Robert Mills Architect of the Washington Monument 1781–1855 9780231889896

Table of contents :
ROBERT MILLS: A FOREWORD
PREFACE
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
PART ONE. CITIZEN AND FRIEND OF PRESIDENTS
PART TWO. ARCHITECT AND CITY PLANNER
APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Citation preview

ROBERT MILLS A R C H I T E C T OF THE WASHINGTON 1781-1855

MONUMENT

ROBERT

MILLS

A R C H I T E C T OF THE W A S H I N G T O N MONUMENT

1781-1855 H. M. PIERCE G A L L A G H E R

NEW YORK MORNINGS I DE HEIGHTS

COLUMBIA U N I V E R S I T Y PIvESS M•CM XXXV

The frontispiece is reproduced by permission from a miniature in the possession of Mrs. S. Z. Evans.

COPYRIGHT I 9 3 5

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

PRESS

PUBLISHED I 9 3 5

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE CAYUGA PRESS • ITHACA, NEW YORK

thunh'

SOUTH

CAROLINA.

MRVEYED BY CHAR Lf.S VIGNOLES * HENRY RAVEN EL J. vpxvvjijj yon .vuzs- \/rzjs.

imoiootc.il fositnoy. HT/Aùi «b- MiW ¿-muta,-». CHARLESTON, tiro/in* rh'ut i.'ùimm* .t.vmre. hv v L.iiuuJ< Xu»k yrtYKo OmuimJt fMt . /. ¿uà

MAP

OF

CHARLESTON

HARBOR

From Robert Mills's Atlas of South Carolina.

pip DiranT-J E^nuTnfnongwj

TO

MY FATHER MY BROTHER AND SISTER AND TO

MY SON WINSLOW THESE CHAPTERS ARE DEDICATED

" O B S T A C L E S A R E G O D ' S B E S T G I F T S TO M A N " Old Precepts

ROBERT MILLS: A FOREWORD A S OUR first native-born architect regularly trained for the profession, Robert Mills is worthy of the interest of his colleagues today, and of the long and loving years of study which the author of this work has given to his career. Harriott, Hoban, Thornton, Hadfield, and Latrobe were Englishborn; l'Enfant, Hallet, Mangin and Godefroi were Frenchmen; efferson and Bulfinch were American gentlemen, self-trained in architecture. Born in Charleston in 1781, Mills placed himself successively under the best masters then in this country: Hoban, architect of the White House, who had learned buildings and drawing in the Dublin Society of Arts; Jefferson with his great architectural library and five years of observation in Paris; Latrobe, Surveyor of the Public Buildings of the United States, the pupil of Cockerell and Smeaton. They represented three phases of architectural progression in style; the Palladian, the Roman, and the Greek; in practice, the builder-architect, the amateur, and the professional. From honest Hoban, who on occasion contracted for buildings as well as designed them, he acquired the rudiments of construction, and of draftsmanship and rendering. From Jefferson, who took him into his family in 1803, he derived a compelling impulse to the classic, and a recommendation to Latrobe, whom Jefferson had encouraged and placed in a position of authority. It was Latrobe, the first man to succeed in establishing himself in the United States in architectural practice, as we understand it today, who placed on Mills the deepest impress. To him Mills owed not only his knowledge of Greek forms, but his principles of professional practice, and his scientific, engineering skill.

X

FOREWORD

From his first youthful competitive design for South C a r o lina College in 1802 until his death on Capitol Hill in 1855, Mills was engaged in constant and varied practice of his profession in Carolina, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore, and in Washington. M o r e than fifty important works were of his design, a great number still surviving. T h e y included houses, churches, college buildings, prisons, hospitals, bridges, monuments, government buildings of all sorts. T h e old state Capitol at Harrisburg, the P a t e n t Office and old Post Office in Washington, the T r e a s u r y , with its superb colonnade, were among them. Mills created in America the auditorium type of evangelical church, in the Congregational Church in Charleston, the Monumental Church in Richmond, the First Baptist ("Round T o p " ) in Philadelphia. I t is by his monuments, however, that Mills chiefly lives. T h e great Washington column in Baltimore, first of the colossal Greek Doric type, preceded the Wellington columns in London and Dublin, and inaugurated a line which reaches to our own d a y in the M o n u m e n t to the Prison Ship M a r t y r s , and the Perry Memorial on L a k e Erie. T h e vast obelisk in Washington, long the highest of human structures, was his conception, in which the simplicity and grandeur of the forms are matched with the character of the subject. In a day when Greece was, to the modern world, a new discovery, there was no questioning of the validity of its form, which furnished the language of Robert Mills. W e find his words a little stereotyped, a little austere, but very sober, very dignified—contributing to that tradition that forms the basis of the simplicity even of our modern style. Philadelphia December 1, 1934

F l S K E KlMBALL

PREFACE

T

H E R E should, obviously, be some good reason for an individual's selection of himself as another's biographer— especially when that other can no longer determine the matter himself. An attempt must therefore be made to account for this assumption of the role of story teller to Robert Mills. We trust the reason will not be thought too meager. A brief anecdote of my own childhood—given partly from memory and partly from family tradition—seems so natural a preface to this apology that perhaps its inclusion will be permitted.

But before interpreting the anecdote it should be explained that at an exceedingly early age, a delight in beautiful structures, and in both the way and the manner of their construction, took possession of me. "Pretty houses" was probably my way of describing them. Whether it was a dwelling house, a church, or a bridge, the spell which a new building cast upon me was the same, and it was to the almost total eclipse—considering the age and the gender—of more becoming forms of entertainment. For during these early years instead of dolls— which I abhorred—a hammer and nails and stray bits of lumber were my all-sufficing portion; and I was, I am told, the despair of my parents at Christmas time. This was, of course, long in advance of any knowledge by me of architecture as such—I doubtless knew nothing of the existence of the word, and could not have been made to comprehend it if I had. Therefore this early interest was probably only the expression of the childish—primal—instinctive enjoyment in structural beauty, just as, I suppose, uncivilized peoples exult in musical sounds, or as the human family almost universally delights in perfumes. So it was perhaps not unnatural that architecture, and also those pioneer conceivers and fashioners of our early

XII

PREFACE

architectural types, should have come, after I grew up, to be of monopolizing interest to me. It was not, however, until visiting Baltimore and seeing the Washington Monument there, that I found myself poignantly attracted to the simple meaningful art of Robert Mills, and that those invisible cords—plus jort que moi—which sometimes entangle one, had begun their silent work, finally drawing me to desk and pen, and, at last, to the launching of this sketch. Now as to the anecdote. M y father, Winslow S. Pierce, had been building a home, which was, I imagine, pretty well under way at the time of which I write. This house was to represent quite meticulously his family's needs and wishes and not a few of his own somewhat exacting demands. The building had been coming on rather astonishingly well in view of the fact that the genus architect was very nearly as nonexistent in that particular latitude, as we know it to have been in the earliest American period. So, on one memorable morning, as its gratified owner was being conducted over the new possession by his combined architect, contractor, and boss carpenter, Sloane by name, this highly trusted employé hesitatingly remarked that, while in his opinion the house was "getting along fine", he had a serious defect to refinish port, which reflected disparagingly upon the interior of the house, and which had been made by a visitor that very day. My father, though perhaps a little nettled by so unbidden a criticism, lost no time in ascertaining the character of the faults criticized. Sloane replied that it was the wood-work (trim now-a-days) which, he said, instead of continuing from top of doors in unbroken lines to the floor, as according to the critic, all impeccable door trim should, was interrupted about ten inches up, and a block (plinth) not matching in design either baseboard or trim inserted, which block, it was contended, destroyed the graceful continuity of line, and hence the effect of the whole . . . or words to that effect. (I wish I might reproduce the child vernacular.) Father, now probably quite annoyed at the liberty taken, asked the identity of this busy-

PREFACE

XIII

body; but his mood was altogether changed to one of keenest interest and amusement upon being told that the obnoxious meddler was none other than one of his own—to him—ever flawless offspring, in the person of Helen Mar, aged approximately between seven and eight years, calculating from associated events and their known dates. With a response characteristic of my parent, the order to tear out the entire door trim of the offending room—the dining room—ready for replacement by other trim—in compliance with the specifications to be supplied by the same interposing daughter, was given. Father assured Sloane that as the child had spoken with a child's unerring conviction, she had probably spoken the truth, "even as children and fools"; at any rate he was willing to take the chance. It is not difficult to perceive, in passing, that this particular parent required little pressure to be made to capitulate unabashedly to a child. Now although my recollection is a degree hazy regarding these events, I do recall several of the high lights. One which stands out in my memory was that the contractor was requested to produce a carpenter's box for the especial use of the new inspector of construction, which, it was detailed, should be an exact replica of Sloane's own, except that it was to be miniature in size; and, of course, fully equipped with tools. So it surely was—and I record even today, with a sense of real loss, the disappearance of this precious belonging. After being guarded for years, it was discovered to be missing upon the occasion of a transferal of household goods many years later. This tool box had served as a precious souvenir, not alone of my father's way with children—but also of my one and only conquest in this mystical realm of architecture. Another remembered sequence of this great happening in my childhood days was a subsequent command from my parent to the effect that the small person was to be made persona rata "on the job": he having been in ignorance, with out a doubt, of the already habitual visits to the premises. These

XIV

PREFACE

premises, by the way, lay very handily just alongside our temporary abiding place, requiring only the manipulation of a couple of panels in the picket fence, which I remember negotiating with ease, thus making flight possible, and highly relished. A vivid scene not infrequently recurs to my mind, of a very young lady perched high on a "horse," (trestle) in Sloane's big work room (the living room) shoulder to shoulder with her divinity (a divinity having a beard of such formidable proportions as would scare the modern child) as they daily sat se riously at work before the long drafting board, which was littered with all the—to her—then—(and to me now) ravishing tools of this most ravishing of professions. Having not yet started to school, her entire waking hours were spent under the kindly "chaperonage" of this good friend, amid the heavenly sounds of buzzings, sawings, and poundings. I never scent that pungent fragrance of a pine board as it is being "ripped" preparatory to its "working u p " without recalling the heaped saw dust on the workroom floor, in that perfect year of my first apprenticeship when I believed I had become something— didn't exactly know what. That season "were paradise enow" for me. But poor Sloane! It must, in very truth, have been "the summer of his discontent." Voilà: of such small beginning has the biographer, in this instance, evolved. Before bringing to an end this quite deliberative preamble, I want to digress one moment in order to make a bold statement—based on conviction. . . . It is that no masterpiece of art or architecture greatly arouses the interest—even the attention, I believe—of the people to whom it is a birthright; though I shall have to qualify that statement by adding, in Ameriq —for the people of the old world can not be impeached in this regard. We often speak of their art in fact, as seemingly imbibed with their first nourishment. But I know you will agree that the case is sadly different with us. There it stands—whatever it may be—upon its foundation or pedestal, a masterpiece of architecture, and not one among the hundreds or perhaps

PREFACE

XV

thousands who daily pass that way stop long enough even to think the question "how did we come by you—who gave you to us?" Although in a negative way these very people may admire it—if their attention is attracted to it; and, speaking civically, are proud of it. But, we ask: What is the meaning of this? Is it the lack of proper education leading to the consideration and evaluation of art, generally speaking, in schools, colleges and the like, or is it, as often claimed, racial indifference, which, if true, is something of still deeper significance? I recall a charming Florentine boy of fourteen—Baccio Bacci was his picturesque name—who was by no means alone, over there, in his ability to discuss familiarly, intelligently, and, in his case, enchantingly, the master art of the world—from Giotto to Gerome—and even the art of his own day and of his beloved Firenzi; while the artistic taste of an American youth of similar age would be evidenced by his capacity to call the roster of Hollywood—from Garbo to Gable. Why is it? Is it not about time we felt about to find the answer—in our own homes? I myself confess, as proof of the above "bold statement," that these biographical notes would probably never have been made had the Washington Monument been, with me, a gradual sense accretion, a birthright. I had not been born in Baltimore. I was a "foreigner." But even though we ourselves are neither art-minded nor "tasted" should we not respond, as a matter of gentility, of noblesse oblige, in a greater personal appreciation and response to benefactions thus bestowed? Indeed the feeling is strong within me that our recognition of and indebtedness to those who have made us inheritors of the fruit of their master genius, and persisting application, resulting in works of truth and beauty, should rank second only to our recognition of and obligation to the Master Workman. For should not the concept that " t r u t h is the spirit of beauty and that art is the spirit of truth," possess our souls with an almost religious significance?

XVI

PREFACE

It was through one of those strange turns of the wheel of fate that we were landed some years ago almost within the shadow of this first memorial to George Washington; and before my household gods were put in place, I set out one day really to discover the monument; for I had, up to then, but little more than glimpsed it, though that glimpse had been a revealing one, as only the sorcery of moonlight can reveal; it was from the balconies of the old Stafford house, and followed later—and even more fantastically—by the aid of modern searchlights, at which time I turned away fairly drugged by the mysterious compelling beauty of it. On this day of which I speak, as I stood at the entrance to the monument's crypt, and gazed upward—the gigantic shaft seeming slowly to rise and to project itself into the blue above —I became each moment freshly impressed with—not its grandeur, though there was that, of course—but of the sheer wonder of it all, and also with the wonder that no person whom I had questioned in the preceeding weeks as to the name of the architect, had been able to enlighten me. Now there was a reason. I had not yet entered the crypt, (where I expected of course to find copious information), but when I did, I found only spacious corridors and a mystically entrancing old world atmosphere, but neither plaque nor tablet setting forth the information for which I had been searching. Behold a solution of the problem! Little wonder no one on the outside could help me in the matter, when the name of the architect was no where to be discovered on his work—and such a work. As a finis to this phase of the narrative, I must tell you that at the centennial celebration of the laying of the corner stone of this monument, a few years later, a life size bronze tablet on which appeared the sculptured name Robert Mills was found to have occultly materialized, and to stand forth conspicuously, and also to be second in size and distinction only to that of the father of his country, there to remain (Deo volente) as long as time.

PREFACE

XVII

From this period the conviction that a man capable of doing one thing so supremely well had probably done other and better things so harrassed me, that it was j u s t then that the still hunt began for the materials of this s t u d y — w h o s e ultimate destination, b y the w a y , was to have been the

Maryland Historical Society. A s evidence of the handicaps I encountered when I began this research, I m a y cite the fact that even the Congressional Library w a s discouraging in its responses to m y first inquiries. L a t e r on, of course, our correspondence was most valuable, and helped greatly in making the work complete. In my earliest letter from them, however (July 13, 1915), they state their "inability to be of any direct service" in the matter of discovering a portrait of Robert Mills; but ill luck such as that has been far from the rule, as I have had not only unusual good fortune in m y quests, but universal courtesy as well. I t has been my endeavor in this study to create a source book of integrity which might also serve as a channel of relev a n t Americana through which would be allowed to slip items of profit to the student, or even of pleasure and interest o n l y ; and it is not unlikely as a result that there has been a slight overstepping of biographical canon (of which I know little) as, for instance, in listing the maternal ancestry of the house of Mills, I have been tempted to present a picture of M a r t h a C a r e y Jacqueline, the aunt for whom the best known of Mill's children was named (Jacqueline) and at whose side her father chanced to be buried. N o r could I restrain my pen when faced with the rare love chapter that existed—traditionally and historically—between President Buchanan and this lovely daughter of M i l l s — t o be broken only by her death. So it is given. A n d again I speak of the old baptismal font presented by the same aunt to the ancient church at Jamestown, Virginia, etc., all interesting to me, and I hope interesting to those who have a liking for that which appertains to the early American scene. For if the facts of a man's life, and his career, are

XVIII

PREFACE

worthy of chronicling, I believe the romance of it should be equally worthy of revealing and commemorating. Although in no way related to or connected with the subject of my biography, I have taken the responsibility of doing this service for him. Right here and now, before handing these chapters to the reader, I want to express the great pleasure and gratitude I feel to all those who have been of conspicuous aid in the bringing of these chapters to whatever success they may deserve. I shall begin first and foremost with Mr. Fiske Kimball, F. A. I. A., director of the Pennsylvania museum, whose standing is too well known in the world of art and letters to here require further emphasis, and whose suggestions, at the outset of this effort, started me in the way I should go, however lame the result. In fact, this book's first asset was his counsel. T o Mr. C. C. Wilson, F. A. I. A., Columbia, S. C. author of a notable short sketch of Robert Mills generously placed at my service; to the late Mr. Glenn Brown, 1 eminent architect and writer, of Washington C i t y ; to Dr. Charles Moore, chairman of the Federal Commission of Fine Arts, Washington, D. C.; to the late Thomas Hastings, Esq., noted cosmopolitan architect of New Y o r k ; to Moise H. Goldstein, Esq., well known architect of New Orleans; to the Honorable Thomas S. McMillan, Congressman from South Carolina; and to the editors of the Architectural Record, New Y o r k C i t y , I wish to express appreciation. Of the descendants of the subject of this writing, I would mention first, Thomas Dabney Dimitry, Esq., of New Orleans, Robert Mills Evans, Esq., New Y o r k , and Mrs. Alice Dimitry Evans, grandson, great-grandson, and great-granddaughter, respectively of Robert Mills. T o them I wish to express my especial gratitude for their courteous loan of family documents. I particularly desire to acknowledge with thanks the kindness of Talbot Faulkner Hamlin, A. I. A., Librarian of the I

I discovered later a portrait of Robert Mills in the History oj the United States Capital by Glenn Brown (1900).

PREFACE

XIX

Avery Library, Columbia University, author of The

ment of Architecture,

and The American Spirit in

Enjoy-

Architecture,

not alone for valuable technical advice in matters historical and architectural, but also for the notes, signed "T. F. H." The fact that I have not agreed with Mr. Hamlin in at least one instance, does not affect the validity of his argument, and may lend rather a flavor of the jorum to the discussions. I wish to extend my gratitude also to Edward Inglis, Esq., Baltimore, Md.; Allan Clark, President of the Washington Historical Society, Washington, D. C.; Wm. C. Endicott, President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston; Daniel Ravenel, Esq., Secretary of the Charleston Historical Society, Charleston, S. C.; Col. John J. Dargan, Dalzel, S. C.; W. Banks Dove, Assistant Secretary of State of South Carolina; A. S. Salley, Jr., Secretary of the Historical Commission of South Carolina; Alfred Rigling, Librarian, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pa.; W. Hall Harris, President of the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Md.; Dr. Thornton Whaling, President of Columbia Theological Seminary, Columbia, S. C.; W. W. Scott, State Law Librarian, Richmond, Va.; W. W. Ball,

editor of The News and Courier,

Charleston, S. C.; W. A. Ed-

wards, Esq., architect, Atlanta, Ga.; Col. W. W. Harts, Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts, Washington, D. C.; W. Jordon, Curator, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pa.; Horace Wells Sellers, President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; Robert Perry Rodgers, architect, New York City; J. Horace McFarland, President of the American Civic Association, Harrisburg, Pa.; R. V. Wright, editor, Railway Age Gazette, New York City; the late Dr. J. W. Babcock of Columbia, S. C.; J. C. Fitzpatrick, Esq., Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.; Miss Florence P. Spofford, Library of Manuscripts, Washington, D. C.; John C. Trautwine, Jr., architect and engineer, Philadelphia, Pa.; the Honorable Charles Jerome Bonaparte, Baltimore, Md., whose tech-

XX

PREFACE

nical library was placed at my disposal; Dana Lewis Walcott, M.A., Long Island; Oakley Johnson, Ph.D., New York City; and Austin Gallagher, Esq., Bayville, Long Island, an ever kind but critical censor of these pages. "Westacre" Bayville, Long Island December 8, 1934

H . M . PlERCE GALLAGHER

CONTENTS ROBERT M I L L S : A FOREWORD, BY FISKE KIMBALL

IX

PREFACE

X

P A R T

O N E

C I T I Z E N A N D F R I E N D OF P R E S I D E N T S I. II.

