b. The Congressional Cemetery

The Congressional Cemetery is most directly reached from the Navy Yard by walking E. on Potomac Ave. (one mile). The visitor, however, will save exertion, if not time, by taking the trolley N. on 8th St., and transferring to the Pennsylvania Ave. line southeast to 17th St.

The Congressional Cemetery (Pl. III-F6), comprising a tract of about 30 acres, is situated at the extreme S. E. corner of the city, overlooking the Anacostia River, and bounded on the W. by 17th St., and on the N. by Potomac Ave. and E St. It is the property of the Vestry of Christ Church (p. 406), and is officially known as "The Washington Parish Burial Ground." Reached directly by Pennsylvania Ave. car marked "17th Street S. W."

When this cemetery was first established in 1807, it was chosen by Congress as the place of interment for practically all Senators, Representatives and Executive Officers who died in office. Because of its semi-official character, the Government has from time to time made appropriations for its maintenance and improvement. Until about 1835 practically every member of Congress who died while holding office was buried here. But gradually, as facilities for transportation increased, it became easier for relatives to bury their dead at their former homes; and by 1855 interment of non-resident officials had practically ceased. Meanwhile, however, the custom had grown up of erecting a cenotaph in memory of each Senator or Representative who died in office, notwithstanding that they were buried elsewhere. The precedent was first established in case of the Hon. John Lent of New York, who died February 23d, 1838.

These official monuments and cenotaphs, unique in their ugliness, form the most striking feature of the cemetery. They are of sandstone and consist of a six-foot square base, surmounted by a pyramidal top reaching to a height of about five feet. The inscriptions show frequent carelessness, the stone-cutter having been often content to leave the dates blank. It is not known who selected this form of monument; but from the time of the erection of the first one by the Government in 1807 (for Sen. Uriah Tracy of Conn.), the pattern was adhered to until 1877, when an Act abolishing the custom was passed on motion of Senator Hoar, who argued that "it certainly added new terrors to death to propose that in any contingency, whatever might be the poverty or degradation of any member of Congress, his body should be put under a structure similar to those now there."

The official interments include 10 Senators, 74 Representatives and a miscellaneous list of 25 others, civil and military. Among the latter were formerly General Rawlins, War Secretary under Grant, Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of State under Tyler and Captain Beverley Kennon, the last two killed by an explosion on the Warship Princeton, February 28th, 1844. Above three subsequently removed.

There are two gates on the 17th St. side, adjacent to the trolley terminus. The main entrance is on E St. side, adjoining the Superintendent's lodge. East of the lodge lies the chief section of interest, containing a majority of the oldest graves. The path following the northern fence is Tingey Ave., named

from the first grave on R. beyond the lodge, that of Commodore Tingey (1750-1829), second in command in the Algerian War.

Continuing E. on Tingey Ave., we reach, near eastern corner of third transverse path to S., a conspicuous marble monument to Elbridge Gerry, Mass. (1744-1814), Signer and Vice-President of the United States, whose name gave the verb, "to gerrymander." The monument consists of a pyramidal shaft surmounted by an urn and flaming torch (W. and J. Frazee, New York, sculptors). Erected by Act of Congress. The inscription embodies Gerry's memorable injunction, "It is the duty of every citizen, though he may have but one day to live, to devote that day to the good of his country." Immediately behind (E.) the Gerry grave are four monuments to the Lear family, the southernmost (flat table-stone) marking the grave of Tobias Lear, the last private Secretary of Washington.

Twenty-five ft. S. of the Lear lot is the grave of Richard Bland Lee (1761-1827), a distinguished member of the historic Lee family.

