Freed Slave and Future President

Freed Slave and Future President. . At the turn of the 19th century, Yarrow Mamout, a slave granted his freedom a few years earlier, amassed $200 and purchased a piece of property and a house at what is now 3330-3332 Dent Place. Born in West Africa, Yarrow worked for 50 years for Georgetown's Beall family as a mason. Quite a character , pleasant and quirky, ubiquitous on the streets of Georgetown and "the best swimmer ever seen on the Potomac" , Yarrow was a devout Muslim, who retained his African name and convention of placing his surname before his given name. His character was captured in two paintings: one by one of the most respected early American painters, Charles Willson Peale; the other by Georgetown College professor and artist, James Alexander Simpson. A copy of the Simpson painting can be seen at the Georgetown Branch Library. Peale's painting hangs in the Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia and has been called "the most sensitive portrait in early America with an African American as the sitter." Yarrow died at the age of 87 and was buried on his property, a few yards from here., About 150 years later, for six months in 1953, Senator John Kennedy and his bride Jacqueline rented a house across the street at 3321 Dent Place from a family friend. Photographer Orlando Suero photographed Jackie in the dining room, and the photograph appeared in Anne Garside's book, Camelot at Dawn. In the picture Jackie is wearing an evening gown while lighting candles on a table set with her silver sand Sevres china. The future president enjoyed painting in the backyard with the oil paints Jackie had given him for Christmas.