Drinking Away in the 1930s at the Washington Canoe Club

The Washington Canoe Club, built in single style architecture in 1905 along the shores of the Potomac River just north of the Key Bridge is one of the oldest operating sports clubs in the city.  It also pioneered the flat water racing as an Olympic sport, and continues to play an important role in Olympic sport.  In the late 1930s, however, it also had a drinking problem – more on that later.   The majestic building has survived flooding and several heavy ice jams that once moved the entire structure five feet down river.   It was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.  

Canoeing became popular in Europe in the 1860s and 70s, and the New York Canoe Club was founded in 1871.  The Washington Canoe Club was founded on August 1, 1905 with a gathering of its first 100 members at 1427 New York Avenue, NW.  Its first President was Willard Fracker.  Although it was originally planned to be on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, property was quickly secured at the end of M Street in Georgetown. 

 Architect George P. Hales provided the plans for the clubhouse, an illustration which appeared in the September 3, 1905 Washington Post seen here.  Hales was a recent arrival among canoeists on the Potomac, but he had been competing in the sport on the Charles River outside Boston for many years.  He designed the ‘house’ as it was called to be entered from M Street (then Canal) on the second floor via a bridge.   The second floor would contain a ballroom, lounge, smoking room, fireplace, locker rooms, bathrooms, a balcony and a corner turret for a flag pole flying the club pennant.   The entire first floor was designed with racks to store 125 canoes.   Construction commenced quickly, and a house warming party was held in the ballroom in December of 1905.  Ray Garrett was listed as its first Commodore.  

Canoeists, We Have a Drinking Problem

Notes from the club’s October 20, 1938 meeting reveal that the gathering was the result of a “petition for a special meeting to discuss drinking in the clubhouse.”  Several motions were offered from the floor in an attempt to limit drinking during dances in the ballroom only, banning drinking from the ballroom, and allowing drinking everywhere else on the property.  A member named Mr. Havens revealed that the upper balcony “was never used by anyone, including the ‘better element’ who did not drink.”  Ouch!

Member Fowler stated that the club needed new members and significant renovations, and suggested that allowing drinking throughout the winter would attract new members, going so far as to recommend tearing down the kitchen walls, removing lockers, installing a stove and use the new found space for drinking year round.  The previous summer regatta was objected to by Fowler because “there was too much drinking and his friends did not like the appearance of everyone drinking beer all over the Clubhouse.”  He suggested a new club membership application be composed “to show the applicant was the type of man needed at the Club, but one who would object to drinking in all places.” 

 

“Obnoxious drinkers” were brought up, although other members claimed to use the fireplace as a cozy and nice place for winter drinking without any such type present.  Suggested rules on where and when members could drink came from the floor until member McCalley wanted to know if the purpose of any new rule was to “prevent members from being seen drinking, or to prevent them from drinking.”   

Member Havens took the time to point out that McCalley “was an exception, as he did not make highballs, but drank his drinks straight and in the locker room.”  He countered and said “the locker room is cold, and after drinking there the fireplace would bring out the liquor with bad effects.”  Member Snell remarked “that if we were all good members, we wouldn’t throw our cigarettes on the floor.” 

Member Moffatt “reminded the meeting that we have a rule that states we must be gentlemen at all times.”  Member Dilger “stated that in his opinion the last dance he attended was one of low caliber, with drinking all over the clubhouse and that he did not bring a girl over to the dance…and that there was a need for dignity at the Club.”  The meeting was adjourned without a vote.

Years earlier, the club had similar meeting concerning the appropriate dress of members and guests, or the lack thereof.   That will be saved for a future blog post! 

Copyright Paul K. Williams

The 1917 scandals and affairs of DC's builder Chester A. Snow

Patent Attorney and Investment Builder Chester A. Snow

A successful patent attorney, Chester Ammen Snow also invested in building several apartment buildings in Washington, including the Holmes and the Irving at 3014 and 3020 Dent Place in Georgetown, built in 1902 and 1903, respectfully. He was a partner in the CA Snow & Co. firm along with Edward G. Siggers, and they maintained an office at 708 8th Street, N.W., adjacent to the Snow household. By 1910, the City Directory indicated that his partner had changed to an individual by the name of Clarence A. Doyle. Their advertisement from that year appears above.

