Evening Star Newspaper, December 7, 1930, Page 93

widower; Rachael, married James.” “Col. Beall,” according to Magruder, “passed his last days in his Beacon Hall plantation, ad- joining Mount Calvert, the first capital of Prince Georges County, about three miles south- west of Upper Marlboro, the present county seat. Beacon Hall was granted to him May 1, 1672, and was his home plantation as early as 1686, when he was made Town Officer for Mount Calvert. “His will was executed on January 15, 1717, and probated on February 28, 1717, so that his death occurred between these dates. His re- mains were possibly buried on his plantation, in accordance with the custom of those days. ‘There are indications of an ancient graveyard on the manor house portion of Beacon Hall, but they were more probably interred within the confines of the God's half-acre which his Christian charity prompted him to give to the Presbyterian congregation in Upper Marlboro, the present site of Tr y Protestant Episcopal Church.” ON Washington's Birthday, back in 1881, 3 “Georgetown” was the topic of the oration given by William H. Tenncy, himself a member and a native of West Washington. Speaking of the early importance of Georgetown, Mr. Tenney said: Offutt; “Washington beiles did all their shopping - there, The old Union (now the West End) Hotel was the great hot:l of the District. It was thronged with members of Congress and other guests. Its stables wers filled with the best horses, for in those primitive days eques- trianism was the rule and vehicles the excep- tion, ' The great Kentucky statesman rode on horseback to Washington. Henry Clay, who would rather be right than President, was among the ' distinguished guests who boarded at the Union. Even in my bovhood I remember that not & watermelon or a sweet potato, or an oyster, a shad or a herring was landed at Wash- ington, but our haibor was crowded with pungies and oyster boats from whence Washing- ton was-supplied. Ths wholesale -grocers of Georgetown supplied nearly all the retail grocers of Washington, but this has changed and the reverse is the case. Geoorgetown has her his« ory. 'She ‘was creatcd a town in 1751 and chartered as a city 1789—the same year that Geofge Washington was inaugurated our first Presidenf. Georgetown had a large commerce coastwise, and also traded with the West Indies, Europe and East Indies. All this has ceased, except the coastwise trade, which is now quite extensive, its principal exports being coal, flour and grain. “Among its merchants were Elisha Riggs, since of New York, now deceased, and George Peéabody, since of London, also deceased, who left his memorial, th> Peabody Library; Edward M. Linthicum, one of her prominent merchants, left" his memorial, the Linthicumi Institute. Among our citizens was the author of “The Star Spangled Banner,” afterward district at- torney. Among those born in Georgetown were QGeéorge W. Riggs, W. W. Corcoran, now of Washington, and Robert Ould, now of Rich- mond, Va. Washington increased; Georgetown remained stationary for 20 years. The trade from Washington, which helped 'to enrich Georgetown, almost entirely ceased. During thele changes there was jealousy between the two sisters, and the youngest triumphed over the elder; no uncommen thing in these days, and every daughter has not a Laban for her father. “Georgetown has been celebrated for her beautiful heights and her more beautiful women The Count Bodisco, Minister from Russia, ‘took from among her fairest daughters his bride. “‘E'en the slight harcbell raised its bead, Elastic from her airy tread.’ “There are still plenty of fair young maidens left, who, like Milton’s Eve, “‘Would be wooed and not unsought be won.’* ETOWN has much to its credit in the way of distinguaished men and women who either were born there or for a time made it their home. One was our most noted philana thropists, William W. Corcoran, whose father, ‘Thomas Corcoran, came to Georgetown from the County Clare, in the West of Ireland, and with nothing to depend upon but the “probity of his character and amity of his feelings,” so succeeded in business and endeared himself that he was four times elected Mayor of Georgetown, from 1805 to 1806, 1808 to 1811, 1812 to 1813 and 1818 to 1819. Another man of the same type was the noted benefactor, George Peabody, who, though born in Danvers, Mass., in 1795, began his fortunate career in Georgetown. And, indeed, it was here his will included $200,000 for a free library in his native town of Dan- vers, and $1,000,000 to found a free library and institute of art and sciences at Baltimore. In placed $750,000 in the hands of trustees benefit of the poor of Londen, and later added to this an additional sum of $1,750,000 i $3,500,000 for the cause of education was probebly his largest charity. 