of the Board of War. His wife was Maria Louisa Bull of Philadelphia,
and they had two children, Charles Joseph Nourse, who became a Major in
the Army, and Anna Maria Josepha, who was a lovely girl and took part in
the prominent social affairs of the new city. She is spoken of in the
diary of Sir Augustus Foster, British Minister of that period.

When the National Society of Colonial Dames had this house restored, a
penny bearing the date 1800 was found in one of the front walls where
such an identification was often placed, and architects think that
Samuel Jackson began to build this house, using perhaps the little house
that was on the property as a wing, and that then Joseph Nourse took it
over and was really the builder of this fine mansion. It was probably
intended for entertaining for his beloved daughter, for, after her
death, which occurred at one of the Virginia springs one summer, he sold
the place and moved out to a small frame house on a high hill
overlooking the Federal City. He called his new home "Mount Alban,"
because it reminded him of the place of the same name in England. It was
there that the first British martyr, Saint Alban, was killed. Mr. Nourse
was a very religious man and used to walk about in the grove of oak
trees surrounding his house and pray that some day a House of God might
stand upon that spot; that is exactly where the Washington Cathedral is
now being erected.

Mr. Nourse had many famous guests visit him in his modest home
there--among them: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and
John Quincy Adams.

Mr. Nourse's son, Major Charles Joseph Nourse, married Rebecca Morris
whose father, Anthony Morris, of Philadelphia, was an intimate and
life-long friend of Dolly Madison. Major Nourse built the old stone
house out on the road to Rockville and called it "The Highlands."
Tradition says that a large box bush at "The Highlands" has grown from a
tiny sprig of box which Mrs. Madison plucked from her bouquet at the
inauguration of her husband and gave to Mr. Morris.

[Illustration: DUMBARTON HOUSE]

"The Highlands" was a large household, for Major and Mrs. Nourse had
eleven children, and Mr. Morris resided there also. They have been a
very remarkable family, noted for their longevity, their steadfast,
noble character, and their loyalty to the Episcopal Church. It was from
the prayers and savings of Phoebe Nourse, who died as a young girl, that
St. Alban's Church has risen on tha