Parrott (his wife)
remains!" Apparently, he never lost his sense of humor. Perhaps it was
that which helped to make him so universally beloved.

Dr. Balch died on the 7th of September, 1833. Every house in town was
hung in black, all the stores and banks were closed and the bells tolled
as his body was carried to the church.

One block westward of Dr. Balch's original house lived another man, very
influential in the religious life of the town in addition to his large
business activities. Henry Foxall, a native of Monmouthshire, England,
was born in 1760. He went to Dublin, where he was put in charge of
extensive iron works and where he became a Methodist. On coming to this
country, he first settled in Philadelphia, where, in 1794, he was a
partner in the Eagle Iron Works of Robert Morris, the great financier
and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

When Thomas Jefferson became President, he thought it advisable to have
at the seat of government an ordnance plant, so Morris recommended
Foxall, who came here in 1799 for that purpose. He built his foundry on
the western outskirts of George Town, just behind Georgetown College.
He built also a large brick house, two stories, with dormer windows on
Frederick (34th) Street, between Water (K) and Bridge (M) Streets. It
was quite a pretentious house for that time, with its high ceilings,
elaborately decorated cornices of minute workmanship, and mantels of
carved wood. It had ample grounds, and in front stood two tall and
graceful Lombardy poplars. He had also a summer home, a little farther
out and higher up, called "Spring Hill," from whence he had a fine view
of the Potomac and the Virginia hills.

A warm friendship sprang up between him and Thomas Jefferson, as they
had many tastes in common. Both were performers on the violin and used
to accompany each other, and both were fond of tinkering. Jefferson, you
remember, was of a very inventive turn of mind. During this time he
thought of an air-tight stove and got Mr. Foxall to make some according
to his ideas, but they did not work out to please him.

Thomas Jefferson lived for a while in George Town on the little street
bearing his name, between Washington (30th) and Congress (31st) Streets,
running south below Bridge (M) Street, in a house demolished a few years
ago. It stood immediately south of the Canal on the east side, and was
in appearance much like the home of Francis Scott Key. It must have been
during th