LINEAGE

3

T H E GROWING Y E A R S

6

III.

MARRIAGE

12

IV.

PROFESSIONAL STRUGGLES

20

V. VI. VII. VIII.

T H E L I F E OF T H E M I N D

22

D R E A M E R AND V I S I O N A R Y

28

THE LATER YEARS

31

GRAVE NO. H I

37

P A R T

T W O

ARCHITECT AND C I T Y P L A N N E R IX. X. XI. XII. XIII.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

41

CHURCHES

77

DWELLINGS

85

D E S I G N E R OF M O N U M E N T S

97

E N G I N E E R AND N A T I O N P L A N N E R

126

A P P E N D I C E S 1.

T H E T U S C A N O R D E R , A N E S S A Y BY R O B E R T M I L L S

1.

THE

P R O G R E S S OF A R C H I T E C T U R E

.

IN V I R G I N I A , A N

153 ESSAY

BY

ROBERT MILLS

155

3.

MILLS'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

159

4.

ADDITIONAL

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL

NOTES,

FROM

THE

"INTRO-

D U C T I O N " TO A P R O J E C T E D W O R K , " T H E A R C H I T E C T U R A L W O R K S OF R O B E R T M I L L S "

167

C O N T E N T S

X X I I 5.

6.

Q U O T A T I O N S A N D A B S T R A C T S FROM R O B E R T M I L L S ' S

NOTEBOOK

AND D I A R Y

172

P I O N E E R R A I L R O A D TO T H E P A C I F I C

179

7.

" R O B E R T MILLS, THE ARCHITECT":

8.

G E N E A L O G I C A L N O T E S ON T H E M I L L S F A M I L Y

9.

PRESIDENT

BUCHANAN'S

OBITUARY

F R O M AN O L D N E W S P A P E R

181 184

OF J A C Q U E L I N E

S.

MILLS

P E N D L E T O N , D A U G H T E R OF R O B E R T M I L L S ( C L I P P I N G F R O M U N I D E N T I F I E D W A S H I N G T O N N E W S P A P E R , F O U N D AMONG T H E M I L L S

10.

FAMILY DOCUMENTS)

187

LETTERS

189

Mills to Robert Dale Owen: A Report on the Proposed Smithsonian Institute Mills to "the Intendant and Council of the City of Charleston": Concerning a City Plan for Charleston Mills to the Building Committee of the Prison, Burlington, N. J . , Relative to His Plans for a Gaol at Burlington, New Jersey Mills to the Monument Commission, Boston, Mass., Accompanying His Competitive Plans for the Bunker Hill Monument Mills to President Fillmore: Concerning the Burning of the Steamer "Henry Clay" Mills to Governor Hamilton of South Carolina . . . . Mills to Eliza Eliza to Robert Mills Gen. John Smith to Robert Mills 11.

OBITUARY

NOTICES

NEWSPAPERS

OF

ROBERT

MILLS

FROM

189 199

200

204 208 209 210 212 214

WASHINGTON 215

BIBLIOGRAPHY

217

INDEX

221

ILLUSTRATIONS ROBERT MILLS

Frontispiece

M A P OF C H A R L E S T O N H A R B O R

4

A B O Y H O O D D R A W I N G BY R O B E R T M I L L S

8

E L E V A T I O N OF M O N T I C E L L O , D R A W N BY R O B E R T M I L L S

.

.

.

.

8

MRS. ROBERT MILLS

16

G E N E R A L JOHN SMITH

16

T H E B U I L D I N G A T T H E C O R N E R OF J O H N M A R S H A L L A N D D WASHINGTON, D .

C . , WHERE R O B E R T M I L L S ,

IN

STREETS

1846,

HAD

HIS O F F I C E

16

T H E GAOL, BURLINGTON, N E W JERSEY

24

MILLS'S DRAWINGS OF THE FRONT ELEVATION, AND OF THE SECTION FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. T H E G A O L , BURLINGTON, N E W JERSEY

26

MILLS'S PLAN OF THE PRINCIPAL STORY, AND HIS DRAWING OF THE GENERAL SECTION FROM EAST TO WEST. F A C S I M I L E OF A L E T T E R FROM A N D R E W J A C K S O N TO R O B E R T M I L L S

36

T H E STATE CAPITOL, HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

42

WASHINGTON H A L L , PHILADELPHIA

42

T H E O L D PHILADELPHIA B A N K , B . H . LATROBE, ARCHITECT

46

NORTH

FRONT

OF I N D E P E N D E N C E

HALL,

PHILADELPHIA,

SHOWING

THE CONNECTING W I N G S D E S I C N E D BY M I L L S

46

T H E STATE INSANE ASYLUM, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

.

.

.

50

.

.

.

52

MILLS'S FINAL ELEVATION AND THE COMPLETED BUILDING. T H E S T A T E INSANE A S Y L U M , C O L U M B I A , SOUTH C A R O L I N A

MILLS'S STUDY FOR A STONE TREATMENT AND PLAN OF THE CENTRAL PORTION. T H E COURTHOUSE, CAMDEN, SOUTH CAROLINA

54

T H E COURTHOUSE, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

56

T H E CUSTOMHOUSE, N E W BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS

.

.

.

.

58

S T U D Y FOR THE W A S H I N G T O N C I T Y H A L L T H E CUSTOMHOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS

58 .

.

.

.

58

F A Ç A D E S OF M A R I N E H O S P I T A L S

60

A M A R I N E H O S P I T A L TO A C C O M M O D A T E O N E H U N D R E D P A T I E N T S .

61

Plan of the principal floor. T H E UNITED STATES TREASURY BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D . C .

From an old photograph.

.

64

XXIV

ILLUSTRATIONS

T H E UNITED STATES T R E A S U R Y BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D . C .

66

A LITHOGRAPH SHOWING THE APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDING FROM 1 8 4 0 TO 1 8 5 5 , AND AN ENGRAVING OF ABOUT 1 8 4 7 . T H E UNITED STATES T R E A S U R Y BUILDING

68

MILLS'S ORIGINAL PLAN. T H E PATENT OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D . C

68

A LITHOGRAPH OF ABOUT 1 8 4 7 AND MILLS'S ORIGINAL PLAN. T H E PATENT OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D . C

70

A LITHOGRAPH B Y R . P . RODGERS. T H E POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D . C

72

PHOTOGRAPH AND ORIGINAL PLAN. T H E UNITED STATES CAPITOL

74

ONE OF MILLS'S STUDIES FOR THE NEW SENATE CHAMBER, HIS " N O .

6,

PROPOSED E N D ELEVATION OF FAÇADE N O . 3 , " AND HIS PLAN FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE CAPITOL. T H E OCTAGON UNITARIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA

78

T H E INTERIOR OF THE " S A N S O M S T R E E T " B A P T I S T C H U R C H , P H I L A DELPHIA

78

T H E MONUMENTAL CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

80

EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR. T H E MONUMENTAL CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

82

ORIGINAL SCHEME. T H E BAPTIST CHURCH, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

.

.

.

.

G R O U N D P L A N AND F A Ç A D E OF A C H U R C H , B Y R O B E R T M I L L S T H E FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, BALTIMORE, M A R Y L A N D THE

DE

KALB

MONUMENT

AND THE

CHURCH,

.

.

CAMDEN,

.

.

86

P L A N AND E L E V A T I O N OF M O N T I C E L L O

88

D E S I G N FOR S H A D W E L L EXTERIOR

THE

INTERIOR

86

SOUTH

CAROLINA

THE

84 84

OF THE

88 WICKHAM HOUSE

(VALENTINE

MUSEUM),

(VALENTINE

MUSEUM),

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA OF T H E

WICKHAM

90 HOUSE

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

92

T H E JEFFERSON D A V I S H O U S E , RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

94

T H E ARCHER H O U S E , RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

94

H O U S E S BY R O B E R T M I L L S A T THE C O R N E R OF N I N T H AND L O C U S T STREETS, PHILADELPHIA T H E M O N U M E N T TO C A P T A I N C H A R L E S R O S S D R . DEDIAN'S HOUSE, BALTIMORE, M A R Y L A N D F A C S I M I L E OF A L E T T E R FROM T H O M A S J E F F E R S O N TO R O B E R T M I L L S

96 98 98 100

XXV

ILLUSTRATIONS D I A R Y P A G E S S H O W I N G W A Y S OF R A I S I N C T H E S T A T U E TO T H E

TOP

OF THE W A S H I N G T O N M O N U M E N T , B A L T I M O R E

101

T H E BUNKER HILL MONUMENT, CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

102

From a photograph. T H E BUNKER HILL MONUMENT, CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

104

Mills's columnar design; obelisk design, plan at the top of the platform; obelisk design, plans at the top looking down at the base and at the top of the stairs. T H E WASHINGTON M O N U M E N T , BALTIMORE, M A R Y L A N D

.

.

.

.

106

.

.

.

.

108

From a photograph. T H E WASHINGTON M O N U M E N T , BALTIMORE, M A R Y L A N D

Four studies b y Mills. AN

EARLY

STUDY

OF T H E

WASHINGTON

MONUMENT,

BALTIMORE,

MARYLAND

110

T H E WASHINGTON M O N U M E N T , BALTIMORE, M A R Y L A N D , AT N I G H T

.

NO

R A M £ E ' S C O M P E T I T I V E D E S I G N FOR T H E W A S H I N G T O N M O N U M E N T

.

112

T H E WASHINGTON MONUMENT, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

112

T H E O R I G I N A L D E S I G N OF T H E W A S H I N G T O N M O N U M E N T , W A S H I N G TON, D . C

116

T H E WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WASHINGTON, D . C

120

CLEANING AND REPOINTING THE WASHINGTON M O N U M E N T , 1 9 3 4 T H E UPPER FERRY BRIDGE, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

.

.

124 128

T H E SCHUYLKILL W A T E R W O R K S , PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

128

M I L L S ' S D E S I G N FOR A R O T A R Y E N G I N E

132

T H E E A R L I E S T S T E A M L O C O M O T I V E IN A C T U A L P A S S E N G E R S E R V I C E

136

P L A N OF P R O P O S E D C A N A L S

136

D E T A I L OF T H E D R A W B R I D C E M E C H A N I S M OF A P R O P O S E D

BRIDGE

FROM W A S H I N G T O N TO A R L I N G T O N T H E D E BRUHL H O U S E , COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

144 .

.

.

.

156

CHICORA C O L L E G E , COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

156

F I R E P R O O F OR R E C O R D O F F I C E , C H A R L E S T O N , S O U T H C A R O L I N A

.

D I A R Y S K E T C H OF S A V A N N A H C O U R T H O U S E D I A R Y P A G E S H O W I N G T W O S T U D I E S FOR T H E S A V A N N A H

160 17?

MASONIC

HALL PIONEER R A I L R O A D TO THE PACIFIC

178 179

Diary page showing at the right a scheme for ball-bearings, and at the left the manner of laying rails on piles which forms the basis o f the estimate in this prospectus. P R O P O S E D R E L A T I O N S H I P OF T H E S T A T E , P O S T O F F I C E , A N D T R E A S U R Y BUILDINGS

180

PART O N E

CITIZEN AND FRIEND OF PRESIDENTS

I

LINEAGE 1 C H I T E C T S who are familiar with the achievements of Robert Mills must perceive that this country rests under a deep obligation to his genius. B u t others have heard little of his achievements, and less of him, and do not know that his forgotten grave has lain for nearly eighty years in an almost abandoned c e m e t e r y — t h e Congressional—on the outskirts of the Capitol C i t y which he served so unremittingly. A n d yet, as he himself states in a footnote to his Statistics of South Carolina, a remarkably accurate and comprehensive book, often referred to and highly prized in the libraries of that s t a t e , — a n d of which more l a t e r , — h e was the "first native born American to enter the study of architecture in the United S t a t e s . " It was at a time when public libraries were rare, while private libraries, particularly those containing works on architectural themes, were a still greater rarity. There was obviously no Beaux A r t s nor Julien Atelier to brace him in his crude professional beginnings on the then untutored continent; though as he himself points out, his "studies were pursued under the celebrated Latrobe to whose talent and taste this country is so much indebted; and he was a pupil of the great Smeaton." Robert Mills's legacy to A m e r i c a comprises public buildings, monuments, churches, dwellings, works of engineering, and a vast documentation relative to each and bearing upon the present. While it may be possible to mention others who traversed a similar professional path with greater brilliancy of origination, it is certain that it was largely owing to Mills's unswerving ad-

4

LINEAGE

herence to classic forms that we were guided along lines of simple dignity into the creation of what might be termed a "safety-first" school of architecture; he kept us to the tried and true, the efficient, and often with the citizens of Washington against him, his prime architectural principle being that "beauty is founded upon order, and that convenience and utility were constituent parts." Or, as our modern architects put it, form must follow function. The subject of this biography was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on August 12, 1781, in the year, almost the month, when the battle of Yorktown secured America's independence. He died on the third day of March, 1855. There was a symbolism in the date of his birth, for his architectural powers ripened at the precise moment when our country had suddenly sprung into the need for victorious expression of this event. And his three monuments to the first hero of the new Republic, George Washington, are in themselves, we believe, sufficient basis for Mills's professional rank. They were the first monuments to the first President. Robert Mills was the son of William Mills, who removed from Dundee, Scotland, and settled in Charleston in 1770. Through his mother, Ann Taylor, also of Charleston, he was the great-greatgrandson of Thomas Smith, governor of the colony and member of the Colonial Council under the Lords Proprietor from 1690 to 1694. The history of the two Carolinas, which at that time formed one state or province, records that Thomas Smith "was one of five Carolineans of the period upon whom was conferred the hereditary title of Landgrave." His seventeenth-century house, by the way, still stands, and, with his coat of arms, will be introduced into this book. Did we go further and credit other claims, those of family tradition for instance, there were several forbears who attained prominence in the early days of the Commonwealth. And there is also reason to believe that Thomas Mills, architect, of Dundee, Scotland, was a brother of Robert's father, and that any

LINEAGE

5

particular professional leanings of Mills might be traced to this source. The name on the title-page of this book, with its AngloSaxon simplicity, fails to invite the imagination, at first acquaintance, as does the gripping strength of Strickland, the ungainly grace of Bulfinch, or, certainly, the soft Gallic note in Latrobe. Yet its syllables take on a glamour through association with the record of deeds done by him, until the unadorned name, Robert Mills, shines with the romance inseparable from high undertakings gallantly essayed. And though the story of these deeds, of their number, their diversity and varied scale, of the shrewd vision and indefatigable enthusiasm which prompted them, will obviously be herein set down, would it not still be but a half-told tale were the background of this unique man omitted? So with this in mind, I am emboldened to sketch briefly the beginnings of his career.1 1

T h e strict accuracy of Mills's claim to be the first n a t i v e born A m e r i c a n to enter the study of architecture in the U n i t e d S t a t e s m a y be questioned unless defined in a definite manner, for J o h n M c C o m b , Solomon W i l l a r d , M c l n t i r e , and others—all native-born Americans—preceded Mills in the professional practice of architecture. B u t the training of all of these men had been strictly along building and contracting or allied branches of the building industry, and they had grown out of this into architecture; their professional training they picked up b y the w a y . E v e n J o h n M c C o m b , J r . appears in the N e w Y o r k C i t y directories first as " B r i c k l a y e r " in 1 7 9 0 ; he is not listed as architect until 1809. Robert Mills, on the other hand, fro nr. the beginning w a s trained as an architect pure and simple.

II

T H E G R O W I N G YEARS A L T H O U G H we know very little of Mills's earliest childX 3 L hood life, the few glimpses we do get present a happy picture. With three older brothers and sisters, and two younger, he had no scarcity of playmates. Neither could he have had reason to feel inferior to other boys in Charleston, his family being well established and occupying an irreproachable position, as set down in old correspondence. Nor did he grow to manhood deprived of youthful pleasures. Not only Charleston but the rarely beautiful archipelago round about—the Islands of Beaufort, Edisto, and James—were his playground (see ill., p. 4). He himself spoke, years later, in an annotation to the original Statistics of South Carolina (in many ways his most important writing), as follows: With no uncommon pleasure does the author of this work recur to those happy hours of boyhood which he spent among these hospitable islanders. He has never forgotten their kindness and hospitality; and would here tender them his most grateful acknowledgments; particularly the family of his excellent friend, William Seabrook, Esq. [The William Seabrook referred to lived, when they were boys, on Edisto Island, in Charleston Harbor.]

