DACOR Bacon House History: Academic Library




Most Recent Articles



The Carroll Family and the Civil War, Part 2

Oct 27 2025
In the middle of July 1863, the Carroll family, including its warriors – Col. S. Sprigg Carroll, Lt. Charles H. Carroll, and son-in-law Brig. Gen. Charles Griffin – gathered at the mausoleum at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, to bury their patriarch, William Thomas Carroll. His death caught them off guard – they were vacationing in Sharon Springs, New York, when a telegram reached them. The remainder of the war saw the family tossed between triumphs on battlefields and terrible private losses, ending with victory for the Union, the death of President Lincoln, and of Sally Carroll’s aged mother.


The Carroll Family and the Civil War, Part 1

Oct 20 2025
On April 12, 1861, as Fort Sumpter was bombarded and the Civil War commenced, the Carrolls’ youngest child, a six-month old boy named William Cuyler Carroll, died and was interred in a vault in their mausoleum at Oak Hill Cemetery. A Southern family – both the Carrolls and the Spriggs came from old Maryland slave-owning families – they nonetheless remained strong supporters of the Union, unusual among Washingtonians of their standing. Four months into the war, their two sons were in Union regiments, and their daughter Sally was being courted by an up-and-coming Union military officer. This posting offers a look at the Carrolls during the first two years of the war, 1861-63. It is written as part of the bicentennial program at DACOR Bacon House, “Foggy Bottom and the Civil War,” to be presented October 30, 2025


Alida Carroll and Music at DACOR Bacon House in the 19th Century

Oct 13 2025
On October 5, 2025, a program of music was presented in the drawing rooms of DACOR Bacon House by the Washington Revels Heritage Voices, a professional musical group based in the District of Columbia which specializes in the performance of traditional music. The program included songs, waltzes, and tunes, some of which were drawn from a volume of Alida Carroll’s sheet music and others from well-known nineteenth-century song collections. The singers also sang some African Americans melodies in remembrance of people who were enslaved in the house between 1825, when it was built, and 1862 when they were freed. The program also included a waltz or “ripple” written to honor Sally Countess Esterhazy, Alida’s older sister, which was debuted in 1891 in Washington and not performed in the city since 1892. The program was part of the bicentennial celebration of the house and its occupants.


For a searchable database of all posts, click here.



Please help us preserve The DACOR Bacon House
as a place where American history will continue to be written.
Thank you for your generosity.



Our Authors


Terence Walz is the resident historian at DACOR Bacon House. He is a historian of modern Egyptian history with a doctorate from Boston University. He is the author and editor of two published books and has recently contributed articles to the Journal of Supreme Court History and the website of the White House Historical Association. Dr. Walz’s work in international organizations led him to the DACOR Bacon House where he has been a member for six years. He has taken on the task of researching and documenting the history of the DACOR home, its history, and its inhabitants, particularly the first one hundred years. This archive is a growing collection of his work.



Elizabeth Warner, a lawyer by training and DACOR member, is researching the life of Virginia Murray Bacon, the last private owner of the DACOR Bacon House from 1925 to 1980. She is an adjunct professor at New England College, where she designs and teaches courses in law and political science. A long-term resident of the Washington, D.C. area, she also lived and worked throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia for 14 years, often in extremely challenging environments. In addition to articles about Mrs. Bacon, she has published material on human rights, international law and other subjects. Ms. Warner has law degrees from the University of Michigan and Georgetown University.