hn
Alexander bound himself to lay out and keep free forever a street
sixty-six feet wide binding on the west side of the granted lot or half
acre of land, by the name of St. Asaph Street: "Beginning at a straight
line produced and extended from the termination of Cameron Street in the
said town of Alexandria until it extends sixty-six feet to a direct line
to the Westward beyond the breadth of the other lott or half acre of
land, thence Southerly and parallel to Pitt Street in the said town,
until it intersects a street of the same width called Wilkes Street
..."[147]

Patrick Murry built and resided in this completely charming clapboard
house until the year 1786, when the wheels of fortune forced him to
dispose of all houses, yards, gardens, ways, advantages, and so on, to
Ann English and William McKenzey, executors of Samuel English to secure
the payments of the sum of L348, Virginia currency, with interest from
August 22, 1775. Alas, for compound interest! Ann English and her
husband, James Currie, did convey and sell the lot with all improvements
unto Elisha Cullen Dick on April 15, 1794. Two years later Dr. Dick and
his wife, Hannah, disposed of the house and grounds to John Thomas
Ricketts and William Newton for and in consideration of L1000 current
money.

[Illustration: Patrick Murray's parlor. The picture over the mantel is
needleworked, a polite accomplishment taught to females and the product
of the gentle hands of a Fawcett ancestor]

On July 2, 1806, William Newton and wife conveyed the property
"including all that framed dwelling house lately occupied by the said
William Newton" for the sum of four thousand dollars to William
Smith;[148] thence again in 1816 the Smiths, William and Margaret,
disposed of the frame dwelling house for three thousand dollars to John
D. Brown.

The descendants of John Douglas Brown have occupied the home for the
past one hundred and thirty-three years. His great-grandchildren, the
Fawcett family, are the present owners of the house. The Fawcett house
has been little changed, and is kept in excellent repair. The woodwork
in the drawing room is true to the period; that throughout the house is
quaint and interesting. In the great room the fire breast is outlined
with a dog-eared mold. The mantelshelf, attached without brackets, has a
punch-work motif. The heavy raised panels on each side of the chimney,
and the paneled closets enclose the entire west wall.

[Illustration: D