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THE CAPITOL DOME the Senate resolved to pay him, "two hundred dollars, in con- sideration of his uniform good conduct, and particularly for his exertions to save the public property in the Capitol, both before and after the destruction thereof by the enemy." 37 Between 1808 and 1825, the Senate Journal mentions Simp- son several times. As a messenger, he earned two dollars a day. 38 He often was compensated for extra duties or was reimbursed for providing a horse, and on April 20, 1816, he earned another $100.00 for "good conduct." 39 e record is silent, though, on one astounding fact; at a time when slaves helped build the Capitol, a freeman worked steadily, received large bonuses, and won the Senate's acclaim. In fact, no one would have known his ethnicity, if Lewis Machen had not mentioned it in his own account concerning the removal of Senate records. 40 Born in Maryland in 1790, Machen moved to Washing- ton at the age of sixteen. In 1809, he joined the secretary of the Senate's staff as an engrossing clerk, updating the bills as they changed during the amendment process. An eyewitness to the Senate's famous "Golden Era" speeches, he would serve the secretary's office in various capacities for fifty years, but never achieve its highest rank, secretary of the Senate. 41 While bid- ding for that position in 1836, however, Machen provided the only known description of the Senate clerks' activities prior to the 1814 fire. In a letter to Senator William C. Rives, Machen declared, "It is to me, providentially, that the Senate and the Country are indebted for the preservation of Records, the loss of which no money could have restored; and which, if lost, would have reflected a deeper and more indeliable (sic) disgrace than the burning of a hundred Capitols, or the capture of every Seaboard City of our Land." According to the Machen letter, late in the summer of 1814, the Senate's principal clerk was absent from the city. e first secretary of the Senate, Samuel Otis, had died in April, and the position remained vacant. As word grew that the enemy would likely approach, Machen was one of the few able-bodied men exempt from military duty. He had just bought a farm in Maryland, so he was no longer bound to the District militia, but had yet to be placed on the Maryland roll. 42 is quirk in timing gave him an advantage over the House clerks, as he started considering evacuation plans just as his col- leagues on the other side of the Capitol were called into service. Riding into work "a few days before the invasion," Machen happened across a "waggoner" he knew. ough not the owner of the wagon he drove, the man agreed to hire it out "in case of emergency." Machen informed another engrossing clerk, John D. McDonald, of the available transportation, but both he and McDonald were unsure. As assistant clerks, they hesitated at the "responsibility of such a step." Machen's resolve, however, hardened as his apprehension increased. Around noon on the 21st, he informed McDonald he was willing to take on the responsibility himself. McDonald concurred with the decision, Fig. 5. e original House bill declaring war on Great Britain in 1812 was one of the House documents that survived. Dated June 4, 1812, the bill was signed by House Clerk Patrick Magruder. Fig. 6. British troops did not burn all of the documents; they took some as souvenirs. is volume of Treasury reports was taken by Cockburn and given to his brother. It was returned to the Library of Congress in 1940. L IB R A RY O F C O N GRE S S PRIN T S A ND PH OTO GR A PH S D I V I SI O N 16 NAT IONAL GEO GR APHIC SOCIE T Y FOR T HE U.S. C API TOL HIS TORIC AL S OCIE T Y