Evening star. [volume], March 20, 1938, Page C-4, Image 32

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
The present Police Court Building, first occupied June 14, 1907, replaced the old Unitarian
Church Building.
■___*
Old jail and slave pen at the north side of C street between
John Marshall place and Sixth street, where McGurk was prob
ably tried for killing his wife in 1801. The buildings are no
longer standing.
-— A --
By John Clagett Proctor.
OW that the time is fast ap
proaching when the Police
Court will be transferred to
the new building provided for
it on the west side of Judiciary Square,
perhaps a word regarding this public
necessity and its historic background
Will prove of interest.
By the act of Congress approved
February 27, 1801, the laws then in
force in the District of Columbia were
continued in operation, but a judiciary
set-up was provided for, in which a
number of justices of the peace were
to be appointed for the counties of
Alexandria and Washington, into
which the District was then'divided.
Among several things, this law pro
vided, "That there shall be appointed
In. and for each of said counties
(Alexandria County, formerly a part
of Virginia, and Washington County,
formerly a part of Maryland) such
number of discreet persons to be jus
tices of the peace, as the President of
the United States shall from time to
time think expedient, to continue in
office five years, and such justices hav
ing taken an oath for the faithful and
Impartial discharge of the duties of
the office, shall in all matters civil and
criminal, and whatever relates to the
conservation of the peace, have all the
powers vested in, and shall perform all |
the duties required of. justices of the
peace, as individual magistrates, by
the law hereinbefore continued in
force in those parts.”
At the time of the passage of this I
act, John Adams was just winding up
his term as President, and was still
smarting under his defeat for re
election to that high office, in which
he had received o^ly 65 electoral votes
to Jefferson’s and Burr’s 73 each,
Charles C. Pinkney’s 64 and John
Jay’s 1. This, of course, presented a
tie which had to be settled by the
House of Representatives, and as is
well known, Jefferson was selected for
President and Burr for Vice President.
4
OTRANGE as it might sepm to the
millions of admirers of Mr. Jeffer
son. there was at this time a doubt in
the minds of many if he really had the
ability to understand either the letter
or the spirit of the Constitution, as a
result of his French contacts and the
study of the French philosophy pre
vailing at that time. And so. in order
to place upon the bench of the coun
try such men as were deemed safe in
this respect, just before quitting his
office. President Adams sent a long list
of judicial appointments, including
the justices of the peace for the Dis
trict of Columbia, to Congress, where
they were immediately confirmed.
The justices of the peace selected
for Washington County included
Thomas Sim Lee, Thomas Peter,
Tristram Dalton, William Marbury,
Benjamin Stoddert. Thomas Addison,
Uriah Forrest, John Mason, Cornelius
Cunningham, James Barry, Marshall
Waring, Thomas Beall, John Trelkeld,
William Thornton, Lewis Devlois, Dan
iel Relntzel, William Hammond Dor
sey, Robert Brent, Joseph Sprigg Belt
and Abraham Boyd.
Those appointed for Alexandria
County, which included that part of
Virginia retroceded in 1846, were: Wil
liam Fitzhugh, John Potts. Robert
Townsend Hooe, Jonah Thompson,
Richard Conway, William Harper,
Charles Alexander, Jonathan Swift,
George Gilpin, Abraham Faw, Francis
Payton, Charles Alexander, Jr.; George
Taylor, John Herbert, Dennis Ramsay,
Outhbert Powell, Simon Summers,
Jacob Haughtman and Cleon More.
Tf/HEN Mr. Jefferson came Into of*
L ■ flee the day after these appoint
ments were made and confirmed, he
caused his Secretary of State, James
Madison, to hold up the delivery of
the certificates of appointment, and
this brought on the famous suit of
Marbury vs. Madison, which resulted
in a United States Supreme Court de
cision In favor of Marbury, one of the
justices of the peace appointed by Mr.
Adams, but it availed Mr. Marbury,
and those who joined with him.
nothing, and not one of Mr. Adams’
appointments to the office of justice
of the peace ever got his commission
under that appointment, bul Mr. Jef
farwnv or. March lo, following his in
auguration, did appoint all those whose
appointments had been held up, except
William Dalton, William Marbury,
John Laird, Richard
Forrest, James hatiy, Marshall War
ing, Thomas Beall, John Trelkeld and
Louis Devolls, though he Included the
names of two new appointees not men
tioned tag Mr. Adams—Thomas Cor
enran and Banjagtfa Mecca.
