| Acacia Mutual Built on Historic Terrain

f» ®y John Clagett Proctor. the foregoing correspondence served In the Continental Corfgress and afterward There ni t tendency in the early days | In the House of Representatives In the w the Nation’s Capital to build private First United States Congress as a mem- tones, boarding houses and taverns as ber from Virginia, being a native of the Capitol Building as possible, Rappahannock County. It was he who to1- therefore, much of the original con- voted for the Residence Act of July 16, struction work in the city was carried on 1790, which resulted in placing the Fed- in this vicinity. eral Capital on Its present site—though 'President Washington himself mani- he did so much against his will and fested a preference for of the t£ls pert “with a revulsion of stomach almost Federal city when he decided to tifW convulsive,” It is stated. Later, In 1795, in this two houses Ifilld neighborhood he was appointed one of the commis- v®on a lot he had from the bought sioners to carry on the work of prepar- Commissioners on the west of North side ing the new Federal seat for the recep- street between B and C streets. General Washington.” after Kenmore (center building) the my purpose I feel much obliged. It would, indeed, seem quite logical that of a celebrated tragedy. be proud of, just as proud. Indeed, as they The society’s business years ago was William Montgomery's Both anniver- "Ftorn what have said you and from Frost would have taken the records of also can be of William who Montgomery, conducted In a office over Brodt's finds him Imbued with tha same the recollection I have of the I tiny sary year ground, his own home for safekeeping. Inci- took over the management of this com- a decided to lot No. hat store on Eleventh street. Its activ- remarkable vigor, tireless energy and un- gife preference 16, dentally, John T. Frost remained for pany in 1893, when it was a benefit so- but the fear Inf square 634, price, I many yean as a clerk In the office of ciety with assets less t"han $10,000 and ities were confined to Washington—a swerving devotion to Acacia’s welfare of will sink too into (upward $1,200), deep the House of Representatives, and his its insurance force less than $300,000. Washington which was then only on its that have characterised hhn from the the fund which must be to appropriated name appears In the city directory at Mr. Montgomery was bom in County way to its present greatness. beginning. Despite the long hours he thi buildings, and, therefore, if the fol- least until 1843, when he was residing Tyrone, North Ireland, in 1869, and it Today the Nation-wide affairs of puts in as the active directing head of lot in on lowing queries respecting No. 2, the east side of New Jersey avenue, was in this same year, in the District Acacia are directed from a modem, effi- the company which he has built Airing square 731, are satisfactorily answered I between A and B streets south; of Columbia, that Congress chartered a cient home office building across from the past live decades, Mr. Montgomery mist content myself with that, as it is small local and finds time to devote to civic Sale of benefit society, and 24 years the United States Capitol Building, many not with a view to accumulate property Property in Mr. became the has branches 'in 60 activities. In 1817 the ruins of the Washington later, 1893, Montgomery company prin- In the city—but merely to contribute a the society’s sole and from that cities. He is a member of the executive Com- houses were sold by George C. Washing- employe, cipal mite to the accommodation of Congress day to this the of William Mont- To make certain that Acacia would mittee of the Community War Fund, and ton, a grandnephew of the first Presi- story that I purchase at all. is the of Acacia Mutual. always be owned and operated by the a member of the Boards of Directors of dent, as trustee, to David English and gomery story "The facts I wish to ascertain first: Under Mr. and to make sure that it the 7MCA, Garfield Hospital, Metro- are, W. 8. Nichols, and soon afterward the Montgomery’s leadership, policyholders that little a never owned individual politan Police Boys’ Club and the Pubtto *Ts the high part of No. 2, in square farmer sold his Interest to Peter Marts, society has grown into great might be by any life Insurance The of or for their Mr. Library. 731, upon a level with the ground on who used the same walls In rebuilding company.. $10,000 group personal profit, assets have more on 1922, He also is a director of the American which the road runs from the Capitol to the houses. In 1819, the tax assessment grown to than $100,000,- Montgomery September $2, 000. A half there was and obtained from Congress an Security A Trust Co. He is a member the upper ferry over the Eastern Branch? was made In the name of Nichols alone, century ago only sought a handful of members with Insurance amendment to the charter which pro- of the life Insurance Presidents’Associa- Second, is there any higher ground be- and the assessment for 1824 appears less than there vides “* * * That the dull tion, the American life Convention, and tween it and the Eastern Branch to In th£ same name. totaling $300,000; today company is an of from coast forever be conducted for the mutual many other organisations. He holds obstruct the view thereof? And, third, is From this fact it would appear that army policyholders to coast with more than of benefit of its and their membership in the National Press Chib there much fall between the east and when Capt. Charles Le Compte Nevitte, $468,000,000 policyholders beneficiaries and not for and in the Congressional Country Club. west comer of the front on Pennsylvania father of Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, insurance in force. profit.” avenue? lived in one of these houses, where the "Answers to these questions will enable celebrated novelist was bom December 28, ms to choose without further delay. 