Chapter I

"One with a flash begins, and ends in smoke;
Another out of smoke brings glorious light,
And, (without raising expectation high)
Surprises us with dazzling miracles"

-ROSCOMMON.

Joseph Addison in the Spectator suggests that "this life is but a circulation of little mean actions. We lie down and rise again, dress and undress, feed and wax hungry, work or play, and are weary, and then we lie down again, and the circle returns". He suggests that we should be adventurers for another world, that world where we can be eternally happy.

We cannot help but think of the adventurers who came to this new world and of what they found here. It is sufficient for our purpose that our reflections be confined to the area we know as the District of Columbia. Before the white man came it was a vast forest inhabited by the Anacostia Indian Tribe and a para­dise of abundance in animal life. The first discovery of bison in eastern North America was made in this vicinity in 1612. Captain John Smith wrote of "canowes wellioaden with the flesh of beares, deere and other beasts". He spoke of otters, martins and minks. Others tell us of turkeys, ducks, wolves and wild cats. We are also told that some eighty kinds of fishes came into our waters including fourteen sea fishes among which was the shark which came infrequently up to our eastern branch of the Potomac. Un­doubtedly this was a very happy hunting ground.

If MANNACASSET, Chief of the Anacostia Tribe could re­turn he would not recognize his old domain. The forests have gone, the hills and valleys have been partly destroyed and the waters are no longer sweet. About the only thing that would bring a gleam into his eye, would be the word ANACOSTIA.

On this side of the River lived members of his Tribe. Their houses were made of poles bent over and fastened at the top and then covered by bark. The men shaved their heads on the right side, and allowed the hair on the left to hang down in a long lock. Bird claws, small snakes or like interesting articles, hung from holes in their ears. 'l'he women tattooed their bodies, limbs and faces and the girls were distinguished from the married women by having their hair cut short in front and at the sides. All writers seem to agree that the Indian thought not of tomorrow, his body altered with his diet in the different seasons, and he grew fat or lean, strong or weak "Even as the deer and wilde beasts" wrote Captain John Smith. The Captain with fourteen compan­ions in an open boat ascended the Potomac, proceeding to Little Falls about five miles above Washington. His record of 1608 was followed by that made when a party from Jamestown in search of supplies raided and plundered the Indian Village. Thereafter Henry Fleet, a fur trader explored and stayed in this area for many months. In 1632 he traded with the N ascostines or Ana­costian Tribe and by some authorities is said to be the first white man to set foot on the soil of the District of Columbia. About twenty of his companions were killed and he was either captured or decided to stay with the Indians. Leonard Calvert, brother of Lord Baltimore found him with them and carried him back to civilization. Henry Fleet published his experiences, became a member of the Maryland House of Assembly in 1638 and lived near the mouth of the Potomac, in the locality still known as Fleet Point.

Anacostia, Mattawoman, Potomac, Piscataway, Accokeek, Ac­cotink and Pohick are all names of Indian origin.

The Indian had to go and the pace was swift. The records indicate that Blue Plains was patented to George Thompson by Lord Baltimore in 1662. In 1683, St. Elizabeths and Giesboro were named in grants. Bladensburg was laid out in 1742 and was a trading post earlier. Alexandria was laid out in 1749 but had many inhabitants earlier. Georgetown was laid out in 1749 but was a trading post as early as 1703. Migrants and hunters bound for the Ohio region had to come this way.

When the District of Columbia was established, four towns existed in the ceded area, Alexandria, Georgetown, Carrollsburg and Hamburgh. Alexandria and Georgetown had corporate exis­tence and were sizable for that day. Carrollsburg was a tract on the northern bank of the Potomac's Eastern Branch, east of Arsenal Point containing one hundred sixty acres subdivided into two hundred sixty-eight lots shown recorded in the records of Marl­borough November 2, 1770. Hamburgh, also called Funkstown, fronted the Potomac near twenty-fourth street. It contained one hundred acres or two hundred eighty-seven lots being subdivided by Jacob Funk and recorded by him in Marlborough, Maryland, October 28, 1771.

