Part 5 (1/2)

Another well-known merchant said his new line of spring clothing had just arrived. And John Dabney ”had received and had for sale at his cabinet and chair factory a large quant.i.ty of Windsor chairs.” West along Bridge Street, before 1790, William Eaton had ”mahogany ware, chairs and tables, beds, etc., finished and unfinished.” Another cabinet-maker was Mr. Schultz. James Welsh, cabinet-maker from London, opened a shop in 1790 and advertised for an apprentice. And there was a well-known silversmith, for S. Kirk and Sons, of Baltimore, have identified a tea service as having been made by Charles C. Burnett, who worked as early as 1793. Another silversmith who had a shop on Bridge (M) Street in 1833 was R. H. L. Villard.

Gla.s.s Store. The subscribers have opened and have for sale at their house next door to Captain Richard Johns a complete a.s.sortment of Window and Hollow Gla.s.s Ware, manufactured in this State and equal in quality and cheaper than that imported from Europe.

Charles Frierer and Co., 1790

Thomas Beatty and Company called their store ”The Sign of the Golden Fan.”

Manufactory of Tobacco. Henry Brand & Co. Respectfully inform the Public that they have removed from New York to this Town.

George Town Academy. Madame de la Marche has for sale waters for sore eyes and various salves.

There were public pumps here and there for common use, but many householders had springs or cisterns.

In 1803 the first fire engine was purchased. Every house owner was obliged to have as many leather fire buckets kept in the house as there were stories to his home, to contain not less than two and a half gallons of water each. The little oval metal placques one sees now and then affixed to houses in Georgetown were, in those days, put only on the houses of the members of the volunteer companies to denote that ”here lives a fireman.” Later, in 1817, _The Vigilant_, a new fire engine, was bought. Its house is still on High Street, just below Bridge. Set in the wall down near the pavement is a stone with this inscription:

BUSH THE OLD FIRE DOG DIED OF POISON JULY 5TH, 1869 R. I. P.

Someone who remembers him tells me that he was a collie, and that he went to every fire along with the engine. I think the men whose companion he was, and who evidently loved him when they inscribed the ”R. I. P.,” must have believed, as I do, that like the Jim in the poem of that name by Nancy Byrd Turner, he would meet them joyously ”on the other side.”

Of course, the fire engines in those days--1817, I mean--were drawn by hand, and the old bucket-pa.s.sing system was in vogue.

Farther uptown, on the corner of Gay and Market Streets, was the home of The Potomac Fire Engine Company. There was great jealousy between the two. While the fire was raging, both worked together beautifully, but as soon as it was over, there was usually a fight.

South of the ca.n.a.l on High Street stood the Debtors' Prison. This was the only prison in the lower part of Montgomery County, although the county court was held at Rockville, and there the cases were tried. At one time the town clerk of George Town got tangled up in his money matters and was placed in this prison where he languished until his friends made good his debts. A report was made to the Town Council that he could not perform his duties because he was in jail! Nothing now remains but a part of the old stone wall.

Here is a description of some of the houses offered for sale:

Together or separate, 2 handsome dwelling houses, situated in George Town on Potomack, they contain 5 rooms with fire place, four bed chambers, two closets, and have two handsome piazzas. A kitchen near the house, a bake house, two rooms for domestics, a stable, coach house, a beautiful (falling) garden, ornamented with terraces, well gra.s.sed, a large fish pond, a well and a spring of water, 150 young fruit trees, the whole finished and done in the neatest manner under a handsome and excellent enclosure containing three lots and a half, extending 170 ft. on Fayette Street and 192 on Third Street. Apply to John Threlkeld.

Here is one of the business places advertised:

The warehouse and wharf on Water Street, lately occupied by the Naval Agent (this was in 1802). There are four floors in this house, with a room on the second and third with a fire place in each, one intended for a compting room and the other for a lodging room.

W. S. Chandler.

Evidently a clerk had to sleep on the premises as guard.

There were architects and builders to put up these fine and commodious houses, for these advertis.e.m.e.nts appear:

William Lovering, Architect and General Builder--Begs leave to inform his friends and the public, that he has removed from the City of Was.h.i.+ngton to Gay Street, the next street above the Union Tavern in George Town, where he palns to estimate all manner of buildings, either with materials and labor, or labor only. Specimens of buildings suitable for the obtuse or acute angles of the streets in the City of Was.h.i.+ngton may be seen at his home. May 1, 1800.

Henry Carlile, Architect, Carpenter and Joiner. Respectfully informs his friends and the Public in general, that he proposes to undertake all kinds of buildings, as formerly he hath done in Europe and this country; on the lowest terms, with or without material, as he has learned the theory under the first architects in Europe, also practice in first buildings there, and hath finished elegant buildings in Europe, with and without materials, and in this country hath always had the good fortune of having the patronage and friends.h.i.+p of his employees, and hopes by attention to please and to execute, that he will meet with the encouragement of a generous public. He also begs leave to return his sincere thanks to his worthy employers in this Town and Country, for the encouragement he hath met with since coming to this Town, and a.s.sures them nothing shall be wanting on his part to merit a continuance of their favors.

George Town, September 8, 1790.

Wm. Pancost--Architect and Carpenter, can by the asistance of David Willers, pump maker, late from Philadelphia, serve the public by supplying them with pumps, cove logs or girders, for any purpose on the shortest notice.

George Town, near the Lower Ware Houses, Jan. 29, 1799.

Then in 1800, James Hoban, who was the architect and builder of the President's House, put this in a paper: