PROCEEDINQS 



OF THE 



WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Vol. I, pp. 221-251. January 18, 1900, 



THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN, AND THE 

 FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.^ 



By Ainsworth R. Spofford, LL.D. 



contents 



Introduction 221 



Settlement 222 



Virginia 222 



Maijland 231 



Religious Interests 235 



District of Columbia 238 



City of Washington 240 



Descriptions by Early Travelers 242 



Conclusion 249 



In this age, when nearly all the old histories have to be re- 

 written, when every fact is questioned, and every opinion must 

 show its reason for being, I am honored with a request to out- 

 line the early history of the region in which it is our happiness 

 to live. 



What manner of people were they who dwelt in these regions 

 of the globe a hundred 3'ears ago? What was their prevailing 

 character, education, religion? What kind of houses did they 

 dwell in, what were their manners and habits, their costume, 

 employments, amusements, domestic regimen, and social life? 

 I have sought diligently for such answers to these questions as 

 exist in contemporaneous journals, letters, and travellers' obser- 

 vations, since no other authorities than those having personal 

 knowledge can be trusted. What I have gathered, though 



' Read before the Washington Academy of Sciences, April 15, 1899. 

 Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1900. (221) 



