Evening Star Newspaper, December 16, 1928, Page 100

2 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 16, 1928—PART T. Some Churches of the Presidents Live Only in City’s History BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. ARTIN VAN BUREN, who was born in® Kinderhook, N. Y, was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was not a stranger to Washington, having previously served in the Sen- ate, followed by being Gen. Jackson's Secretary of State,.and in the second administration of that President be- coming his Vice President. Since Pres- ident Van Buren did not find here a church of his persuasion in 1837, he selected old St. John's as his principal house of worship. It might be interesting to know that about this period there were, all told, only 38 churches in Washington, and their denominations, pastors and loca- tions are given in an old church di- rectory, as_follows: Baptist, Rev. O. B. Brown, east side Tenth street between E and F streets north. Baptist, Rev. Mr. Samson, south side E street north, between Sixth and Sev- enth streets west. Baptist, Rev. Mr. Hendrickson, cor- ner Virginia avenue and Fourth street east Baptist, Shiloh, Elder R. C. Leach- man, north side Virginia avenue be- tween Four-and-a-half &nd Sixth streets west. Catholic, St. Mathew's, Rev. Mr. Donelan, corner H. and Fifteenth streets. Catholic, St. Patrick’s, Rev. Mr. Mathews, mnorth side F street north between Ninth and Tenth streets west. Catholic, St. Peter's, Rev. Mr. Van Horseigh, west side Second street east between C and D streets south. Christ, Episcopal, Rev. Mr. Bean, north side G street south between Sixth and Seventh streets east. St. John’s, Episcopal, Rev. Mr. Pyne, corner H street north and Sixteenth street west. Trinity, Episcopal, Rev. Mr. Stringfel- low, west side Fifth street west between Louisiana avenue and E street north. Epiphany, Episcopal, Rev. Mr. French, north side G street north between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets west. Ascension, Episcopal, Rev. Mr. Gilliss, south side H street north between Ninth and Tenth, streets west. Friends’, north side I street north between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets west. Lutheran, English, Rev. Mr. Muller, corner H and Eleventh streets. Lutheran, German, Rev. Mr. Borcher, corner G and Twentieth streets. Methodist, Ebenezer, Rev. Messrs. Ege and Hanson, west side Fourth street east between F and G streets south. Methodist, Foundry, Rev. Messrs. Tarring and T. A. Morgan, corner G and Fourteenth streets. Methodist, Wesley, Rev. N. Wilson, corner F street north and Fifth street west. Methodist, McKendree, chapel, Rev. Mr. Eggleston, Massachusetts avenue between Ninth and Tenth streets west. Methodist, Ryland, chapel, Rev. F. S. Evans, corner Maryland avenue and by President Polk, who sat at his right hand. One hundred young gentlemen, residents of the District of Columbia, mounted on spirited horses, formed a bodyguard and kept the crowd from pressing around the President's car- riage. Then came the ‘Rough-and- Ready’ clubs of Washington, George- town, Alexandria, and Baltimore, with banners, badges and music, while the students of the Georgel brought up in the rear. “The personal appearance of Gen. ., M, t west treets west. :?’ th mee':e;ms pebworn i Sad side I streets morth. , First, Rev. Mr. Sprole, west side Four-and-a-half street west between C and D streets north. , Second, Rev. Mr. W. H. Smith, corner H street north and New York avenue. Presbyterian, Fourth, Rev. John C. Smith, west side Ninth street west be- w;gr:flgfie and H streets north. Sunday - evening Met Church, Ninth street west between E and F north. Unitarian, Rev. Mr. Moore, corner D street north and Sixth street west. African, Union Bethel, Methodist Epi Rev. A. 8. Driver, M street north een Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets west. African, Israel, Methodist Episcopal, Henry P. Turner, near the Capitol. Presbyterian, First (colored), J. F. Cock, south side Fifteenth street west between I and K streets north. Baptist, Pirst (colored), William Wil- liams, corner I street morth and: Nine- teenth street west. * K8 rlan (O, S.), meet every|f in the thodist, | Taylor as he read his inaugural address from a platform erected in front of the eastern portico of the Capitol was p ; his features were weather- bronzed =nd care-furrowed, and he read almost inaudibly. It was evident, how- ever, that he was a popular favorite, and when he huti concluded the vocif- His praises were on all lips, and his so- briquets of ‘Rough and Ready’ and ‘Old Zach' were sounded with all honor.” pew at the First Presbyterian Church. He was as fond of attending divine seryice as was John Quincy Adams, and day, frequently going a third time to some other church. He was also often present at the Thursday evening prayer meetings. President James Buchanan, a Presby- terian, for a while after being inaug- F Street Presby- Or the churches here listed the | terian Cin Baptist Church, on Tenth street, occupied the site of the build- ing in which President Lincoln was