Show M no W awal ar aa IV I V ft 6 wms ma awas auer ca valt rae A I 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE united states supreme court is soon to have a new home in the national capital befitting the dignity of hint flint important branch of tile the federal government ern n ment ent but tile selection of a site f for r this temple of justice has meant the passing of one of the moat historic buildings in washington for years there stood at tile the cortier corner of 0 maryland avenue all and first street N B H in the block adjoining tile tho library of congress a building known as tho the old brick capitol because at a critical period in ill ou our it history Is it housed the government of f the united states nut but now it Is no more it has been torn down so that upon its site may be erected the stately new home of the national judiciary the old brick capitol came into being as the result of one of tile grea greatest t catastrophes which ever befell the republic the burning of the capitol and other government buildings in washington by the british during the war of 1812 As we look back upon it now it seems strange that our government should have been so apathetic and the citizens of washington so indifferent to danger as they were in august 1814 when a british fleet sailed balled into chesapeake bay and anchored off fort mchenry if they gave the matter any thought atall at all it was that new york or baltimore might be attacked but it seemed to occur to no one that the national capital was in any serious danger for one thing they aliey counted on oil fort mchenry to keep the invaders from coming up tip the bay and if the enemy should attempt a naval attack on washington by way of the potomac river they seemed to believe that the antiquated cannon placed at several points below the city would hold them olt off it was no tribute to the intelligence of the british leaders to believe this anti and as might have been expected the enemy did exactly what no one seems to have thought they would do they launched a land attack from the other direction and so swift were their movements and so inadequate the preparations by the americans tor for guarding against such nn an emergency that the red cents were almost upon the city before they were discovered then there was a great scurrying around and general winder hastily as assembled amb emb 1 ed a force of some men to halt the invaders five hundred of ills his men we were re sailors but tile the remainder were raw anti undisciplined in ml attla and it was with this force that he faced an army of british mostly sailors and marines under tinder admiral cockburn and general hoss at bla denburg dens burg americans to this day r remember with shame the races race s 11 ns as tho the newspapers of the day ca called tied the rout which followed for although a the COO american sailors made a brave stand the militia ran ram and Presh president lent Bl SIad adison lson who was with the troops was swept along with them in their panicky flight in tile meantime dolly madison the wife of the president was proving herself a heroine when news of tile the burg disaster reached washington roost most of the government officials and hundreds of citizens fled incontinently w with ith no thought of trying to save any fhlug from the invaders but dolly belied seized the declaration of independence the constitution of the united states and other priceless documents loaded them and other valuables of the government in a farm wagon and took them across acro the potomac into virginia VI r where alere she was later joined b by the president who was forced to hide ait oit mt in tho the woods wood Is a as the enemy tal lurched into the caal capital 23 the british made a triumphal entry of it on august 24 entering the executive acu ecu tive mansion the british officers according to their own account drank the british kings health in the amerlean american presidents wine and then set fire to the building next they visited the capitol and admiral cockburn took his seat ln in the linar chair of tile the speaker of the holl house e of bf representatives springing to his feet lie he shouted sli shall ishall this harbor of yankee democracy be burned all for or it will say aye shouts of ayel aye filled the room and a few minutes later the torch was applied tied next they destroyed the treasury building set fire to td other government structures and when they departed they left behind them a city virtually in ashes washington with its smoking ruins was in a critical situation many bi members embers of ron congress on gresa gress lad had never been fully reconciled to moving the no national capital from old established philadelphia to tills this backwoods vil k lage inge and after the scattered legislators had reassembled a movement was started to abandon washington and reestablish es the seat of government in philadelphia then a group of leading Wits washington hington citizens got busy they determined to provide at their wn own 0 expense a suitable meeting place ahen tho the new congress convened it was this structure which or the next fourbears four our years housed the government of 0 the united states president james monroe tooh the oath of office