Evening star., 1941-01-12
Two Recently
Removed at
Scott Circle
New Utility Office
To Take Site of
Lutheran Church
Bv John CIaeeett Proctor.

Quite a NUMBER OF washington
landmarks have been removed dur
ing the past few years, and some
recently, while plans are under way
to remove more in the near future.
Indeed. this is enough to cause any
old inhabitant to reminiSce over
what the city once looked like when
he was boy.
Only a week or SO ago, the writer
saw the wreckers removing two
well-knoWn buildings at Scott Circle.
One was the James Donald Cameron
house, to the northeast of the circle,
where Sixteenth street and Rhode
Island avenue meet, and the other,
the Pendleton residence, next to
the Cameron house, facing Six
teenth street.
Don" Cameron, as he was gener-
ally called, was a distinguished
Senator from Pennsylvania, and was
the son of Simon Cameron, an
equally notable Senator from the
keystone State. whom the son sue
ceeded in the United States Senate.
Don Cameron was born in Middle
town, Dauphin County, Pa, May 4,
1888, and was graduated from
Princeton College in 1853, Poll
tically, like his father, he was a
Republican, and was appointed by
President Grant to serve as his
Secretary of War, position he
filled from May, 1876, to March,
1877. In 1868, he was a delegate
to the Republican National Con-
vention at Chicago, and also served
in a like capacity at Cincinnati IN
1876, and at Chicago in 1880, during
which year he became chairman OF
the Republican National Com
mittee, Simon Cameron, the father,
resigned as United States Senator,
in 1877. and Don Cameron i'm
mediately succeeded him, and con-
tinued to serve in the Senate until
1897, when he declined reelection.
Senator Cameron built the resi-
dence on Scott Circle in $780, He
paid at that time SIS a square loot
for the ground, and it cost him s40'- :
900 for the house. In 1888, ne Solo
the property to D. P. Morgan
broker, for S95,00O.
Occupants Of House.
Later. it is said, it was occupied
at different times by the Chinese
LEGATION. Hamilton Fish (Secretary
of State at one time under President
Grant,, George Won L. Meyer ana
Francis Burton Harrison.
A more recent owner ana occu-
nat of the Cameron house was the
late Mrs. Susan Whitney Dimock,
who conceived the idea OF erecting
at the southeast corner OF Seventh
street and Constitution avenue a
memorial building to George wash
ington, for which funds were soLlc-
tied. 1t was a worthy project, begun
more than 20 years ago, but the
project only developed as lar as
the huge cement foundation walls
and approaches, which remained an
unsightly aspect for some years, and
these were removed when ground
was broken for the National Gallery
of Art-or the Mellon Art Gallery,
as it is sometimes called.
The Pendleton residence was built
bv Senator George H. Pendleton OF
Ohio. who had quite career IN
both the House and Senate, but,
finally, as is usually the case, suf-
fered defeat. However, in his par
ticular case, he was not renoml-
mated. But Mr.. Cleveland, when he
became President in 1885, thought
so much of Mr.. Pendleton's ability
that he appointed him Minister to
Germany. where he remained until
his death. November "a, 1889.
While the Pendletons resided just
off Scott Circle, their home was Wis
tied by nearly all the people OF
special note who visited Washing
ton, though it is said they other
wise did little entertaining in an
ultra social way.
Father Wrote Anthem.
Mrs. Pendleton, whose maiden
name was Alice Key, was the daugh-
ter of Francis Scott Key, author OF
1.-THE Star Spangled Banner" whose
other children we're Elizabeth
Phoebe, Maria Lloyd, Francis Scott
John Ross, Ann Arnold, Edward
Lloyd, Daniel Murray, Philip Bar
ton, Ellen Lloyd and Charles Henry
Miss Alice Key and George H
Pendleton were married in Baltimore
in 1846, and the chances are thai
they lived in Cincinnati from thai
date until he first came to Congress
in 1857. In 1860 we find him living
in Carroll Row, now the site of tht
Congressional Library, where he wa.
probably boarding BY 1862 he hac
moved to 500 Eleventh street (olc
numbering), probably another board
ing house. The following year h
was living at 481 Tenth street (alst
old numbering). His name and resi-
dence next appears in the city direc
tory for 1881, when he lived at th
northwest corner of Thirteenth ant
K streets northwest, where is nov
located a gasoline station, and from
that time on he lived in the Six
teenth street residence.
When Mr.. Pendleton took up hi
post in Germany, his family mos
naturally accompanied him there
However, a year later, Mrs. Pendle