Evening Star Newspaper, July 25, 1926, Page 75

T —— riffith Coombe and His Associates Were D. C. Leaders in Early Days| - Standard Meter Travels Rambler Presents Some of the Family History and Incidentally Studies the Ownership of Washington’s Birthplace, HE shades of several actors are at my desk and I mean to call them into these stories, but I ask them to wait a week or two. There comes to me the memory of a man of early Wash- ington. His name is in the records of the city and his descendants and collateral kindred are numerous. This man was @riffith Coombe. Madison Davis, an old friend of ours, read a paper before the Colum- bia Historical Soclety, November 12, 1800, on “The Navy Yard Section During the Life of the Rev. William Ryland You remember Madison Davis? He filled positions in the Post Office Department, and some of you knew him when he was chief clerk to the Third Assistant Postmaster Gen- aral, but most of you knew him dur- ing the years he was Assistant City Postmaster, Some of you have been to the old Davis home, No. 316 A street southeast. Well, in the paper on “The Navy Yard Section During the Life of the Rev. Willlam Ryland” is this: “Grifiith Coombe was one of the best-known men In the early days of Washington's history. He was in- timately connected, soclally and other- wise, with Thomas Law, Frederick May and other prominent and vealthy men of Capitol Hill and other parts of the city, and was a very successful man of business. His wite was Miss Mary Pleasanton, the aunt of Gen. Alfred Pleasanton of, subse- quent military fame. “Mr. Coombe's residence, which -4 vet standing (1900)—Iits location be- ing the corner of Georgia avenue and Third street southeast, was one of the first houses in Washington. It was buflt before the seat of Government was moved from Philadelphin. and was for many years the abode of wealth, elegance and culture. Gen. Washington is said to have dined and slept in this house. Certainly Jeffer- son and Madison were not strangers to its generous hospitality. “It is perhaps worthy of especial mention, from a_historical point of view that when Gen. Winder and his little army in 1814 retreated before the British from the Old Flelds in Maryland he came into the city over what was then called the Lower Bridge, and encamped on the plain known as the Navy Yard Common. e chose, however, for his head. quarters the house of Griffith Coombe; and it was there that he received, up to the hour he left with his troops for Bladensburg, the President, the Secretary of State, Mr. Monroe; the Secretary of War, Gen. Armstrong, Commodore Tingev, Commodore Bar. | ney .and many other distinguished persons. I regret to see that this old house is being-allowed to go to ruin. Mr. Coombe lived to extreme old age, dying, I think, in 1845 or 1846. He was a faithful attendant at Christ Episcopal Church.” ‘The body of Griffith Coombe was put in the Coombe family vault, Congres- slonal Cemetery, September 16, 1845. By kindness of my friend at the cemetery lodge, Lewis B. Taylor the THOMAS RODNEY COOMBE AT THE AGE OF 12. superintendent, and Miss Gertrude ¢ Shelton, I can give you the names of those whose relics were lald in the Coombe vault. The first was, Mrs. Griswell (Griswold), May 5, 1829 and her child on November 20, 1829. The record follows: 1830, Maj. Thomas L. Smith’s child; 1830, Mr. Barry’'s child; September 20, 1831, Mrs. Blag- den; October 1, 1831, John Coyle; May 16, 1832, Mr. Jonathan Hunt June 29, 1832, Mr. George E. Mitchell December 6, 1833, Thomas Howard: Yebruary 9. 1833, Robert Huett's ©hild; November 10, 1833, Mrs. Huett; ¥ebruary . 23, 1834, David Barry's child; September 22, 1840, David Bar- ry's child; January 20, 1843, Miss Eliza Pleasanton; September 16, 1845, Griffith_ Coombe: August 16, 1849, James D. Barry; June b, 1850, Robert Barry; December 22, 1856, Mary Coombe; January 15, 1860, Daniel Bar- ry; April 22, 1860, —— Barry (frst name not given); children of Thomas M. Hanson, and Mrs. Gardner (date not given); February 3, 1867, Edward ¥ Barry; November 1, 1871, Mrs. Barry; October 23,1869, David Barry; Febru. ary 5, 1883, Dr. James A. Coombe, (spelled Coombs); May 15, 1891, Ann Barry. The remains of Jonathan Hunt, George E. Mitchell and Thomas How- ard were moved from the vault to other parts of the cemetery in 1833, and Mre. Hanson's children were moved in 1862 and 1864. The Coombe vault