January 2022 – Truxton Is In Shaw

WSIC- 1900 Resident Owners of Sq. 552-George Adams-120 Q St NW

There weren’t too many resident owners on Sq. 551 (bounded by 3rd, Q, 1st and P Sts NW). As I mentioned in the post about Sophia Hess, there were only two. Sophia Hess, at 145 P St NW, a 65 year old single woman of German heritage. She owned 0552 lot 7.
George Adams, at 120 Q St NW, was a 40 year old African American laborer. He owned 0552 lot 26-west 20. Sophia’s post went a little long, so I am giving George Adams his own post.

I have confirmed his home ownership in the 1902/1903 General Assessment.

So who was George Adams? That’s a good question because I could not find enough solid information. In the 1900 DC city directory there were about 11 George Adams. One George W. Adams at 120 Q St NW. The 1900 census tells me he was born in Maryland in February of 1860.

There was another George W. Adams in DC around the same time, who owned a lot of land. I don’t think he is the same guy. The other George Adams was married to Bettie Elizabeth Adams, our George Adams was unmarried.

His mother, Alice Adams, lived with him and she is the woman who connects George to Lycurgus Adams another property owner on the block. In the 1860 census relationships were not mentioned, so there are 15 people in the Adams’ household in Bladensburg, MD, Alice and Lycurgus among them. Lycurgus could have been George’s uncle, but it is unclear.

WSIC- 1900 Resident Owners of Sq. 552-Sophia Hess

In earlier posts I was looking at the block the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company did not own, that it would later own. I wanted to look at the owners of Sq. 552 prior to WSIC ownership to see what the story was there.

There weren’t too many resident owners on Sq. 552 (bounded by 3rd, Q, 1st and P Sts NW). I thought I had more, but that was an error on my end.

The 1902/1903 General Assessment, is not always correct (dead owners), nor does it provide the minute (my NOOT) info that is as enlightening as the Recorder of Deeds records. There were two (according to the 1900 census):

145 P St NW– Sophia Hess, a 65 year old single woman of German heritage. Owned 0552 lot 7.
120 Q St NW– George Adams, a 40 year old African American laborer. Owned 0552 lot 26-west 20.

So who was Sophia Hess? She was born in Washington, DC in December 1835 and her mother was Mary Elizabeth Gebhardt Hess (d. 1869) whose name the property was in. Looking at Mary Hess’ will, she left the property to her children Sophia, William and Catharine. sigh. That’s probably why it was still in Mary’s name. Sophia never married.

In 1880 she lived at 145 P St NW with her adult siblings. William Hess was her older brother and listed as being a boarder. He was a German born 62 year old and noted as being a maimed and illiterate laborer. Frederick was listed as her brother. He was a 45 year old carpenter. Lastly, her sister Catharine was a 39 year old housekeeper. Sophia was a 48 year old clerk for the Government Printing Office. All were single.

In the 1900 census, Sophia was still working at the GPO, still at 145 P St NW, and living with siblings. William was not in the picture, but Frederick the carpenter, then 60 years old, and sister Catherine remained with her.

Sometime between 1903 and 1909 the property became part of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company’s portfolio. In 1906 according to the city directory she was at 145 P St NW. By the 1910 census, she had moved to 1611 Lincoln Ave NE. She lived there with her sister Catherine and a grand-nephew Karl H. Townsend. At the age of 70 she was still working at the GPO, as a folder. Her grand nephew was 19 years old and worked as a clerk for the Department of Agriculture.

She was still in Eckington during the 1920 census at 1611 Lincoln Ave NE. There she lived with a nephew, a niece and two grand-nieces. And at the age of 83, she still worked at the Government Printing Office.

In 1925 she died at 1611 North Capitol St NE (could be Lincoln Ave NE?) from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 91. She is buried at Glenwood Cemetery. She never married.

I’ll get George Adams in another post.

