davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17
# which was paid from the public

funds"
In connection with the burial Of Rep
reSentative Hester, another patent error
presents itself. Cutler as quoted above,
gives his final resting place as Hagers-
town. while the Congressional Record
gives 1t as Congressional Cemetery. It
looks as II the Angel Gabriel might have
quite time locating some folks when
the great day comes
Congress apparently did not pay very
much for its burial lots In Congressional
Cemetery. for we find the vestry of
Christ Church at an early date assign
ing 100 sites in this cemetery for the
interment of deceased members Of Con-
gress. 1t was not long before they were
called upon for more ground, and 300
more sites were donated for the same
purpose. Later Congress purchased
other sites and began erecting the ceno-
taphs we see today.
Congress also made appropriations for
improvements to the grounds designat-
Ing the burial grounds as Congressional
Cemetery" by which name it is known
today. Previous to this it was called
Washington Cemetery" which had
taken the place Of the earlier name of
THE Washington Parish Burial
Ground"
X =
THIRST CHURCH was very glad to
accept the burial ground presented
by its vestryman. Henry Ingle, and
others. since lot purchased by It
about this time had proved to be too low
and damp, and was accordingly aban-
doned.
James Croggon, 50 we'll known for his
reliable research work, in speaking of
this cemetery some years ago in The
Star, says:
'The Congressional Cemetery up to
1925 was. to all intents and purposes.
In the county, for there was no settle
ment east of the Navy Yard commons
intervening between the plot set apart
for burials and the town. although at
long intervals there was some garden
ing and not few squares Of corn, oats.
potatoes, etc. The square west, now
included In the grounds, and some 9TH
ers south were so used, and 1t is related
that the farmer thereof. with some of
his family, repose on the ground he
once cultivated-the spot on which
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

into his duties am unable, because oc-
caSional matters may call for particular
services. but nothing derogatory will be
asked or expected.
After this explanation of my wants
request that Mr. Lear will mention the
annual sum he will expect for these
services, and will give him a decided
answer by the return OF the stages,
which now carry the mail and travel
quickly. A good hand, as well as proper
diction, would be recommendation on
account Of fair entries, and for the
benefit of the children who will have to
copy after it."
FOR his services as secretary to The
first President he received the sum
Of 5000 year. In the city's infancy he
tried to help it along by writing a
pamphlet entitled observations on the
River Potomac" etc, i'll which he no
doubt received the encouragement of
Washington. 1t was issued anonymous
ly in 1893, and is probably the earliest
monograph relating to the District Of
Columbia and the Potomac River.
Washington thought a great deal Of
Tobias Lear and in his viii left him
life interest in a 360-acre farm, and
the general passed away, yet he had the
distinction of being present at Wash
ington's bedside during his last illness
and was intrusted with the arrange
ments for the funeral, which took place
at Mount Vernon on December 10,
1899. His detailed account of the first
Presidents last hours are quite full and
are regarded as accurate.
After resigning as Washington's sec
rotary, together with others, he en-
gagged In business in this city, which.
however, resulted in failure. He was
later sent as consul to Santo Domingo
and subsequently as consul general at
Algeria, and at the time of his death,
was accountant Of the War Department.
The inscription on the marble slab
which covers his grave, and now almost
tndiscernible, reads:
Here lies the remains Of
Tobias Lear.
He was early distinguished
as the
Private Secretary and familiar friend
of the @
Illustrious Washington
and after -
Having served his country
with
Dignity. Zeal and Fidelity
in many
honorable stations
died
Accountant Of the War Department
IL October 1916
Aged 81
His desolate Widow and mourning Son
have erected this monument
to mark the place Of his abode
in the
City of Silence"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

pioneering possibilities, or we Ameri-
cans proved how unairminded We are.
At any rate, Europeans never seem to
appreciate how we Americans rely on
our newspapers to do our shopping for
us and sound out the bargains, even
In travel. Instead of the 800 passen-
gers expected. there were only four of
us. Miss Mildred johnson, Philadelphia;
Gen. Leslie Kincaid, director of the
Colonial Anyways, Inc: Samuel Barr,
vice president OF the National Capital
Always, Inc, of New York and Wash
ington, and myself.
Undaunted, we decided to make the
air cruise a success despite its in
suspicious beginning
When we landed at Bremerhaven and
counted the heads" we discovered that
every seat In our big l2-passengcr, tri-
rotored Junkers was taken. Our "ex-
tras" included three young men from
Jersey City, one from California, two
from New York and Col. Barcley OF
Chicago. who, despite his years, was
known as the youngest man on the
boat: besides the North German repre-
sentative.
While our baggage was being weighed
and found not wanting" we were
taken around the ailield. va climbed
into our old bird. We stuffed cotton
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