is of red brick, has a sheet-iron door end stands in a large grassy plot, within an fron rail. Next it is the Blagden vault. * ¥ % ¥ ITH COOMBE died Sunday, September 14, 1845. In the Na- tional Intelligencer of Tuesday, Sep- tember 16, 1845, T find this: “Died— On Sunday morning last, after a pro- tracted {liness, Mr. Griffith Coombe, in the seventy-eighth vear of his age. Mr. Coombe was a native of Del ware, but was one of the first and most active and_enterprising found- ers of this city. He was long a mem- V ber of the Church of Christ on Earth and died in the hope of a blessed im- mortality. The friends of .the family are regpectfully invited to attend the funeral of the deceased, from his late residence, near the Eastern Branch, &t 10 o'clock this morning. Del.,, will “A in Smyrna, please notice the above.” In going through three lssues of the Intelligencer befors September 16 and the same number after that date “the Rambler read notices of the death of several Washingtonians. One notice told of the death on September 9, 1845, of Henry Baldwin Bomford, “youngest son of Col. George Bam- ford, United States Ordnance.” An- other notice was of the death of Dr. George Washington May, a native of Boston, “but the prime and manhood iof his life had been spent in this city, where he practiced medicine with a high reputation.” One notice was of the death of Mrs. JHelen Nichelson, consort of MM: A. Nicholeon of the o .| auantity of fencing to inclose. it. Corps. T read, too, the announcement of the death of Mrs. Mary Travers, **13 'years old, a native of Scotland, but for 35 years a resident of this city.” Ambong~ the marriage notices were: “By the Rev. John P. Donelan, Wil- llam P. Drury to Miss Mary Elizabeth Lenman,”. and the Rev. S. A. Roszel, Henry -Carter to Miss Susan Pentz of Baltimore.” In turning the pages of ‘the Intelli- gencer. to find the date of Mr. Coombe’s death, the Rambler came on a num- ber of things which interested him, and they may interest you. Although their recital will interrupt the story of Griffith Coombe, the Rambler will give you all the.information of.that good man which he, the Rambler, has be- fore he lets go- the subject. In’ the. Inteélligencer September 20, 1845, the farmr ‘Wakefield, “birthphoce of George Washington, was-advertised for' sale. Part of the advertisement follows: " ““Wakefield for Sale—I offer for sale one of the best estates on the Potomac River, containing about 1,320 acres, between 600 or 800", of which are arable and now 'in cultivation. The land is generally rich, black loam, in. terspersed with shells, and in fertility is certainly equal, if not superior, to any on the river. In one of the flelds convenient to wood is an inexhaustible bed of oyster shells, which could easily ful on such parts of the estate as may not be already sufficiently supplied with this valuable manure. The bulld- ings consist of an overseer's house, granary and all the outhouses neces- sary for the use of the farm. The es- tate s bounded on three sides by Bridge Creek, the river and Popes Creek, requiring less than the ufluftfl t is the birthplace of Washington. Fish, oysters and Wwild fowl are abundant and, indeed, all the facilities of living are cheap and easily procured. “With the estate, I wish to dispose of from 18 to 20 likely negroes, con- sisting of a fair proportion of men, women, boys and children. The health of the situatlon may be estimated by the fact, of which I am informed, that {the physiclan’s bill for the last 10 | vearsghas not averaged 10 dollars per {annum. _Apply at the office of the | Balttmore American.” | but by turning to one of the rambles jon Wakefield, I hand you this: “George Washington's father, Au- gustine, left the farm to his son, Augustine, who left it to his son, Wil- liamn Augustine Washington. The lat- ter ieft it to his son, George Corbin ‘Washington, who sold the farm in 1813 to John Gray of Stafford County, Va., who left it to his son, Atchison Gray, who sold the place to Daniel Payne. Payne took the farm in con- nection with other property and owed be converted into lime.and made u.s{»i The name of the owner is not given, |’ EMILY L. COOMBE. All reproducions from old photographs. wIiriaimy, a balance on it of $15,000. Payne sold Wakefleld, Henry County. subject to this debt, T. Garnett of Westmoreland arnett moved from to Vir- ginia to Alabama and sold the