Evening star., 1919-12-14
and Is was recorded July %. lS45.
part of that instrument follows:

Davidson Of the City Of London. in the King.
SSn %sm Hn OF the City
ton, In the District OF Columbia. United states
Of America, Of the second part:
in Rosshire, in North Britain, deceased being
in his lifetime and at the time Of his death
ea nnd in .s1s 1885, Sne cy %
did, in and by his last will and testament In
writing bearing date Of the 9th day OF Feb
specifically devising and disposing Of various
estates estates plantations and property situated m a IN
Indies give and devise unto his wife, Eliza
beth G: Davidson, and his son, above named
Henry y, D9Wyidson Whh and his partners 0neas % Bark
same to them upon trust that they or their
survivors, or the survivor, should make sale
ana dispose Of the said estate at public or
private sale.
vivor. sold to Mr.. Corcoran. The next
deed which was for lot No. 3, on II
street, was made by Justina Dallas.
formerly Justina Davidson. widow. of
Park Square. in the county of Middle
sex, England. The Breckenridge lots
in the square were bought from Carey
Breckinridge of Botetourt county, Va,
one of the heirs of Gen. Breckinridge
A record of all the deeds which pass
ed to Mr.. Corcoran for lots in the
Corcoran House square would make
long list.
The statement that the Webster
house, which Mr.. Corcoran purchased,
was presented to Mr.. Webster by
friends, is probably correct. but up to
this writing the Rambler cannot sub
stantiate 1T. A mention of it, if 1t Is a
fact, ought to be found in one of the
numerous biographies of Mr.. Web
ster, or in some newspaper of the
months of May or June, 1914. A
search of the file of the National In
telligencer for several weeks before
and up to the time of the transfer Of
the property to Daniel Webster in
June, 1874. does not reveal reference
to any gift of real estate to Mr.. Web
ster by his friends though, of course.
such a presentation may have taken
place without being given mention by
the Intelligencer.
The house which was taken over by
Mr.. Webster was at that time known
the Swami house 1t was built by
Thomas Swami, who was district at
torney for the District of Columbia from
1921 to 1888, succeeding Gen. Walter
Jones in that Office and being succeeded
by Francis Scott Key. The house was
built between those dates, probably in
1925. There is no doubt that 1t was
built before 1888 the date of the ex-
piration of Mr.. Swann's service as dis
trict attorney. In the assessment records
of the District for 1924 no improve
ments are shown in the square. The
assessment books from 1924 to 1929
seem to be missing. The assessment
record book covering the four years
from 1929 to 1893 inclusive shows that
lot No at the northeast corner Of
Connecticut avenue and H was improved
by building assessed at $4,000. That
was certainly the house which passed
from Robert Swami of Loudoun county.
Va. whom the Rambler figures out
was grandson of Thomas Swami, dis
trict attorney, to Daniel Webster, and
from Webster to Grinnell and from
Grinnell to Corcoran. 1t was the first
house, according to available assess
ment records. that was built in the
square bounded by II, / and 18th streets
and Connecticut avenue.
The Rambler has no facts at hand
concerning the time of the building Of
the present Corcoran mansion. but no
uouDt tnere are some old Washington
mans who know about this matter. The
Rambler Is quite certain that Mr.. Cor
coran took up his residence in the
Swami Webster house soon after he pur-
chased it in 1S47. and his theory is that
at later period he remodeled 1t and
added the wings on the east and west
sides. The addition of the wings was
Tor the accommodation of his art collec-
t,on. which had OutgrOwn the big rooms
on the first floor of the house. Mr.. Cor
coran's art collection was a large one
before 1853, for in that year he began
the erection OF that building at the
northeast corner Of 18th street and the
avenue which was the home of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art until the erec-
ton OF the present magnificent building
vn nth street, below the Avenue so
the wings Of the house were no doubt
built before 1859. The large fortune of
Mr. Corcoran was made between 1S45.
when the firm of Corcoran & Riggs
purchased the old United States Bank
at the corner of 18th street, and his re-
tirement from the firm I'm April 1864.
or course, Mr.. Corcoran was "well-to-
DO when he ESTABLISHED brokerage
business on Pennsylvania avenue, near
18TH street, in 1887. and he made money
there. He made more money when he
associated himself in 1889 with George
w. Riggs and continued to make money
when George w. Riggs retired from the
hrm In 1S48 and was succeeded by his
younger brother, Elisha.
The big stroke OF the firm of Corcoran
Riggs was made in 1848 In connection
with the United States loan. II the
RamblerS memory Is not creaking Cor