Evening star. [volume], January 11, 1942, Page B-6, Image 31

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Farewell to Old ‘Friendship’
HForest Hill” or Oak View, country home of President Cleveland, 1886 to 1889, where the Presi
dent and Mrs. Cleveland spent their honeymoon.
By John Clagett Proctor.
In view of the fact that the Govern
ment is to take over Friendship, the
estate of the late John R. McLean, and
to convert it into a $10,000,000 housing
development for defense workers, we can
well assume that these beautiful grounds
will soon be laid off into squares and
streets and a city of homes, apartment
houses and perhaps a hotel or two,
erected before long.
Friendship, which contains about 76
acres, is bordered on the south by
Macomb street, on the north by the
Heurich tract, on the east by Wisconsin
avenue and runs westward for quite a
distance. Of course, it is said, and it is
very true, too, "that it is an ill wind that
does not blow somebody some good.” and
though the regret be general that this
estate must be broken up, yet. the people
In this vicinity, particularly those re
siding to the west of this estate, will
undoubtedly appreciate it very much,
since, as it now stands, many have to
walk or drive blocks out of their way to
reach Wisconsin avenue, and naturally,
when the McLean tract is developed this
will not be necessary.
History of Friendship
The early history of this estate runs
back at least to about December 1, 1711,
when a tract of land was granted to
Col. Thomas Addison gnd James A.
Stoddert, son of Thomas Stoddert, by
the name of Friendship, containing
3.124 acres, and which was surveyed for
them on the before-mentioned date.
Later, on December 3, 1713, a patent was
Issued them for this vast stretch of land.
And shortly afterward, a deed of par
tition passed between the said Addison
and Stoddert.
James Stoddert, by his will dated on
or about March 29, 1726# willed his part
of Friendship to his sons, William. Ben
jamin and Thomas. To William he gave
300 acres of that part of Friendship on
the branch of the Fall Run. The re
maining 1,260 acres he gave to Benjamin
and Thomas in equal parts.
Thomas Stoddert sold his share July
31, 1747, to James Wardrup. Wardrup
in turn sold to Richard Clagett, jr., 250
aces. and Richard Keene Clagett, son
a:'.d heir of Richard, jr., conveyed same
to Nathaniel Slicer in 1767, and Slicer
transferred to Charles Beatty same acre
age in 1782.
The foregoing is taken from what pur
ports to be an abstract taken from a
deed in the Land Office of Montgomery
County, Md., loaned to the writer by
Mrs. Hedley V. Cooke, a descendant of
James Stoddert. However the writer
finds it stated by another source that
the land was first patented in 1695 by
Col. John Addison and William Hutchi
son and later sold to Col. James Stod
dert, grandfather of Benjamin Stoddert,
and In turn was given to the colonel's
daughter, Mrs. Murdock, and that in the
early 1800's the property was acquired
by Georgetown College. This authority
also says that 90 of Friendship’s original
1.571 acres, including the site of the
original mansion, were sold in 1888 to
the American University, and that an
other 350 acres had been sold in 1805
to Nathaniel Loughborough for Grass
lands.
Origin of Name
There may be several reasons why this
tract of land was named Friendship, but
the one that seems the most likely is the
statement made that it was because of
the close friendship that existed between
Col. Thomas Addison and James Stod
dert, the early owners of this estate.
A map of the District of Columbia,
compiled in 1857, lists the McLean prop
erty in the name of Georgetown College
Villa, and in 1862 it is called Georgetown
College Farm. In 1878 it was held by
the Georgetown College Association and
Wisconsin avenue was known as the
Rockville road. At this time a stream
known as Foundry Branch separated the
College property from that of Louis
Means, and ran southeastwardly to the
canal and the river, crossing before
reaching the latter, the old Green Spring
Seheutzen Park, which, no doubt, many
an old-timer will recall. It was a picnic
grounds where dancing and bowling were
the principal amusements in summer
time, and of course, there was always
plenty of lager beer on hand.