assassinated,-and the one on E street northwest | is still standing and was for some e the Knights of Colum- bus Hall St. Mathew'’s Catholic Church for many years stood where the Southern Building is now located. The site of old St. Patrick’s, which was around the corner from the pres- ent church, is now covered with stores. Christ Episcopal Church on the Navy yard is, of course, still standing and little changed, as is, of course, St. on Lafayette Square and Ephiphany on G street. The Friends’ Meeting House is as of yore, and so are the two Lutheran churches men- tioned. The one at Eleventh and H streets is of especial interest, since it was at this point that one must go in 1800 to ford the large stream which then flowed in a soutneasternly direc- tion on its way to the Tiber. Foundry Church site is now occupied by the Colorado Building, and Wesley M. E. Church was repl with the present building in 1856. Ryland Chapel, on the Island, is still standing, having been, like so many other local churches, used as a hospital during the Civil War. Rev. Mr. Laurie’s church later became Willard's Hall. The Jewish Synagogue on Eighth street occupies the site of Rev. M. Tuston’s Presbyterian Church. The First Presbyterian is still there, though it was announced some time ago that the congregation would soon sell the property and select another location. The Second Presbyterian is well known as the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and the Fourth Presbyterian, & beautiful church in its day, has long since given away to a row of one-story stores at Ninth street and Grant place. The Unitarian Church became the old Police Court. Willlam Henry Harrison, although a Presbyterian in faith, had little time to attend church in Washington, since it is said the office-seekers killed him in 31 days. -He had been ihaugurated on March 4, 1841, and died on April 4, following. However, the church to which he is accredited is the New York Avenue Presbyterian, and there is no doubt that “Old Tippe Canoe” sought refuge here in divine worship, upon every available opportunity, from the incessant pleadings of the poli- ticlans who at least had much to do with his death so0 soon after his taking office. President John Tyler, who succeeded Gen. Harrison, was an Episcopalian and attended St. John's Church, opposite the White House. President Polk was a Presbyterian and attended the his- toric First Presbyterian Church in John Marshall place. Gen. Zachary Taylor —otherwise known as “Old Rough and Ready”—attended St. John's Church until his death, July 9, 1850, which ;ecun'ed at the White House after a lew days’ illness, brought on, some say, by overindulging in cherries and ice ‘water. * ok x ¥ 'T was the eldest daughter of Presi- dent Taylor who married Jefferson Davis, the Southern chieftain. An- other daughter, Betty, married Col. Bliss, and still another daughter mar- ried Dr. Wood of the Army. Speaking of Taylor's inauguration, Ben. Perly Poore, in his reminiscences, says: “Gen. Taylor was inaugurated on Monday, March 5. He was escorted located. When this church effected a union with the then Second Presby- terian Church at New York avenue be- tween Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, President Buchanan occupied a pew here during the remainder of his administratios n. Although Lincoln followed his prede- cessor's example, yet he was frequently and he was joined at the Irving House town College | NEW YORK AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK AVENUE BETWEEN THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH STREETS, NORTHWEST. Photo by Harris & Ewing. HENRY FOXALL'S RESIDENCE REMODELED FIRST FOUNDRY BUILDING, Washington Had Thirty-Three Houses of Worship at Time Van Buren Was White House Occupant—Interest Attaches to Source of Name of Foundry Church—"0ld Tippecanoe™ Fled Office Seckers. IN GEORGETOWN, BETWEEN CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL AND WATER STREET, ON THIRTY-FOURTH STREET. CHURCH, WHICH ONCE OCCUPIED G AT FOURTEENTH STREETS NO! OF C AND JOHN MARSHALL PLACE. absent from church, due, no doubt, to the pressing duties of the time. Indeed, one can hardly appreciate just what Abraham Lincoln underwent to. save Photo by Harris & Ewing. intact this great Republic of ours. Upon one occasion he is said to have re- marked to Gen. Schenck: “If to be the head of Hell is as hard as what I have QUET.” “THE VILLAGE PLUMBER, FATHER OF THE POPULAR PRIMA DONNA, BECAME THE UNCOUTH STAR OF THE SOCIETY BAN- BY ALAN MACDONALD. HE season for _temperament stories in the public prints is at hand. Opera began in New York some weeks ago. Lectur- ers, authors, world trampers and dancers, such as the exotic La Argen- tina, Spain's newest itinerant flame, converge upon the well heeled Ameri- can audience. The vanguard already throngs across the little boards of the country. Soon, verily, the temperament tales will sprout on the front page. For example, the incomparable Je- ritza may have another clash with a tenor, as she did with Alfred Piccaver. That was a capital instance, the charges and countercharges