Immediately adjoining the Lee grave, on S.W., is the monument to Hugh George Campbell, Captain U.S.N. (17581820), who was a volunteer on the first vessel of war in 1775. Southwest, on E. side of path, about 80 ft. from Tingey Ave., is the grave of Chevalier Frederick Grehum, German Minister to the U.S. (1770-1823). The inscription records that the monument was erected "by order of His Majesty Frederick William III, King of Prussia." The next grave S. is that of Catherine de Bresson, wife of an attaché of the French Ministry; and next in order, the grave of Pushmataha (17641824), a Choctaw Chief.

was

During the Pensacola campaign Pushmataha served loyally under Jackson with 2500 Braves. Subsequently with his tribe he settled in Arkansas, and in 1824 came to Washington at the head of a delegation "to brighten the chain of peace between the Americans and the Choctaws." The concessions he requested were granted, but Pushmataha himself, returning from a visit to General Lafayette, stricken with diphtheria and died. His last request was "When I am dead let the big guns be fired over me." The inscription on the tombstone contains the following lines from the eulogy pronounced by John Randolph of Roanoke: "Pushmataha was a warrior of great distinction. He was wise in counsel, eloquent in an extraordinary degree, and, on all occasions and under all circumstances, the white man's friend."

On W. side of path facing the Grehum grave is that of George Hadfield (died 1826), and next to him lies William Elliott (both architects of the Capitol). A few feet S. lie William Thornton, the original designer of the Capitol (1762

1829); and beside him his wife, Anna, and her mother, Ann Brodeau. Further S. lies Walter Jones (1775-1861), who served in the Battle of Bladensburg, and later, for nearly forty years, was Brig. Gen. of the D. C. Militia.

Near the center of the grounds is a small Gothic chapel, erected 1903. The first conspicuous monument, N.E. from this chapel, is a broken column of marble marking the grave of Gen. Jacob Brown (1775-1828), at the time of his death Commanding General of the American Army.

Other distinguished persons here interred include: Philip Pendleton Barbour (1783-1841), Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; Joseph Lovell (1788-1836), Surgeon General of the U. S. Army, and John W. Maury and John T. Powers, ex-Mayors of Washington. Among those whose remains rested here temporarily were: President Taylor, John C. Calhoun and Mrs. Dolly Madison (the latter from February 11th, 1852, to January 12th, 1858; removed to Virginia).

The extensive group of buildings directly N.E. of the cemetery include the Small-pox Hospital, Quarantine Station, Disinfection Plant and Crematory; also the Washington Asylum and Jail. In the latter Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, was confined and executed.

Returning W. on Pennsylvania Ave., we pass on S. side, between 9th and 10th Sts. S.E., the headquarters of the United States Naval Reserve. Directly W., at the S.E. cor. of 9th St., the visitor should note the Eastern Branch Hotel, or "Tunnicliff's Tavern," believed to be the oldest surviving structure within the former city limits. The date of its erection is not known, but there is a record of its sale in 1795, and the following year it was opened as a tavern by William Tunnicliff, later proprietor of the Washington City Hotel.

The building is a quaint square two-story structure, measuring thirty-six feet each way. It is massively built, the foundation and basement walls being three feet thick. It is surmounted by a steep, sloping roof, and an octagonal cupola. Having been built before Pennsylvania Ave. was cut through, it originally fronted on an old road leading to the "Upper Ferry" of the Eastern Branch, and later to the "Middle Bridge,' constructed in 1795, which brought a steady How of traffic past the tavern. In its immediate neighborhood was the first race-track established in the District. The tavern itself was the scene of the first ball given by the Washington Dancing Assembly, in December, 1796.

After passing through several hands, this property was purchased in 1821 by Captain William Easby, a ship-builder, who for many years was employed as Master-builder_in the Washington Navy Yard; and it remained the home of the Easby family until 1857. The ground in the vicinity was so marshy that it was necessary for many

years to maintain a ditch, or moat, on the Pennsylvania Ave. front, from which fact the house was long afterward popularly known by the name of "Warwick."

At 8th St. Pennsylvania and South Carolina Aves. intersect. Just N., on 7th St., near C St., stands the Eastern High School. Two squares E., at intersection with North Carolina Ave., is a small rectangular park called Seward Place.

Facing this park, at S. W. cor. of 5th St., stands Trinity M. E. Church, successor to the Ebenezer M. E. Church (organized 1802). This, the oldest Methodist church in Washington, held its first meetings in a private dwelling on Greenleaf's Point; then, 1807-11, in the Carroll Tobacco House; then in a new building on 4th St., between South Carolina Ave. and G St. When in 1857 the congregation moved to the present site, the former church was demolished. The present edifice dates from 1896.

