Evening star., 1927-04-24


street is a large square house with
old-fashioned iron trimmings and a
pagoda-like roof, now occupied by the
Boys Club of Washington, which
has recently been improved by a
| spacious gymnasium. This was one
of the show places of Washington in
| ante-bellum days. and was the resi-
dence of Duke" William M. Gwin,
| who was colleague Of Fremont as
Senator from California. He had pre-
| viously been a member Of the House
| from Mississippi. He was known as
| the millionaire Representative of the
South and dictated all moves in de-
| fense of States rights and slavery.
! He went to Mexico to help MaXimilian
! establish his brief empire and that is
| how he came to be rewarded with the
empty title of Duke of Sonora.
Crosby House Shabby.
/ o. the southwest corner of Third
and c streets is the shabby and slat-
| tern Crosby House. erected about 1886
as the private residence OF Marshall
| Cary Selden. and was then a favorite
| rendezvous of fashionable society.
There are several interesting old CO.
| loniaI residences on Third street. No.
| 20 is regarded as one of the best ex-
| ample of this type in the country.
| 1t dates from 1881, and was at one
| time a popular congressional boarding
| house, patronized by Franklin Pierce,
| Jonathan CilIey Ia victim on the
| Bladensburg field of honor, James M.
Mason and Robert G. Winthrop. Di-
agonally opposite, No. 224, was formal
| ly Mrs. Beveridge's famous Indian
! boarding house, which harbored Red
Cloud, White Feather and Crazy
Horse. No. 226 occupies the site where
| Millard Fillmore and John c. Calhoun
| once resided,
! No. 3O2 C street was the home of
John w. Maury, mayor of Washing
| ton in 1852 and 1853, and for many
| years president of the bank now
known as the National Metropolitan.
| From 1889 until his death, in 1867, DIR.
| William Jones, whose wife was a sis
ter of the late William w. Corcoran,
made his home at No. 304 street.
Robert c. Winthrop, then Speaker of
the House. dented the residence at No.
| 306 c street from it's owner, DR.. Jonas
| Green, in 1S47.
Francis Scott Key Home.
The Arizona Hotel occupies in part
the site that was No. 30S when owned
and occupied by Francis Scott Key,
author of "rhe Star Spangled Ban
ner" Keys widow sold this property
| in 1S43. No. 315 was once the home
| of Henry c. Schoolcraft, well known
writer ON Indian subjects.
| The first commissioner of patents,
| Henry L. Ellsworth Of Indiana, lived
at No. 322 c street from 1886 to 1S4S. 1t
was during this time, on May "a, 1912,
| that his daughter, Annie, sent from a
room in the Capitol the first tele-
| graphic message, What hath God
wrought" the original transcript of
which is in the Atheneum at Hartford.
Conn. This same house was occupied
| by James Campbell while he was
| Postmaster General, from 1853 to 1857,
and later was the home of Zenas Z.
Robbins, a personal friend of Lincoln.
| Mr.. Robbins was one of five commits
sioners appointed to organize local
police force.
No. 326 c street was the temporary
home of Gen. John G. Fremont, the
Pathfinder" when a struggling lieu
tenant of Engineers, and it was from
this house, in 1841, that he eloped with
Jessie, the pretty daughter of his near
neighbor, Senator Thomas H. Benton.
He later lived for time at No. 31S G
street. This house was purchased in
1866 as a parsonage for DR.. Byron
Sunderland, the longtime pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church, which
was attended by President Cleveland.
Destroyed by Fire.
Nos. 332 and s34 G street, which
are partially moderniZed and thrown
together as q printing establishment,
both have interesting associations.
The former was for many years the
home of Rev. William McLain, one of
the early pastors of the First Presby-
terian Church, prior to 1S49, who died
there in 1873, and the other was the
home of Senator Benton. 1t was de.
stroyed by fire in 1855, when all the
manuscript and notes Of the nearly
completed second volume of Benton's
Thirty Years Views" went up In
flames and had to be rewritten from
memory. In the new house on the
same site Benton wrote his severe
criticism Of the decision of Chief JUS
tice Taney in the Dred Scott case
and also his record Of Debates in Con-
gress," the concluding pa. es of which
| h dictated on his deathbed and then
sent for few friends TO bid them
goodby. President Buchanan was
among those who responded.
| On the northeast corner Of John
| Marshall place is a quaint old house,
with a larger than ordinary front
yard, which dates from very early in
the nineteenth century, and in which
John Quincy Adams once lived.
Diagonally opposite, on the south
| east corner is the Metropolitan Meth
odist Episcopal Church, of early
Gothic architecture, erected in 1854-69
at a cost of $3.50 900. Here Presidents
Grant and Mckinley and Vice Presi-
dents Logan and Fairbanks attended
services. The pulpit and pulpit rail
are of olivewood, from logs brought
from Mount Lebanon and the Mount
of Olives. In the arch behind the pull
pit is a small black keystone inscribed
with Hebraic characters and consist
ing of a fragment from Solomon's
Temple. Among the memorials in
Emery. the last Mayor Of Washing
ton. Rev. James Shera Montgomery.
chaplain of the National House of
Representatives, is now pastor of this
church.
At No. 456 C street, adjoining the
church on the west, John A. Dix lived
while Secretary of the Treasury in
1861. No. ASS was the residence of
Edwin NJ. Stanton while Attorney
General under Buchanan. He was
still living there when he defended
Daniel Sickles, on trial for the murder
Of Philip Barton Key. A modern bust
ness house now occupies the site Of a
historic hotel which. in 1926, was
known as Davis Hotel and later was
a congressional board house oper-
ated by Mistress Ann Hamilton.
During the decade between 1910 and
1850 many important conferences were
held there reg riding slavery and in
preparation for the Republican party.
On the eastern lot was the old city
spring, from which water was carried
in wooden pipes to pumps on Sixth
and Seventh streets, south Of Penn
sylvania avenue. This spring later
was the water supply for both the
National and Metropolitan Hotels. 1t
was on this same lot that Washing
tons first public baths were opened,