More on Yarrow's house

The previous post shows a picture of Yarrow's house as it now looks.  Neighbors heard a rumor the house would be torn down because of damage from a storm last fall.  However, although the possibility was broached with the government, there has been no formal proposal as yet.  Two older photographs show the house as it used to look.  The one on the left was taken in 2010 before the tree fell on it.  The faded one on the right was taken circa 1984 and shows a porch that has since been removed.

State of Yarrow's lot in Georgetown

     The old house on Yarrow Mamout's lot in Georgetown may be torn down after being crushed by a tree in a storm last fall.  Here is how it looked in April 2012.  It probably isn't the house that Yarrow lived in. The former owner heard the house was moved there from a site on the Mall in Washington a century or more ago.  However, no one can be sure at the moment.  It has never been inspected by experts, who might be able to date it based on its construction.  The former owner said that the nails used in it are square rather than round. 
     There probably are even more important relics on the land.  According to his obituary, Yarrow himself was in 1823 interred in the corner of the lot where he went to pray, presumably the southeast corner, which would be on the left side of the backyard in this picture.  Moreover, the house sits on a brick cellar, and the bricks in that cellar appear older than the house itself. (photo below)  They have been dated to before 1850.  Yarrow was a brick-maker, among his other skills, so these bricks may be ones he made with his own hands. 

     Any work on the site raises concerns about whether all or part of the house dates from Yarrow's time and also what will happen to Yarrow's remains and the brick cellar.
     The property stayed in the name of "Yarrow's heirs" for a number of years after his death.  Eventually, it was sold to a speculator at a tax sale.  He then sold it to Francis Dodge of Georgetown, who probably rented it out.  Dodge was a prominent figure in Georgetown in the nineteenth century.  In the famous attempt by Washington slaves to escape to freedom on the Pearl, the pursuing posse used Dodge's steamship to go after the Pearl, capture her, and return her passengers to slavery.

Maryland State Archives

     Researching the book, I was surprised by how many records have been kept from the colonial period in Maryland.  Many of these were collected and are now stored at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis.  Since my two previous posts deal with the Beall family of Rockville and the courthouses there, this photograph of the Montgomery County Court's Minute Book from 1779 shows what kinds of records are in the archives.  Inside is the neat penmanship of the court's first clerk, Brooke Beall, who owned Yarrow Mamout.