he was elected Governor Of Massachu-
sets and it was his party which, in
1872 divided Essex County into a
dragon shaped district for political rea-
sons. q course which resulted in COIN
ing new word for the dictionary
"gerrymander.'' He was active In his
efforts for American independence, and
after serving as member of the Colo
NAL House of Representatives from 1772
to IT'S, became Delegate to the
Continental Congress, where he served
from 1776 to 1880 and from 1888 to
1875. He was also delegate to the
Constitutional Convention of the United
States held in New York In 1889, but
refused to sign the instrument upon
the grounds. that he felt 1t gave the
President too much power. He was a
member of the first and second Con-
crosses, serving from March 4, 1889. to
March 3, 1893. In 1897 he was one
of the ENJOYS sent to France on a
secret mission to establish relations
with that country.
His election to the vice presidency, on
the ticket with James Madison, occurred
in 1912, and he served as such until his
death on November %, 1914. His grave
is covered with handsome monument
gress passed in 1928 An iron railing
fence incloses the burial plot.
Another man Of considerable historic
prominence inferred here is Tobias
Lear, Washington's private secretary,
and the tutor of his two adopted chill
dren, George Washington Parke Gusts
and Nellie Parke Gusts, afterward Mrs.
Lawrence Lewis. He was born in Ports
mouth, N. H., on September 10, 1852.
and graduated from Harvard In 1888.
In 1885 he became Washington's pri-
vate secretary. and later married, for
his second wife. the widow of one of
Washington's favorite nephews. At
Mount Vernon he lived on an equal
footing with other members Of the
household. as the following letter, writ
ten by Gen. Washington, will testify:
MOUNT VERNON.
IS February. 1876.
my Dear Sir: Mr. Lear. or any other
who may come into my family In the
blended characters Of preceptor to the
children and clerk or private secretary
to me, will sit at my table, will live as
live, will mix with the company who
resort to the house and will be treated
in every respect with civility and proper
attention. He will have his washing
done in the family. and may have his
linen and stockings mended by the
maids of 1t. The duties which will be
required of him are generally such as
appertain to the offices above mentioned.
The first will be very trifiing, till the
children are little more advanced and
the other will be equally so. as my cor
responsiveness decline (Which I am en-
deavoring to effect and after my &C
counts and other old matters are
brought up. To descend more infinitely
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

OF the fuselage, with plenty OF aisle
space between. Furthermore. instead
or q mo smoking sign, we were in
v1ted to smoke II we chose.
Settling down to our two-hour ride
from Bremerhaven to Berlin, we were
each handed little pillow for our
heads and a menu card for lunch Our
white -grooned steward, who had stepped
out OF his buffet baryoom-a compart-
ment between us and the cockpit-was
certainly on the Job. Afterward, we all
agreed that luncheon beginning with
caviare and ending with champagne was
hitting enough to our mode of travel.
Suggestions were made that we visit
the cockpit. We filed in, one at the
time, and played at steering one Of the
controls relinquished by an indulgent
pilot. We placed our hands on the
wheel and our feet on the pedals r.
feel how the other pilot Unanswered
US through the clouds. The radio OPP
orator gave us his chart and pointed to
the interesting places over which we
new. He showed us the great radio sta
ton at Hamburg. one OF the largest in
the world, and we counted the II tall
towers. Then he gave US a little music
and had my first dance in q heavier
than-air craft. There was plenty of
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

be said. My own impressions are that
Templehof Is little city within itself
Is minutes from the heart of Berlin.
Although it was formerly the parade
ground Of the Kaiser's troops, it is now
devoid OF any military aspect whatso-
ever. 1t caters only to the comfort and
pleasure of its passengers and visitors.
1t never seems congested, and yet 1t Is
possibly the liveliest busiest aeronautical
center in the world. People have their
wine on the terraces, their tea or cof-
fee in the restaurants, or they stand
within certain limits to watch the planes
land and take of.
After a Today round Of festivities,
my next treat was visit to Friedrichs-
hafen, via Zurich, to see the Zeppelin
works and the Dornier plant. But be-
cause my trip ever was so interesting,
! cannot forego bit Of description here.
Many rainbows have been seen from
the skies. of course But one Just
doesn't forget the first time he sees one.
We had left Halle-Leipzig and were
flying over country INTERCHANGEABLE fat
and hilly. The sun was taking its first
peep out after q heavy rain. All this
seemed to accentuate the span OF the
gorgeous colored arc suspended in the
Continued on Seventh Page.)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

