Evening Star Newspaper, November 8, 1931, Page 85

ground until about 1840. There was, however, about 1809, a house on the site of the Polk School, Seventh and P streets, for at that year it was transferred by Andrew- Thompso.:@ to Walter Mitchell, with its contents for $500. About a dozen years after a four-hundred-dol- jar improvement at the southwest corner of Fifth and P streets was owned by William Gallant, a leading carpenter and builder of those days. In 1830 on the east side of Sixth street between L and M a two-story frame was listed to Way & Gideon for $400. There was then no mention of other taxable improvements, and the land listed in 1802 at half a cent soon after fell to an eighth, and did not average 1 cent until near 1830. years that section ‘got a move on,’ and it has since becore thickly populated. ‘Poorhouse Hill,’ the name a pottion of it bore in the first half of the last century, is known only to the old folks, and ‘Crow Hill’ as the neighborhood of Fifth and N streets was known about war times, is about obsolete.” The establishment of the infirmary, as it was then called, on M street, between Sixth and Seventh streets tock place in 1807, and a glance at the topogrophy of this section will show that from M street south there is a decided slope for several blocks: hence the name “Poorhouse “The square had been laid off,” according to Mr. Croggen, “inio 24 lots on M, N, Sixth and Seventh streels, and they were vested in the Government in 1796, and lay idle until 1807. The corporation had for a few years cared for the poor in temporary quarters, and square 448 was selected. Andrew Bradley, jr.; John David- son and Griflith Coombe were the commis- sioners, and the purchase was made of Thomas Munroe, the city superintendent, for $200 in February of that year and a building erected. This was a three-story and attic structure of brick, parts of which are yet standing, having been converted inito dwellings. Before the close of 1807 it was opened for use. Besides accom- mollating indigent poor, the ‘penitentiaries,’ as offenders against the city ordinances were called, were confined there, and a portion was used as - the dwelling of the intendant. As may be sup- posed, the situation being commanding and the structure imposing, it was attractive to those on the outsice and’from the reports many of the inmates, whether patients or prisoners, were satisfied to be there, though the latter were made to work. A substantial fence inclosed the square, and for many years gardening was the occupation of inmates. A number after 1822 were employed on street work in the neighbor- hood under an overseer. In Winter woodsaw- ing gave employment to the inmates. Arong the intendants of old recalled are Robert Clark, - John McClelland, president of the guardians, acting; Mr. McNerhamy and Richard Butt. The potter’s field was in the northeast section, and in the cholera epidemic of 1833 a part of the square northeast was utilized for burial pur- es. “In 1843 it was determined to relocate the institution and the corporation had a sgbdivi- sion made into 73 lots which were sold at public auction May 10 that year. On liberal terms being offered, many passed to private owners— Rev. Dr. G. W. Samson, Caleb H. 8hreve, Michael Hoover, Mr. Ward and others. “They broughi :n average of $90 per lot, from 3 to 5 cents per foot. It was 3 years later be- fore the square was all vacated.” OING over ti's neighborhood with Mr. Stickney, some 0f the residences, still standing, were pointed out, and as the writer has a fair recollection of this vicinity himself, it was especialy interesting to both. During the approximate period from 1875 to 1885, the following persons were living on M street from Fourth to Seventh streets: Stephen R. Cassin was keeping a drug store 8t the northeast corner of Seventh and M Streets. The writer went to the same school for a while with his son, Stephen, and recalls Dr. Cassin’s beautiful daughter, Marie, who later became the®wife of the recently deceased president of the school board, Charles Francis Carusi. To the east of Dr. Cassin’s on the north side of M street in the frame bay-window house Mved for a long while Frederick Schafhirt, an anatomist in ths surgeon general’s office. This house has clapboards on the side, and this and the front doorway indicate its oid age. No doubt the bay window was added years after the house was first built. The house on the northwest corner of a- and-a-half street and M was the home of Robert C. Howett, tte well knowp flour and feed dealer whose place of business was arou..d the corner at 1227 Seventh street. This build- ing has more the appearance of a hotel with its large porches stretched across the entire front of the structure than a residence. As stated, the east part of this building is be- leved to have occupied a part of the poor house, the remaining portion of which is Just, across the strect. Much of the ground from here eastward to Sixth .street was vacant until more recent years, except the houses already referred to. On tke south side of M street between Sixth and Seventh streets there lived at the corner of Sixth during Civil War days a Mr. Degges. and it is said his daughter was-the