By 1878, the large holdings in the area
between the Rockville road (Wisconsin
avenue) and the Loughboro and Foxhall
roads to the west was showing the effects
of being broken up into small farms, and
beside Louis Means, before mentioned,
T. Rosenbush had 50 acre; Thomas T.
Vamell 63 acres, and lived on the place
and had a slaughterhouse nearby. Com
ing south and facing the Rockville road
were the homes of Martha Keiss, Rose
Nourse, Robert Kengla. Mary Poore,
William Poore, John Poore, Jacob H,
Kengla, C. H. Brooke, Benjamin Hunt's
slaughterhouse, residence of Mrs. M. A.
Hunt, Michael C. Weaver, John Snyder
and others.
Between the Foundry branch and the
loughboro road, was the residence of
P. L. Brooke. Thomas Hume apparently
had the Tunlaw farm; H. Blundon, Au
gust Shele, William Dennison, Lazarus
Wetzel, Robert H. Smith and Pred Wetzel
were neighbors.
In the vietaity at the McLean prep*
Benjamin Stoddert, an early
owner of Friendship and First
Secretary of the Navy.
erty, to the east of the old Rockville road
and south of Pierce Mill road to Woodley
road, were the farms of John Noonan,
the H. Dent heirs, James Nourse, Nancy
Green, George Green, W. E. P. French,
Maj. Nicholson, E. W. Clark, - Kar
ranel and-Jessup.
Benjamin Stoddert, who once held title
to Friendship, was, according to one au
thority, born in Bladensburg, Md„ while
another source describes him as having
been born in Charles County, Md. As the
date of his birth is given as 1751, and as
Bladensburg was in Prince Georges
County at that time, the placing of his
birth in both of these places, must mani
festly be an error. However, the date,
1751, is no doubt correct, for the in
scription on his tomb tells us he was 62
years old at the time of his death in 1813.
At the beginning of the struggle for
independence he joined the Continental
Army in 1776. In Jauary, 1777, he be
came a captain, and was severely wound
ed at the Battle of Brandywine the fol
lowing 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 War Board.
Friend of Washington
Capt. Stoddert was a friend and con
fidant of President Washington, who fre
quently called upon him for advice and
assistance and in the difficult task of
negotiating with the original proprietors,
in order to locate here the Nation's
Capital.
That Washington did seek his opin
ion and help, would, without any further
information about the man, stamp him
as being a person of character, wisdom
and^bility, and worthy of the high honor
of being the President’s confidential
agent in such a great undertaking. In
deed, Washington’s high regard and con
fidence is clearly shown in a letter dated
Philadelphia, February 3, 1791, and ad
dressed to William De&klns, Jr., and Ben
jamin Stoddert, in which he says, In
part:
"In asking your aid In the following
case, permit me, at the same time, to ask
the most perfect secrecy.
"The Federal territory being located,
the competition for the location of the
town now rests between the mouth at
the Eastern Branch and the lands on
the river below and adjacent to George
town. In favor of the former. Nature
has furnished powerful advantages. In
favor of the latter Is Its vicinity to
Georgetown, which puts it in the way of
deriving aids from it in the beginning,
and of communicating in return an In
creased value to the property of that
town. These advantages have been so
poised in my mind as to give it different
tendencies at different times. There are
lands which staid yet in the way of the
latter location and which, if they could
be obtained for the purposes of the town,
would remove a considerable obstacle to
it and go near, Indeed, to decide what
has been so long on the balance with me.
“There are, ffrst, the lands on the
southwest side of a line to be run from
where the road crosses Goose Creek
(in going from Georgetown to the East
ern Branch, to the comer of Beatty's lot,
including by the plat of Beatty and Orme
the house of William Pearce), or, if the
whole of this parcel cannot be obtained,
then, secondly, so much as would he
within a line t« be run from the said
ford, or thereabouts, to the middle of the
line of cession which extends from the
comer of Beatty’s lot as above men
tioned, to its termination in Goose Creek.