No. 206 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E., is the building in which for a time the United States Supreme Court met after the burning of the Capitol in 1814. It is now temporarily occupied by the International Reform Bureau, organized in 1895 for the purpose of "promoting those Christian reforms on which the churches sociologically unite, while theologically differing."

The Bureau has a library of several thousand volumes and a large collection of clippings, which will be open to the public for reference upon the completion of the Bureau's permanent home at the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and B St. S.E.

One block S. on 2d St., at S.W. cor. of C St. S.E., stands St. Peter's Church, the second oldest R. C. church in Washington. The first holdings of this church consisted of a tract given by Daniel Carroll to his brother, Bishop Carroll. The corner-stone of the first edifice was laid in 1817, and the first Mass celebrated in 1821. The present church is a handsome Gothic structure of light gray stone, erected on the old site in 1890, at a cost of $100,000. Note the bas-relief lunettes over the three entrances on the main façade, representing scenes from the life of St. Peter, the central one showing Christ presenting to Peter the Key of the Church.

One block S. on D St. is the Providence Hospital, founded in 1862 by the Sisters of Charity. The buildings were erected with the aid of Government appropriation, amounting to $60,000, obtained through the efforts of Thaddeus Stevens.

III. Anacostia

The suburb of ANACOSTIA (Pl. III-G5), lying on the S. side of the Anacostia River, or Eastern Branch, diagonally opposite the Navy Yard, preserves in name the Nacochtanks or Anacostans, once a part of the great Powhatan Confederacy, whose hunting grounds included this district. Early chronicles tell how for sake of the "goodly corne fields," the pinnace Tiger, with 26 men, was sent out from Jamestown, Va., about the year 1631, to trade with the Indians near the head of navigation on the Potomac River. They were attacked, and were all killed or taken prisoners. Among the latter was a young man, Henry Fleet, who was held captive for five years, and learned the Powhatan language which, when later ransomed, he used to much advantage on subsequent trading trips described in Brief Journal of a Voyage (1632). Numerous arrowheads have been found on the slopes near the Navy Yard bridge.

The full form of the Indian name is given as Anaquash(e)tan(i)k, which is interpreted to mean "A Town of Traders." The Jesuits who came out with Lord Baltimore Latinized the Indian name, giving us the present form Anacostia. The use of this name for the river, in place of Eastern Branch, was due to a suggestion by Thomas Jefferson who, in 1792, requested Major Ellicott to ascertain the original name of the stream and add it to the name Eastern Branch. The name Anacostia was formerly applied to the whole suburban section across the river, southeast from Washington. As early as 1795 James Greenleaf foresaw the future possibilities of these suburbs, and purchased land "on the meanders of the Eastern Branch, close by Anacostia Fort," probably on the present Congress Heights. There was already established an Eastern Branch ferry, connecting with the Upper Marlboro Road, and running from a point at the foot of what is now Kentucky Ave. Here a bridge was built in 1795, known as the Upper Bridge. The establishment of the Navy Yard created a need for additional connection, and in 1818 the Navy Yard Bridge was built from the foot of 11th St. Down to about 1850 the site now covered by the modern Anacostia, directly opposite the Navy Yard, was all farmland, comprising about 240 acres, and owned by one Enoch Tucker, boss blacksmith in the Navy Yard. In 1854 this land was bought by the real estate firm of Fox & Van Hook for $19,000, and divided into building lots. The newly established settlement was first called Uniontown, but a few years later the name was changed back to Anacostia.

Van Hook's residence, known as Cedar Hill, later became the home of Frederick Douglass, the only colored man within the District of Columbia to be appointed United States Marshal, and the first Recorder of Deeds. The property was later acquired by the Frederick Douglass Memorial Association.

On the river's edge, opposite the Navy Yard, was the mansion of George W. Talburtt. An ancient remnant is still pointed out which is claimed to be part of the original dwell