reaching the pitch where the beauteous blond soprano was quoted as declaring she was thrown into the footlights by the putatively jealous American songbird in what already was to have been their big scene. Scores of things of the same interesting nature are bound to hap- pen; indeed, must happen, else at least 90 per cent of the American people won't give a thought to high-priced art. The cause of temperament is still mysterious, Dr. John J. Levbarg once flatly proclaimed it a disease. ert Jones, one time superintendent of the London County Asylum, argued that it was hereditary. Psychics have hailed it as the mother of art. Gross promot- ers have put it down fo a plain, un- adorned as well as desirable appetite for publicity. A well known New York- er, whose business has long been to manage opera stars, virtuosi and such, thinks temperament is but a defense mechanism, a protective coloration. He has shrewd, amusing, appealing stories to prove it. Naturally, for protection, 3: bars use of his name in retelling em. from Willard's Hotel by an imposing procession, headed by 12 volunteer com- panies. ‘The President-elect rode in an open carriage drawn by four gray horses, Not among the small and obscure fry does this observer go for his evidence. He takes Feodor Chaliapin, whom he Dr. Rob- { today. He recalls the facts. The Rus- sian_bass singer was over 50 when the revolution swept away his fortune and left him a poverty-stricken waif in Riga. An English manager gave him enough mone;]w buy presentable cloth~ ing and took him to London. With suc- cess there he came to America. And now again he is a rich man, thanks to his golden voice, his marvelous acting ability and his personality. Now, Chaliapin frequently begins his program with a lively little upheaval. He comes on stage. The cheers subside. The great Russian waits. His marvel- ously expressive face conveys a disquiet, as if there was discord in the music of the spheres which only he could yet hear. He turns on his accompanist. He denounces him in Russian. ’school master he stands over the man. As the pianist starts the’mgiece agani, he beats time violently. e dismayed flnnm trembles on the verge of col- pse. The Russian files into a rage. He strides from the stage. He knocks over the chairs and music racks. The audience is aroused, amazed, question- basso sings like an angel—or, at any rate, by contrast with the turmoil so it seems. * K K ¥ AND the accompanist? Invariably dinner. They go the basso’s room they dine on his fa- vorite repast, the peasant dish of Rus- sia—black bread, great slices of onion and tomato and wine. Russians, like his accompanist, Chaliapin is akin to the gods. And he can, when de desires, make any one ilove him. He does this with the ac- companist. Of course, he does not say, Like a ; ing each other. Then Chaliapin comes | out, the accompanist comes out and the ; ma the | you play, too? behind this display of rage on the stage, and neither does the observer who out- lined all this for me. But the observer says he has noticed that the great artist seldom puts on such an opening for his programs save when he is not in the best of voice, when he has a slight cold. Would he distract the attention of the audience that night from his voice, would he on the contrary delib- erately and for the sake of art center attention on his personality instead? The observer answers in the affirma- tive. Chaliapin is an artist. Most interesting, too, is the applica- tion of this theory to Vladimir de Pach- mann. The Polish pianist has the repu- tation for ‘being the last word in ec- centricities. He is a bundle of them. He is so interesting, so vivid, so sur- prising that newspaper men are always left alone with him—there is no need to have any friend or press agent along to get story material from him. One of the }in his rich collection concerns de Pach- ymann. It is that of the old master— he is now 76—showing a dozen scribes the coat he says was owned and worn by Chiopin—the immortal Chopin. The coat is indescribably old and filthy. {Yet de Pachmann goes into transports of enthusiasm and fervor. Ah, this is ta thing for shrines and temples. The | coat of Chopin! 8o compelling is the master that he makes the reporters, one by one, kiss the rag in reverence. For hours on end, on tour, de Pach- ;mann will talk to Pullman porters. | Getting his victim in a corner, he convince him that he, de , owns a rare and wonderful piano. You sing, ah yes, all your race sing. You are musical, you love music. Now, you should hear me play thus and so. Ah, Fine, fine—and so on, definitely, holding the bewildered man by very power and rapidity of talk. 1 And when he plays before an audience, Uhe talks incessantly. Executing & ; paz ticularly difficult trill, he will ex aloud, “Bravo, bravo, de Pachmann!