Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-07

behalf of the Government. He served as At
torney General in both of the Monroe admin
1strationS and in the cabinet also of John
Quincy Adams. >s
He was a candidate for the presidency in
1882 on the anti-MaSonic ticket Amos Ellmaker
Of Pennsylvania beng the candidate for Vice
President. His ticket received seven electoral
votes, Andrew jackson, past grand master
OF MaSons of Tennessee, being elected over all
other with an electoral vote of le9 ~ .
ETVEN after the highest honors had been de-
servedly heaped upon him, he never for
got the city of his sehooldays and those who
were KIND TO him IN his youth One of his
letters, which has been preserved, tells lust
how sincerely his heart often went back to
Georgetown. OF this he writes:
In 1779 I was sent to Georgetown, miles
from Badensburg, to school, classical acade-
my kept by Mr.. Rogers. I was placed at board
ing with the family of Mr. Schoofield a mem
Der of the Society of Friends They occupied
small house Of hewn logs at the eastern end
OF Bridge street. Friend Schoofeld was a we'll
set, square-built, honest-face and honest-heart-
ed man; his wife was one of the best Of crea-
ton.
"A deep sadness fell upon me when was
left by the person who accompanied me to
Georgetown-when could no longer see q face
that knew, nor an object that was not strange
/ remember the sense of total desertion and
1oriornness that seized upon my heart, unlike
anytnng felt in after years. I sobbed as If
my heart would break, for hours together. and
was utterly inconsolable notwithstanding the
maternal tenderness with which good Mrs
Schooheld tried 10 comfort me-
Almost half a century has rolled over the
incident yet full well do reconect with what
gentle affection and touching sympathy she
urged every topic that was calculated to console
q child OF my years. After quieting me- in some
measure, by her careSseS, she took down her
Bible and read to me the story of joseph and
nus brethren. It is probable I had read it be-
lore, as such things are usually read without
UNDERSTANDING but she made me SO comure-
bend it that IN the distress of joseph and his
father forgot my own
I passed one Winter in Georgetown. and
remember seeing long line of wagons cross
the river on the ice. I conjecture that 1t was
the winter of 1880, and that these WAGONS
were attached to the troops which were coino
south remember, also, to have seen a CEN
tteman, Mr.. Peter, think, going out cunning
for canvasbacks-then called whitebacks-which
nave seen IN those days whitening the Poto-
mac, and which, when they arose as they
sometimes did, for half a mile together pro-
duced sound like thunder"
An odd character who will always bear re-
ierrlng to when writing about Georgetown and
Its people. is an old Negro named Yaro Yarow.
or Yarrow
Association of Oldest Inhabitants in 1884 Ben.
Perley Poore, a noted Washington news
paper man OF his day. referred to this unusual
man In his remarks, as The Star of the follow
ing day tells US:
Mr.. Poore said his grandfather Allan DODGE
came mere from New England in 1893 and set
tied In Georgetown, where his mother was
born He sad musket was fired In the house
and nearly frightened the lady to death. They
had an old Mahometan servant old Yam
wnom many old people remembered. Accord
ing to the custom Of his country he celebrated
the birth by firing salute"
SOMETIME prior to 1916 D. B. Warden. who
later published what he called "A Choro
gTapnlcal and Statistical Description of the
District of Columbia" visited Gen John Mason
at his home on Analostan Island, who told him
the story OF Yaro which is regarded as a true
one. This Is the way Warden tells 1t:
Yaro, before the American Revolutionary
War, was brought from Africa to the United
States, and there sold as a slave 10 a family
who lived near Georgetown, on the banks of
the Potomac After many years of hard labor
and faithful service, his master gave him his
freedom as reward Yaro resolved to be in
dependent He toiled late and early, and In
the course Of few years he had amassed a
hundred dollars. This sum- which he considered
as fortune. was placed in the hands Of a
merchant. by whose death and insolvency ali
was LOST. and XarO found himself again in the
same situation rs when he became free This
Affected him much: his usual strength had
a0@sed ana Old ace was coming on. but he stan