The early maps show no other towns except the small village of Anacostia across the Eastern Branch. This was the town of traders. Here the ships passed back and forth, because Bladens­burg was cnj oying a rich commercial activity long before the Capital City was conceived. This early trading post was at the head of navigation on the Potomac. The Iron Horse destroyed its chance as one of our greatest cities. The Potomac began to fill. With opposition of the rails, it did not pay to dredge and soon the large ships no longer sailed by Anacostia to Bladensburg.

The Eastern Branch

This body of water historically is also known as the "Anacostia River" or "St. Thomas Bay".

It was a very profitable fishing ground. Shad and herring by the millions came into these waters and thousands of barrels were sold throughout the country. As late as the '70's (1870) seine hawling was a familiar sight, both above and below the Navy Yard Bridge. Buzzard and Giesboro Points were most valuable fishing rights. The white man has certainly been destructive. Once there were eighty varieties of fish in the Potomac-once the plains were filled with buffalo. The red man had good reason to hate the white. The waters once was sweet and so full with life that writers suggest that Buzzard's Point obtained its name from the fact that vultures frequented the neighborhood to feed upon the remains of fish that were washed upon the shore.

The farmers, fishers and traders on the southeast side of the river undoubtedly were much concerned about the difficulties or reaching the markets in Alexandria and Georgetown. As the popu­lation increased, the Ferry sel'vice became more and more inade­quate and the high tolls more and more intolerable. From 1795 to 1820, there were three bridge companies chartered by Maryland with the approval of Congress, to finance the construction of as many bridges across the Eastern Branch. If the Brady picture of the 1860 bridge from the Navy Yard to Anacostia is a good example, then the bridges of the early period were poor indeed.

However, it was the bridges that helped to build the area. It was in 1854 that the Union Land Association purchased from Enoch Tucker, one hundred acres of farm land and subdivided it into blocks and lots. They called the subdivision UNIONTOWN. The lots, 24x130, sold fast, perhaps because of the method of pay­ment-three dollars a month for 25 months. This subdivision embraced the area bounded by the south side of Good Hope Road to the north side of W Street and from the east side of Nichols Avenue to the west side of Sixteenth Street. Nearly all the streets were named for former Presidents of the United States and con­tinued to be so named until 1908. Good Hope Road was Harrison Street, U was Jackson, V was Washington, W Street was Jefferson, Nichols Avenue was Monroe Street, Thirteenth Street was Fillmore, Fourteenth Street was Pierce, Fifteenth Street was Adams and Sixteenth Street was Taylor. Back in 1849, a post office had been established in ANACOSTIA and this group came along and changed the name. The change remained from 1854 to 1868, the year we received our charter.

Bridges

The year is 1814. Residents of Anacostia had ring side seats for a great drama~"The Burning of Washington".

Those not called to arms may have seen some wonderful sights if brave enough to have stayed at home. Excitement undoubtedly ran high as reports told of the landing of British troops at Bene­dict, Maryland under command of General Ross on their way to attack Washington. These troops numbered 4500 well trained Wellington veterans. The girls and boys of Anacostia were going to see war first hand. Gunboats from the Navy Yard fired our bridges. The upper bridge was just a little south of our present Sousa Bridge. The British marched to Bladensburg. The new fire rocket they were using was just too much and the battle was brief indeed. Our militia joined the fleeing citizens on the pike to Rockville. On the 24th of August the redcoats were in Washington.

They found that the Americans had set the torch to the Navy Yard, burned a frigate almost ready for launching and many other things that might have been useful to the enemy. In­stead of putting out the fires the British burned the Capitol, the White House and every public building in Washington with one exception-the Patent Office. They worked fast and it is recorded that the fire they made could be seen as far away as Baltimore. They tarried but a day reaching Benedict on the 29th and re­embarking on the 30th.

