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Kalorama Heights

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Kalorama Heights is a historic neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. It is home to diplomats, power brokers, wealthy and political elites in D.C.

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30-470: The neighborhood got its name from Joel Barlow 's home in area at that time in 1800s. The neighborhood extends roughly from Massachusetts Avenue in the southwest to Calvert Street in the northeast, lying to the south of Rock Creek Park . The neighborhood is divided into two historic districts, separated by Connecticut Avenue: 38°54′57″N 77°03′06″W  /  38.91583°N 77.05167°W  / 38.91583; -77.05167 This article about

60-673: A location in Washington, D.C. , is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Joel Barlow Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator William Duer to set up the Scioto Company in Paris in 1788, and to sell worthless deeds to land in

90-670: A satirical version of the British national anthem " God Save the King ", called " God Save the Guillotine ". Historian William H. Goetzmann describes Barlow as a cosmopolitan , along with Thomas Jefferson , Benjamin Franklin , engineer Robert Fulton , and Thomas Paine , the last two of whom Barlow befriended in France. Barlow believed that the new country of America was a model civilization that prefigured

120-796: A standard item in literary anthologies. In addition, Barlow published Conspiracy of Kings, a Poem addressed to the Inhabitants of Europe from another Quarter of the Globe (1792). He continued writing political essays, publishing Political Writings of Joel Barlow (2nd ed., 1796) and View of the Public Debt, Receipts and Expenditure of the United States (1800). But much of his political speculation never passed beyond his voluminous notebooks, many of which are conserved in Harvard's Houghton Library . He also composed

150-779: The Northwest Territory which it did not own. Scholars believe that he did not know the transactions were fraudulent. He stayed in Paris, becoming involved in the French Revolution. He was elected to the Assembly and given French citizenship in 1792. In his own time, Barlow was known especially for the epic poem The Columbiad , a later version of the Vision of Columbus (1807), though modern readers rank The Hasty-Pudding (1793) more highly. As American consul at Algiers , he helped draft

180-592: The Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, to end the attacks of Barbary pirates of North Africa city states. He also served as U.S. minister to France from 1811 to his death on December 26, 1812, in Żarnowiec , Poland. Barlow was born in Redding , Fairfield County , Connecticut . He briefly attended Dartmouth College before he graduated from Yale College in 1778, where he was a member of Brothers in Unity , along with Noah Webster , who

210-732: The United States Constitution as "Philo-Publius". He had earlier served in the Continental Congress and the convention that framed the New York Constitution. In 1778, Duer signed the United States Articles of Confederation and is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . Duer owned 10 slaves. Duer spent most of his life as a financial speculator. In 1792, following his involvement in one of

240-539: The "uniting of all mankind in one religion, one language and one Newtonian harmonious whole" and thought of "the American Revolution as the opening skirmish of a world revolution on behalf of the rights of all humanity." An optimist, he believed that scientific and republican progress, along with religion and people's growing sense of humanity, would lead to the coming of the Millennium. For him, American civilization

270-568: The British government. Barlow served as American consul in Algiers from 1795 to 1797, during the period when Barbary pirates were preying on United States and European shipping. He used United States Department of State funds for bribes and ransoms to free more than 100 American merchant sailors held by pirates. He helped negotiate treaties with the Barbary states of Algiers, Tripoli , and Tunis to avert future seizures of American ships. He returned to

300-796: The British government. But he became a member of the Provincial Congress in 1775; he was one of the committee which drafted the original New York Constitution the next year. Duer was a member of the 1st New York State Legislature , serving in the New York State Senate for the Eastern District from September 9, 1777 to June 30, 1778. He served as a member of the Continental Congress in 1778 and 1779. While in Congress, he reportedly impressed future president John Adams and financier Robert Morris from Philadelphia, with whom he served on

330-671: The Napoleonic wars. He befriended, and was served as consul and prize agent, by the United-Irish exile David Bailie Warden . In October 1812, Barlow set off for Vilnius to negotiate a treaty with the French foreign minister, who was based in Lithuania to prepare for the French invasion of Russia . By the time he arrived, the French army was already in full retreat from Moscow . Barlow chose to take

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360-613: The State of Massachusetts (and Connecticut). He was a Mason and he became a good friend to Thomas Paine . In 1809, Barlow was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia . In 1783, Barlow moved to Hartford, Connecticut . In July 1784, he established a weekly paper called American Mercury , with which he was connected for a year. After "reading the law" in an established office, in 1786 he

390-647: The Treasury in 1789, Duer became the first Assistant Secretary . He continued to speculate in American bonds, including the failed Scioto Company scheme to buy up the American debt to France at a discount. Duer went bankrupt as a result of the Panic of 1792 , and was held in debtors' prison for the rest of his life. His failure has been cited as a cause of the panic, reportedly the first in New York caused by speculation. The loss

420-608: The United States in 1805, where he lived in the national capital at his mansion, known as Kalorama , now the name of a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. In 1807, he published the epic Columbiad , an extended edition of his Vision of Columbus . It added to his reputation in some quarters, but on the whole it was not well received. The poem for which he is now best known is his mock heroic The Hasty-Pudding (1793), first published in New York Magazine and now

450-464: The appointments of an English country seat. Catherine's paternal grandparents were New Jersey Attorney General James Alexander and merchant Mary Spratt Provoost Alexander , and her maternal grandparents were Catherine Van Brugh Livingston and Philip Livingston , 2nd Lord of Livingston Manor . She was, descended from the De Peysters , Livingstons , and Schuylers , and occupied a prominent place in

