March 12, 2024 • 26 mins
Step into the whispered secrets of the past and uncover the echoes of history within the walls of the Lee-Fendall House. With our guide, Jenny Waters, we stroll through the timeline of this architectural marvel, from its conception in 1785 by Philip Richard Fendall to its dramatic roles during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. We'll weigh the gravity of a potential name change for this historic house museum, contemplating the delicate balance between historical accuracy and the enduring legacy of its name as we near its 50th anniversary as a cherished public space.
🕵️♂️ Whispers of the Past: Intrigues and Intricacies within Lee-Fendall's Walls 📸
The lives that intertwined with the Lee-Fendall House are as varied as they are compelling. We trace the ownership from the poignant story of Dr. Robert Fleming, whose chapter at the house was cut short by tuberculosis, to Robert Downham, a Freemason and business titan whose Prohibition-era adventures still linger in the home's aura. As we reveal the storied past of these walls, you'll hear about the high-profile guests, the whispers of undercover liquor trade, and the curious mysteries left behind, culminating in our annual fundraiser that draws inspiration from these Prohibition tales.
🏛️ From Cane Chronicles to Prohibition Tales: Unveiling the Legacy of John L. Lewis 🔍
Closing our exploration, we delve into the complex persona of John L. Lewis, the final private owner of the house, whose leadership in the labor movement left an indelible mark on American history. His intriguing cane collection offers a physical connection to the past, with each piece holding its own hidden narrative, including a cane with a secret message that sheds light on the intimate bond between historic figures and their cherished possessions. Prepare to connect with history in a way you've never experienced before, as these artifacts bridge the gap between yesterday's stories and today's reflections.
🔗 Episode Links:
Lee-Fendall House Gardens & Museum: https://leefendallhouse.org/
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, (1861-65): https://archive.org/details/b21934629_0003
Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jenny Waters (00:00):
Lea Fendle House is one of, I would say, a few
historic house museums that'sopen to the public as a museum
in Old Town, alexandria and wehave a very wide range of
history that I think someone,like everyone, is going to find
some topic of our historyinteresting, because it was
(00:21):
built in 1785 and it continuedas a private residence all the
way to 1969.
So tons of history and all ofour owners, I would say, had
very prominent roles in history.
With different, bigger Americanhistory points like War of 1812
.
We have an owner who talkedwith the British basically to
(00:42):
convince them not to burnAlexandria down in 1814.
That's a good move.
That's a good move.
Yeah, we had a local liquorbusinessman who had to close his
business during prohibition.
He was living here during thattime and we were a Civil War
hospital.
So we got like a little bit ofhistory everywhere that I think
everyone will.
(01:02):
Someone somewhere will enjoysome part of our history.
Ayla Sparks (01:07):
So can you kind of talk us through a little bit of
why the house was built, whokind of was the OG owners and
how it ended up becoming into amuseum?
Jenny Waters (01:17):
All right, so our history.
I said 1785, but the half acreproperty was actually purchased
in 1784 by a man, Light HorseHarry Lee.
He was a very big RevolutionaryWar figure, friend of George
Washington.
He purchased the half-fakerproperty but then he just soon
sold it to his relative, PhilipRichard Fendle.
And then it's Philip Fendle whowent and had this house built
(01:40):
in 1785.
Ayla Sparks (01:41):
So he owned it for a year, but yet still his name
remains on the exact title,absolutely.
Jenny Waters (01:47):
Yes.
Ayla Sparks (01:49):
That's making your mark.
Jenny Waters (01:50):
Yeah, so Philip Richard Fendle, before he moves
here he's living in Maryland andhe actually have kind of a
testimony in Maryland throughthe architecture.
The house is built in kind of atelescope style.
So when you kind of see a goodpanorama of the house, the
largest part of the house is thetallest, and then there's like
subsequent smaller sections, allmade to look like the smaller
(02:12):
sections can fit into the largersection of the house.
And that was quite popular inMaryland where Philip Fendle was
from.
Ayla Sparks (02:21):
That's a really interesting style as well.
I didn't even think about itwhen I was looking at pictures,
because I haven't been theremyself, but when I was looking
at the pictures I was like, oh,it's just like an add-on and
add-on and add-on, but that itwas purposely built to look like
that.
Jenny Waters (02:32):
Yes and all of those sections are the original
1785 structure.
Ayla Sparks (02:37):
yeah, I'm going to view old houses when I go
through Maryland so differentlynow, because I thought for sure
that that was just a sign oftheir original house was the
largest piece and the add-onswere less.
That's really interesting.
Jenny Waters (02:47):
Yeah, yeah go, philip Fendle.
So he had it built in 1785 andhe kind of had different
business ventures all aroundAlexandria had a big banker,
part of a real estate business,he had a blacksmith shop.
But due to some economicdepressions and stuff that
happened during this time whenhe was living in Alexandria,
(03:09):
lost quite a bit of money, wentinto some debt, went to debtor's
prison in Fairfax County just afew miles away for a few years.
Yeah, so by the time he passedaway in 1805, he passed this
house down to his wife, mary LeeFendle not only the house but
also all of his debts as well.
Mary Lee Fendle owns the housefor a little bit, but then, once
(03:31):
she passes away, we then kindof have the next kind of big
figure who owns the house andit's actually her brother,
edmund Jenningsley.
He kind of had a role in duringthe War of 1812 a little bit.
He was a part of the citycouncil, so that's how he kind
of had that power to talk withthe British when they were
coming down the Potomac.
(03:52):
He was also a very big lawyeraround Alexandria.