9. , father of Elisha Riggs of the of Corcoran & Riggs—its suc- ing the Riggs National Bank— first entered into business for himself in George- town, where he resided for several years, and it this period that George Peabody, age, was taken into partnership and firm name chang=d to Riggs, Peabody & Co. Indeed, this list of financiers could be con- siderably added to if space would permit, but the writer wishes to include among the early. distinguished Georgetown men a few other names of those who became particularly notable in other ways. For instance, Benjamin Stod- dart, who became the -first Secretary .of . the United States Navy and who consequently was first one to hold this portfolio and to sit in President John Adams’ Cabinet. He also sat fer & brief while in President Jefferson’s Cabi- ard the end of Adams’ administra- filled . the office of Secretary of was also designated by the Presi- a8 Acting Secretary of War, & position he appointment of Samuel Dexter. Fat B dgeast, GKd gt THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 7, 1930. THOUGH born in Charles County, Md., in 1751, yet we find Benjamin Stoddert in 1783 a shipping merchant in Georgetown and a member of the firm of Forrest, Stoddert & Murdock, and it was about this time that he built a spacious Colonial house on Prospect and Frederick streets, the latter now Thirty-fourth street. Benjamin Stoddert was not only a Cabinet officer and a successful merchant, but he also was a soldier in the War for Independence, joining the Continental Army in 1776. In January, 1777, he became a captain, and was severely wounded at the Battle of Brandywine the following September, necessitating his re- signing his command less than two years later. However, he was keenly interested in the cause, and, in 1781, accepted the position of secretary of the Board of War. During the negotiations with the original proprietors of the Federal City, President Wash- ington relied largely upon the advice and judg- ment of B2njamin Stoddert and William Deak- ins, wi.th whom he was in constant correspond- ence, until the details were agreed upon. Benjamin Stoddert was the scn of ‘Thomas Stoddert, the youngest son of James Stoddert, a2 Scoichman by birth and a surveyor by pro- fession. On June 7, 1781, he secured a mar- riage license at Marlboro, Princes Georges Coun- ty, Md., the other contracting pariy b2ing Rebecea, the daughter of Christopher Lowndes of Bostock House, Md., who was one of the founders of Bladensburg, Md., in 1746, and which was named for his wife’s uncle, Thomas Blad:en, the Royal Governor of Maryland in 1742, James Stoddert, the grandfather of Benjamin, together with Col. John Addison, have left their Benjamin Stoddert, first the Navy. s : names indelibly fixed on the records of the District of Columbia by patenting, in 1718, a tract of land of 3,125 acres, to the northwest of Washington, that is still known by its orig- inal name of Priendship, the McLean estate, on Wisconsin avenue, forming a part. ANO’l‘mm interesting thing in connection with the history of the Navy's first Secre- tary, and one which will appeal to some slight degree, at least, to the old Washington, is that Th-mas Stoddert, the father of Benjamin, mar- ried Sarah Marshall, daughter of Thomas Marsha'l, who lived at Marshall Hall, and for whom the place was probably named. Of course, any reference to this old excursion place brings to mind Col. McKibben, who lived there when some of the members of the Oldest Inhabitants were in their teens and in the habit of visiting that resort for the purpose of a pleasant day’s outing or for a nice moonlight excursion and a dance on the old pavilion. Thes=, indeed, were the happy days well worth recalling. A few days ago the writer stood before the seeming’y neglected tomb of Benjamin Stoddert and his wife in the graveyard surrcunding old Addison Chapel, the little Episcopal Church which is near Seat Pleasant and known also as St. Matihew's, It was a family burial plot, consisting in all of five tombs, four side by side and one at the foot—or toward the east—of the others. In the one to the left, looking toward the church, were buried the first Secretary of the Navy and his wife, the inscription reading: To the Memory of Rebecca Stoddert, who died on the 3d day of February, AD, aged 45 years, Next to this grave was the tomb of Chris- topher Lowndes, a distinguished Marylander, whose daughter became the wife of Benjamin Stoddert. The inscription on the slab cover- ing his grave reads: In Memory of Christoper Lowndes, Esq., Who departed this life at an advanced age, on the 8th day of January, 1785. Next came the tomb of Elizabeth, the wife of Christopher Lowndes, who died on September 19, 1789, and then Margaretta Lowndes, most likely a daughter, who died January, 1822. The grave at the foot of the four mentioned was that of a younger member of the family. DOWNinconmnflOemewrywem beautiful shaft erected to the memory Willi:m Wirt, another noted man who at was schooled and spent much of his Georgetown, and later became.one of the f most lJawyers in the United States. Indeed, to such an extent were his legal attainments re garded, that when Aaren Burr was being tried tmmn.wum-m‘m as one of the counsel to prosecute the .case on WO wEOrHNEm 4w asaatauos gntbasog Tomb oj Benjamin Stoddert, Addisen Chapel Cemetery, near Seat Pleasant, Md, behalf of the Government. He served as At- torney General in both of the Monroe admin- istrations and in the cabinet also of John Quincy Adams, He was a candidate for the presidency in 1832 on the anti-Masonic ticket, Ames Blimaker of Pennsylvania being the-candidate for