A Program for Bates Street 1968- Updated

This is the 3rd version of this post because I realized that the images did not transfer when I moved this from a Blogger environment to WordPress. So the links did not work. This post aims to fix that.

Although this does not mention the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company, it is about the houses the WSIC built, plus another block. Below is a 2008 post where I misremembered the name of the 1968 report, which I have below the fold. The report, A Program for Bates Street, is just 12 pages with a few pictures of residents, has mentions of rehabilitation and new construction. Fast forward, this was under Marion Barry’s tenure so it got halfway done.

I have the 1968-1974 (the dates I’m unsure of) brochure of “A Plan for Bates Street” in PDF form. It’s a big file and because it is so large, I’m not posting here. However, I will mail it to folks who ask (offer expires in 30 days). Basically, like the title says, it was the government’s plan for the two blocks of Bates, to improve the housing.

Continue reading A Program for Bates Street 1968- Updated

1900 Resident Owner of Sq. 551-1615 3rd St NW- Frank P. Glorius

I see the name Glorius and I think, George, the florist who owned all of square 519. But this is Frank.

I still have no idea if/how he was related to George Glorius.

He was born in Germany and immigrated to America in 1882. He married another German, Frederika (Freida) Sauter in February 1887 in Washington, DC. They did a great job of not getting enumerated in most censuses. They show up in the 1900 census. In the 1910 census the occupants of 1615 3rd St NW are FP and Mary Glorius. I did not find them in the 1920-1930 census.

The land records aren’t particularly helpful, except they do give another interesting spelling of Mrs. Glorius’ name. The Recorder of Deeds online records start in 1921 and the first document for 1615 3rd St NW (0551 lot 62) was a 1928 release for the payment of a October 1894 debt. Frederica Glorius’ name was spelled Fredericka. The next two documents were from 1935, a trust and a deed. There are a ton of people named Glorius, which hint to Frank P. Glorius’ death. More about them later.

Frank and Frederica Glorius’ death was interesting. They both died on March 26, 1932. The Evening Star wrote that they died “suddenly”. Another March 27, 1932 Evening Star article revealed more. They both died in their sleep, at home, at 1615 3rd St NW, from carbon ~~dioxide~~ monoxide. Because of their age and the paper’s mention that hinted at a lost fortune, I’m suspecting it was an act of suicide. Here I will quote from the article:

Once Wealthy Builder and Wife Found in Home Victims of Fumes
The asphyxiation of Frank Glorius, once a wealthy builder, and his wife, Frieda, both between 75 and 80 years old. who were found dead yesterday in their gas-filled home at 1629 Third street, was being investigated last night by Acting Coroner A. Magruder MacDonald.
Meanwhile, arrangements for the funeral of the elderly couple, both of whom were in poor health, were being made by officials of the Carpenters’ Union, which had been helping them for the last three or four years.
…….
Mr. and Mrs. Glorius were found when police, summoned by residents of the neighborhood, who had traced the odor of gas, broke open a door of their dwelling.
…
Both Mr. and Mrs. Glorius came here from Germany years ago. They settled at the Third street address and at one time owned virtually every house in the neighborhood.

Other articles after their death dealt with their estate handled by a Frederick F. Schnieder. The papers nor the land records say how the following were related to Frank and Frederica but they were heirs. They were: Amalia Glorius, Eleonore Glorius (wife of George Glorius), George Glorius, Heinrich Christian Glorius (aka Brother Livinius), Joseph Glorius, Juliana Glorius, Maria Glorius (wife of Joseph Glorius), Theresia Kahlmeier/Kuhlmeier, Marie Elisabeth Liszkowski, Emma Elisabeth Senge, Anna Elisabeth Theuer, Hedwig Amalie Theuer, and Heinrich Robert Theuer. None of the Sq. 519 George Glorius were married to an Eleonore. However Ignatius George Glorius (1866-1901?) was married to an Eleanore/Eleanora (1868-1935). Most of the people on this list, I did not have enough info on them to figure out their relationship with Frank P. Glorius.

