De
Menou, French Minister to this country from 1822 to 1824, on H Street,
between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, on the present site of the
Epiphany Parish House. These residences were commonly called the "chain
buildings," owing to the fact that their fences were made almost
entirely of iron chains. Two of them, thrown into one, were occupied by
the Scotts and were owned by my father-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur,
senior. In the third, the property of Mrs. Beverly Kennon, lived the
venerable Mrs. Alexander Hamilton and her only daughter, Mrs. Hamilton
Holly.

CHAPTER IX

SOCIAL LEADERS IN WASHINGTON LIFE

I passed many delightful hours in the Washington home of General Scott
and had a standing invitation to come and go as I pleased. Upon his
return from the war with Mexico, crowned with the laurels of victory, he
immediately became one of the most prominent lions of the day. He had
successfully invaded a practically unknown country reeking with the
terrible _vomito_, a disease upon which the Mexicans relied to kill
their foes more expeditiously than ammunition, and had well earned for
himself the plaudits of a grateful country. I distinctly remember that
he received flattering letters from the Duke of Wellington and other
distinguished foreigners congratulating him upon his military success.
His headquarters were now established in Washington, and his house
became one of the most prominent social centers of the National Capital.
About this time Mrs. Scott was much in New York, where her third
daughter, Marcella, subsequently Mrs. Charles Carroll McTavish, was
attending school, and consequently her daughter Cornelia, who not long
before had married her father's aide, Henry Lee Scott of North Carolina,
was virtually mistress of the establishment. Mrs. Henry Lee Scott's
social sway in Washington was almost unprecedented. She was as grand in
appearance as she was in character, and during one of her visits to Rome
she sat for a distinguished artist as a model for his pictures of the
Madonna. General Scott seemed to derive much pleasure and satisfaction
from the society of his former companions in arms, who were always
welcomed to his hospitable board. Among those I especially recall were
Colonels John Abert, Roger Jones, William Turnbull and Ichabod B. Crane,
whose son, Dr. Charles H. Crane, later became Surgeon General of the
Army. These occasions were especially delightful to me as a young woman,
and I alw