ground was hallowed, consecrated forever by the solemn ceremonial and the august presence of the greatest men earth has ever produced and hosts of the lowly, in tears. Thousands of the boys in blue, who had marched to danger or death at his call, stood there in worshipful silence as they saw the monument they had largely bought and paid for unveiled for eternity. "There, poor and simple, although not half what anyone desired, yet all a people, poor but patriotic, could afford in that day of America's poverty. Rich in men, poor in purse, the nation then could build no million dollar monuments. "The proposal to wreck and remove that homely little monument, the first to come from a stricken and sorrowing people, would be sacrilege like the destruction of a temple or altar of our religion. No one but a vandal could propose such desecration. There let that little old monument stand through the ages, commemorating alike the plain, homely life and character of the meek and lowly Lincoln, and at the same time the love and sorrow of the poor men and women who raised this shaft as the very best they could afford in a period of national poverty." "Private Dalzell" was made an honorary member of Columbia Historical Society at the meeting on March 20, 1923. His death occurred January 29, 1924. CORRESPONDENCE To the Editor of Washington, D. C., Columbia Historical Society, My Dear Sir: It is with great pleasure that I comply with the request made by an esteemed friend and late member of this Society, Mrs. Mary C. Newcomb, widow of the celebrated astronomer, Simon Newcomb, and give to the care and keeping of this Society, her husband's copy of Albert Boschke's Topographical Map of the District of Columbia. In leaving with the officers of the Columbia Historical Society this ancient map, once the property of one of our most famous members, I trust that it may be made available to such members of the Society and their friends as shall desire in the years to come to make use of it. This map was engraved on copper by Mr. David McClelland and represents in great detail, every house and building inside the then city limits of Washington as well as the names and boundaries of all property owners outside of the city, but in the District of Columbia. In this connection, it is interesting to note how small a proportion of the city was occupied by buildings at the time this map was made. The northerly limit of dwellings was about at O Street extending from New Jersey Avenue to Vermont Avenue and there were few houses beyond that line. In the northwest section, west of North Capitol Street and north of O Street, no houses whatever. Southeast Washington was well filled with dwellings and stores in the vicinity of the Navy Yard and Marine Barracks, there being very few vacant squares. Southwest Washington, then called "The Island," was well occupied, while in northeast Washington, the only part which was thickly settled was half a dozen squares between East Capitol and D Streets, all the balance being very sparsely occupied. David McClelland was an engraver of note and in 1840 was in business on the Avenue, between 2nd and 3rd Streets and later was in the old Medical College at 10th and E Streets. His home was in LeDroit Park and remains with us today, (301 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.) a large and imposing frame structure occupying nearly an entire square, surrounded by forest trees and velvety lawns, a reminder of the sylvan grandeur of our life in the fifties. Today it is an oasis of verdant green amid the murk of city streets. The map has a history aside from its delineation of houses and lands, which is well told by an extract from the Geographical Magazine, November 1, 1894. THE BOSCHKE MAP "Albert Boschke was a German employed in the Coast Survey before the War. He conceived the idea of making a very accurate map of Washington and of the District of Columbia, with the hope of selling to the Government. "He was at the time employed in the drawing division of the Coast Survey, and while so employed organized a corps of surveyors at his own expense to do the fieldwork. This gradually absorbed his time and thought, led to irregular attendance at the office, and finally to his enforced resignation from the survey. "Two maps resulted from his work, one a map of the whole District, the other a map of the city. The map of the District is usually spoken of as the Boschke Map. It was engraved upon copper by Mr. David McClelland, and was just about to be published-indeed, a few copies or proofs had been printed-when, the war breaking out, the Government seized the map and plates. "The map of the city was produced first, and published in 1857. It is interesting from the fact that the houses were drawn from actual tape-line measures in the field and drawn with scrupulous painstaking. "The fieldwork of the District map was based primarily upon a line from the dome of the Capitol to the Naval Observatory. "The roads were meandered by two parties, one with transit and chain, the other with a level. Their results being platted, the plats were taken to the field and the contours and other details sketched in. "The Virginian part of the District, it will be remembered, had been ceded back to Virginia in 1846. Boschke's map did not, therefore, include any of the topography in Alexandria County. "At the outbreak of the war the United States had no topographic map of the District, the only topographic map existing being the manuscript produced by Boschke. He sold his interest in it to Messrs. Blagden, Sweeney, and McClelland. Mr. McClelland is an engraver, now (1894) seventy-four years old, living in LeDroit Park. He engraved the Boschke map, which was executed on two plates. With his partners, he agreed to sell the manuscript and plates to the Government for $20,000.00 Secretary of War Stanton, not apparently understanding the labor and expense of a topographic map, thought that $500.00 was a large sum. There was, therefore, a disagreement as to price. After some negotiations, Mr. McClelland and his partners offered all the material, copper-plates and manuscript, to the Government for $4,000.00, on condition that the plates, with the copy right, should be returned to them at the close of the war. This offer also was refused. There then appeared at Mr. McClelland's house in LeDroit Park, a lieutenant, with a squad of soldiers and an order from the Secretary of War to seize all the material relating to the map. Mr. McClelland accordingly loaded all the material into his own wagon and, escorted by a file of soldiers on either side, drove to the War Department and left the material. While the war was still in progress, after further conference, Secretary Stanton agreed to refer the question of payment for his property to the Committee on War Claims. That committee recommended a payment of $8,500.00 and the owners, regarding this amount in cash. as worth more than future uncertainties, decided to accept it. Thus all the material became Government property at a cost of $8,500.00 and the plates, two in number, are now in possession of the War Department. Electroplate copies of them are also in the possession of the Coast Survey. A subsequent claim for the difference of the $8,500.00 and $20,000.00, the price asked, was presented to Congress, which decided that the acceptance of the $8,500.00 settled the claim, and no more has ever been allowed."-(From The National Geographic Magazine, November 1, 1894, pages 156-158.) May 22, 1925. FRED E. WOODWARD. |