Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1914 — TOWN WASHINGTON LOVED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TOWN WASHINGTON LOVED

OMEN have done much at {■■TT*. Alexandria, Va., to preI Wen/ I serve the relics of the I wW I days of G€Or & e WashingT V I ton. It is not the capital I of the nation, despite its name, that is richest in npst wvblj intimate asso ci a tions uwE'WtV with of the ® rst vSgffltOT president, bu t AlexanllWwMftf dria, which stands midW/Jwvl way between Mount VerX mAJI non and the city of Wash7 ington.

Alexandria played no small part in the formative years of Washington’s youth and early manhood. A representative Virginia town, it stood then and for generations later for all that •was best of colonial standards. Its people had much to do with the molding of Washington’s character, and Washington richly repaid Alexandria, or Belle Haven as it was first called, by 'his never failing concern for its welfare and advancement. Probably no surviving structure in Alexandria harbored Washington within its hospitable walls more frequently than the old Carlyle house, and certainly none was more directly associated with the foundation of the military side of his life. Strange as it may seem, for many years this hisitorical landmark has been hidden away behind the battered front of Alexandria’s once noted hotel, the Braddock house, occupying one corner of the in ■ner courtyard, shut away from the public gaze and denied the outlook of the broad approach which It once enjoyed In the days of its well nigh baronial importance. Until a few years ago 'the Carlyle house was largely used as a storage place by a local dealer in ■colonial antiques, but a few patriotic 'Virginia women saved the building from further indignity, though not entirelyfrom danger, as the old furniture found a new abiding place within ‘the still more inflammable Braddock house, adjoining. In 1732 John S. Carlyle Imported from the Isle of "Wight the stone of •which the house is built, and he absorbed for part of the foundation a portion of an old fort which had been ibullt many years before for the protection of the English traders at Hunting ■Creek, as the place was then known, Against the Indians. The barracks of that ancient defense became the cellar <of the Carlyle house, and in those cool, dark, dry retreats were stored in Washington’s day the bulging casks, ■cob-webbed bottles, and delicious old ’hams for which Virginia has long been noted. Another part of the old fort forms 'the plaza at the rear of the house upon which the broad central hallway opens. It was upon this plaza, in the •far away days, that the Carlyles and ■their guests gathered on summer evenings to discuss the questions of the ■time or to pass the hours chatting ■over a heartsome glass amid the smoke of the fragrant Oronoko. It was there the young people watched the moon rise over the river and took their pleasures in the deco:ous manner of those days. Then, the gardens ran down to the river’s bank and overlooked the docks at which the trading craft were moored —trading craft that came from over

the seas to barter the silks and riches of the east and the tropic abundance of the West Indies in return for the famous tobacco with which Alexandria’s one big warehouse was filled. That was a period of bounteous hospitality and courtly grace. On the right of the broad hallway is the large drawing room. In Washington’s day it was finished in gold and white, and there on many occasions he took an active part in ball and festivity and led many a fair Virginian through the stately steps of the minuet and the less exacting reel. The hallway itself, if tradition be correst, is not without its sentimental interest, for it was at the foot of the beautiful staircase of solid mahogany that Washington awaited the coming of the lovely Sally Fairfax upon a particular evening and while escorting her into the ballroom offered her his heart, which she rejected. On the opposite side of this same hall is the blue and white room, which was John Carlyle’s particular retreat. Within that room Washington received his commission as a member of General Braddock’s staff in 1755. What that meant to Washington we can only partly divine, but there is no doubt of its significance to us as a nation because of what it taught him of the fighting ways of the British soldier. From the broad portico of Mount Vernon Washington saw Braddock arrive with his transports and his regiments of red coated soldiery and pass onward to Alexandria, nine miles above, coming with the splendid traditions of the king’s troops and with all the martial fanfare of regulars. As a leader of the local provincial troops Washington had won for himself a creditable renown, but here were soldiers supposedly of sterner stuff and higher military capabilities. General Braddock promptly accepted the hospitable invitation of John Carlyle and established his headquarters roof of that gracious host, the little blue and white room becoming the council chamber in which were planned the preparations for that memorable but ill fated campaign against the Indians. Washington’s previous experience as a leader of local troops against the savages made him welcome at those conferences and his keen judgment and practical advice earned for him Braddock’s admiration and the invitation to serve upon the British general’s staff. It is enough to add that in the trying work that followed the British records testify that “the Virginia officers and troops behaved like men and died like soldiers,” and Washington came out of the strife unscathed and riper for the far more serious task that lay ahead of him. The architectural student will find much to Interest nlm and to warrant study in the Carlyle house. The old windows, the doorways, the primitive cupboards, chairboards, doorsteps, cornices, molding, etc., are exquisite In taste and risb-dn-qwaintnees and elegance of detail. There they are as they were in Washington’s time, and in common with the rest of the mansion are regarded as among the best specimens of the so-called colonial styje. In February, 1752, a market was in-

stituted in Alexandria and the citizens were justly proud of their enterprise. The market place then lay directly in front of the approach to the Carlyle house and that same mart of country produce was intimately identified with Washington’s domestic life at Mount Vernon and was one other means of displaying his common sense. We of toSay know but little of the hardships of that colonial period, and feasting was not always as abundant as the etory book would have it. Rev. Mr. Weems, that chatty chronicler of the times, tells us that Alexandria then boasted more rightly of its beauty than its means of charming the palate. “The neighborhood of Belle Haven was not a desert; on the contrary it was in many places a garden spot, abounding with luxuries. But its inhabitants, the wealthy, were not wise. By the successful culture of tobacco they had money. And having filled their coach houses with gilt carriages and their dining rooms with gilt glasses they began to look down upon the poorer sort and to talk about families. “Of course it would never do for such great people to run market carts I Hence the poor Belle Havenites, though embosomed in plenty, were often in danger of gnawing their nails. And unless they could cater a lamb from some good natured ‘cracker’ or a leash of chickens from the Sunday negroes were obliged to sit down with long faces to a half graced dinner of salt meat and journey cake. “This was the order of the day, A. D. ’59, when Washington, just married to the wealthy young widow Custis, had settled at Mount Vernon, nine miles below Belle Haven. The unpleasant situation of the families at that place soon reached his ears. To a man of his character, with too much spirit to follow a bad example when he had the power to set a good one and too much wit to look for happiness anywhere but in his own bosom, it could not long be questionable what part he had to act. "A market cart was instantly constructed, and regularly three times a week sent off to Belle Haven filled with nice roasters, kidney covered lamb and veal, green geese, fat ducks and gobblers, chickens hy”tHe basket, fresh butter, new laid eggs, vegetables and fruits of all sorts. Country gentlemen dining with their friends in town very soon remarked the welcome change in diet. ‘Bless us all,’ exclaimed they, ‘what’s the meaning of this? You invited us to family fare, and here you have given us a lord mayor’s feast.’ ‘Yes,’ replied the others, ‘thank God for sending a Colonel "Washington into our neighborhood.’ ”