The most fascinating history of a neighborhood in Alexandria? Carlyle, believe it or not, is certainly in the conversation.
Note: The area for our coverage is, at least on planning maps, called Eisenhower East. Carlyle is a part of it and the more used name, and more developed, so we used it.
After being a backwater for many years, Rip Van Winkle woke up in the 1990s and began a mercurial rise. But even during those slow years, there were a variety of stories. The one older marker in the neighborhood touches on the village of Cameron, but as the timeline shows, there are other candidates.
From time to time in the past ten years or so, we have written about Carlyle. “Rising” is the word we used to describe it. Although the full buildout is still a distance away, the neighborhood is now a mature adult. For many who whizz past the city on I-95, Carlyle’s impressive building scape might be their main visual take away.
In a piece (1990) in The Washington Post, Roger Lewis, Washington’s longtime architectural critic, had great things to say about the plans for the Carlyle neighborhood in Alexandria:
“Carlyle represents a significant, positive step in the evolution of urban design theory and practice, public land use policy and entrepreneurial initiative… Alexandria has wisely sanctioned a durable, understandable, compelling urban design.”
We thought it a good idea to pay tribute to the neighborhood with some photos and the following timeline. The most remarkable thing about Carlyle is just how long it remained a backwater. Having said that, there was activity here.
For future hopes, we would like to see the construction of the “Old Cameron Run Trail,” a pedestrian and bicycle trail still on the planning boards. A mural or two three would be great. One idea we have is a transportation mural. Through the years, the land that is Carlyle has seen a number of transportation stories, including horses and carts on old paths, the tall ships coming in from the Potomac, railroad tracks and yards, metro, automobiles and its infrastructures.
Note: We give a big thank you to all the archaeologists who have conducted their studies and published their reports on this part of the city.
Timeline for Carlyle/Eisenhower East Neighborhood
1730s
The village of Cameron (site probably near I-95 and Telegraph Road) lies at the junction of the road to Colchester/Potomac Path (Telegraph Road) and Great Hunting Creek.
1749
Alexandria founded. A road runs northeastward from Cameron to the seaport.
1754
Hugh West (1705-1754) buried in West Family Cemetery (vault) near village of Cameron (site on western portion of Carlyle Crossing).
1760
John West, Jr. owns 25 enslaved humans near Cameron.
1786
Col. George West buried in West Family family cemetery.
1787
Sybil Harrison West (1705-1787) buried in family cemetery beside husband, Hugh West.
1790s
A pair of mills and a mill race built near West Family cemetery.
Early 1800s
West End rises up, teeming with the activity of “butchers, tanners, millers, carriage maker, tavern keepers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, soap and candle makers. Later came the selling of enslaved humans, glassmaking, brewing beer, selling dry goods and food, providing water, as well as growing flowers."
1810
Bridge built over Great Hunting Creek at modern day Route One. Gives quicker access to Alexandria than the Cameron path.
1848
Rueben and Robert Roberts, Quaker brothers from New Jersey, acquire land and mill.
1851
Roberts brothers sell eastern mill to the Alexandria Water Company. Continue to farm the land.
1850s
Mention is made of “Cameron Valley” in the Alexandria Gazette.
The Orange and Alexandria RR inaugurates its service. The line runs under a tunnel on Wilkes Street and eventually reaches Gordonsville.
1861-1865
Fort Lyon overlooks and protects Alexandria. Soldiers have bird’s eye view of the city. Any timber in the area would have been cut down for firewood.
1932
George Washington Masonic National Memorial opens. Not within the boundaries of the neighborhood, but the temple certainly serves as a landmark.
1940s
Southern RR continues to use their Cameron Yards facilities. Site is on and near USPTO).
1950s
Temple Trailer Village built for veterans and Federal Government workers. Dirt roads include Lee, Temple Terrace, Mason, and Washington Drive.
City annexes land from Fairfax County.
1958
Developer Hubert Hoffman Jr (1920-2002) purchases 80 acres. Land still mostly a back water.
1960s
Interstate 95/Capitol Beltway built, as well as Holiday Inn and Hoffman Building I.
1970s
Hoffman Building II and parking lots.
American Truckers Association built. Site near ParcMeridian.
1980s
Metro’s Yellow Line, Eisenhower Avenue Station and Eisenhower Avenue.
“Eisenhower Valley” and “Cameron Valley” begins to show up in The Washington Post.
1990s
Roger Lewis article in The Washington Post praises plans for Carlyle, mixed-use development on 76 acre site.
Hoffman Town Center Development
Discovery of West Family burials
2000s
Office Buildings, Residential, Hoffman 22 Theaters, US Patent and Trademark Office, Courthouse, slip ramp as part of part of new Wilson Bridge and thru/local.
2010
Lost Boy Cider
National Science Foundation
2020
Construction starts for Carlyle Crossing, which will include a Wegman’s.
Marker Erected for Hubert Hoffman at end of Hoffman Street on Foundry Apartments Building.
Inspired by a new book by Sue Kovach Shuman, I had a fun walk this morning through parts of Mantua, a neighborhood located between the Beltway and Fairfax. Accotink Creek, Crook Branch and Long Branch are saving graces which run through the green oasis. Like a lot of places in suburbia where the only thing left from the past are the water fingers, folks may not realize there is enough of a demolished past here to cover in a book.
Much is owed to Richard Chichester (1736-1796), who obtained the patent in 1776. His mother was Ellen Ball Chichester, a cousin to George Washington. His second wife was Sarah McCarty. They lived previously at Newington, which stood from 1760 to 1875 as the second Truro Parish Glebe House. Sarah’s father was Daniel McCarty of Mount Air. Their story is emblematic of a shifting economy away from tobacco to wheat. The Chichesters built their mill on Long Run near where it flowed into the Accotink. A good guess is they wanted to be closer to Alexandria but Beth Mitchell’s map of 1760 shows a number of mills already established west of Alexandria.