dance took place at the marriage of his
daughter being now. the family buria
lot
But little improvement had beer
made to the avenues and streets, but the
travel to the graveyard, the naval maya
zine and the naval hospital at Tenth
street had worn a passable road. Over
this the funeral professions passed, for
owing to the few public conveyances
obtainable. more people walked than
rode. and when there was a military
naval or fraternal escort bands OF
music played 'Mary's Dream and other
marching tunes. It Is needless to say
that when the honors called for a sa-
Lutte by cannon there was ample room
on the commons north
In 1924 square 1902, to the north
west of the cemetery, was bought of
Col. Elgar, the commissioner of public
buildings. This block contained about
the same amount of ground as the
Congressional. and was located between
Seventeenth and Eighteenth and D and
streets. The price paid for this en-
tire square was $3.50. which, at that.
might have been quite large sum
los years ago.
It is probable that this block IS the
one which was later called the Naval
Cemetery and which was used for burial
purposes until after the Civil War, sub
sequent to which the bodies buried here
were removed to the Congressional
Cemetery
In his description of this cemetery,
Mr.. Croggon further tells us that:
congressional Cemetery, on e street
between Eighteenth and Nineteenth
streets southeast, to which had been
added the square south in 1849, was in
like condition to the others, all the
lots being taken and most of the sites
occupied. The square south of Georgia
avenue between Seventeenth and Eight
zenith streets was added in 1855. Dur
ing that decade an addition eastward
was taken on the authority of Congress,
q section 200 by 478 feet of reservation
Is being conveyed to the parish In
1858, as well as square HOS. between
Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets and
G and H streets. The following year
square 1i06, south of the latter, ex-
tending to the circle and Water street,
was taken, as was also square 1l17 ex-
tended to Water street. and square 1923.
between G and H streets and Nine
teenth and Twentieth, directly south
OF that part taken from the reserva-
tion."
X + X
or the $4,000 burials made In this
~ cemetery. probably the most nota-
BILE Of all Is that of Elbridge Gerry,
vice President of the United States, a
signer Of the Declaration Of Independ-
ence and distinguished in many other
ways.
He was born In Marbiehead, Mass,
July IL. 1744, and died suddenly on his
way to the Capitol, Washington. D. c.,
November %, 1914 In 1910 and 1911
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

terry was originally 10 acres In extent,
but since then ground has been added
from time to time until it now in
cludes 80 acres. The original idea was
to erect cenotaphs-empty tombS-in
honor Of deceased Congressman who
had been buried elsewhere. But the
American Westminster Abbey as it was
called for years, was forgotten during
the war and no appropriations were
made to keep 1t UP. From 1907 until
about 1850 the appropriations bills reg
ularly contained appropriations to build
'freestone cenotaphs at the Congress
sional Cemetery They cost about $3.50
each. There are now In the cemetery
over 200 Of them, one for each Senator
or Representative who died during the
interval. Under some Of them, how
ever, repoSe the remains of those they
are intended to be a memorial of.
George Clinton Of New York, who was
Vice President of the United States
from 1905 to 1912, was buried there.
So was Elbridge Gerry. who also filled
the office of Vice President. They were
both buried there at their own request.
Tobias Lear. the friend and private
secretary OF George Washington, was
buried there, as was also Gen. Jacob
Brown. who was commander lin -chief
OF the Army and died in 1928, and Will
liam Writ OF Virginia, who was Attor-
ney General Of the United States from
1917 to 1929. All the prominent In
dams who died in this city for over a
half century have been buried there.
Gen. Rawlins, who was Grants first
Secretary Of War, was buried there.
The last cenotaph for New York Rep
resentative was that of Silas M. Bur-
roughs, who died in 1860. He was a
member OF the Thirty-fifth and Thirty
sixth Congresses. Some Of these ceno-
taphs are already going to pieces in
consequence Of being constructed of q
poor quality of sandstone.
One Of the gravediggers speaking on
the subject said to your correspondent:
The great majority Of these stones will
last for many, many years yet, but
about so Of them will waste entirely
away inside Of the next 10 years They
we're mostly erected by contract, and
as the contractors were not watched
they made them of imperfect and often
OF condemned stone that could not be
used for building purposes. Now and
then some OF the descendants of some
OF these Congressman come here to see
these stones. and they say they will
have them replaced with better stone.
but that is the last we hear of IL. The
stone IN memory Of John Quincy Adams
over there Is as good as 1t was the day
1t came here. Just because some of the
friends Of Mr.. Adams we're particular
In seeing that 1t was cut out of q good
stone"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

room in the spacious aisle and we were
certainly steady enough. until one of the
passengers tipped the pilot of and he
furnished an additional thrill by doing
sudden side dip that made us glad
enough to fall into our seats again.
AS much as I learned to appreciate
Berlin later, was loath to have this
little cruise over. However, I later
learned that In aviation, no matter how
pleasant the thing at present. there is
usually quite as great a thrill lust
around the corner
To view Berlin from the skies Is In
itself a rare treat. I have now seen 1t
from the air many times. but always
the impression Is new one.
On this particular day Berlin looked
much like huge carnival. These same
copper domes. green with oxidation of
ages and almost iridescsnt In the
bright sunlight, made lovely contrast
with the bright red roofs Of the smaller
buildings. The streets, INTERVIEWING
throughout the city, looked like ribbon
confetti and even appeared In such a
vivid setting to be varicolored.
And Templehof Field! So many peans
of praise have already been sung to
this great air. field by the aviation
world that there Is little else that can
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