William Mills provided rather advanced schooling for his son. Proceeding upon a selective basis which was then almost a custom, he chose one—the fourth of his six children—to follow a professional career. With this in view, the youth Robert was entered in the classical courses at Charleston College, where he apparently remained until he was twenty. In later years Mills referred with gratitude, as well he might, to his father's guidance in the management of his education. Robert Mills spoke feelingly too of the debt he owed to the professors of this institution, but especially to the president,

THE GROWING

YEARS

7

Robert Smith. (It may be noted that the number of people named Smith continues surprisingly to accumulate as we pursue this narrative.) Charleston College was particularly favored in its founding by this British scholar, T h e Rev. Robert Smith, a graduate of Caius College, Cambridge, England, who came directly from E l y Cathedral to become rector of St. Phillips Church; later he was made Bishop of the nascent state of South Carolina. In 1757, seeing the need of an institution of higher learning, he established, according to the college records, Charleston Academy, "with the best qualified teachers." This soon developed into the Charleston College—with Bishop Smith as its first president—from which Robert Mills was graduated, just before, or early in the year 1800. Beyond mastering Latin and Greek, Mills's exact work during his college life is not known. His only written reference to his scholastic training was the statement, " I followed an academic course at Charleston College." And except for a brief period with Hoban, the Irish architect, while the latter lived in Charleston, he had not, so far as we know, specialized in any purely scientific or artistic studies, before quitting his association with this college. W h y Mills took up architecture as a profession we cannot assert positively, but we may suppose that the fact that there was already an architect in the family—the Thomas Mills, architect, of Dundee, we have spoken of—controlled without doubt his, or his father's, bias toward that profession. This fact, together with the existence of his friend, the foreign-born architect, James Hoban, in his home city, probably gave Mills the necessary impetus toward architecture, had he needed incentive. His professional training consisted of a series of apprenticeships after leaving college. When Hoban removed to Washington, Robert, too, with his father, as several letters record, proceeded there with the intention of making that city his pro-

8

THE

GROWING

YEARS

fessional home, and it is interesting to note that his first occupation was as draughtsman—still under Hoban—on the Capitol. Almost immediately, however, he had the good fortune to meet and to fall into the good graces of President Jefferson, which acquaintanceship resulted shortly thereafter in Mills's going to Monticello, the home of Jefferson, to live. Mills was twenty years old at this time and he remained steadily with Jefferson for two profitable and, reading between the lines, happy years. And though but a boy, a spontaneous friendship grew up between them which lasted all their lives, as is shown by a correspondence which continued to the end of Jefferson's life, the last letter (from Jefferson) being dated two months before the latter's d e a t h — a friendship which might really be said to have held in it a touch of romance. On the advice of President Jefferson, Mills now entered upon what was for that time an extended tour of the eastern states, lasting several months and fulfilling a long cherished hope of his earlier youth. He had letters of introduction from both Hoban and Jefferson to various architects, including one, now in my possession, from the latter to Bulfinch. 1 He took notes on the public buildings which he visited on his journey, including Faneuil Hall in Boston and the City Hall in New York, in order to add to his store of knowledge, and to enlarge his mental scope, in preparation for the productive years that were to follow. 2 ' A l s o an undated letter, incidentally, from Rev. Robert G. Wetmore of New York City to Rev. Mr. Hasgill of the Episcopal Church in Boston. "Every Curiosity of Art & Nature," says the Reverend Mr. Wetmore's letter, "would be highly gratifying to this young Gent.n's Taste and I make no doubt you will properly direct his Walks." ' If this trip was (as it seems) in 1804, the New York City Hall was under construction. The competition for it was held in 1802 and was won by a French architect, J. F. Mangin, and John McComb, Jr. in association. John McComb, Jr. was chosen to direct its construction; it was almost nine years in building. See I. N. P. Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, V, 1397 etc; Dictionary of American Biography "Joseph François Mangin," and "John McComb, Jr." T o a young student of architecture, the construction of this building must have been a fascinating study. T . F. H.

Above: Below.

A B O Y H O O D D R A W I N G BY R O B E R T Courtesy of Fiske Kimball.

MILLS

E L E V A T I O N O F M O N T I C E L L O , D R A W N BY ROBERT MILLS Courtesy of Fiske Kimball and the Architectural Quarterly of Harvard University; copyright by the estate of T . Jefferson Coolidge, J r .

THE GROWING

YEARS

9

Upon the completion of this tour, he was given a position under Latrobe, so the narrative goes, with whom he was to combine both engineering and architectural work in Washington, Wilmington, New Castle and Philadelphia. He remained with him approximately five years. This was general training, involving all kinds of structures and works, in both architecture and engineering. Nothing better, probably, could have been devised as a foundation for the ambitious young man's career, and it was not long until he could stand upon his own feet, realizing in himself a confidence that comes only with the acquirement of technique through practice. Mills was an omnivorous reader, and a tireless observer of nature. He had, to begin with, the resources of Jefferson's library (a library famous for its architectural books, many of them from the Irish Presses), and he read wherever else he could. His notes and letters show both his interest in books and his love of nature—as well as a rare touch of drollery. "Nothing," he muses, in his diary (this was in Georgetown), "apparently is made in vain, as dog fennel, which grows so abundantly hereabouts, is shown to be excellent for fever and ague." And again, "The captain [WoodsideJ tells me that if a piece of cod fish were bound upon the corn of the foot, a sure cure of the disagreement would result." His journal at this period is rich in such unprofessional musings. This was previous to his career with Latrobe. Such, it might be assumed, was Robert Mills between the years of twenty-three and twenty-five. He must have been almost annoyingly simple, full of a genuine naïveté—a sort of boyishness. But in other ways he was maturing, and not all of his time was taken up with work and study, as there are sundry references to "Walks in the company of that amiable girl Miss Sally." To her he presented a book entitled Beauties of Nature. There are also references to the innocent pastime of collecting wild flowers with another fair companion. There was still an-

IO

THE

GROWING

YEARS

other Sally in the picture at one time—Miss Sarah Mather, a young Quakeress to whom Mills wrote long letters describing with mathematical exactness the geography of South Carolina, its population, products, exports and imports, temperature, rainfall, soil, fertility, etc., as if he were even then full of that enthusiasm for his native state which later produced the Statistics of South Carolina, and the Atlas. He described to her, as well, the laughable appearance of the "hill people when they came down into Charleston to gape at the wonders of the city." She in her turn, thoroughly charmed by him and altogether carried away by his learning, wrote almost as pedagogically upon the "mercies of God, and the pleasures of godliness," her letters interspersed with expressions of forgiveness for what appear to have been occasional tendencies toward unrestrained passion on the part of Robert. 3 There was also a Miss Catherine Hall, and a lovesick maiden of Newcastle, Delaware, who signed herself " A . M . A . " from her initials Anna Maria A. . . .r (the last name still undeciphered and unknown), who wrote often to him of her pleasure in reading his manuscripts, and sent him as a gift a book, with an original verse on the flyleaf, inscribed " T o Robert." A playful and ambiguous note perpetuates the memory of both these gay young maidens. It is a statement of an account due, as follows: A Note. R o b e r t Mills, E s q . , D e b t o r to C a t h e r i n e

Wilmington, Del. May

1805

F o r the pleasure o f m e n d i n g 2 waistcoats . . an e v e n i n g w a l k , w h e n time, weather, & inclination permit.

[Signed] A . M . A .

* B u t Sarah, T h e Quakeress, be it noted, was not too pious for an occasional lapse herself, in the direction of sly cattiness. For in one of Eliza's letters (written, of course, after the affair with Sally was over, but before her own marriage to Mills), she tells Robert about a tilt with " M i s s S a l l y . " " S h e is remarkably polite," said Eliza, " a n d particularly so to m y mother and m y family, but she g a v e me a specimen of her civility during dinner that I could willingly have dispensed w i t h . " Sally it appears, slyly remarked to Eliza that she would be delighted to p a y her respects, " a s soon as the latter should be settled in Philadelphia," and this at a time when Eliza's engagement to Robert was supposed to be deeply, profoundly, a secret.

THE GROWING

YEARS

II

Why was the note, stating his indebtedness to Catherine, signed by the other, A. M. A. ? Or were they the same person, and A. M. A. merely the initials of a playful, assumed name? Or was A. M. A. twitting him about his friendship with the other? But we shall leave that to the genealogists of Delaware. Whatever the answer, these early flames faded and died; for it was Eliza, and not Sally, or Sarah Mather, or Catherine Hall, or yet A. M. A., who was destined to become the bride of Robert Mills.

Ill

MARRIAGE

O

N O C T O B E R 15, 1808, just after he had reached his twenty-eighth birthday, and had been established for one year in Philadelphia, there occurred what Mills referred to as "the most importantly influencing chapter in my life," his marriage to Eliza Barnwell Smith. It was something of a conspiracy too; but it seems that the coup d'état which secured release from the "creeping years of waiting," as she notes in a letter to Robert Mills, was dealt chiefly through the ingenuity of Miss Eliza herself. And she, be it known, is the "sweet mountain girl" so often mentioned in a delightful correspondence, of which a part is preserved, later to be reproduced. While Robert's letters are beginning to be full of ardor, he is still inclined to discourse learnedly on philosophy and the sciences—a habit that seems to have been begun in swaddling clothes—to instruct the young ladies of his acquaintance upon all these studies. It is not improbable that the girls of the present day would have made short work of such immaterial tactics. Eliza's handling of the situation is shown in a reply to one of her betrothed's letters, which had consisted of a dissertation on Chemistry and to which she had replied: T h e subject of chemistry, you were kind enough to dwell upon in your last, will no doubt p.muse and inr,trier rre, but a"51 am e iti r ely ijnorant respecting it, I can contribute nothing to your entertainment. Indeed, it appears too abtruse for me to derive much benefit without very particular explanation from one well acquainted with the subject. T h e contents of your letters at all times prove agreeable and instructive, therefore, m y beloved friend, whatever you think proper to write, I shall certainly be pleased with. B u t most willingly will I relinquish this pleasure for one superior, namely the enjoyment of your society—and m a y it be soon. Y o u r s evermore Eliza

MARRIAGE

13

B u t not always was it Eliza's sense of humor that was aroused by the letters of her lover. In one letter she says that "what with one anxiety and another, my heart is almost broken"—referring to his long-procrastinated visit to her—and continues, "you may meet with more beautiful and in every respect more accomplished women, but this I am fully assured of, my dear friend, that you will never meet with one whose affection is so entirely devoted to you—as mine has ever been." And again later she writes, replying to a slightly consciencestricken fear expressed by him, P r a y d o not accuse m e e v e n in idea for former

[thought] of " r e v e n g i n g m y s e l f on y o u

m i s - d o i n g s . " B e l i e v e m e , nothing on e a r t h should t e m p t m e to

a c t in a m a n n e r t h a t w o u l d tend to inflict a w o u n d , where it is m y desire a n d interest t h a t all should be peace a n d love.

The author regrets that history fails to divulge wherein or in what, the "former mis-doings" consisted, but is inclined to believe that the suggestion sounds much more serious than was warranted by the facts. Eliza's family was old and well established in America. Her father, General John Smith of Hackwood Park, Frederick County, Virginia, was an officer of the colonial army and head of the Virginia Council. His appointment as "Lieutenant for the County of Frederick" was announced by a series of letters, in accord with the official elegance of the time, among them one from Patrick Henry and another from President James Monroe, each referring to the "special trust and confidence" reposed in General John Smith. Eliza was a granddaughter of Sir James Miles, and belonged to such well known Virginia families as the Jacqueline family, 1 of Huguenot extraction, 1

Eliza's grandaunt, Martha Jacqueline, is notable for having presented, in 1 7 3 3 , the silver baptismal font still owned and treasured by the old historic Jamestown church—lately renewed, through the generosity of the Rockefeller family. (See Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia, Lippincott, 1 8 5 7 , I, 96.) One of Robert Mills's daughters was named Jacqueline, after this aunt, and this name continued to be repeated up to the present generation. W e can scarcely afford to overlook Eliza's mother, Ann Smith, wife of General John Smith as she was a woman of remarkable executive ability, not only as a

14

MARRIAGE

and the Miles Carey family, to which families Chief Justice Marshall was closely related. General Smith, Eliza's father, had been a classmate and lifelong friend, almost comrade, of Thomas Jefferson, with whom his family were on terms of firmest friendship. And Jefferson's growing regard for the young architect from South Carolina, was, as we shall later reveal, a not inconsiderable circumstance in this romance. Mills' first meeting with Eliza must have taken place while he was in Washington with Latrobe on one of the latter's many visits there owing to his work on the Capitol. 2 The young lady's father was not aware of this meeting, however, and anything like a definite engagement was highly impossible until a more formal acquaintanceship under the benediction of both parents should be sanctioned. It was finally through the feminine adroitness of Miss Eliza that a reunion, and finally a union, longed for by them both, was brought about, and their "distressful problem" solved. A scheme was concocted—by her—which involved a no less important mediator than the President of the United States, her father's friend; and Eliza gave the brief but plausible excuse for her act, in a subsequent letter to Robert, " t h a t Mr. Jefferson had already proved himself to be a staunch ally of /tis," (Robert's). A note in reply from the President was the prompt result, and the following excerpt contained in a much later communication from Robert Mills to Jefferson, lets the cat out of the bag completely.

1

Virginia housewife, but as an active guide and influence in her husband's official life. In one of her letters, in which she advises her faltering husband regarding a Federalist-Democrat dispute, she says imperatively, "Finally decide, for to retire at their nod bespeaks intimidation." And more than once, too, does the younger husband (Robert) plead for her advice in a situation of perplexity. A happy reversal of the mother-in-law delusion. Mills lived for a time with J. Nourse, Esq., first Register of the United States Treasury (who was Eliza's godfather), at Georgetown, near Washington. Here it was they first met, as she, with her mother, came for an occasional taste of the winter gaiety in Washington. This house, still standing, is now known as "Dumbarton" and is the headquarters of the Colonial Dames. It was originally called "Bellevue," and was owned by the Carrolls of Carrollton.

MARRIAGE

15

. . . M r s . Mills would j o i n m e in every expression o f respect Sir, to y o u . W e desire to acknowledge how much we stand indebted to you for the letter I had the pleasure o f bearing from you to her Father, General John Smith of Virginia, in 1806, which introduced me to the knowledge of t h a t family, a n d — b y a course of favorable circumstances—obtained me the honor of an alliance w i t h his amiable d a u g h t e r — t o whom I had been attached previously m a n y years. From this confession you will be led to accept our grateful acknowledgements without surprise. Excuse this interruption and receive the salutations of affectionate respect from v r Y o u r s etc. Robert Mills 3

Surely this is a brief and altogether frank presentation of the facts of their case, and showed that they both had the courage of their convictions. A d d e d to the letter from Jefferson which Mills refers to above, he also had distinguished backing in the form of a letter from the H o n . Paul Hamilton, Governor of his (Mills's) native state, South Carolina. T h a t he should go to such lengths in his approach to General Smith shows, not only the high position of his own (Robert's) family, but also the determined ardor—quite unmixed with any sign of an inferiority c o m p l e x — with which he paid his addresses to Eliza. T h e letter is as follows: Columbia Dec. 16 1806. D e a r Sir In y o u r letter o f the 7 t h N o v e m b e r last you honored me with an appeal on a subject the most interesting and tender to an affectionate h e a r t — I mean your a t t a c h m e n t to M i s s Smith, the daughter of Gen. John Smith of ' A n earlier letter from the "mountain girl," written to her betrothed while she was visiting in Washington with her mother in 1807, says " W e attended the President's levee last night and there met your friends, Mr. & Mrs. Latrobe and their daughter L y d i a , [who later married Nicholas J. Roosevelt and from whom is descended our present minister to Canada in the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt]. T h e ladies made a very agreeable impression upon me, but M r . Latrobe is accused of being rather too pompous in manner and conversation. I confess this was also the idea which I—though not an adequate judge—formed of h i m . " Which impression m a y have been accentuated by the fact that this rather headstrong young lady held M r . Latrobe responsible for her beloved's long detention in Philadelphia, and for the consequent postponement of their wedding day which had so ruffled the maiden's spirits.

16

MARRIAGE

Virginia, and you required my testimony on your character & connections. I therefore with pleasure afford i t — I t follows—Your connections are amongst the most respectable in Charleston of this State, as I personally k n o w — Y o u r character Sir is not only without reproach, but in great estimation, another fact within my knowledge, and that I may at once be understood, I think there exists not one reason w h y you should not be ranked amongst the best of the Citizens of America—Use this tribute—which is j u s t l y due to y o u — a s you may think proper, and be assured that I am with desire for your prosperity— Most sincerely yours, Paul Hamilton M r . Robert Mills Architect Washington.

But their difficulties were not yet at an end. Despite these several almost official introductions, the romantic pair did not see each other for nearly two years, and the lady speaks repeatedly and very discontentedly in their correspondence during this interim, of Mills's detention in Philadelphia, saying, with a quite feminine slant, that "of course she could not expect to compete both with Mr. Latrobe and with Robert's business affairs." " Y o u must be perfectly convinced" she adds, "that I love you too dearly to experience entire happiness while I am separated from you so many long miles,—no, I find it impossible, and have ceased to calculate upon perfect tranquillity whilst this is the case" (December 26, 1807). Mills's position was difficult; Latrobe was plainly a very ill man, which necessitated his frequent absences, and also resulted in a somewhat warped viewpoint when he was present. But there was no hint of blame from Mills, who wrote to Eliza, I am now so peculiarly situated in regard to my professional pursuits that it is absolutely impossible for me to leave Philadelphia—an important charge is given me in a public w o r k . — I f M r . L was here I could absent myself, but he and family are at W . B u t why do I go into this detail of d e f e n c e — m y dearest E. must know that my anxiety to see her is great, and that m y not having this sincere pleasure ere this, had been induced b y imperious necessity [July 8, 1807].

And this was an oft-given reply.

/ibove, Left: M R S . R O B E R T From a portrait.

MILLS

Above, Right: G E N E R A L J O H N S M I T H From a contemporary miniature. Below: T H E B U I L D I N G A T T H E C O R N E R O F J O H N M A R S H A L L A N D D S T R E E T S , W A S H I N G T O N , D. C. W H E R E R O B E R T M I L L S , I N 18 + 6, H A D H I S O F F I C E | F r o m a photograph in the possession of the W a s h i n g t o n Historical Society.

MARRIAGE

17

T h e trials and tribulations of their betrothal period being finally over, the young married couple, with many sighs of relief, finally settled into a happy housekeeping adventure in Philadelphia, with one servant, an old slave, imported from the Virginia home, "Hackwood P a r k . " She was a sort of housekeeper, personal maid, and general factotum combined, and it is not improbable that she acted as a buffer too, in some of their early domestic predicaments. She is often referred to by both in their private correspondence, and her virtues and loyalty were constantly and gratefully extolled. But all this came to an end after but six years in Philadelphia, when Mills moved to Baltimore (1814) with his family of wife and three little children, and it is easily seen that the vicissitudes and obligations of his life were rapidly augmenting. After still another six years (1820), we find them established in Charleston, South Carolina, back at Mills's old home, where they remained for about nine years, now facing life in real earnest. It was in 1830 that they finally made their permanent home in Washington. Here they lived for some time on the corner of New Jersey Avenue and B Street, in a house that was later to become the home of Senator Jones. This was not their only Washington residence—they are known to have occupied several houses at different times—but it is the only address that has been definitely determined. Mills has spoken of his marriage as his "greatest f o r t u n e " — a statement literally true, since at the time he was almost without professional employment in Philadelphia. But this statement was very nearly true, literally and materially, throughout a great part of his married life. The softly reared Virginia girl stood between him and many of life's rough edges, leaving him mentally untrammeled to attack the thousand objects of his ambition; but, more than that, she at times supplemented his wage-earning efforts, not only by manifold economies, but occasionally by earning money herself as it be-

18

MARRIAGE

came necessary for a time that she become the mainstay of the family when a hiatus came in Mills's professional engagements. She did this by giving lessons in a variety of subjects. While still in Philadelphia she taught drawing, and when she and her husband removed to South Carolina, she gave music lessons, on a rented piano, as attested by that rather pathetic document, Mills's diary. This piano, we learn from their correspondence, had later to be given up because the rental was too much for them to p a y , even though it was like killing the goose that lay the golden egg. Occasionally, indeed, while Mills was busy in Columbia, South Carolina, or Washington, and separated from his family, he would receive a letter from Eliza saying that she was " o u t of funds." "Should I give up the house we are renting?" T h e n he would scurry around to collect some of his outstanding accounts and send her a small amount of cash, perhaps twenty-five dollars. In a postscript to one letter Eliza, having been dunned by several persistent creditors, wrote to him from the latter place: Do send me what you can spare in the way of funds. Remember, I have everything to purchase, a small purse, and a high spirit.

