t quantities of
herring came up this far into the creek from the river, and were caught
in large numbers.

I think this account, by Mr. William A. Gordon, of some of the customs
of the negroes in the years gone by is very attractive and interesting:

Christmas was the great time for the negroes. Ordinarily, they were
not allowed in the streets after the town bell rang at nine o'clock
at night, but at Christmas this restriction was removed, and as
midnight approached, bands of them would go through the streets
singing hymns and carols before the houses of their white friends.
The next morning the leader of the band called at the house and
received a token of appreciation in the way of small coin.

On May Day there was a parade of the negro drivers; many drove
carts, drays and wagons, for on that day they had holiday, and
paraded with wagons and horses adorned with ribbons, flowers and
bright papers, the drivers wearing long white aprons, and headed by
a band. They would then go to the woods and feast, dance and sing.

At the southeast corner of Dumbarton Avenue and Greene (29th) Street,
the four little yellow houses made into one make the home of Drew
Pearson, the widely-known columnist and commentator--co-author with
Robert S. Allen of the original "Washington Merry-Go-Round."

A block west, on the southeast corner of Washington (30th) Street is a
fine old house where Mrs. James Cassin lived as a wealthy widow during
the 1850's. She was Tabitha Ann Deakins, of that old family so prominent
in the making of the town.

James Cassin had come from Ireland to the City of Baltimore when he was
about twenty years of age, on account of religious troubles, the motive
which sent so many emigrants to the new country. He then moved over to
this thriving seaport, married and settled, leaving his wife a very
young widow with three sons. One of them, John, went far from home to
live, and his mother's letters to him contain a great deal of
interesting gossip. In one she tells that Margaret McVean has gone to
Baltimore to buy her wedding dress, and, horror of horrors, has allowed
the groom, Dr. Louis Mackall, to accompany her. Of course a chaperone
was in the party, but what an indelicate thing for the groom to know
anything about the wedding clothes! She ends with, "What are the young
people coming to?" How often have we heard those same words in recent
years. Of course in those days