he was forced to part with his home.

Thomas Vowell's first wife, Mary Harper, died in 1805, aged twenty-three
years, and was buried in the old Presbyterian meetinghouse graveyard.
She was the daughter of Captain John Harper; her sister, Margaret,
married Thomas Vowell's brother, John. The graves of the two sisters lie
near the north wall of the church, while their father's remains rest
within.

The Vowell-Snowden house, in splendid condition, stands flush with the
street, surrounded by a half-acre of garden, defying the elements as
well as the hand of time. Much of the fine woodwork has been removed or
destroyed, but the perfect proportion of the rooms is indestructible.
The hall arch and stairway remain untouched and convey some idea of the
former beauty of the woodwork and elegance of the house.

There are people still living in Alexandria who as children played on
the "Widow's" or "Captain's Walk" that formerly topped the old mansion.
A magnificent view up and down the Potomac River could be had from that
vantage spot, long since disappeared.

[Illustration]

Chapter 23

The Edmund Jennings Lee House

[428 North Washington Street. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Franklin F. Korell.]

Many of the citizens of this community bore the greatest names in the
Commonwealth. Henry Cabot Lodge's description of Virginia society in the
eighteenth century might aptly be applied to Alexandria: "We must go
back to Athens to find another instance of a Society so small in numbers
and yet capable of such an outburst of ability and force."

Among the great Virginia names closely associated with Alexandria is
that of Lee. Virginia's (and America's) patriot, Arthur Lee, was born at
Stratford, in Westmoreland County, on December 20, 1740, and died at his
residence, Lansdown, in the old town of Urbanna, Middlesex County, on
December 12, 1792. These fifty-two years he filled with deeds and
action. His primary education was gotten at Eton. From there he went on
to the great University of Edinburgh to study medicine. For a while he
practiced this profession in Williamsburg, but in 1766 we find him
reading law at the Temple in London. By 1770 he had begun his role as a
barrister in London and there he practiced until 1776. For five years of
this time he acted as London agent for Virginia and Massachusetts. Thus
began his diplomatic career. With Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane he
was one of the commissioners to France in 1776, and fro