We actually have his entire lawlibrary consists of about 35,
40 books in our collection.
That's actually on displaytoday if anyone wants to see
that.
But he lives here until hepasses away, until about 1843.
Ayla Sparks (04:10):
Is this any relation to Robert E Lee that we
all are very familiar with?
Jenny Waters (04:14):
Going back to Light Horse Harry Lee, who just
had bought the land in 1784,.
He was the father of Robert ELee.
Ayla Sparks (04:22):
Okay, what an interesting, fun title too.
Jenny Waters (04:27):
It's Lee Fendle, of course.
That's when they opened asmuseum everyone knew the Lee's
and Fendle was the first ownerof the house.
But kind of the more proper wayis to kind of do Fendle Lewis
that's kind of common withhistoric houses to kind of have
the first owner of the house andthe last owner of the house.
So we've been kind of talking,perhaps doing something like
(04:48):
that.
But everyone knows well,everyone, all of the small
historic house.
People know it as Lee Fendle.
Ayla Sparks (04:55):
So we'll see.
That's kind of an interestingpoint as well, something that
maybe, when you're talking abouta historic house nowadays and
you're dealing with promotion asa museum yourself, I feel like
it's kind of got to be a battlebetween really staying true to
the first and last or calling itby something that the general
public will really recognize, tokind of draw people in.
Jenny Waters (05:14):
Right, yeah, and I mean 2024, we're actually
celebrating our 50 years as amuseum, so 50 years as Lee
Fendle.
So it'll be hard to kind of getthat change.
But it is this thing, likeeveryone knows it, as Lee Fendle
.
It's been like that for 50years, but technically we should
switch it.
We just keep going back andforth.
(05:34):
Who knows when it'll be decided, I'm not sure, but we will see.
Ayla Sparks (05:39):
So it seems kind of like it wasn't necessarily a
family heirloom type home whereit was just passed down from
family to family.
There's a lot of little tinychunks of different people
living there and that's where alot of the different history
comes from.
Jenny Waters (05:52):
We could do a whole tour actually on just the
renters of this house, becausepretty much every single time an
owner either passed away ormoved out of this house, the
house was then rented out for afew years.
Until then someone else ownedit.
So that's gonna be a theme.
When we keep talking about thehistory.
We got tons more history.
(06:13):
There's a man, Louis Kezanov,who purchased it in 1850.
We kind of highlight himbecause he actually did a huge
renovation to the house thatlasted two years, pretty much
anything you can think of newfloorboards put in, he installed
gas lighting, central heatingand he actually put in a call
bell system.
So if you take a tour of thehouse, there's these handles
(06:34):
just kind of randomly on thewalls.
They connected to call bells inthe kitchen.
There were about eight or nineof them and each call bell had a
different frequency to signifythe different rooms in the house
.
He went through this wholetwo-year renovation and as soon
as it ended he died suddenly andit'll be a theme.
Just wait for our next owneragain.
(06:55):
So he passes away and then yetagain, the house is passed down
to his wife, but then the civilwar breaks out.
You lived in Alexandria.
So you probably know, duringthe civil war Alexandria was
part of Virginia and thereforeConfederacy.
But a few days into the civilwar breaking out, union troops
came into Alexandria and thisbecame a Union-occupied
territory throughout theduration of the war.
Ayla Sparks (07:18):
And a very desired location as well, all of
Alexandria.
I mean it's right at DC, whichwas still a hub.
Jenny Waters (07:24):
Yes, Of course we had a ton of Confederate
sympathizers because this was avery southern city.
Harriet Casanova was aConfederate sympathizer.
She left, the house was emptyand this house actually became a
Union Army hospital During theCivil War.
We like to say that our biggesthistory point there is that the
first successful bloodtransfusion in the Western
(07:46):
Hemisphere happened right herein the Lee Fendle House in 1863
or 64.
Ayla Sparks (07:52):
I'm not entirely sure, but one of those Claimed
to fame right there and I wasreading a little bit about it
before we got on today, and it'sjust amazing that it happened
to be the right blood type.
Yes, because if it was thewrong blood type, it probably
would have taken a lot longerfor that technology to even
begin its track of evolution.
Jenny Waters (08:12):
Yes, and it blows my mind, the surgeon who did
that, Dr Edwin Bentley.
He had a diary and he wrotethat he took blood from a
healthy young German and justput it into the leg of that
private who wasn't doing well.
Actually, he had his legamputated.
He wasn't getting any better.
So that's when they stuck theblood in him and Bentley said
(08:34):
that he immediately got better.
He wrote that.
Ayla Sparks (08:36):
So I wanted to go on a deeper dive and find out a
bit more about this young manwho got the blood transfusion.
So his name was Private GeorgeP Cross and he was a 19-year-old
from Massachusetts.
He was wounded on his right legon June 16th of 1864 during the
(08:57):
siege of Petersburg in Virginia.
By August 12, the flesh woundhad become infected and
gangrenous.
And then Cross reached the LeeFendle House on August 15, where
the doctors decided they had toamputate his leg.
Cross was not recovering wellfrom that surgery, so Dr Edwin
(09:19):
Bentley, who was then thedirector of the US Army General
Hospital Complex in Alexandria,took blood from as Jenny said,
quote a strong, healthy Germanvolunteer and injected it into
Cross using a syringe.
Doctors recorded that thepatient's pulse immediately
became stronger and firmer.
(09:41):
Cross apparently recovered andwas eventually discharged
penchant and given an artificiallimb.
Sadly, though, he dies just afew years later from an unknown
cause.
