Evening Star Newspaper, April 19, 1931, Page 85

e. eured the pole and a lead of a length, That position he never gave up to the end. “Garrison rode Tenny like a very demon, but Murphy and Salvator would not be caught. A couple of strokes with the spurs, a couple of lashes with the whip and Salvator managed to get first past the judges, beating Tenny by a head only. and an infinitesimal part of a second in that remarkabl> time of 2:05, for the mile and a quarter.” The mile was made in 1:39% and the mile and an eighth in 1:52%. EED, if nothing else had immortalized this wonderful race, El'la Wheeler Wilcox’s poem, “How Salvator Won the Race,” would surely have done so. No doubt you have heard it re- cited many times years ago, for it was just as popular at one time as “Cascy at the Bat.” A part of it went something like this: “The gate was thrown open, I rode out alone, More proud than a monarch who sits on & throne. I am but a jockey, yet shout upon shout Went up from the pceople who watched me ride out; And the cheers that rang forth from that warm- hearted crowd Were as earnest as those to which monarch e'er bowed. My heart thrilled with pleasure so keen it was pain As I patted my Salvator's soft, silken mane; And a sweet shiver shot from his head to my hand < As he passed by the multitude down to the stand. . s & “At the sound of the voices that shouted ‘A go!" He sprang like an arrow shot straight from the bow; I tightened the reins on Prince Charlie's great son— He is off like a rocket, the race is begun, . & s - #Ah, Salvator, boy! ‘tis the race of your life, I press my knees closer, I coax him, I urge, I feel him go out with 2 heave and a surge. * s #One more mighty plunge, and with knee, limb and hand, I lift my horse first by a nose past the stand. We are under the string now—the great race is done And Salvator, Salvator, Salvator won! “He has broken the record of thirteen long years; He has won the first place in a vast lne of peers. *Twas a neck-to-neck contest, & grand, honest race, Down the dust let old records be hurled And hang out 2.05 in the gage of the world. Rmcnvnhwszradmnymmon s attendance at the Ivy City race it was generally called, and for a time racing Shere entirely ceased, until in 1893, syndicate known as the Ivy City J headed by Tim Campbell, Gongressman New York, attempted to revive Tim Campbell, perhaps, is best known from the answer he is said once to have given Grover Cleveland, when that President called his at- tention to the fact that to grant his vequest would be a violation of the Constitution, to which Mr. Campbell replied: - “What's the Con- stitution between friends, Mr. President?” In recent years the Patterson tract, also in this vicinity, which originally extended from the Gallaudet College grounds on the west to about Third street on the east and from Florida avenue on the south to Patterson avepue on the north, has come into much prominence, First because it was selected as a camp for sol- diers during the World War and called Camp Meigs, and in the last few months because of its having become a market site. This historic tract, known to the older generation as Brent- wood, is of particular interest as having been owned more than a hundred years ago by Rob- ert Brent, first mayor of Washington, and who as such served from 1802 to 1811. ROBIRT BRENT was ill for some time before his death, and as he died September 4, 1819, possessed of this property, he may have superintend the erection of the substantial- looking old vaulf that stood there for many years, but it is quite unlikely that he built the picturesque old mansion designed by Latrobe, and which once occupied space just to the west of the vault. His death notice in the National Intelligencer of Thursday, September 6, 1819, reads: “DIED “On Tuesday evening, after a painful and protracted illness, our worthy fellow citizen, Robert Brent, Esq., late paymaster general of the Army. and judge of the Orphans’ Court for the County of Washington. No man has enjoyed among us more esteem than he. His honerable and virtuous character commanded general respect, which his amiable and be- nignant temper and manners ripened into warm attachment on the part of those who personally knew him.” Looking further in the Intelligencer in hopes of finding some original information about the old mansion, the writer came across a notice, dated October 2, 1819, the second paragraph of which speaks of the Brentwood tract, but fails to refer to any dwelling thereon, and which would infer that the mansion was evidently erected at a subsequent date. The buildings referred to in South Washington are still standing at the southeast eorner of Maryland ° avenue and Twelfth modeled. The notice follows: “TO RENT “The house lately occupied by Robert Brent, Maryland ‘:d " ?::‘wh:::'nm mon avenue, near 4 These houses are so constructed as to form two separate temements, or one omly, and in the latter case are admirably suited for an extensive street—somewhat re- THE . SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, APRIL 19, : [ —————_____S S ee —— —————————————— —— — — 1931. % 913 Brentwood, the mansion that stood for many years on the Patterson tract. boarding house, containing a large number of spartments. to the premises are two back kitchens, smoke house, stables and car- riage house. Adjoining the same is an ex- tensive and very productive garden, which would be rentzd with the houses, or not, at the option of the person renting. The steamboat passengers are landed at the company’s wharf only & few steps from this property. “Likewise to rent