Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories.
Margaret Mary Holloran was born in January 5, 1900 in Washington, DC, to Thomas Holloran, aged 39, and Ellen O’Conner, 29. She appeared in the 1900 census in the NE part of Truxton Circle that I typically ignore, 7 P St NE. Her father was a Irish-American bricklayer born in DC and her mother, was of a similar background, having Irish parents and being a DC native. So a White family.
Her mother died in 1906 so in the 1910 census, Tom Holloran was a widower raising four minor children between the ages of 16 and 10, with the help of his spinster sister, 31 year old Mary. They lived in the part of the TC I don’t ignore, 224 O St NW. The house was owned by Mary, so not only was she helping her brother with her nieces and nephews, she provided them a place to live.
In 1919, at the age of 19, Margaret married Leopold John Killmeyer in Baltimore. But for reasons (?), she was living with her father and adult siblings at 210A Bates Street NW in 1920. The family had been at 210A Bates for a few years, at least since the draft for World War I. Eventually she was reunited with her husband and they lived at 63 Bates Street NW in unit A in 1930.
Currently, 210 Bates is one single house. The renovated home, according to Redfin is 2118 square feet. In 1920 it was two separate units, about 2 bedrooms per unit, around 1000 square feet, so pretty cramped for 5 adults. But that was where she lived.
When her father Thomas died in 1933, 63 Bates was listed as her residence. She was the only family member mentioned in the very brief death notice.
In 1930 the Killmeyer household consisted of Leo, aged 31, a painter by trade, Margaret a homemaker, their 10 year old daughter Blanche and “lodger” John J. Holloran, her uncle. Uncle John was living with his sister, Mary Hollaran, the spinster aunt who helped out Tom in 1910. In 1900, the Hollaran siblings lived at 224 O St NW with their 17 year old niece Madge Luckett. Mary was a seamstress, John a plasterer, and Madge a government clerk. Anyway, back to Maggie H. Killmeyer.
Margaret was still keeping house in 1940, as her husband Leo still worked as a painter, and her then 20 year old daughter worked as a physician’s receptionist. They were still at 63A Bates up until 1950. The last time they appeared in the census in Truxton Circle, her husband had retired and it was just the two of them. Later that year, their unit would be sold.
The couple relocated to 1110 Kingwood Drive in Tacoma Park, MD. Margaret died April 22, 1953. Leo joined her in death November 1956.
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.