On March 30, 1812, Henry Ingle deeded to Christ Church vestry a square of ground known as square 1115, and the name of Washington Parish Burial Ground was given it. On May 30, 1849, the vestry changed it to Washington Cemetery. Yet in popular nomenclature it is known as Congressional Cemetery. Title can be traced back to its early connection with the National Legislature.
On April 15, 1816, the vestry assigned 100 sites for the interment of deceased Members of Congress. On December 15, 1823, 300 more sites were donated for the same purpose. Congress afterwards bought more sites and erected small freestone cenotaphs, which form a conspicuous feature, made sundry appropriations for improvements, and began to add its name to the cemetery. Many Congressmen and Government officials are buried there, including Tobias Lear, private secretary and friend of George Washington, who died in 1816; Dr. William Thornton, who drew the original plans of the Capitol, and died March 28, 1828; George Hadfield, an assistant architect of the Capitol; George Clinton, of New York, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, Vice Presidents of the United States. The cemetery, located at Eighteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE., is adjacent to the Anacostia River and comprises 30 acres.
ST. JOHN’S CHURCH
St. John’s Church, sometimes called the President’s Church, while not the oldest in the city, has a history which is unique. Probably no other church of any denomination in the United States has had throughout its history such a distinguished roster of communicants as has St. John’s, located at Sixteenth and H Streets NW.
The title, the “President’s Church,” was derived in this way: In 1816, before the church was consecrated or any pews sold, a committee from the vestry was instructed to make the offer of a pew to President Madison. He accepted and thereafter occupied pew No. 28 even more frequently than his pew in Christ Church. The custom of preserving a pew for the President has been continued, and a number have regularly worshiped there.
Situated in the heart of official Washington, for a century it has been the place of worship of Presidents, Cabinet officers, distinguished soldiers and diplomats, and leaders in the professional life of the city. In the year 1812 there were two Episcopal churches within the present city limits—Christ Church, Navy Yard, and St. John’s, Georgetown. There was need for a third, caused by the fact that the White House and departmental buildings were erected at a point almost midway between these two. Washington in those days undoubtedly seemed a city of magnificent distances. So, on April 6, 1812, a committee was appointed by the vestry of the mother parish of Christ Church to meet the situation. Then came the War of 1812, when both the city and the public buildings suffered, and it was not until September 14, 1815, that the corner stone of St. John’s, Washington, was laid.
ST. JOHN’S CHURCH
Jonathan Elliott, in his history of the District published in 1831, said of St. John’s Church:
It was built of brick, covered with rough stucco, in the form of a Grecian cross; but being too small for its congregation, in 1820 it was enlarged by lengthening its western arm, to the form of a Latin cross; and a portico and tower were also added.