1900 Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Solomon Basey- 1603 1/2 3rd St NW

I have a template for my Black home owners series. Since I am dealing with the Sq. 551 3rd St owners, and Solomon Basey was Black, here we are.

When I looked for Solomon Basey in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America site, which allows me to search the Evening Star and other DC newspapers (for free). I found this ad:

I gather that Solomon Basey who was an African American shoemaker who lived at 1603 1/2 3rd St NW was feeling the end was near and sold his earthy possessions to his step daughter. In the 1900 census Mr. Basey was only 48 years old. It was harder to be older 100 years ago.

In the 1900 census he was a widower and lived with his sister Julia Washington. He had married Ellen Carey in 1896. It appears she died (or quietly divorced).

Flipping through various DC city directories between 1878-1906 Solomon Basey shows up at 406 Franklin St NW, 1603 1/2 3rd St NW, and 510 O St NW. The O St address may have been his shoe and boot shop.

Happy Accident-1900 Home Owner- 1603 3rd St NW- William Saunders 1822-1900

I honestly meant to to get resident home owners of sq. 552, for the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company. Because I had incorrect info in my own spreadsheet, which I need to clean up, I wound up researching people who were not on Sq. 552 (3rd, Q, 1st, Bates, and P St) but 551. It also means that the spreadsheet on TruxtonCircle.org is incorrect too.

I discovered my accident when looking at the 1902/1903 General Assessment for Sq. 552 for a William Saunders. I found William’s wife, Martha Saunders over on Sq. 551, (where Mt. Sinai, the NW Co-op and FL Ave Park sit). She had two lots. She owned, 551 009-Background, and 551 00G.

Then it dawned on me that the 1600 block was up one block.

William Saunders was a TC resident, and he has a Wikipedia page (my 3rd TC resident with a wiki) so we have a new blog post.

William Saunders lived at 1603 3rd St NW. According to the 1880 census, he lived there with his wife Martha, and his adult children George W. and Belle. By the 1900 census, it was still him and Martha, and Belle, along with four adult grandchildren with the surname Reeves.

According to his Wikipedia page he “was a botanist, nurseryman, landscape gardener, landscape designer, and horticulturist.” He was the United States’ chief experimental horticulturalist and Continue reading Happy Accident-1900 Home Owner- 1603 3rd St NW- William Saunders 1822-1900

Ads on InShaw

I’m trying something.

And I have no idea of what I’m doing.

I’ve been approved to add Google ads to the site. I’m trying to figure out how to not put them all over the place and be obnoxious. If you don’t see anything, good. If you see one or two ads, good. If they are all over the friggin place, not good, and tell me.

1900 Resident Owners of Sq. 551 of 3rd St NW

So I started off writing this blog post to look for residents of Sq. 552 (the block south of the NW Co-op) for the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company. But I didn’t discover until I took a deeper look at one owner, that I had the wrong block. I have written and researched and so I’m not going to throw away that work.

I thought I had nine resident homeowners for Sq. 552. The seven 3rd Street people were incorrect. So lets look at them. The two on Sq. 552, I will deal with in the following post.

I don’t know how far I can get with researching the nine home owners, because all I have to confirm ownership is the 1902/1903 General Assessment, which is not always correct (dead owners), nor does it provide the minute info that is enlightening as the Recorder of Deeds records.

1603 3rd St NW – William Saunders, 77 year old Scottish immigrant and horticulturist.
1603 1/2 3rd St NW– Solomon Basey, 48 year old Black widower.
1615 3rd St NW– Frank P. Glorius. Not sure if he’s related to George Glorius of Sq. 519. He was a 44 year old German cabinetmaker.
1625 3rd St NW-Albert G. Stevens, a 51 year old white carpenter.
1629A 3rd St NW– Frederic Ane (?), a 37 year old German born salesman.
1631 3rd St NW– Perry E. Medford, a 28 year old white teacher.
1633 3rd St NW– Frank D. Amrein, a 36 year old German-American salesman.