Part of the grounds and gardens adjoining the residence of Mrs. Edward B. McLean on the estate known as “Friendship ” recently
acquired by the Government. —Underwood & Underwood Photo.
Thirdly, the lands of Mr. Carroll, be
tween Goose Creek, the river and Mr.
Young's, to the same ford of the creek.
‘‘The object of this letter Is to ask
you to endeavor to purchase these
grounds of the owners for the public,
particularly the second parcel, but as if
for yourselves, and to conduct your
proposition so as to excite no suspicion
that they are on behalf of the public."
In 1783 Mr. Stoddert became a member
of the firm of Forrest, Stoddert & Mur
dock, shipping merchants in George
town.
As to his schooling, it is believed this
culminated with a course at the Univer
sity of Pennsylvania. However, it goes
without saying that he was a man of
considerable learning and refinement and
undoubtedly an early promoter of edu
cation in Georgetown, where there are
still Stoddert descendants, especially
through his sister Sarah, ancestress of
the Matthews family. His old home, still
standing at Prospect avenue and Thirty
fourth street, Is a reminder of his pros
perous days and when the commerce of
Georgetown extended far and wide into
foreign lands.
On June 7, 1781. a license was issued
to Benjamin C. Stoddert at Marlboro,
Md., to marry Rebecca, daughter of
Christopher Lowndes of Bostock House,
Maryland. Today her remains repose in
the same tomb with her husband in old
Addison Chapel burying ground, near
Chesapeake Beach Junction, Md.
Capt. Stoddert died in 1813, at his
home in Bladensburg, and his burial took
place, as before stated, in Addison Chapel
Cemetery, near Seat Pleasant, Md.
Stoddert's holdings In real property
was not confined to Friendship, for in
1790 we find George Beall, son of Ninian
Beall, transferring to Uriah Forrest and
Benjamin Stoddert 990 acres lying to the
north of Georgetown, between Wiscon
sin avenue and Rock Creek. However,
Florida’s Paradise for Parrots
By Stanmore Cawthon,
Wide World New*.
MIAMI, Fla., Jan. 10.—A. F. Scherr
imported monkeys and alligators for his
parrot jungle sc the birds would feel at
home, but he cid the job so well the
parrots quit talfcng.
, “We made things too natural for
them,” Scherr explains.
"Parrots don't talk when they are
away from huirans and don't have to
perform in return for food and other
things they watt. So we had to start
requiring ours to say something before
we would give them nuts, grapes and
other tidbits they like.”
Scherr, who pit some 600 parrots and
other tropical birds on a densely-wooded
tract and opened the parrot jungle as a
tourist attraction, says age is the biggest
factor in teachirg them to talk.
‘‘I’ve never wen a parrot unable to
talk if you started teaching it young
enough," he sajs. “You ought to start
when they are about eight months old.
Parrots sometimes live to be quite old
and if you get one of 25 years or more
you’ll have a tough time with it.
"Teaching them to talk is all a matter
of repititkra and of keeping them away
from distractions while they’re learning.
That’s why we frequently put a black
cloth over a cage and talk to the bird
through It.
“Another method is to take the bird
with you wherever you go and talk to it
constantly, repeating often the words
you are trying to teach.
"Most birds learn easily from children.
Another strange thing is that they seem
to have a much easier time imitating the
sounds of other animals—such as the
bark of a dog—than they do in learning
the language of humans. I have seen a
parrot that has been around a certain
dog imitate the bark of that dog almost
perfectly.”
Some of the birds speak two or more
languages fairly well, but Scherr is con
vinced that words mean nothing more
to them than associations with physical
objects, such as food.
"They den t possess any great intel
ligence.” he declared. "We can teach
them to talk because they have an imita
tive faculty and properly-constructed
vocal chords, but when a parrot says hello
1, means no more than when a dog wags
its tail.