Chester A. Snow was born in April 1844 in Virginia to Reverend Dexter and Catherine Snow. The family moved to Washington, DC by 1880, and lived together in a large house at 712 8th Street, N.W., by 1900. The extended family was enumerated there that year, and included the elder Snow, and Chester and his wife Clarissa (Parfet) Snow. She was also a native of Virginia, having been born there in 1870.

Chester was age 50 and Clarissa age 24 when they had married in 1894. They had one child together, Chester, Jr., in 1898, that would go on to head the C. A. Snow Company, which was already flourishing by the time he had been born. An announcement in the July 29, 1907 Washington Post indicated that the wealthy couple were going to depart for a round-the-world trip in September of that year, to include India, Japan, and Egypt. Clarissa died sometime between 1907 and 1910, possibly on the trip itself.

According to the census taken in 1910, Chester, then age 66, had moved into a house at 1818 Newton Street, NW, along with his niece Maud Emory, then a widow age 42. They were taken care of by two servants and a cook. Snow was a longtime leader of the Washington Humane Society, and made the Washington Post several times as a complainant in cases against residents using horses that were “old and unfit to work,” or forced up snowy hills without sand being used for traction (Washington Post, January 20, 1905).

However, Snow began courting a 36 year old resident named Addis M. Hubard in early 1913, and the two were married on July 29^th of that year (Washington Post, July 25, 1914). They had a son named Dexter Hubard Snow on July 25, 1914, who had been born in Europe, where Addis had remained following their extended Honeymoon. 

Their marriage lasted just three years, however, as first reported in the January 23, 1917 issue of the Washington Post, that they had been separated since November of 1916. Their sensational divorce trial, which revealed an intimate relationship between Snow and his niece Maud, made headlines for weeks throughout the ordeal, and was no doubt the subject of much gossip in the city’s social circles. Testimony even included many love letters written between all three parties. Custody of Dexter was the focal point of the trial. It likely did not help matters that Chester Snow hit and injured an 18 year old child named Harvey Magner, playing near his office on 8th Street, NW, during the trial.

Addis claimed that their “love died on the honeymoon,” and that she was prevented from entertaining guests in their home, denied use of their automobile, and “never treated as a wife.” Snow countered, of course, and alleged that their “honeymoon was spoiled because of his bride’s nervousness and spells of hysteria.” In the end, Addis was granted custody of the child, and both received a divorce.

The trial also shed light on the financial success of Snow, who his second wife estimated as being worth $2 million. He also owned a farm property coined Fenwick, near Woodside, Maryland. 

Chester A. Snow, Jr., took over the C.A. Snow Company following an education at the University of Pennsylvania and The George Washington University, and it became exclusively involved in the real estate business. He had begun working there in 1916. Seen at left, he married Enid Sims on February 19, 1923.

Chester Snow died in 1937 at the age of 93. His son by his first wife, Chester A. Snow, Jr. died in August of 1977 in Washington, DC, and his son by his second wife, Dexter H. Snow, died in Amherst, Virginia in May of 1996.

Copyright Paul K. Williams

Hollywood Oscar Winner in Georgetown: The Myrna Loy House

3522 P Street in May of 1968, Library of Congress

Many owners of the smaller, wood frame houses in Georgtown often believe their house has a litany of prominent owners, politicians, and wealthy individuals - and they are usually wrong.  Those houses were mostly occupied by government workers, food stall owners, domestics, and journeymen.  So, I thought the case might be the same when I was asked to research the small house at 3522 P Street, NW.  I headed to the Peabody Room at the Georgetown Library, where librarian extraordinaire Jerry McCoy informed me that it was once the home of Hollywood Actress and Oscar winner Myra Loy from 1950 to 1951.  Now we had an interesting house history!        

The house at 3522 P Street, N.W. was constructed between 1821 and 1832 by George Mahoney, a bricklayer.  Because building permits were not required in the District of Columbia until 1877, this estimated construction date is based on tax assessments and an early advertisement for sale of the property.  Mahoney acquired the site in 1821 from John Threlkeld, a prominent citizen of Georgetown..

On March 22, 1943 the house was purchased by Roxana Doran for $,3500.  At the time, the house was occupied by Florence Vinston, a widowed maid who was paying $20.50 per month rent.  Doran, a real estate agent, renovated the house, as Americans began to express interest in their most historic neighborhoods following the opening of Williamsburg in Virginia.  Ms. Doran’s most well-known tenant was actress Myrna Loy, who lived at 3522 P Street in 1951-52 with her husband, Howland H. Sargent.