1819, that be was boarding there, al- As Z never require much time to execute though the captain may have been a swr Soldier■ A Soldier’s Idea of ... any measure after Z have resolved upon running the boarding house himself. ;.- About this Gen. period Henry Dear- air-minded as he is, used planes in Mid that one of the moat staple tad born made his home in thu fashionable By Walter McCallum. “Simplicity in strategical conception; abundance. He also stressed jungle easily comprehended ideas Is. to force boarding house. It may have been even at tac- perfection in technique; firmness in exe- fighting and importance proper the to dance to to or when he 1801 to enemy your tune; earlier, was, fraal tics on river crossings. To harden the cution” initiative. 1809, Secretary of War In the cabinet to the realities motor seise end retain the That is the concept of war of German- troops of war, of Thomas Jefferson. This distin- vehicle was used as little Krueger attended the Naval War Col- born Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, now com- transportation guished American had served as captain manding the 6th United States Army in as possible. Marches of 25 miles a lege at Newport, R. X, graduating in in the Revolutionary War, and covered Tiber Creek, pasting through "Swampoodle,” after It had Australia under Gen. Douglas MacAr- day wpre not uncommon, and I saw IMS. HO also attended the Air Hoses the retreat of the patriots at the Battle ceased to be a formidable stream. thur. Graduate of of the Army's units which had gone 48 hours with- Primary School at Brooks HfctaUJta. > many of Bunker Hill. He later came to Con- * out under battle conditions. And schools, a soldier who worked up from food, later he served four years as A member gress and In 1812 was appointed senior Kenmore,” and it was her* that a famous ■tom ran beneath where Is now the without much the ranks, a in field sleep. of the staff of the Naval War College in the United States homicide occurred in which a Acacia Life insurance specialist operations major general George- Mutual Building, Personally, Gen. Krueger carries into and made a number of cruises with the town law and a disciple of strategical simplicity, Army, and rendered valuable service in University student was killed at 51 Louisiana avenue, which is close to his life the same Gen. Krueger is the soldier's soldier. The family Spartan prin- United States fleet. He probably knows the second war with Great Britain. by a woman who is said to have made the Union 8tation lfcaza. dogfaces (don’t call ’em that to their ciples he insists upon in training. He more senior naval officers than any other In 1834 and again in 1839 this prop- her getaway down the fire escape, and When this insurance building was faces) see in him « man who came carries.military handbooks to his quar- Army officer. was up erty was assessed In the name of Charles when apprehended, tried and ac- under construction in 1936, the writer ters at over the hard way, who knows their problems, night, pores military maps So the man who will direct one of Wilkes, at that time commander in the quitted. Later it became the Hotel viewed the excavation work then going and bones and will not needlessly sacrifice lives in up qp strategy. But he is not America’s big armies in action against United States Navy, who resided here, Burton, and V now no longer standing. on, and saw the remains of the old Tiber a battle. believer in complicated and lntricite the Japs is wen grounded in an phases according to the city directories, from There is quite a difference between the ■ewer, which was built many years ago Gen. Krueger believes that every move- 1843 to 1880. appearance of this vicinity now and as to cany off the water of the old stream, ment or action of every soldier on the Many will recall these buildings as the it was in days gone by, or when the ■till undoubtedly recalled by quite a field of battle is worthy of the critical ones incorporated into the Hillman main stem of the Tiber flower majesti- number of old Washingtonians. There concern of the highest commanding House, which, In 1878, was being con- cally almost on a line southward between is much to be said about this old creek, officer. A life uselessly sacrificed, he ducted by N. T. Judd and from 1879, for North Capitol street and First street and so there is much to be said about feels, is a crime chargeable to faulty a decade or more by N. J. Hillman, who, N.E., and from N to F street, where It the Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Co„ leadership. He holds that lives are saved In 1885, advertised: took a southwesterly course. One of which, prior to 1936, occupied the build- “• • • by the perfection of methods and prac- one square from the Capitol the arms of this famous water course, at 101 Indiana until it • William ing avenue, wag tices through which soldiers accomplish Montgomery, presi- and Baltimore & Ohio Depot; terms, per which entered the city of Florida avenue and the Federal purchased occupied by missions assigned them. He insists that dent of the Acacia Mutual Life day, $2.50, $2 and $1.50, according to loca- between Eleventh and Twelfth streets Government. anything less than perfection is not good tion of rooms; 238 N. Cap.” NJ5., ran almost directly beneath' when? The Acacia Mutual is an Insurance Co. organization enough. Later the Hillman House became "the is now the Union Station, and the that the of can well people Washington The middle-sized, firm-talking, clear- It, if