So this and many other storiesof medical procedures during the
Civil War is documented in themedical and surgical history of
(10:03):
the War of the Rebellion 1861 to1865, which was published by
the US government shortly afterthe war.
So if you are interested inhearing more, I can provide a
link in the show notes for thosevolumes.
But then I decided to go evendeeper and farther back to find
out who is credited withperforming the first ever
(10:27):
successful blood transfusion inhistory.
So this was done by a man, drJean Baptiste Deneze, who was a
French physician, and this tookplace in Paris in 1667.
So Deneze transfused blood froma sheep into a 15-year-old boy
(10:49):
who had been suffering from acondition known as melancholy,
which likely was just referringto some form of severe illness
that they didn't diagnose.
This was back in the 1600s.
Deneze had previously conductedexperiments on animals,
including dogs and sheep, torefine his techniques before
attempting the procedure on ahuman.
(11:10):
Now, the success of this earlyblood transfusion was relative.
The patient initially showedsigns of improvement, but
ultimately he experiencedcomplications and did not
survive long after the procedure.
So, though it was nottechnically successful, deneze's
work kind of laid thefoundation of further research
(11:33):
and experimentation in the fieldof blood transfusion.
All right, let's get back toJenny.
Jenny Waters (11:38):
And kind of, wouldn't we even just say that
we were a Civil War hospital?
People's minds are blown.
But there were just so manylike that, wounded soldiers,
just so many wounded soldierscoming into Alexandria.
So I can't remember the number.
I think about 20 or 30hospitals were originally set up
in Alexandria.
We were not one of thoseoriginal ones but we were called
(11:59):
the Grovener Branch Hospital,mainly because we were a branch
of the Grovener House Hospitalwhich was just across Washington
Street.
So started with a number forhospitals during the Civil War
and then that just grew becausethere were just so many wounded
soldiers coming in.
Ayla Sparks (12:16):
What happened after kind of the Civil War clears
out.
Jenny Waters (12:20):
So after the Civil War we kind of enter that
reconstruction period in America.
Yet again we have some renters,some two notable renters during
that time post-Civil War.
We're actually two radicalRepublicans, as a few books
called them Radical.
Ayla Sparks (12:35):
Radical Republicans .
Jenny Waters (12:37):
They rented out the house for about two years
and then the house is thenpurchased again in 1870 by a man
, dr Robert Fleming.
His wife is Mary Lee Fleming.
So, keeping to the theme here,as soon as Dr Robert Fleming
purchases the house he dies oftuberculosis.
This house is bad luck, I know.
Ayla Sparks (12:58):
I guess we probably should say that on the podcast,
but it's just seeming a little.
Jenny Waters (13:04):
But Fleming passes away very early on into
purchasing the house and passesit down to his wife, mary Lee
Fleming.
She lives here for quite anumber of years and she moves
away to Washington DC around1900, and then passes away
around 1902.
And then in 1903, we haveRobert Downham.
So Robert Downham is a prettybig Alexandrian.
(13:26):
As well as the Downham familythey own a local liquor business
.
We have a photograph of membersof the Downham family.
Robert Downham was the one whopurchased the house in 1903.
He purchased the house as awedding gift to his new bride,
may Greenwell.
Ok, I didn't get a house.
(13:47):
Even though he purchased it in1903, they didn't move in for a
few years.
The house went through somerenovation.
They installed some bathroomson the second and third floor
and they actually installed allthe radiators that are still
around the house today thatyou'd be able to see.
Robert was a pretty big figurein Alexandria.
Like I said, he owned thefamily's local liquor business
(14:10):
that was started by his father,ee Downham, a few years earlier,
and he was a pretty bigFreemason.
So one of the biggest, mosticonic buildings, I feel like,
in Old Town today is the GeorgeWashington Mizzonic Temple, and
Robert actually helped to raisefunds to build that temple.
It's a little point I like tohighlight.
(14:31):
Is that the one that is inAlexandria.
Ayla Sparks (14:35):
That's kind of like the square pillar that goes up
and changes colors depending onwhat's going on in the town.
Jenny Waters (14:40):
Yes, it's on a hill and like from 495, you can
see it from miles away and itdoes change color about, I think
, like every month or something.
May was a pretty big singer andactress so she had continued
her successful singing careerafter moving in here and she
even taught music lessons in theWell.
(15:00):
Now today it's furnished as theVictorian parlor, but the front
parlor in the house.
During the time they lived hereIn 1914, the Downham's hosted
President Woodrow Wilson to thehouse for the George Washington
birthday parade and fun story Iread a few months back.
But they had purchased thisenclosed clear box that was
(15:24):
heated because the parade was inFebruary and it was pretty
chilly out and that way theycould have President Wilson
themselves and whoever else theyhad invited into this heated
box so that they could be niceand warm and toasty while the
parade was going down WashingtonStreet.
Okay, this makes sense.
Ayla Sparks (15:45):
These people who bought a house for the wedding
gift for his wife.
His alcohol business wasbooming.
I mean, if I was ever going togo watch the Macy's Day Parade,
I guess I would want to do it inthat style.
Give me a glass box.
Jenny Waters (15:58):
That's right.
So was his money mostly madefrom his distillery business.
Yes, it was a pretty boomingbusiness that his father had
started.
Actually, during the Civil Warhe sold liquor to Union troops
that were around Alexandria andthat was just a booming business
.
They had a store on King Streetand that's where they had most
(16:19):
of their money.
But then Virginia StateProhibition is enacted in 1916
and he did have to close it.
