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Marcia Van Ness
Marcia Burnes Van Ness (May 9, 1782 – September 10, 1832) was an 18th and 19th–century socialite in Washington City. Early life Marcia Burnes was born on May 9, 1782, to Ann (née Wightt) and David Burnes on their plantation in what would become Washington City (present day Washington, D.C.). Her father was a Scottish farmer, landowner and slave owner. He owned 600 acres of land and used it for tobacco and corn crops. Her father sold the land in 1791 to make the city of Washington, which made the family wealthy. Burnes attended the School for Young Ladies in Georgetown. She then went to Baltimore to complete her education at Madame Lacomb's Female Academy, while staying with the lawyer Luther Martin and his family. Her brother, John, studied law under Luther Martin. While staying with the Martins, painter Charles Peale painted a miniature of her at the age of fifteen. Life In 1798, Burnes returned to Washington. After the death of her father in 1799, many referred to Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washington, begun in 1796, which is sometimes referred to as the ''Athenaeum Portrait''. Stuart retained the portrait and used it to paint scores of copies that were commissioned by patrons in America and abroad. The image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for more than a centuryGilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum . ''Gilbert Stuart Biography''. Accessed July 24, 2007. and on various |
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his collection ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s. Born and raised in Manhattan to a merchant family, Irving made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the ''Morning Chronicle'', written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. He temporarily moved to England for the family business in 1815 where he achieved fame with the publication of ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1782 Births
Year 178 ( CLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 931 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 178 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Bruttia Crispina marries Commodus, and receives the title of '' Augusta''. * Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus arrive at Carnuntum in Pannonia, and travel to the Danube to fight against the Marcomanni. Asia * Last (7th) year of ''Xiping'' era and start of ''Guanghe'' era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. * In India, the decline of the Kushan Empire begins. The Sassanides take over Central Asia. Religion * The Montanist heresy is condemned for the first time. Births * Lü Meng, Chinese general (d. 220) * P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members. The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 establishes that there be 435 representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Tayloe III
John Tayloe III (September 2, 1770March 23, 1828), of Richmond County, Virginia, was a planter, politician, businessman, and tidewater gentry scion. He was prominent in elite social circles. A highly successful planter and thoroughbred horse breeder, he was considered the "wealthiest man of his day". A military officer, he also served in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia for nine years. The Tayloe family of Richmond County, including his father, John Tayloe II, and grandfather, John Tayloe I, exemplified gentry entrepreneurship. Early years Tayloe was born September 2, or September 13, 1770. the son of John Tayloe II and Rebecca (née Plater) Tayloe, herself from a long-established Maryland gentry family. Her brother was George Plater and brother-in-law was Edward Lloyd III. His paternal grandfather was Col. John Tayloe I of the Old House; and great grandfather was Col William Tayloe, the nephew of the original settler Col William Tayloe of Kingsmill Pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Washington Parke Custis
George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 – October 10, 1857) was an American plantation owner, antiquarian, author, and playwright. His father John Parke Custis was the stepson of George Washington. He and his sister Eleanor grew up at Mount Vernon and in the Washington presidential household. Upon reaching age 21, Custis inherited a large fortune from his late father, John Parke Custis, including a plantation in what became Arlington, Virginia. High atop a hill overlooking the Potomac River and Washington, D.C., Custis built the Greek Revival mansion Arlington House (1803–18), as a shrine to George Washington. There he preserved and displayed many of Washington's belongings. Custis also wrote historical plays about Virginia, delivered a number of patriotic addresses, and was the author of the posthumously published ''Recollections and Private Memoirs of George Washington'' (1860). His daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee. They inherited A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was the last president of the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation; his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings, concluding the First Party System era of American politics. He is perhaps best known for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas while effectively asserting U.S. dominance, empire, and hegemony in the hemisphere. He also served as governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh Secretary of State, and the eighth Secretary of War. Born into a slave-owning planter family in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After studying law u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van Ness Mansion
The Van Ness Mansion was completed for John Peter Van Ness and Marcia Van Ness in 1816 by Benjamin Henry Latrobe on 17th Street, Washington, D.C. They entertained the Madisons, James Monroe, George Washington Parke Custis and John Tayloe III at their mansion. The mansion was described as the "finest house in America". It was built on land that had been owned by Marcia's father, David Burnes, who left 500 acres along the Potomac River to Van Ness. It was one of the most expensive houses in the country, fitted with hot and cold running water, a modern feature at the time, and the mansion was the first residence in the city to have that luxury. Latrobe added a feature designed to maintain a sense of privacy when food was conveyed to dining rooms. Servants accessed rotating servers from a hallway that allowed them to deliver food without entering the room. He installed them previously at the Adena Mansion in Chillicothe, Ohio. It had the country's largest and coolest wine vault. La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Henry Latrobe
Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, drawing on influences from his travels in Italy, as well as British and French Neoclassical architects such as Claude Nicolas Ledoux. In his thirties, he emigrated to the new United States and designed the United States Capitol, on " Capitol Hill" in Washington, D.C., as well as the Old Baltimore Cathedral or The Baltimore Basilica, (later renamed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). It is the first Cathedral constructed in the United States for any Christian denomination. Latrobe also designed the largest structure in America at the time, the "Merchants' Exchange" in Baltimore. With extensive balconied atriums through the wings and a large central rotunda under a low dome which dominated the city ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington City Orphan Asylum
Washington City Orphan Asylum, also called The Protestant Male and Female Orphan Asylum, was an orphanage established in Washington, D.C. for homeless children after the War of 1812. In 1935, it became the Hillcrest Children's Village and was moved to new facilities in the city. History The Washington City Orphan Asylum was established after the War of 1812 due to the number of homeless boys and girls in the District of Columbia. The Washington Orphan Society was established by a Federal Charter by Congress in 1815, with Dolley Madison, the First Lady of the United States, elected as the first directress. Madison and Marcia Van Ness were co-founders of the organization. Elizabeth Blair Lee was a manager of the organization for 57 years, and the directoress for 44 years. Taking in children from Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, it served children who were neglected, whose parents gave them up, or whose parents died. Besides offering shelter and food, children received educat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