an undertaker could be engaged in commander of an Army that soon the city or its vicinity to dig the cellar eyed will be authoritatively to the apd lay the foundation, and the Comrs. speaking Those Were the Dick Mansfield Japs in the Pacific battle area unofficially would do me the favor to enter Into a Happy Days! —By is listed in the four of Army contract therefor, to the basement story, Army's big commanders. But I could wish it to be set about and exe- Krueger projected himself close to the of the heap last cuted this fall, and the earlier the better. top and in 1941 when he directed field “Any agreement they shall enter into year maneuvers of the 3d Army in the Louisi- on my behalf shall be most religiously ana-Texas area. Opponents were the 2d complied with. If an advance of money Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Ben Lear t£ carry on the work is required it may of “Yoo-hoo” fame, and the story in the be arranged. And as two houses joined Army is that Krueger and his men did add carried on together will look better all right. and come cheaper than building them separately or at different times, I have Concentrated Training determined to commence two, and if I A firm believer in concentrated train- can procure the means, complete both ing of small battle units, the squad, in the course of next summer. platoon, company and patrols, and of “I am not skilled in architecture and the Junior officers commanding these perhaps know as little of planning, but units, Gen. Krueger In 1941 directed the as the houses I mean to build will be establishment of a 3d Army Junior Of- plain and (if placed on lot No. 16, in ficers’ Training Center at Camp Bulbs, square 634) will be adopted to the front near San Antonio, Tex. of the lot, leaving alleys or entries to What he told the members of a grad- the back building. I inclose a sketch to uating class is indicative of the driving convey my ideas of the size of the houses, spirit of the man. “Gentlemen,” he of rooms and manner of building them to said, “you’ve ended today six weeks I enable you to enter into the contract. very hard work. know it has bear “This sketch exhibits a view of the hard because I’ve made lt my business ground floor. The second and third, if to see that it was. If lt was humanly be even tbe walls should be run up three flush possible, this course would stories, will be the same, and the cellars harder. HEN EOOIE & WESO I "But remember that battle Is a may have a partition in them at the ft2f?IM(?0$E thou-, and there Is chimneys. My plan, when it comes to tEOHAB_qwgwgW OOftfSTAPEgS g sand times harder, going to be a amount of battle before be examined, may be radically wrong— , I great HENRV5 * * we win this war. * is a if so, I persuade myself that Dr. Thorn- YawoS»2l7'B' Soldiering FAVORW4.G# field* will take ton (who understands these matters I serious business, and it every Cm? THATCHER& oOHKflpNN | bit of character, stamina, courage and well) will have the goodness to suggest otwemr AMei?irA«. I alterations. fXJJM knowledge that you possess. Duty must come first. Take in a ■l snau mane no aporogy ior soiicumg your pleasure hard well done. There is no this favor of the Comrs. Td promote *D0OSTAOE(2.1 Job greater buildings is desirable, and is an object 2" -=;, i pleasure." The words sound like those of Lt. under present circumstances of the first Gen. J. the Importance to the city. If then they Lesley McNair, commanding Army Ground Forces, in his “kill or tactics. is his motto. "Sur- of ms and lah M can comply with it conveniently, I per- Simplicity warfare—land, air. be killed’’ of last November. The and mislead the suade myself they will do so. But if they I Igns speech prise, mystify enemy," single-element soldier, this nma Knsgn, two three-star generals are of the same the principles of Gen. Stonewall Jack- cannot it would be unreasonable of me Ho has coma through the Army ranks tH* fI school of thought. Both believe in son, form part of the Krueger battle to ask it, I waive the ac- o’ i*nd request the hard He knows it I "Co iast complete and thorough training under creed. He holds the purpose way. all, the stag* cordingly. With my great esteem and mmm ANSWER weety jj primary | conditions as near those of battle as of maneuver is to thrust the of the regard, I am, &c.’’ I Times? enemy's King, sweating job Infantryman, * can be had. forces into an unfavorable position so the long road through the various Date of Purchase ReMBMeer? WlL- +i WAS 0ERT Krueger’s All-Out Battles they can be pounded until annihilated. schools to higher command and the date of the I TH16 One? Indeed, purchase by STA6E PARTNER? Only live ammunition was missing He believes that generals belong at the experience. He spent many months at the first President is more definitely CAQQOLL in Louisiana maneuvers last year and front. He shares a tent with other offi- the front in Franco of the First World in his for I \N5TlTuTe settled diary September 21, jjrV'HuAMS, ! those now going on in the Sabine River cers and hardships with the troops. War, with the 2Sth and Mdk Divisions, when he records: MIN 1798, SY(2E£S. OP THE I area. They were called "war games,” Once he was asked, "Don't you some- and as chief of staff of the Tank Corps, in I W^M!eoXiULXe& “Examined company with tht M0A4.OAN.11-1897 wjz-liams but these field exercises under Krueger times get discouraged?" “No,” he re- AEF. Comrs. some of the lots in the | vicinity 0OA4 developed into all-out battles in which plied. "But I get mad as hell.” Krueger is no desk executive, ifcg of the Si fixed No. 16 ir | eS-9.EZ.EECH Capitol upon a JIm^Wfamousteam, | everything up to bursting shells and A firm believer in aggressiveness and man who will direct part of the