wie of Col. E. E. Ellsworth, killed in Alexandria at the beginning of the war by a man named Jackson for hauling down the Confederate flag from the Marshall House. At the same time Jackson was killed by Sergt. Brownell. The funeral of Col. Ellsworth took place from the White House. At 606 lived W. H. Gunnison, a War Depart- ment clerk, and next came the home of Mr. Bkeckels, a contractor, who had a son for many years a clerk with the firm of Harris & Shafer, jewelers. When the Skeckels family moved out the house was taken by Joseph L. Hazzard, an engraver in the Hydrographic Office, Navy Department. - A’r 610 lived a Mr. Allen, a Government clerk, and 612 is about the site of an early residence of Albert W. Fenwick, a member of the old patent firm of Mason, Fenwick & Lawrence. Mr. Stickney says that Mrs. Fen- wick belonged to the Munson family of Vir- ginia, whose estate at Bailey's' Cross Roads figures prominently in affairs of the Civil War. He™also says that the Penwick family rivaled his father’s in size, and that both then being Nevertheless, after many’ THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, NOVEMBER &, 1931. identified with Calvary Baptist Sunday school had a good deal in common. The writer's recollection of this family after they had moved to Thirteenth and N streets is that there was a son Carlisle, a daughter Louise, and & son, Edward T. Fenwick, who is stil in business here., There were also other children. To the building at 614 M street there appears to be a modern front erected to what was once the home of Judge Kern, a clerk®n the audi- tor's office, Treasury Department. Then came Tincup alley to the west and the corner property. d For a long while a part of the property on the north side of M street west of F. H. Stickney's was vacant, but when this was built up a family named Aler from Cumber- land, Md., moved into the one east of the alley. In the next block to the east at the north- west corner of Fifth and M streets lived a Mr. McGaw, a fine choir singer, who married a daughter of W. H. Bailey, superintendent of gas and lamps. The latter lived farther to the in the Navy Department. The Mobawk Apart- ment in this block occupies in part the site of the James Y. Davis home. : The Myers home was at 440. Mrs. Stickney says there were three daughters in. this family and that one married Charles E. Nyman of the National Savings & Trust Co. Dr. Gill built No. 442, and 448 was once the home of Representative Kerr, who, after he left Con- gress. was given a diplomatic post with one of the South American republics. One of his sons, Leeds Claybourne Kerr, is a retired naval officer, and there was another son named Arthur. - George Kern, telegraph operator, lived at 452. He had a sister, Miss Alice L. Kern, who was a schecol teacher. Other members of the family living there were: Edward Kern, carpenter, and Frederick S., carpenter. Charles H. Huguely of Huguely & Bowen, livery stable keepers cn New York avenue, between Sixth and Seventh strects, resided at 454 M street, and the Naylors lived next door at 456, and The old Stickney residence, northwest corner of Sixth and M streets northwest, the home of William Stickney, banker, and president of the City Council, 1871- 1874, who died here. had died previously. He Ir this samve residence Postmaster General Amos Kendall was an editor, founder of the Columbia Instituie for the Deaf and Dumb and a promoter of the telegraph. Standing beside the house is William S. Stick:ney and those in front of the house to the left are servants of Francis Henry Stickney. west on M between Ninth and Tenth streets. At 507 once resided a family named Quincy. Mr. Gardiner, inventor of the Gardiner electric time system, connected with the Naval Ob- servatory, had ‘his home at No. 511, and the dwelling on the northeast corner of Bixth and M streets was then owned by Robert Pletcher, who remodeled it into two residences. On the south side of the street lived Bertt H. Brock- way of the well known lynchroom firm of Fred & Brockway, who many years ago were in business at the northeast corner of Seventh and G streets, opposite Schwing & Clarke, dispensers of seafood and other things. N the 400 block, 50 years ago, more or less, we find living at 409, Joseph Prather, butcher in the Northern Liberty Market, and this house is probably still standing and numbered 415. At number 457 resided R. S. Parks, asPassistant examiner in the Patent Office. He had three sons: George T., William S. and Fred. William S. Parks died a few years ago, he was the father of Charles O. Parks, who married Miss Hazel Cox, daughter of William' V. Cox, and granddaughter of Matthew G. Emery, last mayor of Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Parks have three interesting children and make their home in St. Petersburg, Fla. The brick house between 459 and 465 M street, with a large tree in the front yard, likely occupied a part of the site of the Chauncey home, which extended to No. 465." At 455 lived Augustus Davis, a builder, whose daughter Margaret married Frank L. Pelousze, an early type founder of this city, and later a broker; another daughter, Sarah, married W. H. H. Cissell, a wholesale and retail