Walking through the parrot jungle
gives you a strange sensation. You shout
hello and promptly answering helloes—
some guttural and some falsetto—start
coming from the trees and thick foliage.
Then you meet some of the parrots and
most of your new acquaintances look at
you with a cynical eye. They see more
than 40.000 people a year, and their opin
ion of the human race doesn't seem very
high—perhaps because the conversation
of most visitors begins and ends with the
inevitable "Polly want a cracker?”
You meet Joe, an exceptionally so
phisticated specimen,.and like as not, he
greets you with:
"Don't like him! Don't like him! Don't
like him!”
A little nettled by such candor, you
start to move on without giving him a
peanut or a grape or anything but a cold
stare. He immediately changes his at
titude, gets a cunning, grasping look in
those yellow-green eyes and says coyly:
“Polly want a cracker!”
You meet Genevieve, a bright green
cockatoo who shrieks a demand for a
grape or a peeanut. A little wooden
bucket hangs on a cord under her cage,
and if you put anything edible in the
bucket she hauls it up, eats it and re
wards you with an ear-splitting scream
of gratitude.
The parrots, parrakeets. macaws, cock
atoos, flamingoes and other birds make
the jungle an orgy of color. And when
Joe and his mates really feel like
screeching, they make it an orgy of noise,
too.
The feathered beauties on A. F. Seherfs Parrot Jungle, Miami tourist attraction, will gladly pose for the camera-toting visitors.
The parrots, parrakeets, macaws, cockatoos, flamingoes and other birds make the jungle an orgy of color, and when they really feel
like screeching, they make it an orgy of noise, too. wuu worm pnoto.
In 1794, Stoddert transferred his interest
to Gen. Forrest, who thus became the
sole owner of this vast tract, which
became known as Rosedale, and upon
which he erected this same year a frame
house on the north side of Ordway
street, a short distance east of Wiscon
sin avenue, which is still standing, and
last known to be in the possession of
Gen. Forrest's descendants.
Uriah Forrest was born near Leon
ardtov/n, St. Mary’s County, Md., in
1756, where we find his brother, Zach
Mrs. Edward Beale McLean.
—From the portrait by De Lazio.
ariah Forrest, still living in 1790. with
his wife and two sons over 16 years of
age, one under 16; six daughters and 15
slaves. Uriah at that time was living
In Georgetown, then a part of Mont
gomery County, Md„ and had, besides
his wife, one son over 16. one son under
16, two daughters and five slaves.
He was a soldier of the American Rev
olution. was wounded in the Battle of
Brandywine and lost a leg in the Battle
of Germantown. He resigned from the
service on February 23, 1781, when the
State of Maryland advanced him a sum
of money equal to seven years’ half pay
as a lieutenant. JHe served as a delegate
to the Continental Congress from Mary
land and later served from the State in
the Third United States Congress, tak
ing his seat March 4, 1793, and resigning
therefrom November 8, 1794.
Early Georgetown Families
Many of the early Georgetown families
were related through marriage and inter
marriage, but it was not long after Gen.
Forrest became the sole owner of Rose
dale that he transferred 250 acres of this
tract to his brother-in-law, Philip Barton
Key, uncle of Francis Scott Key, who
named the place Woodley.
On this estate is now the home of Sec
retary Stimson.
Naturally, one could hardly mention
Woodley without referring to President
Cleveland’s early home in the same
neighborhood, known as Forrest Hill,
which he purchased in 1886, and renamed
Oak View, though the public preferred
the name Red Top, by which the recon
structed residence was generally known.
President Cleveland had the habit of
doing many things right, and the pur
chase of Forrest Hill showed excellent
Judgment for a man about to be married
and seeking a home where his honey
moon would not be interrupted by curious
visitors and office seekers. He was not
a wealthy man. Naturally, he had laid
by a few dollars for a rainy day, but he
still had to spend his money with care,
and for this reason he sought to pur
chase a home through A. A. Wilson,
whom he had appointed United States
marshal for the District of Columbia, and
who, most likely, was a Very close friend.
