Memory Lane: 300 Block of R St NW and a tale to secure your property

Yellow_townhouses
300 Block of R St NW, December 28, 2015

I’m just now noticing in the above photo that there is someone standing on a ledge in the center yellow townhouse in the row of the three yellow townhouses.

This reminds me of a story. I ‘think’ it involves one of the townhouses… I’m not sure anymore.

So this row was renovated and sat empty for a long while. I vaguely remember the owners wanted something complicated, which is why they sat for a while. And because they were sitting empty, ready for potential buyers who had no interest the utilities were still on. A White guy broke in and enjoyed heat and lights and (somehow) cable for a good long while. Somewhere around several months to a little less than a year. I mention the race because, I suspect his race made it easy to explain his presence there.

So, here’s the moral. Have a security system to keep out squatters.

WSIC- The Black Unit Block of O St NW

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) had a lot of rental units in Truxton Circle, but they were segregated. The White tenants were on Bates St (unit to 200 block), 3rd St, 200 block of P Street and the 100-200 block of Q Street NW. The Black tenants were segregated way over on the unit block of O Street, where their White renters would not see them.

I haven’t gathered the info for the 1950 census for Truxton Circle, but I have started. While collecting information about the sale of WSIC homes to African Americans in the TC, I took a look at the Black units to see if any of the Black tenants decided to buy. I’ve already did a post about the Edmunstons who bought their unit.

The Burtons also purchased their unit at 40 O St NW. Nellie and John R. Burton lived there as far back as the 1930 census.  In the 1930s the father John A. Burton was a barber, Nellie, the mother was at home and John R. was a student. Nellie died in May 1956 and two years later their half was foreclosed upon. During the 1950 census John R. was the head working as a clerk for the US government. He was at 40 O St with his wife Mary L. who was a stenographer, their 6 year old son and mother Nellie who was at home. It appears Nellie dealt with child care, freeing Mary to work outside of the home.

A few months after purchasing 40 O Street NW with his mother, he and his wife Mary Louise Burton, purchased 116 53rd St SE in Marshall Heights. This house had two mortgages. The first was $3,250 with a lender and the second was $6,600 with Riggs Bank.  In 1956 John and Mary bought 5212 East Capitol St NE. This also came with two mortgages, the first being $3,500 and the second $2,000 with the same lender.

There were a few who purchased WSIC units, just not theirs.

Ethel and Malvern F. Jackson purchased half of 24 O St NW, but lived in 18 O St NW when the 1950 census was taken.  In the 1950 census Ethel was a 58 year old widow living with her son Malvern, daughter Nathelma and son-in-law William Ewell. At that time Malvern and Nathelma were the only adults working. He was worked at the post office as a postal clerk. She was a printer’s assistant at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In 1954 the Jacksons sold their half of 24 O St NW back to the sellers. That same month Malvern purchased 631 Gallatin St NW with his wife Genevieve. They were able to borrow $9,000 from the Jefferson Savings and Loan/ Lincoln National Bank and $3,950 from other trustees.

Ethel’s daughter and son-in-law purchased half of 30 O St NW. Like her brother, Nathelma and William Ewell sold the house back to the sellers in September 1954. There was no evidence the couple purchased anything in the District of Columbia. At one point in time Nathelma lived in Silver Spring.

Roxie A. Jackson was a 40 year old widow who lived with her 20 year old son and 78 year old uncle at 46 O Street NW and working as a charwoman. Her son Mark worked for a dry cleaner. When the WSIC units came up for sale, she bought 32 O St NW. In 1952 Mrs. Jackson sold her half to Ruth and Charles Rodgers Hawkins, who then sold it to Mrs. Helena Isabel Ash. The Jackson loan got paid off and all was well. She disappears from record after that.

 

 

Blog Changes Coming for 2026

At some point between now and 1/1/2026 I will change the look of this website and Inshaw.com. This may mean it might go through a couple of looks before I settle on one. You’ve been warned.

I know I need to update Truxtoncircle.org, which is also in the Inshaw family of websites. Maybe 2027 for that.

WSIC- Robert G. Weightman of Colonial Mortgage Corp.

I think I have most of the major players who were involved with the sell of the WSIC houses, except Robert Weightman.

Colonial Investment Co. was headed by president Nathan Levin. The VP was Nathaniel J. Taube, who also served as the president of Colonial Mortgage Corp. and the treasurer was James B. Evans. Abraham H. Levin was the legal advisor and general manager of both Colonial Mortgage and Investment, as well as Nathan’s brother. Harry A. Badt was appears in the records after Nathan Levin’s death in 1956. Prior to that Badt was the treasurer in charge of building inspection for Colonial Mortgage.