Myrna Loy was born Myrna Williams in Radersburg, Montana in 1905.  When she was 13 her father died and her family moved to Los Angeles, where she spent the remainder of her childhood.  She began acting in local stage productions when she was 15, and played her first film roles when she was 20.  She was one of the few stars to begin in silent films but successfully transition to sound.  In silent films she played exotic, seductive women, but later in sound films she played more refined characters. 

She played mostly small roles until 1933, when she signed with MGM and got two substantial parts, one of which was playing Nora Charles in “The Thin Man”, the role for which she has been best known since.  She played Nora in five more Thin Man films over the years.  In 1936, she was named Queen of the Movies (Clark Gable was king) in a nationwide poll.  In the 1940s and 1950s she continued acting, but parts were fewer and further between.  Among them was a starring role in 1946 in “The Best Years of our Lives, which won seven Academy Awards, though none for Ms. Loy.  She never win an Oscar for a performance, but she did receive an Honorary Academy Award in 1991.  She died in New York two years later.

Ms. Loy was the first Hollywood star to serve as a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO in 1948, and later was Chair of the Hollywood Committee for UNESCO.  She also was a film advisor for UNESCO.   She met Howland Sargent, who was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, at a UNESCO meeting in Paris.  They were married from 1951 to 1960 (the first of Ms. Loy’s four marriages).

The Georgetowner, November 4, 1954

A July 1948 Evening Star article, headlined “Georgetown Taking Myrna Loy in Stride”, says that Ms. Loy drew crowds at first when she ventured out, but that she later became such a frequent sight on the Georgetown streets that she was hardly noticed.  Martin’s Tavern boasted that she was a regular customer.

An item in the Washington Post on February 10, 1952 said that Ms. Loy and her husband finally had acquired a guest room, by moving to a new apartment on R Street that was part of the former “Friendship” estate.  The article said that they would be moving from “their present ‘thimble of a house’ on P Street, which has only one bedroom.”  The article does not say who the “thimble” characterization is a quote from – perhaps Ms. Loy? 

Copyright Paul K. Williams.  Researched and written by Kenneth G. Peters and Paul K. Williams.  

The Lincoln Séance at a House in Georgetown

The house located today at 3226 N Street was built between 1876-1877 by Thomas Loockerman, a successful dentist.  However, there was at least one prior dwelling on the site, built before 1851 and probably as early as the 1820s.  In the late 19^th century there were claims that during the Civil Wall President Abraham Lincoln attended a séance there.  City directories show people living on the site at least as early as 1863.[1]

The Lincoln Séance

 

 Thomas Knowles  purchased the two story house then known as 21 First Street in 1851.  According to city directories, 3226 N Street was occupied in 1863 by Cranstoun Laurie, identified as “chief clerk, Post Office Dept.”  Laurie and his wife Margaret had three children, including a daughter, Mary Isabella, nicknamed Belle.  Cranstoun Laurie’s father was the founder and first Rector of what is now New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. 

Years later, in 1891, Nettie Colburn Maynard wrote a book entitled Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?  Or Curious Revelations from the Life of a Trance Medium[2],  in which she described the activities of Mr. and Mrs. Laurie, and particularly their daughter Belle, as spiritual mediums.  The book tells of President Lincoln’s participation in a séance at 21 First Street on February 5, 1863 (150 years ago on Feb 5, 2013!):

Illustration from Was Abraham Lincoln a Spritualist? 

One morning, early in February, we received a note from Mrs. Lincoln, saying she desired us to come over to Georgetown and bring some friends for a seance that evening, and wished the "young ladies" to be present. In the early part of the evening, before her arrival, my little messenger, or "familiar" spirit, controlled me, and declared that (the "long brave," as she denominated him) Mr. Lincoln would also be there.

… [At the gathering that evening] he [Lincoln] turned to me and said, “Well, Miss Nettie; do you think you have anything to say to me tonight?" At first I thought he referred to the request I had made when he entered the room. Recollecting myself, however, I said, "If I have not, there may be others who have." He nodded his head in a pleasant manner, saying, "Suppose we see what they will have to tell us."

