Tour of German-American Sites

 

 in Georgetown, District of Columbia

 

T

he first Germans in what is today the Nation’s Capital settled in Colonial times in George Town, Province of Maryland.  George Town was officially founded in 1751 as a tobacco port at the confluence of the Potomac River and Rock Creek.  It was named in honor of the German-born King George II of Great Britain, who was also Kurfürst / Elector of Hannover.  It is, therefore, older than the Nation’s Capital and the United States itself.  Located just before the Falls of the Potomac, it was as far inland as ocean-going vessels could sail.  It was the nearest overseas shipping point for farmers in what is now Montgomery and Frederick County.

  In the year 1755, London authorities asked Governor Sharpe of Maryland about the population increase of his Province.  He reported that since the year 1748, more than 2,000 Germans and 5,000 English had entered the Province.  A certain number of these reached Georgetown, because a German Lutheran church was established here as early as 1769.

  During the War of American Independence, two Germans of Georgetown manufactured muskets and bayonets for the American forces.  Johannes and Heinrich Yost entered into contract with the Revolutionary Committee of Safety as early as October 1775 to produce muskets and bayonets exclusively for the Continental Congress for one year.  They committed themselves to delivering to Annapolis 75 muskets with bayonets by May 1776.  But they ran behind, and by May 1 the weapons had not yet arrived in the capital of the Province of Maryland.  Therefore, they received a letter admonishing them that they had committed themselves to producing not only the 75 weapons by May but to deliver an additional 25 each following month to Major Price of Georgetown.  They must have completed the first order by May 23, because Col. Beall was told on that day to deliver muskets produced by John and Henry Yost to the company stationed in Port Tobacco on the Potomac. 

    When the Nation’s Capital was established in 1800, it became part of the District of Columbia as Georgetown, DC.  Today, it is officially part of Washington, DC; nevertheless, its distinctive architecture, history and old homes lend it a special distinction.  Georgetown is separated from the rest of Washington, DC, by Rock Creek Park.  

 

 

         

          1. The Old Stone House

 

     We begin our tour of Georgetown at a building that predates the American Revolution: The Old Stone House is near the intersection of M Street and 30th Street.  It was begun 1764 by a German-immigrant couple Christoph and Rachel Lehmann and completed by the widow Rachel in 1766.  The Old Stone House may be reached from the White House in downtown Washington by proceeding NW along Pennsylvania Ave.  This avenue crosses Rock Creek and then converges with M Street.  Go one more block and you will see the Old Stone House on your right at 3051 M Street.  It is the oldest building in the Nation’s Capital and the only Colonial structure still standing.  This small, two-story house has been used throughout its existence as a residence or residence / shop until it was purchased in 1953 by the U.S. Government.  According to the National Park Service, “the Old Stone House remains a building of great architectural merit and one which stood witness to important events in the early history of our Capital City and our Nation.”  The Old Stone House is maintained today by the National Park Service and is open to the public.

          The builder if the Old Stone House, Christoph Lehman was a German immigrant who arrived in Philadelphia on September 21, 1731, on the Ship Britannia of London.  This vessel sailed from Rotterdam, a favorite port of embarkation for Palatine immigrants. Among the Lehman’s listed by the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, only one fits the dates of the Georgetown pioneer.  A Christoph Lehman was born April 14, 1701, in Mönchweiler, Villingen, Baden, on the eastern slopes of the Schwarzwald / Black Forest.  His parents are listed as Christian Lehman and Catharina Schmaltz.

    The George Town Lehman apparently emigrated to George Town from Pennsylvania in the early 1760’s.  He may have initially moved to western Maryland, as did many Germans who arrived in Philadelphia.  Subsequently he may have moved his family east to escape Indian attacks during  the French and Indian War (1754-63). 

    Using Potomac bluestone, he began to build his house in 1764 in the manner of Pennsylvania dwellings he had known.  The pitch of the roof, details of the roofline, the stonework, and the brick east gable and chimney resemble the style brought to the colonies by his German forebears.  Lehman, the carpenter architect, built the house with walls 2½ feet thick.  This solid construction, typical of German-built houses, is one reason why it has survived about 240 years.  The house was to serve as the home for himself and his wife and as his carpentry shop.