T h i s was during the hard times following the W a r of 1812, when there is record of his sending as little as $5.00. So acute was Mills's financial condition at one time that he wrote to Robert Gilmor in Baltimore asking for a loan, an advance on account (work on the Washington M o n u m e n t having been temporarily abandoned because of the committee's inability to secure funds), saying "Unless you oblige me I shall scarcely be able to go to m a r k e t . " H e was " o b l i g e d " at this time, and subsequently, too, as records in the M a r y l a n d Historical Society show, and we trust he got to market. Later, when permanently domiciled in Washington, Mrs. Mills founded T h e Y o u n g Ladies' A c a d e m y . Indeed Eliza Smith Mills was possessed of many accomplishments, and so versatile was she that when funds were too low to maintain the full complement of instructors, she was herself able to fill in personally at any time, in any department.

MARRIAGE

19

In fact, the dominant thought of this lady of the old school, for whom the word "helpmate" might have been coined, was to aid her "dear improvident husband." Fortunate it was for all concerned that she was both artist and linguist. It was surely the lamp which she carried which illuminated the family situation in those early years. But economic trials cast no shadow on the happiness of the family. When Mills was away from home the letters that he and his wife exchanged breathe a touching devotion. They often begin " M y dearest Eliza," and end "Au revoir, dear, solace of my life!" Or, "an au revoir to my best friend." Again, "Shall see you soon, dear friend of my heart," and so forth, in unlimited variety. Robert Mills had four daughters, all of whom married. Only two of them, Sarah and Mary, had children. Of their descendants, four great-grandsons of Robert Mills—a private, two lieutenants, and a major—fought in the World War. 4 Perhaps, in passing, we might emphasize one of Robert Mills's outstanding virtues, his patient acceptance of life, or, as Goethe termed it in defining the highest philosophy, "accepting the universe." There is no chronicle of his disappointment, for instance, in those early years of frequent separation from his family, when the mail brought him news of the arrival of—another daughter. The thanksgiving and rejoicing were instantaneous; yet he was doubtless no exception to the usual father in desiring a son, to carry on the name. Finally, though, when in the course of events an opportunity came to befriend a stricken woman, a widow, we discover that, unhesitatingly, he chose a man child from her flock of girls and boys to become his adopted son. Later this adopted son became known as Dr. James Mills, and, as another genealogical record shows, he was also known as Robert Mills. But any further knowledge of him is missing in the annals of the family. 4

Their names and present titles are Private Joseph Dimitry, Lt. Thomas Dabney Dimitry, Capt. Robert Mills Evans, and Col. Mills Miller.

IV

PROFESSIONAL STRUGGLES

W

E HAVE seen that Eliza Mills's life, however full and interesting, was beset by trials, owing to the undeniable inability of her husband to market his wares advantageously, and particularly to his disregard for money, and in consequence his disinclination to take precautions in affairs of business. But we must remember that in a young country such as the United States was then, architects were regarded by many as an unnecessary luxury. Much of the building was indeed done by contractors and builders ("undertakers") who made their own rough plans, without consulting architects. Even Latrobe, 1 it is said, did not make a financial success of his profession of architecture. But Mills was unquestionably an unbusinesslike man, however talented as an architect, and however fertile in ideas for the public good. It is quite likely that his frequent changes of office location were because of poor business judgment—the only such location, by the way, which has been identified is, according to Mr. Allen Clark, President of the Washington Historical Society, that where the Masonic Hall is now, at the corner of John Marshall Place and D Street, Washington, D. C. The building is still standing (ill., p. 16). In recognition of this incapacity for getting on, Mills attempted at various times to eke out his professional earnings by other means. His family was not small and his obligations con1

In the collection of letters in the possession of the late Glenn Brown, historian of the Capitol, there is definite evidence that Latrobe had disagreements, leading sometimes to unpleasantness, with Thornton and other architects. The strained relations that existed between Mills and Latrobe for a time may therefore be laid, at least in part, to the historical "grouchiness" of Latrobe, which affected his relations with others as well as with Mills. Latrobe's lack of business success may have been the outcome of an unfortunate disposition, which, undoubtedly, was the result of his ill health.

PROFESSIONAL

STRUGGLES

21

stantly increased. When he moved to Washington the expense of living doubled; while the social obligations of official circles, even in those days, combined with his improvident generosity, led to the greater entertaining of friends than his circumstances justified. H e had not lived in Washington many years when, in 1836, Andrew Jackson, " a t the solicitation of Robert Dale Owen and fifteen other notable citizens," appointed him Federal Architect and Engineer. T h i s Federal position meant additional standing in his profession, though but little increase in income, although it was undoubtedly the opportunity he had been wanting. 2 One project by which he hoped to augment his income was a school of architecture, with an advisory committee composed of eminent architects, and with members of the Federal family as patrons. T h e school started with a flourish, with m a n y flattering news notices at its debut. B u t , in spite of official encouragement, it collapsed after about three years, though it had demonstrated that there existed a place and a need in Washington for such an institution, as art or architecture meant little to the citizens of those days, either in or out of the Capital city. It may seem about this time, to the casual reader, that Mills's life was a series of ignominious failures. But, if the gigantic successes are put in array, it cannot be so considered. T r u e , he was, even at his d e a t h — a n d in spite of an almost prosperous interim—a poor man. B u t the accomplishments detailed in later chapters, showing the public buildings, monuments, churches, and dwellings he erected, as well as his engineering a t t e m p t s — o f t e n successful—are sufficient evidence that Mills was professionally a success, however small his personal rewards. 1

His salary to start with was | i , 8 o o a year (approximately equal in buying power to $j,000-^9,000 today. It was subsequently raised to $2,400, with an allowance of $500 a year for a draftsman. T h e Alexander J. D a v i s diary in the Metropolitan Museum of A r t , N e w Y o r k , shows that about this time draftsmen received from $1.00 to $2.00 a d a y . Masons and skilled laborers also received between $1.25 and $2.00. T . F. H .

V

THE LIFE OF THE M I N D

W

HAT Mills might not have achieved with the facilities for higher study and research which modern universities and libraries afford, no one can say. As it was, his accomplishments were almost titan tic; the store of knowledge which he built up, and the breadth of mind which he developed, are, in the circumstances, amazing. And it has been a fascinating study, step by step, this following of his mental deve-opment, from boy to man—and to old age. We must recall that Mills had the friendship and the counsel of Jefferson during what was his most formative stage —the years between twenty and twenty-two. Jefferson, scholar and man of the world, was obviously familiar with :he most advanced social and philosophical ideals of his time, and his library was almost equal to his own intellectual equipment. Really nothing could have been better for a beginner than such an environment. It was a spring board to Mills from which he jumped to all sorts of advantages; it almost amounted, in fact, to being a substitute for his lack of foreign culture and experience. But Mills had what was even more essential. He had those natural gifts best able to flower in such an environment. In the first place, he was of kindly spirit; he was attentive to and observant of all about him, with a mind active, analytical, curious. He was teeming with hypothetical solutions for every problem, and he was, too, something of a philosopher even at this early date. The relation between Mills and Jefferson was net wholly one-sided, for Jefferson certainly profited from Mills's architectural skill. The letters to him from Jefferson on the one hand, and to Thornton and Latrobe on the other, show that

THE

LIFE

OF T H E M I N D

23

Jefferson made use of the draftsman skill of all these architects, and hence of the young apprentice, Robert Mills. The ability of Jefferson as a practical architect has been a matter of some confused disputation. The President was, as the world knows, not only a great man, but a man of many interests, of hobbies, of avocations, and among the latter he was more than able—he was an inspired—amateur architect. Y e t in planning his buildings he supplemented his own unquestioned technical taste by a judicious use of architectural draftsmen. Mills, we may conclude, was almost certainly the " D e l ' t , " "Delineator," of many of the plans of Jefferson, as some of the designs extant show. 1 However that may have been, Mills profited immeasurably during the intervals between drawing designs—as per command—and giving lessons in drawing to Jefferson's young granddaughter. He devoured Jefferson's library. There was truly no loss of time during this period. Later he writes "of accounting for each waking moment," after the manner of the strenuous ones of today. Because of financial straits, Mills—always a gourmand for books—was largely dependent, for years thereafter, upon the libraries of others. But, as he was also a gourmet, he gradually collected a handful of particular favorites, some of which he still had, many years later, when he lived for a brief period in New Orleans. Many of these books and drawings were burned in a fire in the hotel at Longview Junction (Texas), where he remained for a time, and from where he wrote of having collected a number of "very precious" and undoubtedly to him indispensable volumes. But he always emerged buoyantly from every difficulty, and so he began again courageously to replenish his bookshelves. That the drawings lost in this fire were an irreparable loss to him then, and to us now, is incontestable. The works on architecture to which he most often referred as having yielded their stores most generously were the follow1

For a full discussion of this point, see pp. 45-46, and also Fiske Kimball's Thomas Jefferson, Architect.

24

THE

LIFE

OF

THE

MIND

ing:1 James Stuart and Nicholas Revett's The Antiquities of Athens (London, printed by J. Haberkorn, 1762-1830); Archaeologia; or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquities (a periodical, founded in 1770); John Carter's The Ancient Architecture of England (London, 1795-1807); French translations of two of Andrea Palladio's works: Les Thermes des Romains (Vicenza, 1797; one of the several French translations of the original English edition printed in London in 1732 under the auspices of the Duke of Burlington), and Les Batimens et les Desseins (Vicenza, 1796; one of several French editions of the original La Fabriche e i Disegni di Andrea Palladio, raccolti da 0. B. Scamozzi, Vicenza, 1776-83); John Britton's The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1795-1807); An Inquiry into the Principles of Beauty in Grecian Architecture, by George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (London, Murray, 1822); and Delany's English Architecture. How well he made use of books is evidenced in a Mills report3 to Robert Dale Owen.4 which begins, "Agreeably to your request, I have the honor to submit the following: in re the Smithsonian Institution," designed by James Renwick, "proposed to be erected in this city." Then follows a discussion so detailed that enormous research must have been required to prepare the document, since it is a disquisition largely upon the cathedral architecture of Old England, concerning which he had, of course, no first-hand knowledge. Mills says, in conclusion, "Were the honored Mr. Smithson alive, he would, I believe, in such a literary institution, give a preference to the ancient English style dominated by the Saxon and Norman 1

A few years ago, when in New Orleans on a hunt for " M i l l s i a n a , " the author found in an old bookshop two volumes upon architectural subjects bearing upon their fly leaves the name " T h o m a s Mills, Architect, Dundee, Scotland," a part of the library which Robert Mills had inherited from his father's family, and which his descendants had sold—or Mills himself may have dispensed with.

3

See below, Appendix 10.

4

See below, Appendix 10; also Robert Dale Owen, Hints on Public Architecture, N e w Y o r k , 1849, which quotes from the Mills letter at length. T . F. H.

T H E GAOL, B U R L I N G T O N , N E W J E R S E Y Above: Mills's drawing of the front elevation. Beloiv: Mills's drawing of the section from north to south, through the vestibule, keeper's office, and court. Courtesy of the State of New Jersey

THE

LIFE

OF

THE

MIND

25

type, which I had adopted for the plan for this institution at the request of the Secretary of W a r Poinsett,—and which I am pleased to seeyou had agreed to." T h e report begins with Gundulph, eleventh-century bishoparchitect of the Rochester Cathedral, and follows with an analysis of the designs of the Peterboro and Canterbury Cathedrals, exhibiting a familiarity with the treatment and technical designs of both, scarcely obtainable b y the lay frequenter of such edifices, and certainly far beyond any but the most thorough student and lover of books. T o our esthetic revolutionaries who regard the past only as a shell to be sloughed o f f — a m o n g whom, alas, there m a y be found a few architects—the backward glances to his library, his writings, and his works, m a y appear suspect. B u t although steeped in the theory and practice of times gone by, Mills was never open to a charge of the slavish following of ancient teachers. H e quite steadily accepted the dictates of precedent both in the matter of detail and, where requirements demanded, in entire design. B u t it is easy to gather from his unpublished essay, " T h e Progress of Architecture in Virginia,"® and from occasional passages in his other writings, that his ideal policy was to absorb the principles of the old masters and to apply them as racial temperament and national need might dictate. H e denounced "servile adherence to a school or period in art or architecture, as being only a step removed from plagiarism in writing." Mills's library contained, in addition to books on architecture and on mechanicai and hydraulic engineering, works on the graphic and plastic arts, as well as general literature. A n d he, who benefited so continuously from a study of the writing of others, repaid that gain in his own published and unpublished works, however outmoded some m a y be today. Because at his period there were no technical schools nor teachers, and " b u t scanty written directions to w o r k m e n , " he • See below, Appendix 1.

THE

L I F E OF T H E

MIND

wished, early in his practice, to prepare a book on the "rudiments of architecture" for the use of contractors and builders. It was to be a quarto volume with fifty plates, entitled "The Principles of Architecture," and published in Philadelphia, and should have been a textbook of invaluable quality for the time. The publisher's advertisement reads: "Its plan includes the instruction to the carpenter, bricklayer, stonecutter, etc., and contains blue-prints—requiring the application of geometrical principles." The technical designing of a dome, for instance, was gone into with meticulous detail, for Mills was especially partial to this adjunct of architecture. But although the writer has searched unremittingly for either this publication or traces of its publisher, she has been unsuccessful in finding either. No copy of the "Principles of Architecture" is known to exist. It is probable that, owing to lack of subscriptions, it was never issued. Several of his textbooks, notably The Atlas and The Statistics of South Carolina, before mentioned, and the various small guides to public buildings in Washington which he prepared from time to time, went through five and six editions, and, we have been assured, are still in demand. Again, this many-faceted enthusiast was the first in America to assemble the art-minded of a community—Philadelphia in this instance—into an organized group for the promotion of art and architecture. The intention was to hold periodic meetings where examples of home and foreign talent would be exhibited for the benefit and pleasure of the members. This organization was known as "The Society of Artists," and there are continuous references to it among Mills's papers of that date. Jefferson was its first president, and Mills its first secretary, of which there is record in the Congressional Library at Washington. Upon receiving a program of its initial exhibition of pictures from Mills, Jefferson wrote warmly of the subject more than once. One communication, a formal note, is worded as follows: Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to Mr. Mills and his acknowledgments for the copy sent him of the annual exhibition of the Columbian

THE

GAOL,

BURLINGTON,

NEW

JERSEY

Above: Mills's plan of the principal story. Below: His drawing of the general section from east to west, through the debtors' and keeper's apartments. Courtesy of the State of New Jersey.

THE

LIFE

OF T H E

MIND

27

Society of Artists. He congratulates him on the success which seems likely to attend the institution and is particularly thankful to Mr. Mills for these repeated proofs of his personal attentions. He salutes him with great esteem and respect. Monticello

June 29. 14.

As there was apparently neither cause nor individual to whom he could or would turn a deaf ear, it may be stated that Mills without a doubt "spread himself too thin." There was no fact too remote from his pursuits or his tastes to engage his interest. When a friend desired a rule to follow in piano tuning, for instance, he was ready with the answer, adding the remark, according to tradition, " T h a n k God for the diary habit," as he drew from his pocket the little black book in which the desired formula—correct or not—had already been transcribed. 6 There was a correspondence between Mills and Governor Clinton of New Y o r k in regard to the practicability of running ice-boats on the Erie Canal in the winter of 1829.7 Among a variety of inconspicuous activities which, supposedly, he might wisely have rejected, he provided a miniature design of a greenhouse for the Count de Marrion's small villa outside Washington. An amusing example of this habit of refusing no request occurred when the Clerk of the House of Representatives (Clarke by name) required new furnishing for the chamber. He wrote to Mills, the Federal architect, somewhat piquantly as follows: "Regarding carpets for the aisles, would be glad to have an eagle with wings extended and twentyfour stars drawn in neat proportion to the area in front of my desk." And, so the story goes, the man who plotted transportation for an entire country was not too preoccupied to draw such a rug design "in neat proportion." • The rule for tuning a piano as recorded, was as follows: " 1 C & C . 2 C . G 3 G G . 4 G D 5 D. D . 6 D A 7 A . A . 8 A E 9 E B 10 B B. 11 B F#. 12 F# F# 13 F # C # . 14 C#. C# 15 C# C# 16 G# D# 17 D# Aft 18 A# A#. 19 A# F. 20 F. C . " ' The copy of Mills's Inland Navigation in the Library of Congress bears on the flyleaf, oddly enough, the signatures of both Robert Mills and Governor Clinton, the latter of whom was then carrying through his scheme of uniting the east and the West by means of the Albany Canal. T h e natural inference is that their interests were reciprocal.

VI

DREAMER AND VISIONARY

T

HOUGH the trivialities mentioned in the foregoing chapter might interrupt, they never succeeded in blocking the flow of his practical work and more or less practical dreams. And if his buildings harked back to classicism, his visions were often far in advance of his time. For example, in 1822 when the idea of city planning began to germinate in his mind, he indited a letter to the president of the Charleston, South Carolina, Council making suggestions which were to result in a uniformity of plans. Among many suggestions he recommended that the front elevations of neighboring buildings be treated as a unit of design, with greater beauty and utility as the ultimate gain. But he did not stop there, as documents mellowed by age show. He found himself led on to the still larger scheme of blending the activities of city and state into a harmoniously working whole through their natural waterways, canals, and railways; until—still pursuing the ignusfatuus (as it seemed to his contemporaries)—he found that the simple idea of a city plan had come to embrace the Union. And he also found that, sad to recount, he stood alone, with none to share his vision. The truth is Mills was born several decades too soon. Mills was a pioneer in swamp reclamation. Our swamps [he says somewhat poetically, in his Statistics of South Carolina, a 700-page book] are the gold mines of our states, far superior to those of Ophir or Peru. They are more valuable to us than the gems of Golconda, provided we improve their natural advantages.

Another of his "utopian" ideas had to do with slavery. He advocated, as early as 1 8 2 1 , the colonization of American Negroes in Africa and the provision of the means to settle them there comfortably.

