davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

the Bladensburg fields August 25, 1914,
this house was used as a hospital for
the British wounded, and those of the
invaders who died there, or were killed
nearby, We're buried in the grounds.
So far the Rambler now knows there
is no one who can indicate with GER
tainty the site of the graves. 1t is also
said that the English general Ross and
the co-commander of the expedition,
Admiral Cockburn. either took meal
in the house or opened headquarters
there just before the battle.
There are some difficulties in the way
OF that belief because. according to
some accounts, the battle Of Bladens-
burg was opened by English cannon
from Lowndes HILL east of the house. at
about noon. The action developed
rapidly. the English line soon left the
Ross house in its rear. the crossing of
the Eastern branch where it is narrow
and fordable was forced and the main
fighting took place on lands now owned
by the Rives and Veitch estates and
the United States industrial school for
boys. about a mile and half south
west of the Ross house. The English
had not come up with the Ross house
when the engagement opened. and
after the opening of the battle it is
not likely that Ross and Cockburn
stopped there for lunch. No view of
the main field of action is to be had
from the Ross house, and it is not
probable that the English opened head1
quarters far in the rear of their
small force. 1t is also denied that the
action was opened by English guns on
Lowndes hill, because on their march
from Benedict through Nottingham,
Marlboro and Bladensburg to Wash
ington the English brought no artillery
with them.
1t is the belief of many persons that
the Ross house at Bladensburg is so
called because of Gen. Ross association
with it. 1t is so-called. however, from
the Ross family of Bladensburg, which
owned that property many years before
the beginning of the war of 1872, and
the Rambler understands that descend
ants of this family are living in Wash
ington. Levi Sheriff was probably re-
lated to the Ross family. for the
Rambler has been shown record of
the marriage of Benedict Sheriff and
Margaret Ross in 1890. Whether Levi
Sheriff was an issue of that marriage
the Rambler does not know. but Levi
Sheriff was living there before he
bought the Benning house in 1898. The
husband of one of the descendants OF
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

children. who now own IT. The house
also became known as the Dean house
from the fact that DIR. Julius Willis
Dean. or Deane. made his home there
for some months before his death. May
s. 1905. He was born in that house
December IL. 1916. his mother, Mary
Cornelia Sheriff Dean. being then at
her fathers home. Later she lived on
an adjacent part of the estate. DR..
Deane spelled his name with final
"e'' because. although many of the
Deans had not spelled il so. some OF
the Dean or Deane ancestors spelled
is now a resident of Washington.
Rev DIR. Lowrie, a grandson of Levi
Sheriff. was well known in Washing
ton. He served his diaconate at ST.
Adams Protestant Episcopal Church
in 1865, became assistant to Bishop
Pinkney in the parish of the Ascension
and later was rector of the Church OF
the Incarnation. which church was built
during his rectorship.
All the lands over which the Rambler
has been leading his readers was pat
tented to Nipian Beall 1t was also
he who patented the tract Rock OF
Dumbarton." on the west side of Rock
creek. He was the patentee of a large
number of tracts I'm Maryland, and his
history is an interesting one. He called
the Eastern branch tract Fife, in mem
DRY of Fifeshire. Scotland. where he
was born in 1912. He came to Mary
land in 1853 and married Ruth Moore.
daughter of Richard Moore, London
barrister. an early immigrant to Cal
vert county. Fife was patented about
1900. perhaps few years before. The
Sheriff family have number of the
patents, written on parchment. issued
to Ninian Beall. 1t is days work
to go through those old records. Ninian
Beall lived on Fife. and 1t is believed
he died there in 1717 at the age of
ninety-two years. G. c. Magruder of
Upper Marlboro has made unavailing
70 loo to II bur sa1 al fhnT
it is considered likely that his ashes
rest in the little graveyard back OF
the Sheriff house. close by the Eastern
branch.
One of the Ramblers friends. Miss
Minnie Lowrie Wallis OF Locust valley.
Northkeys. Prince Georges county. has
acquainted him with many facts re-
lating to the Bealls and their Eastern
branch grant of Fife. The late Hugh
Taggart delved in the old Beall pat
ents on the Eastern branch and Rock
creek. and Mr.. Magruder of Marlboro
has made an earnest study of the sub
ject
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