    Unfortunately, Christopher Lehman died before he could complete the house. He must have died shortly before November 5, 1765, when his possessions were inventoried.  Since there was no German Lutheran cemetery as yet, he was probably buried in the garden behind his house, as was the custom.  The Lehman’s inventory included two “Dutch Bibles,” actually Deutsch or German.  These were almost certainly printed by the Germantown (PA) printer Christoph Saur; he printed the first German Bible in 1743 from Martin Luther’s translation.  The larger Bible was evidently the Lehman family Bible, and the smaller one probably came from Rachel’s family.

    Rachel completed the stone house by herself by June 1766.   This widow, who was left with two sons, married Jacob Furvey before the end of 1766.  The two sold the house to Cassandra Chew in June 1767 in exchange for lot 62 in George Town and the sum of 100 pounds.  The money was apparently provided by the wealthy merchant and real-estate speculator Robert Peter, because the house would revert back to him or his heirs if Cassandra had no heirs.  He evidently considered the stone house a fine residence for Cassandra, his mistress.

      An offspring of Rachel and Christoph Lehman was “John Christopher Layman” who signed a petition to the 1775 Maryland Convention on behalf of one Patrick Graham of Port Tobacco, Charles County.  This gentleman had broken the Resolves of the Continental Congress by aiding a certain John Bailie secretly to land and dispose of sundry goods imported by him contrary to the Resolves.  The petition stated that Graham was now contrite and determined never more to do anything inimical to American Freedom.  The 119 petitioners asked the Convention to restore Graham his former rights as a citizen.  The fact that John Christopher was asked to sign this petition shows that he was regarded as a person of some consequence.  It also shows that he favored American Independence. 

    At the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776, the population of George Town consisted of 351 free persons.  Rachel’s husband Jacob Furvey enlisted in a German Regiment during the Revolutionary War.  He is listed on Sept. 19, 1776, in Philadelphia as “Private Jacob Fowee.”  The Council of Maryland awarded more than 200 pounds in specie to “Rachel Furry” in 1782.  This was apparently in compensation for losing her husband in the Revolutionary War.  The 1790 U.S. Census for  Montgomery County, into which George Town had been incorporated in 1776, lists a “Charles Fura” and a “Thomas Fura.”  These were apparently Jacob and Rachel’s sons.  A “John Lehman” or “Lemon” appears four times in the 1790 Census in adjacent Prince George’s County—once for each house or dwelling area that he owned.  In one of these houses may have lived the widow Rachel. 


 

     2.  Thomas Jefferson Street

 

    Going down Thomas Jefferson St. from the Old Stone House for one block, we reach the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.  (This street is between 30th and 31st Streets and named after Jefferson, because he lived here while Vice President.)  Begun in 1828, this canal parallels the Potomac River for 185 miles from Georgetown to Cumberland, Maryland.  The canal was dug with picks and shovels by workers who had been recruited mainly from Ireland but also from Germany.

    The three-story, brick home of Valentine Reintzel stood on the west side of Jefferson Street, between the C&O Canal and Water St. (now K St.).  The parents of Valentine had immigrated to Pennsylvania from the Rhineland  in 1738.  The father had moved with some of his children to George Town in 1767.  As Master of the Georgetown Masonic Lodge, Valentine Reintzel had assisted George Washington in laying the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol in 1793.  After the ceremony, Washington had placed the marble gavel that he had used into the hands of Reintzel.  It is kept in the vault of the bank on the NE corner of M St. and Wisconsin Ave.  Other German-Americans in the small Georgetown Lodge were Valentine’s brothers John and Anthony as well as Daniel Kurtz.  Until 1810, this lodge met in the third story of Valentine Reintzel’s home.  In 1811, the lodge erected its hall at the NW corner of Thomas Jefferson St. and the C&O Canal; this building is still standing.  In that year, Reintzel became the first Grand Master of the District of Columbia.  Daniel Kurtz followed him as Grand Master in 1818 and 1819.

