Evening star., 1940-08-04


scalpel used by him on the actor
while he was playing in this city
with Charlotte Cushman. Contrary
to instructions, Booth insisted upon
taxing his place in the play before
the wound had sufficiently healed,
with the result that when Miss
Cushman embraced him 1t was done
with such force as to open the
wound and leave very ugly scar,
which later aided the doctor in posi-
lively identifying the body.
Passed to Mayor.
DR.. Frederick May died January
70, l849, but many years before this
his Virginia avenue residence had
passed into the hands Of Samuel n.
SmallWood, twice Mayor of Wash
lngton. for it was here that "his
honor" died on September 80, 1924.
as We find his passing away an
nounced in the National Intelli-
gencer of October l. as follows:
yesterday morning, between 3
| ana o'clock, in the 54th year of
his age, Samuel N. Smallwood, ESQ.
Mayor of the City of Washington"
Apparently many years ago the
interment of deceased persons fol-
lowed more quickly after their death.
for the Intelligencer of October 2
speaks Of the Mayors burial on the
preceding day. AS copied, this notice
reads:
THE funeral of our late Mavor
S. N. Smallwood, Esq, took place
| yesterday afternoon, and was most
respectfully and numerously attend.
ed. AS a mark Of respect to the
merits of this citizen. the shops of
the Avenue were closed. at 3 O'Clock.
yesterday, for the remainder of the
day"
The Virginia avenue residence In
which Mayor SmallWood lived and
died has undergone little change
since 1t was built by DR.. May. No
doubt the building as now preserved
was originally two residences, and it
is quite likely that Dr. May erected
both. Just who lived in the one to
the east IN the early days the writer
is unable to say, though his friend,
John R Mahoney, a respected and
venerable resident of the southeast
and the financial secretary of the
Association of Oldest Inhabitants.
tells him that for a time one Of
these houses was occupied by Mr..
Bohrer, who was marketmaster Of
| the K Street Market. and that Will
! liam Mead, a contractor, lived in
| the other one; that later a DR..
Shead bought and remodeled the
two houses.
Reminder of Lafayette.
Just before the death of Mayor
SmallWood, and a short while be-
fore Gen Lafayette visited this
country and Washington, the mayor
prepared to entertain the dis
tinguished Frenchman by construct
ing wing on the west side of the
house, the first floor of which was
planned for ballroom. However, the
mayor died before the arrival OF
the celebrated visitor and the recep-
ton never took place at the Vir-
ginia avenue residence, though the
room as originally planned remains
as mute reminder of the hospi-
! tality intended for the beloved
Lafayette.
At the corner of Fourth street
and Virginia avenue. just door or
two away, stands another old build
ing which must also be more than
hundred years old 1t is a queer
looking sort of a house, built OF
brick, and in its day was no doubt
occupied by some one at least OF
local distinction. Mr.. Mahoney saws
that Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
occupied it at the time she wrote
'Life's Darkest Hour" which hap
pened to be just after she separated
from her husband. Just how long
she continued to live on this corner
the writer does not know, though
it is indeed probable that some Of
her many other novels were written
there also.
At the northwest corner of Vir-
ginia avenue and Fifth street still
stands an old building erected in
1921 by Naval Lodge, No. 4, F. A.
A. M. Originally it was two-story
building, but in 1867 a third story
was added, and here Naval Lodge
met from the first date until it
moved to its present quarters at
Fourth and Pennsylvania avenue
Sc. in 1895. AS its number would
indicate, this lodge is one of the
oldest Masonic bodies in the Dis
trict of Columbia, having been
chartered on May ID, 1905, by the
Grand Lodge of Maryland, under
whose jurisdiction the District
lodges then served.
A list of the members, dated May,
1906, contains the names, no doubt,
of some of the ancestors of families
still residing in the Navy Yard sec
tion. This early roster follows:
James Burgess, Benjamin King.
Shadrack Davis, Holder Spooner,
Kimble Easley, sr.; Kimble Easley,
jr.; Robert Dillon, Samuel Whann,
Anthony F. Shraub, Charles c.
Herford, David Dobbins, James B.
Potts, William Spooner, John D.
Henley, Seth Carter, Winlock
Clarke, John G. Love, John Harri-
son, John P. Lowell, Isaac Davies,
Robert Alexander, Charles w.
Goldsborough, William Hamden,
Samuel Lowdermilk, Joseph Cassin,
Robert Rankin, Stephen Dykes,
James Kemp, George Brown, Ed
ward Fitzgerald, John T. Brown,
Elisha Perry, Charles D. Brodie,
Thomas Smith, Peter B. Pravote,
Bartholomew Byns, Joseph Tarbell,
James McKaraher, John N. Cam
non, Alexander McWilliams. George
Dixon, Charles Lacey, James H.
Kearney, Samuel Long, Robert Har-
rison and Philip Alexander.