Images of America books are of a varying quality. Shuman gets an A plus for her full on research, knowledge and insight. She covers the large petroleum leak (1990) from the storage facility on Pickett Road. The company settled a lawsuit brought forth by the 110 homeowners. Shuman points out this was the first time a company did so with homeowners rather than the EPA. She also tells us Leroy Eakin’s donation of 15 acres in 1950 created the first park in the county system. We bet he would be proud to see Mantua today, a community protecting the natural beauty, and balancing its needs in a good way.
Alexandria is a city that has produced leaders, elected officials, captains of commerce and industry, clergy, veterans, educators, and others. When it comes to those who shined with their words and pens, the list sure looks tiny, at least those from the nineteenth century. The novelist Constance Cary Harrison of Vaucluse comes to mind, but she bought her ink in Richmond and up north.
Several months ago, when we were looking at lost homes on Washington Street, we came across Sarah Whittlesey (1824-1896). Quite frankly, I had never heard of her or any others from that family. From 1848 to 1896, she lived at the southeast corner of Duke and S. Washington (torn down in the 1960s). Whittlesey became a poetess and novelist of some note, but her story is long forgotten.
Here is a brief history of her life. We include her brother Oscar and a few other Whittleseys.
The searcher of information on the Whittlesey family can find the book, “Genealogy of the Whittlesey-Whittlesey family” by Charles Barney Whittlesey. The author tells us the name was taken by persons living in Cambridgeshire, England on the Whittlesea Fens from the tenth century.
“Memorial of the Whittlesey Family in the United States” tells the reader John Whittlesey was the immigrant, who became a farmer and shoemaker at Saybrook, Connecticut. For generations, a branch of the Whittleseys lived in the "Constitution State." Their names can be seen chiseled on a number of stone war memorials in public spaces. In Old Saybrook, the John Whittlesey Jr. House and the Ambrose Whittlesey House are both listed on the National Register for Historic Places. The oldest part of the former is from 1693. The NRHP form tells us the family played an important part in the development of the Ferry District in Saybrook. John Whittlesey and his son were ferryman there.
The latter tells the story of Ambrose Whittlesey. The Whittleseys were “wealthy landowners and farmers, but also involved in the merchant trade and shipbuilding.” Ambrose sailed on the high seas as a captain.
Through the years, the Whittlesey family produced a number of notable citizens. They must have been incredibly proud of Charles W. Whittlesey (1884-1921). In the story of the “Lost Battalion,” he led his infantry troops in the Argonne Forest in December 1918. Outnumbered and cut off for five long days, Major Whittlesey refused to surrender. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Like Sarah, Eliphalet Whittlesey (1821-1909) came from the Connecticut line. Born in New Britain and educated at Yale, his was a uniquely remarkable life. Eliphalet rose to become a pastor, a professor, and then a one-star general. He came to Washington after the war and helped found Howard University, as well as providing leadership to the Freedman's Bureau and the Board of Indian Commissioners. Whittlesey was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Research by Donald Dahmann, historian at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House (“From the Close of the Civil War to the Closure of the Congregations at the Close of the Century), adds to our knowledge of Eliphalet Whittlesey. He was a Congregational Minister at the historic church on S. Fairfax Street, serving as a long-term supply minister during the late-1880s. Whittlesey had commanded an African American regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Charles Whittlesey (1819-1874), born in Salisbury, Connecticut, made quite a name for himself in Alexandria. After the Civil War was over, he became active in Reconstruction efforts and practiced law. He lived on the 200 block of Prince Street, known today as "Gentry Row." This would have placed him in high circles in the seaport.
In May, 1866, the Unconditional Union Republican Party held a state-wide convention in Alexandria. Along with other members of the Presbyterian congregation such as Lewis McKenzie, Whittlesey served as a convention delegate. Whittlesey also served briefly as Attorney General of Virginia (Sep 1869 - Jan 1870).
In April, 1868, Charles Whittlesey, also a member of the congregation at Old Presbyterian Meeting House, attended a lecture on education at Liberty Hall. The Alexandria Gazette reported the place was “packed by the colored people of the city to listen to a lecture by John. M. Langston" (1829-1897), who became the first black man to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives and a Civil Rights legend.
In 1869, Charles Whittlesey ran as the Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Virginia's Seventh District. The race received a lot of press coverage. The Gazette hammered Whittlesey repeatedly as a Radical Carpetbagger. Although Whittlesey won in Alexandria, Stafford, and Louisa County, McKenzie (Conservative) defeated him 15,878 to 11,073.
Sarah Whittlesey’s life began in Williamston, North Carolina. The small town lies in Halifax County in the eastern part of the state, about 80 miles east of the capital in Raleigh. Like Alexandria’s early years, Williamston's lifeblood owed something to being a port on the river and the cultivation of tobacco using enslaved humans.
Sarah’s parents were Luman Whittlesey (1795-1868) and Elizabeth G. Peale Whittlesey (1806-1868). Luman was born in Washington, Connecticut, where he married, in 1818, Sarah Johnson Cogswell (1797-1821). They had two sons, Edgar Augustus Whittlesey (b. 1819) and Joseph Adolphus (b. 1820). A newspaper article in the Litchfield Inquirer (Nov. 1831), indicates a David Whittlesey of Washington, Connecticut was their guardian. Not much is known about Edgar and Joseph. Edgar might have gone to Texas.
Sarah had two handfuls of aunts and uncles on the father’s side. Luman’s brother, Harvey (1788-1861), lived in Farmington, Connecticut. Ralph (1801-1850), also might have gone west.
After his first wife passed away in 1821, Luman moved to Williamston. In 1823, he married Elizabeth G. Peale, a native Tar Heel. Luman taught at the Williamston Academy. Sarah was born in 1824. Two years later came Oscar Columbus.
In 1839, Luman wrote a letter to his brother, Harvey, who was living in Farmington. Luman gave him, “a very condensed account of my movements since I left Connecticut.” He farmed, taught school, and worked as a blacksmith. The hot work of the latter was probably to supplement his income.
Understandably, there is a paucity of newspaper coverage on the Whittleseys during their time in North Carolina. Richard Walser ("Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 6") fills in gaps. He tells us Luman had a farm and store in Palmyra, a rural community near Williamston.
