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A SKETCH 
 
 OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON, 
 
 BOEN AT 
 
 AYLSHAM, NORFOLK, ENGLAND, 
 
 October 29tli, 1791. -, 
 
 Pro me : si merear, in uie. 
 
 t>jprlolk mutco.) 
 
 WASHINGTON : 
 JOSEPH L. PEARSON, PRINTER. 
 
 1878. 
 

.> 
 
 Washington, Dec. 26t7i, 1878. 
 To Dr. John B. Blake, 
 
 President of the Association of the 
 
 Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia. 
 
 My Dear 8ir : In transmitting through you to the venerable 
 Association over which you have so long presided, a small volume 
 containing an account of the principal events of my life, now^ pro- 
 tracted far beyond the allotted age of man, permit me, as a per- 
 sonal friend of many years, to congratulate you on the distinction 
 you have so worthily attained as the President of so notable a 
 Body of men, and to thank the Members of the Association for 
 the honor they have annually conferred upon me in designating 
 me as one of their Vice-Presidents, and in continuing to me that 
 honor for so many years. 
 
 As one of the objects of this eminent Association is to preserve 
 the traditions of past times in the biographies of its Members, and 
 as a kind Providence has permitted me to mingle so long with my 
 fellow-men in this city, and to have a somewhat extended experi- 
 ence of its affairs, I hj^e thought it expedient to ask that this ac- 
 count of ray life, and the events that have entered into it, may be 
 preserved in the archives of the distinguished Association to which 
 we belong. 
 
 I trust, therefore, that the offering I herewith make may prove 
 acceptable both to yourself and to the Members of the Associa- 
 tion, And I take leave to add that, while the incidents recounted 
 in this volume are mine, yet the glowing manner in which they 
 are set forth belongs to my valued personal friend, the Rev. Dr. 
 Sunderland, to whose communication I would respectfully call 
 your attention. 
 
 With sentiments of high esteem, I am. 
 Truly yours, &c., 
 
THE ORIGIN OF THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL 
 SKETCH. 
 
 In the years 1877-'78 I had a number of very intimate conver- 
 sations with Dr. William Gunton in reference to the story of his 
 lono; career. I have known him personally for the last quarter of a 
 century, and I felt a deep interest in knowing more of the specific 
 incidents that have marked his life. By many questions, which I 
 took the liberty of propounding, I drew out from him the facts 
 on which the following Sketch was founded. The style I have 
 adopted in presenting these facts is one for which I only am re- 
 sponsible, and the work I have performed is one which I can sin- 
 cerely call a labor of love. I have conceived it at least the most 
 fitting offering I can lay on the altar of Memory to one whom it 
 has been my privilege to know so long. And if its testimony shall 
 prove as gratifying to his posterity as its preparation has been to 
 myself, they will cherish it as among the most precious relics of 
 his character and name. 
 
 /f ^J^ 
 
 Pastor First Fres. Church. 
 
 Washington, Nov. 28th, 1878. 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON 
 
 In the time of William the Conqueror, A. D. 1066-1087, 
 the Guntons were a strong family among the gentry of Nor- 
 folk. Their lands lay about midway between Norwich, the 
 capital of the county, and Cromer, on the coast of the North 
 Sea. Gunton Hall stood some four or five miles N. E. of 
 Aylsham. The Gunton lands w^ere in Gunton, Marsham or 
 Martham, Hemesby, Bailing, Worstede, and Castre. 
 
 Matthew de Gunton was lord of the Manor in the reign 
 of Henry I., A. D. 1122. 
 
 His two sons Avere Roger and Thomas, who each had a 
 moiety, styled Over Hall and Nether Hall. This division of 
 the Gunton estate seems to have continued for a long period. 
 
 Bartholomew de Gunton held one moiety or lordship in 
 the reign of Kichard I., A. D. 1189. 
 
 In the first year of King John, A. D. 1199, there was a 
 pleading about lands in Martham and Hemesby between 
 Walter de Bassingham and the Bishop of Norwich, in which . 
 lands the family De Gunton had an important interest. 
 
 In the eighth year of Henry HI., A. D. 1224, we find 
 another Matthew de Gunton in possession, who had married 
 Isabell, daughter and heir of Sir Robert de Castre, and who 
 granted by fine to the Prior of Norwich the advowson of the 
 
Z DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 Church of Martham. He also, A. D. 1228, being lord of 
 Castre in right of his wife, granted to Thomas de Castre and 
 his heirs certain lands, services, and customs. 
 
 We find also that Sir Roger de Gunton, son of this Sir 
 Matthew, gave a messuage and land to God and the Church 
 of the Holy Trinity of Norwich. 
 
 The son of this Roger was again Sir Matthew de Gunton, 
 whom we find in possession in the reign of Henry HI., 
 A. D. 1235. His daughter Isabell married William de 
 Stalham, to whom Sir Matthew granted a portion of his 
 estates in Bailing and Worstede. 
 
 We find John de Gunton, brother of this Sir Matthew, 
 holding a moiety of the Gunton Manor in the reign of 
 Edward L, A. D. 1277. This John died without issue, 
 leaving his sisters and co-heirs — 
 
 Isabella, wife of Roger de Bavent. 
 Margaret, wife of John de Mithwold. 
 Catherine, wife of Simon de Lincoln. 
 Sibbilla, wife of John de Gyraingham. 
 Juliana, wife of Simon Peche. 
 In the reign of Edward II., A. D. 1323, we find a Sir 
 Roger de Gunton, possessor of a moiety of the Gunton 
 Manor, Rector of the Church of St. Andrews, and that he 
 died that year. 
 
 In the reign of Edward HI., A. D. 1343, we find another 
 John de Gunton in possession. 
 
 And in the same reign, A. D. 1347, we find a Sir Thomas 
 de Gunton lord of the Manor of Langham. 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 6 
 
 We next find Milicentia, daughter and heir of Sir Walter 
 de Gunton, who married Sir Walter de Walcot, by whom 
 she had a son, the second Sir Walter. 
 
 This Sir Walter married Joan, daughter of Sir William 
 Clopton. Four daughters and co-heirs were the issue of 
 this marriage — 
 
 Margaret, wife of Birney. 
 Elizabeth, wife of Wylton. 
 Catharine, wife of Dor ward. 
 Margery, a nun of Carhow Abbey. 
 Joan, granddaughter-in-law of Sir Walter de Gunton, 
 and relict of Sir Walter de Walcot, then married Sir Roger 
 Beauchamp, and after his death she obtained letters of ad- 
 ministration on his estate, A. D. 1374. 
 
 In the year A. D. 1781 a very full and accurate history 
 of the county of Norfolk was published, from which it ap- 
 pears that Gunton Hall was at that time the seat of Sir 
 Harbord Harbord, and the following reference is made to 
 the grounds and buildings : 
 
 " Gunton Hall is at present a small honse, but is going to bo 
 enlarged, and lias lately been ornamented with new offices under 
 the direction of Mr. Wyatt. They are by far the most complete 
 buildings for the purpose of anj^ in this Kingdom. Tiie new style 
 of architecture is by its lightness and extreme elegance well 
 adapted to offices, and these are particularly worthy the attention 
 of strangers from the studied contrivance for conveniency in the 
 apartments, as also for the slate covering, which consists of small 
 square pieces of slate, each fastened with wood screws. 
 
 Not far from the house is the parish Church, which, by the late 
 Sir William Harbord. was taken down and rebuilt with a magniti- 
 
4 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 cent portico of the Doric order. This receives an additional degree 
 of sanctity from two venerable druidical oaks which grace the 
 front of it." 
 
 The house and offices stand on an eminence, but as they 
 were not sufficiently advanced to permit any drawn repre- 
 sentation of them at the time of the publication of the 
 history, only the Church, standing in the spacious park, 
 could be illustrated by the work of the artist, the copy of 
 which is here to be seen, showing the singularly venerable 
 beauty of the Gunton Church and its noble environment. 
 
 The Chronicles show, in process of time, that while the 
 name of Gunton remained to the Hall, the lands were trans- 
 ferred under other titles and many branches of the family 
 became extinct. So that after the lapse of four hundred 
 years, the date when this sketch should properly begin, 
 there was but a single household of the name of Gunton 
 in all that part of the country. 
 
 This was the family of Mr. Thomas Gunton, attorney-at- 
 law of Aylsham, who had married* Miss Jane Mendham of 
 Lynn, a sister of the Rev. William Mendham, a dissenting 
 minister at Briston. This family consisted of father, mother, 
 and six children : Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, William, Har- 
 riet, and Anne. 
 
 William, the subject of this article, was born at Aylsham, 
 Norfollv Co., Eng., Oct. 29th, 1791, and named for his ma- 
 ternal uncle, William Mendham Gunton. The middle 
 name, however, has been omitted, and he has long been 
 known as Dr. William Gunton, his autograph "W. Gunton" 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. O 
 
 being of the simplest possible form, but written in large 
 bluff characters and connected by a peculiar link-like flourish 
 so familiar to many eyes. How he acquired the title of 
 Doctor will subsequently appear. 
 
 Aylsham or (as pronounced) Elsham stands on a branch 
 of the river Bure and directly in the route from Nor- 
 wich, almost due north to Cromer, about eleven miles 
 from the former, and ten from the latter place. A century 
 ago it was a pretty market-town of some 4,000 people. It 
 had been famous for the superiority of its linen textures, 
 when the principal business of the place was the production 
 of these fabrics. It then stood with its fine Church and 
 Kectory, its principal inn, called the "Black Boys," its 
 open streets and blocks of well-built stores and dwelling- 
 houses, its spacious market-square, its extensive flour-mill, 
 its high bridge over the Bure, its lately finished canal ter- 
 minating at the bridge and raising high hopes of increased 
 business in navigation, its chalybeate spring, once a great 
 resort but now abandoned and hedged in by shrubs and 
 primroses. Its principal school was kept by a clergyman, 
 minister, or teacher, in his own residence, an ordinary three- 
 story house, where he had some forty pupils, children of 
 the well-to-do families, while there were some minor schools 
 for children in humbler circumstances. Beside the usual 
 holidays, it had two annual fairs, March 23d and September 
 26th, and also Lammas day, which Avas August 1st, the day 
 of the feast of fruits and paying in of tithes. The town was 
 distant about one and a half miles from Blicklins: Hall 
 
6 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 and lake, the seat of a noble Baron, Henry Hobart. It 
 was in a level country, much of which was covered with 
 forest, where partridges, pheasants, and hares furnished 
 abundant game, and where man-traps and spring-guns were 
 thickly set to prevent poaching, quite prevalent in those 
 days. 
 
 The sports of the young consisted of races in the market- 
 place, fishing and bathing in the stream, and skating on the 
 lake of Blickling whenever the ice was sufficiently strong. 
 
 In the days to which this narrative refers, the Bishop of 
 Norwich, wdiose See embraced this region, was represented 
 by his church Rector, a stout man of the name of Collyer, 
 who was at the same time a Major of militia, Manager of 
 balls, and Director of all ]olays enacted in the theatre, which 
 was then a common barn-building turned into a play-house. 
 And by virtue of all these high offices he got the tithes. 
 
 The house of Mr. Attorney Gunton was a long two-story 
 brick structure, with his office at the extreme end, a garden 
 at the side, and a small yard fronting to the East. Here * 
 for twenty years he continued the j^ractice of his profession — 
 chiefly in civil suits — his business being not to plead, but 
 carefully to prepare cases for counsellors who did. 
 
 Meanwhile the children were growing up, and for some 
 of the later years of this period, Thomas, the eldest, was 
 employed in his father's office. At about the age of ten, 
 William was sent to the principal school of the place, then 
 in charge of the Rev. Mr. Allison. Here he continued for 
 about four years, acquiring such knowledge of the English 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. / 
 
 language and other rudiments as the elementary instruction 
 of those times could impart. The boy soon took the head of 
 his class, where with rare exceptions he remained. Indeed, 
 he was noted for doing well all he undertook. Of a strong, 
 vigorous English constitution, he was foremost among his 
 companions in all athletic pastimes. He often stood in the 
 mill-door, where few were privileged to be for the purpose, 
 and fished in the stream which came rolling down the flume. 
 Again, he would sport in the water below the mill, the finest 
 of all the swimmers. Then he would speed over the glassy 
 ice the most lithe and supple of the skaters. And again, 
 he would be running races in the market-square, the fleetest 
 of all the runners. 
 
 This was the kind of boy he was — yet withal, exceedingly 
 modest and easily abashed. An instance of this is told of 
 him at a dinner at his Uncle Mendham's, in Briston. The 
 principal dish was a roasted ox-heart, which, though highly 
 relished by many people, the lad could not stomach. With 
 abundance of it on his plate, he could neither swallow it nor 
 else dispose of it. His plague all through the dinner hour 
 was how to manage not to attract observation. Thankful 
 when it was over, he will probably remember that dinner to 
 the latest day of his life. 
 
 The tide of emigration from Europe was about that time 
 setting strongly outward. Many families had sought new 
 fortunes in the Western world. There was scarcely any 
 neighborhood in the British Islands from which some persons 
 had not come to America. The new Republic was growing 
 
8 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 in popularity, and the National Government had established 
 its seat at Washington. The cities of Alexandria and 
 Georgetown were within the famous District, and the cur- 
 rent of the broad Potomac rolled between them. Corres- 
 pondence of adventurers with the friends at home stimulated 
 still further the spirit of adventure. 
 
 All this was passing in the mind of Mr. Thomas Gunton 
 about the year A. D. 1806. Advising with friends, some 
 counselled him to go to Buenos Ayres, but the scale of 
 probabilities soon turned in favor of the land of the Stars 
 and Stripes, and of the District of Columbia, as the point 
 of destination. Accordingly he set about preparation to 
 transplant his family on these Western shores — a far more 
 formidable undertaking than the present generation are 
 likely to conceive. Then, instead of what we now witness, 
 but a single vessel in a year set out from Liverpool for 
 Alexandria — and that was a sailing vessel — relatively small, 
 with slender accommodations, many discomforts, and the 
 voyage, even when prosperous, requiring nearly three months' 
 time. 
 
 But the decision made, his practice was given up, his 
 furniture sold, and the house abandoned. His son Thomas 
 found a place at a fair salary in the Law Office of Messrs. 
 " Foster, Unthank and Foster," of Norwich, taking with 
 him his mother and sisters to reside till they, too, could 
 follow to America. 
 
 The father and his son, William, armed with letters to a 
 Mr. Thomas C. Wright, already settled in Georgetown, 
 
DR. T\TLLIAM GUNTON. 9 
 
 made their way, in the spring of 1807, to Liverpool, taking 
 on their route Wisbech and Peterborough, where they found 
 acquaintances. It was between these places that William 
 saw for the first and last time an English May-pole, which 
 greatly delighted him ; and while stopping at the latter place 
 a grand fete was in progress in honor of the day when some 
 favored Englishman was attaining his majority. The town 
 was in a blaze of enthusiasm, a whole ox was roasted, 
 and some friends of William went out with him to share in 
 the spectacle. On this day barrels of beer twenty-one 
 years old, kept all that time in prospect, were broached, 
 and freely dispensed among the people. William drank 
 about a wineglass. When he got back to the Inn he was 
 too weary to be able to pull off his boots ! The liquor had 
 so fatigued him ! This was a cause of grief and mortifica- 
 tion both to father and son, and left such a lesson behind it 
 as the boy never forgot. 
 
 Bidding their friends a long farewell, they reached Liver- 
 pool and found they must there wait for the sailing vessel 
 for many weeks. This time was spent by the father in mak- 
 ing inquiries, arranging details, and preparing for the voy- 
 age, while William, who then thought he would be a print- 
 er, amused himself in one of the large printing establish- 
 ments of the city, where he acquired an incipient taste for 
 that business. 
 
 But at length the day of departure came, and on July 
 23d, 1807, the vessel, " WiUiam and John," dropped down 
 the Mersey seeking the Western sea, and launched on a rough 
 
10 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 wild voyage. Captain Woodhouse, whose brother was first 
 Mate, shared his quarters with Gildea, another sea-captain, 
 now a passenger. The cabin was wholly occupied by Mr. 
 Kincaid, wife, and four or five children, one of whom was 
 already a young lady — people from Scotland. Mr. Kincaid 
 was coming over to America in some official capacity, hav- 
 ino: a friend in Mr. Patton, British Consul at Alexandria. 
 Besides these, were the Guntons, Messrs. Gordon, Atkinson, 
 Martin, and one or two others. 
 
 The Kincaids had brought with them a barrel of oat-meal, 
 which, in addition to the ship's fare, they esteemed quite a 
 luxury. The first three weeks interfered somewhat with 
 the appetites of the voyagers, but after that they could man- 
 age anything but the oat-meal of the Scotchman. 
 
 The captain was one of the most profane men when no 
 serious danger threatened. He would walk the quarter- 
 deck for hours, cursing the wind and sea and the God of both, 
 and calling down on his ship all manner of imprecations. 
 Mr. Gunton's blue coat with covered buttons giving him 
 a somewhat clerical appearance, Mrs. Kincaid, alarmed at 
 the amazing profanity of the commander, once requested 
 him to speak to the captain, almost fearing that Providence 
 might take him at his word and send them all to the bottom 
 together. Yet it was very noticeable that when real dan- 
 ger seemed impending the captain ceased his swearing and 
 moved about with reverence or at least the gravity of silence. 
 
