Evening star., 1954-11-15
By George Kennedy

All the yesterdays Of La
fayette Square are brought back
by an exhibit of pictures at the
Cosmos Club, which will be open
to the public from / to 4 pm.
beginning tomorrow through No
vember 20 including Saturdays
and Sundays.
The exhibit is one of the pro-
ductions of the Columbia His
torical Society whose president
is Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant III
(U. S. A., retireO. The pictures
have been assembled by Mere
dith E. Colket, jr., of the Ma
tional Archives. The pictures
will be previewed by the mem
bership at a tea and cocktail
party today from S to Z pm.
Almost 100 paintings, draw
ings and photographs of the
old houses of the square, every
one of them the residence at
one time or other of men of
Importance in American history.
will be on the walls.
Recent Discovery.
A recent discovery in New
York will interest the antiquar-
ians. It is a water color paint
ing of the square when only st.
Johns Church, the Church OF
the Presidents, " the Decatur
house and. the Dolly Madison
house and one or two others
stood on the square. It was
painted by the Baroness Hyde de
Neuville, wife of the French
Minister, from a front window
of Decatur house and discovered
recently in a New York antique
shop. Not buildings but the hills
to the northeast dominate the
landscape. The painting is now
in the New York Library. A
photo-copy will be in the ex-
hibit.
There are also pictures within
the memory of the middle-aged.
There are several photographs
of the imposing John Hay house,
a romantic stone structure with
towers and arched entrances.
The Hay house and the Henry
Adams house which stood next
to 1t in H street facing the
square were both designed by
H. H. Richardson. He was the
architect who in the latter part
of the 10th century gave a ro-
mantle touch to everything, even
railroad stations. They were torn
down in 1928 to make room for
the hotel named the Hay-Adams
House.
And there are pictures of what
was Washington's grandest man
sion in the Civil War days, the
w. w. Corcoran house, which
was torn down in 1922 to make
way for the United States Cham
ber of Commerce building pic
lures of its exterior, interior and
it's lavish gardens.
It is difficult to determine what
were the greatest days Of the
square. Mr.. Colket thinks they
were in the first years of this
century when President Theo-
dore Roosevelt was living at %
Jackson place (the west side of
the square) because of the re-
modelling of the White House or
the anthracite strike or both, and
Senator Marcus A. Hanna, the
president maker" was living
across the square at 81 Madison
place, the house that became the
rear part of the old Cosmos Club.
In The Early 184Os
Others might favor the early
1840s when Secretary of State
Daniel Webster was living in the
Corcoran house and entertaining
Lord Alexander Barring Ashbur-
ton. envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary, in the
matter Of the Northeastern
boundary dispute. Webster
planned a series Of dinners that
would have astonished Lucullus
Maine salmon, Massachusetts,
cod, Connecticut shad. Maryland
terrapin and Delaware canvas
backs, served in a fashion that
made the noble peers mouth
water, and his claims to the
shores Of Lake Clamplain to re-
Lax"
The big brown house next to
st. Johns Church on H street
has been known as the Ashbur-
ton house since his lordship's
brief residence there. There is a
photograph Of 1t taken before
the Civil War which shows that
its mansard roof was added after
the conflict. It Is to be remodeled
as the parish house Of st. Johns
and antiuuariaus are wondering