Luman and his family returned to Williamston in 1841, before moving to Edenton five years later. The town lies on the banks of Albermarle Sound and shares a look and feel with Old Town Alexandria. Edenton had its own newspaper. Luman taught there for two years.
The men of the Whittlesey family could choose from a number of traditional roles and occupations. For women like Sarah, it was slim pickings. Education was the main road out of the rut. Sarah graduated from La Vallee Female Seminary in 1841. The school was located about 20 miles west of Halifax. In addition to the basics, students were taught Latin and French, music and science. Some of Sarah’s stories contain conversations in French.
The UNC University Libraries tells us the Seminary:
... was run out of a small building behind what is now known as the Gray-Brownlow-Willcox House. The school building had two floors in which there would have been space for classes to be conducted and for students to eat meals and socialize, and an attic area which was likely the living quarters for the students. La Vallee Female Seminary was forced to close in 1850.
Image from Edenton Sentinel, June 2, 1860.
Perhaps Sarah visited Halifax, famous for the Halifax Resolves, which urged the state’s delegates to vote for independence from Great Britain in April, 1776. On his Southern tour, George Washington stayed overnight there on April 16, 1791.
In 1842, at age 18, Sarah married Harry A. Smith of Massachusetts. The North Carolina Digital Collections tells us their union was “brief and disastrous.” She left Smith in 1846 and the divorce was drawn up four years later.
Most likely looking for greener pastures, Luman moved his family to Alexandria in 1848. They lived in a house on the southeast corner of Duke and Washington. The brick dwelling, demolished in the 1960s, stood out with a two-story veranda facing Washington Street. The census of 1850 shows Luman and Oscar as tutors. Sarah is listed as S.J.C. Whittlesey.
Photo: Left to right: Lafayette House, Duke and S. St. Asaph; site of Whittlesey House (bank at Duke and Washington); and Janney House, across Washington Street.
It’s hard to know what the family thought of Alexandria when they arrived. It seems they would have been impressed and pleased by its cosmopolitan nature as a seaport and being close to the nation’s capital. There's no doubt they were pleased by less of a wait for mail from Connecticut.
The town had grown from the smaller one of three by seven blocks that George Washington had known in colonial days. After the turn of the century, Virginia’s population stagnated, as farmers and others sought opportunities to the west. Alexandria’s glory days as a bustling seaport with tall ships was fading.
Nevertheless, in the 1850s, the Whittleseys would witness what Harold Hurst (“Alexandria on the Potomac”) details as a remarkable change. Factories and railroads brought jobs and paychecks. Victorian style architecture added to the stock of Georgian and Federals and occasional "Flounder."
The Whittlesey family lived in Alexandria from 1848 to their passing, as follows: Lunan and wife Sarah (1868), Sarah (1896) and Oscar until 1901. This was a distinct period of growth in the second half of the nineteenth century. T. Michael Miller described some of it as (The Alexandria Chronicle, Spring/Summer 1996):
Fine dwellings, modest wooden or brick row houses, and noisome manufactures were intermingled in an unzoned welter.
The Alexandria world the Whittleseys first saw can be seen in a color lithograph, "View of Alexandria, Virginia in 1845." The classic image has been used in a number of prominent books about Alexandria. The E. Sasche & Company of Baltimore provides a north to south orientation of the town.
For a more detailed look, we provide this marked map.
The Whittlesey home at Duke and Washington stood on the northern edge of the "Bottoms" or "Dip" neighborhood, and the western edge of a core of mostly residential homes that to this day maintains that distinction. The large swale that begins its downhill run from Duke southward is the first hint at the Bottoms neighborhood.
This portion of, "Bird's Eye View of Alexandria, 1863" by Charles Magnus gives the reader an idea of the area where the family lived. Their home stood one block below where one sees the horse and buggy at Duke and S. Columbus.
The family had a bird's eye view themselves of both the attractive homes to their west and The Bottoms to their south. They stood in contrast to each other. The Bottoms had drainage problems and most of its residents were low on the income range.
This dichotomy still exists today in that the homes south of King, east of Washington and north of Wilkes can fetch more than a million dollars. Zoning there is almost all single family residential, while the Bottoms is a mix.
While many homes were razed during the “Dip Renewal” phase of Urban Renewal, a few markers provide a glimpse into its past. 601 Wilkes is the site of the Alexandria Pottery, which provided employment to African Americans. The home at 408 S. Royal was once the dwelling of George L. Seaton. This part of Alexandria was Hayti, a smaller community within the Bottoms.
The Bottoms does shine its historic landmark, Alfred Street Baptist Church. Residents and worshippers take great pride in its past, present and continued bright future. A state highway marker tells the reader the church is:
is home to the oldest African American congregation in Alexandria, dating to the early 19th century. It has served as a prominent religious, educational, and cultural institution. In 1818, the congregation, then known as the Colored Baptist Society, began worship services here in the midst of the Bottoms, a free black neighborhood. By 1820 the church created its educational branch, providing religious and secular opportunities for both black children and adults. In 1855, free black craftsmen probably designed and built the brick church. Alterations to the building occurred in the 1880s and in 1994 the church constructed a new sanctuary.
Another distinct feature of Sarah’s world was S. Washington Street. Like today, landmarks include the Lyceum, churches and Lloyd’s Row of brick homes (photo by author). One might still call it Sanctuary Row
The Whittlesey home stood one block to the west of the corner of Duke and S. St. Asaph. Commodious brick homes built there and nearby before and during the Whittlesey's arrived stand today as sentinels of Old Town's beauty. In particular are the Lafayette House and the Dulany House. Some of Alexandria’s most impressive home lie on the nearby blocks. There's no doubt Sarah and her family would have enjoyed this part of the city, and perhaps made friends there.
Politically, Alexandria had first given their hurrahs and humphs to the Federal Party. Conservative Democrats held sway until the 1850s when the town, always putting business needs and internal improvements first, became a “Whig citadel.” Two years before the Whittleseys arrived, Alexandrians had voted 763 to 222 to retrocede back to Virginia. Of course, by laws hammered out by the planter-legislators, enslaved African Americans held no civil rights.
