July 2021 – Page 2 – Truxton Is In Shaw

Hot Take- Redlining not as bad as urban renewal

So as I write one boring Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle post after another, I noticed that these residents were borrowing money from individuals and institutions. These weren’t government sponsored loans, to my knowledge. Redlining, in the original sense (as I acknowledge the word has been expanded to other injustices), was the New Deal agency Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) discriminatory attitude towards minority areas regarding loans. But loans to African Americans in Truxton Circle were being made. Not a lot, but money was borrowed.

Because I am looking at people from the 1920 census and the online land records start around 1921/1922 I am not seeing a lot of people borrowing money to obtain their homes. They already own it by the time I’m looking at them. I might see it, or hints of people taking out a mortgage to purchase a home when the 1920s home owners sell and there is documentation regarding the next owner borrowing money. Or I see releases when owners settle their debts with one or more lenders. Or they take out mortgages or loans on their property or their children do. I might see people taking out mortgages to purchase when I eventually get to the 1930s home owners.

The rate of home ownership is low. But that tends to be the case of urban areas compared to suburban ones. I have to go past a lot of renters in the main TC census spreadsheet I use, before I find my home owners.

These owners aren’t necessarily upper class or white collar. There were several waiters as home owners. Another occupation was messengers or express men. There was one laborer, but he was being far too modest as he owned a coal yard and several properties. Another was a policeman.

Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes, the first Black American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics, owned several properties in Truxton Circle and other parts of the District. I’ve been through her papers at Catholic University and she was able to borrow money for her properties. The federally backed loans were not the only game in town.

Why Urban Renewal is Worse

I would describe redlining as getting bullied and urban renewal as getting bad plastic surgery. Getting bullied is bad and can lead to long term problems. The problem with bad plastic surgery, is you asked for it, paid for it, and it turns out making things worse. I used a proposed map as the featured image because it showed the plan to put a highway through most of Truxton Circle. It would have wiped out hundreds of buildings.

Once you tear down a 100 year old building there is no rebuilding it. All the homes that used to house the home owners on Square 551, are gone. They aren’t coming back. There’s a park and the Northwest Co op there. Those houses are gone. Forever.

You can see the marks left by urban renewal. They show up in modern architecture and in wide neighborhood splitting highways that did not exist as such 50-100 years ago.

In 1930 most of the Truxton Circle neighborhood was Black. It would be a reasonable assumption that the neighborhood was redlined. Fast forward 90 years and the neighborhood is fairly integrated. It has half the population, but it’s integrated. The legacy of redlining is in the hearts of some but the neighborhood itself appears to have moved on. Only three of about 18 blocks have been permanently changed by urban renewal or development.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Julia Dobbins

Julia Dobbins appears in the 1920 Census as a home owner and a widow living with her adult daughters and a couple of boarders. She lived at 1413 3rd St NW, on square 553 lot 54. The daughters were Emma J., Gertrude V., and Ethel L. Dobbins.

In 1910, Julia was renting 1609 Cooksey Place. I believe this was on the block bounded by Florida Ave, R, 1st, Q and 3rd Streets NW, or square 551. She was a widow laundress living with her 3 daughters and her mother Mintie Smith. The 1911-1915 city directories have her on Cooksey.

The land records are sort of helpful. The earliest is from 1923 where Gertrude transferred her one third interest in the property to Julia Smith and Emma Taylor.

Is Julia Smith also Julia Dobbins?

There is a mortgage with the Perpetual Trust Building and Loan Association for 1926 and there are many names.

Julia A. Smith, aka Julia M. Smith; Emma J. Dobbins, aka Emma J. Taylor; Gertrude V. Dobbins, aka Gertrude V. Watson. None of the records say if Julia Smith is also Julia Dobbins.

Julia Smith Dobbins died January 19, 1929. So she did not make it to the 1930 census. After their mother’s death, Gertrude Watson and Ethel L. Herron transferred their interest in the property to Emma in 1930. Between 1930 and 1931 Emma Jeannette Taylor used the property to borrow money from the Perpetual Building and Loan Assoc, as well as individual lenders for an amount over $2,000. William Henry Smith, who may have been Julia’s grandson listed in the 1920 census, transferred 1413 3rd St NW in 1946 to Leonard Taylor. This quit claim signed by Smith noted that Emma Taylor’s will left him an interest in the property. Leonard Taylor then sold the property that year to Newman Coxson.

