Part 28 (2/2)

Two historic events have taken place in Montrose Park. The first was long ago, on September 1, 1812, when the funeral services were held here for General James Maccubbin Lingan, after his tragic death in Baltimore.

No church could be found large enough to accommodate the crowds which wished to attend. There were representatives from three cities and five counties, in those days of travel by foot, by saddle, by rowboat and by coach. General Was.h.i.+ngton's tent was spread over the stand on which were four clergymen, other dignitaries, and George Was.h.i.+ngton Parke Custis of Arlington, who delivered the oration.

The funeral cortege was escorted by Major George Peter's company. The General's horse was led behind the hea.r.s.e, where his son walked as chief mourner, followed by two heroes of the Revolution, Major Benjamin Stoddert and Colonel Philip Stuart. Light Horse Harry Lee, who had been wounded at the time General Lingan was killed, was still too ill to be present.

General Lingan's widow was not able to be present because of a very unfortunate occurrence. While she was sitting by her window waiting for her carriage, a rough man, carrying a pike, stopped under her window and, thrusting up the weapon covered either with blood or rust, which had the same appearance, he let forth a torrent of brutal words. She was so overcome with an agony of shock and grief that she was obliged to remain at home.

The other historic event took place on the fifth of June, 1918, the day on which was inaugurated the draft for the soldiers of the World War I.

All over this land that evening speeches were delivered on the subject, but I think none could have been more effective or impressive than the one staged in Montrose Park at sunset. Then Newton D. Baker, as Secretary of War, in charge of the whole operation, ”elected to speak to his neighbors.” A wonderful speech it was, and I shall never forget the sight as he stood outlined against the glow of the western sky.

Of Oak Hill Cemetery I have spoken again and again. It is almost like a refrain. It seems to be the natural resting place for Georgetonians when their work is done.

Its terraces leading steeply down the hill to Rock Creek are shaded by many stately oak trees and numerous gorgeous copper beeches, and are adorned in the spring by flowering shrubs.

There is the little ivy-covered chapel which can be seen from the street, and farther back is the little white Greek temple where Oak Hill's donor, Mr. Corcoran, rests. Also the larger circular mausoleum where Marcia Burns Van Ness is interred.

Many besides Georgetonians have been laid to rest within its borders, for there are Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War for President Lincoln; James G. Blaine, and many more, all prominent in their days. There, too, lies Peggy O'Neale, who, as the wife of Andrew Jackson's Secretary of War, Eaton, kept the social life of the Capital in an uproar for many a year and, it is said, also greatly influenced political matters.

Her very first triumph took place in Georgetown, when, at a school exhibition at the Union Hotel, the little girl with dark brown curly hair and pert red lips was crowned the ”Queen of Beauty” by Mrs. Dolly Madison. Peggy was the daughter of the Irish landlord of a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, and was married at sixteen to Mr. Timberlake, an officer in the United States Navy. He committed suicide in 1828.

After that began her career, when she was defended and supported in all that she did by Andrew Jackson, who had suffered bitterly from criticism of his own wife.

But the most famous person who lies buried in Oak Hill is the man whose song is known in every hamlet of this broad land: John Howard Payne, the author of ”Home, Sweet Home.” He had been in Georgetown in his youth, you remember, for he accompanied General Lingan on that trip to Baltimore from which the General never returned but to his funeral. Mr.

Payne was then a young man of twenty-one and excited over the adventure, I suppose, like any one of that age. He was sent in later life as a consul to one of those little states on the northern coast of Africa which in those days made so much trouble for the United States. There he died and was buried. Years later his body was brought back by Mr.

Corcoran, and there was quite a ceremony for his re-interment.

The stone placed over him in that distant land and brought back with his body has the seal of the United States carved at the top and reads:

IN MEMORY OF COL. JOHN HOWARD PAYNE TWICE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE CITY AND KINGDOM OF TUNIS THIS STONE IS PLACED BY A GRATEFUL COUNTRY HE DIED AT THE AMERICAN CONSULATE IN THIS CITY AFTER A TEDIOUS ILLNESS APRIL 1, 1852 HE WAS BORN AT THE CITY OF BOSTON STATE OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS JUNE 8, 1792 HIS FAME AS A POET AND DRAMATIST IS WELL KNOWN WHEREVER THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN THROUGH HIS CELEBRATED BALLAD OF HOME, SWEET HOME AND HIS POPULAR TRAGEDY OF BRUTUS AND OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTIONS

This slab lies flat upon the ground. Adjoining it is a circle in the center of which is a monument bearing a bust of Colonel Payne, and on it is the following inscription:

IN MEMORY OF JOHN HOWARD PAYNE AUTHOR OF HOME, SWEET HOME BORN JUNE 9, 1791 DIED APRIL 9, 1852 ERECTED ANNO DOMINI 1883

”Sure when thy gentle spirit fled To realms beyond the azure dome With arms outstretched, G.o.d's angel said 'Welcome to Heaven's Home, Sweet Home.'”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BALCH, THOMAS BLOOMER: _Reminiscences of Georgetown_.

BRYAN, W. B.: _A History of the National Capital_.

BUSEY, SAMUEL C.: _Pictures of the City of Was.h.i.+ngton in the Past_.

CAEMMERER, H. PAUL, Ph.D.: _The Life of Pierre Charles L'Enfant_.

CLARK, ALLEN C.: _Life and Letters of Dolly Madison_.

<script>