As in North Carolina, the Whittleseys would have seen both enslaved humans and free blacks. Their house stood on the northern edge of the “Bottoms” or “Dip” neighborhood, one of a number of African American communities. There was no greater contrast in the United States than free African Americans in Alexandria becoming successful citizens and raising families, and the horrible institution of selling off slaves that took place five blocks to the west of the Whittlesey home at the slave pen on Duke Street. They probably saw the wretched site of enslaved humans tied in coffles being marched to the waterfront, nevermore to be seen.
Also in their immediate vicinity stood a tannery (site Wilkes and S. Washington), and a Lancastrian School (site near Wolfe and S. Washington), where Luman found employment as a teacher. Steamboats plied the waters of the Potomac, about a half a mile to the east. Sarah surely took in plays at the theaters, and observed life at the market square, during parades and elsewhere. King Street was an emporium, and offered a number of book stores, including ones that would sell her poems and novels.
Sarah and her family lived just two blocks north from the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which chugged through the Bottoms neighborhood on Wilkes Street. One block away towards King Street stood the Lyceum, a Greek Revival beauty finished in 1839 on S. Washington Street.
In April, 1852, at the Lyceum, her brother Oscar was selected as a member of a committee established to organize a Library Association. Also at the table were several distinguished citizens including Richard L. Carne, a father at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and brother of William, the city’s de facto historian.
Oscar tutored and also wrote some poetry. In August 1850, an ad appeared in the Gazette for:
“LaValle Seminary, just below the Exchange Bank, near the corner of Price and Water (Lee) streets. Messrs L. & O.C. Whittlesey respectfully announce to their patrons, and the public generally, that they will resume the exercises of their school, on the 2d day of September next.”
They also might have ran a school out of their home and Sarah might have taught the females.
One thing is for sure. Competition would have been keen. Alexandria had a stellar reputation for its academies and private schools, perhaps the reason Lunan moved the family to Alexandria. From 1828 to 1842, Benjamin Hallowell, the famed educator, set the bar high with his “Brimstone Castle” School for Boys on N. Washington Street. Also laudatory was the Alexandria Academy, just one block south of the Whittlesey home. Hurst also praises other such as the Alexandria Female Academy and the Belle Haven Institute.
Oscar got quite involved in the administration of Alexandria, becoming clerk of the Common (City) Council, serving on the Health Board, and a Trustee for the City School Board. After the war, he stepped into the fiery arena that was Reconstruction. He joined up with the Organization of the Union Republic Association, which the Gazette labeled the “Radical Caucus.” Lewis McKenzie served as President, Oscar as Secretary.
In 1871, the Alexandria Gazette showed Oscar as an examiner for annual inspection of the Snowden School. The “colored school house” was on S. Pitt between Gibbon and Franklin. Oscar was in high company that day with William F. Carne, the city’s de facto historian. The successful African American businessman George Seaton was also in attendance. Oscar and Carne “expressed themselves as greatly pleased with the examination.”
Readers of the Gazette had seen the Whittlesey name in the paper now and then. Elisha Whittlesey (1783-1863), was born in Washington, Connecticut and served as a member of the US House of Representatives (Ohio) from 1823 to 1833. In 1847, he was appointed General Collector for the Washington National Monument Society.
Readers of the Gazette first learned of Sarah Whittlesey in March, 1848 when the Gazette published her poem, “The Loved and Lost.” Seen in the upper left hand of page 4, the byline said, “Sarah J.C. Whittlesey Smith.” Her poem stood out in the seven-column page. (Note: Once Sarah got divorced, the Smith name was dropped. The most common use of her name was Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, with S.J.C. Whittlesey also used).
In April came “The Lily and the Rose.” followed by “Adolphus.” Oscar’s poem, “Analogical Musings,” was published in May 1848. More poems followed in 1849, 1850, including a few more by Oscar.
In June 1851, the Gazette published, “The Smile, From Mrs. Whittlesey’s Magazine.” Perhaps they thought Sarah was the author. In fact, Abigail Goodrich Whittlesey (1788-1858) penned the story. Born in Goodrich, Connecticut, she founded and edited Mother’s Magazine.
Sarah’s first book came out in 1852. “Heart Drops from Memory’s Urn,” was a collection of her poems. The Spirit of Age, a newspaper in Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, published it in their Poet’s Corner. The poem, written for “Sophie,” has this middle stanza.
Dearest, like the heaven’s seeming,
As life’s winding way;
Overcast, and brightly beaming,
Till the perfect day;
But when we are safely landed
Over Jordan’s tide,
When Time’s Army is disbanded,
On the other side.
G.E. French and Robert Bell on King Street sold the book with a price of $1.15, “handsomely bounded in muslin-gilt edges $1.50.” Ads were also seen in the Richmond newspapers and The Cecil Whig in Elkton, Maryland. The Gazette wrote:
“This lady’s poems, we trust, will meet with a favorable reception. Many of her productions have been highly complimented.”
Sarah had fans and readers in both North Carolina and Virginia. The Greensboro Times serialized some of her short stories, including “The Hidden Heart,” “Reginald’s Revenge,” “The Broken Vow,” and “Southern Field and Fireside.” The newspaper told its readers her first literary production had been published in the Edenton Sentinel in the summer of 1846. In that issue (June 2, 1860), they included a sketch of Sarah. Such images of her are rare.
Sarah developed a style that Walser describes as “genteel, false-feminine sentimentality.” The Living Writers of the South points out:
Miss Whittlesey is strongly Southern in her feelings, tastes, and style generally. In a lyric, she gives the following literal vent to that partiality.
And I long to go back to the beautiful ways
Of my beautiful South;
I’m weary of waiting, and wrathful days,
And woe’s wide mouth!
Other than the serialization of her poems in the papers, Sarah’s readers had to wait seven years for her next publication. “The Stranger’s Stratagem or The Double Deceit and other Stories” featured seven short stories, with an average of about 50 pages long. Sarah’s book was sold by three bookstores in town -- French’s, Robert Bell and George Siggers.
Also on the shelves were The Farmer’s Almanac; magazines by Harper and Frank Leslie; "Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington," by George Washington Parke Custis; "The Rivals, A Tale of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton;" "Life of Andrew Jackson;" "History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion Virginia;" and "Heroines of History."