or dease, for a term of and adjoining the Tyber mill. into Jots of five or more acres. “Possession of the property to be given on or about the first of November next. “For terms apply to Joseph Pearson, or Rob- ert Y. Brent, near the bridge.” Here is another advertisement, appearing in the same newspaper on September 20, 1819, and though it has no eonnection with the Pat- terson tract, yet will'prove of interest to the people living in the northeast section of the city, north of Florida avenue. It reads: “FOR SALE “The tract of land called ‘Trinidad,’ con- taining one hundred acres. The farm is beau- tifully situated on the north boundary of the City of Washington, west of the toll-gate on the Bladensburg turnpike, about a mile and & quarter from the Capitol. Part of the land is in wood. For terms of ‘sale apply to Cam- breling & Pearson, No. 67 South street, New York, or to “E. B. Caldwell, “Washington.” SPEAKING of the old Brentwood mansion, an ‘undated clipping, which seems to have the earmarks of correctness, tells us: “It was built for Joseph Pearson, member of Congress from North Carolina, March 4, 1809, to March 3, 1815, During the Eleventh Con- gress he fought a duel with George Jackson of Virginia, and on the second fire was wounded. He was married three times; his second wife was Eleanor, daughter of Robert Brent, pay- master general. The caskets containing the scattered bones of both father and daughter, together with those of Catherene Brent, daugh- ter-in-law, were recently moved to Forest Glen to forestall any further attempts at vandalism. Joseph Pearson died in Georgetown, N. C., Oc- tober 27, 1834. He was the maternal grand- father of the present-day Pattersons, of whom Miss Elizabeth is living abroad and Mrs. Har- riet Patterson Winslow, widow of Admiral Win- slow, is a resident of Washington. . “Later owners and occupants of the man- sion were the children and grandchildren of Commodore Daniel Tod Patterson. “Despite the fact that this distinguished naval officer rendered his Government invalu- able service during our second war with Eng- land, history awards him but a scant meed of praise. He was born at Long Island, March 10, 1785. _At the age of 15 he was appointed midshipman, being attached to the Philadel- phia under Capt. Bainbridge. A series of rapid promotions ensued until he reached the rank of master commandant. One year later he commanded the naval forces at New Orleans, and received the thanks of Congress for his able co-operation with the land forces under Gen. Jackson. “Under his capable direction there sailed an expedition against the pirate Lafitte, on the Island of Barataria, The American vessels, after destroying the forts and defenses, brought back to New Orleans as prizes the pirate ships and some rich spoils. For 21 years thereafter the period of service saw him as cummander of the frigate Constitution, as navy commis- siener and in charge of the Mediterranean squadron. The last three years of his life were spent as commandant of the Washington Navy Yard. He died August 25, 1839. ° @Jf blood will tell, then it was only natural for two sons of the doughty commodore, Thomas and Carlisle, to follow the call of the sea. “Thomas entered the service from Louisiana in 1836, and was retired as admiral in May, 1882, after a distinguished naval career of more than 45 years ashore and afloat. His wife was a daughter of Col. Richard Wain- wright, U. 8. M. C. He died in April, 1889. Carlisle divided mearly 40 gears of his life be- tween the Navy and the Coast Survey. He was midshipman in 1830, at the age of 14. After serving six years in the Mediterranean squadron he returned here to take up a course of civil engineering at Georgetown College, Ky. Two years later he resumed his duties as mid- shipman, and was placed in charge of a hydro- graphic party in the Gulf of Mexico. Attain- ing the rank of lieutenant, he retired from the Navy in 1850 to accept the command of the superintendent, in 1874. of development. He retained this important positionn until his death, in August, 1881.” It was Carlisle Patterson who carried to Cali- fornia the news of her having been admitted 1o Statehood. LTHOUGH this old mansion and the tomb nearby stood for so many years undis- turbed, yet the time came when unprincipled péople, who care not for the living or the dead, broke open the tomb of the Brent family and dragged out of their coffins some of the bodies which had rested so long in this sacred sepulcher. = Speaking of this dastardly act, The Star of October 1, 1915, says: “Acting under instructions from a resident of New York, an undertaker has removed the re- mains of six persons from the dilapidated vault on the Patterson estate, near Gallaudet College, where vandals opened coffins and left_bones strewn about the floor. The remains of two of the persons were cremated at the District crematory, while those of the others were in- terred in a cemetery at Forest Glen, Md., Tues- day afternoon. “The remains that were cremated were those of John and Ellen P. Farley. The former died in July, 1874, while Mrs. Farley died in No- vember, 1869. Of the four whose remains were interred in Maryland, two were named Brent, one Carroll and one Pearson. “According to the records of the Health De- partment, Elizabeth Carroll's body was placed in the vault some time between 1812 and 1822. Robert Brent's body was deposited there Oc- tober 1, 1819, while that of Mrs. Catherine W. Brent was piaced there July 1, 1822, and Eleanor Pearson’s, March 30, 1818. “Coroner Nevitt Lad to approve the cremation of the bodies of the Farleys. The police were assured the vault would be sealed, and that there would be no further cause for complaint about it.” A few years afterward the old mansion was destroyed by fire, and now there is little to remind us of the past and the glories of old Brentwood. Ndr far to the northwest of the Patterson property, on the site of the Fleischman Yeast plant—or Standard Brands, Inc.