Evening star., 1951-04-01

gett Proctor
dent, It might be interesting Il
speak Of the first election oi
Thomas Jefferson, when all malei
over 81 years of age residing
within the District of Columbis
did actually exerciSe-according I'd
geographic location-this inherent
privilege, in either Maryland o.
Virginia.
The polls in Georgetown wers
set up In Suffers Tavern on tha
second Monday in November, 1900
1t was a rough affair, and liquor
flowed freely.
Describing the building and
speaking Of the election, that
great-granduncle of mine. Chris
tian Hines, says:
The house was a one-story
frame and stood on High street
between Bridge and Water streets
and a little east Of the canal
bridge. George Peter. who was
then a lieutenant in the Regular
Army, had. think, his recruiting
office In q three-story brick house
directly south Of the tavern, or
pretty near where Waters -four
warehouse now stands. In those
days there were two political
parties; The Federals and the
Republicans. The Federal Party
upheld Mr.. Adams and the Repub-
lican Party supported Mr.. JEFF
ferson.
Fighting at the Polls
"Well, the ballot box was
brought and the polling of votes
commenced while a large crowd.
as Is usual on such occasions, was
gathered in front Of the tavern.
After the election had continued
some time, and the whisky had
begun to operate, some Of the
crowd began to dispute and quar-
rel, and perhaps few had already
the modification Of having been
knocked down.
'It was very muddy In front Of
the tavern, a rain having descend
ed but a short time previously so
that the mud and water were
nearly ankle deep. The whisky
operated more and more until
nearly the whole crowd was in
motion. At length a man named
Shipley stepped out and chal-
lenged any man Of the opposite
party to come out and fight him.
to whip him If he would
do SO. A short time elapsed. when
1t. Peter, who was of the opposite
party, undertook to furnish a man
to fight Shipley. So he sent for
one of his enlisted soldiers named
who accepted the chal-
lenge. and appeared ready for the
fray"
One can hardly visualize what
Pennsylvania avenue looked like
when Jefferson took Office. Four
months before, when President
Adams had delivered in person his
message to Congress. 1t was
deemed proper that the whole
House should be in personal at
tendance at the White House to
deliver its answer. AS it would be
impossible to go there on foot,
enough hacking coaches were Sc.
cured from Baltimore to convey
the necessary delegation there. It
was, indeed, muddy ride. and
several detours had to be made to
escape the swamps then covering
a stretch Of the Avenue.
Improving the Avenue
AS soon as Jefferson took his
seat he inaugurated immediate
steps to eliminate this condition.
He was interested in all building
projects, both of a national and
private character, and his judg-
ment was considered of much
value and was freely sought. For
expediency. he was the type Of
Alexander r. Shepherd. and in
1903 did not refrain from using
nearly one-fourth Of the entire
available appropriation for that
year at his disposal in improving
Pennsylvania avenue.
This great highway-destined to
be. of course-was divided by
him into three sections, along
which were planted four rows Of
trees. similar in effect then to the
Paris boulevards. The center, or
principal, road was lined on either
side with rows Of Lombardy pop
lars, the outlying roadways also
being lined on the outer side with
rows Of similar trees, and then
came the footways extending to
the building line.
Not only was Jefferson inter-
ested in improving the city's road
ways, in encouraging a better class
of architecture and in beautily-
ing the landscape Of the Capital,
but he was also interested in edu-
eating the poor youth of the Dis.
trict as well.