Readers of The Greensboro Times had gotten the first look at the book in the spring before. "Reginald’s Revenge" was promoted as, “A Prize Story written expressly for the Times.” The first five columns of the front page of April 17, 1858 issue was Chapter Five of the book.
W. Dodd of New York published the book. The stories were, The Stranger’s Stratagem, Reginald’s Revenge, Italia Alma, Lilia Rosely, The Drunkard’s Daughter, Eva Evylin, and The Gem.
The Gazette wrote:
We have received a handsome volume, published by Miss Sarah J C Whittlesey. A large number of our citizens have subscribed to the book in advance…. in one handsome volume, price $1.25 plain, with gilt edges and sides, 1.50 Robert Bell.
They also said:
“… a lady whose genius and accomplishments have been shown in various emanations of her mind, and her friends confidently anticipate that her present work will be most favorably received by the public. We trust it may not only be acceptable to readers, but add to the fame and increase the worldly prosperity of the fair author.”
Also that year, Southern Literary Messenger published a collection of poems, including Sarah’s “Summer is Over.”
Summer is over, and soon will close
The volume of Nature, fair.
Let us then read while the sunlight glows,
What they have written us there;
Emblem of life are the beautiful flowers,
Springing in Summer’s soft tread,
Blooming today in its sunlight and showers,
Tomorrow lie faded and dead.
Early in the morning on May 24, 1861, and less than 24 hours after Alexandria had voted to ratify the "Ordinance of Secession," Union troops marched into the city of 12,000. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth did his part by leading the 11th New York Zouave Regiment. Civil War buffs have discussed whether or not the appropriate words are an "invasion," an "occupation," or something else.
Image from historical marker at King and S. Pitt streets.
No matter. That morning, at King and Pitt streets, about five blocks from the Whittlesey House, hotel owner Jesse Jackson shot and killed Colonel Ellsworth. Seconds later, one of the Zouves killed Jackson. Blue uniforms would pepper the seaport for the next four years.
It’s hard to know what Sarah did during the Civil War. Like many white Alexandrians, she likely seethed behind the curtains at the site of Union soldiers, mourned when they heard of rebel losses, and cheered the victories of Robert E. Lee. The town was under full control of the Union army from May 1861 to the end of the war in 1865.
There’s no doubt Sarah would have been sad in 1865 at the sight of what Smith and Miller ("A Seaport Saga") described as the return of the "tattered remnants of the Seventeenth Virginia Regiment." In 1862 and 1863, she would have seen the influx of a large number of contraband, African Americans who had fled their owners and found an early form of freedom in Union-controlled Alexandria.
Almost directly across the Whittlesey home on S. Washington Street stood a two-part dwelling that was used during the war to assist contraband persons. In her book, "A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time, Julia Wilbur's Struggle for Purpose," Paula Whitacre tells us how Wilbur and Harriet Jacobs raised money and collected clothing for the needy new citizens. The brick building also served as living quarters at times. Still standing, it can be seen on the cover of "Alexandria, Images of America." It is thought that Wilbur and Harriet are part of the group that day. Perhaps Whittlesey witnessed the taking of the photo.
It's hard to know how much Sarah knew about Harriet Jacob and vice versa. On the surface, they did not have much in common. Both, however, had lived in Edenton and both escaped bad situations. Sarah was the victim of an arranged marriage to a man named Harry Smith of Massachusetts. As the NC Encyclopedia points out:
Four years later she abandoned Smith because of his "jealous tyranny," assisted in her escape by her friend D. William Bagley, who arranged to bring her and her trunk down a ladder from her locked room on the second floor of the house, and who transported her to a Roanoke River vessel making an instant departure.
The scar on Harriet’s psyche had cut much deeper. She endured enslavement and sexual harassment. After seven years of torturous hiding, Harriet also escaped by boat from Edenton.
Among the remarkable things she did in her life, Harriet penned “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself.” It was published in 1861. The following summer, Harriet traveled to Washington to help with the plight of the contraband. She wrote a letter to William Lloyd Garrison, vividly describing the terrible conditions for them in Alexandria. There were some caring people such as a Mrs. Dagans, but not enough.
Another place, the old school-house in Alexandria, is the Government headquarters fro the women. This is I thought, the most wretched of all the places. Anyone who can find an apology for slavery should visit this place and learn its curse. What but the love of freedom could bring these old people hither?
In October 1865, with the war over, Sarah picked up her pen and wrote, "The Three Bells."
The final stanza was:
Oh, soul, on ocean sailing
In Time’s storm-beaten barque,
Faith, Hope and Love — the Three Bells—
Will reach thee at the dawn,
And save thee from the sea-swells —
Hold out your light till morn!
That same month, Sarah wrote a letter to President Andrew Johnson. The reader today will shake their head at her prejudicial words and beliefs. Sarah slammed “negroes” as “a lazy people” and said that Northerners treated them cruelly. In line with what other conservative whites felt towards "carpetbaggers," she also said, “We should get along smoothly together, if Northern men would not interfere.”
Sarah’s next book was “The Bug Oracle,” a 96-page novelette. Irwin’s P. Beadles, a New York publisher, sold it in 1866. For some reason, Walser does not mention the book.
The Southland Writers tells us:
In 1866, the publishers in New York of a series of Dime Novels appropriated one of the Miss Whittlesey’s stories, The Bug Oracle, and published it without her knowledge or consent.
In January 5, 1867, Field and Fireside (Raleigh) published some of Sarah’s, “Bertha, The Beauty.” It appeared on pages 1, 2 and some of 3.
The “bug” makes an appearance in Chapter VII:
In solemn Indian file they marched down the long hall towards the pantry, where in obedience to Mr. Redmond’s directions, Aunt Cora, the cook, had placed the shell-bug on a blue plate, thinly sifted with flour, with another plate bottom up over to prevent its escape, and above all was smoothly spread a snowy napkin.
