Evening star., 1940-06-16
Pioneer Was
A Native of
Germany
Many Forebears of
Industrialist Are
Buried in Capital
BY John CIaeeh Proctor.


he read in the press that Edward r.
Stettinius. ir., had been appointed
by the President as member of the
National Defense Commission. Mr..
Stettinius' ancestors settled in this
section even before the Congress and
the other branches of the Govern
ment moved here, and his forebears
and kindred lie buried with thou
sands of other early Washingtonians
IN Congressional Cemetery.
In this old burial ground there are
several monuments to members of
this distinguished family, the most
important of which is dedicated to
Samuel E. Stettinius, the pioneer
settler bearing this family name in
the District. 1t is plain marble
slab of about feet by feet,
with rounded top. It's inscription
reads:
Departed this life on the 5th day
of August, 1915, Mr.. Samuel E.
Stettinius of Washington City. A
native of Germany. aged As years,
mo, II days His wife and children
are weeping over the tomb of this
tender husband and er-to-be-la-
mented and most affectionate
father His full name was Samuel
Endredi Stettinius, and it was this
emigrant who was the great grand
father of the present noted ind s.
trialist and former chairman of the
board of the United States Steel
Corp, who is only nearing his 40th
year
Christian Hines. whom the writer
has quoted so many times. because
of the reliable information he has
left us in his Early Recollections of
Washington City mentions the
coming to Washington of the pioneer
Stettinius in his little book when
referring to the very beginning Of
the Capital.
About this time" he said, "busi-
ness was beginning to be pretty
brisk in Washington. Some of the
public buildings were nearly finished,
and others were in state of ad-
vancement. People began to talk
about settling here, and selected
such lots as would suit best the
business they were engaged in, re-
spectively. Some settled at the
Navy Yard, few about the Capitol
and others about the Treasury office
as far down F street as ST. Patricks
Church. This locality was the most
thickly settled at that time I re-
member that, some time previous to
this, a few friends assembled at my
fathers house for the purpose Of
consulting with each other as to
where would be the most suitable
place to settle. Among these gentle
men were Mr. Stettinius, book
binder, and Nicholas Sparrow. a
tailor The others I do not remem-
ber. This. I think, was in 1898 or
1899 Finally they chose their sew
eral localities, Mr.. Stettinius buying
a lot on Pennsylvania avenue near
where the Bank of Washington now
stands; Mr.. Sparrow one little
east of that of Mr. Stettinius. and
my father bought a lot on F street
North, between Tenth and Eleventh
streets West, from w. Thompson,
ESQ"
The Mr.. Stettinius referred to by
Mr. Hines was said to be native
of Stettin-o -the-Rhine, though
Stettin- -the-Oder. "a miles north
east of Berlin by rail, would seem
more likely the place. His father
Johannes Stettinius, was Lutheran
minister, who lived to the ripe old
age of l03 years. Samuel E. the
son who settled early in Washington.
was born in ITO and married Mary
Ann HornakoWitz of Bardwell Hun
gary, in that city in July, 1889. He
came to America in 1891 and stopped
for while in Baltimore before
coming to Washington.
AS Mr.. Hines has told us, when
Mr.. Stettinius first came to this city
he purchased lot where now stands
the Bank of Washington, and here
he built large frame house, which
he made his home.
He did not live long after coming
to Washington, but died suddenly
August 5, 1915, while on a trip to
Baltimore, and was buried in the
family plot in Congressional Gene
terry. However, during the few years
he resided here he owned and con-
Quoted one of our earliest book
stores, its location being on Penn
sylvania avenue near Eighth street
Mrs. Stettinius died here on Decem-
Der IA. 1885.
Genealogy is a great study. We
hardly realize how small this world
really is until we begin to take
stock of our family connections
Indeed, sometimes we are gratifled
and sometimes we are not But
from scientific standpoint it can
not prove other than interesting, to
say the least. And so it is with the
Stettinius family.
Samuel E. and Mary Ann (Horna-
kowitz) Stettinius had, according
to tombstone record, nine children:
Mary, John, Samuel A., Joseph S.,
William. George, Rachel. Susan and
one whose name is not known, all
born in Washington
Of thes>, Mary married first a
Mr.. Knellx, by whom she had Su-
san and CHARLES. BY her second
husband, Mr.. Beeler, there were
Virginia and Rose. Susan Kneller
married George Phillips and their
son, Samuel L. Phillips, will be re-
called as the president of one of
our traction companies some years
ago. Virginia Beeler became Mrs.
Brewster and Rose, Mrs. William
Clark.
John Stettinius, son of Samuel
E.. married a daughter of the first
Nicholas Longworth of Cincinnati,
Ohio, to which city he went for the
purpose of engaging in the banking
business, and it was in this way that
he became ar uncle, or maybe a
grand-uncle, by marriage of the
late Nicholas LongWorth, Speaker
Of the House Of Representatives.
Nicholas Longworth, the first, had
one son, Joseph, and three daugh-
ters-one married Larz Anderson,
one Mr.. Flagg and one Mr.. Stet-