 The long voyage was at last drawing to completion ; the 
 vessel had sighted the Capes, and, while ascending the Chesa- 
 
DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 11 
 
 peake Bay, at length hailed a schooner bound to Baltimore, 
 which took one or two of the little company to that city, 
 leaving the remainder to continue their voyage up the 
 Potomac. And they were yet two weeks in reaching Alex- 
 andria. During this fortnight the stores of the vessel hav- 
 ing been well exhausted, supplies were drawn almost daily 
 from the shore, the principal article of which, new to the 
 emigrants, was the American yam (sweet potato), and 
 which unfortunately seemed not to be a favorite with the 
 new comers. 
 
 As they were approaching the town on Saturday, the last 
 day of the voyage. Master William, eager with expectation, 
 was moving about the deck, when a strong whisk of wind 
 striking across the vessel, between the main and mizzen 
 mast, swept his hat overboard, and it was gone beyond re- 
 covery. With bared head, thus the lad approached the 
 soil of his future efforts and triumphs. 
 
 But as the vessel drew to the dock at midnight the moon 
 shone down in her full silver beauty, almost eclipsing the 
 dancing lights which flickered here and there with a feeble 
 ray. It was October 18th, 1807, and they were safe again 
 on shore ! And though so far from home and family, yet 
 with what gladness and heartfelt gratitude they proceeded 
 to the "Marshall House," the first roof to shelter the 
 strangers, and where their first breakfast was eaten on Sun- 
 day morning, those can tell who have in a similar way 
 escaped the perils of the great deep and found themselves 
 once more on terra firma. 
 
12 DR. WrLLIA3I GTJNTOX. 
 
 The boy had had enough of the ocean. He has never 
 tried it since ! The first thing in the morning was to re- 
 place his hat — a matter of some difficulty, it being the Sab- 
 bath, and places of business closed. However, on explain- 
 ing to a hat vendor the necessity, the scruple gave way, and 
 the hat was forthcoming. Invitations came for supper at 
 the house of Mr. Entwisle, an Englishman residing in the 
 city, and the sa>me evening Mr. Gunton and son, and Messrs. 
 Martin, Gordon, and Atkinson were seated at the table of 
 their new-made friend, where they found a generous pro- 
 vision and a hearty welcome. 
 
 On the following day the Guntons found a small Packet, 
 Captain McPherson, running to Georgetown, and at once 
 availed themselves of the opportunity to reach their desti- 
 nation. Anxious not to be set down at the wrong place, 
 as soon as he stepped on board the Packet Mr. Gunton be- 
 gan making inquiries of a group of passengers who were go- 
 ing up the river, and, singularly enough, he found in the 
 person who answered to his questions, a Mr. Cooj^er, an old 
 friend whom he had known in Eno-land. This o-entleman, 
 coming from Norwich, had been residing here a number of 
 years and was able readily to give the desired information. 
 On reaching Georgetown they soon found Mr. Wright, to 
 whom their letters were directed, and who received them 
 w^armly, and at once extended them the hospitality of his 
 house. They found here also a Mr. Bell, who had pre- 
 ceded them by a few months, and a number of gentlemen 
 from England already in the employ of the Government, 
 
DK. WILLIAM GUNTON. 13 
 
 among whom were Nicholas and Robert King, the former a 
 surveyor, Mr. More, in the Land Office, John Gardner and 
 Dr. Dinmore, also clerks under the Government, and others. 
 
 His hope was to obtain a Government position, but as 
 this was not feasible at this time, he opened a school in a 
 house of Mr. Mecklin, between what was then known as the 
 Six a.nd Seven Buildings, near the residence of the British 
 Minister, on Pennsylvania avenue, having among his pupils 
 a young girl who afterwards became the famous ' ' Mrs. 
 Eaton." Belinquishing his school after a time, he became 
 private tutor in the family of George Calvert, Esq., who 
 resided at Riversdale, near Bladensburgh, and at the end of 
 two years he obtained a clerkship in the Land Office, which 
 he retained to the time of his death in 1821. 
 
 Mr. Cooper had just undertaken to publish a small news- 
 paper of octavo form, with John B. Colvin, editor. Into 
 this office the son, Wilham Gunton, entered, with the pur- 
 230se of following the business of a printer. But an expe- 
 rience of a month or six weeks led to a distaste for this kind 
 of life and prepared him for some more congenial pursuit. 
 About that time Dr. John Ott, a druggist of some years' 
 standing in Georgetown, whose store was located at the cor- 
 ner of Bridge and High streets, was in want of an attend- 
 ant, and on speaking of it to Mr. Wright, the Doctor was 
 advised by him to secure the service of the son of Mr. Gun- 
 ton. Negotiation was at once opened, and William was 
 apprenticed by his father to Dr. Ott. The terms of com- 
 pensation were board and clothing and twenty-five dollars 
 
14 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 annually for spending-money. Thus the lad, boarding with 
 Dr. Ott, settled down to the business of druggist, and so 
 obtained the title of Doctor. 
 
 Almost immediately on their arrival in America, meas- 
 ures growing out of the difficulty between the ' ' Chesa- 
 peake" and the " Leopard," suspended the entrance of Brit- 
 ish vessels into American ports. First the embargo and 
 then the non-intercourse law, lasting for several years, dis- 
 sipated all hopes of the coming of that part of the family 
 left behind in Norwich. The war with England ensued, 
 and it was not till the year 1817 that the mother, sisters, 
 and brother rejoined those who had preceded them hither. 
 
 At this epoch Georgetown, first laid out in 1751 and in- 
 corporated by the State of Maryland in 1789, was virtually 
 the principal place of business east of the Potomac in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia. A cluster of houses at the i**J^avy-yard 
 had been rapidly collected, but between these two points, 
 Washington, the Capital City, though surveyed and mapped 
 out, lay in almost virgin nakedness. The grand avenue of 
 Pennsylvania, running from one extreme to the other, had 
 indeed been opened, as had also parts of other streets in its 
 vicinity. The buildings in the city could then easily be 
 counted. Near the Georgetowii Circle stood the Six and 
 Seven Buildings, and in the vicinity the boarding-house of 
 Mr. William O'Neal, the father of the noAv noted Mrs. 
 Eaton. About \Yhere the Treasury Building now stands 
 were three or four houses. Near what is the corner of 12th 
 street and the Avenue were two or three more. Near the 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 15 
 
 corner of 7th street and the x^ venue were one or two build- 
 ings, in one of Avhich a Mr. Samuel Harrison Smith had 
 established a newspaper, styled the " National Intelligencer," 
 a journal which afterwards obtained a most enviable reputa- 
 tion, and was long continued by his successors, Messrs. Gales 
 & Sea ton, as the principal newspaper of the Capital. Near 
 by was a little building called the "Marsh Market," which 
 has since been replaced by the splendid structure of the 
 Center Market of this day. Further along, on Capitol Hill, 
 was Long's Hotel, quite famous in its day as a resort of the 
 public men of the nation ; and finally the city tapered off 
 in a dozen brick-yards, which extended doAvn to the river it- 
 self But most of the area of the National Capital was then 
 covered Avith bushes and undergrowth, which fell off here 
 and there into pasture grounds and commons, or terminated 
 in slashes and marshes. Nearly the whole of the lower 
 part of what is now called the Mall was then a piece of 
 wet, marshy ground covered w4th reeds and wancopins, 
 where sj^ortsmen shot ortolan, where cattle formed paths in 
 zigzag courses, where negroes hunted straying cows with 
 thikling bells about their necks, and where fishermen often 
 took their spoil, especially at full tide. Many parts of the 
 Avenue touched the water's edge, and the road was "cordu- 
 roy." Logs were piled in to fill up the mud-holes and 
 miry places along the route. Once crossing the Avenue at 
 7th street, our young druggist lost a shoe, which sank into 
 the ooze and was with some difficulty recovered. 
 
 But Jefferson, who was then President, in his second 
 
16 DR. WILLIA^VI GUNTON. 
 
 term, did much to improve this avenue and had it lined on 
 either side with a double row of poplars. 
 
 The Executive Mansion was even then not altogether 
 finished, and the Capitol had been rendered tenantable only 
 in certain parts. As the observer looks around him now he 
 must see with wonder the contrast which seventy years have 
 made. Dr. Gunton is one of the very few men who can 
 look back in Washington over so long a space. 
 