® But let the audience talk and it is dif- ferent. Once in Los les he stopped and cried at a busily w] woman, “You pig—you talk when de Pachmann top this, he went into the wings, got his manager, brought him out and sat him on the stage. calls the greatest operatic artist alive cver, that there was any.zmrlor motive | “You listen, B—-," 1 choice scenes the teller of these tales has | agree to undergo here, I could find it in my heart to pity Satan himself.” L INCOLN was not a communicant of any church, though he was, indeed, a religious man and was unusually familiar with the Scriptures. He had a special pew at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, which today is one of the prized and interesting relics of that church, now fast becoming—if it is not already so—one of the historic landmarks of the city. It is not as the writer first saw it quite a while ago, for then it had a steeple, but as a result of a severe storm, accom by an unusually strong wind, it was_ blown down—perhaps about 1880. An old arti- cle on this church tells us: “In the year 1820 a movement was started for the organization of a new church and some 50 signatures were | St secured to a paper asking permission from the Presbytery to form a church to be located in the northwest. Dr. Lowrie, who was a clerk in the Treasury Department, was at the same time dis- cha the duties of a pastor of the F streef church. The church also be- loniged to the old school, while those who were in favor- of the new church ent belonged mostly ‘The permission having been obtained fc bers going, as a miember of the board of trustees, to Mr. Adams’ house, on F street between ith and Four-. teenth, to pay the installment with the accrued interest. The receipt which Mr. Adams gave, and which remained in the hands of Mr. McClelland, was dur- ing the war added to a collection of autographs and sold at a fair held in this city for the benefit of the hospital service for $300.” church- he to in ‘browsing around".” ok GIN. GRANT and. President McKin- ley attended the Metronolitan Memorial M. E. Church af the south- west corner of C and John Marshall him every Sunday-he was in the city. old church—or. rather the original one which once stood here —was erected by Henry Foxall as “a memorial of the gratitude to God of its plous donor,” because his gun foundry above wn had not been de- stroyed by British when they in- vaded Washington and burned the pub- lic buildings, and it was this reason that also suggested to him 1t was & brick bullding 40 by 50 feet ' of & years of its organization, the new church | ing him met in the first-floor corridor of the old Navy Department Building, which has recently been torn down, On Saturday night the chairs were placed in the carridor, ready for the congregation that assembled the next day, and on Monday morning they were removed before the clerks arrived. This arrange- ment was, however, only temporary and as soon as the funds could be obtained the ground where the present New York Avenue Church now stands was pur- chased from Nicholas Biddle, the presi- dent of the famous Bank of the United tates. “A substantial brick building, cover- ing about the same space occupled by the present building, was begun and the work progressed as far as the roof, when the money gave out and further “The audience does not like de Pach- mann. De Pachmann play for you.” To himself, de Pachmann is the greatest planist in the world. Still, when he comes to a country to play he invariably singles out some particular native player as superb, sec- ond only to de Pachmann. This praise is one of his eccentricities, done with artistic roundness and flavor. And the observer believes he found a key to de Pachmann'’s eccentricity after a lnn% time when he discovered that the artist inv;flnbmmud for p a man of interna repute, but of fifth or sixth rate popularity, if possible, in his own land. Thus did de Pachmann, bg comparison, 1ift himself head and shoulders above his rivals. It was as if he had said, “This man is the best you have. Ah, he has this; he has that. But now see how he compares to me.” It was different, however, with Bron- islaw Huberman, the violinist. Critics world’s greatest exponents of his art; in Europe he is the equal of Krelsler, The observer whose reactions I record watched Huberman with amazement when he toured this country. Here, certainly, was temperament gone seri- ously mad. There was gusto about Chaliapin’s antics; there was play in de Pachmann. But Huberman! With an appeal that was at once almost piteous and almost tyrannical, he in- sisted on corner rooms in hotels and on the management renting the rooms immediately above and on the inward sides of his own. Likewise, he must not be near a kitchen or a court on which a kitchen gave. Five rooms he must have wherever he stopped in ho- tels, and he wouldn't stay ove it in New York. In terror of the mel m 1is, seemingly, he fled each night wi here to Bronxville. En route he was more peculiar still. He obtained from the railroads floor plans of all their different of Pullman cars. He demanded for his travel the type that have a statercom and would only take such a room in the middle of the car. On occasion when such cars could not be had, he insisted on a compartment in the middle of the ordinary Pullman. Shown his was in w that Huberman is one of the ! condition. Among the nam as first members