Living History &
Public Programs
Bringing Alexandria’s past to life — in person. Historical interpretation, cemetery tours, and public lectures led by working historian David Heiby.
Meet E.E. Downham
Mayor, merchant, Mason — and now, a voice from the past.
Emanuel Ethelbert Downham (March 23, 1839 – September 17, 1921) arrived in Alexandria in 1862, a young man from New Jersey who found opportunity in a city occupied by Union troops. He established himself as a wholesale liquor dealer at No. 13 King Street — selling whiskey to Union soldiers — and never left. He married Sarah Miranda Price, daughter of a respected Alexandria merchant, and spent the next six decades weaving himself into the fabric of the city.
Downham served on the city council twice before winning five consecutive two-year terms on the Board of Aldermen. When Mayor John Smoot died suddenly on Christmas Eve 1887, Downham stepped in as temporary mayor — and won the office outright in 1890, serving a successful four-year term. Beyond politics, he served as Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Virginia, Knights Templar (1893–1894), was a devoted Shriner, and helped raise funds for the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.
His son Robert acquired the historic Lee-Fendall House in 1903 — the same year Emanuel assumed the presidency of the Friendship Fire Company. The Downham name was woven into Alexandria’s civic, commercial, and fraternal life at every level.
A remarkable personal connection: David Heiby is Superintendent of the Presbyterian Cemetery & Columbarium — the very cemetery where E.E. Downham rests in Section 25, Plot 22. He now portrays Downham at the Lee-Fendall House — the home Downham’s own son purchased in 1903. The historian who tends the grave brings the man back to life.
David Heiby as E.E. Downham with (left to right) Benjamin Smith of the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation, which owns and operates the Lee-Fendall House; Christine Heiby; and Jenny Waters, Museum Manager, following the sold-out February 2026 candlelight performance.
Born Newport, N.J. · March 23, 1839
Died Alexandria, Va. · September 17, 1921
Grand Commander, 1893–1894
Presbyterian Cemetery · Section 25, Plot 22
The Portrayal in Action
David Heiby portrays E.E. Downham in period costume at the Lee-Fendall House Museum, offering visitors a first-person encounter with one of Alexandria’s most colorful 19th-century figures. The performances — delivered by candlelight in the historic rooms of the house Downham’s own son purchased — have sold out every appearance and earned exceptional feedback from audiences and museum staff alike.
The portrayal draws on more than a decade of original primary source research into Downham’s life, businesses, political career, and Masonic leadership. It is not a scripted performance but a historian’s conversation with the past — grounded in fact, alive in the telling.
David Heiby as E.E. Downham in the North Dining Room of the Lee-Fendall House Museum, leading the sold-out February 2026 candlelight lantern tour. The room is furnished in the Federal style, reflecting the period when the house was occupied by the family of Philip Richard Fendall, Sr., and later the Edmund Jennings Lee family.
Upcoming Events & Appearances
Reserve your place at these upcoming public programs led by David Heiby
The Cemetery Stories Behind the Lee-Fendall House
Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, Alexandria
The Lee-Fendall House burials tell a story no museum tour can fully capture. For two hundred years, the people who lived, died, and shaped 614 Oronoco Street were laid to rest in the cemeteries just blocks away. A Gravestone Stories walking tour presented in partnership with the Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden.
1475–1501 Wilkes Street, Alexandria, Virginia
Halloween Lantern Tours with E.E. Downham
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden, Alexandria
A Halloween twist on David Heiby’s candlelight portrayal of Alexandria Mayor E.E. Downham. Over Halloween weekend, the Lee-Fendall House offers several themed lantern tours each evening — a different experience from the museum’s regular lantern tours, by lantern light in the house Downham’s own son purchased in 1903.
Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, Alexandria · For the Alexandria Historical Society
David leads his signature walking tour for the Alexandria Historical Society — twenty-one voices tracing two and a half centuries of resistance, resilience, and the change African Americans forced in Alexandria, read aloud at the graves of the people who lived it.
1475–1501 Wilkes Street, Alexandria, Virginia
From Enslavement to Justice — A Signature Program
How African Americans Forced Change in Alexandria · Both Spring 2026 Public Dates: Sold Out
The first public date generated a waitlist that required a second date. The second ran in ninety-degree heat — and not one participant left early. That says everything about what this program is.
Twenty-one voices. Each participant receives a laminated card bearing the name of the person whose grave they will visit. When that site is reached, they read that person’s story aloud — in the first person, in their own voice — tracing two and a half centuries of resistance, resilience, and the legal and moral change that African Americans forced in Alexandria. The silences after each reading are part of the experience. Some participants become emotional. That is not accidental — it is the whole point.
This is a serious, carefully researched program — not a casual outing. It requires at least 21 participants to be effective. It demands your attention, your time, and your willingness to carry a voice that has been waiting a very long time to be heard.