Just where the justices of the peace
tried their cases in the early days is
a question not so easily answered. And
it is not definitely established just
where the more serious offenses were
tried, prior to the erecting of the City
Hall (now the Courthouse), the corner
stone of which was laid on Tuesday,
August 22, 1820. But not even a part
of the building was finished until
several years later, and the chronicler,
Sessford, does not record the building
as being "nearly completed” until 1839.
However, although the erecting of this
structure was a joint proposition be
tween the United States and the Dis
trict of Columbia, still the District
government made good use of its part
and at various times brought under
its roof all of its departments and
activities that could be housed there.
But the identifying of trial locations,
prior to the erecting of the Court
House Building, is frequently a mat
ter of conjecture, as is the trial of
McGurk for murdering his wife about
1801 or 1802, for although we do know
he was tried and convicted, yet we
do not know the names of the jurors
who adjudged him guilty nor the
location where the trial occurred,
though the place of the execution has
been recorded.
TJRIOR to the completion of this \
building, no doubt, the courts of ;
every description met wherever they
could, and so we find the Orphans'
Court opening its first session April
14, 1801, in William Rhodes- Hotel,
and the first sessioh of the Circuit
Court, which opened on March 23,
1801, took place in a room adjoining
the Senate chamber on the south,
which had been assigned for the use
of the United States Supreme Court,
and it probably soon afterward met
on the comer of First and A streets
Flag Raised Over Midgets
of South Pacific Which
Offer an Air Base.
By William H. Doherty.
AMERICA is expanding.
Par from sight and sound of
bloody struggles by some other
nations seeking to add to their
domains, two groups from the Terri
tory of Hawaii, mostly boys, are dra
matically but peaceably consolidating
America’s newest venture in land
acquisition.
They have just raised the Stars and
Stripes over Canton and Ehderbury
Islands of the Phoenix group below the
Equator in the mid-Paciflc.
Viewed in one light, America has
merely claimed title to two patches
of land not much bigger than barn
yards, without minerals, vegetation,
Important animal life, or even palata
ble water. Viewed rightly, however.
America has come into possession of
two highly valuable service stations
that may change the entire course Of
Pacific aviation. All of this came with
out expenditure of money and, con
trary to the history of imperialism,
without firing a single shot.
The acquisition carries the American
flag farther southwest into the world’s
biggest ocean, into an area mainly
dominated by the British Empire. The
location of Canton is 175 miles south
of the Equator, 1,850 miles southwest
of Honolulu, 3,250 miles northwest of
Sydney, Australia, and 4,150 miles
from San Psancisco. It is about 32
miles west-northwest of Enderbury.
Except for similar coral neighbors,
both Canton and Enderbury are
among the most isolated spots on the
globe. '
T1^ that the United 8tates
had reached out and “grabbed”
Canton and Enderbury came as some
thing of a shock to the rest of the
world, and poses the question whether
there are not other bits of earth,
equally valuable, waiting for a parent.
A glance at the globe will show that
there are many unoccupied Islands,
but study will show that few,, if any,
are so well located as these two.
Turn your globe to the “watery” side
and you will see in the exact center,
where the 160th meridian crosses the
equator, the Island of Jarvis. This
island was colonized by Americans
just three years ago. Now look JO de
grees to the left and down, you will
see the Phoenix .group. These islands
I an the natural^topping point for air
S.E., when, following the burning of
Washington by the British in 1814,
stood the brick Capitol, now the site
of the Supreme Court Building.
It is likely that the Justices of the
peace transacted their business for a
long while at least in their offices or
where the police lock-ups happened
to be. Shortly after the Auxiliary
Guard came into existence, in 1842,
at a time when the old Center Market
was being extended, a small building
was standing nearby which w'as used
for a scale house and as an office for
the clerk of the market, and this
building was converted into a tem
porary place for the trial of prisoners.
John H. Goddard was then captain
of the guard, and according to a
statement made by him 57 years
ago, this building stood near the old
market on Eighth street, and was
taken over by the Auxiliary Guard and
fitted- up for its purposes.
"It was used by the constables," he
states, “to lock up the Negroes. It was
an old brick structure in a very dilapi
dated condition. The lower room was
used as a scaleroom for the market,
and I got $75 from the city and par
titioned off the upper room, so as to
have a separate place for the men and
women. The lower room was used as
an office for the man on guard, who
took the names of the prisoners. We
brought them here from all parts of
the city.”
