The Old Capitol Prison

The Old Capitol Prison at Washington, D.C., has in its time played many parts—from a Senate chamber to a boarding-house, from a prison to a palatial residence. Formerly the temporary Capitol it is now a handsome and imposing building, occupied by three of the leading families of washington society. After the burning of the Capitol by the English, this temporary substitute was erected in 1814, at the time Henry Clay was Speaker of the House. The building was next converted into a boarding-house, and Calhoun died in that portion of it which was formerly used as the House of Representatives. We now find it a prison, and the annals of the war recall the long list of eminent state prisoners confined within its walls. Here Mrs. Surratt awaited trial, and many others paid the penalty of treason. But years have cycled into eternity, making war but a memory, peace a reality. The elegant homes of Judge Advocate General Dunn, Judge Field and ex-Governor Lowe form another trinity of human greatness found within the historic walls of this building of checkered career, presenting a delightful contrast between “now and then.”

Of the many eminent names recorded in the prison ledger for political offences stands Mrs. Rose Geenhow, widow of Dr. Robert Greenhow, and aunt of Mrs. Stephen A. Douglass, who, after eighteen months' imprisonment with her little daughter in the Old Capitol, was sent to Richmond, and, subsequently, by the Confederates, to Europe as “special envoy.” That the Old Capitol Prison may long continue in its present condition should be the wish of all who love not the “shiftings of rugged blasts.”