So a few will get their own posts.

1930 Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Mary J. Poole- 138 R St NW

I’m going to peck at 1930 Black home owners in Truxton Circle. There will probably be a lot of 1920 overlap, so I won’t go at this too hard. It’s something to do between Washington Sanitary Imp. Co. posts.

In the 1930 census Mary J. Poole was a 54 year old single woman and African American seamstress. She lived at 138 R St NW with her widowed sister Maria Young, 25 year old niece Alma P. Smith, three Hardy boys ages 3 to 8 listed as boarders, and three adults listed as lodgers.

Looking one census back to the 1920 census, Mary Jane Poole was living at 1807 12th St NW. She was listed as the sister-in-law of William Smith, who we will see later in this post. She lived with William and his daughter Alma Smith. They were in the same house (current building has an English basement) as Charles and Maria Young. So at some point, the ladies Mary, Maria, and Alma moved on over to 138 R St NW.

The land records start in 1921 and the owner in 1922 was widower named William R. Smith. In November of 1922 William Smith married Corine A. Ashton. She appeared on a 1923 trust as Corine A. Smith where they borrowed $7000 from the Oriental Building Association. Did this new wife have anything to do with Mary, Maria and Alma’s moving? There are more documents but later in 1923 the Smiths transfer the property to Fritz and Florence Alexander, who then immediately transfer the property to William R. Smith, Maria/Marie A. Young, and Mary Jane Poole in September 1923. That same day this group and Corrine, borrow money twice.

In October 1926 something happened and the court and a sale was forced and Mary Jane Poole purchased the property from Maria A. Young in a trustees deed. It’s not good for too many people owning a piece of property. But the rest of the documents following this it appears that William R. Smith quietly disappeared after this and does not appear in any following documents.

July 8, 1950 she transferred the property to Elsie Taylor Jefferson who immediately transferred it to Alma S. Cornish (formerly Alma Smith?), Henry A. Cornish and Ms. Poole. Once again, too many people owning the property. Well it didn’t last long because Mary Jane Poole died the next year on December 9, 1951.

In 1972 Alma and Henry sold the property to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency for $19,800. And now it is part of the Florida Avenue park.

WSIC- Owner of Sq. 552- Lycurgus and Sallie Adams

After writing about wealthy out of state owners with the name Eustis, I didn’t want to try to hunt down the other owners. But one owner had an unusual enough name that I figured why not. Lycurgus and Sallie Adams owned a part of lot 26 on Sq. 552. Lot 26, according to the 1902/1903 General Assessment lot 26 was in 4 parts. Lycurgus and Sallie owned a western lot. George W. Adams owned a portion of the lot with a structure on it. Levi Adams owned an eastern section. Edmund G. Hines owned a portion along the alley.

552-LC-1903

Lycurgus, also Licurits/ Lycurkus Adams was born around 1842-1844 and died in March 1922 in Prince George’s County, MD. He was an African American born to Josaiah and Elizabeth Adams in Maryland. He was drafted, but it doesn’t look like he served in the Civil War.

It appears that he was born and raised in Bladensburg, MD and he lived there and died there. He did wander into Washington, DC to get married to Sallie Nash (Mash?) in June 1887. He was a farmer, who owned his own land and lived on River Road.

His last will and testament, gives a sense of who another Adams was who also owned parts of lot 26. Levi Adams was his brother. His will directs that his DC property be sold upon his death. According to a search of the Evening Star, his executor Marion Duckett, did that the following year of his death in September in a public auction. Of a side note the farm he left his son, Joseph E. Beaman Adams of 907 Westminster St NW advertised to sell those 18 acres in October 1923. Lycurgus’ lot was sold to William Adams at auction. It is unclear how William was related, if at all.