The John Addison Porter House

1611 21st Street NW Washington DC.

In 2022, my wife Ketty and I purchased a small ground level one bedroom apartment in a cool old house at 1611 21st Street NW Washington. Located in the heart of DC's historic Dupont Circle neighborhood, a half a block north of Massachusetts Avenue and just west of the circle itself, the house has nearly 140 years of history, beginning in 1884. Given the rich history of the the neighborhood, I thought this house might have some stories to tell, so I set out to find out what I could about the place and people that lived there.

The many personal stories that tell history of the house at 1611 21st Street are lost with the passage of time. But, if the walls could talk, you would hear of young newlyweds, families growing up, society social events, wedding receptions. Later on, it would be the tales of the working class, transient rooming tenants, young apartment dwellers, and in darker days, the story of a gruesome knife attack and a crime solved.

The characters of this house are socialites, young couples, widows, widowers, families with young children, and live-in staff of servants, cooks, and even a butler. The names of many who lived at 1611 21st Street are lost and forgotten, but this study reveals an alluring cast of dwellers: a high-level government official, a wealthy whiskey distiller, a prominent lawyer, a widowed socialite, a Major General, a foreign service officer among others.

The narrative of the house follows along with historical trends of the neighborhood. Back in the late 1800s, the Dupont Circle area developed as fashionable residential district with mansions constructed along Massachusetts Avenue, one of DC's grand avenues, and townhouses built throughout the neighborhood. The area attracted the nation's wealthy and powerful business and political classes, with a lively winter social scene of teas, dinners, and balls. Dupont Circle's high society of that period was where the power and prestige of money and politics were on display.

With the onset of the great depression, DC's high society culture declined, and most of the grand residences in the neighborhood were sold to foreign governments and converted into embassies or ambassadors' residences. In the mid-century, as with most large American urban areas, the neighborhood rapidly declined, particularly after World War II with the middle-class flight to the new growing suburbs in nearby Arlington and Montgomery counties.

By the 1980's cities were rebounding and a resurgence was underway in and around Dupont Circle. Gentrification trends of the 80s and 90s drove up real estate prices, and much of the neighborhood changed over, bringing in new trendy restaurants, bars, stores and coffee shops. The renaissance of Dupont Circle continues to this day, with the rise of popular museums, boutique galleries, and Washington's largest weekly farmers' market.

John Addison Porter

The house at 1611 21st Street was designed by noted DC architects William Bruce Gray and Harvey L Page, and constructed by builders Langley & Gettinger in 1884 for the home's first owner and original occupant John Addison Porter

In 1881 John Addison Porter graduated from Yale College with a master's degree in History. In '82 he married Amy Ellen Betts and the newly married couple moved to Washington DC where Porter served as literary editor of the New York Observer, and later as an aide to his uncle, a Republican congressman from Connecticut.

Arriving in Washington DC, Porter rented a house on Hillyer Place in DC's Dupont Circle neighborhood, and soon thereafter purchased an undeveloped lot on the corner of 21st Street and Hillyer Place. Porter went on to build two attached residences at a cost of $18,000. One residence faced 21st and the other Hillyer. The young couple moved into the new home at 1611 21st Street in 1884. Just two years later Mr. Porter purchased a one third interest the Hartford Evening Post and the couple moved back to Connecticut where he became the paper's editor-in-chief. John and Amy Porter's only child, Josephine was born in Hartford in 1892.

Although he had moved away from DC, Porter retained ownership of the 1611 house. In 1887 the house was advertised for rent in the Washington Herald for $167 per month. In 1888 Porter leased the house to a prominent Maryland whiskey distiller and well known Democratic operative named Mr. Outerbridge Horsey IV. Finally, in 1892 Porter sold the house to attorney Duane E. Fox.

Porter remained active in politics having served as delegate at three Republican National Conventions. In 1897, President William McKinley appointed Porter Secretary to the President of the United States and Porter, with his family, returned to Washington to work at the White House. It was Mr. Porter's White House office that was first to establish the daily White House press briefings, which are still in practice today. It can be said that although the term press secretary had not yet been conceived, he was the first person ever dedicated to that role. Unfortunately, John Addison Porter was struck down with intestinal cancer and resigned his position on May 1st, 1900. He died in December of 1900 at the age of 44.

In 1901, in memory of her husband, Amy Betts Porter established The John Addison Porter Prize in American History for undergraduates. To this day the prize is awarded annually to outstanding Yale students.