 Beginning empty-handed, but with principles and habits 
 from which he has never swerved, he showed his early qual- 
 ities during his six years with Dr. Ott. He was not long in 
 becoming familiar with every branch of the business to 
 which he was devoted, and his value to the establishment 
 soon became manifest. 
 
 This was due as well to his excellent home training as to 
 the ideas of salutary subjection to the fundamental principles 
 of business economy which were then observed. For at the 
 period when the young apprentice was on the threshold of 
 his career, the sentiments of society had not suffered the re- 
 laxation which to-day so lamentably prevails. The avenues 
 of business were not then filled with a throng of adventurers 
 inflated with the notions of speculation and extravagance, 
 and intoxicated with the prospect of amassing sudden and 
 enormous fortunes. A more rational estimate of the legiti- 
 mate gains of business then controlled the judgment and as- 
 pirations of individuals. Young men were content to work 
 out a term of years which gave them little more than a de- 
 cent and comfortable living. They still recognized the force 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 17 
 
 of authority and the propriety of subordination ; and if, on 
 attaining their majority, they had well mastered the knowl- 
 edge of their chosen pursuit, they considered it a fortunate 
 preparation for the subsequent exercise of a more direct and 
 personal responsibility. 
 
 And withal there was less dissatisfaction and complaint, 
 and less restlessness under restraint in that state of things 
 than under the loose and irresponsible system which has 
 since prevailed. Young men of bright faculties spent their 
 energies for their employers in good faith, sustained by the 
 consciousness of duty faithfully discharged, and inspired by 
 the conviction that those rugged virtues would certainly 
 meet with a due reward. 
 
 Such, at least, was the feeling of the young man in the 
 store of Dr. Ott. Under this close attention to business, 
 this almost precocious gravity of character, there lurked, 
 however, a spirit of humor which frequently enlivened the 
 routine dullness of business and became the standing theme 
 of laughter in the circle of friends. One instance of this 
 is remembered to this day. An English family had arrived 
 in Georgetown, from the same neighborhood with the Gun- 
 tons, in Norfolk. They had been, in their old home, in the 
 laundry business, and rather struggling with proverty for 
 many years. But once set down in their new homes in 
 these Western wilds, they affected superior airs, and fre- 
 quently spoke of the shijjs which their family owned and 
 through which they had plied a wealthy trade to Yarmouth. 
 These unseemly boastings from people who had obtained a 
 2 
 
18 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 livelihood by washing clothes for the inhabitants of Nor- 
 wich, rather excited some surprise among the rest of the 
 English emigrants, and one day Mr. Cooper, speaking with 
 young Gunton, asked: "What sort of ships do you suppose 
 they had in Norfolk ?" To which William quickly replied : 
 "I know of no ships they could have had, unless they were 
 hard-ships .'" 
 
 It was about this time that the idea of soda-water foun- 
 tains came into vogue. John Hart, a well known Quaker 
 druggist of Philadelphia, with whom Dr. Ott had been an 
 apprentice, had devised an apparatus for charging cooled 
 water with carbonic acid gas, and thus furnishing a very 
 acceptable beverage. To charge an ordinary fountain with 
 this gas required some twenty pounds of acid and some 
 forty-eight hours in the process. Dr. Hart at once set 
 about the introduction of his invention. Dr. Talbot, 
 another Quaker druggist of Baltimore, had one of these 
 fountains put up in his establishment. Georgetown could 
 not be left behind, and Dr. Ott purchased an apparatus at 
 a cost of $1,700. It was a complicated and clumsy aifair, 
 set up in the cellar, and giving results not equal to the an- 
 ticipation. After inspecting the working of the apparatus 
 in Baltimore and making some trials of his own, the worthy 
 Doctor became discouraged, and in his despair offered $1,000 
 to any one who would take it off his hands. While matters 
 stood thus. Dr. Charles Beatty, a prominent physician of 
 Georgetown, who was often in the store, one day said, "Turn 
 it over to Gunton." "No," replied the young man, "I 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 19 
 
 know nothing about it." But, nevertheless, it was turned 
 over to him, and seeing the question thus forced upon him 
 he commenced to study it, determined to succeed with it if 
 success were possible. 
 
 The apparatus consisted of a large hogshead to hold the 
 acid, the water, and the pulverized marble. This connected 
 by pipes with a half-barrel partially filled with water, which 
 again connected with an air-pump, and this with the copper 
 cylinder or agitator containing two water-fountains, from 
 which pipes led down to four other fountains buried in the 
 earth-floor of the cellar. After the materials had been 
 placed, the process was, to force the fixed air into the agita- 
 tor and then to press the impregnated water into the buried 
 fountains, whence the beverage was drawn for sale. But there 
 were many defects about the operation which young Gunton 
 set himself to overcome. He first dispensed with the half- 
 barrel, he then changed the position of the valves in the air- 
 pump. He next got rid of the cylinder, and finally resurrected 
 the buried fountains themselves, had them bound with iron, 
 which was soundly done by Mr. Shaw, the white-smith, and 
 thus made the whole apparatus more simple and effective. 
 While this was going on letters were dispatched to the in- 
 ventor asking his advice on the changes proposed, to which 
 the astute Quaker, invariably replied, withholding his assent. 
 Nevertheless, the changes were made with most gratifying 
 results. But a single difficulty remained to be overcome. 
 The common air filled about a third part of the fountains 
 and decidedly interfered with the proper impregnation. A 
 
20 DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 brilliant thought struck the youthful philosopher, which 
 was, first, to fill the fi^untains with water, thus expelling 
 the common air altogether, and then to pump out the re- 
 quired quantity, leaving space fi^r the fixed air, Avhich was 
 then fi:)rced in. When these things were accomplished and 
 about two- thirds of the original apparatus dispensed with, 
 the remainder was so much improved that it now required 
 for charging an ordinary fountain only twenty minutes time 
 and about six pounds of acid. In fact, the young druggist 
 had produced an almost entire new apparatus, the product 
 of which his patrons pronounced one of great superiority. 
 The Ott soda-fountain became immensely popular, and in 
 that single year it cleared for him the handsome sum of 
 two thousand dollars. 
 
 But it was all owing to the pluck and ingenuity of young 
 William, who really should be regarded as the second 
 father of soda-fountains in America. This unexampled 
 success after so great a depression, filled the heart of Dr. 
 Ott with pride and pleasure. The finishing-stroke was 
 given to the apparatus, when some small zinc tubes sur- 
 rounded by ice were added to produce the degree of cool- 
 ness in the beverage, on a sultry day, which so much con- 
 tributed to its favor. The generosity of the worthy Doctor 
 toward his ingenious and thoughtful assistant was sensibly 
 excited, and he began to talk of further allowances in case 
 another year should prove as profitable as the first. 
 
 But time rolled on, and the indenture one day expired, 
 leaving William Gunton his own free-man. The alterna- 
 
DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 21 
 
 tive was then placed before him to enter into partnership 
 with his recent emj)loyer, to have a salary of $150 per annum, 
 or to set U23 for himself and take goods from the store, or 
 have letters of credit to other business firms where he might 
 desire to make transactions. While holding the matter 
 under consideration, he continued another six months in 
 the store. He had hitherto been treated as a subordinate 
 in the family of the Otts. He felt that this distinction 
 ought now to cease. But comparatively trifling as it was, 
 a matter of sitting at the second table, it was not changed, 
 and upon the trial of half a year, young Gunton concluded 
 to leave his old employer and set up for himself. The 
 question of location which now arose before him was settled 
 by one circumstance. Mrs. Ott, being an invalid, was going 
 up to Frederick, in Maryland, hoping for the benefit of this 
 temporary change. Young Gunton was requested to go 
 with her. His observation while there determined him to 
 open his store in that place. The Germans formed a con- 
 siderable proportion of its population, and there were two 
 small shops kept by men of that nationality, but they were 
 of a very inferior grade, and indeed the business of a drug- 
 gist in that locality gave but a slender promise of success ; 
 and of some fifty persons to whom he bore letters of intro- 
 duction, there was but a single man who gave him any 
 encouragement. But confident in his o^vn plans and rely- 
 ing on making a business far superior to that which the 
 people of the town had known, he arranged with Dr. Ott 
 to take stock from the store in Georgetown, first to the 
 
22 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 amount of $2,200, together with a soda-fountain costing 
 $190. So equipped, he opened his place of business in 
 Frederick and went to work with two Dutchmen for his 
 competitors, He had much to do to overcome the difficul- 
 ties of the beginning. First he had to set up the soda- 
 fountain, next to provide an ice-house. For this, was 
 needed a quantity of plank. He repaired to an old man 
 by the name of Howard, a hypochondriac, who had a saw- 
 mill some three or four miles away. Some prior work in the 
 mill furnished its owner with an excuse, and the plank 
 could not be sawn. But the young druggist, not to be 
 bluffed, unfolded his enterprise to the singular old gentleman. 
 He pointed out the benfits of the soda-fountain to those 
 who were afflicted as Howard was. By this powerful 
 allurement he fired the old man's enthusiasm and he 
 became a lively convert to the utility of the soda-water. 
 The other work was set aside and the plank for the ice- 
 house were sj)eedily secured. Then the plans of the new- 
 comer were rapidly carried (jut, much to the astonishment 
 of the staid old town. Finding it necessary to a branch of 
 his business, he bought out the two confectioners of the 
 place and commenced the manufacture of candy on a larger 
 scale. 
 
