1940s Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Dorothea/ Dorothy Wilson-Young- 402 R St NW

So this is a bit of a prequel to the Virginia Wilson post. I probably would have done a Dorothy Wilson post already if she was listed as an owner in the 1940 census. But she wasn’t. She was noted as a renter instead, even though she owned it since 1931.

In the 1940 census 33 year old widow Dorothy Wilson was listed as the head of household at 402 R St NW, and a renter. At that time she worked as a maid at the Y.M.C.A. She lived in the house with her 65 yr old widowed mother Bell (Belle), and her 27 and 29 year old bothers Clinton and Raymond.  These brothers show up in Virginia post and eventually get their names on the property.

So in March 1931 Doretha (her name gets spelled various ways) Wilson purchased the house from Frank and Iva M. Pratt. She borrowed $1,900 at 6% in her name from trustees P D Holmes & M C West. Ten years later in 1941 Dorothea (noting that Doretha was incorrect) borrowed $2,500 from the Perpetual Building Association and $685 from trustees Thornton W. Owen & Louis Yudelevit at 6%. That year she closed out her initial 1931 loan. She paid off the smaller 1941 loan in 1946. The larger 1941 debt was cleared in 1953. But before that, she added the names of six of her siblings to the property in 1946 for lot 813. Then again for lots 67 and 68 in 1953.

One of those six siblings was Virginia Wilson.

In the 1950 census, her sister Virginia was the head of household. Doretha/Dorothy Young was living with family at 1619 R St NW in Apt# 600. She and husband George Young were living with niece and nephew, the Wootons.

One last note regarding Dorothea Wilson, she had married and in the 1953 was going by Doretha Young. When the family sold/ transferred the property to their nephew Michael Jay Wooton, Doretha was one of the surviving siblings to transfer the property in 1975 document # 7500008198.