I’m just going to assume Julia Smith and Julia Dobbins are the same person.

1957 Church Survey: Holy Trinity

Well this will be a quickie as it is a church from the 1957 Church Survey that provides no information. To learn more about the 1957 Church Survey read my previous posts, The Uniqueness of the 1957 Church Survey and Church Survey Northwest Urban Renewal Area October 1957.

Holy Trinity sat at 1618 11th Street NW, square 309, lot 817. It’s not there anymore.

CS 38 Holy Trinity by Mm Inshaw

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Susan E Berry

According to the 1920 census Susan E. Berry owned 237 O Street NW, an address that no longer exists. It does not exist because the Armstrong school ate it, then the second Dunbar building ate O Street. So I have to look at the old Baist map at the Library of Congress site to guess which lot was Mrs. Berry’s.

Image not found

According to land records she owned lot 3, or lot 11 or lot 58 on Square 553. Let’s just go with lot 58. I’m not sure how it’s lot 3. When I search for lot 3 I get records for Mrs. Schools, Mrs. Forrest, and Mrs. Berry’s son or late husband Hillard Berry. She could have owned another lot on Square 553 but this post will look at lot 58, or 237 O St NW.

To deal with the property history, we will have to look at the Berry family. Susan E. Ruffin was born in South Carolina in 1865 and she married Hilliard J.C. Berry in 1884. This was the same year their son Hilliard or Hilyard Berry was born in South Carolina. In 1887 their 2nd son William Berry was born in the District of Columbia. Their youngest Alethya was born in DC in 1889.

In the 1900 census Hillard was a hotel porter and listed as the head of the family and the property owner of 237 O St NW. He lived there with Susan and their 3 school aged children. In the 1920 census, Susan was a widow living with her son William J, her daughter Athethya or Alethia Henrietta Williams, her son in law Alfonse Williams, and their son, her grandson, Berry Williams.

Just searching the name Susan E. Berry in the land records brings up lots 3, 11, and 58. So she sold lot 3 to the District of Columbia in 1922. Susan died in either 1925 or 1927 and in her will left lot 11/58 to Alethya. In 1934 Alethya borrowed $800 from trustees. She paid that date later that year. She borrowed again in 1949 from the American Security and Trust Company for $20,000. Alethya died in 1951 and her son Berry Williams (along with his wife Aretha) sold the property to the District of Columbia in 1966 for $10,400.00.

I should note that in Susan’s will she also left 239 O St NW to Hilliard Berry. It appears that he sold that property in 1937. She also left property in South Carolina, which was to be sold and divided amongst the two surviving children.

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: George W. Timus

In the 1920 census George W. Timus at 221 O St NW was listed as the home owner. He lived there with his wife Bessie (nee Bessie F. Fraley) and their two daughters Josephine and Ethel. He was a messenger and his wife was a dressmaker. Image not found

In the 1910 census George Timus rented 221 O St NW. He lived in the house with Bessie and their daughters, along with his widowed mother Amanda and his sister Lola. He was an express man for his own business. The only other person with an occupation was the 28 year old Lola who was a laundress.

The earliest record of George Timus at 221 O Street NW comes from the 1906 city directory. It showed him as an express man. Because it was the name index it also showed other Timus family members at 221 O St NW. Robert J. Timus lived there, but no occupation was recorded. William H. Timus was a porter. An earlier city directory has the Timus family at 217 O St NW in 1900. Amanda was a washer woman, George a driver, and Robert a coachman. William H. Timus was living in another neighborhood entirely, as a clerk.

The first record in the land records for George Timus was a 1924 chattel mortgage, for a truck, a second hand GMC truck model 31-B lease. There are two deeds from March 1928. One was transferring Sq 553 lot 9 from the American Security and Trust Company. The second, also for lot 9, from George and Bessie Timus transferred it to Margaret G. Cahill.