going about it in that way. He feels
that an old house is entitled to mark
ed consideration. He feels that 1t re-
sents the presence of strangers. be-
cause few strangers have been cour-
teous to it, The old house may re vacant,
but it seems to have around it the
spirits of the men and women and the
children that lived there in the long
ago.
To get the story of an old house you
should approach it in proper and
respectful way. Then it will receive
YOU kindly The courteous stranger
was Hospitality welcomed there a CEN
fury ago, and the old house and the
spirits that dwell there still have not
forgot the manners of the olden time.
few Sundays ago the Rambler came
upon a fine old house near the tip OF
a short, high ridge which rises north
of the valley of Watts branch north
of Benning. and somewhat southwest
of Deanwood. The Rambler said OF 1t:
"It is an old house on hill ana many
persons who read these lines have
seen il. The region roundabout has
become well settled in late years, and
some parts of the lands once appur-
tenant to this house are compactly
built on. but nearly all the inhabitants
Near the old house was a family burial
ground and on the few remaining and
runous tombstones the HANDLER read
the names Sheriff and Dean The
conclusion was that the house had been
the homeseat of families bearing those
names The Rambler met one colored
man who had lived in the nelghbor-
hood longer than most of the other
jewellers there and he remembered that
DIR. Lowrie had lived in the house. but
he pronounced the name "Dr. Laurel
The Rambler wrote of this place as the
Sheriff Dean-Lowrie homestead and
submitted all the facts he had been
able to obtain. But the story OF this
house has been unfolding and it may
be that other chapters will be needed
to complete the narrative.
Linked with the history of that house
are memories Of pioneer families of the
District of Columbia-the Bealls. Maui
duits Youngs. Sheriffs and Deans. the
Bealls and Youngs were living within
what is now the District. of Columbia a
century or more before the act for estab-
fishing the permanent seat Of government
of the United States was approved by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

married Miss Wood Of woodville, Prince
Georges county.
The Beall house is picturesque
frame dwelling of large size. nearly
screened from view from the public
roads by a close grove of those trees
variously called silver poplars and as
pens. The present structure Is about
seventy-five years old and stands on the
site of the original Beall homestead.
which was destroyed by fire. At the
rear of the house is a family cemetery.
in an excellent state of upkeep. and
among the epitaphs there the Rambler
read these:
In memory Of our Dear Aunt. Susan Greenfield
Ann T. Beall. Died April I. 1881. Aged 81
a. I. Dorsett. Died January 4. 1898. Aged -
Years.
and Ann Beall and Susan Greenfield
Beall were sisters. On other tombs are
these inscriptions:
LemueI Sheriff, died August 10. 1913.
My Dear Son, Lemuel Sheriff. born July %.
Dionyslus Thadden sheriff. horn February ~.
1870: died November 4: 1904.
In memory Of Our Grsnd n Susan s si
Asleep in Jesus. Blessed Sleep.
In the matter of Susan Beal1 Sheriff
it is interesting to print at this point
the following note. which the Rambler
received a few days ago from Allen &.
Clark. who is well known for his dis
tinguished contributions to the written
history of the District of Columbia:
Three decades gone had business with Mrs.
Sheriff and called at the antique Sheriff house
several times. She a woman OF great ma
tronly beauty. She and two sisters w"r" de-
scendants Of Mauduit Young. He was descend
ant of William Young, who with his brother
Abraham and his sister Elizabeth Wheeler were
of the original proprietors of Washington. and
they inherited from their father. William Young.
You know of the Mauduit family. 1t was Of the
pioneers of tho Bladensburg section. You read
their names the slabs in the cemetery. All
were Of Scotch descent.
Coming back to the children of Levi
Sheriff. one finds that his daughter.
Margaret Elizabeth. married a Lowrie
and Mary Cornelia married Dean. The
old Benning-Sheriff house on the hill
became the portion of his daughter.
Margaret Elizabeth Lowrie. the mother
of Rev. Randolph Washington Lowrie,
whose early years were spent at the
Sheriff home and who died a bachelor
in this city March IA. 1913, leaving the
old home place to his only brother S
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27
An Appropriate Alteration.

