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 In
1840, a stagnant canal drained through the center of Washington,
dividing the area where the Smithsonian Castle stands from
the rest of the city. The area was called "The Island." A
few blocks to the east is where Mary Ann Hall settled, started
a business, saved her money, and where she eventually built
a large, three-story brick home. Mary Ann was just in her
early twenties, and the neighborhood was--rough. Nearby neighborhoods
were nicknamed "Louse Alley," and even "Murderer's Row." While
the census records show that most single women here listed
their occupation as seamstress or laundress, Mary Ann's occupation
isn't recorded anywhere. But all the physical evidence indicates
she was an extremely successful businesswoman.
The house was located
at 349 Maryland Avenue. That's just about four blocks west
of the U.S. Capitol, where it's believed she conducted a
majority of her business. During the Civil War, the area
bustled with activity. Washington was a boomtown, filled
with army encampments, "groggeries," hospitals, an active
seaport, and ever present politicians.
It didn't take
long for Mary Ann's home to skyrocket in value, and records
show her personal property increased as well. She was even
written up in the Evening Star, which noted that her
home was among the "upper-ten" in the city. Life was good
for Mary Ann. The remains of her trash heap tells much more.
The land on which her house stood had never been disturbed
before or since by any major construction. That is, until
about 1999, when construction for the National Museum of
the American Indian began.
Professional archaeologists
were called in to interpret the site. The foundations of
her home and original garbage heap were still in tact. The
broken dishes, bottles, and kitchen trash tell the story
of her everyday life. We find that the quality of the materials
was better than that of the surrounding neighborhood. The
tableware was expensive ironstone and porcelain. The seeds
and bones show a nutritional diet that included substantial
amounts of meat, fowl, and fish, as well as exotic fruits
like coconuts and berries. Dozens of corks and bottles were
uncovered. Mary Ann seems to have loved champagne.
She often vacationed
at her summer home in "Alexandria County," (present-day Arlington,
Virginia) land where Marymount University now sits. But she
died in the District at the age of 71. Her obituary in the Evening
Star sang her praises, "With integrity unquestioned,
a heart ever open to appeals of distress, a charity that
was boundless, she is gone; but her memory will be kept green
by many who knew her sterling worth." Her surviving brothers
and sisters then sued each other to get to know that sterling
worth better!
Because of this
family feud, we have a detailed account of Mary Ann's possessions.
District of Columbia court records show that at the time
of her death, Mary Ann Hall was worth a grand total of $87,000,
with no debts--that's well over $2,000,000 in today's dollars.
The records also show a list of her belongings, which included
Belgian carpets, oil paintings, an ice box, numerous pieces
of red plush furniture, as well as an inordinate number of
sheets, mattresses, blankets, feather pillows and comforters.
Mary Ann never
married or had children. There are no photographs. She didn't
keep a diary. She didn't leave a collection of personal letters
or business correspondence. She didn't write her memoirs
in her old age. What we know about Mary Ann Hall we learned
from cold court records, census bureau documents, and a trash
heap. It all tells quite a lot about her life, but not a
lot about the person who was Mary Ann Hall.
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Learning Links
Visit this Smithsonian site
to read more about
Mary Ann Hall.
Click
here to
learn more about
Congressional Cemetery.
Mary Ann Hall's
tombstone at historic
Congressional Cemetery.
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