Tradition says Dulany served with Washington as steward of the Jockey Club. An amusing anecdote has come down to us of a race in which both gentlemen had entered horses. The race was close—Washington's horse won. For some reason the governors awarded the prize to Dulany. The General left in high dudgeon and wrote a letter resigning from the club, saying that he was under the impression that he belonged to a club the members of which were gentlemen. Whereupon the governors reversed their decision and awarded the General the prize! This extraordinary action is reported to have placated him, for he appears to have continued a member of the Jockey Club.
Mr. Dulany's house, now 601 Duke Street, is one of those famous houses where it is claimed General Washington slept. An agent of the General, Peyton Gallagher, occupied this house at one time, and—so the story goes—when Washington had sat too long at accounts and the evening was bad, his man of business put him up for the night.
The tradition is firmly entrenched that the Marquis de la Fayette addressed the citizens of Alexandria from the front steps of this house in 1824. The General was occupying the house across the street, which was given to the Marquis and his party by the owner, Mrs. Lawrason, for the duration of his visit. Alexandria was more excited by this visit than any other occurrence in her history, and gave La Fayette a resounding welcome. When citizens came surging in great crowds around the Lawrason mansion to do him honor, the old gentleman, finding the steps too low for speechmaking, walked across the street, climbed the steps of 601 Duke Street, where he could be seen, and there made his expressions of good will and appreciation in broken English to "the assembled multitude."
Tradition also reports that Benjamin Dulany was a handsome, arrogant gentleman, a fine horseman, superbly mounted. In those days the streets of Alexandria were not as smooth nor as dry as today. Irate pedestrians often found themselves bespattered and befouled by some passing horseman or vehicle and in danger of their very lives. "Bad Ben" Dulany thundered up and down the streets, riding a spirited horse, sparing no wayfarer, causing men to rush for safety to the nearest doorway. At Shuter's Hill, his estate just outside Alexandria, he maintained well appointed stables and owned fine-blooded horses. A "stranger" traveling in America records a rather interesting horse story in connection with one of Mr. Dulany's sons:
Throughout his campaign he [Washington] was attended by a black man, one of his slaves, who proved very faithful to his trust. This man, amongst others belonging to him, he liberated, and by his will, left him a handsome maintenance for the remainder of his life. The horse which bore the General so often in battle is still alive. The noble animal, together with the whole of his property, was sold on his death under a clause in his will, and the charger was purchased by Daniel Dulaney, Esquire, of Shuter's hill, near Alexandria, in whom it has found an indulgent master. I have often seen Mr. Dulaney riding the steed of Washington in a gentle pace, for it is now grown old. It is of a cream color, well proportioned, and was carefully trained to military manoeuvres.[151]
The beautiful drawing room
The original dining room at Mr. Dulany's, now the library