An early account says that both
criminal and civil cases were tried
here, and that ofttimes was the lash
applied there in cases of offending
slaves, the gratings of the cell doors
serving as the whipping post.
TV^EAR this old building was a some
what larger brick structure used,
about 1837, by the Perseverance Fire
Company. The building had a hall on
the second floor and the structure was
surmounted by a cupola in which there
was a fine-toned bell which was used
for many years as the curfew bell, the
law being that people of color, slave
or free, should be in their homes by
10 o’clock at night in summer and by
9 o’clock in winter. Many white fami
lies made it a rule of their households
that the bell should determine the
hour of retirement, children especially
being expected to be in the house when
the curfew rang.
Prom makeshift headquarters, the
Auxiliary Guard moved, in 1860, to a
building erected especially for its use
on the south side of Louisiana avenue
between Ninth and Tenth streets (site
now occupied by the Department of
Justice Building) and here, as a usual
thing, Police Magistrate Thomas C.
Donn tried the cases of a minor char
acter.
Recently, when reading over the
reminiscences of Crosby S. Noyes, as
published in the anniversary supple
ment of The Star of Tuesday, Decem
ber 16, 1902, the writer found a refer
ence to this old building made by Mr.
Noyes, in which he makes mention of
reporting the police happenings at
that place, when The Star was a very
small sheet and that noted editor was
doing about all the writing for his
paper, and managing it besides, as
will be seen from what he says:
"When Wallach was away on his
NEW POLICE court
Removal to Judiciary Square Reminds
Capital of Fine Characters in History
of This Tribunal.
The Unitarian Church Building at Sixth and D streets N.W.,
occupied by the Police Court, 1878 to 1905.
farm and Bill Tucker had fit*, I used
to have some pretty busy days. My
work commenced at 7 in the morning,
when, with tin dinner pail in hand, I
reached the old Central Guard House,
presided over by Capt. James Birch,
to report the proceedings there. The
Central Guard House, with its lock-up
and trial room, was a little brick
building in the Center Market space.
"From the guard house I sped to
The Star office, where I made up ‘The
Spirit of the Press' from the morning
papers, wrote what editorial was
needed, went over the exchanges,
clipped and condensed news matter,
selected miscellaneous reading and
prepared a lot of fist’ (index finger)
paragraphs for fillers in making up
the paper.
"Then I started on the rounds of
the executive offices, the departments,
the Capitol and back to the office and
to the composing room to see to the1
make-up of the paper. Then I fol
lowed the forms to the pressroom and
superintended the working of the
paper on a rickety old Taylor press,
managed by a drunken pressman.
Then I wrote a report to Wallach of
the day’s receipts of the paper—not a
long job at that time.
“At night I was back again to the
city (my residence then was on the
Island,’ now South Washington) to
report evening meetings, finishing up
my day’s work by going the rounds of
the hotels toward midnight, to get a
list of arrivals by the late trains. This
was hard work, but good practice, and
enabled me to get an insight into the
practical details of all branches of the
work of newspaper making that has
been of great service to me since."
However, that was the way people
succeeded in the olden days, and it is
the only way they can succeed now.
Any other way means ultimate failure.
'J'HE Police Court, as we know it to
day, had its beginning during the
administration of Gen. Grant, when
that President, in accordance with the
act of Congress approved June 17,
1870, signed the commission appoint
ing William B. Snell judge of the
newly-created court on June 30 of that
year. President Grant appointed many
good men to office, but none more
thorough and efficient than was Judge
Snell. Indeed, he took offlce just at
a time when a man of his caliber was
needed and required, and until the
day of his retirement from the bench,
18 years later, he faithfully performed
every duty to the entire satisfaction of
the citizens of the District and Federal
officials.
Judge Snell took his seat and or
ganized the Police Court on July 11,
1870, in a room at No. 466 C street
N.W., then known as the Kimmel
House, and which occupied a part of
the site on which the Havenner Bak
ing Co.'s building was later erected.
Judge Snell had but few appoint
ments to hand out, for the court did
not need very much help in those
days, when one judge was sufficient
for the work. One of the first ap
pointees was James Hughes, who was
made janitor of the building, and for
his faithful services was in after
years made superintendent of the
present building. His son, Richard
Hughes, followed in his father's foot
steps as an attache of the court.'