We don't have any solidevidence, but we do like to say
that the basement was expandedduring that time and like a
pretty big, tall fence was putin all around the house.
Suddenly a need for a privacyfence.
Ayla Sparks (16:39):
Hmm, suspicious, yes, so I will leave it at that?
Do you guys have any records,by chance, of him?
Are we basically inferring thathe continued his business
because of those strangeinteresting renovations that he
made, or do you guys have anykind of ledgers, or is it just
kind of like a mystery thatwe're not sure about?
Jenny Waters (16:57):
Pretty much a mystery.
That's about the only, notreally solid evidence, but
that's all that we found.
Ayla Sparks (17:04):
So he was either a good citizen and closed his
business, or a really goodbootlegger.
Jenny Waters (17:10):
Yeah, a mystery, but we still keep it alive.
We do have a.
Our biggest annual fundraiseris called Sips and Secrets a
Speakeasy Night, and it'sinspired by the Downums and what
they may or may not have doneduring Prohibition Era.
That is fantastic, I love thatAlright.
Ayla Sparks (17:30):
so we've talked about the blood transfusions.
We've got potential speakeasiesreally just a bootlegger,
possibly.
I know we are going to moveinto another interesting aspect
of the Lea Fendle House'shistory that stems from a cane
that looks like it's got ananimal gobbling up the cane.
Jenny Waters (17:48):
Yes, that was a cane used by the last owner of
the house, john L Lewis.
He was a very big leader in thelabor movement in the 20th
century, kind of like.
The main points I like to saywas he was president of the
United Mine Workers of Americaand he was one of the founders
of the Congress of IndustrialOrganizations.
Ayla Sparks (18:10):
And he has humble beginnings because he started
out as a mine worker.
Jenny Waters (18:14):
Yes, he left school very early to work in the
coal mines and just kind of sawhow dangerous coal mining was
and took it upon him to make itsafer and get better living and
working conditions for coalminers.
So for all of his work heactually set up the first
federal safety standards in thecoal mines and put in place
(18:36):
health care and pension systemsfor coal miners.
So very big figure there.
So while he was mainly focusedin coal, he did also help
unionize the auto and steelindustries as well.
So very big figure.
Ayla Sparks (18:51):
So he must have worked his way up pretty
efficiently then to be a coalminer.
When I'm assuming this was whenyou say he left school, it was
probably he was in his teens oreven younger.
Jenny Waters (19:01):
Yes, yeah, I think it was around middle school.
Ayla Sparks (19:04):
Wow, and so I mean he obviously was very successful
, but interestingly that makeshim sound fantastic, right, like
what a great guy.
He did great work.
But it's strange because he isquite a controversial figure in
the history of Alexandria.
Why?
Jenny Waters (19:18):
So when World War Two broke out, he did not agree
that America should go intoWorld War Two, and so he
actually called for coal strikesduring the war and that made
him very unpopular with FDR, whowas president at the time,
amongst many others, includinglocal high school students.
We actually have a pictureduring that time in World War
(19:39):
Two of local high schoolstudents from used to be Lee
High School Now it's Lewis.
They came and picketed outsidethis house where Lewis was
living.
Ayla Sparks (19:49):
They did not agree that he should call for coal
strikes while a war was going on, so I'm surprised that it
worked, because if I was a coalminer I would be pretty upset
that all of a sudden the boss,who lives in the fancy Lee
Fendle House, is like hey,you're actually not going to
work because I don't agree.
So I can see a little bit moreabout this controversial figure
coming through here.
(20:09):
How long were they on strikefor?
Jenny Waters (20:12):
Ooh, that I'm unsure of.
But I do know he actually didit twice during the war, One
pretty early on and then onearound 1942 or 1943.
Ayla Sparks (20:23):
Did FDR ever?
Did he message this guy and waslike what do you want?
Look, help us, you are anAmerican.
Jenny Waters (20:30):
Pretty much.
He was mad at him from thestart, and so that was FDR.
But I do know that later on JFKwas actually supposed to give
him the presidential medal offreedom.
But it was actually Lyndon BJohnson, a few years later, that
he, lewis, did receive thepresidential medal of freedom.
So not from FDR but from fromLBJ for all of his efforts in
(20:52):
the American labor movement.
Ayla Sparks (20:54):
Oh, wow, okay, Half one sticks a dozen to the other
, depending on what presidentyou're talking to.
Yeah, I also would like to justtouch on a little bit more the
cane itself.
What, what is the significanceof the cane to bring into the
story of this unionizing coalminer, the?
Jenny Waters (21:12):
cane is one of very few personal objects of
John Lewis that we have, so Idid really want to highlight
that, because then it of coursealso brings up the entire life
and work of him.
Unfortunately, when he passedaway, his son had sold pretty
much all the family furniture toa auction house, so the cane
(21:34):
and then one other object ispretty much the only thing that
we have.
And if you look closer at thecane, our collections team
looked a few months ago and ofcourse it has this very
interesting animal figure as itshandle.
Ayla Sparks (21:49):
Is it like a crocodile or like a jack?
It's hard to tell what it is.
Jenny Waters (21:54):
You know it does have.
I don't know if it's drawn on,but it does have spots on it
which does make me think it'salong the lines of like a jaguar
, or.
Ayla Sparks (22:02):
I'm trying to think like a cool tycoon you know
power yeah.
Gobbling up the handle of acane.
It's interesting.
Jenny Waters (22:09):
Yes, and it's very heavy when you hold it.
Of course you got to hold ithorizontally but you got.
You really got to hold on tothat portion because it is a
very heavy handle, clearly likea different material than the
rest of the cane.