The Bug Oracle was a warm up for ”Herbert Hamilton, or the Bas Bleu" (1867). The setting is in Virginia. The Alexandria Gazette wrote:
The plot and story are interesting, and the whole production highly creditable to the talents of the fair writer.
The Living Writers of the South wrote:
She has written a great deal for the periodical press and has repeatedly carried off prizes for stories adapted to serial publication a la feuilleton.
After the war Oscar went to work for the Freedmen’s Bureau. In October, 1866, he was assigned to taking a census of the “negro inhabitants of this county.” Given that a significant number of “contraband” and Freedmen had poured into the city during the war, Oscar would have been quite busy this way. He joined up with the "Organization of the Union Republic Association," which the Gazette called the “Radical Caucus.” Lewis McKenzie, mayor (1861-1863) and powerful business magnate, served as President. Oscar was the Secretary. Charles Whittlesey, the lawyer, was assigned to preparing a constitution.
Sad news reached the Whittlesey family in January, 1868. Luman had passed away at the family home in Alexandria. His obituary in the Gazette included noting his graduating from Yale and living in Williamston as a teacher. Other sources note he taught at the Lancastrian School.
Elizabeth joined Luman in June. Her funeral took place at the family home on Duke Street. They were both laid to rest in the Trinity United Methodist Cemetery at the end of Wilkes Street. Their pair of tombstones lies just a few steps from the brick wall separating the cemetery with the Alexandria National Cemetery.
Perhaps because of her sadness and grief, Sarah did not write her next novel ("Bertha, the Beauty") until 1872. Walser (The North Carolina Encyclopedia) wrote the book is:
“Miss Whittlesey’s glory, This lengthy autobiographical novel has a detailed narrative of the struggles of the long-suffering heroine with her wicked husband.”
The Gazette wrote:
…”is a tale of truth, in the rose-hue of romance. The scene is laid in North Carolina, with glimpses of the five year’s war in Virginia, along with the moving panorama of historical facts.”
And:
“many of the scenes and incidents related, concerning the late war, occurred in this place and neighborhood, and will be recognized and remembered by our citizens.”
The New Orleans Republic wrote:
"The author has woven a rather entertaining, gossipy story of a North Carolina girl of half Yankee parentage and remarkable beauty."
In December 1866, Field and Fireside (Raleigh) had reported:
Our Great Serial, Bertha the Beauty, which has been written especially for us, by one of our most popular and accomplished Southern authors, Miss Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, will be commenced in our first issue in January. This is the most powerful and thrilling novel which it has ever been our honor to present to the readers of the journal.
The Philadelphia Inquirer advertised her book in September, 1871, noting the publisher was Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger of Philadelphia.
Sarah also made the news in February 1872. Reporting on George Washington’s annual Birthday celebration, still a big deal in Alexandria, the Gazette said:
Mayor Latham presented to the Chief Marshal, as the representative of the fire department, a beautiful wreath, as a tribute of gratitude from Miss Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, whose property was recently saved from destruction by the firemen, and read a very pretty and appropriate poetical address.
As Reconstruction continued to unfold, Charles Whittlesey continued his work to help African Americans in Alexandria. In April 1868, he attended a lecture on education at Liberty Hall. The Gazette reported the place was packed by the colored people of the city to listen to a lecture by John M. Langston, a "colored lawyer and employee of the Freedmen’s Bureau." Langston would go on to much fame. The US House of Representatives Archives writes:
One of the most prominent African Americans in the United States before and during the Civil War, John Mercer Langston was as famous as his political nemesis, Frederick Douglass. One of the first African Americans to hold elective office in the United States (he became Brownhelm, Ohio, township clerk in 1855), Langston topped off his long political career by becoming the first black man to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1869, Charles Whittlesey ran as the Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Virginia's Seventh District. The race received a lot of press coverage. The Gazette hammered him repeatedly as a "Radical Carpetbagger." Although Whittlesey won in Alexandria, the Stafford, and Louisa County, McKenzie defeated him 15,878 to 11,073.
Sarah dropped off the radar screen after "Bertha, the Beauty." In 1889, J.B. Lippincott published, "Spring Buds and Summer Blossoms.” It included Oscar’s “Idle Hours.”
Sarah and Oscar dedicate their book to: “Our Father and Mother, who have crossed over the river and rest in the shade of the Tree of Life.”
The book includes a photograph of the two, with the latin phrase, Sumus soli duo. Oscar has his left arm touching Sarah’s right arm, with her right hand laying softly in his.
Pages 9 to 216 are Sarah’s poems. Pages 219 to 250 are Oscar’s poems.
One of the poems is titled, "To S.J.C.W. of Alexandria" by Arthur W. H. of Washington, DC. The next poem is Sarah’s response to Arthur W. H. This to and from also occurs for R.G.S. of Portsmouth. Another title is "To: Katy, of North Carolina."
The Gazette wrote the book was handsomely printed and bound. "The writings are far-famed, and this volume will be highly appreciated by the muse."
Sarah’s fans in Edenton read in the Fisherman and Farmer —
A lady friend has placed in our hands for notice a book of poems by Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, and Idle Hours by O C Whittlesey. Its 250 pages contain many touching lines written upon subjects of living interest, for the most part and expressive of tender emotion as well as great and reverential regard for the memories of other days.
It’s hard to know what Sarah did in her sunset years. Perhaps she and Oscar acquired or used the modern convenience of the telephone. By 1891, about 100 homes subscribed to the services of Southern Bell. Maybe she was one of the many Alexandrians who cheered on the arrival of the first electric trolley which rolled down King Street in 1892. It seems likely she attended the unveiling in 1889 of John Elder’s Appomattox memorial at Washington and Prince, just one block north of her home.
Sarah took her final breath at the family home in 1896. Her obituary in the Gazette pointed out:
Her father will be remembered by many who have now arrived at the middle-age sign post of life as their pedagogue in the old Lancasterian school on the site of which the present Washington building stands.”
It acknowledged her as:
“an educated lady and was possessed of a literary taste. Some of her productions showed that the writer possessed the spark of genius.”
The funeral took place at her home. Rev. Mr Williams, pastor of the ME Church South, conducted the services, and the interment was in, "the old Methodist church cemetery."