The flames and ashes proved a blessing. Attention was di­rected to this location and the people of America were determined that a permanent seat of government would be built on the ashes left by the invader. All in America rallied to the side of the humiliated City. It is interesting to note that before the fire, not a single member of Congress had a permanent home in Washington. In most instances, they came without their families and lived in boarding houses during the sessions of Congress. With the re­vival of interest, and vast public works, attitudes changed and Washington began its onward march to destined glory. The bridges were rebuilt but it was not until 1849 that Congress appropriated for their purchase and provided that thereafter they should be toll free. One old bridge which lives in memory is the one built in 1875 from the Navy Yard to Anacostia. It was an iron and ma­sonry bridge, composed of fourteen iron deck truss spans. It measured seventeen hundred feet, with a twenty foot roadway and a five foot sidewalk. It was a mighty noisy bridge but it was strong. We have seen the old Eastern Branch pour its waters right over the bridge. What a stream it must have been in the old days when Indians plowed its waters. People now live on what was marsh land and the reed bird hunter's guns are silenced.

This old bridge was replaced in 1907 by the present concrete structure.

The Anacostia Bridge Company built the Bennings Bridge in 1800. We are told that some of the most important members of the Colonial gentry were stockholders in this Company. These men
owned large tracts of land in the eastern section of the District. That bridge was burned by the British and the owners were com­pensated by the United States. The Company rebuilt the bridge and thereafter sold it to William Benning in 1823. This gentleman kept it in fair condition and operated it as a toll bridge for many years. In 1892 the United States built an iron trestle on the site and thereafter in 1934, the City replaced it with the present bridge. Today we glory in the beauty of the South Capitol Street Bridge and this writer was Master of Ceremonies at the dedication of that structure. We also have the new Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge and we look forward to the tomorrows when other bridges will be erected.

CHARTER
of
Anacostia Lodge, No. 21, F.A.A.M.
United States of America
The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia

To Whom It May Concern:

Know ye, That we, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, duly established, constituted, and organized for the said District, do hereby constitute and appoint our trusty and well-beloved brethren William F. Farish as the first Worshipful Master, George H. Martin as the first Senior Warden and Charles S. Wheeler as the first Junior Warden of a new Lodge to be held in the Town of Uniontown, in the District aforesaid, by the name of Anacostia Lodge No. 21, under the authority and jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the District aforesaid; and we do hereby empower our trusty and well beloved brethren William F. Farish, George H. Martin and Charles S. Wheeler and their successors in office, when duly elected and installed, to hold their Lodge at such room within the Town of Uniontown as they may deem convenient for their meetings, and at such times as they shall judge proper, and to admit and make Free Masons according to the established usages of the Craft, and we do further authorize the said brethren and their successors to hear and determine all and singular such matters and things as relate to the Craft within the jurisdiction of Ana­costia Lodge, with the assistance of the members thereof; and lastly, we do hereby authorize and empower the said trusty and well beloved brethren to install their successors, being first duly elected as such, to whom they shall deliver this Warrant of Constitution, and invest them with all their powers and dignities as Freemasons, and such successors shall in like man­ner install their successors, etc. Such installation to be on or near the anni­versary of St. John the Evangelist, during the continuance of this Grand Lodge: PROVIDED ALWAYS, That the above named brethren and their successors pay due respect to this Grand Lodge and to the ordinances there­of; otherwise this Warrant of Constitution to be void and of no effect.

In Testimony Whereof the installed officers of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia have hereunto subscribed their names and caused the seal of the Grand Lodge to be affixed, at the city of Wash­ington, this twenty-eighth day of December, A.L. 5868.A.D.1868.

R. B. Donaldson - Grand Master

Joseph B. Will - Deputy Grand Master

J. H. Russell - Senior Grand Warden

Warren H. Orcutt - Junior Grand Warden

C. Cammack, Sr. - Grand Treasurer

Attest
Noble D. Larner - Grand Secretary

 *****

It is difficult for us to realize that in the year 1868 the popu­lation of the District of Columbia was only somewhere around 120,000. When Lincoln came our streets were all either mud or dust. Where we have Constitution Avenue, they had the Tiber. Some called it Goose Creek. There were times however when it was more than a creek. P. L. Philips wrote about Washington in the "fifties" and in article said in part: "The Tiber Ineandered its slimy way from the northeastern hills through the eastern half of the City, and was lost in the basin at the junction of 3rd and 41j2 Streets. It crossed Pennsylvania Avenue at 2nd Street under a bridge, and passed on through what is now the conservatory grounds. It may have been a year or two before the war that a carriage was overturned and precipitated down the steep bank of the creek, at the junction of the street with the Avenue. There were two men inside who were drowned, and I believe the driver also."