farm to Charles C. Jettj who tilled,the land for five or six years, but did not pay the balance owed. Payne died and the farm was sold at trust sale. executors buying it. “The Payne estate, including Wake- field, was inherited by Daniel Payne’s daughter Betty, who in 1845 was mar- ried to Dr. William Wirt of Wirtland ~the house now owned by Paul Kester. In 1846 Dr. Willam Wirt and his wife Elizabeth sold Wakefield to John F. Wilson of Anne Arundel County, Md., who gave the farm to his son, John E. Wilson, who had married Miss Betty Washington, granddaughter of Willlam Augustine Washington, who had inherited the farm and built on it the fine brick house, still standing, named Blen- heim." The Rambler, 20 years ago and since, carried his camera over every acre of the Washingtons’ Pope Creel farm, and told you all about it. He had dinner with Mr. John 1. Wilson and drank whisky with him, poured from a decanter which the Washing- tons of Wakefield had used. “If that | be treason,” etc., ete. In those 1845 coples of the Intelli genecer L. J. Middleton offers for sale his farm of 125 acres “on which he now resides, heautifully situated on Rock Creek, having & commanding view of Washington and the Potomac River, and distant about 2 miles from Georgetown and 3 from the Center Market.” John A. Bartruff offers for sale 65 acres formerly own. ed by Mr. James Willlams, “‘adjoin- ing the lands of Messrs. Gales and Seaton on the Bladensburg and Balti- more road, and having a never-failing well on the property.” Jacob Payne wants to sell his “highly improved farm above Georgetown in the angle of two fine improved county roads, and about half a mile westward o Nathan Luffborough's late residenc Charles J. Nourse wants to sell a 120- acre farm, “south of his residence and on the heights above Georgetown, fronting on the turnpike road and running back to the lands of Joshua Peirce.” He also wants to rent the late residence of Joseph Nourse on the helghts above Georgetown. * k% ok GRIFFIT!I COOMBE was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Coombe of Delaware, and he married Miss Mary Pleasanton, daughter of Jonathan and Ruhannah ' Pleasanton of that Payne's THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ¢, JULY 25 1926—PART 5. Washington Science Has Solved State March 2 The children of Griffith and Elizabeth Coombe were Jullanna, born in Philadelphia, No vember 14, 1793; Mary, born in Phila- Iphia August 1799, Ruhannah, born at Washington July 15, 18 izabeth, born in Washington Janu {meter, the first idea was to make it ELIZA BARRY COMBE AT THE AGE OF.4. ary 16, 1805; James Griffith Coombe, born in Washington (I have not the date). Jullanna Coombs married James D. Barry of Washington in 1811. He died in 1866 and his widow, Jullanna, lived to be-77 years old. Their de- scendants are numerous. Mary Coombe married Rev. David Butler, and one of their daughters married Edward Barry and another daughter married Dayton Ward. Mrs. Ward is living in ‘Washington. Mary Barry 'lived to be 83. Ruhannah Coombe married Rev. Thomas Hewett. Elizabeth Coombe married Bishop George Griswold. James Griffith, Coombe married Emily L. McWilllams of sputhern Maryland in 1840. The children of James Griffith Coombe and Emily were George G., Mary T. Alice, Pleasanton, Thomas Rodney, Eliza Barry and Clement G. |George G. Coombe married Constine Middleton of Prince Georges County, and their children were Harry, Ralph Isabelle and William A. Coombe. Harry married a Miss Powers, Belle married, first a Mr. Harris, and has two sons, James and Ralph Harris. She married, second, Clayborne Hun- ter. Mary T. Coombe ‘married Wil- liam Page of Virginia and had as chil- dren . Mary Emily, Anne Ramsey, Elizabeth Calhoun and Charles Craig Page.