Seaport in Virginia Part 18

Dr. Elisha Cullen d.i.c.k rests in the Friends burial ground in an unmarked grave, but his spirit hallows several houses in Alexandria. With such a wealth of dwellings to choose, it has been difficult to settle Dr. d.i.c.k for long; nor really does he want to be settled. He was full of surprises during life, and it will be another to most Alexandrians when we place him in the old clapboard house known for better than a century as "the Fawcett house."

On December 20, 1774, John Alexander sold to Patrick Murry a certain lot or half acre of land situated and adjoining the west side of a lot or half acre of land lying in the town of Alexandria and represented by lot No. 112. This lot, lying on the north side of Prince Street, between Pitt and St. Asaph Streets, was described as: "Beginning on the Southwest corner of the said lott No. 112 and running thence with it to the Northwest corner thereof 176 feet 7 inches, thence Westerly with a line at right angles with the last 123 feet 5 inches thence Southerly with a line parallel to the first one and of the same extent thence Easterly with a straight line to the beginning."[146]

There was a ground rent upon this property every year forever of 13 5_s._, and the provisions that Patrick Murry or his heirs should build within the s.p.a.ce of two years from the date of purchase a brick, stone or wooden house, twenty feet square, to cover four hundred square feet, with a brick or stone chimney or chimneys. At the same time John Alexander bound himself to lay out and keep free forever a street sixty-six feet wide binding on the west side of the granted lot or half acre of land, by the name of St. Asaph Street: "Beginning at a straight line produced and extended from the termination of Cameron Street in the said town of Alexandria until it extends sixty-six feet to a direct line to the Westward beyond the breadth of the other lott or half acre of land, thence Southerly and parallel to Pitt Street in the said town, until it intersects a street of the same width called Wilkes Street ..."[147]

Patrick Murry built and resided in this completely charming clapboard house until the year 1786, when the wheels of fortune forced him to dispose of all houses, yards, gardens, ways, advantages, and so on, to Ann English and William McKenzey, executors of Samuel English to secure the payments of the sum of 348, Virginia currency, with interest from August 22, 1775. Alas, for compound interest! Ann English and her husband, James Currie, did convey and sell the lot with all improvements unto Elisha Cullen d.i.c.k on April 15, 1794. Two years later Dr. d.i.c.k and his wife, Hannah, disposed of the house and grounds to John Thomas Ricketts and William Newton for and in consideration of 1000 current money.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Patrick Murray's parlor. The picture over the mantel is needleworked, a polite accomplishment taught to females and the product of the gentle hands of a Fawcett ancestor]

On July 2, 1806, William Newton and wife conveyed the property "including all that framed dwelling house lately occupied by the said William Newton" for the sum of four thousand dollars to William Smith;[148] thence again in 1816 the Smiths, William and Margaret, disposed of the frame dwelling house for three thousand dollars to John D. Brown.

The descendants of John Douglas Brown have occupied the home for the past one hundred and thirty-three years. His great-grandchildren, the Fawcett family, are the present owners of the house. The Fawcett house has been little changed, and is kept in excellent repair. The woodwork in the drawing room is true to the period; that throughout the house is quaint and interesting. In the great room the fire breast is outlined with a dog-eared mold. The mantelshelf, attached without brackets, has a punch-work motif. The heavy raised panels on each side of the chimney, and the paneled closets enclose the entire west wall.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Dear Dr. d.i.c.k. By Saint Memin.

(_Courtesy Corcoran Gallery of Art_)]

There are many levels, and the house goes back in a surprising brick ell that is not seen from the street. The exterior presents the appearance of a story-and-a-half cottage. Two windows, with their uncommon blinds, break the wood-shingled roof. The blinds' slats are wide and heavy, and the shutters are held in place when opened by the traditional molded iron holdbacks. The east gable end of the house is shiplap. From this side projects the entrance porch, added about 1816, and protected by "jalousies."

Portraits, old silver, gla.s.s, and china, prints and mahogany, with great grandmama's best brocade dresses, are the fruits of more than a century of the family's inheritance. The picture over the mantel is done in embroidery--the product of one of the Fawcett ancestors, worked in 1814, while a pupil at one of Alexandria's schools where young ladies were taught the fine arts, and the curriculum included every form of needlework.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Benjamin Dulany's Town House]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Chapter 15

The Benjamin Dulany House

[601 Duke Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. John Howard Joynt.]

