As I Remember
fifteenth member, chosen on account of his neutral position. It decided
that the Republican nominee was entitled to the electoral votes of
Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, and the Electoral College
accordingly awarded the Presidency to Mr. Hayes by a vote of 186 to 185.
The Tilden campaign was engineered by Manton Marble, an able man and the
editor of the New York _World_. I had known Mr. Tilden when he was a
great adherent of Martin Van Buren. He was a small, insignificant
looking man whose whole life was given up to politics. As I remember him
in general, he was expounding upon his favorite subject regardless of
"time and tide." His father had been affiliated with the celebrated
"Albany Regency," and the son, inheriting his views, became one of the
ablest as well as shrewdest political leaders that the Democratic party
in New York has ever known. As a lawyer his great ability was
universally recognized, and yet his last will was successfully
contested, although it had been drawn up by him with almost infinite
care and with the most scrupulous regard for details and engrossed with
his own hand.
I saw the Hayes inaugural-parade from a window on the corner of
Fifteenth Street and New York Avenue. All through the day there was a
suppressed feeling of uncertainty and excitement, but at the appointed
hour the President-elect drove to the Capitol in the usual manner and
took the oath of office. The procession which escorted him to the White
House was by no means so imposing as others I had seen, among them that
of eight years later at Cleveland's first inauguration, when General
Fitzhugh Lee rode at the head of the Virginia troops and received a
greater ovation than the new President himself. It was late in February
before it was definitely known what the final decision of the Electoral
Commission would be, and the uncertainty arising from this fact,
together with the prevailing political disquietude, doubtless had much
effect in limiting the size of the parade.
I soon made the acquaintance of President and Mrs. Hayes and was always
a welcome guest at the White House. The latter was of commanding
presence and endowed with great beauty, while she possessed moral and
intellectual traits that not only endeared her in time to the residents
of the Capital but also won for her the respect and admiration of the
people at large. She was also a woman of strong convictions and
exceptional strength of character, and rarely failed to make her
influence felt in behalf of what she believed to be right. Although, for
example, the attitude she assumed in regard to the use of wine at the
White House entertainments was a radical departure from precedent and
evoked the antagonism of many of her friends and admirers, she believed
herself to be right and successfully persevered in her course to the
end; so that William M. Evarts, Hayes's Secretary of State, kept pretty
close to the truth when he asserted years thereafter that "during the
Hayes administration water flowed at the White House like champagne!"
She was a woman of deeply religious experience and a devout member of
the Methodist Church. Washington society felt the influence of her
example, and during her residence at the White House the Sabbath was
more generally observed at the National Capital than during any other
administration I have known. As time passed and we became better
acquainted, my respect and admiration for her greatly increased. I
repeatedly spent the evening with her informally at the White House when
our intercourse was unhampered by red-tape, and it was then, of course,
that I saw her at her best. Her _role_ was by no means without its
embarrassments. She necessarily knew that many persons of prominence and
influence viewed with serious doubt the legality of her husband's title
to the Presidential chair and that there were those who even alluded to
him as "His Fraudulency"; but the world was none the wiser, so far as
she was concerned, and she pursued the "even tenor of her way," and by
the subtle influence of her character and conduct won both for her
husband and herself the admiration of many who, but for her, would
probably have remained their enemies.
In 1863 Stephen J. Field of California was appointed by President
Lincoln a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and made his residence in
one of the three dwelling-houses on Second Street facing the Capitol,
which is said to have been a gift from his brothers, David Dudley, the
eminent lawyer; Cyrus W., the father of the Atlantic cable; and the Rev.
Dr. Henry M., the eminent Presbyterian divine and versatile editor of
_The New York Evangelist_. Here the brothers met every February to
celebrate the birthday of David Dudley Field. For many years after the
destruction of the first Capitol by the British in the War of 1812, the
Field house and the two which adjoined it were used by Congress as the
seat of its deliberations. Henry Clay served within its walls as Speaker
for about ten years, and Mrs. Field took much pride in showing her
guests the mark on the wall where his desk stood. At one period before
its occupancy by Judge Field this residence was used as a boarding
house, and in its back parlor John C. Calhoun breathed his last. During
the Civil War it was used by the government with the two adjoining
houses as the "Old Capitol Prison"--but of this I have spoken in another
place. Justice Field was "a gentleman of the old school" and one of the
most courtly men in public life, while his wife was well known for her
tact, culture and exquisite taste. Their home was enriched with many
curiosities collected at home and abroad, and I especially recall a bust
of the young Emperor Augustus, an exact copy of the original in the
Vatican. Mrs. Field's sister, Miss Sarah Henderson Swearingen,
accompanied her to Washington and some years later was married from this
home to John Condit-Smith. My old friend, Dr. Charles W. Hoffman, who
for twenty years was the librarian of the U.S. Supreme Court, was a near
neighbor and friend of Judge and Mrs. Field. After a life well spent he
retired to the home of his birth in Frederick, Maryland, where he lived
for many years, surrounded by his well-loved books and art treasures. He
never married.
