much frequented by teamsters, drovers and small farmers. Attached to each were large courtyards with extensive stabling where the many wagons and teams could be cared for. In the late afternoon these taverns were busy and hustling places. In addition there were a number of hotels, the principal one being the Union Hotel, formerly Crawfords, which occupied the northeast corner of M and 30th Streets, with additions extending northwardly to Olive Avenue, which in its day was a famous hostelry and as such continued for many years after the war. In the days before my birth it was the stopping place of the most distinguished men in public life. William Wirt in a letter written to his wife from Georgetown on October 14, 1814, not two months after the British had burned the Capitol, says:

"Here I am at Crawfords. I am surrounded by a vast crowd of legislators and gentlemen, assembled here for the races, which are to commence tomorrow. The races? amidst the ruins and desolation of Washington.

In my day it was the home of many ladies and gentlemen, friends of our family, and I went there frequently. The main building differed but little from others, but north of this and running north upon 30th Street to the next street was a wing of one or two stories high and one room deep, the doors opening into a covered. corridor supported by brick arches, beyond which was a large courtyard paved with stone. The rooms along this corridor were occupied entirely by gentlemen, many being planters from the lower river counties of Maryland and Virginia. On the opposite side of the courtyard was a large building in which was a fine ballroom known as "Pompean Hall" from its mural decorations in which public entertainments and functions were held. In the older days on more than one occasion parties had gone from these festivities to the duelling

ground, resulting in one instance at least in the death of a participant. In the rear of the court were stables in which carriages owned by or for the use of guests were kept.

Transportation was attended with considerable discomfort for those not blessed with their own conveyances. There were two or three public hacks driven by old colored men, used on rare occasions or for funerals, though generally as a mark of respect all walked to the graveyard. Two of these funerals where all attending were on foot made an impression on my mind which is still vivid. One, that of Archbishop Eccleston of Baltimore, who was greatly interested in the education of girls under the care of the Sisters of the Visitation, and died in a small house on Fayette Street near the Convent in 1851 during a visit to Georgetown. His remains were borne through the streets, on the way to the railroad depot on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Capitol, attended by acolytes swinging censers, lighted candles and many priests and church dignitaries. An impressive and unusual sight! The other, that of Mr. Bodisco, the Russian Minister, in 1854, when on the way to Oak Hill Cemetery his two nephews Boris and Waldimer, both very handsome young men, clad in white uniforms, marched on either side of the hearse, accompanied by the attaches of his legation and officers of his household, also in uniform. For those who had business at the executive departments in Washington, or "the city" as we called it, and were too old or did not care to walk, there were omnibuses which went over in the morning and returned in the early afternoon; and later omnibuses which made hourly trips. Stages ran every day to Rockville, and once or more a week to Leesburg or neighboring towns. A steamboat, the old Salem, made regular trips down

the Potomac to the river landings, and the canal carried many passengers up the river to the western country.

Of course things interested the boys more than persons, but there were many characters in the town who made an impression upon our minds by what appeared peculiarities or by what was said about them. One or two tottering old men said to have been Revolutionary soldiers, old gentlemen still clinging to their knee breeches, old ladies with turbans on head and canes in hand. Then from time to time men distinguished in the history of the country drove or rode through the streets, the observed of all observers. To the boys, however, the most interesting sight was the foreign ministers, residing in the town, when on state occasions they appeared in brilliant uniforms, and in the case of the Russian minister seated in a gilded coach with driver and footman clad in bright uniforms. Then there were the high leather-spring coaches of residents, and old-fashioned two-wheeled gigs driven by old gentlemen. The people and surroundings were in almost every respect different from those of the present day.

Perhaps you have wondered why I have said nothing in regard to girls; but you must remember that the boys to whom I have referred were under fifteen years of age, and the fair sex, whatever the influence exerted in later years, occupied but little of their attention. They were real boys, not young gentlemen, who loved the open, played in the streets free from automobiles and motorcycles, and made their excursions on foot no matter how great the distance traveled. Nothing was thought of tramping out to the house of some boy friend in the country five or six miles from home, and after a strenuous day in the fields and woods tramping back again, and many holidays were happily passed in improvised camps where first lessons in simple cooking

were acquired. They were just boys, strong, active, interested in and prying into everything, and though full of mischief for the most part fairly good. The life they led was in no way the life of the city boy of the present day, but rather that of boys in small country towns. Their days were full of adventure and they got much out of life. After many years it is pleasant to recall the surroundings and occupation of my childhood days.

MEMOIRS OF BENJAMIN STODDERT, FIRST SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES

NAVY.

BY HARRIOT STODDERT TURNER.

(Read before the Society, May 16, 1916.)

Oliver Wendell Holmes says that a child's education begins with that of his grandfather. James Stoddert, grandfather of Benjamin Stoddert, First Secretary of the United States Navy, was a Scotchman by birth, a man of education and a surveyor by profession. He brought a wife with him to Maryland about 1650 and some means, which he invested in land, and settled near LaPlata, where many Stoddert tombs still exist. "In 1718 he was appointed to survey and lay out Annapolis anew" and in the same year he and Col. John Addison together patented "Friendship," a tract of 3,125 acres, part of which now belongs to the John R. McLean estate and still bears the quaint old name redolent of eighteenth century sentiment given it by its first patentees, Addison and Stoddert. It is now beautifully improved, and is yearly thrown open to some of the charitable societies of Washington, who give picturesque garden parties on the grounds. The "Friendship" between the Stoddert and Addison families which prompted the name still exists unbroken after nearly two hundred years-1718 to 1916.

Thomas Stoddert, youngest son of the surveyor, inherited twelve hundred acres of the original Falls Run tract from two of his brothers who died young. He married Sarah Marshall, daughter of "Thomas Mar