“From the Archives” — A Capitol Funeral

Alexandrian Henry Daingerfield (1800-1866) married Susan Sewall, daughter of Robert Sewall, from an old Maryland Catholic family, and Mary Brent, daughter of William Brent and Eleanor Carroll, niece of Baltimore Archbishop John Carroll. Daingerfield was one of the wealthiest men in Alexandria. His many businesses included stores, warehouses and wharves. He owned a railroad and served on the board of commissioners who planned the Alexandria Canal, which brought many Irish laborers to Alexandria.The Daingerfield’s townhouse on Prince Street later became Saint Mary’s Academy, and the family attended Saint Mary Church.One of their children, Henry, is buried in Saint Mary Cemetery.

Henry and Susan, his first wife, had two surviving daughters: Susan (d. 1886) and Ellen (d.1912). Susan married U. S. Senator John S. Barbour of Virginia. They had a home near the U.S. Capitol and an estate near Charlottesville, which is now the Barboursville Vineyards and Winery. After the death of his wife, a devout Catholic, Barbour affiliated himself with the Catholic Church, but it is not known if he formally became Catholic. The speculation was that it could have been politically unwise to publicly announce his conversion at the time. When Senator Barbour died (February 8, 1886), he lay in state in the U.S. Capitol and a Catholic Requiem Mass was offered for him in the U.S. Senate Chamber, the first time a Mass had ever been offered in the Capitol.

The Barbours had no children; Ellen Daingerfield never married. After their mother’s death, Ellen and Susan lived on their father’s estate in Maryland, “Poplar Hill,” and divided their time between Maryland and Alexandria. When Ellen died, she left the property to the Archdiocese of Washington.

—Kitty Guy, Parish Historian