Colonel Ninian Beall

In the summer of 1909 the finding of a large boulder in a cut on the line of the Metropolitan Southern railway near the junction of the right of way with the Glen Echo railway was communicated to Dr. Marcus Benjamin and by him promptly referred to Mr. William Van Zandt Cox, then Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia.


Appreciating the fact that this boulder might be used to preserve the memory of Colonel Joseph Belt whose career had been so fully presented to the Society in a valuable paper by our Historian, Mr. Cox at once appointed a Committee on Memorials, as follows: Mr. Thomas Hyde, chairman, Mr. Caleb C. Magruder, Jr., Judge Job Barnard, Dr. Marcus Benjamin, and Mr. William S. Knox. The Committee was quickly convened by its chairman and their first efforts were directed toward securing formal possession of this valuable find. The rock was inspected by members of the Committee who found to their great satisfaction that since it had blocked the progress of the contractor he had so blasted it as to make two boulders of nearly equal size. Through the courtesy of Mr. George E. Hamilton, local attorney for the Metropolitan Southern railway, permission was given to the Committee to remove the boulders. They were accordingly placed in the vicinity of Chevy Chase Circle where they remained until authority was given to the Committee for final action.


In the autumn the Chairman of the Committee made a verbal report to the Society recommending that one boulder be placed near Chevy Chase Circle to commemorate the services of Colonel Joseph Belt, and that the other be erected in Georgetown as a memorial to Colonel Ninian Beall, whose association during the Colonial period with the province of Maryland now included in the District of Columbia, had previously been interestingly described in a paper read before the Society by Mr. Zebina Moses and later privately published by him.


This report was approved by the Society and the Committee was authorized to have the boulders placed in suitable localities. The Committee visited various eligible sites, and finally decided to place one boulder at the northwest corner of the parking facing All Saints’ Church, at the junction of the Belt Road and Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, south of Grafton street and just within the District line.


The other boulder was erected at the southeast corner of O and Potomac streets on the grounds of St. John’s Church, Georgetown, D. C. It was also recommended that the boulder in memory of Colonel Beall be dedicated in the autumn of 1910, and that to Colonel Joseph Belt at a date to be decided upon later. It is hoped that these granite boulders commemorating the life and works of worthy colonial heroes may serve to testify to the high respect and esteem with which their memory is preserved by loyal descendants in the Society of Colonial Wars.


There remains only to add that because of the interest of a descendant of Colonel Ninian Beall, a member of the local Society, an appropriate bronze tablet was obtained and placed on the boulder in Georgetown. An account of the exercises that formed a part of the dedication ceremony is also included in this pamphlet.


This work contains the following:


Introduction

The Ceremonies.

Colonel Ninian Beall.

Grant for “Bacon Hall,” May 1, 1672.

Patent for “Rock of Dunbarton,” November 18,1703.

Last Will and Testament of Ninian Beall, Executed January 15, 1717, Probated February 28, 1717.