In 1906, Congress appropriated $75,000 for playgrounds in the District of Columbia. After making the expenditures required by Congress, $30,000 remained which the City Commissioners agreed to spend in acquiring Presbyterian Burying Ground for a municipal playground. In May 1907, Allen W. Mallery, agent for the church, agreed to sell the cemetery to the city, but the Beatty family objected and the sale cancelled. For reasons which are not clear, the sale was consummated on June 20, 1907, for $27,969.25. The city, however, required the church to provide clear title and title insurance, and to clear the property of all bodies. The city was forced to spend $14,000 of the $30,000, however, leaving just $16,000 to pay the church. The 15 Beatty heirs continued to object to the sale, however, and the City Commissioners asked the city's legal counsel to investigate the Beattys' claim. The city's legal counsel determined in October 1907 that the Beattys had a proper claim on the Presbyterian Burying Ground. So the city began condemnation proceedings, and that same month Georgetown Presbyterian Church began removing trees and tombstones from the property. (The underbrush by now was high.) The Beattys opposed the condemnation proceedings. Their attorney, William H. Monogue, claimed in November that the church had conducted no search for graves, had destroyed monuments and memorials, and had scattered human remains. He also claimed bones had been carted off-site to hide evidence of their desecration. Monogue further alleged that in grading the cemetery, the church had destroyed grave-mounds and obliterated any evidence of burials. The City Commissioners held a meeting to discuss Monogue's accusations, but determined that most of them were inaccurate. Undertaker Isaac Birch, however, estimated that at least undertaker Burch said at least 300 bodies still remained on the cemetery's northern half. Mallery denied that any remains had been scattered during grading, but did admit that some graves had been uncovered. One grave was found and opened, but no bones remained in the coffin. A vault was discovered, and when opened two skulls were found. The relatives were contacted, and a permit secured from the city to disinter the skulls and release them to the family. The vault of Valentine Reintzell, former Master Mason of Potomac Lodge No. 5 and head of Grand Lodge of District of Columbia, was rediscovered by workmen and his remains disinterred.