grocer. A son of Augustus Davis, Charles, like his father, was a builder, and erected the four houses at 451 to 457. The father built the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, at Sixth and B streets n.w., where President Garfield was shot and which was removed some years ago. On the south side of M strect, beginning at No. 400, we find that S. W. Woodward lived at this number shortly after he first came to Washington. Louis Waldecker, chief eclerk, Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, made his home at 414, and here his son, William Waldecker, a well known musician, also re- »ded. Four thirty-two, [ust east of the Wlley, replaces the home of D. A. Dennison, a clerk No. 458 was built on land belonging to that family. EPFERRING to the alley houses, with which > the block bounded by M, N, Sixth and Seventh streets was plentifully supplied, Mr. Stickney says: “Adjoining the Alers’ was a row running up the north alley to the intersection of the east and west alley; so far as known,these alleys had no name. Above this alley, running north to N stre:t, were sheds and stables, and the atmosphere was redolent with the odors of a barnyard, for the sheds housed various ani- mals that are not ordinarily domiciled within the city limits. The neighborhood slumbers were often terminated by ‘the cock’s shrill clarion’ or the echoing horn of the oysterman, who sometimes peddled his good-sized bucket of bivalves all over the city, even as far out as Rock Creek Church road and beyond.” Continuing, Mr. Stickney says: “In the old days when the Stickney homes were in evidence the neighborhood was quite friendly—most of the homes were owned by their occupants The second precinct police station, under the command of Capt. Sullivan, was the headquarters of a fine body of men under the chargs: of an efficient and highly re- spected officer. Although the alleys were oc- cupled by a mixed populstion engaged in va- rious occupations, there were never any serious outbreaks or troubles, and the whole neighbor- hood enjoyed an enviable reputation for ob- servance of law and order. Not far away, on I street, lived one of Washington's best mayors; on M street, between Sixth and Seventh, wus a fine warden of the jail, John 8. Crocker; at Sixth and M streets was the president of the City Ccuncil when the District was a terri- tory; and these outstanding officials, with a body of citizens of sobriety and industry, made the section a desirable one.” AMES CROGGON evidently gave this sec- tion of Washington more than casual at- tention in his excellent write-ups cf years ago, for again we find him describing some of the nearby blocks in words-which may stand re- peating, especially for the newcomers. He says: “The square south between L and M, Sixth and Seventh streets, 449, 24 original lots, was assigned to Lynch & Sands, the proprietors, in 1796, but prior to that Greenleaf had title. “Slicker” Swindles Industrious Housezvives HERE always appears to be a “slicker” ready ‘to take advantage of any unusual situation that develops. e greatly publicised campaign to en- courage home-canning of the surplus crops of fruits and vegetables this year has developed a new swindler, audacious no doubt, but Rever- theless a swindler. TRe favorite approach of this new type schemer is to call at a home where there have been considerable canning activities and pose as a Federal food inspector. The results of his inspection are always uncom- plimentary to the housewife and he condemns much of her stock of preserves. Having con- demned them he carries them away in order that there shall be no doubt of their being de- stroyed. 2 This particular swindle has become so0 wide- spread the Federal Government has been forced to issue a warning. -For one thing, Federal food inspectors seldom visit a private home for the product of the kitchen canning is not frequently traded in interstate commerce. A person claim- ing to be a Pederal inspector is therefore under suspicion. ' In the second place, a Federal inspector not only has a badge but also other credentials bearing his picture and the seal of the Depart- ment of Agriculture. In the third place, when- ever any samples are collected by the Federal experts they pay the current market price for the goods taken. A heavy fine is the penalty for posing as a Federal agent, but because of the general lack of information and the awe inspired by the use of the authority of the Federal Government, the instances in which this particular swindle was put over have been numerous. 