- Mary Emily Page married Wil- liam Ketler of California, and they had five children, Willlam Bidemond, Cralg, Mary, Catherine and Miidred Page Ketler. Mr. Ketler died in San Francisco in 1902. Willlam Bidemond Ketler was killed in the World War. Mildred died in 1920, The others live in San Francisco. Ann Ramsay Page married Gordon G. Ray of Montgomery County, Md. and they live in Mount Rainier, Md. Elizabeth Calhoun Page married Joseph F'. Sheirburn of Charles Coun: ty, and they have five children, Wil liam Harrison, Marjorie Elizabeth, Mary Paige, Elouise and Joseph L. Edmond Sheirburn. . A son and daughter of James Grif- th Coombe and Emily L. Me- illiams Coombe are living in Wash- ington. They have a number of relics assoclated h the family and early Washington. I am told that they have ‘four candlesticks which)| were on the altar of the first Cath- olic Church in Washington, Barry’ Chapel. Griffith Coombe, I am tok built that chapel for the Barry family. Miss beth Barry Coom! has two of th candlesticks, and the BY GEORGE H. DACY. NE of the most curious treas- ures of Washington, a bar of platinum and iridium welghing less than two pounds, and worth about $14,000 because of its content of precious metal, is far more valuable from a sclentific standpoint than its monetary worth would suggest, for it is our cherished standard meter, unit of length. This meter bar was made many years ago when the intérnational ifetrlc system came into being at sevres, near Parls, where the Inter- national Bureau of Weights and Measures has its laboratories. Its home in Washington, since the in- ceptfon of the Bureau of Standards, has been a special fireproof vault in which the kilogram, standard unit of mass, is also painstakingly protected. Director G. K. Burgess of the Bu- reau of Standards fs custodian of these indices of length and weight. Only the technically trained scientists who study and solve the enigmas of length are allowed to work with this remarkable metal rod, which is 39.37 inches In length. During practically every moment of every hour in the day length in | one form or another is of critical im- | portance to 117.000,000 American cf izens. The complicated workink parts of the motor car in which you ride to your office must be of accurate length ‘or diameter or else they will| not function. The length of one car | rail—if you travel by.steam or elec- | tric train—must be intimately cor-| related with its mate if the joint is to occur at the proper point in the track. The length of your bilifolder must be exactly right or it will not accommodate the sfiver certificates, national bank notes or greenbacks which it was made to hold. The| length of the trousers you wear must | be correct, or some critical eye will appraise you as flly garbed. Length | in a milifon and one different ways cets 18 in as many different forms. Some vears ago, when the Inter- national Bureau of Weights and| Measures designated the sclentific | length of the meter as the arbitrary distance between two points and when the metric system was estab- lished, several meter bars of length were distributed among_the various countries, including Engiand, France, Italy, Russla, Germany and the United States. No two of these meter bars were exactly alfke. All of them have to be sent back to Paris oc- casionally for standardization and correction. For example, the treasured Amer- ican meter bar is returned to Parls for comparison and correction once every four or five vears. This trip teems with interest, for the bar of platinum and iridium is treated as royally as a king and is guarded as carefully as our Chlef Executive when he travels. Although' the metallic meter bar seems to be armored against normal wear and tear, and looks as if it would last as long as science, its technical guard- fans say that it would be damaged serfously if it suffered a fall or was otherwise misused. Furthermore, the value of the precious metals which compose it is swfficient to en- gender uncommon care. The sclentist who takes the meter to Europe sleeps in his stateroom on rafiroad and ship with one of his arms “handcuffed” to the valuable vardstick of science. He guards the metal rod as cautiously as though it were a priceless gem. The travel- ing dress_of the meter is built for service. It consists of a felt-lined; hardwood case, in which the metal bar is placed. This wooden box fits tightly into a steel tube. The tube, in turn, s packed carefully in special crate. The package is sealed securely. It is addressed to the In- ternational Bureau of Weights and Measures. On {ts return trip to Washington, it is sent in care of our Secretary of State. It always travels under the guardiapship of a trusted expert of the Bureau of Standards. The meter is suspended in a special hammock which protects it from jolt and jar during its railroad and ocean trips. * % % % SUALLY, our standard meter re- mains_abroad for eight or ten months. The actual comparison with the world's unit of the metric system at Sevres consumes two