Published Articles
Carlyle Connection - Spring 2011
Do you ever think about what happens to your books after you’re gone? I mean long gone, as in two hundred-years-after-your-grandkids gone? Recently, I had a chance to find out. As a volunteer guide at the Carlyle House in Alexandria, Virginia, I was invited to
tour the workshop of Thomas Albro, the restorer working on John Carlyle’s family bible.
Carlyle Connection - Summer 2011
Alexandria was not always the predominantly brick and stone city that 21st-century visitors are familiar with, and not all the homes and businesses were as impenetrable seeming as John Carlyle’s. He was, in fact, very conscious of the threat of fire that could be visited upon his out-buildings and the interior of his home, as happened to his daughter, Sarah Carlyle, and her husband, William Herbert in 1796. Just prior to the American Revolution, citizens of Alexandria began organizing themselves into various volunteer fire companies to protect their buildings and property. By the end of John Carlyle’s lifetime (1720-1780), three fire companies existed in Alexandria: the Friendship Company (1774); the Sun Fire Company (1775); and the Relief Fire Company (1778).
Carlyle Connection - Fall 2011
In past Carlyle House holiday articles, we’ve focused on the Christmas of John Carlyle’s time, or should I say, the lack thereof. We’ve attempted to convince our suspicious public that the Christmas they know and love did not exist in 1700s Virginia. Normally, this time of year, we decorate the house with subdued greenery, discuss the Puritan revolt against the excesses of Christmas and focus instead on the lavish entertaining that accompanied the holiday and subsequent New Year’s celebrations.
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas - December 2011
So many holiday traditions we are celebrated today hearken back to pagan winter solstice celebrations. Others, like “Christmahanukwanzaakah,” are modern innovations. Some of our American traditions originated during and around the Civil War. This article will describe a few of these traditions, with a focus on food, beginning in earlier eras and going through the Civil War, as well as their modern renditions.
James Green’s Mansion House Hotel: 1970’s Opposition to Demolition - November 2011
In March 1848 James Green; a furniture maker in Alexandria, purchased the Bank of Alexandria building. That building had been erected by John Carlyle’s son-in-law, William Herbert, in 1807, and still stands on the corner of North Fairfax and Cameron Streets. James Green’s intention was to run a hotel on the property. From 1848 to 1855, the hotel prospered and Green enlarged it by constructing an addition, which entirely obstructed the view of John Carlyle’s house on Fairfax Street.
Infant Mortality and the Carlyle Family - October 2011
Often, we hear about John Carlyle and his family suffering major setbacks with regards to the very short lives of many of the children. Of the seven children that Sarah Carlyle and four that Sybil Carlyle bore, only three, Sarah, Ann and George William, survived past the age of three. In addition, John and his brother, George, were the only children, of ten borne to Rachel and William Carlyle that lived beyond early childhood. These Carlyle tragedies give rise to the question as to whether there was some genetic malady that would have served as the cause of such a high rate of infant mortality within the Carlyle family. That question will not be answered here, and may never be answered, but does serve as a convenient entry point for a discussion on topics such as infant mortality rates experienced, as well as the rate of deathof childbearing women and what childhood diseases were prevalent during John Carlyle's time.
Before Kings and Presidents Went to War: Family and Social Life in the Chesapeake 1800-1812 - August 2011
Life for Sarah Carlyle Herbert in the Federal Period was pleasant in spite of the difficulties that were coming in 1812. John Carlyle’s daughter and grandchildren experienced many delights in Alexandria as did their contemporaries in Washington, D.C. and in Maryland.
“Brave and Bold as a Lion:” Dorothea Dix - September 2011
Early Life and Career Dorothea Dix was born in 1802 in Maine, in an unstable family. She and her brothers were taken to live with her paternal grandmother at a young age. While living there she was introduced to Edward Bangs, her second cousin. He offered to help her reach her ambition of becoming a schoolteacher. Women were not allowed in public schools at that time, so Edward found twenty girls aged 6-8 for Dix to teach at a space he rented for her. She ran this school of sorts for three years, starting when she was 15.
