As I Remember
friends, in recognition of his conspicuous services during the Civil
War, he at once declined the offer, saying that he had been sufficiently
remunerated, and requested that the money raised for the purpose should
be given in charity. A distinguished Union General, who had already
accepted a house, remonstrated with him and said: "Thomas, if you refuse
to accept that house it will make it awkward for us." General Thomas's
characteristic response was: "You may take as many houses as you please,
but I shall accept none."
At this time the house 14 Lafayette Square, now Jackson Place, still
standing but very much altered, was owned and occupied by Purser and
Mrs. Francis B. Stockton and the latter's sister, daughters of Captain
James McKnight of the Marine Corps and nieces of Commodore Stephen
Decatur. Purser Stockton once told me that he had purchased this home
for seven thousand dollars. The house prior to his ownership had been
the residence of a number of families of distinction, among others the
Southards and Monroes.
After giving up our home in New York I made a visit of some weeks to my
friends, the family of William Kemble, who was still residing on St.
John's Park in New York. While there we were invited to an old-fashioned
supper at the home of Mr. Peter Goelet, a bachelor, on the corner of
Nineteenth Street and Broadway, presided over by his sister, Mrs. Hannah
Greene Gerry. Upon the lawn of this house Mr. Goelet indulged his
ornithological tastes by a remarkable display of various species of
turkeys with their broods, together with peacocks and silver and golden
pheasants. As can be readily understood, this was a remarkable sight in
the heart of a great city, and caused much admiration from passers-by.
It has been said that at one time William W. Corcoran's father kept a
shoe store in Georgetown, and that the son, one of the most conspicuous
benefactors of the city of Washington, was very proud of the fact. I
have also heard it said, although I cannot vouch for the truth of the
statement, that the son cherished his father's business sign as one of
his valued possessions. Whether or not these allegations agree or
conflict with the explicit statement concerning his father made by
William W. Corcoran himself, is left for others to judge. The latter
wrote concerning his father: "Thomas Corcoran came to Baltimore in 1783,
and entered into the service of his uncle, William Wilson, as clerk,
beginning with a salary of fifty pounds sterling a year.... He brought
his family to Georgetown and commenced the shoe and leather business on
Congress Street," etc., etc. Be the facts as they may, a witticism of
William Thomas Carroll was a _bon mot_ of the day many years ago in
Washington. Upon being asked upon one occasion whether he knew the elder
Mr. Corcoran, he replied: "I have known him from first to _last_ and
from _last_ to first." Mr. Carroll for thirty-six years was Clerk of the
Supreme Court of the United States, and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney
paid him a well-earned tribute when he stated that he was "an
accomplished and faithful officer, prompt and exact in business, and
courteous in manner, and during the whole period of his judicial life
discharged the duties of his office with justice to the public and the
suitors, and to the entire satisfaction of every member of the Court."
At the period of which I am speaking, some of the clerical positions in
the various departments of the government were filled by members of
families socially prominent. Francis S. Markoe and Robert S. Chew, for
example, were clerks in the State Department, and Archibald Campbell and
James Madison Cutts held similar positions. For many years women were
not employed by the government. It is said that the first one regularly
appointed was Miss Jennie Douglas, and that she received her position
through the instrumentality of Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the
Treasury, at the request of General Francis E. Spinner, Treasurer of the
United States. She was assigned to the duty of cutting and trimming
treasury-notes, a task that had hitherto been performed with shears by
men. General Spinner subsequently stated that her first day's work
"settled the matter in her and in women's favor." James Madison Cutts,
at one time Second Comptroller of the Treasury under Buchanan, married
Ellen Elisabeth O'Neill, who, with her sister Rose, subsequently Mrs.
Robert Greenhow, resided in the vicinity of Washington. Both sisters
possessed much physical beauty. Madison Cutts, as he was generally
called, was a nephew of "Dolly" Madison, and his father, Richard Cutts,
was once a Member of Congress from New Hampshire.
It is to the kindness of Mrs. Madison Cutts that I owe the memory of a
pleasant visit to Mrs. Madison. She took me to call upon her one
afternoon, and I shall never forget the impression made upon me by her
turban and long earrings. Her surroundings were of a most interesting
character and her graceful bearing and sprightly presence, even in
extreme old age, have left a lasting picture upon my memory. Her niece,
"Dolly" Paine, was living with her at her residence on the corner of H
Street and Madison Place, now forming a part of the Cosmos Club. Todd
Paine, her son, unfortunately did not prove to be a source of much
satisfaction to her. He survived his mother some years and eventually
the valuable Madison manuscripts and relics became his property. At the
time of his death in Virginia this interesting collection was brought to
Washington, where, I am informed, some of it still remains as the
cherished possession of the McGuire family. Mr. and Mrs. Madison Cutts
were devotees of society and consequently they and Mrs. Madison met upon
common ground. The afternoon of my memorable visit to this former
mistress of the White House I remember meeting quite a number of
visitors in her drawing-room, as temporary sojourners at the National
Capital were often eager to meet the gracious woman who had figured so
conspicuously in the social history of the country.