DREAMER

AND

VISIONARY

29

Sound policy [he repeats], as our best interest d e m a n d s t h a t some system should be put into operation, the tendency o f which will be to root out slavery among us . . . W h o can conceive the moral benefits which will e m a n a t e from the abolition of s l a v e r y , however distant, or estimate the a d v a n t a g e s which the c o u n t r y will realize in its political concerns?

And elsewhere he voiced a realization of the horror of this institution, and yet both he himself and his connections would to a degree have been material losers by its abolition. Mills was very much interested in prison reform. I f it be true [he says, in the Statistics], that the proper o b j e c t of h u m a n punishment is the reformation of the offender, it will follow as a necessary consequence that it is not a l l o w a b l e — u n d e r a n y combination of circums t a n c e s — t o put a fellow creature to death. In order to prevent the perpetration of sanguinary crimes it seems, in the first place, necessary t h a t the legislature should show its abhorrence of the shedding of blood, and should inculcate in the strongest manner a sacred regard for human life. A sentiment of this nature, impressed upon the feelings of a people, would become more efficacious in p r e v e n t i n g the crime of murder than the severest punishments.

And indeed, might it not be added, in the preventing of wars as well. The Statistics refers at length, too, to the vexed subject of the treatment of the Indians, for Robert Mills felt deeply the shame of the policy of the Government's management of them. He makes (pages 115-19) a passionate protest for state action to rectify their wrongs. W h a t an honour [he writes, of the C a t a w b a Indians] to S o u t h C a r o l i n a it would be to rescue this last remaining of the numerous and powerful tribes of the aborigines of this state, from total annihilation! T h e act would shed a lustre on the character of the S t a t e , rescue its honor (sic) from the minutest stigma, connected either with the claims of j u s t i c e or gratitude, which this nation h a v e upon it [page 120].

On the so-called "temperance question," he is both piquant and apt; he advocated, reduction in the number of licensed taverns and d r a m shops which p r o v e so ruinous to our y o u t h and s e r v a n t s — a s they are sources of corruption to the morals of our citizens g e n e r a l l y — a n d especially to our poor. A n d [he

30

DREAMER

AND

VISIONARY

added], if we must have drinking places, let them be beer houses, thereby to encourage the use of malt liquors, which may be drunk with impunity.

Surely a temperate platform in the light of the chagrining experience of recent date. He was in favor of tariff reform. His lifelong defence of fireproof buildings was another of his hobbies. In fact, he seems to have been actively and constructively interested in every subject of the d a y ; he even discoursed of the higher education of women. H e advocated, in fact, almost every great reform that has since been agitated—with the exception of women's suffrage, upon which, despite the interest he displayed in women's education, he maintained an eloquent silence.

VII

T H E LATER YEARS ALL this tireless enthusiasm and activity have slipped into the dim realm of unchronicled history, and it was therefore like witnessing a momentary reincarnation, when in 1915 I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Margaret Simpson, who had actually known Robert Mills in his later years. She was the granddaughter of Peter Lenox, codraftsman with Strickland and Mills on the Capitol, under Latrobe's direction, and was the aunt of Glenn Brown, that delightful gentleman (recently deceased), author of the History of the United States Capitol, and of other books. This lady (who also has since died) was at the time of our meeting in her ninetieth year and was a remarkable example of vitality of intellect carried far beyond the three score and ten limit. She was delightfully alert, recalling better perhaps than any of her contemporaries of Washington, the social and political happenings over a great period of time. As her early youth was spent in social contact with the families of Capitol Hill, among them that of Robert Mills, her contribution to a study of the man is invaluable. With her passed, probably, the last of his period. She related many details of Mills's life and habits. She saw him at church regularly on Sunday morning, several times in the company of Franklin Pierce (probably before the latter's presidency). She described his affability, notwithstanding his quietness of manner and of speech; also his inability to speak gracefully in public—for although a good talker, Mills had no sonorous rhetoric at his command. I showed her his portrait— the frontispiece to this book—and she pronounced it excellent. It is a copy of a miniature painted by St. Memin. His face, she

32

THE

LATER

YEARS

reported, was pleasing in its strength, and in a blunt regularity of feature; his hair was the glowing shade, she smilingly added, politely termed auburn. H e was of medium stature, she recalled. I was overcome with confusion, when, in reply to m y question as to his professional reputation during his lifetime, she exclaimed, with a fine challenge of manner, O f course he was really considered able! H e was a gentleman of the most distinguished attainments, and was so recognized at the time.

W i t h all his m a n y virtues, this l a d y managed amusingly to recall that he did have one redeeming vice. H e took snuff. B u t [she ejaculated, once more rather challengingly], e v e r y one did in those d a y s ; and he took it with an old-time elegance that would h a v e passed the censorship of a n y court in Europe. [She finally added, as I passed out of her long-to-be-remembered presence] H e had a musical laugh t h a t still rings in m y ears, and the wit of a Bobby Burns. N o [she corrected herself], it was more like an Irish wit.

Mills himself helps to fill out the picture sketched b y her words. His sense of humor, his appreciation of a droll situation, will be seen throughout the following letter describing the banquet given to L a f a y e t t e in Baltimore in 1824. T h i s letter, too, reveals him as a supremely social character, responsive to the life of his time. H e writes to Eliza, of course. Philadelphia, P a . Oct. 1 1 , 1824 M y dear E l i z a : T h e d a y after the grand entree of General L a f a y e t t e into Baltimore I was introduced to him b y the C o m m i t t e e of the Council at his quarters, where I presented to him the letter from I n t e n d a n t L . of Columbia, South Carolina, which he opened and read, and then informed me that he was " m o s t sensible of the h o n o r " done him and t h a t he could not say with any certainty at w h a t period he would be able to accept the kind invitation of hospitality until a f t e r his visit to Y o r k t o w n , when he would be able to give a written answer. T h e General is a r e m a r k a b l y fine looking man for his years and seems to h a v e borne his fatigues surpassingly well. W h e n I asked if he did not feel tired, he replied: " A h , no; the body cannot feel tired when the heart is glad."

THE

LATER

YEARS

33

He carries all the simplicity of republicanism, all the politeness and affability of a gentleman, and the meekness and patience of a Christian. He is a Protestant in religious faith. His son, George Washington Lafayette, is a remarkably plain-looking man and, like his father, rather retiring than otherwise. After this interview, and receiving an invitation from the committee to dine with the General, I went to the Exchange and ascended to the upper galleries of the rotunda, that I might take a birdseye view of the ceremonies that were to occur soon below. And what a scene for the philosopher, from which to draw conclusions of human action! The General was announced by a shout from the multitude without. He entered, supported by the Mayor and one of the Committee of Council, and followed by a vast multitude. What pushing; what jostling; what anxiety were manifested! Indeed, the committee had the greatest difficulty and were obliged to use some authority to prevent the General from being overwhelmed. After some time, order was preserved and the ceremony of introduction began. Then all pushed forward again to enjoy first shake of the General's hand. At last what should at first have taken place was now arranged, for a point of beginning was established for those who wished to salute the General, and after this, each was to pass out of the crowd. When this order was carried into operation, the scene became interesting. Thousands passed in rapid succession. Now and then there was a stop— and a word was spoken to some pleased citizen, and then—a lingering look. Place yourself in my commanding situation, my dear Eliza; your thoughts would, I know, have been like mine—as when I saw the countenance of Lafayette light up with a peculiar smile, and accompanied by a little agitation of the body, I found myself instinctively repeating the conversation taking place, though I could not distinguish a word. For instance, when noting the broken English of a fellow countryman of the General, I could hear the latter say: "Ah, Monsieur, je suis bien aise de vous voir." And then again, when an aged patriot would approach him and say: " I was your fellow-soldier in the Revolutionary struggle." What an expression of feeling seemed to be surging in the breasts of both! It was well the General had these occasional reliefs, otherwise he must have sunk under the fatigue of shaking hands with such a multitude—old, young, rich and poor. What a scene was this, my dear Eliza! The expression of a whole nation's friendship to an individual. Never has such a scene been witnessed, nor never will it again, because never will occur such circumstances to produce this extraordinary expression of public feeling.

34

THE

LATER

YEARS

After all present had shaken the hand of the General, then there came deputations from the various public and private institutions of the city to present to the General tributes of respect. But the closing scene was the most brilliant if not the most interesting. It was composed of the officers of the military from the major-general down to the corporal—all in full uniform, and their appearance was very splendid. General Hooper addressed the nation's guest in the name of his brother officers, and welcomed him among them, after which he introduced each officer by name to the General: and I was pleased to see the son of my old friend and preceptor, Mr. Latrobe, occupy such an honorable station as he has done on this occasion—he being first aide to General Hooper. He is a modest and most promising youth, much thought of, and he has j u s t commenced the practice of the law. I called to see Mrs. Latrobe, who wept upon seeing me, recalling many past scenes to our memories. She narrated her business troubles since the death of her husband. . . . But I must draw to a conclusion and briefly say that I dined with the General in a large company of the most distinguished citizens of Baltimore. The General retired at 7 o'clock and I following soon after, as I had the honor to receive him with others at the Mason's Hall, where the grand honors were paid him. Thus on three occasions did I shake hands with General Lafayette, and I had "some little talk with him," as the Indian says. The following day I left Baltimore in the steamboat at 5 o'clock in the evening and was in Philadelphia the next morning for breakfast. God bless you, friend of my heart, my own Eliza. Yours ever, R. M.

This was not Mills's only personal contact with this famous visitor from France. It is a significant evidence of the high esteem with which Mills was regarded in his community that he was selected to present, personally, to the distinguished French general a formal letter of invitation from the " C o m mandant" of the City of Charleston (as well as from the Commandant of Columbia, South Carolina) to visit their state before his return to France. And later Robert Mills himself invited General Lafayette to unveil the monument to de Kalb (which he had just completed) at Camden, South Carolina. The invitation was accepted, and the following year Lafayette was present at its unveiling, journeying thither from Baltimore in the company of Robert Mills.

THE

LATER

YEARS

35

Mills was appointed Federal architect by Andrew Jackson in 1836, and retained this post until 1852, during the administrations of seven presidents. This was a busy period, full of happenings. It is said that he was the first to reach the side of John Quincy Adams (a relative) when the latter was stricken with apoplexy in the chamber of the House of Representatives on February 21, 1848, dying two days later. A t the time of the laying of the cornerstone of the obelisk—Mills's Monument to Washington—he was present with the many notables of the United States, including George Washington Parke Custis, the nephew of Martha Washington. Even after his term as Federal architect had ended, we find Mills addressing a letter to President Fillmore in regard to the destruction by fire of the S. S. "Henry C l a y . " Mills's life evidently teemed with incident to the very end; with a man of his type it would have been the same, one supposes, had he lived in the deserts of Arabia. An interesting point in Andrew Jackson's life—the exact location of his birthplace—is cleared up by a letter he wrote to Robert Mills, congratulating the latter on his newly published Atlas. This letter strengthens the Jackson tradition that he was a South Carolinean, i.e., born just south of the line between North and South Carolina. 1 It is as follows: H e r m i t a g e J u l y 8th 1829 D r Sir, I h a v e rec'd your f a v o r o f the 15th ulto accompanied w i t h a m a p o f the district of Lancaster within which I was born. For this flattering evidence of your regard be pleased to accept m y sincere thanks. A view of the m a p pointing t o the spot t h a t g a v e me birth, brings fresh t o m y m e m o r y m a n y associations dear to m y heart, m a n y d a y s of pleasure w i t h m y j u v e n i l e companions: but alas, most o f them are gone to that bourne where I am hastening and from whence no one returns. I h a v e not visited that country since the year 1784. M o s t of the names of places are changed, all the old generation appears to h a v e passed a w a y , and to be succeeded b y another more numerous and often differently named. T h e crossing o f the W a x a n d C r e e k , within one mile of which I was born, is still however, I see, 1

See Gerald \V. Johnson's Andrew Jackson, an Epic in Homespun, Minton, Balch and Co., 1927, pp. 13-14.

36

THE

LATER

YEARS

possessed by Mr. John Crawford, son of the owner (Robert) who lived there when I was growing up and at school. I lived there for many years, and from the accuracy with which this spot is marked in the map, I conclude the whole must be correct. With great respect I have the honor to be Sir, your very obliged servant Andrew Jackson Mr. Robert Mills, Columbia, S. Carolina.

Many quaint reminiscences of Robert Mills's old age are given by Thomas Dabney Dimitry, grandson of Robert Mills (son of Alexander Dimitry, who was appointed minister to Central America by President Buchanan). One only can I recall: This old gentleman narrated, "When Grandpa was visiting in New Orleans [Mr. Dimitry was himself over eighty at the time] and with grandma was marshaling their numerous flock of grandchildren to church one Sunday morning, he paused at the slightest note of hilarity from any of us and, turning with mock gravity, shook his cane and said in severe tone,'this is Sunday morning, so beware ' " But even in his sedatest moments there was always a twinkle in those bright eyes, especially for children, this old gentleman of the third generation assured me. Such is the not unpleasing picture of Robert Mills's latter days, and it serves to show at least that, true to his temperament, he was light of heart and gentle to the last.

F A C S I M I L E OF A L E T T E R F R O M ANDREW JACKSON TO ROBERT MILLS From the original in the possession of Robert Mills Evans.

Vili

G R A V E N O . III E N Robert Mills lay dead at his home in Washington, „ie newspapers of the time, The National Intelligencer, The Washington Sentinel, The Washington Evening Star, were united in their expression of appreciation for the man and for his life, "spent with but a single thought," as one of them wrote, "that of serving his country, for whom he had an idolatrous regard." How has posterity requited that idolatrous regard! The periodicals of the day acclaimed him "a man of sterling qualities, a serene temper, gentle and loving spirit." They declared that "his profession was pursued with the enthusiasm of genius, and with the patience of one who is resolved to achieve the highest excellence." They extolled his sincere and unostentatious respect for the religion of his Scottish forefathers, and his "unswerving devotion to his remaining altars; namely, of family, friends, and work." There was no dissenting voice among all these journals in the praise of one to whom the world increasingly presented itself as a glad chaos of compelling tasks, a share of which were his. His grave in the Congressional Cemetery just outside Washington, at the period in which I write, is without name or mark. Surely this country carries an unpaid debt to the genius of Robert Mills. The visit I made to his grave, in a cemetery full of an oldtime beauty, took place in springtime. My sensations were not happy as I stood by that pathetic mound of earth, one which should be revered by Americans. The air was full of the scent of roses; birds sang, while my guide in this especial God's acre counted the graves (incredible as it may seem) between

3«

GRAVE

NO.

III

designated trees in order to locate the one searched for. The grave of this distinguished man was known simply as No. III. Verily, " A l l passes, art alone remains." " I trust a good deal to common fame, as we all must," said Emerson; and this sentence has become the text of many a homily since. " B u t can we really trust to common fame," asked a newspaper writer, referring to Mills, "or must we see to it that her trumpeters are kept from falling asleep at their posts?" (Believed to have emanated from the New York Times). And again, when Robert Mills's name was suggested for the Hall of Fame, written under the title, "Freaks of Fame," a New York Evening Post editorial (June 7, 1920), said, W h o would have believed that the designer of the Washington Monument and the Bunker Hill Monument could keep his name from becoming a household word? T o have planned either of these monoliths ought to be enough to insure the planner's fame; to have planned both oj them would be to take a bond of fate. Y e t [as the editorial further pointed out], probably very few readers could remember having heard his name. W e are interested in him [it continued], not because he is famous, but because he ought to be famous.

Perhaps the monuments he built to others will be sufficient for him if, in the memories of his countrymen, their grandeur can somehow be firmly linked to his name. As in the epitaph to Sir Christopher Wren: Si monumentum requiris, circumspice. It is a shame that the passing of 1932, the year of the bicentennial of George Washington's birth, has left behind it no record of the name and the face of Robert Mills, linked to his own masterpiece, the monument to George Washington. Y e t so far not even a tablet—save that raised in 1915 in the Baltimore monument—graces his memory. A bill has been presented to Congress, to erect some memorial to him; it has been passed, but no appropriation to cover its expense has ever been made. While this bill is, perhaps, only a wedge, it may yet be driven home to ultimate success. The bill was presented by Senator Thomas S. McMillan, the senator from the proper S t a t e — Mills's natal state—of South Carolina.

PART TWO

ARCHITECT AND CITY PLANNER

IX

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

N

O T W I T H S T A N D I N G impressions to the contrary, we are becoming more sensitive to ideals, and as a nation and as individuals are appreciating the worth of landmarks as documents of history. T h i s being the case, should we not endeavor as well to evaluate according to their respective merits the achievement of the early builders of our country? W e r e we to do so, we would find that Mills's name belongs among the most brilliant of the Greek revivalists in America. H e himself, appreciating his position, modestly speaks of " t h e mite he contributes in this pioneer u n d e r t a k i n g — a s against the m a n y and great difficulties which those who m a y succeed him in the profession will never be subject t o . "

In his autobiographical sketch Mills repeatedly refers with touching appreciation to T h o m a s Jefferson, " w h o g a v e him his start in life," and to whose library, as we know, he had access. Here he found " s o m e few works of eminent R o m a n architects, principally Palladio, but no Grecian writers." H e writes of this period: M r . Jefferson was an amateur and a great admirer of Architecture, and was most gratified to find an American turning his attention to its study, and he gave me every encouragement in the pursuit of this profession. During this period Europe also, which for centuries had adopted the Roman and mixed style, began to emerge from its prejudices, and the light which had been thrown upon Greek Architecture by the works of such men as Stuart, caused it to be early established in the place; since then it has been universally approved throughout civilized Europe; and in our own country we find the simple and chaste style of the Grecian buildings generally adopted.

In his later years he writes: Books are necessary for the student, but the author has made it a rule

42

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

never to consult books when ready to design a building. His considerations are: T h e o b j e c t , the means, and the situation it is to o c c u p y .

H e regarded his study and preparation as a background, b y means of which he was to be influenced atmospherically. Before entering upon a discussion of his buildings, let us consider further his own intimate feeling about architecture in general. H e says 1 I t is perhaps the most difficult, i m p o r t a n t , and interesting of all branches of study, when it is intended to form the ground work of practice. T h e r e is no other profession that embraces so wide a field of research and practical operation, and the student, after going through the usual collegiate course, will then find himself only j u s t on the threshold of the temple of Architecture; for besides h a v i n g an intimate acquaintance with the different styles of b u i l d i n g s — a n c i e n t and m o d e r n — a n d a thorough knowledge of the " f i v e o r d e r s " — w h i c h necessarily d e m a n d s an acquaintance with d r a w i n g — he must s t u d y the infinite detail which m a k e s u p the endless variety of parts, constituting the higher class of structures. T h e r e is not a mechanic a r t — f r o m the laborer w h o executes the foundation to the highest artizan who decorates the i n t e r i o r — b u t he should acquire such knowledge as would enable him to give direction, etc., and j u d g e whether the work executed is done in a proper manner. T h e r e is scarcely a science but is embraced in a greater or less degree in this profession: M a t h e m a t i c s , N a t u r a l Philosophy, C h e m i s t r y , B o t a n y , G e o l o g y , N a t u r a l H i s t o r y , Jurisprudence, T h e o l o g y even. In short, to be an accomplished artist and mechanic; and there is not, in the whole range of liberal professions, a more fascinating study than that of architecture even when it is considered in the light of study only.