480-544: The army, Duer went to Antigua. He traveled to New York State for the first time in 1768, to arrange for a regular and constant supply of lumber for his plantations in Antigua and Dominica. As a planter, he traded extensively with Philip Schuyler , who persuaded him to move to New York early in the 1770s. On a previous trip to the area, Duer had purchased tracts of land on the upper Hudson River near Albany . The area, known as Fort Miller, served both as Duer's first residence and as

510-635: The finance committees as well as the "Board of War," the precursor to the War Department . In 1779, Duer returned to private business, in partnership with John Holker , the French commercial agent. He also did well in his business of supplying the American army, under contracts arranged for him by Robert Morris. Duer became a prominent speculator after the war; he was also elected to the New York General Assembly in 1786. When Alexander Hamilton , Schuyler's son-in-law, became first Secretary of

540-565: The first part of The Age of Reason while Paine was imprisoned during The Reign of Terror in France. Barlow remained abroad for several years, spending much of his time in London. There he was a member of the London Society for Constitutional Information . He also published various radical essays, including a volume entitled Advice to the Privileged Orders (1792). This was proscribed by

570-420: The lands it sold and failed disastrously in 1790. He had previously recruited a group of French to emigrate to America. Known as the French 500, most of them were among the founders of Gallipolis, Ohio , the second-oldest European-American city founded in the new Northwest Territory . In Paris , Barlow became a liberal in religion and an advanced republican in politics. He believed that "American civilization

600-686: The nation's first financial panics , Duer went bankrupt and was confined to debtors' prison, where he died seven years later. Duer was born in Devonshire , Great Britain , in 1743. He was the son of John Duer, a planter in Antigua in the West Indies , who kept a villa in Devon, and Frances Frye. She was the daughter of Sir Frederick Frye, who held a command in the West Indies, where she met and married Duer. Duer

630-470: The site of his early financial ventures. Duer set up sawmills, warehouses, and a store. In 1773 he returned to England, where he obtained a contract to supply the Royal Navy with timber for masts and spars. By 1776, had built a moderately successful mercantile business based primarily on lumber production. Duer was originally a moderate Whig , somewhat reluctant to become involved in active resistance to

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660-506: The society of the period. Together, they were the parents of eight children, including: Duer died in New York City on April 18, 1799 at age 57. He was buried in the family vault under the old church of St. Thomas and was later reinterred in Jamaica , Long Island , New York. After his death, his widow remarried to William Neilson on September 15, 1801. Through his eldest son William, he

690-510: The southerly route to return to Paris, by way of Krakow and Vienna . He became ill and died of pneumonia on December 26, 1812, in the Polish village of Żarnowiec . A monument was later erected to him there. William Duer (Continental Congressman) William Duer (March 18, 1743 – May 7, 1799) was a British-born American jurist, developer, and financial speculator from New York City . A Federalist , Duer wrote in support of ratifying

720-675: Was a good friend at the time. In 1778, he published an anti-slavery poem entitled "The Prospect of Peace". Barlow was an ardent patriot in the American Revolution . He was engaged in the Battle of Long Island and served as a chaplain for the 4th Massachusetts Brigade from September 1780 until the close of the Revolutionary War. He was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati in

750-425: Was admitted to the bar. In Hartford, Barlow became a member of a group of young writers including Lemuel Hopkins , David Humphreys , and John Trumbull , known in American literary history as the " Hartford Wits ". He contributed to The Anarchiad , a series of satirico-political papers. In 1787, he published a long and ambitious poem, The Vision of Columbus , which gave him a considerable literary reputation and

780-451: Was educated at Eton College , and while still under age, was put into the army as ensign. He accompanied Robert Clive as aide-de-camp on his return to India as governor general in 1762. He suffered severely from the climate, so Lord Clive sent him back to England, where he remained five years until his father's death, upon which he inherited his father's estates in Dominica . Having left

810-497: Was estimated at 3 million dollars and impoverished many in all classes. In 1779, Duer married Lady Catherine Alexander (1755–1826), second daughter of Sarah ( née Livingston ) Alexander and Lord Stirling , a major general in the Continental Army . The marriage took place at Stirling's country seat, "The Buildings," near Basking Ridge, New Jersey . It was designed in the style of a residence of an English nobleman, with all

840-533: Was once much read. In 1788, he went to France as the agent of Colonel William Duer and the Scioto Land Company , which had been registered in Paris the year before. He was to sell lands in part of the newly organized Northwest Territory (this section is now in Ohio), and recruit immigrants for new settlements. He seems to have been ignorant of the fraudulent character of the company, which did not hold title to

870-464: Was world civilization", and was enthusiastic about the cause of world republicanism. He became involved with the French Revolution , going so far as to be elected to the French Assembly, and being granted French citizenship in 1792. Although he dedicated his "Vision of Columbus" to Louis XVI , he joined royal opponents in calling for the execution of the king. Barlow helped Thomas Paine publish

900-677: Was world civilization. He projected that these concepts would coalesce around the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem . In 1811, Barlow was appointed as U.S. minister to France ; he sailed across the Atlantic on the USS Constitution . His task was to negotiate an end to the Berlin Decree and the Milan Decree , as well as obtain the release of American ships and crews held by the French during

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