After Benjamin Stoddert's death, this house was given by William Whann as a wedding present to his only child, Anna Maria, on her marriage to Benjamin Mackall, the son of Leonard Mackall. Their son, General William W. Mackall, was a graduate of West Point in the class with General Grant. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and later in the Confederate Army. Shortly after the close of the Civil War, General Grant gave a reception at the White House to the Aztec Society, composed of officers who served in the War with Mexico and their descendants. General Mackall went to it clad in his grey uniform and was most cordially received by his old comrades.
Still later than the Mackalls, this house was occupied by Mr. Martineau, Minister from the Netherlands, and then by the Pairo family.
To return to Mr. Templeman's house which he built about 1788. He was president of the Bank of Columbia; also an owner of ships, and, as a side issue, had:
For Sale—At John Templeman's Store.
Whisky, Firkin Butter, Linseed Oil, and Flour.
George Town June 20, 1800.
Those ships which carried tobacco across 3,000 miles of ocean didn't fill their holds with bricks as ballast on the way back, as we used to be told; there were too many better things needed here. And there was plenty of clay right here to burn brick. Even in the early days of Jamestown there were brick factories of which there are records and "English Brick" meant made by specifications of English brick.
The Templeman family lived here for three generations until the Civil War. Then it belonged to Franklin Steele, whose three daughters were Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Arthur Addison, and Mrs. Edward Macaulay.
"Old Mrs. Morris," as she was called, lived there many years alone and was always complaining to my father that the new building of the Capital Traction Company was undermining her house and was knocking it down. It still stands firm. It was finally "done over" a few years ago, and eventually bought by James E. Forrestal, when he became Secretary of the Navy, and was still his home when he resigned as our first Secretary of Defense, and then ended his life tragically May 12, 1949, by leaping from a window of the Naval Hospital at Bethesda.
The house was leased for two or three years to the Government and called "Prospect House." It was used by the State Department as a "guest house," where such honored persons as the Shah of Iran, Monsieur Vincent Auriol, President of France, and several Presidents of Latin American countries, and other officials, stayed. The State Department often used it for dinner parties. Its garden which used to be terraced down to the river, and quaint little gazebo are still lovely. It has recently been purchased by Representative Thurmond Chatham of North Carolina.
