Evening star., 1945-06-24

the south the home of William L. Marcy,
mentioned before quite recently. Lewis
CaSs lived in the third house south of
I street. He was a man who had
achieved great honor on the battlefield
during the war of 1812-1815 under Gen
William Henry Harrison who promoted
him to be brigadier general for his
part in the decisive victory over Gen.
Proctor and the Indians under Te-
cumseh. President Jackson made him
Secretary of War and President Buchan-
an made him Secretary of State.
Arlington Hotel
Tfe Arlington Hotel, which later oc-
cupied much of this side of the block,
was erected in 1859, by that eminent
WaSlingtonian w. w. Corcoran. and for
several years thereafter was known as
the Arlington House. it being subse-
quently called the Arlington, though
popularity referred to as the Arlington
Hotel. On August 6, 1918, the building
having previously been removed, Presi-
dent Wilson authorized the expenditure
frornbklis emergency fund of $4200,0 900
for the acquisition of the site, and the
present Veterans Administration Build
ing was erected In 1919
But when the Arlington Hotel was
erected it was considered an uptown ho-
tel, and, indeed, judging from the fol-
lowing description of the neighborhood,
made by George Alfred Townsend, as it
appeared four year earlier, We might
even be justified in calling it suburban.
Mr.. Townsend in speaking of the as
sassination of President Lincoln and
the attempt made upon the life of his
Secretary of State William H. Seward,
says
Vermont avenue was such a sluice of
dissolution that in 1865, after stabbing
Mr.. Seward, the assassin, Payne, gal
loped half block and disappeared out
this street among the stables, shanties
dumping piles and bitches which pressed
close up to Lafayette Square"
The 1.-TWO Sisters"
Christian Hines dates his recollec-
tons back to much earlier period when
he tells us that in 1900 there were in this
block the two 2-story brick houses, called
the Two Sisters, one of which was oc-
cupied by Capt. Andrews and the other
by Mr.. Middleton as a cabinetmaker' S
shop, where some of the first mahogany
desks we're made for the first Congress
that met here The nearest house then
to the north was a one-story wooden
farmhouse. half mile away occupied
by Thomas Dove.
At the northwest corner of Vermont
avenue and H street, at an early date,
stood fine old house owned and oc-
cupied by Mrs. Ann Cazanave, the
widowed daughter of Motley Young, one
Of the original proprietors. In 1911,
Mrs. Cazanave having moved to South
Washington, the place was bought by
John D. Barclay, and was for number
OF years occupied by Fielder R. Dorsett,
a well-known carpenter. This lot, No.
in the square, extended for distance
up Vermont avenue and also along H
street.
Later on, this site was the residence
of Senator Charles. Sumner, who died
here March II, 1874. 1t was he who was
assaulted Wslile in his seat in the Senate
%, 1856, and was unable to return tc
that body until December 5, 1859, and
as to the character and forgiveness ot
the man, we might well judge by what
he said upon resuming his seat il
Congress. 1t was this:
Il have no personal griefs to utter
only vulgar egotism could intrude such
into this chamber. 1 have no persona
wrongs to avenge; only brutal natur
could attempt to WELD that vengeance
which belongs to the Lord. The year
that have intervened, and the tomb
that have opened since I spoke hav
their voices too, which I cannot faj
to hear. Beside, what am I, or wha
is any man among the living, or anon
the dead, compared with the question
before us"
Prominent Residents
Other residents of the Sumne
home were Walter @. Gresham, Secre
tary of State under President CLEVELAND
whose remains now lie in Arlington Ma
tional Cemetery, and Henry c. Payn
Postmaster General in theodore Roose
velt's cabinet.
Adjoining the Sumner residence
the west was the home of Senate
Samuel C. Pomeroy of Kansas, anothe
enthusiastic Republican. Some tin
after the Arlington Hotel was bui
these two residences were combine