Memories of the Carlyle Apartments: Last Days of Mansion House Hotel - July 2011
In June 1967, Jocelyn Granet, a young college student on a research break from classes, moved to this area and began looking for an affordable apartment with good public transportation to the Library of Congress and the waitress job in Washington that would finance her research stay. A newspaper ad plus friends living nearby led her to an old building in downtown Alexandria which met her criteria, and for $80 a month she rented a fourth floor room and a half apartment with kitchen and bath. What's more, the rent included all utilities except phone, the apartment came with old but comfortable furniture and adequate kitchen appliances and the bathroom featured an 1880s vintage pedestal sink and lovely claw footed tub on which Jocelyn immediately painted red toenails. Only the lack of a phone presented a bit of a problem. The Carlyle Apartments had never been wired for phones--other tenants made do with a pay phone in the lobby--so she had to pay extra for that tricky installation. But soon she had her own private phone which immensely pleased her concerned parents.
Preserving Pages: A Writer's Peek Inside a Book Restorer's Workshop - June 2011
Do you ever think about what happens to your books after you're gone? I mean long gone, as in two-hundred-years-after-your-grandkids gone? Recently, I had a chance to find out. As a volunteer guide at the Carlyle House in Alexandria, Virginia, I was invited to tour the workshop of Thomas Albro, the restorer working on John Carlyle's family bible.
The Occupation of Alexandria, VA during the Civil War - May 2011
On February 13, 1861, 152 delegates from the state of Virginia met for the Virginia Convention of 1861. The delegates debated for two months about whether Virginia should secede from the Union. Finally, on April 17, 1861 the delegates produced the Virginia Ordinance of Secession, which officially stated Virginia's intent to join the Confederacy. A month later on May 23, the citizens of Virginia approved the ordinance by a popular vote of 132,201 to 37,451, making Virginia the eighth state to secede from the Union. James Green (the son of the James Green who built the hotel in front of Carlyle House), who was living at the carlyle House at the time, described the event in his diary as "the most quiet election I ever saw in town."
Sir William Johnson: Noteworthy Carlyle House Visitor - April 2011
James Munson's biography of John Carlyle lists "Indian Agent Col. William Johnson from New York" as one of the participants in the "Grandest Congress" held at the Carlyle House in April 1755. Published in 2005, White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America, by Fintan O'Toole, provides a vehicle for learning about one of the more intriguing visitors to the Carlyle House.
Nurses, Spies and Soldiers: The Civil War at Carlyle House - March 2011
The Mansion House Hospital, which incorporated the 1753 home of John Carlyle and the large building in front of it, was a place of strife and suffering during the Civil War. Alexandra, the longest occupied Confederate city of the war, epitomized what it meant to pit brother against brother. It is a legacy of divisiveness that is still apparent today as we struggle to grapple with what the Civil War meant then and now. Inside the Union controlled hospital, one found struggles as well. Female nurses were verbally abused and criticized. Soldiers struggled against disease and illness, often serving only to find their pension claims denied. Everyone at the hospital missed home and peacetime.
Alexandria’s Sun Fire Company and John Carlyle: 1775-1780 - February 2011
Alexandria was not always the predominantly brick and stone city that 21st-century visitors are familiar with, and not all the homes and businesses were as impenetrable seeming as John Carlyle’s. He was, in fact, very conscious of the threat of fire that could be visited upon his out-buildings and the interior of his home, as happened to his daughter, Sarah Carlyle, and her husband, William Herbert in 1796. Just prior to the American Revolution, citizens of Alexandria began organizing themselves into various volunteer fire companies to protect their buildings and property. By the end of John Carlyle’s lifetime (1720-1780), three fire companies existed in Alexandria: the Friendship Company (1774); the Sun Fire Company (1775); and the Relief Fire Company (1778).
Keeping Warm in Colonial Alexandria - January 2011
This December has already been the coldest one in the region in 10 years. Even with our modern conveniences to help us cope, the cold is a challenge. But how did John Carlyle keep warm during the many winters in Alexandria between 1753 and 1780?
