Evening star., 1938-05-08
DECATUR HOUSE
J DRIVE ELAUNCHED
Civic Leaders Hope to Save
. Naval Hero's Home as
: National Shrine.

SdVC LllC bCCdtul x1OuOC 10 Vic
slogan Of q movement sponsored by
Secretary of the Interior Ickes to pre-
serve as q permanent national historic
monument one Of the famed land
marks Of old Washington.
Built on Lafayette Square in 1919
BY Commodore Stephen Decatur, for
mer commander Of Old Ironsides
and hero Of the war against the Bar
barry pirates. the house has stood
unchanged all these years. It can
not forever resist the tide of progress
that has wiped out other historic
landmarks on Lafayette Square, for
unless it is saved by public spirited
citizens. it must be sold to settle the
estate of the late Truxton Beale.
A few years ago American school
children pooled their pennies and
saved Decatur's ship. the Constitution,
from the scrap-heap. Recently the
house where Decatur died from the
wounds he received in a duel at
Bladensburg, Nd. was selected by the
Advisory Committee of the Historic
American Buildings Survey as one
worthy Of careful preservation.
Secretary Ickes, at the suggestion
of civic leaders who have sought to
prevent the demolition of the Lafay-
cite Square house, initiated a move
ment last week to save it. He said
yesterday that he hoped funds would
be raised to purchase the property
and have it turned over to the perma-
nent custody Of the National Park
Service. Should this movement fail,
he indicated there is a possibility Of
the Government itself acquiring it.
May Organize Committee.
"There is every disposition on the
part OF Mrs. Beale, the present owner
to be more than generous in the dis
position Of the property for his
torical purposes" Secretary Ickes said
after meeting Tuesday night. 1T
is my hope that such a movement
may be Immediately begun"
AS result of the meeting, which
was attended by Federal officials and
interested civic leaders, committee
probably will be organized.
Decatur House was the first private
residence built on Lafayette Square
after the erection of the White House.
1t stands on the southwest corner of
jackson place and H street NV. Into
its construction went prize money
awarded the young naval hero from
the sale Of the pirate ships he cap
tured. During the century that has
passed, it has been swathed in the
romance and grandeur of by-gone
days.
The house was designed by Benja-
min H. Latrobe, one Of the early plan
ners of the Capitol Building and archi-
tect Of st. Johns Church on Lafayette
Square.
Famous Men Lived There.
Decatur and his young bride had
lived IN the house scarcely a year
when he was brought home mortally
wounded on March 20, 1920, from his
duel with Commodore James Barron.
Decatur was at the height of his ca
reer, and his residence was a center
Of social life.
After his death, many famous men
lived there. Baron Hyde de Neuville,
French Minister to the United States,
was the first to occupy it. Then came
Baron de Tuyll. a Russian Minister.
He was followed by Henry Clay, Sec
retary of State under President John
Quincy Adams; Martin Van Buren, and
Edward Livingston, succeeding Secre-
taries of State under President Andrew
jackson.
In the roof are "lookouts" where
Negro slaves were posted during the
occupancy of Van Buren. Similar
ones on the White House roof made
possible q system of wig-wagging be-
fore the days of the telephone.
Other famous persons who occupied
the mansion were Sir Charles Vaughan.
British Minister to the United States;
George M. Dallas. when Vice President
under President Polk, and John Gads-
by. one of Washingtons earliest inn
keepers. 1t was reported then that
Gadsby kept slaves confined in the
attic Of the Decatur House for sale
IN Washington's slave market.
Beale Bought Home.
The last tenant before the Civil
War was Senator Judah P. BENJAMIN
Of Louisiana, who became Secretary
OF State of the Confederacy The
house was used by officers during
the Civil War, but at the close was
bought by Edward Fitzgerald Beale,
Virginian, the grandson of Com
modore Truxton. Edward Beale also
began his career in the Navy and
won distinction in the Mexican War.
He explored the West and helped
found the State of California.
President Grant appointed Beale as
Minister to Austria Hungary. His
son, the late Truxton Beale, was
formerly United States Minister to
Persia and to Greece. The historic
mansion, peculiar for its brick-sealed
windows on the H street side, is now
the property of his widow.
Within its walls the greatest men
Of the Nation have passed during a
century.
Here Henry Clay formulated his
policy of Good Neighbor" to South
America, and no one knows how many
other governmental policies were
Matched in its drawing rooms. Once
gossip abounded when Secretary of
. State Van Buren paved his path to