—once stood the residence for many years occupied by Clark Mills, the sculptor. Not far north of his home was his studio, and to the west of this was the foundry where Mr., Mills made the bronze castings for the Statue of Freedom which surmounts the dome of the Capitol. The design was by Thomas Crawford. From Mrs. Ada Mills Payne, a granddaughter of Clark Mills, the writer was able to secure a photograph of the old studio building. All of these structures have long since been removed, and their exact location might be hard to de- _ termine, but they form a historic part of Wash- ington and are well worth mentioning. In his quest for information of this early foundry the writer was attracted to a news- paper account of a mammoth group monument, one figure of which was cast there in October, 1880. It is hard to conceive of any one at- tempting such a gigantic work, and yet that is just what Mr. Mills evidently did, though the chances are that he got no further than the statue of Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury, which was the first figure finished. Just what became of this statue of Judge Chase, and the whole idea, for that matter, few probably could answer, and the writer is one of those who cannot, but he does think that this great array of bronze men and horses —and everything else—would have cost more in the end than the Lincoln Memorial, but would not have been near so grand and imposing. Tmncmrefenedw,mmm: “The first statue of what is to be known as the National Lincoin merument will be cast today at the bronze foundry of Mr. Clark Mills, the veteran sculptor, a few miles from this city. The casting was to have been done yes< terday afternoon, but owing to an accident to a derrick, it was necessarily postponed. It has been 20 years since the foundry has shown such activity as it did yesterday. The last im- portant work was the casting of the Goddess of Liberty, now surmounting the dome of the Capitol, since which time the foundry, so fa- miliar to travelers between this city and sta- tions on the Washington branch of the Balti- more and Ohio road, has been more or less closed. But yesterday * * * everything was ready for the casting, and workmen were laying the fires beneath the great melting pots, pre- paratory to the work of today. Sunk in the ground was the mold of the colossal statue, ready to receive the metal. The figure to be cast today, that of Judge Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, under Lincoln, will occupy a prominent position on the momument. The latter, as at present contemplated, is to be very elaborate. It will consist of 36 bronze figures, six equestrian and the rest pedestriam, all of colossal size. The pedestal on which these will rest will be of granite, light ground showing the dark figures to excellent advantage. It Wwill have three concave sides, a style original with Mr. Mills, there being no other monument of this style in the world, and ccnsists of three stories, as it were, beginning with three steps, each several feet high. At th> base of the monu- ment there will be six equestrian figures, each about 16 or 18 feet high, representing Gens. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Wadsworth, Howard and Thomas. These statues will occupy jutting pedestals of granite, and no two horses will have the same posture. The concave sides of the shaft, immediately to the rear of these fig- ures, will have an appropriate carved inscrip- tion regarding the name and design of the pile. Immediately above this, standing prominently at each corner of the triangle will be three commemoration statues. The first and most prominent of these will be that of Fred Doug- lass, Another statue will be that of Liberty and the third had not been decided upon. Be- tween these figures will be three bas-reliefs. One representing the firing upon Fort Sumter, the next the House of Representatives adopting th: amendment to the Constitution and the last will show the Senate in the same act. “Above this cone will come the statues of those who were prominent in civil positions dur- ing the struggle, including Lincoln’s cabinef. ‘Thaddeus Stevens, Dr. Bellow, George H. Stew= art, Bishop Simpson and Henry Ward Beecher were also to be given places.” The surrender of Lee was to be depicted. Wz are told Mr. Mills called on Gen. Grant for a description of the occurrence, and in accordance with his statement there was to be a pine table under a tree, with Grant on one side and opposite him Lee. Gen. Marshall, the aide de carp of the latter, was to stand next to the Confederate chieftain, while two or three g;lxlncem of Grant’s staff were to be placed beside The time represented was to be the day before the formal surrender on the field, for accorde ing to Mills’ statement, the terms of capitula= tion were agreed upon under the circumstancesg mentioned. - Liberty, Justice and Time were to have promis nent positions, and the statue of Lincoln, which,. of course, was to be the most prominent, was to be 12 feet high, to be in a seated position, and in the act of signing the emancipation proclamation. » Just where the monument would be placed was not decided upon, but the sculptor favored Judiciary Square,