Abraham Levin and Robert G. Weightman’s names appear in the loan records for the WSIC homes sold to Black home buyers, as well as the foreclosure documents. So three paragraphs in, who was Robert G. Weightman?

Robert Gillain Weightman was born 12/11/1906 in Philadelphia to Helen Hoskin and Robert G. Weightman (1877-1909). He was baptized in the Episcopal church in 1908. In 1930 he was 23 years old, married to wife Eleanore and working as a credit clerk for a gas station in Camden, NJ. In the 1940 census he was living at 800 Talyor St NE, with wife Eleanore and 8 year old son James. At that time he worked as an accountant for a finance company. During WWII he remained at 800 Taylor St NE working for Security Finance Co.

Looking at the 1950 census the family had moved out to Chillium, MD in PG county. He was working as an accountant but for a real estate company. We can guess the company was Colonial Mortgage Corp.

Weightman only appeared in the local papers with Abraham Levin for foreclosures.

Weightman moved back to Pennsylvania and there he died in 1994.

 

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Edmonston- 14 O St NW- Rent to Own

I’m sort of restarting the Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle series again, but with a WSIC mix. In 1950 the WSIC were sold to real estate investors who resold the White rental units to African American home buyers. The renters were forced to leave. However, the set of WSIC houses on O Street that were set aside for Black renters. I wanted to see if the renters became owners.

In the 1950 census for Census Tract 46, ED 70 page 1 there were two households living at 14 O St NW, the Edmonstons and the Jeffersons. The Edmonstons, who lived in the 1st floor unit, bought their unit in 1951 from the Colonial Investment Company in the form of three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans.

Vincent Julius Edmondson was born March 5, 1915 in Washington, DC to Samuel H. Edmondson and Millie F. Wilson. At some point he married his wife Marguerite L., whom Ancestry has determined, without any evidence I could find, as being born Marguerite L. White, also of Washington, DC. They had 4 children, Vincent Jr., Marguerite E., Warren and Julius. When the children were under 5 years old in 1940, Marguerite was a housewife.

In 1940 he lived at 14 O St NW and worked as a carrier for the US government. By 1950, Marguerite was a file clerk for the government. The children by this time were between 9 and 14 years old.

The family held on to their unit until 1956 when they sold their half to Mary Dyson Lane. Unfortunately something happened and that unit was foreclosed upon in 1960. In 1956 the Edmonstons bought 5208 13th St NW. Sometime around or before 1964, Marguerite died and Vincent was an unmarried widow when he took out an $8,000 loan with the Perpetual Building Association. So the O St foreclosure appeared not to have hurt them and their ability to continue to be homeowners. The 13th St house was transferred/sold by Vincent’s estate, as it appeared he died around 1989, to a Micheal Edmondson, a possible grandson.

The Edmonstons did provide generational wealth in that assets from one generation was able to go to another generation. In this case, down to a grandson. However, it wasn’t the O Street home that provided the wealth. That may have introduced the idea of home ownership and when a better opportunity presented itself.

WSIC- Nathaniel Taube of Colonial Investment Co.

Nathaniel John Taube (1893-1975) was the vice president of the Colonial Investment Company and the president of the Colonial Mortgage and Colonial Construction Company. This is the company that sold homes to African American buyers in 1950-1951 Truxton Circle that were formerly WSIC rentals.

Taube was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Philadelphia, PA in either 1893 or 1894, there are conflicting dates, Jacob and Rose Taube. Looking at Ancestry, the 1910 and 1930 census has him as in Philadelphia, later working in the real estate business.

He finally appears in Washington, DC in the 1940 census. At that time he was living at 6432 Luzon Ave NW in the Brightwood neighborhood. He resided there alone with a live in maid. His occupation was that of executive in real estate. The newspapers has him in DC in July 1938, involved in a traffic accident, where he was sentenced to a 10 day jail sentence for failing to give the right of way. The two women he hit sued him for $20,000.

The 1950 census has him in Margate City, NJ. His obit has him dying in Margate City and noting he was the president of the Colonial Mortgage Co . in Washington, DC.

Whereas James B. Evans kept a low profile, Nathaniel was in the papers a lot. Most for run of the mill legal real estate stuff, but interestingly he was also named in a Balm Suit. A balm or heart balm suit is an outdated legal term for a civil lawsuit where someone can sue a former lover, partner or a third party who came between romantic or married partners. In this case, the paper said Taube was living at 6432 Luzon Ave NW in 1946 and the The Washington Daily News wrote that Taube of the Colonial Investment Co. was being sued by John B. Williams of Temple Hills, MD for luring Mrs. Williams away. He was sued for $75,000, 1946 money.  The Times Herald had more juicy details. Long story short, Taube was having an affair with Elizabeth Williams, damaging the Williams’ marriage.  The Williams had a 12 year old daughter, who the Times names, which makes the story sad.  Sort of.