Mr. Wilson proceeded with caution,
and #d not. divulge the name of the
one for whom the property was being
purchased until the deed was recorded
in his own name as trustee, when he
immediately transferred the title to the
President. In the tract of land secured
there were 231i acres, and a roomy stone
dwelling of no particular historic in
terest, though nearby was Rosedale, the
early home of Gen. Uriah Forrest.
At the death of Gen. Forrest, his es
tate was left to his sons and two daugh
ters, the latter being the wife of Dr.
Bowie of Georgetown and Mrs. Green.
The sons died without heirs, and the
property descended to the two daughters.
In 1868, Rosedale was subdivided, and
upon the 2312 acres purchased by Mr,
Cleveland, there was erected a two-story
stone house. To the east of this was
another subdivision, consisting of 16
acres, which belonged to Mme. Iturbide,
one of the daughters of Mrs. Green, who
had married Count Iturbide, who was
then the Minister from Mexico. The
son by this marriage was adopted by
King Maximilian, and in this way be
came the heir to the throne of Mexico
before the republic was established.
Oak View
At the time President Cleveland pur
chased Oak View, The Star printed an
interesting account of the place, from
which the following is taken:
“One of the pleasantest drives in this
vicinity is out over the Military road
trom Georgetown to Tenleytown and by
the winding county roads through the
beautiful scenery of Rock Creek Valley
to Brightwood and the Fourteenth street
road in the return to the city. Any pleas
ant evening carriage after carriage may
be seen rolling along these roads, the
occupants enjoying the fresh, cool air
and the picturesque views which came
in sight at every turn. The beauty of
the scenery and the healthfulness of the
locality are not a recent discovery, as
8ny one can see who glances at the fine
old houses which may be seen along
the road, surrounded with fine lawns and
forest trees. In fact, as soon as Wash
ington was located these sights were
taken up by people, in some cases of
wealth, who preferred a residence in the
country to one in the city.
"It is in this paradise of suburban
homes that the President has selected
his country residence, and the people
who drive out along the Tenleytown road
may see the two-story stone house with
its old-fashioned hip roof, nestled among
the old forest trees where the Woodley
lane intersects with the Tenleytown road.
The house is now occupied by Mr. A.
R. Green, and it has come to him from
his grandfather, Uriah Forrest, who, in
1790, purchased a large tract of land
known as Pretty Prospect. This tract
extended down nearly to the city limits,
p-nd has since been very much sub
divided.
“The house occupied by Mrs. Green, as
well as the grounds, will need some im
provements before the President can
take possession. The house is already
roomy, there being a wide central hall
and rooms on each side with spacious
porches. It is understood that it is the
intention to replace the present high
roof with a mansard, and at one corner
build a tower from which a view can
be had, it is said, as far down the river
as Mount Vernon. The elevation of the
house is 388 feet above the tide."
This letter is from a reader who recalls
the Terra Cotta wreck:
"My Dear Mr. Proctor:
"I read with interest all your articles
dealing with old-time Washington. I
grew up very near the locality where you
lived as a boy.
“The article in yesterday’s Star, De
cember 28, 1941, war especially absorbing,
as my mother and sister were both in the
Terra Cotta wreck. My mother’s name
was not mentioned, but it was the and
not a man that was taken from under
the wheels of the engine, for I was right
there on the bank beside the track.
My sister was badly injured and
eventually died from the effects of her
injuries.
"After she was thrown from the car,
she was in the last seat that was left,
she had the presence of mind to tele
phone me at our home in North Takoma,
and my husband and I went to her aid.
When my mother’s body was taken from
under the engine he identified her and
stayed with her while my sister and /
were taken home; then I telephoned tht
undertaker, Mr. Speare, and my mother
was the only one killed that night that
did not go to the morgue.
“I thought this might interest you.
“Very truly yours,
. “MINNIE PDRMAN JENKINS