Will the real Thomas F. Harney, PLEASE STAND UP!

[L Verge]

Franklin Park or Square, between 13th and
14th and I and K Streets, NW., originally was low
and marshy ground, and "there were a number of
springs upon it, the water being of most excellent
quality" (Washington Evening Star, 1888). The
Federal Government bought this square in
1829-32 and immediately piped the waters to the
White House and the State, War, Navy, and Treasury
Departments (Sessford, 1908, p. 300, 304;
Somervell, 1930, p. 612; Washington Evening Star,
1906). The springs, of course, had been in use for
many years prior to 1832, and as early as 1819 the
Government had taken steps to purchase them.
For 75 years, beginning in 1832, these famous
springs served Government and other nearby
buildings. In the 1880's the flow decreased somewhat,
possibly due to the digging and construction
of the foundation pits for some of the tall hotels to
the west and northwest of the square (Washington
Evening Star, 1912). The waters eventually
became contaminated and were condemned

See pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1977/0752/report.pdf This may be where Bill Seale got his information. It reads to me that water was being piped into the White House and adjacent buildings for other purposes besides "the pause that refreshes?" The full article gives the location and history of a good number of early springs in D.C. that no longer existed once the city grew. The rate of water flow through some of the pipes seem remarkable to me -- 60 gallons per minute, etc.

As for Dixie Reckoning, Wild Bill and I may be the only ones on this forum to have contact with Mr. Stelnick and to have read at least parts of it (in my case). The original that I read did have hundreds of citations, but I admit that some were quite spurious. After being threatened, both legally and physically, by the gentleman, however, I packaged up everything he had given me and shipped it back - my decision, not his demand. Remind me sometime to tell you the pitfalls of being in the history field and dealing with some bad "associates" in the field.