Evening star., 1934-04-21

ways of old Georgetown is
at 3019 P street, the home
~ of Miss Mary Zeller. Its
perfectly balanced Georgian
arch is the realization of an archi-
symmetry of proportion, which has
caused it to be widely copied here and
elsewhere.
For l08 years, unchanged by time
or man, the two-story red brick house
with its double-dormered windows, to
which this graceful portal bids the
visitor welcome. has looked upon the
moving panorama of P street life.
And during a goodly share of that
span of years-its owner and occu-
pant-Miss Zeller has been part of
the life of community to which she
is affectionately known as Miss
Mary"
Here, since she was years old,
Miss Mary has lived. Her love for
Georgetown is woven into the warp
and the woof of her life. With un-
changing devotion she has watched it
pass through many vicissitudes. griev-
ing when neglect and decay fell upon
its fine old homes, rejoicing when they
were restored to their former gran
deur. She will tell you how, return
ing home on a horse-draWn street car
one afternoon some As years ago a
fellow-passenger in the role of self
appointed guide, said to her:
Broken Down Arist0crats."
when we cross this bridge we will
be in Georgetown. For a long time
it was a place of wealth and fashion,
but nobody lives here any longer eX-
cept darkies and broken-doWn ariSto-
Gratis who haven't been able to move
away"
Nowadays" Miss Mary adds with
evident relish, ut doesn't seem to mat
ter where you live, so long as it is in
Georgetown"
The home which has been Miss
Mary's for so long was built in 1926
for Mr.. Edward Magruder Linthicum,
one of Georgetown's famous mer-
chants, whose public spirit and bene-
factions to his native Georgetown
have linked his name with civic ad-
varcement and community upbuildlng.
Twenty years later. in 1846 Mr..
Linthicum sold 3019 P street, and for
the sum of $1,000 bought The Oaks,
on the north side of R street facing
! Thirty first street, one of the show
places of Georgetown, which is now
| the property of Robert Woods Bliss.
The new owner Of 3019 P street was
/ Thomas Corcoran, the brother of w.
w. Corcoran, one of the founders Of
the banking house of Corcoran and
Riggs, later Riggs and Co., the pre-
deceSsors of the Riggs National Bank.
To the generosity of w. w. Corcoran
Washington owes the Corcoran Gal
lery of Art and the Louise Home and
after whom is named Corcoran Hall
of George Washington University, in
/ recognition of his benefactions to the
university.
Heirs Sell House.
Mr.. Corcoran and his wife did not
/ live long after they took possession
| of 3019 P street Upon their death
! their heirs sold the house to John T.
Cochrane of Delaware. the great-uncle
of Miss Mary.
At his death, Mr.. Cochrane willed
the property to niece, Mary, who be-
came Mrs. James A. Magruder. In
addition to their own two children,
the Magruders brought the three or
phaned daughters and orphaned son
of Mrs. Magruder's sister, the widow
of young DR.. Zeller Of Hagerstown, to
be reared in the old home. And SO
it was that Miss Mary came to live
at 3019 street.
The three sisters, Mary, Eleanor
and Millicent, received their educa-
ton from the Misses Birney, six
maiden sister who kept one of the
famous boarding schools of their day
near Taneytown, Md. The brother
died at 20 years of age. Millicent
married and went to Massachusetts
to live. Mary and Eleanor, after
Eleanor's marriage to Mr.. Whelan
continued in the old home. The de-
votion of these sisters and their con-
geniality and comradeship became a
byword among old Georgetown fami-