T h e above quotation, though apropos today, must nevertheless be read with an appreciation of the epoch in which it was written. A m o n g the public buildings created b y Mills we m a y list the following: (1) (2) (3) (4) 1

R u t l e d g e H a l l , U n i v e r s i t y of South Carolina, C o l u m b i a , South Carolina, c. 1801; T w o wings to Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 1807; Washington H a l l , Philadelphia, 1809; Insane A s y l u m , Carolina, 1821-28;

The quotations in these chapters are chiefly from Mills's unpublished writings, which are reproduced in the Appendices.

Above:

T H E S T A T E CAPITOL, HARRISBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA

From a photograph of the engraving in the Analectic Below:

WASHINGTON HALL,

MagaiÀne.

PHILADELPHIA

From an old lithograph by G . Strickland.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

43

(5)

The "Fireproof Building, Charleston, South Carolina (the Record Building) 1822-23; (6) The Treasury Building at Washington, 1836-42; (7) The Old Post Office, Washington, 1839; (8) The Patent Office, Washington, 1839; (9) Courthouses: Camden and Winsboro, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Alexandria, Virginia; New London, Connecticut; Marlboro, South Carolina; Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; (10) Town Hall, Columbia, South Carolina; (11) Prisons: Burlington, New Jersey, 1808; Washington, D. C., 1839; (12) Old Naval Observatory (completed in 1844), Washington, D. C.; (13) Marine Hospitals: Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans, Louisiana, 1855; St. Louis, Missouri; Natchez, Mississippi; Napoleon, Arkansas; Paducah, Kentucky; Cleveland, Ohio; Wheeling, West Virginia; (14) Also various remodeling commissions, such as the Old Spanish Court House, St. Augustine, Florida. Besides these executed works, his unexecuted plans for the extensions to the United States Capitol on a Greek-cross basis should be noted (page 74). He also received second prize in the competition for the Pennsylvania Capitol at Harrisburg, the first going to Stephen Hills, of Harrisburg (see page 42). W e find in Green's History of the Buildings of the University of South Carolina ( 1 8 0 1 ) , mention made of " M r . Mills and a M r . C l a r k " as "undertakers," jointly competing for and winning the premium of three hundred dollars for the first college building "which should not exceed the appropriation of fifty thousand dollars." T h e requirements handed in to the ' 'artists" allowed two pupils to a room and one room each to the three professors. This, with two lecture rooms, a chapel, a library, a laboratory, etc., constituted forty-eight rooms. E a c h room was required to be 24 by 16 feet, open to north and south, with two windows. T h e building was of brick and placed in a campus of twenty-five acres. Because of insufficient funds, it was not opened until 1805, although with its two wings, E a s t and West Rutledge, it came well within the appropriation stipulated.

44

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

In presenting the two prizes, the Board of A w a r d s " r e c o m mends M r . Mills and M r . C l a r k for the taste, ingenuity and variety of their design, which offered fine specimens of American talent." T h e achievement of such y o u t h f u l talent must, however creditable to them, have been inchoate in both form and substance. So much for Mills's precocious first a t t e m p t at public buildings, which we must believe was not only his first submitted design, b u t was also the work that proved to him his vocation as well as bringing to him his first prize money, $150.00. T h e r e exist no plans of Rutledge H a l l — n a m e d for South Carolina's much loved son, the Chief Justice of the United States. T h i s college stood until 1855 when, in the very year of Mills's death, it was destroyed b y fire. Its loss to the science of architecture was not great, though it had been found adequate for its intended purpose and had also been a stepping-stone to Mills. 2 I t was a milestone, as well, for the designing of it caused him to realize his need of travel in order to discover what others had done and were doing. Accordingly after the termination of his invaluable apprenticeship with Jefferson, he made, at Jefferson's insistence, an extended tour of the Eastern States: and never, surely, h a v e fields yielded more plentiful harvests in shorter time than those this young man covered b y stagecoach, boat, and horseback. H e writes of " h a v i n g access e v e r y w h e r e " — b e i n g well introduced through Jefferson's l e t t e r s — m a k i n g drawings of all the principal buildings, and finding the time to be " n o t far distant when our country would appreciate the art and encourage the artist." Such optimism was soon to be justified in his own case, for after his return to Washington he was again fortunate enough to find brief employment with H o b a n , who was at the * Montgomery Schuyler, in the " O l d Greek R e v i v a l , " American Architect (Vol. X C V I I I , No. 1826, Dec. 21, 1910), credits Mills with various other buildings at the university. There is no documentary evidence to support this attribution, however and it seems probable that had Mills designed them, he would have noted them in the Statistics, or elsewhere.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

45

time engaged upon the White House. During this period they also worked together on the north wings of the Capitol, then well started upon the vicissitudes of its architectural career. Later he went, on Jefferson's advice, to Latrobe, as we have seen, with whom he remained more or less connected until his marriage. As some misconception respecting the importance of Mills's work at Monticello has crept into several of the sketches concerning him, such as Dunlap's Arts and Designs (i i, 375), and Montgomery Schuyler's "Architecture of American Colleges; University of Virginia," in the Architectural Record ( X X X [1911], 73), it might be well to give in more detail the result of careful investigation in this connection. To begin with, in a quotation from Mills's own pen in his "Progress of Architecture in Virginia," he says, " I had been pursuing my studies in the office of the architect of the President's house." Here he first of all confesses to his own student work, and second he makes it known that another and undoubtedly a more experienced and older architect than he was in control. Now as there is documentary evidence that the earlier Monticello house was built before Mills was born (Thomas Jefferson, Architect, by Fiske Kimball) and as 1781 is uniformly given as the date of Mills's birth, and as there is moreover equally satisfactory proof that the remodeling of the house was started in 1796—when Mills would have been but fifteen years old—and its plan and elevations completed before Mills was introduced to Jefferson, the question as to who made the original plans for Monticello would seem to be answered chronologically; save to add, that the various drawings, plans and elevations signed by Mills were his student work, though not all were worthy of being carried into execution, being student work. Presumably the privileges extended to him were gestures of friendly encouragement made by Jefferson to "the American youth" in whom he evidenced an exceeding interest, and to whom he stood in the light of patron.

46

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

Robert Mills continued in close professional contact with his famous friend and patron for many years. He evidently was also much interested in Jefferson's designs for the university almost twenty years afterwards, and without a doubt assisted in some fashion in the subsequent execution of the work, during Jefferson's last years, such as helping in the ordering of materials, etc. A letter addressed to him dated Richmond, April 9, 1822, refers to the delivery of "cast iron capitals, columns, and pilasters (Tower of the Winds Design)" in connection with the Library, or Rotunda, of the university. Over thirty years later, long after the death of Thomas Jefferson, and but shortly before his own death, he was apparently called in again in connection with alteration or repair work; a letter to him from one, Spooner, superintendent of the university, dated August 8, 1853, refers to "drab colored tiles" having been received. Thus, fittingly enough, this last work at the university ties together the beginning (under Jefferson) and the end of Mills's long and eventful career. Robert Mills's real professional life began, in engineering, (in 1803) when his services were engaged in delving into the engineering problems of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal under Latrobe, whom Jefferson, in recommending that Mills accept this opportunity, referred to as "this distinguished architect and engineer." Mills was stationed soon after at Wilmington and Philadelphia, and within a short period the constructive work was advanced almost entirely under the supervision of the younger man. Latrobe had but recently been given charge of public offices at Washington, and it was while undergoing the manifold trials incident to this pioneer work that Mills seems to have won his spurs. For Latrobe, having created a design for the Bank of Philadelphia, 1807, made him superintendent of construction. On the first page of his memoirs, and quite oblivious of his previous attempts in architecture, Mills comments, " T h e Bank of Philadelphia, a modern gothic structure, the design of Mr. Latrobe, was a

Above:

T H E OLD P H I L A D E L P H I A BANK B. H. Latrobe, Architect. From an engraving. Courtesy of the New York Public Library. Below: N O R T H F R O N T O F I N D E P E N D E N C E H A L L , P H I L A D E L P H I A , SHOWING T H E C O N N E C T I N G WINGS D E S I G N E D BY M I L L S From a photograph. Courtesy of Fisico Kimball.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

47

work of the most intricate and difficult character in design to execute—[owing to]—the novel forms of the arches in the center hall, all of which were built of solid masonry and made fireproof. T h i s was his first important practical experience in architecture; j u s t as the construction of the " C and D C a n a l " presented the first opportunity to prove himself in the science of engineering (ill., p. 136). Mills remained in Latrobe's office until 1808, when, since he was about to be married, he determined to establish himself independently, hoping, as a result, for greater remuneration. W i t h this in mind he turned to his first friend, M r . Jefferson, for advice, receiving from him the following reply: Washington, June 23, 1808 Dear Sir: I have duly received your two favors of the 13th and the 16th. In the former you mention your design of now offering yourself for business in Philadelphia as an architect. This you may certainly do with confidence, after so many years devoted to the theory and practice of the a r t — a n d under the best direction in the United States, as far as I am a Judge. I m a y safely affirm that the various excellent drawings which I have seen of yours, which prove you to be familiar with the principles of the art; and the years you have been a principal aid of Mr. Latrobe, must have given you satisfactory experience in the practical part. But when, in compliance with your request that I look abroad among my acquaintances in Philadelphia for one who could be useful to you, I find them to consist of Literati and officers of government, no one of whom will probably ever have occasion for service in your line. I have therefore thought it better that you should show this letter whenever and to whomsoever you may have occasion, as it contains my testimony of the grounds on which you may justly claim employ. I salute you with esteem and attachment. Thomas Jefferson. T o M r . Robert Mills

W e know that he did so establish himself almost immediately after his marriage, since there are data in the Pennsylvania Historical Society showing that a design was made b y him for a textile mill in Philadelphia, though there are no extant plans.

48

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

One of his first independent works was evidently the prison for Burlington, New Jersey, which was designed in 1808, and which, after a century and a quarter, still stands. His drawings, too, are still preserved in the New Jersey archives, and with them he sent an accompanying memorandum giving his ideas on penology in considerable detail (ills., pp. 24, 26). It is an extraordinarily advanced production, anticipating many of the ideas of modern penological practice. A summary of Mills's statement, together with reproductions of his drawings and a photograph of the building, by Capt. W. J . Giger has recently appeared under the title, A Country Gaol of the Olden Time. (Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1928.) There are also both plans and an elevation, dated 1809, for Washington Hall, Philadelphia, prepared for the "Pennsylvania Benevolent Society" and their report reads: Determining upon a building, the society advertised

for plans, and re-

ceived from different artists a great v a r i e t y of d r a w i n g s ; no less than ten separate designs c a m e from R o b e r t Mills, upon each of which he seemed to h a v e bestowed m u c h care and labor. A n d after elaborate consideration and comparison the committee made a choice of one of them.

This is another evidence of his leaving no stone unturned to achieve personal advancement. Obviously Robert Mills was taking his new responsibilities seriously. There was combined in this structure a building for benevolent purposes and the patriotic conception of a memorial to Washington, whose statue occupied a niche in the front elevation. The windows were a redeeming feature in proportion and detail, but in general, the composition was not without its defects and with no visible virtues to offset them—(ill., p. 42). The design of the "grand saloon," 120 by 69 feet, is Mills's first employment of the oval form, which is used at the entrance front of this building, thus leaving the space—20 by 18 feet— at each side for committee rooms and stairwells.3 He had al' George Strickland, the engraver whose name appears on one of the illustrations of this building, must not be confounded with his brother William, associated with Mills and Peter L e n o x as draftsman in Washington in their early manhood.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

49

ready become acquainted with this form in the design for a dwelling for Jefferson's father, known as Shadwell, on the drawings of which he had worked. Washington Hall burned down on the night of March 16, 1823. Probably the building which best brought Mills to public notice was what he modestly refers to as "the wing buildings for offices to the State House, historically known as Independence Hall, Philadelphia. They were built to connect the City Hall on one side, and Congress Hall on the other, with the more important and even then revered structure standing between (ill., p. 46). It is a fair presumption that it was through a correspondence of Mr. Jefferson and Charles Wilson Peale that this contract came to Mills, less than a year after his professional début as a very young man in Philadelphia, where he and Peale were friends and neighbors, though Peale was a much older man. Under date of June 3, 1809, Peale wrote to Jefferson about the Fine Arts Building, designed by Dorsey (which has been incorrectly ascribed to both Latrobe and Mills), and which Mr. Peale as its director was about to enlarge. " M r . Robert Mills has given me a plan and estimates which meet very nearly with my ideas," Peale wrote. The prospected wings to Independence Hall were intended to safeguard the museum and galleries, of which Peale was likewise director, as well as of the public records. As shown in the illustration, Mills's plan presented two oblongs consistent in their architectural plainness with the larger building, and in harmony with the original plan of its architects.4 It was in 1810 that the competition was held for the state house at Harrisburg. Two premiums were offered, one of $400 and one of $200. The first was awarded to Stephen Hills of Harrisburg, the second to Robert Mills. The Analectic Maga4

Independence Hall, as it is well known, w a s designed b y an amateur, A n d r e w Hamilton b y name, a Philadelphia l a w y e r , notable in the history of colonial jurisprudence.

50

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

zine of Philadelphia, in July, 1820, gave an engraving of the building and stated that it was then under construction according to the Hills design (ill., p. 42). Yet it seems probable that Mills's design affected the building erected; it bears several of his intangible hall marks; and Mills claimed credit for it. And where the standing of a man is what we know his to have been, this fact should not be passed over without consideration. Architectural practice at that time was a sort of catch-as-catch-can affair, and it was considered that any prize design in a competition became the property of the body who awarded the premiums. The final building was frequently a rehash of the ideas of several competitors, therefore making any exact attribution impossible.8 The contract for the courthouse at Richmond, Virginia, the first of many buildings of much the same type which Mills designed was secured when he visited that city in connection with the votive church he was to build there. Its four-columned Doric portico—which bespeaks Mills's growing admiration for Greek types—lent distinction to Capitol Square at a period when the only other edifice of note there was the capítol building (designed by Jefferson), which Mills himself called "the first architecturally important work in Virginia,"again evincing a keen appreciation of Jefferson's taste. The simple treatment of the eastern elevation of the Richmond courthouse of Mills's as to main entrance and windows is admirable, though not uncommon. And the whole rests composedly amid its surroundings, as though always there, and always to be there—a perfect example of suiting the design to the environment. (This faculty Mills had that amounted almost to wizardry). May the hand of time rest lightly upon it! • Thus the A. J . Davis Diary (in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) records that in 1839 Davis was called to Columbus, Ohio, as an expert advisor as to how best to combine the three winning plans in the competition for the Ohio state capitol: that of Henry Walter of Cincinnati, first prize; the second prize design of Martin E . Thompson, of New Y o r k ; and the third by Thomas Cole, the landscape painter of New York. T . F. H.

T H E STATE INSANE ASYLUM, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA Above: F i n a l elevation, by M i l l s ; courtesy of the late D r . J . W . Babcock, C o l u m b i a , South C a r o l i n a . Belozv: T h e completed building, f r o m a p h o t o g r a p h .

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

51

A plan and elevations, dated February 26, 1818, are found for a house of industry and a semiprison combined, to be placed at Forest and East Streets, Baltimore. And this building was presumably the first notable institution of its kind in that city. It occupied the same ground on which stands the penitentiary of today, and contained counting-rooms, a spinners' hall, a stocking weavers' hall, a clothiers' hall, a seamstress's hall, a great working hall for spinners of cotton, and magazines of materials, with large and small open courts. Mills created designs for the City Hall at Washington during his residence in Baltimore. T h e y were, however, critized by the committee in charge, and the English architect, George Hatfield, or Hadfield, an older man, was called in to decide in the matter. The result was that he accepted Mills's plan for the south side, substituting his own for the north side. There came a hiatus in Mills's public building about this time, which he filled with a variety of other architectural work, and in 1820 he was called by the legislature of South Carolina, most opportunely, as his funds were going if not gone, to aid in the engineering enterprises then planned in his home state. He was given a seat on the Board of Public Work, with the title of "Civil and Military Engineer of the State." It is interesting to note that the Certificate of Registration of the South Carolina Board of Architectural Examiners, now engraved in steel, is dedicated and inscribed to Robert Mills. "Therefore," says Mr. Charles Wilson, F. A . I. A . in his brochure on Mills, "no architect hereafter practicing in South Carolina, need be ignorant of the greatest architect which the state—if not the nation—has produced." Great praise, considering the source of it. We find mention in the Charleston Courier, M a y 8, 1822, of "proposals for fireproof offices" signed "Robert Mills." In visiting these offices I was more impressed by the solidity of this stronghold for public records than by many of the ancient Dr modern buildings in Charleston or elsewhere (see ill.,

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

p. 160). It is as though an adamantine spar were intermixed with its lime and cement. Mills, shocked b y the loss of life in the famous Richmond T h e a t r e fire, as we h a v e pointed out, produced in Charleston—perhaps as a consequence—the most completely fireproof structure thus far built in the United States. It is stated that it still claims invincibility among the ranks of fireproof buildings the country over. T h e building is described b y Mills as having entrances at t w o fronts under the familiar p o r t i c o w i t h its four D o r i c columns, each column three and one-half feet in d i a m e t e r , and p l a c e d on an arcade rising t w o floors to height of b u i l d i n g , s u r m o u n t e d b y e n t a b l a t u r e and pediment. T h e remaining p a r t of the b u i l d i n g c o n s t i t u t i n g wings to center and falling below the apex o f the p e d i m e n t . T h e y are connected from the street by a double flight of stone steps w i t h iron railing. T h e b a s e m e n t , cornices and porticos are all o f stone, the walls o f brick, the roof c o v e r e d w i t h copper; and further, all sashes, f r a m e s and s h u t t e r s are of iron.