On February 15, 1773, George Washington wrote to a friend, "Our celebrated Fortune Miss French, whom half the world was in pursuit of, bestowed her hand on Wednesday last, being her birthday (you perceive I think myself under the necessity of accounting for the choice) upon Mr.

Ben Dulany, who is to take her to Maryland in a month from this time."[149]

Miss French, the heiress, was a ward of Washington and lived at Rose Hill, not far from Mount Vernon. Benjamin Dulany Sr., a wealthy and cultured gentleman of Maryland, born of distinguished Irish parentage, was of the third generation in America. He and the celebrated Miss French moved to Alexandria before the Revolution and settled at Shuter's Hill overlooking the town, where they reared a large family. Ben Dulany is often mentioned by General Washington in his diaries. He was a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, a companion in the chase and the race, at dinner and overnight, sometimes with his lady, but more often without.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Benjamin Dulany of Shooter's Hill and Alexandria]

In 1785 Washington concluded a bargain for the exchange of some land with the Dulanys and made several references to the transaction in his diary. Under the entry for Monday, February 21, 1785, he wrote:

Went to Alexandria with Mrs. Washington. Dined at Mr. Dulaney's and exchanged deeds for conveyances of land with him and Mrs. Dulaney, giving mine, which I bought of Messrs. Robert Adam, Dow and McIver, for the reversion of what Mrs. Dulaney is ent.i.tled to at the death of her Mother within bounds of Spencer and Washington's patent.[150]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Entrance hall, Dulany House. Fine woodwork in arch and cornice]

Tradition says Dulany served with Washington as steward of the Jockey Club. An amusing anecdote has come down to us of a race in which both gentlemen had entered horses. The race was close--Washington's horse won. For some reason the governors awarded the prize to Dulany. The General left in high dudgeon and wrote a letter resigning from the club, saying that he was under the impression that he belonged to a club the members of which were gentlemen. Whereupon the governors reversed their decision and awarded the General the prize! This extraordinary action is reported to have placated him, for he appears to have continued a member of the Jockey Club.

Mr. Dulany's house, now 601 Duke Street, is one of those famous houses where it is claimed General Washington slept. An agent of the General, Peyton Gallagher, occupied this house at one time, and--so the story goes--when Washington had sat too long at accounts and the evening was bad, his man of business put him up for the night.

The tradition is firmly entrenched that the Marquis de la Fayette addressed the citizens of Alexandria from the front steps of this house in 1824. The General was occupying the house across the street, which was given to the Marquis and his party by the owner, Mrs. Lawrason, for the duration of his visit. Alexandria was more excited by this visit than any other occurrence in her history, and gave La Fayette a resounding welcome. When citizens came surging in great crowds around the Lawrason mansion to do him honor, the old gentleman, finding the steps too low for speechmaking, walked across the street, climbed the steps of 601 Duke Street, where he could be seen, and there made his expressions of good will and appreciation in broken English to "the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude."

Tradition also reports that Benjamin Dulany was a handsome, arrogant gentleman, a fine horseman, superbly mounted. In those days the streets of Alexandria were not as smooth nor as dry as today. Irate pedestrians often found themselves bespattered and befouled by some pa.s.sing horseman or vehicle and in danger of their very lives. "Bad Ben" Dulany thundered up and down the streets, riding a spirited horse, sparing no wayfarer, causing men to rush for safety to the nearest doorway. At Shuter's Hill, his estate just outside Alexandria, he maintained well appointed stables and owned fine-blooded horses. A "stranger" traveling in America records a rather interesting horse story in connection with one of Mr. Dulany's sons:

Throughout his campaign he [Washington] was attended by a black man, one of his slaves, who proved very faithful to his trust. This man, amongst others belonging to him, he liberated, and by his will, left him a handsome maintenance for the remainder of his life. The horse which bore the General so often in battle is still alive. The n.o.ble animal, together with the whole of his property, was sold on his death under a clause in his will, and the charger was purchased by Daniel Dulaney, Esquire, of Shuter's hill, near Alexandria, in whom it has found an indulgent master. I have often seen Mr. Dulaney riding the steed of Washington in a gentle pace, for it is now grown old. It is of a cream color, well proportioned, and was carefully trained to military manoeuvres.[151]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The beautiful drawing room]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The original dining room at Mr. Dulany's, now the library]

The Dulanys were hospitable folk, and many were the guests entertained both at their country estate and at their Alexandria home. A revengeful guest, or a malicious wit, startled the town one morning by the following poem ent.i.tled

THE BALL AT SHOOTER'S HILL

By A.X.--Georgetown

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill, Once said to his wife, "Our rooms we'll fill With all the beauty, and all the style And all of the rank and some of the file That flourish in Alexandria Alias 'Botany Bay',"

(Which was ever his subsequent say When speaking of Alexandria).

Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh "If such is your fancy, so will I".

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill Said to his wife, "We will fulfill Our social trust and invite them all, The great and the wealthy to come to our ball, The handsome and ugly, the pretty and plain, The learned and the silly, the wise and the vain."

He was a man of great learning and wealth And the name that he bore was a power itself, For his Tory father was great among men And smote hard on the rebels with voice and pen, But Mrs. Dulany said with a sigh, "This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill Said to his wife, "I wish you to fill The pantry and larder, the shelves and the table With all the most excellent things you are able, And spare neither trouble or money, for when (Tobacco remember was currency then), I offer a banquet my guests must behold Something more on my table than china and gold"

And Mrs. Dulany said with a deep sigh, "This fancy of his, I cannot tell why".

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill, Said to his wife, "Of course we will Have music, the best that can be found And we, dear wife, will dance one round.

Many years have pa.s.sed since you agreed To slide down from your window and marry with speed, And we'll show our children how to dance After the fashion I learned in France".

Mrs. Dulany sighed and said "What could have put this whim in his head".

The guests arrived at Shooter's Hill, Names of renown the chambers filled, Masons and Carters, Stevens and b.a.l.l.s, Rosiers and Fendals, Marshalls and Halls, Daingerfields, Herberts, Craiks, Tuckers a few, Platers, Custis, and Randolph and Washingtons, too, Blackburns, Hunters and Forrests and Taylors a lot, Lees, Seldons, Fitzhughs, Wests, Dandridge and Scott, Pope, Ramsey and Graham, French, Lewis and Key, Lloyd, Taylor and Wellford, Ridout, Beverly, Simms, Peters and Lightfoot, Lyles, Murray and Beall, Fauntleroy and Grey and Carroll they tell, Berkley, Fairfax and Bladen, Powell, Chase, Montague, Ba.s.sett, Harrison, Tasker, Gant, Stoddert and Chew, Spotswood, Lomax and Taliaferro, Grymes, Rutherford, Snowden, Fontaine and Pendleton, Moncure and Bushrod, But if all were put down, the unlearned might insist, The names had been taken from off the tax list.

Ben Dulany of Shooter's Hill, Received them with grace and courtly skill, When all of a sudden he started to dance, And teach them the lessons he learned in France, He drew them up in a regular line And marched them around while he kept time, Shouldered a blunderbuss, stuck on a hat, Called it a helmet, and drilled them in that.

Thundered and threatened and ordered them all To know he was giving a marching ball.

Round through the parlors, out on the gra.s.s Down through the garden and back did they pa.s.s, Not for a moment he left them to rest, Forward and backward, and wearied he pressed.

Mrs. Dulany appealed to his pride, But unceremonious he thrust her aside.

Many the terrors, the words and the fright, But he marched them and marched them till far in the night.

Mrs. Dulany again essayed To urge him to cease his desperate raid, Then bending before her his handsome form, He declared no lovelier woman was born Than she, his own, his beautiful wife Then he vowed to love and cherish through life; And to prove to all how he loved her then, He'd embrace her before all those women and men, Which he certainly did, for he clasped her waist, And raising her high, strode off in haste.

In vain she screamed, in vain besought, All her entreaties he set at nought, Into the pantry he quickly pa.s.sed And stuck her up on the vinegar cask Then locking her in, he lovingly said, "Dear wife you are tired, 'tis time for bed".

And away he stalked to pick up his gun For a panic and flight had already begun, He ordered a halt, but they faster ran, Urging each other, woman and man.

Wholly regardless of dresses and shoes, Thorns or stones, or damps or dews.

Halt! he cried again more loud Then fired his blunderbuss into the crowd, Which only helped to increase their speed.

They thought he was crased, and he was indeed!