on a platt ormi erected on the tha north side aide of the building the first outdoor inauguration ceremonies since in new york and the one which established es the precedent tor for the induction into office of later presidents but even more important during tile the four eventful years of the he old brick capitols early history were tile the acts af pf ot the fourteenth and fifteenth congresses which met in it they granted a charter charier years to that bank of 0 the united states against which andrew jackson waged ills his famous fight they appropriated a million a year for eight years for naval construction they authorized the president to engage john trumbull to make ills four big paintings for the new capitol that was to be b they granted to veterans pensions of 20 a month to cers and 8 to privates on proof of need they enacted on april 4 1818 the law adopting capt samuel chester kelda design for the national flog flag they ratified the treaty with great britain for the restriction of naval forces on the great lakes they authorized zed tile the president to take possession au of at east arid and west florida they admitted mississippi indiana and illinois into the union nade organized territories of alabama and arkansas arkans s ind and alaroma iama to take steps for or statehood berba perhaps pi most important of all was tho tb long lone debate over the request of missouri to be admitted its AS a state the request was not granted at that time hut but john W taylor a representative senta tive from new york introduced an amendment to the bill for the admission of missouri providing prodding that no slavery nor involuntary servitude 11 0 should exist north of df tile the line of 30 90 degrees 39 30 minutes north latitude this lie was finally prevailed upon to withdraw but bui in the next congress con grebs it was taken up again by henry clay and was pressed to adoption us as the famous missouri compromise in the meantime meant line work was going forward on the rebuilding of the capt tol and on oil december 6 0 1810 just four years scars arid and two days das after the fourteenth congress assembled in the old brick capitol the sixteenth congress con giesa assembled in ill the new marble capitol the first unit of the great structure which houses our government today the old brick capitol wits was turned over to the circuit court for its use an a appropriate predecessor of tho the new home of the supreme court which Is to be built on its site later the old brick capitol became a fashionable boarding house and served as a home for many notables during the next three decades in it john 0 calhoun statesman senator and vice president lived for nearly a quarter of a century and lie died in one of tile the rooms on the second floor la in 1841 the civil war brought biou glit to tile the old brick capitol its second era of fame commandeered by the war department for use as a house of detention it became known as old capitol prison pilson and held within its walls scores of so called prisoners of state blockade runners foreign army officers captured while serving in the confederate forces conscientious objectors union deserters and confederate spies undoubtedly the most famous of nil all these was the be twitching woman spy tor for the men in gray ilelle belle boyd while belle boyd was incarcerated there after lier her first capture she was accustomed to give a concert tit in tier her room every eiery night for tile the benefit of other prisoners nad and tills this invariably began with tile the singing of maryland my maryland she was released la in exchange for a union general arid and sent south under a flag of truce but site she was soon at tier her work again was waa again captured and once mice more sent to old capitol during this period the prison was also alie scene of one grim event the ibe execution ot of maj henry keeper of the confederate prison camp nt at Ander andersonville sonville ga da tried by a military tribunal presided over by gen lew wallace later famous as the author of den ben was convicted of conspiracy to undermine the health of union prisoners and of alo violating the rules of civilized warfare and was hanged on a gallows in the prison courtyard on november 10 after tile war the old brick capitol was remodeled and converted into three private dwellings which were occupied bf b Asso associate clate justice field of 0 the Su supreme court general dunn and mrs condit smith in this period it was the scene of one more vent event e 0 of historic interest in one of the drawing rooms miss louisa condit smith became the wife of aladj gen leonard wood vocel soldier territorial administrator arid and candidate for the nomination for the presidency in 1921 mrs 0 11 P delmont belmont bought the building and presented it to the national womans comans party for its national nation Rl headquarters it became a gathering place for the feminists not only of america but of the whole world and there was carried on the work for the freedom and equality of women finally the government in seeking a site tor for the new supreme ourt court c building selected this one instituted condemnation proceedings two years ago and this year the work of razing it beann ba n B ty union |