Vice President. His ticket received seven electoral votes, Andrew Jackson, a past grand master of Masons of Tennessee, being elected over all other-with an electoral vote of 189, : . VEN after the highest honors had been de- servedly hcaped upon him, he never for- got th2 city of his schooldays, and those who were kind to him in his youth. One of his letters, which has been preserved, tells just how sincerely his heart often went back to Georgetown. Of this he writes: “In 1779 I was sent to Georgetown, 8 mfles’ from Bladénsburg, to school—a classical acade- my kept by Mr. Rogers. I was placed at board- ing with the family of Mr. Schoofield, a mem- ber of the Society of Friends. They occupied & small house of hewn logs at the eastern end of Bridge street. F:iend Schoofield was a well- set, square-built, honest-face and honest-heart- ed man; his wife was one of the best of I sobbed, as if my heart would break, for hours together, and was utterly inconsdlable, notwithstanding the maternal tenderness with ‘which good Mrs. Schoofield tried to comfort me. I have seen in those days whitening the Poto- mac, and which, when they arose, as they sometimes did, for half a mile together, pro- duced a sound like thunder.” ferring to when writing about Georgetown and its people, is an old Negro named Yaro Yarow, or Yarrow. At the Yourth of July celebration held by the Association of Oldest Inhabitants in 1884, Ben: iF ey 7 FEEE]E] of Cclumbia,” visited Gen. John Mason t his home on Analostan Island, who told him story of Yaro, which is regarded as a true . This is the way Warden tells it: “Yaro, before the American Revolutionary War, was brought from Africa to the United suhs-ndtherenldusnlhvewlhmuy. who lived near Georgetown, on the banks of the Potomac. After many years of hard labor cherished the hope of independence. He worked all day at fixed wages, and, in the evening he made nets, baskets and other articles. A few years elapsed, and he was again rich; another hundred dollars was the fruit of his toil. This amount he deposited in the hands of another merchant of Georgetown, who also became a bankrupt. Yaro was sad, but his courage and habits of industry suffered no change. He again resolved to be independent before the.day came when he could no longer work. He re+ newed his task of daily labor, which he cone tinued without relaxation for several years. He again found. himself in possession. of another, and a beter fortune—two hundred dollars. . By the advice of a friend, who explained to him the nature of a bank, he purchased shares to this amount.in that of Columbia, in his own name, the interest of which now affords him a comfortable support. Though more than 80 years old, he walks erect, is active, cheerful and good-natured. His history is knmown to several respectable families, who treat him with attention. On Christmas his great delight is ° to fire a gun under their windows at break of day, which is intended as a signal for his dram, When young, he was the best swimmer ever seen on. the Potomac, and though his muscles are now somewhat stiffened by age, he still finds pleasure in this exercise. Fond of con- versation, he often, in broken language, thus relates the story of his life, which we insert as a specimen of curious dialect: “'outmmbeentmmhegotdldemrk out of a Yaro bone. He tells a Yaro, go free Yaro; you been work nuff for me, go work for you now. Tankee, massy, Yaro say. Sure nuff, Yaro go to work for he now. Yaro work a scon—Ilate—a hot—a cold. Sometime he sweat —sometime he blow a finger. He get a fippenny fit-eighteen-pennies—gib him to massa to put by—putbyudolhr,ulloomeahe-p‘ Oh! mmh&edfik,db——?mmuyme. 80 to work again. Get more dollars— work hard—more dollars. Gib him now to young massa, he young, he no die, Oh, young massa den broke—den go away. Oh, oh, eh! Ydro old for true now. Must work again— worky, worky, get more dollar. Gib him this time to all de massa—all de massa can't die, can’t go away. Oh, Yaro—dollar breed new— every Spring—every Fall, Yaro get dollar— chicken now.’” Would ft not be well from business adversity to take to heart and follow the example of this nobl: old colored man, who exemplified his belief in the Salva- tion Army slogan, “A man may be down, but he is never out™? 200,000 Factories. total value of all manufactured articles made in this country in 1929 presents a really staggering sum, estimated by the Depart- ment of Commerce at $68,000,000,000 at the fac- tories. There were almost 200,000 factories of one type or another in operation during the year and 8,500,000 workers were employed, re- ceiving $11,271,000,000 for their work. These figures indicated an increased value of output of more than 9 per cent over 1927 and better than 10 per cent over 1919. “Plenty” Cuts Prices; 'I'B!hmmmpdoesnotwy-ell prosperity for the farmer, as is indicated . in the case of two live stock-raising branches. During 1926 40,000,000 hogs were slaughtered and netted the raisers $140,000,000 more than was received in 1928 for 48,000,000 carcasses, ' flves-methln:heldtruelntheuleotlmh,. and many millions more were received for a yield some 2,000,000 less than the figure fer 1928. i Bowling and Pool Equi-pmeflt.‘ [ for those depressed °