Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

From Find-A-Grave.

In the last post, I mentioned that William Gamble was buried in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.  Some other notables buried there:

John Quincy Adams--  President

Matthew Brady--  Photographer Civil War

Preston Smith Brooks--  Attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor.

David Herold--  Lincoln conspirator 

J. Edgar Hoover--  FBI

Owen Lovejoy--  Abolitionist

Thomas "Tip" O'Neill--  House of Representatives

John Philip Sousa--  Marches

And, lots of members of Congress.

--Brock-Perry

There Are Paintings of Captain Gwinn and His Wife and Were at Auction in 2020

A few posts ago, I wrote that there were no known paintings of Captain John Gwinn of the USS Constitution.  While looking up more information on him, I came across a source that said paintings of him and his wife Caroline had been up for auction on November 21, 2020.

They had an estimated price of between $20,000 and $30,000 and auctioneers were Wooten & Wooten.  The one of Capt. Gwinn was made in 1839 and his wife's a few years later.

Thomas Sully painted them.  He was a famous artist living in Philadelphia who painted such subjects as Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and Marquis  de Lafayette.  Born in England in 1783 and emigrated with his family to Charleston, S.C.,  in 1792.  

Another of his subjects was Britain's Queen Victoria.    His Adams portrait hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  Two of his Jefferson portraits are at the University of Virginia and at West Point.    

--Brock-Perry

William Miller, War of 1812 Governor of North Carolina-- Part 2

After the war, as governor of North Carolina, he lent his support to early efforts to establish a system of public education in the state.  He also helped improve internal state trade and transportation and a revision of the penal code and judicial system.

One of his appointees to the  bench was instrumental in the organization of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

After his terms, President John Quincy Adams appointed Miller as diplomatic agent to Guatemala.  He died of yellow fever en route to assume his new post.

It is believed he was buried at sea.

--Brock-Perry

Dr. John Todd-- Part 3: From Kentucky to Springfield, Illinois

From The People Lincoln Knew site.

Mary Todd Lincoln's uncle and de facto patriarch of the Springfield, Illinois, Todds.  Robert Smith Todd, Mary's father, never moved to Springfield.

He was born in Lexington Kentucky in 1787 and received an excellent education, graduating from Transylvania College in Lexington and the Medical University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  he served in the War of 1812 as surgeon general of Kentucky troops  before returning to his Lexington, Ky., practice.

In 1813, he married Elizabeth Smith, age 20, .

In 1827, John Quincy Adams appointed him Register of the General Land Office in Springfield, Illinois.  He held that position until 1829, when he was removed for political reasons following the election of Andrew Jackson to president.  John Todd then practiced medicine in Springfield until his death at age 77 in 1865.

--Brock-Perry

Who Dubbed Baltimore "The Monumental City"?-- Part 2: A Put-Down Then Honor

What Wilber Hunter didn't have available to him when he said John Quincy Adams had been first to use the term were the thousands of historic newspapers as are available today.

The words "Monumental City" were used to refer to Baltimore in 1823 by the editors of the Daily National Intelligencer, the main newspaper in nearby Washington, D.C., and most likely by its main editor, Joseph Gales Jr..

On February 3, 1823, there was a big political debate going on over Maryland's support of the Potomac Canal (later named the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal).  Gale was scornful of Baltimore for not supporting the canal and he was flabbergasted that "the monumental city" was not supporting  this grand civic work for the betterment of the country.

Gale was being sarcastically, but his term was picked up all over the country and in Baltimore and by the early 1830s, American and foreign publications and travel books were using "The Monumental City" to refer to Baltimore.

--Brock-Perrt

Who Dubbed Baltimore "The Monumental City"?-- Part 1: JQA?

From the August 15, 2015, Baltimore Sun by Lance Humphries.

And, speaking of memorials in Baltimore, on July 4, 2015, the Baltimore Washington Monument had the bicentennial of the laying of its cornerstone.  That was way before the more famous Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was begun.

In 1971, Baltimore historian Wilber Harvey  Hunter was the first to suggest that former President John Quincy Adams, while visiting the city in 1827 gave Baltimore its moniker "The Monumental City.  The story goes that he was at Barnum's Hotel at a banquet and gave the toast:  "Baltimore -- the monumental city -- may the days of her safety be as prosperous and happy, as the days of her danger have been trying and triumphant."

While Adams did toast Baltimore as the Monumental City, he was not the first to give it that name.

Find Out, Next Post.  --Brock-Perry

Marking the End of the War of 1812-- Part 2: Treaty Signers

The Treaty of Ghent was signed by both British and American officials on December 24, 1814.

Those signing it for the British were:

Anthony St. John Baker, secretary of the British delegation
William Adams, Admiralty lawyer
Henry Goulbourn, member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary of War and the Colonies.
Admiral Lord Gambier, Royal Navy and governor of Newfoundland.

Signing for the Americans:

John Quincy Adams, minister to Russia
Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury
Christopher Hughes, Secretary of the U.S. Commission
James Bayard, lawyer and U.S. senator
Johnathan Russell, U.S. Representative in England
Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives and leader of the War Hawks.

--Brock-Perry

Treaty of Peace and Amity Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America

This is the official name of the Treaty of Ghent.

  It had 11 articles and written by Henry Clay.

The three British commissioners who signed and affixed their seal were Sir James Gambier, Henry Goulburn and William Adams.

The American commissioners were John Quincy Adams, J.A. Bayard, Henry Clay and Albert Gallatin.

--Brock-Perry