Outerbridge Horsey IV

In 1888 wealthy Maryland landowner and whiskey distiller Mr. Outerbridge Horsey IV leased the 1611 21st Street house from John Addison Porter to use as a winter residence.

Outerbridge Horsey IV was a direct descendant of Charles Carroll, a Maryland signer of the U.S. Constitution and one of the state’s most famous citizens. His grandfather, Thomas S. Lee, twice had been governor of Maryland. His father, Outerbridge III, was a U.S. Senator from Delaware. The family was quite wealthy having established Needwood, a mansion and plantation of 2,000 acres in Frederick County, Maryland, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The youngest of four children, Outerbridge IV was born on the estate in 1819.

Inheriting land at Needwood at an early age, Outerbridge decided not just to farm it, but to establish a distillery. His initial operations were small with mainly local whiskey sales, in keeping with the farmer-distiller traditions of that era.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, and most likely to avoid military service in the Union Army, Outerbridge IV and his family moved to France for the duration of the fighting. While Horsey was away, Needwood became a battleground. In the process the distillery was destroyed, and the whiskey store was looted by thirsty combatants. Despite these setbacks, Horsey remained passionate about making whiskey. He visited Scotland and other European distillery sites to better learn the craft of producing high quality whiskey. Returning to Maryland after the war, he rebuilt his operation and eventually claimed it was “the first Eastern pure rye distillery of the U.S."

Horsey’s most notable method of aging whiskey was unique for the times and brought fame to his operation. He sent barrels of his whiskey via ship around Cape Horn to San Francisco and then by railroad back to Maryland for bottling. His theory was that splashing around inside barrels on the high seas mellowed the whiskey, providing a superior taste. This method produced very special brand called "Horsey's Golden Gate Pure Rye" which at the time was considered the best-in-class high end American whiskey.

The Horseys were among a significant number of wealthy families who came to DC in the 1880s. Being in DC was attractive to the new wealth of that period for several reasons: for political influence, to find wealthy husbands for their daughters and because they were closed out of "old wealth" society of New York City.

Horsey and his wife and daughters spent numerous winters residing in DC as very active participants and often hosts in the high society social scene of the 1880s and 90s. It is uncertain how many winters the Horseys lived at 1611. Eventually Horsey purchased his own winter home nearby on New Hampshire Avenue.

Duane E Fox

Duane Fox was born in 1858, son of an insurance salesman, raised in Grand Rapids Michigan and attended the University of Michigan. He married Matilda Smoot in 1881 and the young couple moved to Washington DC where Mr. Fox worked as an interior department clerk. In 1884 Fox was admitted to the DC BAR and eventually left government entering into private law practice. In 1892, Fox purchased the house at 1611 21st Street and lived in in it along with his family for 33 years.

Over his time living at 1611, Duane E. Fox became a successful sought after DC attorney, specializing in business and land law. Between 1897 and 1908 Fox represented numerous prominent clients and argued at least six cases before the United States Supreme Court. Fox was an active member and officer of the DC Michigan Alumni Assocation, and one of earliest and the longest standing members of the nearby Cosmos Club. The Cosmos Club is Washington's best known exclusive private social club. Among its members have been three Presidents, two Vice Presidents, 14 Supreme Court justices, 36 Nobel Prize winners, 61Pulitzer Prize winners and 55 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Fox family's home was host to two of the Fox daughter's wedding receptions, as well as the place of Mrs. Fox's funeral service.

In 1925 the Mr. Fox, then a 67-year-old widower, sold the house to Mrs. James C. Frazier.

Mrs. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Frazer

In1909 at the age of 43, Elizabeth Kennedy Van Rensselaer of the historically prominent New York Van Rensselaer family, married General James C Frazer of Morgantown West Virginia. The couple moved to New York City where Frazer joined a law practice. After just 18 months of marriage General Frazer died suddenly from a heart attack and soon after Mrs. Frazer moved to Washington DC.

Living in DC, the widowed Frazer became an active member of Washington society and was involved in a number of civic and social associations. She was most notably remembered as vice president of the Navy league and chairing the committee for the Belleau Wood memorial in France

In 1925 Mrs. Frazer purchased the 1611 21st Street house from Duane E. Fox. and hired Arthur M. Poynton, a popular DC contractor, to remodel and significantly enlarge the house. Poynton's plans for the house included three-story extensions to the north and south side of the house; the removal of the raised entrance; the addition of a bay window to right of the entrance; the enclosure of the porch on the south side of the house; expansions and steeper angling of roof to allow for rooms on the upper level. The construction was completed, and Mrs. Frazer was living in the house by 1927. It is not known why, but her stay in the newly enlarged renovated house was short lived. By 1929, Mrs. Frazer had sold the house to Col. Robert M Thompson. Mrs. Frazer must have known Col Thompson as he had served as President of the Navy League where she had served as Vice President.