7 J. Covachichi, George Lewis, Thomas and John Atkinson, prior to 1800, and L. Sands, James Taylor, T. Cottrell, M. Ward, J. Eastburn, J. Martin and Jere and J. H. Warder, before 1812, held lots. In 1818 Return J. Meigs, Postmaster Genergl, owned seven lots on Seventh street. In 1 John A. Smith owned on M street, and Charles Fletcher three lots, the cor- ner of Sixth and M streets; in 1831 Sophia Meigs on Seventh street, the next year T. Fletcher five on N street, and in 1834 J. Has- kell one on Seventh street. The ground was then listed at 1'% to 3 cents & foot. In 1838 J. Evans owned lots 1 and 2; P. Hall, lot 3, and Elias Kane, lot 4, on L street, extending west of Sixth street, and G. D. Carroll, 7 and 8, cor- ner Seventh and L streets. In the next year Mr. Hall acquired 1 and 2, as also 21 to 24, about one-fourth the square. In 1840 Col. H. Naylor owned 12 to 14, at the northwest corner of the square; D. A. Hale, 15 and 16, on M street, and 5 and 6 on L street, and George Phillips, lot 7, at Seventh and L streets. In 1841 H. Naylor and A. Rothwell owned lots 9 to 11 on Seventh street, and Mrs. Ann Ward, 13 and 14, fronting Seventh and M streets. The latter erected a two-story frame house at the corner, and for years conducted a grocery. In 1843 Henry Horst-Kamp bought lot 9 on Seventh street, 2,900 feet, for $200, erecting a residence and opening a grocery. The south half of lot 11 was bought by R. J. Falconer, who erected a frame dwelling and a grocery and feed store this same year, and Edward Gallant bought the other portion. “Besides the groceries noted above, H. Moore established the fourth on the east side of the street, on which were J. Luber, a tailor, and Christian Emerich. “A somewhat noted square in the olden times is that located east, for it was known to the young people as the “Garden of Paradise” and to the general public as Seaton’s Garden. It was located on a hill, on the side of which was a spring from which flowed a rivulet south- ward. When the adjacent streets were cut downsthe garden was made somewhat difficult to reach. The ascent accomplished, a fine gar- den of fruit and vegetables in the care of a colored gardener could be found, and he had many patrons roundabout. Particularly attrac- tive was the garden to the boys because of its *fruits, etc. It is known as square 482, of 12 lots in the lines of Fifth, Sixth, L and M streets, and its history prior to 1817 is the same as that of square 449, noted above. In that year Philip Mauro bought the northwest quarter of the square,-lots 5 to 7, which in 1820 was in the name of Andrew Coyle. In 1835 Col. Seaton bought lots 1 and 8 to 12, the east half of the square, and in 1841 the south- west quarter of lots 2 to 4, $130 being the con- sideration for the latter three lots. “In 1830 tke ground was assessed at 115 cents per foot and the improvements on lot 5 at $400, which was afterward known as Davis’ House, then listed to Way X. Gideon. “North of the Poorhouse square 22 lots fac- ing N, O, Sixth and Seventh formed square 447, and they were vested in the United States and included in the Greenleaf grant. Under the act of 1832 donating ground for a charitable purpose, St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum was given title. In 1839 three of the six lots, 7, 9 and 12, on Seventh street, were bought by Andrew Rothwell for $197.60. Four years later W. R. Lowndes owned part of lot 9, amd in 1846 Christopher O'Hare and Reuben Brown bought of the corner lot at Seventh and N streets. . O'Hare improved his property, and for many years was in business there as a grocer, and Mr. Brown erected a house. There lived on Seventh street in the forties H. C. Davis and Thomas Hudal.” Looking at the O Street Market today, we can hardly visualize it as the site of Andrew Rothwell’s Summer Garden. This whole block was once owned by Michael Hoover, who made his first purchase here in 1828. About 1845 he sold out to, Rothwell and mo~ed away, and Rothwell’'s Garden resulted. Garnets of Varied Hues garnet, the most widely distributed of all gem stones, is commonly believed to bea red stone but according to the Bureau of Mines it may be of practically any color but blue. So general is the distribution of the garnet, it has little commercial value as a gem under its own name but under some of its more appealing designations such as Cape ruby, Uralian emerald and South African jade, it finds a readier market. While 10 States have deposits of garnet of gem gquality, production in this country has been declining since 1901. The principal sup- plies of the gem garnet now come from Bohemia, the mniost productive region being about 60 kilometers from Prague. . The lack of market value of the garnet is in no way due to its lack of beauty for the garnet is very attractive but the abundance has kept the prices low. The various colors found in garnets are due to the presence of frcm, manganese, chrome or other chemicals. ‘The garnet finds a commercial use beyond that of jewelry, however, for it is frequently employed in the manufacture of watches, preo- viding the hard bearings vital to the longevity of a watch. Ordinary garnet not of gem qual- ity is used as an abraisive, both in the form of powder and as a paper similar to sandpaper. Farm Mortgages Decrease IN spite of the drought and other dlwoumcin_g factors, the farm mortgage total has declined in the past three years. This, however, may not be as encouraging as it seems on the face of it because the burden of indebtedness has in- creased due to falling farm values. At present about 23 per cent of the total farm value in this country is covered by mortgage, with the figures rising in some instances to the full value of the farms mortgaged. More than half, in fact, almost two-thirds of the farms, are mort- gaged for less than half the’r value while 4 per cent art mortgaged to the hflt,