So if you're just kind oflooking at the cane from afar,
you wouldn't, you would justthink, okay, that's just some
glossy wood.
But we looked closer and it doessay President Lewis of the UMWA
(22:34):
, which is United Mine Workersof America.
Clearly they, they, someone,had scratched away a little bit
of the cane and either put thistext it kind of looks like from
a newspaper, like glued it on orsomething like that, onto there
.
And then we looked a littlefurther down the cane and then
someone had actually written onthe cane hand me down my walking
cane.
(22:54):
So I feel like it's the canenot only brings back like a
great tie to John L Lewis it washis personal walking stick
brings us to his life and work,but then also kind of these
mementos that either he orsomeone very close to him had
had put on the cane.
Ayla Sparks (23:11):
That's fantastic.
Well, thank you so much forsharing so much of the Leafendle
house with everyone here.
Jenny Waters (23:17):
Thank you.
Lea Fendle House is one of, I would say, a few
historic house museums that'sopen to the public as a museum
in Old Town, alexandria and wehave a very wide range of
history that I think someone,like everyone, is going to find
some topic of our historyinteresting, because it was
(00:21):
built in 1785 and it continuedas a private residence all the
way to 1969.
So tons of history and all ofour owners, I would say, had
very prominent roles in history.
With different, bigger Americanhistory points like War of 1812
.
We have an owner who talkedwith the British basically to
(00:42):
convince them not to burnAlexandria down in 1814.
That's a good move.
That's a good move.
Yeah, we had a local liquorbusinessman who had to close his
business during prohibition.
He was living here during thattime and we were a Civil War
hospital.
So we got like a little bit ofhistory everywhere that I think
everyone will.
(01:02):
Someone somewhere will enjoysome part of our history.
Ayla Sparks (01:07):
So can you kind of talk us through a little bit of
why the house was built, whokind of was the OG owners and
how it ended up becoming into amuseum?
Jenny Waters (01:17):
All right, so our history.
I said 1785, but the half acreproperty was actually purchased
in 1784 by a man, Light HorseHarry Lee.
He was a very big RevolutionaryWar figure, friend of George
Washington.
He purchased the half-fakerproperty but then he just soon
sold it to his relative, PhilipRichard Fendle.
And then it's Philip Fendle whowent and had this house built
(01:40):
in 1785.
Ayla Sparks (01:41):
So he owned it for a year, but yet still his name
remains on the exact title,absolutely.
Jenny Waters (01:47):
Yes.
Ayla Sparks (01:49):
That's making your mark.
Jenny Waters (01:50):
Yeah, so Philip Richard Fendle, before he moves
here he's living in Maryland andhe actually have kind of a
testimony in Maryland throughthe architecture.
The house is built in kind of atelescope style.
So when you kind of see a goodpanorama of the house, the
largest part of the house is thetallest, and then there's like
subsequent smaller sections, allmade to look like the smaller
(02:12):
sections can fit into the largersection of the house.
And that was quite popular inMaryland where Philip Fendle was
from.
Ayla Sparks (02:21):
That's a really interesting style as well.
I didn't even think about itwhen I was looking at pictures,
because I haven't been theremyself, but when I was looking
at the pictures I was like, oh,it's just like an add-on and
add-on and add-on, but that itwas purposely built to look like
that.
Jenny Waters (02:32):
Yes and all of those sections are the original
1785 structure.
Ayla Sparks (02:37):
yeah, I'm going to view old houses when I go
through Maryland so differentlynow, because I thought for sure
that that was just a sign oftheir original house was the
largest piece and the add-onswere less.
That's really interesting.
Jenny Waters (02:47):
Yeah, yeah go, philip Fendle.
So he had it built in 1785 andhe kind of had different
business ventures all aroundAlexandria had a big banker,
part of a real estate business,he had a blacksmith shop.
But due to some economicdepressions and stuff that
happened during this time whenhe was living in Alexandria,
(03:09):
lost quite a bit of money, wentinto some debt, went to debtor's
prison in Fairfax County just afew miles away for a few years.
Yeah, so by the time he passedaway in 1805, he passed this
house down to his wife, mary LeeFendle not only the house but
also all of his debts as well.
Mary Lee Fendle owns the housefor a little bit, but then, once
(03:31):
she passes away, we then kindof have the next kind of big
figure who owns the house andit's actually her brother,
edmund Jenningsley.
He kind of had a role in duringthe War of 1812 a little bit.
He was a part of the citycouncil, so that's how he kind
of had that power to talk withthe British when they were
coming down the Potomac.
(03:52):
He was also a very big lawyeraround Alexandria.
We actually have his entire lawlibrary consists of about 35,
40 books in our collection.
That's actually on displaytoday if anyone wants to see
that.
But he lives here until hepasses away, until about 1843.
Ayla Sparks (04:10):
Is this any relation to Robert E Lee that we
all are very familiar with?
Jenny Waters (04:14):
Going back to Light Horse Harry Lee, who just
had bought the land in 1784,.
He was the father of Robert ELee.
Ayla Sparks (04:22):
Okay, what an interesting, fun title too.
Jenny Waters (04:27):
It's Lee Fendle, of course.
That's when they opened asmuseum everyone knew the Lee's
and Fendle was the first ownerof the house.
But kind of the more proper wayis to kind of do Fendle Lewis
that's kind of common withhistoric houses to kind of have
the first owner of the house andthe last owner of the house.
So we've been kind of talking,perhaps doing something like
(04:48):
that.
But everyone knows well,everyone, all of the small
historic house.