are Goldsborough, the father Goldsborough; John McClelland, Gillis and Dr. Lovell. ' The loan Adams was paid gradually and, occupied a_ double pew in the during his long official residence in city, his pew rent was regularly ducted. It was not until some 22 years after the loan was made that, when Mr, Adams was a member of Congress, the last dollar was paid, and David o ok ] of Mr. e e McClelland, whose father was one of | early the organizers of the church, remem- Why Temperament Is a Boon to Spotlight Favorites Some Are Born With Temperament, Others Acquire Temperament, but All Need It, Because the Public Expects It of Them. “DE PACHMANN MAKES THE REPORTERS KISS THE MANGY OLD COAT OF THE IMMORTAL CHOPIN.” tify it and then went out and poked around under the train at that point with his cane. His eyes were not , and for a time this was believed to have to do with this odd proceed- ing. But it developed that poor Huber- man was a chronic insomniac, that he scarcely ever slept and was continually in terror of long, sleepless nights. His eccentricities were all the result of this apparently incurable malady, which, oddly enough, he did his best to keep e Tt L and solitude hope of finding perlect‘blun * ko BUT Huberman, though perhaps the | ther. artist most plagued by sleeplessness, is not alone in that cat:m.p Not so long ago Rosa Ponselle sang in Greens- boro, N. C. Friends took her to their home after a gala reception. Th showed her the town, pointing out wif much pride their new traffic system, which not only showed different colored lights but rang bells on changes. n- selle was pensive and sad. She was not having a good time. Something depressing was on her x:ldlnd. Pinally you to be happy here. anything we can to make you so. What can we do?” “Do you mean that?” asked Ponselle, tentatively, and upon an ardent affirm- ative burst out, softly but earnestly, “Then stop those traffic bells.” Needless to say, the chivalrous South- s its proud noise makers thmu:u u?mdneln?borhmd, er I quote enjoined giving the exception’s name. '.hn:helfnnlybuu trying season tempera~ ments, plain and fancy, the observer duldedhemmwhl:’ve:rm He wrote | the place to 1 iter resorts for ac- commodations, but could obtain noth- he liked. tions p&’;luhr with soclety the less restful. This proved to and he went there. Before he however, the singer told him her lived in the village and urged friend get in touch with . called later that for a nearby city, that she come to visit to her people cepted. It was not until the morning day she arrived that he found . Imagine his The He mentioned the E § LML T d ting singer came and that night gave a din- ner for her father and mother and the observer. Now, observer is by no means a snob, but he could not refrain {;om misgivings when the workingman, there is the Mr. Tmiited im0 | the rle. The ohserver X qioke ehjoined really was to the singer. “Indeed,” said the manager, only plumber in the community, thmwmdhuebnng:hmnurh recen hadn’ available to fix are temperamental, too.’ » ith remodeled and g 3 years ago it gave way to “progress” and g&umhmwmdwmwmmo Writing of Mr. Foxall In the records of the .Columbia Historical Society, Madison Davis has this to say: “As & citizen Mr. Foxall was highly appreciated by all who knew him. He wa« naturalized in 1803, soon after hc came to Georgetown; subsequently he became & prominent actor in many un- public nature, in addi- 3 Was [EE E? §§§53 i PN =3 iz 5t sggsg ash g?ig g ; | { g ; I o 7 # g 55; i a gentleman by natul companions may be by rank’. * Kk k * ABOUT 20 years ago, -the writer, in looking over an old graveyard just to the north of the Georgetown end of the P Street Bridge, came across the we of Mr. Foxall's first wife. It was close to the south fence of the inclosure and the slab which covered the entire grave was in My recollection is that it was burying ground of Dumbarton E. Church and that somewhere along about 1850 it had been turned over to a colored congregation with permission to bury in the unoccupled pon:‘:n o'gl the uod'wcu for kezph}:' up e other part. opinion at the time I visited it was that if such an agreement evurN made, it an M. were one of the early tombstones had been taken from :ome and appropriated to that of & person, by plaster- ing over the in: and painting thereon the name of the deceased whose grave it then marked. President Garfleld attended the Ver- mont Avenue Christian Church on Ver- mont avenue a little north of N street northwest. This sect was originally known as the Disciples of Christ and was first founded in this city in 1843. The church Garfleld attended was = structure which was first moved back to Fourteenth street and subse- quently torn down and did not later become a barroom as has been said. ‘The corner stone of the present church was laid July 2, 1882. * ok k% N connection with the writer’s recent story on Soldiers’ Home the follow- ing letter was received, and as it is in- A ! the beneflt of The Star's readers: “2222 Q Street, Washington, D. C. o ““December 2, 1928. G EE ', “he’s the | house CVary iincersly NINA, G W AT ED )