T h e general effect of this building, massive and strong as was the intention of its architect, was by no means without b e a u t y as w e l l — a beauty of complete integrity in its every line. Certainly one citation of the integrity of this building will bear repeating. T h e great earthquake which made A u g u s t 3 1 , 1886, memorable in Charleston annals, shook from their foundations m a n y of the buildings immediately surrounding Mills's structure, among them the Reichert columns on the old Charleston hotel, but " t h e Record building (or fireproof building) of Robert Mills stood unharmed and Gibralter-like through it all," was a local news item of that day. A s was his w o n t , he studied earthquakes and all phenomena, with great diligence, learning all he could as to their causes and the likelihood of their repetition in any given place, and he made it a subject of a treatise, of which but a sentence or two in a notebook was found. However, with the added scientific knowledge of seismic disturbances, the world has probably suffered no loss. T h e State Insane A s y l u m at C o l u m b i a , South Carolina, was begun in 1821 (ills., pp. 50, 52). Its building crept along, handicapped as usual by inadequate funds, until 1828 when it

..-.»..-.-».IL». #

S)

THE STATE INSANE A S Y L U M , C O L U M B I A , SOUTH CAROLINA Above: A study by Mills for a stone treatment, from the original in the possession

of Thomas Dabney Dimitry. Below: Plan of the central portion, by Mills; courtesy of the late Dr. J . W . Babcock, Columbia, South Carolina.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

53

was pronounced complete. Mills states in his Statistics that the appropriation was for $100,000 but that the cost was considerably under that sum. It was built "for the accommodation of 120 guests" and started bravely with one "guest" and a matron—amusingly enough, her mother—to care for her. Soon however the demands made upon the asylum exceeded its capacity, and this structure, intended to combine "elegance with permanence" had to be supplemented, following Mills's plans, by other buildings which continue still in use. Most such institutions up to that time were crudely, many of them cruelly planned, with the idea of incarceration rather than cure. Only three had been built in America, and few in Europe. That the deep reflection lavished by Mills on these designs bore fruit both original and valuable was evidenced by the number and character of inquiries which they evoked from the northern states and from Europe. 6 Yet in the description of this undertaking not a word is said about the architect. Nor was his name disclosed until almost a hundred years later when, through a strange chance, the plans and elevations of the Columbia Insane Asylum came to light in the attic of a kindred institution in Massachusetts (the McLean Asylum). They were sent to Dr. J . W. Babcock of Columbia, superintendent of the Southern asylum, whose buildings were planned by Mills, and it is through his courtesy that we are permitted to present them. One of the plates bears the inscription in Robert Mills's handwriting "Robert Mills Engr. Arch." How the Columbia plans got to Boston is a question. Charles Bulfinch had designed the McLean Asylum of the Massachusetts General Hospital, incorporating therein his earlier Barrell House as its main building, in 1816-17, and his design for the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1817. 7 But ' One of the inquiries, according to Dr. Babcock, who has since died, was from the committee of the Bloomingdale asylum of New York City. ' The Massachusetts General Hospital was completed by Alexander Parris after Bulfinch had gone to Washington, but according to the original Bulfinch design. For the history of the McLean Asylum, the Massachusetts General Hospital, Memorial and Historical Volume (Boston, 1921) may be consulted. T . F. H.

54

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

considerable alteration work was done at McLean between 1818 and 1835, and it is possible and probable that the Massachusetts asylum authorities wrote to Columbia for a set of plans for study in connection with these alterations. The Columbia asylum, which is still standing, was thus one of the first to be built in the United States, and McLean, the first to be built according to the newer, more humane ideals, had preceded it by only two or three years. Mills describes it in his Statistics-. T h e façade of this building presents a center and two wings, and it is crowned with a cupola open all around, with sashed windows which serve as ventilation. T h e entrance of the center building is under a grand portico of six massive Greek Doric columns four feet in diameter and rising the entire height of the wing building, the whole surrounded with a pediment, being elevated on an open arcade.

The design was so made that additional accommodation might be attained without disturbing its symmetry. It had also what is believed to be the first roof garden, or as Mills describes it, "garden on the roof," in America. There is a record among Mills's papers that a design for a penitentiary in New Orleans was advertised for, and that Mills received the "usual amount" as premium. The building was so arranged "that all could be brought under the eye of the keeper." In his day the study of penology had received but little attention. Mills was therefore a pioneer in endeavoring "to regard it from the human side," as was characteristic. As a result of his efforts he became convinced that drastic reforms were advisable. These he consequently incorporated in a design, which he presented to his state without charge. One feature of his plan was a farm to utilize man power without resorting to the chain gang and other "criminal labor methods" of the time, "when employing the men publicly." This penitentiary was never erected. In anticipation of the erection of a new capitol building for South Carolina for the legislature, the then existing structure

THE COURTHOUSE,

CAMDEN, SOUTH

CAROLINA

Above: An elevation study by Mills, from the original in the possession of Thomas Dabney Dimitry. Below: T h e completed building, from a photograph.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

55

being of wood, Mills "projected plans upon an extensive scale commensurate with the rapidly growing needs"; but he adds, "these plans were hung up in the legislative halls and no action was taken because of the already extensive pecuniary obligations to which the state was s u b j e c t . " H e contributed a courthouse to C a m d e n , South Carolina (see reproduction of original drawing), but it is probable that the plans were altered as discrepancies m a y be traced between plan and final structure (ill., p. 54). T h e façade [he says], presents a grand portico of six Ionic columns spreading the whole extent of the building, and rising so high that the main roof will cover it and constitute its pediment. T h e offices, six in number, occupy the lower or basement story, and are arched with brick and made fireproof. A double flight of stairs rises within the vestibule to the courtroom story which occupies most of the second floor. T h e j u r y rooms on this floor are so disposed as to admit of galleries, and to extend over them. Four columns rise in the courtroom, carrying their imposts, between which springs a grand arched ceiling the whole width of the room and extending its whole length. Including the portico the building is 62 feet long and 43 feet wide. T h e roof is covered with metal and the walls are of brick.

Upon Mills's return to Washington in 1830 to remain p e r m a n e n t l y — t h o u g h without, as yet, official position—he was engaged in much Federal work. A letter to a contractor this first year (August 28) suggested a beginning of the work he wished to do for the United States T r e a s u r y , which resulted eventually in his designing of the T r e a s u r y Building as it now s t a n d s — a design far exceeding all his others in sheer distinction. I t specifies, " f o r carpenters, masons, glaziers, and blacksmiths, for engine house and utility rooms between the T r e a s u r y and the State Building." A most interesting piece of restoration was that of the old courthouse at Saint Augustine, Florida, which was built by the Spanish for a governor's palace, and was altogether neglected b y the United States after its acquisition in 1821. W e find ample proof in it of the painstaking work of R o b e r t Mills. T h i s work, begun in 1833, proceeded with difficulty, owing to

56

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

the distance between that point and Washington, and consequently to his inability to be personally in charge, and also to the fact that the structure was made of "nigger head" stone of unparalleled hardness and thickness. An almost continuous correspondence was necessary for a time to guarantee unspoiled the harmonies achieved by its original builders. Mills was especially meticulous in the matter of tiles for this old Spanish building, particularly on the floors of the galleries, in order to preserve exact agreement in color, and to reveal no new work. We find the government, (in 1833) debtor to him for "designs, drawings, plans and estimates of alterations and improvements to the Court House at Saint Augustine —agreeably to the requisition of the Treasury Department— in the sum of one hundred dollars." A note was appended to the effect that he "hesitated the advancement of the claim because it was not until Allen, receiver of moneys at Saint Augustine (now in Washington,) reported that the work was done, and with little alteration from the plans submitted." This note was sent to Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, but was not honored until Mills assumed official work for the government in 1836. The design for a courthouse at Alexandria, Virginia, bears two dates, 1808 and 1838, and we m a y infer that it was begun in the year, and possibly on the occasion of one of Mills's visits to his sweetheart Eliza at " D u m b a r t o n , " in Georgetown. This structure was, in fact, j u s t around the corner from the place of sojourn of the young lady. It is similar to " T h e Record," or fireproof building at Charleston (1822), and was probably his first study of the use of a basement story in a public building (ill., facing this page). I t will be seen by reference to the drawings that this feature is employed in both instances. This building was still standing in the summer of 1930. A first diary entry after his reestablishment in Washington refers to a plan and drawings of a courthouse for Savannah,

ALCXÀMOK/A

THE COURTHOUSE, A L E X A N D R I A ,

Above:

-

O.C

VIRGINIA

Elevation, by Mills. Below: Plans, by Mills. From the originals the Library of Congress.

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

57

Georgia, sent to a M r . Pooler there, but here its extant history ends. There is also a plan and elevation for a " g a o l " for Washington, dated in that extremely busy year, 1839. It was prepared " b y order of the Honorable Committee of the S e n a t e " and adopted by the Commissioners. T h e distinguishing feature of this building is the wall of the facade, which, rising slightly above the cornice, is finished in battlemented form, and thereby gives the effect of an Old-World fortress. T h e plan calls for the now obsolete features of "debtors' rooms" and "debtors' corridors." Its style possibly was influenced by Haviland's Gothic prison in Philadelphia, begun in 1 8 2 1 . Robert Mills first applied for the position of Architect of Public Buildings on February 1 5 , 1 8 1 5 . His conviction of the importance of government architecture led him to memorialize Congress frequently, principally in regard to work on the Capitol. On April 26, 1 8 1 5 , the memorial related to warming the Capitol. On October 22, 1822, it was with reference to the acoustics. On October 1 1 , 1 8 3 3 , it dealt with the water supply, etc. He continued to present these and other well-considered proposals at circumspect intervals to the executive offices, for the consideration of the president. I t was a sort of "boring with a feather" process and seemed to gain the effect that such processes usually do, for on J u l y 6, 1836, Andrew Jackson, after Mills had virtually held the office for some months, formally made him Architect and Engineer for the Government, and Mills's three years of waiting was rewarded. Mills accepted the position with enthusiasm partly personal, partly professional, and partly patriotic. T h e salary, $1,800—perhaps equal to between $7,000 and $9,000 today— was not so large as to make the pecuniary profit to be derived from it a controlling motive to a man of his temperament. L a t e r the salary was raised to $2,400 with $500 additional allowed for assistants. (At the same period the president of Columbia College in N e w Y o r k was receiving $2,600 and a

5«

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

house.) Since all Mills's correspondence, both public and private reveals a complete indifference to money matters, it may be deemed certain that it was the professional opportunities which the post offered which made him so eagerly seek and accept it. Mills's customhouses and courthouses present few differences. They are invariably of stone or brick stuccoed, with dividing walls of brick, and stand foursquare to the world. The intention of their designer was plainly the attainment of the maximum of utility, durability, and economy; b u t it is hardly probable that Mills would have succumbed to the scrollsaw practices of a later day, in an effort to attain effects at a low cost. He never intimates that the planning of these structures was uninspiring, or mere Federal drudgery. On the contrary, in private correspondence he alludes with animation to designs for a courthouse in a humble town, or to a customhouse at an inglorious port. The spirit he shows could not have been greater had he been planning an Olympian temple (ills., PP- 54, 56, 58). These buildings were often sixty-six feet square. They comprised a courtroom, its requisite offices in the second story, with cove ceilings extending to the roof; all windows and doors on cut-stone sills. Cut-stone water tables and belting courses level with the second-story windows were set on two elevations. The simple, straightforward lines of the customhouse at New Bedford, still standing, furnished a good example of the integrity of this type of his work, with its absence of ornamentation. 8 The omnipresent cupola is there, assuring ventilation at the least possible mechanical outlay. This obsolescent feature is, by the way, commendable even now in abridged forms * This simplicity was not received without criticism. T o some, even in his own day, these honest economical structures appeared mere barns. John Quincy Adams, whose lack of artistic taste and outspokenness were thorns in the flesh of many Washington architects and sculptors, speaks of Mills as a "bungler," and notes that Wise called the Newburyport Customhouse "the house that Jack built."

Above:

S T U D Y FOR T H E W A S H I N G T O N C I T Y F r o m the original in the author's possession.

HALL

Below, left: C U S T O M H O U S E , N E W B E D F O R D , F r o m a photograph.

MASSACHUSETTS

Below, right: C U S T O M H O U S E , N E W B U R Y P O R T , F r o m a photograph.

MASSACHUSETTS

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

59

for small structures; being merely a recognition of the simplest of natural rules, namely, that heat ascends. As example of Mills's farsightedness, attention may be called to the numbers of his government buildings still functioning efficiently, even though their dimensions do not, obviously, meet their requirements today. He was responsible for many of the marine hospitals placed at various and far distant points (ills., pp. 60, 61). These usually accommodated about two hundred patients, and were of simple design. As far as he could, Mills used the most durable materials. Many had galleries on two floors. Not architecturally imposing, even at best, these became still less so when, as sometimes happened, economy forced the omission of even the exterior painting. Those were lean days, and even his most modest estimates are known on occasions to have been cut down one-third! Y e t despite this, some of these hospitals are still functioning. The explanation of Mills's gradual ascendancy to the point where he dominated the architecture of his country stands revealed in that arresting colonnade, the United States Treasury Building at Washington. We know that Latrobe employed the same order in 1798. But except for him, no American architect during these early years had had the power to conceive, or the bravery to carry out, the Ionic order of the Erechtheum. (ills., pp. 64, 66, 68, 184). And who among us can quite appreciate the suitability of that word " b r a v e r y " in this case? At the present period it requires no particular fortitude to "deliver" a building whose contract is duly signed and sealed. It was not so then. There was no government agreement which might not be broken with impunity by the committee giving it, or by successive committees; the custom was to err on the side of the absence, rather than the presence of red tape of this kind—and it was under such conditions that Mills carried out his never-ceasing labors. But here it is necessary to go back a little. The history of the Treasury Building is as follows. The original structure

6o

PUBLIC

BUILDINGS

(the design of Hadfield, the Englishman, as we have had occasion to mention before) was completed in 1799, partially destroyed by fire two years later, repaired and used again until 1814, then once more burned and much of its contents laid waste by the invading British forces. The building which followed it served the government until March 31, 1833, when it also was destroyed by fire, the Treasury Department making use of temporary offices until the completion of the present building by Mills. This was authorized by act of Congress on July 6, 1836 the very day on which Mills was given charge of public buildings, showing his plans for this particular project to have been advanced at that time. T h i s — t h e fifth Treasury Building in succession—was completed in 1842 at an approximate cost of $700,000. It is still standing, after ninety-two years, while the average length of life of the other four was but eleven years. Mills describes the Treasury (1847) in his Guide to the Capitol and Public Buildings as follows: T h e building occupied by this d e p a r t m e n t is situated on the east side o f the President's square on a line with 15th Street; it is built of stone and is fireproof, extending 336 feet with a depth in the c e n t e r — i n c l u d i n g the colonnade in front and portico in the r e a r — o f 190 feet. E a c h floor contains forty-nine apartments, or in the three stories a b o v e the basement, 135 rooms [ills., pp. 64, 66, 68]. ( N o t e : T h i s building when c o m p l e t e d — b y the extension of w i n g s — w i l l h a v e a facade of nearly 500 feet with its porticos.)

When the construction of the Treasury Building was well under way in 1838, a series of criticisms on almost every point was handed to the architect. First, they concerned the site; second, its architectural effect; third, the constructive material used was assailed; and finally the stability of the construction was questioned. T o all of which Mills replied with admirable self-control and force. He may indeed have recalled, through this trying period, Latrobe's plaint that "government service is a ruinous connection." In respect to the site—criticized then and still criticized— Robert Mills is in no degree responsible. It is recorded that

FACADES

or M A R I N E

HOSPITAL

FAÇADES

TO A C C O M M O D A T E

OF

50 P A T I E N T S

MARINE

aeSiOIS

OFFICERS

ROOMS

8.C

HOSPITALS

The lower façade closely resembles that of the marine hospital built in New Orleans, Louisiana. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.

c/l X

H

S

w H - -

O «-*H

°

é *

2 -O

13

«

-C

U. S

4-*

-

s

J i s e - » . 5 >-i o __ 5 u . S - 5

J o U

bo

ft,

o

§


sV

*V

W

V

-o c

C

"

J 3 c o

•s

• 5 w V 11 - o o u J l-J H O H

z o

S

5 u S c •I -c V) J"«5 > J*C

os

§ « Ç3 V —> r " H

o

rt « l-J w o ^ Z < i-l O. e.

1 : M-S fi

d ir tí JS GO M-, M w O 'C

o

«w 3 O

=

S

"

5

XI Ul U, 60 rt

•S

t

« K

i

DWELLINGS

89

in consonance with his own untrammeled tastes. His professional advance is proved by every detail of this home, in which he seems really to have attained the grand manner. T h e decoration of the interiors, although distinctly Mills's type, reminds one, in its somewhat austere elegance, of the work of Mclntire in New England. But there was comparatively little in his southern background from which he could borrow for this attainment except certain very distinguished examples in his own Charleston, which city he had left before he could have been able to use them as models. In fact, Mills speaks in his autobiography of the poverty of good models in America, when he began the designing of private dwellings, as well as the deficiency of European writings on this kind of architecture. "The designs were both unsuitable and wholly wanting in economy and convenience," he wrote, speaking of the poor quality of such books as were available. "The author was therefore obliged to refer to his own individual resource for assistance." His considerations were as before mentioned "first the object of the building, second, the means at his disposal, and, finally, the situation." These had to serve as his guides in forming the outline plans; how well they served him is demonstrated in the Valentine Museum. The walls, of great thickness, are of brick, stuccoed. There is a square vestibule at the entrance, flanked by four Doric columns; and an extensive portico at the rear, encompassing the entire breadth of the house, which swells out at its center to accommodate a large bay, somewhat after that elastic type known as the Regency. The portico is gracefully upheld by an Ionic colonnade, and when I visited this old home under the gracious guidance of its former owner, Mr. Valentine, these columns were embowered in honeysuckle and purple and white wistaria, and overlooked an old Virginia garden filled with beds of flowering perennials characteristic of the Southland. The garden paths were bordered with boxwood, and

DWELLINGS

9° beyond was a surrounding brick wall, completely ivy-covered. B u t the pièce de résistance of this old garden was an aged magnolia tree that had been planted in 1807 and tenderly safeguarded b y Mills's workmen in the erection of this house. Little did he dream that it, as well as the house, would outlive the nineteenth c e n t u r y — a n d , m a y b e still another, and that even the fragrance of that time agone would still cling lovingly to it. All the doors are solid m a h o g a n y , with silver locks, knobs, and hinges. T h e floors are of the toughest " h e a r t pine," and the rooms on the first floor contain excellent specimens of Florentine marble mantels, and other décor equally Italian in flavor. One enters the house from the vestibule beneath a graceful arch, into a circular hallway. A t the rear rises a winding stair of exquisite proportions, leading to a gallery, which, b y a fine conceit, follows the lovely lines of an artist's palette. T h e handrail of the stairway and the balustrade around the curve of the palette are of lightweight m a h o g a n y ; on the white baseboard of its halls and staircase is shown a cleverly carved chain of magnolia buds and blooms. T h e curving sweep of this hall and stairway, though full of a delicate dignity, seems almost to deny its master, whose tastes were usually cast in sterner mold. B u t his versatility was at that time j u s t beginning to be known, and his work showed a nice balance of beauty with utility. O v e r the three parlor doors were originally painted scenes from the Odyssey and the Iliad, while the center of the ceiling reveals again the inevitable Grecian bias of the architect, in a frescoed head of Homer, drawn in profile, and other Grecian designs. F r a n k Millet, the artist, who copied these friezes, said that he had "rarely found anywhere more beguiling subjects." C u r v e d or convex mahogany doors (for want of a better description) were interesting features of this house, although not uncommon in America at that time, as they might have been seen in Boston, and possibly elsewhere.