Other early appointments made by
Judge Snell included Alexander T.
Gray as clerk; William O. Thomas
and Henry Lacy, bailiffs; Edward C.
Eckloff, P. C. RavelLs, Luther G. Daw
son, Benjamin P. Leighton and How
ard Price.
gY 1875 the business had increased
to such an extent that it became
necessary to look for new quarters,
and the Unitaria'n Church Building,
then on the site of the present Police
Court, was purchased for $20,000.
At that time there were many _pri
vate residences in the vicinity of Sixth
and D streets and some of the older
and more prominent families nearby
did not appreciate havldg the court
so close to their homes, and to pre
vent this sought an injunction. But
Janitor Hughes, acting under instruc
tions from Judge Snell, was too quick
for the objectors, and before the law
yers could serve the papers, he moved
into the building on July 11, 1878,. a
table, some chairs, and of course the
prisoners, and the judge was trying
cases. This ended the injjunction and
the rest of the equipment soon fol
lowed.
The building on C street occupied
by the first Police Court was a very
old building, having been erected prior
to 1819, and used for various purposes,
including a meeting place for the Odd
Fellows, New Jerusalem Lodge of Ma
sons, the Washington Light Infantry,
late in the 40s, and at an earlier date
it was a popular place for the circus.
At the time the building was being re
moved, in the Summer of 1898. the
writer found a reference to it in The
Star of July 9 of that year, which said:
“The removal of the old livery stable
on C street to the rear and east of the
National Hotel, between Four-and-a
Half and Sixth streets northwest,
which is now going on, said an old
citizen to a Star reporter, “recalls to
my memory when Walker's great
Southern circus had its winter head
quarters there, 50 years ago. The per
formance was carried on for three
months in the fall and winter after it
came in from the road at the closing
of the tenting season, and it was re
garded as a very fashionable place to
go in those days. In an' amusement
way, then, it bore about the same rela
tion to the summer circus that an
opera troupe bears now to the ordinary
theatrical troupe.
"While to all Intents and purposes
the performance was a circus show,
there were other things added to make
BOY COLONISTS SHARE IN LATEST AMERICAN LAND SEIZURE
A ———■ —— ---- - - A, ■ . ...
Part of Canton Island, showing temporary camp of the National Geographic Society-United States Navy eclipse expedition
last June, established for the purpose of observing a total eclipse of the sun. —Copyright, National Geographic Society.
---«> - *-•
travel between Hawaii and either New
Zealand or Australia.
There are many other islands
nearby, but none that possess the mag.
nlflcent natural advantages of Canton.
(Informed quarters generally concede
that Enderbury was claimed merely
to keep some other nation from get
ting it. Canton is the real prize.)
Canton is shaped something like a
meatless pork chop, with land from SO
to 600 yards wide Inclosing a lagoon
that is quiet at all times. This lagoon
is 3 miles wide and 9 miles long. A
few coral patches need to be removed,
but when this is done the area will
furnished a haven for all the Nation's
seaplanes and combat vessels. The
entrance is about 100 yards wide, small
but ample.
Without question Canton could be
made a vital part of the national de
fense, but there is no intention evident
on the part of the present adminis
tration to utilize it for military pur
poses. The immense fortifications
and attacking facilities in the Terri
tory of Hawaii would seem to make
the adaptation of Canton to military
purposes not only unnecessary but un
wise. The military value of the island
rests solely in the (pet that America
has it, and not some other nation.
rjpHE moving spirit in the claiming
of Canton gnd Enderbury was
Or. Ernst Gruening, director of the Di
vision of Territories and Insular Pos
sessions of the Interior Department. Dr.
Gruening, who spent the months of
October and November in Hawaii and
the South Seas, landed at many
Islands, including Canton. Because of
rough water, there was difficulty land
ing on Enderbury, which 1* an oblong
about alias long and alias
wide. ■
ITO C 100-0 ITO C • ISO P ISO
-I— T I-—
"MIDWAY j, I
\ I
X
KAUAI I. OAHU
__
WAKE I ^HAWAII
X
KINGMAN
I
.HOWLAND I I
■ ■ — <tOUATOO)- -Ja»lrc» l XffTOt -
CANTON I ..ENDCIWURYI
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i? V^SSS*'
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Map showing location of Canton and Endefbury .Islands'
of the Phoenix group in the South Pacific.
On his return to Washington, Dr.