People know it as Lee Fendle.
Ayla Sparks (04:55):
So we'll see.
That's kind of an interestingpoint as well, something that
maybe, when you're talking abouta historic house nowadays and
you're dealing with promotion asa museum yourself, I feel like
it's kind of got to be a battlebetween really staying true to
the first and last or calling itby something that the general
public will really recognize, tokind of draw people in.
Jenny Waters (05:14):
Right, yeah, and I mean 2024, we're actually
celebrating our 50 years as amuseum, so 50 years as Lee
Fendle.
So it'll be hard to kind of getthat change.
But it is this thing, likeeveryone knows it, as Lee Fendle
.
It's been like that for 50years, but technically we should
switch it.
We just keep going back andforth.
(05:34):
Who knows when it'll be decided, I'm not sure, but we will see.
Ayla Sparks (05:39):
So it seems kind of like it wasn't necessarily a
family heirloom type home whereit was just passed down from
family to family.
There's a lot of little tinychunks of different people
living there and that's where alot of the different history
comes from.
Jenny Waters (05:52):
We could do a whole tour actually on just the
renters of this house, becausepretty much every single time an
owner either passed away ormoved out of this house, the
house was then rented out for afew years.
Until then someone else ownedit.
So that's gonna be a theme.
When we keep talking about thehistory.
We got tons more history.
(06:13):
There's a man, Louis Kezanov,who purchased it in 1850.
We kind of highlight himbecause he actually did a huge
renovation to the house thatlasted two years, pretty much
anything you can think of newfloorboards put in, he installed
gas lighting, central heatingand he actually put in a call
bell system.
So if you take a tour of thehouse, there's these handles
(06:34):
just kind of randomly on thewalls.
They connected to call bells inthe kitchen.
There were about eight or nineof them and each call bell had a
different frequency to signifythe different rooms in the house
.
He went through this wholetwo-year renovation and as soon
as it ended he died suddenly andit'll be a theme.
Just wait for our next owneragain.
(06:55):
So he passes away and then yetagain, the house is passed down
to his wife, but then the civilwar breaks out.
You lived in Alexandria.
So you probably know, duringthe civil war Alexandria was
part of Virginia and thereforeConfederacy.
But a few days into the civilwar breaking out, union troops
came into Alexandria and thisbecame a Union-occupied
territory throughout theduration of the war.
Ayla Sparks (07:18):
And a very desired location as well, all of
Alexandria.
I mean it's right at DC, whichwas still a hub.
Jenny Waters (07:24):
Yes, Of course we had a ton of Confederate
sympathizers because this was avery southern city.
Harriet Casanova was aConfederate sympathizer.
She left, the house was emptyand this house actually became a
Union Army hospital During theCivil War.
We like to say that our biggesthistory point there is that the
first successful bloodtransfusion in the Western
(07:46):
Hemisphere happened right herein the Lee Fendle House in 1863
or 64.
Ayla Sparks (07:52):
I'm not entirely sure, but one of those Claimed
to fame right there and I wasreading a little bit about it
before we got on today, and it'sjust amazing that it happened
to be the right blood type.
Yes, because if it was thewrong blood type, it probably
would have taken a lot longerfor that technology to even
begin its track of evolution.
Jenny Waters (08:12):
Yes, and it blows my mind, the surgeon who did
that, Dr Edwin Bentley.
He had a diary and he wrotethat he took blood from a
healthy young German and justput it into the leg of that
private who wasn't doing well.
Actually, he had his legamputated.
He wasn't getting any better.
So that's when they stuck theblood in him and Bentley said
(08:34):
that he immediately got better.
He wrote that.
Ayla Sparks (08:36):
So I wanted to go on a deeper dive and find out a
bit more about this young manwho got the blood transfusion.
So his name was Private GeorgeP Cross and he was a 19-year-old
from Massachusetts.
He was wounded on his right legon June 16th of 1864 during the
(08:57):
siege of Petersburg in Virginia.
By August 12, the flesh woundhad become infected and
gangrenous.
And then Cross reached the LeeFendle House on August 15, where
the doctors decided they had toamputate his leg.
Cross was not recovering wellfrom that surgery, so Dr Edwin
(09:19):
Bentley, who was then thedirector of the US Army General
Hospital Complex in Alexandria,took blood from as Jenny said,
quote a strong, healthy Germanvolunteer and injected it into
Cross using a syringe.
Doctors recorded that thepatient's pulse immediately
became stronger and firmer.
(09:41):
Cross apparently recovered andwas eventually discharged
penchant and given an artificiallimb.
Sadly, though, he dies just afew years later from an unknown
cause.
So this and many other storiesof medical procedures during the
Civil War is documented in themedical and surgical history of
(10:03):
the War of the Rebellion 1861 to1865, which was published by
the US government shortly afterthe war.
So if you are interested inhearing more, I can provide a
link in the show notes for thosevolumes.
But then I decided to go evendeeper and farther back to find
out who is credited withperforming the first ever
(10:27):
successful blood transfusion inhistory.
So this was done by a man, drJean Baptiste Deneze, who was a
French physician, and this tookplace in Paris in 1667.
So Deneze transfused blood froma sheep into a 15-year-old boy
(10:49):
who had been suffering from acondition known as melancholy,
which likely was just referringto some form of severe illness
that they didn't diagnose.
This was back in the 1600s.
Deneze had previously conductedexperiments on animals,
including dogs and sheep, torefine his techniques before
attempting the procedure on ahuman.
(11:10):
Now, the success of this earlyblood transfusion was relative.