T H E E X T E R I O R OF T H E W I C K H A M H O U S E ( V A L E N T I N E MUSEUM), RICHMOND, VIRGINIA Above: Rear view, from a photograph. Below: Front view, from a photograph.

DWELLINGS

91

Though he was partial to arched ceilings, curved corners and rounded lines, Mills did not relish the curve and the curlicue used for ornamentation only. Against his own taste he yielded, when he must, to a convention demanding the rococo, stucco reliefs, and medallions, paneled and decorated walls, ceilings, and mantels. But they were never his tempo. And even when he employs them, one detects a striving for harmony, proportion, elegance, and restraint, rather than ornamentation merely. In the matter of severe externals, however, he remained rigidly consistent with his ideals, believing, with Oscar Wilde "that art lies in simplicity." The Valentine house contains a wine cellar which is a model of construction for its intended purpose, and quite medieval in effect. 3 A second dwelling, and another treasured Richmond legacy of this architect is the Archer house on the corner of Franklin and Fifth Street (ill., p. 94). I am indebted to the present occupant, who graciously entertained me there, for the information that her grandfather purchased this house in 1825 from Richmond Cunningham, Esq., an Irish gentleman who had caused it to be built a little more than ten years before that time. This brings the date of its designing close to those prolific years of the architect's work in Richmond and the Carolina's, during the cessation of his work in the North. 4 The exterior of this house, while conforming to Mills's general style, has more elasticity of detail in its exterior designing than the Valentine house. The latter has, for instance, one chimney rising from the center of the roof, while the delightful early American arrangement of chimneys on the Archer house is an outstanding and interesting feature. Instead of a single Upright flue of masonry, the wall itself extends up at each side jelevation to form four well-proportioned chimneys, in perfect f That this house should become the Valentine Museum, of which Virginia may well | be proud, is strikingly appropriate. 1 1 am sorry to record at this eleventh hour that the Archer House, according to re' cent information is being torn down.

92

DWELLINGS

harmony with their elevations. This building is also of brick, stuccoed. The Flemish bond, stringers tied together by headers, was a favorite type of brick construction with Mills—in fact the type he usually employed. T h e Archer house has a vestibule with four Ionic columns and pilasters, completing a simple but perfect facade. The interior of this house is neither so ornate nor possibly so graceful in detail as the Valentine house. Nevertheless it is well balanced in every line, and rich withal. A picture of "Churchill," County Down, Ireland—theestate of E d w a r d Cunningham, ancestor of the first owner of the Archer house—is a cherished possession in this family. While the pictured mansion is only glimpsed through forest trees and shrubbery, a similarity between it and the more modern house is plainly discerned. T h e resemblance lies in the outline of its roof and chimneys, and gives credence to the family legend that Mills derived his inspiration for the newer house from this picture of the Irish " C h u r c h i l l , " although it was not unlike the popular idea of the N e w England colonial. Much of the material used in the Archer house was imported from England. T h e hardware for doors and windows was undoubtedly an importation, as was the built-in drawing room fireplace of English brass, on which the fair insignia of Great Britain is wrought in relief: the design of the rose, the thistle and the shamrock. One is inclined to linger over these details, even as I was inclined wistfully to tarry on this first day of my visit to this distinguished dwelling. T h e third building of the trio is that on Twelfth and Clay Streets, in which Jefferson Davis lived, and which served as his army headquarters for a period during the Civil War (ill., p. 94) It was known as the White House of the Confederacy, and is now loyally preserved and used as the Confederate Museum, possessing a varied collection of curios relative to the time and the cause. T h e house was originally built by Mills for a citizen of the city, Dr. J o h n Brockenborough.

DWELLINGS

93

This gentleman was the head of the Common Council, and both he and Judge Wickham were singularly qualified to direct the taste of Virginia's citizens along lines of art and architecture. H e was the moving genius in the ideal of the votive church, as well as in the Richmond equestrian monument to Washington. From the time Mills's design for the church was adopted, he sojourned habitually with the Brockenborough family whenever in Richmond, being evidently persona grata. It came about quite naturally, we might infer, that he should be asked to plan a house for his hospitable host—of which again, provokingly, no designs are preserved. And Mills's "simple, reliable good taste," as Glenn Brown characterized it, is nowhere better shown than in this typically southern dwelling. From the small Ionic-columned porch at the front to the grand portico in the rear, with its four clusters of two Doric columns each, all its effects are noteworthy, and despite a certain heaviness of proportion, distinguished. Perhaps "distinguished" is the most fitting adjective to apply to Mills's architectural work as a whole. T h e side elevation of this White House of the Confederacy has a single and a double arrangement of windows, and an inset wall, which latter feature, (though perhaps open to question architecturally) is not without effect; while the "ventilator" at the top of the house (one of Mills's characteristic touches) is perhaps more useful than beautiful. The interior, while good, is in no way remarkable, except for the sense of solidity and strength and well proportioned spaces which it gives—a characteristic of all his houses. T h e present top-heavy effect is due to a later rebuilding of the upper floor of the house, shortly before the Civil War, in which the old roof was removed and an extra story added, thus ruining the proportions Mills had created. 5 5 Fiske

Kimball, Domestic Architecture of the American public, 291.

Colonies and the Early Re-

94

DWELLINGS

While the number of Mills's undisputed structures is strikingly large, yet there are a considerable number of others ascribed to him by both tradition and expert opinion, which I hesitate to claim for him, but am yet unwilling to pass over without mention. I shall here give a brief but sufficiently comprehensive discussion of the more interesting of these debatable works—since they are debatable. Among them is the club house at 1109 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, with its arched doorways, triple Palladian windows, and fan light, which in certain particulars is strikingly similar to the block of houses in the same city before mentioned, and built for Capt. John Meany. This holds true for certain houses in Richmond, Virginia, and in Columbia, South Carolina. The old McCance and Marks houses, for instance, in Richmond, two distinguished dwellings still remembered by elderly citizens, are referred to with confidence by them as Mills's work, and old engravings of them are cherished as prized Americana of the locality. The home of the Westmoreland Club in Richmond, too, is a charming structure which partakes wholly of Mills's type. The view of the interior of the building, of the classic columns in the hall, as seen from the room that was in its earlier days its parlor, convinced me that it was Mills's even before I had heard the arguments presented by Mr. Edward Valentine, who accompanied me. It was built for James Gray, Esq., a man of note, as a private dwelling. It was purchased later by Judge Stannard and held by him for years, but finally disposed of to the Westmoreland Club. (There is also much Edgar Allen Poe tradition and legend connected with this house.) The evidence associating it with Mills is tenuous, while traditions are strong, and many. Its contractor was a Baltimore man named Boyd, who may or may not have been the " M r . Boyd" employed by Mills for some years in several cities, and especially in the erection of the Baltimore monument, at practically the same time as the construction of this house. He is certainly

Above: T H E A R C H E R HOUSE, R I C H M O N D , V I R G I N I A From a photograph. Below:

THE

JEFFERSON

DAVIS H O U S E , R I C H M O N D , From a photograph.

VIRGINIA

DWELLINGS

95

very often referred to in Mills's Richmond papers. But there is no definite documentary evidence connecting Mills with this house; and its attribution to him must, I fear, remain presumption only. Wilson is inclined to withhold credit for the several dwellings ascribed to Mills by his admirers in Columbia, South Carolina, except for the de Bruhl or Marshall house. This for many reasons seems to belong to the Mills epoch (1820) in South Carolina. The traditional evidence is all there, and also the date plainly to be seen on the bronze leaders along the roof of the house; but alas, no " R . M . " to confirm the probability! Far underneath the beauty of pillared porticos and spacious apartments of this house, a basement room is pointed out as the slave room. And it is well protected with iron gratings at windows and doors, and is located about where a garage would be found in a modern residence. 0 temporal The authorship of the present Chicora College for girls, also in Columbia (it was first the Preston and later the Hampton House) is debatable (ill., p. 156). Among Mills's original drawings is one marked "Hampton House." This may, however, have been a design, not of General Wade Hampton's town house in Columbia, but of his country place, about five miles outside of the city, which was burned to the ground during the Civil War; and Mills lists a Hampton House in Columbia, but nothing more. Mills is also credited with the architecture of "Dover" in Gouchland County, Virginia, and his diary certainly indicates that he had some association with this structure; though he may—by proxy—have remodeled it only. No investigation of this has been made. But enough of speculation, however fascinating. We have documentary proof that Mills was the architect of the row of houses on Calvert Street, Baltimore, near Center Street, which he called "Waterloo Row," for the reason that it was completed in the month of the year 1815 when Napoleon's final defeat was being celebrated. That these were classed as no ordinary houses is shown by the fact that one of them was

96

DWELLINGS

occupied b y the Hon. William Pinckney, Minister to E n g l a n d , as is incidentally proved by a Baltimore newspaper o f 1841, which describes an exciting burglary in the house of this diplomat during his absence at the Court of St. James's. T h e block had a certain vogue because of its fashionable location and hence patronage, but architecturally it is not especially worthy of comment. Either the architect made an artistic failure of his design—humanum est—or, not improbably, he was forced to cut his garment according to his cloth. While in Washington, according to his diary, Robert Mills designed a house for Benjamin Pollard, Esq., and also one for a congressman from Arkansas named Sellers. T h e location of these houses has never been discovered. Also among his documents is included a drawing of a " v i l l a " for M r . Joseph Hands at Bristol, Pennsylvania, drawn in 1842, "which was to cost $30,000." H e made a design for another villa for Hon. R . H . Johnson, senator from Arkansas. Judging from the designs which I have seen, one might affirm with a good deal of vehemence that villas were not Mills's strong point; so we shall proceed. O f the several dwellings Mills is known traditionally to have planned in Baltimore, we have but one original drawing, that of the Dedian House, as distinct testimony. T h e fine old H o f f m a n dwelling on Charles Street, one of Mills's best efforts, and long known as the M a r y l a n d Club which has given w a y to the advance of business along that famous residence street is said to be of Mills's designing, but I have been unable to find definite proof of it, though I am myself convinced of it. Its most pronounced feature—one, in fact, that has often been used as a m o d e l — w a s its uniquely designed side entrance forming a most arresting approach in the stately yet simple arrangement of line. L o a t h I was to relinquish further quarry in this quondam home town of mine, as there was tradition in plenty, and, in m y estimation, evidence as well, of Mills's still greater activity in this section, during his rather protracted stay. B u t the rules of the biographical game bid me turn m y b a c k upon sentiment and leave, promptly, this delightful " m o n u m e n t a l c i t y , " whose flavor clings so enduringly.

H O U S E S BY R O B E R T M I L L S A T T H E C O R N E R OF N I N T H AND L O C U S T S T R E E T S , P H I L A D E L P H I A From a photograph by Philip B. Wallace.

XII

DESIGNER OF MONUMENTS

I

T WAS after Mills had assumed the independent practice of his profession in Philadelphia that he sensed the new demand of a young nation—one fresh from the victory of perhaps the most unequal war and hence the greatest victory in history —for memorial expression. He notes in an autobiographical sketch that " a general discussion of monuments to the saviour of the country" was taking place. But his ability in this type of architecture first proved itself in a different, though allied form, i.e., the building of the votive church after the disastrous fire in Richmond (discussed in detail in an earlier chapter). His first monument, strictly speaking, was that erected in honor of the earliest president of the University of South Carolina at Columbia. This monument, of which there is found but slight record, was designed to commemorate the life and the deeds of a man of distinction in his state. It was most unpretentious in character, being scarcely more than a shaft, bearing suitable inscriptions, and the name, Jonathan Maxcy. Another of his earliest efforts was the Utah Monument on the site of the Battle of the Utahs in South Carolina, where the English were defeated by General Greene. Though neither design, drawing, nor record of prize remains, the tradition of Mills's authorship is satisfactorily borne out by cross references in history, and by direct mention of the statue in Mills's own papers. Another small memorial—perhaps less impressive than historically important—is in the churchyard of Camden, South Carolina (ill., p. 86). It was erected in honor of DeKalb, and the acclaim it received was due at the time (1825) largely to the presence of General Lafayette at the laying of its cornerstone. It is a simple work, modest and unas-

98

DESIGNER

OF

MONUMENTS

suming, but possessed of quiet dignity. It is an obelisk of white marble, on a granite base composed of well-proportioned steps around about it on all four sides, and it is surrounded by a delicate iron railing. A wreath was carved upon its base, and near its apex, a star. The star owes its presence on the monument, having been placed there subsequently—and on others as well that are of Mills's designing—to a legend of a significant happening during the laying of the cornerstone at this slight but exceptionally distinguished ceremony. " A brilliant star," so runs the tale, "appeared in the zenith at midday, and remained there during the procession from the sepulchre, considerably awing those present, and creating consternation among the Negroes collected"—a tradition still repeated in some of the cabins thereabout. 1 Mills's claims to authorship of the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Massachusetts, though never insistently proclaimed, were quite definite (ills., pp. 100, 102). The Massachusetts Historical Society is, on the other hand, convinced that it was the combined work of Horatio Greenough and Solomon Willard. There was without doubt a similarity of design between several of the drawings submitted, for at least four of the competing architects claimed to be the authors of the conception—Robert Mills, Alexander Parris, Horatio Greenough, and Solomon Willard. There is record of a payment to Parris although it may have been for aid only. Several of the competitive drawings are in the archives of the Massachusetts 1

There is one other evidence of the interest Mills felt in the design of small memorials. In the Analectic Magazine of Philadelphia for April, 1820, there is an article on "Memorials and Monuments," signed " M . " It is marked " t o be continued"; but no continuation appeared, probably because of Mills's removal to South Carolina. The article shows Mills's typical approach; it is full of his diffuse learning; it reveals an absorbed interest in obelisk and pyramidal forms. And it is accompanied by a design for a small monument (to " C a p t . Ross, 1 7 8 2 - 1 8 1 8 " ) whose simplicity and graceful elegance are typical of Mills's work; in many details it so resembles his De Kalb monument that I believe there need be no hesitation in attributing the article and its illustration to Robert Mills (ill., facing this page). T . F . H.

Above: T H E

MONUMENT TO CAPTAIN CHARLES From the Analectic Magazine.

ROSS

Below: D R . D E D I A N ' S H O U S E , B A L T I M O R E , M A R Y L A N D Elevation by Mills. From the original in the possession of Thomas Dabley Dimitry.

D E S I G N E R OF M O N U M E N T S

99

Historical Society. Mills's plan and letter of description indicate an obelisk of about the proportions of the existing monument, but with a rich treatment of trophies at the base. Solomon Willard was undoubtedly the architect who made the working drawings and superintended the construction; a contemporary newspaper (Boston News Letter, July 15,1826) tells of his election as architect to the Monument Commission, and the Memoir of Solomon Willard, by W. W. Wheildon, published in 1865, an official publication of the Monument Association, is equally definite. It goes at some length into the question of the authorship of the design, but its conclusions are indefinite. In Tuckerman's Memorial to Horatio Greenough (1853) he says, of the Bunker Hill Monument, "Greenough constructed a model in wood which was selected by the committee, although the prize was never bestowed upon him." It continues, "Solomon Willard planned the interior arrangement, but the form, proportion, and styles were adapted from Greenough's model." The use of the word "adapted" is significant; it may indicate that the final design selected was an adaptation of others as well. From a contemporary letter of Greenough to S. F. B. Morse, quoted in the Life of Morse by his son (1, 314), it also appears that Greenough had submitted an obelisk design with trophies at the base and a steep pyramid at the top, somewhat like one of Mills's designs. I have been unable to discover any documentary evidence that Mills received a premium for his design from the Bunker Hill Monument Association. But there is a strong family tradition that he did receive such prize; and Mills himself, in his life sketch, writes briefly as follows: During his residence in South Carolina, the author under public invitation presented designs for the monument to be erected on Bunker Hill, opposite Boston. T h e obelisk design was adopted in outline, without the decorative effects—which would have given it more interest.

DESIGNER

IOO

M o r e o v e r , in the Statistics

OF

MONUMENTS

of South

Carolina,

(footnote, page

4 6 7 ) , h e w r i t e s , " H e [the a u t h o r ] h a s l a t e l y h a d the a d d i t i o n a l honor o f h a v i n g his design for the B u n k e r H i l l M o n u m e n t a c c e p t e d , an obelisk o f m a s s y p r o p o r t i o n s , 2 5 0 feet h i g h " (ills., p p . 102, 104).

T h e r e w a s e v e r y e v i d e n c e of M i l l s ' s designs h a v i n g

seen m u c h w e a r . N o t e x a c t l y t a t t e r e d a n d t o r n — b u t d e c i d e d l y w o r n as t h o u g h b y m u c h h a n d l i n g . M i l l s e v i d e n t l y w r o t e J e f f e r s o n a t this time, telling of his choice o f an obelisk s c h e m e for the m o n u m e n t . J e f f e r s o n ' s letter in r e p l y is a choice relic, w r i t t e n f o u r m o n t h s before his o w n death: Monticello, Mar. 3 . 16. Dear Sir, I have duly received your favor of Feb. 15. and with it your beautiful map of S. Carolina, which I place among the many other testimonies of your friendship, and with the acceptableness they ever ensure. Your general plan will constitute a valuable work even independently of the statistical adjunct you propose. Y o u r idea of the obelisk monument is a very fine one. I think small temples would also furnish good monumenta designs, and would admit of great variety. On a particular occasion I recommended for Gen. Washington's that commonly called Lanthorn o Demosthenes, of which you once sent me a drawing handsomely done by yourself. I wish your travels should some day lead you this w a y , where from Monticello as your headquarters, you would visit and revisit our University, 4 miles distant only. The plan [of Monticello] has the two advantages of exhibiting a specimen of every fine model of every order of architecture, purely correct, and yet presenting a whole entirely new and unique. I hear with particular pleasure, that your family enjoys health in a climate not generally believed to be friendly to it, and that Mrs. Mill and your brother do me the favor of thinking kindly of me. M y own health is quite broken down. For the last ten months I have been mostly confined to the house, and now, nearly ending my 83rd year, my faculties, sight excepted, are very much impaired. The dislocation of both my wrists has so far injured the use of my hands, that I can write but slowly and laboriously. The less so however when I have occasion to assure you of my v e r y great esteem and respect. — T o Robert Mills— T h : Jefferson. T h e original of this letter, n e v e r b e f o r e published, is in the h a n d s of the w r i t e r .

2/