Gruening quietly set about launching
the colonisation scheme. His expert*
•not aateav the aquatorial islands had
taugh Just how to go about it
He chose Hawaiian boys as the lint
settlers, lint, because they an Ameri
cans; secondly, because Hawaiians are
dexterous seamen and swimmers, re
aourmful la all mattsra nscaaaary to
f /fi
enable them to live as modern Robin
son Crusoe* if emergencies should
arise. Ancestors of the lads on Can
ton and Enderbury sailed thousands
of miles among the Islands of the
South Pacific in frail canoes, navigat
ing by the stars without Instruments.
The Polynesian heritage breeds a love
of the water, and Hawaiian* invariably
can swim as soon as they can toddle.
Several carpenters and radio oper
ators, a surveyor and an aerologist
are included in the party. Lumber
for shelters on the barren land* was
cut and prepared in Hawaii for quick
assembling, and taken with the colo
nists aboard the United States Coast
Guard cutter Taney. The islands are
outside the typhoon area, but there
are occasional strong winds. Heat of
the equatorial sun is tempered by trade
winds.
Every three months, a Coast Guard
cutter will carry water and food. A
wide variety of canned goods and dried
foods is being supplied. Several crates
of live chickens were carried and large,
drums of water.
Several colonists are veterans of the
Howland, Baker and Jarvis Island
colonisations. All are fine physical
specimens. The air base at Hdwland
Island was prepared for the expected
arrival of Amelia Earhart by some of
the boys now on Canton, and was
called Kamakaiwi Field, after James
Kamakalwi, one of the present colo
nists.
'J'HE surprising tale, of the conquest
of lands in the 30th century, par
ticularly land thoroughly charted and
mapped and in waters traversed by
ships of ^11 nations, begins back in
the days of the New England -whalers
who used to winter in Hawaii. Before
the ooloniMng of Canton and Ender
bury, Federal officials verified through
rmyi at Nantucket and icartha|
it more attractive, in the way of stage
performance. The stage was a folding
affair, which could be pushed out of
the way when the time came for the
ring show. I remember seeing Joseph
Jefferson and his father and mother
playing in Walker's Circus, as well as
many others who, in after years,
reached great prominence in the thea
trical world. Mr. Jefferson's mother,
besides playing a part in the circus,
was kept busy during the day in look
ing after mending and restoring the
circus players' costumes, while the
elder Jefferson was also very much in
evidence in a business way about the
place. There were generally three acts
in each of the plays produced there,
two being on the stage and the closing
act in the circus ring.
‘‘It wintered in Washington for sev
eral years. The building used was
originally a livery stable and it was
kept warm enough except during very
cold weather, when the performance
was suspended for a couple of weeks
at a time. In those daws the down
town hotels and boarding houses were
the headquarters for Congressmen and
their families, apd it was handy for
them to go around to Walker’s Circus.
There were no congressional boarding
houses in any other part of the city
then and Southerners took a particu
lar pride in Walker's Circus, which wTas
a strictly Southern show and rarely
ever went farther North than Phila
delphia. It traveled by wagon exclu
sively and in i(s day was a very ex
tensive affair.”
QN AUGUST 5, 1905, the Police
Court held its last meeting in the
old church building, when it moved
to the Ulke residence, on Fifteenth
street south of the Avenue, wher^ is
now the Department of Commerce.
The Ulke Building was a picturesque
structure, with porches covering the
entire front, and had previously been
occupied by the Bureau of Statistics of
the Treasury Department, and prior to
this was the home of the Young fam
ily.
The present building, costing around
$75,000, was completed and first occu
pied on June 14, 1907, the coet of the
equipment at that time being about
$8,000.
When, about six years ago, the
writer made a tour of the Police Court i
Building, three things attracted his
attention—the inadequacy of the
building, from top to bottom: the mar
velbus record system and the forced,
inhuman way in which the prisoners
are crowded into the cells awaiting
trial and, maybe, to be later trans
ferred to some penal Institution. And
after his inspection was completed the
writer even more than ever agreed with
The Star, which once editorially re
ferred to the cells in this building as
"Washington’* black hole.”
Naturally, at the time the writer
came in contact with the four judges
then on the bench, who included
Justices Gus A. Schuldt, Ralph Given,
John P. McMahon and Isaac R. Hitt.