In 1930 Mrs. Frazer was living in an apartment at 2021 Connecticut Ave.

Colonel Robert Means Thompson

In 1929 80-year-old Col Robert Means Thompson purchased the 1611 21st Street residence from Elizabeth Frazer.

Robert Means Thompson was a wealthy copper and nickel mining magnate, financier, philanthropist as well as prominent sportsman, and owner of numerous show and race horses . Thompson graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1868 and served three years aboard ships in the West Indies and the Mediterranean. In 1871, he resigned his commission and settled in Boston studying law at Harvard. After practicing law in Boston for two years, Thompson became involved in mining and smelting interests and his early business was credited with developing the first commercially successful method of separating copper from nickel. He eventually rose to become Chairman and CEO of the International Nickel Company. In his later years Col Thompson relocated to Washington DC and kept a home in South Hampton Long Island. While living in DC Thompson was twice President of the United States Olympic Committee and president of the Navy League of the United States, where presumably he met Elizabeth Frazer, prior owner of 1611, who served as Navy Leaue Vice President.

It seems that Col Thompson actually never lived at 1611. Soon after purchasing the property, he leased it to his nephew Major General Stephen O Fuqua.

Col Thomson died September 5, 1930, at the age of 81 and ownership of the house then valued at $65,000 passed to his daughter Sarah (Mrs. Stephen H. P. Pell) of Key West Florida.

Major General Stephen O. Fuqua

On March 28th, 1929, Stephen Ogden Fuqua was appointed by President Herbert Hoover to serve as United States Army Chief of Infantry in Washington DC. Needing to move his family from their station at Governors Island in New York to Washington DC, General Fuqua leased the house at 1611 21st Street from his uncle Col Robert Means Thompson.

Born at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1874, Stephen O Fuqua married Pauline Stafford in 1906. They were the parents of two children, Jeannette and Stephen Jr.

Fuqua fought in combat engagements in the Spanish-American War both in Cuba and the Philippines as a Captain of Infantry. During World War I he served as Chief of Staff of the Army's First Division in France and Germany. For his heroic services during the war, Stephen was awarded the Unites States Distinguished Service Medal and decorated as a Chevalier of the French Legon of Honor.

As the US Army's Chief of Infantry, General Fuqua spent two years in Washington living at 1611 21st Street along with his wife and daughter Jeanette. While living in Washington 22-year-old Jeanette was introduced to Washington DC at high society debutante parties.

In 1932 General Fuqua was appointed military attaché to the United States Embassy at Madrid. Fuqua and his family left DC and moved to Spain. Soon thereafter Sarah Thomson Pell sold the house at 1611 21st Street at public auction to Dr. William B. Sims of Washington DC.

Dr. William Bailey Sims

In 1932 39-year-old Dr. William B Sims purchased the residence at 1611 21st Street at public auction. Dr Sims and his wife Marian Lorton Sims lived together in the residence for at least 8 years. In 1940 Sims estimated the residence was worth $80,000. The Sims' divorced in 1942 after 18 years of marriage. Mrs. Sims continued to live at 1611 into the late 1940s.

Dr. Sims was a General Practitioner Physician, practicing in DC for 39 years. He was a member of the Chevy Chase Club and the Metropolitan Club.

Aubrey Erskin Lippincott

Aubrey Lippincott and his wife Leda were living at 1611 21st Street in early 1949. It is uncertain exactly how long they lived in Washington at the residence. Mr. Lippincott was assigned as Consul General in Milan Italy in late 1949.

Aubrey E. Lippincott was a career foreign service officer. He served numerous overseas assignments including Haifa Palestine, Beirut Lebanon, Baghdad Iraq, Madras India, Montevideo Uruguay, Buenos Aires Argentina, Milan Italy, Barcelona Spain and Jerusalem. He attended the University of Arizona and Kansas State College.

1950s and Beyond

By as early as July 1953 the residence was being used as a rooming house. At some point it was divided into apartments and eventually into the four condominium units that exist today.

Stabbing as Reported in The Evening Star

10 and 12 Jun 1959