Note: I was unable to find where Sarah was laid to rest. As mentioned, her father and mother’s tombstone lies in the Trinity United Methodist Church.
After trying so hard as a reformer in Alexandria, it seems very likely Oscar would have been saddened in his final years. In the landmark decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, the Chief Justices voted 7 to 1 against Plessy. This solidified Jim Crow laws across the south.
In Alexandria, Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas had been hanged in 1897 and 1899. Both took place within steps of where Oscar had served as clerk of court.
One bright moment for Oscar might have been the appearance of Frederick Douglass, who spoke at Lannon's Opera House in September, 1894. This turned out to be one of the lion's last roar, as the great one passed away the following April.
Oscar drew his last breath in February, 1901. The Washington Post (Feb 23) wrote:
Oscar C. Whittlesey died at Alexandria Infirmary this morning at age 75. He was born in Connecticut and came here early in life with his father, who was a well-known educator. During the Civil War deceased was one of the collectors of taxes, later clerk of the common council. recent years he had been one of the magistrates of the Fourth Ward. Brother of Sarah, who attainted considerable literary fame. The deceased was also literary in his tastes.
After the turn of the century, Alexandria finally saw significant growth in its population. World War II brought jobs to Washington and fueled the massive wave of suburbia all around the city. Alexandria’s population of 18,000 in 1920, which was only 4,000 more than when Sarah and Oscar had passed away, leapt to 61,000 in 1950. As part of the Lost Cause, historical markers pointed out the stories of the Confederates. Jim Crow laws were not dismantled until the 1960s.
Marker-wise, the city is making an excellent effort to tell more and more of the stories of the past, with a notable push to include the struggles and successes of African Americans. The Appomattox memorial and historical marker that stood just one block from Sarah’s house was taken away in early 2021.
All these things are appropriate and needed. We must, however, be careful to not push aside the stories of Alexandrians such as Sarah Whittlesey.
Quite frankly, the chances for a marker for Sarah seem slim. Paired with her brother Oscar, however, a marker would give the reader insight into the world they lived in. And, as far as we know, there are no markers for any novelists in Alexandria, much less for a woman.
There might be nothing more emblematic of the Fourth of July than a small community parade. Yesterday, about 50 residents of Groveton, a suburban neighborhood about two miles south of Alexandria, waved flags and strolled along three streets in the heart of the neighborhood.
The Fairfax County Fire Department participated, bringing excitement for the kids and a big slash of red to the streets of Collard, Arundel and Ridge.
Charlotte Brown, Groveton’s historian, author of "Groveton," Images of America, and long-time resident, provided this photograph of the Groveton Block Party on July 4, 1967.
The Weather Committee came through with splendid conditions, enjoyed by all the participants and a smattering of spectators, including pets and children. Some were long-time residents of the neighborhood, whose suburban era began in the 1930s. New residents in recent years have given the community a fresh look and how about those beautifully maintained lawns.
Yesterday everyone put down their cell phones and chore lists. It was all about having patriotic fun and rekindling a summer-time tradition on top of Beacon Hill.
Happy Fourth Groveton! Great job everybody!
Every July, Alexandria celebrates the anniversary of its founding in 1749. The city also has a pre-history. One of the best accounts of it can be found in “Alexandria’s Forgotten Legacy,” a series of articles written by historian William Carne in the Alexandria Gazette and reprinted by T. Michael Miller.
We pick up the story in the late seventeenth century when the northward movement of the planters and settlers along and near the Potomac began to reach what became Fairfax County in 1742 and Alexandria in 1749. We offer this condensed and annotated version of Carne’s Chapter III, “Civilization Crosses Great Hunting Creek.”
1690. When the last decade of the seventeenth century was reached, the tide of population was steady above the Occoquan…
The Occoquan River became the southern boundary of Fairfax County in 1742.The land above it was Stafford County from 1664 to 1730 and Prince William from 1730 to 1742. Fairfax County initially included what became Alexandra, Arlington and Falls Church.
Image: Virginia and Maryland as it is planted and inhabited this present year 1670, Herrman, Augustine, 1621 or 1622-1686. Published, [London] : Augustine Herman and Thomas Withinbrook, 1673.
… the land embraced with Howson’s Patent became capable of being made the permanent abode of civilization.
In 1669, Captain Robert Howson emigrated from England.He brought with him about 120 people to live in the colony.Governor William Berkeley granted to Howson, 6,000 acres of land “upon the freshes of Potomac River…”
Image: Alexandria portion of the Howson Tract.
It has been narrated in former chapters that John Alexander, the purchaser of the Howson patent land…
Shortly after Howson gained the tract, John Alexander (1603-1677) acquired it from him for 6,000 pounds of tobacco. A native of Scotland, he had emigrated from England in 1653. Alexander was the founder of Alexander family in Northern Virginia and a planter and merchant in Stafford County. It is believed the town was named for him and/or the family.
… gave his land to his sons, Philip and Robert Alexander.
Philip inherited the lower portion (south of Four Mile Run).Robert (1633-1704) inherited the upper part (north of Four Mile Run.In 1741, one of their descendants, Captain Philip Alexander, owned the majority of the land that would become Alexandria. The Mitchell map shows ownership in 1760.
Image: Beth Mitchell's interpretive map of 1760.
As the lands now grew to be of considerable value, the first actual survey with chain and compass was made sometime about 1692 by Theodorick Bland, one of the most celebrated land surveyors of his time.
Bland (1663-1700) also surveyed Williamsburg in 1699.
The lines fixed by him began at a hickory tree on the marsh ground lying on the side of the marsh into which Hoff’s Run now empties, which was called at that time West's Pocoson, and within more modern times, "Pompey Gales Marsh."
Comparing the Bland/Jennings survey with the modern day map, a guess of the site of the hickory tree is just south of the Carlyle Mill Apartments on Mill Road. Before it silted up, Great Hunting Creek was wider than it is now. Tall ships could reach the village of Cameron, whose site is believed to be near this point and near the Eisenhower Metro Station. Note: For some odd reason, Hooff's Run is labeled Four Mile Run on Google maps.
