Evening star., 1925-10-04

J
| tween Ninth, Tenth, G. and Fl streets
| That square invites interesting recol-
| lections and, without further general
| iZation, let US dip into our bag of facts.
You have been told that on January
8, 1866, Pauline Bentevoglia Middleton,
widow of Arthur Middleton, whose
| first wife was the daughter Of Marcia
BurnessVan Ness. and Angelina c.
| Middleton, child of Arthur Middleton
! by his second marriage, decided four
! lots in the square bounded by Ninth
Tenth, G and II, to Joshua Francis
Fisher OF Montgomery County, Penn
sylvania. Fisher and his wife decided
those lots. May 7. 1866. to Gen. o. O.
Howard of Washington and Alfred
! Barnes Of Brooklyn, N. Y, under
| trusts to repay $13,550 to the Congre-
! gational Union of the City of New
York and to build Congregational
! Church. Three lots were acquired
| later, but when, the Rambler has not
| learned.
The deed of the widow Middleton
T, and her daughter Angelina to Fisher
| did not define the lots but transferred
all their holdings in the square except
! Ing parts that had been sold by Arthur
Middleton.
Examination of early transfers in
the square will reward you. The first
is from John +. Van Ness Of the Dis
trlct OF Columbia to Arthur Middleton,
1r., late Of South Carolina and now
of this city, heretofore intermarried
with the beloved daughter, Ann Elber-
tina (since deceased of the said John
Z. Van Ness and Marcia, his wife"
That deed is dated April 10. 1898,
and 1t runs: ''NVitnesseth that the said
John p. Van Ness, for and in con-
sideration of natural love and affec-
ton and in further consideration Of
the sum of 50" confirms to Arthur
Middleton, jr., all Of square No. 375.
called Mausoleum Square" excepting
certain parts. The first of the excep-
tions is this: beginning at the south
line OF North II street at a distance
OF l04 feet from the northeast angle
OF The square, then running west on
said line 20 feet, south 123 feet,
thence east 20 feet and thence north
123 feet to the place Of beginning, the
said lot having been conveyed in trust
for the benefit of the Episcopal
| Church, and the Mausoleum lot about
80 feet or thereabout fronting on said
II street. and the lot OF 60 feet front
conveyed to the Washington City
Orphan Asylum, the last two of which
are respectively inclosed by brick
walls according TO their true lines"
The Episcopal Church was Ascen-
, sion Church. With the description
taken from the deed of 1888. you can,
by pacing or using a foot-rule. set
yourself right as To the sites of old
Ascension Church. the Mausoleum and
the brick building long the home OF
the Washington City Orphan Asylum.
Another exception mentioned in the
deed from Pauline Bentevoglia Middle
ton to Joshua Francis Fisher was
land in the square which Arthur Mid
dleton sold to Alexander Shepherd and
others. Arthur Middleton and his
wife. Pauline Bentevoglia Middleton.
decided, February 3. 1874, a block of
land in that square to Alexander Shep-
herd middle initial not given, Syl-
vanus Holmes. George :. Gideon.
! James w. Shields and Jacob +. Win
gerd. trustees. The deed shows that
for $4,000 Arthur Middleton sold in
square 375. commonly called Mauso-
leum Square" d lot fronting 80 feet
on Ninth street by 100 feet deep. The
beginning of that lot was 275 feet
from the northeast corner of the
square. The deed says that the lot
is sold upon the trust ''to hold the
same as a place of public worship
where Gods Holy Word may be ex-
pounded for the use. benefit and ad-
vantage of such inhabitants of these
United States as are at the present
time, or from time to time hereafter
may become. members of the Fourth
Presbyterian Church of the City of
Washington"
There is also a deed. November 20,
1s41. from Arthur Middleton and his
wife Paolin transferring lot in
MauSoleum Square. on the Ninth
street side. to John Boyle. The deed
was witnessed by Arthur Middleton
and his wife, in Philadelphia, and in
the deed Middleton is said to he "of
South Carolina, now in the City of
Philadelphia.
THE Rambler has written of the
L Mauseleum. Marcia Burnes and
John p. Van Ness, but let that not
vex you. 1t was years ago. You have
forgot it, and there are 25O, 900 young
persons and newcomers In Washing
ton who never heard of Mausoleum
Square nor Of Marcia Burnes, and
many of them never will, though the
Rambler break his fingernails in type
writing this story. There are thou
sands of persons in Washington who
never heard of the Rambler. 1t seems
unjust, especially to them, but the
Rambler will not lose appetite for a
single meal on that account. The
Rambler believes that we have some
citizens who have not heard that
Washington is on the Potomac River
or that the Capitol is One of its pub
lie buildings.
Ann Albertina, only child of Gen.
John P. Van Ness and his wife. born
Marcia Burnes. died November %,
1923, about a year after her marriage
with Arthur Middleton. jr. Her infant,
Marcia Helen, died soon after the
mother. The Rambler has not seen
record of the burial place of David
Burnes, father OF Marcia, but when
Mrs Burnes died, the National 1ntefli-
gencer, Februry 2, 1907. contained
notice that Mrs. Anne Burnes. widow
of David Burnes, died on Wednesday,
January 2S, at the age Of 81 years,
and that ION Thursday evening her
remains, attended by a number of her
relatives and friends, were deposited In
the family graveyard about 5 miles
from this place. I do not know
where that family graveyard was, and
do not know that anybody has fixed
its site, but I believe that 1t was the
family burying ground on the White
farm, now part Of the Soldiers Home
Grounds. I have seen in some record
that Mrs. David Burnes was Ann
White, and measured on a map line.
it is about miles from the Burnes
cottage, Seventeenth and B streets,
where Mrs. Burnes died, to the Sol
diers Home.
The graves and tombstones of David
Burnes, Mrs. Anne BurneS, and their
son. John Burnes, are in Rock Creek
Cemetery, and were moved there from
a private cemetery. Perhaps the
records of Rock Creek Cemetery
would show the facts, but when
went there for them seven or eight
years ago I did not get them.
Before David Burnes built his cot
tage, near the site of which the Van
h,,t1 Vxyha