Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) -- Description and travel; Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) -- History
Some of the Key family lived here years ago, I suppose, of course,
relatives or descendants of those two famous lawyers here, Philip Barton
Key and his nephew, Francis Scott Key. And nearby lived another _real_
Marylander named Mary Ritchie.
And speaking of names, the strangest woman's name turned up in the title
of 3321, which in 1818 was owned by Harry McCleery. He had five
daughters and in his will left $3,000.00 to each of four of them; among
these, one named Zerniah. To Clarissa, the fifth, he left the house he
lived in (this house) and the stone houses on the corner adjoining, with
all thereto belonging to be held in trust for her by her two brothers. I
wonder if Clarissa was an invalid or if it was the law that, at that
time, a woman could not hold property!
This house later on in the eighties and for twenty years or more was the
home of the Humes. Mr. Thomas L. Hume and his wife, Annie Graham
Pickrell left a large family of children when they died early.
Mr. Hume also owned a place a little way out of town. One day when
General Grant, who was a friend of his, was there Mr. Hume said he
couldn't think of a name for the place. General Grant looked around and
noticing the walnut trees said, "Why not turn walnut around and call it
"Tunlaw"?" And so Tunlaw Road came into being, back behind Mt. Alto
Hospital.
Just to the east of 3321 P Street was the old Lutheran burying-ground.
About the time of the Civil War it seems to have been abandoned and the
records lost. And near here stands the Lutheran Church, the fourth
building on this site, for this church dates back to 1769, when it was a
little log building. According to tradition, Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch
preached his first sermon here when he came to be Pastor of the
Presbyterians. A prized possession of this church is a very old German
Bible printed in Tuebingen in 1730. Another treasured possession is the
bell, over a hundred years old, which, at one time, was purchased by a
congregation in West Virginia, but after twenty-five years, was
reclaimed and brought back by a faithful church Councilman and housed
under a small stone structure of its own. It is believed to have been
cast in Europe.
Crossing High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and cutting down to Beall (O)
Street, one comes to what used to be Hazel's stable--his initials, "W.
C. H." are in the bricks up in the peak at the top of the building. Here
the doctors kept their carriages, here "hacks" were hired when needed
for parties or funerals, and here was kept for a month or so every fall
and spring my little bay mare, _Lady Leeton_, and the red-wheeled
runabout which was brought in from Hayes for my use.
I can see Mr. Hazel now in his buggy, he weighed about three hundred
pounds and his side of the buggy almost touched the ground as he drove
about town.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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