 But there was still another difficulty which his genius 
 had to overcome. The currency of the country was in a 
 lamentable state. Turnpikes were then as prominent an 
 institution as railroads are in our day. To facilitate the 
 business of the public, these companies issued scrip or shin- 
 
DR. WILLIAIM GUNTON. 23 
 
 plasters of all conceivable amounts and kinds. These were 
 paid for all kinds of purchases, and every night the till of 
 the apothecary would be full of them. How to negotiate 
 them for actual money became a serious question. A Mr. 
 Joseph Talbot was the keeper of one of the leading hotels 
 of the town. He was in the receipt of considerable money 
 from travellers stopping at his house. With him an ar- 
 rangement was soon effected, by which this scrip was ex- 
 changed for valid currency. By this means the Doctor 
 (for by this time he had well earned the title) was enabled 
 to send down to his quondam princii3al, Dr. Ott, first two 
 hundred, then three hundred, and finally two thousand 
 dollars, in payment of the liability of his original outfit. 
 This unexampled success aroused the feeling of the latter 
 gentleman, who began to think he had made a great mistake 
 in not insisting upon the partnership, and drew forth from 
 him a rather lugubrious and querulous letter upon the sub- 
 ject. However, it was now too late to mend the matter, 
 and the establishment at Frederick went on prospering and 
 to prosper. 
 
 Its energetic head had shown not only a faculty for in- 
 vention and enterprise, but a far-reaching financiering abil- 
 ity, which thus early pointed him out as a shrewd and safe 
 manager of capital in perilous and sinking times. 
 
 Many and curious were the incidents which enlivened the 
 scenes in that store at Frederick. Two brothers of the name 
 of Darnell, rough men and almost outlaws, were living then 
 in the vicinity. They were reckless fellows and a terror 
 
24 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 to tiie community. One day they entered the store to- 
 gether, and were immediately attracted by the soda-foun- 
 tain. " What the d 1 is that," cried one of them. Upon 
 
 explanation of its use they immediately contracted, for one 
 dollar, to drink it dry. After swallowing sixteen glasses 
 they gave it up, planked down the dollar, and left the store 
 in disgust, remarking as they went, "There is no bottom 
 to the d n thing, anyhow." 
 
 A Mr. Fischer, who was a hatter, lived in the town. 
 His son, Mr. Wm. Fischer, was then a young man, and 
 about a year after the store was opened by Dr. Gunton, he 
 accepted young Fischer as an attendant. This ultimately 
 led to his marriage into the Gunton family. 
 
 On going to Frederick, Dr. Gunton had leased a build- 
 ing for the term of five years, unless it should in the 
 meantime be sold. On the ground-floor he conducted his 
 business, while the stories above were occupied by the 
 family of the clergyman of the place, the Rev. Patrick 
 Davidson, of which Miss Hester Livingstone Brown, his 
 wife's sister, born in Carlisle, Pa., was then a member. 
 This lady the young Doctor married in the year 1816. 
 She was a devout Christian, and a faithful member of 
 the Presbyterian Church. At the end of the first year 
 this property was sold, thus compelling Dr. Gunton to 
 seek another stand. This was soon found on the oppo- 
 site side of the street, where he had a house to himself, 
 that was far better suited to his purpose and his trade. In 
 the following year, 1817, the event which had been so 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 25 
 
 long anticipated transpired. Tlie fatlier and son were 
 joined by the rest of the family who had been left behind 
 in Norwich many years before. Landing in Baltimore, 
 they came thence immediately to their friends. The party 
 consisted of the mother, the brother Thomas, and the four 
 sisters, Elizabeth, Mary, Harriet, and Anne. 
 
 The father, then living at 18th street, in Washington, 
 near what was then known as ' ' The Seven Buildings," took 
 to his home his wife and the three children, Thomas, Eliza- 
 beth, and Mary, while the Doctor took his two younger sis- 
 ters, Harriet and Anne, to reside with him in Frederick. 
 
 The son, Thomas, had scarcely been a week in Wash- 
 ington, before he obtained a position in the Capitol, through 
 the kind offices of Mr. P. R. Fendall and Richard Bland 
 Lee. 
 
 Mr. Peter Hagner was then the Third Auditor of the 
 Treasury, and the young Englishman being a very fine ac- 
 countant, materially assisted him in preparing his various 
 reports on the great question of Horse claims and claims 
 on other matters, then passing through the office. These 
 reports obtained great eclat for their clearness and ability, 
 and were highly lauded by such men as Elisha Whittlesey, 
 who was then in Congress. This naturally reflected no 
 little credit on Thomas Gunton, who for many years held 
 a responsible position in the Treasury, and whose accuracy 
 and ability were long after recognized in the most flattering 
 terms by such men as Silas Wright, Daniel Webster, and 
 many others. For a period of three or four years, through 
 
26 DR. TVTT.LIA]\r GUNTON. 
 
 political changes, he was out of office, but when Mr. Whit- 
 tlesey hecame First Comptroller of the Treasury he was re- 
 instated, and continued in his place, trusted and honored, 
 and universally respected till the day of his death. 
 
 Meantime events went forward with the Doctor at Fred- 
 erick, and by the judgment and energy with which his busi- 
 ness was conducted he was already counted as a capitalist. 
 He continued business transactions with Dr. Ott till the 
 date of that gentleman's death in the year 1818. In his 
 last illness he sent for Dr. Gunton and proposed to sell him 
 his stock. But Madam Ott, his second wife, who had a 
 brother in the store, was opposed to this arrangement, 
 and supposed she had broken it off. However, it was 
 a brother of Dr. Ott who had established a drug-store 
 in Washington, on the site of the house now occupied by 
 Dr. James C. Hall, on Pennsylvania avenue, between 9th 
 and 10th streets northwest. This brother dying in 1820, 
 his business was left in the hands of his administrators, 
 Messrs. Bradley and Richie. Dr. Gunton had now deter- 
 mined to establish himself in Washington, and accordingly 
 he sold out his store in Frederick to his friend, Mr. William 
 Fischer, at first with the hope of purchasing that of the 
 late Dr. David Ott ; but as delay was occasioned by a con- 
 troversy between the administrators, after waiting for sev- 
 eral months he made a purchase of the property at the cor- 
 ner of 9th street and Pennsylvania avenue, to which he 
 added the adjoining house. Over the drug-store, in the 
 spacious rooms above, he installed his family, and there for 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 27 
 
 many years they all resided. He had accumulated about 
 $20,000 durhig his six years business in Frederick, and his 
 first real-estate purchase in Washington cost him $9,000, 
 while he paid $5,000 in addition for the stock of his store. 
 A few years after, he paid $6,000 for the adjoining house, 
 and in both buildings made several alterations and im- 
 provements. 
 
 Here for a number of years he carried on a most thriving 
 business, being largely patronized by the many public men 
 and noted women of the time. Not a few were the inci- 
 dents which created amusement at the Doctor's drug-store 
 which soon grew famous for the purity and excellence of 
 the articles exposed for sale. In those days Calomel and 
 Jalap were largely in demand, and the well-known Colonel 
 Bassett, then a member of Congress from Virginia, once 
 remarked to the Doctor that " his medicines were of the 
 most powerful and sovereign efficacy he had ever known." 
 " Why," said the Colonel, " all I have to do is to put them 
 in my vest-pocket and carry them about a few days and 
 they are certain to cure !" 
 