The patient initially showedsigns of improvement, but
ultimately he experiencedcomplications and did not
survive long after the procedure.
So, though it was nottechnically successful, deneze's
work kind of laid thefoundation of further research
(11:33):
and experimentation in the fieldof blood transfusion.
All right, let's get back toJenny.
Jenny Waters (11:38):
And kind of, wouldn't we even just say that
we were a Civil War hospital?
People's minds are blown.
But there were just so manylike that, wounded soldiers,
just so many wounded soldierscoming into Alexandria.
So I can't remember the number.
I think about 20 or 30hospitals were originally set up
in Alexandria.
We were not one of thoseoriginal ones but we were called
(11:59):
the Grovener Branch Hospital,mainly because we were a branch
of the Grovener House Hospitalwhich was just across Washington
Street.
So started with a number forhospitals during the Civil War
and then that just grew becausethere were just so many wounded
soldiers coming in.
Ayla Sparks (12:16):
What happened after kind of the Civil War clears
out.
Jenny Waters (12:20):
So after the Civil War we kind of enter that
reconstruction period in America.
Yet again we have some renters,some two notable renters during
that time post-Civil War.
We're actually two radicalRepublicans, as a few books
called them Radical.
Ayla Sparks (12:35):
Radical Republicans .
Jenny Waters (12:37):
They rented out the house for about two years
and then the house is thenpurchased again in 1870 by a man
, dr Robert Fleming.
His wife is Mary Lee Fleming.
So, keeping to the theme here,as soon as Dr Robert Fleming
purchases the house he dies oftuberculosis.
This house is bad luck, I know.
Ayla Sparks (12:58):
I guess we probably should say that on the podcast,
but it's just seeming a little.
Jenny Waters (13:04):
But Fleming passes away very early on into
purchasing the house and passesit down to his wife, mary Lee
Fleming.
She lives here for quite anumber of years and she moves
away to Washington DC around1900, and then passes away
around 1902.
And then in 1903, we haveRobert Downham.
So Robert Downham is a prettybig Alexandrian.
(13:26):
As well as the Downham familythey own a local liquor business
.
We have a photograph of membersof the Downham family.
Robert Downham was the one whopurchased the house in 1903.
He purchased the house as awedding gift to his new bride,
may Greenwell.
Ok, I didn't get a house.
(13:47):
Even though he purchased it in1903, they didn't move in for a
few years.
The house went through somerenovation.
They installed some bathroomson the second and third floor
and they actually installed allthe radiators that are still
around the house today thatyou'd be able to see.
Robert was a pretty big figurein Alexandria.
Like I said, he owned thefamily's local liquor business
(14:10):
that was started by his father,ee Downham, a few years earlier,
and he was a pretty bigFreemason.
So one of the biggest, mosticonic buildings, I feel like,
in Old Town today is the GeorgeWashington Mizzonic Temple, and
Robert actually helped to raisefunds to build that temple.
It's a little point I like tohighlight.
(14:31):
Is that the one that is inAlexandria.
Ayla Sparks (14:35):
That's kind of like the square pillar that goes up
and changes colors depending onwhat's going on in the town.
Jenny Waters (14:40):
Yes, it's on a hill and like from 495, you can
see it from miles away and itdoes change color about, I think
, like every month or something.
May was a pretty big singer andactress so she had continued
her successful singing careerafter moving in here and she
even taught music lessons in theWell.
(15:00):
Now today it's furnished as theVictorian parlor, but the front
parlor in the house.
During the time they lived hereIn 1914, the Downham's hosted
President Woodrow Wilson to thehouse for the George Washington
birthday parade and fun story Iread a few months back.
But they had purchased thisenclosed clear box that was
(15:24):
heated because the parade was inFebruary and it was pretty
chilly out and that way theycould have President Wilson
themselves and whoever else theyhad invited into this heated
box so that they could be niceand warm and toasty while the
parade was going down WashingtonStreet.
Okay, this makes sense.
Ayla Sparks (15:45):
These people who bought a house for the wedding
gift for his wife.
His alcohol business wasbooming.
I mean, if I was ever going togo watch the Macy's Day Parade,
I guess I would want to do it inthat style.
Give me a glass box.
Jenny Waters (15:58):
That's right.
So was his money mostly madefrom his distillery business.
Yes, it was a pretty boomingbusiness that his father had
started.
Actually, during the Civil Warhe sold liquor to Union troops
that were around Alexandria andthat was just a booming business
.
They had a store on King Streetand that's where they had most
(16:19):
of their money.
But then Virginia StateProhibition is enacted in 1916
and he did have to close it.
We don't have any solidevidence, but we do like to say
that the basement was expandedduring that time and like a
pretty big, tall fence was putin all around the house.
Suddenly a need for a privacyfence.
Ayla Sparks (16:39):
Hmm, suspicious, yes, so I will leave it at that?
Do you guys have any records,by chance, of him?
Are we basically inferring thathe continued his business
because of those strangeinteresting renovations that he
made, or do you guys have anykind of ledgers, or is it just
kind of like a mystery thatwe're not sure about?
Jenny Waters (16:57):
Pretty much a mystery.
That's about the only, notreally solid evidence, but
that's all that we found.
Ayla Sparks (17:04):
So he was either a good citizen and closed his
business, or a really goodbootlegger.
Jenny Waters (17:10):
Yeah, a mystery, but we still keep it alive.
We do have a.
Our biggest annual fundraiseris called Sips and Secrets a
Speakeasy Night, and it'sinspired by the Downums and what
they may or may not have doneduring Prohibition Era.