Among the spirit friends that have ever controlled me since my first development was one I have before mentioned – known as "old Dr. Bamford." He was quite a favorite with Mr. Lincoln. His quaint dialect, old-fashioned methods of expression, straightforwardness in arriving at his subject, together with fearlessness of utterance, recommended him as no finished style could have done. This spirit took possession of me at once. As I learned from those in the circle, the substance of his remarks was as follows: "That a very precarious state of things existed at the front, where General Hooker had just taken command. The army was totally demoralized; regiments stacking arms, refusing to obey orders or to do duty; threatening a general retreat; declaring their purpose to return to Washington. A vivid picture was drawn of the terrible state of affairs, greatly to the surprise of all present, save the chief to whom the words were addressed. When the picture had been painted in vivid colors, Mr. Lincoln quietly remarked: " You seem to understand the situation. Can you point out the remedy?" Dr. Bamford immediately replied: "Yes; if you have the courage to use it." "He smiled," they said, and answered, "Try me." The old doctor then said to him, "It is one of the simplest, and being so simple it may not appeal to you as being sufficient to cope with what threatens to prove a serious difficulty. The remedy lies with yourself. Go in person to the front; taking with you your wife and children; leaving behind your official dignity, and all manner of display. Resist the importunities of officials to accompany you, and take only such attendants as may be absolutely necessary; avoid the high-grade officers, and seek the tents of the private soldiers. Inquire into their grievances; show Yourself to be what you are, 'The Father of your People.' "

Alexander Hesler photograph, June 1860

…It was at this seance that Mrs. Belle Miller gave an example of her power as a "moving medium," and highly amused and interested us by causing the piano to "waltz around the room," as was facetiously remarked in several recent newspaper articles. The true statement is as follows: Mrs. Miller played upon the piano (a three-corner grand), and under her influence it "rose and fell," keeping time to her touch in a perfectly regular manner. Mr. Laurie suggested that, as an added "test" of the invisible power that moved the piano, Mrs. Miller (his daughter) should place her hand on the instrument, standing at arm's length from it, to show that she was in no wise connected with its movement other than as agent. Mr. Lincoln then placed his hand underneath the piano, at the end nearest Mrs. Miller, who placed her left hand upon his to demonstrate that neither strength nor pressure was used. In this position the piano rose and fell a number of times at her bidding. At Mr. Laurie's desire the President changed his position to another side, meeting with the same result.

The President, with a quaint smile, said, “I think we can hold down that instrument." Whereupon he climbed upon it, sitting with his legs dangling over the side, as also did Mr. Somes, S. P. Kase, and a soldier in the uniform of a major (who, if living, will recall the strange scene) from the Army of the Potomac. The piano, notwithstanding this enormous added weight, continued to wabble [sic] about until the sitters were glad “to vacate the premises." We were convinced that there were no mechanical contrivances to produce the strange result, and Mr. Lincoln expressed himself perfectly satisfied that the motion was caused by some "invisible power"…

John Buescher wrote a lengthy Internet posting[3] about Lincoln’s interactions with the Lauries and about the séance, relating it to a lock of Lincoln’s hair in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society.  He quotes an 1885 letter from the Lauries’ son Jack confirming that the Lincolns did visit the Lauries’ home.  

At least one mainstream historian appears not to have given much credence to these stories.  Michael Burlingame’s massive 2008 biography of Lincoln[4] obviously attempts to be comprehensive, comprising two volumes of 1000 pages each.  However, the index contains no references to spiritualism, séances, the Lauries, Belle Miller or Nettie Colburn Maynard.  These omissions are despite considerable attention that Burlingame gives to the psychologies of President and Mrs. Lincoln and to Mrs. Lincoln’s at times eccentric behavior.

Thomas Knowles sold 21 First Street to Thomas G. Loockerman in August 1870.  Loockerman built the house that now stands on the property, and he and his descendants would reside in the house for 37 years and own it for 66 years.

Copyright Paul K. Williams and Kenneth G. Peters

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[1] Boyd’s directories of Washington were an important source for this history.  The directories are not available for every year, so there are gaps in the information derived from them.  Although the directories provide a wealth of information, errors and omissions were not uncommon in them. 

[2] The book was published by Rufus C. Hartranft of Philadelphia and is available through Google Books.

[3] Unlocking the Mystery of a Lincoln Relic, www.spirithistory.com/lincoln.html.  The site no longer exists, but a copy of the posting is available in the Peabody Room of the D.C. Public Library Georgetown branch. 

[4] Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln, A Life, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.