to three months of daily research. The Amer- ican standard is tested and corrected to infinitesimally smaill amounts. Such painstaking work is necessary because the meter is used so fre- quently in important scientific work. When the world's best scientific tal- ent met in France to define 'the equivalent in length to one ten-mil- lioneth of the earth’s quadrant at a certain meridian. This plan, how- ever, did not prove practical. It was then that the scheme of a meter by definition was born. Science estab- lished the length as a certain arbi- trary distance between two points. The only absolutely correct and ac- From Washington to Europe as a Carefully for Correction in Accuracy. microscopes used are corrected for accuracy of adjustment. The work is performed in a sort of scientific cell—a _constant-temperature cham- ber, with walls, floor and ceiling made of solld concrete and tile, and with electrical heating units and artificial refrigeration harnessed to maintain the temperature and humidity of the chamber the same all the time. When the Bureau of Standards in the course of its research makes pub- lic a value figure, in the most pre- cise length measurement, this figure is accurate to plus or minus two- tenths of a micron. One micron is defined as being equal to four one hundred-thousandths of an inch, which you will admit is getting down to pretty close measurement. If the Government scientists make a large error on a fundamental comparison of length—something, incidentally, which never happens—State labora- tories, county and city officials, as well as industries and manufacturers may use the incorrect measurement until its eventually pyramids into a large curate measure of length now in use under the metric system is this meter by definition. All the other meter bars are either plus or minus meas- ures. That is to say, allowance has to be made for their slight scientific errors when extremely delicate meas- urements are made. These errors are usually as small] as one to two hundred.thousands of an inch. If our basic meter bar were used at the Bureau of Standards for the ordinary scientific measurements which have to be made almost dally in ohe form or another, there would be extreme danger of the carefully corrected standard being damaged. In order to protect against such pos- sibilities, several working stan meter bars have been made. They are frequently compared for accuracy with the meter which enjoys foreign travel every once in so often. The ultimate technical results are satis- factory. The unit meter out Cleve- land Park way is standard at zere degrees Centigrade. Hence the cor- rections for the working standards are made according to room tempera- ture anid their powers of expansion. Standardized microscopes and ther- mometers are employed in the proc- ess of this delicate work of com- parison and correction. You can gain some idea of the ex- treme delicacy and accuracy of the work when you understand that the thermometers are very _carefully standardized. FEven the delicate mi- cmgeter scre: which _ control the Alice Coombe married Edward But- ler of Prince Georges County, and they had' two daughters, Lydia and Emily. | Both are married and live in Wash- ington. Mrs. Hunter died a few years ago, Mr. Hunter lives. Pleasanton Coombe married Julla Middleton of Prince Georges County, and they have three children living. Elizibeth mar: ried Lee Bowie, and their children were Pleasanton Coombe Bowle and Elizabeth Bowle. Pleasanton Bowie married a Miss Adams. Roberta Coombe, daughter of Pleasanton and Julia. Middleton Coombe, married Wil- Hlam Dorsett, and their children wm" r. of economic loss for whomsoever has to pey the piper. The Bureau of Standards corrects precision length in- struments for State universities, col- leges, manufacturers and similar agencies. s * ¥ % ¥ ONE important feature of the length measuremert activities in the De- partment of Commerce. fosters a re- markable tape tunnel at the Bureau of Standards where baseling tapes used by Coast and Geodetic Survey Curious Measurement Problems Guarded Treasure, A TENSION DEVICE FOR STRETCHING TAPES. and Geological Survey are calibrated as well as ordinary steel tapes. By comparison with the standard “yard- sticks of science” the tapes employed in measuring and mapping our coastal and interior country are kept |in the pink of technical accuracy for the important tasks which they perform. Tapes which were standardized by | Uncle Sam were used in an important resurvey of the city of Rochester, X. Y., during 1924-5, under the direc. 