From the descendant of another one of those bridesmaids at that famous
wedding at Arlington who, as a young girl, paid long visits to Mary
Custis, I heard this delicious story: "There being no telephones, when
the girls at Arlington and at Tudor Place wanted to get together they
had a series of signals. Hanging a red flannel petticoat out of the
window meant 'come on over'. A white one had another meaning. This
method was not popular with the owners of the two mansions, but
persisted, nevertheless." To prove this, not long ago I went to
Arlington with the person who told me the story. The room there used by
the girls of those days does look toward Georgetown. There is a forest
of tall trees there now but trees can grow very tall in a hundred years.

When my father built his house at the foot of Mrs. Kennon's place, she
told him she was so glad to have him near by, but chided him for cutting
off her view of the river.

Until only a few years before her death, Mrs. Kennon sat perfectly erect
in her chair, never touching the back, and I can remember her as quite
an old lady, almost flying up the hill of Congress (31st) Street,
always, of course, in bonnet and long, crepe veil. She was a member of
Christ Church, and once many, many years ago when a parish meeting was
announced to decide some important question, the rector and gentlemen
were very much surprised on entering the vestry to find Mrs. Kennon
there waiting for the meeting. She said she wished to have a say in the
matter, and having no man to represent her, had come herself. So she was
the original suffragette! Mrs. Kennon was one of the early presidents
of the Louise Home, and was the first president of the National Society
of Colonial Dames of America in the District of Columbia.

Before the day of country clubs there used to be a very fine tennis
court at Tudor Place, on the flat part to the north of the house not far
from Congress (31st) Street, and it was much used. The Peter boys were
champions of the District several times. In the first administration of
President Cleveland, Mrs. Cleveland, a bride, used to drive her husband
in from Oak View or, as it was popularly called, Red Top, to his office
at the White House nearly every morning in a low, one-horse phaeton. No
secret-service entourage in those days! In the evenings she came again
in style in a Victoria, and frequently they would stop opposite Tudor
Place and watch the game in progress. There was a goo