Gilbert Vanderwerken originally from Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

, was most notably recognized for introducing the omnibus, an urban version of the stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

, in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, in 1826.

Biography

With the bankruptcy of the first omnibus line in 1837 because of the national depression of that year

Panic of 1837

The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...

, Vanderwerken relocated to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, between 1848 and 1850 to take personal control of Washington’s first successful omnibus line. The Vanderwerken Company line, closely following the horse-drawn coach routes of the early 19th century, traveled from Georgetown

Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...

 to the Navy Yard

Washington Navy Yard

The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...

 via M Street

M Street (Washington, D.C.)

The name "M Street" refers to two major roads in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. Because of the Cartesian-coordinate-based street-naming system in Washington, the name M Street can be used to refer to any east-west street located twelve blocks north or south of the dome of the United...

 and Pennsylvania Avenue

Pennsylvania Avenue

Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...

 for a one-way fare of 12.5 cents. The omnibus, seating twelve passengers, bore the names of persons, historical events, or pictures of other fashionable modes of transportation on the side panels. The stables were located in a former tobacco warehouse at 3222 M Street in Georgetown. The Washington and Georgetown Railroad

Washington and Georgetown Railroad

The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company was the first streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C. It was incorporated and started operations in 1862, running from Georgetown to the Navy Yard. Two additional lines ran on 7th Street NW/SW and 14th Street NW. In 1890 it switched from...

 leased the omnibus line on July 1, 1862, and soon replaced it, donating the vehicles to the Army Medical Department.

Living in Washington, D.C., Vanderwerken purchased 1316 acres (5.3 km²) of Virginia property as pastureland for the horses. About 1852, Vanderwerken improved the farm by having a dwelling erected on "a hilltop in a grove of fine oak trees at the northwest corner of Little Falls and Glebe Roads." The dwelling was intended to be used as rental housing and as a summer retreat for the family. On his property, he also established a quarry business, the Potomac Blue Stone Company. The stone blasted from the palisades was used to build Healy Hall

Healy Hall

Healy Hall is the historic flagship building at the main campus of Georgetown University. The building was listed on DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 1964, on the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 1971, and as a National Historic Landmark on December 23, 1987.-History:The building...

 of Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 and St. Elizabeths Hospital

St. Elizabeths Hospital

St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. It was the first large-scale, federally-run psychiatric hospital in the United States. Housing several thousand patients at its peak, St. Elizabeths had a fully functioning...

.

During the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the Vanderwerken family remained in Georgetown, having agreed to allow Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Winfield Scott Hancock

Winfield Scott Hancock

Winfield Scott Hancock was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War...

 use of the house known as Falls Grove as an army hospital. In return, Hancock guaranteed protection of the buildings and fine grove of trees. The General used the two-story carpenter shop as his headquarters. Because of the strategic location of the property, it also became the site of Fort Ethan Allen

Fort Ethan Allen (Arlington, Virginia)

Fort Ethan Allen was an earthwork fortification built on the property of Gilbert Vanderwerken in Alexandria County, Virginia, by the Union Army in 1861 as part of the defense of Washington during the American Civil War. The remains of the fort, a portion of the earthen walls, now overgrown, are...

 and Fort Marcy. The property on which Fort Ethan Allen was constructed was returned to the heirs of Gilbert Vanderwerken following the war.

Fort Ethan Allen was ordered abandoned in the fall of 1865, and soon thereafter was dismantled. Much of what could be salvaged from the fort was sold by the government at public auction

Public auction

A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....

. The land under Fort Ethan Allen belonged throughout the war to Vanderwerken. After the war, as partial payment for the use of his land, Vanderwerken was given some of the lumber from the fort. The lumber reportedly was used to build Bellevue, the home of Vanderwerken’s daughter and son-in-law, Alfred and Jane Grunwell. Bellevue is located at 3311 N. Glebe Road.

External links

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/24/AR2007022401112.html
• http://www.bellevueforest.org/BFHistory.htm