Evening star., 1950-11-13


on a trip abroad was so taken
with Kensington, London, that he
decided to name the suburb he
was planning after it.
Brainard H. Warner was born
in Susquehanna County, Pa, in
1847. His father was a farmer
and something of a cabinet maker.
Miss Anna P. Warner, Brainard
Warmers daughter. has cello her
grandfather made in the parlor
1of her apartment at 1868 Colum-
ibia road NV. And Mrs. Levi
Cooke of 2409 Wyoming avenue
NV, his other surviving child
has a copy of the combined plays
of Shakespeare that her father
had published in 1873. The title
page reads "B. H. Warner, Ninth
and F streets, Washington, D. c.
The story is that he was dissatis-
fed with the editions available be-
cause the type was too small. He
had one printed with readable
type and presented it to all his
friends.
B. H. Warner had a town house
on Massachusetts, avenue where
the Fairfax Hotel now stands. He
had country place on Georgia
avenue opposite the entrance OF
Walter Reed Hospital. But after
seeing Kensington Gardens on an
1890 trip abroad, he decided to
develop the acreage he owned at
Knowles Station on the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad north of Chevy
Chase and build a summer home
for himself there.
/ Together with Crosby S. Noyes
editor of The Star. he gave the
community the Noyes Library
| Oldest suburban library in tht
Washington area.
\ He also built the Warner Me
mortal Presbyterian Church Ii
honor of his parents.
4 Served During War.
Mr.. Warner had served in the
Adjutant Generals Office here dur.
ing the Civil War and was active
in the G. A. R. Col. Clarence v
Sayer, who moved into Kensing-
ton in 1909. remembers that many
OF the early residents were G. A. R
men. They probably contributed
to making Kensington Republi-
can island in Democratic Mont
gomery County. There was a Col
Brady and Col. Sumner, a Capt
Hendricks and Capt. Hartshorn
And there was Confederate vet
eran named Gooding who had
served with Mosby's raiders. He
became Republican, too.
For a time every one commuteo
on the B. & o. and several
Kensingston residents were killed
in the Terra Gotta wreck in the
early 1900's. Mr.. Warner, a tall
bald man, used to walk to the sta
tion mornings although he had a
carriage team in the barn and a
phaeton, blackboard, trap, and
a surrey with the fringe on top
His daughters remember that he
once brought a jaunting car back
from Ireland, but stares from the
sidewalks made the family uncom-
Portable and it gathered dust in
the Massachusetts, avenue stable
He also owned a succession of
automobiles before he died in 1913.
The Warmers used to entertain
Washington notables at the big
house and they were succeeded in
residence there by Frederick D.
McKenney, noted constitutional
lawyer, and his family. The Nc
Kenneys used to entertain at Sum-
day noon breakfasts. Among the
guests were Chief Justice Edward
White and later Chief Justice VIII
liam Howard Taft. The driveway
used to be lined with Pierce-Arrow
Peerless, Stevens Duryes and other
big cars. The McKenney's car
was a Model T Ford. This used
to distress Mrs. McKenney. He1
daughter, Mrs. Arthur Wallace
Dunn of the Kennedy Warren
apartments, still remembers the
family's satisfaction when her
father acquired a Locomobile.
Mr.. McKenney died two years
ago and it has been unoccupied
since. ,-...
About 1900 a trolley line was
CONSTRUCTED from Kensington con-
Meeting with the Capital Traction
Co.'S lines at Chevy Chase Lake.
George D. Lamb, who moved
into Kensington in 1909, remeln-
bers that the owner of the trolley
line, man named Phillips, used
to substitute at the controls if
one of his two motormen did not
show up. He says, one of the
motormen used to bring along a
shotgun in the fall and if he saw
partridges on the right of way,
he would stop the car and walk
them along the track until he
could get good wing shot. And
on HalloWeens the boys discovered
that just plain kerosene - the
source of light in every home
applied to the tracks would pre-
vent the trolley car from making
an up grade.
Mr.. Lamb thinks outward ap-
pearances are decelving and that
Kensington has changed greatly in
his 40 years residence. It's nice
there now. he says. but he's of
the opinion that the old days were
the best.