Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/34

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

son, son of Thomas and Rebecca (Dulany) Addison, was born. The family name, orig- inally deLaune, later became Delany, and there is in the family a letter from Dean Patrick Delany asking Daniel why he changed his name to Dulany. Perhaps the circumstances under which Daniel left his Irish home furnish the reason.

(V) Rev. Walter Dulany Addison, eldest son of Thomas (2) and Rebecca (Dulany) Addison, was born in Annapolis, Maryland, January i. 1769. at the old Dulany man- sion, the home of his maternal grandpar- ents. Walter and Mary (Grafton) Dulany, the latter a daughter of Richard Grafton. Thomas Addison died in 1775, his father- in-law preceding him to the grave in 1773. Thomas Addison left his estate in a pros- perous condition and made provision in his will that his sons should be sent to Eng- land to be educated. His widow remained at Oxon Hill, the family home, and in Au- gust, 1784, Walter D. and his two brothers sailed for London, entering a classical school in Greenwich, where they remained until 1787, then spent about six months in Dr. Barrows school. Walter D., returning to Maryland in the summer of 1789. He pursued theological study, and in June, 1793, removed his residence to Oxon Hill, which he owned. On May 26, 1793, he was or- dained "unto the Holy Order of Deacons" by Bishop Thomas John Claggett, the first bishop consecrated in America and this his first ordination. The young clergyman was first placed in charge of Queen Anne's par- ish. Prince George's county, continuing there until 1801, then returned to Oxon Hill, where for some years he continued to preach at different churches, more especially at St. John's "Broad Creek." About this time he purchased the Hart Park estate and moved his residence there. In 1800 he moved to Annapolis. Later he became rector of Pis- cataway or Broad Creek parish, containing three churches, where he continued until 1809, and from that year until 1821 he was rector of St. John's, Georgetown.

He was esteemed and beloved by his people and greatly revered for his unaffected piety. In 18 17 his eyesight began to fail and he sent in his resignation, but it was not accepted. In 182 1 he resigned and took charge of Rock Creek and Addison's Chapel, but in 1823 returned to St. John's, remain- ing until 1827. In 1824 his eye trouble re-

turned and he was threatened with blind- ness. In the following six years blindness, bereavement and poverty overtook him. His large property he had given away and lost, his slaves he freed and to every man's needs he had given liberally. Oxon Hill had been sold, as had Hyde Park, and with David he could say "All Thy waves and Thy storms have gone over me." But his later years, although spent in darkness, were beautiful years, and he was tenderly cher- ished in the homes of his children. He died January 31. 1848. on Sunday morning, and according to his wish he was buried at Oxon Hill, the family burial ground being retained when the estate was sold.

Rev. Walter D. Addison married, in June 1792, Elizabeth Hesselius. daughter of John and Mary (Young) Hesselius, of "Primrose Hill." the family home, two miles from An- napolis, the latter named having been left a widow with four daughters at the age of twenty-two years, and married (second) John Hesselius, an artist of some distinc- tion. She was the daughter of Richard Young, who died in 1784. and left her, his only child, the estate known as "Primrose Plill." Rev. Walter D. Addison and his wife were the parents of several sons and one daughter ; the sons were men of high char- acter and learning, who ever cherished the fondest memories of their honored parents and of the old Oxon Hill home.

(VI) Dr. Edmund Brice Addison, eldest son of Rev. Walter Dulany and Elizabeth ( Hesselius) Addison, was born at Oxon Hill, near Annapolis, Maryland, in 1794, died in Washington, D. C, in 1878. He was finely educated in the classics, possessed a highly developed literary mind, and had he desired to confine himself to the practice of medicine closely he would have been one ot the great men of his profession. He was a graduate M. D. and practiced in Mary- land, but he preferred the quiet of his coun- try home in Baltimore county, Maryland, and the pleasures his well-stocked library gave him. After the death of his wife he moved to Alexandria, where he lived in deep- est seclusion, devoting himself entirely to his children, who adored him. He possessed a keen sense of humor, which, joined to his highly-cultivated mind and retentive memory, rendered him a charming com- panion. He wrote considerable, including an unpublished volume of "Recollections,"

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