“One very clever part of the tour is that Dave distributes name tags to the participants. These tags bear the name of the individuals whose graves you will visit. When the site is reached, the participant reads the story of the interred. The tour is long — two hours — and you certainly get your steps in, but it is worth it to learn the history.”
— Alexandria Historical Society Member · Recommending the program to AHS
Duration · Approximately 2 hours · approx. 1½ miles
Minimum · 21 participants
Location · Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, Alexandria
Available for · Congregations · Schools · Civic groups · Heritage organizations · Private groups
Beyond Downham — Public History Programs
David Heiby is available for lectures, panel presentations, specialized tours, and educational programs for heritage organizations, museums, schools, civic groups, and DAR and SAR chapters.
The complete registry of Alexandria’s 162 documented Revolutionary War patriots — nearly three times the previously accepted count — is available on the Gravestone Stories website. Original research, primary sources, and the graves that connect Alexandria to the founding of the nation. Explore the full registry →
America’s most historic cemetery complex — 13 adjoining cemeteries, 35,000+ burials, and more than two centuries of Alexandria’s story. Led by the historian whose research is cited as a primary source in the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Complex. Book on Viator → · Tour information →
The Patriots of Alexandria’s Presbyterian Meeting House. In 1774, a Loyalist diarist dismissed the congregation as “a set of rebellious scoundrels” — and they earned the name. This walking tour visits today’s Old Presbyterian Meeting House and its 18th-century burial ground, where Alexandria’s Revolutionary generation worshipped and many of its patriots rest. Learn more →
From Enslavement to Justice: How African Americans Forced Change in Alexandria. Twenty-one voices. Participants give voice to enslaved and free Black Alexandrians at the burial grounds where they rest — tracing two and a half centuries of resistance, resilience, and the legal and moral change they forced. Originally commissioned by the Old Presbyterian Meeting House Dismantling Racism Team; now open to congregations, schools, civic groups, and other organizations. Learn more →
Free downloadable guides and brochures for many of these programs are available at gravestonestories.com/free-guides.
A themed version of the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex tour — 614 Oronoco: The Cemetery Stories Behind the Lee-Fendall House — is offered on a regular schedule in partnership with the Lee-Fendall House Museum.
Scheduling and tickets through the museum.
Learn more →Talks & Lectures
Illustrated talks built from original research in Alexandria’s burial grounds. Talks run 45–60 minutes with questions throughout.
The Revolutionary War patriots buried in Alexandria — 162 documented, nearly three times the previously accepted count — and the research that found them. Delivered to DAR chapters across Northern Virginia.
Colonel of the Fairfax County Militia, director of the Potomac Company, honorary pallbearer at Washington’s funeral — and the 2024 ground-penetrating radar survey that located his presumptive resting place in Christ Church Cemetery.
George Washington’s lifelong friend and physician, from the frontier campaigns of the 1750s to the bedside at Mount Vernon — a story of commitment and friendship.
The Alexandria physician present at Washington’s bedside on December 14, 1799 — namesake of the Elisha Cullen Dick DAR Chapter. Delivered to the Chapter in February 2026 with new archival material correcting 46-year-old errors in the official chapter biography.
The Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex, cemetery by cemetery — thirteen burial grounds and more than two centuries of Alexandria’s story. First taught at the Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia in 2026.
Union-occupied Alexandria, its Civil War hospitals, the 1864 petition of United States Colored Troops to be buried beside their fellow soldiers, and how military gravestones evolved.
One Alexandria family through the Civil War era: a widow on the eve of war, a mission through enemy lines, and a sister widowed by the 1855 King Street fire. A story of family, war, and legacy in the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex.
Philip Richard Fendall, builder of the 1785 house at 614 Oronoco Street — his family, his Alexandria, and the search for his resting place.
Two centuries under one roof: more than thirty members of the Lee family, a Civil War hospital, the Downhams, and labor leader John L. Lewis — and the “telescope house” that held them all.
Following the people of 614 Oronoco Street to their graves in the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex and Ivy Hill — the Lees, Cazenoves, Flemings, and Downhams.
A first-person portrayal of Alexandria’s 1890s mayor — wholesale liquor dealer, accidental mayor, Grand Commander of the Virginia Knights Templar. Delivered in period costume for museum programs, heritage events, and special occasions.
My work with the Lee-Fendall House Museum and the Old Presbyterian Meeting House is donated.
Book an Appearance or Program
David Heiby is available for lectures, historical portrayals, walking tours, panel presentations, and educational programs. Heritage organizations, museums, libraries, civic groups, and DAR and SAR chapters are especially welcome to inquire.
Contact David directly to discuss your event, audience, and program needs.
Page last updated: October 2026