 The famous John Eandolph, of Roanoke, then in Con- 
 gress, once purchased some medicine of the Doctor and paid 
 him in Virginia money, for which he received in change 
 some bills of United States money. There was some 
 discount at that time on the currency of the Banks of the 
 *'01d Dominion." The next day Randolph apj)eared at 
 the counter and confronted the Doctor, with the words of 
 his shrill, woman's voice, "Yesterday you made a mis- 
 
28 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 take, Sir ! a serious mistake, Sir I I have come to-day to 
 see about it, Sir !" The Doctor, who was always the most 
 careful in putting up his orders, began to be alarmed and to 
 search for the Prescription on his files, supposing it was the 
 wrong medicine he had given out, and solicitous about all 
 imaginable evil consequences of any blunder he might have 
 made. His interlocutor, whose well-known propensity for 
 a joke led him to view Avith high glee the Doctor's evident 
 anxiety, at last relieved his suspense by calling out, " Oh, 
 it is not the medicine — that's all right. Sir ; but I gave you 
 Virginia money and you did not give me Virginia money in 
 change !" It is needless to say this was a relief to the per- 
 turbed mind of the Doctor. 
 
 Before coming to Washington for business, the Doctor 
 had purchased a quantity of stock of the Patriotic Bank, 
 then a Banking Establishment of the city, with which a 
 number of prominent citizens and men in Government office 
 were connected — the well-known Messrs. Bradley, of Wash- 
 ington, being among them. While the Bank was doing an 
 active business with the public, its affairs were loosely con- 
 ducted, and the books really in great confusion. One day 
 Mr. Stephen Pleasonton, the Fifth Auditor of the Treas- 
 ury, said to Dr. Gunton : " We have determined to make 
 you a Director of the Bank !" And much to his surjDrise, 
 at the next meeting of the Board, he was so elected. As 
 the Doctor had a somewhat inquiring turn of mind concern- 
 ing affairs in Svhich he was responsible, he soon discovered 
 that the business of the Bank was managed in tlie most 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 29 
 
 careless manner, and that a new order of things was im- 
 peratively demanded. He immediately set about the work 
 of reform in the conduct of the business. But as his views 
 Avere not accepted by other parties involved, the matter 
 soon broke out into open controversy. This unhappy con- 
 flict was protracted for several years, both in the courts and 
 out of them, until at length the differences were adjusted, 
 the course of the Doctor fully vindicated, and his opponents 
 virtually acknowledged him to have been in the right. 
 But not desiring any further experience of this kind, hav- 
 ing been removed from the Board of Directors in 1828, he 
 sold out his stock and terminated all connection with the 
 Patriotic Bank. The records of this somewhat celebrated 
 strife are all extant ; but as it belongs to the tale of other 
 days, it would be manifestly inexpedient and certainly un- 
 necessary for any legitimate purpose to introduce them 
 here. 
 
 Meanwhile another institution, the now well-known "Old 
 Bank of Washington," had been running on much in the 
 same way under an incompetent management, and its af- 
 fairs had become so complicated that in the year 1834 it 
 was obliged to suspend operations, with the j^rospect of 
 being ultimately wound up altogether. Mr. Thomas Mun- 
 roe, its President, was a fair but timid and ineflicient man. 
 He spent his summers at some watering-place, leaving the 
 Bank to get on for itself Its debts to the United States 
 Bank, then still in existence, and to other important banks, 
 were increasing instead of diminishing, and altogether the 
 
30 DK. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 outlook was very discouraging. In this exigency Mr. Hel- 
 len, a lawyer of Washington, and a large stockholder in 
 the Bank, applied to Dr. Gunton to become a member of 
 the Board of Directors. His objections to this step were 
 very strong, remembering his former experience, but they 
 were finally overcome by the earnest entreaty of Mr. Helleu 
 and others, and he consented to go in for a month to ascer- 
 tain the situation and see if it admitted of redress. The 
 Bank had undoubtedly fallen into discredit, but the Doctor, 
 after thorough examination, found it could be placed on a 
 safe and reliable basis. Its debt was about $80,000. Dr. 
 Gunton having business on his own account with the Bank 
 of the United States, was brought in contact with the 
 Cashier, Mr. Richard Smith, about this time. The Bank of 
 Washington was then very largely indebted to the United 
 States Bank, and Mr. Smith complained to the Doctor that 
 he had been unkindly treated in his attempt to adjust the 
 matter. He had offered to take in payment the discounted 
 paper of the Bank of Washington, and the Board of Direc- 
 tors would not listen to it. Upon this information Doctor 
 Gunton, who had then been elected President pro tempore, 
 called the Directors together, w^ho agreed to the proposal. 
 He then had to make arrangements for a debt of $20,000 
 held by the Bank of the Metropolis, and for another debt 
 of $20,000 held by a New York bank. To succeed in this 
 effort he j)roposed to borrow $25,000 on a note to be signed 
 by the individual members of the Board, and other stock- 
 holders, and all did sign it but Mr. Munrcje, the President 
 
DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. , 31 
 
 of the Bank, who declared that before putting his signature 
 to the note he would resign his office. The money was, 
 however, obtained, and Dr. Gunton, afterwards, in January, 
 1835, was elected President of the Bank, a position which, 
 after the lapse of forty-three years, he still holds. In four 
 months after he entered it, the Bank resumed operations, 
 and in one year from that date all its liabilities had been 
 paid. 
 
 During the period from 1837 to 1844 a deep prejudice 
 against the banks of the country seems to have pervaded 
 the Congress of the United States, and under its influence 
 the National Legislature determined not to grant or renew 
 any further bank charters. The banks of the District of 
 Columbia were on the eve of the expiration of their charters, 
 and suffered more than those in any other part of the 
 country from the disposition of Congress to make the Dis- 
 trict a scene of all manner of financial experiments. The 
 prospect of the future was dark indeed. In this emer- 
 gency separate meetings of the stockholders of the several 
 banks in the District were called, and a general concert of 
 action ensued by which the respective Cashiers of the sev- 
 eral banks were ordered to transfer all descrijDtions of the 
 property of the banks to Trustees appointed by the stock- 
 holders, with power to transact the business of the banks 
 as nearly as possible in conformity with the former banking 
 usages. This prevailing hostility to the banking system 
 as it then existed, in connection with the individual re- 
 sponsibilities which the stockholders were obliged to as- 
 
32 
 
 DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 sume, had a most depressing effect, and the stock of the 
 Bank could be readily bought at that time at a discount 
 of forty per cent. 
 
 But by the faithfulness and energy of its new President 
 this state of things soon passed away. The Bank has gone 
 through the most severe money panics that have transpired 
 in the country, but during all of them it has maintained its 
 character, being among the last to suspend specie payments 
 and the first to resume ; and during the last four years of 
 deep financial embarrassment, so general and wide-spread, 
 it has proved to be one of the firmest and most prosperous 
 institutions in the country. And to-day, after an experi- 
 ence of nearly thirty-five years, this Bank has declared 
 dividends equal to nearly half a million of dollars. And 
 the stock of the Bank cannot now be purchased for forty 
 per cent, above par. And though there are about seventy 
 stockholders, yet such is the general confidence in the man- 
 agement of the Bank, that although frequent applications 
 have been made for the purchase of its stock, not a single 
 share has changed hands for a number of years past. This 
 is the highest praise that can be accorded to its manage- 
 ment and to its venerable and honored President. 
 
 Of course a business career so established and successful 
 could not fail to point out the man who made it, for other 
 positions of trust and dignity. It is only necessary to enu- 
 merate the organizations with which the name of Dr. 
 Gunton has been at one time or other during the last fifty 
 years associated, to realize how busy and responsible his 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 33 
 
 life has been, and how large a place he has filled in the 
 community. 
 
 In addition to his seven years connection with the Patri- 
 otic Bank as Director, and his forty-five years connection 
 with the Bank of Washington, he was President of the 
 Eastern Branch Bridge Company and of the Navy-yard 
 Bridge Company until the sale of the bridges to the General 
 Government. He was for eight years a Director of the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. For twelve years 
 he was Foreman of the Grand Jury of the District of Co- 
 lumbia. For fourteen years he was a member of the Wash- 
 ington City Government. Since 1847 he has been a Di- 
 rector of the Columbian University, and he was recently 
 elected Vice-President of the Board. Since 1846 he has 
 been a Director of the American Colonization Society. 
 Since 1836 he has been President of the Columbia Turn- 
 pike-roads Company. For sixteen years he was a member, 
 and for seven years of the time, the President of the Board 
 of Trustees of the National Hospital for the Insane. But 
 in June, 1877, his commission expired, though not without 
 the regrets of those with whom he had been so responsibly 
 and so happily associated. This is an appointment by the 
 President of the United States, and was tendered to Dr. 
 Gunton under a number of Administrations. He was also 
 President of the Baltimore and Washino-ton Navisfation 
 Company. More recently he has become a Director in the 
 Washington and Georgetown Street-Railroad Company. 
 He is Vice-President of the Oldest Inhabitants' Association 
 3 
 