IN his later years Frederick William,
King of Prussia. was sorely afflicted
with govt. The twinges of pain aggra-
waited his naturally irascible temper.
During the attacks he was accustomed
to divert his mind by painting. His
models were always soldiers In this
relation the Germans tell a story.
One day he kept a tall grenadier pos
ing for long time. At length the pic
ture was finished. The king turned to
the man, and, in a terrible voice, asked:
What do you think of that?"
THE cheeks are redder than mine"
was the hesitating response.
I'll soon fix that" roared the old
king.
He seized his brush and painted both
cheeks of the terrified grenadier a tril.
1top nj ro1
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

the sake of future regularity. impos-
ing penalties upon those who indulge
in the fraudulent practice of making
false returns
Some business men. from the state
ments in their returns, seemingly take
a greatly exaggerated view or the an
nual depreciation of theiI plants, and
resort to curious bookkeeping devices
to show diminished profits. Some OF
our agricultural population prove their
fitness to enter the ranks Of the wick
ed business world by the way they
demonstrate with an old pencil stub
and few figures that their crops have
been failures and their expenses SO
high that they have had to buy auto
mobiles to Offset the shock TO their
nerves.
The income tax returns show little
difference from the viewpoint OF the
moralist in the attitude of the wealthy
and of those who are at the bottom OF
the tax scale.
Some Of the plutocrats-the men who
pay on an annual income of 100000 or
more-make returns which will bear
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

shipping. The curious construction of
the cellar walls in the old Benning
house suggest hiding place for trea-
sure and many stories were circulated
in olden times about booty brought in
by the Benning brig moored in the
Anacostia river. To those not familiar
with the early conditions in the Ana
costa river 1t may sound strange that
sea going ships should have moored
opposite the Benning lands. Not only
did they come there, but they went
several miles further up stream. as far
as Bladensburg. which competed with
Alexandria as a port of entry"
In this connection the Rambler re-
calls that early Potomac steamboats,
used to navigate the Eastern branch
to Bladensburg and the destruction of
the wooden bridge which spanned the
river from the foot of Kentucky ave-
nue. to what is now MAYORS lane
was due to ignition from sparks thrown
out of the smokestack of the steamboat
Dandy. That was some time in the 40s.
The Benning house and much of the
land around it was bought in 1888 by
Levi Sheriff. who had been a merchant
in Bladensburg and who was then seek
ing retirement from active business
life at the age of Sc. The grand
father of Levi Sheriff. born in England
settled in Prince Georges county very
early in the eighteenth century.
Before coming to the Benning. house
Levi Sheriff had lived in that house in
Bladensburg which is better known in
history as the Ross house. 1t is a two
story brick with high gambrel roof
out of which look dormer windows
There is tall chimney at each end Of
the house and from the garden walk a
short flight of steps lead to small
covered porch before the entrance,
which is in the middle of the south
front 1t stands in ample grounds well
back from the old road. now called
Sand street which if one were to fol-
low it to the eastward would lead over
Lowndes hill to Ardwick on the Penn
sylvania railroad and thence to almost
any point in eastern Prince Georges
county and, of course. into Anne Arun-
del county. Near the Ross house an
other old road-perhaps the older roat
turns south and then east. skirts thu
south side of Lowndes hill. crosses thu
Pennsylvania railroad at Landover and
then passes on to Brightseat and hum
dreds of other points in Prince Georges
county, connecting with numerous
roads that lead across the Patuxent
river into Anne Arundel. 1t is this an
cient road which many of the inhabit-
ants of Bladensburg and adjacent coun-
try are interested in having chosen as
the projected Washington Annapolis
boulevard.
The fact which gives to the Ross
house one of it's historic features is
that during and after the fighting on
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

