Diary of a Georgetowner

Chapter seven

Edited by David Roffman

June 2008

As 1787 draws to a close, Georgetown finds itself prospering and growing. We continue with our Pages from a Georgetown Diary. Spelling and punctuation have been changed to conform to modern usage, and wherever necessary present-day street designations have been added to aid in locating places mentioned. Only imagination is required of the reader.

October 11, 1787. My father's friend, Thomas Stone, has died in Alexandria while waiting for a ship to take him to England. His wife had died three months ago. Besides being a signer of the Declaration of Independence, he had served in the Maryland Senate for eleven years and practiced law in Frederick.

Happier news comes of the marriage of Elizabeth Peter, eldest daughter of Robert Peter to her cousin, James Dunlop. Her father gave the couple a house on High Street (Wisconsin Avenue) not far from his own on Peter's Square (the block bounded by Wisconsin Avenue, 31st, M, and N Streets).

April 13, 1788. A fine spring day. I walked about the Town and looked at the work in progress on the new bridge over Rock Creek at Bridge Street (M St.). Then I strolled to the harbor where I saw ten square-rigged vessels. A small brig from Amsterdam was taking in tobacco from a warehouse on Rock Creek. The larger ships approach Georgetown by way of the Western Channel on the far side of Mason's Island where the depth of water is 27 to 33 feet - deep enough for an Indiaman.

I passed the time of day with Mr. Thomas Corcoran, recently arrived in this town. He means to go into the leather business.

May 5, 1788. The Maryland Assembly has ratified the Federal Constitution. It is said by some that the vote finally came because the members grew weary of listening to Luther Martin's lengthy speeches against it. On one occasion he spoke for more than three hours.

October 2, 1788. A new neighbor. The house built by Mr. John Templeman on Fayette Street (35th and Prospect) has been completed, and it is a handsome structure. They say that Mr. Templeman brought from New Orleans the iron grille work of grape and leaf design which adorns the gallery on the south facade. The gallery leads to an octagonal watch tower above the gardens from which the owner watches the comings and goings of his ships.

March 1, 1789. A few weeks ago there appeared in the streets of Georgetown the first issues of a newspaper which called itself "The Times and the Patowmack Packet." I found it an inoffensive journal and determined to learn more about its publisher whom acquaintances had described to me as a colorful character.

I found him indeed so. He goes by the name of Charles Frederick Fierer since he has chosen to live in this English-speaking country, but he told me that he was christened Karl Friedrich Fuhrer, and his family in Germany is not unknown in the of Hesse-Kassel. Mr. Fierer (for I shall give him his "American" name) came to this country as a Hessian officer during the war and was captured by General Washington's troops at Trenton. He was taken as a prisoner to Dumfries in Virginia and there learned to understand and appreciate the American cause.

When he was returned in a prisoner exchange in 1777, he applied to General von Knyphausen for permission to resign his commission. This the general granted on the condition that he should not enlist in the American forces. Fierer could not accept the condition, and feeling, as he told me, that he had done everything demanded of him in honor, he deserted together with a fellow officer of like persuasion. After that he made his way to General Washington's headquarters at White Plains in New York and was recommended by the general for a commission in the American army.

His record thereafter is irreproachable. He served with the Pulaski Legion during the siege of Savannah, then as captain in the Virginia cavalry for the rest of the war. He sustained severe injuries when thrown from his horse in the last days of the fighting and left the army as a major. In 1781 he returned to Germany but found his property there confiscated and his family estranged. He has lived in Philadelphia and Norfolk and came to Georgetown for the express purpose of setting up his newspaper. He hinted that he had had a falling out with  his partner, Christian Kramer, and was taking a new one, Thomas U. Fosdick, who is a relation of the publisher of the Maryland JHournal and apparently knows something of the business.

Mr. Fierer tried to interest me in a plan which is obvioiusly very close to his heart; to found a Masonic Lodge in Georgetown. I told  him that I would put him in contact with those whose help would be invaluable to him.

Aparil 4, 1789. To Annapolis by Henry Stouffer's stage which runs regularly now three times a week and takes six or seven hours depending on weather and conditions of the road. Upon the advice of friends in the capital I took passage on the Annapolis Packet for my return trip and found the voyage most enjoyable. Mr. Edward Thomas offers twice weekly service to Georgetown at a cost of seven shillings, sixpence.

I learned in Annapolis that the legislature would soon pass the incorporation bill for Georgetown, raising it to the rank of city. Our citizens are most anxious to achieve this new status as recognition of the prosperity and healthy growth of this town in the past two decades.

April 23, 1789. Last week General Washington passed through Georgetown on his way to New York where he will take the oath of office as President of these United States. He arrived on the banks of the Potomac at two in the afternoon, escorted by a corps of gentlemen from Alexandria. As His Excellency crossed the river by ferry I was one of t hose citizens of whom the Times and Potowmack Packet of this date says: "They beheld their Fabius, in the evening of his days, bid adieu to the peaceful retreat of Mount Vernon, in order to save his country once more, from confusion and anarchy."

Col. Deakins, Justice of the Peace and prominent landholder and shipowner, commanded a corps of gentlemen who escorted General Washington from the ferry landing to Mr. Spurrier's tavern. Others int he group besides myself were Gen. Forrest, Col. Stoddert, Gen. James Maccubbin Lingan, Gen. Otho Williams, Col. William Beatty, Col. William Murdock, and gen. John Mason, all comrades-in-arms and some close friends of the General, that is to say, the President.

(To Be Continued)