That is fantastic, I love thatAlright.
Ayla Sparks (17:30):
so we've talked about the blood transfusions.
We've got potential speakeasiesreally just a bootlegger,
possibly.
I know we are going to moveinto another interesting aspect
of the Lea Fendle House'shistory that stems from a cane
that looks like it's got ananimal gobbling up the cane.
Jenny Waters (17:48):
Yes, that was a cane used by the last owner of
the house, john L Lewis.
He was a very big leader in thelabor movement in the 20th
century, kind of like.
The main points I like to saywas he was president of the
United Mine Workers of Americaand he was one of the founders
of the Congress of IndustrialOrganizations.
Ayla Sparks (18:10):
And he has humble beginnings because he started
out as a mine worker.
Jenny Waters (18:14):
Yes, he left school very early to work in the
coal mines and just kind of sawhow dangerous coal mining was
and took it upon him to make itsafer and get better living and
working conditions for coalminers.
So for all of his work heactually set up the first
federal safety standards in thecoal mines and put in place
(18:36):
health care and pension systemsfor coal miners.
So very big figure there.
So while he was mainly focusedin coal, he did also help
unionize the auto and steelindustries as well.
So very big figure.
Ayla Sparks (18:51):
So he must have worked his way up pretty
efficiently then to be a coalminer.
When I'm assuming this was whenyou say he left school, it was
probably he was in his teens oreven younger.
Jenny Waters (19:01):
Yes, yeah, I think it was around middle school.
Ayla Sparks (19:04):
Wow, and so I mean he obviously was very successful
, but interestingly that makeshim sound fantastic, right, like
what a great guy.
He did great work.
But it's strange because he isquite a controversial figure in
the history of Alexandria.
Why?
Jenny Waters (19:18):
So when World War Two broke out, he did not agree
that America should go intoWorld War Two, and so he
actually called for coal strikesduring the war and that made
him very unpopular with FDR, whowas president at the time,
amongst many others, includinglocal high school students.
We actually have a pictureduring that time in World War
(19:39):
Two of local high schoolstudents from used to be Lee
High School Now it's Lewis.
They came and picketed outsidethis house where Lewis was
living.
Ayla Sparks (19:49):
They did not agree that he should call for coal
strikes while a war was going on, so I'm surprised that it
worked, because if I was a coalminer I would be pretty upset
that all of a sudden the boss,who lives in the fancy Lee
Fendle House, is like hey,you're actually not going to
work because I don't agree.
So I can see a little bit moreabout this controversial figure
coming through here.
(20:09):
How long were they on strikefor?
Jenny Waters (20:12):
Ooh, that I'm unsure of.
But I do know he actually didit twice during the war, One
pretty early on and then onearound 1942 or 1943.
Ayla Sparks (20:23):
Did FDR ever?
Did he message this guy and waslike what do you want?
Look, help us, you are anAmerican.
Jenny Waters (20:30):
Pretty much.
He was mad at him from thestart, and so that was FDR.
But I do know that later on JFKwas actually supposed to give
him the presidential medal offreedom.
But it was actually Lyndon BJohnson, a few years later, that
he, lewis, did receive thepresidential medal of freedom.
So not from FDR but from fromLBJ for all of his efforts in
(20:52):
the American labor movement.
Ayla Sparks (20:54):
Oh, wow, okay, Half one sticks a dozen to the other
, depending on what presidentyou're talking to.
Yeah, I also would like to justtouch on a little bit more the
cane itself.
What, what is the significanceof the cane to bring into the
story of this unionizing coalminer, the?
Jenny Waters (21:12):
cane is one of very few personal objects of
John Lewis that we have, so Idid really want to highlight
that, because then it of coursealso brings up the entire life
and work of him.
Unfortunately, when he passedaway, his son had sold pretty
much all the family furniture toa auction house, so the cane
(21:34):
and then one other object ispretty much the only thing that
we have.
And if you look closer at thecane, our collections team
looked a few months ago and ofcourse it has this very
interesting animal figure as itshandle.
Ayla Sparks (21:49):
Is it like a crocodile or like a jack?
It's hard to tell what it is.
Jenny Waters (21:54):
You know it does have.
I don't know if it's drawn on,but it does have spots on it
which does make me think it'salong the lines of like a jaguar
, or.
Ayla Sparks (22:02):
I'm trying to think like a cool tycoon you know
power yeah.
Gobbling up the handle of acane.
It's interesting.
Jenny Waters (22:09):
Yes, and it's very heavy when you hold it.
Of course you got to hold ithorizontally but you got.
You really got to hold on tothat portion because it is a
very heavy handle, clearly likea different material than the
rest of the cane.
So if you're just kind oflooking at the cane from afar,
you wouldn't, you would justthink, okay, that's just some
glossy wood.
But we looked closer and it doessay President Lewis of the UMWA
(22:34):
, which is United Mine Workersof America.
Clearly they, they, someone,had scratched away a little bit
of the cane and either put thistext it kind of looks like from
a newspaper, like glued it on orsomething like that, onto there
.
And then we looked a littlefurther down the cane and then
someone had actually written onthe cane hand me down my walking
cane.
(22:54):
So I feel like it's the canenot only brings back like a
great tie to John L Lewis it washis personal walking stick
brings us to his life and work,but then also kind of these
mementos that either he orsomeone very close to him had
had put on the cane.
Ayla Sparks (23:11):
That's fantastic.
Well, thank you so much forsharing so much of the Leafendle
house with everyone here.
Jenny Waters (23:17):
Thank you.
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