Owners and Tenants, 1819-1956

• Decatur
• Hyde de Neuville
• de Tuyll
• Clay
• Van Buren
• Livingston
• Vaughn
• Gadsby
• Dallas
• Gales
• John & James King
• Appleton
• Orr
• Benjamin
• McBlair
• United States Army
• Edward Beale &
  Mary Beale
• Truxtun Beale
• Marie Beale

TIMELINE OF OWNERS AND TENANTS
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Sir Charles Vaughn (tenant, 1833-1835)

Sir Charles Vaughn, a British aristocrat, was appointed to the post of British minister to the United States in 1833. During his tenure in Washington, Vaughan was instrumental in resolving the Maine border dispute between the U.S. and British Canada. His Ministry was in fact characterized by a period of more friendly relations between the U.S. and Britain.

While in residence at Decatur House, Vaughn traveled extensively throughout the United States, according to Winslow Watson, as often as possible. Watson wrote that “whenever [Vaughan] found his ministerial duties light…he would afford ample time for a series of expeditions to the more remote areas of the U.S.” Hampered by these travels and his affliction with rheumatism, Vaughn had little opportunity to entertain at Decatur House. Vaughan did occasionally receive guests, mostly members of high office and members of the diplomatic corps. Neighbor Benjamin Tayloe spoke of Vaughan’s “select” parties which, though small, were social gatherings. These parties were held, as Tayloe put it, on “warm July
evenings,” most likely due to the fact that such fair weather would subdue
much of the pain caused by Mr. Vaughan’s rheumatism. John Quincy Adams also recalled in his memoirs that he “paid a visit to Mr. Vaughan, the British Minister, and had a desultory conversation with him of about two hours.”
Adams also reported on Vaughan’s physical and mental condition during his tenure in Washington: “He is suffering severely with the rheumatism, and much is affected in spirits by the state of affairs in Europe, and particularly his own country.”

Despite his relative absence on the social scene, Charles Vaughan was nevertheless well liked in the capital and known for his sense of humor – one observer noted that Vaughan was “one of the most social, affable, familiar, accessible, and agreeable ministers ever sent to Washington from the court
of St. James's, and, as such, his good qualities drew everybody constantly around him.”

Despite his lively sense of humor and love of travel, the minister’s illness eventually got the better of him. Vaughn cut short his diplomatic service
when he resigned his post in 1835, due to his failing health. His departure
was “regretted by most of the residents” in Washington.

Vaughan was also the last occupant to rent from Susan Decatur. In 1836, shortly after his departure, Decatur large debts forced her to give up the property to her creditors.

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