OF the many cemeteries which for
merly existed within the lines of
Washington as originally laid out, Con-
gressional Cemetery is the only one to-
day in which interments are made: all
others having been removed. On April
4. 1907, few persons, including Henry
Ingle. George Blagden, Griffith Coombe,
S. N. Smallwood, DR.. Frederick May,
Peter Miller, John T. Frost and Capt.
Thomas Tingey, purchased square No.
Ills. between E and G, Eighteenth and
Nineteenth streets southeast, for q
cemetery. There seems to have been
no desire upon the part Of the pur-
chasers to run the cemetery for q per-
sonal profit, for it was agreed by them
that when the property became clear
of debt 1t should be transferred to the
vestry Of Washington Parish. Accord
ingly it continued under its original
management until March 80, 1912,
when-the conditions Of the agree
ment having been met-title to the land
was transferred through Henry Engle
to the parish as agreed upon.
The first Congressman to be inferred
in this cemetery was Senator Uriah
Tracy Of Connecticut, whose body Is
recorded as having been transferred
AAOAl xtONh SACEh SCAiCtC1y O1 July A0s
1907, just little over three months
after It's purchase by Henry Engle and
those associated with him In this worthy
o.
Senator Tracy was born In Franklin,
Conn. February 2. 1855. He was gradu-
ated from Yale College in 1778. following
which he studied law, later being adj
mitted to the bar. He became q men,
Der Of the State House Of Represent
atives. In which he served as speaker
in 1893. Subsequently he was elected
as Federalist to the Third and Fourth
Congresses, and served from March 4,
1893, to December 6, 1895, when he re-
signed, and entered the United States
Senate as the successor to Jonathan
Trumbull, and where he served for o
while as president pro tempore of that
body. The Biographical Congressional
Directory gives the place and date of
his death as Washington, D. c., July
10, 1907" but 1t is evident that If his
body was exhumed from Rock Greek
Cemstery, his death must have taken
place at an earlier date, since 1t would
be unreasonable to suppose that they
would bury such distinguished man
as he and remove his remains to some
other cemetery the same day.
Besides being United States SEN
ator, Uriah Tracy had the distinction
Of having served In the American Revo-
luton. In his article on Patriots Of
The Revolutionary Period Who Are In
TERED In the District" Selden Marvin
Ely tells us that the Senator's name Is
listed lin company that marched from
sundry places for the relief Of Boston.
ETC. In the Lexington Alarm, April,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

ITS, and were formed into an indie
pendent company at Roxbury."
Though the first Congressman to be
buried in Congressional Cemetery, Sen
ator Tracy, was not the first member of
Congress to die in Washington. for, on
March /, 1802-five years before the
death Of the Senator---Narsworth
Hunter. a Delegate from the then terri
tory of Mississippi, passed away in one
of the six buildings, still standing at
2107 to ALT Pennsylvania avenue
northwest. It was from his home in this
block that the funeral took place, his
body being escorted to the grave in the
yard Of the Presbyterian Church in
Georgetown by members Of the two
houses Of Congress. the heads of the
several Government departments and
others.
FOLLOWING this was the death, on
= March 7, 1904, Of Danield Hester
Representative from Maryland, and
who had served previously in a like
capacity from the State Of Pennsyl-
vania. There seems to be some doubt
as to his name. Bryan's History gives
It as Hester" and so does the Con-
gressional Directory of February IS, Just
passed, while the congressional Bio
graphical Directory gives 1t as Hester"
Whatever may be the correct spelling
Of his name, he had a very interesting
funeral He died at Lovell's Hotel, on
the north side of Pennsylvania avenue
near Fifteenth street. and on the day
of the interment, Congress adjourned to
this hotel. where biscuits and wine were
served. This expense, together with other
incidental expenses, was paid from the
contingent fund Of the House, which I
believe Is still customary in such cases
as to the wine. Wilhelmus
Bogart Bryan tells us: ION this occa-
sion the members of the two houses
walked In procession from Lovell's
Hotel round the Presidents Square,
and from that point the body was taken
on through Georgetown to Hagerstown,
where the deceased had lived"
A year later, Mr.. Bryan states-quot-
ing Cutters Life-"on similar occa-
sion, the members Of the two houses
instead OF walking rode In carriages
from the Capitol to the late residence
and thence to the grave. At the house.
wine. spirits and biscuit were provided
as part Of the cost Of the funeral all