He found all to be fine and capable
men, but Judge Schuldt was perhaps
the most active in his efforts toward
securing the new building, into which
the court will soon move, and it is
quite unfortunate, after having ac
complished so much in this laudable
connection, that he was not permitted
to remain on the bench, at least long
enough to have served in the new
building. However, only one of the
judges on the bench at that time still
remains, the three others being com
The new Court Building in Judiciary Square .where the Police Court will soon be housed.
_t_ —Underwood & Underwood Photo.
The Dike Building, home of the Police Court, 1905 to 1907.
It was situated at Fifteenth street, south of Pennsylvania ave
nue, on the site of the Department of Commerce Building.
paratively recent appointees to the
bench. The court as now constituted
includes Judges John P. McMahon.
Walter J. Casey. Edward M. Curran
and Hobart Newman.
The other Judges of the court, list
ing their appointments from the be
ginning of this tribunal, include the
following: William B. Snell, Thomas
P. Miller, Ivory G. Kimball, Charles
Fletcher Scott, Alexander R. Mul
lowny, James L. Pugh, Robert Hard
ison, John P. McMahon, Gus A.
Schuldt, Isaac H. Hitt, George H.
MacDonald and Ralph Given.
'J'O HAVE the title of judge attached
to one's name is certainly an
honor to be appreciated by any one.
But every one is not temperamentally
fitted to be a judge, especially a judge
of one of the lower courts, where, as
a usual thing, the more humble ele
ment of society is daily contacted—
the very people, indeed, who, in a
multitude of instances, need encour
agement, sympathy, tolerance and in
diligence. And so the man best fitted
for this office is the one who has
closest to his heart and soul the words
of Him who said: ‘Whatever ye
would that men should do to you, do
ye even so to men.”
The late Joseph J. Darlington, In his
day the leader of the Washington bar,
once said that if he had the choice
of selecting a judicial honor he would
choose the Police Court, because of
the good he might accomplish there
And surely, as we grow older and
more observing, we do realize the great
opportunity a judge has for rendering
to the community an invaluable serv
ice as a teacher, aside from his pre
scribed duties in office.
It is nice to recall some of the '
judges who were pre-eminent in char
ity and who could read the souls of
men, one of whom was Thomas P. j
Miller, not loved for the people he
sent to jail, but for those whom. In
his leniency, he released that they
might later become worthwhile citi
zens. ’
CRADLE A LEE LINK
'J'HE Robert E. Lee Memorial Foun
dation has recently acquired by
gift, for use in the refurnishing of
Stratford Hall, an antique mahogany
cradle nearly 200 years old. This lit
tle piece of furniture was originally
at Pecatone, the Corbin estate, which
was situated in the lower part of
Westmoreland County, Va., only a few
miles below Stratford.
Henry Corbin came to Virginia
about 1650 and was a burgess and a
member of the King's Council. He was
the maternal grandfather of Thomas
Lee. buildler of Stratford. Henry
Corbin built Pecatone (sometimes
spelt "Peckatone") atkrnt 1670, and it
stood for more than two centuries
until its destruction by fire, in 1886
The estate was named for an In
dian chieftain who once lived in that
locality. The mansion is described
as having been a spacious and massive
quadrangular building, with immense
halls and wainscoted rooms. A broad
platform, reached by flights of stone
Canton and Ender.bury
Are Needed to Maintain
American Rights.
Vineyard that Americans were the
first to make known the existence of
these islands to the outside world.
Thus the modern claims are based on
the firm ground of discovery.
Great Britain has made known she
is "reserving her rights” in the islands,
but it is felt certain here that what
ever difficulties this declaration may
raise will be disposed of easily. In
formed quarters here believe that
Britain is secretly glad that America, a
friendly power, has control of Canton
and Enderbury, and that her statement
about reserving rights was a vocal
gesture without meaning. When de
veloped as a trans-Paclflc air base,
the islands will Increase trade and
understanding between America and
the British dominions of Australia and
New Zealand.
Britain was not always so willing
to see Pacific islands slip out of her
grasp, at least not before Hawaii was
annexed to the United States 40 years
ago. In this connection there is a
delightful story that smacks so much
of Gilbert and Sullivan operas that
few people believe it. Nevertheless, it
is true. It is about Necker Island.
Necker is a small island lying just
west of the main Hawaiian group. The
British wanted it for a cable station
back in 1893, when Hawaii was an in
dependent republic. Officers on a
British cruiser determined to seize it.