    Returning to M St., we turn left (west).  We pass on our right the site of the Union Hotel, which is a few doors from the Old Stone House.  The Union Hotel opened in 1796 as the finest hotel in town.  The German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt stayed here while visiting Thomas Jefferson in the White House in 1804. 

     Continuing along M Street, we note that in the 19th century many businesses on this street and neighboring blocks were run by German-Americans.  At 3214 M St., in a building still standing today, the Federal Government established its Indian Trade Office around 1806.  Flat bottomed “gondolas” were bringing many shipments of furs to the George Town wharves.  This western trade extended as far as Fort Osage on the Missouri River and Lake Erie.  In 1809, the Washington Federalist reported that upwards of 4,000 raccoon skins would be sold in a single day in the Indian Trade Office.  Daniel Kurtz and Valentine Reintzel took advantage of this influx of furs and established tanneries here.  The other Reintzel brothers, John and Anthony, were probably also involved in this business.  Valentine Reintzel was a Councilman of George Town and mayor from 1803 to 1805 and 1806 to 1808.  

 

          3.  The Lutz House

 

  Turning right on Wisconsin Ave. (the Colonial High Street), we pass 1255 Wisconsin Ave. on our right.  This was the John Lutz House completed about 1800; it later served as the Aged Women’s Home.

 

  4.  Georgetown University

 

  We continue two blocks up Wisconsin Ave. and then left on P St., left on 37th St. to O where the entrance to Georgetown University is on our right.  The first building is Healy Hall, the earliest building of Georgetown University (on the left).  Founded in 1791, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States.  Healy Hall, a Gothic stone structure with a 200-foot spire, was designed by John L. Smithmeyer  from Vienna and Paul J. Pelz from Schlesien / Silesia.  Construction began in 1877.

 

 

  5.  Lutheran Church

 

            From Georgetown University we take O Street back to Wisconsin Ave. Continuing up Wisconsin for two blocks we see on our left, at the intersection of Wisconsin and Volta Place, the stone building of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of georgetown.   Founded in 1769 as a log church, it is the oldest German church and only the second church in what is today the District of Columbia.       


          A lot was donated in 1769 for a German Lutheran church by Col. Charles Beaty, who wanted to attract Germans to George Town.  It was on the NW corner of what was then High and Fourth Streets.  A log-house church that doubled as a school was built in 1769.  A cemetery was laid out that served as a German burying ground for more than 50 years.  A little bell was soon added to this log church.  Later the congregation sold the bell to raise money.  Some years later, they suffered pangs of conscience, and they searched various ironmongers hoping to find it before it was melted down.  They repurchased it, and the bell may be seen today on the grounds in front of the church.  Before he became a Revolutionary War general, Rev. Peter Mühlenberg is believed to have preached here.  

          In 1867, the Grand Masonic Lodge of the District laid the cornerstone for the third church plus school at this location (1556 Wisconsin Ave.).  In 1869, Rev. Johannes J. Suman was installed as the first regular pastor.  The Trustees were James Gosler, George Wetzrich, Henry Wirner, John C. Kiser and Henry Kiser.  Rev. George N. Nixdorff became the second pastor in 1871 of a congregation of 12 families. 

          The cornerstone of the present gray stone church, the fourth at this site, was laid by the Grand Lodge in 1914.  Displayed in the narthex of the church is a large German pulpit Bible printed in Tübingen in 1730. 


 

  6.  The German Embassy

 

  We continue up Wisconsin and turn left at Reservoir Road.  We reach the German Embassy at 4645 Reservoir Road, NW.  It was designed by the German architect Egon Eiermann and opened in 1964.  The main auditorium is dedicated to Carl Schurz.  (The Embassy of Austria is at 3524 International Court, NW; of Luxembourg at 2200 Massachusetts Ave., NW; and of Switzerland at 2900 Cathedral Ave., NW.)

 

  7.  Montrose Park

 

  We return to Wisconsin Ave. via Reservoir Road and continue up the Avenue  At R Street we turn right, and we see Montrose Park on our left.  “Sarah Louisa Rittenhouse spearheaded a group of women who petitioned Congress to buy the acreage and establish Montrose Park ‘for the recreation and pleasure of the people’” (“Washington, DC: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary” by ParkNet, 2002).  There is a memorial to Ms. Rittenhouse at the entrance to the park.