Bland ran his line in a direction generally north until he reached the mouth of the “Wankapin” Run; nearly opposite the southern point of Analostan Island…
Most of the land west of this line is hilly, today’s neighborhoods such as North Ridge, Aurora Hills, and Arlington Ridge and Arlington National Cemetery.
Oxford Dictionary gives the origin of Wankapin as — Mid 19th century; earliest use found in John P. Kennedy (1795–1870), novelist and politician.
Wankapin Run is marked on Beth Mitchell’s Map of 1760. It probably ran just south of Netherlands Carillon.
Analostan Island, currently known as Theodore Roosevelt Island, is located just south of Georgetown and east of Rosslyn. Other names through the years were My Lord’s Island and Mason’s Island.
... and thence came by the river shore to Piper's Island (Jones Point) and thence went up Hunting Creek to the beginning.
Jones Point was shaped like a dog leg until landfill in the 1930s. Some of the river side land that was Howson’s Tract also changed during dredging and landfill.
This survey completed, the land was, it seems, divided between Robert and Philip Alexander, the former taking the upper portion near Four Mile Run, and the latter, that on which the city now stands, and near Hunting Creek.
No copy of the Bland survey had been found. Daniel Jennings resurveyed the Howson Patent in 1746. It is this map that is available and used.
Alexander family members owned portions of the land north of Alexandria for many years, including the Abingdon plantation (site National Airport). An interpretive panel in Potomac Yard tells some of their story. Four Mile Run serves as the border between Alexandria and Arlington.
A portion of this land was leased to Thomas Pearson, the son-in-law of Philip Alexander…
Pearson's Island can be seen in the Mitchell map.
Thomas Pearson (c.1663 - c.1710) married Sarah Alexander (c.1667 - c.1705), the daughter of John Alexander (1603-1677). Research by Jim Bish tells us the Pearson family, along with the Alexander, West and Harrison families, was prominent and influential in the area. By marriage, the children of Simon Pearson (probably the son of Thomas Pearson) became related and “tightly bound” to George Washington and his family members. Simon Pearson owned more than 4,000 acres at one point. Simon (d. 1733) inherited some of these lands from his father Thomas.
A portion of these Pearson lands would be acquired by the West family, including the foot of Oronoco Street (West’s Point) that would become a tobacco shipping point in the 1730s and 1740s and then the northern most part of Alexandria in 1749.
… and in 1696, by the date of this lease we may fix the 15th of February 1696, as the day on which was begun the permanent settlement beyond Hunting Creek.
Archaeology has shown that Native Americans had hunted and fished in these lands for many years.
He (Thomas Pearson) probably cleared the river side lands from Hunting Creek to a considerable distance northward and left his name on the island now called Daingerfield’s, but which all the old maps and charters designated as Pearson’s Island. This was probably the first permanent settlement in Alexandria county.
Pearson’s Island is now known as Daingerfield Island. It lies just south of National Airport. It is not an island now, in that its western portion just east of the George Washington Parkway is land. Earlier maps shows this as wetlands. This jutting land is occupied by a sailing marina and small National Park Service offices.
Thus in 1696, civilization stepped across Hunting Creek and commenced to clear off the primitive forest and make way for the pleasant old town of Alexandria.
As others did and still do, Carne sometimes shortened Great Hunting Creek to Hunting Creek. Great Hunting Creek today forms a natural boundary between Alexandria and Fairfax County. Its mouth was once wider than now. Hunting Creek flows into the Potomac near Mount Vernon.
The population of the Potomac region at this time had grown sufficiently numerous to require what in modern days are called mail facilities and accordingly when a public post was established in 1695 throughout a portion of the colonies the route was made from Potomac through Annapolis to Philadelphia. By this conveyance letters could be sent northward — eight times a year.
In his article, “The Colonial Post-Office,” (The American Historical Review, Jan, 1916, JSTOR) William Smith writes that prior to the establishment of the colonial mail service in Virginia, the colony had arranged that “all letters superscribed for the public service should be conveyed from plantation to plantation to the place and person named.” There was no systematic service for private letters.
That same year, Maryland plantations having more than kept pace with those upon the Virginia side of the river, the upper portion of Charles County was cut off and erected into a separate shire under the now familiar name of Prince George’s County.
Maryland was also a planter society using enslaved humans. The most prominent plantation across the river from what became Alexandria was the Addison plantation. John Addison built a brick manor home there on Oxon Hill in about 1705. The landmark dwelling burned down in the 1890s. Its site is the MGM Resort at National Harbor. A number of interpretive panels tell some of the story.
1699. At that time, the Indians had all been driven out. All that remained this side of the Blue Ridge were more like the docile Africans, then being brought by shiploads into the colony. It is more than probable that the remnant of the Dogue Indians, on the westward trail that formerly roamed here, passed through “Indian Thoroughfare” as Thoroughfare Gap was then named in 1676. There is no recognizable trace of them after that year.
There are a number of gaps in the mountains west of Alexandria, including Thoroughfare Gap (I-66, Bull Run Mountains), Snickersville Gap (Route 7 near Bluemont), Ashby’s Gap (Route 50) and Keyes Gap (Route 9).
Conclusion
The land that would become Fairfax County in 1742 experienced a land boom from 1720 to 1732, with patents doubling to 163. Tenant farmers and enslaved humans made up some of the population of an estimated 4,000 in 1742. This included today’s Alexandria, Arlington and Falls Church.
Around the first part of the 1730s, a tobacco warehouse was built at the foot of what became Oronoco Street. Enslaved humans picked the leaf, stuffed it into hogsheads, and rolled them down primitive roads to what we today call West’s Point at the foot of Oronoco Street. Planters and prominent men such as John Carlyle, Laurence Washington, Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax, William Ramsey, and Hugh West helped found the town in 1749.
This July, the city of Alexandria will celebrate and commemorate its 272nd anniversary. As we have seen, stories took place during the prior decades.
NASA and NOAA satellites are fun to look at. They can also test our geographical knowledge of an area.
Here is the greater Washington region. Can you name these four places?
Note: The pin is placed to its right so you can see the full area of light.
Answers below.
Recent Comments