34 DE. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 of the District of Columbia. In 1841 he was elected Chair- 
 man of the Temporal Committee of the First Presbyterian 
 Church of Washington, and was annually elected to the 
 same position for a period of twenty-five years. Since 1828 
 he has been President of the Washington, Alexandria and 
 Georgetown Steam Packet Company, which for many years 
 iiept a line of steamers plying, by the Potomac River and 
 the Chesapeake Bay, between Georgetown and Baltimore. 
 In 1844 an invention called "The Sickles Cut-off" was 
 patented, and the parties professing to own the patent pro- 
 posed to Dr. Gunton, as the President of this company, to 
 put on one of the boats, called the " Columbia," this "Cut- 
 off," at their own expense, in order to test its utility, and 
 with the special object of bringing it to the favorable notice 
 of the Navy Department of the General Government, and 
 with the understanding that if it did not succeed, the owners 
 of it would, after a certain time, remove it without cost to 
 the company, and restore the vessel to its former condition. 
 But if, upon experiment, the invention should be approved • 
 by the company, then they were to have the use of it on as 
 low terms as the steamer "Augusta" or any other vessel 
 using it. On these terms the patentees were allowed to put 
 their invention on the boat. After some months time these 
 parties sent in to the company a bill for a certain amount, 
 which they claimed as due them for the use of their patent. 
 Dr. Gunton replied to them, stating his understanding of the 
 terms of the verbal agreement and reciting the delays and 
 disadvantages which had resulted from a failure to make 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 35 
 
 good their representations. They then instituted suit against 
 the company in the Courts of the District to collect the sums 
 claimed to be due, from time to time, upon a calculation 
 made by them under the terms of their pretended contract. 
 The verdicts in the lower Courts were usually rendered 
 against the company under the exceptions allowed by these 
 Courts. On these proceedings, the cases Avere severally ap- 
 pealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, with the 
 exception of the case in the year 1856, which, through the 
 culpable negligence of the attorney of the company, in 
 failing to prepare and present the case before the Supreme 
 Court as he should have done within the time which the 
 rules prescribed, was, on this account, summarily dismissed 
 with costs. The effect of this was to exact from the company 
 the sum of three thousand dollars, besides a large bill of costs. 
 In all the other cases the decisions of the lower Courts were 
 invariably reversed, and the further efforts of these claimants 
 have resulted in a final reference of the case, which is now 
 so narrowed down that the interest is comparatively trifling, 
 and the controversy may be regarded as virtually at an 
 end. 
 
 But all the documents show how a case of litigation may 
 be commenced and carried on for a period of forty years by 
 a set of unscrupulous men, and the culpable negligence of 
 attorneys, and how all of them may continue to make large 
 sums of money out of individuals or Corporations who have 
 the ability to pay, and who are thus forced by the techni- 
 calties of the law to reward them in their chicanery. It has 
 
36 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 become one of the famous cases in the records of the Courts 
 of the District of Columbia, and the "Sickles Cut-off" case 
 will long be remembered by the Washington Bar as one of 
 the most successful rivals of the British suits in Chancery. 
 
 Dr. Gunton was also President of the old Perseverance 
 Fire Company, which many years ago rendered valuable 
 service in the protection of the property of the city. He was 
 likewise a stockholder in the Firemen's Insurance Company 
 of Washington and Georgetown from the beginning, and 
 was elected its first President, J'uly 28th, 1837, which office 
 he held for three years, Avhen he was succeeded in it by his 
 estimable friend, the late Mr. James Adams, who continued 
 in it till the time of his death. He was likewise in the 
 Uniformed Volunteer Artillery Company of Captain Peter 
 Force, and was afterwards offered the captaincy of a militia 
 company of the District, which honor his advancing years 
 and other numerous engagements — it being in a time of pro- 
 found peace — constrained him to decline. 
 
 During the terrible crisis of the late civil war he was 
 among the foremost of American citizens in his loyally to 
 the Government of the Union, and, though exempt by age 
 from military service, he procured a substitute, and thus 
 represented himself among the soldiers who fought for the 
 preservation of the Union, and rendered a noble example 
 of the devotion of a man who, though born on English soil, 
 was yet fired with a lofty zeal for the triumph of the cause 
 of his adopted country, and for the sovereignty of the Stars 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 37 
 
 and Stripes, to which his early allegiance had been given, 
 and which he rejoices now to see floating over every part of 
 the domain of an undivided Republic. 
 
 In all these stations of trust and responsibility Dr. Gun- 
 ton has never failed to command the entire respect and 
 confidence of the community, and his name thus came to 
 be a tower of strength to any cause to which he was dis- 
 posed to lend it. In 1838 his affairs had so extended that 
 he gave up the business of the store and sold out the stock 
 and patronage. 
 
 Through a comprehension which time has justified, and a 
 far-seeing discretion, he extended his business with his 
 growing years. His investments in real estate have greatly 
 increased in value, while his profits from various other 
 sources have steadily appreciated, till now his income is 
 considerable — so ample that it would be both delicate and 
 difficult to say precisely what it is. He has carried the 
 same care and caution, with a proportionate success, into 
 all his public trusts, so that on the whole, his life as a busi- 
 ness man can only be regarded as one of the most impressive 
 examples of stern integrity, unfaltering diligence, and sound 
 judgment, totally distinct from the wild spirit of specula- 
 tion and colossal adventures which has ruined, in later 
 times, so many men of mark. 
 
 Though Dr. Gunton has been so long engaged in the 
 public and private undertakings already indicated, these, 
 by no means, complete the sum of his manifold labors. 
 His aid has often been extended in many other directions — 
 
38 DE. ^VTXLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 in the management of difficult and complicated estates ; in 
 the enlargement of churches, and the countless objects of 
 philanthropy and charity that have made to him their in- 
 cessant appeals. In these, as in all other instances, he 
 has never courted publicity, never sought for display or 
 ostentation. Fond of old friends, old places, old associa- 
 tions, and clinging to them with the greatest tenacity, his 
 mode of living may be described as one of economical abun- 
 dance and elegant simplicity. It is only within a few years 
 past that he has been persuaded to quit his old quarters at 
 the corner of Ninth street, and remove to his new dwelling 
 on K street — a spacious, substantial brick edifice, with 
 every modern convenience, and fittingly furnished, not for 
 extravagance, but for all propriety and comfort. 
 
 The family of the Guntons have, however, suffered the 
 vicissitudes of nature. Mr. Fischer, having purchased the 
 business in Frederick, was married to Miss Harriet Gunton, 
 in the house of her brother, at the corner of Ninth street. 
 The next day, in conveying his bride homeward, his vicious 
 horse kicked the carriage to pieces. This was somewhat of 
 a dolorous omen, but they were fortunate in escaping with 
 their lives. He continued his business in Frederick till the 
 year 1833, when he disposed of it to his brother and removed 
 to Washington. He purchased and opened a store for Sta- 
 tionery, which stood on the site next to what is now known 
 as the "Shepherd Building," on the corner of Twelfth 
 street and Pennsylvania avenue. This business he pursued 
 tiU his death. 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 89 
 
 Mrs. Thomas Giinton, the mother, died in 1818. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Gunton, the father, died in 1821. 
 
 xlfter this tlie members of the family, excepting the 
 Fischers and their sister Anne, lived together for many 
 years in the old dwelling of Dr. Giinton at the corner of 
 Ninth street. 
 
 To Dr. Gunton were born the following children : 
 
 Mary Jane, who was married to Mr. Edward Temple in 
 1862. Mr. Temple is Vice-President of the Bank of Wash- 
 ington and engaged in other public enterprises, and for 
 many years has been a well-known and highly esteemed 
 member of the community. 
 
 Harriet Anne, who died in 1837. 
 
 Thomas, who died in infancy. 
 
 Elizabeth, who, in 1841, married the Rev. Dr. William 
 Ives Budington, for many years a distinguished Minister of 
 the Congregational Denomination, and for nearly a quarter 
 of a century Pastor of the Clinton Avenue Church in the 
 City of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; and— 
 
 William Alexander, who married Miss Mary R. M. Mul- 
 likin in 1848. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Fischer were born several children, 
 the only surviving one being Harriet Anne Fischer, who 
 married Mr. Wm. C. Zantzinger. 
 
 Mrs. Dr. William Gunton died in 1839. 
 
 Their daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Gunton Budington, 
 died in 1854, leaving her husband, Rev. Dr. Budington, 
 and their survivins: children. 
 
40 DR. WILLIAM GUXTOX. 
 
 Mrs. William A. Gunton died in 1853, leaving her hus- 
 band and two children ; one of which only now survives, 
 and several months after — 
 
 Mr. William A. Gunton, her husband, was killed by 
 being thrown from a horse on Eleventh street southwest, 
 near the river, in 1854. 
 