They probably would have done so ex
cept that one of them whispered the
plans as he took leave of his sweet
heart on the beach at Waikiki. The
girl promptly told President Sanford
B. Dole.
The President hurriedly summoned
his cabinet. Including Capt. James A.
King, father of the present Delegate,
Samuel Wilder King. Secretly a party
of officials rushed aboard the little
lnterisland steamer Iwalani and
slipped out of Honolulu Harbor. The
British cruiser Champion set after
the Iwalani, but the little steamer
had too great a start, and so the
Hawaiian flag was planted on Necker,
and the island passed to the United
States upon Hawaiian annexation.
The British were forced to use the
more remote Fanning Island for their
cable from Canada to the Antipodes.
Delegate King has already com
pleted his plans for the future of
Canton' and Enderbury. He says:
“When Hawaii becomes the 49th
State, Canton * and Enderbury and
the rest of the small islands under the
American flag should be placed under
the state government of Hawaii.
e
steps front and rear, supplied the
place of porches. There was an ex
tended view of lawn and field on one
side and of the Potomac River on
the other.
From the time it was built until
after the War Between the States,
when the family could no longer keep
up so large an estate, Pecatone is '
said by 9ne writer to have been "fre
quented by throngs of the most genial
and enlightened society of the time;
richly bound volumes of classical lit
erature, inscribed with autographs of
prominent friends and visitors, which
have been preserved from Its library,
show it to have been a typical homo
of Virginia wealth, refinement anl
culture.”
OEVERAL intermarriages between
the Lees and Corbins made the
'families at Pecatone and Stratford
doubly related, and one mansion was
as much a Lee home as the other. •
From Henry Corbin the estate de
scended to his son and then to his >
grandson, both of whom bore the ’
name of Gawin fpronounced "go-in”)
Corbin.
Gawin Corbin, the younger, was
Thomas Lee’s first cousin, and mar
ried the latter’s daughter, Hannah.
Their only chilld, Martha Corbin, was
born about 1750. and. as this is thp
period when such cradles were first
used, she was probably the first baby
to be rocked in it. It is of solid
mahogany, about 40 inches long by
18 inches wide, and despite its age is
perfectly preserved, with scarcely a
scratch on it.
Martha Corbin married her second
cousin, George Turberville, and con
tinued to live at Pecatone. For two
generations Turberville babies used
the little cradle, and when Mary Willis
Turberville, only child of Gawin Cor
bin and Mary <Daingerfield> Turbrr
ville, married William Francis Talia
ferro in 1815, the family name at
Pecatone changed again, but the
cradle stayed on for the use of the
large family of Taliaferros bom In the
old mansion.
Cornelia Lee Turberville Taliaferro
was born there in 1827, and in Decem
ber, 1844, while at boarding school
•in Alexandria, she managed by some
ruse-to get out and was married in
Washington by the Rev. Dr. William
Hawley, rector of old St. John's
Church, to Lt. William Henry James
son, U. S. N„ son of an Alexandria
family. The following year Mrs.
Jamesson returned to Pecatone, where
her only child, Williamina, was born '
in November, 1845. When she came
back to Alexandria with her baby ,
girl she brought the cradle with her, ■
and another name was added to those
who had been rocked In it. Lt. James
son met with a tragic death only two
weeks after the birth of his daughter.
OINCE 1845 the cradle haj remained '
In Alexandria and has been a val
ued heirloom. Willtamina Jamesson
was left an orphan at an early age, as
her mother died in 1855, and she made
her home with her grandparents. Com
modore and Mrs. William Jamesson,
in Alexandria. In 1868 she married
Into a prominent family there and six
children were born to this union, four
of whom died in infancy. Of the two
who lived to maturity, only one, the
youngest son, is now living, and it was •
he who owned the cradle and recently
presented it to Stratford. It is not
likely that any of this last family of
children were rocked in the little bed,
for by that time such things had been
discarded for the more stationary crib.
When this tiny but historic relic was
offered to the R. E. Lee Foundation
enthusiastic letters of acceptance and
appreciation were received from Mrs.
Breckinridge Long, chairman of tha
Relics Committee; Mrs.-Cazenove Lee,
chairman of the District of Columbia
Stratford Committee, and Mrs. I. New.
ton Davis, secretary of the board, *
When the work of restoring the inte
rior of Stratford is completed this
spring the cradle will be used as pari
of the furnishings of one of the bed
rooms. p
}