When the 1930 census rolled around the Timus family moved over to 316 M Street NW over in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood. By 1930, George moved from being a messenger to becoming an express man in the hauling business. Bessie, by this time a 47 year old woman, was no longer a dressmaker. They had 5 roomers in their home from Bessie’s home state of North Carolina.

The land records show Bessie and George were the owners of Square 524 lot 2, which later became lot 802. Those land records revealed that Bessie became a widow in the 1930s when her daughter Ethel V. Fane sold that lot to the American Oil Company in 1950.

1957 Church Survey- Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church

This is part of a series where I look at churches that were surveyed in the 1957 Northwest Urban Renewal Area Church Survey. No other survey has been done since.

Mount Olivet Lutheran Church — Credit: Josh – https://www.flickr.com/photos/ncindc/

Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church sat at 1308 Vermont Ave NW in Logan Circle. In 1957 it was one of the two predominately African American Lutheran churches in the city. It’s current address is 1306 Vermont Ave NW.

So what was Mt. Olivet like in 1957? It had about 700 members who were mostly white collar workers. A small percentage of members lived in the Northwest Urban Renewal Area (see map above). In the document below, it shows that 85% lived in the rest Continue reading 1957 Church Survey- Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Jessie and Edith Forrest

This time around I decided to have both spouses on the bill. Mainly because when I look at the few land records for 117 O St NW, the wife’s name is right up there with her husband. But I may revert to just one owner, it’s simpler that way.

Like Christina Mack‘s property, this too goes with the old lot number and not a more precise lot number that would differentiate one part of lot 4, in this case, from another house on old lot four.

There are just two land records, a release and a deed. Like Mrs. Mack and Mrs. Schools, the property was sold to the District of Columbia. It looks like I’ve stumbled upon the city buying up the properties to create Armstrong. In this case the city got the property in 1922.

The land records do not tell me how much the city paid for the property. If some one could point me to a source, I’d love to see it. I don’t know if the Forrests got a decent price. I suspect not. I located a 60 year old Jesse (no ‘i’) Forrest living at 116 Q St NW on a World War II draft card. He was not the owner of 116 Q St.

Edith, was Edith Green. Her mother, Roberta Green was living with the family in 1920. In 1900, little 8 year old Edith lived with her mother and father, George Green, as renters at 1520 3rd St NW. They were tenants of Richard Thornton, whose property ownership has already been reviewed.

I did a name search in the land records. After the property was transferred to the city, Mrs. Forrest bought a bunch of expensive furniture from the Julius Lansburgh Furniture Company, totaling $300 in October 1922. The furniture was to go to 117 O St NW. Was the city allowing them to stay in the property until they were ready to raze it for the school?

Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle- Willie T. Schools

The next owner in this series was just a few doors down from our last subject Mrs. Christina Mack at 113 O St NW.

The land records tell a very short story. The story was Sq. 553 old lot 3 (it looks like lot 802 on the image above), was sold or transferred in 1923 to the District of Columbia by Mrs. Willie T. Schools, a Black dressmaker. There are two documents, the one I mentioned and a release. The release doesn’t say how much she borrowed and she didn’t borrow from an institution.

Nor do the land records give the name of her late husband. She is called a widow in the release and an unmarried woman on the deed.

She was a home owner for a few years. Prior to O Street she was at 1332 2nd Street NW from at least 1899 to 1910. In the 1915 city directory they had her at 123 O St NW. The 1924 city directory had her at 113 O St NW. I’m not going to guess what was going on there. I’ll assume the directory was wrong because 123 O St NW was old lot 4, not 3. And the land records actually had 113 O Street NW.

She disappears from the record after 1924.

Mrs. Schools had a son named William Schools, who listed her as his next of kin when he was a private in the Summer of 1918 and in 1919. He listed his mother’s address as 123 O St NW.

Once again, by looking at the son, I find an interesting history of the mother. William R. Schools has a family tree on Ancestry and that lead to a 1910 census which has his mom Willie as Lillie. It also says that her maiden name was Willie T. Byrd. Unfortunately, there was another Willie Schools (what are the odds) in DC living at 444 Q St NW, the widow of Macon Schools, and some of her data gets mixed in with the O St Willie Schools. And that’s where I’m going to end it.