"A tributary of this famous stream passed diagonally through Judiciary Square, from the northwest to the southeast * * * (he tells of a citizen who was drowned in this area) * * * "another small :stream ran through the square on which the Masonic Temple stands, and right at the point where F crossed the stream there was no railing on the upper side." The northwest had its "Slash Run" and hundreds of acres in the northwest were known as "Slash Run Swamp", "whose nightly vapors rendered the bordering heights tenantable only at the risk of malarial fevers".

In these "good old days" St. Elizabeths was well known as the National Race Track. During the war, hundreds of horses were stabled at Giesboro Point for the Union Army. Soldiers were quartered in the White House and other public buildings. Soldiers cooked their meals in the open, back of the Treasury, and the Capitol building was a great bakery. Sixty-eight forts surrounded the City and there were ninety-three manned batteries.

Charles Dickens made the citizens mad when he wrote about Washington in 1842 and neither did Mr. George A. Townsend please them when he wrote about conditions in 1860.-"When the rebellion began, the following was the appearance of the City: Not one street was paved for any great consecutive distance; there was not a street car in the city; the Capitol was without a dome and the new wings were filled with workmen. No Fire Depart­ment worthy of the name was to be seen, and a mere constabulary comprised the police. . . . The water supply was wholly afforded by pumps and springs. Gas has been in partial use for several years, but little else was lighted except Pennsylvania Avenue and the public buildings.  * * *"

As an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the District of Co­lumbia, I became acquainted with Doctor William Tindall. I used him as a witness in many of my condemnation cases. He was the grand old man of the Municipal Government. He was born in 1844. He passed through this city on his way to the battle of Antietam and came here to live in 1866. He was a doctor of medi­cine and a lawyer. In 1869, he became the secretary to the mayor of Washington; thereafter secretary to the Governor and then sec­retary to the Board of Commissioners from 1874 to 1915. In his old age he had charge of the information bureau of the District Government. In the middle twenties I was using him as a witness in the courts. He was a writer of note. This is what he wrote about Washington as it appeared in 1871, just three years after our charter was issued.

"Nearly all the streets were dirt roadways. Where they were imprO'ved, they were rudely cO'vered with gravel, frO'm which in dry weather clO'uds of dust arose . . . and were almost impassable in rain. The few that were improved with a more durable surface (excepting Pennsylvania A venue, which was paved with wood, and the square O'n Vermont Avenue between H and I Streets which was paved by Major BO'wen with coal tar concrete) were paved with the roughest O'f cobble or other irregularly shaped stone, destructive alike to' vehicles which traveled upon them and to' the nerves of thO'se by whom those vehicles were occupied. As late as 1871, a fire engine was stalled up to the hubs in the soft roadway, between E and F Streets, NO'rthwest. Fire apparatus was occasionally obliged to' travel on the sidewalk in resPO'nding to' alarms in unusually wet weather. The paved sidewalks were few."

Just think of it. In 1871, our Brethren could drive their teams down Pennsylvania Avenue on a wooden pavement over cobblestone.

Many of us remember the old days of lamps and the coming of gas. We remember the mud and the dust. We remember when cows and sheep. hogs and chickens were kept within the District of Columbia. We have seen them slaughtered on Good Hope Road near Thompson's store and have helped to drive cattle through the streets of Anacostia to the Hennings Slaughter House. We re­member the bitter cold winters, the completely frozen Potomac, the streets of ice and the frozen pumps. With lamps for light, sanitary facilities way back in the yard, no heat in any bedroom, we struggled through some mighty severe winters.

Now we live in the golden age and God has been more than good.

The reader will observe that the Charter used the following language to describe its new creation: "a new Lodge to be held in the Town of Uniontown, in the District aforesaid, by the name of Anacostia Lodge, No. 21." Examination of the records disclose that members at the time they signed the roster, even as now, were required to write in their address. Some wrote Uniontown and some Anacostia. The situation apparently disturbed the Post Office Department for in 1868 we find that the Postmaster General took it upon himself to change the name of the entire area to Ana­costia. This action was approved by the Congress for the name "Anacostia" was made permanent by an Act of Congress approved April 22, 1886.