In the 1950 census, where he was in New Jersey, his wife’s name is Elizabeth and his fifteen year old daughter had the same name as the twelve year old. It appears, from his obituary he and Elizabeth had a son, John F. Taube. It’s interesting what human stories get unearthed when doing genealogy.  So Taube was a wife stealer. Who knows what kind of marriage the Williams had, maybe he was a rescuer, maybe he was a thief.

Anyway, back to DC.

His name appeared often with the Colonial brand. In several of the large block ads his name would appear, along with stories about developments and projects Colonial was building. Colonial was involved in the growth of the DC metro area with projects in DC, MoCo, PG and Northern Virginia.

Truxton Circle Population by Race 1880-2020

This is an updated post from an older one that ended with the 2010 Census. The population increased, but was lower than what was in Census district 46 in 1990. Truxton Circle is still, by this measurement, a majority minority neighborhood. As the population fluctuated, the Black population continued to decrease and since the lowest number in 1970, the non-Black population has increased.

 

Truxton Circle Population 1880-2020
Year Total Black White Other/Asian Note
1880 1511 678 832 0
1900 4723 2438 2281 4
1910 6801 2232 4565 4
1920 7234 3008 4221 6 4-Chinese
1- Japanese
1- White/Chinese
1930 6175 4455 1712 6 All Chinese
1940 8244 6519 1718 4 Note: 3 Japanese
1 Chinese
Total also 8244
1950 7720 6186 1511 23
1960 6789 6716 58 15
1970 5830 5768 21 41 2 yrs post riot
1980 3349 3249 61 39
1990 3623 3347 189 87
2000 2997 2713 103 181
2010 3028 1964 816 248
2020 3543 1530 1462 551 Note: 177 Asians and 260 bi-racial

Source: US Census; DC Office of Planning Table 9: Census 2020 Population, Voting Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, Housing Data – District of Columbia: Census Tracts

 

WSIC- James B. Evans of the Colonial Investment Company

Who was James B. Evans (1895-1977) one of the three main participants in the WSIC sell off scheme?

James Beatty Evans was born January 24, 1985 to Charles Noble Pumphrey Evans and Clara May Barker in Washington, DC. His father was paperhanger, or one who hangs wallpaper. He had six siblings, of those that survived to adulthood they went into the family occupation of wallpaper and interior design. His maternal grandfather owned a hardware and plumbing business in DC.

He lived with his retired grandfather in 1910 (just him, not parents or siblings) working as a 15 year old stenographer for an office. He continued to work in an office into WWI, doing secretarial work in a government office with a window washing business on the side. In 1920 he was a messenger for a trade journal.

He married Carmen Louise Mayer (1897–1983), the daughter of a German born military doctor, in 1924. Together they had three children, James B. Evans Jr., William Joseph Evans, and Patricia A. Evans.

The family lived west of the Park in different residences from 1930-1960. First, the family was a little south of Cathedral Heights, in Westchester.  Then  they moved to Dexter St. NW in Berkley, a neighborhood west of Westchester.

With the exception of a few articles about charitable organizations and wedding announcements, James B. Evans doesn’t show up much in the newspapers. In the Times Herald, Jan 1, 1951 Evans was noted to be the treasurer for all three of the Colonial Investment firms. The 3 being Colonial Construction Company, Colonial Investments Company and Colonial Mortgage Corporation.

As a side note, it appears he was some sort of Protestant. And that’s all I have about the man. He kept a low profile.

Memory Lane: 37 Bates Street NW 2007

37 A & B Bates Street NW. Taken May 28, 2007.

This is a Washington Sanitary Improvement Company home, so I’ve written about it before. It’s one of the few that has kept the two flat set up. Many WSIC homes, when eventually coming under the ownership of one household, was renovated into one residence.

20 years ago- Ethnic Divides in an 1880 DC Neighborhood

There are things I wish I had done. Like write a date on my paper “Ethnic Divides in an 1880 DC Neighborhood“. Apparently, I wrote in in 2005.

I was looking around my October 2005 posts and spotted the ‘Come and listen to the world’s most boring history paper‘ where I was going to present at the DC History Conference.

I seriously did not know when I wrote this paper. I had copies of copies and different versions on my computer, so I did not know when I wrote it.

Now I know, and you know.