Levi Sheriff has written this to the
Rambler:
While living at Bladensburg Levi Sheriff was
Of s who ,o to the
summer Of 1914. and the story of the failure of
this band of citizens of Maryland and the Dis
trict Of Columbia Is a striking example of the
danger OF unpreparedness.
For twenty years, or until his death.
January 10. 1853 Levi Sheriff occupied
the old house on the hill and he made
several improvements, including addi-
death his estate embraced 1875 acres,
524 acres in the District and the re-
mainder In Maryland. The land extend
ed to the Anacostia river, the power
Electric Company at Benning being on
a part of the land. The Sheriff estate
embodied all the characteristics of a
southern plantation. There were numer-
Gus slaves. The chief crop was tobacco.
but a fair acreage of corn and wheat
was annually planted
The Sheriff and the Beall families were
related in numerous ways. Levi Sheriff
had two sons, Lemuel and Dionysius.
He had three daughters. Margaret
Elizabeth. Mary Cornelia and Emmiline.
Lemuel Sheriff married Susan Beall
Greenfield Young. She was living with
her aunt. Susan Greenfield Beall. on the
ancestral Beall lands along the Anacos-
tia river. which were patented to Ninian
Beail under the name of Fife" Lemuel
Sheriff died August 10. 1913. leaving his
wife. then very young woman with
three sons. George Beall Sheriff. Thad-
deus Sheriff and D. T. Sheriff. The eldest.
George Beall Sheriff. married Sarah
Elizabeth Hill. daughter of Philip Hill
of Baltimore Manor. in Prince Georges
county. George died in 1913 and his
wife in 1910. and both rest in Mount
Olivet cemetery. They had six children,
Maud. Philip H.. Clement w. Isabel s.,
Mary Lemuel and George Beall. Maud
and Mary Lemuel are dead. Philip II.
Sheriff and Clement w. Sheriff are liv-
ing on part of the estate between the
Anacostia road and the Eastern branch.
and Isabel Sheriff, now Mrs. John w
Young, with her husband and children
live in the ancient Beall homestead
close to the shore of the Eastern branch
northeast of the Benning bridge. George
Beall Sheriff is in the banking business
in New York. Philip Sheriff married
Miss Mccormick, and Clement w. Sheriff
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

IN but 1t may have us tale told
~ for 1t if the searcher after
q q facts approach the subject
with sympathy and due respect for age.
In this time of haste and turmoil it
seems to have become the fashion to
measure things in terms of speed and
dollars. and there is strong DISPOSE
ton to look on an old house as n has
been and certainly as back number.
This is cruel attitude. for it may he
that an old house. in spite of the scars
which the years and unsympa thetic,
perhaps ruthless, tenants have inflicted,
carries still it's grand air. an air that
is no part of many a new house. There
may be a feeling of aristocracy in messy
shingles and grayweathered boards
that may not be found in A house that
reeks of fresh paint and wet plaster.
Yet there is n tendency to look down
upon a venera BILE house as but a mold
ering heap of brick or old lumber. He
who with this attitude of mind APP
proaches an old house cannot hope Tor
the best results in bringing OUT the
story of its past.
II is heartless for a man to walk down
an old drive bordered with neglected
box and roses long untrimmed and I'M
loved, whistling and smoking as he
goes 1t is heartless to walk up to the
there. old house, who owned you and
why do your warped timbers continue
to cumber the earth? Don't you know
that your broken windows remind men
of the awful sockets in the skull out
of which eyes once looked? Don't you
know that your sagging doors creak-
ing on rusty hinges crate on the ears
of mem Can't you understand that the
echoes in your bare halls and bleak
chambers sound like the voices of
ghosts? What do I care for what you
were? The children that have frolicked
in these halls. grown old under this
roof and have then been laid away
down yonder where those gray stones
are crumbling in that clump of cedar
trees mean nothing to me. am prac-
teal man and have no time for senti-
ment; at least l have no time to dream
those dreams which fill the heads OF
maudlin chaps. Old house, goodbye
You're a dead one.
The Rambler has never obtained
good story from or of an old house by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

