Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories.
Benjamin Wesley Freeman (January 8, 1893 – September 1977) was a lifelong Washington, D.C. resident and professional chauffeur who moved around the Truxton Circle and surrounding neighborhoods.
Born in DC on January 8, 1893, Benjamin was the son of Charles G. Freeman and Ella Wheeler. In the 1910 census, the 19-year-old lived with his parents at 1609 4th Street NW. He was listed as unemployed at the time but was probably busy with studies as he graduated from Cardozo Vocational School in 1913.
He married Emma Jackson in Washington, D.C., in 1914.
By his World War I draft registration, Benjamin had moved a short distance to 1609 3rd Street NW (consistent with the 1923 city directory). The 1920 census recorded the couple, both age 27, living at 220 R Street NW with their three-year-old daughter, Dorothy. Benjamin worked as a chauffeur, an occupation he would maintain for decades.
Afterwards, something, happened. In 1940 he was no longer with his wife and child. By 1940, he was a married lodger at 1407 1st Street NW, still working as a private-family chauffeur. Later, during the draft for World War II, he lived on the 1600 block of 6th Street NW and listed his father at 131 T Street NW as his contact.
In 1950, at age 57 and widowed, Benjamin lived with his father at 18 Q Street NE. He continued full-time work as a chauffeur, reporting 48 hours the week prior to the census.
Benjamin’s father, Charles G. Freeman, had a notable public career. He worked for the District of Columbia courts for 49 years and earlier in his life had been employed by Alexander “Boss” Shepherd, the powerful 19th-century D.C. governor and public works leader who dramatically reshaped the city’s infrastructure. At the time of his death in 1951, Charles was recognized as the oldest Black mason in Washington, DC. Dorothy died at Casualty Hospital in Washington, DC on July 13th 1953, according to a family tree.
Benjamin outlived both his wife, daughter and his father. Social Security records indicate his last known residence was in Rockville, MD.
The goal of the Truxton Circle History Project is to find every man, woman, and child who lived in the neighborhood using every available source. The Project uses the 1880-1950 censuses, the power of Ancestry and every other online resource to discover and uncover neighborhood history.