xt to Miss Nelly, and was laughed at by a
young man called "Mr. La Fayette" whom she did not like. She was put to
bed by the Negro maid, Caroline Brannum, in a little room at the head of
the stairway, wearing one of Miss Nelly's gowns, much too large, but
with beautiful lace on neck and sleeves, her sheets warmed by the first
copper warming pan she had ever seen. Caroline left the candle burning
until Hannah fell asleep, to keep the little girl from being frightened.
She had a splendid breakfast and was returned home in the coach wrapped
in a large shawl and with a piece of cake as booty.

After that she frequently saw General Washington on the streets of
Alexandria. "He often walked past her father's shop to the corner of
Pitt and Prince, where two small frame houses were being built, and he
seemed to be giving some directions to the carpenters, but he did not
recognize Hannah who stood in too much awe of the great man to make
herself known."[169] Hannah was all of seven years old at the time of
the visit. Her trip to Mount Vernon furnished her with conversational
matter for the rest of her life.

[Illustration: Washington identified this sketch: "Col^o Fitzgerald
respect^g my Vacant Lot-in-Alexandria" and the notation under Prince
Street is also in his handwriting. This rough draft seems to have been
done by Fitzgerald pursuant to the General's letter to him, dated June
12, 1797. (_Courtesy Library of Congress_)]

The little houses, known in Alexandria for many years as the Washington
Tenements, fell to the lot of his nephew, Lawrence Washington, in the
division of the estate.

Now to explore the title for those whose time does not permit or whose
inclination does not incite to delving into old and dusty records.

In February 1767 Washington, in an irate letter to Carlyle & Adam, who
had neglected to pay for some wheat, soundly berates them, complaining
that in September 1764, he passed his bond for the wheat for "some lotts
in Alexandria as payment," only to have the money demanded again with
interest and "was at some pains to convince Mr. John Alexander of the
unreasonableness of paying twice for the same thing."[170]

[Illustration: The Washington Tenements]

Writing to his friend, the Secretary of War, Henry Knox, in January
1785, he says, "... Rents have got to such an amazing height in
Alexandria, that (having an unimproved lot or two there) I have
thoughts, if my finances will support me in the measure,