who claim to have net incomes of less
than $4,000. the minimum taxable
amount.
The law. as it stands, does not re-
quire them to make a tax statement;
and 1t is so easy to expand and eXag-
gerate a little the amounts which they
deduct from the gross income that they
conclude that no report is necessary,
and so there is none for the revenue
officers on behalf of the tax Gatherers
to examine. Consequently, unless the
difference is very glaring, it goes I'M
detected.
Although each amount is small, the
number of these offenSeS is SO great
that the probable total loss of revenue
is such that the department has rec
commended a very simple remedy, sug-
gested by experience, and that Is to re-
quire every one having gross income
of over $4,000 to make a tax statement
and to set forth under oath the deduc-
lions which he claims.
Another proposed amendment which
will make for efficiency is to do away
with the collection of revenue at it's
source. but to provide reporting in
formation at the source of each tax
able payment made. The department
armed with that information can easily
make the collection.
The change will result in great
simplification of the cash transactions
and bookkeeping for the parties. and
the requirement that the payee must file
a statement which may lead to a prop
er declaration of all his income, con-
sisting of rents, interest from mort
cages and other sources of investment,
will doubtless produce more revenue.
:. x
But in the interest of the government
and of all honest taxpayers the Treas
airy Department was bound to create a
system by which tax returns must be
made by all in such a way as to eff
fectuate the requirements of the in
come tax law.
The department had no precedents
and the commissioner of revenue had
to install the administrative machin-
cry. He placed at the head of the in
come tax division Mr.. Boyd, who has
really created the comprehensive but
simple system.
The deadly card index Is the basis
of it's working. In the card record
room in the Treasury building room
40 feet long-are many filing cabi-
nets, sufficient to hold a million cards
and now containing more than 100000
of them, one for each person on the tax
list. and then some more cards for the
names of those who, 1t is thought.
should be on the list Each card is
really a record of a personal account
between the individual and the revenue
department.
There the chief of the division can in
a few moments ascertain whether a
tax return has been audited and pass
ed what letters and notices have
been sent or received: what action has
been taken in the case. or whether the
matter has been referred to the mys-
FERROUS Held service" made up Of train
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27
Substitute for Gold.

n SUBSTITUTE for gold is obtained
~ by combining ninety-four parts of
copper with six parts of anthony and
adding a little magnesium carbonate
to increase the weight. 1t is said that
this alloy can be drawn, wrought and
soldered very much like gold, and that
1t also receives and retains a golden
polish. 1t is worth something like Is
cents pound.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

lars or so required to run the govern
ment-two-thirds of 1t, by the way, Tor
pensions, army and navy-than to
make a false return and long after to
pay double the amount of tax when
perhaps all the easy money Is spent.
The department has taken the posi-
ton that the returns must be made in
accordance with the law, but on &C
count of the newness of the law, the
unfamiliarity of the people at large
with the practical operation of the act
has induced the department to deal
leniently in enforcing the specific PEN
atty of $50 to $1,000 for failure to make
returns.
1t comes down to the old problem of
internal revenue collections-correct-
ing the mistakes of the honest and de-
tecting the sins of omission and COM
mission by those who willfully with
hold their fair contribution to the
support OF that government. ana. for
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-27

that all the cases referred to the agents
involve false returns. the high per-
centage of successful results shows
their efficiency; and the great excess Of
their recoverieS over the cost of their
maintenance establishes an economic
value for the force. Its real value as
a discourager of hesitancy to making
full and proper returns cannot be cal
culated.