 This was a peculiarly afflictive stroke to his father and 
 family, as by his death the name becomes extinct, and with 
 it the light of. a rare example of the young manhood of the 
 times. A graduate of Yale College in 1847 — favored with 
 all that parental fondness or generosity could bestow — his 
 mind informed, his taste attuned to the embellishments of 
 art, his character ennobled by classic influence and polished 
 in the schools — of a spirit, at the same time, simple and de- 
 vout — he died lamented by many friends, and his memory 
 will be forever cherished by those ^vho knevr him best. 
 
 Mr.Thomas Gunton, brother;of Dr. Gunton, died in 1853. 
 
 The sister, Ehzabeth, died in 1858. 
 
 The sister, Mary, died in 1876. 
 
 The sister, Anne, in 1877. 
 
 The brother-in-law, Mr. William Fischer, died in 1852. 
 
 His wife, Mrs. Harriet Fischer, died in 1859. 
 
 So of all this noted family, very many have passed 
 away, leaving but a remnant of the once wide circle that 
 in other days surrounded Dr. William Gunton as the cen- 
 tral figure. 
 
 There remain now the following of the family blood and 
 name: 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 41 
 
 Dr. William Gunton, in the 88th year of his age, still as 
 vigorous and active as a man of three-score years. 
 
 Mr. Edward Temple, husband of his daughter. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Jane Gunton Temple, his sole surviving child. 
 
 The children of his daughter, Elizabeth Gunton Buding- 
 ton, namely : 
 
 Elizabeth Hester Budington, who married Dr. A. D. Will- 
 son, a distinguished physician of Brooklyn, N. Y. , and who 
 died in 1872. 
 
 Mary Jane Budington, who married Mr. George AVilcox, 
 an attorn ey-at-law of high standing. 
 
 Dr. William Gunton Budington, a surgeon of some prom- 
 inence, and unmarried. 
 
 Julia Budington, who married Mr. F. E. Dana, a suc- 
 cessful attorney-at-law ; and 
 
 Thomas Gunton Budington, also recently married, and a* 
 young gentleman of great promise. 
 
 And also Mary M. Gunton, a daughter of Mr. William 
 A. Gunton, who married Mr. Henry Carter, of Maryland, 
 an engineer of marked ability in his profession. 
 
 When Dr. Wm. Gunton settled in Washington in 1820, 
 his wife became a member of the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Washington, and subsequently his three daughters, and 
 this Church has ever since been the home of the members 
 of the Gunton family residing in Washington. 
 
 Dr. William Gunton, though not himself a member of 
 the Church, yet for many years identified himself effectu- 
 ally with the congregation. 
 
42 DR. WTLLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 His daughter, Mary Jane Gunton Temple, became a mem- 
 ber of the Church in 1842, and so continues to this day. 
 
 Her father, Dr. Gunton, was, in the prime of his life, a 
 very pillar of support in many ways to the Church of his 
 family, and took the most active interest in its prosperity. 
 In the year 1859 the church edifice was remodeled and en- 
 larged at a cost of $27,000. Dr. Gunton was Chairman of 
 the Building Committee, and by his well-known ability of 
 management and pecuniary aid he contributed more largely 
 than any other single individual to the success of that im- 
 portant enterprise, and the Church stands to this day as it 
 was then left by him and his associates, a solid, massive 
 brick building, with the largest audience-room of any 
 Protestant Church in the city of Washington. Here it was 
 that during the intense and troubled period of the great war 
 for the Union, immense assemblies weekly gathered, and 
 here the heart of Christian Patriotism from all quarters of 
 the laud looked for words of encouragement in the darkest 
 and most perilous periods of the conflict. 
 
 Dr. Guntou's religious opinions have long been matters 
 of conviction, and though differing in some things from the 
 standards of faith and doctrine of the Presbyterian Church — 
 so that he could not see his way clear to adopt them all, as 
 a condition of church membership — yet his reverence for 
 tlie Deity as our Heavenly Father was ever deep and al- 
 ways openly avowed. His views of the mysteries of the 
 relation of Christ to the divine and human nature, were the 
 principal obstacles in his way. So that it resulted more 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 43 
 
 from an intellectual estimate of the profound question, than 
 from any promptings of his heart, that he felt the difficulty 
 of coming to any conclusive decision concerning it. 
 
 Perhaps the best indication of his idea of practical re- 
 ligion may be found in the citation he wrote with his own 
 hand in a Book of Common Prayer which some years since 
 he gave to his granddaughter, Mrs. Willson : 
 
 Micah 6:8. " He hath show^ed thee, O man, what is 
 good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do 
 justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy 
 God." 
 
 But he was never disposed to religious controversy, and 
 never sought even to know, much less to cherish or to propa- 
 gate the numberless cavils and soj^histries advanced against 
 the doctrines of Christianity, and continuously expressed 
 his earnest desire to believe and to adopt the exact truth, 
 not only concerning the nature and mission of Jesus of 
 Nazareth, but concerning every other essential teaching of 
 the Word of God. And it is a circumstance to be specially 
 noted in this connection, that he has never been actively 
 associated with any congrega.tion save that of his wife and 
 daughters during his long experience and course of life. 
 
 In this Church, with the exception of a few brief inter- 
 vals, he has always worshipped, and as a member of its 
 congregation he is likely to continue to the day of his death. 
 
 In personal aspect Dr. Gunton is one of the finest speci- 
 mens of the physical man. In former days he was often 
 described as " the handsome young Englishman." At full 
 
44 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 maturity he stood about five feet eight inches in height — 
 of solid and well-proportioned form — with a head of regu- 
 lar and impressive mould — his hair a dark brown, his eyes 
 blue and of singular brightness and penetrating power ; an 
 always smooth-shaven face, a complexion ruddy and indi- 
 cating robust health, an expression of marked benignity 
 mingled with determination, and an appearance altogether 
 displaying a man of immense energy and endurance. 
 
 And when to this it is added that he has been a man of 
 pure and simple habits and associations — that he was tem- 
 perate almost to the degree of abstinence ; that he never 
 chewed nor smoked tobacco ; that he never made a bet of 
 any sort ; that he never indulged in any of the hundred 
 modes of men who resort to what may be called gambling 
 or speculation ; that he was as ignorant of the places of 
 vice and dissipation in cities as a child unborn ; that he 
 would have no associates of questionable virtue, or who 
 could influence him to doubtful courses ; that even his ordi- 
 nary conversation was remarkably free from the vulgar 
 profanity which too sadly mars the speech of many men ; 
 that he resolutely subjected himself to the laws of health ; 
 and systematically apportioned his sleep, food, and exercise 
 to the requirements of an un vitiated nature ; — these things 
 afford some clue at least to the secret of his long and pros- 
 perous life, and give a grateful insight into the constitution 
 of the man. These were from the first the settled princi- 
 ples of his character. With habits of strict sobriety in all 
 things, and an unswerving attention to the legitimate busi- 
 
DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 45 
 
 ness in hand ; with a quick sense of obligation to every 
 trust imposed in him ; with the highest notions of integrity, 
 honesty, and honor ; with a life of singular system, temper- 
 ance, and moderation, and with the most rigid ideas of 
 economy, frugality, and independence, and yet at the same 
 time with a spirit of modesty, a shrinking from all desire 
 for show and ostentation, he was one who could not fail to 
 gain the public confidence and to achieve a large success, 
 while at the same time he was setting an example for all 
 young men, most worthy of imitation. 
 
 Such has been the history of one of the most notable men 
 now living in the Capital of the Nation, and in looking upon 
 the example it brings before us, it may confidently be said 
 that no man has been more free from that which can im- 
 pair human character, or do injury to society, than he 
 has been. Living through a long period — the most event- 
 ful and portentous — with a wide business acquaintance, and 
 a most practical knowledge of affairs, at times involved in 
 complicated and difficult questions of dispute, representing 
 immense property interests, not all of which have escaped 
 the contests of the law, he has never failed to make good his 
 chosen position, or to be vindicated at last by the verdict of 
 revolving time. 
 
 Approaching as nearly as the imperfection of all human 
 nature will admit, to the standard of an unsullied manhood, 
 he may be said to be a child of that good fortune which an 
 all-wise Providence sometimes vouchsafes to the most fav- 
 ored sons of men. 
 
46 DR. WILLIAM GUNTON. 
 
 Let the young men of our coming generations study the 
 principles of such a character — imitate the virtues on which 
 nearly a whole century has set the seal of approbation, and 
 this great Republic, this intense American civilization, will 
 be built up upon elements stainless as the honor of the 
 storied Diana, free and lasting as the rocks of our eternal 
 hills. 
 
^o^^ 
 
 
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