 

  8. Oak Hill Cemetery

 

  Oak Hill Cemetery borders Montrose Park on the east.  High above Rock Creek, at Lot 161, East, is the grave of German-American architect Adolf Cluss, his wife and children.  This historic cemetery at R and 28th Streets is also the burial place of Civil War General Reno, President Lincoln’s Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and a son of  Lincoln.

 

  9.  Old Europe and The Concord Club

 

  Returning to Wisconsin Ave. via R and continuing eight or nine blocks up this thoroughfare, we reach 2434 Wisconsin Avenue and the Old Europe Restaurant and above it the rooms of The Concord Club.  This building is located in Upper Georgetown just south of Calvert Street and near the U.S. Naval Observatory.  Walter Camp, Sr. (1904–1987), from Hamburg, revitalized the Concord Club after World War II, and he was instrumental in obtaining this building for the Club.  (Prior to this, the social and organizational center for German-Americans had been the Arcadia Hall at 3134 14th Street, NW (1935–42) and before that the Concord Club House at 314 C Street, NW (1894–1930).  The Concord Club on Wisconsin Ave. is the social center for German-Americans in Washington and the meeting place of various Vereine, including the Concord Club, the Washington Sängerbund, the Schuhplattler- und Gebirgstrachtenverein “Washingtonia,” Schlaraffia Washingtonia and the Association of German-American Societies (AGAS).  It was also the meeting place of the Christian Heurich Unit of the Steuben Society, Greater Beneficial Union, Distrikt Nr. 160 and Greater Beneficial Union, Distrikt Nr. 40.

In the main room of the Concord Club, called the Walter Camp, Sr., Room, hang, along with his photo, banners of the Schuhplattlers, Sängerbund and Schlaraffia, festooned with their many awards.  One old banner reads: Gewidmet von Damen Juli 1865.  O blühe fort,-du deutscher Sang.  A more recent banner reads: Schuhplattler u. Gebirgstrachten-Verein Washingtonia. 1923–1963. Vom Bruderverein “Edelweiβ-Stamm 1893 München.

 The Concord Club on Wisconsin Ave. also owns the Old Europe Restaurant and Rathskeller, which was founded in 1949.  It was originally run by the Lichtenstein family, German refugees from the Nazis.  Now it is managed by Mr. Alex Herold.

 

  10.  National Cathedral

 

  Continuing farther up Wisconsin Ave., we come to the highest point in Washington and the Episcopal Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, popularly known as the Washington National Cathedral.  It is located at the intersection of Wisconsin and Massachusetts Avenues, NW.  Construction on this immense Gothic edifice was started in 1907 and completed in 1990.  Philip Hubert Frohman, the principal architect of the cathedral, is buried within the building along with President Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller and Admiral George Dewey. 

  The six bronze, lattice doors at the three entries at the main entrance (west side) are by Ulrich Henn.  He was born in 1925 in Schwäbisch Hall and maintained his studio in Stuttgart.  The two central doors depict events in the lives of Moses and Abraham.  The two north doors depict events from the life of St. Peter, and the south doors of St. Paul.  Interwoven are flowers of North and South America.  The figures in these trellis doors are two sided so they can be viewed as well from the front as from the back.  The doors were cast in 1979, 1984 and 1987 by means of a newly rediscovered wax method. 

  Two large, modern-style, stained glass windows on the left side of the nave are by Hans Kaiser.   He was born in 1914 in Bochum and died in 1982 in Soest.  Heinz Warneke created the sculpture of the Last Supper within a tympanum (the space between an arch and the horizontal head of a door below.  Warneke was born in 1895 in Bremen, and he was trained in Europe.  He immigrated to New York and taught sculpture at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC.  He died in 1983 in Connecticut.  In the Bishop’s Garden on the south side of the Cathedral is a sculpture by Warneke of the prodigal son being embraced by his father.  Thus concludes our tour of German sites in Georgetown, District of Columbia.—Gary Carl Grassl