When I first knew Mr. and Mrs. James G. Blaine they were living on
Fifteenth Street between H and I Streets. Miss Abigail Dodge, "Gail
Hamilton," a cousin of Mrs. Blaine, resided with them and added greatly
to the charm of the establishment. The world in general as well as his
eulogists have done full justice to Mr. Blaine's amazing tact and charm
of manner; but I may be pardoned the conceit if I offer my own tribute
by referring to a graceful remark he made the first time I had the
pleasure of meeting him. I heard someone say: "Here comes Mr. Blaine,"
and as I turned and he was formally presented to me I saw before me a
distinguished looking middle-aged man of commanding presence, who, as he
raised his hat to greet me, remarked in a low and pleasant voice: "I bow
to the name!"
The social column so generally in vogue in all the large newspapers
throughout the country was introduced into Washington about 1870. Miss
Augustine Snead, who wrote under the _nom de plume_ of "Miss Grundy,"
was the first woman society reporter I ever knew. She represented
several newspapers, and she and her mother, Mrs. Fayette Snead, herself
a graceful writer under the pen name of "Fay," were seen at many
entertainments. Both of them were wide-awake and clever women. I happen
to have preserved an article which appeared in the society column of
_The Evening Star_, written by Miss Snead, which is largely made up of
puns upon the society men of the day, some of whom are now gray-haired
veterans and some, alas! are no longer here. She wrote:--
"Our society men are sighing for their rights and complain that whereas
it is only once in four years they have the privilege of being courted
and receiving special attention the social columns of the newspapers
should give them more space. We have detailed one of our corps for the
purpose with the following result. It (s)Eames to us that the officers
of the Marine Corps are Muse-ing on an exhibition of their Zeal in the
invention of a patent Payne-killer, in proof that they have not leaned
upon a broken Reed. Some one may call us Palmer (H)off of bad puns, but
we have not given A(u)lick amiss. No wonder the Marine Corps, in hourly
dread of annihilation, has its anxieties increased by the continuance of
the Alarm at the Navy Yard, the officers of that formidable little
vessel having proved through the season that it is well named, by each
striking eight _belles_ per hour."
"Eames" was my nephew, Charles Campbell Eames. "Muse" was General
William S. Muse, U.S.M.C., now residing on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland, who usually spends a portion of each year at the Capital.
"Zeal in" referred to Lieutenant William F. Zeilin, U.S.M.C., a son of
General Jacob Zeilin, U.S.M.C. "Payne" was Frederick H. Paine, formerly
in the Navy, who still makes Washington his home. "Reed" was General
George C. Reid, U.S.M.C., now residing in Washington. "(H)off" was
Captain William Bainbridge Hoff, U.S.N., who died a few years ago; and
"Palmer" was Lieutenant Aulick Palmer, formerly in the Marine Corps and
now U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia.
When I first knew the distinguished scientist, Professor Theodore E.
Hilgard, he and his wife were living on N Street, near Twelfth Street.
For many years he was Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and after an
interval of a number of years was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. Otto H.
Tittmann. The latter and his wife are now among the widely-known and
popular residents of Washington. The French Government in appreciation
of Professor Hilgard's scientific achievements presented to him a superb
vase which is now owned by Dr. Thomas N. Vincent.
About thirty years ago my daughters and I formed a friendship with
Senator and Mrs. James B. Beck of Kentucky and their daughter, the wife
of General Green Clay Goodloe of the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Beck was one
of the Democratic leaders in the Senate and was regarded as among the
ablest men of his party. He was proud of his Scotch blood and loyal in
his friendships. His wife was Miss Jane Washington Augusta Thornton,
whose grandfather, Colonel John Thornton of Rappahannock County,
Virginia, was a first cousin of General Washington. Both the Senator and
his wife have passed onward, but our affection still lives in General
and Mrs. Goodloe, who are among the best and truest friends I have ever
known.
Just before the close of the Hayes administration, Walter D. Davidge,
whose home for many years was on Sixth Street, built a large mansion on
the corner of H and Seventeenth Streets and upon its completion he and
Mrs. Davidge, who was Miss Anna Louisa Washington, gave a housewarming.
Champagne flowed freely upon this occasion and it is said that the
supper was one of the handsomest and most elaborate ever served in
Washington. The same winter my daughters attended a brilliant ball given
at Stewart Castle by its chatelaine, Mrs. William M. Stewart, whose
husband was one of the U.S. Senators from Nevada. She was the daughter
of Senator Henry S. Foote, who represented Mississippi in ante-bellum
days, and gave the ball in honor of several Virginia girls who were her
guests. She was assisted in the entertainment by her two elder
daughters, both of whom were married. Stewart Castle was well adapted
for such a social function as it was one of the few mansions in
Washington that had a spacious ballroom. This residence was quite
suburban, and the Hillyer house on Massachusetts Avenue which stood on a
high terrace was the only other dwelling in the immediate vicinity. I