the Scotchman was not disturbed.
In the winter evenings of the long
ago the cottage was the scene of
many merry gatherings of neighbors.
They would sit before the cracking
fire, with it's hanging crane and sing
ing kettle, and, while the flames were
making weird pictures, they talked of
The graceful aspens, the whispering
naples and the sturdy oaks that bent
over the low roof gave shelter and
shade to the sons and daughters of the
yeomanry.
But when the sale of the broad acres
had brought wealth to Davy Burns,
there came change. The places of
the plain farmers who called, in
surtout and doublet, to drink their
round of app1ejack were taken by
men famous in the worlds history.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
were frequent visitors. The Calverts
and the CAROLS were intimate neigh
bors. Tom Moore, the Irish poet, was
an honored guest. 1t was in the Burns
cottage that the poet penned his IA
nous lines:
In fancy now beneath the twilight gloom,
Come, let me lead thee DER this modern
Rome
Such a cottage could not stand
throughout the centuries without it's
legacy of romance. The love element
crept in when the beautiful Marcia
Burns became the bride of John P.
Van Ness, member of congress from
New York. In those days the cottage
was still mansion, with it's one story,
low roof and four rooms.
But with the graduation of a daugh-
ter from the Philadelphia schools, it
was thought necessary to build an
other and a finer home, and the Van
Ness mansion of the present day was
the outcome of the parents plans
Latrobe, the architect of the capitol
designed the mansion, which cost $780,
000-a fabulous price for a home at
that time. But the old cottage was
retained as an adjunct to the newer
mansion by Mr.. Van Ness, who, in
the meantime, had become the mayor
of Washington.
But how the mighty have fallen
The cottage some years ago fell into
alien hands, and was leased as a beer
garden. The old mansion to-day
people say is haunted, and on the an
niversary of the death of old Mr.. Van
Ness it is
said six head
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