I knew Madison Cutts's daughter, Rose Adele Cutts, or "Addie" Cutts, as
she was invariably called, when she first entered society. Her
reputation for beauty is well known. I always associate her with
japonicas, which she usually wore in her hair and of which her numerous
bouquets were chiefly composed. Her father frequently accompanied her to
balls, and in the wee small hours of the night, as he became weary, I
have often been amused at his summons to depart--"Addie, _allons_." As
quite a young woman, Addie Cutts married Stephen A. Douglas, the "Little
Giant," whom Lincoln defeated in the memorable presidential election of
1860. It is said that her ambition to grace the White House had much to
do with the disruption of the Democratic party, as it was she who urged
Douglas onward; and everyone knows that the division of the Democratic
vote between Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckenridge resulted in the
election of Lincoln. Some years after Douglas's death, his widow married
General Robert Williams, U.S.A., by whom she had a number of children,
one of whom is the wife of Lieutenant Commander John B. Patton, U.S.N.
Mrs. Madison Cutts's sister, Mrs. Robert Greenhow, was a woman of
attractive appearance and unusual ability. Her husband was a Virginian
by birth and a man of decided literary tastes. When I first knew her she
was a widow, and but few romances can excel in interest one period of
her career. She was a social favorite and her house was the rendezvous
of the prominent Southern politicians of the day. This, of course, was
before the Civil War, during a portion of which she made herself
conspicuous as a Southern spy. At the commencement of the struggle her
zeal for the Southern cause became so conspicuous and offensive to the
authorities in Washington that she was arrested and imprisoned in her
own house on Sixteenth Street, near K Street. Later she was confined in
the "Old Capitol Prison." General Andrew Porter, U.S.A., whose widow
still resides in Washington and is one of my cherished friends, was
Provost Marshal of the District of Columbia at this time, and as such
Mrs. Greenhow was in his charge during her imprisonment. This duty was
made so irksome to him that, upon one occasion, he exclaimed in
desperation that he preferred to resign his position rather than to
continue such an uncongenial task. It has been stated that information
conveyed by her to the Confederates precipitated the Battle of Bull Run,
which was so disastrous to the Union Army. Her conduct, even in prison,
was so aggressive that the government officials decided she was
altogether too dangerous a character to remain in Washington. They
accordingly sent her, accompanied by her young daughter Rose, within the
Southern lines, fearing that even behind prison bars her ingenuity
might devise some method of communicating with the enemy. From the South
she went to London, where she published, in 1863, a volume entitled, "My
Imprisonment and the First Years of Abolition Rule at Washington," to
which I have already referred. I have heard that this book had quite a
circulation in Great Britain, but that an attempt was made to suppress
it in the United States. The last year of the war, Mrs. Greenhow was
returning to America with considerable money acquired by the sale of her
book, which she carried with her in gold. She took passage upon a
blockade-runner which, after pursuit, succeeded in reaching the port of
Wilmington, North Carolina. She was descending from her ship into a
small boat to go on shore when she made a false step and fell into the
water. Her gold tied around her neck held her down and she was drowned.
Her remains were recovered and brought to the town hall, where they laid
in state prior to an imposing funeral service. She was regarded
throughout the South as a martyr to its cause.
Old Washingtonians who recall Mrs. Greenhow's eventful career will
associate with her, in a way, Mrs. Philip Phillips, who was also active
in the Southern cause, and whose husband represented Alabama with much
ability for one term in Congress. He subsequently remained in
Washington, where he was known as a distinguished advocate before the
Supreme Court. Mrs. Phillips's enthusiastic friendship for the South
made serious trouble for herself and family. The first year of the war,
all of them were sent across the Union lines, and went to New Orleans,
where General Benjamin F. Butler was in command. A few days after her
arrival she Was brought before him charged with "making merry" over the
passing funeral of Captain George Coleman De Kay of New York, an officer
in the Union Army. When General Butler inquired why she laughed, she
replied: "Because I was in a good humor." Unable longer to suppress his
indignation, Butler exclaimed: "If such women as you and Mrs. Greenhow
are let loose, our lives are in jeopardy." Mrs. Phillips's reply was:
"We of the South hire butchers to kill our swine." Another day a search
was made in Mrs. Phillips's house for information concerning the
Confederacy which she was thought to have. When personally searched and
compelled to remove her shoes, she suggested that it was impossible for
a Northern man to get his hand inside a Southern woman's shoe. General
Butler finally ordered Mrs. Phillips to be confined on an island near
New Orleans, and placed over her a guard whose duty it was to watch her
night and day. I have often heard her give an account of her life under
these trying circumstances. She said she lived in a large "shoe
box"--whatever that meant--and that her meals were served to her three
times a day upon a tin plate. From what I have already said, it is
apparent that she was an exceedingly witty woman. One day, while walking