11on of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. [ This is another outstunding assign: | ment which Unele Sam hardies. His | atd.in adding greater accuracy to mu- | nicipal “metes and bounds” is invalu- | able. | “'The national tape tunnel in the basement of the south building at the Bureau of Standards, is 164 feet long, in the blistering heat of the tropic countries or in the killing cold of ti Arctic Circle. Eleven solid concrete plers are chored in solid rock and support th microscopes used in laying out th baseline. This anchorage {insur against errors which might result fro: vibration. The end piers are 10 fee square at their bases and taper t laboratory surfaces 1 foot squar During the comparison tests the fiv meter working standard, mounted o: a special carriage, is read by means ¢ powerful microscopes. It is packe: in ice to reduce its temperature zero degree centigrade. This worl ing standard meter is used in bufldin up the scientific length of the hasi measure to 50 meters, so that direc comparisons with the tape under tes can be made. The alignment of th G LENGTH ACCURACY. 8 feet wide and 9 feet high. In this constant-temperature tunnel baseline tapes are calibrated to an accuracy of one part in 1,000,000 by reference back to the United States standard meter and building up scientifically from this unit of length measurement to a base 50 meters in length. Uncle Sam tests in the neighborhood of 50 city survey and Government baseline tapes annu- ally in the subterranean laboratory, where all conditions are controlled so that wholly correct results may obtain. These durable metal tapes are made of invar steel—a special alloy of nickel and steel with a low coefficient of ex- pansion. These tapes will rust, but they are not subject to serious corro- sion, like pure steel. Furthermore they are adapted for efficient use either 11 concrete plers spans a distance of 50 meters. Test thermometers are placed on the stretched tapes as test ed and verifled. A dead weight of 15 kilograms is applied at each end of the test tape to hold it at constant ten- sion during the investigation. Perhaps you have heard about the epochal research investigations of Dr. A. A. Michaelson, the world’s leading physicist, who several years ago checked the reliability of the figures which sclence recognizes as represent- ative of the velocity of light. The standardized tape which Dr. Michael- son used in laying off the base line for his investigations was corrected and checked for accuracy at the Bureau of Standards. Two continuous pleces of steel are welded together in the Federal tape tunnel, being graduated both in.the metric and English system length measurements - for testing steel tapes. They are supported upon roll- er bracket braces. Portable micro scopes are used in testing the accuracy of these steel tapes. The error of each tape tested is corrected by the use of the plus or minus sign and the iatnute fraction of length which sig nifiles how much too long or short the measure {s. A ' constant-temperature chamber which adjoins the tape tunnel {s the technical workshop where the com- parisons are made between the stand- ard United States meter and the working standards of length measure- ment. An invar beam is used to sup- port the movable microscope. This is probably the largest bar of invar in use in the United States. The ar- rangement is such that the meter bars can be placed, qn tirmly mounvea supports and compered either fn sfr, ice bath or water.. Thermostatic con- trol keeps the temperature constant in all cases. Other features of the length meas- urement division include the busi- ness of measuring and correcting circles and angles. The Bureau of Standards will potentially standardize most of the survey circles used by Coast and Geodetic Survey, Geological, Survey, our national astronomical laboratories and ' various sclentific establishments. One remarkable new machine is employed in making the circles, while a second is used in thelr calibration. Recently at the Bureau of Stand- ards a device has been developed for measuring the depth of the minut in blood counting chambers, ch medical science now uses S0 eX- "tensively in diagnosing diseases.