The Washington herald., 1911-10-15
LIFE IN WASHINGTON
In the Forties and Fifties of the Last Century.

avenue. between Sixth and Seventh
streets. Benjamin L. Jackson & Bro.
were the proprietors Of one, and James
l.. Barbour and John A. Hamilton of an
other. Louis Vavan was the ac-
complished cook and caterer. John Red
fern, his son-in-law, kept a grocery store
in the First ward. Frank Taylor, the
father Of the late Rear Admiral Henry
c. Taylor, U. S. N, was the proprietor
OF a book store in Pennsylvania avenue,
near Four -and-a-half street. His store
had bust of Sir Walter Scott over the
door. and he usually kept the front
show windows closed to prevent the light
from fading the bindings of his books.
Center Market was located on the same
site as at present, but of course 1t has
since been greatly enlarged and i'm
proved. All the stores IN Louisiana ave-
nue. sold at retail"
Regarding the hostelries Of the day,
Mrs. Gouverneur says that the Willard
Hotel was just around the corner from
the site of the New willard and that
Caleb Willard was the proprietor.
Browns Hotel, farther down on Penn
sylvania avenue, near Sixth street, was
a popular rendezvous OF Congressional
people. 1t was at first called the In
dian Queen, and was kept by the we'll
known mine host" Jesse Brown. After
his death the name was changed to the
Metropolitan. The NATIONAL Hotel. on
the opposite corner, was the largest
hostelry in Washington. Until President
Buchanan's administration it enjoyed a
very prosperous career. Shortly after
Buchanan's inauguration a mysterious
disease appeared among the patrons of
the house, which physicians failed to
diagnose satisfactorily. 1t became COM
monty known as the National Hotel
disease" and it resulted in numerous
Of the hotel at one time, and it usually
went by the name OF Gadsby's. Presi-
ent Buchanan was one or the guests on
the eve of his inauguration.
Slavery in those days was in full
swing in Washington, and with but few
exceptions all the servants were colored.
The wages of a good cook were only $6
or s. a month. yet their proficiency in
the culinary art was remarkable. The
manner of many Of the male slaves of
the day would have graced a court, ac-
cording to the authoress, who relates
the following incident:
When William L. Marcy. who, al
though u master in statesmanship and
diplomacy, was not especially gifted in
external graces. was taking final leave
of the clerks in the War Department.
where as secretary he had rendered such
distinguished services under President
Polk, he shook hands with an elderly
colored employe named Catcher, who
had been a body servant of President
Monroe, and said, GoOd-by, Catcher; II
l had had your manners, l should have
left more friends behind me"
Mrs. Gouverneur was very intimate
VIII the Scott family. She brands as
falsehood the story that Mrs. Winfield
Scott in her early youth refused an
offer of marriage from the man who
eventually became her husband. because
his rank in the army was too low 10
suit her taste. and that she relented
when finally he became a general. At
any rate, Scott was made a brigadier
general at the early age Of twenty-eight.
Mrs. Scott. she says. had a great record
as a belle, and in the latter years OF her
life still retained traces OF her beauty.
She was a daughter Of Col Mayo, Of
New Jersey. a citizen of great wealth
and prominence. She tells US that Gen.
Scott was great epicure.
Il have seen him sit down to a meal"
she says, where jowl was the principal
dish. and have heard his exclamations
of appreciation. He did the family
marketing in person, and was very dis
eliminating in his selection of food.
Terrapin. which he insisted on pronounc-
g,,rv hfE lfgk
On one occasion he attended a banquet
where all the States of the Union were
represented by a dish in some way
characteristic OF each Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania piece de resistance was
sauerkraut. which he partook of with
tears in his eyes.
At an entertainment at the home OF
W. w. Corcoran. the authoress met Gen.
Sam Houston, who resembled George
Washington; Charles Sumner. and Caleb
Gushing. OF Gen. Houston's fine sense
of honor she tells us this:
He married Eliza Allen. daughter OF
Col. John Allen, of Tennessee, and sep
arated from her directly after the mar
riage under rather painful circumstances.
The wedding guests had departed, and
Gen. Houston and his bride were sitting
alone by the fire. when suddenly he dis
covered that she was weeping. When
asked the cause, he was told that she
had never loved him. but had married
him to please her father; that she loved
DR.. Douglas, but would try to be a duti-
fUl wife to him. Miss, said Gov. Hous-
ton. even waiving the fact in his address
TO her that he had just married her, no
white woman shall be my slave He
mounted his horse, rode into Nashville
resigned his office as governor. and de-
parted for the Cherokee country"
During the same winter Miss Campbell
attended house-warming party at the
home of Mrs. Clement C. Hill, in II
street. Many years later, George Ban
croft, the historian, occupied this resi-
dence, and 1t is still called the Bancroft
house. She also met Miss Mary Louisa
Adams, who made her home with her
grandfather. John Quincy Adams who
lived in one of the two white houses in
F street, between Thirteenth and Four
teenth streets, still called the Adams
house. She was the venerable ex-
Presidents heiress and later married her
relative, William Clarkson johnson, of
Utica. n. Y. George B. Mcclellan, the
famous war general, was "one of the
beaux" of that season. And of DR.. Rich
ard Henry Coolidge, surgeon in the army,
she speaks in the highest terms.
Among the families who were socially
prominent in the Capital in those years
were the Seatons, Gales, Lees, Freemans,
CAROLS, TurnbuIls, Hagners, Tayloes,